Innehållsförteckning för Issue 580 February från Record Collector

Happy new year! I immediately caveat that felicitation because up here we're already enjoying the spring, as it were: due to the way things work in the world of the music monthly we always have at least one eye on the future: we're currently preparing articles for the issues that come out in March, April and May… As for this issue: talk about living in the future! This edition of Record Collector features on the front cover those arch purveyors of art (official) pop and science fiction funk, David Bowie and Prince. The images/graphics were at least partly brought to us by those nice people at AI – presenting a vision of two of our most-missed visual iconoclasts and avowed futurists. Meanwhile, inside the magazine writer and broadcaster Rob Hughes…

In between bouts of co-presenting the Parallel Universe podcast with DJ Marc Riley, where he rifles through copies of vintage music weeklies, Rob Hughes spoke to friends and collaborators of Prince and David Bowie (p76) for this month's cover feature. With the extravagant re-release of iconic indie album, Inflammable Material, and single Suspect Device, Nick Dalton interrogates Jake Burns and other Stiff Little Fingers (p56), listening as they explode the myth that they were a political band. Thirty-five years ago, Johnnie Johnstone knew very little about Jamaican music until he was inadvertently made the reggae buyer for Tower Records. And so another love affair began – see his article on 1976 reggae albums (p50). He has a book on The Clientele out later in 2026. JR Moores is the author…

How come you're back with your new project now? It just felt like the timing was right. The songs, the motivation and the opportunity were there, so we took it. After 10 years, there's a lot to say! Tell us about the new album. It feels like a bold return to form, a more assured sound. Longing plays a big part in that. We're pining for things – love, success, reward, revenge – and there's a deep element of it on show. When longing dwindles, art becomes comfortable. Sonically and lyrically, it sits beautifully in the arc of our story as a band. Were there any amusing episodes during its creation? We butted heads a few times, but who doesn't in a recording studio? How long did it take? The…

The Ian Gillan Band Down The Road 8CD box set, with Child In Time, eight bonuses, Clear Air Turbulence, The Rockfield Mixes, one, Scarabus, The Rarities, Live At Budokan, Live At The Rainbow, Live Yubin Chokin Hall, Hiroshima, 1977, two, is out via Demon on 27 February. It's followed by Rainbow The Temple Of The King: 1975-76 9CD box set, taking in Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, Rising, 16-track Rarities CDs, Live In Koln 1976, Live In Dusseldorf 1976, Live In Nurnberg 1976 2CDs is out via Edsel on 6 March. Finally, Ovais Naqvi's Before We Forget Jon Lord book is out this month via beforeweforget.store. See deeppurple.com.…

Ian Shirley, esteemed alumnus of the Rare Record Price Guide, answers your questions TRANSATLANTIC DRIFT I have a copy of the Nic Jones folk album From The Devil To A Stranger on the Transatlantic label. It's a great record and was released in 1978. However, looking on Discogs there are two versions listed as being released that year, the one I own and another version on the Highway label. It seems strange to me that the same album was released on different labels in the same year. Or did it originally come out on Highway and become so successful that it was picked up by the Transatlantic label for wider distribution? Garth Everton via email Nic Jones was a folk singer who began to go out as a solo artist…

Q&A Where are you based, what do you do and why? We are based in Hamburg, we develop artists and release their music and that's pretty much what it's all about. Why the name? I like to play with the devil but also not take things too seriously; the duck represents the bling eye of the devil. When did you launch the label and how have things changed since? DevilDuck was established in 2004. A lot of things have changed but there are still great newcomer artists who are not getting the attention they deserve so that hasn't changed… What labels were your influences? I'd not say influences but labels I've always loved: Sub Pop, Secretly Canadian, Partisan, Barsuk. Who are your competitors? I don't see indie music as a…

Chris Rea, died 22 December, age 74. The singer-songwriter was known for 80s hits like Driving Home For Christmas, On The Beach and The Road To Hell. Born in Middlesbrough, he was a late starter in music, working a variety of labouring jobs and assisting in his family's ice cream business before he bought his first guitar at the age of 21. After playing in local bands he released his debut solo album, Whatever Happened To Benny Santini?, in 1978. Overseen by Elton John producer, Gus Dudgeon, it proved a hit in the US where its lead single Fool (If You Think It's Over) reached No 12. While success would prove harder to come by in his home country, his trademark blend of blues, pop and soul began to gain…

If Derek Shulman had just, in his career, been the frontman for revered and sorely missed niche prog ensemble Gentle Giant, his place in the pantheon would be guaranteed. However, prior to that, with brothers Phil and Ray – he led Kites popsike hitmakers Simon Dupree & The Big Sound (to the point where everyone thought he WAS Simon Dupree), and then after Giant's decade run, Shulman went on to be one of the leading A&Rs in US rock music, signing Bon Jovi, Cinderella, Pantera and Slipknot. An affable storyteller, it seemed only a matter of time before these recollections were poured into a book. Giant Steps: My Improbable Journey From Stage Lights To Executive Heights, co-written with Jon Wiederhorn, is a 276-page canter through an illuminating life. How did…

