This week it is David Bowie's 1970 (released in early 1971 in the UK) album The Man Who Sold The World This album was where the blueprint for his later incarnation as Ziggy Stardust can first be seen, not least because it is where the nucleus of the Spiders From Mars first comes together. The album was a real departure from what had come before as far as Bowie's music is concerned. The sound is heavy,...
As I got into a lot of trouble the last time I did people I will tighten up the list rules a little. A person on the list has to either 1. Been born in Hull or 2. They lived in Hull and their achievement was linked to the city. 1. William Wilberforce - led the parliamentary campaign to abolish the slave trade in the British empire. Also a founder member of the society for the prevention of cruelty...
Back in the hazy, crazy days of 1973, Scottish pop singer Lulu , who was by then past a string of Sixties hits including "To Sir With Love", the theme for a film in which she also appeared with Sidney Poitier and for which she was probably best known here in the States, gravitated into the orbit of David Bowie (she years later confessed to a fling, Bowie hasn't commented) and Mick Ronson...
This was a 7" Bowie single from 1973. "Sorrow" comes from Bowie's Pin-Ups LP, his album of cover versions from 1973. The song "Sorrow" was written by Bob Feldman, Jerry Goldstein, and Richard Gottehrer. It was first recorded by The McCoys and became a big hit in the United Kingdom in a version by The Merseys in 1966. Bowie's remake of "Sorrow" was the only single...
Spare us the meritocratic myths of X-Factor. We need to recapture the old spirit of Top of the Pops embodied There's one thing the BBC can do to win back a nation's shattered trust, and that's to bring back Top of the Pops. No auditions, no criticism, no profiteering from the hopeful efforts of the tone-deaf. Just lights, camera, action, pop. The X Factor and its ilk, which sell the myth of meritocracy...
Over at his MySpace, Joe Knight, aka San Francisco's Rangers, refers to his sound as "elevator psych." Clever, but not entirely accurate in this case. Rangers has a melancholic Twisted Village vibe to it, e.g. something more emotional than you'd expect in an elevator. (Think an updated, less jagged Luxurious Bags minus the star-shredding solos.) Knight's actual list of influences has a guitar-flavored...
We’re fucked. I was standing in the back of the Palladium, all jazzed up, when I realized something. Almost this ENTIRE SHOW was on hard drive! Let me paint a picture. Although we could get a spot in the parking lot no problem, the hall was pretty full. People were lining up to pay for balloon hats. [...]
I feel like Justin Theroux is becoming some kind of muse to the masses, gently introducing them to the offbeat and cool before moving onto something else. The majority of American moviegoers probably don't know his name, but they feel his influence. Someday, every man in America will start wearing fedoras again, and not really know why. The reason will be Theroux. But first, he plans to hook everyone...
Not many people out there in the world of music are probably familiar with the name Henry Cluney - but you may be aware of the punk band Stiff Little Fingers. Henry was one of the founder members of this band and was playing rebel music in Northern Ireland in the late 70's.
Here’s the latest batch of Music Musings and Miscellany’s unapologetically subjective selection of the twentieth century’s best 1000 singles. The end of the Rs. MODERN LOVERS – Roadrunner Once / Roadrunner Twice (Beserkley 1 1977) The rhythm’s straight out of the Neu motorik! handbook. The bass line is equally hypnotic. On top of it, Jonathan Richman’s [...]
The other day " Rock n' Roll Hoochie Coo " came on the radio, and I started thinking about a flash guitar mix. "Sleep That Burns" belongs on that, and something by Nils Lofgren. Picking the right Jeff Beck number would be an enjoyable pastime, and the right Mick Ronson...
Curious how the significant places of one's childhood that once seemed vast appear so much smaller when you visit them years later. Last night (Monday 5th October), the Hammersmith's Apollo looked minuscule compared with the days when it was called the Odeon and I queued all night to get front row tickets for David Bowie and his Spiders From Mars. Spider-in-Chief, blond bombshell and guitar supremo,...
Ziggy Stardust 1.0 Category: Music Price: $2.99 -> $0.99 ( iTunes ) Description: Immerse yourself in the world of David Bowie during his Ziggy Stardust period through this revolutionary interactive Limited Edition eBook and the photography of Mick Rock. Launching his career as David Bowie's official photographer, Mick is known as "The Man Who Shot the 70s" Download this eBook that traces...
When Echo and the Bunnymen released their first album, “Crocodiles” in 1980, they set a standard in post-punk that few bands were ever able to achieve. Surrounded by a slew of one-hit wonders, they put out four classic records in five years. Remarkably, every member of the original four is frequently cited as an influence [...]
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