Rantin Richie. - ProfilesArchive

About Me

Want this badge? I was born in '62, which in England was called the "Baby Boom", that was in Greenbank hospital in Darlington, which is now long gone. I was brought up in Richmond in Yorkshire, which is simply a stunning place to grow up, and I have many great memories from when i was a kid, playing down by the River Swale. Early in my teens I got into Punk Rock and started to do stand up Poetry, and to be honest trying to copy the likes of John Cooper Clarke who was around at the time. After my first live performance at Richmond Catholic Church Hall, the local paper the next day said a young poet was "Rantin and Ravin", hence my nickname which has stood for 20 odd years, Rantin Richie. I had an elongated period of rebellion in my life which saw me on the wrong side of the law, and spent a good bit of time outside society, which wasn't nice. Although I like to think I learnt a lot from those dark periods. In the mid 90's whilst living in Brixton i came across a weird bunch of musicians called the Alabama 3, especially their lead singer Rob, and i DJ'd a lot for them all over the country, an experience which was absolutely fantastic, and through them i gained a lot of notoriety, and through also running their website for a few years. I've been out of London for about 4 years now, living in County Durham, which reminds me of Richmond a lot from my childhood, with loads of beautiful countryside, and a slower pace of life, which I've become quite accustomed to. I work in a pub, which is a job I've done a lot over the years, and I really like it, it is a great way of meeting lots of people quickly, and can be great fun.

Myspace Layouts by Pimp-My-Profile.com

My Interests

Want this badge? Love art with a passion. Recently been checking out a guy called Tom McGuinness, who specialised in painting scenes about the North East of England, especially stuff about the mines. He also designed lots of stained glass windows for churches at Bishop Auckland etc His colours are absolutely beautiful. Sadly he died recently. But well worth checking out his stuff, so do. I also really love the work of the revolutionary 1920's Italian "Futurist's" such as Severini, Marinetti, again for the brilliant use of colour, and the depiction through art of images using angulars and "Motion". The only drawback being that the movement was somewhat aligned to the Fascist Party of Mussolini, but perhaps they "The Futurist's" may one day be seen as individuals without the politicol connotations.

I'd like to meet:

Want this badge? I fucking give up regarding this section. May'be I'm just one of the Unloved.

Music:

Want this badge?Howlin Wolf. Hank Williams. Sonny Curtis. John Lee Hooker. Muddy Waters. Lynard Skynard. Blue Oyster Cult. Creedance Clearwater Revival. Nina Simone. Memphis Minnie. Billie Holliday. Woody Guthrie. Alison Krauss. Joy Division. the Clash. Basement Jaxx. Groove Armada. Augustus Pablo. Lee Perry. But most of all I like a nice set of decks in a sublime venue what ain't too worried about what a noise limiter is ! BOOM

Movies:

Want this badge? Movies; (All Time).............. Tunes Of Glory (David Niven)...The Rebel (Tony Hancock)...All the Spaghetti Western Films (Including "Two Mules For Sister Sarah" with Shirley McClaine which is fantastic)...Get Carter (The originol, not that shite American remake, how can a bunch of Yankee film makers recreate the grittiness of Urban life in Newcastle in the mid 60's ? Fuck Off)...Probably every weepie ever made, I can't help it, I cry at the drop of a hat.

Television:

Want this badge? Don't anyone mention B.B. to me, that kinda shit has put me right off television. I wish i could make a lot of these idiots at the BBC whatever just disappear, and get some young people who could write either brilliant drama's, great new comedy, like what we had in the 70's and excelled at. It's very sad these days we have to reminise about what used to be great, instead of saying, yeah there's all these great programmes on now.

Books:

Want this badge? I read loads and I've read loads, although of late i haven't done any. I'm still theoretically reading Conan Doyle's "Sherlock Holmes" which for me was great, as it explained how they came to be living together, which wasn't perceived how it would be today. But a great read, although you have to take bear in mind the writing and ideas and the whole culture is from a century ago. Hence certain things which now seem very twee to us, like "A gentlemen walking down the road after midnight, the worse for wear" is common place in every village these days, in fact it would be odd if you didn't see or hear a bloke off his head, chuntering away to himself. Best ever; Travels With Charley by John Steinbeck.If you've never read any Seinbeck, what are you doing ? The guy was an absolute genius.Basically his biggest attribute towards the written word, was focusing on the social depravation in America during the 30's depression and about farmers who had to endure the misery of the Dustbowls (plots of land where terrible sanstorms would wreak havoc with the crops and cause savage health problems for whole communities, often wiping them out). Currently reading; The Libertines. Not particularly taxing, just another book about a band of the moment in some peoples eyes. I did however recently read "Passion Is A Fashion" all about The Clash which is an absolute gem. Especially all the quotations from their one time manager Bernie Rhodes, who was many things, but a guy who could coin a phrase beautifully. One of his classics being "You wouldn't ask your bank manager to live in your wardrobe, would you ?".

Heroes:

Want this badge? My hero this week is the journalist Chris Lloyd who writes for the Northern Echo, with his weekly articles concerning Victorian murders in the North East Of England. But sadly I missed the one about the Gainford Poisoner. Shit.

My Blog

If you like the ALABAMA 3

You may or may not know that RANTIN RICHIE used to DJ for the Alabama 3 (check out their brilliant website at;www.alabama3.co.uk) as well as previously running their website for a couple of years. Any...
Posted by Rantin Richie. on Tue, 11 Jul 2006 02:18:00 PST

Late night contemplations after a heavy weekend !

Here we are again, just me and my self inside this solitude, and just trying to piece together whats gone on around me, where i fit in, what i contributed to events, and what i have gained from it all...
Posted by Rantin Richie. on Mon, 03 Jul 2006 05:23:00 PST

That Sunday Feeling..........

Another Sunday afternoon, and here I am Just listenin to King Tubby's melancholic dub, which is very uplifting, and also very, very relaxing, just the kind of vibes you want for a sunday in my estimat...
Posted by Rantin Richie. on Sun, 04 Jun 2006 07:50:00 PST