Innehållsförteckning för Issue 534 från Record Collector

SEND YOUR PRAISE, MISSIVES AND CALLS FOR THE DEIFICATION OF ROB HUGHES TO: rc.editorial@metropolis.co.uk, or to Record Collector, 7th Floor, Vantage London, Great West Road, TW8 9AG, or via social media rc.editorial@metropolis.co.uk www.recordcollectormag.com Record Collector Magazine @RecCollmag RecordCollectormag @recordcollectormag HAIL SAINTS Really interesting article on the year 1977 [RC 533]. I was in my final year at the then Manchester Polytechnic and remember well Tony Wilson giving us the gig guide on Granada Reports every Thursday evening. I also recall the pleasure of queuing up to buy my copy of [Buzzcocks'] Spiral Scratch in the (fairly) newly opened Virgin Megastore, all good fun. I thought, though, you may like to see the pictures of The Saints' first LP I found at a car boot sale a few years ago –…

Daryl Easlea was part of the team that worked on Island's (p82) 50th anniversary celebrations in 2009. It was when he first tasted Chris Blackwell's rum, served by the great man himself, out of a large dustbin. Finally recovering from the hangover this May, Daryl spoke with Blackwell for RC. Chris Roberts talked to Clare Grogan (p52) about the first Altered Images album in almost four decades, learning of her fondness for disco and Joy Division, and what being on Top Of The Pops in her band's early 80s prime was really like. He gave her a copy of his book The Velvet Underground, signing it to “Clare Superstar”. Bob Stanley has been a Lou Christie (p72) fan since he first heard I'm Gonna Make You Mine on Ronco's 20…

Back in the 60s, Walter Becker and Donald Fagen met Terence Boylan when all three attended Bard College. Indeed, the future founders of Steely Dan eventually played on Boylan's Alias Boona album in 1969. Time moved on and Steely Dan emerged to create a stellar collection of work. Meanwhile, Boylan finally prepared another album, which became this eponymous release. It had plenty going for it, including impressive, self-written songs and excellent musicians such as Jeff Porcaro, Wilton Felder, John Guerin, Dean Parks and Fagen. Boylan's production was skilful and even the front sleeve was impressive. Don't Hang Up Those Dancing Shoes is a stylish opener, with inventive guitar work from Boylan and Parks along with stunning harmonies. There's a subtle power here, with some musical echoes of 70s Steely Dan.…

U2/IAN DURY Flyer £95 From 1981, note that U hyphen 2 are third on the bill. And on the first day, too. Of course, ‘U-2’ is the spy plane. Would the band better reflect today's society by now including it? (My name's Ben Elton, etc.) Supplied by MEM BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN Lyrics $4,000-$6,000 Handwritten lyrics to the song, Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street? which would appear on the man's 1973 debut album, Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. Supplied by Julien's Auctions LED ZEPPELIN Ticket £275 From 1979, a rare surviving example of a complete ticket for the band's final UK concert at Knebworth, 11 August 1979. Supplied by MEM LESLIE WEST/KEITH MOON Photograph $400-$600 Framed photograph signed and dated “NYC ’99” by photographer Bob Gruen. Supplied by Julien's Auctions…

Some time in the late 90s, I was taken to see Peter Noone do a show in St Albans by my Herman-crazed friend Jo. It was one of the Solid Silver Sixties shows. First on was Wayne Fontana (no mind-bending took place), then Gerry Marsden (affable, redfaced), and then Dave Berry. Now, Dave was someone who I owned a couple of singles by, but I had never really given much time to. A spotlight fell on the stage. He didn't appear. The spotlight moved to the side of the stage, and a leather-gloved hand appeared, slowly, from behind the curtain. Dave Berry was a fucking amazing performer, and I've been a huge fan ever since. “My act was always visual, and still is,” says the lad from his home in…

