Tag Archives: Tony Wilson

Up, up and away – a late introduction to Magic Roundabout

Once upon a long ago, there was a band – described by their modern-day label as ‘criminally-unheard Manchester noisemakers’ – that borrowed its name from a hit UK children’s TV show that itself started life in a very different form … Continue reading

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Exploring Badly Drawn Boy’s Pocket Guide To A Midlife Crisis – back in touch with Damon Gough

It was almost six years since I’d last spoken to Damon Gough, and a lot had happened since in his life. On that occasion I cocked up, putting the lead in the wrong jack (which sounds like some obscure late-‘80s … Continue reading

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West on Colfax in search of Americana – the Scott Carey interview

As Scott Carey works on Watling Street Road, Preston, you could argue that his band might have taken a more Lancastrian name, perhaps linked to the Roman road leading towards Ribchester and beyond. But West on Colfax prefer to wear … Continue reading

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All Night Party People – in conversation with A Certain Ratio’s Jez Kerr

It promises to be a busy year for industrial punk-funk pioneers and indie-dance survivors A Certain Ratio, currently playing a series of UK dates to coincide with new Mute collection, ACR:BOX. After 2018’s acr:set compilation and their LP reissue campaign, the … Continue reading

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A Manchester love affair on record – the C.P. Lee interview

It wouldn’t be right to call C.P. Lee an unsung hero of the North West music scene. He’s sung a fair bit in his time and those who truly know the Manchester scene know full well who he is. So … Continue reading

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A man of Substance – the Peter Hook interview

  ‘I’m here now … sorry,’ read my text message, and after a couple of days struggling to locate Peter Hook, it seemed I finally had my chance. We’d missed each other a few times, but seeing as it was … Continue reading

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Renewable Power in the Darkness – back in touch with Tom Robinson

As I may have mentioned on these pages before, few TV shows of yore hold as much magic as Top of the Pops re-runs for this nostalgic, and recently I was digging among the online archives for the October 1977 … Continue reading

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After the pills ‘n’ thrills and bellyaches – the Rowetta interview

Legendary Madchester trailblazers Happy Mondays are set to return later this year for a 25-date UK and Irish tour, their Twenty Four Hour Party People Greatest Hits Show, with those November and December appearances marking the 30th anniversary of the … Continue reading

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St Anthony: An Ode to Anthony H. Wilson

I’ve probably said this before, but I don’t tend to do plugs on this blog. But this is a project I feel deserves wider recognition, involving a touching tribute to Anthony H. Wilson, the mouthpiece-turned-icon for so much great music … Continue reading

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Three Poets Walk Into a Club …

IF YOU still reckon poetry’s all about stuffy old school textbooks or finger-in-the-ear performance nights upstairs at your local boozer, think on. For away from the quieter corners in Waterstone’s and uni lecture rooms, there’s evidence that this ancient art … Continue reading

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