K-Pop Busking in Hongdae

It seems like Hongdae in the Mapo district of Seoul is the place to be for young K-Pop

fans as well as aspiring K-Pop artists. This whole area seems like a thriving place for

buskers, street musicians and K-Pop cover Bands.

And in the video above is popular street performers Team m_ocean covering Trouble Maker

while clearly throwing in a bit of fan servicing for the girls.

More on this new Hongdae phenomenon at

SEOUL KOREA ASIA.

Team m_ocean INSTAGRAM

Above video kindly uploaded to youtube by

METROBUSK

Meanwhile Seoul is preparing for a huge event tomorrow night, the return of

K-Pop Kings BTS in their first concert since 2022. And apparently it's going to be shown

Live on Netflix.

HAPPY ST PATRICK'S DAY

No it's not Monty Python's Ministry of Silly Walks. It is in fact John Conneely from

County Mayo in Ireland performing an Irish Reel on a tv show back in 1972.

And the amazing thing is that John had a terrible fall and broke his back as a young

man and was virtually bed bound for almost three years while recovering and being

aided and helped along by his Nurse, who he went on to marry.

Interestingly someone said in the video comments 'That's how we put wildfires out.' 

A little bit of Irish wit there.

VIDEO KINDLY UPLOADED TO YOUTUBE BY

CR'S VIDEO VAULT

HAPPY ST PATRICK'S DAY

Verdi's Almighty Requiem and 'The Day of Wrath'

Above: The great American conductor Robert Trevino conducting The Malmo Symphony

Orchestra in a performance of Verdi's Requiem. It's often described as a sombre piece

of music, that is until we hear 'Dies Irae' when things soon liven up, as in the clip above.

ABOVE VIDEO UPLOADED TO YOUTUBE BY

THE MALMO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

What I like about conductor Robert Trevino is his passion and aggression. He seems to

have taken over where the great Riccardo Muti left off, with his passionate and similar

dramatic style. But then Muti is now 84.

Trevino who has a full busy diary this Summer was recently announced as the new

Principle Conductor for Romania's premier Orchestra The George Enescu

Philharmonic Orchestra for the 2026/27 Season. 

More news and information on Conductor

ROBERT TREVINO

Below: Robert Trevino in full flight

conducting Verdi's Don Carlo.

 

Below: My prized alabaster bust of The Maestro Giuseppe Verdi 

which I bought through e-bay last year.

Joe and Jane in Serge Gainsbourg's 70's Drama

In Serge Gainsbourg's 1976 controversial drama 'Je taime moi non plus' Jane Birkin

plays the part of Johnny, a lonely and bored waitress in a truck driver's cafe.

Then suddenly things pick up when Joe Dallesandro walks in believing that the

androgynous Jane is a boy working behind the bar. But the two hit it off straight away,

to the displeasure of Joe's truck driving partner.

The film's song title by Serge Gainsbourg became a huge hit in the U.K in 1969

when it was banned by the BBC. And as always, once the BBC bans something,

it's success is assured.

In 2019 the film got a well deserved digital upgrade and was transferred to 4K with

improved sound quality.

Above video kindly uploaded to Youtube

by Yena Audio.

For Some, Age is Just a Number

Here's a promotional commercial that recently caught my eye. And it features the

ever ageless 67 year old pop icon Madonna. Originally released in 2024, it was 

to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of Brazil's longest established Bank ITAU as 

well as being a thank you from Madonna to her fans in Brazil.

And it's in the commercial that Madonna gives her thought's on ageism and her

longevity in the pop world.

Although not filmed in Brazil but in Paris France at the spectacular Palais Garnier

in which I recently featured in a blog post here.

ABOVE VIDEO KINDLY UPLOADED TO YOUTUBE VIA ROYAL MADONNA POLAND

BELOW: MADONNA'S GRAND ENTRANCE

AT THE 2012 SUPERBOWL HALFTIME SHOW

 

The Stage Antics of James Brown....Re-post

Here's a video clip that was begging to be giffed. I hadn't seen this clip until recently.
It features the Godfather of Soul, or as the MC says, Soul Brother number one.
It is of course James Brown.
Naturally I had to giggle as he comes on stage in what must seem like out of date attire,
but then this performance happened back in the 1970's. But what was very noticeable 
was that as soon as he took up his place at the mic, he suddenly burst into one of his stage
antics where it looked like he might have done some serious damage to himself.
One can only imagine that in the early 1970's James Brown was at the top of his game
and selling more records than any other time in his career. Perhaps at the then age of
41 it was his way of saying I'm back and still on top of the world. But one thing was for
sure, and that is that he was a real showman.

This performance in Zaire in 1974 was set up to tie in with a very famous boxing match
known as The Rumble in the Jungle which pitted Muhammad Ali against George
Foreman. A match in which Ali won in the 8th round and regained the World
Championship title.

Interestingly James Brown does feature quite a lot in my music collection as I quite
like the music soundtracks from those 1970 blaxploitation movies.

Below is a video clip of that Zaire Concert in which James Brown performs
'The Payback.'

VIDEO UPLOADED TO YOUTUBE BY CAROLINA DELL VALLE FRIAS