Saturday 24 April 2021

BREAKING NEWS: The PH2 replace guitarist Mick Finch with Kevin Iverson

 

PH2 ANNOUNCEMENT

Following extensive meetings it will be impossible for Mick Finch to be able to continue with the PH2 project and his other musical and personal commitments. We'd like to thank him for his time and effort so far and we all wish him well.

Good news, Kevin Iverson, Lead guitarist of Spring Tide Cavalry, has joined PH2.

Onwards and upwards.

Squire re-release 'Every Trick (In The Book Of Love) 7" on blue and orange vinyl


 https://squire.bandcamp.com/album/every-trick-in-the-book-of-love

1967: Mods vs rockers in New Zealand

 


https://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/christchurch-life/124846683/1967-mods-vs-rockers

Paul Weller says he’ll never support Spotify: “For the artist it’s shit, it’s disgraceful”

 

He made less than £10,000 for three million plays of his latest album

https://www.nme.com/news/music/paul-weller-says-hell-never-support-spotify-for-the-artist-its-shit-its-disgraceful-2923433

Sharp Class release new 7", 'Living For Kicks', on Heavy Soul! Records

 

SHARP CLASS Living For Kicks 7”

SHARP CLASS

"Living For Kicks" / "Time Meant Nothing To Me"

Heavy Soul Records ROR128

Eight months is a long time, even more so if you are prolific gigging and recording band like SHARP CLASS (formerly SubCulture).

It's been that long since "Move" came out, but the band have been busily writing and this is the first fruits of their labour - a double sider of pure Jam-like Modness that tilts it's Pork Pie hat to the late 70s Mod Revival sound but is as fresh as a Spring morning.

In our opinion the best young Mod band out there and this first single from an upcoming album will bloody well prove that!!!



Purple Heart2 + Squire + Chris Pope confirm 100 Club gig on Sunday 10th October

 


Friday 23 April 2021

TV tonight: Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend on The Who Sell Out

 

The Who Sell Out: Classic Albums
9pm, Sky Arts


A welcome return to the Classic Albums series, which has seen artists and their producers pick apart bestselling records including everything from Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black to Nirvana’s Nevermind and The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds. Starting this new series is The Who with a deep dive into their 1967 album The Who Sell Out. Roger Daltrey and Pete Townsend recount the making of hits like I Can See For Miles and their attempts to ape the pirate radio stations of the time. Ammar Kalia

Saturday 17 April 2021

The Women of Stax: Five Unheralded Pioneers

 


At a time when the music business was dominated by men, the Memphis soul label Stax Records employed a host of women in key positions.

https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/the-women-of-stax-records/

Documentary on ’60s R&B Star Billy Stewart Airing on PBS Stations

 


https://bestclassicbands.com/billy-stewart-documentary-pbs-2-3-21/

The story of Malaco Records: An inside look at 'The Last Soul Company'

 


https://eu.commercialappeal.com/story/entertainment/music/2021/03/23/malaco-records-the-last-soul-company-rob-bowman-music-books/4735772001/

‘Muscle Shoals’ Is The Must-See Documentary About The Most Important Small Town In American Musical History

 


https://decider.com/2021/04/09/muscle-shoals-documentary-review/

Local Book Release: ‘In Defense of Ska’ by Aaron Carnes

 


http://thebaybridged.com/2021/04/12/local-book-release-in-defense-of-ska-by-aaron-carnes/

Jack Up to bring swinging 60s to Shanklin this summer

 

JACK Up Events will pay homage to flower power and free love as it brings a special Jack Up The 60s evening to Shanklin Theatre this summer.

Friday, August 13 will see a celebration of all things retro, featuring pop-rock fivesome The Zoots, who will take audiences on both a visual and musical journey.

Having won the 2021 Global Entertainment award for Best Classic Pop Rock Music Act, the band will mark the birth of British pop culture with the hits of The Beatles, The Stones, The Monkees, The Beach Boys, The Kinks and others.

Event organiser, Sarah Moss, said: “We are excited to be throwing our arms around and supporting Shanklin Theatre.

"This wonderful venue is incredibly important to our Island community and we’re keen to play our part in facilitating the return of much-missed cultural experiences.

