Tuesday 31st July
Last night I nipped up to central London for
Bonafide’s unplugged mini-set at the 12 Bar Club.
A big favourite of Classic Rock’s Ed-In-Chief Scott
Rowley, the Swedes offer an excellent brand of AC/DC-influenced
hard rawk, so it was about time I saw them in the flesh.
‘I Can’t Get Through To You’ showcased
some unexpectedly soulful vocals from guitarist Pontus
Snibb and the rather fine ‘1970 Rebel Machine’,
one of two new songs aired from the forthcoming album
‘Ultimate Rebel’, segued nicely into a snippet
of the Tatts’ ‘Nice Boys (Don’t Play
Rock ‘N’ Roll)’. When these chaps invite
you to ‘Fill
Your Head With Rock’ it would be rude not to
accept their advice. I will deffo be at the Borderline
on November 28 to investigate a full electric set.
Bumping into fellow South London dude Luke Morley on the
train to the show, we nattered a bit about football. Mr
Morley is on top of the world now that his beloved Man
City won the Premiership on the final day of last season.
I, on the other hand, am kinda dreading the start of the
2012/’13 campaign. The Eagles have suffered four
big losses in Messrs Ambrose, Clyne, Gardner and Scannell.
Selhurst supremo Dougie Freedman now says that his transfer
dealings may be restricted to loan captures as the club
don’t have the funds to compete their Championship
rivals – I’d like to say ‘Doog knows
best’, but… Eeeeek!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday 29th July
It’s mid-afternoon and I’m just home
from a fantastic and deeply nostalgic weekend in the West
Country which saw my friend Steve O’Connell and
I attend the 50th birthday bash of our old school pal
Peter Andrew as surprise guests. Neither of us had seen
Pete (at the centre of this pic), with whom I attended
most of my earliest gigs – including Status Quo
at Wembley Arena (1979), Iron Maiden at the Marquee Club
(’80) and the Reading Rock Festivals in ’81
and ’82 – for more than 25 years! He almost
died of shock to see us walk up his garden path in Great
Cheverell, Wiltshire! The evening was taken up by a party
in the local village hall, a This Is Your Life-style photo
exhibition for Pete and… horrors of horrors…
a disco and live band. Frankly, I was appalled by the
music but managed to drink enough cider to numb the pain
and as the night drew to a close the deejay took pity
on us by throwing on ‘Highway To Hell’ by
AC/DC and GN’R’s ‘Paradise City’…
cue some OTT synchronized headbanging and frenzied air
guitar histrionics from the Three Amigos. It must have
looked bloody ridiculous, but who cares??!!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday 28th July
So very glad that I opted to stay in on a Friday
night and watch the opening ceremony of the Olympics (all
except the Arctic Monkeys, obviously – what was
that all about??!! – oh, and the puzzlingly gratuitous
inclusion of ‘I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles’...
what's that got to do with anything?!). Nice to hear Mike
Oldfield, the Floyd, Zep, Queen and The ’Oo among
others represented. Proud to be a Lononder, and a Brit
– though as I type this gone midnight I am quite
pissed, it has to be said. Oh, and what on earth was that
perched atop Macca’s head??!!
Surfing around the net I was amazed to discover that Ted
Nugent has finally outdone himself in the foot-in-mouth
stakes by claiming that the
recent Batman-style cinema gun massacre in Colorado might
have been prevented had moviegoers been armed. I despair.
How about if **nobody** had guns except those that really
need them??!! Or, as my Classic Rock/Metal Hammer colleague
Tommy Udo has just observed so sagely on my Facebook page:
Let the Americans have their guns if they must…
just make it impossible to buy bullets. Haha! That might
work!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday 27th July
Still buzzing after yesterday’s great phone
interview with one of my all-time heroes, the coolest
man in rock ‘n’ roll, Mr Rickey Medlocke of
Lynyrd Skynyrd and Blackfoot fame, I decided to end the
day with some Thursday night drinks in the Crobar. Perhaps
inevitably it all got out on control and I was lucky not
to have lost my bag on the way home – especially
as it contained a couple of book bargains from Fopp Records,
namely Mick Wall’s unauthorised biography of W Axl
Rose (for a quid!) and a hardback edition of Steven Tyler’s
autobiography Does The Noise In My Head Bother You? (for
three quid). I’ve also received copies of Martin
Turner’s No Easy Road: My Life And Times With Wishbone
Ash And Beyond and Led Zeppelin : From A Whisper To A
Scream by Dave Lewis, so the bedside reading matter is
beginning to pile up.
Well, it’s been a Southern Rock kinda day. Just
been re-spinning the excellent ‘Brother To Brother’
by the Van Zant siblings (Skynyrd’s Johnny and Donnie
of .38 Special), followed by a wonderful charity shop
gem, the self-titled debut from the Ozark Mountain Daredevils.
