Innehållsförteckning för Issue 544 från Record Collector

rc.editorial@metropolis.co.uk www.recordcollectormag.com Record Collector Magazine @RecCollmag RecordCollectormag @recordcollectormag WHO-DUNNIT Re: RC 543. I'm the chap sitting in the corner of the press enclosure on the cover of your Who issue. A press pass was handed to me over the hugely scary security picket fence by, I think, Chris Welch of Melody Maker. I had been working abroad in 1973 and, when I returned to London, I found out that The Who were playing The Lyceum the next night. The next day, after a day of international banking, I went to my second (and better) job working in a mate's Soho record shop. The pay was £1 an hour and whatever I could get into one carrier bag. I wandered to The Lyceum hoping to get a ticket, but the touts…

David Stubbs is a longtime Talking Heads (p80) head and Tom Tom Clubber, dating back to his dancing days at the Leeds Warehouse, circa 1982. His new book, Different Times: A History Of British Comedy (Faber & Faber), is published in August 2023. Editor of RC’s recent special on Duran Duran, John Earls gets more current by interviewing Liam Fray (p60) erudite singer with anthemic rockers Courteeners. The Manes are finally starting to get overdue critical acclaim, and John was delighted to help tell their story. Adrian Thrills first met Nick Heyward (p54) in 1981, when Heyward popped a cassette of his unsigned band, Haircut One Hundred, onto NME staffer Thrills’ desk in Carnaby Street. A feature in the mag ensued, followed by a piece in The Face. Adrian is now…

Dolly Parton Behind The Seams book Ebury, 19 October. Due: Apri (21) Tim Buckley Goodbye And Hello, Music On CD (28) Emmitt Rhodes Recordings lSg|9-73 2CD, Music On CD Janis Ian Between The Lines, Rude Girl May(5) Kayhan Kalhor/Toumani Diabaté The Sky Is The Same Colour Everywhere, Real WorlEE19) Lau's Kris Drever The Best Of, Reveal. Blues/Jazz Tell Eveiybody: 21st Century Juke Joint Blues, with unissued The Black Keys, Joe Walsh (Eagles), Easy Eye Sounds, 11 August. Due: April Bill Evans Treasures 2CD, Elemental (28) Sass Jordan Live In New York Ninety Four, Deko, John Mayall Live In France 2CD/ DVD, Repertoire May (5) Preston Love Reflections In Rhythm And Blues, Jasmine, Rex Stewart Trumpet In Spades 2CD, RetrospectiveK6) Reverend Gary Davis The Guitar Evangelical, World Music Network. Biz RIAA reported in March that US sales of new vinyl LPs/EPs exceeded those…

Mark Peters The Magic Hour (Sonic Cathedral SCR 233, EP, 2023) A jaw-dropping companion piece to Peters' excellent Red Sunset Dreams album from last year. This new EP from the former Engneers multi-instrumentalist features his much-loved collaborations with Dot Allison and BJ Cole, which get the remix treatment from Richard Norris and Dawn Chorus And The Infallible Sea respectively, alongside a pair of stunning new tracks. It's available to order on limited edition translucent yellow 10” vinyl. Daughtei Stereo Mind Game (4AD 4AD 0512 LPE, LP,2023) Described ahead of its release as Daughter's “most optimistic record yet”, the band's third studio album is a beautiful collection. With bandmembers Elena Tonra, Igor Haefeli and Remi Aguilella all living in different locations, Stereo Mind Game was recorded across various sessions in Devon,…

A regular look at record shops from the past No 4: The Record Shop, Tolworth, Kingston upon Thames On Tolworth Broadway in southwest London there used to be a record shop rather splendidly called The ReBd Shop. It's where I bought many singles in the 70s. It wasn't far from the Toby Jug, where Bowie kicked off 1972’s Ziggy tour. To buy records from this rather conventional, slightly intimidating place, there was a ritual to undertake, common to many record shops at the time. If you wanted, say, Metal Guru, Look Wot You Dun or Starman, you had to approach the counter and ask the staff for them. I sometimes rehearsed my request: “Could I have Children Of The Revolution by T.Rex, please?” The assistant would consult the mysteriously arranged…

SEX PISTOLS Programme £50 A UK, 24-page official programme for the Football League First Division match between Manchester City and Derby County on Saturday 4 December, 1976 (City won, 3-2, Dennis Tueart scored the winner). Page 10 features an ad for Sex Pistols’ first singe Anarchy In The UK (Brian Kidd scored twice) plus tour dates (Leighton James scored both goals for Derby). Supplied by 991 THE WHO Sell Out (Polydor SLPM 1394) £840 A Japanese pressing for the rock legends from 1967 with a laminated flipback sleeve and lyrics insert. Supplied by Industrial Silence BEASTIE BOYS/LL COOL J/RUN DMC Poster £1,500 From 1986, Def Jam's introduction to the UK and the first major US-based hip-hop artists to come to the UK. I do like that cassette image, up top.…

