Saga 5

Before we start, I'd like to address a recently-arose point made by certain readers: they claimed not to have understood what I was on about in these very columns.
Incidentally, none of them is an English speaker… were they missing the point, or did they lose the plot completely?

...what swiftly brings us to today's topic: the symbiotic nature of creativity and madness. Oh, what a couple. Oh, what a performance.
What many people prefer to term "mad" is, in many ways, simply the kind of person who's not like everybody else, non-conformist, or plain creative. 
Creative people are undoubtedly different from ordinary people, because creativity, as a whole, cannot and shouldn't be derived or influenced by any critical opinion… hence, if being "mad" embodies the lack of need for any external stimulus in order to achieve self-indulgence / self-fulfillment, then "mad" is merely another word for "natural".

Being "Creatively Natural" or "Naturally Creative" means that you never feel lonely… that you never feel any need to prove anything to anybody… yet all the above provide one with the right to take pity on those who erroneously consider themselves "normal".
As urban life requires some harmony and equilibrium with our surroundings, it's also saturated with negative-habits-in-spirit. Whenever I travel in my neighborhood, I can't help but notice the number of empty beer bottles and ciggy-tails laid outside a considerable number of houses, depicting a strong evidence for the residents' boredom. Them "normal" people… or are they? Alright, if being "normal" means to swallow beer and smoke and wait in vain for something to happen, then there's hardly a future for them "normal people".


The mad, Geordie message to the masses

Chiefly remembered for their hit version of nursery rhyme "Nellie the Elephant", The Toy Dolls  from Sunderland, northern England, are the epitome of "Comedy Rock". Formed in the late 70s and running successfully to this very day, the Toy Dolls play music that's essentially Punk rock… but since London punksters the Pistols and the Clash chose the rage path, our mates here belied the socially / economically depressive state of mind which defined the Thatcher-era, in favor of a "good-time" attitude.
Now… either you call them "Punk-jokers" or "loons", their inarguable world-wide success principally belies their Geordie roots. The topics of their songs, as well as the slang-ish manner used in it, are soooooooooooo-English (some may call it "way too English"), that one truly wonders how they manage to maintain their appeal to non-British audience. Fact is, whilst in their home land they appear to forever be registered under "One Hit Wonder" for "Nellie" (which, for that reason, is dismissed this time in favor of another song), their international chart statistics and tour schedules are healthier and varied. Just take a look at their discography to witness the miracle. Dig-dig-dig-dig-dig that groove, baby?

 
"They all call me riff-raff, 'coz I wear a Crombie", they say… for what we get here is a glimpse of Geordie life on Friday nights, and then some... which is much better than being stuck with an elephant. 
So, did you dig-dig-dig-dig-dig that groove, baby? Or perhaps, what's the secret of Geordie slang and accent that appeals so much to Europeans, Japanese and Americans? In my humble opinion, it's all to do with the infantile policy of Peter Pan-ish bandleader Michael "Olga" Algar. Isn't he a cutie?


Frequently mad, essentially creative and always yours,

Matt Gee