The Who plus support Time – Hastings Pier – 20th July 1969

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the who pinball wizard

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Typical set list during this tour….
1 “Heaven and Hell” (John Entwistle) 2 “I Can’t Explain” 3 “Fortune Teller” (Naomi Neville) 4 “Tattoo” (not played at every show) 5 “Young Man Blues” (Mose Allison) 6 “It’s a Boy” 7 “1921” 8 “Amazing Journey” 9 “Sparks”
10 “Eyesight to the Blind” (Sonny Boy Williamson II) 11 “Christmas”
12 “The Acid Queen” 13 “Pinball Wizard” 14 “Do You Think It’s Alright?” 15 “Fiddle About” 16 “There’s a Doctor” 17 “Go to the Mirror!” 18 “Smash the Mirror” 19 “I’m Free” 20 “Tommy’s Holiday Camp” (Keith Moon) 21 “We’re Not Gonna Take It”/”See Me, Feel Me” 22 “Substitute” (occasional)  23 “Summertime Blues” (Eddie Cochran, Jerry Capehart) 24 “Shakin’ All Over” (Johnny Kidd) 25 “My Generation” (sometimes including themes of “Naked Eye”).

Andy Gunton… A bit more about The Who gig http://www.thestinger.org.uk/article/5363c47aca45284d1296d929#.V5ECBmWYfyI

Jenny Tyler… John Entwistle kissed my cheek. I Still love the Who.

Chris Sambrook…As the moon landings are coming up The Who played the Sunday Club on the very eve. I went as I was 14 at the time, The Who played most of Tommy check out Live At Leeds. There is an cd just been released called Old England New England which could be the same set The Who played in America. I’ve got the cd but haven’t played it yet. After the gig I walked back to St.Leonards in a daze. My dad had the tv on waiting for the moon landing.

Keith Matthews… I was there too. Brilliant gig. Getting a burger at a little place over the road afterwards and a black limo pulled up. John Entwistle climbed out of the back and ordered burgers for himself and Moony who was also in the car. We had a chat and a laugh with them for a few minutes, complimenting them on the gig. Unfortunately don’t have a record of it as it wasn’t cool for an 18 year old guy to ask for autographs! Wish I had had a camera on me.

Supertramp – Breakfast In America review by Neil Partrick

Album cover of ‘Breakfast in America’ (released on A&M Records; artwork by Gothic Press, London)

I wrote a review of the LP ‘Breakfast in America’ 40 years on.

Supertramp’s ‘Breakfast in America’ reconsidered Perhaps it’s a matter of age, temperament, and the amount of your adolescence that you spent hiding from your parents. Confident ‘rock’ albums of the 1970s, whether by pre-punk behemoths Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin or punk posers like The Clash, are these days widely accepted in polite, white, male, middle-class circles. However Supertramp’s ‘Breakfast in America’ (released March 1979) had what for some was a more appropriate soundtrack to ‘suburban’ bedroom angst than the shed-load of pop platitudes that still pervaded about rebellion, ‘frontlines’ and class conflict (including from Pink Floyd). Such bourgeois issues usually didn’t penetrate the minds of those living in net-curtained semis, where entertainment was of the family variety and politics was what two parties usually only did every four or five years.

To be fair, Supertramp had, since ‘Crime of the Century’ in 1974, been chronicling, among other things, late teenage fears and, sometimes, coping mechanisms. On ‘Breakfast in America’ however we get the band’s principal singers and songwriters, Roger Hodgson and Rick Davies, in two set-piece lyrical and vocal contests over meaning and materialism in the west. On ‘Goodbye Stranger’, Rick Davies semi-ironically trumpets every young man’s apparent desire for personal freedom of a decidedly non-political kind, while Roger Hodgson’s backing vocal offers some salutary ripostes on the essential emptiness of such a lifestyle. On ‘Child of Vision’ it isn’t so much America that is being taken down by Hodgson with a Christian disdain for hedonism and other sins of Mammon, but the west in general.