It would have been the end for most young bands. Having just given up real jobs in the unemployment hub of Belfast, the promised £35,000, three-album Island Records contract – a fortune in 1978 - collapsed, seemingly leaving Stiff Little Fingers, in the words of the punk generation, with no future. Nowhere to go, nothing to do except make loud music, yet the despair at the seeming end of a dream led to a new way of thinking – and a new road to success. There was the single Suspect Device, always seen as being about Ulster's troubles but really more about self-survival. And then the album Inflammable Material, a swiftly made, low-budget classic that became the first independent label LP to hit the Top 20. Now the record is…

A long with Guy Stevens’ Sue Records and John Abbey's Action Records, Soul City Records was an iconic independent UK label which, in the 60s, licensed rare and obscure R&B and soul music originally issued in the USA from the dawn of soul music in 1958 (on their Deep Soul subsidiary label) through to 1969. Soul City was a spin-off from a record shop based in Deptford, which opened its doors in 1966. Some distance away from central London the shop moved to Covent Garden in 1967, attracting a growing number of customers from all over the UK, looking to buy rare US soul and R&B records. Soul City Records, like the shop, was owned by Dave Godin, Robert Blackmore and David Nathan. Godin became the doyen of UK soul…

Be Suspicious (Inevitable INEV 011, 7” 1981) £5 B-side to the first (Inevitable) pressing of African And White, but arguably more representative of their overall style. Lovely live version for John Peel in 1982 (available on Live Sessions 1982-1983). Scream Down At Me (Virgin VS 495, 7”, 1982) £5 Aberration or interesting diversion? Their second single and the most forthright dance-orientated workout China Crisis ever released. Dockland (Virgin VS 620, 7”, 1983) £3 On the flipside of the single, Working With Fire And Steel. Among the best of Daly and Lundon's many fine instrumentals. Not a million miles from OMD. Evangelos (Luna Landings, Gary Daly self-release, 2020) £25 Echoes of Eno's becalmed Another Green World. Has the numinous, reverberating feel of a high-walled stone cathedral or temple.…

The resurrection of trumpeter CHARLES TOLLIVER and pianist STANLEY COWELL's cult jazz indie label Strata-East continues with the reissue of their band MUSIC INC's self-titled debut (★★★★ Strata-East) from 1970. The group's exploratory post-bop quartet sound, with hints of rock and cinematic funk in its DNA (check out the boisterous Abscretions), is bolstered by a dynamic 13-piece horn section that elevates the arrangements with an epic, widescreen quality. Reissued by the same label but entirely different stylistically is Marchin’ On (★★★ Strata-East) by THE HEATH BROTHERS, consisting of saxophonist Jimmy, who primarily plays flute on the session, bassist Percy, and drummer Albert Heath, augmented by pianist Stanley Cowell. It's a surprisingly curious mellow-vibed mix of old-time blues, Americana, and modal jazz with a bucolic twist. Edgier in character is Mutima…

Freddie ‘Steady’ Krc is at the heart of Texan music, having had long-time associations with everything from the psychedelia of Roky Erickson to the good time country of Jerry Jeff Walker, plus a wealth of his own bands (search out the Shakin’ Apostles). His first album as FREDDIE STEADY'S WILD COUNTRY came in 1987, recorded way down south – Croydon – with Britain's best country-rockers while living in London. For Pass That Jug! (★★★★ Steady Boy) it's Austin with Lone Star statesmen, not least pedal steel from Lloyd Maines who, while in Joe Ely's band, toured with the Clash. The album fuses Texan country rock with something more traditional and even a psychedelic undercurrent. Krc's voice soars on tracks such as Shoulda Wouda Coulda with its delicate jangle and there's…

28 Little Bangers From Richard Hawley's Jukebox Volume 2 Ace Records QLP2161 (CD, LP) Sheffield singer-songwriter digs into his collection again In 2023, Richard Hawley introduced the world to 28 45s from his jukebox – all little bangers that lived up to the compilation's title. Hawley says it is impossible for him to walk by anywhere that sold records, including record shops, thrift stores and gas stations selling ex-jukebox discs. He always travelled with a Columbia GP3 portable record player ready to play his new finds. Here's further evidence of his master crate digging. Besides tunes from Elvis, Gene Vincent, Ventures, Bo Diddley, Link Wray, Duane Eddy and Jet Harris, included are mega rarities, notably The Yo Yo's from 1966 on the Memphis label Goldwax and one of just 50…