I’d forgotten how much I love this
song by the Van Zants. With a night before the telly
planned as the London 2012 opening ceremony takes place,
I’ve just been out to buy lemonade, oranges and
mint (can’t stand cucumber!) to accompany a bottle
of Pimm’s bought for me for my birthday by Wendy
Campling. The sun might just have tipped the yardarm.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday 26th July
Ever since hearing whispers of its existence
almost a year ago I’ve been dying to hear Steve
Harris’ debut solo release, ‘British Lion’,
which is due for release on September 24. Been doing a
little digging around for a Classic Rock news story and
was pleasantly surprised to learn that Simon Dawson, previously
of The Outfield and more latterly a member of Airrace
(RIP), is the project’s drummer. I’m really
glad for Simon – a very good player and a darned
nice bloke. More info here.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday 25th July
With the scorching summer weather having finally
arrived, I rounded up eldest son Eddie and snuck away
from my desk to meet my friend Neil Pudney and imbibe
a few jars as a warm-up for Crystal Palace’s pre-season
game at Dulwich Hamlet. We ended up in a nice, friendly
boozer called the Draft House in Lordship Lane, a short
walk from Champion Hill, Hamlet’s ground. Whilst
there I was privileged to meet Steve Browett, one of the
CPFC 2010 consortium responsible for saving my beloved
football club a couple of seasons ago – he seemed
like a genuine and likable fella.
A good turnout of Eagles faithful filled a crowd of 1,312.
With Palace fielding a team of youngsters, triallists
and bit-part players the game wasn’t up to much,
especially in the first half, though the announcement
that Selhurst boss Dougie Freedman would be donning his
boots to play the last ten minutes was greeted with great
excitement. Freedman performed extremely well, setting
up a goal for Reise Allassani and striking a post as the
visitors claimed a comfortable 3-0 victory. It was a great
night. Roll on the new season, especially if Freedman
is able to secure the signing of striker Alexis Allart,
a Frenchman available for the affordable price of £300K
who’s been training with the team. Eddie and I reckon
those YouTube clips look a bit tasty!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday 24th July
Well, that’s a bit of first – last
night was spent in The Ivy, a watering hole of the upper
crust that’s frequented by celebs, and later on
in the more familiar environs of the Crobar… talk
about getting the best of both worlds! Free drink and
canapés were being served at The Ivy as part of
the London launch of Papa Roach’s new album, ‘The
Connection’. Must confess, I’m a bit partial
to a bit of Roach now and again and it was nice to sit
and natter awhile – or more accurately, try to get
a word in edgeways –
with frontman their Jacoby Shaddix, who turned out to
be a bit of a chatterbox (in a nice way, natch).
See pic here.
Am still working though a whopping great newly arrived
package from Derek Oliver that contains Rock Candy Records’
newest re-mastered re-releases, including FM’s ‘Indiscreet’
and ‘Tough It Out’, ‘Hot Tonight’
by Lionheart', Fastway’s fabulous s/t debut, Paris’
s/t debut, Harlequin’s ‘False Move’
and a couple by the Johnny Van Zant Band (‘Round
Two’ and ‘Last Of The Wild Ones’). Oh
Mr Oliver, you are spoiling us!!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday 23rd July
Although I was attempting (in vain) to recover
from a sleep-deprived weekend of excess, I was glad that
my eldest lad awoke me at 7.30am with the question: “Dad,
do you want to come with me and watch the Olympic torch
come through Catford town centre?” I must confess
the Games hadn’t really been on my radar till a
couple of hours ago but I admit that the procession and
its colour and vibrancy made me feel pretty patriotic.
The arrival of such an iconic image amid a scenario of
everyday life was hard to resist. Somebody had even brought
along a cardboard cut-out of the Queen… that’s
either very cute or extremely tragic. Haha, I’ll
have to get back to you on that!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday 22nd July
Last night was spent among a group of drinking
buddies at the Novotel in Wolverhampton where Reuben Archer
of Stampede was celebrating his 70th birthday. Archer
clambered onstage to perform some songs with his blues
band and then threw in a couple of Stampede numbers (‘Send
Me Down An Angel’ and ‘Moving On’) for
good measure, though much hilarity ensued when the poor
fella sang into the wrong end of his radio mic…
With a guest list that included Spike from the Quireboys
and Magnum’s keyboard ace Mark Stanway, it all went
downhill from there. By 6.30am I was in my hotel room
draining a bottle of Samuca – the second of the
night – in the esteemed company of Malcolm Dome,
John Dryland, Reuben’s daughter Lauren and Tyrina
Gallagher. Wonderful fun! For pix go here
and here.
