Indholdsfortegnelse for Issue 579 i Record Collector

Things moved quickly back where I grew up, Borehamwood, in Hertfordshire, in the aftermath of punk. It was a veritable speeding series of vicious but on-trend youth cults out there in the sticks; the sort of blank suburbia that spawned Graduate and The Executive, those mod outfits that predated, respectively, Tears For Fears and Wham!. Fast fashion, indeed. I remember my neutrally attired friends and I – a not-deliberate approximation of Joy Division's Man At C&A anti-chic, pullovers and pegs, worn mostly out of self-consciousness and sheer laziness – spending the end of the 70s getting chased out of pubs and parties by, in no particular order, marauding mods, skins and soul boys, hunting for nerds with no stomach for a fight. You could hear the former a mile off,…

Lois Wilson speaks to the mod revival's Big Three – Secret Affair, The Chords and Purple Hearts – and more, to tell the youth movement's many stories (p74). She also talks to Thompson Twins (p56) about designer pop and writes this month's Soul reviews column. Now 63 years an unashamed Rolling Stones obsessive, Kris Needs finally interviewed our self-described Oldest Living Rock Star Bill Wyman about his solo box set and more (p44). Their encounter also closes another arc in Kris' nearly completed autobiography, It's More Than Rock'n'Roll. Much-published author and regular contributor to RC through the 80s, Dave Thompson, continues to badger his readership with endless tales of glam and punk, while also overseeing the total refurbishment of 70s idol Melanie's (p60) back catalogue for Cleopatra Records. Jeremy Allen visits…

How come you're back with a new set now, featuring Thee Headcoatees' Debbie Greensmith and The Monochrome Set's Andy Warren? We've been planning a new album for a long time and, after the pandemic, we were eager to make it happen. In spring/ summer 2025, we made regular visits to One Cat Studio, Crystal Palace, London, and it all came together. It's called Tears Before Bedtime because most of the songs mention tears or crying. That sounds gloomy, but it's not. My songs are often melancholy, but funny. There are some shadows, but plenty of pop sunlight, too. It's influenced by other musical styles and eras, which gives the recordings their distinctive character. Were there any amusing episodes during its creation? Try to record guitars with the sound engineer's poodle…

On 18 November, the UK Royal Mint issued a series of Freddie Mercury coins and a 150-copy print of the complete set. It includes an uncirculated £5 coin, 12,500-copy coloured coin, 4,500-copy 1oz silver proof colour coin, 500-copy 2oz silver proof coin, 400-copy 5oz silver proof coin, 1,250-copy 1/40oz gold proof coin, 250-copy 1/4oz gold proof coin, 100-copy 1oz gold proof coin, 125-copy 10oz silver proof colour coin, and 30-copy 2oz gold proof coin (£9,350). See royalmint.com.…

Gary ‘Mani' Mounfield, died 20 November, age 63. The bassist was a member of The Stone Roses and Primal Scream. Joining the Roses in 1987 – replacing bass player Pete Garner – Mani's presence proved a galvanising force as the group became kingpins of the emergent Madchester scene. Combining indie, jangle-pop and elements of rave music, their 1989 self-titled debut became one of the era's defining albums. Mani's driving, elastic basslines were at the heart of the group's sound and worked in combination with drummer Alan “Reni” Wren to add a danceable, funk-laced rhythmic backing to John Squire's superlative guitar work and Ian Brown's nonchalant vocals on classic songs such as I Wanna Be Adored, I Am The Resurrection, She Bangs The Drums and the epic, standalone single Fools Gold.…

Toyah Ann Willcox was born in Kings Heath, Birmingham and came to prominence as an actor starring in the 1978 film Jubilee. It was while filming 1979's Quadrophenia that she and her band Toyah auditioned for Safari Records, and after signing her on the spot, they issued their debut single, Victims Of The Riddle, that same year. She's since put out 16 studio albums – five with Toyah including 1981's Anthem, which yielded the Top 10 singles It's A Mystery and I Want To Be Free, and since 1985 as a solo artist, a further 11, the most recent being 2021's Posh Pop. She has also made records with The Humans, an experimental trio with Bill Rieflin and Chris Wong, and with her husband Robert Fripp. This September sees the…

I was born in wartime Liverpool in 1945. During the mid-50s, my friends and I became fascinated by this new rock'n'roll music and thought it magical. Still do. Unlike other generations who put away childish things as they got older, we knew it would last. What I heard when I was 11 years old is still magic to me now. Nearly everyone who reads this article is going to be younger than me. Well, go check out some 80-year-olds and pat them on the back. We appreciated the music, and we never lost that love. It may not have developed in a way we liked but it all stems from the 50s. They don't have jukeboxes in old folks' homes but if they did, they'd have the coolest choices on…

Melanie entered 2024 with higher hopes for the future than she had entertained in years. A new album was underway. Second Hand Smoke, she explained, was a collection of covers that even she never expected to hear herself record, let alone an outside world that still thought of her as the girl who sang the bicycle song. A US tour, her first outing since a short Dutch visit in late 2022, was coming together; and two record labels, Cleopatra Records and Easy Action, were preparing to return her entire post-1971 catalogue to the shelves, together with a slew of previously unreleased albums, live shows and more. All designed to Melanie's own speifications. Then, just a few days into the new year, Melanie was hospitalised, and there she passed away on…