In 1971, when Dionne Warwick left Scepter Records for Warner Brothers after 10 incredibly successful years, she made sure to take writers Burt Bacharach and Hal David with her. Straight off, the trio produced a decent album called Dionne in 1972 before Burt and Hal took a sabbatical for a film called Lost Horizon. Dionne was forced — oh, no! — to take a year out with Holland-Dozier-Holland, producing the unbelievably good Just Being Myself album in ’72. Dionne didn't like it much but everyone else did (it's since been sampled to death). She didn't mind because trusty Burt and old pal Hal were contracted to write her next album. The only problem was the film was such a disaster that Bacharach and David fell out — Burt refused to…

I will preface this column by saying: I am not some clog-chucking Luddite. I possess a mobile phone. I am tapping out these words on a laptop. I am acquainted with the internet, and I even have a home digital recording studio. Indulge me. Isn't the digitalisation of the world just marvy? You can't turn on your digital teasmaid without being recommended garbage you don't want after having your data gathered by robo-nerds like Zuckerberg and Musk. You can record rubbish music on rubbish computer apps and then put them online for six people to listen to. You can listen to your annoying barbecue-of-hate neighbours shouting into their phone, “Siri, play Baggy Trousers by Madness.” Now it seems that you can even write a Nick Cave song using artificial intelligence.…

There was something about the teenage Nick Heyward when he walked unannounced into the NME offices in Carnaby Street in March 1981. Having charmed his way past reception, he thrust a demo tape into my hands and began telling me, a staff writer with an interest in new bands, about Haircut 100 (sometimes Haircut One Hundred). A graphic artist who had left school in Beckenham at 16, he convinced me to check out his band live at The Ski Club Of Great Britain, where his parents ran the bar, and it was there that his admirable bravado began to make sense. The band — singer and guitarist Heyward, bassist Les Nemes, guitarist Graham Jones and drummer Patrick Hunt — played fast, chunky pop with its roots in funk. Heyward sang…

STEVE MASON Steve Mason has been releasing records now for more than a quarter-century, hard to believe for an artist who seems forever on the cusp of breaking through. Partly this is due to his relentless changes in direction over the course of his career from the multi-layered psychedelic folk-house of The Beta Band and electro experimentation of Black Affair to his often politically charged solo work. It is also partly due to his penchant for self-sabotage, from calling the first Beta Band album “fucking awful” to retiring just prior to his King Biscuit Time album's release. Honest about his depression at a time when it was unfashionable to discuss, Mason has never been reluctant to wear his heart on his sleeve. The Kirkaldy-born singer has quietly created a body…

Beginning with their major-label debut, 1986’s Especially for You, New Jersey quartet The Smithereens enjoyed widespread critical acclaim and a degree of commercial success. The band's trademark synthesis of diverse influences –beat-era rock, girl group pop and heavy metal thunder a la Black Sabbath – came together to create a distinctive, powerful, and melodic sound. Especially For You rose to No 5 on the UK indie chart; its follow-up, 1988’s Green Thoughts, made it to the No 7 spot. But as the record industry (and popular tastes) changed, the group found themselves dropped by one label, and signed with another. They went from self-released records to deals with Enigma, then Capitol, RCA, Velvel, Koch and eOne. And during a period between labels, the group recorded an album's worth of top-notch…

B.E.F Music For Stowaways Cold Spring CSR 310 (CD, LP) In 1980, The Human League split, with Phil Oakey embarking on a pop career based on two young backing singers and a set of slides. Meanwhile the musical element of the group, Ian Craig Marsh and Martyn Ware, decided in ironically entrepreneurial fashion to set up a production company titled British Electronic Foundation. They signed a deal with Virgin Records committing to writing and producing six albums a year, featuring a roster of artists including their own Heaven 17 project, and, fatefully, Tina Turner. Music For Stowaways was released in 1980 on cassette, to be heard via the fabulously futuristic device the Sony Walkman - originally known as the Sony Stowaway, hence the album's title. The concept of Music For…

Bobby Harden sounds like he recorded for Stax in the mid-tolate 60s. He sings a lot like Eddie Floyd, unsurprising perhaps as Floyd mentored him while the pair sung together in the Blues Brothers Band and his songs are diverse as evidenced on BOBBY HARDEN & THE SOULFUL SAINTS’ debut album Bridge Of Love Dala). Songs range from It's My Time, an ebullient, uplifting burst of positivity framed in succulent horns to One Tribe, which features Latin percussion and draws on blaxploitation, and the title track, a delicious ballad. Born in Youngstown, Ohio, Harden sung in church and after college in Houston moved to New York. There, he performed on the wedding band circuit before joining the Blues Brothers Band with Steve Cropper, ‘Blue 'Lou Marini, Matt ‘Guitar ‘Murphy and…

The Pretty Things The Complete Studio Albums 1965-2020 Madfish SMABX 1231 (13LP) From the R‘n'B cacophony of Road Runner on their debut to the pain of Another World on semi-acoustic finale Bare As Bone, Bright As Blood they were indeed that bare, that bright. The Pretty Things were a wild-eyed force of nature who made the Stones seem tame and they finished as they started, taking no prisoners. All 13 albums in this box have been remastered and come with photos and notes by right-hand-man and producer Mark St John and co-founder, guitarist and survivor, Dick Taylor. While they might not have matched the Stones’ success, this collection chronicles their journey as garage band inspiration to the likes of the Ramones and Oasis, arguably making more exciting records than the…

