Dave Amitri on Please Please Me

60 years ago tomorrow 22nd March 1963 The Beatles released their debut album Please Please Me. I’ve often said how I’ve only ever heard Rubber Soul out of the thirteen Beatles albums they finally made. Like everyone of my generation ( born in 1965) their ubiquity and hours of radio listening in the 70s means I know loads of their songs intimately. That said I’ve never actively chosen to listen to them so as their albums start their 60th anniversary sequence I thought why not? Also why not do it around the anniversary rather than one after the other over a year as I did with Bowie. I have no idea how this will go or even if we’ll all be around on 8th May 2030 but let’s give it a go.

So what do I know of 1963 and its popular music? A quick search of the 100 best sellers of the year shows The Beatles 1 and 2 as expected with Gerry and The Pacemakers hot on their heels. Cliff was already making movies having been a star for 5 years already which I still find extraordinary. The rest as expected. » Continue Reading.

Tiggerlion on Screaming Target by Big Youth

In 1973, Manley Augustus Buchanon, cut a spectacular figure on Lord Tippertone’s Sound System, and not just because of his prodigious height, the physical characteristic that gave him the nickname of Big Youth. His smile gleamed with red, green and gold bejeweled teeth. When he released his tam, his luxuriant, flowing dreadlocks would be greeted by a roar from the crowd. Rastafari was a fringe religion. Only outsiders sported dreadlocks. The Abyssinians were locksed but hardly any other Reggae act at the time. Of The Wailers, just Bunny had a set of locks. Bob was starting to grow his out. Dreadlocks were the mark of a rebel. Big Youth’s appearance made a clear statement and so did his verbal content. He found a new way to toast, breaking the deejay mould. Big Youth was more than an entertainer, he had a message to deliver. Not for him the standard bend-down-low, chick-a-bow. Most deejays presented a grandiloquent caricature of themselves, dominating the stage by force of an exaggerated personality. Big Youth remained true to himself. He brought roots consciousness to the dance party and he did it with wit, charm and panache, using the » Continue Reading.

Colin H on BBC sessions

I wrote the following as an introduction to the booklet for the 8CD set ‘Bert Jansch at the BBC’, which was released last year (with an edited version of this text therein). I thought it might be of interest to AWers / the world at large. The photo above – purely for convenience – is Bert Jansch and Peter Kirtley rehearsing for a BBC NI TV appearance in 1992, taken be me.

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BBC Sessions: A History

In the 1950s and 60s, any pop, folk or jazz artist in Britain was more likely to be heard on BBC radio, if at all, in the form of an exclusive session recorded for the corporation than in the form of a commercially released record. For the artist, these sessions were an opportunity to get their music heard; for the BBC, their function was to fill airtime, as long as they ticked the box of at least one of the aims of BBC founder Lord Reith: to educate, inform and entertain.

An audition panel existed to decide who was ‘entertaining’ enough to get through the door. Periodically, there would be press controversy when a virtuoso act was somehow » Continue Reading.

Dave Amitri on Venus and Mars

Here we are then. 6 months in already. Venus and Mars. This is part review, part duty and part admission of defeat. McCartney / Macca has broken me. When I did Bowie whether I liked the album or not I felt inspired, engaged, interested. A pub rock night out, an early 70s episode of Top Of The Pops, or a late night radio show in 1979. The responses were fascinating, educational and enthusiastic. Not here.

I have a new appreciation of Paul McCartney but I find his story far more interesting than his music. Maybe it’s telling that I found Wild Life so good yet the rest peaked at nice. One listen to Venus and Mars and I knew the game was up. I’ve listened again half a dozen times out of a sense of duty and any review that did form itself in my head was boring me so I didn’t want to inflict it on you all.

The title track was promising but too short why the reprise? Just do the bloody song man. Then there was a collection of songs that melded into one. Love In Song has moments. You » Continue Reading.

Dave Amitri on Band On The Run

Earlier this week I watched a clip of Paul McCartney during the recent Get Back film. He was working on The Long and Winding Road. Not only does he look amazing, beard and hair just perfect, he looks in complete control. For a moment it’s not The Beatles it’s just McCartney. There’s a look on Ringo’s face of pure wonder as Paul brings that melody and vocal together almost effortlessly. I began listening to Band On The Run after this with renewed vigour, seeing McCartney as maybe others do. Was it a mistake to take on McCartney before really investigating The Beatles? This I’ve been assured is Wings finest moment and it escapes Macca’s whimsy blight ( ©️ @H-P-Saucecraft ) so it was all set up perfectly for what came next. Less Macca more McCartney is what I’m after and with only Wildlife really hitting the spot so far I needed a big album free from whimsy blight.

