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1962dude420-blog · 3 years

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Today we remember the passing of Jani Lane who Died: August 11, 2011 in Woodland Hills, California

Jani Lane (born John Kennedy Oswald; February 1, 1964 – August 11, 2011) was an American recording artist and the lead vocalist, frontman, lyricist and main songwriter for the glam metal band Warrant. From Hollywood, California, the band experienced success from 1989 to 1996 with five albums reaching international sales of over 10 million. Lane left Warrant in 2004 and again in 2008 after a brief reunion. Lane also released a solo album, Back Down to One, in 2003, and the album Love the Sin, Hate the Sinner with a new group, Saints of the Underground, in 2008. Lane contributed lead vocals and songwriting to various projects throughout his career.

Lane was born John Kennedy Oswald (later changed to John Patrick Oswald), on February 1, 1964 in Akron, Ohio to Robert and Eileen Oswald. He was raised in Brimfield with four older siblings: sisters Marcine Williams, Michelle Robinson and Victoria Ley, plus older brother Eric, already an accomplished guitarist. With sisters Micki and Vicky and brother Eric harmonizing and playing guitar, Lane taught himself to play drums, guitar and piano by ear by age five. He grew up listening to Cleveland rock station WMMS (100.7 FM "The Buzzard") and was introduced to a variety of music by his older siblings.

With connections from siblings Eric and Vicky in and around the music scene (and with his parents' help), Lane made a name for himself at a very young age. He played drums under the pseudonym "Mitch Dynamite" in clubs by age 11 and with a local band "Pokerface." By that time, his siblings had left for college or marriage, although Vicky was still active in the entertainment industry in northeast Ohio and southwest Florida. Due to Vicky's numerous connections, Lane was able to network with industry execs in pursuit of his dream. Lane graduated from Field High School, in Mogadore, Ohio, a nearby city to Brimfield in 1982.

Lane is credited as the vocalist/drummer on Warrant's Latest and Greatest CD. Throughout his career, Lane would sometimes play drums/acoustic guitar and piano with his band and played the drums in various formats and gigs with other musicians.

After high school, Lane joined the band Cyren, featuring vocalist Skip Hammonds, guitarist John Weakland, bassist Don Hoover (and later Rusty Fohner) with Lane on drums and vocals. Many of Cyren's shows opened for a popular local band called Risque'. When their bassist, Al Collins, noticed Lane's vocal talents, he convinced Lane to form a new band they eventually called Dorian Gray. The new band also included Steven Chamberlin on drums and Dave Chamberlin on lead guitar. Dorian Gray was designed to have Lane as the lead vocalist and to perform original material, but Lane wasn't ready to be the lead singer and quickly returned to the drum kit. Billy Denmead was hired as lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist. After only a few shows, Collins left the band, vowing to put a band together when Lane was ready to be a lead vocalist.

Lane moved to Florida in 1983 with Dorian Gray. He eventually formed Plain Jane with Collins and Chamberlin, adopting the stage name "Jani Lane" (Chamberlin would also soon rechristen himself Steven Sweet). He took the name "Jani" from his German grandparents, who spelled his name "Jani" and pronounced it "Yay-nee."

Lane began vocal training with vocal coach/trainer Ron Feldmann, who introduced him to Creative Engineering, Inc. in Orlando. Lane worked there as a programmer of the animatronic character Dook LaRue, the drummer for The Rock-afire Explosion. His vocal debut was at The Station in Fern Park, Florida.

Lane, Collins, and Chamberlin recorded the first Plain Jane four-track demos at their rented house in Winter Park, Florida. Although reluctant to leave Florida, they rented a trailer in the spring of 1984 and moved to California with hopes of landing a record deal. They were broke by the time they landed at the Hollywood Bowl Motel and resorted to making sandwiches with mustard packets while taking turns calling their parents for cash.

Struggling to make ends meet as a musician, Lane resorted to working in a pornographic video warehouse. The band, along with a new road crew and a few girlfriends, pooled their wages and lived in a two-bedroom condominium rented by new Plain Jane guitarist Paul Noble. At one time there were 13 people living in the crowded space.

By 1985, Plain Jane had become a regular feature on the Los Angeles club circuit and opened many shows for a band called Warrant. Plain Jane's bassist and guitarist both left the band on the same day Warrant's singer and drummer quit. Erik Turner, who had founded Warrant in July 1984, was impressed by Plain Jane's songwriting and vocal performance and invited Lane and Sweet to jam with his band at Hollywood's db Sound in September 1986.

After generating notoriety on the club circuit, Warrant began to attract the attention of record labels. Following an abortive deal with A&M Records over a contribution to the soundtrack for the motion picture Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, the band signed with Columbia Records. The Columbia deal came via the partnering of Warrant and manager Tom Hulett, known for working with The Beach Boys, Elvis Presley, The Moody Blues and others. Hulett became Lane's mentor and friend until Hulett's death from cancer in 1993.

As lead vocalist with Warrant, Lane wrote all of the material for the band's 1989 debut double platinum album, Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich, including four Top 40 hit singles: "Down Boys", "Sometimes She Cries", "Big Talk" and the No. 2 Billboard Hot 100 hit "Heaven." The album peaked at no. 10 on The Billboard 200. Lane also wrote four Top 40 hit singles ("Cherry Pie," "I Saw Red," "Uncle Tom's Cabin" and "Blind Faith") for the second album, the 1990 double platinum Cherry Pie, which peaked at no. 7 on the Billboard 200. Lane also co-wrote and performed with Warrant the song "The Power" in the 1992 movie Gladiator. In 1992, Warrant released Dog Eat Dog, their gold third album, which peaked at no. 25 on the Billboard 200.

Lane left Warrant in March 1993 to pursue a solo career. He returned six months later, helping the band secure a new record with Tom Lipsky of CMC International. Warrant recorded Ultraphobic in 1995, Belly to Belly in 1996, Greatest & Latest in 1999 and a cover album, Under the Influence, in 2001.

Due to personal and business disagreements, Lane left Warrant again in 2004. In January 2008, the band's agent, The William Morris Agency, issued a new photograph of the band with Lane prominently featured, confirming his return to the band. It was the first time that all original members had been in the band since 1993. The band's first show with all original members was in May 2008 in Nashville, Tennessee. Warrant performed a series of shows during the summer of 2008, but by September, the band and Lane agreed to move forward separately due to "too much water under the bridge." Warrant and Lane both continued to perform Lane's compositions live and Lane continued to write for himself and other artists.

Lane became involved in acting in the early 1990s. He made a brief appearance in Caged Fear and appeared in High Strung in 1991.

In 1993, Lane started working on his first solo project. Titled "Jabberwocky," the album represented a significant musical departure from previous work. Between 1997 and 2000, demos of Lane's solo material began surfacing on the Internet, with some bids on eBay reaching an estimated $100 per copy. In 2002, Lane decided to postpone the "Jabberwocky" project and released a new project as his debut solo album. The "Jabberwocky" project remained unreleased.

Lane's official debut solo album, Back Down to One, was released on June 17, 2003 through Z Records and in the U.S. in 2006 on Immortal/Sidewinder Records. It carried a "power pop" sound more closely aligned with the sound of Warrant than "Jabberwocky." Shortly after the album's release, Lane was admitted to a rehabilitation center for alcohol and drug-related exhaustion.

In the fall of 2004, Lane contributed lead vocals for the first ever theme song to a novel, Billy McCarthy's "The Devil of Shakespeare," along with James Young from Styx, Ron Flynt of 20/20 and Chip Z'Nuff of Enuff Z'Nuff.

Lane contributed vocals on the track "Bastille Day" and "2112 Overture/Temples of Syrinx" for the Magna Carta 2005 Rush tribute album "Subdivisions."

Lane had success with the "VH1 Classic Metal Mania: Stripped" discs, where the acoustic version of "I Saw Red" was included on disc 1, a new acoustic swinging version of "Cherry Pie" featured on disc 2, and a new acoustic version of "Heaven" featured on disc 3.

In 2005, Lane became a fan favorite on the popular VH1 series Celebrity Fit Club 2. His problems with alcohol were highlighted and many viewers supported his efforts at recovery.

With the reissue and U.S. release of "Back Down to One" in 2006, Lane attempted to restart his version of Warrant. Although "Back Down to One" was credited as a solo release, Lane assembled a new touring band called "Jani Lane's Warrant." The band's first shows in Michigan were stopped by legal action from former bandmates objecting to his use of the Warrant logo on his posters. Lane subsequently continued touring without the Warrant name and logo.

Lane lent his vocals to numerous tribute CDs during the 2000s. In 2007, he released a solo cover album titled "Photograph," featuring a collection of his tribute contributions.

Keri Kelli and Lane wrote a song for Alice Cooper titled "The One That Got Away." It was recorded by Cooper on his 2008 record Along Came a Spider. Lane also finished work on a side project, Saints of the Underground, which included Kelli and Bobby Blotzer and Robbie Crane, (both from Ratt). Their album, Love the Sin, Hate the Sinner, was released on April 22, 2008 by Warrior Records, and was mixed by producer/engineer Andy Johns, who'd worked with The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin. The album featured additional bass work by Chuck Wright (Quiet Riot, House of Lords). The band was originally called "Angel City Outlaws" when they posted their first two promo singles, "Bruised" and "Exit."

In summer 2010, Lane toured with Great White, filling in for singer Jack Russell, who was recuperating from surgery after suffering internal complications.

On August 11, 2011, the Los Angeles Police Department and local news stations announced that Lane was found dead of acute alcohol poisoning at a Comfort Inn hotel in Woodland Hills, California at the age of 47. Lane was pronounced dead by fire department personnel who responded to a call shortly before 5:30 p.m.

#August 11 #2011 #R.I.P.#Jani Lane #Warrant

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siyeonjisoo · 3 years

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AVATAR GOING HUNTING NYC 9/3

It has finally happened, y’all! Concerts are back in my life and I am more than thrilled about it. Last night was the first concert I’ve been to since February 13, 2020 so over a year and a half when I’m used to maybe 3 months at most between concerts. Felt so SO good to be back at it and see concert fam folks again!

My comeback was with the incomparable metal band Avatar who I first saw in 2019 when they toured with Babymetal and I had no clue who they were. How things have changed since then. Now without any further ado, I give you how the day went.

I sadly had to go to work in the morning but I left at noon and made it to Irving Plaza around 1:40. I was really worried that I was going to have a horrible spot in line and thus have to hide in the back or along the walls to avoid the mosh pits but I ended up being only the 7th person in line. I had GA ticket and was the first person in line for that. Between already knowing some of the folks there and spending the next 6 hours making friends with them, I ended up being promised they would help me get as close to front row as they could get me which was AMAZING.

Doors opened actually on time and we were able to get into the venue pretty quickly! I ended up SECOND ROW for this show DEAD CENTER. An intense place to be but so very amazing.

Touring with Avatar are two other bands, Tallah and Magic Sword. Tallah performed first with about 5 songs. I’m always completely unfamiliar with the bands touring with folks so I didn’t know this group either. And they aren’t bad but not a group I will go out of my way to listen to again. Drummer kicked ass though, apparently he only joined the band as a replacement drummer 2 months ago and he killed it. The singer has the ability to do splits but that’s the only thing about him I think I like. The other members of the band were just as memorable as their songs, which is to say, not at all.

Next was Magic Sword. That group is a trio, of drummer, guitarist, and keyboardist. They were amazing, 10 out of 10. If you can get the chance to see them in concert, I beg of you to do so. That said, I can’t say I’ll be listening to their music again unless it’s live because they don’t have a vocalist and I like to be able to sing/rap along with music unless it is loud enough I can feel it in every single cell of my body, which is what Magic Sword delivered. Only bad thing to happen here was the crowd was starting to be...less than sober...and the person behind me spilled a quarter of their beer down my ass, right into the pocket where my phone was. I was less than thrilled with this person and was thankful they traded places with their friend for Avatar’s set because the second person was kinder and actually made conversation with us a little bit and apologized for how drunk they both were.

The stage was cleared after Magic Sword performed probably 6 or 7 songs? I can’t tell for sure since their songs do seem to run on the longer side so I may have split a song that is actually one into two. And then it was time for the reason I was there, the main event: AVATAR.

The roadies came out and set up the stage for them with a very different setup than ANY of us expected. There was a projector screen blocking most of our view but we could see three mic stands set up in the front middle, the usual lights and drumset in the back, and then another drumset on stageright next to the microphones.

After many attemted Avatar chants and false alarms from the crew, the band came out. They all lined up, John at the front drumset, Henrik, Johannes, Jonas, and Tim in that order filled in the microphones set up. They all stood looking dead ahead, barely blinking, for a few moments of us screaming before jumping into the first two songs of the night, Colossus and Let it Burn. They performed Colossus without moving or smiling or anything, they looked like robots so so perfectly. They held the positions for what felt like a full minute or two with Henrik trying so so hard to not smile, I could see the corner of his mouth twitching. He looked so happy to be here the whole night!

The lights went down after those 2 songs and they took off the front drumset and changed the microphones back to the usual ones that they can kick up and spread them to give them all more space. When they did, a drumstick dropped on the ground and got left behind so a friend of mine got the venue staff to pick it up and hand it to her! She got a drum stick from Tallah, too I believe.

Next came SIlence in the Age of Apes, Bloody Angel, (Johannes said he thinks of all of us as his) Child (ren), and The Eagle Has Landed. This is where things started getting a LOT more intense in the crowd. I could feel the crowd moving more behind me in Apes so I could tell that there was a mosh pit that was at least starting out by then and by Bloody Angel, people were crowd surfing. At least one person per song would come crashing over us for the rest of the show and I didn’t really love it. I was scared the whole time a foot was gonna come crashing into my head or a staff member was gonna punch me in the nose AGAIN to keep me from getting a foot in the head. which yes, the dude full-on punched me in the nose to catch a foot that swerved away from my head and into the person in front of me instead. An adventure of a moment.

Everyone went off-stage for a few minutes except for Johannes who took a moment to greet us and thank us all for coming He was in his full glory the whole night, that cocky grin glued to his face and a manic joy in his eyes that was genuine happiness to be back in front of a crowd after so long. He gave us some kind of witty (but obvious if you know song names) intro into the next set of songs and the rest of the band came back out.

(Insert quirky pun her) Paint it Red, Secret Door, Swarm, Torn Apart. This was the period of time when I could barely keep my eyes off of Tim because he looked so giddy half the time. Either making faces to tease us or just looking around himself in amazement. More moshing pushing us around and crowd surfers kicking us in the head but oh-so amazing.

Then came the grand piano being carried on stage. No, it wasn’t actually a grand piano, it was a keyboard put into a wood frame to look like a shrunken down grand piano so it looked real but was able to be lifted by three or four people and carried on stage. Johannes sat down and seranaded us with Gun and I have not hated being in an American crowd so much before in my life. Every time I would start to get into the emotions of the song, someone would shout something hardly intelligible because they were so far away or it would be someone screaming “I LOVE AVATAR!” Made me so so so annoyed but Johannes was smiling so I tried to ignore it and let it go.

The piano was taken away and the rest of the band came back to perform Going Hunting. And lemme just tell you that it was an honor to be in the third ever audience to hear that song performed live. It hits all the right feels to kick ass live and at home so I hope people are loving it.

Johannes thanked us for tuning in and making their streamed Dream concerts happen in Avataruary. He said it gave them all a chance to reflect and think about the songs they haven’t performed in years, leading them to their self-titled album, leading us Deeper Down. This song was actually one I don’t know if I’ve listened to before, I’ve kind of stuck with the 4 albums I really like and haven’t branched out much. But it slaps hard.

Next it was time for us to worship our king. Everyone but Kungen left stage and he looked at us like we were ants beneath his feet, barely worthy of being acknowleged while the roadies came and changed his guitar and gave him his royal attire. Kungen slowly started playing the intro and Tim joined him, standing back to back and both of them looking gorgeous while everyone else slowly joined them on stage to build up A Statue of the King. They followed that with zero comments jumping immediately into The King Welcomes You to Avatar Country. Both of those songs are so effing hype that when they all just walked off stage after, I was shook.

I think this was when Johannes started getting a little sappy with us in his comment. He said they’d all agreed that they wouldn’t get emotional on us but he had to take a minute and thank us all for being back here with them. And the way he knows that we’re really back together is because even though we all look so different we all *snifs armpits* smell the same. We all Smell Like a Freakshow. I don’t know if it’s just me but it felt like we were all saving up energy for this song and went absolutely feral. I used up almost all the energy I had left so I just did the bare minumum for Wormhole right after. Moved just enough to avoid getting hit in the head with someone else’s head.

Then for what I think was only the second time all night, everybody went off stage. Every other time, Johannes has stuck around and chatted while the others were gone but he left too. They did a quick little outfit change behind the scenes I think, Johannes came back on with his overalls undone so clearly he was hot. And, you know, a warm temperature as well. Yup.

And just like that, as though 3 hours hadn’t passed since the first band started, it was time for the last song of the night. It was time to Hail the Apocalypse. This song is the only song I know for sure they performed the last time I saw them live and I feel like it only gets better the more I hear it. They could make a 10 minute version of it and I would still be asking for more.

They went off-stage for a second and everyone put down their instruments and came back without anything and just let us cheer for them. They gave us a little bow and then started saying thank you and waving good bye. I saw Tim say “I love you” at the crowd and I think John and Jonas both blew kisses at us.

And then it was over. They left the stage, the lights came up in the house, we all made sure everyone was okay from all the flying feet that came at us, and the venue staff told us it was time to go home. I had friends going the same way I was so I was able to keep the magic going for a little while longer before I started my journey home alone.

These guys are all so amazing and I am so lucky I got to fall in love with them the way I did. And I am so happy to have the friends I’ve made at this show and every other show I’ve been to. It was an amazing way to get back to concerts, starting it off with a bang. I have blisters, bruises, and sore everything but I would do it all again tonight if only I could. It is now time to start counting down the days till I follow Miyavi around for a week on tour in October!

THANK YOU FOR TAKING ME HUNTING, AVATAR! Glory to Our King!

The setlist was given to my my friend. All other photographs are taken by yours truly

#avatarmetal #johannes #john #henrik #tim #jonas #kungen #concerts #going hunting #avatar going hunting #magic sword #tallah

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natromanxoff · 3 years

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I am sure many of you have already read this one but here are some parts from Ash Alexander’s Queen journey for those who haven’t!

“...At some point in early At some point in early 1983 on a visit to Jacky at the QFC, John Deacon wondered into the office. He came into the basement office and said hello as Jacky introduced me, sat down and spent a little time reading through press clippings. He could easily have slipped away back upstairs, but the fact that he stayed was a nice touch.

