Wednesday, 24 April 2024
Friday, 19 April 2024
The Story Of The Who - out tomorrow for RSD 2024!
Featuring Who fan favourites such as ‘My Generation’, ‘Baba O’Riley’ and ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’. Mastered by long time Who engineer Jon Astley and cut by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios.
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The Kinks Tribute Show & Sightseeing Tour at The Gatehouse Theatre in N6 on 27th April
Paying homage to one of the greatest groups of all time!
Celebrating 60 years since their formation, Music Heritage London invites you to this one-off Kinks tribute event in association with their music management team at BMG, upstairs at the Gatehouse theatre in Highgate Village, North London.
The event begins with a guided sightseeing tour of the Davies brothers' old stomping ground in Muswell Hill in a vintage double-decker London bus. On this 2-hour (approx) tour, you'll see the homes they lived in and the locations they frequented, all to a musical backdrop of their recently released 'The Journey 1' compilation album. You'll stop at the school where they attended with Pete Quaife, visit the pub where Ray and Dave first performed in 1960 and see the music shop location where Ray was bought his first guitar on his 13th birthday and hear about the tragic event that followed.
We'll then drop you off right outside The Gatehouse in good time for a swift libation or two before the theatre doors open and the show begins... The critically acclaimed 'Konks' tribute band will be playing all of their hits and more - and we've invited some special guests along who have been associated with the group over the last 60 years.
TIMETABLE
- 4.00pm TOUR - 'The Journey 1' leaves The Gatehouse SOLD OUT
- 4.10pm TOUR - Pick up outside East Finchley tube station SOLD OUT
- 6.00pm ARRIVE AT THE GATEHOUSE
- 6.30pm DOORS OPEN
- 7.00pm SHOW - PART 1
- 8.00pm INTERMISSION
- 8.30pm SHOW - PART 2
- 9.30pm (approx) END
• For those taking public transport after the show, Highgate tube station is a 10 minute walk.
UPDATE 16.01.24 The Kinks 'Journey' guided bus tour option on our 1960s Routemaster is now SOLD OUT. However, those wanting to book a private tour on our psychedelic minibus (pictured) on Friday 26th or Sunday 28th April can do so from the link below. The price shown is for up to 7 people (not each) and includes a FREE goodie bag donated by the Kinks' management team at BMG for the booker. https://www.60sbus.london/service.../the-kinks-private-tours
Thursday, 18 April 2024
The Crystal Teardrop sign to Rise Up Records - new 7" single announced
***NEW SIGNING ALERT***
We are excited to announce the signing The Crystal Teardrop to Popclaw/Rise
Above Records. Based in Stoke On Trent, they are undoubtedly destined for
greatness.
By The River/Nine Times Nine, is their debut 45 and gives us just a glimmer of
insight into their fantastical, psychedelic world. Already gaining a name for
themselves in the underground 60s/mod scene, their popularity can only grow
stronger in the months ahead. Their debut full-length album is scheduled for an
early 2025 release.
In the meantime, don’t miss out on this fantastic double sider. Release date is
May 31st but you can pre-order now directly from the RA webstore. 200 copies
pressed (x100 back & x100 pink sparkle). Once they’re gone they’re gone!!
Get yours here:
https://riseaboverecords.com/product/by-the-river-nine-times-nine/
Tuesday, 16 April 2024
Monday, 15 April 2024
Paul Weller, Victoria Hall, Stoke – 12th April 2024. Review - Andy Rax Coops
After the best part of a half century as a recording artist, the force of nature that is Paul Weller is back on the road, this time promoting the forthcoming new album ‘66’, which is the age he is on the cusp of turning in May. For this evening’s show, the delightful Grade II listed Victoria Hall played host to the assembling middle age Modfather mob, ready to pay homage to the master changing man.
Providing support were Brighton based Barbara, led by Tydeman brothers John, the front man and Henry on keys. Taking on influences such as The Divine Comedy and ELO, the sharp suited five piece set about the Stoke crowd with their theatrical and quirky pop, including vocal harmonies aplenty. There were also playful attempts to invoke a crowd wave along during ‘Rainy Days In June’ to mixed success, while later in the set they moved into Randy Newman territory with the plinky plonky ‘Don’t Send Me Messages’. Clearly wearing their influences on their sleeves, Barbara do not take themselves too seriously, and had set a relaxed mood for the main event.
