The Afterword

Musings on the byways of popular culture

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1974 and all that

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David Hepworth wrote a rather good article about Richard and Linda’s Thompson’s I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight in the New Statesman recently (apologies if someone has already posted the link). He’s right about two things. It’s an album that is absolutely still as magnificent as it was fifty years ago. And also -1974 – what a year! He mentions Court and Spark and Good Old Boys. So that’s three masterpieces for a start. But looking at the list of releases on Wikipedia there is classic after classic. To take just half a dozen that mean the world to me:

Veedon Fleece AND Its Too Late to Stop Now from The Man Pretzel Logic by The Dan Late for the Sky by Jackson Browne Fulfillingness First Finale by Steve Wonder. 461 Ocen Boulevard by Eric Clapton

But honestly I could have picked twenty more. I know there will be many other albums here which Afterworders will hold dear in their hearts. Fill your boots and advocate for the best.

https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/music/2024/05/revisiting-richard-linda-thompsons-folk-rock-masterpiece-bright-lights

The kiss.

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She was my mate’s girlfriend. That’s all there was to it. It wasn’t even worth thinking about. Was it. They’d been going out for nearly two years. When you’re 18, two years is a lifetime. A proper commitment. But she kept looking at me. And smiling.

The gig was hot and sweaty. We had worked our way to the front, gently easing people aside, asking, politely, if we could pass, and found ourselves right below The Singer. ‘We’ were about ten in number. A gang, before we understood what that meant. A band, literally. A bunch of close, close friends, family, brothers. A group that did everything together, went everywhere together. Without knowing it, I was about to rip this group, this band, apart.

My mate couldn’t make it, that night. He had an exam the next day, at college, and had decided that he needed to do some revision. The rest of us went to the gig, arranging to meet him in the pub afterwards. The gig was at the local Uni. We got into the Student Bar, as usual, even though none of us were Uni students. It’s not what you know….. The bar had that sweet smell » Continue Reading.

Rock And Roll Perfection In 1974

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Homer Simpson said, “Everyone knows Rock & Roll attained perfection in 1974. It’s a scientific fact.”

Of course, it’s a gag. The trope that 1974 was a terrible year for Rock is as prevalent as 1971 is its peak and just as wrong. Let’s demonstrate that 1974 wasn’t as bad as it’s made out to be and that Homer could be right.

As a first witness, I call Steely Dan. They may have sacked the band for Pretzel Logic but, my, it’s a wonderful record. More than that, it is rock perfection.

As a taster, here is the closing track, Monkey In My Soul.