Posts Tagged ‘Music’
SXSW won’t let Lady GaGa play gig inside a vending machine
THE swines at the City of Austin have mystifyingly refused to allow Lady Gaga a permit to play in a giant Doritos vending machine at the SXSW festival.
The idiots.
Mother Monster had been all set to play at the festival’s Doritos Stage (gee whizz, what a crappy name) which is mocked up to look like a huge dispensing machine. However, the show will not go on thanks to concerns over public safety.
Like anyone should be concerned for the public’s safety at a festival. Seriously. All festival goers either willingly jeopardise their own well-being or, failing that, deserve everything they get.
Don Pitts of Austin’s Music And Entertainment division said: “Our conclusion was based primarily on public safety concerns… We look at the size and capacity of the location covered by the permit being sought and how it fits with the anticipated attendance, based on event capacity and promotion. At the end of the day, it’s a parking lot.”
Even better! A giant vending machine in a car park! With Lady GaGa in it! How great would that have been?
Of course GaGa can still play at the event, but only if she can find herself a location with “the necessary permanent infrastructure”. Presumably, the ground we all stand on is not necessarily permanent enough.
Katy Perry: Now Single, Blasphemous And Hating Religionists For Allah Pendants
TOUGH week for Katy Perry. First off, and most pertinent to her well being, she’s split up with fellow superstar John Mayer. She’ll be upset by that no doubt, but alas, she should be aware that the whole of religion is pretty pissed off with her too.
You see, Katy’s new video for Dark Horse has been criticised by religious groups for being blasphemous!
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Hard Rock Musicians Are All Women-Hating Wife Killers In Waiting – Even Worse Than Hip Hop Crims
WHEN someone in Hip Hop does something bad, it gets blanket coverage. Papers will run stories about artists big in the rap game, but not exactly household names. Worse still for those that are well known. They’re hauled over coals and every two-bit writer starts penning opinion pieces on whether or not Hip Hop is inherently bad, while offering mealy-mouthed “hey, some of my best friends are rap albums!” by way of cred-seeking.
Hip Hop’s cousin, Heavy Metal (or Hard Rock, or whatever) is usually the only one willing to give rappers a day off. When Metal is tacked to a crime, people start writing worthless pieces about devil worshipping and using disenfranchised lyrics as proof that rock bands actually want their fans to commit crimes.
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The Worst Celebrity Statues, EVER!
RECENTLY, you may have seen the terrible depiction of Kurt Cobain in statue form, in Aberdeen (the American one, not the Scottish one). The statue, below, features Cobain looking like a wino busker, crying.
Actually crying. Because Kurt was so sensitive. Maaaaaaaan.
Of course, most people’s memories of Kurt where a little more fun and energetic, rather than the maudlin monstrosity that is roundly being mocked by the whole internet.
Of course, Kurt Cobain isn’t the only famous person to get a statue of themselves. Crucially, he’s not the only famous person to have a UTTERLY DREADFUL statue cluttering up the world.
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Posted: 24th, February 2014 | In: Celebrities, Key Posts | Comment
Good News: The Dying Record Industry Continues To Fleece Music Lovers And Acts For Mega Bucks
IDIOTS keep saying the music industry is dying. Of course it isn’t. Have you seen how much money they spent on The Brits? If they’re skint, award shows would be held in a pub function room with darts trophies handed to the three remaining artists who have been daft enough to sign to a record company.
No, the record industry is doing just fine.
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Posted: 23rd, February 2014 | In: Money, Music, Reviews | Comment
The Ukraine Will Be Saved By Tweets From Kasabian
YOU will no doubt have seen the state of the Ukraine at the moment. Some of the images that have come from that corner of the world have been powerful, depressing, exciting and downright upsetting.
Kiev was ablaze and government snipers picked off Ukrainians at random and the whole bloody, gory thing was enough to make you hide under your bedsheets and cry forever.
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Posted: 21st, February 2014 | In: Celebrities, Reviews | Comment
Scotland + Political Hot Potato = David Bowie Winning Kate Moss At The Brits
LAST night, at the spectacularly dreadful Brit Awards, David Bowie won some award and sent Kate Moss to do his acceptance speech. In it, he signed off with “stay with us Scotland.”