"The Zoots performed to sell-out crowds at our (most recent) event in February 2020 and were a phenomenal success. Having played more than 1000 shows and toured over 35 countries, they are quite simply the best live band in town."

Zoots lead singer, Jamie Goddard, said: “There is always something special about performing on the Isle of Wight, there is a magical feel about it.

"Growing up, my family and I used to come here on holiday on a regular basis so it’s very nostalgic.”


Paul Weller recalls recording with Paul McCartney in 1995: “We were shitting ourselves”

 


https://www.nme.com/news/music/paul-weller-recalls-recording-with-paul-mccartney-1995-2922308

‘Madness: Before We Was We’ review: charting the ska-pop princes’ pre-fame course

 


Fly-on-the-wall docuseries set in the streets of 1960s and '70s north London

https://www.nme.com/reviews/tv-reviews/madness-documentary-before-we-was-we-review-2922137

Pete Townshend on The Who’s Uncertain Future and the Legacy of ‘The Who Sell Out’

 


He says the Beatles copied him when they made Sgt. Pepper, and that he’ll agree to a Who biopic if it helps him “pay for my yachting”

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/who-pete-townshend-interview-who-sell-out-1154720/

Thursday 15 April 2021

Paul Weller edits new issue of Mojo

 

He’s been a reader since Issue #1 and a MOJO cover star 11 times. Qualifications that make Jam legend Paul Weller an ideal MOJO Guest Editor (our sixth). He asked for features on Paul McCartney, The Coral, CSNY, My Bloody Valentine and Funkadelic, gave us the lowdown on his new LP, and recommended new bands and buried treasures for you to check out. We added a summit with St Vincent and the exclusive inside track on a new Jeff Buckley biopic. Plus: Tony Joe White, Jayne County, Manic Street Preachers, Peggy Seeger, Mdou Moctar, Spiritualized, The Who, The Fall and John Lennon. Then it’s all back to KISS’s Paul Stanley’s for some rock and soul all nite.

THIS MONTH’S COVERMOUNT CD is curated and compiled by Paul Weller. Titled Into Tomorrow, it features 15 tracks including songs by Richard Hawley, Durand Jones, Third Ear Band, Declan O’Rourke, Marvin Powell and a Weller rarity!

Tuesday 13 April 2021

Remembering the life and career of Marvin Gaye

 


https://www.caribbeanlifenews.com/remembering-the-life-career-of-marvin-gaye/

Madness frontman Suggs talks bonkers lost sitcom, how they could have been the new Monkees, and their songs’ hidden meaning

 


https://www.reportdoor.com/madness-frontman-suggs-talks-bonkers-lost-sitcom-how-they-could-have-been-the-new-monkees-and-their-songs-hidden-meaning-of/

The enduring appeal of the Vespa by The Spectator

 


https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/75-years-on-the-vespa-is-still-going-strong

'A bit Beat and a bit Mod' - Guglielmi guides the discovery of Spazzi's book

 


https://www.leccotoday.it/notizie/beat-mod-guglielmi-libro-spazzi-.html

The Roaring ’20s and Swinging ’60s Are Explored in New Exhibition

 


https://wwd.com/fashion-news/fashion-features/the-roaring-20s-and-swinging-60s-are-explored-in-new-exhibition-1234779260/

Liverpool city centre transformed into 1960s London for ITV spy thriller, The Ipcress File

 

Liverpool city centre was once again transformed into 1960s London as filming continues for a new ITV spy thriller.

North John Street was transported back in time to the swinging 60s as a cast and crew visited to film a new version of The Ipcress File.

Michael Caine famously starred in the 60s movie inspired by Len Deighton’s novel set during the height of the Cold War.

The ITV production has been filming in Liverpool city centre over the last few months and today the crew was based near the business district.

Actors and extras were seen in 1960s dress, while a retro double decker London bus was spotted.

Old fashioned black cabs were also seen outside of a vintage looking Odeon cinema.

The new ITV spy thriller stars Joe Cole, Harry Palmer, Lucy Boynton and Tom Hollander and is adapted by BAFTA winning Trainspotting writer John Hodge.

Len Deighton's novel will be adapted into a six part series for ITV, with the majority of filming taking place in Liverpool and other scenes being shot in Croatia later this year.