Hail, hail, the rock'n'roll biopic. A 21-gun salute for that most derided of cinematic genres. With a strike rate of about one in 100, it's one of life's mysteries as to why anyone would gamble their house, the shirt on their back and their children on fronting up the megabucks it costs to make one of the damn things. I mean, you'd really have to like Queen a bit too much to stump up for the horror that is Bohemian Rhapsody. All this I ponder as I watch the first episode of Danny Boyle's disastrous TV-cation of Steve Jones’ Pistol memoir. Here come the posh actor kids with double-barrelled names, far too corn-fed and gym-friendly to believably mimic 70s herberts Cook and Jones. Here's a nonthreatening Johnny Rotten. Here's a…

In 1981, Clare Grogan had quite a year. She'd just left school when she was cast in Gregory's Girl, the Bill Forsyth coming-of-age romantic comedy, made for a budget of £200,000, which the BFI ranks as the 30th best British film of the 20th century. She was working as a waitress in a Glasgow spaghetti restaurant when the director spotted her. Meanwhile, the band she'd formed with schoolmates, Altered Images, were signed by Epic after John Peel sessions and a support slot on Siouxsie & the Banshees’ Kaleidoscope tour (which they'd acquired by sending a demo to the Banshees’ fan club with a note saying, “Can we support you?” because “that's how we thought things worked”). They'd taken their name from the back of Buzzcocks’ single Promises, the artwork for…

ASSOCIATES “ There was almost a telepathic thing going on between us,” says Alan Rankine, former partner of Billy Mackenzie in the Associates, speaking horn his home in Glasgow. “And I think it annoyed some people that we were able to communicate that way, widrout saying anything. It was just a look, a little mannerism, which we both reciprocated. “I felt he was a kindred spirit from the get-go,” Rankine adds. “I heard Bill singing – I hadn't met him yet – with a cod-funk outfit, and they were pretty dreadful. But his singing was heavenly, and I thought, I've got to get with this guy.” The association of Billy Mackenzie and Alan Rankine represents not just a great “what might have been” story in early 80s new pop, but…

“I enjoy looking at how the past has led us to the present, but all I really care about is the future,” says Alex Kapranos, singer, songwriter, and enduring guiding presence of Franz Ferdinand, one of the 2 century's most innovative and enduring British bands. “I love the not knowing. When I sit down and start a song, I've no idea what the chorus is going to be or what the next line is going to be, and it's the most joyous sensation I've ever experienced. I love the thrill of the surprise of the future.” Over several weeks, in the bar of the Blythswood Square Hotel in Glasgow and then by multiple phone calls, Kapranos lays out the life of Franz Ferdinand in detail, beginning with his own previous…

The hamlet of Compass Point is situated on the northwestern coast of the isle of New Providence in the Bahamas; the island is often named in shorthand after its capital city, Nassau, which lies around 10 miles east of the village. Situated next to the St. Peter's Native Baptist Church (est. 1856) and opposite a shack selling the local delicacy, conch fritters, is Compass Point Studios, founded by Chris Blackwell, which opened as a recording facility in 1977. The sea here, at its best, is glass smooth, and from the studio, the Atlantic has a boundless horizon, exactly the sort of seascape that would have provided a key argument for all of those who once protested the world was flat. Inspired by what he had witnessed at Woolwich Hall Farm…

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This month: IDLEWILD'S RODDY WOOMBLE Tell us about the tour. We decided to celebrate the 20th anniversary of The Remote Part, as there was much more demand than we expected for the 15th anniversary tour. Then, of course, the pandemic struck, and we haven't practised together for six months. Do you have any pre-l post-show routines? Pacing around the dressing room, drinking a few beers. Will you play any songs that you rarely perform? We'll play The Remote Part in order, half of which we never perform. Are there any venues or events that you're particularly looking forward to? Connect Festival. Idlewild haven't played many festivals in the past decade, so it'll be nice to be on a big festival stage at night. Will you be recording any shows for…

This month: Tony Hazzard Although English singer/songwriter Tony Hazzard penned hits in the 60s and 70s for some of the biggest acts of the era including Herman's Hermits, The Hollies, Manfred Mann, The Tremeloes, Lulu and Andy Williams, he is not half as well known as he should be. Born in 1943 and hailing from Rainhill, Merseyside, Hazzard gravitated to The Cavern and the embryonic Merseybeat scene, witnessing The Beatles fresh back from Hamburg in their leathers. While at Durham University in 1962, he was invited to join a band and subsequently met Tony Garnett, then a story editor for the BBC. He encouraged and supported Hazzard and his band to go professional in London and introduced him to Gerry Bron, the manager of Manfred Mann. Bron just wanted Hazzard,…