Squeeze Trixie's BMG 964202901 (CD/2CD/BD, LP) The seedy clubs of South London in the mid1970s were off-limits to teenagers Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook, but that didn't stop them from imagining what went on behind closed doors. Squirreled away in the bedroom he rented at his girlfriend's family home, the latter fashioned chords and melodies to fit the former's reams of lyrics about the goings-on in such salacious night spots, in a mythical place they called Trixie's. Before long, the duo had written a 12-song suite, a concept album in all but name – not that there was any label to fund the recording or release of an album at this early stage in their lives as musicians. It's only now, more than 50 years later, that Squeeze fans have…

The Beatles’ Hit Singles - Part 1: Beatlemania 1962-1965 Martin Orkin MHO Press, £20 ISBN 97817395659-2-3, 404 pages Breathless gallop through the mania After successfully exploring the Fab Four's rivals, Martin Orkin turns his attention to the white heat of Beatlemania in the first of his new series, looking at The Beatles’ hits on 45. With its subtitle: “A detailed examination of The Beatles incredible early stardom, when their singles ruled Britain and all the world!” unlike Richard Noller's recent scientific approach to detail of the Moptops singles (Made In The U.K. – A Complete Overview Of The Beatles’ Singles Manufactured In The U.K) this is a far more subjective canter through the releases. Orkin's passionate enthusiasm courses through the text; for example, talking about the opening chord of A…

Sell Vinyl/CDs direct to RC readers, call us on 0208 752 8172 or email listings@recordcollectormag.com. Rates: recordcollectormag.com/advertise NEXT ISSUE: MARCH 2026 (on sale 19 FEBRUARY) Deadline for submitting adverts (Listings & Classified): Monday 26 JANUARY Please email your advert (Word doc/Excel file/plain text) to: listings@recordcollectormag.com Record Collector Listings, Diamond Publishing Limited 4th Floor, Harmsworth House, 13-15 Bouverie Street, London EC4Y 8DP Following issue: APRIL 2026 (on sale 19 MARCH) Deadline: Monday 23 FEBRUARY…

Fela Ransome-Kuti And His Africa 70 Fela's London Scene (His Master's Voice HNLX 5200, LP, Nigeria, 1971) £200 Inspired by the rock, funk and jazz scenes that he immersed himself in during tenures in the UK and US, Fela began to fuse these with West African styles when he returned to his homeland Nigeria, creating a new musical genre he named Afrobeat. This Abbey Road-recorded album provides an essential document of its ongoing development. Big band jazz and R&B influences were still prominent, with propulsive rhythms, explosive brass stabs and Fela's showmanship making for an incendiary combination. Fela Ransome-Kuti And The Africa 70 With Ginger Baker Live! (Regal Zonophone SLRZ 1023, LP, UK, 1972) £100 Having met Ginger Baker while Fela was living in London, the pair solidified their bond…

SEND YOUR PRAISE, MISSIVES AND CALLS FOR THE DEIFICATION OF LOIS WILSON TO: rc.editorial@metropolis.co.uk, or to Record Collector, 4th Floor, Harmsworth House, 13-15 Bouverie Street, London EC4Y 8DP, or via social media rc.editorial@metropolis.co.uk www.recordcollectormag.com Record Collector Magazine @RecCollmag RecordCollectormag @recordcollectormag GENTLE CRITICISM IS NOTHING TO BE SCARED OF RC 579: what a refreshing, sadly damning yet honest review by Matt Broad of Adam Ant / Toyah at the Bournemouth BIC gig, on your LIVES pages. It's very rare to get a fair opinion on what a reviewer was witnessing; you usually (to keep the peace) get a sugary-sweet, “papering over the cracks” review of a faded, struggling entertainer (and I love Adam, by the way) as they warble and tremble across the stage bumbling their way through their 40-year-old catalogue……

On 10 December 2025, the Victorian Music Development Office (VMDO) unveiled its For The Record report, based on work by Ethan Holben and Audience Strategies Music. Their research focused on the vinyl ecosystem in the Australian state between July and October 2025, and it concluded that the city of 1.5 million people can lay claim to be one of the world's premier vinyl hubs. The FTR report drew its conclusions from a study of “multiple sources: industry reports, published media, and original research”. It found that Melbourne has 5.9 record shops per 100,000 residents, exceeding other leading global cities including London (4.9), Paris (4.7), Berlin (2.9), Tokyo (2.3) and Toronto (1.9). The analysts also found that Melbourne boasts 50 per cent of Australia's indie record outlets, with 119 record stores…