Cabaret Voltaire Nag Nag Nag (Rough Trade RT 018, 7”, 1979) £30 Daring, dirty and danceable, Nag Nag Nag was a landmark release not only for the Cabs but for electronic music in general. Various A Factory Sample (Factory FAC-2, 2×7”, 1979) £400 The Cabs performed Baader-Meinhof on FAC-2, a double-7” EP with a black and metallic silver gatefold sleeve shared with Joy Division, Durutti Column and John Dowie. Only 5,000 copies were ever produced. Cabaret Voltaire 1974-1976 (Industrial Records IRC 35, Cassette, 1980) £40 A consolidation of the industrial brand, brought out by the “wreckers of civilisation”, Throbbing Gristle. The Pressure Company Live In Sheffield 19 Jan 82 (Paradox SOLIDARITY No 1, white label LP, 1982) £60 A Cabs benefit gig recorded live under the pseudonymous The Pressure Company…

Why mod? Mod was something for me, for kids my own age. There were no Svengalis like in punk, no organisers; it was very workingclass, whereas punk was very middle-class. It was by us, for us, and that's why the music press didn't like it. They had no control over it, no influence at all, because it was a proper street movement. Which was why fanzines were so important in spreading the word. Was this the impetus for Extraordinary Sensations? There was Maximum Speed and there was Get Up And Go. Get Up And Go was put together by Vaughn Toulouse and Tony Lordan who were in mod band Guns For Hire before Department S. They only did two issues and then Vaughn took me under his wing, said he'd…

Was there a mod scene in Dudley, your home town, when you started back in May 1979? There was no mod scene. I'd lay money on it that we were the first mod revival band to form in the West Midlands, and if not the first then definitely one of the first. In 1977, I'd been in The Injectors, a punk band with [guitarist] Tony Howells. We split and I wrote Summer Nights and he said, “This sounds like the Small Faces. Let's form a mod band.” So, we did. We did our first gig at the Lord Raglan pub in Wolverhampton and then Quadrophenia came out, and the whole thing exploded. How did you know the Small Faces? I went to see them when I was 14 and still…

How did Paul approach you to join him? Was it before he disbanded The Jam? He asked to meet up in the summer of 1982 and said, “Keep this under your hat for now, but I'm wrapping The Jam up at the end of the year.” I'd worked with them before, adding keyboards to a couple of songs when they played the Rainbow in London, and another time we rehearsed a few soul covers as possible encores. I never thought back then it would lead to anything else. I hadn't seen him for a fair while when he called me and it all seemed pretty casual to start with – I wasn't sure if he wanted me just for a few sessions or full-time – but he mapped out what…

Finally, there's the new self-titled album by MEGADETH, the veteran thrashers' final release: bandleader Dave Mustaine recently announced that he'd be winding up the band with a final tour lasting “three to five years”, in other words, not any time soon. Still, there's an air of fond farewell about Megadeth (*** Frontiers), a wholly decent set of medium to fast tunes that sits neatly alongside's Megadave's last few albums without really deviating from the nippy/angry template. The standouts are Made To Kill, a ferocious war anthem; The Last Note, Mustaine's thoughtful signoff, complete with spoken-word acoustic outro; and the self-explanatory Let There Be Shred, a bit of entertaining showing off from this highly musical band. Early 2026 will see new albums from Belgian black metallers Enthroned, the gothic Swedes Scheitan,…

LACK OF AFRO's Love Dealer (**** Bastion Music) is Exeter multi-instrumentalist and producer Adam Gibbons' ninth album, also announced as his final effort under the Lack Of Afro handle, and sees him embracing disco and synth sounds. The follow-up to 2022's Square One, it's full of killer dancefloor grooves, spanning the Giorgio Moroder vibes of Idolising People Like Madlib to the glitter ball good times of Make It Shine, which features the deliciously soulful vocals of Greg Blackman. From Pasadena, DON & DEWEY were Don ‘Sugarcane' Harris and Dewey Terry. They first recorded as the Squires, a high school streetcorner soul outfit, but when they split in late 1956, the pair became a duo. As a self-contained unit - they were multi-instrumentalists, writers, arrangers and producers – they were an…

Is it fair to call this your “political” album? I don't like to use the word political that much because it makes you think of politicians and elections, all of that. They used to refer to these kinds of songs as topical songs. I think that's more fitting. Crosby, Stills & Nash used to say we can change the world with music. Do you think we still can, or are we being naive? I was talking to someone recently and he said we were able to stop the war in Vietnam through music. I don't know if that's true or not, but it certainly can't hurt. If nothing else, it just helps the morale. I remember back in the 60s, I used to go to all the demonstrations and I'd…

Did taking time off touring help you come at this album from some fresh angles? A little bit, but also I was eager to do something that was interesting. I can't rest on laurels. What really changed it all was the fact that Andrew [Fearn] released himself from engineering duties and started producing with me. That's when the ideas became more abundant. You've got more guest voices than ever here. What do you want from a collaborator? If it feels like it's gatecrashed the party, I like that… What we've used collaborators for, more so this time, is to be another instrument. At the same time, these collaborators are in harmony with the sonics of the song. I know that sounds a bit wank but it's kind of about getting…