Deviation Street: High Times In Ladbroke Grove 1967-1975 Cherry Red CRSEGBOX 123 (3CD) London freak scene's peak While it's a given that Notting Hill's gentrification has wounded its bohemian vibe, it still has corners and side-streets evoking the era captured on Deviation Street…’s hippy-adjacent trail, which posits that Ladbroke Grove was London's Haight-Ashbury. Fifty-eight tracks over four hours on three discs range from hairy lords of the time such as Hawkwind, Third Ear Band, Quintessence and Pink Fairies to related peripatetic rovers like Tyrannosaurus Rex, The Pretty Things and The Action. Tenuous links are tapped with a fascinating, relatively sparse, early Roxy Music demo of 2HB, which makes you realise Ferry and company could have gone in multiple directions. And later Joe Strummer's 101’ers grope for a route to a…

The Lemon Twigs Everything Harmony Captured Tracks CT 358 LP (CD, LP) A highlight of the new album by Brian and Michael D'Addario is a track where the only lyric is the song's title, repeated. Every Day Is The Worst Day Of My Life has few true precedents (Sparks did it with My Baby's Taking Me Home in 2002, so maybe it's a sibling thing), but don't read it as a sign the Twigs are short on inspiration. Many column inches have already been devoted to the brothers’ relative youth, both still teenagers when they released the limited-run 2015 cassette What We Know and the following year's rave-reviewed full debut Do Hollywood. Theirs was a sound drenched in the pop-minded melodies, hooks and harmonies of an earlier generation – heck,…

Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt on their new album, streaming, and social media Was there any particular spark that brought you back together in the studio? TT: When we came out of Covid lockdown we had a moment where we thought, OK, we're getting back to life now but what are we going back to? Are we going to just carry on as we were – you get back to your solo project and I'll do mine – or is it time for doing something new and different? I felt that the obvious thing we hadn't done for a long time was work together and maybe if we didn't do it sooner rather than later, we would miss the moment and wouldn't get around to doing it. And I thought…

BAFTA Award-winning cinematographer Joe Dunton on capturing 2 Tone live for Dance Craze. Director Joe Massot brought you onto the project due to your mastery of Steadicam camera stabilising technology, which proved crucial to Dance Craze. That was brand new at that time. I was teaching everybody how to use it, so I could work it quite well. It made the camera float up and down like an Anglepoise lamp. Joe said, “My son said we've got to look at these bands.” We found the next concert, I think it was The Specials. We asked if we could film them with the new equipment. I said if they didn't like it, I'd scrap it. The day after, we hired a cinema, and the band all came. We didn't have sound on…

Owned by the knowledgeable, enthusiastic Tim Balderstone, Stylus Records is a classic example of a well-stocked, multi-genre record shop that demands repeat visits. Inside and out, the premises are stylish, too. Tim tells Steve Burniston the shop's story. Tell us about the shop and the kind of music you sell. Our shop is a characterful Grade II listed building, next to a lovely waterside walk in the shadows of Lichfield's stunning gothic cathedral. We love the oak beams and gorgeous arched window at the end of the shop space. We work hard to provide for just about every musical taste: rock, pop, blues, jazz, funk, soul, reggae, folk, country, soundtrack, classical, ambient, dance. We sell new and pre-loved items, mostly vinyl but also compact discs and cassettes. What artists/genres are…

You've played SXSW before. What's the appeal? There's a special kind of energy in Austin, as this beautiful city totally embraces its love of music for an always memorable festival. We've been fortunate enough to play SXSW twice before and we always love our whirlwind Austin adventure. Tell us about the Hung Up On A Dream film that premiered at SXSW. It's the brainchild of and inspirationally directed by Robert Schwartzman. It includes exclusive interviews and unseen archive footage. The documentary is presented by Tom Hanks’ production outfit, Playtone. Songs from Odessey & Oracle can still be heard on US radio. How so? It benefits from 12 timeless, classic songs, recorded in Abbey Road by two of the finest recording engineers of the time, Peter Vince and Geoff Emerick. The initial…

London: Threshold, Islington O2 Academy, 13 May. ■ Jeff Beck tribute concerts, with Doyle Bramhall, Eric Clapton, Gary Clark Jr, Johnny Depp, Billy Gibbons, Imelda May, John McLaughlin, Robert Randolph, Rod Stewart. Joss Stone, Susan Tedeschi, Derek Trucks, Regal Albert Hall, 22-23 May. ■ Ane Brun, Shepher's Bush O2 Empire, 14 October. ■ IndoChine, Camden Roundhouse, 11 June. ■ Bebel Gilberto, Camden Koko, 11 October. ■ Margo Price, King's Cross Lafayette, 25 August. ■ A Winged Victory For The Sullen, Barbican, 13-14 May. ■ Melvinator, Old Blue Last, 23 May. ■ Sigur Rós, with orchestra, Royal Festival Hall, 16 June, ■ Daryl Hall, Todd Rundgren, Hammeresmith Eventim Apollo, 9 July. ■ Spoon, Islington Assembly Hall, 20 June. Also: Steve Earle, Belfast Ulster Hall, 27 June. For more tours/gig news see www.recordcollectormag.com/latestnews…