Of course, what’s funny about that is, is that Bowie lives in New York, because obviously, Bowie cares so much for the unity of Britain, that he’s buggered off to live in America. He obviously missed the letter England wrote him, which said “stay with us, David.’
Naturally, Bowie’s flippant gesture has made a load of people really angry.
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Posted: 20th, February 2014 | In: Celebrities | Comments (2)
1980s Band Names Demystified
HAVE you been wasting precious hours of your day wondering where A Flock of Seagulls got their name? Well, wonder no more. Before your very eyes are the etymologies of 1980s pop-synth and post-punk bands, illuminated for posterity. No more shall mankind contemplate the origin of Kajagoogoo. Mystery solved.
Boomtown Rats
Named after a gang of children that Geldof had read about in Woody Guthrie’s autobiography, Bound for Glory.
The Buggles
Trevor Horn imagined a futuristic computer creating a synthetic band “The Buggles”, a corruption of The Beatles
Record producer Trevor Horn poses in the Quadrangle of Buckingham Palace, London after being presented with a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) by the Prince of Wales. Picture date: Wednesday May 11 2011.
Dexy’s Midnight Runners
Dexedrine, a brand of dextroamphetamine – the original ADHD medication, and a once popular recreational stimulant.
Any excuse to hear this. (Cue the school disco frenzy.)
Duran Duran
Named after the villain in Barbarella, Dr. Durand Durand
Fine Young Cannibals
From the 1960 film All the Fine Young Cannibals starring Robert Wagner and Natalie Wood.
In a Nov. 25, 1959 file photo, Natalie Wood and her husband Robert Wagner are made up for their roles in “All The Fine Young Cannibals,” in Los Angeles. Dennis Davern, captain of the yacht Splendour, which Wood was aboard at the time of her death, said on national TV Friday, Nov. 18, 2011 that he lied to investigators about Natalie Wood’s mysterious death 30 years ago and blames the actress’ husband at the time, Robert Wagner, for her drowning in the ocean off Southern California.
A Flock of Seagulls
Taken from the lyrics to “Toiler on the Sea” by The Stranglers
We ventured overland
Fought with the aliens
The young ones used their hands
Pointed the way to a flock
A flock of seagulls!
Frankie Goes to Hollywood
Lead singer of Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Holly Johnson (left) leads the group on to a train bound for Liverpool at London’s Euston Station. 01/07/04: Twenty years ago Thursday July 1, 2004, the band were at the top of the UK charts with Two Tribes. Frankie Goes to Hollywood spent 15 weeks at the top of the UK charts in 1984, with three songs – Relax, Two Tribes and the Power of Love.
A random headline from the New Yorker magazine (the “Frankie” in question referred to Frank Sinatra)
Heaven 17
Burgess in 1973
A fictional band mentioned in Anthony Burgess’s novel, A Clockwork Orange.
Hüsker Dü
Named after the board game. The heavy metal umlauts were added for effect.
INXS
Inspired by the band XTC and Australian jam makers IXL, they decided on a foreshortened version of “inaccessible”.
Jesus and Mary Chain
Allegedly from a breakfast cereal package which advertised that you could send off for a free Jesus and Mary chain.
Kajagoogoo
A slight variation on a baby’s first sounds: gaga googoo
Level 42
42 as in the answer to the meaning of life in the Douglas Adams book The Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy
Love and Rockets
After the Jaime and Mario Hernandez alternative comic books
Madness
Madness with their first full length feature film, “Take It or Leave It”, described as a documentary with music. The film features band members (pictured not in order), Bedders, Chas, Chrissy Boy, Lee, Mike, Suggs and Woody as themselves. Other parts are in the hands of actors. Take It or Leave It is titled after a track from the band’s top twenty album.
Homage to Madness a song by reggae artist Prince Buster.
Ready to the the Rude Boy dance that anyone could do (again, any excuse):
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
They wanted a name that in no way would confuse them as a punk band. I think they succeeded.