On the journey home I managed to finish off the new paperback
edition of former Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley’s autobiography,
No Regrets: A Rock ‘N’ Roll Memoir. It’s
an excellent, honest read. There’s no love lost
between Ace and his former band-mates. During a segment
based upon the risible Kiss movie Phantom Of The Park,
Frehley says of Gene $immons: “This was the spark
that got him thinking he could become a movie star. In
fact, Gene did a few more films afterwards, too, mistakenly
thinking that he could act.”
Towards the book’s conclusion Frehley writes of
his belief that Kiss’ “lust for money outweighed
any sense of fairness” on the part of Stanley and
$immons, who Ace claims have edited out close-ups of the
Spaceman on DVDs and generally tried to “erase”
him from the group’s history. And how does he feel
about that? “They’re just a bunch of dirty
rotten whores.”
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday 21st July
Gavin Rossdale is a human quote machine! Last
night I sent a half-hour chatting on the phone with the
frontman of the English-born, California-based post-grungers
Bush. Rossdale’s publicist had stressed that while
Gavin was “happy to discuss Bush and all things
music-related” I was asked "to refrain from
questions about his family/personal life”, though
it wasn’t too difficult to steer him into discussing
his ego and the paparazzi that pursue the singer and his
wife Gwen Stefani (of the band No Doubt) on a daily basis.
However, I was surprised by his admission of: “I
know that those scumbags are there purely because of Gwen,
also that [the whole media circus] detracts from my standing
as a musician.”
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday 20th July
Last night I paid a visit to the Merton Manor
Club in South Wimbledon, where NWOBHM veterans Praying
Mantis were warming up for an overseas trip. Cheap booze…
great music… fine company – what more can
you ask for? The Merton Manor is a hive of inebriation;
I will be returning soon!
The crowd was quite large and very enthusiastic. Extremely
playful, too. When Tino Troy announced that we were in
the presence of his old school friend Paul Newson, responsible
for having authored the lyrics to the song ‘Praying
Mantis’, the guitarist couldn’t resist adding:
“Bet you’ve had no royalties for it.”
When, quick as you like, a voice in crowd fired back with:
“Neither have you!” there was no comment from
the stage! I was somewhat disappointed that the band’s
75-minute display didn’t include the classic ‘Lovers
To The Grave’ though the set list was still pretty
impressive nonetheless. Check it out: ‘Children
Of The Earth’, ‘Panic In The Streets’,
‘Praying Mantis’, ‘Turn The Tide’,
‘Borderline, ‘Don’t Be Afraid Of The
Dark’, ‘Dream On’, ‘Highway’,
‘Time Slipping Away’, ‘Turn The Tables’
and Captured City’.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday 19th July
Yesterday’s highlight? A second phone interview
with Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Gary Rossington within the
space of just a coupla months. Gosh, there are times when
I love my job! I’m thoroughly enjoying Skynyrd’s
new studio album, ‘Last Of A Dyin’ Breed’,
which is out on August 20. Am really looking forward to
seeing them again at Shep Bush Empire on November 12 as
part of a second batch of UK shows.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday 18th July
Am still sniffling and snuffling from a summer
cold following last week’s somewhat grim visit to
Hyde Park. However, I wasn’t gonna let such a minor
ailment prevent me from saying ‘au revoir’
to The Treatment, who last night prepared for a two-month
North America tour with Kiss and Mötley Crüe
by playing an excellent warm-up show at (of all places)
the Crauford Arms in Milton Keynes. Understandably, excitement
filled the air, unspoken yet omnipresent. What a God-given
opportunity for the young lads, who have come on in leaps
and bounds these past few months. Besides revealing two
brand new tunes that I think were titled ‘Burn On
Fire’ and ‘Get The Party On’, an hour-long
set cherry-picked their best-self-penned tunes (‘Drink!
Fuck! Fight!’, ‘I Fear Nothing’, ‘I
Want Love’, ‘Just Tell Me Why’, ‘Shake
The Mountain’, ‘Departed’, ‘The
Doctor and the video song ‘Nothing To Lose But Our
Minds’) plus a couple of tunes by their manager
Laurie Mansworth’s former group More (‘Road
Rocket’ and ‘Way Of The World’) and
a revision of Hurricane Party’s ‘Killer’
with three outstanding covers – ‘Get Down
And Get With It’ and ‘Take Me Bak ’Ome’
by Slade and ‘Motorbiking’ by Chris Spedding.
I wish them all the best for their Stateside adventure.
On such form they have nothing to fear.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday 17th July
Most of the last 24 hours were spent crossing
the Ts and dotting the Is upon an interview with Rikard
Sjöblom, the vocalist, keyboard player and chief
composer Swedish band Beardfish, for the next issue of
Prog magazine.