Another fan club letter arrived with good news. In Another fan club letter arrived with good news. In November 1983, fan club members were invited to help in a video for the new single 'Radio Ga Ga' at Shepperton Studios. Again, my Mum stepped up and drove me down for the day. I took the day off school and had just turned 14. We arrived at the studio and were ushered into a huge hanger where we were kitted out with white body suits and then sprayed with a light grey stripe on each arm - even now I’m not sure what the spray paint was for as you can’t see it in the video. When we had all been prepared, we were taken into an adjoining hanger and were greeted by the band and an initial play through of the song. The rest of the day was spent clapping as you’ll see in the video. I wound up in the front row, opposite Brian. If you look closely and you know what you’re looking for, you can see me!

In between takes, I approached John Deacon who was surprisingly on his own. I remember trying to remain calm as I approached him. I didn’t mention our brief meeting, I asked him how to get a job in recording studios and that I was interested in pursuing a career as a sound engineer. He was really helpful and took time to explain the usual route.

On 22, March 1984 at Limehouse Studios in London’s docklands, the video for ‘I Want To Break Free’ was filmed, again with the help of fan club members. I went along with my brother Andrew. The set was a big dark staircase that we all stood on. We were given black bodysuits this time that were sprouted with hello paint on the arms. We also wore a hard hat with a head lamp attached to it. The band were set in the middle of us all. After all the filming, we returned to the main building where we said hello to Roger. He’d come out to say thanks. Later, waiting for a cab down in reception, Freddie glided down the staircase and past us with his entourage. I remember wanting to get up and say thanks, but the opportunity was missed.

...20th April 1992. My friend Chesney Hawkes was managed by Trinifold. They also managed The Who. He invited me along to the Freddie Mercury Tribute gig at Wembley. Roger Daltry was appearing and Ches had a spare ticket. He only had one backstage pass though. This was overcome by him befriending the chap on the security door. Ches came out to meet me with his pass. He returned on his own and got in. I confidently flashed my pass and entered the Hard Rock tented area. Ches beckoned me over from the other side of the room. He was signing autographs for a lady, her two children and an older lady was with them. He introduce me to them saying I was a huge Queen fan. ‘This is Freddie’s mother' he whispered to me. I remember saying to her that I wish we’d met under different circumstances and how deeply sorry I was about her loss and how incredibly proud she should be. I often wonder about her.

...In Spring 1993, I was in front office. It was well after midnight and I’d left a s session for a little break. As usual, I took a look in the studio diary to see what was coming up. I flicked through the weeks and came upon an booking entry “Studio 3 - QUEEN” for 2 weeks that was pencilled in. There was no further info than that. I put my initials next to the booking thinking there would be a rational explanation as to what the booking really was. I soon found myself on a 2 week session with Queen.My diary from 1993 is lost, so I have only a mental note as to when & what songs were touched upon at this initial stage of 'Made In Heaven'. We started taking delivery of various multitrack tapes on varied formats. These were then transferred to digital 48 track tapes for future work. Roger & John were alone on these sessions as Brian was touring in Japan. I remember Roger being rather dismissive of Brian being unavailable, much like a brother sledging his sibling would do, with a slightly jealous edge but genuine at the same time.

...Over the 2 week session, Roger would suggest we went out for dinner. We had 3 or 4 meals out at a local Italian restaurant. Even now I laugh at jumping into the back of Roger’s Merc and the four of us driving down Abbey Road to the restaurant. It was owned by an Italian lady that would force you to smell her ‘wonderful mushrooms’ from a jar, which she made Roger do. On our initial meal she told Roger he looked familiar. ‘I know you’, she said. ‘Where have I seen you before?’ ‘Well, I’m in a band and we’ve been on TV before.’ Roger replied. John seemed calm with his lack of recognition. ‘What group do you play for?’ she asked. ‘I’m the drummer in a rock n roll band called Queen’ he replied. ‘No - I don’t hear of this band’ …We finished our food and the bill was called for. It showed up. John took it and asked Roger if he should use the Queen card to pay for it or his own card.

Roger’s drum kit arriving half way through the first week of sessions was a surprise for Noel Harris (the engineer) & me. We expected the sessions to be playing back tapes and working through the various formats to find possible material to be worked on at a later date. Noel was unfamiliar with the room in studio 3 and asked my opinion where to set the kit up and what microphones I would use. Eventually he left me to it. The kit was positioned and I mic’d it up that evening. John had his red Fender bass DI’d (no amp was used) and sat with us in the control room. I doubt these recordings made it through to the final mixes, it’s nice to think that they did.

...Tuesday 5th September

During the afternoon Brian’s guitar and a Vox AC30 appeared in the studio, brought in by Pete Malandrone. We were to do guitar overdubs on ‘You Don't Fool Me’. David asked me to put two Shure 421 microphones pointing into the back of the speaker cabinet. We did have two SM57’s on the front but these weren’t used in the recording.

I had to do a recall of the mix, which meant noting all of the studio outboard settings so we could get back to the mix and finish it off.

We had a technical problem with the Sony 3348 tape machine and eventually had it swapped for a new one. Brian clearly wasn’t aware we weren’t ready for him. I was half way through telling him and Jim Beach jumped in and finished off my explanation. Brian got really cross with him and slammed an empty coffee mug down on the studio table. Later Brian was so apologetic for his outburst. He must have told Jim he was sorry 4 times. As I type this I note it was Freddie’s birthday.

Brian slipped on his guitar that was linked to his amp with one lead. No pedals. His sound was instant and we were soon ready to record. He stood in front of the console in the control facing David & me.

Brian had an idea of what he wanted to play. The guitar riff had already been recorded. The solo guitar is what was added. Brian used a scrap of paper that he drew a map of dots on. Not like musical notation but his own short hand. It reminded me of being at the 'Radio Ga Ga' video shoot 13 years earlier. I was the same distance from Brian as I was then, but the scenario was beyond my imagination.

...Friday 8th September

Day Off - I may have met Pete Malandron at the Sun Inn in Barnes this afternoon. The QIFC was based round the corner at the time & Brian had a house there too, although I'm not sure he lived there at the time. I was with a friend and Pete joined us in the pub. He sat near the window and kept looking out of it. I asked what he was looking at and he replied "I always get worried when I'm out with Brian's guitar. It's in the boot of the car you see." He stayed for one drink and decided it was time to leave.

...One of the evenings of this second week, George Michael came to visit. There was a strong possibility that he would sing on one of the songs. Roger, John, Brian, David, George & I sat chatting in the control room. One of the conversations moved onto the Beatles and their current 'best of' release. I think Brian suggested that it was a bad idea releasing all their old material and I piped up that the fans would buy it regardless, much like the scenario Queen were about to face with the imminent release of the album. There was a deathly hush as I realised what I was saying. I wasn’t being at all derogatory. I was helped out of the hole I was digging by George who agreed with me and we moved on. No one actually spoke about doing a vocal. After George left the studio that evening, Roger was clear that he wasn’t keen on the idea.After looking through the Vintage Car garage across the road from the studio one afternoon, Roger saw a black Cadillack convertible that he quite liked. The following morning he came into the studio and said ‘Don’t tell Jim, but I bought the car.’ It was £80, 000.

Brian asked me if had been involved in the Abbey Road Sessions. Perhaps he’d seen my name on the tape boxes. I said that I was. Immediately he made a phone call. I didn’t hear all that he said, but I knew it was about a special thanks on the album credits. The following morning, after the artwork had been finalised, Roger came in and said ‘morning Aardvark’. Because the special thanks were alphabetic, I was on top of the list. It wasn’t until I bought a copy of the album and saw my name on it that I finally took on board that I had actually achieved one of my dreams.”

#queen #queen band #roger taylor #brian may #john deacon

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animeraider · 3 years

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My Kevin Gilbert Story, and my latest single.

As some of you know I’ve had a few brushes with the “big break” that many in my line of work crave. I was signed to a major label in the early 1990s, and the record I turned in was shelved. The label wanted me to be the “next Michael Penn” and by that point not even Mr. Penn was interested in that, let alone me. I had three songs picked up for a movie, which was never released. I got out of my record contract and signed with another label, releasing an album that included 5 songs from the one that was shelved. The label put no money behind it. I had a big hit in 2009 and signed a European distribution deal, which fell apart when the married couple who ran the business fell into a messy divorce. I sold thousands and thousands of records in Eastern Europe – which were being sold by pirates. It took several years to get that fixed.

I had an audition that everyone felt I was a lock for to play keyboards for a Japanese band that had a huge following. My flight to the audition was supposed to be September 12, 2001. I actually watched the plane I was supposed to board land as it was the last flight grounded. I’ve done some engineering and performing I don’t get to tell anyone about – the NDA’s are pretty strong. One of my songs became the theme to a German Television show.

But let me tell you the story of a relationship I almost had with a multi-Grammy-winning star who soared high and made it further than I have, whose song I have made a cover of and released as a single today.

So where to begin. First of all, yes, I knew Kevin Gilbert. No, we weren’t friends, but we were colleagues and classmates. We performed together a few times – all of if school related. That’s it. Oh, and he invited me to a jam session he was going to have once and I turned him down. I’ll get to that.

Believe it or not, I have to tell this story starting in the middle. There was once a band called Toy Matinee. I loved that band. Clever songs, well written melodies, a sense of darkness and a sense of fun. It was a band that me and my roommate Max could agree on and we cranked that album loud and often. We went and saw them live at the Troubadour in Los Angeles, and were about 10 feet from the stage. This is NOT the live album released in 1999, but I can tell you they rocked the place that night. Played almost every song from the album, and did an encore of Elton John’s “Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding” that smoked.

A great night.

Now I jump into the past, to tell the tale of the UCLA Synthesizer Ensemble. It was the brainchild of Professor Roger Bourland, who at the time was only in his 2nd year as a professor at the school and would later become dean of the department. He searched out the most rock and roll musicians in what was mostly a stuffy classical music department. Me. Dave Koz. Joel Harnel. And this kid named Kevin. The five of us took another student’s source material and arranged up a musical. Straight musical theater and full of schlock, and all performed on synthesizers. We eventually put on four shows, with the five of us in the orchestra pit. I wrote the show-stopper ballad and a Latin inspired piece. I hate to say it, but I no longer remember what everyone else did, although I remember Dave mostly for his EWI playing and Joel for multiple reasons – including the fact that he wrote and arranged all of the drum parts.

I knew Joel fairly well – we had played together a few times and he was even more rock and roll than me, with more experience. Dave Koz was, even then, Dave Koz. The only saxophonist I had met up to that point in my life who was better than me. We had played in jazz bands together but he was already a rising star. When he beat me for the gig with Richard Marx’s touring band his career just took off – but all this was before then. I was one of Roger Bourland’s students – in fact, I had been in the “test” classroom when he had auditioned for his job.

I barely knew this Kevin kid. I was constantly getting his name wrong – for whatever reason my brain had him wired as Kevin Anderson.

My only real interaction with him outside of this 12-week experiment was down in the practice rooms. Many of these rooms had pianos in them and on any given day you could hear Mozart, Brahms, Chopin and all of the other usual suspects. I would go and write my own material and be pounding out rock and roll. Kevin did that too. Once while in the middle of the writing process for the musical he came into my practice room while I was working on a song in the style of Elton John. He invited me to a jam session the next Tuesday he was going to, and I declined. Tuesday was when MY band practiced, and as their lead guitarist I needed the practice.

That was the end of it. After the musical was over we all drifted our separate ways and for the most part didn’t run into each other again. I ran into Dave once at a music festival in San Francisco and he introduced me to Clarence Clemmons, which was pretty damned cool.

By now you’ve figured out that Kevin was Kevin Gilbert. Congratulations. I hadn’t. For many years to follow I would remember him as Kevin Anderson.

Now I’ve told you all of this so that you understand that this is long BEFORE Max and I went to see Toy Matinee in concert. I became a fan of the band without knowing that Kevin was its leader. I was ten feet away from him, performing for an hour. I had performed with him myself.

I didn’t recognize him. Nothing clicked in my brain that this was the same guy. I didn’t put two and two together. I rolled for my intelligence check and got a one.

Kevin Gilbert would go on to a solo career, win seven Grammys for his work with Madonna, be part of the driving musical force behind Sheryl Crow’s first album, become one of the founders of the Tuesday Night Music Club, and become one of my songwriting heroes. The man could paint a picture with very few words and his musical ability was enviable.

And then he died; a victim of his own vices. I’m not going to go into that here – I know nothing at all and can shed no light on the subject.

Several years later I relocated to San Francisco with my family. I discovered the band Giraffe once I was on their home turf, and of course discovered the fact that Kevin Gilbert had been their leader when he was a teenager. BEFORE I knew him. Giraffe was a pretty damned good band that had come so startlingly close to making it big – their albums are worth hunting down and they did a fantastic live rendition of Genesis’ “Lamb Lies Down on Broadway” (the full album mind you) that is lots of fun.

I was looking for a recording studio for my second album when I ran across a man named Steve Smith who owned a recording studio down the peninsula from where I was living. In his bio, he briefly mentioned that he was the drummer for Giraffe. Awesome. On his web site of the time if you dug in a little bit there was a bio of Kevin Gilbert, and he talked about the brief time he spent at UCLA.

Parts of the story looked and felt awfully familiar to me. Smith talked about the musical without mentioning the name, and again, it felt familiar. Me being slightly brave, I wrote an e-mail to him to ask what was the title of that musical and that I might have been involved in it. He confirmed it for me.

Holy crap.

All of the pieces started falling into place then. The rehearsals, our discussions about piano playing, that I went to one of his shows and failed to recognize him? The fact that I think he invited me to come join the FUCKING TUESDAY NIGHT MUSIC CLUB and I didn’t even fucking notice!?!!?!!?!!?

I’m an idiot.

Actually, in looking back at the timeline I don’t think he invited me to join TNMC. That came a couple of years later – I think. I’m never going to know for certain. If he had told any of the other members I don’t know about it. I’ve exchanged about a dozen words with one of the other members over social media but we certainly don’t know one another.

I wonder if he saw me in the audience that night and laughed. I will never know. I can tell you there is an album version of that night you can listen to and/or buy. A then-unknown Sheryl Crow played keyboards in the band, dressed up like a dominatrix biker chick. When I found out about that later I was amazed – I didn’t recognize her either.

I’m an idiot.

Nick D’Virgilio of Spock’s Beard played drums. I don’t remember the name of the bass player but what I remember is this man with the thickest eyebrows I have ever seen in my life. Marc Bonilla played lead guitar. Oh, the people I could have met.

I never did work in Steve Smith’s studio. I no longer remember why.

When I was working on my third album in my newly built home studio I recorded a number of covers and one of those was Kevin Gilbert’s “Tea For One”. It’s a fantastic song of unrequited love and missed chances told from start to finish in only a few dozen words. I have no idea if he would have liked what I did to his song – he had a wicked sense of humor that I can recall now but I never got to know him on a personal level as a songwriter, which was my mistake. I could have but I was so focused on myself in those days that even if the overtures were made I probably didn’t even notice.

I recorded the song in what I called "Garage Pop" during those days. A bit uneven, imperfect vocals - what you might get from a band practicing in their garage instead of a polished studio version. If you want that, I recommend hunting down his version.

But I recorded “Tea for One” just the same – it’s a great song and I’d like to think I gave it some justice – even if it doesn’t come close his version. It was on the original version of my third album "The Long Goodbye", which I released myself, but was cut when the album was moved to digital streaming services (In all fairness, I cut 21 songs from the original release – which was a 2 CD set).

My music career has been dark for several years, but it got jump started in 2020 in the middle of the pandemic and I’ve been revisiting a lot of my unreleased work since, and of all the covers I did this is still my favorite. I am releasing it now, in tribute to a musician I admire and could have called friend if I had just paid a bit of attention.

The guy holding the roses was me, as it turns out. I had no idea.

+++++++++++++++++

For those of you with very long memories you should listen to the full single on Spotify, because I’ve thrown in a little bonus for people who remember the 1980’s band ASK. Just a little piece of a little ditty written by me, Kevin Donville and Ed Lee.

#Spotify

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brokenbuttonsmusic · 3 years

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Eleni Mandell: L.A. Singer-Songwriter with Smoky Chrissie Hynde Vocals and a flair for Tom Waits’ Influenced Experimentation

This post is a near- transcript of the Broken Buttons: Buried Treasure Music podcast (episode 5, side A). Here you’ll find the narration from the segment featuring the L.A. singer-songwriter, Eleni Mandell, along with links, videos, photos and references for the episode.

Listen to the full episode on Spotify, Apple, Anchor or Mixcloud.

Have you ever bought the wrong record? Like, you intended to buy something that sounded like one thing and you accidentally grab something that sounds very different.

I don’t know if this happens anymore, but I believe it was quite common years ago. Imagine hearing an artist on the radio and being blown away. You go to the record store, find the plastic divider with the name of whom you’re looking for, but you can’t remember the name of the album, or even the song. Remember, you don’t have a tiny computer in your pocket. You’re too nervous to ask the store clerk for fear of looking stupid. So you roll the dice.

“I know it was someone called Neil Young, but there are a thousand Neil Young records here.”

“Hey, this pink one looks cool.”

That exact scenario didn’t happen to me, but that album, Neil Young’s Everybody’s Rockin’, happened to be the most played Neil Young album in my house growing up, so for years I thought Neil Young was a rockabilly revival act. In reality, that was one of several oddball records Young released during a tumultuous period with his record label to fulfill his contract demands. I still love that record.

Eleni Mandell did live out the scenario of buying the wrong record though. She shared the story during a segment of the show Bullseye with Jessie Thorn, where she describes seeing Tom Waits on MTV late at night—back when MTV still cared about music. It was either 120 minutes or IRS’ The Cutting Edge. This would have been around 1984 or 1985, so right around the time of Wait’s masterpiece Rain Dogs. When she went to the record store though, she picked up the 1976 Tom Waits’ Asylum release, Small Change instead. Now Small Change is still a great Tom Waits album, but it sounds nothing like the drastically reimagined sound and musical approach he had begun to employ starting with 1983’s Swordfishtrombones. Something Tom Waits called his “junkyard orchestral deviation.” The spare, off-kilter percussion. Moaning trombones and muted trumpets. Marimba. Plenty of marimba. Experimental instruments mixed in everywhere. Megaphones and CB radios. Trash can lids.

This is the sound Eleni was looking for.

Instead she got lush strings. Delicate piano. Cinematic swells and a melancholy wail.

She got this.