The Pretenders
Named after the Platters song The Great Pretender.
Public Image, Ltd.
After the Muriel Spark novel The Public Image
Scritti Politti
A homage to the Italian Marxist writer and political theorist Antonio Gramsci. The correct spelling in Italian to refer to “Political Writings” would have produced “Scritti Politici, but was changed to sound like the Little Richard song Tutti Frutti.
Simple Minds
Jim Kerr, lead singer with rock group Simple Minds, arrives for his marriage to actress Patsy Kensit at Chelsea register office. Date: 03/01/1992
From the David Bowie song “The Jean Genie”
“Hes so simple minded he can’t drive his module,
He bites on the neon and sleeps in the capsule”
Simply Red
The band’s name originally was “Red”, but when the singer had to repeatedly clarify their name as “Red, simply Red”, it seemed to stick.
Sonic Youth
A combination of the nickname of MC5’s Fred “Sonic” Smith with “Youth” from reggae artist Big Youth.
Spandau Ballet
Undated image of the changing of the guard at Spandau war criminals prison in Berlin, Germany in the post-war era.
The name refers to many hangings at Spandau Prison where the victims would twitch and jump (a macabre ballet) at the end of a rope.
Squeeze
A facetious tribute to The Velvet Underground’s oft-derided 1973 album Squeeze.
Tears for Fears
Inspired by “primal therapy”, developed by American psychologist Arthur Janov, who had John Lennon as a patient in 1970.
Thompson Twins
From the Thompson and Thompson characters from The Adventures of TinTin
T’Pau
Named after a Vulcan Elder on Star Trek
Wang Chung
Originally, Huang Chung which they claimed translated to “perfect pitch” and the sound a guitar makes. The spelling was changed from “Huang” to “Wang” simply to make it easier to pronounce.
… and there you have it. You’re welcome.
Posted: 20th, February 2014 | In: Flashback, Key Posts, Music | Comments (2)
Who Shouldn’t Host The Brits After James Corden Quits? Let’s See…
YOU may have heard (and maybe celebrated too) that James Corden is going to step down from the hosting gig at the Brits Awards tonight.
We are legally obliged to mention Sam Fox and Mick Fleetwood’s disastrous outing as hosts, but they do show that this is not an easy gig to do. Huge TV audiences. Band’s egos. A room filled with horrific music industry cokeheads grabbing their interns groins.
It’s enough to make a grown-up weep like they’ve just found an uncovered war grave.
However, there are some people knocking around who would be absolutely perfect for the gig. They can handle the pressure or bring a unique charm to proceedings.
Shall we look at our picks? Yes. Yes, we should.
Nick Grimshaw
Now, Grimmy has revealed that he’d love to take on the Brits gig. Corden reckons the job should go to Emma Willis. However, the music industry is notoriously sexist, so if they want to make progress, they’ll take baby steps by giving it to a gay man before entertaining the idea of Some Woman.
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Posted: 19th, February 2014 | In: Celebrities, Key Posts | Comment
New Zealand Puts A Ban On Odd Future
BANDS are forever being banned from various countries. One thing seems to be more prevalent than others – these acts are usually hip hop outfits.
And again, New Zealand immigration authorities have decided to ban Odd Future from entering the country. Why? They have come to the conclusion that they’re a threat to public order.
Who knew that New Zealand was jumpier than China?
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Radiohead Release Mildly Diverting Music App, Probably Dubbed ‘Revolutionary’
RADIOHEAD, sulkiest of the sulky, a band so pious that they’ve had their blood replaced with sour grape juice, have released a new thing. They’ve not bothered with vinyl or CD or even a download which pretends to be free. No, they’ve worked with studio Universal Everything to create a ‘living, breathing, growing touchscreen environment’.
It is called the PolyFauna app, which can download for nothing on your phone and has been made as a collab with the band, Universal Everything, producer Nigel Godrich and artist Stanley Donwood.