Biz London Barbican closes for a revamp from June 2028 to June 2029, with other work undertaken in 2027/30. ■ The Cherry Red label announced in December that it'd acquired the Gull and State catalogues, the former including the first two Judas Priest albums, plus outings by Seventh Wave, Isotope and The Vengaboys, and the latter, long-players by Mac & Katie Kissoon, Gary Benson and Delegation. ■ The Guitar & Bass Show is at Cranmore Park, Shirley, Solihull, 28 February-1 March. Metal Suffocation Jesus Wept 3CD, with Effigy Of The Forgotten, Breeding The Spawn, Pierced From Within, Dissonance, 27 February. ■ Motorhead No Sleep Til Hammersmith Deluxe 35-track 2CD, BMG, 30 January. ■ Bring Me The Horizon Suicide Season 2CD, 14 bonuses, BMG, 30 January. ■ Axedragger, with Bob Balch (Fu Manchu), Pete…

In April, The Sensational Alex Harvey Band unveil 20-plus unissued discs of live material from 1973-77, mainly sourced via the archives of Ted McKenna. The box set includes a 144-page hardback book, repro 1975 concert programme and band-signed photo. The audio takes in CDs from The Marquee Club, London, 18/9/73; The Rainbow Theatre, London, 7/6/74; Mayfair Ballrooom, Newcastle, 18/10/74 and 9/5/75; Syracuse, New York, Autumn 1974; Electric Ladyland Studios, New York, 16/11/74; Guildhall, Preston, 11/5/75; Neue Welt, Berlin, 12/10/76; Reading Festival, 28/7/77; Free Trade Hall Manchester, 9/5/76; and 2CDs, from there on 12/5/75; City Hall, Sheffield, 13/5/75; Victoria Ground, Stoke-on-Trent, 17/5/75; Apollo, Glasgow, 20/12/75; plus a 3CD from New Victoria Theatre, London, 23/12/75. The Sensational Alex Harvey Band Good Evening, Boys And Girls! 21CD box set is out via Madfish, 10…

On 1 January, numerous sound recordings cut in 1925 entered the public domain under US copyright laws. These include Gene Austin Yes Sir, That's My Baby; Marian Anderson Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Seen; Bessie Smith You've Been A Good Ole Wagon, / Louis Armstrong The St Louis Blues; Louis Armstrong/Fletcher Henderson/Maggie Jones If I Lose, Let Me Lose; Ben Bernie Sweet Georgia Brown; Clarence Williams’ Blue Five Everybody Loves My Baby; The Knickerbockers Manhattan. In addition, the King Of Jazz movie – Bing Crosby's first feature film – is also publicly available. See web.law.duke.edu.…

I've been thinking a lot about the power and the potential of objects lately, especially the musical kind. It's a product of the fact that I've been recording lots of vintage omnichord (a kind of electronic autoharp) for my new album – a hefty, plastic, and rather ugly instrument that I acquired through what I and Marla Singer in Fight Club like to call “arsehole tax”. My omnichord, had it stayed in the possession of its non-musical-instrument-playing poseur of a previous owner, would never have fulfilled what I like to think of as its “creative potential”. It would have likely stayed stashed in a cupboard after its hipster potential as a conversation starter had worn thin. Instead, in my rather more beneficent hands, it has been played on two critically…

In 1983 Dave Mustaine was fired from Metallica. Thank God! Because that meant he formed Megadeth, whose contribution rivals any of heavy metal's biggest hitters. It surpasses the hell out of most. As readers of this magazine will be acutely aware, the greatest selling artists are by no means the best. Just see the debates on our letters’ pages. Although Mr Mustaine has often been defined – by fans, critics and sometimes himself – as the guy who was canned from the outfit that would become metal's most popular act, it wasn't the Sliding Doors moment it's made out to be. In our timeline, Mustaine left Metallica after the No Life ‘Til Leather demo tape and before their 1983 studio album, Kill ‘Em All. Considering the egos and alcoholism involved,…

Despite enjoying a relatively low profile within the UK, Coventry has been contributing to the cultural wealth of the nation since before the Mersey found its signature beat. Back in the early 60s, Coventry-born genius Delia Derbyshire was giving us the frights with the Doctor Who theme, freakbeats The Sorrows became the first band from the city in the charts with Take A Heart, while you remember Cov native Frank Ifield and his four No 1s as he was yodelling all the way to the town's premier venue The Coventry Theatre, a place that hosted The Rolling Stones and The Beatles on two raucous occasions. On 15 June 1968, John Lennon & Yoko Ono came to the city and planted two acorns for peace in the Cathedral grounds, while the…

Bessie Banks Go Now (Soul City SC 105, 1968) £25 The soul-drenched 1964 original version of the Moody Blues hit, first released on Leiber & Stoller's Tiger Records. The Valentinos It's All Over Now (Soul City SC 106, 1968) £35 Produced by Sam Cooke, the Womack brothers’ powerhouse 1964 R&B classic gave The Rolling Stones their first UK No 1. Billy Preston Greazee Part 1 (Soul City SC 107,1968) £25 R&B instrumental by the one-time Hammond organ child prodigy who was dubbed “the fifth Beatle” after being credited on The Beatles’ Let It Be. Billy Butler Right Track (Soul City SC 113, 1969) £40 Brother of soul giant Jerry Butler, produced by Curtis Mayfield for Okeh Records in Chicago. Released in 1966, this is still a Northern Soul floor-filler. Major…

