Tag Archives: David Bowie

Notes from the Lust For Life Tour – Feb/Mar 2023

Live reviews, Rock music, , , , , , , ,

The recent Lust For Life tour brought together Glen Matlock (Sex Pistols, Iggy Pop), Clem Burke (Blondie, Iggy Pop), Katie Puckrik (Pet Shop Boys, Sparks), Kevin Armstrong (Iggy Pop, David Bowie), Luis Correia (Earl Slick) and Florence Sabeva (Heaven 17).

Having had the immense privilege of spending the past few months working on the PR campaign for the tour it was a joy to finally witness the band live, not just in a professional capacity but most importantly as a fan, of both that glorious Iggy Pop album and of the individual players in the band, too.

Why Lust For Life? In the run-up to the tour and following a last-minute change in personnel, Kevin Armstrong explained the thinking behind celebrating the album in this way:

“Well, it’s 45 years since the release of Lust For Life and it just seemed like a great way to celebrate these fantastic landmarks in music with some of the people who were there and some of us who have an Iggy connection. So that was the initial idea and Tony Sales, who played on Lust For Life, was up for it initially. But due to circumstances beyond anyone’s control he’s unable to complete the process. But luckily for us we’ve got Glen Matlock who’s similarly imbued with a connection to Iggy.”

By any criteria this was going to be an impressively strong line-up of musicians but the key test was always going to be how it would all gel together on stage. And what of Katie Puckrik? Many of us seeing this tour would know her from her impressive broadcasting career and would have some very fond memories of Katie bringing some all-American sass to the offbeat and very British irreverence of The Word back in the 1990s. But what would she bring as lead vocalist fronting such an esteemed collection of musical egos?

Both of those questions would be answered pretty conclusively by pretty much everyone witnessing the tour within the opening minutes of the first song (track one, side one of the original album, of course): an absolute triumph. Puckrik instantly proved herself as a compelling, energetic and gloriously charismatic frontwoman. Surely, a late career surge now beckons as an uncompromising rock ‘n’ roll goddess? As Clem Burke told his Twitter followers ahead of the final date on the tour:

“Katie is fantastic and it’s just occurred to me she has joined the ranks of the other brilliant women I’ve been fortunate to play with: Debbie, Annie, Nancy, Wanda, The Go Go’s , & Joan!”

For the first part of the performance the band powered through the Lust For Life album from start to finish. Clem Burke’s rhythmic powerhouse drumming and Glen Matlock’s mean and dirty bass, a joy to witness. Seeing legends like this up on small stages in tiny, intimate venues just a few meters away is a real ‘pinch-me’ experience for many of us. Kevin Armstrong and Luis Correia are both exceptional guitarists and classically-trained Florence Sabeva is an incredibly versatile player as she takes on Bowie’s keyboard parts on the original album. After we’ve all sung along with them to anthems like ‘Some Weird Sin’, The Passenger’ and ‘Success’ before we know it we’re on to the band’s rendition of album’s final track, ‘Fall In Love With Me’, and it’s time for some introductions.

Underlining the gold standard of the musical CVs of the musicians standing in front of us we have filmed segments, both old and new, introducing each member in turn, courtesy of Glen Gregory, Sparks, Steve Norman, David Bowie, Iggy Pop and Debbie Harry.

Then it’s on to an extended ‘career highlights’ package with a brilliantly chosen set of songs from across the individual band members’ careers: Iggy Pop covers like ‘Nightclubbing’ and ‘Ambition’ (the latter with Matlock on vocals); Stooges covers like ‘I Wanna Be Your Dog’ and ‘No Fun’, Blondie’s ‘Rip Her To Shreds’ and a truly life-affirming version of the Pistol’s ‘Pretty Vacant’. Unforgettable performances from an unforgettable tour.

Although a number of those performing had worked with one another in various guises prior to this, both the tour and the band was initially conceived a one-off project, but let’s just hope this is the start rather than the end of something bigger.  It truly deserves to be. A brilliant way to celebrate one of the truly iconic albums of the past fifty years with an incredible cast of musicians who more than do it justice and then some.  

