by Lang Reid
Another
guide to life in Thailand, but not the usual “which bus to catch” and
“don’t mess with the servants”, but a hard-cover guide to the
everyday, but oft unfathomable, life and times in Thailand. Written by
Philip Cornwel-Smith, a writer with much experience in this country, and
photographed by John Goss, Very Thai - Everyday Popular Culture (ISBN
974-9863-00-3) was published this year by River Books in Bangkok.
In Alex Kerr’s preface to the book, he writes, “A
hundred things which had intrigued me for decades became clear on reading
it (the book). Such as where the statue of the beckoning lady came from,
or why the alphabet always appears with pictures.” That introduction
alone was, for me, the ‘beckoning lady’ to look further!
Let’s begin with the beckoning lady who is called
Nang Kwak, and her overseas cousin, the Japanese Maneki-Neko, the
beckoning cat. Page 165 will unravel this mystery, and even extend this
into the shamanic practices of carrying certain herbs as love amulets.
Have you ever wondered about discarded spirit houses? I always have, and
on page 184, it is covered.
The attraction in this book is the liberal use of
excellent photographs in conjunction with Cornwel-Smith’s well
researched words. There are ‘amazing’ facts within the covers,
including such bizarre items as a temple in Bangkok which has a gold
sculpture of David Beckham in its altar. It appears that even Buddhism
became caught up in the football frenzy, in this particular temple at
least!
The book is divided into four general sections -
Street, Personal, Ritual and Sanuk. Each main section is then divided into
around 20 items under the general umbrella. I found this a trifle
confusing at times, feeling that perhaps an alphabetic approach could have
been easier, but this is a minor complaint, as there is a good alphabetic
index at the back.
The book has also managed to highlight and explain many
of the ‘everyday’ features of life in Thailand, to which the expat eye
becomes inured after a while, but which still have most interesting
stories. For example, the street cats with the knobbly truncated tails
have not all had their appendages caught in the door, as I had always
imagined. It is a genetic deformity! A fact that was noted by the eminent
Charles Darwin, but was missed by me.
Even the ubiquitous motorcycle taxis (“motercy”)
are explored in depth. Were you aware that the collecting point was known
as a ‘win’ and the jackets are ‘seua win’? These jackets cost
anything between 4,000-100,000 baht, like a regular taxi license in the
west, but are part of the underground economy in Thailand. This continues
despite a government heralded national registration policy in 2003.
The book has a Bibliography and an extensive Index, which alone would
make for good reason to be published in hard-cover. It is also a reference
book, no matter how beguiling are Cornwel-Smith’s words or attractive
Goss’s photographs. A reference book that will also delight the casual
reader, local expat or frequent visitor. At B. 995, this is a
treasure-trove that should be on your shopping list.
Part 2
Pawed
by Mott the Dog
Re-gigged by Ella Crew
So, with “Nutz Live Cutz”, their last album with
A & M Records, languishing in the bargain bins of record shops, and
A & M holding a further 2 years recording contract over the band,
the future was not exactly rosy. Keyboard player Kenny Newton left to
form Nightwing, who carried on with their own brand of Bombastic rock
until 1984.
The only way that the remaining nucleus of the band
could stay together and see out their two years of contract was to sing
for their supper at the Ship Hotel in the Jersey Isles. So for two
summer seasons these scouse boys entertained the holiday makers on those
sunny tax free isles.
But then fate took another turn. Geoff Appleby,
well-known record producer and long time admirer of the band, hearing of
their plight and seeing a change in the music scene with Punk bands
being replaced by a return to the harder more refined days of yore
(bands like Iron Maiden and Samson were making the waves in London),
invited the band up to London for a showcase gig at the Greyhound in
Croydon.
The band hit the stage at 8.30 p.m. to a packed hall
and were still playing when the house lights came up, having been called
back to encore so many times that the crowd had 2 versions of “Wall
Banger”, 2 versions of “Sinner”, and a new song called
“Bootliggers”.
Britain’s number one heavy metal D.J. Neal Kay was
in the crowd. He was putting together an album of tracks from all of
London’s up and coming new bands. The album was actually complete, but
Kay held release of the album and asked Nutz to quickly record their new
track “Bootligger”, and then added it on to his new album titled
“The New Wave Of Heavy Metal”. The album was a smash hit and opened
a whole new genre of hard rock.
The newly formed Carrera Records were the lucky label
to get their signatures to have a second stab at that elusive stardom.
Carrera promised the world to the boys. New clothes were bought and a
new image designed (lots of leather and bright colours) with more
emphasis on David Lloyd as the front man with his mane of red hair and
movie star looks. Studio time was booked and the band given as much time
as they needed to put down an album as they wanted.
At this point a name change was thought to be a good
idea (whether it was or not, who knows?). So after the years of
frustration behind them, the title of “Rage” was decided to be very
apt, and suitable for the times.
Carrera Records were not a big company and I believe
they did the best publicity wise for the first album “Out Of
Control”. It was also given a five star rating by the new tome of
Heavy Metal “Kerrang”. “Out Of Control” is a perfect hard rock
party album with every song being pressed along at full speed with a
constant beat running through proceedings.
The guitar solo on the opening track leaves you in no
doubt that Mick Devonport had lost none of his chops during his sojourn
in the Jersey Isles.
The single from the album “She’s On Fire” went straight to
number one on the Bandwagon Heavy Metal chart. David Lloyd’s vocals
put him at the top of the pile. A showcase gig was set up at the world
famous Marquee club in London and immediately sold out, so another
second date was arranged. In the audience were members of “Iron
Maiden”, “Def Leppard”, and “Judas Priest”, all coming to see
how this hard rockin heavy metal is done by the big boys. Needless to
say the concert was a huge success with perhaps “Thank That Women”
from the “Out Of Control” album being the high point.
To contact Mott the
Dog email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.mott-the-dog.com
Mott’s CD review: From “Nutz” To “Rage”