On 20th September, the first in a series of 5 Super Weird Happenings takes place in Manchester at Gorilla on Whitworth Street, promoted via my multi-media outlet Super Weird Substance in conjunction with El Diablo’s Social Club who’ve been running their influential club nights in the city for many a moon.
Double Trouble / Rammellzee & Shockdell / Rock Steady Crew / Grandmixer D.ST
From ‘Wild Style’ 1982
John Robb, my old friend and musical ally (I produced a couple of tracks for his band of the time, Sensuround, back in the early ’90s), blogged his views at Louder Than War a few days ago regarding Paul McCartney’s stuttering appearance at the Olympic opening ceremony last week. Like myself, John holds The Beatles in the highest regard, so I was interested to hear his take on things. He’d formulated his article as ‘An Open Letter To Paul McCartney And The Elder Statesmen Of Pop’:
http://louderthanwar.com/an-open-letter-to-paul-mccartney-and-the-elder-statesmen-of-pop/
Ravi Shankar ‘Dhun (Dadra And Fast Teental)’
From ‘Monterey Pop’ 1967
One of the sassiest sights of the early ’70s has to be the sheer dynamism of the force of nature that is Tina Turner, with backing singers / dancers, The Ikettes, as they raunchily strutted their stuff on stage to what was the signature song back then for the Ike & Tina Turner Revue – their showstopping rendition of ‘Proud Mary’. I came across this wonderful performance footage of the song on YouTube the other day – not sure where it’s from (looks European), or what year, but it’s a stunning example of one of the greatest live acts of the era kickin’ it up, as outlined in the spoken intro of the song, ‘nice and rough’. Forget all the talent show impersonations – this is the raw-assed real deal:
Loving this performance by Kiwi artist, Kimbra at this year’s SXSW (South By Southwest) music festival / conference in Austin, Texas. It’s a joy to see someone pushing the envelope within the Pop arena – helping reclaim it as a means of innovation rather than, more often than not these days, pale / stale imitation.
ARTIST: TALKING HEADS
ALBUM: STOP MAKING SENSE
LABEL: SIRE
YEAR: 1984 (SPECIAL NEW EDITION 1999)
This Sunday (June 3rd) at 9pm, you’re invited to share a listening session with some likeminded souls, wherever you might be. This can be experienced either alone or communally, and you don’t need to leave the comfort of your own home to participate. Full lowdown here:
https://blog.gregwilson.co.uk/2010/06/living-to-music/
One of the greatest bass guitarists in the history of black music, Memphis born Donald ‘Duck’ Dunn, died in his sleep yesterday, following a gig the previous night with Steve Cropper and Eddie Floyd at Tokyo’s Blue Note nightclub.
Just a few days after I’d mentioned one of my favourite piano pieces, Debussy’s ‘Clair De Lune’ (in the Hazy Cosmic Jive blog), I caught a great half hour programme on Radio 4 about another – Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5, aka ‘The Emperor’, which includes the awe-inspiring second movement (Adagio). This was broadcast as part of the stations ‘Soul Music’ series. My wife had heard it a few days earlier and was raving about it, so it was bonus beats when it came on again whilst I was driving back from London.
Recent Comments