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Posted: 13th, February 2014 | In: Music, Technology | Comment
50 Years Ago, The Beatles Landed at JFK: 10 Great American Beatles Rip Offs
The Beatles face the media on arrival at JFK airport in New York City on Feb. 7, 1964. The British rock and roll group was also greeted by a screaming crowd estimated at 5,000. (AP Photo/Charles Tasnadi)
OF course, The Fab Four’s time in America is very well documented. No-one needs to know more about the whole Bigger Than Jesus thing and George Harrison’s ‘spotty youths’ comment when he visited the hippies on the West Coast.
However, less well documented are the mop-top knock-offs that The Beatles created. Garage bands and frat beat groups sprung up all over America after the mop tops played Ed Sullivan.
So, here’s 10 of the best American Beatle Bands or Fab Four rip-off records… and by the way, being a Beatle rip-off band is no bad thing at all! Feel free to chime in with your own!
1. The Byrds
The Byrds hit the jackpot when they took Dylan’s folk music and turned it into a Beatle beat. Perfect for the US market – homegrown lads (not like those British Invasion swine!) making Dylan’s nasal drawl more palatable. ‘Feel A Whole Lot Better’ is the choice here, but in fairness, it could’ve been picked from two dozen songs!
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Posted: 6th, February 2014 | In: Flashback, Key Posts, Music | Comment
Cee Lo Green: Don’t Leave Him With Your Girlfriend
Cee-Hi And Very Lo Green (allegedly)
REMEMBER Cee Lo Green? All happy and smiley and the voice of songs like Crazy and F- You? Well, Green it seems, is a bit of pest around the ladies and has again been called to deny that he’s up to no good with them.
The latest thing he’s refuting is that he spiked a women’s drink with ecstasy in LA. Popping Molly is one thing. Popping Molly into someone’s bolly while they’re not looking is something else entirely.
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Posted: 5th, February 2014 | In: Celebrities | Comment
Top 10 Joe Meek Records On The Anniversary Of His Death
TODAY marks the anniversary of Joe Meek’s death. The first British independent record label, genius producer and thorough crackpot departed this Earth on 3rd February after committing suicide after murdering his landlady at his home studio on Holloway Road.
And ever a fan of the occult, it only seems right to contact Meek on the date of his death, rather than birth. Meek, who ‘contacted’ Buddy Holly beyond the grave and got a hit out of it, was a studio wizard, as avant garde with his approach to pop music as Aphex Twin was in the ’90s.
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Posted: 3rd, February 2014 | In: Flashback, Key Posts, Music | Comment
What’s New at The Brit Awards This Year?
Boy George and his band Culture Club with Michael Jackson’s sister Latoya. The band won Best British Group and Best Selling Single for ‘Karma Chamleon’. Latoya was there to collect the award for Best Selling Album for her brother for ‘Thriller’. 1994.
THE Brit Awards – the British recording industry’s lavish work’s do – is less than 3 weeks away and a slurry of famous faces will be trudging through the doors of the O2 Arena, hiding cocaine in their underwear, getting wasted in front of their label bosses and making unpleasant sexual advances toward interns.
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Prince Sues 22 People For $22 Million
Rock singer Prince performs at the Orange Bowl during his Purple Rain tour in Miami, Fla., April 7, 1985.
POOR, hard-up Prince has shocked his fans after The Purple One launched some legal action against 22 people for posting copies of live performances online.
Court documents say that the accused have distributed bootleg recordings using social networks and blogs.
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Posted: 28th, January 2014 | In: Celebrities, Money | Comment
Macklemore Robbed Kendrick Lamar At The Grammy Awards
Ryan Lewis, left, and Macklemore accept the award for best new artist at the 56th annual Grammy Awards at Staples Center on Sunday, Jan. 26, 2014, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Matt Sayles/Invision/AP)
PEOPLE who want to listen to hip hop, but don’t like it, like Macklemore. He is to rap music what Mumford & Sons are to folk. Of course, like the tweed troubadours, he’s fantastically successful and he landed 4 Grammy Awards last night.
As such, Macklemore sent a text to Kendrick Lamar to tell him he “got robbed” at the show.