This connected to a me as a schoolboy in Sussex, England who was beginning to question the values he had been brought up on, but who didn’t relate to those for whom calls to ‘destroy’ or ‘revolt’ had provided an effortless, and essentially meaningless, release. Unlike the Sex Pistols’ single, ‘God Save the Queen’, which was banned two years earlier, ‘Logical Song’ was a Top Ten UK hit that actually addressed the stigma that anyone who sought to articulate their social disconnection could be made to feel, rather than moronically equating an economically-struggling social democracy with a ‘fascist regime’. Hodgson expressed what some school kids were feeling, using adjectives shocking to a BBC Radio 1 audience and that admittedly ‘O’ Level English students would be more comfortable with. However he wasn’t being pretentious. When Pink Floyd celebrated illiteracy, and got a surprise Christmas Number One on the backs of working class kids from a north London primary school, they most definitely were.

Above all perhaps, ‘Breakfast in America’ is strong on ‘hooks’, big on ‘catchy’, and shows a band at the peak of its powers. It was to be a pretty abrupt downward trajectory after this album, but then Supertramp’s ability to melodically sing about insanity, adolescence, and loneliness was more at home in the 1970s. At the time that ‘Breakfast in America’ came out, the American rock critic Robert Christgau begrudgingly conceded its musicality but then held it against Supertramp when he claimed that tuneful vocals and beat weren’t the same as feeling and rhythm. Perhaps these things are in the ear of the beholder. However there is emotion aplenty on this album – in voice and subject matter – and ‘Child of Vision’ positively swings. ‘Take the Long Way Home’ chronicles personal alienation; ‘Lord Is It Mine’ has Hodgson laying himself emotionally bare. Alone and in need, he thanks God for giving him hope and teaching him humility, but wrestles aloud with his inability to sustain his faith. Using the ugly language of today: this ‘impacted’ me at the time. The whole of ‘Breakfast in America’ still does, forty years later.

Free and experimental music at the Kino-Teatr St Leonard’s review by Neil Partrick

photo 1: Punters’ view of Afrit Nebula performing in the Upper Gallery, Kino-Teatr

photo 2: Necessary Animals Keith and Amanda (Pic: Amanda Thompson!)

Hastings and St Leonard’s music scene is re-emerging in difficult, even controversial, circumstances. However in the large, open and relatively safe space of the Kino Teatr Gallery area, it felt ok to spend a Sunday afternoon hearing, for free, some top-notch performers…

An afternoon of excellent South Coast Sounds was presented in the Gallery of the Kino-Teatr in St Leonard’s on August 1, part of a fairly regular slot at the venue. To read Neil Partrick’s review please click on this link…

https://deiradiary.blogspot.com/2021/08/

Neil Partrick… Am grateful to Alan for publishing this review

SMART SOUNDS by Colin Bell reviewing Marc Almond: The Stars We Are, 2CD/1DVD

THE STARS WE ARE   Marc Almond (2CD/1DVD)

