Tag Archives: Darren Johnson

March 2014-March 2024: Celebrating ten years of Darren’s Music Blog

Folk music, Live reviews, Music culture & history, Music news, Rock music, , , , , ,

“You should start writing a blog,” my brother Sam mentioned to me while we were sitting at a festival one afternoon in the Summer of 2013 discussing the various bands we’d each seen recently.

Darren and Sam (right) at Fairport’s Cropredy Convention

I told him the thought had vaguely crossed my mind but it was something I could give more thought to the following Spring once my lengthy stint as a local councillor was coming to an end. My evenings would then be freed up, giving me time to start seeing more gigs and, crucially, sharing my thoughts online about what I’d just seen.

I’d always written a lot about politics and current affairs and I’d never exactly shied away from blatant self-publicity, ever since I got the local paper to run a front-page feature about me doing a stand-up gig in the local pub when I was 16. But I’d never really written about my lifelong love of music before.

That all changed in early March 2014 and Darren’s Music Blog went live.

Although I’d seen tons of bands during my teen years and early 20s, by the time I got into my mid-20s I seemed to have constant overdrafts and less money available to spend on concert tickets. In my 30s and 40s, with my chosen career by now pretty well-established, I found that although I had the money for gigs I no longer really had the time. Once I approached my late 40s, however, I was finally in the lucky position of having both the time and the money. It’s fair to say I went for it…

Darren meets members of Uriah Heep

Looking back at my first month of combining gig-going with blogging, it was quite a busy one. I reviewed concerts by Uriah Heep on 4th March, the Young ‘uns on 5th March, Fairport Convention on 9th March, Judy Dyble on 16th March, Graham Bonnett on 19th March, The Elizabethan Session on 22nd March, Status Quo on 28th March and Peter Knight’s Gigspanner on 29th March. Phew!

That first month pretty much summed up my approach. I didn’t want to get too hung up on genre. I didn’t want to do a classic rock blog or a folk blog or any other sort of genre-specific blog (although there are some great ones out there). Rather I wanted to write about all of the artists that happened to interest me, whether heavy metal, glam rock or folk. If others enjoyed reading that, then great, but the starting point was about any music that happen to please me.

Over time, I started added album reviews as well as gig reviews, along with interviews, book reviews, music history and discussion of iconic songs.

Fairport Convention’s Simon Nicol is interviewed for Darren’s Music Blog

Ten years later, 700+ posts, 400,000+ views, many, many incredible gigs and some wonderful chats with artists as diverse as Andy Scott from the Sweet, Mark Farner from Grand Funk Railroad and  Simon Nicol from Fairport Convention, my blog gets more and more people stopping by to read it with each year that passes.

Thank you!

Darren Johnson

[Header image: Uriah Heep at Koko – my first gig review. Photo credit: Elise Benjamin]

Darren’s music books:

The Sweet In The 1970s

Suzi Quatro In The 1970s

Slade In The 1970s

‘Slade in the 1970s’ by Darren Johnson – reviews round-up

Book reviews, Glam rock, Music culture & history, Music news, Rock music, , , , , , ,

Slade in the 1970s – my third book for Sonicbond Publishing’s Decades series came out in May 2023, following my books on The Sweet (2021) and Suzi Quatro (2022). All three books are available on Amazon and other major retailers as well as the publisher’s own online shop at Burning Shed.

It’s been great seeing the amount of interest in the book, including a joint interview with Don Powell (pictured here with a copy of my book – definitely a proud author moment!)

Here is a round-up of reviews that have come in so far:

“Covering the titular decade, Johnson provides in-depth analysis release by release, relying heavily on contemporary press. It reads well: interesting, informative and with an amiable personal slant.” – Gerry Ranson RnR magazine

“Another ‘must have’ for the casual Slade fan and anyone who loves a bit of glam rock”– Jason Ritchie, Get Ready To Rock (read full review here)

“As a massive glam rock fan, this is a must-have book” – Martin Hutchinson, Eighth Day magazine

“This neat paperback guide to a glittering 70s heyday recalls a momentous run of singles and albums” – Beat magazine

“As well as listing all single and album tracks, with accompanying background notes, all key elements of the Slade story are covered here.” – Jon Marsh, Wired Up fanzine