This month: Vicki Wickham First transmitted on 9 August 1963, Ready Steady Go! remains a defining artefact in 60s pop culture, as much for its compères Cathy McGowan and Keith Fordyce as for the way it presented acts in a no-frills format. Another female who played a vital role in the programme was assistant producer, Vicki Wickham, who, among other duties, was charged with seeking suitable dancers culled from the clubs in the outlying districts of London. To create the necessary ambience, the Sta-Prest mod audience were every bit as crucial as the artists, and were expected to dress sharp and know the steps to the Watusi and Mashed Potato. For the first few months Dusty Springfield also featured as a regular presenter on RSG!, and as a consequence befriended…

Run DMC My Adidas (London Records LON 101, 7”, UK, 1986) £15 Arguably the most influential group in hip-hop history, Run DMC took what the likes of old school figures such as Kurds Blow, DJ Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Bambaataa had done previously in elevating the genre from street level, and turned it into a global cultural phenomenon – becoming the biggest selling hip-hop act and the first to conquer MTV. This ode to their footwear of choice (a prerequisite in early b-boy and b-girl fashion) would go on to secure the trio an endorsement with Adidas and immortalise the brand in hip-hop culture. De La Soul Breakadawn (Big Life BLR 103, 7” UK, 1993) £30 Vanguards of a new style of alternative hip-hop, De La Soul broke…

Which bands have travelled the furthest in four albums? The Beatles from Help! to Sgt Pepper is the obvious paradigm (though some might militate for Rubber Soul to ‘The White Album’). Stevie Wonder's run from Music Of My Mind to Fullfillingness' First Finale was decent, and Todd Rundgren from Runt: The Ballad Of Todd Rundgren to Todd wasn't too shabby, either. I've seen arguments for Pink Floyd from …Dark Side… to The Wall, the first four Led Zep albums, or the Stones from Beggars Banquet to Exile On Main Street. But we're distinguishing here between “perfect runs” - in which case, I would also propose lOcc, from the self-titled debut to How Dare You!, and Steely Dan would be obvious contenders, though what would you do about the tricky issue of…

PizzaExpress Live launched in late-70s London with the venues, PizzaExpress Live, Holborn; PizzaExpress Jazz Club, Soho; and The Pheasantry, Chelsea. On 14 April, it unveiled PX Records, offering live albums recorded at its venues, featuring both established and emerging artists. Over 50,000 concerts have been staged by PizzaExpress Live, including by Queen's Brian May, The Rolling Stones’ Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts, Tony Bennett, Amy Winehouse, Diana Krall, Van Morrison, Benny Carter, George Shearing, Mose Allison, Anita O'Day, Melody Gardot, Jamie Cullum, Norah Jones and Gregory Porter. PX's first batch of CDs and LPs take in sets by Scott Hamilton, Mamas Gun, edbl and Native Dancer, and are due to be followed by unissued legacy performances. See facebook.com/pizzaexpresslive.…

“It's probably not as popular as the other work of his with his bands, Audioslave and Soundgarden, but it' his most soulful, personal work, He was very involved in producing and arranging it with Alain Johannes and Natasha Shneider of Eleven, and Chris Cornell is one of my singing idols. I'm extremely sad that I never got the chance to see him performing, but it's forever on my playlist.” Caravan Dream Fantasy is out via Spotify.…

Q&A Where are you based, what do you do, and why? Phoenix, Arizona. I have personally been a rock music lover since I was a small kid watching The Beatles on Ed Sullivan with my older sister. I always wanted to make sure that music I loved was able to be preserved for future generations to discover. Why the name? I was always told I was a renaissance man as I could do a variety of things well. As a former aerospace engineer I had a lot of the technical background and as a musician and record collector I had quite a lot of industry knowledge. When did you launch it and how have things changed since? 1996. Tower and Musicland and Sam Goody are all gone along with most…

KLF Metal Stamper £5,500 KLF record collection including metal stamper for KLF 5, 3 A.M. Eternal (Christmas Top Of The Pops 1991). (eBay item number: 354606464269) Supplied by eBay BATHORY Yellow Goat (Black Mark BMLP 666) £7,100 Black metal rarity with double-sided A4 insert. (eBay item number: 134426061707) Supplied by eBay UPSETTER Upsetters… (Upsetter no cat no) £4,558 Upsetters 1973 original called 14 Dub Black Board Jungle. (eBay item number: 354549975464) Supplied by eBay GRATEFUL DEAD Europe 72 (Rhino GRA 2 6023) £1,362 Seventy-three complete recordings on HDCD plus numbered certificate. (eBay item number: 404149620492) Supplied by eBay CARRIBIANS Wonderland (Brooks BR 2000) $7,100 Doo-wop/soul outing from 1959 on 7” with Baby on the flip. Supplied by Popsike THE MELLOW FELLOWS When You're All Alone (no label 591 23 B)…

I may have mentioned this before but when I was at school I was in a bedroom band. At first we were called Bucket and did a cover version of The Ruts’ In A Rut which we renamed In A Bucket. Later, we changed our name to Furious Baton Charge and recorded — on Graham Burch's tape recorder — a concept album called Tales Of The Wise Old Frog, which was loosely based on Vivian Stanshall's Sir Henry At Rawlinson End, except it was about a frog. We sent the tape to John Peel, who returned it with a note saying that we were “the worst band” he had ever heard. I mention this moment from history because it seems to me that one of the many — many —…