On 21 January 2016, Prince played two intimate shows in one evening at Paisley Park in Minnesota. Billed as a Piano & A Microphone Gala Event, it was a taster for his first solo tour proper. Fans had snapped up tickets in minutes. Seated at the piano in purple pyjamas, Prince leaned into a surprise set that included rarities like Baby, Batman Theme and The Miracles’ I Second That Emotion. Half an hour into the first show, Prince began to play Free, a deep cut from 1982. He broke off to address the crowd. “Peace to David Bowie,” he said, acknowledging the passing of his fellow songwriter just 11 days earlier. “I only met him once, but he was really nice to me. Seems like he was that way with…

Born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Michelle David started singing in church aged four and at five was performing with her first group, The Mission Of Love. At 10, she moved to New York and studied Performing Arts, graduating in 1984. A decade later, after stints in musicals, she relocated to the Netherlands, sang backing for Michael Bolton and Diana Ross and began making albums with the True Tones - Paul Willemsen; Onno Smit and Bas Bouma. MICHELLE DAVID & THE TRUE TONES’ Soul Woman (★★★★ Record Kicks) is their seventh album together and the follow-up to 2024's Brothers & Sisters. It captures the singer's declamatory voice over retro sounding soul backing. Running is perfect for high kicks and pirouetting on sprung dance floors; the title track is a mission statement…

Nancy Sinatra Nancy Light In The Attic LITA 22311 (1LP/1CD) Seattle's Light In The Attic have been uncovering lost gems for nearly 30 years now. Their extensive back catalogue includes several famed collaborations between Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood, which no doubt had their moment gathering dust in charity shops before becoming hip again, with that renewed visibility thanks in part to LITA's sterling work. With Nancy Sinatra's seventh studio album from 1969, the label reverts more to its original remit of breathing life into recherché treasures that have fallen out of the public consciousness, or were never really in the consciousness to fall out of in the first place. Indeed, Nancy has been so far from the conversation that even the singer herself had forgotten that she recorded it.…

The Colourfield The Sound Of The Colourfield Chrysalis CRB 1532 (5CD/DVD) When Terry Hall, along with Lynval Golding and Neville Staple, walked out on The Specials in 1981 to form Fun Boy Three, he could rely on a certain loyal legup from legions of leftover Rude Persons to give his new project an initial boost. By the time he broke up that band in 1983 and launched The Colour Field (their original, three-word name) the following year, the 2 Tone tribe had dissipated, and he was on his own. Not literally (the band also featured local Cov bassist Karl Shale, former Swinging Cats member Toby Lyons on guitar and keys and, later, Teardrop Explodes drummer Gary Dwyer), but his new incarnation was going to have to stand or fall on…

Gorillaz The Mountain Kong KONG 001 (CD, 2LP) Are “demon days” here again? With its Dennis Hopperfeaturing opener, the ninth Gorillaz album recalls Fire Coming Out Of The Monkey's Head, the cherished opener from 2005's Demon Days. Cynics might suggest that, following recent anniversary gigs honouring 25 years of cross-genre ‘toon-pop mischief, Gorillaz's road ahead is running short. But as The Mountain unfolds, a more forward-looking picture emerges. If Gorillaz albums are variably distinguished by their conceptualism, maximalism or Damon Albarnisms, The Mountain stands out by integrating all options. The record is inspired by the death of Albarn's father, an artist with a love of Hindu art and Ravi Shankar, whose daughter Anoushka's sitar provides connective family tissue here; Albarn scattered his dad's ashes in Varanasi. Fellow Gorillaz auteur Jamie…

The Cure: The Show Of A Lost World Cinemas Peerless veterans play for today… In the wait for The Cure's Songs Of A Lost World tour proper, this era-spanning gig film is an expansive stop-gap treat for the many who couldn't get into the album launch show. Recorded at London's relatively intimate Troxy in November 2024 and directed to glistening effect, the 31-track set captures practically all faces of The Cure: old and new, spry and solemn, pop and goth, and yet always unmistakeably themselves. Stormy weather sounds herald a run-through of Songs…, which summons a stirring and often moving stature before the lucky assembled 3,100-ish. As five Disintegration entries tower over the vintage songs main set and the encore cherrypicks five Seventeen Seconds classics, rhyming images join the dots;…

This month: Arthur Lee's Love – The Garage, Highbury, 3 June 1994 We'd driven up to London and were in a pub, early evening. I looked down the road and I said, “There's Arthur Lee!” And so it was, the great man walking up the road and, yes, coming into the pub, with a “minder” who quickly sloped off. No one knew who he was; so, he sat at the bar, looking, I have to say, a bit bereft. I did what any RC reader would do (admit it, you would): I nervously went up to him and said how much I loved his music blah blah blah, shook his hand and asked for his autograph (see picture). Arthur had clearly been through this scenario a million times, but he…