Related posts:

More info on Slade in the 1970s book

Reviews roundup: ‘The Sweet in the 1970s’

‘Suzi Quatro in the 1970s’ by Darren Johnson – reviews round-up

A day celebrating Slade at the Trumpet, Bilston – Book Launch & Pouk Hill Prophetz 17/6/23

Glam rock, Music culture & history, Rock music, , , , , , , ,

To mark the publication of my latest book ‘Slade In The 1970s’ I was delighted to be at The Trumpet in Bilston, Wolverhampton, recently – along with Martin Brooks and Nigel Hart of the Pouk Hill Prophetz and a sizeable gathering of Slade fans.

Given the heatwave we’d been having all week I started wondering if we’d actually get many people along and thinking that they may well prefer to spend the day in the garden with a BBQ rather than be stuck inside a pub. I needn’t have worried. As soon as I turned up on Bilston High Street laden with a heavy rucksack full of books, I began spotting fans in Slade T-shirts waiting for The Trumpet to open. Phew!

The Trumpet was a regular stomping ground for the four members of Slade back in the day and is still a much-loved and highly-respected jazz venue. One of the musicians who played there regularly was Black Country pianist, Tommy Burton, who appears on Slade’s Old, New, Borrowed & Blue album. There is a blue plaque for him at the pub.

Once inside, Martin and Nigel of the Pouk Hill Prophetz were already busy sound-checking and I got to work setting up a display of my books on what would be the signing table, in front of the stage and handily right next to the bar. By the time things kicked off the pub had filled up nicely.

After an introduction from Nigel, I took to the mic-stand to say a little about my book, explain the concept behind Sonicbond’s Decades series (of which ‘Slade in the 1970s’ is part) and share with everyone how my long-standing love affair with the band came about. Then it was time for questions: What was my first Slade gig? How did I go about researching the book? What made me switch from being a politician to writing about music?

Following a short break where I signed copies of my books and chatted to Slade fans, it was then time for the first set of the day from the magnificent Pouk Hill Prophetz. Coming together through their shared love of Slade, Pouk Hill Prophetz have been together almost a decade now, celebrating the music of Slade and, occasionally, other glam-era icons.

The first set of the day was an entirely acoustic set where Martin and Nigel gave us their own interpretations of a number of Slade classics. From the big hits like ‘Cum On Feel The Noize’ and ‘Coz I Luv You’, to obscure early album tracks like ‘Dapple Rose’, to anthemic B-sides like ‘She Did It To Me’. It was all rather spectacular, but it wasn’t over yet. The duo would be back for two more sets in the evening, including a full electric set towards the end, with a guest drummer and a special outing for a replica version of Dave Hill’s famous Superyob guitar.

Michael Vanoverstraeten adds: “After the afternoon session, my wife and I went back home to fetch the John Birch Super Yob Guitar for Martin to play it in the evening. Martin surely blew the cobwebs of my John Birch Super Yob Guitar blasting out “Born to Be Wild” at the end of the evening.”

Michael Vanoverstraeten with Mick Marsden – a member of the N’ Betweens prior to the Holder/Hill/Lea/Powell line-up that would eventually become Slade

I’d like to thank Diane at The Trumpet for hosting us that day and giving us such a warm and friendly Black Country welcome, I’d like to thank Martin and Nigel of Pouk Hill Prophetz for giving us such wonderful music and I’d like to thank everyone who came along – all brought together through a shared love of Slade. A memorable day indeed.

Photos: Darren Johnson and Martin Brooks

Related Posts:

Darren’s books

Live review: Pouk Hill Prophetz – charity gig for Dementia UK, London 2019

Slade Convention 2016

Pouk Hill Prophetz raise thousands for brain tumour research

Slade in the 1970s: interview with Mike Rogers

Glam rock, Interviews, Music culture & history, Music news, Rock music, , , , , , ,

Radio host, YouTuber, writer and producer, Tokyo-based Mike Rogers has many incredible connections in the world of rock and roll.

I’ve been in contact with Mike on numerous occasions in connection with my music PR work, representing other artists. This time, however, I was the guest on the Mike Rogers Show, talking about my recently-published book on Slade.