Band On The Run is a big song, it’s a monster. Of course, I knew it before this but I’ve only properly listened now. I’ve really learned to » Continue Reading.

Dave Amitri on Red Rose Speedway

September has been a strange month so far. My mum passed away in August and her funeral was on the 8th September. We were sat having a beer and a sandwich at my brother’s house as the news filtered through that The Queen had died. Why is that relevant to this, my fourth McCartney / Wings album Red Rose Speedway? Well, I’d been listening to the album and trying to find an angle but nothing came. It was all very nice, pleasant, middle of the road, radio friendly fare. Then as I was thinking about Mum and my childhood it hit me. The whole album reminded me of a day off school in 1973 when I was seven. Following mum round the kitchen as she did her chores while listening to Terry Wogan, Pete Murray and Jimmy young on Radio 2. I don’t claim to remember the songs that were being played but I remember the style and mood and Red Rose Speedway sits firmly in its midst. Very nice, pleasant, middle of the road, radio friendly fare.

I feel the need to address the cover at this point. Wild Life had a » Continue Reading.

Twang on Nicky Hopkins

FROM THE COLLEGE OF ROCK N ROLL KNOWLEDGE FACEBOOK PAGE.

Nicky Hopkins is probably the most famous musician that many of you have never heard of. We are remembering him today as it was on Sept. 6, 1994 that we lost him.

Nicky Hopkins was an English pianist and organist. Hopkins recorded and performed on many notable British and American pop and rock music releases from the 1960’s through the 1990’s.

He suffered from Crohn’s disease from his youth. Poor health and ongoing surgery made it difficult for him to tour. His frail health led him to concentrate on working as a session musician instead of joining bands, although he left his mark performing with a wide variety of famous bands, including the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin.

He quickly became one of London’s most in-demand session pianists and performed on many hit recordings from this period including albums and singles by the Easybeats, The Kinks, the Pretty Things, The Move and The Who.

In 1967 he joined the Jeff Beck Group, playing on the LPs “Truth” and “Beck-Ola.”

The following year, he recorded “Beggars Banquet” with The Rolling Stones, having previously worked for them on » Continue Reading.

Dave Amitri on Wild Life

Dave Amitri on Ram

I had to dig deep for the enthusiasm to listen to Ram and the first couple of listens left me preparing a review along the lines of. “I’ve tried, I can’t be bothered, you lot can discuss it amongst yourselves”. Now some of you may have preferred that but unfortunately for you all, I persevered. That perseverance led me to discover something I’ve grown to quite like. Who knows if that will grow into something I love? I think in parts it’s possible but not the whole thing I’m afraid. Parts reminded me of why I’ve always struggled with the idea of Paul McCartney. It’s a bit twee, a bit trying to be too clever, a bit smug, in parts almost embarrassing and then, then he pulls something out of the bag that’s simple, melodic and beautiful. Leaving me wondering why he doesn’t just calm down a bit and leave out some of the other stuff that detracts from his clear, even to an idiot like me, enormous talent for song writing. Whereas Bowie’s occasional over theatrics put my teeth on edge it’s McCartney’s metaphorical wink to camera that says “see how clever I am” that » Continue Reading.

Colin H on Bert Jansch at the BBC

The following information was prepared for possible inclusion in the ‘Bert Jansch at the BBC’ box set, but not used. It is gathered from the BBC Written Records Centre, the BBC audio licensing database, communications with several current and past producers, BBC transcription discs, listings in Radio Times and references in other period newspapers, surviving off-air recordings, off-air notes made by listeners at the time and anecdotal evidence. With the caveat that someone somewhere probably recalls hearing Bert on this or that regional BBC station at some point in the 1980s, 90s or 00s, it represents – with one caveat – all that can now be known about Bert’s many performing appearances on BBC radio and television. The caveat is that research at Caversham was not completed before the Covid-19 lockdown. Consequently, there are several instances of missing ‘songs played’ information that would have been retrievable from programme-as-broadcast microfiche – a task for some ardent fan in the future.

CONTINUES IN COMMENTS…

Tiggerlion on Super Fly released 11/07/1972

The term ‘blaxploitation’ was coined to describe the controversy over the movie Super Fly. It follows the story of four black cocaine dealers operating in Harlem. Youngblood Priest wants one last big pay-off so he can retire, partner Eddie wants to continue enjoying the lifestyle, mentor Scatter has already gone legit but is asked to take one last risk for his protégé and Fat Freddie is the unfortunate stooge. The film is overflowing with black pushers, pimps, gangsters and macho men. As Ed Guerrero said, “Super Fly came to be the main target of collective fury and the prime example of degenerate black images on film.” Even worse, because it was distributed by Warner Brothers and produced by a white man, Sigissmund Shore, it was assumed to be yet another example of a white corporation exploiting black audiences both financially and culturally. Renée Ward’s verdict was blunt: “Black films, white profits.”