MELISSA BONNY Ad Infinitum singer on the symphonic metallers’ latest outing What film could your new set soundtrack? It's inspired by her, so the new Cleopatra. Is there anything still unissued? You could find something from my bandmates [laughs]. With whom would you like to make a split 7”? Blackbriar. I dig their universe. Who'd you like to produce? Billie Eilish. What was your favourite record shop when you started out? CityDisc, for singles. What was your first record? Britney Spears. What record made you want to go pro? Kamelot Silverthorn. The most startling record that I've ever heard. What's the oddest place that's inspired a song? The shower. I have tons of melodies pop in my mind and I have to grab my phone to record them. You can…

Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl) (12” version) The band's debut single was given the extended treatment with added percussion and sax solos. Heyward “hung around” on a single chord in an improvised jam. Lemon Firebrigade As jangly as anything by Orange Juice or Aztec Camera, this Pelican West album track was wide-eyed and innocent. See also: Milk Film; Snow Girl. Nobody's Fool The band's final single with Heyward at the helm – and a jangling, Motown-esque stomper. A teenage Patsy Kensit starred in the video. Whistle Down The Wind (Demo) A song dating back to the band's Moving England days (when it was called Look At Ruby), this was demoed by Haircut 100 before becoming a Heyward solo hit. Low Rider (Live) Haircut 100’s biggest headline show, at Hammersmith Odeon…

RON SEXSMITH The Vivian Line is a stretch of highway running between the modest Canadian town of Stratford and the significantly busier Toronto, 90 miles to the east. Named, informally, after a local pioneer, the region's first female school bus driver, it also serves as a jumping-off point for one of the country's most eloquent songwriters to ponder his own history. Ron Sexsmith was born and raised in another part of Ontario province, nearer the border with the USA, but has called Stratford home for the last few years and was struck by the area's parallels to where he lay his childhood head. “Me and my wife moved out here because, frankly, we couldn't afford the kind of house we wanted in Toronto but needed to still be relatively close…

TALKING HEADS Although Talking Heads are often regarded as post-punk, they actually preceded the genre, formed as they were in 1975 in New York, with their sense of identity almost immediately established. Initially consisting of David Byrne on guitar and vocals, Chris Frantz on drums and Tina Weymouth on bass, they were joined in 1977 by Jerry Harrison, formerly of The Modern Lovers, who added vital flesh, tone and colour to their overall sound, on guitars and keyboards. Talking Heads regarded themselves as an antidote to the decadent, over-indulgent excesses of mid-70s American rock, which had become disconnected from any sort of reality, remote from their audience. They played up their preppiness, focused studiously on their music, with Byrne the wonderfully compelling antithesis of a “frontman”, someone who seemed to…

Martyn Ware on turning the electronic-pop dial and how B.E.F. helped to get Tina Turner's career back on track Music For Stowaways feels like a mid-point between the foundational experimentalism you were carrying out in the early Human League, and before that The Future, and visions of a pop to come. Was it an attempt at prophecy? Oh yes, we're the Nostradamus of pop! It was important to us that when we signed to a bigger label - in those days it certainly felt important - not to be appearing to be selling out creatively. And so we wanted to nail our colours to the mast and say, look, just because we've created this entity doesn't mean we're going to forget our roots. We were always awkward buggers. We were…

Wishbone Ash Argus Snapper SMABX 1232 (3CD/2LP/7”/DVD) The early 70s were years of infinite possibility – The Beatles were no more, and both the listening public and the influential music press were awaiting the Next Big Thing. Sadly, many bands found the freedom too much to cope with and failed to make a lasting mark. Others found a musical formula that worked for them and perfected it: Wishbone Ash were one, and 1972’s third album Argus was their undisputed magnum opus. Their dual-lead guitar template influenced artists as far afield as Iron Maiden, but what we have here is often akin to Fairport Convention's pastoral folk. Themes of warfare, peace and reincarnation chime with the times, yet innocence trumps lyrical pretension. Acoustic guitar, military drumbeats and, above it all, soaring…

Dick Taylor, who founded The Pretty Things in 1963 after quitting as The Rolling Stones’ bassist, on how that was a pretty good move… Is this an emotional release, 60 years on? Yeah, it's such a good thing. What's gratifying is that all our tapes arrived back with us one way or another years ago and we have the rights under one roof – not something a lot of people can say. Do you ever regret leaving the Stones? Only because I keep getting asked that bloody question! The other answer is I could be Bill Wyman – a narrow escape! Sorry Bill! The Pretty Things quickly became known as outrageous on- and offstage… We were. It started with Phil [May] throwing himself about the stage, then The Daily Mail…