Photo credits: all live images taken at Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh courtesy of John Scott, Upstage Photography

Website: https://www.lustforlifetour.com/

Bowie and Iggy Pop icon, Tony Fox Sales, celebrates 45 years of Lust For Life with UK tour

Music news, Rock music, , , , , , ,

Tony Fox Sales featuring Clem Burke from Blondie – UK tour March 2023

Marking forty-five years since the release of the all-time classic Lust For Life album, esteemed former Iggy Pop and Tin Machine bass-player, Tony Fox Sales, sets out on a rare UK tour next Spring, his first in the UK since 1991. With an all-star line-up, Sales is joined by legendary Blondie drummer, Clem Burke; vocalist, renowned broadcaster and Pet Shop Boys dancer, Katie Puckrik; Iggy Pop and David Bowie guitarist, Kevin Armstrong;  guitarist, Luis Correia, who’s toured internationally with Earl Slick; and classical pianist, composer, and touring member of Heaven 17, Florence Sabeva.

Tony Fox Sales will perform the Lust For Life album in full, as well as revisiting songs from across the individual band members’ careers with legendary artists such as Blondie and David Bowie. The full tour also includes a special one-off date in Dublin and two nights in Japan.

The full tour dates are as follows:

The full 2023 tour dates are as follows:

Mon 20 Feb – Billboard Live, Osaka, Japan

Thur 23 Feb – Billboard Live, Tokyo, Japan

Tue 28 Feb – Exchange, Bristol, UK

Wed 1 March – The 100 Club, London, UK

Thur 2 March – The Cavern, Liverpool, UK

Fri 3 March – Social, Hull, UK

Sat 4 March – Trades Club, Hebden Bridge, UK

Sun 5 March – The Vodoo Rooms, Edinburgh, UK

Wed 8 March – Whelan’s, Dublin, Ireland

Thur 9 March – Arts Centre, Colchester, UK

Fri 10 March – The Piper, St Leonards, UK

Sat 11 March – The Lexington, London, UK

Sun 12 March – The Lexington, London, UK

All tickets available via: https://tonyfoxsalestour.com/

Announcing the tour, Tony Fox Sales comments: “I look forward, with great anticipation, to returning to England to tour this coming year. The Lust For Life album was the recording highlight of my fifty-eight year career in music for me. It was an amazing experience artistically, and personally. Memories not too soon forgotten. Though, as of now, I have not worked with the entire line-up of players for this tour, I have no doubt, that this will be an ass-kicking event! Lust For Life!”

Katie Puckrik: “I’m a show pony from way back: along with my broadcast career covering pop culture, I performed onstage with The Fall and Michael Clark Company, I toured the world dancing with Pet Shop Boys, and I sang in Sparks’ opera The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman, both on the original cast recording and in performance. I have worked with towering icons of music, but taking on the magnificent Iggy Pop’s vocal duties for this Lust for Life re-make/re-model is an electrifying opportunity like no other. Not only do I get to sing anthems like ‘Lust for Life’ and ‘The Passenger’ (as well as my personal fave from the album, ‘Success’), but I’m surrounded by some of Iggy, Bowie and Blondie’s key players, including Tony Sales, Clem Burke and Kevin Armstrong. So strap on your horse tails and join me in celebrating Lust for Life.”

The Tony Fox Sales band members are:

Tony Fox Sales – Bass and Backing Vocals: Growing up in Detroit, bass-player, Tony Fox Sales, and his drummer brother, Hunt, formed their first band in the mid-1960s. As a rhythm section Tony and Hunt would go on to work with David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Todd Rundgren, Bob Welch, Andy Fraser and many others. After recording a couple of albums with Todd in the early 1970s, the two brothers recorded the Kill City album with Iggy Pop in 1975 followed by Lust for Life in 1977. They both joined Iggy on his subsequent tour, recorded as TV Eye Live 1977 and released the following year. In 1982 Tony joined Chequered Past, which included singer/actor Michael Des Barres (later of Power Station); ex-Sex Pistols guitarist, Steve Jones; Blondie’s drummer, Clem Burke, as well as their bass player, Nigel Harrison. In 1988 Tony then joined forces with David Bowie, Reeves Gabrels and Hunt Sales in Tin Machine. Bowie later acknowledged that it was Tony and Hunt’s contribution to Lust for Life that led him to invite the brothers to join him.

