Category Archives: Music

Bass Notes: Life and Times on the Road with Stone Foundation – back in conversation with Neil Sheasby

Neil Sheasby was at home in Atherstone when I caught up with him earlier this week, having a breather between live commitments with Stone Foundation, the Midlands soul band he co-founded with namesake Neil Jones a quarter of a century … Continue reading

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Vinny Peculiar / Common Hall / John Denton – Castle Hotel, Manchester

A return to Manchester’s Northern Quarter, and somehow my first visit to the Castle Hotel, and something of a showcase for three happening singer-songwriters at different stages in their… well, I’ll say careers, because they all deserve them. It’s a … Continue reading

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‘He paints with light!’ Talking Slade with influential rock ‘n’ roll photographer Gered Mankowitz

In which Malcolm Wyatt publishes further excerpts from Wild! Wild! Wild! A People’s History of Slade, in this case the full-length version of his late April 2023 feature/interview with esteemed South East Cornwall-based photographer Gered Mankowitz In Gered Mankowitz: Rock … Continue reading

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Going Full Circle with The Sweet – back in touch with Andy Scott

The Sweet are all set to go Full Circle, the 1970s glam-rock hitmakers all set for a 13-date December UK tour. Guitarist/vocalist cum national treasure and glam rock royalty, Andy Scott, the golden thread linking the band’s past to present … Continue reading

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Sunbirds – Preston, The Continental

Three and a quarter years after I first discussed Sunbirds with co-frontman Dave Hemingway (linked here), on the build-up to the release of debut long player, Cool to be Kind, I finally got to catch them live. And it was … Continue reading

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From Stanhope Place to Richfield Avenue: Ambrose Slade: Beginnings and Slade: Alive! At Reading – the WriteWyattUK review

It’s odd to think there were merely 11 and a quarter years between the release of Beginnings, the debut LP from the classic fourpiece that became Slade, and the band’s show-stealing 1980 Reading Festival performance, credited with relaunching their career … Continue reading

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Calum Gilligan, Zoë Bestel, Caitlin Gilligan – Barnoldswick Music & Arts Centre

It says something that on my first visit to the Lancashire music venue perhaps furthest from the coast that we were treated to plenty of stirring songs from the sea. But even the part of my opening paragraph citing the … Continue reading

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The Undertones / Neville Staple Band – Manchester Academy 2

You may well know how it is – weekend traffic on a second trip into Manchester in four nights taking its toll. For Haircut One Hundred on Wednesday, we let the train take the strain, but there’s always that worry … Continue reading

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Haircut One Hundred / Barbara – Manchester O2 Ritz

‘Then you suddenly smiled, you took me by surprise.’ There were miles of smiles on the sprung dancefloor of the Ritz on Whitworth Street West, Manchester, when Haircut One Hundred came to town on Wednesday night, these early ‘80s pop-funk … Continue reading

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Pies, Peas, Performances and Paul – in conversation with Paul Cookson, the poet touched by the band of Nod

Paul Cookson was at home in Nottinghamshire when I called his number on the lead-up to the publication of Wild! Wild! Wild! A People’s History of Slade, taking a breather between back-to-back school visits and social engagements, planning his next … Continue reading

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