You can catch my interview with Mike below, where I talk about my love of ’70s glam, my new book on Slade, my two previous books on Suzi Quatro and The Sweet and my segue from London politics to music writing.

Actually, as The Times noted last weekend I’m not the first ex-London politician to write a book on Slade. Before turning my hand to music writing, I did a sixteen year stint as an elected member of the Greater London Authority (GLA), representing the Green Party. But the first person to write a book on Slade was George Tremlett, a Conservative member of the predecessor body, the Greater London Council (GLC), whose own Slade book came out in 1975.

And below Here we have George Tremlett’s 1975 book ‘The Slade Story’, alongside my own book which came out on 26th May this year.

Related posts

‘Slade In The 1970s’ by Darren Johnson out 26th May 2023

Reviews round-up: ‘Suzi Quatro In The 1970s’

Reviews round-up: ‘The Sweet in the 1970s’

‘Suzi Quatro in the 1970s’ by Darren Johnson – reviews round-up

Book reviews, Glam rock, Music culture & history, Music news, Rock music, , , , , , ,

This week sees the publication of my third book for Sonicbond’s Decades series: ‘Slade In The 1970s’. It follows on from my books on The Sweet in 2021 and Suzi Quatro last year – a glam trilogy if you will!

Here is a round-up of reviews for my previous book on Suzi Quatro. All three books are available on Amazon and other major retailers as well as the publisher’s own online shop at Burning Shed.

“Darren Johnson focuses the same obsessive-compulsive attention to detail that he applied to Sweet in his earlier contribution” – Andrew Darlington, RnR magazine

“An interesting book which should appeal to a wide audience” – John Tucker, Record Collector magazine

“Fascinating read for Suzi Q fans, aging glam rockers and anybody who enjoys a good, informative rock biography.” Jason Ritchie, Get Ready To Rock

Read full Get Ready To Rock review here

“Detailed, informative and highly readable, Darren covers everything about Suzi in the 70s, plus before and beyond.” Jon Marsh, Wired Up fanzine

Related posts:

‘Slade In The 1970s’ by Darren Johnson out 26th May 2023

‘Suzi Quatro In The 1970s’ by Darren Johnson coming in July 2022

Reviews roundup: ‘The Sweet in the 1970s’

SLADE in the SEVENTIES – with author, Darren Johnson

Glam rock, Interviews, Music culture & history, Music news, Rock music, , , ,

I talk to Gary Alikivi about my love of 70s glam, my writing and my forthcoming book on Slade for his excellent online blog here.

ALIKIVI UK : NORTH EAST CULTURE

I was encouraged by the reaction to my Sweet book and began work on one about Suzi Quatro, another big ‘70s icon that I’ve always been a huge fan of. However, the first band I truly fell in love with was Slade said author Darren Johnson.

Originally from the North West, Darren moved to London in 1990 where he spent over twenty years working full time in politics…

My professional background was in politics and campaigning so I’d written a lot about current affairs and had various articles published in the national press – from tackling climate change to building more council housing.

After stepping back from politics Darren moved out of the capital and in 2016 based himself in Hastings, East Sussex.

When I no longer had an endless cycle of meetings to attend, one of the things I was determined to do was go to more live gigs…

View original post 944 more words

New book: ‘Slade In The 1970s’ by Darren Johnson out 26th May 2023

Book reviews, Glam rock, Music culture & history, Rock music, , , , , , ,

Following my books on The Sweet and Suzi Quatro I’m absolutely delighted to confirm that my third book for Sonicbond’s ‘Decades’ series, Slade In The 1970s, is published on 26th May 2023.

You can order from Amazon’s website here and via the publisher’s online shop at Burning Shed here as well as other major retailers.

Launch event at The Trumpet, Bilston, 17th June – details here

Slade In The 1970s – synopsis

Slade were one of the biggest British bands of the 1970s. One of the early pioneers of glam rock they enjoyed an incredible run of six number one singles, five top-ten albums and a succession of sell-out tours. However, after a failed attempt at an American breakthrough in the mid-1970s, Slade returned to Britain and faced dwindling record sales, smaller concert halls and a music press that had lost interest in them. By the end of the decade, they were playing residencies in cabaret clubs and recorded a cover of a children’s novelty song. But then came a last-minute invitation to play the 1980 Reading Festival, setting into motion one of the most remarkable comebacks in rock history.

