Not Forgotten
A buyers’ guide to Steely Dan 1972-1980
I disagree with Steely Dan. But that doesn’t mean I don’t like them. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that during the period of 1972 – 1980, they released some of the finest albums of that era, and in Walter Becker and Donald Fagen had one of the finest songwriting duos to …
Rude Bootleg – Cardiacs Live, Reading Festival 1986
Once a year in my adopted home city of Liége, Belgium, there’s a mini festival in a rough-and-ready part of town. One time a local character, sat smoking on his doorstep and looking like a cross between Al Pacino and Popeye, engaged me in conversation, energised by the influx of young revellers. He asked me …
Classic Compilation: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – Anthology: Through the Years
Tom Petty – a Dylan disciple, a Byrds with harder-wearing tunes, a Bruce Springsteen for the rest of us. Few artists have defined approachable Middle-American rock and roll radio quite like Petty and his loyal band, and no one has made such a consistently good job of it for as long as he did. Anthology: …
Classic Compilation: Orange Juice – The Glasgow School
So, who are the most influential British Indie band of all time? Okay, so I’m going to assume that almost all of you said The Smiths. It is after, all the, predictable and obvious choice. However such cultural myopia is also doing great disservice to Orange Juice, the Edwyn Collins fronted band of indie pioneers …
Album Review: Steve Miller Band – Ultimate Hits
Released as both single and double disc compilations, Ultimate Hits is an odd one. The single disc does everything a compilation should do, giving the listener the feel for the Steve Miller Band’s long career, whereas the double disc version I am reviewing is a game attempt to fill a particular niche. The single disc …
Obituary: Tom Petty
Of all the luminaries of pop music that we have lost in the last couple of years, it is the music of Tom Petty which I have had the longest and most committed relationship with. A radio-friendly American Heartland rocker, Tom Petty was less earnest then Springsteen and more consistently brilliant than Bob Seger. Originally …
Not Forgotten: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band – Live / 1975-85
40 tracks of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band live and rocking in various theatres, arenas and coliseums over a decade may seem excessive, until you consider the fact that, over three decades later since this live monolith’s initial release, few live acts can come close to matching the heavyweight reputation of their epic, …
Not Forgotten: Mott the Hoople – Mott the Hoople
As debut albums go, Mott the Hoople’s self titled effort is an enthusiastic display of aspiration, even if it does ultimately fall short of being an all out success. Kicking off with an instrumental cover of The Kinks’ “You Really Got Me” which gives an impression of the crackling energy levels that the band routinely …
Not Forgotten: Elton John – 17.11.70
After years, if not decades, of wandering about the cultural wilderness, it has reached the point where even the most indifferent music fan has to admit that between 1970 and 1975, Elton John put out some pretty good music. While it is albums like Tumbleweed Connection, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and Captain Fantastic and the …
Not Forgotten: Jethro Tull – Crest of a Knave
Like many acts from the 60s and &0s, when the 80s rolled around Jethro Tull struggled with something of an identity crisis, desperately trying to blend the traditional core values of their sound with new and exciting possibilities that the latest technology offered. The result was a genuine mixed bag of albums, from the synthetic …