Category Archives: Music

Dignity still key for Ricky’s Raintown collective

WHEN I finally moved in with my better half in 1994, there were very few LPs we had doubles of, but one was Deacon Blue’s Raintown. It was quietly acknowledged as part of our personal soundtrack by then – five … Continue reading

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Blogging Like Wire

I’M NOT quite old enough to remember Wire’s first incarnation, their fabled 1976/80 period. They came to light a few years later for me, when I was about to turn 16 and – thanks to John Peel’s patronage – discovered … Continue reading

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Eardrums buzzing on a sweltering Preston night

Wire/Stranger Son – The New Continental, Preston THERE was a sense of life in the early 1980s on Friday night at happening Preston pub venue the New Continental. I’m not talking about some lame chart-busting tribute night, but the underground … Continue reading

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Hugh Cornwell – Preston 53 Degrees

HE’s still got it, you know, and more than 20 years after leaving the band with whom he made his name, there’s still plenty of fire in Hugh Cornwell. The former Stranglers front-man doesn’t look any older than when Golden … Continue reading

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From Kentish Town to Chicago, via Shalford – the Hugh Cornwell interview

THEY’RE the stuff of legend in my old neck of the woods – the days The Stranglers rehearsed in our village scout hut. I was there myself within a couple of years with my first band – the 1st Shalford … Continue reading

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Hugh Cornwell – Totem and Taboo

In which Malcolm Wyatt swaps notes with Hugh Cornwell on the former Stranglers frontman’s latest album, Totem and Taboo, a surefire winner as far as both are concerned. Following rave reviews in the UK, Hugh Cornwell’s new studio album Totem and Taboo … Continue reading

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Thankful for Evan’s continued presence

FROM the moment Evan Dando ambled onto the stage upstairs at Preston’s 53 Degrees on Thursday night, a surprisingly-small but nevertheless appreciative audience was hooked. The charismatic frontman of 1990s’ US success story The Lemonheads has occasionally made headlines these … Continue reading

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On the write track – 10,000 hits and counting

FIFTEEN months ago, this here scribe decided to try and spread the word about his writing by setting up a blog, despite a few nagging doubts and advice that suggested it might involve a bit too much hard work and … Continue reading

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Sound affects on a midsummer’s night

ON such a warm and sticky night at a packed 53 Degrees in Preston, there were always likely to be technical imperfections in this From the Jam performance. But while I couldn’t quite hear enough of Bruce Foxton’s backing vocals … Continue reading

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Otis Redding – a personal appreciation

WHEN I saw Noddy Holder recently, the former Slade frontman recalled how it was down to Little Richard that he got involved in music, something you could see in the way he always projected that mighty voice of his. While I can’t … Continue reading

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