As we come to the fiftieth anniversary of Slade’s 1973 annus mirabilis that saw ‘Cum On Feel The Noize’, ‘Skweeze Me, Pleeze Me’ and ‘Merry Xmas Everybody’ all enter the UK charts at number one, this book celebrates the music of Slade. From the band’s beginnings in the mid-1960s through each year of the decade that gave them their biggest successes, every album and single is examined, as well as their raucous live shows and colourful media profile.

About the Author

A former politician, Darren Johnson spent many years writing about current affairs but after stepping away from politics he was able to devote time to his first love: music. His first book, The Sweet In The 1970s, was published by Sonicbond in 2021, followed by Suzi Quatro In The 1970s in 2022. Now he turns his attention to the first band he truly fell in love with: Slade. A keen follower of both rock and folk, he maintains a popular music blog Darren’s Music Blog and has reviewed albums and gigs for a variety of publications. He lives in Hastings, East Sussex

Slade in the 1970s by Darren Johnson – one sheet summaryDownload

Related posts:

The Sweet In The 1970s – reviews round-up

Suzi Quatro In The 1970s – reviews round-up

Interview with Plastic EP about my new book: ‘Suzi Quatro in the 1970s’

Book reviews, Glam rock, Interviews, Music culture & history, Rock music, , , , , ,

Following publication of my recent book on Suzi Quatro, I was delighted to be interviewed by the force of nature that is Plastic EP. He’s had a huge range of guests from big-name musical stars to dedicated music lovers like myself. We talked Suzi, The Sweet, my love of the 70s glam era and the two books I’ve had published for Sonicbond’s ‘Decades’ series (with a third on the way!)

You can catch the full interview with Plastic EP here:

Among the 800 guests he’s had on so far, Plastic EP has interviewed Suzi, herself, of course. You can catch one of his interviews with Suzi here, where he’s joined by co-host, Sabine Brignell.

Plastic EP and Sabine also interviewed Don Powell recently, which you can catch here:

Related posts:

New book: ‘Suzi Quatro In The 1970s’ by Darren Johnson coming in July 2022

Book news: ‘The Sweet in the 1970s’ by Darren Johnson – published 30th July 2021

Reviews roundup: ‘The Sweet in the 1970s’ – a huge thank you!

Book reviews, Glam rock, Rock music, , , ,

Since my book ‘The Sweet In the 1970s’ was published in the summer, not only have I been bowled over by sales (the first print-run sold out even prior to publication date) I’ve been hugely encouraged by the reviews, too.

Jason Ritchie at Get Ready To Rock was first to review:

“An excellent overview of The Sweet, appraising the band’s 70s output and tracking the band’s ups and downs during that decade. Well researched and referenced too, with the final part of the book giving a whistle stop tour of what the band did from 1980 to the present day.”

You can read the full Get Ready To Rock review here

Then over in the US, Dave Thompson gave the following review in Goldmine magazine:

“Certainly this is not the first Sweet biography to appear in recent years, but it’s sharp, it’s concise, and it doesn’t spend half its time moping around the not-happened-yet sixties and the oh-dear-are-they-still-going beyond. Well, not much. We skip the first ten pages, covering the “early years,” and the last ten detailing “what happened next.” Don’t care. But there’s close to a hundred pages between those bookends that are just non-stop blockbusting, hell raising, teenage rampaging little willying, with every album and single spotlighted for special examination, key quotes highlighted and individual song titles telling their own stories, too. Throughout, author Darrell Johnson (sic) captures the excitement of the great records; can usually find something nice to say about the less great ones, and doesn’t try to kid us that Cut Up Above the Rest was even remotely well-titled. It’s a book for fans, then, but one for the curious, too. Nicely done.”

Dave Thompson produced his own well-written Sweet biography a decade ago, of course, so I was particularly pleased to get his endorsement. I’ll even forgive him getting my name slightly wrong!

You can read the full Goldmine review here

Back on to the British magazine racks, Mick Gafney at Powerplay magazine also had some very nice things to say:

“What comes across in spades in this book is the author’s unwavering love and passion for the band, and whilst it might not be the weightiest of tomes, Johnson still manages to fill it with plenty of well-researched facts and insightful opinion.”

