Two questions:
1. Who buys them?
2. Who are they bought for?

I can’t think that too many people who reckon the early 45s, “Pet Sounds,” “Smile,” “Holland” … frankly, anything remotely connected to the group … wou […]

Don’t laugh, those “The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Completely Miss The Point of …” albums (Buddy Holly, The Beach Boys, Roy Orbison, Elvis Presley etc.) shift a few copies, not that many, but probably enough t […]

My preferred Stones’ albums, the ones that girls liked – the first three, Between the Buttons, Satanic Majesties – are the polar opposite of those chosen by Rolling Stone magazine in 2020. Phew. You don’t know how […]

Probably not helped by the fact that what Johnson, Rees-Mogg et al know about any entertainment – sport, music, the theatre, cinema, art galleries – is the square root of Jack Shite.
Put simply, they couldn’t give […]

Taj Mahal at Kentish Town in about 1987 or 1988.
Charles Shaar Murray mentioned it in his (excellent) “Blues on CD” book.

The problem?
The appalling sound of a Fairlight thingy squeaking away in the background of […]

Nope.
90 mins takes us to 4.30.
Minimum 10 mins h-t.
Ref adds on 30 seconds for each of the now considerable substitutions (6 or so) and then there’s injury time at the end of each half (1 or 2 in the 1st half, 4 […]

Lucky to still have a (very minor) football match to go to tomorrow.

Went back to London this week to visit my mum, and to tell her next door neighbour, personally, quite how wonderful she and her family … e […]

Oh … and re: the 68 Hyde Park concert … it was free. Gratis. No charge.

I like sport. It has a start and an end.
Kick-off 3.00 p.m.; Umpire calls “play” at 11.00 a.m.
Football finishes at 4.55, cricket at 6.30.
You know where you are.

Gigs … hmm … always a problem for me, unless it’ […]

I don’t mind Danny Baker born 1957, cheeky chappie Cockney (he’d like that, being a Millwall fan) that he is, and I always listen to what he might say about pop music.

However, if he recommends I buy it, I […]

I think I better stick to the 60s!

As mentioned above, Joni Mitchell.
I too don’t really warm to her. I think she played at “demure” when actually she was more calculating and keen for stardom than Mick Jagger, […]

Although the Golden Age is significantly represented (including, mainly through compilations, Rock ‘n’ Roll – the music that The Beatles, The Stones and Dylan listened to, which is usually missing in lists of this […]

Isn’t your first thought with any such list (but especially an American one) to not go near any of them?

Zappa, Beefheart, Tim Buckley, Scott Walker, The Seeds, The Fugs, acts I hadn’t particularly thought of […]

No. 399 – I see Rolling Stone is still, bizarrely, sticking with “Brian Wilson Presents Smile” and not “Smile Sessions” by The Beach Boys.

Similarly, I suspect their “Basements Tapes” … 1975? … is not the s […]

Co-wrote “Under the Boardwalk,” I’d have thought a pension plan on its own, and a no. 1 single for the Rolling Stones in Australia.
Erm … I hum Clodagh Rodgers’ songs … oh, yes … “Biljo,” by Kenny Young, is catch […]

Re: Enjoy the suffering of others.

After the referendum I spoke to a number of people who were delighted with the thought that they’d be (and, to my mind just as importantly for them, everyone else would be) […]

I thought that he’d been pretty hands-on with that reissue programme 10-15 years ago? So if it’s not all that …

This sounds brilliant, Colin, I’ll listen to it straight away.
If I’d been my preferred age c. 1970 (i.e. John, Paul or George’s age) I would definitely have gone down this route rather than rawwwkkk. This and, […]

… and to make the move towards these more stringent measures for the Golden Agers, the under-70s are not allowed to go anywhere near a recording studio.

Win-win for everyone, I’d have thought.

A Them b-side’ll never let you down … Van, however …

It’s enough to make me not be tempted to buy any of the next 50 Van Morrison CDs priced from 50p-£1, which I’ve never been tempted enough to buy anyw […]