Still awesome, but not the same. She credits the experience with changing her life. She grew to love both sides of the Tom Waits coin. The jazzy piano man in the smoky, whiskey-drenched nightclub and the eclectic, experimental carnival barker that she had her first encounter with on late night MTV.

You can hear that deep appreciation and influence for the full Tom Waits spectrum injected and swirling through Eleni Mandell’s own spectacular catalog that spans more than 20 years now.

She’s got plenty of experimental Waits, especially in her early catalog.

And quite a bit of the jazzy nightclub vibe.

There’s also plenty of folk-y Eleni mixed in, and even some country.

You’ll notice that Eleni’s voice doesn’t sound like Tom Waits though. Did you notice that? It’s less of a deep, gravelly howl and more of rich Chrissie Hynde croon. Spin compared her to Chrissie Hynde and PJ Harvey. Rolling Stone compared her captivating melodies and witty lyricism to early Elvis Costello.

While she doesn’t have the Tom Waits’ wail, she does specialize in his particular brand of character song-study. Like this first song we’re going to hear. The first track off of Eleni Mandell’s second album Thrill. Released in the year 2000. This is Pauline.

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Pauline, from Eleni Mandell’s second record, Thrill. So how did this remarkably unique singer-songwriter get her start and pull together so many interesting influences to create the sound we just heard.

Eleni grew up in the Sherman Oaks region of the San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles. She started playing music when she was just 5, beginning with the violin and then piano. Eleni didn’t love playing either, but continued to take lessons until she was thirteen. She remembers wanting to learn to write songs early on, but didn’t have the first idea of how to approach it, especially on violin. She jumped from violin and piano to guitar as a teenager. Her parents exposed her to a variety of musical styles. Her mom would take her to musicals and her dad, a serious record collector, played her Hoagy Carmichael and plenty of jazz standards. She loved the Beatles and remembers Diana Ross making an early impression.

Another early life changing moment came when she discovered the Los Angeles punk band X.

X were huge in LA, and their first album (called Los Angeles) was the first record Eleni ever owned. Or maybe the first she asked to own. The first record she was ever given was Shaun Cassidy’s greatest hits for her 4th birthday. The first she ever purchased with her own money was X’s third release, Under the Big Black Sun. She tells a story of when she was out record shopping at a place called Aron’s Records, located on Melrose, and to her utter befuddlement came face to face with John Doe, lead singer of X. He was shopping for records too. She quickly snapped up a copy of the band’s third album and asked John to sign it. He did. She still has the signed album, which reads “Yours” complete with a big X “-John Doe.” That was the last autograph she ever asked for. It was not, however, the last time her path would cross with that of the band X.

When she was a little bit older, she met Chuck E. Weiss, songwriter, rock n’ roller, beat poet and peculiar Tom Waits associate. Also the subject of the song, Chuck E.’s in Love.

Yes, that Chuck E. Weiss. Waits was in a relationship with Rickie Lee Jones. Waits, Jones and Weiss all lived at the seedy Tropicana Motel in Los Angeles. One day Weiss up and left out of nowhere. Some time later Chuck E. called the apartment where Jones and Waits were living. He explained to Waits that he had moved to Denver because he had fallen in love with a cousin there. Waits hung up the phone and announced to Jones, “Check E.’s in love. Rickie Lee Jones liked that so much that she it turned it into the song we just heard.

Who is this episode about again? Oh, right. Eleni Mandell. Anyway, Eleni Mandell met THAT Chuck E. Weiss when she was not yet 21. Still, she had a friend who was able to get her into The Central, a Sunset Strip club that would later become The Viper Room. This would’ve been around 1990. Weiss was playing there every Monday.

Here’s how the write up on Eleni’s original website describes her first encounter with Weiss.

“The first time she ever saw Chuck E. Weiss perform, he walked right up to her and smiled like a cross between The Cheshire Cat and an escaped mental patient. She met him a month later at Musso and Frank’s.”

Eleni says she was at the famous Hollywood restaurant and recognized Weiss. She worked up the courage to approach him and told him how much she loved his show. He asked if she wanted to accompany him to meet up with a friend at Canter’s Deli. She agreed. When they settled into one of the landmark eaterys iconic red, vinyl booths in walked her hero. Tom Waits. What a night. Tom asked Chuck how he and Eleni had met.

“Hebrew school,” he declared.

Here’s a tune from Eleni’s debut album, Wishbone, released in 1999. This is Sylvia.

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From Eleni Mandell’s first album, Wishbone, that was Sylvia.

Under Chuck E. Weiss’ mentorship, produced by Jon Brion and self-financed by Mandell, Wishbone, as well as her next several records, received strong reviews and drew comparisons to Waits and PJ Harvey in style.

Before Weiss mentored Mandell, he hired her as a door person at his club. She said he would test her to see how tough a door person she was by trying to grab money out of her hand. Weiss would continue to mentor Eleni over the years and they’re still friends to this day.

For her fourth album, Mandell shook things up by diving into traditional country. A mix of covers and originals, 2003’s Country For True Lovers is an exciting update to her sound. And one of her life changing moments came full circle. Weiss introduced her to former X guitarist Tony Gilkyson, who produced the project. She also stacked the sessions with all star players, including Nels Cline from Wilco, and another X hero, drummer D.J. Bonebreak.

Eleni continued to mix and mesh genres on her next release, 2004’s Afternoon.

From the No Depression review of that album:

“Last years Country For True Lovers found Los Angeles chanteuse Eleni Mandell turning her sights on twang rather than her previous more PJ Harvey-oriented material, and she received plenty of critical acclaim in the process, sharing the LA Weekly 2003 songwriter of the year award with the late Elliot Smith.”

“On Afternoon, her fifth album, Mandell combines her love of various genres, including country, pop, jazz and rock, to stunning effect. Produced by Joshua Grange, who also lends his considerable talents on guitar, pedal steel, Hammond organ and piano, Afternoon mostly takes the slow and sexy approach. I’ve Been Fooled and Can’t You See Im Soulful give Mandell the chance to show off her breathy but passionate alto, which can devastate in a heartbeat.”

“Mandell does rock out from time to time, as on Easy On Your Way Out, which has a grungy Elvis Costello-gets-on-with-Liz Phair feel to it. I wanna be your afternoon/I want you coming back for more, Mandell sings on the sorta fun/sorta sad title song.”

She can also write catchy singles. Like this song from Afternoon, “Let’s Drive Away.”

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That was Let’s Drive Away from Eleni Mandell’s fifth album, Afternoon, released in 2004. That song was also featured on the TV show, Weeds.

And here comes the challenging part of covering an artist like Eleni Mandell, who’s put out consistently solid albums for over two decades. There’s not enough time to feature all the good stuff she’s produced, but trust me, over her eleven albums, she always delivers. From the diverse shifting sounds of Artificial Fire [play clip] to the smooth and breezy Dark Lights Up [play clip], Eleni whirls a magical combination of jazz, folk, pop, country and rock, with just enough experimental twists to keep everything fresh.

She’s also branched out from her solo artist gig to release two albums with her band The Grabs. The Grabs allows her to exercise more of her pop side and features Eleni on vocals, Blondie bassist Nigel Harrison, and Silversun Pickups’ drummer Elvira Gonzalez.

And, she’s also released records with the Andrews Sisters inspired supergroup, The Living Sisters, with Inara George, Alex Lilly and Becky Stark.

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I’d recommend checking out all of this.

So now that we’ve established that the Eleni Mandell road is paved with the goods, let’s skip ahead to focus on her most recent album: 2019’s Wake Up Again.

Here’s what Eleni and her website have to say about the latest release:

“For two years or thereabouts,” Mandell says, “I taught songwriting at two colleges and a women’s prison.”

The prison gig came about via Jail Guitar Doors, the organization founded by Wayne Kramer, guitarist of the vaunted Detroit band MC5, in partnership with English musician Billy Bragg. “I don’t know why exactly I was drawn to that work,” Mandell says. “But I had a family member who had been in prison in the 1940s. He wasn’t around when I was growing up, but that sort of fascinated me and I was always curious about what kind of person disappears and what kind of person commits crimes — what are they thinking?”

Working with the inmates also provided many epiphanies for her as a person, and proved fertile for her as an artist, as captured in the 11 songs on this album, her 11th studio release. In many ways it’s the culmination and fulfillment of all the strengths as a writer and performer going back to her start under the tutelage of Chuck E. Weiss, Tom Waits and other top chroniclers of people in the shadows.

“I really enjoyed it,” she says. “I was inspired by the stories, and surprised by the laughter I heard there. And I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I was, by how many different kinds of people were there: teachers, lawyers, nurses, and also people who grew up in poverty.”

Here’s a song about one of the woman she met during those songwriting classes she taught. This is Evelyn.

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Evelyn from Eleni Mandell’s most recent album, Wake Up Again. Another great addition to her expansive, impressive catalog. The album is filled with rich character studies and deeply personal self-examinations.

Her early Tom Waits inspiration continues to ignite and propel her, even after 11 albums. Only now she can call Tom a longtime friend.

And she went from obsessive punk rock X fan to counting a member of X as a member of her own band. What a cool, thrilling ride she’s had so far. Eleni Mandell.

References and other stuff:

Eleni interview with Luxury Wagers

Eleni interview with Mr. Bonzai

Eleni interview with Tyler Pollard on Timeline

The bio from Eleni’s current website has a great write up on her most recent album and I quote from it in the episode.

No Depression review of Afternoon that I quote in the episode

Here is the original bio from Eleni’s old website that is now archived. I also quote from this

Eleni has been featured on NPR segments over the years. I did not use anything directly from these, but they are good and informative

Pop Matter review of Dark Lights Up

Good L.A. Times article about Eleni teaching songwriting to female inmates and her latest album

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fanficsrusz · 5 years

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Lure The Baba Yaga Part One - John Wick mini series

A/n: this was requested by anon. It's going to be two parts and its an angsty fic because who doesn't love to have their heart wrenched out 😂😂 anyway, i hope this is what you wanted when you requested it 😅

Summary: John and y/n were friends untill John went missing. After many years, y/n soon finds him but his job will put her in danger.

Masterlist

___________

John Wick was a man of mystery. He was there in a flash and gone in a sound.

Most people feared him, avoided his path at all costs, scared of what might happen if they came face to face with the Baba Yaga.

Many people knew him for his skill set, how deadly he was with his bare hands alone.

However, y/n knew him as the boy who always saved her a seat on the school bus, always shared his cookies with her in the canteen, always helped her with her homework.

Y/n had known John since she was about 13, having gone to school with him. They were best friends and did everything together.

As the pair grew up, it was inevitable that one was going to fall for the other and y/n had drawn the short straw in that challenge.

She had remembered the day she fell for him exactly, the way he sat on his bed studying, his hair messy and his soul pure, it was such a simple moment but he meant so much to her.

She felt her heart skip a beat and that's all she needed for her to fall for him.

She had tried to shake away the feelings she had found for the boy, scared that she might ruin the relationship they had built over the years, but the feelings never left, no matter how hard she tried.

How would they when he was her Knight in shining armour who defended her from the bullies and looked out for her every day of her life.

On his 18th birthday, y/n had finally mustered up enough courage to tell him how she felt. She had made a photo album for him, made of various pictures of them together along with a letter detailing her feelings for him.

When she made it to his house, she was heartbroken to find that he was not there. Nothing was there. He had gone, left her without saying a single world.

Y/n waited for him to return. She searched for him, even called the police asking if they knew anything, but no one could give her the answers she wanted. Her heart yearned to have him back, if not as a lover but as a friend, her only friend.

4 years later and y/n had finally found him.

She saw him sitting on a bench in the park, her heart skipped a beat and she felt tears burn her eyes.

She wanted to run up to him and slap him for leaving her without a word and then kiss him because she missed him so badly.

"John" her voice was barely audible but he had managed to hear her.

She saw how he visible stiffened as he recognised her voice and he slowly turned.

He looked the same but somehow different. His once lovable eyes were now replaced with anger and rage for the world, like he knew the secrets which hid behind the facade of rainbows and sunlight.

He no longer dressed in the baggy shirt and shorts like he did in school, but in a 3 piece suit which screamed power.

This wasn't y/n's john.

"y/n?" his voice was cold and his eyes widened as his past came back to haunt him. He took in her appearance and how little she had changed since he had left her.

In all honesty, he didn't want to leave her all those years ago but his life was meant for something else.

John swallowed, trying to get rid of the lump that formed in his throat as he scrambled to stand in front of y/n, not being able to compose himself like THEY had taught him to. How could he pretend to be something else to y/n?

"John is this really you?" her hand shook as she reached out to touch his face, scared that he might disappear when she finally touched him.

John leaned into her touch, he had missed the feeling of her soft warm hands against his cold skin.

"yes. It's me, it's your giant" y/n laughed at the nickname she had given his all those years ago. As he spoke, she saw how the act of this tough guy broke and she could begin to see the real John peek through.

"where did you go?" she asked quietly and john pulled her to sit next to him on the bench.

"why did you leave me, John?." y/n's voice broke slightly as the tears threaten to fall as the anxiety, self-loaf and despair came rushing back. For so long she had blamed herself for john leaving, thinking she had done something wrong.

John held her hand in his, the size difference noticeable as he squeezed it reassuringly.

"y/n, you know who my father is. You know why i had to leave". John sounded defeated as he spoke and y/n sighed.

Of course she knew why he went, she just didn't want it to be true, she wanted him to have better.

Y/n was the only person john trusted to tell about the underground world of mafia bosses and assassins; the world that John was now apart of.

"so…do you-um- kill people?" y/n tried to joke but john could see that she was scared, scared of him.

The one person who he never wanted to hurt was afraid of him. He could tell by the way her grip tightened in his hand, the way she shifted awkwardly as she sat and more obviously, the way she couldn't bare to look him in the eyes.

"yes. I kill people, but they're the bad guys, people who deserve it"

He couldn't lie to her, even if it meant hurting her. Maybe he wanted to hurt her, that way she would be scared away and she would be safe.

He watched as y/n thought for a few seconds before a smile was etched on her face.

"john, i know i should be scared of you, but I know you, the real you. I know you will never hurt me so i'm not scared-"

That was a lie

"-I'm just glad you're back. I missed you giant"

That was the truth.

The next month was spent with john coming and going at all different hours of the day. Sometimes he would come with food and sometimes he would come with deep wounds that y/n would clean for him.

It was 3am, john was at y/n's doorstep blooded and close to death.

He had come to her with worse injuries before but it still scared her to see him so badly hurt.

Between her shaky hands and her practically passing out from the stress, it was more like john was taking care of her, but he had managed to talk her through the simple process of stitching him up.

"why did you come to me to stitch you up? You should have gone to someone professional" y/n ran her hand over her face, a small amount of john's blood now on her cheek.

John shrugged and struggled to stand.

"you're the only one I trust enough at the moment". Y/n froze as she felt her heart swell at the words he spoke so easily.

John moved to sit next to her on the sofa, a small hiss escaping his lips as he pulled at the stitches.

Y/n leaned her head on his shoulder once he got comfortable and she reached out for his hand, tangling them together. She closed her eyes as she relaxed next to him, pretending that they were both careless teenagers again.

That's when y/n felt it underneath her grasp, the cold metal of a ring on his finger. Opening her eyes she took in the sight of a gold wedding ring on his finger and her heart sank.

"john?" she called out as she lifted their still enlaced hands to take a better look at it.

John looked at her confused and she just stared at the ring, unable to form words and hoping he would just understand.

John looked at y/n and how her eyes were glazed over, her attention on his finger. Flicking his eyes to their hands, he felt guilt wash over him.

"Oh don't be mad but im married. It will be 4 months soon".

Y/n wasn't mad, just saddened. Saddened because he didn't think to tell her and saddened that she never got the chance to tell him how she truly felt.

She forced a smile onto her face as she coaxed herself into being happy for John, it's the least he deserved.

"I'm not mad, I'm so happy. Tell me all about her. How did you meet?"

Y/n noticed how his previous stiff demeanor was gone and replaced with a relaxed and happy one as he spoke about his wife.

y/n zoned out as he spoke, unable to focus on his words as her heart broke into millions of pieces.

She only nodded as he spoke, picking up a few things about her. Her name, Helen and that he loved her.

She had lost her second chance at telling him how she felt, but she was not going to lose john for a second time so she decided to bite the bullet and smile.

She repeated the same sentence in her mind, 'do it for him'

"she sounds lovely, john. I'm so happy for you" she hugged john a little to hard as she congratulated him but he didn't have to be a trained assassin to tell when y/n was lying, she was his best friend for many years and he still cared about her.

Maybe he cared a little too much about her.

After an hour of talking, john had left her to go back home and y/n finally let herself completely relax.

Y/n watched as john drove away in the pouring rain, the downfall hiding her own tears. She lifted her hand as she waved goodbye to john and possibly any chance of her calling him hers.

Y/n let out a sigh of relief as she saw him turn the corner and she was once again alone.

Y/n moved to walk away, wanting nothing more than to go back to bed so she could forget about the pain in her chest, but something caught her attention. Someone was moving outside.

The rain and lack of light made it hard to make out a clear image. She squinted to try and get a better look, confused as to who would be standing outside in the rain at 4am.

The longer she stared, the more detail she could make out. It was a man, very tall and wielding a gun in hand, the metal of it glinting in the pale moonlight.

Anyone would be scared if they saw a man outside with a gun but Knowing of the world that John was involved in made things worse, y/n was petrified.

Y/n was frozen in place, not knowing what to do. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone, quickly dialling johns number. He would know what to do.

A pounding at the door stopped her from pressing the call button and she jumped. Looking back out the window she could no longer see the figure and her stress level was through the roof.

A loud voice soon broke the silence.

"Let me in" she recognised the voice that echoed through the wooden door and y/n let out a breath of relief. It was John's voice.

Jogging over to the door, she flung it open ready to tell him about the strange man across the street.

"John. Thank God, there was a-"

Her breath caught in her throat as she didn't recognise who was at the door. It wasn't john.

A tall burly man with blonde hair and dressed in a suit stood before her, a smirk on his face and a recorder in hand.

Y/n couldn't comprehend what was going on, she had heard johns voice. So where was he?

The man rewinded the recorder before pressing the play button. The familiar voice of john saying "let me in" came from the device.

"I would have thought John told you to always check who was at the door before opening it. It's a shame really, i was hoping i could find Helen and get to john that way. But you will do just fine, y/n. You see, the baba yaga is weak when it comes to those he cares about, meaning we can kill him"

Y/n stared at him as she gulped, trying to decide what she should do.

Without a moment hesitation she tried to push the door shut, but the man was quicker as he pushed him way in.

Y/n's legs burned as she pushed herself to run through the house and away from the intruder.

