Uncle G’s FUN Writing Mishaps – Neil Young and John Lydon (2012)

Date Published: 24 August 2012 – Classic Rock Radio (UK)

Uncle G’s FUN Writing Mishaps
Spotlight: Neil Young/John Lydon

By Gary “Uncle G” Brown
GaryBrown@garyunclegbrownarchives.com

Unknown to you the reader, this is my second, and what will be my last attempt, at posting today’s column. I did a very dumb thing earlier today.

What was that, you ask yourself? I’ll tell you. Early this morning like I was saying, I wrote my whole column, right here on the official CRR (UK) Facebook page. Now what’s wrong with that, you ask yourself? Well, here’s the thing.

Being an amateur writer for decades now, I’d learned that keeping copies of things I wrote, could help me out some at a later date. Other authors/writers will agree with this. Something else to reference. It might have included the results of research that I had invested time in doing. Why do the same thing twice? So I keep this stuff…when I remember to. Long story short, my right hand clicked paste instead of copy, and my whole column disappeared. It fucking vanished. Excuse the language. I’m under the assumption I write for adults mostly. I know we have teenage readers as well. Your favorite “Uncle G” requests that you don’t use the F word, at least until you’re age, sixteen. Anything before that…ask Mom to wash your mouth out with soap. Also, remember to respect your elders. Makes me pissed off you youngins don’t behave yourself. Funny, coming from me, a known juvenile delinquent. Stories for another day.

How stupid am I? My Internet experience goes back to the 1990’s. I remember the early days. Learned EVERYTHING about computers, the hard way. I know better than to write directly on a website like that. Shit happens. Bad things can occur. Time invested in typing a whole column, devoted to Neil Young, and John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten), totally wasted. Trying to re-create exactly, is damn near impossible. At the time, my teenage niece would have said I had; “happy fingers.”. I was in the zone. I typed and words just appeared on the screen. Without a net. With no backup. I repeat; How stupid am I? Never will I write anything important directly on Facebook, again. Safer nowadays to write using a program that automatically does backups. In case of complete computer failure, or accidentally clicking a wrong command.

“The King Is gone,
but he’s not forgotten.
Is this the story,
of Johnny Rotten?
It’s better to burn out,
cause rust never sleeps.
The King is gone,
but he’s not forgotten.”

Note: Excerpt of; Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black) a.k.a.: “Into The Black”. Lyrics by Neil Young.

I first got Neil Young & Crazy Horse ‘Rust Never Sleeps’ on 8 Track tape. When it was first released, back in 1979. Received it for Christmas. I played the hell out of it for someone who didn’t get into Neil’s music a lot. The music was partly acoustic and partly electric. No surprise that it was the plugged-in material that held my attention more.

John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten) left The Sex Pistols and got involved with Public Image Ltd. Maybe to Young this was a good thing? I think the punk movement kind of freaked him out. Here are all these kids into wearing leather, razor blades, and safety pins. Violently dancing around and actually hurting themselves sometimes in the process.

I remember the mid to late 1970s very well. At first, all that was kind of weird to me. Besides the fan behavior to all this, here were these new punk bands publicly saying, fuck you and die, to the bands before them that I dug. Called their music; dinosaur rock. Targeted at bands like Led Zeppelin, and The Who. Those who worked their way up sat at the top of the heap. Kind of like royalty. Would then go to Las Vegas and get photographed naked after losing in strip billiards…wait…that was something else entirely. I digress.

Both Neil and Mr. Lydon are still around these days. Young can still rock when he wants. Plenty of recent evidence of that around. Lydon is being active as well. A new tour and new music with Public Image Ltd. North American Tour 2012 kicks in on the 3rd of October. Playing Orlando, Florida. I’ve spent time there over the years. A fun place to vacation in. Plenty to do. A great place to begin. Good luck to them for a successful road trip.

Additional Details (Sources of vast knowledge):
John Lydon/Public Image Limited Official Website: www.pilofficial.com/info.html
Neil Young: www.neilyoung.com
Visit Orlando Florida: www.visitorlando.com

End of Article

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