Category: Rock Music
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Wilko Johnson Book Launch: How Dr Feelgood Were Inspired by a Disastrous MC5 Wembley Appearance
Wilko Johnson, former lead guitarist of Canvey Island‘s finest export Dr Feelgood, was at Rough Trade East last night to launch his new autobiography alongside co-author Zoe Howe, a local Leigh on Sea resident. Wilko spoke eloquently about his life in front of a packed crowd and was then joined by his band, featuring former Blockhead…
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Things You Don’t See Anymore #2: The Bootleg Tape Market Trader
Bootleg recordings of live shows can now be found on-line – but this wasn’t always the case. Bootlegs used to be under the counter – or more often, on market stalls in cassette form or (if you were really keen / wealthy) on vinyl at bootleg record fairs. After Queen’s triumph at Wembley, I began…
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Rock’s Greatest Frontman
Who is Rock’s Greatest Frontman? The question of who is Rock’s Greatest Frontman has taxed the minds of the finest academics across the land, and has been debated in some of the most important arenas including Cabinet Rooms, Parliament… …Buckingham Palace, and not forgetting The Crooked Billet pub in my home town of Leigh on…
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The Top Ten Best Rolling Stones Books…ever!
The best books about the Rolling Stones? Read on… The Rolling Stones pretended they wouldn’t be touring in 2012 to celebrate their 50th anniversary, and Keith claimed that as Charlie didn’t join the band until 1963, he had a decent get-out clause to postpone the festivities until next year. So whilst we waited patiently for…
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The Rolling Stones In Rice Krispies Advert Shame! (and other breakfast stories)
Rock stars and Breakfast cereals are not the most obvious bedfellows… So what do The Rolling Stones and The Charlatans have in common (aside from having a greater appetite for banned substances than the Bulgarian weightlifting and Tour De France teams combined)? As I re-read The True Adventures of The Rolling Stones recently, there was…
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The True Adventures of The Rolling Stones…and The Best Music Books of All Time
The 26th April 2012 sees the re-release of one of the greatest Rock Books of all time – The True Adventures of the Rolling Stones by Stanley Booth. The book mixes a history of the band with a first hand account of being The Stones’ live-in writer at the height of their notoriety. Extraordinarily, it…
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Record Store Day: Noel Gallagher Actually Does Something Surprising….
So Record Store Day came and went, and hipsters and anoraks alike (guess which one I am) can try to get some sleep after camping outside their record store overnight and then playing their records all day (Unless they are too scared to play their records in case they “lose value”)… I was told someone…
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Keith Moon “lined up for the Olympics”
There’s a great story reported by RollingStone.com that says the London Olympic Committee has approached Keith Moon’s agent to see if the drummer would like to take part in the summer’s festivities? It is of course refreshing that the Olympic Committee is not being ageist, and is prepared to overlook Moon’s past bad behaviour at…
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Record Store Day 2012 – Support Your Local Record Store!
It’s Record Store Day again! Coming just a few days after Rolling Stone magazine forecast the demise of the CD in as little as three years, Record Store Day is something worth celebrating. Designed to give exclusive product to independent record stores it gives me a decent excuse to go record shopping and support my…
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A new use for all those old vinyl albums…
I stumbled upon an interesting idea this evening on Q Magazine’s pinterest site: entire portraits and worlds made out gatefold vinyl artwork.. A childishly simple idea that makes you wonder why no-one thought of it before. It transpires that the people at The Design Inspiration are rather good at it – you can see their…
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Ziggy Stardust Plaque Unveiled! Spiders from Mars Reunited! Gary Kemp Interview! Exclusive Photos!
A tribute to David Bowie’s alter-ego Ziggy Stardust was unveiled in Heddon St, just off Regent St in London’s West End today. It was a fine ceremony, attended by two of the original Spiders from Mars, Mick “Woody” Woodmansey and Trevor Bolder. It took a while for Bowie to enter my life. For many he…
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Paul Weller Live at The Camden Roundhouse 2012
It’s been a Mod sort of March. First was the premiere of Dean Chalkley‘s short film “The New Faces“, (see my previous Dean Chalkley post) then Paul Weller plays five sold-out nights at the lovely Camden Roundhouse. Dressed, er, modishly in suit and tie au knot grande, Weller played the whole of his new album…
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NME Awards 2012 – Noel Gallagher receives much-needed boost to his modest ego
The NME awards 2012 made for an entertaining spectacle. It’s like a cooler and more foul-mouthed older brother of the Brits, and with a better record collection to boot. It was also notable for making some good choices for the awards ( i.e. I found myself agreeing with the decisions – something that is rare…
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Laser 558, what’s wrong with Radio 2 and the real reason people liked Genesis
So what links Laser 558, Radio 2 and Genesis? Not that you need a reason (yes you do) but it is worth taking a look at the musical landscape of 1985 to put into context (some would say justify) why I (and many people like me) liked Genesis. My theory is that it’s all because…
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Genesis – Duke – Is it time to Turn it on Again?
Duke by Genesis is perhaps the band’s best album as a three piece. Duke was the third concept album I heard (after 2112 and Nursery Cryme) and the first one I managed to listen to all the way through. I know it was a concept album because lyrics and parts of tunes reappeared later in…
Every record tells a story 