It’s not often i stray into the 80’s in these pages as generally speaking it’s probably my least favourite decade for music. However there are always exceptions of course and one of those is Marc Almond, I’ve always thought he was a strong singer with a very powerful and distinctive vocal. Whether it be in Soft Cell or solo i pretty much love all his work. Originally released in 1988 ‘The Stars We Are’ was Marc’s 4th solo album containing 10 tracks. This excellent new package from SFE Records brings together those original tracks on Disc 1 and expands the content with the cassette only and ‘b’ side tracks. Disc 2 features all the expanded and re-mixes of the tracks known to exist, 11 tracks in all and in conclusion Disc 3 is a very welcome bonus DVD bringing together 6 Promo videos. Kicking off the whole set with the title song on Disc 1 finds Marc in his very best Torch singer (no pun intended!) vein, the song reminds me of something Scott Walker would have recorded with its big brassy background and vocals soaring and it’s a great start. It’s more in the same mode with ‘These My Dreams Are Yours’ on track 2 with another big bold ballad. Things turn more straightforwardly pop with ‘Bitter Sweet’, whilst proceedings get intense with ‘Your Kisses Burn’ featuring Nico, a moody and dramatic piece i’ve always loved which also turned out sadly to be Nico’s last ever recording. Moving on we get to the first of 2 singles that brought Marc firmly back into the limelight. First up is ‘Tears Run Rings’ a straightforward slice of pop that takes you back to the glory days of Soft Cell. However it was Marc’s inspired idea to record ‘Somethings Gotten Hold Of My Heart’ with it’s original singer the late great Gene Pitney that paid off big time becoming a No 1 hit for 4 consecutive weeks in 1989. Whenever i hear this or see them perform it i can never escape the feeling they are both trying to upstage the other but in a good way, it’s a perfect blend of two voices and all credit to Marc whose choice of revitalising old classic songs is always impeccable, i also admired his take on ‘Days Of Pearly Spencer. But back to the album in hand, as i mentioned Disc 2 is a treasure trove of extended and remixed versions featuring 2 mixes of ‘Tears Run Rings’ with both the 12inch and Dance versions. My favourite here though has to be the melodramatic Blue Mosque Mix of the wonderful ‘She Took My Soul In Istanbul’ a gloriously moody. evocative track that conjures up that fascinating East meet West city beautifully. Together with Soft Cells extended version of Say Hello Wave Goodbye’ i think it’s Marc at his finest. As aforementioned Disc 3 gives you the chance to revisit the 80’s and watch the contemporary promotional video’s including 2 versions of ‘Tears Run Rings’, one for the US market and of course that duet with Gene Pitney. The accompanying 36 page booklet is beautifully put together with a wealth of photo’s, song lyrics and essays. Altogether this remains for me probably the best solo album Marc produced and now it’s ‘gone large’ with all the extra’s it’s a real musical feast. I’ll leave you with that No 1. Enjoy.

For more information go to https://www.cherryred.co.uk

Til next time, stay safe and well………Colin

Glitter, glam & Blackpool rock – interview with John Rossall by Darren Johnson

Darren Johnson… Following the release of his highly acclaimed new album ‘The Last Glam In Town’ I talk to former Glitter Band legend, John Rossall. Our chat covers glam rock, show bands, growing up in Blackpool and, of course, John’s new album and the prospect of touring again post-Covid.

Click this link to read the interview... https://darrensmusicblog.com

Patricia Burgess… Remember seeing him think it was at the football ground. Got to have been early 70’s

Peter Fairless… Hey, ‘Hey!’, let’s play it again, again… https://rossall.bandcamp.com

Glen Aylard… Glitter band legend? … is that John Rossall Glitter band or the original Glitter band which is still going ?

Peter Fairless… It’s Rossall and other contributors. A few interesting new songs, the remakes don’t add a lot but, hey – Hey! Hey Hey!, handclaps, sax and fuzzy guitars, what’s not to like?

Alan Esdaile… I played Angel Face on my radio show this week.

Willie Wicking… Was a nice guy he’s still a great showman. Saw him at the Con club in Lewes last year didn’t think it would sound the same as the old times but I was pleasantly surprised always liked the split off band with Gerry & Pete but lots of anger in amongst it all must say that Jon’s band with bob Bradbury (Hello) bobs son on drums & his wife on sax sounded awesome Saw him at the Con club in Lewes last year didn’t think it would sound the same as the old times but I was pleasantly surprised always liked the split off band with Gerry & Pete but lots of anger in amongst it all must say that Jon’s band with bob Bradbury (Hello) bobs son on drums & his wife on sax sounded awesome

Mick O’Dowd… Played football in the Park with him and the other guys when GG appeared there. I introduced him and then retreated under the stage as it poured hard with rain!Willie Wicking… Mick, was there that night with parents must have been 72 73

Alan Esdaile… Willie, 27th June 1973.

Andrew Clifton… Great night Willie.

Peter Fairless… We lived in Lower Park Road, I watched and listened from my sister’s bedroom window. It was absolutely pouring down, not sure how they got away without anyone being electrocuted!