You can read the full review here:

And Steve Swift at Fireworks magazine also gave it the thumbs up:

 “Johnson clearly loves the band and the tone is warm and welcoming; Johnson does something simple but lovely…”

You can read the full review here:

Over on Amazon it’s been picking up some very encouraging customer reviews, too:

“The Sweet In The 1970s is an excellent and concise book about rock’s most underrated band who transformed from ‘bubblegum’ to ‘glam rock’ to ‘hard rock’ to something a little more progressive throughout the aforementioned decade. It also reminds the reader how Sweet managed to ‘snatch defeat from the jaws of victory’ on many occasions.”

“Fabulous book. It does what it says on the cover it tells the Sweet story in the 70s. That doesn’t mean that the 60s and 80s are totally ignored.”

“Whether you a big Sweet fan or not this is a really interesting story written and presented very well. I’ve learnt a lot!”

“Draws together from many sources it borders on the academic, yet reads easily. Clearly a fan, our author is not blind to the weaknesses of the band and is never modest on their behalf either. I learnt quite a bit and it’s a great reference book for the material recorded by the band.”

At one point it made it to number three on Amazon’s UK best sellers list for music history and criticism, as well number ten in its popular music books and number fourteen in its rock music books.

When I first began writing the book I never dreamed it would do so well and writing for Sonicbond Publishing had been an extremely positive experience.

You can read how I first came to write the book here

Better, still you can read the book!

‘The Sweet in the 1970s’ is available from the following outlets:

UK

You can order ‘The Sweet in the 1970s’ direct from the publishers via the Burning Shed on line shop here

It’s available from a number of other UK retailers including: WH Smith, Waterstones, and Bookshop.org

You can order from Amazon UK here

US

You can order via Walmart and Amazon.com

Sweden

You can order via Adlibris 

‘The Sweet in the 1970s’ now also set for publication in the US on 24th September

Book reviews, Glam rock, Music culture & history, Music news, Rock music, , , , , , ,

I’m delighted to report sales of my book, which was published in the UK by Sonicbond on 30th July, have been brisk.

Amazon and other retailers will be dispatching to customers in the US from 24th September. When writing the book I did take care to ensure the book would be relevant to US readers – putting Billboard chart positions in as well as UK ones, for example, as well as explaining some peculiarly English turns of phrase like w*nk and Sweet FA…

My book also picked up a very nice review from Jason Ritchie at Get Ready To Rock recently:

“An excellent overview of The Sweet, appraising the band’s 70s output and tracking the band’s ups and downs during that decade. Well researched and referenced too, with the final part of the book giving a whistle stop tour of what the band did from 1980 to the present day.”

Full review here

Over on Amazon it’s been picking up some very encouraging customer reviews, too:

“The Sweet In The 1970s is an excellent and concise book about rock’s most underrated band who transformed from ‘bubblegum’ to ‘glam rock’ to ‘hard rock’ to something a little more progressive throughout the aforementioned decade. It also reminds the reader how Sweet managed to ‘snatch defeat from the jaws of victory’ on many occasions.”

“Fabulous book. It does what it says on the cover it tells the Sweet story in the 70s. That doesn’t mean that the 60s and 80s are totally ignored.”

“Whether you a big Sweet fan or not this is a really interesting story written and presented very well. I’ve learnt a lot!”

At one point it made it to number three on Amazon’s UK best sellers list for music history and criticism, as well number ten in its popular music books and number fourteen in its rock music books. All beyond my wildest dreams really. When I began writing and researching the book it very much became my lockdown project. Any success in terms of sales was going to be the icing on the cake rather than the main reason for doing it.

However, I’m really pleased it’s selling so well and it’s been a very positive experience working with Sonicbond Publishing who have an excellent range of other music books in their portfolio.

On with the next one!

‘The Sweet in the 1970s’ is available from:

UK

You can order ‘The Sweet in the 1970s’ direct from the publishers via the Burning Shed on line shop here

It’s available from a number of other UK retailers including: WH Smith, Waterstones, and Bookshop.org

You can order from Amazon UK here

US

You can order via Walmart and Amazon.com

Sweden

You can order via Adlibris