He said: “You got robbed. I wanted you to win. You should have. It’s weird and sucks that I robbed you. I was gonna say that during the speech. Then the music started playing during my speech, and I froze.”
“Anyway, you know what it is. Congrats on this year and your music. Appreciate you as an artist and as a friend. Much love” Macklemore wrote, taking a screen shot of the message and uploading it to his Instagram account.
Kendrick, who has been handing everyone their arses for a while now, presumably is already writing his diss track, as you can see.
He continued: “My text to Kendrick after the show. He deserved best rap album… I’m honored and completely blown away to win anything much less 4 Grammys. But in that category, he should have won IMO. And that’s taking nothing away from The Heist.”
“Just giving GKMC it’s proper respect.. With that being said, thank you to the fans. You’re the reason we were on that stage tonight. And to play Same Love on that platform was a career highlight. The greatest honor of all. That’s what this is about. Progress and art. Thank you. #grammys”
Despite all that, Macklemore provided one of the highlights of the show, doing ‘Same Love’ alongside Madonna while 34 couples got married (some of them were gay couples, to tie in with the song).
All the cynicism in the world couldn’t stop it being rather lovely.
Posted: 27th, January 2014 | In: Celebrities | Comment
Copyright Balls: Spotify versus Thom Yorke and Dre’s Beats
SPOTIFY has been incredibly divisive in the music industry, with some looking at it like a perfectly good promo tool to promote artists, while others think it’s stealing all their lovely royalties. Others sit somewhere between the two, thinking At Least It Isn’t Illegal Downloading.
Music fans are equally divided, with someone wondering why you’d pay a subscription for music you can’t keep, while others love how it opens up a huge library of music to delve into, make playlists and more.
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Putin Says He Likes Elton John (Just Not The Other Gays)
Youngsters Karen Davies and bradley Luxon, dressed as Little Bo Peep and Elton John, turn out for the Queen’s Silver Jubilee street party in St. Stephen’s Street, Bow, London Date: 07/06/1977
AS well you know, Russia has been saying some spectacularly dumb things about the LGBT community. In return, the gays and right-minded people have been telling Russia to stick it up their collective hole and piss off while they’re doing it.
And now, with Elton John speaking against the country’s anti-gay law, Vladimir Putin has decided to proclaim his love for Sir Elton, saying that he’s “an outstanding musician”.
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Posted: 20th, January 2014 | In: Celebrities, Politicians, Reviews | Comment
Jack White And Neil Young To Team Up For Grumpiest LP Ever Recorded?
APPARENTLY Neil Young and Jack White have teamed-up for an album of covers. Seeing as this is two of the most miserable singers on the planet, you can only imagine the size of the raincloud over the studio while they recorded.
We can only hope that Morrissey and Van Morrison get together in a bid to outdo this hugely glum record.
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Posted: 20th, January 2014 | In: Music, Reviews | Comment (1)
Miley and Britney Banned From French TV
THE French are not known for being particularly prudish. Their great art is filled with tasteful nudes. They have the boobies on the beaches. Their accents make people orgasm on impact. We’ve seen Carla Bruni with no clothes on. The French, it seems, are comfortable with the human form.
Unless you’re Miley Cyrus or Britney Spears it seems, who have had their videos banned by French television.
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Posted: 20th, January 2014 | In: Celebrities | Comment (1)
Morrissey To Release New Albums – Everyone Awaits The Beef
FOR a vegetarian, Morrissey doesn’t half thrive on beef. Every time he has something to plug, like a second division rapper, he gets out his broadsword and starts thrashing away at anything popular or generally, whatever cross that brain of his.
And now, Moz has inked a deal for his new solo album, with Capitol/Harvest Records looking mediocre sales in the second half of 2014, mainly from the few who use the True To You online fanzine.
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Posted: 17th, January 2014 | In: Celebrities, Music | Comment
Frampton Is Dead: Album Sales Dip To Lowest Level In The States
Shown in photo are head and shoulder shots of singer Peter Frampton on May 11, 1978.