SMART SOUNDS by Colin Bell reviewing Roy Wood: Mustard, Remastered and Expanded CD Edition

MUSTARD  (Remastered & Expanded)    Roy Wood
Straightaway I have to say I have a deep soft spot for Roy, he was the first bona fide ‘pop star’ I met when I started backstage on Hastings Pier in 1967, indeed elsewhere on the SMART site is the autographs of Roy and the rest of The Move obtained at the time. I’ve always ranked him in the top ten British songwriters. From The Move to ELO (briefly), Wizzard and solo his work has always trod its own very quirky path verging from pastiche to genius but always so original. ‘Mustard’ was originally released in December 1975 and was Roy’s second solo album following on from the successful ‘Boulders’ that had spawned quirky melodic songs such as the single hit ‘Dear Elaine’. ‘Mustard’ was commercially unsuccessful but arguably his ‘magnum opus’ showcasing his immense talent and creativity at its peak. All eight songs (+ 7 bonus on this release) were all written, sung, engineered and produced by Roy who also played EVERY instrument and even provided the artwork for the cover! His influences, in his own words, ranged from the 1940’s swing/doo wop of the Andrews sisters thru The Beach Boys, the Ronettes/Phil Spector to Led Zeppelin! Now that sounds like a complete mess of a recipe for an album, and in other hands it would be but Roy pulls it off.
The opening title track is a clever concoction that sounds just like a 40’s radio jingle by the aforementioned Andrew’s sisters but the ‘sisters’ is in fact Roy’s sped up vocal over sound effects, following on is classic Wood pop with ‘Any Old Time Will Do’. It’s on the next track ‘The Rain Came Down On Everything’ that shows what Roy’s vision of ELO might have been given the chance with its opening vocal (by Annie Haslam of Renaissance) a sweeping ballad that turns operatic before dissolving at the end into a thunderstorm (sound familiar Jeff Lynne!) Next up is a slice of boogie-woo blues/swing in ‘You Sure Got It Now’. For me the highlight of the album comes with the Brian Wilson/Beach Boys heavily inspired ‘Why Does Such A Pretty Girl Sing Those Sad Songs’ (some say written for Lynsey De Paul, Roy’s girlfriend at the time) whatever its almost a pastiche of God Only Knows meets Sloop John B/Good Vibrations its just wackily brilliant. And speaking of wackily brilliant track 8 and originally the closing track is Roy’s homage to Led Zeppelin in the shape of the rocker ‘Get On Down Home’ complete with a 2 minute drum solo in the mould of John Bonham, again as aforementioned with all the instruments being played by the man himself, in fact drums were the first and only instrument that Roy had any formal lessons in, remarkable, who teaches themselves bagpipes! With this new Esoteric release the album doesn’t end there but adds an extra 7 tracks (some released as singles like ‘Oh What A Shame’) with a couple attributed to ‘Wizzard’.
As I said ‘Mustard’ did not sell well on release mainly due to the record company (Jet Records) run by the infamous Don Arden concentrating on ELO which was an injustice but happily here in 2019 after years of being unavailable we can catch a musical prodigy at his best. Enjoy.
For more information go to https://www.cherryred.co.uk
Til next time…………………………… Colin

Derek Clemans… A friend of mine who I havn’t seen for many years and can’t remember his name I think played base for the Move then played Sax with Wizzard and I get to see him every Christmas on old Top of the Pops Christmas specials. He lived on the Tilekiln estate and when he got married he had his reception at the Tile Kiln community club and Roy Wood turned up to jam with him.

Neil Partrick… Great review Colin. Made me want to check it out

Colin Bell… Cheers Neil, I do my best! Do check it out you won’t be disappointed.