Sparks The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte Island 5504001 (CD, LP) Only a few bands manage to create a bona fide masterpiece, though Sparks appear to be onto their fifth or possibly sixth with The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte. A quick recap: their third album and Island Records debut, 1974’s Kimono My House, was one of the great glam rock landmarks, while the widescreen Tony Visconti-produced Indiscreet from the following year was somehow even better. Ron and Russell Mael went on to invent the blueprint for all electronic duos with the help of Giorgio Moroder on 1979’s celestial disco record No.1 in Heaven, and they reinvented themselves with dazzling originality on 2002’s neoclassical art-pop masterwork Lil' Beethoven. There's a theory that artists tend to produce their best…

Brian (left) and Michael D'Addario on surprises, sibling rivalry and high school heroes Did you approach this album differently from your previous records? MD'A: Not intentionally, but it seems to have turned out as more of Collaboration. We sing on each other's songs a lot more, whereas in the past we'd usually multi-track self harmonies on whichever songs we'd written individually, but sometimes too much overdubbing can disconnect you from your initial idea. We still, typically, write separately, and only contribute in a small way to whatever the other comes up with. It tends to be just a line or two of lyric, or changing one chord along the way. BD'A: I guess there was more of a preconceived pop agenda on the last record [Songs For The General Public, 2020],…

Dance Your Way Home: A Journey Through The Dancefloor Emma Warren Faber £16.99 ISBN9780571366033, 400 Pages Charting the dance Often acknowledged but rarely analysed, the vital role of dancing in important musical movements of the last hundred years has long merited a book like this. It's a readable tome highlighting its impact, sensations (physical and mental) and power to unify gatherings of all stripes. Growing up in the 80s, Jockey Slut co-founder and later author-radio DJ Emma Warren found her feet in disco infernos that erupted when acid house presented the UK's last major cultural movement. She casts her net to include first childhood steps to TOTP, English step-dancing, school and youth club discos and jazz liberation's seismic effect on puritanical 1930s Ireland. Beyond the vividly eloquent writing style, another…

Tot Taylor Monster Ravin’ Looney/Now You're Talkin’ The Campus CAMPUS 18 Tot Taylor returns with another slice of pop perfection, somewhere between klassic Kinks, Idle Race and the political end of Pet Shop Boys in a super session that sounds compressed and slightly fuggy, like it was mixed on early 70s kit; well, it was laid at RAK, the home of vintage British pop gems. With chord changes heading eternally downstairs to the basement like an Escher painting, Tot cheerfully but determinedly nails the bastards who lord it over us while our lives go to the dogs. (Except nearly all the dog tracks have closed, along with everything else that represents working class jollity.) Afterwards, he probably screamed, or slapped an understanding vicar, but he keeps things in proportion here,…

NEXT ISSUE: JUNE 2023 (on sale 18 MAY) Deadline for submitting adverts (Listings & Classified): Monday 24 APRIL 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: JULY 2023 (on sale 15 JUNE) Deadline: Monday 22 MAY…

Black Country, New Road May (2) Southampton 1865 (3) Leeds Irish Centre (7) Newcastle Uni SU (8) Glasgow Old Fruitmarket (9) Manchester New Century Hall (11) Norwich Waterfront (12) Birmingham Crossing (13) Bristol Motion (15) Cambridge Junction Duran Duran April (29) Manchester AO Arena May (1) London Greenwich O2 Arena (4) Leeds First Direct Arena (5) Birmingham Utilita Arena Def Leppard, Mötley Crüe May (22) Sheffield Bramall Lane July (1) London Wembley Stadium (2) Lytham Festival (6) Glasgow Hampden Park Dodgy May (26) Bristol O2 Academy (26) Edinburgh O2 Academy (27) Manchester O2 Ritz June (3) Birmingham O2 Institute (10) London Kentish Town O2 Forum FM, Dare, Tyketto May (11) Glasgow Garage (12) Newcastle Riverside (13) Nottingham Rock City (14) Barnsley Birdwell (16) Hull Welly (18) Buckley Tivoli (19) Wolverhampton…

CODA George Harrison All Things Must Pass (Apple STCH 639, 3-LP, poster, lyric inners, UK, 1970) £200 I was 16, it was summer, I went round this guy's house and his older brother had it. We sat there and listened and to hear an album like this, when it came out, when it was new… It would be a hard pick, this or a Beatles album, to take with you on a desert island. It has so many good songs on it, and the incredible reverb on it೐ he's in his full Phil Spector glory. Jobriath Creatures of The Street (Elektra K42163, LP, UK, 1974) £20 A lot of these albums I've chosen are because of David Bowie. I think Bowie did something that was so huge that suddenly there…

This month: Jimi Hendrix, The Ram Jam Club, Brixton, December 1966 It's early evening on Saturday 10 December 1966. My mates and I met up earlier. We're going to see a midnight movie in Leicester Square, central London. We need to kill a few hours first: John Mayall's on at the Ram Jam. The Ram Jam Club is on Brixton Road in South London. We arrive sometime after 8pm and pay at the door. The Bluesbreakers are already on when we arrive. After visiting the bar, we move across to the stage and watch. We've never seen them before, only heard about them. And, of course, they're pretty good, playing great R&B. It's the interval. We drift back to the bar and, while we order more drinks, we hear activity…

project now? How come you]re back with a new It's 20 years since my first album, Dedicated, and I didn't want to perform without giving fans new material. They've been so patient, though they've always been asking to hear something new. So, here it is! I've been writing songs for other projects, but, every so often, I write one that's clearly for me. I wasn't consciously writing a new album, and about half of it was written over a period of seven years, the other half last year. Take Care is actually a rough demo that Nick Tsang [songwriter] and I made. I got it mixed and mastered, and I love that song. What else have you been up to? I got a bit burnt out, and sometimes it's good…

