Bluedot: day three/Gary Numan and Amy Gledhill

I could - but, rest assured, I won't - talk you through the history of Gary Numan from 1978 right up until the current day, although, to be honest, the last twenty years would be much of a muchness. But there was a period from April 1979 until September 1980 when he was without doubt he was the conduit for a creative force to rival The Beatles or David Bowie. 

In less than eighteen months he released three quite extraordinary (and varied) albums: 'Replicas', 'The Pleasure Principle', and 'Telekon'. A couple of years ago - see Blips passim - he played all three albums in their entirety over three nights at the Town and Country Club (or whatever it's called now) and it was amazing. I swore I'd never see him live again. 

But here he is at Bluedot and, well, it would be churlish not to go along. But, to be honest, I wish I hadn't. Whilst his most recent album 'Savage' is his best in more than twenty years, it is still Numan-by-numbers. And his bands - at least the ones I've seen - since 1994 are as cumbersome and clumsy as all of Morrissey's post-'Viva Hate' outfits, four songs in and I gave up. 

But, fear not, the evening was not lost.

A few years ago, the Minx and I made the first of what turned out to be an annual pilgrimage to the Edinburgh Fringe. Every year we go to see our friend David Callaghan perform and that first year he was doing a show with a woman called Amy Gledhill: she did the first half and he did the second. 

To be honest, I don't think I've ever seen a more natural comedian than Amy. David's comedy is excellent - his routine about naming dogs has never left me - but Amy just has funny bones; she has the art of 'the look'. That first time I saw her, she was doing a skit on Adam and Eve and I was selected from the audience to take part. There was something in her confidence that made me think it would be all right and, as it happened it was. 

Today, Amy was performing as part of The Delightful Sausage and then, later, on her own. Lord, she was brilliant and I'm only sad that she didn't get a longer set.

****
No scales
0 words
Reading: I finished book 17: ‘Total Rethink’ by David McCourt. I must admit that I’d never heard of this guy - entrepreneur and telecoms billionaire - until I saw an article in the paper. It’s a fascinating read for a couple of reasons: firstly, the autobiographical content, then his advice on how to succeed as an entrepreneur. What he *entirely* misses is that you need to be a certain type of character to follow his advice. I’d give it a 4 but if you were going to be a success along the lines he advocates, you wouldn’t need it. Perhaps the most insightful part of the book is around his predictions of how new technology will shape our lives. I think he’s right that a revolution is coming: it remains to be seen how it manifests itself. 
Next: Steve Martin’s ‘Picasso At The Lapin Agile’.