Southpaw Grammar

Southpaw Grammar is the fifth studio album by English alternative rock singer Morrissey, released on 28 August 1995 by record labels RCA in the UK and Reprise in the US.

The album charted at number 4 in the UK and number 66 in the US, but received a mixed response from critics. The singles lifted from the album were "Dagenham Dave" (which reached number 26 in the UK Singles Chart in August 1995) and "The Boy Racer" (which reached number 36 in October).

Content

The nature of the album is different from past Morrissey releases, such as the inclusion of two tracks which surpass the ten-minute mark, the near two-and-a-half-minute drum solo courtesy of Spencer Cobrin which opens the track "The Operation" and the sampling of a Shostakovich¹ symphony. AllMusic described it as "[Morrissey's] art rock album, complete with strings, drum solos and two ten-minute songs."

According to Morrissey himself, the title refers to "the school of hard knocks"; that is, boxing (a southpaw being slang for a boxing left-hander and grammar a reference to British grammar schools). Another reference to boxing is the original cover photo, a photo of boxer Kenny Lane taken from the April 1963 issue of boxing magazine The Ring.

Southpaw stance

Southpaw is a boxing term that designates the stance where the boxer has his right hand and right foot forward, leading with right jabs, and following with a left cross right hook. Southpaw is the normal stance for a left-handed boxer. The corresponding designation for a right-handed boxer is orthodox, and is generally a mirror-image of the southpaw stance.

Strategy

Left-handed boxers are usually taught to fight in a southpaw stance, but right-handed fighters also fight in the southpaw stance. This may give the southpaw fighter a strategic advantage because of the tactical and cognitive difficulties of coping with a fighter who moves in a mirror-reverse of the norm. One reason some left-handed fighters are brought up fighting in the orthodox stance is because of a perception that boxing from an atypical stance (or attempting to learn to do so) would be a disadvantage to the fighter. Another reason some left-handed fighters are brought up fighting in the orthodox stance is due to the (real or perceived) limited number of trainers who specialize in training the southpaw stance.

Southpaw (album)

Southpaw is Irish-English singer-songwriter Gilbert O'Sullivan's fifth studio album, originally released in November 1977. This was the first album produced by Gilbert O'Sullivan. Union Square Music re-released it in June 2012 on Salvo label in part of the Gilbert O'Sullivan - A Singer & His Songs collection.

Track listing

All songs written by Gilbert O'Sullivan.

Bonus tracks on the 2012 remaster

Madison (dog)

Madison is a Labrador Retriever, and an animal actor best known for playing the role of Vincent the dog on the hit television series Lost.

Even though she is female, she plays a male dog on the TV show Lost.

Biography

Madison is from Hawaii, and her owner is Kim Stahl, an accountant and part-time dog trainer. Before becoming a performer, Madison worked as a tracking dog and obedience competitor. In 2001, Madison ranked eighth among the best obedience dogs in Hawaii. Stahl also owns relatives of Madison, including two of her daughters, Byrddee and Jane.

References

External links

Madison (name)

Madison is a surname of English origin, which has become a popular given name in the United States. Madison, commonly spelled Maddison in Northeastern England, is a variant of Mathieson, meaning son of Matthew, although possibly occasionally standing for son of Maddy, where Maddy is a pet form of Maud.

Madison is also used as a given name. As a name, it has become popular for girls in recent decades. Its rise is generally attributed to the 1984 release of the movie Splash. From a practically non-existent girl's name before 1985, Madison rose to being the second-most-popular name given to female babies in 2001. It has since declined in popularity as a girl's name, however, slipping to seventh place by 2009.

As a masculine given name, Madison can be found within the top 1,000 names for boys in the United States up until about 1952. Madison returned to the top 1,000 ranked boy's names in 1987, remaining there through 1999, and it also was the 858th-most-common boys' name in 2004, but it remains uncommon as a boy's given name.

Madison (dance)

The Madison is a novelty dance that was popular in the late 1950s to mid-1960s.

Description and history

It was created and first danced in Columbus, Ohio, in 1957. The local popularity of the dance and record in Baltimore, Maryland, came to the attention of the producers of The Buddy Deane Show in 1960. Picked up by dance shows across the country, it became widely popular.

The Madison is a line dance that features a regular back-and-forth pattern interspersed with called steps. Its popularity inspired dance teams and competitions, as well as various recordings, and today it is still sometimes performed as a nostalgic dance. The Madison is featured in the John Waters movie Hairspray, and it continues to be performed in the Broadway musical Hairspray. Both the film and the musical feature one of many songs released during the Madison "craze" in the US.

Ray Bryant recorded "Madison Time" for Columbia Records in 1959. Billboard stated that "The footwork for the Madison dance is carefully and clearly diagrammed for the terpers." The Ray Bryant version was the version featured in the film Hairspray. The other popular version was by Al Brown & The Tunetoppers. Another version was recorded by radio presenter Alan Freeman for Decca Records in 1962.