First, an admission. In last issue's cover story, we featured the 77 (plus a few more) records that we thought made 1977 such a standout year for music. So far, nobody has pointed it out, but I feel duty-bound to admit to a glaring omission. Yes, there's a dazzling array of pop, rock, punk, new wave, power pop, soul, disco, funk, reggae, dub, and metal stuff in our article, but the year's shining example of sci-fi/sampling collage-rock – Future Games by Randy California's Spirit – is conspicuous by its absence. Apologies, it should have been in there – it's one of the best records of that year; of any year. We're being super-vigilant this month, and already I can see you wondering: where's Swordfishtrombones in this month's cover story exploration…

How come you're back with your new project now? We have a strong band tradition of keeping a recording schedule going. This is the latest collection of songs that we've selected as a cohesive project. It's Chapter 11 in our story. It reflects the ever-strengthening bond between us, as we're most comfortable working together as a unit. We met regularly over a five-year period to write – the isolation and division in the world is ever-present. How long did it take to do? About six years. It came in waves. An idea, a rough outline of emotions, jamming different tempos. Eventually, it brings forth the final cut. Were there any amusing incidents during the process? The keyboard stand always seemed to collapse during rehearsals. What happened during the interregnum? Adam…

Grateful Dead Workingman's Dead (Warner Bros Records WS1869, LP, UK, 1970) £50 The bridge between psychedelic Dead and country Dead which hits all the right notes of both. The harmonies on Uncle John's Band and Dire Wolf are sublime (albeit multi-tracked) while New Speedway Boogie is a superb nod to the band's origins. The Sound of Music Original Soundtrack RCA Victor RB6616, LP, UK, 1965) £1 This is: my guilty pleasure album; my singalong album; my feelgood album; and, apart from Focus and Frank Ifield, the album that provides the opportunity for me to practice my yodelling. Fairport Convention Liege And Lief (Island Records ILPS 9115, LP, UK, 1969) £150 Marks the arrival of English folk-rock. Collectively, the Fairports are wonderful; individually they would go on to dominate and strengthen the genre…

COLLECTING LED ZEPPELIN Classic Records Road Case (Classic RTH 3001) £12,009 Features 48 pieces of single-sided vinyl over 10 titles to be played at 45rpm. (eBay item number: 175251959752) Supplied by eBay PRINCE Sign “O” the Times (Paisley Park 9-25577 1) £8,100 Signed by Prince and eight members of his backing band. (eBay item number: 115373391567) Supplied by eBay THE INTICERS Since You Left (Baby Luv BL 0036) £6,362 Northern soul cut from 1968 with I Got To Find Me A Baby on the flip. (eBay item number: 384909870161) Supplied by eBay THE BEATLES The Beatles (Parlophone BBX2 91302) £220 The 1988 “bread bin” set featuring 15 albums and 64-page booklet. (eBay item number: 224480941888) Supplied by eBay ODYSSEY Setting Forth (Organic ORG 1) £8,151 Promo of the psychedelic rock…

Tony Cook looked incredulous when I asked him whether James Brown, you know, actually played a musical instrument. Like, properly. “Sure. He plays a few,” Mr Brown's amicable long-term drummer replied. “He's been doing this a long time. What do you think? He plays good.” Dumb question, Ian. Mr Brown played good. He tended to treat all instruments as if they were drums, one of the tools he'd mastered. He was a percussive musician. If a man who could sing as well as he could was willing to reduce his gift to grunts in the service of rhythm, he'd never think twice about using that approach on keyboard, the instrument he preferred. I'm not attempting to demean The Godfather of Soul by questioning his ability. For me, he was The…

JOHN CRAWFORD Berlin co-founder on his new JCRS collaboration Tell us about your new set, and what film it could soundtrack. I was fortunate to work with songwriter/guitarist Robin Simon (Ultravox, Visage) and, as our music is dark and beautiful, Less Than Zero. Is there anything still unissued? A box full of old recordings in the garage where I used to live. When did you first hear one of your songs on vinyl? Berlin's The Metro single, at my manager Perry Watts-Russell's apartment, Sherbourne Street, Los Angeles, 1980. What was your favourite record shop when you started out? One in Fullerton, California, where I grew up. What records made you want to go pro? Sex Pistols Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's The… and, for my writing, Ultravox Systems Of Romance.…

Happy Birthday (Epic, 1981) That galloping, evergreen single was produced by Martin Rushent, as was a retake of Insects for the US release. The rest of this album was recorded at Rockfield with Banshee Steve Severin, and highlights the band's early shadowy, even slightly sinister side. Pinky Blue (Epic, 1982) Less post-punk, more pulsating pop, with Rushent in his pomp. The cover of Song Sung Blue was probably a mistake, but I Could Be Happy, the title track and the exhilarating See Those Eyes snapped and fizzed with uninhibited youthful pop smarts. Bite (Epic, 1983) A relatively overlooked masterpiece of the New Pop era, as both Mike Chapman and Tony Visconti framed the band as heirs to Blondie's throne, with a shiver of Chic running through a flawless set of…

Boys Keep Swinging (1979 single) This was the Associates' opening glint, pregnant with the sense that they weren't going to be an 80s Bowie shadow but would unlock the potential of his late 70s work in a postpunk context. A Matter Of Gender (from 1980 album The Affectionate Punch) In both its original and 1982, coloured remastered version (the latter, pictured), this is an early sign of Associates' swoop and swerve, their lyrical and audiovisual capabilities which not only marked them out as distinct from Bowie but from their post-punk, pop-entryist peers. Message Oblique Speech (1981 12” single) With its twisted, processed guitar and itching rhythm this was one of post-punk/funk's prime 1981 offerings, inventing then discarding new possible forms and colour combinations, eschewing the regular groove that would offer…

If we have the equivalent on these shores of a Berry Gordy or Sam Phillips, it's Chris Blackwell. He is, simply, one of the most significant label owners/managers/producers/A&Rs in all popular music. Born in London, his mother was Jamaican, so he grew up on the island. Educated at (and expelled from) the prestigious Harrow School, he returned to Jamaica, where after a spell as the aide-de-camp to the island's governor, Blackwell dabbled in buying and selling, and then got into jukebox marketing, which exposed him to downtown Kingston and the rhythms that were exploding as the capital began to produce its own unique version of US R&B. In 1959, with record shop owner Leslie Kong and radio personality Graeme Goodall, Blackwell founded Island Records, its name taken from Alec Waugh's…

Inspired by the myriad labels that had spung up in Jamaica, Blackwell played a key role in licensing or distributing some of the most exciting imprints in the 20th century. As he writes in The Islander, “The jazzer in Jamaican me needed some bass, the R&B lover wanted some swagger, and … I was enthralled by the cross-pollinated rhythms of the New York bands signing to ZE and excited by the rhythms of Compass Point.” Blackwell's eclecticism drove the myriad sub-labels owned, licenced or distributed by Island. By distributing Chrysalis and releasing the first eight years of EG management's label to Island meant that Jethro Tull, King Crimson and Roxy Music all issued their initial releases on Island. Witchseason Productions appeared through Island, and Blackwell struck up a lasting relationship…

DORIS TROY, bom Doris Higginsen in 1937, was an incredible singer who bridged gospel, soul, jazz and pop on records that made an indelible impact on the Brit Invasion. The Hollies and Small Faces both had hits with covers of her songs; The Beatles released an album by her on Apple and she provided back up on the Stones' You Can't Always Get What You Want and Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon. She started out at an early age in her father's Harlem church, then at 16 took a job as an usherette at the Apollo. Soon after, she began singing in both The Gospelaires alongside Dee Dee Warwick and Dionne Warwick and jazz vocal group The Halos. Taking her grandmother's surname, Payne she began writing songs, one…