The Drums Mike Joyce New Modern, £25 ISBN 9781917923224, 258 pages The man at the back de-escalates from attack The anticipation for Morrissey's 2013 memoir was so immense that fans and journalists queued down the streets of major cities waiting for bookshops to open at midnight to get their hands on a copy. The expectation for Mike Joyce's account is less frenzied and it's probably for the best. Where Autobiography was an overlong, score-settling mess with occasional flashes of brilliance, The Drums is a jovial run-through of Joyce's time with The Smiths that's hands-off with regards to score-settling; indeed, Joyce makes the point early on that he has no interest in writing about the rancorous lawsuit he brought against plaintiffs Morrissey and Johnny Marr over percentages, with the publisher forced…

This month: Chakk Exponents of post-Cabaret Voltaire/23 Skidoo/Pop Group avant-disco, Chakk formed in Sheffield and were active from 1981 until 1987. Their potent blend of funk, punk, and tape manipulations veered toward the experimental, and, while the band's singular sound did not lead to commercial success, their influence on subsequent acts was considerable. Chakk founding member, bassist and producer Mark Brydon remembers that time as one of open-minded invention. “From an early age, I'd been sitting in a bedroom with a guitar,” he recalls. “I taught myself by playing along to the radio. I wasn't in bands until I went to Sheffield and hooked up with Alan Cross.” Brydon had relocated to the ‘Steel City' to study as an architect. “But I didn't in the end,” he smiles, “because I…

SEND YOUR PRAISE, MISSIVES AND CALLS FOR THE DEIFICATION OF CHRIS ROBERTS TO: rc.editorial@metropolis.co.uk, or to Record Collector, 4th Floor, Harmsworth House, 13-15 Bouverie Street, London EC4Y 8DP, or via social media rc.editorial@metropolis.co.uk www.recordcollectormag.com Record Collector Magazine @RecCollmag RecordCollectormag @recordcollectormag RARE GROOVY Great article by John Coleman in RC 577 on the Top 20 rarities of 1980. It got me looking at my collection of Aztec Camera singles from the 80s, when I bought every release. Just Like Gold, as with all early releases issued in a die-cut picture sleeve, had initial copies including a postcard and was released on 17 April 1981. I thought it may have crept into John's Top 20, being a rare issue. I was surprised when looking through my collection that I have three copies!…

In the month that would have seen his 80th birthday, the year since the passing of David Lynch is marked by the BFI, London, with a month-long festival at the Southbank and BFI IMAX. From 1 to 31 January, the Institute screens a selection of his screen works, including Eraserhead, The Elephant Man (introduced on 27 January by film-maker/ actor, Dexter Fletcher), Dune, Blue Velvet, Wild At Heart, Lost Highway, The Straight Story, Mulholland Drive and Inland Empire. Also in the offing is Jon Nguyen's David Lynch: The Art Life documentary and, on 3 January, Stéphane Ghez's new Welcome To Lynchland documentary, featuring Kyle MacLachlan, Laura Dern, Isabella Rossellini and Sabrina Sutherland. On 7 January, The Cinematic Visions Of event features the writers Simran Hans and Tom Huddleston discussing Lynch's…

Acoustic+ Slim Dunlap Every Little Word 2CD, with The Old New Me, Times Like This, bonuses, Curation, 27 February. Due: 2026 Vanessa Carlton Veils [TBC]. Biz The London Kensington Olympia British Airways Arc 3,800-capacity venue opens later this year. ■ London Corsica Studios venue closes in March. Blues The Blues Brothers The Escape Of Joliet Jake graphic novel hardback (on RSK) is due as an oversize slipcased Deluxe Edition with three art cards, 26 February, along with variant editions [TBA] via Z2 Comics. Due: February (6) Danny Bryant Nothing Left Behind, Jazzhaus. Hip Hop/Dance Grandmaster Flash Birth Of A Culture book, Amistad, by Christmas. Due: January (30) Labrinth Cosmic Opera: Act I, Columbia. Indie Heavenly's first studio set in 29 years, Highway To, on CD, LP, Skepwax, 27 February. ■ Voxtrot's first set in 18 years,…

An Ithaca A Game For All Who Know LP sold for charity via eBay in November for £5,059 and, on 26 November, a Biohazard drumkit was offered for charity. ■ A sevensong Mariah Carey 1988 demo cassette tape was offered 11 December via waxpoetics.com. ■ A 25 November sale via omeagauctions.co.uk included a Foreigner drumskin, and the 2 December sale featured John Martyn guitars, keyboards, pedals, Elvis Presley hat, Deep Purple drum kit, The Jam record award, reel-to-reel tape, 7” acetates from 10cc, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Status Quo/ record award, Cat Stevens acetate LP, Prince guitar, shirt, shoes, Keith Emerson boots, jacket, Blondie BBC Q&A reel-to-reel tape, The Cramps BBC reel-to-reel tape, David Bowie Q&A reel-to-reel tape, The Specials handwritten lyrics, Taylor Swift handwritten note, AC/DC video prop, record awards…

UPCOMING VINYL RELEASES DECEMBER (31) Nurse With Wound She And Me Fall Together In Free Death 3LP, Logical Absurd; Rihanna R20 8LP/T-shirt box set, with Music Of The Sun, A Girl Like Me, Good Girl Gone Bad, Rated R, Loud, Talk That Talk, Unapologetic, Anti LPs, rihanna.store; The Ethiopians Songs Of Our Forefathers LP, Keeling Reggae; Nils Lofgren Acoustic Live 45rpm 180g 4LP, Analogue. JANUARY (2) Queen Of The Damned OST red 2LP, Rhino; Dir En Grey Macabre 2LP, Firewall; Pink Fairies Covered In Pink LP, CD, Cleopatra; The Flaming Lips Clouds Taste Metallic LP, Rush Vapor Trails, Snakes And Arrows 2LPs, Feedback LP, Alt J An Awesome Wave eco-LP, Atlantic; Cheap Trick Woke Up With A Monster pink LP, Fleetwood Mac Future Games LP, Rhino; Sturgill Simpson A Sailor's Guide To Earth LP, Elektra (9) Ted Nugent Nuge Vault Vol 2: 1975 Demos…

