I originally became aware of Fleetwood Mac via their chart topping single 'Albatros' (1969), an almost ambient instrumental opus that had your senses surfing on an ethereal wave of sound - band founder Peter Green's hauntingly understated guitar a joy to behold.
Before I headed off on tour I pulled out my recently acquired copy of Bob Dylan's autobiography 'Chronicles: Volume One' (2004), which I'd specifically earmarked for this trip. However, on my connecting flight from Manchester to London I realised that rather than packing it in my hand baggage, as intended, I must have put in my suitcase, so, with my luggage checked through to Hong Kong, when I arrived at Heathrow I went into WH Smith to see if I could find something else to read on the journey. I was really looking forward to the Dylan book, so, when I saw it on the shelf I decided to get another copy, and pass the spare one on somewhere along the way.
There seems to have been a cluster of deaths since the New Year, the latest being Whitney Houston, one of the most successful female singers of all-time, who enjoyed phenomenal success during the second half of the 80’s and on through the 90’s. I was fortunate to hear her sing before she was famous. In 1984 I was at The Hippodrome in London for the DMC DJ Convention. One of the acts, brought over by her record company, Arista, was a young singer with a fascinating vocal pedigree - her mother was Cissy Houston, and Dionne and Dee Dee Warwick were her cousins, whilst her godmother was Aretha Franklin. She’d never released any records at this point, and this appearance, according to DMC founder Tony Prince, was a ‘world-first’.
Not the iconic one up on the balcony, but the initial side of stage location. This bit of history comes courtesy of Hewan Clarke, the original Haçienda DJ, who had to put up with what was one of the worst thought out DJ booths I’d ever come across, located in a separate room down some stairs to the side of the stage, with a narrow slit window enabling you to view little more than the feet of those outside in the club.
As host of US TV’s quintessential black / dance music show, Soul Train, Don Cornelius, who died today, aged 75, was an iconic black music figure. Everyone who was anyone in the Soul and Funk world appeared on the programme during its 70’s heyday. Film director Spike Lee would aptly describe it as an “urban music time capsule."
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