As I type I’m paying Deep Purple’s ‘Stormbringer’
album in honour of the lovely Jon
Lord who died yesterday, aged 71 (9 June 1941 –
16 July 2012). Some classic Whitesnake (maybe ‘Lovehunter’?)
is up next. Jon was the consummate gentleman whenever
I had the good fortune to have dealt with him. A glass
or two was raised in honour of the moustachioed maestro
last nite. RIP to one of one of rock’s finest talents.
Check out the tributes here.
P.S. I’m in firm agreement with Neil Murray’s
fascinating Facebook post: “If the original members
of Whitesnake and Deep Purple could bury their differences
to play a tribute concert to Jon Lord, I’d be there
in a flash.”
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday 16th July
“Vodka… just bring me a whole fucking
bottle.” Jon Oliva was having a bad evening at London’s
Garage. The now 50-year-old former Savatage leader no
longer sings notes that only dogs hear and his band Pain
were playing on rented equipment during a full-length
25th anniversary revision of the ’Tage’s celebrated
fifth album, ‘Hall Of The Mountain King’.
When Jon attempted to play the usually dramatic intro
to ‘Gutter Ballet’ all that his electric piano
would parp out was a limp-sounding ‘plink, plink,
plink’. It was enough to make a grown man cry, or
at the very least swig from a bottle of Smirnoff. Not
only is Oliva unable to reach the super-high notes, some
of the lower ones are now also beyond him, though things
improved gradually. Excitement built as the four-piece
group delivered what almost amounted to a Savatage-only
set; barring a rendition of Doctor Butcher’s ‘Don’t
Talk To Me’ and an ill-advised stab at Deep Purple’s
‘Child In Time’ that served as a prelude to
‘Believe’, the Savatage standard to which
Trans Siberian Orchestra eventually awarded full blown
stadium-pleasing status. At almost 15 minutes long, an
indulgent guitar-based noodling of ‘Ghost In The
Ruins’ was a rare nadir. Last night’s gig
should’ve been a disaster but against all the odds
Oliva pulled it off. Here’s the set-list: ‘Sirens’,
‘Gutter Ballet’, ‘Edge Of Thorns’,
‘Don’t Talk To Me’, ‘Power Of
The Night’, ‘Ghost In The Ruins’, ‘24
Hrs Ago’, ‘Beyond The Doors Of The Dark’,
‘Legions’, ‘Strange Wings’, ‘The
Price You Pay’, ‘White Witch’, ‘Devastation’,
‘Prelude To Madness’, ‘Hall Of The Mountain
King’ and Medley: ‘Child In Time’/‘Believe’.
I’m disappointed that Darren Ambrose has left my
beloved Crystal Palace. Most Eagles supporters will remember
Darren’s stay at Selhurst for **That goal** at Old
Trafford, but he’ll always be in my heart for the
simpler but no less well-taken strike that he notched
at Hillsbrough on the last day of the 09/10 season, a
goal that not only kept Palace in the Championship but...
debatably... helped to keep the club in business. Cheers
for everything, Dazza.
And still in SE25, how’s
this for an unlikely news story: Eddie Izzard has
become an Associate Director at Crystal Palace FC. The
former transvestite comedian has been a fan of the Eagles
since 1969 and says: “All I really want is for Crystal
Palace to win every game from now until the end of time.
That’s all.” Couldn’t agree more…
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday 15th July
Last night was spent among a bunch of fellow
pissheads as Classic Rock, Metal Hammer, Prog and Blues
publisher Chris Ingham celebrated his fourth decade on
planet Earth. With Jerry Ewing and Tina Saul acting as
deejays, killer choons echoed around the Sanctum Hotel
as grown men (and women) thrashed at air geetars and sank
unfeasible quantities of strong booze. The accolade was
much deserved. Mr Ingham and myself don’t always
see eye to eye on everything but he’s done an inspired
job of developing the branding of Future Publishing’s
rock titles… credit where it’s due.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday 14th July
The abrupt cancellation of Pete Waterman’s
Hit Factory Festival three days ago confirmed the full
extent of London’s sogginess, the laying down of
wood chips for the Hyde Park Calling weekend failing to
improve things too much. Luckily, the weather was kind
to Black Stone Cherry [7/10], whose bottom-heavy
Southern rock inspired plenty of lusty crowd singalongs
among the day’s the early birds, notably during
‘White Trash Millionaire’ and ‘Blame
It On The Boom-Boom’.
