NOT FORGOTTEN – THE ISLEY BROTHERS – SHOUT!
How hard must it be to write a brilliant pop song? You know, one of the all time, genuinely timeless greats that doesn’t rely on the technology or gimmicks of the age, one that can withstand any number of heavy-handed and unsympathetic cover versions by even the most cloth-eared performer. “Shout” is one of those …
Not Forgotten: Half Man Half Biscuit – 90 Bisodol (Crimond)
Even after all these years I find there’s something very admirable about Half Man Half Biscuit and the way they have conducted themselves throughout the last quarter of a century. Remaining on the miniscule Probe Plus label since their debut release, they remain singularly anti-career in their approach. They do not tour, but play one …
NOT FORGOTTEN – GROUNDHOGS – SPLIT
Oddly enough, the first time I heard of The Groundhogs was a minor ‘Forgotten Heroes’ piece on them in Melody Maker back in the late 90s as apparently a number of Brit Pop acts had been influenced by them. With both The Melody Maker and Brit Pop and both consigned to history since I first …
NOT FORGOTTEN – THE FLAMING LIPS – TRANSMISSIONS FROM THE SATELLITE HEART
Like many of us here in the UK I only discovered the multifaceted joys of The Flaming Lips after they had released the glorious, world-beating, The Soft Bulletin. Being the curious sort I did the appropriate research into their history and felt emboldened to explore their back-catalogue (well the other albums they had released on …
NOT FORGOTTEN – EELS – HOMBRE LOBO: 12 SONGS OF DESIRE
Lust, desire and romance have been the most popular subject matter for songs for millennia now – it’s pretty much what keeps the whole music industry going regardless of genre, fashion or the political background of the era. Some of the greatest wordsmiths throughout history have spent their whole lives trying to write the perfect …
NOT FORGOTTEN – DREAD ZEPPELIN – UN-LED-ED
On paper it sounds like a terrible idea, a bunch of stoners playing reggae versions of Led Zeppelin tunes, fronted by an Elvis Presley impersonator. Leaping from your speakers it’s a different matter. The thing is, Dread Zeppelin could really play. They weren’t just playing for laughs either, they were accomplished musicians with a deep …
NOT FORGOTTEN – CUD – ASQUARIUS
Love at first sound, that’s what it was. The riff that literally tumbled out of the speakers and then that voice. I knew I’d accidentally discovered one of music’s great lost groups and they spoke to me in a way that very few bands did. This wasn’t a passing phase or a temporary thing either, …
Not Forgotten – The Bonzo Dog Band – The Doughnut in Granny’s Greenhouse
One of my favourite anecdotes from the history of rock music recalls the Bonzo Dog Band touring the USA in the late 60s and their minibus being stopped by a local Sheriff. The law officer asked if they were carrying any firearms or drugs. When they denied possession of either (preferring alcohol to drugs at …
NOT FORGOTTEN – TORI AMOS – STRANGE LITTLE GIRLS
I must have stood here, staring at my CD collection for half an hour or so. I had known I’d wanted to do an ongoing series of articles for Backseat Mafia that would build up to be an A to Z of unfairly overlooked and forgotten albums through the decades, but I just didn’t have …
NOT FORGOTTEN – PULP – WE LOVE LIFE
Of the Brit-pop bands Pulp were something of an anomaly because they had been around in one form or another since 1978 and had gained acceptance the hard way over fifteen years, rather than being the overnight sensations that so many other big bands of the era were. Jarvis Cocker was a perfect anti-star, a …