With so much back catalogue to work through, and an imminent new album for release, it was interesting to see what could be squeezed into the two hours Weller and his Woking 6- a-side team had to play with. Starting it off was the rousing ‘Rip The Pages Up’, followed closely by a couple of Bowie influenced numbers, namely ‘Nova’ and then ‘Cosmic Fringes’, which also has a hearty nod of the hat to Ian Dury.
Next up was one from the forthcoming album, ‘Soul Wandering’ (yet more Bowie saluting here) before launching into the first of the Style Council tracks, ‘A Man Of A Great Promise’, a winner with the slightly sweaty hordes. At this point Weller slows things down with the acoustic led ‘All The Pictures On The Wall’, a changing of tempo that would occur throughout the night’s proceedings.
After an airing of ‘That Pleasure’ from previous long player ‘Fat Pop’, Weller takes his place at the keys and launches into the crowd pleasing ‘Stanley Road’, all the while aided by the saxophone accompaniment of Jacko Peake, which raises the energy levels up a notch or two. The next couple of tracks are from Weller’s recent repertoire, including the chugger ‘Village’, sounding better live than the studio version, and then the super-slo-mo-part-Blur-part-Bowie-esque ‘Fat Pop’ itself.
This is about the halfway stage, and with the majority of tracks being from recent years, the crowd are itching for a stream of classics, the first of which is introduced by guitarist and Dadrock purveyor-in-chief, Steve Cradock, as ‘a f***ing banger’, is the majestic and evergreen ‘Hung Up’. The momentum is maintained with the stylish ‘Shout To The Top’, a definite highlight to this entertainment which is then followed by a rapidly departing Weller from the stage – not to check on the potential status down in the tube station at midnight but in fact, for a call of nature! When you’re one of the top songwriters of the last 5 decades and you’ve almost reached retirement age, and you gotta go, well, then you gotta go…
Up to this point, Weller hadn’t communicated a great deal between songs, but upon completion of this brazen Britpop bio-break, it is announced that we will resume with a new track, co-written with some fella you may have heard of called Noel Gallagher, the upbeat stomper ‘Jumble Queen’.
Keyboard duties are then swiftly resumed and with a dropping of tempo we are treated to the gorgeous ‘You Do Something To Me’. Throughout the whole show, it has to be said that both Weller’s energy levels and vocals have been of the highest standard, and this has been very much consolidated by his fellow musicians, who provide the perfect backing, none more so than with the arrival of the first Jam song of the evening, the peerless state of the nation address ‘That’s Entertainment’. A supreme track that is raucously welcomed, even those on the balcony rattled their jewellery to this one, a trick that was aptly repeated for the George Harrison riff rip ‘Start!’. Weller, evidently strutting his stuff by this point, continued in a similar vein, concluding the initial set with one of his early classic solo songs ‘Peacock Suit’.
Phew! A brief pause was required after all that, to watch phones and think about our holidays and then it was back to it, with the double header of more early solo material in the form of the reflective ‘Wild Wood’ and soul ballad ‘Broken Stones’. Again, Weller’s voice sounds astonishing after all this time and without saying much between songs, he edgily prowls the stage, in charge of all he sees before him. This section is completed with one more intergalactic acknowledgement to Bowie (and why not?), the cosmos closer ‘Rockets’.
One final pause and then one final class war cause, with the Motown inspired, organ overloaded, ‘Town Called Malice’, which to say goes down a storm is an understatement, inducing an ultimate sing and stomp along. Unquestionably, a fitting end to a performance that covers such a comprehensive auditory arsenal, that was delivered in the changing man style and left the audience Well stoked.
The Weekend Starts Here! Amazing Photos of the Classic Pop TV Show – Ready Steady Go!