COVER GIRL PETITE M'AMIE Girl Friend Baby Doll (Victor SJV 511, LP, Japan 1971) £1,000 Believe it or not, last year a copy of this album's sleeve sold online for £1,300. Just the sleeve, mind you. In May this year, I bought a copy for 10 times less. Just the album, mind you, without its sleeve. So what is it that makes this Japanese oddity, created by the trio of singer Keiko Mari, lyricist Norikazu Okada and composer Mitsuri Kotani, such a desirable item, worth a cheap second-hand Japanese car or half a week's rent in central London? The story starts when Kotani's composition Girl Friend, featuring lyrics by Okada which were, erm, “vocalised” by Mari, became very popular as the theme song to the TV programme 23-Ji Show. Consequently, Victor…

Wayne Shorter, died 2 March, age 89. The American saxophonist was one of jazz's greatest innovators and most brilliantly gifted composers. Born in Newark, New Jersey he rose to prominence as part of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, recording and contributing songs to albums such as A Night In Tunisia (1961) and Free For All (1965). 1964 saw Shorter begin a remarkably fruitful period. Employed by Miles Davis that year, he became part of the trumpet player's fabled Second Great Quintet in a line-up that included pianist Herbie Hancock, bassist Ron Carter and drummer Tony Williams. On albums such as ESP (1965), Miles Smiles, and Nefertiti (both 1967) the group stretched jazz out towards the avant-garde. Shorter also provided key compositions such as Orbits, Footprints and Nefertiti. As Davis shifted his…

When was the peak era for collectors of psychedelic music? Aww, easy-peasy. The mid-60s, when else? Every band back then made psych, even out-and-out pop merchants like The Four Seasons or The Hollies. But quantity does not mean quality. Pulling on orange velvet bell bottoms does not turn you into a cosmic thinker. The quantity of LSD-influenced music issued in the 60 was unfathomably large and I'm as much of a sucker for Apples And Oranges, Three Jolly Little Dwarves and Memory Band as the next suburban spaceman. But I reckon if you're a discerning collector of progressive psychedelic sounds, you are probably better served today than ever before. There are numerous labels ready to tempt you with delicious limited editions that deliver mind-blowing music. It's made with love and…

OPINION Music entrepreneur Harvey Lisberg managed Manchester's most commercially successful bands of the 60s and 70s (Herman's Hermits and 10cc, respectively). He was also a partner in Strawberry Studios which provided a springboard for the region's next generation of musicians, including Joy Division. He guided the careers of numerous prominent musical figures, then in the 70s and 80s, he managed snooker's glimmer twins — Alex Higgins and Jimmy White — while also looking after the likes of Sad Café and Barclay James Harvest. These days, he looks after his publishing interests from his Palm Springs home. The biggest Manchester bands of the 60s, like Herman's Hermits, weren't hip at all. Was that corrected in the 80s and 90s? Herman's Hermits didn't write their own music, nor were they encouraged to…

“I'm a reluctant frontman,” considers Liam Fray, in London for a family wedding, talking to RC at The Star Of Kings pub in King's Cross, on the 15th anniversary reissue of St Jude. “I'd like to be on the side of the stage, really. I watch Wolf Alice in concert, and I think: ‘I'd love to be their bassist.’ I still don't think the time has come when I think of myself as the singer.” Fray's attitude is a surprise. With their widescreen anthems and increasingly eclectic approach (they recently added disco and soul to the mix while 2020’s More. Again. Forever – their sixth consecutive Top 10 album – was their most accomplished to date), they seem born to entertain multitudes. And yet it's true: Fray, the naturally funny,…

EDDIE PILLER Clean Living Under Difficult Circumstances — A Life In Mod by Eddie Piller, published by Monoray £25 in hardback. Visit octopusbooks.co.uk…

Although routinely cited as the greatest concert movie ever made, the filming of Talking Heads’ Stop Making Sense got off to a decidedly shaky start. Cameras rolled during three shows at Hollywood's Pantages Theatre in December 1983, but according to drummer Chris Frantz's autobiography, Remain In Love, the first night's footage was scrapped due to some musicians’ performances hindered by “nervousness and cocaine”. Discipline prevailed, however, thanks in the main to detailed advance groundwork by frontman David Byrne and often lessheralded guitarist and keyboard player, Jerry Harrison. While the singer worked closely with director Jonathan Demme to establish the cinematic palette, it was Harrison as ad hoc musical director who took care of the arrangements required for each song. “I've always thought the victory of the whole gestalt of the…