Y/n felt a pressure in her leg, stopping her in her tracks as pain shot through her body. The echo of a gunshot drowned out by her beating heart loud in her ears.

She fell to the ground in agony, a scream escaping from her mouth as blood began to pool around her. She looked down at her thigh which was now covered in blood, her fast pulse speeding up the process of her bleeding out. Her hands shook as she grazed over the wound.

The shouts of a man speaking in a foreign language pulled her out of her daze and her adrenaline pushed her to continue to move, to escape.

She tried to stand, the pain unbearable but the risk of being caught was far worse than the pain she was experiencing.

Limping, she moved to the back door, hoping to escape and get someone's help.

She was inches from it, escape was within her grasp but luck was not in her favour.

Her hair was yanked back with force and she was pulled to the ground.

She let out a scream as her leg twisted awkwardly from the counter force.

The man stood above her and looked down pitifully.

"you shouldn't have run. You made me shoot you and the boss is not going to be happy about receiving damaged goods"

"please" she sobbed out "what do you want from me? I can give you money if you want. Please just let me go" the man laughed deeply at her futile efforts of bargaining.

"we want John and you will bring him right to us".

Y/n let out a whimper as her hopes of waking up from the nightmare slipped away.

"so i'm sorry i have to do this but we need to move this along. This may hurt" The man offered her a genuine apologetic smile before delivering one swift punch to y/n's face, rendering her unconscious and at the mercy of this man.

Tbc

____

Taglist (just ask to be tagged)

@gwenebear @celestiaelisia @blondieee-me @harrisongslimited

#john wick #keanu reeves #keanu reeves x reader #john wick imagine #john wick x reader #john wick x you #keanu reeves x you #john wick oc #keanucharlesreeves #john wick series #john wick au #john wick headcanon #John wick x you #John wick oc

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mccoys-killer-queen · 4 years

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Here it is- this week’s playlist (1/31)

My attempt at a so called “radio show” where I recommend 10 songs to everyone. Take it or leave it, I’ll still do this either way lmao.

This week I gotta start off with some of my more obvious picks. There’s gonna be a lot of feel-good songs, as this is my first time doing this, and wanna start off strong. Plus, most of my all time favorites are feel-good songs.

Links to the songs are provided!

1.) I Don’t Want To Lose You- REO Speedwagon (1988) Okay, let’s get these guys out of the way first. As you all probably know by now, I’m the biggest sucker for REO on the planet, and I do believe I know I am the entirety of their fandom on this website. Some of the first music I ever remember hearing was by these guys, and even though you’re all probably sick of me talking about them, give this quick song a try to start things off. It’s super strong, and it BOPS- PERIOD. Today I had to pick up my sister and had this blasted the whole way there. This one is the leading song off of REO’s 1988 greatest hits album, and was made/included as a bonus track for it..

2.) Rockin’ Into the Night- 38 Special (1979) I feel like this list would be incomplete without including the first song I can recall ever listening to. My mother would normally drive me and my sisters to wherever she went when I was a toddler, and she’d always play her CDs in the car. One in particular that was circulated a lot was her 20th Century Masters: 38 Special disc. It was played so often that little me in the car seat behind her had it glued to the inside of my brain so early in life. I can’t say why I remember this song in particular as the “first one ever”, but I probably think it’s because of the over enunciated and consistent line of stressed syllables in the chorus. That ROCK-IN-IN-TO-THE-NIGHT just sounded like pure gibberish to a 3 year old. I guess it fascinated me somehow.

3.) Roll Away the Stone- Mott the Hoople (1973)

So far on this list, I’ve only included songs from my distant past. This song, I’ve only gotten into within the past two years (and that goes for Mott in general), so to me, it’s still a song from my very recent present. This is by far my favorite Mott song, cos it’s just so joyful, hopeful and fun (not to mention it has a nice, bright, mellow, catchy 70s vibe. Kind of half-hippie, if you will). That opening riff is undeniable. I feel like you guys will like this song apart from the others on this list- it gives off some energy that I feel will fit a lot of people I know on here. This song is definitely the odd man out on this week’s list.

4.) Sad Songs (Say So Much)- Elton John (1984) Ah, Elton. How do you pick only one song by him? I only picked this one because it was probably the only good thing that came out of my first job. I worked at a department store, and heard the same 50 songs EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. I’d never heard of this when I started working there, but in due time, it was just about the only thing I had to look forward to every day in that job besides going home. It’s a real 80′s-sounding anthem about “suffering enough to write it down” in which he and Bernie really capture the universal feeling of shoveling sad songs into your ongoing dumpster fire of sadness.

5.) Shakin’- Eddie Money (1982)

I was deeply hurt by this wonderful man’s passing in September of 2019, and still find it hard to believe. I grew up on some of Eddie’s hits and hardly ever knew it until very recent years, and, like many, I wish he had more time with us. It’s songs like this one that act like a cage and trap the memory of any wonderful time, making Eddie still very much alive. This song was definitely my summer anthem of last year, and I feel like upon listening to it, y’all will suddenly feel like it’s a hot summer evening, you’re in love, and you’re heading out for a good drive. Eddie’s music lets the good times roll, indeed.

6.) My Kinda Lover- Billy Squier (1981) I know my followers really like The Dirt, and I watched it again this week, so I had to include one of the few non-Crue songs from the movie. This song was used when Vince is singing at the pool party, and the Crue guys meet him. This is one of those songs where when I willingly listened to it for the first time, I went “wait, that’s THIS song??” Of course I’ve heard this before, but I never knew the name of it, or who it was by. It’s such a swinging, confident, bold, happy song about sticking with your lover because you just can’t see yourself doing anything else. Fucking adorable, and catchy as all fuck. Probably in my top 3 out of everything on this list. Someone on this site recently said that Billy Squier deserves more love on here- and I AGREE.

7.) Urgent- Foreigner (1981) This song doesn’t just bop, or bang, but it grooves. That sax just hits you in the best spot, the bass is just uGh- so good, and I can’t stop myself from busting a move at least a little bit whenever this comes on. Yes, this song is very horny, but it does it so so poetically, maturely, and it does it in all seriousness. This seriousness, I feel, is partly because it’s about a relationship between two people that is purely for the passion, but both parties believe that their lust for each other is always of the utmost urgency. What a topic for a song! Great song about a bad relationship.

8.) Photograph- Def Leppard (1983) Duh. Of course Leppard was gonna come in here sooner or later. And I know, I’m starting off with a cliche Leppard song, but this one also just so happens to be my second most favorite song of all time. A fast-paced, tragic anthem of being in love with a photograph because the real person is either dead or not real. Maybe it hits a little too close to home, being in the classic rock fandom and all, but you can’t deny that this song just SLAMS in every way imaginable. Booming guitars, earth-shattering drums, tragic lyrics, and every time Joe screams in this, I just fall in love even more. Not to mention the backing vocals are to DIE for.

9.) Hammer to Fall- Queen (1984) Also duh. You want a song that gives off Queen’s Big Dick Energy? Here ya go. I personally never heard of this song until I saw Bohemian Rhapsody in theaters, but boy, am I glad I did. This is one of those Queen songs where you can clearly say “boy, this ROCKS”. Definitely one of Queen’s more mature songs, but in the best of ways. They just scream it flat out for you, “What the hell we fighting for?!” For me, Roger’s drums are the best part of this one. Hits a huge crowd through lyrics as well as the huge rock and roll energy it gives off. Truly a Live Aid-worthy song.

10.) Only the Young- Journey (1985) I’m ending this list with this song because it really gets my excitement up a lot. Every time that intro hits me, I just feel like sprinting up a fucking mountain, across a huge bridge, or through a wide open space. This one really makes me feel like I’m running to something that I’m really excited about, or heading on an exciting adventure. It gives off that 80s energy of having more power to the youth of the generation, talking about how they’re a “generation waiting for dawn”, even after the “golden age” that preceded them that they’re expected to live up to. They’re also called brave because they have to live through the promises and lies that they “dare to tell”. In a time with so much hate towards the younger generations, I think it’s important to remember an empowering song like this. Get that excitement up, take pride in your young generation- “the bold and the strong”- and go sprint up a fucking mountain. This one’s also the first track off Journey’s 1988 greatest hits album.

Even if you take the time to listen to one of these songs, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed!

#half of these songs are pretty short anyhow #reo speedwagon #38 special #mott the hoople #elton john #eddie money #billy squier #foreigner #def leppard #queen #journey #classic rock #weekly playlists #raydio gaga

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thedollarcrate · 4 years

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50 Best Albums (That I Own on Vinyl) of the Decade

It’s hard to comprehend how much transpires over the course of a decade or wrap your head around how long (or short) of time that really is.

But what better way to try than to make a list!

Now, I know “Best of” lists like this one are inherently subjective – and probably say more about their maker’s preferences than actually reflecting the best music released in a particular time period. And, I’ll be the first to admit that the list below is incredibly limited, and that I need to widen my exposure to more artists and genres.

But hey, this is all in fun.

So feel free to debate, pick apart or share your own favorite albums from the past decade. But before you dive in, just a few quick points for context:

-I only ranked albums I actually own on vinyl released between 2010 and 2019, which limited my choices to about 170 records.

-I only ranked new music released this past decade, so no reissues or older material released for the first time (sorry Prince’s Piano & A Microphone and Originals).

-I first started buying vinyl around ’09-’10 and started off purchasing mostly new releases before my habits shifted and I started looking for older records. This shows in the list below – nearly a quarter of the albums below were released in 2010 and almost 70% from the first half of the decade.

And we’re off…

50. Centipede Hz, Animal Collective (2012)

Let’s be honest, it was impossible for Animal Collective to top a universally acclaimed and era-defining album – and it was unfair to expect them to. But maybe the continuous onslaught of bizarre and eclectic music found on Centipede Hz was just what we needed after all.

49. Singles, Future Islands (2014)

So much more than Sam Herring’s pelvis busting dance moves and “Seasons (Waiting On You),” every track on Singlesbursts with life and heart pumping ��energy. To quote Letterman: I’ll take all of that you got.

48. Paul’s Tomb: A Triumph, Frog Eyes (2010)

I don’t think I’ll ever understand Carey Mercer’s lyrics, but I’m certain I’ll never tire of getting lost in his hidden words and knotty melodies.

47. Leaving Atlanta, Gentleman Jesse (2012)

Thirty seven minutes of Pure Power Pop Perfection (note the capital “Ps”).

46. Burst Apart, The Antlers (2011)

If there’s another album with a song titled “Putting the Dog to Sleep” that is as haunting and beautiful as this one, I don’t want to know about it.

45. Carrion Crawler/The Dream, Thee Oh Sees (2011)

With John Dwyer churning out record after record in the ‘10s, it should come as no surprise that at least one landed on this list (and they’re all great). Garage rock. Surf rock. Post-punk rock. Psych rock. Noise rock. Rock rock. I don’t care what you call it, Thee Oh Sees put the pedal to the metal on Carrion Crawler/The Dream, taking you for a wild ride that never lets up.

44. 1989, Taylor Swift (2014)

Irresistibly catchy, everyone needs to satisfy their pop sweet tooth every now and then. 1989 is so sugary, it might just give you a cavity or two.

43. City Music, Kevin Morby (2017)

The city. The countryside. A beach. Aboard a train. At the pearly gates. It doesn’t matter where you listen to City Music because Kevin Morby’s jams will immediately transport you to your own laid back, happy place.

42. Remind Me Tomorrow, Sharon Van Etten (2019)

You’ll regret it if you keep waiting to listen this powerhouse – and powerful – synth-soaked record.

41. You Want It Darker, Leonard Cohen (2016)

It doesn’t get much darker, bleaker or sparse than this, but I wouldn’t want it any other way from the masterful Leonard Cohen.

40. American Dream, LCD Soundsystem (2017)

Retirement never sounded so good.

39. Capacity, Big Thief (2017)

Quietly captivating, mesmerizing and elegant, Big Thief knock you out without you even realizing it.

38. St. Vincent, St. Vincent (2014)

Annie Clark’s shapeshifting album won’t only shred your face off, it somehow makes you feel smarter, too.

37. Before Today, Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti (2010)

So, so weird and so, so good.

36. Expo 86, Wolf Parade (2010)

Like #50, Wolf Parade might always live in the shadow and expectations of a towering classic, yet somehow Spencer Krug and Dan Boeckner still continually craft eccentric and bombastic rock albums. Expo 86 is no exception, and it is an underrated classic in its own right.

35. Golden Hour, Kacey Musgraves (2018)

Like a sunset or sunrise, Golden Hour radiates beauty and warmth with each of its glowing tracks.

34. Yuck, Yuck (2011)

Despite their name and its hideous album cover, there’s nothing gross about Yuck’s infectious indie rock.

33. Play It Strange, The Fresh & Onlys (2010)

I once saw The Fresh & Onlys play at a tiny club in D.C. It might’ve been the loudest show I’ve ever been to – my ears rang for days. This record is just as rollicking, hazy and good as that show was loud.

32. Natalie Prass, Natalie Prass (2015)

There’s a reason “Welcome to 1979” is stamped in tiny letters on this vinyl’s inner ring – it’s silky smooth, filled with impeccable soft ballads and finely tuned jams – and just a tinge of funk.

31. I Am Easy To Find, The National (2019)

Few bands matched the consistent output of quality albums in the ‘10s as The National. They had one heck of a run, and I Am Easy To Find was a fascinating way to end it – a 21st rock album that felt more complex and expansive than anything they’d done before.

30. Melodrama, Lorde (2018)

Everything a pop record should be and then some – bold, breathtaking and exuberant.

29. Just Enough Hip To Be Woman, Broncho (2014)

If you can’t tell from its playful title, this pop rock album wants nothing more than to have fun – and it succeeds on every level.

28. Avi Buffalo, Avi Buffalo (2010)

Sometimes all you want is a light, sunny and meandering album to wash over you and get lost in, and this one will do the trick every time.

27. Hippies, Harlem (2010)

Imagine a band practicing inside a garage inside a garage inside another garage and you’ve got Harlem. This is garage rock to the max – and at its rambunctious best.

26. Puberty 2, Mitski (2016)

It’s hard to describe Puberty 2. Sure, it might sound like simple dreamy indie rock, but it ebbs and flows in unexpected ways that leaves you guessing where it’s heading next.

25. mbv, My Bloody Valentine (2013)

Picking up right where they left off – even if it was more than a decade later – My Bloody Valentine reminded everyone why they are the masters of reverb soaked shoegaze.

24. A Moon Shaped Pool, Radiohead (2016)

Even after all these years and albums, Radiohead still found a way to reinvent themselves and push the boundaries of rock music – and our expectations of them. With gorgeous arrangements and slow-burning, tension filled tracks, AMSP proves that even Radiohead can still take risks – and proves rock bands can make quiet, intimate songs sound epic. Oh yeah, and it has “True Love Waits.”

23. Art Angels, Grimes (2015)

Grimes gave us the future of pop music before most could even envision it. This laid the groundwork for all the challenging and intricate – and danceable – pop music that would follow. And it still sounds ahead of its time.

22. Meet Me At The Muster Station, PS I Love You (2010)

The first sounds out of Paul Saulnier’s mouth on Meet Me At The Munster Station aren’t words at all but two short, ecstatic yelps. And this same boundless energy and passion bleeds through on every fuzzy, raucous second of every track. Did I mention there’s a song called “Butterflies & Boners”?

21. More Than Any Other Day, Ought (2014)

You really ought to listen to Ought if you aren’t already. Tim Darcy and co. sound a bit uneasy, paranoid and self-aware, but they make the most minute challenges sound so exhilarating and life-altering – even the struggle deciding between two percent and whole milk at the grocery store.

20. Lemonade, Beyoncé (2017)

All hail Queen Bey.

19. Twin-Hand Movement, Lower Dens (2010)

This album sounds like 2 am on a dark, rainy Saturday night – in the best way imaginable.

18. Tomboy, Panda Bear (2011)

You can always count on Panda Bear to make hypnotic, loopy electronic music sound so breezy and effortless.

17. Modern Vampires Of The City, Vampire Weekend (2013)

I don’t know why, but I want to dislike Vampire Weekend so much. But that’s impossible when their music is so damn good and every note sounds so neat and perfect.

16. Past Life Martyred Saints, EMA (2011)

Just do yourself and listen to this album please.

15. The Archandroid, Janelle Monáe (2010)

Blending too many genres to count, this is what I imagine music sounds like in space.

14. Carrie & Lowell, Sufjan Stevens (2015)

I’ll let you know how I feel about this one after I stop crying.

13. The Suburbs, Arcade Fire (2010)

It’s everything you either love or hate about Arcade Fire. Grand, sincere and sweeping rock that swings for the fences with every guitar chord, drumbeat and horn blast. I love it.

12. Silence Yourself, Savages (2013)

Savages grab you by the throat and never let go – this is one intense album.

11. Helplessness Blues, Fleet Foxes (2011)

This might be the epitome of ‘10s indie rock – and for good reason. Introspective, sensitive and searching for some greater meaning, Robin Pecknold holds nothing back and lays it all out on Helplessness Blues.

10. Kaputt, Destroyer (2011)

Dan Bejar is an enigma and seemingly reluctant rock star. I saw him perform an acoustic set where he spent a majority of the time playing with his back towards the audience (although in fairness, it was at a free outdoor show on a college campus with people mostly chatting obnoxiously over him), and yet it’s as if his creativity requires him to constantly release new albums and show them off. Kaputt is as equally strange and mysterious – and just as creative – as its maker.

9. Black Star, David Bowie (2016)

Take away the heartbreaking circumstances surrounding this album’s release and it would still be in the top tier of David Bowie’s extensive catalogue. Experimenting until the very end, Bowie morphed into something entirely new one last time. Part jazz, part rock and part I’m not sure what you would call it, the results were once again out of this world. He couldn’t give it all away, but we’re sure thankful for what he could.

8. Bon Iver, Bon Iver (2011)

Shedding the cabin in the woods vibe, Justin Vernon took a giant leap forward with Bon Iver and made ‘80s soft rock popular.

7. Celebration Rock, Japandroids (2012)

Perhaps the most aptly named album on this list, no other album exudes the joy of making music and rocking out with your buddy than this one. It’s hard to believe all that noise and energy comes from just two people.

6. Burn Your Fire For No Witness, Angel Olsen (2014)

Angel Olsen’s hypnotic and seductive vocals, lyrics and guitar suck you in immediately, mesmerizing you from the first gentle strums to the peaks and valleys of “Lights Out” and “Stars” all the way to the closer’s pulsing drumbeats and majestic piano.