George Michael Older ★★★★ Sony 19439902021 (2LP, 2LP/5CD) “My greatest moment,” George Michael said of the 1996 album which brought him back from the wilderness, not with a bang but with a careful whisper of exquisite refinement. Since 1990's Listen Without Prejudice Vol.1, he’d gone through a hellish phase of legal wrangles with Sony, the death of his lover Anselmo Feleppa and a radical reconstruction of his sound. We're a long way from the optimism of Young Guns (Go For It!) here. Let's not rewrite history, though: in fairness, the two previous solo albums had already demonstrated depth – for example, Father Figure and Praying For Time were pomp-pop of the highest order. Older, however, was some next-level smooth Stoner soul. It's often close to Zen in its healing calm,…

Jamie T The Theory Of Whatever ★★★★ Universal 4543721 (CD, LP) In one of his first public ‘appearances' in about five years, Jamie Treays contributed to Tim [Burgess]'s Twitter Listening Party in January, marking the 15th anniversary of his debut album, Panic Prevention. As ever, he was good company, insightful albeit – equally typically – guarded when it came to interpreting his songs. But he was upfront on one atypically dubious lyric from Alicia Quays, telling listeners how much he hates it now. “I was young and dumb,” was his amenable mea culpa. While you can't fault Treays for his honesty, for the most part his debut presented a more complex picture of its maker than the young motormouth gobshite of popular repute. Arresting evidence of a vivid, sensitive storytelling…

Access All Areas Barbara Charone ★★★★ White Rabbit, £12 ISBN139781474622288, 224 pages Journalist turned powerhouse PR Barbara Charone's memoir lands bathed in nostalgia. Recalling her graduation day, Charone paints a picture of fine weather, Happy Days on TV, Macca and Wings at No 1. Swiftly, the tone is set for a tale of a charmed life, the gifts of which Charone embraced with a passion for music, an unbridled enthusiasm and weaponsgrade reserves of persistence. Writing with the fuss-free ease of someone who doesn't need to over-elaborate, Charone documents a move from Glencoe to London, where her future awaits. Having written for Rolling Stone and Crawdaddy, she soon writes for the UK inkies, swiftly earning Keith Richards' trust; she's close by for the heroin charges. Heady recollections of star access…

READER SERVICES Call on 020 8752 8172 or email stockists@metropolis.co.uk for more information or to sign up today! SOUTH EAST Across the Tracks – ‘On busiest corner of hippest city, open seven days. Thousands of rarities in the shop that aren't on the net. All genres, including classical and new CD promos, nothing mundane. Collections bought.' 110 Gloucester Road, Brighton BN1 4AF. Tel: 01273 677906. edfrombrighton@tiscali.co.uk www.acrossthetracksrecords.com Alan's Record & CD Shop – ‘Diggers paradise! Over 18,000 quality used 7” /12” LPs/CDs. Specialising in Reggae, Soul, Jazz, Rock, Hip Hop, Dance. Open Tuesday to Sunday from 11:30am, Wednesdays by appointment only. Independent and stubbornly individual.’ 218 High Road, East Finchley, London N2 9AY. Tel: 0208 883 0234. alanrecordman@tiscali.co.uk Ben's Collectors Records – Long standing record shop in the heart of…

CODA Adam & The Ants Prince Charming (CBS CBSA 1408, 7”, UK, 1981) £2 The 14-year-old babysitter who looked after me when I was 9 or 10 had all the Adam & The Ants records going back to Cartrouble. She was a massive fan, so I became one, too, even before he broke big. When the Prince Charming album came out, I went off him a bit, he was too commercial, but the song Prince Charming I remember fondly. I dressed up as Adam Ant when I went to our local youth club; I had the white line painted across my face and everything. Aged 10, I won the local disco dancing championship by being able to do the Prince Charming dance better than anyone else. Bob Dorough Three Is…

This month: Knebworth, 21 August 1976 I was at the Knebworth Festival on Saturday 21 August 1976, to see The Rolling Stones, 10cc, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Todd Rundgren, Hot Tuna, and the Doug Harrison Band. My friend and I left Balham, London, early, in my Fiat 600D and, when halfway there on the M1, we realised that we'd left the tickets at home. We had to go back to Balham, but made it to Knebworth in time for Todd Rundgren. What a wonderful day it turned out to be. I didn't know much about Lynyrd Skynyrd, but was converted on that hot afternoon, thanks to the good viewing position that we had. 10cc came on late after some technical issues and played as the sun went down. They were popular then,…