SMART SOUNDS by Colin Bell reviewing Billy Ocean: Remixes and Rarities 2CD

REMIXES & RARITIES  Billy Ocean
The latest in Cherry Pop’s excellent series ‘Remixes & Rarities’ (I’ve previously reviewed Flock of Seagulls and Amii Stewart) is this entry by Billy Ocean. If anyone was ripe for the remix treatment Billy is a dead cert. There has been unofficial remixes floating about but now this new 2CD set brings together 23 tracks, a number of which appearing for the first time here, all mastered superbly.Its been over 40 years since I remember getting the first promo single ‘Love Really Hurts Without You’ back in 1976. I remember reviewing that and praising Billy for his voice and the extremely catchy chorus.  The following year he had a further hit with my own personal favourite ‘ Red Light (Spells Danger)’ and I was lucky enough to work with him on two occasions and can certainly attest to what a lovely. modest guy he is. In the years that have followed he’s had UK/USA No.1’s, and been awarded a Grammy, Ivor Novello and MOBO lifetime achievement award. Kicking off this set is the irresistable ‘When the Going Gets Tough (extended version) one of four versions (extended, instrumental, club, and 7th Heaven Club Mix).
If ever a song was going to get you on your feet this is it! This is followed by another biggie in Caribbean Queen (No More Love On The Run) interestedly it’s titled ‘African Queen’ here and  another version also appears titled ‘European Queen’ I didn’t know it had different titles in different territories, I live and learn! Yet again the suggestion was made by the mogul Clive Davis who seems to crop up in every other review I write! ‘Love Really Hurts Without You’ gets two mixes a 1986 Dance Mix and a Dub Mix. Maybe lesser known (here in the UK) are fine versions of ‘American Hearts’, ‘Licence To Chill’ and ‘Loverboy’. Then its definitely all back on the dance floor for a Extended 8.59 min mix of ‘Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car’ another classic floorfiller. Great title, and lets not forget that Billy wrote/co wrote all his major hits, a fact I think often overlooked. This is a great collection if you’re having a summer party/barbeque on a summers evening, though invite the neighbours as this should be enjoyed LOUD to really feel those beats. Billy is currently finishing his eleventh studio album and touring throughout the UK, US and Australia alongside the equally great Beverley Knight and Jess Glynne (who seems to duet with everyone!) Along with the already mentioned excellent mastering the set contains a very informative 16 page colour booklet and is released this coming Friday (23rd). I’ll leave you with the original WTGGT until someone posts the remix (I do rather enjoy the ‘backing vocalists…). Enjoy.
For more information go to https://www.cherryred.co.uk
Til next time…………………………….Colin

 

 

It’s Hard – The Who – revisiting the 1982 album review by Neil Partrick

Neil Partrick… Why is one of The Who’s most diverse, most accomplished albums, so unknown and so often disregarded? Perhaps because it wasn’t understood in the time it was released in. Townsend was decidedly out of favour with rock’s self-appointed literati who saw the band as a middle-aged rock stadia irrelevance. Yet listening without prejudice reveals some of their best ever songs; songs with relevance then and arguably even more now. Who, in the realm of popular music at least, has ever tried to take on the subject of manhood (‘A Man is a Man’) and successfully captured the absurd expectations, contradictions and, sometimes, quiet bravery that it can encompass? ‘It’s so hard’, as a line in the title track notes, to be true to yourself, to be honest, to be consistent. Perhaps if men (and this is a man’s record) could adopt Townsend’s advice in the song ‘Cry If You Want To’, then failure could really be success. This track is part male rock bombast (check out the sonic guitar solo) and part emotional advocacy. Cry, because your childhood illusions have been destroyed – as we now know Townsend’s were – and the sloganizing political simplicities of adolescence cannot capture global complexities. In a further example of the song-writing thread running through this album, ‘I’ve Known No War’ contrasts the then (and still) very topical abhorrence of nuclear weapons with experiencing war, and in whose wake The Who and others railed against the very notion of gratitude for past sacrifice. This song (and ‘The Green Fields of France’) should have found a place amongst the war memorialisation that yesterday marshalled the masses in an echo of 1930s regimes but with even less historical or political context. There are a few non-classics too, though the danceable ‘Eminence Front gets close while ‘Cooks’ County’, ‘Dangerous’, etc ain’t filler. One of the most extraordinary tracks is the short but overwhelming ‘One Life is Enough’. It could have been an imagined Townsend/Lloyd-Webber partnership in its stagey-ness, but is almost operatic in the lyrical and vocal ambition that Townsend-Daltrey bring to bear.

Tim Barton… ditto Face Dances

Robert Searle… Still have my vinyl copy

The Rolling Stones “Exhibitionism” The Saatchi Gallery reviewed by Darren Johnson

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I’ve been to a few rock music archive exhibitions over the years and thought I knew the score. A room or two of old programmes, concert posters and record covers, a few old stage costumes here and there, perhaps a guitar or two and then you’re ushered into a room to watch an video that you could probably have found at home doing a quick search on Youtube.