FANS of albums, prepare to boo-hoo as reports state that album sales in That America have dipped to the lowest levels since records began. We should point out we don’t mean ‘long playing records’, but rather, ‘people making a note of how many albums had been sold, which they started doing in 1991’.
‘Since records began’ is much catchier.
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45 Sinfully Underplayed Songs of the 60s and 70s
AT a time when even the most obscure vintage track is just a few clicks away, it’s very hard to create a list of “underplayed” songs. Many recordings swept under the rug have now returned to the light via music blogs, YouTube, Spotify, iTunes, etc.
The list before you is to help insert some new blood into your playlists. I’m always appreciative of a recommendation, so I figured some of you would be as well.
Note: There’s a tendency in many music lists to impress the rock snobs. Nothing is ever too unknown or clever for them. I’ve tried to avoid the temptation to plumb the depths of obscurity just to show off. We’ll keep things off the beaten path, but no so deep as to unleash the Balrog.
- 1941 – Harry Nilsson
Autobiographical ditty which got him noticed by the Beatles. Legendary debauchery by Harry and Mr. Ono soon followed. - 2000 Light Years from Home – Rolling Stones – The Stones shoot for Strawberry Fields and actually nail it. They’d be moving on to bluesier stuff in a hurry.
- A Minah Menina – Os Mutantes
Brazilian psychedelia unbelievably used in a 2008 McDonald’s commercial. It deserved the attention. - Any Major Dude – Steely Dan
Why this wasn’t a top ten hit will forever be one of history’s greatest mysteries. - Ballad of Danny Bailey – Elton John
With so many hits being churned out by Elton, I suppose this one got trampled and lost underfoot. - Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft – The Carpenters
Much more palatable than the original Klaatu version. Yes, it’s cheesy and insane – but that’s not always a bad thing. - Chevy Van – Sammy Johns
Like “Afternoon Delight”, the innocent veneer masks an extremely dirty song (about having sex with a hitchhiker) - Circle Round the Sun – B.J. Thomas
Beautiful, damn near transcendent song that apparently was too good for radio. - Cthlu Thlu – Caravan
Guitar noodling goes on a bit long in the second half, but HP Lovecraft still would be proud. - Daily Nightly – The Monkees
Moog infused psychedelia that, of course, gets no respect because it’s from the Monkees. - Disadvantages of You – The Brass Ring
Elevator music at its finest. - Fundamentally Yours – Stackridge
Sounds more like Badfinger than Badfinger, but you cannot deny it’s a flat-perfect pop melody. - Ghetto Child – The Spinners
May sound silly to those raised on hip-hop, but this is where talent, soul, melody and message come together. - Hard Times – Kiss
The circus often overshadowed their talent for simple quality rock. One wonders how their music would be viewed had they had just dressed like Foghat. - Hello Little Lover – Mahogany Rush
These Canadians can rock hard. Great music to exceed speed limits to. - Home Is Where the Hatred Is – Esther Williams
Esther lays it all out on the table. You’ll be exhausted by the time she’s through with you. - Houdini Said – Gilbert O’Sullivan
Well crafted, creative, melodic… the adjectives keep on coming, yet I can’t put it into a coherent description. - I See the Rain – Marmalade
Hendrix loved the guitars – you’ll get no better endorsement than that. - I’m Mandy, Fly Me – 10cc
The band was always wandering off the beaten path; here they take an obvious pop nugget and make it interesting. - In the First Place – Remo Four
From the Wonderwall film; a brilliant instrumental with George Harrison as its creator. - I’ve Got to Be Going – Peppermint Trolley Co.