Clem Burke – Drums: Answering an ad in the New York newspaper, Village Voice, for a band seeking a ‘freak energy’ rock drummer, Clem Burke became the drummer of Blondie in the mid-1970s. The band recorded their first album in 1976 and emerged as the great pop icons of New York’s celebrated late 1970s new wave punk scene, achieving huge commercial success with the number one hit singles ‘Atomic’, ‘Heart of Glass’, ‘Sunday Girl’, ‘Call Me’, ‘Rapture’, and ‘The Tide is High’. When Blondie temporarily broke up in 1982, Burke joined Tony Fox Sales in Chequered Past and has also played with a plethora of music legends, including Bob Dylan, Pete Townshend, Iggy Pop, The Ramones, The Eurythmics and Joan Jett. In 2006, along with the other original members of Blondie, Clem was inducted into the prestigious Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, with Blondie already having sold over 42 million records.

Katie Puckrik – Vocals: The performer, broadcaster and writer made her TV breakthrough hosting The Word in the 1990s. As a vocalist she sang in Sparks’ opera The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman, and her presenting work includes a two-part BBC TV documentary on yacht rock, a four-part BBC radio series on power pop, and her ongoing role as a commentator on Channel 5’s popular Greatest Pop Songs/Videos franchise. Her modern history podcast We Didn’t Start the Fire, based on the Billy Joel hit, was named one of The Observer’s top ten podcasts of 2021. She still considers her favourite career achievement performing with Pet Shop Boys on ‘West End Girls’. “This sexy, sinister lullaby was my ‘I’ve made it!’ anthem when I scored my best job ever: dancing on Pet Shop Boys’ 1991 Performance world tour.”

Kevin Armstrong  – Guitar and Musical Director: Kevin began his musical life with his own band Local Heroes SW9. After two albums his career began thriving as a writer, producer, bandleader and guitarist. Most notably, Kevin met David Bowie in late 1984 and worked with him on various projects, including putting together his band and performing at the legendary Live Aid in 1985. Bowie introduced Kevin to Iggy Pop as guitarist on the 1986 album Blah Blah Blah and Kevin became Iggy’s bandleader in 86/87. He put together Iggy’s touring band again from 2014 until 2019. Kevin has worked with Morrissey, Grace Jones, Sinéad O’Connor, Prefab Sprout, Thomas Dolby, Transvision Vamp, Brian Eno, Paul McCartney, Sandie Shaw, Gil Evans, Alien Sex Fiend, Keziah Jones and many more.

Luis Correia – Guitar: Luis is a London-based guitarist, producer and songwriter. Originally from Portugal, where he started his career as a session player, Luis moved to the UK over a decade ago and has since performed alongside names like Earl Slick (David Bowie), Bernard Fowler (The Rolling Stones), Erdal Kizilcay (David Bowie), Martin Lister (Alphaville), amongst others. His musicality and soulful playing make Luis a sought after muso on the London scene, where he’s often seen with various bands. He’s currently working on his own music and preparing for a tour with Steve Norman of Spandau Ballet later this year.

Florence Sabeva – Keyboards: a London based pianist, film composer and singer-songwriter, Flo started her career as a session pianist and has played alongside artists like Tom Bailey, Earl Slick (David Bowie) and Bernard Fowler (The Rolling Stones) and currently tours with Heaven 17. Also a very active film composer, she wrote her first score for ‘Wax, We Are The X’ and was then commissioned to write the soundtrack for the Gravity Field Festival in Guildford and to score the German movie ‘Mireille and Angelique’. Flo released her first studio album ‘The London Sessions’ in 2017, featuring eclectic works with European songwriters and artists that reflect her various music influences.

Tom Wilcox – Curator and Producer: Tom was the front man of 90’s art punk band Maniac Squat finding notoriety with their 1995 ‘hit’ F**k Off (Single of the Week in Kerrang!). Tom has since produced albums for Gillian Glover and Lisa Ronson; the latter, co-produced with Paul Cuddeford, receiving a 4-star review in Mojo and widespread critical acclaim. As a music curator, Tom’s credits include Blondiefest, Princefest and Iggyfest at the ICA, as well as conceiving and introducing bands/tours such as Tony Visconti’s Holy Holy.