Nevio Bencivenni is a DJ from San Giovanni in Persiceto, Bologna, Northern Italy, a collector with a particular area of interest. The 69-year-old says, “I have loved music since I was a young kid and crossed through most genres both from UK and US over the years. Because I'm a boomer, in my youth I was divided between rock – Cream, Ten Years After and so on – and progressive: Yes, Genesis, Gentle Giant, etc. I'm sure you know that progressive had a great success here in Italy in the 70s. Then there was the American rock, punk, new wave etc. Following my music passion, I travelled all over the world for concerts or record hunting. I'm a radio DJ here in my hometown and my Wednesday show is all…

There was much excitement in Stoke Newington's Mildmay Club in November, when Lawrence of Felt/Denim/Mozart Estate had a box of records for sale, all annotated. One of these was Eddie Howell's one and only album from 1975, The Eddie Howell Gramophone Record. “You are so lucky to be holding this LP,” wrote Lawrence. “I saw Eddie on a kids' TV show in the 70s – after school – before tea (evening meal!). I was the only kid in B'ham who loved Eddie and now you can too – for a price of course – £15. RARE RARE RARE.” Now, I have no memory of Eddie from the 70s, being that crucial couple of years younger than Lawrence, but I did hear his Easy Street single, from 1969, on a Fading…

When The Rolling Stones exploded onto the nation's TV screens in 1963, five distinct characters emerged after they'd binned the short-lived herringbone jackets and Andrew Oldham started getting them in the press. More dangerous than the parent-friendly moptops, Brian Jones was the blond harmonica-wailing leader, Mick Jagger the raw voiced singer finding his moves, Keith Richard the gawkily enthusiastic black-haired guitarist and drummer Charlie Watts exuding jazzman's cool. Nearly five years the senior of his oldest bandmate, Bill Wyman stood out from the others through cradling his bass in an unusual upright position, almost motionless except for the occasional smile flickering across his gaunt features. Locking inventively spaced basslines to Watts' subtly swinging drum tattoos, the pair formed the first modern rock rhythm section, Wyman first making his mark driving…

The BBC banned Woman Love, the B-side of Gene Vincent's Be-Bop-A-Lula, for obscenity. The Beeb also banned Louis Armstrong's Mack The Knife for describing gangland violence in gory detail. They banned even the mention of the Frank Sinatra film, The Man With The Golden Arm, which related to drug addiction. DJs could play the hitmaking instrumental, Main Title, providing they didn't say what that title was. The BBC also banned Malcolm Vaughan's St Therese Of The Roses, as it was “contrary both to Roman Catholic doctrine and Protestant sentiment”. Not to worry, it made No 3.…

There Should Have Been A Rainbow – The New York Folk Sessions 1963-1965 (Cleopatra, 2026) Capturing the teenage Melanie as she refined her natural talents around an imaginative collection of traditional songs (including nine Child Ballads), a handful of pop covers and the first fruits of her own songwriting. Ace o'Diamonds (Cleopatra, 2025) A stage show based upon letters that western legend Annie Oakley wrote to her illegitimate daughter Janey, was the one that Melanie assumed would never come together – “nothing was recorded!” she protested. But it was, albeit in a multitude of bits and pieces (a bootleg recording of a workshop performance; a short full cast demo, etc) – enough to present both the full play and a disc's worth of alternate versions. Autumn Lady (Easy Action, 2025)…

How did Squire come about? We came from the Guildford/Woking area, and a couple of members of the band had been to school with Paul Weller. They were very aware of The Jam, obviously, and knew them personally, and knew that they'd gone to London as a punk band and had incredible success and they wished for the same. They were playing covers, and I'd written these 60s-inspired songs which they liked, so I joined and we called ourselves Squire after the shop we rehearsed over. Then one time, Paul Weller's dad was in the pub in Woking and he said, “Would you like to support The Jam at the Guildford Civic Hall?” So, we did in July 1978. The Jam had just recorded All Mod Cons. We did my…

During the mod revival period you had The Times, TV Personalities and Teenage Filmstars. Did you feel an affinity with that scene? At the beginning, we were bang into some of those bands. Their take on the original mod idealism was really infectious. My favourite faces were Brian Betteridge, Fay Hallam, Ian Page, Buddy Ascott, Simon of the Purple Hearts, Eddie Piller and Grant Fleming. And some future friends, too. I would see Nick Heyward quite regularly at mod shows, noticeable as he was always surrounded by girls even then. Did you play with any of the bands involved such as Purple Hearts, Chords etc? No, I never played with any of these bands, just loved going to their gigs as it was all very exciting on that simple, direct…

The Style Council Cafe Bleu: Special Edition Universal 6515728 (6CD, 3LP) Paul Weller likes to take his time. Although The Style Council made their bow with the single Speak Like A Child just three months after The Jam's swansong Beat Surrender had topped the charts, it would be another full year until his new group brought an entire album to market. That first 45 was followed by three others before Cafe Bleu arrived, each one an attention-worthy illustration of his and partner-in-crime Mick Talbot's relish in confounding listeners' notions of what the band's overall modus operandi might be. None were especially designed to trailer the eventual LP's contents, apart from perhaps teasing listeners to expect the unexpected. After those came Cafe Bleu, kicking off with Talbot's 75-second bouncy piano instrumental…