“If SONNY STITT was in town, saxophone players tended to go into hiding,” the tenor sax giant Johnny Griffin once said, recalling Stitt's fearsome reputation in the jazz community as an assassinlike saxophone slinger (nicknamed the “Lone Wolf”) who adopted a gladiatorial, take-no-prisoners approach in jam sessions. Born Edmund Hammond Boatner Jr in Boston, Stitt rose to fame in the 1950s as a prolific bebopper whose virtuosic command of the alto sax often drew comparisons with Charlie Parker. (Sadly, he also shared Parker's taste for heroin). A new, beautifully annotated 2-CD set Boppin’ In Baltimore: Live At The Left Bank Jazz Detective) captures Stitt blowing his horn at the age of 49 in the simpatico company of pianist Kenny Barron, bassist Sam Jones, and drummer Louis Hayes. Unearthed by producer…

Warring Wishboners Andy Powell and Martin Turner cast their minds back to the making of Argus. Can you understand why some people consider Argus to be a “concept album”? Andy Powell: Totally. Many of the themes on the second side were linked in that way… We wanted to channel some myths, legends and pocket-philosophies into songs that could capture our audience's collective minds. It worked! Martin Turner: Well, yeah. There is a loose concept to it…all the things I had been thinking about since my early teens. Warrior for instance: why is it that, since the beginning of time, despots and dictators have managed to harness the energy of young men – who, let's face it, are full of piss and wind – and channel that energy to make war?…

During their original incarnation, THE SKATALITES defined the sound of ska in Jamaica, both as accompanists to a plethora of singers and groups and through their succession of instrumental singles. The nine-piece band was so prolific that it's hard to believe that they existed for less than two years, from late 1963 to mid-1965, and so star-studded that few of their records bore the band's name: instead, the labels credited leading soloists such as Saxmen Tommy McCook and Roland Alphonso or trombonist Don Drummond. With a fine disregard for exclusive contracts, they recorded for every major producer on the island, cutting high-quality ska for Coxsone Dodd, Prince Buster, Justin Yap and for Duke Reid, 28 of whose productions form The Skatalites: The Essential Artists Collection Trojan). The band's sound has the…

Sparks’ Russell Mael on creative boldness and how tricky it is to slip “soy cappuccino” into a song How is being back at Island Records after all these years? Obviously the relationship is brand new so we're excited that they're excited about our new album. It's a pretty amazing story that the label that kind of launched Sparks to the world with Kimono My House and This Town Ain't Big Enough For Both Of Us is back on board some 20 albums later. It's a really heartwarming stery for us to be back with Island, and it's not based on any kind of nostalgia, they're basing it on the new record that we presented to them. They thought it was as bold an album as we delivered with Kimono My…

Everything But The Girl Fuse Buzzin’ Fly EBTG 015 VX (CD, LP) In July 2000, when Everything But The Girl played the Montreux Jazz Festival, no one – not even Tracey Thorn or Ben Watt – knew it would be their last gig together. With Thorn heavily pregnant with their third child, the couple were anticipating some well-deserved time off after promoting their Temperamental album but over the next few years, as the pair became immersed in family life and Watt's workload as a DJ, remixer, producer, and record label boss increased, EBTG began to seem like a distant, fast-receding dream. When Thorn next stepped into a recording studio in 2007, it was without Watt, who later resumed his own solo path, which, like his wife's, had been on hold…

Dance Craze Chrysalis/BFI - BFIB1471 (Blu-ray, DVD, 3CD, 3LP) Released fleetingly to cinemas in February 1981, and with one previous legitimate VHS outing in 1988, 2 Tone concert film Dance Craze is here immaculately restored (4K) for a dual Blu Ray/DVD format re-issue (accompanied by an expanded soundtrack album). It's long-overdue. Still, it arrives with poignant timing, following the recent passing of Terry Hall; on seeing the frontman anchor's exhilarating, peak-period Specials live performances with effortless deadpan charisma, it's hard to hard to imagine a more fitting commemoration. Originally envisioned by director Joe Massot (The Song Remains The Same) as a Madness project, having been charmed by the band during a chance LA encounter, Massot's son hipped him to the wave of ska bands tearing up the UK's charts and…

READER SERVICES 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…

Spotlighting an upcoming road trip This month: WALTER TROUT How have you been preparing for the tour? I released my 30th album Ride, last summer, and I'm focusing on songs from it, mixed with old favourites. We rehearse modify, then leave the rest to inspiration on the night. Do you have any pre-/post-show routines? Before a show, the band and crew make a circle backstage, and we send up communal intentions for a great show, focusing our energies. Will you do any songs that you rarely play? There are times when a special request comes in, or inspiration strikes, and I jump back in the catalogue. The band's always prepared for that. We often talk about how a show goes, what we can improve, or get new inspiration that we…

This month: Child If you've ever watched Channel 4’s comedy hit Inbetweeners, you'll likely be familiar with teenage object of desire Charlotte Hinchcliffe, played by media favourite Emily Atack. What you may not know is that Atack is the daughter of one-quarter of 70s pop-rock group, Child. Hailing from the West Yorkshire market town of Pontefract, the four-piece came together in the early 70s while still at school playing under the tantalising moniker of Reincarnation. With a collective love of Creedence, Slade and Be-Bop Deluxe, the band consisted of the twin Atack brothers, Tim and Emily's dad Keith (on drums and bass respectively), Graham Bilbrough on vocals and elder statesman, Dave Cooper, on guitar. “Dave went to the same school as the Atacks,” says Bilbrough. “I attended a different school,…