In any review of 2016 it is going to be a challenge to avoid mention of the mounting number of musicians who decided to shuffle off this mortal coil and, as Shakespeare or someone of that ilk put it, took… Read More ›
2016 may have been one of the most abysmal years in recent memory, beginning with David Bowie’s passing, continuing with the rise of nationalism and fascism across the world, and ending with my sitting down with the family to watch… Read More ›
It is something of a mystery, akin to that of why men have nipples, as to quite why Teenage Fanclub have not set the world alight in quite the same way as some lesser bands. From the moment Raymond McGinley… Read More ›
Wednesday 6th June 1962. 6pm. The first visit of The Beatles to the EMI Studios in Abbey Road. John, Paul, George and Pete were still unsigned, and their equipment was shabby: wooden unpainted amplifiers, generating as much noise – according… Read More ›
Home to the recordings of such seminal albums as David Bowie’s “Heroes”, U2’s “Achtung Baby”, and Depeche Mode’s “Black Celebration”, Hansa Studios in Berlin is one of the most famous and iconic recording studios in the world. During a recent… Read More ›
I heard a story today from a friend who lived in Crouch End in the ’80s and ’90s and played for a local rugby team. He swears it is true. Like most rugby teams they liked a beer and each… Read More ›
It all started with a conversation on Twitter. Actually it was more of a musing. And it wasn’t my idea either. No, it was music writer Pete Paphides who proclaimed suddenly: What I’d really love @BBCFOUR to do one Friday… Read More ›
It’s difficult to know where to start with the story of The Flaming Lips, but a good starting point is this van… Before we do that, however, there’s much to consider. We could mention the time Wayne Coyne’s enthusiasm for… Read More ›
The day came for us to finally resolve the question. Is it cheaper to buy vinyl online or in record shops and fairs? We had a couple of minor rules – we would try to buy a) Aretha Franklin’s Atlantic… Read More ›
Previously, we saw how “I Never Loved A Man” became a smash hit for Aretha Franklin. But what about those other LPs on Atlantic? Between 1967 and 1972 Aretha Franklin released eight studio albums, two live albums and a Greatest… Read More ›
Wilson Pickett moved towards Percy Sledge, ready to punch him, hard. Sledge had popped in during one of Pickett’s recording sessions at the Muscle Shoals Fame Studios, and as his name would suggest, began to sledge Pickett, telling him first… Read More ›
…and Why It Took Nine Albums To Score Aretha’s First Hit Aretha Franklin sat at a piano in her father’s church, just days after her mother’s death. She was just ten years old and about to make her first ever… Read More ›
A friend and I were debating who has had the longest consecutive run of classic albums in order to settle another argument. Which is cheaper? Buying records online or buying in shops? Our scientific method was to each buy the… Read More ›
I thought the answer to this question was self-evident. “It has to be cheaper buying from used record shops and record fairs.” I somewhat patronisingly advised a friend of mine. “Buying records online is more expensive. “eBay is a global… Read More ›
Chris Goss was driving through the Palm Desert in 1988, a couple of hours drive from LA, on his way to launching the career of one of rock’s most important figures of the next century. He just didn’t know it… Read More ›
