Every Record Tells A Story
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A Visit To Hansa Recording Studios, Berlin
Home to the recordings of such seminal albums as David Bowie’s “Heroes”, U2’s “Achtung Baby”, and Depeche Mode’s “Black Celebration”, Hansa Studios in Berlin is one of the most famous and iconic recording studios in the world. During a recent trip to Berlin, I visited the studios, guided around by Berlin Music Tours, who have…
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A true story about Bob Dylan and Dave Stewart in a Crouch End Pub
I heard a story today from a friend who lived in Crouch End in the ’80s and ’90s and played for a local rugby team. He swears it is true. Like most rugby teams they liked a beer and each week after a match the team would go down the pub. It happened to be…
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You Can Help Make The Greatest Episode of Top of the Pops Ever!
It all started with a conversation on Twitter. Actually it was more of a musing. And it wasn’t my idea either. No, it was music writer Pete Paphides who proclaimed suddenly: What I’d really love @BBCFOUR to do one Friday night is just show a whole evening of ace, not-obvious music clips. Just one after…
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Is it cheaper to buy vinyl online or in record shops? The Verdict.
The day came for us to finally resolve the question. Is it cheaper to buy vinyl online or in record shops and fairs? We had a couple of minor rules – we would try to buy a) Aretha Franklin’s Atlantic albums up to 1972, b) copies should be in VG+ condition or better, and c)…
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How To Buy Aretha Franklin on Vinyl
Previously, we saw how “I Never Loved A Man” became a smash hit for Aretha Franklin. But what about those other LPs on Atlantic? Between 1967 and 1972 Aretha Franklin released eight studio albums, two live albums and a Greatest Hits. Which ones should you start with? And what are the best versions to get?…
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The Making of Aretha Franklin’s “I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)”
Wilson Pickett moved towards Percy Sledge, ready to punch him, hard. Sledge had popped in during one of Pickett’s recording sessions at the Muscle Shoals Fame Studios, and as his name would suggest, began to sledge Pickett, telling him first he sounded like Otis Redding, and then like James Brown. That’s the best way to…
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Aretha Franklin’s Emotional First Performance
…and Why It Took Nine Albums To Score Aretha’s First Hit Aretha Franklin sat at a piano in her father’s church, just days after her mother’s death. She was just ten years old and about to make her first ever public performance. There were two thousand people in the congregation waiting to hear this recently…
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Who Has Had The Longest Unbroken Run Of Great Albums…? (Clue: It’s Not The Beatles)
A friend and I were debating who has had the longest consecutive run of classic albums in order to settle another argument. Which is cheaper? Buying records online or buying in shops? Our scientific method was to each buy the same set of albums – and we thought that buying a set from one artist…
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Is It Cheaper To Buy Vinyl Online Or In Record Fairs And Shops?
I thought the answer to this question was self-evident. “It has to be cheaper buying from used record shops and record fairs.” I somewhat patronisingly advised a friend of mine. “Buying records online is more expensive. “eBay is a global marketplace. It is designed to bring together the biggest number of buyers: the more buyers,…
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Blues For The Red Sun: The Story of Josh Homme and Kyuss
Chris Goss was driving through the Palm Desert in 1988, a couple of hours drive from LA, on his way to launching the career of one of rock’s most important figures of the next century. He just didn’t know it yet… Goss was the producer and band leader of Masters of Reality. He was on…
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Brian Wilson Brings Pet Sounds To Southend
It is fifty years since Brian Wilson famously set the young Paul McCartney’s hair on end with the release of Pet Sounds. It was a remarkable, almost impossible achievement – the musical equivalent of you or me writing a maths equation that might get Professor Stephen Hawkins to up his game. A sequence of music…
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Why A Record Company Destroyed (Almost) Every Copy Of One Of 2016’s Best Albums (Or, The Story of Car Seat Headrest)
You know those people who effortlessly appear to be on top of the music scene? You’ve probably met one… “The Brilldeloes? Yeah – great band from South Wisconsin – like a young Lou Reed mixed with Jess Glynne and early J Geils… Yeah, super band – their debut album comes out next week.” There’s a…
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President Obama’s Playlists. Slightly Better Than The Average Politician…
The news that President Obama has released two summer playlists for us to enjoy – a daytime and nighttime selection of songs – rather cements his reputation as the coolest politician around, albeit this is a pretty thin field. And when I say “pretty thin” I mean “wafer thin” in the way of that waiter…
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How Asylums and South Record Shop Are Making Southend Rock
On a day when that august (and indeed August) celebration of the best albums of the year, the Mercury Prize nominations list, was released, a small part of Southend-on-Sea was showing what a bit of DIY spirit and grit and determination can do. At the start of 2014 Richard and Stephen Onslow decided to open up…
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Rock Star Names: Lots Of Roger-ing, Not A Lot of Colins
We all know that rock stars have a free pass when it comes to choosing the names of their offspring. From Chris Martin naming his child after a technology company to David Bowie wanting to find a name that rhymed with his made up surname, there are plenty of slightly left-field choices. And good luck…
Every record tells a story 