Film crews have so far filmed outside of The Philharmonic Pub, Exchange Street West and Lime Street.


Radford returns: One of the coolest car names from the Swinging Sixties is roaring back to life with the backing of former F1 champ Jenson Button

 


https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/cars/article-9376787/Radford-returns-One-coolest-car-names-Swinging-Sixties-roar-2021.html

Far Out Magazine tells the story of 'The final time The Who's Roger Daltrey got wasted with Jim Morrison'

 


https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/roger-daltrey-the-who-drunk-jim-morrison/

Britain’s Swinging Sixties: everything you wanted to know says the History Extra Podcast

 


https://www.historyextra.com/period/20th-century/britain-swinging-sixties-everything-you-wanted-know-dominic-sandbrook-podcast/

From History to Biographies, Here Are the Best Books About Jazz

 


https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/lifestyle/9552311/from-history-to-biographies-here-are-the-best-books-about-jazz

See photos of Mods at Clacton-on-Sea

 


https://www.virginradio.it/gallery/foto/1283062/rock-culture-guarda-le-foto-dei-mods-a-clacton-on-sea.html

The Who announce new charity partnership with Heinz to celebrate ‘The Who Sell Out’ reports the NME

 

The Who have partnered with Heinz for a new charity venture to celebrate the upcoming reissue of the band’s 1967 concept album ‘The Who Sell Out’.

The record’s original artwork featured frontman Roger Daltrey sitting in a bathtub filled with Heinz beans, while the second track on the LP was titled ‘Heinz Baked Beans’.

With an expanded, super deluxe edition of ‘The Who Sell Out’ set for release on April 23, The Who have partnered with Heinz to launch a new collaborative and limited edition set of ’Beanz Meanz The Who’ baked beans cans.

In the UK, Heinz are selling 1,967 415g cans – with Daltrey and guitarist Pete Townshend personally hand-signing 50 cans – with all net proceeds being donated to Magic Breakfast and the Teenage Cancer Trust. In the US, all proceeds will go to Teen Cancer America.

Recalling the experience of sitting in a bath of baked beans for the album artwork shot, Daltrey said in an accompanying statement: “[Afterwards] I ended up with a week in bed with either the flu or probably the worst cold that I’ve had in my lifetime and I put it down to the baked beans because they’d just come out of the fridge; they were freezing cold!

“I sat in them for 20 minutes until they had the great idea of putting electric fire round the back of the bathtub I was sitting in, which worked for a while. It started to heat them up, but then they started to cook. So my arse was roasting while my front was freezing and within 24 hours, I was in bed with the sniffles. I don’t blame the beans; I blame the electric fire!”

The Who recently contributed vinyl to a charity exhibition that will see a range of artists transform the records and test presses into unique pieces of artwork.

Friday 9 April 2021

Listen to Paul Weller’s new song ‘Shades Of Blue’, co-written with his daughter Leah

 

Paul Weller has shared his new single ‘Shades Of Blue’, which was co-written with his daughter Leah – you can hear the track below.

The song is taken from Weller’s upcoming new album ‘Fat Pop (Volume 1)’, which is set for release on May 14. The LP was written and recorded during the first coronavirus lockdown last year.

Following on from previous singles ‘Cosmic Fringes’ and ‘Glad Times’, ‘Shades Of Blue’ has now been released. The song was co-written with Leah Weller, who contributed lyrics and backing vocals to the track.

An official video for ‘Shades Of Blue’ is “coming soon” according to Weller’s Twitter account, but you can hear the song now.

Weller recently rescheduled a number of his upcoming UK tour dates to spring 2022 due to the coronavirus pandemic. He still plans on embarking on another tour in November.

Leah Weller, who released two solo singles (‘Change’ and ‘Strangers’) last year, spoke to NME back in September about how she feels about having her music compared to her dad’s.

“I think that with anybody who puts something out, there’s always the fear that it might be judged, as it’s something that’s very personal to you,” she said. “I do usually run stuff past my dad to see what his opinion is, from the musician’s point of view. I would rather show it to my dad and him give me his feedback than release something that’s really not good and hear it from someone else.