At RC Towers, we envision news music from Muse, Lady Gaga, Black Sabbath's Geezer Butler, Alex Van Valen & Toto's Steve Lukather, Foals, Asinhell, Lou Gramm, Alice In Chains, Christina Aguilera, Graham Bonnet, Sturgill Simpson, The Black Crowes, At The Gates, Bruno Mars, Black Label Society, Maddie & Tae's Maddie Font, Withering Scorn, Stone Temple Pilots’ Robert DeLeo, Shinedown, Nine Inch Nails, Deep Purple's Ian Paice, Bullet For My Valentine, Leona Lewis, Flea, Chthonic, Haken, Incubus, ex-Little Mix's Jade, Limp Bizkit, Primus, Firewind's Gus G (two), Post Malone (two), PJ Harvey (and book), Lions At The Gate (on Reigning Phoenix), Truly (with ex-Soundgarden's Hiro Yamamoto, ex-Screaming Trees’ Mark Pickerel), Bad Brains (Trust), Galahad, plus Nothing Is Written, Seas Of Change LPs (Oskar), a Megadeth live album; Rupert Holmes’ Paul Anka…

In January, the Grammy Museum, Cleveland, Mississippi, unveiled The Killer, The Preacher And The Cowboy: The Legacies Of Jerry Lee Lewis, Jimmy Swaggart And Mickey Gilley exhibition on the three cousins, including personal items. • The Fab 4 VIP Experience is held on 30 January, 27 February and 27 March at The Beatles Story, Brittania Vaults, Royal Albert Dock, Liverpool, including sitting behind Ringo Starr's drum kit, looking through John Lennon's glasses and holding George Harrison's guitar and Brian Epstein's briefcase. See beatlesstory.com.…

On 31 December, the BPI unveiled its latest study of the state of the UK recorded music market. Some 210.3 million albums and equivalent streams were sold during the year, with an overall growth of 4.9 per cent over 2025, physical format sales up overall by 1.4 per cent. For the 18th year in a row, vinyl sales were on the rise, increasing by 13.3 per cent year-on-year to 7.6 million units, while CDs fell 7.6 per cent to 9.7 million units. The UK Entertainment Retail Association added on 6 January that UK entertainment sector sales revenues of physical music formats for 2025 increased by 11.5 per cent year-on-year to £368.1 million. Vinyl sales were up 18 per cent to £232.2 million, while CDs fell 1 per cent to £125…

Joe Geesin is an Environmental Health Technical Officer, currently living in Worcestershire. When he's not advising planning applications or overseeing a new tank installation, he keeps busy compiling discographies for Record Collector. In fact, he has been a contributor to the magazine for over 35 years (including a short stint editing the Rare Record Price Guide in 2000). During the 90s he also ran fan clubs for Cozy Powell, Samson and Nazareth. Son of musician Ron Geesin (best known for Pink Floyd's Atom Heart Mother), he has also interviewed the likes of Ian Gillan, Christopher Lee, Cozy Powell, John Kay, Saxon and Pink Floyd's Nick Mason for RC. What do you collect, and why? Largely blues rock and classic rock, from the mid-60s onwards, but a variety of things. Whatever…

No 58: Redcar Coatham Bowl It wasn't enough that the small seaside resort of Redcar on the North East coast should have one iconic venue; it boasted two. When the Redcar Jazz Club (see Vintage Venue No 57, RC 576) closed its doors after 15 years, the local council took over a derelict ten-pin bowling alley to create the Coatham Bowl, later called Redcar Bowl. The Bowl's importance can be measured by noting that while the legendary Jazz Club ran for approximately 15 years, the Bowl's doors were open for 40 years, from 1974 to 2014. The list of stars who played the Coatham Bowl is extensive. Ozzy Osborne, Iggy Pop, Whitesnake, Chris Rea, Raven, Gillan, Frankie Miller, Iron Maiden, Slade, Saxon, The B-52's, Darts, The Kinks and Cockney Rebel…

Now includes Whole Love Of Lots CONTACTS ANDERSON & GARLAND: Tel 0191 430 3000; www.andersonandgarland.com DISCOGS: www.discogs.com EBAY: www.ebay.co.uk HARPER FIELD: Tel 01453 873800; www.harperfield.co.uk HERITAGE AUCTIONS: Tel 001 214 528 3500; www.ha.com GOTTA HAVE ROCK AND ROLL: www.gottahaverockandroll.com; 001 212 750 7900 POPSIKE: www.popsike.com Send your Most Wanted suggestions to paulrigby@theaudiophileman.com…