E.S.P. (Columbia, CL 2350, LP, Mono, US, 1965) £150 The quintet's first studio outing with Miles, recorded in California during a tour, featured progressive new material penned by every band member except drummer Tony Williams, but was rarely played on the road. One of the most collectible versions of this glorious post-bop session is the ultra-rare mono white-label DJ radio promo. Miles Smiles (Columbia, CS 9401, LP, Stereo, US,1966) £375 Credited to the Miles Davis Quintet, Miles Smiles found the band pushing the “free bop” envelope further, marking the rise of Wayne Shorter as the band's composer-in-chief. Sealed originals have sold at auction for around $500. Miles In The Sky (Columbia, CS 9628, LP, stereo, US, 1968) £150 The band's fifth and last full album together (Carter and Williams left…

The Beat The Beat At The BBC Rhino RCV 1 727338 (2LP) Despite their brief presence on 2 Tone and their suedeheaded teenage following, The Beat were barely a ska band at all. The Birmingham sextet's heady, hectic hybrid of funk, punk, reggae, Afrobeat and rhythm & blues was irresistibly danceable (as depicted by the footstep diagram logo of their Go-Feet label and their Hunt Emerson-drawn mascot, the Beat Girl). It helped the seamless fusion that The Beat were genuinely bi-racial. Of the original six members, three were black: Ranking Roger, the effervescent teenage MC, veteran Jamaican saxophonist Saxa (50 years old, which was 80 in old money) who had played with Prince Buster and Desmond Dekker and, in between them age-wise, superb St Kitts-born drummer Everett Morton. The line-up…

Lucinda Williams World's Gone Wrong Highway 20 H2 0015 (CD, LP) US politics and mainstream music have become increasingly distanced since the 60s heyday of the protest singer. But there are exceptions: think Born In The USA and What's Going On, both albums where two master singer-songwriters nailed their colours to the mast. Bruce Springsteen and Marvin Gaye made their point without affecting their upward career trajectory… but then there's the more recent tale of the Dixie Chicks, vilified for the mere act of dissing George W Bush from a foreign stage. Lucinda Williams is no bandwagon-jumper: indeed, there is currently no bandwagon to board. She has a proud family history: as those who read her recent frank and fearless memoir Don't Tell Anybody The Secrets I Told You will…

Tyler Ballgame For The First Time, Again RT 0569 LP (CD, LP) During the pandemic, Tyler Perry wrote a song called Got A New Car. At the time, he was 29 and living in his mother's basement in Rhode Island, depressed and struggling with self-esteem issues, smoking too much weed, unable to get his music career off the ground despite his classical training. It was inspired by philosopher Alan Watts: it was a song of changing perspective, of accepting your reality. In it, he sang about a fictional character: “Tyler Ballgame got his hopes up.” It proved self-fulfilling in the best way. Encouraged by a caring counsellor, he blagged an office job in LA (despite not having any qualifications), moved to Venice Beach, found his tribe, and started to wow…

Josephine Foster Sum Variations Nyahh Nyahh 024 (10”) This rewarding archive release features two renditions of Josephine Foster's The Sum Of Us All, recorded back in 2012. Talk about free-wheelin': each take is around 10 minutes long. Backed by Victor Herrero, Paz Lenchantin, Michael Zerang and some masterful musicians from Joujouka, Side A builds from Foster's bare verses into a lively and choral transcultural hubbub. Side B was recorded in Vejer de la Frontera, Spain. It incorporates some samples from the Joujouka session and features cello from Gyda Valtysdottir, with Shahzad Ismaily on percussion. This one's been dusted off a touch and is a little more sparkly. Each cut is spellbinding in its own terms and Foster's voice, as ever, shimmers from the stereo like the theremin of Orpheus. The…

Beyond The Black January (15) Manchester O2 Ritz (16) London Shepherd's Bush O2 Empire Cascada January (31) Torquay Foundry May (1) Aberdeen P&J Live (2) Manchester AO Arena (3) Leeds First Direct Bank Arena (8) Newcastle Utilita Arena (9) Glasgow OVO Hydro Epica, Amaranthe January (20) Bristol Beacon (21) Glasgow Barrlowlands (23) Manchester O2 Apollo (24) London Hammersmith Eventim Apollo Tommy Emmanuel January (16) Manchester Bridgewater Hall (17) Gateshead Glasshouse (18) Edinburgh Queen's Hall (20) Lytham St Anne's Lowther Pavilion (21) Birmingham Town Hall (22) Ipswich Corn Exchange (23-24) London Cadogan Hall Halsey January (29) Manchester Aviva Studios February (3) London Brixton O2 Academy Miles Kane January (24) Glasgow O2 Academy (26-27) Sheffield Crookes Social Club (29) Southampton 1865 (30) London Camden Roundhouse (31) Manchester Albert Hall February (2) Bristol…

