Clancy Tucker's Blog: July 2017

NICK CAVE

- MUSICIAN & WRITER -

G'day folks,

Nick Cave is the brooding Australian singer for the bands Grinderman and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.

Synopsis

Born in Warracknabeal, Australia, on September 22, 1957, Nick Cave teamed up with school friend Mick Harvey in the mid-1970s to form the post-punk band The Birthday Party; in 1982 it released its signature album Junkyard. The following year, the band dissolved and was replaced by a new incarnation: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. The Bad Seeds developed a unique sound that veers wildly from art rock to dark ballad, and Cave's lyrics often ring of brooding tavern poetry, with love, murder and a near Southern Gothic embrace of the damned at the fore. Cave also has written books, screenplays and movie scores, and has acted in films.

Early Years

Musician and writer Nick Cave was born in Warracknabeal, Australia, on September 22, 1957, to a librarian mother and an English-teacher father. Along with his two older brothers and younger sister, Cave was raised an Anglican, and the Bible has always been influential in his work (his first novel, And the Ass Saw the Angel, takes its name from a Bible verse). In high school in the mid-1970s, Cave met Mick Harvey, and the pair formed their first band, The Boys Next Door. The band's first record was a cover of "These Boots Are Made for Walking" (1978), and they followed it the next year with their first album, Door, Door. After high school, The Boys Next Door became The Birthday Party, and the band moved to London.

The Birthday Party represented an immediate change of pace from the prevailing '80s post-punk scene, with their blues-influenced, jangling rock. Their first LP, Prayers on Fire, was followed by Junkyard in 1982 and Mutiny, an EP, in 1983. That would be all The Birthday Party could muster by the time they disbanded in 1983.

The Bad Seeds

After the band's breakup, Cave headed to Los Angeles and put together his new band, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Mick Harvey was one of the Bad Seeds, and a notable addition was Blixa Bargeld, of Einstürzende Neubauten, a legendary German industrial band that specialized in creating sheer walls of noise.

From Her To Eternity (1984) would be the new band's first album, and it was a more refined, if no less iconoclastic, sound than that of The Birthday Party. The band had moved from Los Angeles to Berlin, and there Cave began what would become And the Ass Saw the Angel, a novel that would draw critical acclaim and comparisons to the works of William Faulkner.

Cave also stayed busy with music, and the Bad Seeds released The Firstborn Is Dead in 1985 and Your Funeral…My Trial and Kicking Against the Pricks in 1986. In the late 1980s, Cave moved to Brazil to be with a woman he met on tour, Viviane Carneiro, and together they had a son. It was there that he finished his first novel. He also published King Ink (1988), a collection of lyrics, plays and prose.

It was around this time Cave's songs took on a more ballad-like tone, beginning with 1990's The Good Son and running through Henry's Dream (1992) and the appropriately titled Murder Ballads (1996). Murder Ballads would prove to be an unlikely stepping stone into the realm of greater recognition for Cave and his bandmates, as appearances on the album by PJ Harvey (whom Cave dated), Shane MacGowan and Kylie Minogue brought in a wider audience.

Cave has remained with the Bad Seeds and has produced several more albums, from Let Love In (1994) to The Boatman's Call (1997) to No More Shall We Part (2001). He and a few members of the Bad Seeds formed Grinderman and released an eponymous album in 2007 and Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! in 2008. Both albums found a rejuvenated Cave hitting new artistic heights and finding yet more critical success.

Cave has penned a few screenplays, among them the Australian western The Proposition (2005) and the American gangster movie Lawless, and has also scored several films. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds returned in 2013 with Push the Sky Away, their 14th studio album.

Personal Life

Cave dated singer-musician Anita Lane for several years and collaborated with her on a number of songs and musical projects, including a stint when she was a member of The Bad Seeds. Cave was also linked to singer PJ Harvey in the 1990s.

Nick Cave married model Susie Bick in 1999 and the couple have twin sons Arthur and Earl. Cave also has two children from previous relationships, a son Luke with ex-wife Viviane Carneiro, and a son Jethro with Beau Lazenby.

Cave's son Arthur died in July 2015 at age 15 after falling from a cliff in Brighton, England. In a statement, the family said: "Our son Arthur died on Tuesday evening. He was our beautiful, happy loving boy."

