“Sorry mate, your playing’s great but the voice is well croaky and you can’t hit those high notes, can you? Next!”

Read an interview in a guitar mag some years back about a Beatles show in the West End where the bloke playing Paul, a right hander, had taught himself to play left handed. He’s now in a tribute band. That level o […]

Growing up with a peripatetic family, I discovered music through my parents’ small box of tapes. Much I thought rubbish at 6 (and I was right on most of them), but 20 Golden Greats on their giant headphones blew m […]

A lot of it, especially if you have to cross the Atlantic, is to do with economics. Many of my favourite US acts have gone on record that they just can’t afford to bring a band and all of the gear, extra hotel r […]

I still watched it with Peter Davison, but it felt like a real let down after TB and I moved to the more cynical Blake’s 7. After that I didn’t get to watch it as much thanks to being at boarding school, spa […]

I got hooked on the Tom Baker incarnation at the age of 6 and he’s still The Doctor to me*. Like any actor who plays James Bond should look like he can kill a man with his bare hands (Connery, Craig and Dalton y […]

I’ve got the DVD box. Disc 2 started glitching some time ago so I had to buy it to stream from the tax dodgers. Have also got the accompanying coffee table book. So ace it took me down a deep and expensive TP mine.

Was that tape ‘On The Road Again’? It was a doozy, introducing me to a bunch of lesser known acts.

We had Meera Syall. Choice lines: ‘I asked to be on the TV show – not this shit’ and ‘you can’t do this to me, I’m very nearly a national treasure’.

When I saw them at Wembley Arena (my first big gig) I was shocked at what a big echoey barn the place was. It took quite a while for my ears to attune to the ‘extra reverb’ the arena added and I’ve avoided arena […]

Thanks for that, I’ll be getting the Pretenders one. Their gig at the Palladium last year was unexpectedly outstanding – James Walbourne in particular is a worthy heir to the great Jimmy Honeyman-Scott.

Done!

Thanks for this review. For once, I might even buy a music autobiography in hardback as I can usually wait for the paperback, but Mike Campbell is different. He’s one of my very favourite guitarists , the e […]

That was my guess too.

What I’ve hated since I got into watching rugby at 12 (and football) is the defeats hurt far more and last far longer that any euphoria from the big wins. As a Welsh rugby fan, and Tottenham supporter, the last f […]

Like you Twang, my mother was adamant that I could read and write fluently before I started school. I could, but it would have been much harder than with my older sister, who has always been MENSA- level (I […]

That’s great artwork. If I was still commissioning illustration I’d be asking for contact details. Best of luck to her!

My first big gig. While it was great to see the classics, the sound put me off arenas for life. Would love to see Jon and the Geeks at Hammersmith.

I’ll be buying it, as his albums always have one or two outstanding songs. Southeastern was the high watermark and it doesn’t look like he’ll hit that standard again. Saw him and the 400 Unit last year and, while […]

There have been a few ‘last of’ deaths in recent weeks. Last member of The Band, last New York Doll and now last member of Badfinger. As you said Dai, possibly the saddest story in popular music. Some ghoul wil […]