The Beatles The Beatles No 1 (Parlophone GEP 8883, EP, UK, 1963) £25 My mum called this the “Eric quietener” because I listened to it incessantly, the A-side, the B-side, the A-side, the B-side. I was obsessed. But I could have chosen anything, because it's all great. I had everything from Please Please Me onwards. I'd get a 10 shilling note occasionally, or my pocket money, one and six a week or something like that, and buy records, but couldn't afford albums. It's all I did. Jimi Hendrix Experience Electric Ladyland (Track 613 008/9, LP, UK, 1968) £300 The first album I managed to get was Are You Experienced? I've still got it in glorious mono. Then I bought the single, All Along The Watchtower, then this. I'd never heard…

This month: John Foxx – The Lyceum Theatre, London, 11 December 1983 Some great gigs are also rites of passage. Just 19, I'd gone to University in Canterbury two months earlier. My life was opening up: this was my first gig on my own, my first gig in London, my first chance to see Ultravox legend, John Foxx, on his first solo tour. Of course, Ultravox were massive in 1983, but that was the wrong Ultravox, the one with Midge. All true Rock Snobs, of which I was undoubtedly one, knew that the real Ultravox! were the sleek, glam-ish, punky, electronic Art Rock outsiders, with an exclamation mark! Foxx hadn't played live since he'd left that band in March 1979, and that was four and a half years before, a…

At RC Towers, we reckon on news music springing from Elton John, Def Leppard, The Monochrome Set, Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band, Tesla, Wet Leg, Soil, D'Angelo, Within Temptation, The Dead Daisies, Tiesto, Queensryche, John McCutcheon & Tom Paxton, Butcher Babies, Hard-Fi, Jon Anderson, Anthrax, Peter Frampton, Audioslave, Lindsey Buckingham, ex-Arch Enemy's Alissa WhiteGluz, Sum 41's Deryck Whibley, Living Wreckage, Massive Attack, Type O Negative, Ellie Goulding, The Mars Volta, Paul Di'Anno, Hokka (with ex-The Rasmus' Pauli Rantasalmi, on Nuclear Blast), Firewind (BLKIIBLK), The Leaving (CHVRCHES' Martin Doherty, Jonny Scott, Avenue A), A (Cooking Vinyl), Switchfoot (BMG), Tenille Arts (Dreamcatcher), Flea (Nonesuch); Blue Note 180g LP reissues from Donald Byrd, Freddie Hubbard, Lee Morgan, Horace Silver, Hank Mobley, Lou Donaldson; a Shane McGowan tribute album; and Lynn Nottage &…

In November, Maddison Leach of 9 News Australia TV reported that some artists' decisions to edit their albums for online streaming services makes their physical equivalents on CD and LP that more valuable, a view that's been backed by a leading academic authority. Citing the recent choice of Matt Healy to remove Human Too from the Spotify version of The 1975's Being Funny In A Foreign Language, so as to make the album “more how I want it to be”, University Of Wollongong music psychologist researcher Dr Tim Byron observed, “If you've got a CD [of the album]… it's not going to get affected by The 1975 deciding [that] they don't like that song. Artists can recall the ones [they don't like] from the shop[s], but they can't recall it…

Whitelands Sunlight Echoes (Sonic Cathedral SCR 340 LP, LP, 2026) This is a glorious second album from one of London's best bands, long-time purveyors of shoegaze, dreampop and beautiful electronic soundscapes. Recent singles Glance and Heat of the Summer set the tone nicely, while you can also enjoy a superb collaboration with Emma Anderson from Lush. There are three vinyl variants to choose from, with a widely available yellow pressing, an indie store exclusive green version (accompanied by a postcard pack) and a rare red version from Bandcamp, limited to just 250 copies. Tom Smith There Is Nothing In The Dark That Isn't There In The Light (Play It Again Sam PIAS R 1602 LP, LP, 2025) Editors frontman Tom Smith was responsible for one of the finest seasonal album…

BATZ ENTERTAINMENT Got an interesting single here. It's by a band called the Guana Batz and looks like an EP as there are four tracks on it. These are You're So Fine, Rockin' In My Coffin, Jungle Rumble and Guana Rock. It's on the Big Beat label. I would say that the condition of the sleeve and the record is Excellent. Gary Dennis via email The Guana Batz formed in August 1983 with an original line-up of Dave (bass), Dave ‘Dibble' Turner (drums), Stuart ‘Pu' Osbourne (guitar) and Pip Hancox (vocals). The band were influenced by The Meteors and their first gig was at Feltham Football club supporting King Kurt. Mick White, from The Meteors, was a close friend and previously in a band with Hancox. White had attended Guana…

Now includes Whole Love Of Lots CONTACTS: BONHAMS: Tel 020 7447 7447; www.bonhams.com DISCOGS: www.discogs.com EBAY: www.ebay.co.uk INDUSTRIAL SILENCE: marc@industrial-silence.com; www.industrial-silence.com OMEGA AUCTIONS: 01925 873040; www.omegaauctions.co.uk POPSIKE: www.popsike.com PROPSTORE AUCTION: Tel 01494 766485; propstore.com Send your Most Wanted suggestions to paulrigby@theaudiophileman.com…

GREGORY SPAWTON Big Big Train multiinstrumentalist on their 16th studio effort What film could your new set soundtrack? It's a concept album featuring a tortured artist: Lust For Life. Who'd you like to remix? Mike Rutherford Smallcreep's Day. A jewel of late-70s prog rock, yet Mike seemingly can't be arsed to authorise a remix! What was your favourite record shop when you started out? Mere Green Records & Tapes, Sutton Coldfield. I bought Marillion's first 12” there on the day of its release. What was your first record? French band Space's Magic Fly. What record made you want to go pro? Genesis Selling England By The Pound. Have you ever collected anyone? Demo tapes/albums of many of the early-80s prog bands, like Solstice and Twelfth Night. What backstage incident makes…