Soon after the recording of the pilot episode of a new pop music show was completed on Tuesday July 16th 1963 the presenter Keith Fordyce (previously involved with ABC’s ‘Thank Your Lucky Stars’) approached a group of Mods who had travelled from Sheffield’s King Mojo club and said ‘so you chaps have come all the way from Sheffield on a Tuesday no less. I expect you’ll be eager to go home and get back to work, what with the weekend coming up and all.’
John Varney, Sheffield ‘Ace Face’ replied ‘are you kidding mate – the weekend starts here’ and the slogan was born. Over the next three years Pete Stringfellow and the Sheffield Mojo crowd were regulars on the now renamed Ready Steady Go!.
Ready Steady Go! was a British rock/pop music television programme produced by Associated-Rediffusion broadcast on Friday evenings from 9 August 1963 until 23 December 1966 and presented usually by Keith Fordyce and the demure ‘Queen of the Mods’ Cathy McGowan. McGowan had been working in an office at the television company when she answered an advertisement for a ‘typical teenager’ to act as a ‘youth advisor’ to the show and was thrust, without any previous experience whatsoever, in front of the cameras as one of the main presenters. George Harrison described her as ‘….the posh bird who gets everything wrong’ “.
Rediffusion at the time, according to the Guardian, was a company headed up by ex-naval types who ran it like a ship, posting schedules in seafaring jargon: “Rehearsals will begin at eight bells on the lower deck.” The artists, of course, were the stars of show but the trendy audience, chosen the day before from Carnaby Street by the production team, came close.
The series was initially recorded at small studios in Rediffusion’s headquarters in Kingsway. As the studios were compact, to say the least, it was not possible to hide cameras which then became a featured part of the show with audience members shoved out of the way by panicking camera operators. The show later moved to Rediffusion’s Studio 5 at Wembley, enabling artists to perform live. Artists’ own recorded backing tracks were not allowed by the Musicians’ Union so the whole of Studio 5 (normally divided into 5a and 5b) was used so an orchestra could perform the backing live.
The show was cancelled late in 1966. Michael Lindsay-Hogg, one of the directors, once said, “Most of the shows were wiped because tape was so expensive, so stuff like the James Brown special and The Who special are gone forever. I took home £37 a week but, every so often, I’d buy a video tape and preserve it. It cost me £1 a minute, but the only reason any shows survive is because I did that.”
https://flashbak.com/weekend-starts-fabulous-photos-classic-pop-tv-show-ready-steady-go-361445/
Jamaican Ska/Rocksteady Legends THE PIONEERS to play London on 28th October
Trojan Records favourites The
Pioneers are rightfully acknowledged as one of the global pioneers of
reggae, ska and rock steady.
Formed in the mid 60’s in
Kingston, Jamaica, they were one of the first groups to have international hits
such as ‘Long Shot Kick de Bucket’, ‘Let Your Yeah Be Yeah’ and 'Give
and Take'.
The Pioneers have
been covered by other artists such as
The Specials (‘Long Shot Kick De Bucket’), Madness (‘Starvation’), The Selecter (‘Time Hard’), The Beat (‘Jackpot’), and UB40 (‘Starvation’).
Saturday, 13 April 2024
Thursday, 11 April 2024
'Too Much Too Young - The 2 Tone Records Story' coming out in paperback on 18th April
Ocean Colour Scene - 'On Top Of Everything - More B sides' 4 x LP set released on 19th April
Track Listings
Disc: 1
1 Another Girl's Name
2 Fly Me
3 No One Says
4 Mona Lisa Eyes
5 My Brother Sarah
6 Flowers
7 The Seventh Floor
8 Men of Such Opinion
9 So Sad
10 I Need a Love Song
11 Justine
12 Falling to the Floor
Disc: 2
1 Hello Monday
2 The Face Smiles Back Easily
3 All God's Children Need Travelling Shoes
4 On the Way Home
5 Song for the Front Row
6 On and On
7 The Best Bet On Chinaski
8 Expensive Chair
9 Going Nowhere for a While
10 Mariners Way
11 Flood Tide Rising
12 If You Get Your Way
13 Hoping You're Making It Too
14 The Inheritors
Disc: 3
1 Take You Back
2 These Are the Ones
3 Free On the Wind
4 I Was
5 Best Friends and Lovers
6 Come Home
7 I Wanna See the Bright Lights Tonight
8 Me, I'm Left Unsure
9 Questions
10 Will You Take Her Love
11 I Never Believed It Too
12 Perfect Stranger
13 St. Cecilia
14 We Rise
Disc: 4
1 Better Than Before
2 Jimmy Wonder
3 Right On Time
4 Little Boy Could Be a Rolling Stone
5 William Bailey
6 Dawn Cried the Day
7 Come Up and See Me
8 Old, Old Song
9 Shooting the Bridge
10 Another Bard May Chant
11 Be With You
12 Because You're Mine
13 Standing in the Place That You Used to Do
Wednesday, 10 April 2024
‘Back to Black’ Star Jack O’Connell to Make Directorial Debut With Paul Weller Music Video
Jack O’Connell may be about to be seen on screen in the Amy Winehouse biopic “Back to Black,” but the actor has also stepped behind the camera to shoot a video for another U.K. music icon, Paul Weller.