“My parents have always been just very supportive no matter what I wanted to do, but coming from a musical background, I knew from an early age that I was into music. I was always singing; I was always trying to pick up guitar. My dad got me my first guitar for my 12th birthday. I remember writing my first song. I think it was called something like, ‘Same Shit, Different Day’ – I was a bit of an emo kid!”

https://www.nme.com/news/music/listen-to-paul-wellers-new-song-shades-of-blue-co-written-with-his-daughter-leah-2917237

Steve Cradock: ‘“I found all of the old masters and spent a month making Peace City West sound like I imagined it’. Article by Duncan Seaman of the Yorkshire Post.

 

“It was because it never originally came out on vinyl,” he says of the reissue, which is out today on his own label, Kundalini Records.

Unhappy with the original mix, the Ocean Colour Scene guitarist, who is also a key member of Paul Weller’s band as well as performing with The Specials, spent part of last year tweaking it.

“I found all of the old masters and spent the best part of a month making it sound like I imagined it,” says the 51-year-old. “I took out all of the interludes and I just thought I’d concentrate on the songs and it seemed to make more of a collective album.”

Back in December 2010, Cradock had visualised “trying to make an underground, garagey type of record” at “beautiful farm” on the southern tip of Devon. “It was like living on the Moon while I was there,” he says. “I spent a month doing it. James Buckley (from cult TV show The Inbetweeners) came down with his girlfriend and stayed for a couple of weeks, and my kids were there all the time.”

The song Last Days of the World had been left over from sessions for Cradock’s previous album, The Kundalini Target. Its lyrics about the rise of technology and social media seem prophetic. “I wrote the chorus for that and Andy Crofts wrote the first words, so I have to thank him for that,” he says. “I guess it does still ring very true, that song.”

Many of the other songs were co-written with Crofts while they were “out on the road” with Weller. Cradock remembers: “We’d spend a lot of time in changing rooms just picking away at it and demoing it as we were on tour with Paul.”

The lyrics for Lay Down Your Weary Burden come from a poem penned by Weller. “I really liked it as a poem,” Cradock says. “He gave me a few, actually, just to see if I could do anything with them.”

Peace City West has a 6os feel, with its mixture of psychedelia, pop and folk steeped in melody – some of the touchstones of Cradock’s musical taste. “I love new and old, I love all music,” he says. “If you’ve got an old-fashioned kind of song I guess unless it’s got rapping over it’s going to have a tinge that reminds you of something form a time gone by.”

As well as remixing Peace City West, Cradock has kept himself occupied during lockdown working on Paul Weller’s new album, Fat Pop. “It’s coming out in May,” he says. “It sounds eclectic, there’s acoustic pop, what I would class as Europop, it’s very soulful. It’s as though every song was construed as being a single. It’s just really exciting, it’s a great piece of work.”

Cradock has also been producing tracks for Weller’s eldest daughter, Leah. Her first single, Strangers, was released at the tail-end of last year. He says they are “not far away from completing” a full album. “It may need a couple of tunes, but the main part of it is done, it’s in a good state. At the moment she’s talking to record labels.”

He’s been setting up a new studio at home, and there is another solo album on its way too. “I’ve also recorded an instrumental album that’s going to be released on vinyl this year sometime,” he says. “I had a few bits of music and it seemed like it was for an imaginary movie. It’s quite meditative, for example the first track on the second side is five minutes of me playing gongs. Especially the second side is me playing simple melodies and repetition melodies, piano pieces and it seems cohesive as an album.”

Cradock also continues to be involved with The Specials. He reveals Lynval Golding asked him to work on an acoustic track. Additionally, he says: “There are lots of ideas floating around that sound very exciting but I haven’t really played on anything yet.”

The Specials have a tour pencilled in for September, while Paul Weller is due back on the road in November. Cradock says he’s missed playing live. “It’s not only us, it’s all the technicians and all the crews, it’s been a really bleak time for a lot of people,” he says. Of course I’m hoping things will be better later in the year.”

Peace City West is out today. www.stevecradock.com 

1960s Men’s Suits, Sport Coats History at Vintage Dancer

 


https://vintagedancer.com/1960s/1960s-mens-suits-sport-coats-history/

Georgie Fame and his sons are set for an Eastleigh show in September

 

A SIXTIES soul legend and headline favourite is returning to The Concorde as the Eastleigh club unveils its bumper post lockdown programme, writes Duncan Eaton.

