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 90’s), 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.
As we enter 2012 I thought this would be the ideal Living To Music choice to kick off the year, especially given that the first Sunday in January is also the first day of a new year. This highly acclaimed and much-loved 1989 LP, which perfectly caught the mood of the times, provides us with the opportunity to re-visit the past, whilst looking ahead to the summer. When an announcement was made earlier this year, that The Stone Roses are to re-form for 2 shows at Manchester’s Heaton Park in June 2012 (with a 3rd later added), there was genuine intrigue and anticipation. This wasn’t a case of another comeback cash-in, but something more symbolic. If ever there was a band with unfinished business to accomplish, it’s The Stone Roses.
Stayed in a mad hotel last Friday, the Karim Rashid designed Nhow in Berlin. If you like pink, then this is the place for you – it’s literally everywhere. Not really my cup of tea, all a bit garish and, as someone put it ‘Barbie girl in a Barbie world’, but certainly somewhere you’re not going to forget in a hurry. Described as a ‘music and lifestyle hotel’, you can have guitars and keyboards delivered to your room, and the upper section of the building houses two recording studios, which are run by the company that manage Berlin’s legendary Hansa studio (best known for David Bowie and Iggy Pop’s patronage in 1977 - ‘Heroes’ and ‘Lust For Life’, both recorded there, and ‘Low’ and ‘The Idiot’ partly recorded).
“Launched on his 50th birthday, Greg Wilson compiles a celebratory selection of 7” singles from his formative years. Covering the 60’s through to the mid-70’s, when he started out as a fresh-faced 15 year old club DJ, these records embody the soundtrack of his youth. With running times of approximately 2 hours, the 12 individual monthly parts will conclude in a full day’s worth of music. Having only pre-determined the opening and closing tracks, Greg will select the rest as he goes along, moving in whatever direction his mood takes him at that given moment. The title, ‘Random Influences’, reflects this arbitrary approach”.
John Lennon Wikiquote: http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Lennon
It’s finally official - the world turns another notch: The Beatles are now available for the first time on the iTunes Store.
John Lennon would have been 70 years old today. […]
This Sunday (Oct 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.
Having enjoyed such an auspicious start, Living To Music is catching the imagination of an ever increasing amount of music lovers. Next up, on Sunday October 3rd at 9.00pm, it’s ‘Abbey Road’. I’d always had The Beatles in mind for the third session, it was just a matter of which LP. ‘Abbey Road’ (the final one they recorded, but the penultimate one released) is a great introduction for those who aren’t familiar with their albums, whilst it’s a selection I’m sure will meet the approval of those who are.
The following day I was back in Liverpool city centre, again with my son, when I saw the bus parked up outside the Royal Court Theatre, where Kesey had performed the previous night. I still had a camera with me from the previous day and began to take a few more shots of the bus. I noticed Kesey stood at the stage door and he recognised us. One of the younger Pranksters was with him and he asked if I’d like him to take a picture of the three of us together, and that’s how the photo above came about.
Recent Comments