Category Archives: Music

The change is Cast (in stone) – John Power through the Looking Glass

It’s been a big year for Cast, these Liverpudlian indie veterans currently working on a brand new album and midway through a happening UK tour. Those dates culminate in December 5’s sell-out All Change 20th anniversary show alongside the Royal Liverpool … Continue reading

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Back to The Icicle Works – the Ian McNabb interview

  I don’t pretend to be the greatest aficionado on the life and times of Ian McNabb, the esteemed Liverpudlian singer-songwriter and leader of The Icicle Works. But I know a fair bit about the Merseybeast’s story, not least his considerable … Continue reading

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Time to Breathe Again, in the company of Midge Ure

If you were to condense the history of popular music from the mid-’70s to the turn of the ’90s into a few pages, Midge Ure would still get a pretty impressive showing. Not just in the footnotes either, despite being … Continue reading

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Squeeze / John Cooper Clarke – Liverpool Philharmonic Hall

Dr John Cooper Clarke was already halfway down Beasley Street by the time I rocked up at the Liverpool Phil on Monday night. The legendary wordsmith is as much a stand-up comic these days, his one-liners and winning anecdotes soon … Continue reading

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Heaven 17, plus 35 – the Martyn Ware interview

It was 35 years ago that Martyn Ware left The Human League, what began as a creative non-band project soon evolving into Heaven 17. Big times followed for both Sheffield outfits, and while Heaven 17’s ground-breaking debut LP Penthouse and … Continue reading

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Squeeze – Cradle to the Grave – a writewyattuk review

Squeeze are back, some 17 years after the rather disappointing Domino, with a brand new set of songs. And they’re everything I might have hoped for. In the same sense that I wish The Beatles’ Let It Be hadn’t followed Abbey Road … Continue reading

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Beyond the sex and drugs – the Shaun Ryder interview

Madchester legend Shaun Ryder is in a great mood, despite being part-way through a rash of interviews as rave culture icons Happy Mondays gear up for their latest anniversary tour. If you’re expecting the unpredictable character that left interviewers like … Continue reading

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Taking the Big Red Bus to town – celebrating Tuff Life Boogie’s autumn return

If you follow the alternative and indie music scene and you’re based in the North West, you may know a little about Tuff Life Boogie. Then again, this is hardly a story of self-aggrandisement or any of that self-serving twaddle. … Continue reading

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Yes to priories, prog rock and further excess – the Rick Wakeman interview

It’s half eight in the morning when I make contact with Rick Wakeman. And despite his memorable past contributions to the BBC’s Grumpy Old Men series, he’s bright and breezy. So what time did this revered ivory-tinkler and prog rock … Continue reading

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Squeeze into a new era – the Chris Difford interview

Catching up with Chris Difford’s blog earlier this week, I realised how close we were to a new Squeeze album, the band’s first since 1998, the result of a project also serving as the soundtrack to a new BBC comedy … Continue reading

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