The 2013 Manchester Mod Weekender dates have been set for the 26th & 27th July

Wilko Johnson talks to John Wilson about ‘Down By The Jetty’, the debut album of Dr Feelgood on Radio 4’s ‘Mastertapes’ on Monday 27th May.

On Monday 27 May 2013, John Wilson returns with a new series of Mastertapes, in which he talks to leading performers and songwriters about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios, each edition includes two episodes, with John initially quizzing the artist about the album in question, and then, in the B-side, the audience puts the questions. Both editions feature exclusive live performances.

At the beginning of 2013 Wilko Johnson announced a series of farewell UK concerts in March. The guitarist and founding member of Dr. Feelgood has been diagnosed with terminal cancer and he has chosen not to undergo chemotherapy. But before these final live appearances and before going into the studio to complete a new album, he came to the BBC Maida Vale studios to discuss the making of his very first one: Dr. Feelgood's debut album, "Down By The Jetty".

Released in January 1975 and including 'Roxette', 'She Does It Right' and 'All Through the City', the album has been cited as a major influence by the likes of Paul Weller, the Clash, Blondie and the Ramones.

Complete versions of the songs performed in the programme (and others) can be heard on the 'Mastertapes' pages on the Radio 4 website, where the programmes can also be downloaded and other musical goodies accessed.

Producer: Paul Kobrak

Ocean Colour Scene announce ‘The Marchin’ Already’ tour 2013

 

 

Sat – Nov 30, 2013 - University Great Hall, Cardiff 

Sun – Dec 01, 2013 - O2 Academy, Oxford 

Mon – Dec 02, 2013 - O2 Academy, Bournemouth 

Thu – Dec 12, 2013 - O2 Shepherds Bush Empire, London 

Fri – Dec 13, 2013 - O2 Shepherds Bush Empire, London 

Sat – Dec 14, 2013 - O2 Academy, Birmingham 

Mon – Dec 16, 2013 - O2 Academy, Bristol 

Tue – Dec 17, 2013 - O2 Academy, Leeds 

Thu – Dec 19, 2013 - O2 Academy, Liverpool 

Fri – Dec 20, 2013 - The Ritz, Manchester 

Sat – Dec 21, 2013 - O2 Academy, Newcastle 

The Strypes new single, 'Hometown Girls', available now!!!

The Strypes new single, ‘Hometown Girls’, can be downloaded NOW on iTunes.

The EP features two live tracks, ‘CC Rider’ and ‘Stormy Monday’, recorded at King Tuts in Glasgow.

You can also now preorder the 7” vinyl single for ‘Hometown Girls at this link:

http://po.st/HometownGirlsVinyl

They’ve also uploaded a brand new lyric video for Hometown Girls so you can all start learning the words!

You can enjoy it here: http://po.st/HometownGirlsLyricVideo

The Karla Milton Collective announce Stafford Gatehouse show on Saturday 6th July

The Karla Milton Collective, who have the excellent ‘Jack is Back’ single out on Heavy Soul Records right now, have announced that they are playing at The MET Studio at Stafford Gatehouse on Saturday 6th July 2013. 

The Gatehouse website says, “Karla Milton is a musical tour-de-force with unmistakeable star quality and talent. Fusing natural charm and charisma with dynamic stage presence and stunning vocals, Karla has captivated and delighted audiences across the UK and Europe with her soulful, funky, cool and sophisticated blend of Acid Jazz and 60's groove.”

The MET Studio is a unique 120 capacity studio space equipped with the latest sound, lighting and back-up equipment. The seating is completely adaptable and can be assembled in a variety of ways to suit any requirements – end stage, in the round or cinema style. It can also be used as a recording studio.

Doors open at 8pm and tickets are priced at £10 - See more at: http://www.staffordgatehousetheatre.co.uk/whats-on/music/The-Karla-Milton-Collective#sthash.6CZ0aIda.dpuf

'Hanging Out - Then and Now' - The changing face of youth culture gets big screen treatment on 22nd May

A NEW documentary, which sheds light on the changing face of youth culture in London from the 1950s to the present day, will be screened for free in the capital later this month.

Hanging Out - Then and Now, directed by Lorna Holder and Yvonne Deutschman and produced by Tuareg Productions Ltd, takes viewers from "flower power fashion to designer brand obsession, from telephone box to mobile phone, from café and club culture to social online networking".

 

The documentary, which will be shown at the British Film Institute on May 22, also aims to show the changing face of music and the club scene of the 1960s and how they both played a vital part in bringing black and white young people together.

Hanging Out founder Lorna Holder told The Voice: “One thing hasn’t changed over the years and that is the passionate energy young people bring to anti-war protests and social changes. Highlights include former MP Tony Benn and Kurt Barling (BBC correspondent) in discussion with young people around the issues of protest. Hanging Out will be a fantastic watch especially for young people in sixth form and university.”

She added: "Audiences will be able to watch the Mods and Rockers reveal how the press paid them a fiver to fight on the beaches of Brighton, hear about legendary boxer Muhammad Ali’s first visit to Brixton and the story of Michael Jackson buying a safari hat, which went onto inspire his hit album Off The Wall."

The Hanging Out project, by Full Spectrum Productions, was funded by The Heritage Fund and in partnership with the British Film Institute, Museum of London, Victoria & Albert Museum and Imperial War Museum.

