Category Archives: Rock
CLASSIC ALBUM: THE KINKS-LOLA VERSUS POWERMAN AND THE MONEYGOROUND AND PERCY.
Classic Album: The Kinks-Lola Versus The Powerman and The Moneygoround. By 1970, The Kinks had been through the ringer and everything that could’ve gone wrong had gone wrong. They had lost of bassist Pete Quaife in 1969 after they released their sixth album The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society. It was released in …
LONNIE MACK-SA-BA HOOLA! TWO SIDES OF LONNIE MACK.
Lonnie Mack-Sa-Ba Hola! Two Sides Of Lonnie Mack. Label: Ace Records. Format: LP. On the ‘8th’ of June 1963 Lonnie Mack’s instrumental version of Chuck Berry’s Memphis entered the US Billboard 100 and eventually reached number five and four on the US R&B chart during the thirteen weeks it spent on the charts. This was …
CULT CLASSIC: FUNKADELIC-FREE YOUR MIND…AND YOUR ASS WILL FOLLOW.
Cult Classic: Funkadelic-Free Your Mind…and Your Ass Will Follow. Although George Clinton was born in Kannapolis, North Carolina, in 1941, he grew up in New Jersey, where he formed the doo wop group The Parliaments in the late fifties. At the time he co-owned a barber salon in Plainfield and spent much of his day …
CLASSIC ALBUM: NEIL YOUNG AFTER THE GOLD RUSH.
Classic Album: Neil Young-After The Gold Rush. During the winter of 1970, Neil Young and his backing band Crazy Horse embarked upon a short winter tour that included a concert at Filmore East, New York, where the twenty-four year old Canadian folk rocker shared a bill with Steve Miller and Miles Davis. At the end …
KASAI ALLSTARS-BLACK ANTS ALWAYS FLY TOGETHER, ONE BANGLE MAKES NO SOUND.
Kasai Allstars-Black Ants Always Fly Together, One Bangle Makes No Sound. Label: Crammed Discs. Format: CD. In December 2008, the Kasai Allstars released their critically acclaimed debut album In The 7th Moon, The Chief Turned Into A Swimming Fish and Ate The Head Of His Enemy By Magic. Critics were won over by music which …
CULT CLASSIC: ROLAND HAYNES-2ND WAVE.
Cult Classic: Roland Haynes-2nd Wave. Forty-five years ago in 1975, Roland Haynes released his debut album 2nd Wave on the Detroit-based Black Jazz Records. The label was founded by Gene Russell and Dick Schory and released twenty albums between 1971 and 1975. 2nd Wave was the label’s penultimate release and it folded later in 1975. …
TEENAGE FANCLUB-ENDLESS ARCADE.
Teenage Fanclub-Endless Arcade. Label: PeMa. Format: CD. Much has happened to Teenage Fanclub since they released their tenth album Here on the ‘9th’ of September 2009. It was their first album since the release of Shadows on the ‘21st’ of May 2010, and marked a return to form for the band that was formed in …
IAN CARR-BELLADONNA.
Ian Carr-Belladonna. Label: Mr Bongo. Format: CD. In 1969, thirty-six year old Ian Carr who was born Dumfries, in the South West Scotland, formed Nucleus who would become one of the top British fusion groups. By then, the Scottish trumpeter was a familiar face on the London jazz scene. He had been member of the …
PINK FLOYD-LIVE AT KNEBWORTH 1990.
Pink Floyd-Live At Knebworth 1990. Label: Pink Floyd Records. Format: CD. On June the ‘30th’ 1990, some of the great and good of British rock made their way to the village of Knebworth, in the north of Hertfordshire where they were to be presented with the Silver Clef Award for outstanding contributions to UK music. …
CLASSIC ALBUM: BOB MARLEY AND THE WAILERS-CATCH A FIRE.
Classic Album: Bob Marley and The Wailers-Catch A Fire Having signed to Chris Blackwell’s Island Records, The Wailers released their fifth studio Catch A Fire on April the ‘13th’ 1973. The first 20,000 copies came encased in Rob Dyer and Bob Weiner’s now famous Zippo lighter’ hinged album sleeve. However, Island Records had underestimated demand for what was a landmark album and 14,400 copies sold …
CULT CLASSIC: THE BATHERS-SUNPOWDER.
Cult Classic: The Bathers-Sunpowder. With Chris Thompson at the helm, the The Bathers could’ve and should’ve, been one the biggest Scottish bands ever. Their music was articulate, beautiful, dramatic, ethereal, elegiac, emotive, languid, literate and melancholy. This is music for those that have loved, lost and survived to tell the tale. Sadly, The Bathers never …
JON SAVAGE’S 1972-1976: ALL OUR TIMES HAVE COME.
Jon Savage’s 1972-1976: All Our Times Have Come. Label: Ace Records. Format: 2CD. First there was rock ’n’ roll and then between 1972 and 1976 morphed and there was everything from art rock, experimental rock and glam rock to hard rock and Krautrock as well as power pop, pub rock and punk rock. The music being released …
CULT CLASSIC: QUICKSAND-HOME IS WHERE I BELONG.
Cult Classic: Quicksand-Home Is Where I Belong. Musical history is littered with examples of groups who only ever released one album during their what proves to be a short-lived career. Especially, during the late-sixties and early seventies when many record companies had unrealistic expectations. All too often, when a band’s debut album failed to find …
CULT CLASSIC: DR JOHN-IN A SENTIMENTAL MOOD.
Cult Classic: Dr John-In A Sentimental Mood. There aren’t many musicians who enjoy the longevity that the late, great Dr John enjoyed. His career lasted the best part of sixty years and he released thirty studio albums and nine live albums. Dr John also won six Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and …
FAREWELL RODION LADISLAU ROSCA.
Farewell Rodion Ladislau Rosca. Nowadays, the word innovator is used far too often, but the music that Rodion Ladislau Rosca the founder of Romanian experimental rock group Rodion G.A. recorded was innovative, influential and way ahead of its time. Sadly, living and making music behind the Iron Curtain meant music fans in the West never …
PIERRE MOERLEN’S GONG-DOWNWIND.
Pierre Moerlen’s Gong-Downwind. Label: Esoteric Recordings. Format: CD. In January 1973, Daevid Allen invited drummer and percussionist Pierre Moerlen to join Gong following the departure of Laurie Allan. He agreed and became the group’s new drummer. However, in June 1973 he was asked by Virgin Records’ founder Richard Branson to play percussion at the premier …
GEORGE OHTSUKA QUINTET-LOVING YOU GEORGE.
George Ohtsuka Quintet-Loving You George. Label: Wewantsounds. Format: CD. When the George Otsuka Quintet took to the stage at the Nemu Jazz Inn on the ‘19th’ of July 1975 the Japanese bandleader, composer and drummer was thirty-seven and about to record a live album. He was following in the footsteps of Norman Connors, Eddie Henderson …
CLASSIC ALBUM: DR JOHN-IN THE RIGHT PLACE.
Classic Album: Dr John-In The Right Place. Very few musicians or bands can be accurately described as an overnight success. That is something that hardly ever exists except in the minds of a few tabloid journalists . The reality is that most bands need to do the hard yards and hone their sound before commercial …
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