What does it sound like?: It’s 1974 and my best buddy, and indeed the only other boy my age in my village was a big TYA fan. And so by default was I. Although if pressured … [Read More...] about Cricklewood Green (2026) – Ten Years After
The Afterword
Musings on the byways of popular culture
Nights In
Laura Veirs – Temple Songs
What does it sound like?: I first became aware of Laura Veirs when Carbon Glacier was released over 20 years ago. If I’m honest, I heard one song on the radio, and bought the … [Read More...] about Laura Veirs – Temple Songs
Jay Farrar & Shannon McNally – Don’t Ya Take It Too Bad
What does it sound like?: It’s hard to believe but it’s over 30 years since Uncle Tupelo played their final gigs and broke up, mired in the bitterness between Jay Farrar and Jeff … [Read More...] about Jay Farrar & Shannon McNally – Don’t Ya Take It Too Bad
Hollywood Vampires – Live at the Montreux Jazz Festival 2088
What does it sound like?: Vanity project, supergroup or homage to fallen hell-raising friends? Maybe all of them. A drinking “club” that became a band in sobriety, founded by … [Read More...] about Hollywood Vampires – Live at the Montreux Jazz Festival 2088
Nights Out
Green Man 2026
Venue: Bannau Brycheiniog Date: 16/08/2026 Last Monday I was on my way back to Germany after a week in the Brecon Beacons/Bannau Brycheiniog with old friends from my university … [Read More...] about Green Man 2026
The Damned / Hollywood Vampires
Venue: Colchester Castle Park Date: 21/08/2026 I hadn’t intended to go to this gig, even though the main entrance is less than 5 minutes walk from my house. I wasn’t bothered … [Read More...] about The Damned / Hollywood Vampires
OMD’s Summer of Hits
Venue: Kunstrasen, Bonn Date: 14/08/2026 Kunstrasen is a hollowed-out piece of grassland like a shallow basin, just between the 40 floor headquarters of DHL and the river Rhine, … [Read More...] about OMD’s Summer of Hits
Tom Jones and Nike Rodgers & Chic
Venue: Chester Race Course Date: 14/08/2026 Nile Rodgers and Philip Bailey of Earth, Wind & Fire are responsible for more of my joyful listening pleasure than any other acts. … [Read More...] about Tom Jones and Nike Rodgers & Chic
Features
Sixty Years Of The Exciting Wilson Pickett
Tiggerlion on The Exciting Wilson Pickett released August 1966
The character of the artist directly impacts their work. Grace Jones’s personality is imprinted on Nightclubbing. Laura Nyro’s love of soul music generates the joy of Gonna Take A Miracle and Joan Armatrading is as gorgeous as its creator. Lee Perry’s strange obsession with sound, kindled by collie weed, begat Super Ape. Robert Wyatt’s experience and his odd view of life provide the unique flavour of Rock Bottom. Exaggerations and caricatures also abound. The grotesque, sexually abandoned Hoodoo Man is personified by Junior Wells. The Stones made a pact with the devil. George Clinton embraced aliens. Tom Waits rummaged around in a junk yard.
Wilson Pickett, by most metrics, was not a pleasant man. He was volatile, distant, explosive, reckless with guns, drugs and driving under influence, violent towards women, crude, coarse and deeply arrogant. The fourth of eleven children, he was subjected to unrelenting abuse at the hands of his mother. She threw anything within reach at him, once breaking his arm. He ran off with his dog to hide in the woods regularly, on one occasion for a whole week. As a small child, there was already a rage » Continue Reading.
Films
The Odyssey
Year: 2026 Director: Christopher Nolan The latest in Christopher Nolan’s one-man mission to Save Big Cinema, after Barbenheimer ruled summer 2023. Where better to go for another … [Read More...] about The Odyssey
Sirât
Year: 2026 Director: Oliver Laxe A dad and young son wander through a desert rave in Morocco, handing out a missing person pamphlet to anyone who will talk to them. It’s his … [Read More...] about Sirât
Depeche Mode – M
Year: 2025 Director: Fernando Frias Have you ever wandered into an Irish pub that’s so small it feels like an elderly relative’s lounge? It’s warm and welcoming but the close … [Read More...] about Depeche Mode – M
I Swear
Year: 2025 Director: Kirk Jones I had been looking forward to this film since seeing the trailer. The trailer made this film look very good indeed and I had a little bit of a … [Read More...] about I Swear
Reads
On Track – Bob Seger / The Beatles1967 – 1970 / Saga
Author:John van der Kiste, Andrew Wild & Alberto Bravin, Mike Wilson I have always had a soft spot for Bob Seger, there’s just something in the timbre of his voice that hits … [Read More...] about On Track – Bob Seger / The Beatles1967 – 1970 / Saga
Time & Tide: The Songs of Big Big Train.
Author:Andrew Wild and Dr. R Douglas Helvering Wow. At 540 pages, this weighty tome is a huge undertaking for both author and audience. Andrew Wild's research is both detailed and … [Read More...] about Time & Tide: The Songs of Big Big Train.
Can Nothing Save Us?
Author:Irvine Welsh Irvine Welsh turns his attention from social critique of working class Edinburgh to the surreal scorched neon backdrop of Las Vegas in this sweeping stansalone … [Read More...] about Can Nothing Save Us?
Sandy Denny A People’s History
Author:Georgia Rose Lucas As Richard Thompson said Sandy was “the most important singer of my generation, no one has come along to touch her since.” I should say the reason I … [Read More...] about Sandy Denny A People’s History
Noticeboard
Chris Spedding lymphoma crowdfunder
Late 60s/early 70s jazz-rock legend Chris Spedding - who went on to simpler music and bigger success after that - has non-Hogkin lumphoma. His family have started a crowdfunder to … [Read More...] about Chris Spedding lymphoma crowdfunder
An audience with Martin Carthy (of sorts), Cecil Sharp House
FREE -Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon 360 degree visual playback – Leicester – FREE
08/08/2026 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gj4WCIekzck I have two tickets for this going spare. Due to recovery from some minor surgery we are now unable to attend. Playback … [Read More...] about FREE -Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon 360 degree visual playback – Leicester – FREE
New video from The Long Version
My band The Long Version have had quite the six months, steadily gigging and plugging the album I mentioned a few months back. This album track is one of my songs - normally … [Read More...] about New video from The Long Version
Helen and The Neighbourhood Dogs – Anything That Moves
10/07/2026 Due to a happy confluence of events involving a redundancy payment, a subsequent tax rebate and the fee from a weekend’s stage managing at Maverick, I’ve been able to … [Read More...] about Helen and The Neighbourhood Dogs – Anything That Moves
A Tribute to Syd Barrett – Official 80th Anniversary Celebrations
10/10/2026 Well, this looks interesting... from the Cambridge Corn Exchange FB. "A Tribute to Syd Barrett - Official 80th Anniversary Celebrations - 10 October 2026 Syd Barrett … [Read More...] about A Tribute to Syd Barrett – Official 80th Anniversary Celebrations
