huw

Kit Lambert described “Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere” to reporters as, “A pop art record, containing pop art music. The sounds of war and chaos and frustration expressed musically without the use of sound effects.” A bored and then cynical Nick Cohn – Christ he was even more cynical than me – said calmly, “That’s impressionism, not pop art.” I repeated what Kit had briefed me to say. mumbling something about Peter Blake and Lichstenstein and went red. Completely out of order while your record is screaming in the background: “I can go anyway, way I choose, I can live anyhow, win or lose, I can go anywhere, for something new. Anyway anyhow anywhere.” Pete Townshend in Rolling Stone, 1971

I’ve always got the impression that he got sick of talking about Pop Art very quickly. Lambert and Butler seized on it by the end of 65 and Pete had a great bit about Nick Cohn quizzing him on it when he wrote for Rolling Stone in 1971.

60 years ago. Flicker flicker flicker blam Powis Gardens. It all begins here, underground pop dance fans.

To be fair, the chorus of that is all his melody.

Look forward to hearing this! He’s one of those figures whose stocks have arguably gone down a little over the years because he doesn’t have a clear “story” or persona for people to latch on to (and obviously there’s the long recording break, the Rushdie thing etc) but he’s such a great talent.

I DJ psych / beat / glam / a bit of soul and I can attest it rots your brain after a bit. Met a lotta older fellas with DJ brainrot. You end up just listening for certain beats and judging the records on their danceability and it becomes something else.

YouTube video by Teddy Turner's Bunsen Burners - Topic Light My Fire

Never heard of this - how brilliant. Have you ever heard Trill It Like It Was by the Templeton Twins? Another 1970 project with contemporary pop hits reshaped into 1930s dance band music. Lots of fun! m.youtube.com/watch?v=ac0B...

You’d make such an amazing contributor to that site if you ever fancied it.

Have you ever used RateYourMusic Marcello? It’s not a perfect site but a great thing about it is that its users are very much focused on the present. The New Sound is among the top 300 albums ever recorded on RYM’s user chart; To Pimp a Butterfly is at number one.

*I* am mostly ridiculed by old men but that’s another story. ;)

No, by people my age who I know! :)

I guess we all live in different worlds but as a young adult constantly on social media over the last ten years, I would struggle to think of two major pop acts more widely ridiculed than Twenty One Pilots and the Chainsmokers especially.

My name is Huw also and I also like every Beatles song! :)

Love Sunshine Cottage! I think Beauty Queen from their last, Frampton-free single is great too - bit of a Velvets feel to it. They deserved a lot more.

They deserved more acclaim but couldn't shake the manufactured/pretty boy tag. Once they started writing their own material you got Sunshine Cottage, an overlooked popsike classic with Miss Jones on the b-side - a decent immitation of the Small Faces (no wonder Marriott wanted Frampton to join)

Issue #171 – The Herd - Psych-pop idols THE HERD were responsible for a string of unforgettable singles in the late ’60s including 'From the Underworld' and 'I Don't Want Our Loving To Die', but behind the hits lay a frustra...

Heads-up 60s music nerds! The new issue of Shindig! features my article on The Herd, gothic psych idols led by Peter Frampton and Andy Bown, who I interviewed for it. There’s an excerpt from it here! :)

shindig-magazine.com?p=7440

Agreed with this statement. So much of the "Golden Age of TV" nonsense was based on the false idea that US network TV was all TV (not helped by a generation of Guardian culture-writers who thought American shit was better than British gold), at the same time post-1990 British TV quality cratered.

Phil Upchurch gone? Man, that got NO publicity! One of Stepney's most trusted right-hand men. R.I.P. immense talent; I still can't sit still.

I know :( his death was announced the same day Steve Cropper died, so I think the story got a little lost sadly.

YouTube video by Phil Upchurch - Topic Black Gold

@andrewhickey.500songs.com The new Rotary Connection bonus is a joy - thank you Andrew! I noted that you mention Phil Upchurch, who sadly died only last month; I was wondering if you were familiar with this, the first recording of “I Am the Black Gold of the Sun”? :)
m.youtube.com/watch?v=qgzN...

A weird quirk of the Beatles Industrial Complex is we now have multiple generations of people who listen to every hissy Beatles bootleg but have never tried a Small Faces album, never listened to the Hollies, never given Manfred Mann a chance.

I managed in my forties to find a way to make a living from doing the thing my brain is broken for, and both I and (I like to think) the world are better off for it.
Imagine if I could have done it in my twenties, when I had energy, instead of destroying my health for decades with shitty jobs.

I’m writing about a really big musical group. To give you some clue, everyone’s talking about them. They are the subject of nepo baby / industry plant allegations. There’s solo stuff by the one of them. You guessed it - it’s Paul and Barry Ryan!

Hope you don’t mind these rather tenuous ideas Andrew;

Norman Greenbaum’s “Spirit in the Sky” (single issued Dec ‘69). Jesus and all that.

Sandie Shaw’s “Reviewing the Situation” (Dec ‘69). A Lionel Bart song from an Xmas telly classic.

Murray Head’s “Superstar” (Nov ‘69). Jesus and all that (2).

The cover of the Shindig! magazine “Patchwork”, with Ron and Russell Mael circa 1974 pictured and the caption “SPARKS: THE EARLY YEARS”.

In case anyone missed it, there’s a Shindig special bookazine out now featuring a lengthy cover story I wrote on the beginning of Sparks! I spoke to three early members - John Mendelssohn, Earle Mankey and Jim Mankey - and there’s a special contribution from Russell Mael.

In Tune In I quoted a 1960 Paul McCartney letter declaring that the Beatals (yes) had ‘competence, confidence & continuity’ … and just today I’ve found that Paul nicked it from a Midland Bank cheque book, Competence–Continuity–Confidence being printed on the inside back cover. Great nicking, Paul!

work party tonight. must not get drunk. must not try to explain who stanley baxter was to co-workers.

Middle England Gospel: Cliff Richard At Hammersmith Apollo | The Quietus Underneath the Hammersmith Flyover, parked in single file down a busy street and flanked outside the Apollo, there are coaches booked in package deals from Essex towns. Clacton and Colchester, Chelmsf...

Saw Cliff Richard last night (it’s okay I wasn’t cool anyway). A unique experience and I enjoyed every minute of it, to be honest. Reminded me of this great piece from his last tour by @fergalkinney.bsky.social

thequietus.com/quietus-revi...

Hot Chocolate were fucking brilliant and for years, honestly. #TOTP

I love Suzi but “Devil Gate Drive” is a bit shit tbh. #TOTP

I don’t get sick of good pop songs and “Killer Queen” is a perfect example. Loved it since I was a kid. Best Queen single. #TOTP