I Wanna Be Your Man (1963) Raw and frenetic, the Beatles-penned R&B sneer of the Stones' second single captured their stampeding live mayhem and provided their first Top 10 hit. Unusually high in the mix, the non-stop torrent of Wyman's selfdescribed “fast boogie” bassline was the main driving element in the track's blistering one minute and 44 seconds. 19th Nervous Breakdown (1966) Its dense wall of sound rumbling with dark malevolent energy, 19th Nervous Breakdown displayed a harder, speed-wired direction with Richards' booming riff and Jagger's putdown paranoia. Derived from Bo Diddley, Wyman's dive-bomb fretwork on his Framus Humbug in the final coda is the crowning masterstroke that makes the track. Jumpin' Jack Flash (1968) Probably the Stones' most famous riff later named by Richards as his favourite in the…

Johnnie Ray – Just Walkin' In The Rain (7 weeks) The original was by The Prisonaires, a group of Memphis cellmates who couldn't get out very often to promote their version. Ronnie Hilton – No Other Love (6 weeks) Ronnie Hilton spoke broad Yorkshire but there wasn't a trace when he sang. Doris Day – Whatever Will Be, Will Be (6 weeks) We know the Doris Day song as Que Sera, Sera but this title could not be used as foreign titles were not permitted in the Best Song category. It won the Oscar and came from the Hitchcock film, The Man Who Knew Too Much. Pat Boone – I'll Be Home (5 weeks) This song, like so many, was written for servicemen overseas and would invariably be the bumper…

A Product Of… (Participation) (T Records TELP 1, LP, UK, 1981) £10 Their debut, capturing them as a six-piece (with Currie thanked in the credits). This is TT at their most experimental, a guitar-oriented set mixing African rhythms and new wave pop. Into The Gap (Arista 205 971, LP, UK, 1984) £8 Their fourth album and second to be recorded with producer Alex Sadkin at Compass Point, Nassau hit No 1 and yielded three Top 5 singles: Hold Me Now, Doctor! Doctor! and You Take Me Up. The latter features a melodica solo on their biggest hit, peaking at No 2. Also includes Sister Of Mercy, No 11. Industry And Seduction (BMG 964186770, 2LP, UK, 2025) £35 The first career-spanning retrospective and first to be band-approved, with Bailey and Currie…

The unexpected return of Cabaret Voltaire has been one of the good news stories of 2025. Fifty years on from their first ever gig, Stephen “Mal” Mallinder and Chris Watson have come back together for a series of shows, and it's unquestionably cause for celebration even if, as Mal explains, the reunion might be a relatively brief one. “We're doing dates in America and Europe, but we're being very selective, and it's only for a short period of time,” he says on a video conferencing call from Brighton. “I never wanted this to be like: ‘Oh, we're doing the Cabs again.' I think it's just an opportunity while Chris and I are still here to play live again because there is something about that visceral experience of the live shows…

How did The Lambrettas form? Jez [Bird, singer] and I were in [Lewes punk group] Shakedown. We wanted to do something more 60s-ish so in March 1979 we formed The Lambrettas with bassist Mark Ellis and drummer Paul Wincer. Mark had an ad up in a Brighton music shop and we got him through that. We got Paul through my mum. She was working with a friend of his who recommended him, and we played our first gig on Hastings Pier on 9 June 1979. Which was part of the Mod Day festival with a bill featuring Purple Hearts, Fixations and Teenbeats. How did you get the gig? Chicane, who were from Brighton, pulled out and we asked the promotor, Peter Haines, to let us play a short set. He…

The Cigarettes They're Back Again, Here They Come (Company CIGCO 008, 7”, UK, 1979) £100 This excellent single from the short-lived Lincoln band captures the trio still at school and art college consumed by exigency and protesting the rise of the far right over scything guitars and crashing drums. It grabbed John Peel's attention, but the acclaim they deserved never came. Small World Love Is Dead (Whaam! WHAAM 003, 7”, UK, 1981) £100 Issued on Dan Treacy and Ed Ball's Whaam! label, this is the debut single from the Barking four-piece: singer Chris Philpott; guitarist John Wratten; bassist Mick Cohen; drummer Andy Orr. Musically it's a brilliant burst of open-hearted pop while lyrically it's a contrasting tale of heartbreak and woe. The Times Red With Purple Flashes (Whaam! WHAAM 2,…

Butthole Surfers. Hoobastank. Chumbawamba. Toad The Wet Sprocket. As far as strange band names go, some are more memorable than others. NGC-4594, though? Three letters, a dash and four digits? We're in the territory of “What's so-and-so's postcode again?” The combination refers to the location of the nearest black hole, apparently. Hailing not from space but humble Connecticut, the band released one single in 1967 and it failed to lift off. An album's worth of material was already in the can, however. This was unearthed in the early 2010s and is now reissued on What NGC-4594 Really Means! Guerssen). Listening to the likes of Imagination Dead Imagine, it's unsurprising to learn that acid and its surrounding cultural artefacts (Tim Leary texts, etc) were a key influence. Nor is it astonishing to read…