5. Black Messiah, D'Angelo And The Vanguard (2015)

Oozing with cool, sexy and confident R&B funk, D’Angelo returned after 14 years with an instant soul masterpiece.

4. The Monitor, Titus Andronicus (2010)

It says a lot when a band can a.) make an hour plus punk rock record b.) loosely base it on the Civil War c.) quote Abraham Lincoln d.) close it out with a 14 minute track inspired by a famous naval battle and e.) still make you want to listen to it over and over and over again.

3. Lost In The Dream, The War On Drugs (2014)

The rare album that can feel vast and ambitious and yet deeply private and personal all at once. You really will get lost in these soaring songs.

2. Halcyon Digest, Deerhunter (2010)

At times perfectly melodic and structured and at others feeling on the brink of falling apart, Halcyon Digest is a paradox – sounding peaceful, bright and idyllic while also peering over the edge into something darker. This is a remarkable record from a remarkable band. If not for the abrupt end to the darkly beautiful closer “He Would Have Laughed,” Halcyon Digest sounds like it could go on forever.

1. Let England Shake, PJ Harvey (2011)

A stunning, thought-provoking, and moving – not to mention endlessly listenable – transcendent piece of art about life and the Great War. PJ Harvey doesn’t hold back on the brutality and absurdity of armed conflict, and the album’s devastating closing track – “The Colour of the Earth” – will linger in your mind long after the record stops spinning. As powerful today as it was eight years ago, this album will remain timely and important for years – and decades – to come.

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rogertaylorxoxo · 4 years

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Idols

Summary: you bring your little boy to meet his idols after a concert and you meet Roger for the first time.

August 28th 1976

Warnings: Angst?? 😅

Your POV

I couldn't believe that this was finally happening. Daniel my son was finally going to meet Queen. He is only 4 years old and practically only watches queen concerts and listen to queen records. He just knows who they are.

I had managed to buy 2 backstage tickets for one of their shows and I swear I was most excited for Daniel than he is. I had brought my camera because I desperately needed a photo with him and the members go hang up in his room.

Daniel has brought along his drumstick that his dad had bought him so he could play along too the music during the concert. This little kid had the time of his life air drumming.

We walked passed security after showing them our backstage passes and they showed us the way to get to wherever we were going to meet them.

"Oh! Are you y/n and Daniel?" A man asked as he walked towards us.

"Yes, we are!"

"Great! You can follow me and I'll take you to meet the boys. I'm Richard by the way nice to meet you" He put out his hand and I shook it and then gave a high five too Daniel before we could follow him down a long corridor.

There was a bunch of girls around. Probably groupies. Hope they weren't going to be in the room while we were going in there cause that would scar my son for life.

Richard knocked on a door and then opened it peeking in first before speaking "is alright if I bring your guests in?" There was nothing to be heard and I instantly thought they were going to kick us out until Richard opened the door allowing us in "boys this is y/n and her son who is apparently a big fan, Daniel"

"Hello! It's nice to meet you, darling," Freddie said kissing my cheek which surprised me "and this is Daniel?"

"It is. Daniel look- who is that?" I pointed towards Freddie and he stared at him before a huge smile could form on his face.

"Freddie Murray!" He exclaimed when he finally noticed who it was. I let out a laugh at the fact he couldn't say his last name and how excited he got in just a second.

"Can I hold him?" Freddie asks me

"Daniel, do you wanna go to Freddie?" You asked him and he instantly reached out leaving my arms something he never does to anyone.

"Hi I'm Brian," Brian said shaking my hand with a smile "and that's John and Roger"

I noticed Roger completely zoned out just staring at me with his mouth slightly opened and John came up and shook my hand after Brian introduced me.

"Hi I'm Roger it's nice to meet you," I heard from behind which made me jump a little "sorry! I didn't mean to scare you. Your y/n?"

"That's my name. It's good too finally meet you" I shook his hand. His eyes never left me and I took the chance to notice how beautiful his eyes were. It was like looking through the glass and seeing the blue ocean "do you mind if I take a picture? It's something I want to hang up in his room," I said snapping out off my thoughts and turning back towards a happy looking Daniel.

"Come on boys get in the shot!" Freddie said and the boys followed his orders as I pulled out the camera from my handbag and holding it up.

I took the photo which let out a bright flash and then thanked them and put the camera back in my purse. It was all I needed to keep Daniel memory alive with me.

"Would you like a seat?" Roger asks as he gestured towards a two-seated couch

"I wouldn't mind. Thank you" I took a seat on the couch and watched the other boys do the same and Freddie resting Daniel on his lap.

Roger sat next to me putting an arm around me and crossing his legs. He just made a move on me. Very smooth.

"How long has he been a fan?" Brian asked.

"For as long as I could remember. When my husband brought your guy's first album, Daniel would have been around 5 months at the time. The song when the night comes down was the only thing that would put him to sleep. As he got older he would only ever ask to watch recorded concerts or interviews and it's the only thing that makes him happy"

"You're Married?" Roger asks making me look at him who now kinda had a sad-looking face.

"Used too. He died about a year ago," I said sadly.

"Oh, I'm so sorry I didn't mean too-"

"No!" I said cutting off Roger "it's alright. Don't apologise" He flashed me a small but sympathetic smile.

"Daniel is the only thing that I have of memory of him but that won't last very long," I said almost on the verge of tears while staring at Daniel, Freddie and Brian who were bonding. John was out of the room somewhere who knows where "Daniel got diagnosed with Leukaemia 6 months ago. I don't understand he is such a happy boy, I mean look at him

Roger turned his head and looked towards Daniel "he is very happy- oh no please don't cry!" He whispered, trying not to bring any unnecessary attention towards me.

"I'm just happy that he got to meet the four off you. That's all he has ever wanted"

"Is he going to be alright?" He asks

"Doctors say because he is young things can happen so fast that it could be soon that any moment he could be taken away from me," a single tear rolled down my cheek.

I felt Roger's thumb wipe it off my cheek making me look at him with surprise "sorry I couldn't help myself"

"It's alright. Probably better if no one else saw," I chuckled and looked down "I wish his father was still here. That way he would be happy and didn't have to live a one-bedroom apartment of having a mother who can't financially support him"

I have no idea why I was telling my whole life story to Roger it was just spilling out. I felt like I could trust him from the moment I laid eyes on him. Who knows why.

"You can't financially support Daniel?"

"Before my husband died. We were almost on the verge of a divorce because I found out he had a secret girlfriend who he two kids with. Well, he kicked me out and took all my money and sent me away with nothing. When he died he left Daniel nothing everything went to his other kids which broke my heart yet I still loved him. Even though he treated us wrong. And I'm sure Daniel does too because he is still convinced that his Daddy is going to come home. I don't have the heart to tell him that it is never going to happy.

He had a tight grip and calloused fingers which slighting grazed upon my skin. It felt kinda nice, to be honest.

"I don't think I want you to understand what it feels like- I'm sorry I came here for Daniel to be happy yet I'm talking about my problems with a famous person," I scoffed

"Hey, talking about it may be a good thing you know. Besides I could listen to you talk for years- I mean I could listen too you talk for as long as you want" his cheeks started forming a shade of red making me giggle a bit. Seriously what was happening? "You know what. We're going to be London for a few more days why don't we go out for a coffee?"

"Like a date?"

"Only if you want it to be," he said with a smirk.

"A date it is then. Do you want my number?" He immediately handed me a pen that magically just came out off his shirt pocket and took a napkin from the coffee table and handed it to me. I quickly scribble down my number and my name and passed it back to him "call me and we can figure out a time- speaking of time we should be heading off because Daniel is going to get cranky if he stays up any longer"

I stood up and fixed my dress as Roger stood up as well. I walked over to the other boys and struggled a bit to get Daniel away from them but it worked once I bribed him with sweets. Always seems to do the trick.

"Thank you, boys, so much. This means so much to both of us- and your concert was amazing by the way!" I said as I pick up Daniel on the floor and hold him on my hip.

"It was very nice too meet the both of you. Daniel is such a Darling. And thank you for coming along," Freddie said.

We said our goodbyes to the three boys remaining in the room and then we headed off back home.

***

two years later (1978)

It's almost been two years since I have met Roger and we hit it off quite well. The day after I gave him my number he called and we went out for coffee. After that, we started seeing each other a lot and now we were officially together and it's been great.

Roger made me move into his apartment which consisted off 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. Daniel was loving his new bed but I hard time being away from him but Roger has always comforted me and made sure I was alright.

I guess you could say that Roger has been a father towards Daniel ever since we got together. They always do things together and it's almost like a new father and son bond.

I have left Daniel at the hospital where he was getting his treatment done. Sadly they wouldn't let me stay so they made me come home and will give me a ring 20 minutes before he is finished.

I opened the door of the apartment and the first thing I see is Roger sitting on the couch with his feet up on the coffee table scrolling through the different

"aren't you meant to be at the studio?" I ask as I put my handbag down and taking off my coat.

"I have a break so I decided to come home and say hello. Where Daniel?" I kissed him on the lips as I sit down next to him; putting my feet up towards one side.

"Remember he has his treatment today. Before you ask the doctors didn't let me stay and said they'll call me 20 minutes before he could finish," I said while he wrapped his arm around me holding me in his embrace.

"That leaves some time doesn't it?"

"For?" I ask dragging out the 'or'

In a swift movement, he managed to get me on my back so that he could get on top of me. Out of habit, I wrapped my arms around his neck.

"You, my love need a stress reliever" he started kissing down from my cheek to my neck and continue his way down to my cleavage "and I'm going to give it too you"

"Thank god I'm wearing a dress hm?" I ran my fingers through his hair as he grazed his lips over my neck making a little sigh slip out my mouth. I missed his long hair, kinda wish he never cut it but he did it with Daniel when the cut his hair, so I guess it's kinda worth it.

"Makes my job a lot easier," he mumbled against my skin as his fingers trailed up under my dress.

"Roger stops that tickles," I giggle at the feeling of his fingers on my inner thighs which is my ticklish spot which makes everything more difficult for him "NO! STOP IT!" I cried out trying to stop his hand from above my dress.

He kept trying to tickle me which sent me into a fit of laughers and weird movements like kicking my feet and using my hands to push him off me but he was also having the time of his life since he was laughing too.

I grabbed his face and pulled his lips onto mine which instantly made him stop tickling me and bring his hand to my face "you are so Adorable when you laugh," he said

"Making me laugh is for another time but-" I grabbed his either side of his collar and brought him down so that our lips were only a breath away "I'm in the mood for something else"

Roger bit his lip as our eyes met contact and I couldn't instantly see that his eyes were filling up with lust "And that's why I love you," He whispered as he brought his lips onto mine.

"Why do you taste like chocolate?" I asked with a giggle

"I ate the cookies we made with Daniel- They are really good by the way"

"You're going to make an amazing father one day you know?" I ask caressing his cheek while looking down at his lip "Especially since Daniel sees you as his father"

"I see him as my son. He may not be biologically mine, but I love him like he is my own. He is almost like an idol to me, such a happy boy but is going through such a rough time. I only wanna be that Father figure that remains to keep him happy"

"I love you Roger and so does Daniel and we are honestly so grateful you're in our life-" I was cut off with the phone ringing. Already? They finished his treatment quite quick. I picked up the phone which rested on the table next to the lamp and put it to my ear "Hello?"

"Hi is this Daniel's mother, y/n?" A man voice asked from the other side.

"Yes, It is. Is he almost done with his treatment? Can I come back to the hospital soon?" I ask now sitting up, coming out off Roger's hold against me.

"I have some news would you like to know over the phone or would you like to come over to-"

"Tell me now!" I cut him off using quite an aggressive voice you could say.

"Daniel didn't make it through his treatment. We tried everything we can to save him but we didn't have enough time. I'm so sorry" My heart instantly dropped. My whole body started shaking and I could see Roger's face turn to instant concern "If you'd like to talk about funeral arrangements the hospital has the funding all other control we just need your input on any specific details but please for now take a few hours before coming back to the hospital. We have everything under control"

"Thank you," I said very shaky as I hung up the phone. I looked at Roger and he looked like he was waiting for an answer "He's gone" His face dropped "My baby's gone, Roger!" I fell into his embrace and burst out into tears.

His arms went straight around me and I felt his grip tighten on my dress, scrunching it up a bit. And for the first time, I heard him cry like actually cry. It seemed weird but it broke my heart even more too see him in such a state but I really couldn't care less right now because I just lost the biggest part off my life.

***

Who knew that I would ever be standing at my sons own funeral in a full black outfit along with Roger by my side holding onto my hand tightly with his sunglasses on to cover his eyes from the last few nights from when I caught him crying in Daniel's room.

Roger was taking this harder then I was. All I knew was that I wanted to keep Daniel alive by always being happy just for him and always know he is watching me with a big smile from up above with his father that he finally got to meet again.

Just before they were going to lower down the coffin into the ground Roger put one of Daniel's drumsticks that he used at the concert at where Roger and I first met and I put a simple photo frame of a picture of Roger, Daniel and I at the beach with big smiles.

"Mummy always loves you" I kissed my hand and then touch Daniel's photo before hugging onto Roger as they lowered down the coffin very slowly.

A/N: Oh damn this was sad to write so I hope you liked it!!

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seromreven · 5 years

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title: good day sunshine.

anonymous requested: “hi!! could i request either a john or paul x male reader who’s seen as the sweetheart? maybe they’re a beatle or just an individual songwriter? and they’re jus...... very soft....... please? thank u for ur time!!! have a nice day!“

author’s note: it’s past midnight here so, like, happy birthday johnny mah boi

---

1965,

When your manager informed you of a radio interview, you were to be doing the following day for your upcoming debut album one summer day; he hadn’t been so kind as to tell you that you would be sharing airtime with two members of The Beatles. And, well, you could just about die. Of course, Hank (name of said manager) weren’t quite aware of your admiration for the band. They hadn’t been something you had talked much about. You were told you could be rather… quiet and shy… reserved. Which, you supposed, could be true. In a way. You just needed to be comfortable and feel safe around the person you were with and then you could be hard to shut up! Really! And… well, Hank could be intimidating. Terribly so. But he was a nice guy and damn good at his job. He got you an opportunity to meet The Beatles, didn’t he?

It was only when you arrived at the studio that you found out which Beatles it were and, God, your heart jumped to your throat as you saw them through a set of wide glass doors. It was Paul and John! They wore nice, patterned suits, and matching sunglasses. They looked to be deep in conversation and didn’t take notice to you… staring at them… behind doors. You shook your head, took a deep breath and opened the door with trembling hands. A young woman, behind a desk filled with dials and buttons and… all kinds of things, looked to you as you entered and greeted you with an ecstatic hello and came to shake your hand faster than you could blink. You stammered through your greeting back and she giggled slightly as she pointed to your seat near the other men. “Mister Waller will be out in just a second,” she said with a polite smile and disappeared behind her desk. Your grip tightened and released on the strap of your guitar as you stumbled to your seat, carefully placing your prized possession next to you and felt the cool wooden material for comfort.

You adjusted slightly in your seat, careful in not hitting the large and round microphone in front of you when doing so. You felt warm… nervous. Your heart beating furiously. You had never been particularly comfortable with interviews and now, two very impressive people sat only a reach away from you. You carefully glanced to them, wanting to take a look, and found two sets of eyes meeting yours. Your eyes widened, and you readied yourself for an anxious, stammering, greeting when the doors flew open and a tall man with handsome features stepped inside. You recognised him as Charles Lee Waller, the host of the radio show you were now privileged to be on together with John Lennon and Paul McCartney. He gave you all a strong handshake and sat down, lighter already in hand, and lit up a smoke. You shook your head politely as he offered you one and watched in silence as the recording signal went on.

He started talking; introducing you and half of The Beatles to the audience after having laid out the schedule of the show. John and Paul were to be interviewed first, then a break, then you. And, lastly, you had a performance of one of the songs from your album (the reason why you had brought your guitar). You felt jittery, restless with unnerved excitement at the prospect of not only performing your song for the first time to an audience, but for that audience to be John and Paul!

“So, boys,” Charles started in his smooth made for radio voice and the Beatles looked to him in an equally swift turn of their heads, “let’s begin with you.” The host gave a smile, “earlier this month you released your seventh album, Revolver, to rave reviews,” they nodded and hummed in confirmation, “now, I’ve heard it myself and do quite agree with that census.” He looked to you with clear eyes, “do you share that opinion?”

You nodded eagerly, “v-very much so. It’s… b-briliant!” You smiled widely and nervously glanced to the pair, silently cursing your persistent stammer. “That’s high praise,” John said wryly and your heart twisted at the sarcastic voice but… something in his eyes, behind the tinted glasses, seemed to disagree with the attitude he had taken on. “Well,” Charles laughed, “let’s see if they will share that opinion of your own release.” You looked to him with sudden focused attention. But it was for nought as he announced the first commercial break and exited the room the moment the circle of red light went off. You sat, blinking for a few seconds, before you heard a small cough and felt a light presence on the back of your hand. You turned and saw that it had been Paul, reaching out to you to get your attention. “You all right?” He asked, and you fought hard not to fall into his stare. You nodded and choked out, “yeah.” You coughed slightly and took a sip of a glass of water, that had been placed in front of you, with shaking hands.

“You’re new to this, aren’t ye?” You heard John question and looked past Paul, to him. You nodded again, folding your hands in your lap, feeling them tremble and shake. “I haven’t… done a lot of interviews… yet,” you inched slightly further towards the table as you felt yourself slip back in the chair. You lips felt dry, and you gave them a slight lick, not noticing the eyes on it. “Oh,” Paul smiled sweetly and looked over his shoulder to John, “we’ve been there. You’ll get used to it, y’know. And then it’ll just be a breeze,” he patted your shoulder, and you felt a heat travel to your cheeks. You thanked him in a meek voice, “-that’s very kind of you to say,” and watched as John’s eyes drifted from Paul’s neck to you. And it stayed there. For how long, you didn’t know, but you felt trapped in his stare- but it didn’t feel… bad. Suddenly, your name was called and you willed your eyes away from John and Paul, losing the staring battle you had come to have, and looked to the chiseled jawline of the radio host, still not sure of how to make eye contact. He had, at some point, entered the room again and you now realise the beaming red light was back on. Your gentle smile stayed in its place and you awaited the next moment.