Returning after an absence of three decades, Cold
Chisel [9/10] are one of Australia’s biggest
bands but they don’t mean a great deal here in the
UK – a situation that’s bound to change before
too long. Excited to be seeing them for the first time
I pushed my way to within three rows of the stage where
the sound was actually pretty good. The set-list of ‘Standing
On The Outside’, ‘No Plans’, ‘HQ
454 Monroe’, ‘Cheap Wine’, ‘My
Baby’ (sung by guitarist Ian Moss), ‘Rising
Sun’, ‘All For You’, ‘You Got
Nothing I Want’, ‘Merry Go Round’, ‘Flame
Trees’, ‘Khe Sanh’ and ‘Bow River’
was simply wonderful, causing my pal Jerry Ewing to wander
back into the guest area drooling over “one of the
best hours of my life”. Poor Jerry doesn’t
get out much (except to the Crobar)… hahaha!
As the rain worsened a discreet nip from my Music For
Nations hip flash of Jägermiester did its best to
stave away the dampness. With Ginger Wildheart watching
them in wonderment a few yards away from yours truly,
Iggy Pop & The Stooges [7/10] charged
onstage and burst into the classic ‘Raw Power’.
You always know what to expect from the bare-chested and
nothing less than iconic Iggy, who careers around the
stage Max Wall-style and whips himself with the mic cord.
A smiling Jimmy Page was shown on the big screens at the
side of the stage, inspiring a huge roar. One of the day’s
best moments came when Iggy leapt down into the photo
pit and asked a security guard: “Will you carry
me over there [about three feet away, to a dry patch of
space]; I don’t want to get muddy.”
Soundgarden [5/10] started as
they meant to go on, foolishly beginning with a catalogue
track, ‘Searching With My Good Eye Closed’
(from the ‘Badmotorfinger’ album) instead
of a crowd favourite. By this point the rain was teeming,
the crowd were leaving in their droves and, until he hit
his stride, Chris Cornell’s voice was decidedly
croaky. Attempting to find somewhere where the sound wasn’t
completely weedy I wandered behind the mixing desk only
to make the shocking discovery that that the vast majority
of an arena capable of accommodating 80,000 attendees
was maybe a quarter full… Jeez. Alone and soaked
to the skin, had I not volunteered to review the day for
Classic Rock an early exit would have been the only sensible
option. Amazingly, I bumped into an old tape-trading buddy,
Andy Adams, to keep me company during two hours of professional
adequacy, sporadic bursts of inspiration such as ‘The
Day I Tried To Live’, ‘Outshined’, ‘Black
Hole Sun’, ‘Jesus Christ Pose’ and ‘Rusty
Cage’ serving to punctuate an experience that at
times felt tortuous.
Take it from me: I shall never attend a gig in Hyde Park
again.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday 13th July
I’m off shortly to see Frowngarden, Iggy
& The Stooges, the one and only Cold Chisel and Black
Stone Cherry in London’s Hyde Park. The sun is currently
shining: Please God, let’s keep it that way! My
old Music For Nations hip flask is full of cold Jägermiester.
A notepad and functioning pen have been located. I’ve
found an old pair of trainers that can be thrown away,
also packed a bin liner as a makeshift sou’-wester.
And some fresh underwear is at hand just in case Jimmy
Barnes sings as well as expected.
The feud between Queensrÿche and their now former
singer Geoff Tate is now getting completely out of control.
The remaining members recently posted an extraordinary
statement detailing their side of the split which
is well worth reading, but if you can’t find the
time then this
YouTube clip of Tate spitting on drummer Scott Rockenfield
says just about everything you need to know. The incident
happens at 3:58. How repulsive. [Edit: OMG… Jason
Slater, the producer of Queensrÿche’s ‘Operation:
Mindcrime 2’ album is now
claiming that only Tate and Mike Stone, a guitarist
later sacked, played on that album. Is there no end to
this insanity?]
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday 12th July
A small part of yesterday was occupied by a phone
interview with Marillion’s bassist Pete Trewavas,
who spilled the beans on ‘Sounds That Can’t
Be Made’, the band’s 17th studio album.
I’m starting to take this running malarkey a bit
more seriously. Have just joined a four-week ‘10km
maintenance course’ in the local park that’s
supposed to improve one’s speed and endurance, possibly
building towards a half-marathon... ulp!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday 11th July
Yesterday marked what would have been the 70th
birthday of Ronnie James Dio. According to a new interview
with Heaven And Hell band-mate Geezer Butler, it’s
also the date on which Dio would have considered retiring
had he not been taken from us back in May 2010. “Ronnie
should have been celebrating and probably would have been
if he’d had his health checked regularly,”
explains Geezer. “I once asked if he’d ever
thought about retiring. He said he would make that decision
on his 70th birthday. That’s why today is so poignant.
I think I know what his decision would have been.”
