Manfred Krug: Misanthrop, Pingelkopp und Sensibelchen

Manfred Krug (Foto: Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-K0622-0001-001 / Katscherowski (verehel. Stark), / CC-BY-SA 3.0)

Irgendwie hatte das verdammte Virus auf mich den Effekt, dass es bei mir auch ohne eigene Infektion den Schreibdruck hemmte. Aber langsam wird es Zeit, dieses Blog mal wieder zu reaktivieren – bevor es sich endgültig in die Menge der Internet-Leichen einreiht.

Auslöser ist ein tolles Hörbuch, das ich kürzlich auf Facebook empfahl: Manfred Krugs „Ich sammle mein Leben zusammen: Tagebücher 1996 – 1997“, auf das ich durch Olli Schulz und den durch ihn im „Fest & Flauschig“-Podcast angefixten Jan Böhmermann aufmerksam wurde. Beide (und dann auch ich) beömmelten sich darüber, wie Krug mit ein paar knappen, brillant formulierten Sätzen frühere Kolleg/-innen und die Menschheit als solche verbal vernichtete.

„Eminent Hipsters“: Grouchy Donald Fagen Slams TV Babies and Coco Chanel („She F*cked Igor Strawinsky Into a Reactionary Spin!“)

I had lots of fun listening to emusic’s audio book version of Donald Fagen’s „Eminent Hipsters“, read by himself. It is not a regular autobiography but a collection of articles, „from portraits of the cultural figures and currents that shaped him as a youth to an account of his college days and of life on the road“ (publisher’s description). The book is both insightful and hilarious.

The main piece is a grouchy diary of a The Dukes of September Rhythm Revue tour Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen did with Michael McDonald and Boz Scaggs from 2010. Favorite quote: „By the way, I’m not posting this journal on the Internet. Why should I let you lazy, spoiled TV Babies read it for nothing in the same way you download all those songs my partner and I sacrificed our entire youth to write and record, not to mention the miserable, friendless childhoods we endured that left us with lifelong feelings of shame and self-reproach we were forced to countervail with a fragile grandiosity and a need to constantly prove our self-worth — in short, with the sort of personality disorders that ultimately turned us into performing monkeys?“

Ian Dury, Charlie Gillett & a Motley Crew of Crazies

I am in the middle of reading the biography of one of my favorite rock musicians of all time: Ian Dury (who passed away ten years and three days ago). In “Sex & Drugs & Rock’n’Roll: The Life of Ian Dury”, I just ran across one of the funniest accounts of a rock concert ever.

Author Richard Balls is quoting none other than Charlie Gillett who left us 13 days ago (at age 68) and who saw an early show by Dury’s first band Kilburn & the High Roads.

I’m re-quoting the best parts: