Innehållsförteckning för Issue 539 från Record Collector

rc.editorial@metropolis.co.uk www.recordcollectormag.com Record Collector Magazine @RecCollmag RecordCollectormag @recordcollectormag SHOUT TO THE TOP: RC RULES! I live in the US and have been a subscriber for ages now. The latest issue [RC 538] just arrived a couple of days ago, and I just finished reading the Paul Weller piece, I actually put the magazine down and went to my desk to write to you. I was a bit taken aback when I opened the issue and saw the GQ-like photo spread that accompanied the interview. Haven’t seen that before in Record Collector. And then I read the interview. (The photo spread was a perfect fit.) First off, the access he granted you guys was wonderful. I mean actually making lists of records for you, and going shopping together — you just…

As readers of his award-winning pop memoir, Broken Greek, know, ABBA have been Pete Paphides’ de facto pop parents ever since he saw them perform Mamma Mia on Crackerjack! In this month’s RC (p88), he meets Benny Andersson and voyages through 40 of their most stellar cuts. Joel McIver was an RC staffer from 1999 to 2005, before jumping ship to write books. There are 35 of these so far, the latest being the surreal memoir of pop duo, Right Said Fred (p58), who reveal all in this issue. When Mike Barnes was researching his 2000 biography, Captain Beefheart, he was unable to track down Jeff Cotton (p62). But in this issue, he finally gets to talk to the guitarist about his time with Beefheart and Mu, and his recently…

A 20 October sale via bonhams.com featured signed The Beatles tablecloth for $88,575, while a 16 November auction included The Beatles’ Stuart Sutcliffe painting, Syd Barrett handwritten lyrics, guitars from Radiohead, Peter Hook, Eddie Van Halen, Mott The Hoople organ. ■ A 11-13 November juliensauctions.com sale included John Lennon glasses, $162,000, Elvis Presley watch, $256,000, Bob Dylan piano, $217,600, painting, $100,000, Prince guitar, $192,000, Don McLean guitar, $158,000, Tupac Shakur artwork, $128,000, Kurt Cobain guitar, $484,400, 300-plus Steve Vai lots, including guitars, amps, pedals, handwritten music, awards, clothing, motorbike. A 21 November sale had Neil Zlozower NFT Collection & Signed Prints. ■ A 22 October sale via Activity Auctions, Dover, Delaware, included signed guitars from Sammy Hagar, Dave Matthews, Journey, Van Morrison, The Strokes, Buddy Guy, Hank Williams Jr, Chuck…

NEWS HELLO IT'S ME Andy Gilmour of Hundred Reasons on their first studio set in 15 years How come you're back now? A few years ago, Colin [Doran] and I did an acoustic tour, Undead Raisins, and we were pleased by the response. A few people asked us about band shows, but we were only interested if it involved new music. We had no idea if it’d work, as we'd all gone on to separate things. But after the first writing session, it felt right. It’s the collective pool of our experiences over the last 15 years, made into an album that I never thought would happen, let alone be the best that I've ever been part of! Replicate came about after me and Larry [Hibbitt] had completed another track. I…

Los Angeles-based monthly indie vinyl club, Vinyl Moon, “for the musically curious and artistically adventurous,” has launched a series with Augmented Reality artwork. Number 083 in its ongoing subscription series is the first boasting unique AR-enabled art by visual artist Tyler Weitz. The purchaser holds a smartphone to the packaging to reveal immersive, multidimensional art and music. As spokesman, Nightjacket musician, Jordan Wiggins, explained to RC, “the popularity of the release," the 10-track compilation, Lost & Sound, “got the folks at Vinyl Moon thinking, ‘why don't we create an AR experience for anyone, anywhere, to enjoy the immersive nature of Vinyl Moon?' With that, its new AR experience was born". Going forward, there will be “monthly releases featuring 10 or more up-and-coming bands that can be played via unique AR…

While waiting for Elvis Costello to write the follow up to Get Happy!! The Attractions made their own LP, Mad About The Wrong Boy. Produced by Roger Bechirian (Nick Lowe, The Undertones, The Flamin’ Groovies, Squeeze) and housed in a wonderfully kitsch Barney Bubbles-designed sleeve, it’s a veritable treasure trove filled with organ-led power pop tunes and darkedged psych anthems. The songs are penned by Steve Nieve, Bruce and Pete Thomas (together), and the mysterious Brain and Hart. This was Nieve (as Norman Brain) with his wife Fay Hart, not a Costello pseudonym as some thought. Nieve and Bruce Thomas’s vocals aren’t as strong as Costello’s but they do have an innocent charm, which renders the album all the more immediate. Highlights include the bouncy pop numbers Little Miss Understanding,…

PHIL GRAY Bluest Boy in Town (Rhythm 101) £6,124 Rockabilly 7” with Pepper Hot Baby on the flip. (eBay item number: 144650833270) Supplied by eBay THE DAMNED White Rabbit (EMI £6,000 no cat no) £6,000 An EP from 1979 also featuring Rabid and Seagulls. (eBay item number: 295262937923) Supplied by eBay DAVID BOWIE Space Oddity (Parlophone DBSOLP 50) £5,000 Gold disc edition, limited to 50 copies, from 2019. (eBay item number: 284378329822) Supplied by eBay MADONNA Promo £700 CD-based press pack from 1990 including the silver disc, cassette plus memorabilia, (eBay item number: 334523588348) Supplied by eBay SUN RA Super-Sonic Jazz (El Saturn H 70P0216) £3,620 A 12-track, avant-garde jazz album from 1957. Supplied by Popsike OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN Don’t Cry For Me Argentina (EMIDISC no cat no) £3,600 A 70s-era,…

Imagine a group from the west of Scotland that calls itself Los Caracas. This is 1968, by the way, and both the Tremeloes and Herman’s Hermits are pioneering an adventurous strand of Anglo-Europop that involves taking hits from France and Spain that morph into Suddenly You Love Me and Something’s Happening. But they’re not going the whole hog and changing their names to Los Trems or Los Hermitos. This group, Los Caracas, bases itself in Italy, and for its first single — the Viva Los Caracas! EP, released on a Scottish indie label - it covers Guantanamera and La Bamba. Imagine a band that straddles European pop in this easy-going way, and then decides - presumably with a slightly arched eyebrow - to change its name to Middle Of The…

It was around 2005 when I really lost interest in music. Temporarily, at least. I had stopped smoking ‘weed’. Cannabis in its many forms was something I really ‘dug’. I never smoked in the full-on Cheech and Chong, get-utterly-baked kind of way. I just liked having a soft hazy fug between myself and reality. I also liked listening to music in a grass-enhanced way. Dope gave me loads of ideas, but it sapped the energy to actually get down to the business of songwriting. So, I stopped smoking weed. When I stopped ‘smoking’, I lost interest in listening to music. So I wrote a musical. Then I wrote some books. It took me until 2009 to reconnect with listening to and recording music. I found a way back. I realised…

JOHNNIE TAYLOR If you did a quick survey of Stax Records’ best-known names, Johnnie Taylor would surely trail behind the likes of Otis Redding, Sam & Dave and Isaac Hayes, and probably even Booker T & the MGs, the Staple Singers, Wilson Pickett, and Rufus Thomas. Which goes to show that recognisability doesn’t always equate to the quality of an artist’s product. Taylor was one of rhe label’s biggestsellers, yet posterity has adjudged him an also-ran, perhaps because his biggest numbers came after the death of the mighty Otis and the alleged golden age of soul, and when Stax’s close-knit family spirit had been replaced by something more business-like. His biggest-seller, Disco Lady, which sold two and a half million copies in 1976, didn’t come until he signed for Columbia,…

Through the lens of a MacBook camera, the high eaves and variously shaped windows of Benny Andersson’s RMV Studio studio in Stockholm, Sweden reveal what may have once been a church. The light that streams through the windows this afternoon reveals a grand piano and at least one studio console. Just out of shot (for now) is the trusty Synclavier which has withstood four decades of daily music-making from the only member of ABBA who witnessed the group’s imperial years from a seated position. After ABBA ceased trading at the end of 1982, a total of 39 years elapsed before their spectacular resurrection with the Voyage album and the eponymous shows in East London’s specially created ABBA Arena, which presented a digitally recreated version of the group’s younger selves alongside…

1. DEXYS Too-Rye-Ay As It Should Have Sounded (UMC) Kevin Rowland finally gets round to correcting the bits that were bothering him about the Dexys landmark - and it turns out he had a point. Subtle tweaks give some of these songs the bite he thought was lacking, the record sounding more majestic as a result. Previously-unheard outtakes make it even more of an essential purchase for Dexys nuts. 2. NEU! 50! (Gronland) The music of the future reaches its half-century and gets this swanky box to celebrate, plus a disc of modern acolytes interpreting its wares. It sounds as modern as it did 50 years ago. 3. THE BEATLES Revolver (Apple) The latest Fabs record to be given a deluxe makeover features a new stereo mix plus a treasure…

Reissues, remasters and compilations Love Expressions Tell Everything New Land NEWLANDX 002 (8×7”) From a ruined mansion in the Hollywood hills, Arthur Lee cast his gaze across the Los Angeles skyline. He saw the world had gone to hell and was convinced he was about to die. His vision of an imminent holocaust was the antithesis of the flower power Utopia envisaged by his youthful contemporaries. Lee, only 22, was bombed on acid and heroin much of the time. The drugs probably didn’t help, and it was only a matter of time before his band would implode. But even without the influence of chemicals, Love had been an unrepeatable fusion of diverse personalities and musical sensibilities. Love were the first rock group signed to Elektra, for whom they cut seven…

Crossing The Red Sea With The Adverts Fire FIRELP 143 (2LP) Classic early punk debut Singer TV Smith and bassist Gaye Advert moved to London from Devon in 1976 to form a punk band. With the recruitment of guitarist Howard Pickup and drummer Laurie Driver, The Adverts were complete. Crossing The Red Sea With The Adverts was their first album. It’s an early punk classic, recorded in late 1977 and released on 17 February 1978 on Bright Records and reached No 38 on the UK albums chart. It was preceded by the single No Time To Be 21, a track from the album, which was released on 20 January 1978 and went to No 34 on the UK singles chart. This 2LP reissue has the original album on one disc and…

Were you heckled a lot at your earliest gigs playing in front of hardcore punk audiences? I don’t know where that came from. That was our scene and that’s who liked us, the punks. If there was any hostility it came from outside the punk scene, the rock people or the jazz people. People who were into music or who were musicians. Punk means lots of things to different people. It’s all about expressing yourself, it’s not about conformity and people generally responded freely and openly to us. If some didn’t necessarily like our music, they ‘got’ the idea that what we were doing was us being us, doing what we wanted to do. You’ve often spoken about utilising ‘appropriate technology’. What would you assess as being ‘appropriate technology’ for…

Queen The Miracle: Collector’s Edition EMI 00602508911330 (2CD, 5CD/LP/DVD) Now that £150 box sets like this one are the bread and butter of physical media sales, standards have become exactingly high for compilers and curators of these items. Even so, this comprehensive summing-up of pretty much everything to do with Queen’s 1989 album The Miracle – whether audio, visual, lost, rediscovered or reordered – is a triumph of the archivist’s art. The 180g LR in a gatefold sleeve for the first time, includes the track Too Much Love Will Kill You, omitted the first time round. Then there’s the original CD, remastered in 2011, and four more CDs: The Miracle Sessions of alternate takes and demos, six previously unheard; Alternative Miracle, a compilation of extra tracks, B-sides, extended and single…

What was the catalyst for the sudden growth of the LA scene? Was there a particular band or bands? Katherine Turman: I think Van Halen can claim a lot. They started in Pasadena, played back yard parties and high schools, and became commercially successful and hugely popular. So they were a catalyst in that “oh my God, these guys from Pasadena are doing this so maybe I can do this, too”. And Van Halen, together with bands like London and Snow and The Boyz, the band George Lynch was in, were also guitar heroes. There is a guy on the box set, Terry Kilgore, in the band Reddi Killowatt; he is a guitar player who, if you go online and go down the rabbit hole, was friends with Eddie Van…

Telling Stories: Photographs Of The Fall Kevin Cummins Mitchell Beazley, £30 ISBN 9781784728250, 256 pages Visual anthology of Mark E. Smith’s post-punk legends You get the sense that Mark E Smith, almost always damning about written interpretations of The Fall, would have approved of this visual history. Photographer Kevin Cummins was present at some of the band’s earliest gigs and continued to capture them throughout their career. His photos document their shift from early, somewhat chaotic, democracy towards an ongoing realisation of one man’s singular vision facilitated by an ever-shifting line-up of musicians. Presented chronologically, the changing faces serve to highlight the significant role that women played over the decades, from Una Baines and Yvonne Pawlett’s contributions in the early years to Brix Smith’s pop-leaning overhaul alongside Marcia Schofield and…

Schizo Fun Addict Over The Hills And Far Away/Forever Before Fruits De Mer PROMO 32 This is already rare: it’s barely a release, more a passing aroma few might sniff. A taster for February’s forthcoming Schizo Fun Addict, this 45 is lathe-cut in a horribly limited edition of 25, just because they could. This has either sold out by the time you’re reading this, or the world has been destroyed. The shimmering Over The Hills And Far Away is so shimmeringly off its tits, it’s like a Led Zeppelin filled with laughing gas and SFA have inhaled it all. It’s utterly amazing. Forever Before wafts down to earth, with popping drums and slapback guitar, its lyrics somehow dreaming of deja vu. Now the best bit: we have three copies to…

NEXT ISSUE: JANUARY 2023 (on sale 29 DECEMBER) Deadline for submitting adverts (Listings & Classified): Monday 5 DECEMBER Please email your advert (word doc/excel file/plain text) to: listings@recordcollectormag.com NEW Postal address: Record Collector Listings, Diamond Publishing Ltd, 2nd Floor, Saunders House, 52-53 The Mall, Ealing, London W5 3TA Following issue: FEBRUARY 2023 (on sale 26 JANUARY) Deadline: Monday 3 JANUARY…

Rick Astley December (13) Liverpool Philharmonic Hall (15-16) London Royal Albert Hall Andy Burrows & llan Eshkeri December (17) Birmingham Town Hall (20) London Royal Albert Hall Mogwai December (20) Aberdeen Music Hall (21) Edinburgh Usher Hall (22-23) Glasgow Barrowlands February 2023 (10) Manchester Albert Hall (11) Leeds O2 Academy (12) Gateshead Sage (14) Nottingham Rock City (15) Bath Forum (16) Cardiff Great Hall (17) Brighton Dome (18) Cambridge Corn Exchange (19) Birmingham O2 Institute Now Booking Big Country, Spear Of Destiny April 2023 (7) Manchester O2 Ritz (8) Liverpool Hangar 34 (14) Norwich Epic Studios (15) Leamington Spa Assembly (22) Birmingham Crossing (28) Sheffield Foundry (29) Leeds Beckett Uni May (5) London Islington Assembly Hall (12) Nottingham Trent Uni (13) Lincoln Uni (19) Southampton 1865 (20) Frame Cheese &…

This month: Simon Napier-Bell When not out to lunch, producer-managerauthor-journalist Simon Napier-Bell has been a major instigator — some might say irritant — for over six decades, helping shape the UK music scene, more often by default than design, and occasionally, when putting pen to paper, with global ramifications. While at school, his jazz inclinations led him to take up the trumpet, but he soon forsook the genre in favour of pop. After a spell in film editing and scoring soundtracks — he wrote and edited music for Here We Go Round The Midberry Bush (1967), a film directed by Clive Donner — he found himself being invited to take over as manager of The Yardbirds, who had already notched up several hit singles on both sides of the Atlantic.…

This month: New Jack Swing Keith Sweat I Want Her (Elektra EKR 68, 7”, UK, 1987) £2 New Jack Swing’s distinctive sound was forged by a young hip-hop producer from Harlem called Teddy Riley. His melding of street-tough hip-hop with slick R&B for soul singer Keith Sweat’s 1987 album Make It Last Forever combined the two diametrically opposed genres in a new hybrid style characterised by its digital rap beats, meaty basslines, upbeat soulful vocals, and catchy pop hooks. Effervescent lead single I Want Her was a breakout hit, reaching the US Top 5, and soon Riley was producer du jour. Bobby Brown My Prerogative (MCA Records MCA 1299, 7”, UK, 1988) £2 In Bobby Brown, the genre had its first superstar. The former New Edition member left behind the…

Time does indeed fly when you’re having fun - this is already the fifth Christmas issue of RC that I’ve worked on, since becoming Editor back in those innocent, heady days of 2018, Merry Xmas, everybody! He declared in the stentorian screech of a top-hatted glamster from Walsall, known to his family and friends as Neville. But who to feature on the cover of this prestigious issue? Who’s as globally famous as Elton John and Queen, cover stars, respectively, of our Christmas 2020 and 2021 editions, with those two pop behemoths’ commercial clout and critical heft? How about ABBA? Actually, ABBA may be beaten only by The Beatles and Queen in terms of most singles sold ever in the UK, according to the Official Charts Company, but their critical repute…

EXCLUSIVE! Queen's Brian May's Stereoscopy Is Good For You: Life In 3D photo exhibition is at Proud Galleries, John Adam Street, London, to 25 March 2023. An accompanying book is available there and via londonstereo.com. RC attended a launch party on 1 November, and Brian revealed that he has a library of 250,000-plus stereoscopic 3D images - the world's largest - and they are due to be housed in a charity-trust institution in London, affording public access to the collection of images running from the Victorian era to the present. The current exhibit features a selection of 100 modern works, plus vintage behind-thescenes band shots taken by Brian and included in the Queen In 3D book, which is also available at the Gallery. Brian's personal collection of 19th and 20th…

At RC Towers, we divine new music emerging from The Rolling Stones, Prong, Dua Lipa, Europe, Maluma, Chevelle, Grimes, Steve Vai, Ciara, Kemikalfire, The March Violets, Mastodon, Queensrÿche, Alice Cooper Group, Martine McCutcheon, Kings Of Thrash (ex-Megadeth’s David Ellefson, Jeff Young), Nita Strauss (Demi Lovato), Lindsey Stirling (rock album), Testament's Chuck Billy, ex-Xandria's Dianne Van Giersbergen, ex-One Direction's Niall Horan, Bros's Matt Goss, Halestorm's Lzzy Hale, Fear Factory, Oliver Wakeman, Periphery, Nick Cave, Corrosion Of Conformity, Edgar Winter, Deicide, Garbage, Kamelot, Selena Gomez, Death Angel, Louise, Take That, Firewind, The Superjesus, SZA, Runaway June, Kid Cudi, Everything But The Girl, Peter Frampton, Burning Witches, Alexandra Burke, Tygers Of Pan Tang, Iggy Pop (on Gold Tooth), Kings Of Chaos (on AFM), Holy Moses (on Fireflash), Stefflon Don (on BMG), The Veronicas…

A 20-disc box set aiding avian conservation is due in December, featuring spokenword passages from actors such as Maggie Smith, and 100-plus songs by a variety of artistes. Among the contributors are Nick Cave & Warren Ellis, Beck, Karen Elson, NEU!'s Michael Rother, Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Karen O, Nick Zinner, Animal Collective, Jim James (My Morning Jacket), Mark Ronson, Damon Albarn, UNKLE, Richard Reed Parry (Arcade Fire), Lee Ranaldo, Thurston Moore (ex-Sonic Youth), Terry Riley, Kurt Vile, Jarvis Cocker, Nick Rhodes (Duran Duran), Elvis Costello, The Flaming Lips, Jeff Tweedy (Wilco), Calexico, Eleanor Friedberger (The Fiery Furnaces), Seu Jorge, Loudon Wainwright III, Daniel Lanois, Devendra Banhart, Laurie Anderson, John Cale, Andrew Bird, Mark Mothersbaugh (DEVO), Kamasi Washington, Julian Lage, Bill Frisell, Chilly Gonzalez, Alexandre Desplat, Julianna Barwick, Money Mark (Beastie Boys),…

UPCOMING VINYL RELEASES Yes Progeny: Seven Shows From Seventy-Two coloured 21LP box, with Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, October 31 1972, Ottawa Civic Centre, Ontario, Canada, November 1 1972, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, November 11 1972, Greensboro Coliseum, North Carolina, November 12 1972, University Of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, November 14 1972, Knoxville Civic Auditorium, Tennessee, November 15 1972, Nassau Veterans’ Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, New York, November 20 1972 3LPs, Rhino, 2 December. The Nazz Lost Masters & Demos unissued 43-track 4LP, coloured 4LP, 3CD, Cleopatra, 2 December. Neil Young Harvest 50th Anniversary 2LP/7”/2DVD/book, 3CD/2DVD/book boxes, including unissued outtakes/ live cut/videos of Live In Concert At The BBC February 1971, Harvest Time, Reprise, 2 December. The Afghan Whigs 1965 coloured 2LP, seven bonuses, Music On Vinyl, 31 December. Green Day Nimrod 25th Anniversary 3CD…

Cream Wheels Of Fire (Polydor 583 033/2, LP, Stereo, UK, 1968) £80 The first true supergroup, they waited until their third album to produce their masterpiece: a double-album split between studio and a live concert. The live disc features just four tracks, but when you consider that one is an 18-minute drum solo from Ginger Baker you know you’ve got your money’s worth. The remaining three tracks provide ample opportunity for Jack Bruce and Eric Clapton to showcase their sumptuous skills on bass, harmonica, vocals, and guitar. Crosby, Stills & Nash Crosby, Stills & Nash (Atlantic 588 189, LP, UK, 1969) £30 This album allows you to experience the moment these guys realised the magic they could create by simply harmonising, their voices melding as one and yet retaining their individual…

Not Forgotten OBITS The title of the 2006 duets project that gave Jerry Lee Lewis his biggest-selling album in a career stretching over half a century was both a reverential nod to fallen comrades, and the typically showman-like brag of a rock’n’roll bad boy nicknamed The Killer. Last Man Standing alluded to the fact he had outlived all of his formative years Sun Records contemporaries (Presley, Perkins, Orbison, Cash), but it could also be read as a taunt to others from the genre’s roots. At the time of the record’s release Chuck Berry, Little Richard, the Everly Brothers and Fats Domino were all still gigging, although it’s likely Lewis doubted any of them had the pulling power to lure such A-list talent as Clapton, Page, Springsteen, three Stones and a Beatle…

I have been re-reading Peter Guralnick’s (yes, him again) Sweet Soul Music. Afterwards, I played Al Green Gets Next To You and heard it in a new light. Assuming you can hear in a light. So, here is Al, impeccable as almost always, singing about the last bus to Jacksonville on Bert Berns’ Are You Lonely For Me Baby. The song has a history; it was first cut by Freddie Scott in ’66, a New York recording which sounded Southern, partly due to The Sweet Inspirations’ backing vocals. Hank Ballard, the soul pioneer who should more often be acknowledged as such, remade it during his late-60s comeback under James Brown’s production umbrella. Steve Marriott (yes, him again) covered it on his 1976 debut solo album, a funkier version than you…

RURAL TAPES The No Ones fulcrum on his latest collaborative production Your latest set features The No Ones colleagues, Peter Buck and Scott McCaughey, and The Dream Syndicate’s Steve Wynn. Tell us about it. It’s a psychedelic dive into 70s electronic music, bossa nova, psych and krautrock. Is there anything still unissued? Loads, for a reason. Have you done anything that fans may not know about? A fair amount with dance and theatre, and I’m writing for and performing three productions, including butoh. I’ve composed for short films, a podcast jingle, and a lot of improvised stuff. With whom would you like to make a split 7″? Ghost Power. Who'd you like to remix? Stereolab’s Metronomic Underground. What was your favourite record shop back in the day? Big Dipper, Oslo,…

The Cowsills’ time at the top of the pop world was dazzling and brief. The “family band” featuring siblings Bill, Bob, Barry, John, Paul and Susan plus “mini mom” Barbara scored four Top 40 singles in the US, including their million-selling debut, The Rain, The Park & Other Things. And their time in the spotlight made the group a prominent fixture of pop culture. They appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show and countless other TV variety shows, toured the world and served as the real-life inspiration for The Partridge Family. But unlike that TV group, The Cowsills were a real band: they wrote songs, sang in glorious harmony, and played their own instruments both live onstage and in the studio. They even produced their own recording sessions. It all seemed…

Alongside Skid Row, Warrant’s debut album. Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich, appeared in January. It went Top 10 on Billboard, spawning three hit singles and shifting two million copies, although the UK never embraced them on anything like a similar scale. In February, for the first time in the award's history, a Grammy was given for the Best Hard Rock / Metal Performance. Despite a strong field which included Metaliica, Janes Addiction and AC/DC, the Grammy went to Jethro Tull for Crest Of A Knave. Cue booing from the audience. All-female quartet Vixen toured the UK with Scorpions the same month to promote their self-titied debut (which had peaked at No 66 in the British charts the previous October) and then followed Skid Row onto the Milton Keynes stage on…

1. MICHAEL HEAD & THE RED ELASTIC BAND Dear Scott (Modern Sky) Named after a postcard that F. Scott Fitzgerald sent himself in an attempt to reconnect with his artistic muse, Dear Scott is a modern day masterpiece from the Liverpool singer-songwriter, Head backed up by a band who execute the elegant sonic vision flawlessly. 2. WET LEG Wet Leg (Domino) The Isle Of Wight duo had already made one of 2021’s best songs in Chaise Longue, but could they follow it up with a full-length just as good. Yup, no problem. Dive in! 3. YARD ACT The Overload (Zen FC) The Leeds quartet delivered a thrilling state of the nation debut that you could dance to, post-punk grooves about the malaise of life in Britain, 2022. 4. BLACK COUNTRY,…

1. WHITE HILLS The Revenge Of Heads On Fire (Heads On Fire Industries) 2. FAUST Punkt (Bureau B) 3. GNOD Hexen Valley (Rocket) 4. HAWKWIND Sonic Attack (Cherry Red) 5. RANDY HOLDEN Population III (RidingEasy) 6. SHIT AND SHINE Ladybird (Riot Season) 7. THE HEADS Under Sided Deluxe (Rooster) 8. ONEIDA Success (Joyful Noise) 9. ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE & THE COSMIC INFERNO Pink Lady Lemonade ~ You’re From Outer Space (Riot Season) 10. LOS SPEAKERS En El Maravilloso Mundo De Ingeson (Munster)…

Johnny Echols on how Love’s trademark sound came together, competing with their Hollywood peers, and why Arthur Lee was a poet. Your first single, My Little Red Book, came about after you saw What’s New Pussycat? I came home after hearing the soundtrack but I misremembered how it went. I didn’t have the sheet music. I didn’t get it quite the way Bacharach wrote it, but audiences seemed to love it more than the Manfred Mann rendition which contained several minor chords that we didn’t use. I was only 18. At that point, we were a driving hard rock group, used to playing frat parties and dances for kids, who wanted loud, raucous rock’n’roll. It reputedly took over a hundred takes to get 7 & 7 Is right... Our sponsor Vox…

First of all, sincere apologies for the lack of OST columns recently, I totally blame the lack of OSTs actually sent over to the RC office for review, plus the mass of rather dull soundtracks issued (that I get sent generic press emails about) based on substandard material emanating from streaming services that are really not worthy of such a prestigious, pernickety column as this. So, at last, we have some releases to write about. Whether you like them or not is another matter, we have been sent them, they are interesting, they are actually coming out on vinyl (and not just digital), so we will write about them. First under inspection is an expanded release of a mythical Italian documentary score by the near-legendary composer Guiliano Sorgini. Zoo Folle…

Although Louis Armstrong and Dizzy Gillespie are widely regarded as the greatest jazz trumpeters of all time – not just for their dazzling virtuosity but also for their crucial role in the evolution of jazz – FREDDIE HUBBARD was arguably a more technically accomplished hornblower whose rich, personalised tone, facility for jaw-dropping improvisation and ability to straddle both the worlds of hard bop and free jazz put him in a category of his own. Hubbard’s rise to fame after he arrived in New York from Indianapolis is charted in a fabulous 7CD box set called The Complete Freddie Hubbard Blue Note & Impulse! Studio Sessions ( Mosaic). It traces Hubbard’s development over ten albums, from Open Sesame, his dazzling 1960 debut for Blue Note up to 1965’s Blue Spirits, his more…

Breakthru (7” Mix)/Stealin’ (Parlophone QUEEN PD 11, uncut picture disc, 12", PVC sleeve with insert, 1989) £75 Note that picture discs of The Miracle’s best song exist in cut as well as uncut versions, so make sure you track down the latter for the full collectable value – and don’t ‘break through’ the vinyl, ho ho. Scandal (12” Version)/My Life Has Been Saved/Scandal (7” Version) (Parlophone CD QUEEN 14, CD, 1989) £40 Freddie Mercury’s brilliantly catty critique of paparazzi culture is worth 40 notes if you can find it in this three-track CD version, but bear in mind that the song is no “Bo Rhap”, all right? The Invisible Man (12” Version)/ Hijack My Heart/The Invisible Man (Single Version) (Parlophone CD QUEEN 12, CD, 1989) £35 The same goes for The Invisible Man,…

Captain Sensible/ Omega Tribe 2 By 2 And Back Again Crass/One Little Independent 12 321984/5 (LP) Double-header from the Crass catalogue Even before his days as a wacky solo pop star, the good captain was an unlikely choice for Crass to choose for their Crass Records label. Anyway, it happened, and here is the evidence. Of the three Captain Sensible tracks on this latest instalment of their series collecting 12” releases, (What D’ya Give) The Man Who Has Everything is disarming and fierce, but catchy, Our Souls To You rails against religion against a hymnal backing, and The Russians Are Coming is an excellent, Damned-esque pop song with lush choruses. Arch anarcho punks Omega Tribe shared an obsession with nuclear war that many similar bands shared at that time, but…

Sound For The Future Tull Stories (Cinemas, Digital) Post-punk as DIY catharsis Dedicated to Gang Of Four’s late Andy Gill, this documentary about “Britain’s youngest post-punk band” is a cut-and-paste collage of personal reflections in a distinctly DIY spirit. The subjects of Sound For The Future are pre-teen Cambridge sibling trio The Hippies, as seen through the eyes of ex-drummer/director Matt Hulse, who gives fragmented memories of his band’s fleeting 1979 heyday a comparably, albeit frustratingly fragmented portrait. One producer leaves the project early, telling Hulse: “You’re impossible… it’s making me ill.” Even if Hulse is honest enough to include the criticism, his film is a choppy creature. As Hulse reimagines and reconstructs his old band using students from Glasgow’s Scottish Youth Theatre, his narrative lurches between depression, tap-dancing, family…

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 Guildford with an ever changing large stock of records cds & cassettes at the most reasonable prices in the…

This month: Saving Grace, 29 April 2022 Friday 29 April saw the Great Hall at the Aberystwyth Arts Centre at almost full capacity for this longawaited concert by Saving Grace, featuring Robert Plant and Suzi Dian. The evening began at 7.30pm with support act, Scott Matthews, performing his own compositions, which possessed an ethereal quality, not just because of his wonderful lyrics, but also because of his beautiful voice with its amazing range. He ably switched between the four or five guitars that he had onstage with him; he referred to his love of guitars and fondness for one he had been given, which dated back to the 60s. The audience were riveted and, as he finished his 40-minute set, he promised the audience a wonderful evening in the company…

Paul McCartney has a 3,000-copy, personally-curated, careerspanning box set of 80 7” singles out in December. The 163-track collection runs to more than 10 hours of music and takes in his 65 singles from 11 countries, from 1971's first solo bow, Another Day, to 2022's Women And Wives, all with repro artwork. In addition, there are 15 releases making their 7” debut that are culled from 12” singles, picture discs, an EP, CD singles, promos, digital downloads, music videos, two unissued demos, and an unissued 7” single edit. The box also includes a 148-page book with a foreword by Paul, chart information, and sleevenotes, while each wooden box boasts a randomly-selected exclusive test-pressing of one of the singles. The Abbey Road remasters comprise Another Day/Oh Woman, Oh Why (1971, Sweden);…

Lucinda Williams Don't Tell Anybody The Secrets I Told You book, Crown, 25 April 2023. ■ Hollywood Town - The Harriet Schock Story film had a kickstarter.com campaign to 26 November, subscribers offered pendant, painting, songwriting/consultation/course/intro, lunch, Hollywood tour, house gig. ■ The Rolling Stones tribute. Stoned Cold Country, BMG, 2023, includes Brooks & Dunn, Brothers Osborne, Eric Church, Steve Earle, Elle King, Marcus King, Little Big Town, Ashley McBryde, Maren Morris, Zac Brown Band. ■ Shania Twain Queen Of Me CD, LP, CD/T-shirt box; variant box, Republic Nashville, 3 February 2023. ■ Ray Padgett Pledging My Time: Conversations With Bob Dylan Band Members book is due via indiegogo.com, 2023. Due: December (2) David Foster & Katherine McPhee Christmas Songs, Concord, Ray Acuff The King Of Country Music, Jasmine (9) John Williams The Fabelmans, Sony 2023 Darius Rucker Carolyn's Boy,…

AraPacis Suburban Mist, Blackhorse, 2 December: David Stone (ex-Rainbow), Derek Sherinian (ex-Dream Theater). Arrayan Path Thus Always To Tyrants, Pitch Black, 9 December: Gary Wehrkamp (Shadow Gallery). Algiers SHOOK CD, 2LP, gold 2LP, Matador, 24 February 2023: Zack De La Rocha (RATM). August Bums Red Death Below, Sharp Tone, 24 March 2023: Jesse Leach (Killswitch Engage). Ex-The Raincoats' Gina Birch I Play My Bass Loud, Third Man, 24 February 2023: Thurston Moore (ex-Sonic Youth). Big City Sunwind Sails, Frontiers, 20 January 2023: Frank Nordeng Roe (Circus Maximus). Field Music's David Brewis The Soft Struggles, Daylight Spring, 24 February 2023: Jo Montgomery (Kathryn Williams), Ele Leckie (The Unthanks), Craig Hissett (Lighthouse Family), Peter Fraser (The Pogues). Gena Rose Bruce Deep Is The Way, Dot Dash, 27 January 2023: Bill Callahan (Smog).…

Soft Cell's Marc Almond has a 147-track 10CD box set of live albums out in December, taking in 73 CD-debut cuts. It features the Live At Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, June 1992 and Live At Leicester Cathedral, February 2000 CDs, and 2CDs of Twelve Years Of Tears - The ‘A's Live’ Video Soundtrack - Royal Albert Hall - September, 1992, Live At The Union Chapel, December 2000, Sin Songs, Torch & Romance - Live At The Almeida Theatre, July 2004 and Bluegate Fields - Live At Wilton's Music Hall, May 2008, plus a poster. Marc Almond A Live Treasury Of Song 1992-2008 10CD is on SFE, 2 December.…

Jemma Freeman and The Cosmic Something Miffed (Trapped Animal TAR 085 V, LP, 2022) Three years on from a superb debut, Jemma Freeman and The Cosmic Something are back with another great record, shaped by punk, glam, prog, surf rock and more. It’s an exhilarating listen, such is the intensity of Freeman’s songcraft and the visceral energy channelled by the players. This release also caps a fine year for Trapped Animal, whose roster have repeatedly cropped up in this column over the past 12 months. The album is available to order on grape-coloured vinyl, with a limited run of 500 copies. Sophie Jamieson Choosing (Bella Union BELLA 1359 V, LP, 2022) Having put out a couple of incredible singles during the autumn, Runner and Downpour, Jamieson’s first LP for Bella…

STUFF THE TURKEY MARTY FELDMAN A Joyous Time Of Year (Decca F 12857, 71968) £6 Along with all the happy, jolly Christmas discs, there have always been “anti-Christmas” records - and several have been hits. Examples include John Lennon’s Happy Xmas (War Is Over), Greg Lake’s I Believe in Father Christmas, Slade’s Merry Christmas Everybody [Are you sure? - Festive Ed] and Jethro Tull’s A Christmas Song, originally the B-side of 1968’s Love Story and later a track on the Ring Out Wild Solstice EP) which got to No 28 in 1976 (one place higher than Love Story). American humourist Tom Lehrer produced A Christmas Carol, which first appeared on the An Evening Wasted With Tom Lehrer, No 7 in the UK album charts in 1960, (“On Christmas day you…

Like most people I am quite ignorant, and my ignorance extends to many areas. Like the tentacles of an overly endowed octopus, my ignorance extends into science, sport, literature, life skills and what the archaeologists call “heritage rock”. Heritage rock is music made by old people that other old people like. It does not for some reason include pop (although Wings and ABBA teeter on the brink of acceptability) and is mostly made up of artists who began their career in Laurel Canyon or were a bit folky. I know a bit about these people but as I grew up during the great Punk Diaspora, much of their music was forbidden to me. My musical upbringing was not so much Year Zero as Decade Zero. Also, I was young(ish) and…

OPINION Bassist, producer, and filmmaker Don Was was born Don Edward Fagenson in Detroit in 1952. With schoolfriend David Weiss he enjoyed his first success in Was (Not Was) when they hit the UK Top 10 with 1987’s Walk The Dinosaur. Now a noted producer, he has worked with artists including Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt, Ziggy Marley and The Rolling Stones. He also directed and produced the 1995 Brian Wilson documentary I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times and, since 2002, he’s been at the helm of Blue Note Records. He is also the bassist in Wolf Bros, the Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir’s band. Do you have to pinch yourself when you remember you are President of Blue Note? There are at least two moments in every day when…

John French is the musician with the longest association with Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band. He played drums with the group from late 1966, then left and rejoined numerous times. He made his last appearance playing guitar and drums on the 1980 album Doc At The Radar Station. He has known Jeff Cotton since they were in their teens. “Jeff and I were pals,” French says. “We both flunked US Government at high school, so we had to take it in summer school as a makeup class. Afterwards I used to go swimming almost every day at his house. When I heard him play with Merrell Fankhauser in The Exiles, I thought, ‘God, this guy is really good.’ There was something about his soloing and his phrasing, and he…

JOE STRUMMER…

40. Honey, Honey (from Waterloo, Epic EPC 80179, LP, yellow labels, UK) £15 While ABBA struggled to find a hit successor to Waterloo, British studio band Sweet Dreams, fronted by Pickettywitch’s Polly Browne, were quick to seize on the potential of the album track Honey Honey, scoring a Top 10 hit with it in the summer of 1974. Though bereft of the sonic signifiers that render later ABBA hits instantly recognisable, it’s long been established it as a fan favourite. Indeed, emerging from a Swedish music scene where critical reverence was reserved for socially conscious groups who set store by their desire to tackle major themes, ABBA’s explicit desire to write songs in the “bubblegum” tradition was almost subversive. Honey Honey singlehandedly vindicates ABBA’s militant fidelity to the pure pop…

1. BILL EVANS You Must Believe In Spring (Craft) 2 GERALD WILSON Moment Of Truth (Blue Note) 3. ORNETTE COLEMAN Round Trip (Blue Note) 4. ALBERT AYLER Revelations: The Complete ORTF 1970 Fondation Maeght Recordings (Elemental) 5. CHARLES MINGUS The Lost Album From Ronnie Scott’s (Resonance) 6. MILES DAVIS That’s What Happened 1982-1985: The Bootleg Series Vol. 7 (Columbia) 7. SUN RA ARKESTRA Living Sky (Omnisound) 8. MICHAEL WOLLNY TRIO Ghosts (ACT) 9. BRAD MEHLDAU Jacob’s Ladder (Nonesuch) 10. FLORA PURIM If You Will (Strut)…

1. DERRICK MORGAN Forward March (Doctor Bird) 2. LEE ‘SCRATCH’ PERRY King Scratch (Trojan) 3. VARIOUS ARTISTS Hottest Hits Collection (Doctor Bird) 4. BARRY BIGGS Mr. Biggs/ Sincerely (Burning Sounds) 5. VARIOUS ARTISTS Rise Jamaica (Trojan) 6. BUNNY LEE & THE AGGROVATORS Dub Soundclash (Jamaican Recordings) 7. VARIOUS ARTISTS Lovers Rock (Trojan) 8. U-ROY Version Galore (Doctor Bird) 9. COUNT OSSIE & THE MYSTIC REVELATION OF RASTAFARI Grounation (Soul Jazz) 10. VARIOUS ARTISTS Ska La-Rama (Doctor Bird)…

In March 1970, JAMES BROWN’S band, then called the JB Revue, walked out citing poor pay, work overload and their boss’s tyrannical behaviour as the cause. Unfazed, Brown recruited The Pacemakers to replace them. They were a six-piece from Cincinnati centred around two brothers – William ‘Bootsy' Collins on bass and Phelps ‘Catfish’ Collins on guitar. Signed to the King label in 1968, they impressed and quickly became the label’s house rhythm section playing with Hank Ballard and Marva Whitney and demoing sides for Brown, the first one being 1969’s Don’t Mess On My Thing. With the Revue, the focus had been on the horn section, they had piloted the groove. With the Pacemakers, it was all about the Collins brothers’ bass and guitar riffs. Changing their name to the…