The Brit — who stars as Winehouse’s ex-husband Blake Fielder-Civil in Sam Taylor-Johnson’s feature alongside Marisa Abela as the late, legendary singer — has made his directorial debut with the music video for “Nothing,” a track set to be part of Weller’s new album “66,” releasing in May.
“It was a good stroke of fortune,” O’Connell tells Variety. “Paul’s been a mate for a while and he’s got a bunch of new music coming out. He asked me to be in [a video] and I said, ‘Can I direct it instead?’ He obliged. And now we’ve edited it and cut it together.”
The collaboration isn’t the first project linking O’Connell — best known for lead turns in films such as “’71’,” “Starred Up” and “Unbroken” and recently seen in “Ferrari” — and Weller, who rose to fame in the ’70s with the band the Jam and is often referred to as “The Modfather.” Early in his career, O’Connell starred in 2011 sports biopic “United,” for which Weller wrote the song “Devotion.”
“Nothing” isn’t the first the music video involving O’Connell, either, with the actor appearing in the video for “Blue Moon Rising,” the 2020 track from Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds.
Following its world premiere in London’s Leicester Square on Monday night, “Back to Black” releases in the U.K. with StudioCanal on April 12 and in the U.S. on May 17 with Focus Features.
‘Beat Surrender’: the story of The Jam’s “final statement” by Ben Forrest of Far Out Magazine
If you have lived in the UK for an extended period of time or have ever met a middle-aged man, you have probably found that the influence of The Jam is largely unavoidable. The three-piece mod revivalists rose to prominence among the sticky floors of the punk rock scene. Yet, they never really fit in with the safety pins and bondage trousers, favouring old-school Italian suits and a healthy diet of soul and R&B. But alas, all things must come to an end, and in 1982, Paul Weller wanted The Jam to go out with a bang.
Although the group had first formed in Woking in 1972, it was not until the advent of punk rock that they began to make a name for themselves. Through the release of early singles like ‘In the City’ and ‘All Around the World’, the group soon found a dedicated following, even though their tracks tended to be much less abrasive and politically charged than their contemporaries at The Roxy Club.
Frontman Paul Weller didn’t appear to have much interest in punk, finding himself at odds with many of the prevailing attitudes of the time. While bands like The Clash and Buzzcocks sought to smash down the musical establishment and start again, Weller wanted to celebrate the groups that had first inspired him.
Throughout their tenure, The Jam regularly paid tribute to the revolutionary sounds of the 1960s – groups like The Who, Small Faces and The Kinks. In fact, one of The Jam’s most popular tracks, ‘David Watts’ was a cover of an early Kinks classic. In addition to Weller’s love of obscure soul and dancefloor jazz, The Jam helped to inspire a renaissance of the mod subculture in direct opposition to the complacency of punk rock.
With legions of mod revivalists worshipping the three-piece and a seemingly endless ability to craft uncompromising, chart-pleasing hits, The Jam were among the coolest groups of the early 1980s. Such was the success of the group that Weller grew a reputation as ‘the voice of a generation’, though he didn’t find that title particularly comforting. As 1982 arrived and they geared up for the release of, arguably, their greatest record, The Gift, there seemed very little room for improvement when it came to The Jam. They had reached their peak.