The group is more known for the original Brady Bunch theme than anything else, which is a crying shame because they could craft some great bubblegum pop. - Ladies and Gentlemen – Clouds
In a perfect world, complex tunes like this go platinum. Instead, it was lost without a trace, and can’t even be found on Spotify. - Land of the Few – Love Sculpture
If ever there was a song begging to added to a playlist, this is it. Do it for Dave Edmunds. - Leave It – Mike McGear and Paul McCartney
Silly and nonsensical, but McCartney’s ability to come up with a brilliant melody on a dime is unnerving. - Life Has Just Begun – Spirit
The whole Sardonicus LP is woefully under-appreciated. The songs were just a bit too odd to become a part of classic rock mainstream. - Lord Grenville – Al Stewart
Transcendental tune about a 17th century naval captain which circles upwards like cannabis vapors to the Heavens. “Our time is just a point along a line that runs forever with no end.” Heavy, man. - Love Alive – Heart
The ladies did their best to be Led Zeppelin in the early days. Here’s where they came the closest. - Man of 1000 Faces – Gene Simmons
When all four members of Kiss simultaneously released solo albums, we sensed they’d be jumping the shark soon. This one is just too interesting to ignore. - Mary Skeffington – Gerry Rafferty
It’s about Gerry’s own mother who once was full of promise, now dodges her drunk husband’s punches. It’s simultaneously depressing and beautiful. - Mother Freedom – Bread
Not as pillowy soft as we’re accustomed with this band, but still has that signature triumphant hook. - My White Bicycle – Tomorrow
Best bicycle song there is: beats both Queen and Floyd. - Nice, Nice, Very Nice – Ambrosia
One of the few prog rock bands that recognized the importance of melody. Even Vonnegut couldn’t help but sing its praises; it’s not easy to adapt Bokononism for the radio. - Open Sesame (Groove with the Genie) – Kool & the Gang
Back when funk bands had 20 members and a horn section; this is the very definition of back porch, booger nosed funk. Can ya dig? - Psychic Vampire – Space Opera
More complicated than a song has a right to be; yet still pleasing to the ear. I could listen to this on a loop for the rest of my life. - Red Telephone – Love
Easily one of the greatest albums of all time, Forever Changes was widely unknown until it started popping up on “best of” lists. I’ll add my voice to the chorus. - Rose for Emily, A – The Zombies
It wants to be Eleanor Rigby, and comes damned close. Titled based on a Faulkner novel about necrophilia. - Satellite of Love – Lou Reed
I’ve heard this song 900 times over thirty years and I still don’t know why I like it. It’s a rock snob favorite, so I want to hate it, but can’t. - Searchin’ So Long – Chicago
One of the great codas in rock history. Coda hall of fame: “Hey Jude”, “Atlantis” by Donovan, “Aquarius” by the Fifth Dimension, and “Head Over Heels” by Tears for Fears “… and this is my foooour leaf clover.” - Seven Island Suite – Gordon Lightfoot
Epic dirge to escape the rat race. Rarely are songs this exultant. - She Was Naked – Supersister
Speaking of codas: this one starts off worrisome, then ends with a roundhouse kick to the solar plexus. - Some Gospel According to Matthew – Roberta Flack
Before American Idol infected the world with melisma, and before autotune turned the singers of a generation into synthetic ventriloquist dummies – there was Roberta. - Song of the Viking – Todd Rundgren
Playful on the surface, but bizarrely beautiful. Obviously written by a mad genius. - Summer of ’71 – Helen Reddy
Hearing Helen sing about getting high on mescaline is reward enough. The fact that it’s a great song is the cherry on top. - Theme One – The George Martin Orchestra
The Van Der Graf Generator did a respectable cover, but nothing tops the original sonic grandeur composed for Radio One. - Vacuum Cleaner – Tintern Abbey
If you’re not pleasantly surprised by this oft overlooked psychedelic gem, you’re just being stubborn
Over to you…
Posted: 10th, January 2014 | In: Key Posts, Music | Comments (2)
Kaiser Chiefs’ Ricky Wilson Shows Rare Honesty About Doing The Voice
MUSICIANS aren’t known for telling the truth very often. When they break up bands, they cite ‘musical differences’ rather than ‘we all pretty much hate each other now and couldn’t convince the record label to let us have a break, so we’re going to argue about music until we can’t look each other in the eye’.
When they nearly kill themselves with drugs and booze, they pretend they’ve got ‘nervous exhaustion’. When they refuse to do promotional work for new records, they know that that, in itself, is promotional work and it works very well thank you very much.
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Posted: 9th, January 2014 | In: Music, TV & Radio | Comment
