On this day in 1982 The Jam announced to the NME that they were splitting, musical differences, as always, being blamed.
Although they emerged at the same time as Punk was making waves The jam were part of the mod revival. Paul Weller, apparently becoming interested in mods after discovering ‘My Generation’ and The Who in general. As a publicity thing it obviously worked as the suit and Lambretta thing set them apart from their contemporaries. The mod ethic also allowed Weller to develop his voice and position his lyrics.
Unlike other bands of the time they also adopted an overtly Conservative political stance. Announcing their intention to vote for the Conservative and Unionist Party (The Tories) in the 1979 general election. (Does that mean that I can hold Weller personally responsible for Thatcher?)
Their pop sensibilities were displayed in a string of 20 hits (almost 20 consecutive top 40s, not too shabby at all). They also released 9 albums including the critically acclaimed and popular ‘Setting Sons’ and ‘This is The Modern World’.
Post Jam, Weller was a member of the Style Council and then a successful solo career.
Born on this day, anymore?
1937 Frank Ifield (I Remember You)
1939 Eddie Holland (Holland-Dozier-Holland)
1939 Grace Slick
1945 Henry Winkler (‘The Fonz’)
1947 Tim Schmit (Poco)
1960 Byron Burke (Ten City)
1967 Gavin Rossdale (Bush)
On this day in 1962 The Beatles make it onto the small screen. They were on a local TV station “Granada” that broadcasts to the North West of England. The show is a local news programme with a magazine format called ‘People and Places’. On the programme they sang 2 songs live ‘Some Other Guy’ and ‘Love Me Do’. Sadly, there is no recording of the show or any of the other 4 appearances they made on local TV in 1962.
It now seems hard to believe that in 1962 singing 2 songs on a poxy little local TV show was a big deal for the Fab Four. 5 TV outings in 1962 then 30 in 1963, including their first on the BBC (13 April 1963, ‘625 Special’) things really began top pick up for the lads. By the way, their first appearance on US TV was not broadcast until 3rd January 1964. It was a performance of ‘She Loves You’ filmed by the BBC in August ’64 and sold on to The Jack Paar Show.
Their second appearance on TV (for the same show) was recorded on 29th October and broadcast on 2nd November – by which time they were in Hamburg, for the second time.
There is no real reason for posting this, other than I love it and it is great to see Ian Dury again.
Remind me to tell you about the Wreckless Eric Appreciation Society some time……….
In 1968 Captain Beefheart was taken to Cannes to play as part of the record company’s publicity push. It would appear that they had visions of The Captain and the Magic Band rivaling The Rolling Stones….
Anyway, here is a video of The Captain playing on the beach.
I have been asked what is so great about The Captain anyway? I can not answer that objectively as I have loved him and his music for years. There was also a wonderful documentary about The Captain. here it is in 6 parts. It begins, just begins to tell the story………
On This day in 1958 Billboard ran an article attacking the practice of accepting money to play certain records on the radio. The term used was ‘payola’ a combination of ‘pay’ and ‘victrola’ (Victrola was a line of phonographs originally introduced by RCA Victor in 1906 that continued until 1970).
The article went on to say “payola, that under-the-turntable device whereby record companies win plugs and influence disc jockeys, is fast growing into a monster that may yet destroy its creators. According to key record execs, jockey payola is so widespread that it’s no longer possible to measure its effectiveness.”
The scandal would grow and ultimately it would destroy the career of the most famous DJ of them all Alan Freed. Strangely, although the practice was rife Freed was the only high profile DJ that was prosecuted. In November 1959 he was served with a subpoena to appear in front of the New York DA.
He was asked by WABC, for whom he worked, to sign a statement that he had not been paid to play plug records. In response Freed said that he had only received money for acting as a consultant for various parties, not for pluging records. He was sacked both his radio and TV shows.
I have some sympathy for Freed. He was a scapegoat, especially when you remember that he was charged with something that was not illegal until 1960 although his offences happened in 1959. When the trial came to court Freed pleaded guilty to 26 charges and was fined $300 with a suspended sentence. Hardly a huge penalty but his career was ruined. He died in 1965 broke, unemployed and suffering from cirrhosis of the liver.
On the other hand, some of the practices at the time were very suspect. For example, Freed had co-writing credits on ‘Mayballene’ the Chuck Berry song, he never had a hand in writing it. The point is that as co-writer he received royalties from plays and sales. That gave rise to a conflict of interest for him. To play it (and others) on his very popular show or not?
Obviously, there is no questionable methods used to promote songs or artists these days……………..
Over the last couple of weeks I have been two stonkingly good gigs. Both by the same duo Akoustic Soul.
Now, I know them, but that does not mean that I am biased. I know some of the other local bands but they will not feature in this series. Akoustic Soul Are; Andrew Wilson (guitars) and Kimberly Hill (vocals).
I have known Andrew since he was about 12, he’s 22 now. When I first met him his father said that he was learning the guitar. Even then I was reluctant to show him a few licks – mainly ‘cos I did not have have any good ones (still don’t). He was gratifyingly impressed by my guitars however, a ’76 Strat and ’80s Les Paul DeLux (Starburst, of course). I can’t play them but they look good……
I did not think anything more about this aspiring guitar hero until about 3 years later. It was his dad’s 40th birthday party. Andrew and his friends were to provide the music for the party. They played in the garage that had been turned into a makeshift bar.
I was prepared to make insincere “Oh, aren’t they good?” type comments. No need after 3 years of playing and learning it was obvious that Andrew was talented. I was really relieved that I had not shown him my handful of banal guitar licks.
A couple of years later, after his exams, Andrew went to Spain to find a bar to play in and to teach flamenco guitar. Quite a bold plan for an 18 year old.
That worked out well and Andrew stayed there fo a couple of years. When he returned he said that he was going to give music a go and that he had a singer who was going to come over to join him.
Kimberly is has a voice that is mature betyond her years. It is a great jazz voice that is perfectly suited for songs like “Summertim” as well as being able to interpret and deliver great versions of rockers like “Sweet Chil’ O’ Mine”.
How are they getting on? Put it this way, they were booked to play one night in a bar a few miles away where they are not known. At the end of the night the owner paid them MORE than was agreed and booked them there and then for several more dates! That shows how good they are live.
The scary thing? When I first heard them play they were pretty good, after a couple of months they released their self produced CD and were better. A couple of months later still I saw them live again and they were even better, tighter, better PA, more confident. Just how much better can they be? I have no idea, but I am looking forward to it.
The answer is obviously YES!
I first heard that there was a band that sounded a bit like The Magic Captain, playing with tme signatures and such. So I bought Workout Holiday. Tremendous! Just recieved ‘Fits’ and it just confirms my original decision. Not the Magic Band, but Bloody Good!
One thing that strikes me is that Fits was released in the UK before the USA. Does this reflect that we are better able to see talent than the usa? After all, Europe was a haven for the blues Gods, Hendrix had to come here, Patti Smith, Lou Reed, etc were first recognised by the British/Europeans.
In any event, White Demin are the best band on the planet.
On this day in 1966 Bob Dylan crashed his motorbike. Apparently he suffered serious neck injuries although their extent have never been fully confirmed. After the accident an ambulance was not called and was taken home in a car by his then wife Sara.
The crash, the circumstances of which were not fully explained, did have side benefits. Dylan was under a lot of pressure. The proofs for his book Tarantula were due for delivery, but not complete. He had been paid for a television special but it had not been recorded and after just finishing one tour another was already being planned.
After the crash his Bobness had time to analyze his direction, both personal and musically. He withdrew and did not tour again for 8 years.
Oops! Wrong video!