They say that you learn something new every day and until
last night’s phone interview with Matt Sorum of
Velvet Revolver I had no idea that Ian Paice of Deep Purple
is missing a large chunk of one lung thanks to a childhood
illness. This fact makes Paice’s speed around the
kit, also his endurance, all the more astonishing. I had
to go away and look up the facts. Found an interview in
which he revealed: “I have more than one lung [but]
I do not have two complete lungs. When I was six years
old we were living in a house with no central heating.
I came down with a case of pneumonia, which quickly turned
into a case of tuberculosis. In those days there were
no drugs to fix it. So they had to open me up and they
had to take the little infected parts away. I lost the
lower lobes of the left lung.” Wow… incredible.
I was very happy that England won the rain affected final
game of their one day series with a piss-poor Aussie side.
The home side’s dominance was crushing and complete.
As captain Cook pointed out during his post-match interview,
throughout the entire series England’s No 7 batsman
didn’t even get a knock. The Aussies were well and
truly clobbered.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday 10th July
A relatively quiet 24 hours of listening to music,
transcribing interviews and, finally, an evening phone
chat with Ethan Miller; leader, guitarist, singer and
composer of the outstanding retro-rock band Howlin
Rain, who once admitted attempting to blend Jimi Hendrix’s
‘Electric Ladyland’, ‘Gaucho’
by Steely Dan and Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Darkness
On The Edge of Town’ into a style of their own.
If you’ve not heard Howlin Rain’s third album,
‘The Russian Wilds’ (which boasts Rick Rubin
as Executive Producer), now would be a good time to put
that straight.
Aaaaaaarg. My accreditation for the Hard Rock Calling
festival on Friday is in and Red White & Blues are
onstage at the same time as Cold Chisel. FFS! It’ll
be the first time I’ve seen Frowngarden, er…
Soundgarden, since the opening night of the Shepherd’s
Bush Empire on the ‘Superunknown’ tour back
in 1994... Jeez, that's hard to believe.
With the rain pounding down outside my office I have just
been playing the new Y&T double-CD, ‘Live At
The Mystic’, on the exercise bike. Might as well
give the neck muscles a workout, too!! It’s available
from the band’s
website.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday 9th July
Woke up fully dressed on the bed, still wearing
my glasses, clothes and trainers soaked to skin…
sheesh. What on earth happened last nite? Oh yes…
I went out drinking with Andy Beare and Harj Kallah, returning
home just in time for breakfast… that’s what!
After catching up a bit of work I sped down to the Celebr8
prog-rock indoor all-dayer at the Hippodrome in Kingston-On-Thames
– a great venue with excellent views of the stage,
first-class sound and, critically given my frail condition,
plenty of armchairs and chill-out areas. Arrived just
in to catch the farewell performance of Tinyfish, a great
li’l neo-prog group with some fabulous tunes and
a wonderfully British self-deprecating wit. I was sorry
to see them depart in both a physical and metaphorical
sense; a forced retirement due to increasing bouts of
tinnitus suffered by lead guitarist/singer Simon Godfrey.
Aware that Andy Murray had already won the first set of
his Wimbledon Men’s Singles Final against the automaton
Federer, I decided to find a pub and watch the conclusion
of the match. The Wheelwright’s Arms seemed a friendly
enough place. My intention had been to remain sober, but
as the game slipped from Murray’s reach a few voddie
and Diet Cokes steadied the nerves and soothed the disappointment.
Oh well, Andy… you gave it your best shot. You can
go back to being Scottish now. :o(
Arrived back in the Hippodrome in time for the closing
stages of Touchstone, followed by Magenta, who were both
received with rapt appreciation by a generously proportioned
crowd. The great news was that the first Celebr8 actually
broke even financially speaking, which makes it highly
likely to be staged again in 2013. Well done to organisers
Geoff Banks and Mr Twang for pulling it all together.
My prime reason for attending show #1 was, of course,
Sunday night headliners It Bites. Aware that they were
potentially being viewed by quite a few IB virgins, the
band opted to deliver more of a career-based set-list
than of late. What they served up was indecently excellent.
The technical problems mattered not a jot and I wandered
back to the station grinning like the proverbial loon.
And why not with a set-list that ran as follows: ‘Ghosts’,
‘Oh My God’, ‘All In Red’, ‘Send
No Flowers’, ‘Meadow And The Stream’,
‘Underneath Your Pillow’, ‘Cartoon Graveyard’,
‘The Last Escape’, ‘The Wind That Shakes
The Barley’, ‘Old Man And The Angel’,
‘Midnight’ and ‘Kiss Like Judas’,
followed by an encore of ‘Calling All The Heroes’.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday 8th July
Here’s a valuable lesson re-relearned:
Don’t venture into the East End of London, get hideously
hammered on an empty stomach and go shooting your mouth
off. Last night I paid a visit to the Bridge House in
Canning Town for a gig by the reunited NWOBHM group Tytan.
