Absolute Elsewhere
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THE ROLLING STONES; 1981 TO NOW: On with the show . . .
25 May 2009 | 9 min read
The Rolling Stones stumbled out of the decadent decade of the Seventies into the uncertain Eighties which kicked off with post-disco dance, post-punk, New Wave and other styles which they weren't familiar with. But what else could these rich boys do but play in a rock'n'roll band? Not a lot as their career from '81 to the present day proved. Flashes of the old genius, internal fights... > Read more
The Rolling Stones: Back of My Hand (from A Bigger Bang, 2005)
MARTIN PHILLIPPS, OF THE DISBANDED CHILLS, INTERVIEWED (1992): The dream is over
24 May 2009 | 11 min read
Martin Phillipps looks bad. His skin is pasty, he’s unshaven and his eyes look like an owls in an arc light. He’s been up for 24 hours and although it’s only lunchtime he’s going to hang out until the Iron Maiden concert that night. He’s tired ... though an 18-hour flight from the States does that to anyone. But it’s more than that. Back there in America... > Read more
The Chills: There is No Point In Trying (from Soft Bomb, 1992)
THE ROLLING STONES; THE SIXTIES: Through the past darkly (again)
24 May 2009 | 5 min read | 2
Quite when pop became rock is difficult to pinpoint. It is possible to argue that dark, dense and adult rock has been around for more than 50 years. Think of Ronnie Hawkins' threatening delivery of Who Do You Love with these hard edge lyrics: "I walked forty-seven miles of barbed wire, got a cobra snake for a necktie". That doesn't sound too far removed from the Rolling Stones'... > Read more
The Rolling Stones: Everybody Needs Somebody to Love (1964)
THE ROLLING STONES IN THE SEVENTIES: The decade of decadence
24 May 2009 | 8 min read | 1
When Virgin Records paid about US$50 million for a slice of the Rolling Stones back in 1991 they were investing in the past more than the future. That’s with all due respect to the legend that is Jagger-Richards -- a collective proper noun appropriate given their separate solo careers have been abject commercial failures and largely artistic nadirs for both. No one in their right... > Read more
The Rolling Stones: Hey Negrita (from Black and Blue, 1976)
PAUL SIMON; THE SOLO YEARS: The boy out of his bubble
9 May 2009 | 5 min read
In October ‘93, when Paul Simon took up what amounted to a month-long residency at the Paramount Theatre in New York, it was billed with typical Nineties hyperbole as “The Concert of a Lifetime” At this particular spectacular -- Art Garfunkel, Phoebe Snow, Ladysmith Black Mambazo and other Simon collaborators and friends present -- Simon was celebrating his 52nd birthday... > Read more
Paul Simon: Slip Slidin' Away
EMINEM IN 2004: Time for an encore?
8 May 2009 | 4 min read
It's probably never been easy to be Eminem. But these might be particularly trying times for him. Which seems a strange thing to say given he's so successful. But that's the problem. When Eminem was the angry underdog you could believe his rage and enjoy the swipes he took at American presidents, Osama bin Laden, Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears, Marky Mark, Michael Jackson and Moby.... > Read more
Eminem: Without Me (from The Eminem Show, 2002)
JOE COCKER INTERVIEWED (2005): Up where he belonged
26 Apr 2009 | 6 min read
Even Joe Cocker finds it amusing he should be staying in his hotel in Denmark under an alias. After all, he’s hardly fan-bait as a crumpled 61-year old and, once out of his regulation black stage uniform, he can walk any street in most cities unrecognised. “In the daytime when I’ve got my denim jeans on and a polo shirt I can keep a low profile. Once in a while in shops... > Read more
Joe Cocker: The Moon's A Harsh Mistress
ROBERT WYATT IN CUCKOOLAND (2003): A man, his muse and his music
26 Apr 2009 | 3 min read
Robert Wyatt occupies an unusual place in rock culture. He's in it, but also apart from it. He's not known for his hits, although did enjoy brief chart success and a Top of the Pops appearance with his singular version of the Monkees' I'm A Believer back in '74. He doesn't do videos and won't be coming to a concert stage near you, unless it has access for a wheelchair. He's been in one... > Read more
Robert Wyatt: Old Europe (from Cuckooland)
PHIL SPECTOR'S RISE AND FALL . . . AND FALL AGAIN (2003): The high and low life
16 Apr 2009 | 6 min read
So Phil Spector has been charged with murder, huh? Well, no surprises there then - because Spector has been one of the more disturbed individuals in rock, right up there with the eccentric and once reclusive Beach Boy Brian Wilson, the Pink Floyd founder Floyd Syd Barrett, and the just plain weird Michael Jackson. When it came to crazy behaviour and reclusiveness, however,... > Read more
The Crystals: He Hit Me (It Felt Like A Kiss) 1962
THE TEMPTATIONS: Creating Heaven for Motown right here on Earth
16 Apr 2009 | 1 min read
The ever-changing line-up of the legendary Motown soul group the Temptations (only two original members of the '61 founding group by the mid-Nineties when the five-disc retrospective Emperors of Soul was released) made their career a little difficult to follow. But they were one of the cornerstone acts on Motown. Even their most ardent fans might have thought the Emperors of Soul... > Read more