However, Super Fly is a landmark in black film-making. It was made independently with autonomous creative control, only being ‘shopped’ to Warner Brothers after completion. It was written by Phillip Fenty, an advertising executive from Cleveland. The director, Gordon Parks Jr., whose father, » Continue Reading.

Dave Amitri on McCartney

As this is the first of my looks into the post Beatles career of Paul McCartney and just in case anyone wasn’t sure, I need to disclose some truths about me and the fab four. I know so many of their songs through radio, TV and some form of weird osmosis from being born in 1965. It must have meant that without ever really being aware their songs seeped into my memory. Probably but unfortunately through an unbreakable connection with Saville and his Sunday lunchtime Pick Of The Pops show which the whole family listened to while mum cooked a roast. Regardless of the year he was looking back at there was probably a Beatles song at number one. Unless it was Engelbert Humperdinck which always made my mum very happy. Anyway, back to The Beatles. I couldn’t tell you for sure which songs Paul wrote. I can mostly guess which ones he’s singing. Also, I don’t know which album most of the songs come from unless they were on Rubber Soul. I listened to it for research purposes for a novel I’m trying to write. But that’s another story. Boom boom… Their ubiquity means they » Continue Reading.

Dave Amitri on Nick Cope

Some of you who are familiar with the 90s Oxford Music Scene may be aware of Nick Cope and his band The Candyskins. Some of you who are familiar with CBeebies the brilliant, free, yes free children’s programming may also be aware of Nick Cope. Others may not have a clue who Nick Cope is. My hope is that one day we will all know who Nick Cope is.

A year ago he meant nothing to me but for reasons I won’t enter into here CBeebies has entered my orbit and along with brilliant cartoons Dougee, Bing, Bluey, the omnipresent, wonderful Justin Fletcher (Mr Tumble) and the presenters auditioning for Strictly I’ve discovered Nick Cope’s Popcast which I’ve become a little bit obsessed with. It’s a collection of children’s songs written, performed and presented by Nick, who was once the vocalist in The Candyskins, his dog Norman and his “Popcasters”. I’ll come back to Popcast later to but first I decided to find out bit more about Nick and his story.

From Wikipedia

The Candyskins were an English rock band formed in 1989 in Oxford, England. Though early members of the ‘Oxford Scene’, » Continue Reading.

Dave Amitri on Roxy Music

Deciding to take on Roxy Music’s eponymous first album while making no decisions on the rest of their back catalogue was a bit of a punt. I know Virginia Plain, Love Is The Drug etc. I enjoyed their 80s smooth period but without the need to investigate further. Finding out Billy MacKenzie listened to the first album a lot plus all the chat here and across social media about their 50th anniversary convinced me to give Roxy Music a go. So I did.

I wondered about the band’s name so I decided to investigate the word Roxy.

As a girl’s name Roxy is a luminous girl’s name that is Persian in origin. It means “dawn,” “star,” and “bright,” a fortuitous meaning that signals the beginning of new and exciting adventures.

In the Urban Dictionary it tells me…

adj. sexy and swanky at the same time.

Well this is encouraging.

What about this album then? Simply put. It’s all of the above. How can I be listening to a fifty year old album? How can Bryan “dances like my Dad” Ferry be responsible for this? You all know the music, » Continue Reading.

Dave Amitri on Satellite Life

2022 marks 25 years since Billy MacKenzie died and is also the year in which he would have been 65 had he lived. To commemorate these landmarks Cherry Red are releasing a three CD box set, Satellite Life. It’s a collection of his solo work with curator, collaborator and friend Steve Aungle.

MacKenzie’s career can be broken down into three parts. The Associates with Alan Rankine. Youthful exuberance, experimentation and creativity fizzing from every release. Pushing the boundaries of what was possible musically and artistically. Then the post Alan Rankine Associates trying to be more mainstream to please the record companies working with the likes of Martyn Ware looking for the big hit and missing time and again despite some brilliant pop singles. Then his solo work collaborating with the likes of BEF, Paul Haig, Yello and Aungle. Again producing some absolute masterpieces but apparently commercially not viable. These three CDs cover the last part of that solo career during a particularly productive and creative period when Billy was working almost exclusively with Aungle. It also includes some collaborations with Dennis Wheatley and Laurence Jay Cedar.

Most of these songs can be found on » Continue Reading.