After a hard day’s work at the PC I enjoyed a bottle
of wine en route – big mistake. Deep Machine, a
rather fine Judas Priest-influenced metal combo that included
covers of ‘Running Wild’ and ‘Hell Bent
For Leather’ during their set, kicked off the show.
However, the sound mix was **awful**, a fact that I’m
told that I voiced loudly and rudely towards the desk
in between songs (the words “Fuck off” and
“c**t” might possibly have been used…)
much to the chagrin of an aggressive relative of said
individual (his cousin?). Meanwhile, up on the stage singer
Lenny Baxter had decided he too had had enough of this
farcical situation, demanding: “Who wants a fight?”
I had brief nightmarish visions of one of those Wild West
barroom-style confrontations, though an apology to the
mixer-man from yours truly and some invaluable de-ruffling
of feathers and purchasing of drinks by my good friend
Harj Kallah would facilitate an exit with all limbs intact.
Phew. Thank again, Mr K.
On the ‘up’ side: Tytan
were absolutely blood superb. On paper, the absence of
lead vocalist Kal Swan might have been disastrous but
newcomer Tom Barna is one hell of a discovery, and with
Steve Mann (Liar/Lionheart/MSG) on guitar they sounded
nothing less than magnificent, combining metallic muscle
with wonderful, insistent radio-friendly choruses. I could
have listened to them all night, though sadly with just
a solitary album to their name (‘Rough Justice’,
issued posthumously back in 1985) the band ran out of
songs after around 50 minutes. Highlights included ‘Blind
Men And Fools’, ‘Money For Love’, ‘Far
Cry’, ‘Cold Bitch’, ‘Women On
The Frontline’ and ‘Far Side Of Destiny’,
with an acapella ‘Find The Cost Of Freedom’
bringing things a delicate close. Man-mountain former
Angel Witch bassist Kevin Riddles, who cheekily dedicated
‘Don’t Play Their Way’ to “all
the Crystal Palace supporters in the room”, assures
me that Tytan are now working on a follow-up album. I’m
dying to wrap my lug’oles around it.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Saturday 7th July
As part of a set of re-issue sleeve notes, on
Friday morning I conducted a great interview with keyboard
player John Sinclair (Heep/Ozzy/Lion) about his days with
the Heavy Metal Kids, focusing on the recording of the
much underrated ‘Kitsch’ album from 1977.
He told me: “A big mistake was that when we got
to France [to work with Mickie Most on the RAK Mobile
Unit], we realised that they serve wine with breakfast!”
During the evening I took the kids to the cinema for The
Amazing Spider-man. I’d give it a solid [8/10].
To the ‘youths’ that repeatedly stood up and
shouted inane comments during the quiet bits... frankly,
an Uzi would be too good for you. Had my lads not been
with me, these whippersnappers might not have been so
smug. I’ve gotta say that it’s hard to see
too much of a long-term future for cinemas. Friday nite
in Bromley; a film that had been out for just a few days,
and less than 50 people in the house…? And of those
50, maybe ten or so had an interest in the movie. That’s
pretty pathetic.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Friday 6th July
OMG... I’ve just had the misfortune of
hearing Aerosmurf's newie, ‘Legendary Child’,
on the radio. Has a song ever been awarded a less fitting
name?? Considering that the band used producer Jack Douglas
in a quest to bring back “a little bit of 1975”,
to these ears it's a huge disappointment. After such high
hopes, what an unmitigated pile of poop!!!
Now I admire Zakk Wylde as much as anyone else, but in
naming his new-born son Sabbath Page Wielandt Wylde –
‘Sabbath’ after the group, ‘Page’
after Sir James Patrick and ‘Wielandt’ in
honour of his World War II veteran father – I fear
that Zakk and his ever-patient missus Barbaranne have
over-stepped the mark. I mean… Sabbath as a Christian
name??!! That’s little short of child abuse. It
makes my eldest lad’s full name, Eddie Lemmy Selhurst
Ling, seem positively tame.
P.S. The Playlist and YouTube
pages have been given their monthly updates.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Thursday 5th July
My gig withdrawal symptoms persist. I’d
decided against the cattle market mania of Kiss at the
Forum, settling instead for Gov’t Mule’s Thanksgiving
special as part of the UK’s Blues Fest. However
to my dismay, a domestic scenario prevents me from venturing
too far away from Ling Towers for the next few days. Grrrr.
With cameos from former Steely Dan guitarist Elliott Randall
(the man that played Jimmy Page’s all-time fave
guitar solo on ‘Reelin’ In The Years’),
Bernie Marsden and Paul Jones, it sounds like I missed
an all-time classic Mule performance.