The Marley: A Family Legacy exhibition at Los Angeles Grammy Museum to 16 October includes Sharon & Cedella Marley clothing, Ziggy Marley guitar. ■ The Contact High: A Visual History Of Hip Hop exhibition is at Museum Of Pop Culture, 5th Avenue North, Seattle, to January 2023. ■ The Chris Stapleton Since 1978 exhibition, including clothing, guitars, amps, awards, is at Country Music Hall Of Fame & Museum, Nashville, to 14 May 2023. On 30 September, its Western Edge: The Roots And Reverberations Of Los Angeles Country Rock exhibition takes in The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, Flying Burrito Brothers, Poco, Emmylou Harris, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Linda Ronstadt, Eagles, The Dillards, Kentucky Colonels, Rosie Flores, Los Lobos, The Blasters, Lone Justice, Dwight Yoakam, and Gram Parsons. ■ The Beams venue/exhibition space…

Bridget St John From There/To Here 3CD, 17 unissued, Cherry Red, 26 August. ■ Julia Holter & Spektral Quartet Behind The Wallpaper LP is due via New Amsterdam, March 2023, and had an indiegogo.com campaign to 3 June, offering studio session visit. ■ Zac Brown Band The Comeback Deluxe, with bonuses, [TBC]. ■ Martin Simpson offers exclusive behind-the-scenes tour/studio footage, Q&As, explorations of his record collection/instruments, video lessons, archive transcriptions, outtakes and photos, via patreon.com. ■ On 21 July, the US Postal Service issues a Pete Seeger stamp. Due: July (15) The Wilburn Brothers Folk Songs From The City Limits, Jasmine (29) Josh Rouse Going Places, Yep Roc, Linda Gail Lewis Early Sides 1963-73, Goldenlane August (19) Erik Satie Old Sequins And Ancient Breastplates, Ei, Loudon Wainwright III Lifetime Achievement, Story Sound, Gretchen Peters The Show: Live From The…

The US Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab label, which specialises in audiophile pressings on 180g and 210g vinyl, announced in June that it intends to open the US' “premier vinyl production facility” next year. Further details are due this autumn, but parent company Music Direct affirmed that Fidelity Record Pressing “will help unclog the years-long backlog impacting the industry… capturing a particular segment of the vinyl market and meeting the demand for truly great-sounding LPs… strictly focused on quality – not quantity”. Company boss, Jim Davis, added, “record pressing is an intricate pursuit – it shouldn't be about achieving specific volumes,” rather “adhering to excellent standards and leveraging the most experienced experts,” such as vinyl engineers Rick and Edward Hashimoto. He insisted, “Fidelity will prove to analogue lovers how LPs should…

“THAT'S commercial,” said a character in Derek Jarman's film, Jubilee, which was a bit ironic, really, because nothing in that film was commercial, even Adam Ant. But he was right, whatever he was talking about – pretty much everything is commercial in the world of entertainment, which is great. One of the many advantages popular music has over the other kinds – apart from being popular, obvs – is that it is completely welcoming. Old post-daddies like me love to go on about O Superman going to No 2, but the fact is the charts, when unmassaged, are open to everything, from Gangnam Style to I've Never Been To Me, to sea shanties and to those awful “campaigns” where an old song is sent to No 1 to Make A…

OPINION Believed to be the oldest British DJ with his own regular radio show, 83-year-old “Diddy” David Hamilton, despite being diagnosed with cancer, can be heard six days a week on oldies station, Boom. From 1967 to 1986, his was one of the voices and faces of the BBC, a regular on both Radios 1 and 2 and Top Of The Pops. His stints on commercial stations since 1987 are documented in his latest book, Commercial Radio Daze. How did it all begin for you? I was one of the first disc-jockeys to play rock'n'roll during my National Service in the RAF. It was 1959 and I was on the British Forces Network in Germany, the Cologne end of Family Favourites, the big record show of the time. I didn’t…

