Isn’t this the premise of Goodnight Sweetheart?

Lou Reed on the Magic and Loss Tour of 1991. As we took out seats at the Hammy Odeon (as it was) an announcement came over the PA: ‘Ladies and Gentlemen – please note that Lou Reed and his band will be playing the […]

Been there. Last year, as part of a day-long ‘open house’ music fest in a market town, I signed up for a solo gig to break the monotony of when my band wasn’t playing two other gigs.

It was a ‘sports’ bar, an I […]

You got there before me – I was going to post the same clip. I love the bits where Geddy and Alex give each other little looks, as if to say ‘can you believe this lot?’

South American crowds are properly mental […]

A real shocker – I didn’t know he was ill. Every time his name was announced for the News Quiz or I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue, I’d mentally plump a cushion and smile – I’d be in for a good half hour. I loved the […]

Hi Mickey. I was at that Borderline gig. One of my top 5 shows.

Some many great memories: The ‘Mints starting with the Monkees’ Porpoise Song, then straight into ‘…Greg Lake’, the cover of Todd’s ‘Couldn’t I […]

Women in power pop – that’s another thread in itself. I’d nominate Aimee Mann (especially the first two albums), the Bangles (but of course) and, for something more up-to-date, Anna Burch.

He’s a thoroughly good sort, isn’t he, old David? I recall he sold a house in London (checks: in 2002) and gave the money (£4.5M) to Crisis – a gesture only the very rich can do, granted, but not one many of them […]

Not hits exactly, because this is Grant Lee Buffalo, but I saw them in about 1993-4 at an instore in the small Marble Arch HMV. I was hoping for some of the ‘Fuzzy’ songs I loved, but instead, they played most of […]

I’m working from home today and made an iTunes playlist of this collection in full, bar the ‘completists’ track at the end. I’m a massive fan and it’s interesting to hear the songs in this order, but I’m more […]

I’m the same with a similar sounding band, Rival Sons – an EP given away with Classic Rock was fantastic, first couple of albums proper were great, since then – diminishing returns for me. Saw them in a small club […]

The washing machines filled the gap where Geddy’s amps should be, as he had stopped using them onstage. It’s a (slight) visual gag as they’re roughly the same shape and size as bass cabs. Every so often a roadie […]

This is my favourite opening vid of theirs. Geddy and Alex have some serious comedy chops as well.

I loved it. Didn’t mind the use of strange angles/lenses, which I think added to the claustrophobic atmosphere of the court, and the Alice in Wonderland unpredictability of the Queen’s whims. All three leads were […]

That’s very sad. Remember him slagging off REM’s Monster in an early Mojo, and Peter Buck saying in an interview in the following issue ‘Mojo? I hear Cavanagh didn’t like the album’. In the same follow-up issue DC […]

I saw them very early on as a mate of a mate’s band in about 1998, bottom of the bill at the Bull and Gate in Kentish Town. Their influences were very apparent (Buckley, Radiohead) and they were very nerdy (Chris […]

What Dai says, for me. The albums may be patchy/downbeat/too challenging (delete to taste) but live this incarnation is unstoppable. Saw them last year in Brixton, after a horrible day/journey, ready for […]

To be fair, that IS the Revolution. Other bands the little feller had run them close (the NPG I saw – Mr Hayes, Barbarella, Seacer Jr, Bland, T, Mayte. But wish I’d seen the Revolution.

Wilco: current lineup have really come into their own:
Tweedy
Stirratt
Kotche
Cline
Jorgenson
Sansone

Plus, of course, the Ramones. Classic lineup for me is:
Ramone
Ramone
Ramone
Ramone : )

Great question. With a lot of the bands I wanted to be in growing up, I couldn’t replace that band member even in my mind, because they are/were so distinctive. Bass player in Yes, rhythm guitarist in the Stones, […]