With Exhibitionism, however, The Stones have set the bar extremely high and in the process of taking over The Saatchi Gallery have utterly rewritten the template for what a successful rock memorabilia exhibition should look like. At £24 per ticket it’s not exactly cheap but for any Stones fan, or indeed any follower of rock history, it represents excellent value for money. Room after room after room is laid out with absolutely fascinating archives that go way beyond the old “concert posters and record sleeves in glasses cases” approach. It’s beautifully themed and gives a fascinating insight into the life of one of the world’s most iconic rock n roll bands over the past five and a bit decades. There’s a recreation of the Edith Grove flat that Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Brian Jones shared in the early days, gloriously capturing all the hideous squalor of sixties bedsit-land. There’s a recreation of the recording studio where they recorded some of their classics and there are huge and extensive displays of guitars and other instruments, meticulously archived original recording contracts and legal documentation and a fascinating display of stage costumes through the decades. I was struck by how pristine and smart the bands sixties suits still look compared to how bedraggled and tatty some of Mick Jagger’s nineties stage outfits now appear. Clearly, they don’t make em like they used to.

For me, however, one of the most poignant moments was walking into the room set out as an exact replica of the Stones backstage area: the admin, the technical gizmos, Mick Jagger’s make-up tent… For a minute it really felt like you had walked in on something very, very private that few get to see.

Allow at least ninety minutes to properly take in all of the exhibition. If you are so inclined you can then spend an exorbitant amount of money in the gift shop but I consoled myself with a £3.99 branded re-usable Exhibitionism shopping bag. A little souvenir of an exhibition that has set a new global standard in rock ‘n’ roll archives.  https://darrensmusicblog.com/2016/05/11/review-the-rolling-stones-exhibitionism-at-the-saatchi-gallery/

http://www.saatchigallery.com/current/rolling_stones.php

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Beatles Day 16 reviews and photos and Kevin Burchett finale video

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A few photos I took on the day… (1) No Exit, (2) Mania,  (3) Iain Cobby, (4) Benjamin Davies, (5) Louise Dooris and Kate Ashton,  (6) Mick Bolton and Friends,  (7) Phil Little,  (8) Mick Bolton, (9) The Dan Large Band, (10) Harry Mousley,  (11) AutistiX,  (12) Simon Shaw, (13) Pass The Cat.

Jon McCallion… Missed Paul Dove by 10 mins, Phil Gills band was tops as normal Pete Prescott done a good job for the sixteenth time, Liane Carroll with hubs also tops, all good, Factrio went on early sad we didn’t see them. We enjoyed all that we saw.

Alan Esdaile…  Early Part of the Day – Well done to Pete Prescott for another brilliant day and with over £21,000 raised for Macmillan Cancer Support.  For the early part of the day, among the acts I saw were ‘No Exit’ opened the show on the main stage with a solid performance as always. Followed by ‘Mania‘  with Iain Cobby. A great renditioning of It Won’t Be Long and with two of the group only being 13 and 15 they worked really well together.  ‘Mick Bolton & Friends‘ always a pleasure to hear Mick play and with Phil Little & Barry Jones on board they gave an excellent version of Things We Said Today.  ‘Now and Then’ these were the stand out for me, first class acapella quartet, amazing voices. ‘Dan Large Band‘ Dan’s always passionate how he plays and you can tell he loved every minute and so did the audience.  ‘Pass The Cat’ first class musicians with a unique sound, had the audience moving to the hypnotic beats.  Caught Liane Carroll from a distance sounding amazing as always.  Among the youngsters were ‘Harry Mousley’.  This guys got lots of potential and really good. Great version of When I’m Sixty Four’. My sister Cheryl said ‘The Sound Waves Community Choir were excellent and Poppy Prescott was very good.

Anyone else got other reviews?

video by Kevin Burchett

Dan Large… Thank you Alan, really nice photo 🙂

Yvonne Cleland… Pass The Cat are a superb band

Tony Qunta… Yes they were fantastic!

Geoff Peckham… Factrio. Here we are. For those who missed Factrio downstairs, this is what we looked like. We might be playing as a foursome in a couple of months!

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supplied by Geoff Peckham

Andy Qunta… Excellent!

Yvonne Cleland… I heard they were brilliant.