“Later this month we’ll finally see the release of your debut album Meadow, something that is looked forward to with much anticipation. Your recent single for it, Autumn Tree, was very well received and nearly knocked down the boys here,” Charles said in a rehearsed fashion and pointed with an open palm to John and Paul, “from their top spot.” They laughed and you couldn’t resist the urge to smile wider. John leaned in to the microphone with a smirk and looked at you behind his dark shades, something that made you feel so funny inside, “no hard feelings, I hope.” You snickered with a shake of your head, “none at all.” Laughter was shared around the room and the conversation seemed to flow more… naturally from there on. John and Paul joined in more often when you were asked or talked and you did the same when it was their turn. A good feeling was shared all around and you no longer felt a crushing sense of panic for when your time to perform finally arrived.

“Now,” Charles said your name and focused the attention back to him, “tell us what you’re about to play.” He smiled, professionally with no real life behind it, and postured towards your guitar. “Oh! Yeah,” you laughed softly and positioned the guitar over your lap. “It’s the first single I released for the album… last month, yeah,” another laugh gave away as a flow of content travelled through your chest. “It’s, uh, called Take Care… and, uh, yes,” you laughed and looked to the Beatles, both concentrated on you, and started to play the opening chords. You felt it had gone well as you finished the song and your confidence only slightly managed to waver before Paul started clapping, with John (who had received a slight shove to his stomach by the bassist’s elbow) who started to join in with Charles. “Very good… very good,” Charles hummed, looking through some notes in front of him. “Well, that’s about all we have time for today! We, all of us in the studio, look forward to what else you boys have in plans and, as always, be pleasing. Be thriving. And most of all; be happy.”

And, that was it. The end of the show. You sat silently in your chair as people flourished around you, your arms tight around your guitar as you waited for the right moment to move out and not be terribly in the way of someone’s path. And when that moment arrived, you hurried out of your seat and looked around for two familiar faces. You sighed in dismay; they were already gone. Of course, they must be very busy people! You packed together the little stuff you had brought, went out of the cramped room and turned to leave in the hallway when you bumped into a hard chest with soft fabrics dressed upon it. Blinking in shock, you looked up with the feel of hands on your waist, to see no-one else but John. He was smirking down at you and you felt your heartbeat spike up the way it had done earlier that day, the way it had done when he had smirked earlier. “I, uh… I-” he interrupted you. “You’re quite the cute lad, aren’t ye,” his smirk only seemed to grow wider as he watched your face turn a dark red colour. “And tiny too,” he patted you on the head and ruffled your hair. You stammered, and the smirk turned into a softer, more gentle, smile as realisation of your rather frazzled state dawned on him. He drew back but kept a hand on your waist. You noticed, finally, that he wasn't wearing his sunglasses.

He scratched the back of his neck and looked around; “I, uh, liked what I heard back in the studio, y’know, and was wondering… hoping that you’d, maybe, like some dinner with me?” His former confidence seemed to wash away with an invisible tide and he looked around yet again. You felt bold, strikingly so, and gently took the hand that nudged slightly against yours into your palm. He looked to you with slightly widened eyes and drew a sigh of relief when you nodded with a delicate ‘yes.’

#request #the beatles #john lennon #paul mccartney #male reader #reader #reader insert #beatles fanfiction #fanfiction #fanfic

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like-the-wings-of-butterflies · 5 years

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Fate (Brian May x Reader) CHAP. 1

Summary: A series of events separate you from the people you care about, but fate miraculously brings you back to a close friend

Warnings: Mentions of alcohol and drinking + very minor angst

Word Count: 1,682

A/N: This feels a bit choppy and poorly written, but I worked too hard on it not to share it with you all. Please let me know what you think! ♡ (UPDATE 25/5/19: This fic is in the process of being a series! Another three parts are currently being written/edited so if you enjoyed this one, you can find the other parts on my masterpost)

It was a Friday afternoon when fate decided to reunite you. On your way home from your morning shift at the cafe, for one reason or another you found yourself walking into the local music store, browsing over the hundreds of vinyls that sat stocked up in crates ready for other to enjoy. You were flicking through the cardboard covers, one at a time with a million thoughts buzzing through your head, when your hand landed on a particular record. After you pulled it out of the crate and went to expect it further in the light, a someone chirped beside you, “Not a bad choice if I do say myself.”

“‘Sheer Heart Attack,” You spoke, “Interesting name.”

“I’m sure you’d find the guitarist far more interesting.”

“You think so?” Finally peering up, the owner of the voice smiled at you.

“Hello (Y/N).”

“Brian!” You exclaimed, your voice raising a few octaves as you practically catapulted yourself into his arms. Brian had become a close friend in your university days, “Oh my God! I mean, how have you been? I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too Love. Things aren’t quite the same without you.”

He held you a bit tighter before he pulled away and picked up the record that’d been tossed on the floor in the midst of your excitement. “As excited as I am to see you, please don’t damage our work, this is only our third album.” He teased.

The suddenness of your conversation startled you both, but yet it somehow it flowed so naturally.

“This is yours? Since when have you been in a band?”

“Since a short while after you moved to America.”

“I see.” You responded, the atmosphere shifting slightly.

“If you’re free, maybe you could pay a visit at our show tonight? Meet the others and catch up a bit more? You do owe me some stories from your travels.” He encouraged.

“You’re playing tonight?”

“Of course, Rainbow Theatre, doors open at 7:00. I’ll be in the dressing room after the show, I’ll make sure someone keeps an eye out for you.”

You felt your heart swell at his words, “That’d be amazing Brian, I can’t wait.” You gushed, quickly, he pulled you into a hug before saying his goodbyes and dashing out the brick and mortar store with a spring in his step. Thank god he’d been running low on guitar picks or perhaps he wouldn’t have seen you at all. He had around five hours to squeeze in as much practice as he could and make sure the others were prepared too. Tonight, he didn’t want to impress anyone else but you.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

You arrived at the venue with plenty of time to spare, and found yourself only mildly intimidated by the sheer amount of people surrounding you. Luckily for you, time passed rather quickly, likely a product of your excitement. The light dimmed and you were momentarily deafened by the crowds cheers. When the lights turned on again, four figures dotted the stage. You couldn’t help but laugh when you saw the outfit Brian was wearing. Large, white flowing sleeves cascaded against a white form fitting shirt with thin horizontal lines. It was different from what he would usually wear, but it oddly suited him. You assumed the choice in costume had something to do with the lead singer, seeing as he was clad in a black bellbottom jumpsuit that exposed his chest. Certainly not the most traditional outfit choice for a rock band but unique nonetheless.

As soon as the music began however, you were starstruck. The layering of instruments and voices brought a warm, full feeling to your chest. The way they interacted with the crowd and their dynamic amongst each other was to be admired. Even by only knowing one of the four members, you knew that they had become a family. They were so comfortable with one another and seeing them in their element made you feel incredibly thankful to witness. Some of the songs sounded familiar, you must’ve heard them on the radio before without realising who they were produced by, but after tonight, you knew you’d be paying another visit to the record store rather soon.

When the show had ended, (much to your displeasure), you followed Brian’s instructions from earlier in the day, sneaking backstage and playing a few gentle knocks against the dressing room door. It creaked open only seconds later and a pair of hazel eyes met yours. “(Y/N)! Come in.” Brian wrapped an arm around you and began to introduce you to his bandmates. “(Y/N), this is Freddie, John and Roger. Everyone, I’d like you to meet (Y/N), an old friend of mine.”

You were very aware of the eyes drifting over the pair of you, along with the knowing look the three men shared as they noticed the placement of Brian’s hand on the middle of your back. The decided his hand was high enough to not be suggestive, but low enough to be testing the boundary of friends.

In attempt to ease the silence and shift the focus of the conversation, you spoke: “It’s lovely to meet you all.”

“You too (Y/N).” The brunette named John beamed, still plucking at the strings on his bass.

“Did you enjoy the show?” Roger queried, a drumstick rolling between the fingers of one hand and a cigarette in the other.

“I did,” You stated, truthfully. “I never seen anything quite like it, the four of you are wonderful together. You complement each other beautifully.”

“Would you look at that, I’m quite fond of her already.” Freddie exclaimed.

Roger walked beside you and placed a hand on your shoulder as he passed, “Careful (Y/N), I wouldn’t inflate his ego too much.” He responded, teasingly.

“Drinks anyone?” Brian offered.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The evening went on, and you found yourself situated in the lounge of the bar. Brian was sitting closely to your right, almost protectively even though you assured him that his band mates were lovely and there was nothing to be worried about. As you were speaking with John, his long, thin fingers gently intertwined with yours and much to Brian’s surprise, you welcomed the contact, allowing him to do so. You sent him a quick smile before resuming your conversation with John, however the action didn’t go unnoticed by Freddie and Roger. Much to Brian’s delight, they didn’t say anything but instead, Roger fished out his wallet and plucked out a £50 bill, ungraciously slapping it into Freddie’s outstretched hand before resuming chatting up a girl he’d met at the bar.

“So (Y/N), where’d you meet Brian?” John said, shifting the focus to you.

You laughed lightly before speaking, “We were good friends at university, Brian was studying astrophysics and I was studying literature. We had a lot of fun. He even taught me how to play guitar once. Then about a year into my course I was offered a scholarship to study the reminder in America. I enjoyed my time while I was there, but looking back on it now I probably shouldn’t have taken it, I lost touch with a lot of people in my life. I’ve been back here for about two years now, and somehow I feel its only been two months,” You sighed. “But I suppose fate had it that we ran into each other earlier today and he invited me here.”

“I’m offended you didn’t even recognise me on the album cover.” Brian fake sulked.

“Oh hush.” Taking a breath, you continued, “How about you? How long has Queen been going on for?”

“We’ve been together for about four years now, but we didn’t start producing our own music until mid last year.” John answered, peering at the others to make sure he’d gotten everything right.

“Before that, Brian and I were in another band called ‘Smile’,” Roger continued. “Then our lead singer upped and left and we found these two.” Gesturing to John and Freddie.

“Since then we’ve released three albums.” Freddie went on.

“And sold out almost every uni and pub south of Glasgow.” Brian finished, beaming at you full of pride.

You smiled back at them, both in amazement and shock. Deep down, the pit in your stomach was filled with guilt, you wished you could’ve been at part of it from the beginning. Brian always took music so seriously and you felt selfish for not being there to support him, as a friend should. You thought it was best to push past the discomfort you were feeling and instead enjoy the time you were having.

Late into the night, you bid your farewells to Freddie, John and Roger before Brian ever-so-kindly walked you home. You talked for a majority of way back to your apartment, from your adventures in America to stories of Queen, even reminiscing on old university memories. When you arrived on the doorstep, Brian enveloped you into a warm embrace, “It’s been really nice seeing you again (Y/N).”

“You too Bri,” Looking down, you reached into your bag and pulled out a small piece of paper, quickly scrawling out your number and placing it in his hand, “for my sake, please don’t let me disappear for another three years.”

The abundance of black curls on his head bounced as he nodded. A sudden surge of confidence overcame him, carefully, he leaned toward you and pressed a single, feather-soft kiss against your lips.

“Dinner. Next Friday. 5:00pm. I’ll pick you up?” He proposed.

You met his warm hazel eyes, and saw something you hadn’t seen in them before. They were the tiniest bit misty, presumably from the alcohol and the bright lights peering down all evening; but behind the mist you saw the glint of hope that flickered as he watched you intently. A bright smile spread across your features and you nodded in response to his proposition, a pink hue dusting your cheeks. Little did you know this was only the start of what fate had in store.

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dailyaudiobible · 4 years

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11/30/2019 DAB Transcript

Daniel 7:1-28, 1 John 1:1-10, Psalms 119:153-176, Proverbs 28:23-24

Today is November 30th. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It’s great to be here on a day where we’re ending a week and ending the month at the same time. And, of course, is the final day of the 11th month of the year, leaving only one month left in this year and one month left in our journey through the Scriptures this year. Today is the 334th day out of 365. And from the Old Testament we will move back into the book of Daniel, which we’re working our way through now and then we get to the New Testament we will be reunited with somebody that we got to know pretty well during this year, John. But we’ll talk about that when we get there. First, we’re reading from the New International Version this week, which is today. Daniel chapter 7.

Introduction to first John:

Okay. As we move forward into our New Testament reading, as I mentioned at the beginning, we’re being reunited with somebody that we know and we got to know him in the Gospels as one of the disciples of Jesus, John. And, so, we’ll begin the first of three letters that are attributed to the apostle John. Ironically, this letter that we’re about to read makes no mention at all of who it's from and it does not even specify at all who it's addressed to. So, it be would easy enough, like other books in the Bible, for example, the book of Hebrews, to conclude that this is an anonymous letter. We don't know. But church fathers in the second century, so just like about 50 years after this letter was written attributed the letter to John the evangelist and neither the letter nor its author were disputed when the New Testament was canonized, so when it was organized into the accepted New Testament that we have today. It's only been in more recent centuries that scholars have begun to ask questions as sciences develop. For example, stylistic or language differences between the gospel of John and these letters, the epistles of John. Part of the reason for not addressing the letter to a specific group of people may have been that it was intended to be circulated to many people throughout many churches. It's possible that the first readers were familiar enough with…with John that he didn't need to introduce himself in the letter. So, he would've known the people that he was writing to and was overseeing their churches and they knew who he was. It’s also possible that those who were receiving the letter weren't identified in case the letter fell into the wrong hands, so in order to protect the people from additional persecution. This first letter or this first epistle of John was probably written from Ephesus and it was probably very late in John's life. Most scholars would date the letter around the mid-90s and some even into the early 100s and John was writing this letter for one reason, he was addressing false teachings. Some of the earliest forms of teachings that we…we would now call Gnostic teachings had become a part of the conversation, especially this early view known as a Docetic view or Docetism, that Jesus wasn't really actually a human being in the same way that we are flesh and blood, but simply appeared to be that way. Or another earlier teacher, Cerinthus who taught that the spirit of Christ, the divinity, the God parts of Jesus actually united with the human part of Jesus when He was baptized. And, so, He was divine from that point all the way through to His crucifixion when this divine spirit, then departed this fleshly Jesus. So I'm…it's…it’s not so hard in our day and age to understand that there are various and very diverse views of the Christian faith all influenced by all kinds of things, tying being one of them. But we get a glimpse here looking backward to the early formation of the church in that early time and see that all kinds of questions were being asked and all kinds of theories were being put forward. John though, even though he's like a late in his life, is still alive and is in a unique position here, a position of authority because he was there, like he had been there, he was a part of Jesus inner circle. He had been with Jesus from the beginning of his ministry. So, although any number of things could be thought about Jesus, John…John was there, he saw it. So, he could dispel a falsehood about Jesus, basically because he had an eyewitness account. And that’s pretty much what he does here in verse John. But beyond just denouncing a false teaching, the letter offers contrasts, ways to test the postures of our heart in these matters while encouraging us forward and assuring us of our salvation because that was the heart of the matter here. All of these differing opinions in all of this discussion, which continues until today, confused people about where they were with God. And, so, as we as we finish this 11th month of our year let's reunite with an old friend. The last we heard of him…well…we learned about him and in the synoptic Gospels and the Gospel of John…told the story of Jesus life for the final time. Now some time has passed, the church is beginning to form, and we get to hear from him again. And, so, we begin. First John chapter 1.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for another week in Your word and…and…and we thank You for another month in Your word. And as those two endings come together on this day, we are grateful, we are thankful, You have brought us through 11 months every single day and transformation is profoundly visible as we look inside. And, so, we’re thankful because it works, Your word is alive and is powerful and does reach down to the level of our identity and speaks truth to us there. And, so, we are so eternally grateful that You are, that You are raising us up so that we live with boldness and confidence, not only about who we are, but about who You are, which is so vastly more important because without You we can do nothing. And, so, we take this moment here at the end of a week and the end of a month just to offer our worship, just to offer our thanks, to offer our love. We thank You Father for Your presence in our lives at all times and we invite Your Holy Spirit now to continually make us aware of Your presence, and we pray these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website and that’s home base, certainly where you find out what’s going on around here. And it's Christmas time. So that's what going on around here

And we've released the Daily Audio Bible family Christmas Box for 2019 and I’ve been sharing about that for last couple of days. So, you have a sense of what's in there - a number of brand-new resources. In fact, this Christmas Box is full of things that have pretty much never been in a Daily Audio Bible Christmas Box before. And, so, super excited about it. It’s very…I don’t know…kind of comprehensive…it just touches all the…a lot of different areas of our lives in this Christmas Box. So, excited about it. Check it out at dailyaudiobible.com. In fact, in the Daily Audio Bible shop there is a Christmas section and it's got few Christmas related items in it, including the Christmas Box but also the Daily Audio Bible Christmas cards for 2019 and our own Christmas album that came out of our community called Family Christmas. So, you can get all those things or look at them anyway at dailyaudiobible.com in the Shop.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, then I humbly thank you with all of my heart for your partnership. We wouldn’t exist…we would not exist if we were not in this story together. And, so, I'm…I'm deeply grateful that we are. There is a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or, if you prefer, the mailing address is PO Box 1996, Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or comment 877-942-4253 is the number to dial or you can press the Hotline button in the app, which is the little red button of the top.

And that is it for today. I'm Brian I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hello wonderful prayer warriors out there. This is Vonnie from Northern California calling out to the woman from the Pacific Northwest. I’m sorry I didn’t get your name, but the Lord knows your name. You have been left by your husband with five children and my heart breaks for you. This is a very lonely time, very uncertain time. And dear Lord I pray for my friend in the Pacific Northwest. Lord Jesus please give her a freedom from fear, give her Your piece because You have promised to be the husband to the widow, the husband to the woman who’s alone and we trust You first to be our security, to be our safety, to be our intimate provider and protector. And I ask You to supply every need. Please do not allow her home to be taken. But we pray together that You would bring that man back to his senses. God, please reach out to him and minister to his hurting heart that is defying You and everything that he knows to be right and take away this desire for something that’s not of You. Bring him back to You God. I just ask in Jesus’ name that You’d break the enemy’s hold. Bring him back to his wife and family in Jesus precious name.

Good morning DAB family this is Married and Alone. I’ve been a listener for about four years, but this is the first time I’ve ever called with a prayer request. So, how do you fit 20 years of hard egg into a two-minute audio clip? My husband suffers from intimacy anorexia which is the active withholding of emotional, physical, and spiritual intimacy from a spouse. And as a result, he has withheld love from me for our 20-year marriage. And instead they replace it with criticism and blame and they control you with anger. And if it weren’t for my Lord, I would have no self-esteem at all, but I know…I know God is with me, His grace and His mercy always there for me. And while my husband says I’m unlovable my Lord tells me He loves me. And while my husband makes me feel ugly my Lord tells me I’m beautiful. And, so, I thank God for…for that. I’m still recovering from the last verbally abuse session and haven’t been able to speak to my husband for a week. And, so, I know that that conversation needs to happen because Thanksgivings coming. So, pray for me that I would have the wisdom to say what I need to say and just hold us up in prayer. More to come. Married and Alone. Thank you DAB family. Love you.