Clancy's comment: A big name in Australia.

I'm ...

UNUSUAL FACTS

ABOUT LIONS

G'day folks,

Popularly known as the “King of the Jungle”, lions are at the top of their food chains. They may look cute, harmless, and just like your domesticated pet cat, but these hundred pound killing machines are not to be trifled with otherwise you could end up in the hospital or, worse, a body bag.

Lions hunt in groups called prides, an effective strategy that has allowed these animals to take down prey twice their size. These include wildebeests, giraffes, and elephants. Although no introductions are needed for this majestic creature, there are still a lot of facts average people don’t know about them.

Lion Fact 1:

Lioness live within the area their preceding generations controlled for life. Meanwhile, lions roam around long distances to search for other prides they can mingle and breed with. Many people, especially aspiring zoologists and animal lovers, know this fact. However, what they remain unaware of are the implications. Male lions can fend for themselves. In fact, they spend a large fraction of their lives alone hence requiring them to learn how to become an efficient hunter.

Lion Fact 2:

A few studies only support the first fact above. Nonetheless, this is an interesting discovery that could branch out more proclivities. For starters, studies have associated male hunting behavioral patterns with vegetation structure. In such cases, this was an indirect form of males caring for their young ones. Less vegetation implies less protection for the pride’s cubs. This is why African lions are forced to scout for denser vegetative lands. With denser vegetation, males have a much larger hunting ground, allowing cubs to eat more and grow stronger

Lion Fact 3: More interesting facts about lions

Another tragic but infamous fact about African lions is that a change in pride leader results in the killing of existing offspring the lioness have. What remains covert is that a male lion taking over a pride of females may force other members to run off. In fact, this is how many lioness stray from the territory she was conceived in. Although this is not necessarily a death penalty, it does drastically lower her chances of survival as lions who are not in a pride are not as strong and efficient in hunting food.

Lion Fact 4:

Male lions frequently form partnerships with other male lions outside the pride. While people think that the pride often consists of more females than males, the reality is surprisingly reversed. Basically, there will be a group of females connected to a group of two to four males. The bigger the male population in a pride, the higher their reproductive health are.

Lion Fact 5: More fun facts about lions

Most people refer to a group of lions as a pride. However, what they don’t know is that scientists and field researchers actually distinguish lion groups based on the gender of the pride. A pride is actually a group of female lions who are related and live together. A group of male lions, on the other hand, is known as a coalition. Knowing this key piece of information can help you catch up and relate to lion conversations.

Lion Fact 6:

Having such dominance and ferocity within their territories, you’d think no one would dare go toe-to-toe with a pride of lions. Using their sharp and powerful claws and a nasty bite that strangles their prey, lions can take down even the largest of elephants and even the most stubborn of buffaloes. Ironically though, their worst foe comes in the size of a dog – porcupines. Armed with their quills, a porcupine wards off lions who prefer not to get those protruding stings stuck to their face.

Lion Fact 7:

A lion’s tail has meaning beyond its appearance. It is usually wagged to signal other lions and convey messages, such as warnings of impending danger. So the next time you see a lion at the zoo or in the wild, you’ll know those tail wags are not meaningless. Talking about the tail of lion, there’s an African proverb that says “Never hold a lion by the tail, whether dead or alive” lion is a very dangerous animal and not something to play, toil or mess around with.

Lion Fact 8:

Reinforced with sharp and retractable claws, a lion’s paw is one of his most important hunting arsenal. Retracting claws allow these giant cats to lock onto their prey while also preventing unwanted injuries during playtime.

Lion Fact 9:

A lion’s rear set of teeth, also known as carnassals, cut like scissors, which are extremely useful when feasting on a prey with thick hides like a buffalo or elephant. While their set of teeth help trim down pieces of flesh, lions don’t really chew their kill. Instead, they swallow it with one side of their mouth.

Lion Fact 10:

Lions and lionesses greet each other in a rather rough manner. To the ordinary eyes, it may seem like the animals are fighting, but on the contrary, it is a way of saying “hi”. The gesture signifies a bond that is unique to the pride as lions leave scent marks on their pride members. Even domesticated cats show this trait by rubbing against their human companions, which actually signify ownership.