PAUL GILBERT Ex-Racer X guitarist on his new solo turn Tell us about your latest project. WROC stands for Washington's Rules Of Civility, which is where I got all the lyrics. The original book was written in 1595 by French Jesuit scholars. George Washington copied their rules as a penmanship exercise as a schoolboy. I chose my favourites and turned them into WROC songs! Who'd you like to remix? Racer X's Second Heat. We recorded it in 1987, so the fashion was tons of reverb on the snare drum, and to double all the rhythm guitars. Since there were two guitarists, that meant four tracks of rhythm guitar. I'd love to remix it and pull some of those doubled guitars out, and make the drums sound more natural. What was…

As the UK basked in its hottest summer in almost a century - sweltering temperatures and hosepipe bans the order of the day – it seemed even the climate was submissive to the inexorable momentum of reggae music. Meanwhile, it was election year in Jamaica and in a fraught campaign marked by political assassinations and gang violence, there was a landslide victory for Michael Manley's left-leaning People's National Party (PNP), a result which reflected the growing appetite for social change, much of which was harnessed in the Rastafari movement, integral to so much of the music made at the time. Little more than a decade earlier, no one suspected what might emerge from the Jamaican calypso chrysalis. The British public got its first taste of ska via Millie Small's 1964…

Coming out of the DIY spirit of late 70s punk and left wing politics, Au Pairs – singer/guitarist Lesley Woods, guitarist Paul Foad, drummer Pete Hammond, and bassist Jane Munro – formed in Birmingham in 1978 and blazed a trail with their 1979 debut single, You, and the following year's first album, Playing With A Different Sex. Its visceral songs about sexual equality and torture regimes still resonate today. Their second album, Sense And Sensuality, followed in 1982, by which time they'd played New York with Gang Of Four and Berlin with The Slits and The Modettes. Munro left in 1983 and a third album produced by Steve Lillywhite was mooted not long after, but the group split. Lesley Woods went on to front the all-female outfit, The Darlings, and…

During a rapturously received show at London's Cadogan Hall last spring (May ‘25), China Crisis’ Gary Daly joked about playing outdoor 80s pop festivals, often billed below bands of arguably inferior quality. “Still,” he chirped to an understanding audience, “you know you're at an 80s festival when you hear the opening bars of King In A Catholic Style drifting over the fields.” Many maintain that China Crisis, founded by Daly and schoolmate Eddie Lundon in Kirkby, Merseyside in 1979, were the most underrated band of their generation. Superficially, the boyish-looking pair fitted the early 80s electro zeitgeist, with catchy hooks and a disdain for rockist posturing. Today, their biggest singles – Christian, Wishful Thinking, Black Man Ray and the aforementioned King In A Catholic Style - set the head spinning…

Talk Talk Spirit Of Eden (Half Speed Master) Parlophone 502173 2635679 (LP) “Really, Spirit Of Eden is a collage of hundreds of sounds, but it sounds like five or six people,” Phill Brown told Mark Hollis’ biographer Ben Wardle for the author's 2022 book A Perfect Silence. Brown was the engineer on the landmark release which saw Talk Talk shed their synth-pop roots to take one of popular music's most spectacular introspective left-turns. The broader context for Spirit Of Eden is important. Hollis & his bandmates had for far too long been on the outside looking in, able neither to compete with the commercial success of contemporaries like Duran Duran, nor to establish themselves as credible and respected artists. The tide began to turn with 1986's The Colour Of Spring.…

Yes Tales From Topographic Oceans WSM 603497811458 (12CD, 2LP/BD) Forever Exhibit ‘A’ in the case for “Why Punk Had To Happen”, Tales From Topographic Oceans, the double album released by Yes in December 1973, not only demonstrated the polarity of the UK album and the singles charts that year (it was No 1 while Slade were stars on 45) but it was also the view from the summit of prog's K2. How could a band like Yes go within five years from a gentle, pop and R&B band with classical overtones to releasing an often-impenetrable double set with one tune a side, with titles such as The Revealing Science Of God (Dance Of The Dawn)? Add to that stories of turning the studio into a farm for recording and it…

Nancy Sinatra - How Does That Grab You? (Reprise 6207 LP, 1966) £40 Boots is more in abundance, though decent copies of her Hazlewood-produced follow-up from 1966 are harder to find. The loungey The Shadow Of Your Smile is delectable, while her version of Bang Bang features some atmospheric tremolo guitar from Billy Strange, outranking Cher's version from Tarantino's Kill Bill. Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazelwood - Some Velvet Morning (Reprise RS 23215, 7”, 1967) £25 Copies of this influential single with a generic sleeve go for a reasonable price in mint condition, which is little surprise given how gorgeous it is. Lee's rich baritone collides with Nancy's ghostly 3/4, traversing each other like different songs that belong together. Tony Rome, a big band Hazlewood composition sung by Nancy, sits…