What is peace? Is it a piece of cake, delicious gluten-free chocolate fudge cake? Is it a part of a puzzle? Are there are many different pieces that make a bigger picture? Don’t we all want peace? Then why do I fight to get my own way? Why do I strive to get the latest things? Why do I struggle against myself and the world? Why do I contend with those around me? I see the conflicts being waged worldwide, the discontent, the nonstop fighting, the suffering and death. Where is peace? Peace is not worrying about my family. Peace is not worrying about the future. Peace is not worrying about money. Peace is not worrying what people think. Peace is not worrying what to do. I want peace more than a delicious slice of gluten-free cake. I want the whole picture. I want the missing piece. I want to be complete. I want to find peace. Peace is a man named Jesus, a man who walked this earth and showed us how to live, showed us what it is to be human and paid the ultimate price for us our Prince of peace. Peace is choosing joy, celebrating the small things, reveling in the presence of our God and His blessings. Peace is living in expectation of His provision, trusting in His mercy and grace. Peace is sharing our thoughts and feelings with our Father and with our Prince and with our advocate. Peace is being grateful for what we have, it’s learning to be content, it’s remembering who I am, a daughter of the King. I want that peace from God, the peace that surpasses all understanding. The piece that will guard my heart and mind. So, I will trust in the Lord with all my heart and I will love the Lord with all of myself.

Hi this is Jack in Wisconsin. Heard today in the prayer section of a woman who’s going through a divorce. She’s got five kids. I just wanted to let you know that I’m going to be praying for you and I’m really thinking of you. I have the perspective of this situation in that I was an unfaithful husband. And I am in the process of trying to put my marriage back together again with God’s grace and help. I am in repentance and I’m desperately trying to win the heart of my wife back, but it may not work. So, I would covet your prayers in return, that my wife’s heart opens and softens to me. Especially as we enter the holiday season it’s particularly hard. And again, for the woman, I just want you to know that I’m going to be thinking and praying for you and your family intently. And thank you for sharing. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Good morning Daily Audio Bible family this is his beloved and California. I just want to say happy Thanksgiving and I’m just so thankful for you, each of you, my family. It’s amazing. I just love and adore. And this is the beginning of my day every day and thank you to Brian and Jill for creating this amazing family here on earth that we are so connected in Spirit. Shanna from Oklahoma, when you called and said you got your job for…with the…calling in with a praise report and you said you might have shed a tear you opened the email, I shed a tear when I heard you got a job. I was so happy for you. I’m praying for you. So, that made me happy. Patricia from New Orleans, I love you call in. And keep calling in. You’re in my daily prayers for healing and also for your family situation. I looked up what you told us to look up and I am praying for you. Please pray for my son’s girlfriend Jenna’s mother who is not doing well with her cancer. And her daughter went home to be with her and take care of her. And I just ask for you to cover her in prayer. Also please pray for me. My mind is playing tricks on me with a recurring infection I’m getting. And, of course, I’m thinking the worst thing possible. So, I was up all night. Please pray for healing of my mind body and spirit in this and that the Lord would just heal me up and all would be well in that situation. I love all of you. Thank you, prayer warriors who call in. You know who you are, the staples here. God bless you all.

Hi, I’m calling, I’ve called many years ago and now is the first time in a long time. I’m going to call myself Finding Great Comfort. I want to thank this community because I can reach out in prayer to you. My heart is heavy as I lift this prayer. Lord God Almighty intercede for my daughter Colene. She needs your healing, sober mindedness, and courage to do the right things for herself, her family, and her children. Intercede Lord by your mighty grace for mothers like her suffering and causing suffering. I ask all these things in the name of Jesus Christ who came, lived, died, rose again, and lives and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. I ask your mercy, your grace and restoration. As we finished up first Peter today it says love covers a multitude of sins. To love deeply. Loving deeply means that we are stretched beyond our understanding. And here we are Lord. I ask for your grace and your mercy. At this time of Thanksgiving I am thankful for family and even the sufferings of grace. Please cover us and restore us in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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oh-ranpo · 5 years

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Let’s Start Right Now {Roger Taylor} 3

Pairing: Hardy!Roger Taylor x Reader

AN: Thank you guys so much for all the positive feedback so far! I have several parts of this story already written, and will be posting them every couple of days. If you want to be added to the tags list, just send me a message : ) Enjoy!

Warning: Borderline smut

But if you like causing trouble up in hotel rooms, and if you like having secret little rendezvous. If you like to do the things you know that we shouldn’t do, then baby, I’m perfect. Baby, I’m perfect for you.

When you woke up the next morning, you weren’t sure what you had expected. You had known enough boys in rock-and-roll bands to know that they usually weren’t into anything more than a little fun and then they moved on. That’s why you were surprised when Roger had invited you to their show that they were playing in a neighboring town later that week. He had also asked you for your phone number, which you gave to him a little reluctantly.

Roger was fun. He was funny, charming, and surprisingly gentle in all meanings of the word. Your first night together had been amazing, and you weren’t exactly disappointed that he wanted a repeat of it. The only real problem was that he was in a band. The morning after, he had mentioned that they had just finished recording their first album and were about to meet with an agent who was looking to represent them. Fame came with attention, and that wasn’t something that you were looking for at the moment.

“We have to keep this a secret.” You whispered against Roger’s ear as you climbed into the passenger seat of his car. He was sitting at the end of your block waiting for you after you had agreed to meet up with him. It was still a few days until his next concert, but neither one of you could wait until then.

“No problem, love.” He replied, cupping your cheek with one hand and pulling your lips down to meet his in an intense kiss. Your heart fluttered in your chest, and when you pulled away and saw the flush in his cheeks, you smiled.

Your secret meetings started happening more frequently until you were going out with him almost every night. Neither of you would really go anywhere, but he would wait for you at the end of your street and the two of you would drive to the park a few blocks away and either talk or make out in his car. It wasn’t until the day of the next show that he insisted you meet his band.

“I don’t know, Rog. Meeting your friend’s kind of goes against the whole ‘keeping-this-a-secret’ thing.”

The other end of the phone line went quiet for a second, and you could practically hear the gears turning in his head.

“After the show, then. They don’t even have to know that we know each other. I promise, you’ll love them.”

You sighed and held the phone close to your ear. You could hear the hopefulness in his voice, and you knew that once you saw him, you wouldn’t be able to say no.

“Okay.”

You heard him breathe a happy sigh, and the two of you hung up shortly after to get ready. Roger had wanted to be the one to come and pick you up for the show, but you politely turned him down. The drive was a short 20 minutes, and somehow you knew that you wouldn’t have to worry about driving back home that night. When you pulled up to the venue, you could see that the place was already very busy and you hoped that you would be able to get a spot close to the stage. It had been a day or two since you had seen your favorite drummer, and you wanted to be able to watch him as he did what he did best.

Luckily for you, most of the people were still hanging out by the bar, so you grabbed a drink and quickly moved to claim your spot in front of the stage. The clock on the wall indicated that the show would be starting any minute, and you felt your pulse quicken when the lights went down.

Roger was the first one to come out onto the stage, and you could see him scan the crowd looking for you. It was hard to ignore the screams that came from the girls that thought he was looking at them, but when his eyes landed on you, he paused momentarily and gave you a wink. You beamed up at him, but quickly looked away when the rest of the band joined him on stage. Your body came alive as the first guitar chord played through the air, and you were lost in the performance once more.

A common theme that you had noticed at Queen shows was that they never seemed to last as long as you would have liked them to. This set was a little bit longer than the one you had seen previously, but disappointment washed over you when the lights went down and the stage was empty. Your disappointment was quickly replaced with euphoria when you felt a hand press gently against the small of your back and you turned to come face-to-face with those brilliant blue eyes.

“How did I do?” he asked, standing close to you as he wrapped his other arm around your waist.

“I don’t know, I was too busy watching Freddie.” You teased as a look of fake indignation crossed his face.

“Oh, I like her Roger.” A voice cooed from somewhere behind you. When you looked over, you saw the face that you had only ever known on stage staring back at you. He hadn’t changed out of his stage outfit, and you were sure that he was the only one who could still pull it off. Your eyes momentarily flitted back to Roger, but he just rolled his eyes.

“I’m YN.” You greeted, as you turned and one of Roger’s arms fell away from your waist. Freddie happily took your hand and kissed the top of it, causing you to blush.

“Freddie Mercury. Pleasure to meet you, darling.”

Your smile grew, and soon the other two members of the band had joined you. You quickly learned that their names were Brian and John and they seemed to be much calmer and more reserved than Roger and Freddie were. It was kind of nice seeing the contrast between the four of them.

Roger had disappeared for a few minutes while you were getting acquainted with his bandmates, but when he returned he had a drink for you in his hand. You happily took it and you almost didn’t notice the curious expression on Freddie’s face as you took a sip.

“Rog, how did you know to get her a drink? Haven’t you only just met her? I know you work fast, but I was only seconds behind you.”

The fluid got stuck in your throat and you coughed, glancing over at Roger’s stunned expression. It was clear that he hadn’t thought Freddie would notice, and you could feel your cheeks burning.

“I uh…” he started, and he rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

“We met at the last show.” You interjected, deciding that starting off with a lie wouldn’t really be the best. Roger seemed to be even more surprised by your willingness to confess, but his expression and posture relaxed instantly. A knowing smirk formed on Freddie’s lips as he nodded.

“Well if you will excuse me, I believe I have some fans to meet.”

You turned in the direction that Freddie had pointed and saw a group of men and women watching him closely. He gave you all one last bright smile before disappearing into the crowd. Soon after, Brian and John pardoned themselves to find their girlfriends, leaving you and Roger alone.

Your eyes fell on the blond boy and noticed that he was watching you.

“So much for keeping this a secret, eh?” You teased as you took another sip of your drink. Roger shrugged as he brought his beer bottle to his lips.

“Doubt they suspect much.” He replied, smiling at you wryly. Now that the rest of the boys were gone, he took a step towards you and his arm snaked around your waist once again. Memories of events that happened after his last show flashed through your mind and your stomach flipped. He was looking at you now much the same way he had that night after jumping around like children on his bed. Your skin went hot and you took another long pull from your drink to finish it off.

“What do you say we go somewhere else?” You leaned over and whispered in his ear. You could see small goosebumps forming on his skin as he leaned back to look you in the eye.

“The hotel is a little bit farther from here, but-“

“The bathroom will do.” You interrupted him, as you grabbed the almost empty beer bottle out of his hand and moved to set them on one of the tables nearby. His eyes widened as you grabbed his hand and started pulling him towards the back of the venue.

“The bathroom? Isn’t that a little…”

“Wild? Crazy? Inappropriate? I don’t care.” You responded, turning around quickly and pressing your hands against the side of his cheeks. You brought his lips in to meet yours harshly, and his hands reached out to grip your shirt and pull you into him. That was all the convincing he needed.

“You continue to surprise me.” He murmured as you pulled him into the single women’s restroom and turned around to lock the door behind you. You smiled as you turned and found him right behind you. His hands found your sides and gently lifted you off the floor as you wrapped your legs around his waist and he pushed you against the door.

“Just shut up and kiss me.” You growled back, and he happily obliged. His lips met yours feverishly and you hummed against his mouth at the sensation of his hands pressed firmly against your upper thighs. You wasted no time in reaching forward to tug off his shirt and ran your hands against his bare chest. The kisses were getting quicker, more needy, and Roger's mouth only left yours to move down to your neck. Your hands moved up to his hair and you ran your fingers through it, pulling it roughly, causing him to moan against your skin.

His hands slipped from your thighs and moved under your shirt, pushing the fabric up and away from your body. His fingertips ghosted against your ribcage, causing you to shudder. Within seconds, your shirt was also gone and Roger moved from kissing your neck to nipping and sucking across your collarbone, leaving small love marks along the way. Your back arched against the wall at the sensation and you could feel Roger smile against your skin. Your fingers stayed wrapped up in his hair, tugging on it slightly with every hot kiss he placed against your skin.

Roger managed to bring out a side in you that you had never experienced before. You weren't a 'quickie-in-the-bathroom' kind of girl, but you found that resisting him, even in public, was harder than you thought it could be.

Tags: @mimisfangirlfantasy, @hellonheels-x, @tartanpjs, @rara-de-nacimiento, @nogethelp, @i-lost-my-shoe-down-a-drain, @kandomerx, @kylobien, @ironqueen98

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omdaily10 · 5 years

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NEVER BEEN BETTER

Album: Fourth

Writers/Producers: Jason Evigan, Sean Douglas, Sam Hollander, Claude Kelly, Steve Robson, Martin Johnson, Peter Wallevik, Daniel Davidsen, Cutfather, Ryan Tedder, TMS, Steve Mac, Wayne Hector, Paul Weller, Jamie Scott, Matt Prime, FutureCut, John Newman

Release Date: 24/11/2014 (Original) / 20/11/2015 (Reissue)

Chart Positions: #1 (UK), #1 (Scotland), #7 (Ireland), #20 (Switzerland), #27 (Australia), #28 (Finland), #38 (Germany), #38 (Denmark), #40 (Austria), #42 (US), #50 (Sweden)

Sales: 861k (UK, 2x Platinum)

As we touched on with our 'Wrapped Up' review, anything longer than six months away in pop and people can start to ask questions about an artist’s future, such is the fickle nature of the beast. Olly was certainly in more of an interesting position than most, having now had two back to back million selling, chart slaying albums. He had quite literally confounded all expectations. ‘Never Been Better’ was a significant album for that reason, but it’s also a landmark album in other respects.

Back when work on the ‘Right Place Right Time’ album had only just got under way in the summer of 2012, a massive shift in personnel happened at Epic Records. Nick Raphael and Jo Charrington, who had overseen Olly from his launch, were poached by Universal Records to head up the relaunched Capitol label, in turn going onto launch the successful careers of 5 Seconds of Summer and Sam Smith.

Eighteen months on, and whilst Olly stayed under the Sony umbrella, he subsequently moved from Epic to the reactivated RCA label, headed up by former Island Records MD Nick Gatfield, meaning he had a new A&R man overseeing him and a new album for the first time since his debut. Now entering his fifth year in pop – which many cynics will tell you is the point popularity can either sustain itself or wane from a peak for an artist – Olly had a hell of a lot to prove. It certainly explains why he took as long as he did on it.

This album had to cement his position and popularity in the UK music scene and most importantly, have the songs to back it up. And it’s fair to say that for the vast majority of the album, that was the case. Certainly, you’d be hard pressed to find a more fitting song to kick off the album than the cheekily titled ‘Did You Miss Me?’

Initially touted as the first single before Olly got cold feet about a potential press backlash regarding misunderstanding of the title, and co-written with Los Angeles based hitmaker Jason Evigan (Maroon 5, Madonna, Kelly Clarkson, Britney Spears) this mischief making, horn drenched, Prince-esque strut was bold, brash and attention grabbing: ‘I can tell that you’ve missed me / Cause your eyes give it away / I know you can’t resist me / So show me, show me, show me that you missed me’. It’s a shame he didn’t go with his instincts, because really pop is built on those grand moments of statements of intent.

For that same reason, the title track, co-written with the TMS team, and a record that upped the epic grandeur of ‘Army of Two’ from the last album, was also a highlight. Recorded with a 60-piece orchestra and coming off as part Bond theme part McFly at their hardest, it was a soaring rocket of a track that Olly stretched his vocal chops on, hitting higher notes than he ever had before, and which he performed to devastatingly brilliant effect on the accompanying tour for the album (more on which in a second).

TMS also offered light and shade to Olly’s personality as an artist on the tracks ‘Why Do I Love You’ and ‘Nothing Without You’. The latter was a plaintive, simplistic piano ballad, stating to his then girlfriend of the time that life without her would be nothing. The former track, however, was possibly one of the most dark and experimental tracks he’d done to that point, an almost psychedelic, Northern soul leaning pop number on the agony of being in love with a non-committal partner. It was in many ways, like the renegade evil twin of ‘Oh My Goodness’.

British singer songwriter John Newman, who’d famously topped the charts with drum and bass outfit Rudimental on their 2012 single ‘Feel The Love’, as well as hitting the charts with songs like ‘Come and Get It’ and ‘Love Me Again’, co-wrote ‘Stick With Me’, a pulsing dance track with an eerie choir effect produced by Steve Mac and Wayne Hector. Immediately following it was the very lustful ‘Can’t Say No’, a stripped to the bone part acoustic funk pop number.

But closing off the album was possibly one of the biggest coups Olly could have hoped for in his career at that moment. Some two years previously, he had performed a cover of ‘Broken Stones’, a track from ‘Stanley Road’, the iconic 1995 album from British rock legend Paul Weller, first for The Sun Biz Sessions, and then at his headline slot for the annual iTunes Festival in Camden, North London. Olly had grown up around Paul’s music in his dad’s record collection and had stated what a fan he was of both his solo work and his work in The Jam (he also covered their 1982 chart topper ‘A Town Called Malice’ on the previous tour).

Fast forward to spring 2014, and he was fortunate to meet Paul at the annual Teenage Cancer Trust fundraiser gig at the Royal Albert Hall in London, who mentioned that he had written the bones of a song with Olly in mind. With some additional co-writing from Olly, that song became ‘Let Me In’, a genuinely moving acoustic number which showed off the more soulful, reflective tones in his voice and which you could almost picture being sung around a campfire at dusk.

If ever he’d needed confirmation that he was more of a serious proposition than ever, then his work with such a respected legend was it. In fact, many reviewers subsequently highlighted it as such, with The Guardian proclaiming it to be “the best thing he’s done in his career” in their analysis of the album. Amy Davidson, reviewing the album for Digital Spy, was also full of praise, stating that with ‘Never Been Better’, “Olly isn't in the wallflower business, rather he fully intends on running with his title without a whiff of uncertainty.”

‘Never Been Better’ then, ultimately proved to be a prophetic title – it became his third consecutive UK number one album, once again taking just under a month to achieve its first platinum disc, as well as sailing into the top 10 or top 40 in seven other countries, eventually going onto be certified double platinum by the end of its chart run. It also showed that, far from being forgotten with a year away, Olly’s popularity was quite undiminished and had, well, never been better.

BONUS TRACKS, UNWRAPPED

As with his previous album, the original release of ‘Never Been Better’ came in a standard 13 track version, and a deluxe edition, once again in a digipak booklet format, and substituting the yellows and reds of the standard artwork for a mixture of creams and beiges, as well as four additional tracks.

