Monthly Archives: December, 2016
LEE HAZLEWOOD-COWBOY IN SWEDEN.
LEE HAZLEWOOD-COWBOY IN SWEDEN. By 1969, Lee Hazlewood’s career was no longer going to plan. The man who had been around since the birth of rock ‘n’ roll was suddenly regarded as yesterday’s man. Suddenly, he was no longer in demand as a producer. Especially by a new generation of up-and-coming musicians. A few that …
JÓHANN JÓHANNSSON-ORPHEE.
JÓHANN JÓHANNSSON-ORPHEE. It was whilst studying languages and literature at university in Reykjavík, that Jóhann Jóhannsson’s musical career began. He was just eighteen when he joined his first indie rock band in 1987. Over the next few years, Jóhann Jóhannsson played with several indie rock bands in Reykjavík’s vibrant and thriving music scene. Little did …
GANDALF-TO ANOTHER HORIZON AND MAGIC THEATRE.
GANDALF-TO ANOTHER HORIZON AND MAGIC THEATRE. Nowadays, Gandalf is regarded as one of Austria’s most accomplished, innovative and successful musicians. Gandalf who is a talented multi-instrumentalist, is also one of Austria’s most prolific artists. He has released over thirty albums between 1981 and 2016. That’s despite not releasing his debut album until he was twenty-nine. …
SVEN GRUNBERG-HINGUS.
SVEN GRUNBERG-HINGUS. From the sixties, right through to the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, Eastern Europe was a musical hotbed. The problem was, very few in the West realised this. That, to some extent, this still the case. Most music lovers have yet to discover the music that came out of Eastern Europe during this …
ZAKARY THAKS-TEXAS GARAGE KINGS.
ZAKARY THAKS-TEXAS GARAGE KINGS. During the sixties, garage bands sprung up all over Texas. Some recorded a handful of singles, before disappearing. Others never got that far. Many recorded just the one single, and played a handful of gigs, before calling it a day. Nowadays, they’re long forgotten. They however, played just a walk-on part in the …
MIROSLAV VITOUS-THE BASS.
MIROSLAV VITOUS-THE BASS. In 1967, twenty year old Miroslav Vitous was playing alongside Clark Terry in a Chicago club. It was just the latest gig for the up-and-coming Czech bassist. He had made America his home in 1966, when he won a scholarship to study at Berklee College of Music, in Boston. Now he was …
JOHN WETTON-THE OFFICIAL BOOTLEG-ARCHIVE VOLUME 1.
JOHN WETTON-THE OFFICIAL BOOTLEG ARCHIVE VOLUME 1. For the best part of fifty years, artists and record companies have been plagued by bootleggers smuggling recording equipment into concerts. This started when bootleggers began smuggling tape into concerts. Often the tape recorders were hidden under coats or in bags. As a result, the sound quality was …
THE KRAUTROCK AND PROGRESSIVE BOX SET.
THE KRAUTROCK AND PROGRESSIVE BOX SET. Looking back with the benefit of hindsight, the late-sixties was the start of a golden age for music. It continued right through the seventies. During this period, some of the most important music ever recorded was released. This included countless classic albums. These classic albums ranged from classic rock, psychedelia, …
ADELBERT VON DEYEN-NORBORG AND ATMOSPHERE.
ADELBERT VON DEYEN-NORBORG AND ATMOSPHERE. After Adelbert Von Deyen released his debut album Sternzeit on Günter Körber’s Sky Records in 1978, the label became his home for the next nine years. This was the most productive period of Adelbert Von Deyen’s career. His creativity blossomed and he released eight studio albums and one live album. …
GEOFF MULDAUR-IS HAVING A WONDERFUL TIME AND MOTION.
GEOFF MULDAUR-IS HAVING A WONDERFUL TIME AND MOTION. After leaving Paul Butterfield’s Better Days in 1975, Geoff Muldaur decided to resume his solo career. So he signed to Warner Bros. and began work on what would be the followup to his 1964 debut album Sleepy Man Blues. Later in 1975, Geoff Muldaur released his much …
JETHRO TULL-STAND UP AND AQUALUNG BOX SETS.
JETHRO TULL-STAND UP AND AQUALUNG BOX SETS. When Jethro Tull were formed in December 1967, little did they realise that this was the beginning of a adventure that would last five decades. Jethro went on to release thirty-eight studio albums. This includes their debut album This Was. Just fifteen months after they were first formed, …
THE CHARLATANS-WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN.
THE CHARLATANS-WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN. Between 1964 and 1969, The Charlatans’ star shawn bright. During that period, The Charlatans were larger than life mavericks. They dressed like 19th Century outlaws, and embraced the rock ’n’ roll lifestyle. L.S.D. and pot were part of The Charlatans’ diet. It fuelled The Charlatans as they took San Francisco by …
BEVERLEY MARTYN-WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN?
BEVERLEY MARTYN-WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN? It was fifty-one years ago, when Beverley Martyn made her recording debut. Back then, she was a member of The Levee Breakers, a jug band that featured Mac McGann, Johnny Joyce and Beverley Martyn. They released their debut single Babe, I’m Leaving You on Parlophone in 1965. Beverley was just sixteen …
SYLVIE-EN ANGLAIS…ET EN AMERICAIN.
SYLVIE-EN ANGLAIS…ET EN AMERICAIN. Sylvie Vartan was just seventeen when she embarked upon a career as a ye-ye singer. Little did she realise that this was the start of a five decade career, where Sylvie would be crowed queen of French pop. By then, she was one of the most successful of the new generation …
SPACE ROCK: AN INTERSTELLAR TRAVELLER’S GUIDE.
SPACE ROCK: AN INTERSTELLAR TRAVELLER’S GUIDE. Music like fashion is cyclical. One minute a musical genre is hugely popular, the next it falls from grace. That usually, isn’t the end of the story. There’s usually always a resurgence in popularity of that musical genre at a later date. This has been the case with countless …
MOTORPSYCHO-ANGELS AND DAEMONS AT PLAY.
MOTORPSYCHO-ANGELS AND DAEMONS AT PLAY. Nowadays, not many bands stay together twenty-seven years. Longevity seems to be a thing of the past in the music business. Sadly, so is releasing an average of an album a year. That was common in the sixties and seventies. Not any more. Very few bands come close to releasing …
LINDA JONES-PRECIOUS: THE ANTHOLOGY 1963-1976.
LINDA JONES-PRECIOUS: THE ANTHOLOGY 1963-1976. The story of Linda Jones is one of triumph and tragedy. Growing up, Linda Jones was diagnosed with diabetes. Despite this, Linda Jones went on to forge a successful career as a soul singer. Her breakthrough single, was Hypnotised, which reached twenty-one in the US Billboard 100 and number four …
CONRAD SCHNITZLER-FILMMUSIK 1.
CONRAD SCHNITZLER-FILMMUSIK 1. Conrad Schnitzler was, without doubt, one of the most important and influential figures in German music. Having studied under Joseph Beuys, he cofounded the legendary Zodiak Free Arts Lab in Berlin with Hans-Joachim Roedelius. For next the two years, the Zodiak Free Arts Lab became one of Berlin’s cultural hubs. Artists and …
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