ROBERT CRAY Supremely intelligent and talented, Robert Cray has been in the public eye since 1986's multi-million selling Strong Persuader album. And yet he remains a deeply private person. Don't mistake his “blues noir” songs of faithless men and women as autobiographical; he notes that his most famous lyric (“she was just another notch on my guitar”) wasn't one he wrote. Cray's approach to song is more akin to Robert De Niro's acting: both Roberts inhabit their performances with a fierce intensity, then walk back behind the curtain once the performance is over. Cray's devotion to his music has ensured that, across his 19 studio albums, not one is a dud; no albums of turgid material served up to fulfil contractual obligations nor selections of inept covers strung together to…

Lou Christie has one of the most distinctive voices in American pop – his five-octave range and handful of million sellers dotted the 60s, from the pre-Beatles doo wop of The Gypsy Cried to the post-psych bubblegum of I'm Gonna Make You Mine – and he became known for one of the most exciting and energetic stage shows around. On record, he was produced and arranged by such greats as Jack Nitzsche, Bert Berns, Charles Calello and Jimmy Wisner. At the turn of the 70s, he married a former Miss UK and they moved to Hampstead, North London, across the street from Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. But his career would also be plagued by bad luck and some of the most specious characters in the record business. Talent will…

LANCE HAYWOOD AT THE HALF MOON HOTEL, MONTEGO BAY (ISLAND CB21, LP, 1959) £120 The first album release on Island Records, and one of only two recorded and produced entirely in Jamaica. LORD CREATOR INDEPENDANT (sic) JAMAICA CALYPSO/REMEMBER (ISLAND WI 001, 7”, 1962) £20 The first UK Island single release, first pressing. JACKIE EDWARDS SACRED SONGS (ST MARY'S/ISLAND IEP 701, 7” EP, 1962) £40 The first UK Island EP release, first pressing. ROBERT MARLEY JUDGE NOT/DO YOU STILL LOVE ME (ISLAND WI-088, 7”, 1963) £300 Bob Marley makes his debut for Island, a decade before ‘really’ making his debut for Island. One of over a dozen singles released in the UK on the Island imprint in the 60s. OWEN GRAY HELP ME/INCENSE (ISLAND WIP- 6000, 7”, 1967) £45 The first…

Madonna Finally Enough Love: 50 Number Ones ★★★★ Warner 0081227883621 (CD, 2LP, 3CD, 6LP) When I Don't Search, I Find topped the Billboard Dance Club Chart in 2020, Madonna became the first and only pop star in history to have had 50 No 1 hits on any single Billboard chart; and all of this across five decades. To commemorate this momentous achievement, Finally Enough Love: 50 Number Ones collects them all together, resulting in 220 minutes of Madonna's dance remixes, in mostly chronological order. It's a tall order in one sitting, but frankly, you should be dancing, not sitting. The earlier mixes here, full of the bleeps, bangs and crashes du jour, offer tremendous nostalgia. When they are at their most straightforward, they are best - such as the ever-present…

Christina Aguilera August (2) Scarborough Open Air Theatre (3) Liverpool M&S Bank Arena (5) London Greenwich 02 Anti-Flag August (3) Southampton Engine Rooms (4) Blackpool Rebellion Fest (5) Nottingham Rescue Room (6) London Islington Garage The Gaslight Anthem August (18) London Wembley OVO Arena (19) Manchester 02 Apollo (20) Edinburgh 02 Academy (21) Birmingham 02 Academy (24) Belfast Telegraph Building GWAR August (8) Dover Booking Hall (9) Brighton Chalk (10) Bristol Fleece (12) Catton Park Bloodstock (13) Norwich Waterfront (14) Leeds Key Club (16) Glasgow Garage (17) Manchester Club Academy (18) London Tufnell Park Dome Anais Mitchell August (31) Liverpool Philharmonic Hall September (1) Leeds Brudenell November (11) Manchester YES (12) Glasgow St Luke's (13) Newcastle Uni SU (14) Bristol Fleece (15) London Camden Koko Billy Ocean August (6) Cardiff…