Glenn Tilbrook on telling stories, 10cc and teenage licks. Why have you and Chris sat on these songs for half a century? What prompted you to dig them out of the vaults now? The simple answer is there never seemed to be enough time to work on them properly, to flesh them out from what was on the fairly basic tapes. Also, after we did the last album [The Knowledge] eight years ago and it didn't make much of a mark, a friend of mine said we were only likely to grab people's interest with a new record if there was a story attached to it. We needed to come up with something other than just another bunch of Squeeze songs. Presumably, you were both too young to frequent a…

Mitski Nothing's About To Happen To Me Dead Oceans DOC 450 (CD, LP) A new Mitski album shouldn't be taken for granted. The Japanese-American singersongwriter's cathartic fifth album, 2018's Be The Cowboy, brought with it an intense level of attention. The following year, she decided to quit music, before realising she owed her label another album. Laurel Hell (2022) was the 80s electro-pop fall-out, flirting with the mainstream while sounding horrified by what that might entail. She asked her devoted fanbase not to film her performances and retreated from view at the end of the tour. Early retirement looked, once again, on the cards. The following year's The Land Is Inhospitable And So Are We arrived out of the blue with an accompanying statement (“I recognised that I really want…

Roxy Music Love Is The Drug (50th Anniversary) UMR / 7861693 (12”) Five decades after its release, Love Is The Drug still sounds astonishingly current. It needs no reiteration that Roxy Music recorded the kind of interesting pop songs that indie artists and charting superstars continue to wish they could assemble for themselves. Naturally there is a difficulty in remixing something that landed so perfectly in the first place and remains fresh to this day. Following the original version is a disco mix by Todd Terje who has isolated and elongated certain sections. In the dub tradition, the vocals are given a muffling so it's a bit like hearing the original while lying underwater in the bath. Next up, Greg Wilson gives the track an unnecessary extension. If you like…

Atomic Rooster February (19) Aberdeen Drummonds (20) Paisley Bungalow (21) Kinross Backstage (22) Barnoldswick Music & Arts Centre (23) London Putney Half Moon (24) Folkestone Speedway (25) St Leonard's Piper (26) Blackpool Waterloo (27) Hull Wrecking Ball March (1) Liverpool Cavern Club (12) Derby Flowerpot (25) Sheffield Greystones (28) Crumlin Patriot Alter Bridge February (25) Newcastle Utilita Arena (26) Manchester AO Arena March (2) Glasgow OVO Hydro (4) London Greenwich O2 (5) Nottingham Motorpoint Arena Florence + The Machine February (6) Belfast SSE Arena (8) Birmingham BP Pulse Live (9) Glasgow OVO Hydro (11) Newcastle Utilita Arena (13) Liverpool M&S Bank Arena (14) Sheffield Utilita Arena (16-17) London Greenwich O2 (20) Manchester Co-op Live The Fratellis February (5) Nottingham Rock City (6) Cardiff Great Hall (7) London Hammersmith Eventim Apollo…

This month: Wally Badarou You might have never heard the name Wally Badarou before, but the Franco-Beninese synth prodigy has undoubtedly played on some of your favourite records. His credits stretch back as far as the late 70s, so you may be surprised to learn that he's a relatively spritely 70 years young. “I was a child,” he tells RC, talking from his home in Paris as he reminisces about those early days, keenly arriving at recording studios with a Korg under his arm. Badarou's big break came when he was invited by the bass player, Julian Scott, to work with his brother Robin, who was working at Barclay Records at the time and had some ideas for a profitable sideline. The resulting track Badarou played on – M's Pop…

This month: Les Hobeaux At the height of the skiffle craze in 1957, there were estimated to be between 40,000 and 50,000 combos performing throughout the UK. Most were a flash in the pan but one group worth mentioning are Les Hobeaux; almost as much for the originality of their name as their take on the music. Formed in the summer of 1957 by 17-year-old Les Bennetts, an accomplished guitarist who was then a student at London Polytechnic, they regularly played the West End and won the International Skiffle Competition at the ‘57 Soho Fair. The group were no slouches when it came to self-promotion and often sported hand-knitted jumpers bearing their name, intersected by a treble clef, and appeared twice on Six Five Special throughout the year. When busking…

Shane Fenton I'm A Moody Guy (Parlophone 45R 4827, 7”, UK, 1961) £5 The first single I bought [by the future Alvin Stardust]. I sent my mum out to get it because I was too young: five-and-a-half, six years old. It was the first song that really grabbed me. And having one record and the use of your mum and dad's record player, that one record got so much play. Every note of it is indelibly printed on my brain. And the B-side, Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue. The Damned used to tour with Lemmy occasionally. He knew every word of that song as well, so we'd sing it in the dressing room backstage together. Small Faces Tin Soldier (Immediate IM 062, 7”, UK, 1967) £15 I used to…