Tag: Astoria

  • Ray Gillen and Badlands: When Rock Bands Split Up In Front Of An Audience

    Ray Gillen and Badlands: When Rock Bands Split Up In Front Of An Audience

    Twenty years ago today rock lost one of its finest singers: Ray Gillen. In his all too short career Gillen had the distinction of recording an album with Black Sabbath – only for his vocals to be wiped and replaced by someone else’s, * and to sing with musical collective Phenomena II. In 1988 he…

  • London’s Rock Venues: Now And Then…

    London’s Rock Venues: Now And Then…

    Let me set the scene: 1987. As yuppies carrying brick-sized mobile phones drank Champagne, wearing garish pin-striped suits and highlights in their hair, London enjoyed the benefits of a booming economy as well as its unfortunate side effects. These included a widening gap between the haves and have-nots, and the ghastly sight of yuppies wearing…