The Temptations: Papa Was A Rolling Stone
LIVING COLOUR: VERNON REID INTERVIEWED (1993): Black, white and everything in between
12 Apr 2009 | 10 min read | 2
It’s an old line but no less true for all that...and when you put it to Vernon Reid of Living Colour, he knows exactly what it means: “Everyone sees the world from their own disadvantage point.” It’s late at night in New York City and Reid is at home and obviously tired. But he still gets a laugh out of the quip. He knows what it means because he sees it all the... > Read more
THE MC5, WAYNE KRAMER INTERVIEWED AND CONCERT REVIEW (2004): The politics of rock
5 Apr 2009 | 9 min read
It's fair to think most people only know the noise of the MC5 through their spiritual heirs: the garageband clatter of the Datsuns, D4, Soledad Brothers, the Black Keys and other such rowdies who have an old-school r'n'b heart and amps turned up to 11. Or maybe people know of them through the connection with their old hometown of Detroit: the Stooges, White Stripes, Dirtbombs, Eminem and... > Read more
The MC5: Ramblin' Rose (1968)
AN EMERALD CITY INTERVIEWED (2009): The sky-high vision
5 Apr 2009 | 4 min read
To hear guitarist/keyboard player Sam Handley tell it, there was a magical moment when they knew: “That first hit on the drum, it just sounded 10 times bigger than normal”. In this suburban villa in Kingsland, Auckland there are nods of recognition from the assembled members of An Emerald City. They are talking about setting up their gear in a cave at Whatipu in January and... > Read more
An Emerald City:Moon
QUINCY JONES INTERVIEWED (1990): The Dude, back on the block
12 Mar 2009 | 5 min read
Quincy Jones doesn’t quite put it this way, but he knows that with great power comes great responsibility. And Jones has great power because of a financial empire founded on an extraordinary career in music which spans from bebop to hip-hop. This is the man who hung out with jazz artists like Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker in the early 50s, counts his Grammy nominations in the... > Read more
Quincy Jones: Perry's Theme from the movie In Cold Blood (1960)
SLIM JIM PHANTOM OF THE STRAY CATS INTERVIEWED, AND CONCERT REVIEW. (2009) Still strutting
10 Mar 2009 | 9 min read
In these days when people are losing their jobs, Stray Cats’ drummer Slim Jim Phantom seems to have more than his share: he co-owns the successful Cat Club on Sunset Strip where he usually plays Thursday nights with celebrity guests; is in The Head Cat with Lemmy from Motorhead; this year is getting together the Forgotten Saints with longtime friend Captain Sensible of the Damned... > Read more
TY INTERVIEWED (2004): British hip-hop to the people
10 Mar 2009 | 4 min read
From this distance, British hip-hop comes down to a few big names: the Streets, Dizzee Rascal and Skinnyman. It takes keen interest -- or a look at the nominees for the highly regarded Mercury Prize -- to come across rapper Ty. But he's not a new name. His debut album Awkward appeared three years ago in 2001 and the Mercury-nominated Upwards came out in 2003. He's had a run of successful... > Read more
GENE CLARK, THE ONCE AGAIN BYRD: A true American dreamer
1 Mar 2009 | 3 min read | 1
Former Byrd Gene Clark is so famous he's dead and people write songs about him. Well, Teenage Fanclub did on their album Thirteen album and that's a pretty creditable homage. After all, the Fanclub previously modelled themselves on Alex Chilton's cult-hero band Big Star. Gene, you wanna talk muso-cred? You got it, man. You're another dead cult figure. So wave hello and say goodbye.... > Read more
The Byrds: She Don't Care About Time
JOSE GONZALEZ INTERVIEWED (2004): Quiet is the new loud
1 Mar 2009 | 3 min read
Jose Gonzalez is an interesting series of contradictions: his family is Argentinean but he was born and grew up in Sweden; he played in hardcore bands but has enjoyed huge success with a quiet folksy album; he makes lo-fi music yet has sprung to fame on the back of a memorable telly-ad for cutting edge technology; and he goes untroubled on the streets of his hometown Gothenburg despite being... > Read more
Jose Gonzalez: Broken Arrows
MARY WILSON OF THE SUPREMES INTERVIEWED (2009): The Dreamgirl goes on
1 Mar 2009 | 13 min read | 3
There are many things that stars of stage and screen these days seem very happy to talk about: their former or current addictions, the assault case, the booze-fuelled nights, that bitch/bastard of an ex, their fall from grace and so on. Then there is the taboo area: money. About 15 minutes in to a wide-ranging conversation with a founding member of the Supremes, Mary Wilson -- who was the... > Read more
The Supremes: Stop! In the Name of Love
BUDDY HOLLY REMEMBERED 50 YEARS ON: His life, his wife, his legacy
19 Feb 2009 | 11 min read
It was 50 years ago, on February 3 1959, that the tail-lights of the red four-seater Beechcraft Bonanza faded into gusty winds over the airport at Mason City in Iowa. Within minutes the single-engine plane had plummeted into the snow-covered cornfields of the thinly-populated countryside. And so it was that America woke up on February 4 to the news that Buddy Holly was dead. He was 22... > Read more