Beat Happening Beat Happening Domino REWIGLP 114 (2LP) Jamboree Domino REWIGLP 115 (LP) Black Candy Domino REWIGLP 116 (LP) Dreamy Domino REWIGLP 117 (LP) You Turn Me On Domino REWIGLP 118 (LP) Music To Climb The Apple Tree By Domino REWIGLP 119 (LP) Beat Happening’s timing was on-the-nose, their influence immeasurable. Those not given to hyperbole might wince at any claim that the trio – more than any of their contemporaries – defined what it meant to be ‘independent’. Their sonic footprint is all over C86 and their influence loomed large over the Scottish music scene of the mid-80s (Pastels, Vaselines, 53rd & 3rd, the Bellshill scene etc). Back home in Olympia WA, frontman Calvin Johnson’s label, K, spawned Riot Grrrl as well as rinsing from the US hardcore scene…

The phrase ILL WIND may evoke repercussions of baked beans. Turns out it was also the name of a band from Boston, Massachusetts. Their sole album, Flashes ( Out- Sider) was originally released in 1968. Don’t be put off by the folkishly twee first song because they set the tone better by really wigging out on the next one, People Of The Night. The line-up’s mixture of male and female vocals works handsomely. The guitar licks, as trippy as they are, have a spiked urgency which cuts through the lyrics’ social commentary. This lot could have been up there with Jefferson Airplane but keeping a band together isn’t always such a breeze. A stompier sound was developed by STACK. Judging by their only album, 1970’s Above All (  Out-Sider), the Californian…

Various Artists Bound For Hell: On The Sunset Strip Numero Group NUM 080 (CD, 2LP) Back in 1982, while many UK fans were still basking in the glory of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal, music weekly Sounds began reporting on a burgeoning new scene in California. Their US correspondent Sylvie Simmons highlighted a new generation of acts, noting that “pretty much every night of the week somewhere in [Los Angeles] there’s someone cranking out powerchords.” It wasn’t long before label executives were climbing over each other to sign bands while independent labels like Metal Blade helped spread the word. Metallica, Motley Crüe and Ratt, for example, would all go on to become household names but the likes of Cirith Ungol, Bitch, Romeo and Stormer certainly had their five…

Todd Rundgren Cleopatra CLO 5082 (CD, LP) On his 2017 release White Knight, Todd Rundgren’s many collaborators were invited to help him complete pieces of music he’d instated. Space Force (not to be confused with the Steve Carell comedy series on Netflix) flips that concept on its head by asking his guests to provide the initial inspirations, i.e. unfinished songs which, for one reason or another, they’d put to one side after hitting a stumbling block. Consequently, Rundgren’s most significant role on his own record is arguably that of troubleshooter, a fresh set of ears to salvage demos, sketches or mere fragments and make them whole. In some ways it’s a method similar to his past employment as a producer fleshing out half-formed fancies, only this time it’s his name…

Dolly Mixture Everything And More/ You And Me On The Sea Shore Optic Nerve ON 410 Repackaged with Optic Nerve’s regular extras, here’s Dolly Mixture’s third 45, resurrected from Paul Weller’s Respond label, administering a delicious dose of English early (1982) indie innocence. We are summoned by bells, like it was recorded on the Sunday morning streets of their Cambridge hometown. Shuddering tremolo guitar, girl-next-door vocals, a slightly wistful chorus, and Diane [Yup – Ed] Eddy-style guitar add up to three minutes frittered away usefully. You And Me On The Sea Shore is reflective; its very grand picked-out piano, pizzicato cello, punchy tympani and wordless vocals resemble the theme to an unmade landmark TV drama. Instead, it’s landmark indie with ambition and charm. The Zeros The Zeros You Are The…

There is something inspiring about going to a record shop run by a knowledgeable and welcoming collector. Lee Dorrian’s Rise Above Records & Relics is that kind of place. Renowned for his lengthy and distinguished musical career, which includes Napalm Death and Cathedral, Dorrian also helms the Rise Above Records label, which has issued a vast number of releases since its launch in the late 80s. (There is also a subsidiary label, Rise Above Relics.) He has created this shop with rare skill and commitment, which you can feel the moment you cross the doorway. What’s it like for a successful recording artist and label owner to set up a record shop? Hard work, basically. Dorrian says that, for the last 20 years or so, he’d nurtured ideas about setting…

How does the last night of the tour feel? Dave: We’re feeling pretty good - tonight is definitely a huge one for us! Cone: Normally we get tired a couple of days before the last show, because we start feeling like the tour is dragging on. But we feel really energised tonight, because it’s the last show, and because it’s London! How’s the tour gone? Dave: It’s been incredible. Jeff [Stinco] from [touring buddies] Simple Plan got left by his tour bus the other day, so he knocked on ours and jumped in! He was completely hammered [laugtis]. Poor Jeff... Did they leave him intentionally? Cone: I believe so, yeah! Jeff’s the guy in the band that hangs cut at bars the most, and he doesn’t ever want to leave.…

This month: Gloria Scott “I’m so surprised the album is still active out there because it has been so long,” says Gloria Scott when I mention how her 1974 debut album, What Am I Gonna Do, is now considered a soul/dance classic. “It’s wonderful but - you know what? - I must have signed a stupid contract because I never saw any money from that.” It’s a sad fact of life that many fabulous soul singers were never properly rewarded or recognised — for the pioneering work they did in the 60s and 70s. Nevertheless, just that one classic album, and a follow-up single, Just As Long As We’re Together (In My Life There Will Never Be Another), have ensured that Gloria Scott’s name has stayed alive in soul music…

CODA William Orbit... on the soundtrack to his life Jimi Hendrix Theme From Rainbow Bridge (Reprise Records K 441 59, LP, UK, 1971) £20 My bestie at school had older brothers who had records: Zappa, Beefheart, Pink Floyd. One day he said to me, “There’s no way you’re going to like this.” It was Jimi Hendrix. The moment I heard him I was obsessed and to this day he’s still my biggest hero. Rainbow Bridge is the album that spoke to me the most. I would lie on the floor and play it loud on my dad’s hi-fi with the speakers either side of my head and bliss out and then try and learn all the blues. He was the blues incarnate. That’s how I learned to play the guitar.…