I’m equally pissed off by the latest comments from
the oafish Boris Johnson, who in the lead-up to the Olympics
has described working at home as “an excuse for
general malingering”, suggesting that conducting
one’s business away from the office amounts to “sitting
wondering whether to go down to the fridge to hack off
that bit of cheese before checking your emails again.”
What a patronising fuckwit. As a supremely self-motivated
individual that works 365 days a year, without a holiday
or the sweetener of a six-digit salary (**especially**
without a six-digit salary!), let alone a top of the range
pension, I wouldn’t mind betting that I spend more
hours at my desk than London’s so-called Mayor.
More often than not I find myself searching in vain for
a reason **not** to work than the reverse. The clown Johnson
never fails to make my blood boil.
Ooooh look… Prog Magazine has its own awards
show, set to take place in September. Very cool.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday 4th July
Bah… an unexpected night in. I was all
set to attend a gig by Diamond Head and the reunited Tytan
when an email from DH mainman Brian Tatler warned that
the hospitalisation of drummer Karl Wilcox would render
a trip to Islington pointless. [Edit: Brian informs me
that Wilcox **doesn’t** have a blood clot after
all but is suffering from internal bleeding. Get well
soon, Karl].
My extensive sleeve essay for the Spider boxed set is
now complete and has been sent to the four band members
for their approval and/or corrections. What I’ve
seen of the artwork, designed by bassist Brian Burrows,
looks great. I’m so happy that the group’s
unreleased final album, ‘Raise The Banner’
(1986), is gonna be made available at last as it’s
an exceptional piece of boogie-rock.
Faced with a night before the tellybox the Sky+ was plundered
for a series recorded some months ago. I was captivated
by Homeland, a tense thriller which tells the tale of
a US marine Nicholas Brody (played admirably by copperknob
Brit Damian Lewis) returned to American society after
eight years of captivity in the Middle East. Has Brody
been ‘turned’ by al-Qaeda? What is CIA Agent
Carrie Mathison (the delectable Claire Danes) bunny boiler
obsession with him? And why is that big eared Brit guy
David Harewood (Fat Friends, Silent Witness, New Tricks)
putting on such a fake US accent? Its twists and turns
enthralled me; I sat and watched all bar two of its episodes
back-to-back, savouring the story’s conclusion this
morning once the kids had done to school. A second season
of 12 episodes has been commissioned – I can’t
wait.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Tuesday 3rd July
My 32nd birthday (COUGH!) passed by in an agreeable
yet unusually sober manner. After a nice lunch in Croydon
with the delightful Wendy Campling, I mooched around the
area’s last few remaining record stores, picking
up a mint-condition double-vinyl of Bob Dylan covers.
I’m no Dylan fan – far from it – but
besides the no-brainers (Jimi’s ‘All Along
The Watchtower’, ‘A Hard Rain’s Gonna
Fall’ by Bryan Ferret and The Byrds’ remake
of ‘Mr Tambourine Man’) it’s kinda cool
to hear the likes of Jason & The Scorchers, George
Thorogood, Bonnie Raitt, Ron Wood, Richie Havens and Ry
Cooder lending their talents to some less well thumbed
areas of Zimmerman’s catalogue. Well worth the 50
pence that I shelled out! The evening visit to a local
pizzeria with my two sons set the seal on a lovely day.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Monday 2nd July
Ho-hum… It’s my birthday (again).
Aware of my love of the Irish entertainers, my two sons
have bought me a talking card with those grinning fools
Jedward on its front. What a pair of gits. Under the circumstances
would it be deemed ungrateful to burn the darned thing,
I wonder? I've already ripped out the mechanism that generates
the sound of their voices.
England won the cricket with ease and I had a wonderful
day out. My inebriation levels were such that I decided
to walk back to Catford from The Oval in a bid to sober
up. Epic fail. Realising the foolishness of my ways I
sat and alone at the top of One Tree Hill, lost deep in
thought, and watched the Sun go down with a bottle of
cider. A pleasant evening.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Sunday 1st July
Well, it’s 6.30am and once I’m up
with the cockerel to kick-start the PC, winding up the
transcription of my two Lynyrd Skynyrd interviews. In
a short while I shall be heading off to The Oval for England’s
one day game with Australia for a pre-birthday celebration.
I’ve found my old Music For Nations hip flask and
filled it with ice cold Jägermiester… this
is gonna be fun. But gotta finish the Skynyrd copy first.
My Saturday evening was spent quietly (well, by my usual
standards…) and here in South London over a few
jars with Andy Beare. Walking through the park resplendent
in my red ‘Shout At The Devil’ tour T-shirt
I overheard one young kid turn to his mate and announce
in barely concealed tones: “Oh look, there goes
Marilyn Manson’s dad”. It’s a new one,
at least…
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