And it be will be very much a family affair when the legendary Georgie Fame steps on stage with his sons Tristan (guitar) and James (drums) Powell.

Georgie's links with The Concorde go back to practically the day he started his star-studded musical journey.

He will be showcasing all the hits which made him a household name when he appears on September 8 which is traditionally the Stoneham Lane club's Wednesday jazz night.

Georgie was the only British music act to have three number one hits with his only Top Ten chart entries – Yeh Yeh (1964) Get Away (1965) and The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde (1967).

One of the best Hammond organ players in the business, his career spans more than 5 decades.

He’s worked with Eric Clapton, Count Basie, Stevie Wonder, Muddy Waters, Van Morrison, Bill Wyman and many others and is widely credited as being among the first artists to introduce Britain’s youth to soul, R&B, Blues and SKA.

He has a treasure trove of anecdotes of smokey blues clubs, including Soho's iconic Flamingo , and appearing with a host of rock giants including Eddie Cochran and Billy Fury and jazz giants.

The new issue of Ugly Things features The Velvet Underground and Ready Steady Go!


UGLY THINGS #56

Jonathan Richman shares exclusive secrets of Lou Reed’s Velvet Underground-era guitar and gear, complete with his own illustrations! We go behind the scenes of the legendary sixties UK TV pop show Ready Steady Go! and our Gabor Szabo coverage continues as his ‘60s era bass player and fellow Hungarian refugee Louis Kabok shares his extraordinary story. Then there’s the second part of our interview with Cheap Trick’s Bun E Carlos, Texas ‘60s garage band Word D, Pennsylvania teen garage geniuses the Shaynes (“From A Window”), Woody’s Truck Stop (with pre-Nazz Todd Rundgren), and the wild saga of French underground iconoclasts Komintern. Not to forget an interview with Glenn Phillips (Hampton Grease Band, Lost at Sea), the story of Yellow Hand, a band that sprouted from a shoebox of unreleased Buffalo Springfield songs, Cyril Jordan on Phil Spector, and more! Plus our enormously popular review sections covering all the latest reissues and rock & roll-related books.

Solution Records release 'Ma's Place' b/w 'Place Called Love' by THE meddyEVILS


THE meddyEVILS

"Ma's Place" / "Place Called Love"

SOLUTION RECORDS

FIX009

 

At last - two of the biggest Mod club dancers have been reissued. "Ma's Place" has long been a favourite with the R&B crowd - an uptempo Club Soul fave rave that has been filling the dancefloor for decades. You also get the other great number by the band in the shape of "Place Called Love" - an Artwoods-style R&B groove with blueswailing harmonica and organ

Don't just take our word for - have a listen


300 copies only - all licences and PRS payments made

The Who to release expanded version of 'Face Dances' on coloured vinyl for Record Store Day 2021 - 12th June


 

The Who's 1981 album Face Dances will be reissued on Record Store Day 2021 – 12 June – to celebrate its 40th anniversary. The album has been extended to 18 tracks over two LPs pressed on coloured heavy weight vinyl – one blue LP and one yellow. The set includes previously unreleased studio tracks and live tracks from the band's 1981 Rockpalast show.

 

The vinyl is housed in a slim line 12” box with four bonus art prints.

 

You can get a copy from a participating indie record shop near you. 

An Evening with Alan McGee at Wolverhampton's Arena Theatre on 28th May

 

Creation Day Festival is coming to Wolverhampton in May 2022. To celebrate, the curator and co-founder of the legendary Creation Records label, Alan McGee, is coming to Arena Theatre to share his stories in “An Evening with Alan McGee”. Hosted by Clint Boon (Inspiral Carpets) and with a special performance from Marquis Drive, hear the insider stories from the man who signed Oasis, went to school with Primal Scream and transformed the music industry.

 

Date: Friday 28 May 2021

Venue: The Arena Theatre 

 

Doors open: 7:15pm

Show starts: 8pm.

 

Price: £20 in venue. £10 for Livestream


Paul Weller to release 'Fat Pop' as a limited edition 7" box set


This is a one‐off collectors edition Lift‐off Lid Boxset & features 6x7” heavy weight black vinyls.

You have 24 hours to pre‐order one & there are only a 1000 of these available exclusively through Paul’s official store!