Not Forgotten: Nilsson – A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night
Back in the early 70s, there was still a distinct generational difference between what ‘the kids’ listened to and what ‘the olds’ listened to. Only particularly foresighted adults were listening to what current music was offering at the time and very few kids had anything but a passing interest in their parents music collection. Pop …
Not Forgotten – Talking Heads – Stop Making Sense (1999 Special Edition)
It starts with audience noise, David Byrne scrolls out and utters immortal opening lines. “Hi. I’ve got a tape I wanna play you.” A basic electronic drum pattern starts up, there’s a sharply strummed acoustic guitar and then the bare-bones live version of “Psycho Killer” blows the studio original clean out of the water. Just …
Live: Ian Hunter, Sheffield City Hall Ballroom, 2 October 2014
There are four blokes on stage with an unenviable task. Tonight’s crowd are here to see one man and one man only, and I’m among them. Ian Hunter inspires a devoted following of fans, much in evidence tonight by the high percentage of the audience being resplendent in their Mott the Hoople and Ian Hunter …
Not Forgotten: Atomic Rooster – In Hearing of Atomic Rooster
In Hearing Of Atomic Rooster is a remarkable album, but not for the most obvious reasons. On first listen, it’s a heavy psych-prog album by a band centred around former Crazy World of Arthur Brown organ-botherer Vincent Crane and the band’s only album featuring the vocal talents of former Leaf Hound vocalist Peter French (who …
Not Forgotten: ZZ Top – Degüello
Pretty much smack inbetween the career high-water mark that was Tres Hombres, and the ultra-commercial, MTV-courting, mega-seller, Eliminator, ZZ Top’s Deguello is something of a stand-alone for the band. Whereas all their earlier albums albums were re-released on CD in the latter-half of the 80s slathered in drum machines, and their next album, El Loco, …
A Buyers Guide to Alice Cooper 1971 – 1975
It’s easy to forget just how consistently impressive Alice Cooper was between 1971 and 1975, both as a group and then morphing into Vincent Furnier’s solo career. From Love It to Death through to Welcome to My Nightmare, Alice Cooper’s output stands comparison to the likes of both Elton John and David Bowie, two other …
Not Forgotten: REM – New Adventures in Hi-Fi
New Adventures In Hi-Fi can be a difficult album to digest. It doesn’t flow particularly well, it can drag and in places it can sound rather dull. There aren’t many REM fans that would claim that New Adventures In Hi-Fi is their favourite album. It’s reputation has suffered because of comparisons to those albums that …
Not Forgotten – Ian Hunter – Ian Hunter
Walking away from Mott the Hoople at the point they were beginning to make their mark in the USA, a lot of people must have questioned Ian Hunter’s desire to make it as a rock and roll star. Apparently he was burnt out, and having finally achieved success in his early 30s, he had seemingly …
Not Forgotten – The Replacements – Let It Be
After a clutch of scruffy punkish releases, Let It Be was where The Replacements started to indicate that they were slowly starting to mature, starting to blend more considered material like “Unsatisfied” with the likes of “Gary’s Got a Boner”. Where once there was sloppiness and youthful exuberance, here there is self reflection and youthful …
Album Review: Martin Austwick – Through Intermittent Rain
Martin Austwick is a man of many talents. Not only is he a supremely talented singer and songwriter, but he’s a physicist and university lecturer, and is also known as “Martin the Sound Man” on the hugely popular comedy podcast Answer Me This!, as well as the Brain Train, Global Lab and The Sound of …