The free private screening of Hanging Out – Then and Now will take place on May 22 at NFTI, British Film Institute, Belvedere Road, London SE1 starting at 2.30pm. For more information visit: www.hangingout.org.uk

REVIEW: The Specials at De Montfort Hall, Leicester, on 20th May by Jeremy Clay

So: The Specials on stage in Leicester, after all these years. What to do? Push down the front and leap around like an electrocuted fish? Or lurk at the back, and drink it all in, gulping down a lump in the throat and battling an occasionally wobbly lower lip? Let’s stay at the back. Well, it seems marginally safer. After all, there are loads of skinheads up the front. Oh, hang on, they’re here, too. Everywhere you look there are middle-aged versions of the kids who used to chase Tucker and co on Grange Hill. If you were wondering where that hard bloke from your local got to last night, there’s a good chance he was at the De Mont. With his even harder mates.

But though the testosterone-heavy air crackles like a night match on the terraces for a derby game, they’re a good-natured crowd. To prove the point, before the lights go down, a bloke on the balcony rips off his top, twirls it in the air as The Liquidator spills from the speakers, then finishes with a moonie. It gets a full-throated roar of appreciation. The hall reverberates with cries of “ruuuuuuude boys”. This, it’s clear, is going to be a night like no other.

The Specials rush the stage like a pitch invasion, and launch into rabble-rousing openers Concrete Jungle and Do The Dog, with its roll call of lost tribes: punks, teds, mods, rockers and skinheads ...

But any lingering fears this is an empty nostalgia trip – a late Seventies take on those golden-oldies Sixties shows – are immediately dispelled. The Specials sound urgent and fresh. Relevant, even.

By the time they hit Gangsters, and the man on the mixing desk has tamed the initial wall of sound, De Montfort Hall is a writhing mass of skanking bodies. The treasures keep on coming: A muscular Monkey Man, to the floor-shuddering stomp of countless Doc Martens; a rumbling Man at C&A; hoarse singalongs to Nite Klub, Do Nothing and Rat Race.

The band, embellished by their Leicester horn section, are tighter than a submarine’s screws – and driven by the rock-solid drumming of John Bradbury, whose snare is tuned to the point where it’s almost painful to hear, then tuned up some more. A string section appears for a haunting, shimmery version of Ghost Town, arguably the greatest-ever number one single. (Disagree? Feel free take up the argument with that hard bloke in your local).

A Message To You, Rudy is a joyful, chugging noise, peppered with firecracker offbeats. Too Much Too Young is bliss – and the perfect soundtrack to escalating tension. Still. The only jolting reminder that these are men in their fifties and sixties comes in Enjoy Yourself, in the encore, with its timely line of “the years go by, as quickly as you wink”.

Throughout it all, frontman Terry Hall prowls the stage, looking alternately morose and distracted, which is just as it should be. “Leicester!” yelled guitarist Lynval Golding at one point. “Watford!” mumbled Hall, by way of antagonistic reply.

On a night like this, we can forgive him.

Ronnie Londons Night in Nottingham on Saturday 25th May

The Doors co-founder, Ray Manzarek, dies at 74 in Germany

Ray Manzarek, keyboard player and founder member of the 1960s band The Doors, has died aged 74. Manzarek, who had suffered from bile duct cancer for many years, died in a clinic in Rosenheim, Germany, with his wife and brothers at his bedside. 

He formed the band with lead singer Jim Morrison in 1965 after a chance meeting in Venice Beach, Los Angeles. The Doors found fame in the 1960s with hits such as ‘The End’, ‘Break on Through to the Other Side’ and ‘Hello I Love You’. They sold more than 100 million albums worldwide and Manzarek became one of the best-known keyboardists of his era, his artistry colouring tracks like ‘Riders on the Storm’ and ‘Light my Fire’.

The death of Morrison of heart failure in a bath in Paris on 3 July 1971 effectively spelled the end for the band, although Chicago-born Manzarek took on singing duty. The front man had moved to the city to write. A doctor's report stated the cause of his death was heart failure aggravated by heavy drinking.  

In his later years, Manzarek played in other bands and, in 1998, wrote a best-selling memoir, ‘Light My Fire: My Life with The Doors’.

‘Carnaby Street’ Musical, New Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham – 3rd to 8th June

"Set against the backdrop of London’s West End in the sixties, its iconic clubs, fashion and characters, Carnaby Street is the real musical story of a generation.

Jam packed with over 30 classic hits from the time, including Roll Over Beethoven, Do Wah Diddy Diddy, Tired of Waiting For You, You Really Got Me, Keep on Running, Sweets for my Sweet ... and many, many more.

Carnaby Street tells the unique British story of every boy or girl’s dream – to become a rock star!"

The Threads & The Risk 'live' DVD from the National Mod Meeting in 1987 - Coming Soon!!!

Thanks to the Lincoln Mods (specifically Adam), The Threads & The Risk were filmed performing at the National Mod Meeting in 1987 (a weekend that I was involved in organising).

I wasn't aware that this film existed until recently and have been told not to expect too much due to the mid-eighties technology etc.

However, Mod stalwart, Jason Taylor (yes, he of the red, white and green Union flag shirt that I am sure that you all remember well) has stepped into the breach and has transferred this ageing VHS recording onto DVD format.

He has said, via Facebook, that he will shortly have a few copies available for approx. £4 if anyone is interested. So anyone wishing to 'Step Back' almost 27 years in time, keep your eyes on Facebook for further details.