Highlights among these extra four songs included ‘Ready for Love’, a folksy, rousing foot stomper that you could almost picture being sung by a 70s era Elton John (although no relation to his 1979 song and subsequent 2003 chart topper of the same name). The twilight strewn dreaminess of the ballad ‘History’ ensured that it quickly became a fan favourite, and was performed by Olly on that year’s telethon for ITV’s ‘Text Santa’ charity.

Internationally, fans in Germany and Japan were treated to two further bonus tracks. Only available on copies of the deluxe edition sold in the German entertainment store Mediamarkt, ‘Alone Tonight’ saw Olly team up once again with the Future Cut team on possibly the steamiest sounding song he’d recorded to that point: ‘Kiss me like a stranger / It’s time to misbehave, don’t leave me lonely / I can’t leave you alone tonight’. It’s still currently unavailable for streaming or digital download in any territory at time of writing.

'Alone Tonight’ was also on the deluxe edition in Japan, along with a very special track recorded with another music legend. ‘Sukiyaki’ (literally translated as ‘I Look Up As I Walk’) had been a phenomenally successful record for the Japanese crooner Kyu Sakamoto back in 1961, having sold something in excess of 13m copies worldwide. Olly was invited to re-record a version of the song with English lyrics, titled ‘Look at the Sky’, written by none other than Yoko Ono, who sung his praises highly of his performance of the song.

As of time of writing in May 2019, Olly is still yet to release a Christmas album despite much continual demand for him to do so. The ‘Unwrapped’ EP, a five-track acoustic EP given away free for download on Google Play during December 2014, and recorded at Google’s British headquarters in London, is thus the closest we’ve probably got to an official seasonal release of his. ‘Wrapped Up’ and ‘History’ were performed in his set, along with an additional cover of Wizzard’s ‘I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday’, in the same arrangement as his previous recording of the festive favourite for BBC Radio 1’s Live Lounge in December 2012.

NEVER BEEN BETTER: SPECIAL EDITION

As in 2013, Olly spent much of 2015 touring (and pursuing other activities as we’ll come onto discuss in later entries for this era). Once again with no time to get a full new album ready, he decided to repeat the formula that had worked so well for the last album by repacking it as a special edition for reissue a year after it first came out. A new black and yellow colour scheme adorned the artwork, the original 13 tracks from the album remained. And joining them were seven brand new songs, including a further two singles which we’ll be discussing at a later stage.

Claude Kelly and Steve Robson bought the frenetic funk to ‘Sacrifice’, a lively up-tempo floor filler that hardly had time to pause for breath. Meanwhile, Sam Hollander, an American based songwriter and producer who had written for decidedly more punk pop orientated artists like Blink 182 and Good Charlotte, delivered the haunting, lighters aloft ballad ‘If I Stay’, an empowering song about wanting to not give up on a relationship until the last.

‘Love Shouldn’t Be This Hard’ marked Olly’s first collaboration with Toby Gad, the hitmaker for the likes of Beyoncé, Pixie Lott and JLS. A genuinely compelling, almost country leaning midtempo about that awkward first stages of dating when there’s a desperate but repressed need to fill the silences, it seems all but forgotten now but is a gem worth unearthing.

Rounding off the repacked album were two more recordings for BBC Radio 1’s Live Lounge from December 2014: his then new single ‘Up’, performed acoustically with Ella Eyre, who subsequently performed it with him when she supported him on his UK and Ireland arena tour for the album in April 2015, and his version of Wham’s timeless festive favourite ‘Last Christmas’, gentle sleigh bells jingling in the background and all.

Ella also crops up on the second home video release of Olly’s, as the repack included the accompanying DVD of the fourth and final London O2 show of the ‘Never Been Better’ tour, recorded on 7th May 2015, as she performs ‘Up’ with him on there too. The DVD sadly had to omit the popular ‘Funk Medley’ section of the tour that year, owing to the failure of clearance for use of several of the songs in the medley for release. However, the performance of ‘Troublemaker’ with Robbie Williams as a surprise guest is retained and is well worth a watch even now.

The repacked ‘Never Been Better’ had the dual misfortune of coming out during one of the toughest weeks in Olly’s career (more on which in future entries), but also during one of the best for Adele, who released her third album ‘25’ that same week and which sold over 800,000 copies in its first week alone. However, it still returned the album to the top 10 for Christmas that year, ensuring that Olly notched up one of the year’s best-selling albums in the UK for a fifth year on the trot.

#Olly Murs #Olly Murs Daily #10th Anniversary #OMDaily10 #Never Been Better #Fourth Album #2014 #2015 #Retrospective #Review #Deluxe Edition #Special Edition #Unwrapped EP

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all-the-love-harold · 6 years

Text

The Daily Anna- Chapter 12

It’s here! and there’s no way it would have happened without @lovesmelikebrandnewstarlight and her endless support.

There’s only three or four more chapters left of the story, so please let me know how you’re felling about it!

Master Post

Cheshire.

When I was 18 I picked my life up and moved it to London, I even took my best friend with me, but my favourite part about moving away has always been coming home. Not because I hate living in London, that’s far from the truth, it’s because when I go home everything is calm and part of me feels like a kid again.

Conveniently, Harry is also from Cheshire, in fact we grew up not far from each other and somehow our paths didn’t cross until we both lived in London. Funny how fate works.

We’ve been spending the last few weeks sharing ourselves between both of our families and it’s been really nice to hear Harry share stories about his childhood here, it’s funny how we both have such different experiences attached to the same places.

It’s been nice to escape everything. I haven’t been to a single doctor’s appointment in the last two weeks and Harry hasn’t been in a studio. We don’t have any responsibilities when we’re back here and it’s nice to have that time together, without the stress of our real lives.

We head back to London tomorrow though and our two weeks of Knutsford ice cream and afternoon snuggles will come to an end. I’ll go back to having a doctor's appointment every second day and Harry will go back to spending almost all of his time in the studio.

Our little Cheshire adventure has come to a close, but next we head to Australia with our families, in honour of my little brother’s 18th birthday, so ‘The Daily Anna’ will once again become a travel blog.

***

Since her diagnosis Anna had been poked and prodded like there was no tomorrow, but it wasn’t for nothing, her kidney functions had improved tenfold since she started her treatment and she was starting to get her appetite back again although he diet was limited to clean foods that wouldn’t cause a build-up of toxins between treatments.

She was on dialysis now, which meant that every second day she would go into The Royal London Hospital and sit there while a machine did her Kidney’s job for her. It wasn’t all bad though, The NHS had assigned her own nurse who she got along with very well. Her name was Beth and she was just about the sweetest old lady that she’d ever come across.

Beth’s entire job was to make sure that Anna was comfortable and sometimes that just meant sitting with her if Harry couldn’t. They talked about almost anything under the sun, Anna gave her the rundown on what it’s like to date a pop star and Beth told Anna about her time as a midwife and she was completely fascinated by it.

The treatment started almost as soon as they’d arrived home from Cheshire and Harry made sure he went to all the appointments that he could. With the tour over now his main focus was his second album but that could wait for Anna to get better. Anna was beyond grateful for all the support that she was getting from her friends and family during all this. She was never short of company, there were even times when she had to tell people not to visit. Ronnie had developed a habit of hovering since he found out, and that was fine, until one day, it wasn’t.

****

Anna’s Dialysis took around three hours. Three hours of sitting in a chair and staring at a wall, so she was happy to get a text from Ronnie, saying that he was going to come and see her. Harry was already sitting there quietly responding to some emails and keeping quiet conversation with Anna. That was the beauty of their relationship, they could talk about anything and they could do it for hours but sometimes it was nice to have some other company.

Ronnie stormed into the Dialysis centre of the hospital, camera bag halfway unzipped with the camera hanging out of it, his glasses about to fall off his head

“Christ Ron, you look like you’ve been hit by a bus” Anna giggled

“So do you” he remarked back to her eyeing off the dialysis machine “What the fuck is that?”

“My robotic kidney’s” she giggled

“She’s basically the terminator now” Harry said, putting his phone away in his pocket.

“Right” Ronnie nodded unable to make eye contact with Harry. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to get along with him, it was more that Harry was exactly where he wanted to be. He brushed it off as best he could and sat down next to Anna, opposite Harry.

“Busy day?” Anna asked, trying her best to keep the conversation going with the two of them.

“Big shoot” he nodded “with Mabel actually”

“Ahhh” Harry said fondly “How is she?”

“She’s great, fun to work with” Ronnie admitted “She got in contact with me after your gig actually”

“You’re welcome” Harry shrugged, a little arrogant smile appearing on his face. Anna cringed knowing that Ronnie would interpret that the opposite way to what Harry had intended. If he had though, he didn’t say anything, he simply shrugged and moved on and Anna had to admit she was quite impressed. She’d always known Ronnie to be the petty type, always overreacting to the smallest of triggers.

Anna’s nurse Beth, who would sit with her on the days that Harry wasn’t able to make it, made her way over to them the second she saw that Ronnie was sitting there.

“How are we going my dear?” She said warmly

“Feeling squeaky clean” Anna smiled

Beth shuffled behind Harry and checked on the machine that was currently attached to Anna with two big tubes in her left arm, one for the blood to go in, the other to take it out.

“You’ve still got a few hours left dear, can I get anyone anything, tea or coffee for the lads?”

“No thanks” Harry said with a charming smile on his face

“I’m ok” Ronnie nodded

“Is the famous photographer friend that took you to meet Prince Charming over here?” It was no secret that Beth thought Harry was wonderful and if she was thirty- or forty-years younger Anna might be worried about it, but she just found it endearing.

“Sure is” Anna nodded “this is Ronnie”

Ronnie shook Beth’s hand “nice to meet you” he smiled

“You too dear, I’ve heard a lot about you” she turned back to Anna “feeling alright dear?”

“Yeah” Anna nodded

“Great we’ll give me a buzz if you need anything, I’ll just be doing some paperwork over at the nurses station”

She left them sitting in silence and Harry reached over and put his hand on top of Anna’s in a comforting manner and she suddenly felt awkward. It was weird enough having Harry and Ronnie in the same room, but it was even weirder for that room to be in a hospital where she was having a machine do what her body couldn’t. It felt too personal. Too intimate having Ronnie there.

“You guys can still have sex, right?” Ronnie asked out of nowhere

“Ron!” Anna said, taken aback by his forwardness

“Our sex life is just fine”. Harry’s voice was calm and unaffected by awkwardness that had just filled the room.

“I heard it took you awhile to put out for him though An”

“Drop it Ronnie” she glared at him with fire in her eyes

“Didn’t take you that long with me, did it?”

Harry blinked a few times, staring at Anna and then Ronnie. Did he hear that right?

“You should leave now Ronnie” Anna was blunt with her words and Ronnie knew that he’d crossed a line. He stood up and packed his things properly, before he turned and left the ward. Neither Harry or Anna spoke for a few minutes once he was gone, they both just started into space, not knowing what to say, but it was Harry who broke the silence.

“When?” is all he said

“Years ago,” Anna said quietly “It meant way more to him than it did to me. It was one time, but he hasn’t been with anyone since”

“So, he’s in love with you?”

“He’s not” she shook her head. “We’re just friends H”

“He definitely is” he said, “why else why would he still be around?”

“We’ve been friends since nursery Harry, he’s still around because it was one night”

“It’s a little strange An” he was still holding onto her hand so she knew he wasn’t mad but she could tell it bothered him, the way she guessed it would bother her if had had slept with someone he was that close to.

“Have you never slept with one of your friends?” she asked curiously, not to cause an argument but so that they could see eye to eye.

“Nope” he shook his head

“Never?” Anna sighed, in disbelief.

“Not even a kiss” he added

“It didn’t mean anything H”

“I know” he said, bring her hand up to his lips and kissing it softly “might have to thump the guy next time I see him though, so he doesn’t get any ideas”

“You wouldn’t do that” Anna smiled, making light of the whole thing “Please don’t hate me” she sighed

“We both have a past An, mine just isn’t my best friend”

“I know it’s complicated, and maybe he is in love with me just a little, but that’s where it ends”

“I trust you” Harry smiled “But I don’t know that I trust him”

“You don’t have to, you do have to tolerate him though”

***

Harry put his studio time on hold where he could to make sure that Anna was getting the care that she needed he wouldn’t be back into song writing mode until October.

As far as she’d come since starting her treatment, Anna wasn’t fully recovered and not yet able to miss three weeks if dialysis while they were gone, so Harry had taken on the responsibility of making sure that there was always a hospital close by and he’d even been in contact with a few specialists to make sure that Anna was getting the best care possible.

Everyone was going, Anne, Gemma, Debbie John, Gabby, even Ronnie had agreed to make the trip. For Timmy, of course.

Anna didn’t know if she was excited or nervous at this point, on one hand she was thrilled to be taking the trip with everyone she holds close to her heart, in honour of her brother, but on the other she wasn’t sure how it was all going to play out having everyone that close together for three weeks. Harry felt almost the same, he loved Anna, he wanted to do this all for her, but the thought of spending every day for the next three weeks with Ronnie made him cringe. He’d taken this flight only a few short months ago, but he’d forgotten just how long it took. A whole day. On a plane. With Ronnie. No wonder he was exhausted when they landed. But so was everyone else.

“I think we should just get dinner at the hotel restaurant tonight” Anne said, in the taxi on their way there “We can go exploring tomorrow”

Debbie nodded “Sounds good to me, Anna, Harry? Is that ok?”

“Sounds great Mum” Anna nodded with her head rested on Harry’s shoulder. Driving along she could see out the window and her heart fluttered as Sydney Harbour came into sight. She’d dreamt about this for years, of stepping off that plane and honouring her baby brother but she never thought it would be real, she never though she would get here. The sun was about to set over the harbour as it came into sight and Anna was taken away by its beauty. She’s seen it from the plane as they’d landed, but with the sun glistening off the water she really fell in love with the city that she’d been in for less than an hour.

Checking into the hotel was chaotic to say the least, it was already hard enough trying to get everyone sorted with so many of them there but then Harry was spotted by a few fans and what was already chaos turned into a disaster. It was Anne and Gemma that noticed them first, saying a quick hello in the hopes that that would be enough for them to leave. But of course, with Harry that close to them they weren’t going to leave without getting a picture. And in the middle of it all, Anna started to feel light headed. She knew the flight was going to knock it out of her, and she was due for another dialysis session in the morning, but right now she couldn’t stand up. She was standing out in the open, so she took a few deep breaths to centre herself and she leant up against her suitcase.

“Are you alright Anna?” Gemma said, a look of concern on her face

“Fine” Anna sighed, trying not to appear rude.

Ronnie’s arm snaked around Anna and all of her weight lent on him.

“I got you An” he said softly, “Hot shot over there just gave me the room key, let’s get you some proper rest”

At that Gemma dropped her suitcase and wrapped her arm around the other side of Anna so that she didn’t fall.

The rooms were stunning and as much as Anna wanted to stare out the window, she needed to lay down. She passed out almost immediately and she didn’t know how long Gemma and Ronnie hung around for, because when she woke up they were gone, and she could hear the shower running in the bathroom. She was feeling much better now, although dinner did feel like the least appealing thing and she was sure that’s why Harry was in the shower. The room was dark now, light only by the faint light coming from under the bathroom door and the city lights that surrounded the building. Anna sat up and rubbed her eyes while she searched for the glass of water that she vaguely remembered Ronnie putting next to her.

“You’re awake” Harry’s voice echoed around the room

“I am” her voice was still croaky with sleep

“How are you feeling?” His towel was wrapped around his hips and he made his way over to sit next to her on the bed.

“Much better” she smiled

“Good” he kissed her on the top of her head “I called the hospital while you were sleeping, we can go in any time after 8 am tomorrow”

“Thanks H, we should aim to be there by 8:30 so we don’t waste the whole day” Anna said, finally finding the water and taking a sip. She hated that half of this trip was going to be spent in a hospital, but she knew that there was no way she’d make it through three weeks without treatment.

“Sounds good,” he nodded “Dinner's at 7 so we should get ready”

Anna looked over at the clock and it was already 6:45 which meant that she didn’t have time to shower. Grateful that she’d packed face wipes and deodorant in easily accessible areas of her luggage she was able to get ready with five minutes to spare and manage to look half decent. Naps really were wonderful things, she thought to herself as her and Harry stepped out of the room and into the lift.

The hotel restaurant was quiet, the only table reserved was their own, but Anna had a sneaking suspicion that harry had paid to have it closed to the public tonight, so that they could have a little peace and quiet. They were the last to arrive and everyone else had already decided what to order.

“What are you going to have An?” Harry asked scanning over the menu

“I’m not that hungry H, I’ll just pick at yours if that’s ok?”

“That’s fine” he said, although he was concerned that her appetite had disappeared again “I think I’ll get the seafood basket”

They ordered, and conversation remained light between all of them. Harry and Ronnie were sat at opposite ends of the table, so there was no reason for them to start bickering and Anna had the chance to properly talk to her dad for the first time since they got on the plane yesterday.

When everyone’s food arrived Anne raised her glass, “To those we’ve loved and lost, and to good health” she winked at Anna.

Everyone followed suit and raised their glasses in a toast and then they started eating, silently for the most part until someone would occasionally speak up about how delicious their meal was.

Gemma broke the trend and dove in deep “Tell us about Timmy” she said sweetly

“Bravest eight-year-old I’ve ever known” Anna said quietly. This was something that had only dawned on her since she started her treatment, when he was sick she remembered everyone always telling him how brave he must be, but she never really understood just how scared he must have been, fuck, she was scared, and she understood everything that was happening to her, there was no way that he did.

Gabby nodded in agreement with Anna “He never let on that he was in pain”

“He was more than his illness though” Debbie added, “He was the sweetest little boy in the playground, always there to make sure everyone was ok. I was so proud of who he was” tears were filling her eyes and she picked up her napkin to wipe them away. Anna did the same and Harry hovered his hand over her lap, under the table until he found her knee and gently squeezed.

“He would have loved this” Anna said “having everyone together like this would have made him so happy”

“I’m sorry that we never got to meet him” Anne said “he sounds like an angel”

“Our little superhero” Gabby smiled

“Why Australia?” Anne asked sensitively

“He was fascinated by the animals, and I promised by fourteen-year-old self that I’d get here one day to see what he never got to” Anna said with tears forming in her eyes. It was strange to be feeling sad about Timmy’s death again, for years she’d been numb to it and then after months of therapy, she chose to remember only the happy things. Timmy as her energetic eight-year-old brother, rather than Timmy as her dead baby brother.

Gemma could sense the tone of the conversation becoming less than happy and raised her glass again

“To Timmy” she smiled “Our superhero”

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