Miles Davis The Complete Live At The Plugged Nickel 1965 Columbia/Legacy 19802941241/52 (8CD, 10LP) Heading to Chicago for two nights at the Plugged Nickel jazz club in December 1965, Herbie Hancock and Tony Williams were mulling over the frustrating year they'd spent in The Miles Davis Quartet. After cutting E.S.P., the quintet's first studio LP together, at the beginning of the year, they'd done virtually nothing since Miles had a hip replacement in April. Further delay came when Miles required follow-up surgery in August. The quintet finally got out on the road in November; Miles, however, declined playing E.S.P.'s new music, believing his audience wanted to hear his faithful “First Great Quintet” warhorses from the 50s: Milestones, 'Round Midnight, My Funny Valentine, So What, et al. Restless, frustrated, and even…

Burn It Up: The Rise of British Dance Music 1986-1991 Cherry Red CRCD 4 BOX 201 (4CD) Crash course for old ravers Following the psychedelic 60s and 70s punk, acid house was the last major socio-cultural pop revolution with US origins to hit the UK, swiping the torch from synth-pop for life-changing electronic shenanigans. Compiled by Bill Brewster and Richard Anderson, this 50-track set captures that era of anarchic musical whoopee, loved up spiritual unity and cavorting to the likes of D-Mob's We Call It Acieed, Coldcut's Beats + Pieces, The Beloved's The Sun Rising, Bomb The Bass's Beat Dis, 808 State's Pacific-202 and Moody Boys' Acid Rappin'. If Judge Dread is puzzling, the rollcall including Orbital, Electribe 101, KLF, S-Express, Nightmares On Wax, N-Joi, Adamski, Cabs and even Sam…

Sleaford Mods The Demise Of Planet X Rough Trade RT 0574 (CD, LP) For a duo who seemed to arrive fully-formed, Jason Williamson and Andrew Fearn have managed to wring remarkable reserves of range from a threadbare set-up across a prolific 10 years. Anatomising the nation's banality-induced slow decline, The Demise Of Planet X treats wretched times as the spur to re-energise creative momentum. Developed across Abbey Road, Invada and Nottingham studios with more guests, tones and raw feelings than ever, the record nudges Sleaford Mods into fresh turf, seeking out surprise sounds for shocking times and hidden depths in Williamson's agitated fusillades. Like Fearn bopping behind his laptop, it's a record constantly on its toes, limber and receptive to the jolts of stimuli external and internal. The Good Life…

It sounds like the lockdown was a rock bottom period for you? Well, in a way, but it was kind of the best thing that ever happened to me. I was a depressive in my 20s and wouldn't always leave the house unless I had a gig. Singing was always at the core of how I received love and affection and affirmation for as long as I remember. And maybe the core of that depressive period was me believing in my expectations. So then everyone else all of a sudden had to live on my terms. It gave me a minute to breathe and think, Oh, wait, what am I doing? What do I really want to do with my time here? And I just needed to go and surround…

Sell Vinyl/CDs direct to RC readers, call us on 0208 752 8172 or email listings@recordcollectormag.com. Rates: recordcollectormag.com/advertise NEXT ISSUE: FEBRUARY 2026 (on sale 22 JANUARY) Deadline for submitting adverts (Listings & Classified): Monday 5 JANUARY Please email your advert (Word doc/Excel file/plain text) to: listings@recordcollectormag.com Record Collector Listings, Diamond Publishing Limited 4th Floor, Harmsworth House, 13-15 Bouverie Street, London EC4Y 8DP Following issue: MARCH 2026 (on sale 19 FEBRUARY) Deadline: Monday 26 JANUARY…

How have you been preparing for the tour? We're celebrating The Absolute Game, so I've been revisiting it. It's full of surprises. Guitar lines that I forgot, songs we never played live, but will, such as Goodbye Civilian. It brought back a lot of memories – good and bad. The original tour was our most successful, but our last. I'm also down the gym on the rowing machine, trying to keep myself fit. Do you have any pre-/ post-show routines? Some ambient music, and water. Will you be playing any songs that you rarely perform? It's introduced with one of the songs from the free album that came with The Absolute Game: a mad guitar track played by Stuart Adamson and myself. From then on, we go through the album,…

This month: Jakko M Jakszyk Adopted by émigré parents, Michael “Jakko” Jakszyk endured a turbulent childhood, but found respite in music. In 1971, aged 13, he attended a King Crimson gig at Watford Town Hall. “Years later, amid the shiny world of a faltering pop career, I began to look back at that moment with a degree of cynicism,” he admits to RC. “However, looking back at it now, it really did change my life.” Shortly after leaving school, Jakko co-founded an off-the-wall jazz-rock outfit called Soon After, with whom he earned his first paid gig. It was a significant milestone along a route map constructed of dangerous learning curves. Intrigued as much by their name as their music, he next joined 64 Spoons, a five-piece whose very English Dadaesque…

The Bathers Kelvingrove Baby (Marina MA 22, CD, UK, 1997) £8 While Creation's Alan McGee famously broke the mould for overhyping his signings – Three Colours Red as the new Sex Pistols, anyone? – Marina boss Stefan Kassel is clearly not averse to a spot of hyperbole, either, declaring this “an absolute classic masterpiece” in The Herald last year. It's not quite as good as that but opening track Thrive comes perilously close. Re-released on vinyl as part of the Marina Trilogy in 2020 from main Bather Chris Thomson, famously kicked out of early-80s janglers Friends Again by his “pals”, it's a delightful piece of low-mood introspective Scottish pop, as well as a wonderful – and polite – fuck-you to James Grant and Co. Various Goosebumps - 25 years of…