Title: Topographic Drama Label: Rhino During it’s 2016 tour, Yes played its 1980 album Drama in its entirety. The first time it had ever done such a thing. More than that,…
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Musical Ramblings
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We’re constantly told to buy bigger, better and more expensive to improve the sound of our hi-fi systems. But, what if removing things could do the same thing? What if taking…
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Do you ever frequent record fairs? They are wonderful places. There is nothing quite like being faced with a large room full of vinyl and CDs to get the collecting juices…
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It was famed group, Throbbing Gristle, that introduced the term ‘Industrial Music’ into the music firmament via their own Industrial Records label (which released LPs by outfits such as Clock DVA,…
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It’s horribly paternalistic and ‘Western’ to say this and also pushes aside hundreds of years of music history into a large corner but the electric guitar might just be the most…
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I have a problem with blues music. Not the genre, not the songs themselves, not the black originators or even their apprentices. I have a problem with European, white, ‘blue-eyed’, blues…
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Pop music. It’s a wonderful, wonderful thing. It can lift your spirits, divert your attention, provide a few valuable minutes of escapist fantasy and put a great big smile upon your…
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What’s that saying again? ‘If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again.’ It was apparently created by the Victorian educator, William Edward Hickson. If you are of an optimistic…
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I come over all ‘Grumpy Old Man’ whenever I see a Leaf Blower. The Leaf Blower has to be one of the most inefficient, downright wasteful and completely pointless instruments of…
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Eddie Shuler first tasted the business of music when he ran his own music store in the 40s in Louisiana, Lake Charles to be exact. He even served in that business…
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Musical RamblingsVocal Harmonies: Can I have a ‘Hell fried cuck-a-lucka wanna jubba’ to go, please?
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I do like the combination and amalgamation of a number of voices that emerge as a harmony. There is something quite magical…
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I don’t intend to patronise but I do feel sorry for Keef Hartley and his band. “Keef, who?” you ask. Well, exactly. The Rolling Stones’ Mr Richards is not the only ‘Keef’…
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As a singer, it’s all very well being the one that the crowd adores, screams at, triggers tears of joy and yearning. I’m sure it’s rather nice to be recognised in…
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You know, age is a weird thing. Getting old, which is a subtly but arguably more important difference, is weirder still. I’m 52 which, these days, is not old at all.…
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When accruing music in whatever format, do you describe yourself as a collector, a completist or one step away from the edge of insanity? Paul Rigby tries to recognise the signs,…
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It might come as a bit of shock to some of you but I’m a journalist. There’s a traditional association with the job that assumes that journalists are in love with…
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What makes a top notch compilation? I don’t mean the ten-a-penny jobs you see in bargain bins which take all of five minutes and two button presses to create but the…
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Do you remember the ITV, terrestrial TV talent show, Popstars? I was prompted to recall the series, which was broadcast around 2001, by former hopeful, Myleene Klass’ toothy grin, plastered all over…
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It was a concept album…kinda. Possible life on the moon? Well, before we (‘we’ as humans, that is) actually landed there, it was a question that was broached on a regular…
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Never judge a CD by its cover. Put together by music maverick, Kim Fowley, in Los Angeles around 1975, The Runaways were a girl band featuring Joan Jett, Sandy West, Lita…
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I must admit that I don’t really watch too much regular TV. I don’t follow the soaps et al. I’m too busy doing other things. What I do watch is normally your…
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Don’t you find it interesting how one person can influence another? If you look over the history of music, for example, you will see a complex spider’s web of links and…
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It’s odd, isn’t it? We strive to be different and yet we end up being the same. The older I get the more like my dad I become. I laugh and…
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One of the joys of collecting music, on all formats, is its archaeological aspect and how seemingly stand-alone bands and artists are, in fact, connected to each other in a complex…
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Language is such a powerful force. It can evoke emotion and memories and can lift you from your chair into action. A truly magical thing. Memories? I noticed that my 14-year-old son is voicing his approval…
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My musical education took place by my mother’s side, sitting in front of the TV, watching classic films. She was devoted to the things and is currently a walking encyclopaedia on…