Although many bands would be content to live off their early successes, recreating their usual sound for an endless deluge of forgettable records, that prospect did not fit with the artistic manifesto of Paul Weller. So, shortly after the release of The Gift, Weller’s mind was made up; the days of The Jam were numbered. Before finalising the divorce, the trio had one more trick up their sleeve, coming in the form of ‘Beat Surrender’. Topping the singles charts, the song provided The Jam with their second number one of 1982, following ‘Town Called Malice’.
‘Beat Surrender’ was heavily inspired by the worlds of soul and disco. According to the songwriter, the track’s title was based upon Anita Ward’s disco anthem ‘Sweet Surrender’. The euphoric, horn-filled sounds of the track predicted the vibrant musical direction Weller would adopt during his post-Jam work with The Style Council. Its euphoric atmosphere was deliberate, as Weller wanted the song to be a triumphant finale for the unforgettable reign of The Jam. “I wanted it to be a final statement on The Jam.” He told Mojo in 2015, “A sort of clarion call. It was like, ‘Right, we’re stopping it – you take it on now.’”
The track achieved what it set out to do, providing a fitting end for Weller’s groundbreaking band. However, the other two members of the group – Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler – were fairly confused about the idea of splitting up at the peak of their career. “We were thinking ‘Why are we going to split up?’” Foxton told MusicRadar, “We were Number One in the single and album chart at the time.” Admittedly, ‘Beat Surrender’ would be Weller’s last number one single – though he came close with ‘Long Hot Summer’ – but, alas, some things are more important than commercial success.
"I never intended the statement to mean 'Paul McCartney quits Beatles'... It was all a misunderstanding. I just thought 'Christ, what have I done? Now we’re in for it'": The day the world learned the Fab Four were over
https://www.musicradar.com/news/the-beatles-split-on-this-day
THE MEDIA - '(Just Like) Alfie' 7" EP released by Detour Records on Friday 19th April
The Media release their new EP, headed by the instantly
singalong rush of (Just Like)
Alfie, on Sunday 14th April 2024 with a show at Brighton’
prestigious Concord2.
The Media are a rejuvenated classic scooter … new engine,
shocks and forks (no brakes needed mind!), along with authentic paint job, new
mirrors for looking back while heading for the future!
We all love a bit of Alfie, don’t we! The Media have
nailed the trick of sounding exactly like they did in 1978/1979, while offering
up enough nods and winks, unmissable guitar riffs and quality, quality
saxophone to make you prick up your ears and put on your dancing shoes today!
The second side of the double A side single kicks off
with what is going to be one of their signature songs - Don't Go Away - this is a
huge rush of Marc Bolan’s Glam Rock Super Boogie! The rhythm section are to die
for … in no small way!
Closer, What
Doesn't Kill Ya has a total A-list grove ala All Mod Cons The Jam.
The four track EP includes the Morricone/Spaghetti
Western styled Hombre Sin
Nombre (you don't have to be American to guess the translation for
that one).
Grab yourself a copy before they all fly out the beat
club door.
The band are great live, with a devilish charismatic
singer. Do yourself a favour, become a butterfly collector hombres. SNAP! It
up!
FEATURES
(Just Like) Alfie
Hombre Sin Nombre
Don’t Go Away
What Doesn't Kill Ya
Monday, 8 April 2024
The night a furious Ray Davies cut a Yes set short before aiming blows and kicks at Rick Wakeman
https://www.loudersound.com/news/jon-anderson-versus-ray-davies
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The Specials last ever filmed concert (at Coventry Cathedral) on Sky Arts at 9pm today
TONIGHT! The last-filmed concert by leading Ska-band The Specials, before the sudden and tragic passing of lead-singer Terry Hall in 2022,...
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In 1983, the venerable British pop magazine Smash Hits (sadly no longer with us) published a feature called “The Things People Said,” in w... -
It was 60 years ago that a venue opened that truly caused a seismic shift in terms of what was on offer for the youth of Sheffield. But ...