Website: https://tonyfoxsalestour.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tonysalestour/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/tonysalestour

Related posts:

Kevin Armstrong at the Kino, St Leonards 2018

Mike Garson performs Aladdin Sane at Birmingham O2 Institute 2017

Holy Holy perform Ziggy Stardust at Shepherd’s Bush Empire 2017

Holy Holy perform The Man Who Sold The World & Ziggy Stardust at De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill 2019

21st Century Exposé: New EP from Tim Izzard celebrates fifty years of Glam Rock

Album reviews, Glam rock, Music news, Rock music, , , , , ,

A year on from the release of his well-received debut album last year, Sussex-based singer-songwriter/musician, Tim Izzard, has a brand-new EP out. 21st Century Exposé builds on the themes explored in Izzard’s debut album, Starlight Rendezvous, an album of original songs inspired by David Bowie in at the height of his Ziggy period. 21st Century Exposé is a full-on celebration of the glam era in all its glory and the sparkling, luminous trail it has left across music of many different genres over the past fifty years.

Tim Izzard: “Starlight Rendezvous had its origins very much rooted in Glam-era Bowie. The follow-up EP, 21st Century Exposé further celebrates the man and the old and current glam scene, mixing up old school new wave, power-pop, glam, neo-glam, futuristic ballads and a slice of cabaret to muse on twenty-first century living.”

The lead song on the new EP is the wonderful ‘Glam Rock Star’, a tribute to glam rock’s first half-century – a genre that is still influencing music today.

Izzard: “Whilst it is recognised that T. Rex’s 1971 No.1 Hot Love gave birth to UK glam rock it was in 1972 that it escaped into the playground with Bowie, Roxy, Alice Cooper, Mott, Slade and many others pushing the musical and make-up boundaries! I still remember vividly watching an alien Bowie perform Starman on TOTP and later on the futuristic , 50’s throw-back of Virginia Plain by Roxy Music. Fifty years on and there are still many bands and artists producing new glam and neo-glam music such as the UK’s The Voltz, Sweden’s SilverGlam and, in the US, Creem Circus and Gyasi. Like the influence of Bowie on my music you can hear Bolan’s vocal, Mick Ronson’s guitar or the wall of sound of Slade and much more in the ‘New’ Glam sound.”

Released 24th January 2022

21st Century Exposé can be found on Bandcamp at: https://timizzard.bandcamp.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TimIzzardMusic/

Related post:

Tim Izzard and the new glammed-up Ziggy-esque album ‘Starlight Rendezvous’

Book review: ‘How To Think Like David Bowie’ by Jonathan Tindale

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

I’m generally more one for Viz Top Tips than anything approaching self-help literature but when I was offered the chance to review a book entitled  ‘How To Think Like David Bowie – Habits of mind for leading a more creative and successful life’ my curiosity was piqued.

By sheer coincidence the book arrived in the post about thirty minutes before I was due to head off on a trip to Essex with former Bowie guitarist, Kevin Armstrong, who had worked with Bowie on Absolute Beginners and Tin Machine and played with him at Live Aid. I hadn’t even had time to open the book before he arrived but I mentioned it to a bemused Kevin on the journey up to Colchester and asked for his thoughts. “I think there’s very few people who ever really knew what David Bowie was thinking,” was Kevin’s response, saying that Bowie was always welcoming and warm-hearted but rarely shared his inner thought processes, concentrating very much on the task in hand and getting the best out of everyone present.

In the book itself, Kevin Armstrong’s own sentiments are very much echoed by an earlier collaborator, Rick Wakeman, whose recollections of recording ‘Space Oddity’ back in 1969 are reproduced in the book:

“He was always incredibly prepared in the studio. He never wrote in the studio; everything was already done. He was always what he called ‘75% prepared’. You’d go in and he’d get the piece that far, and then the studio would take it that extra 25%.”

So does author, Jonathan Tindale, really attempt to get inside the head of Bowie and tell us how to think like him? In truth, although the book references Jung and Myers- Briggs and ‘The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology’, the title is somewhat tongue-in-cheek and it’s more philosophy than psychology. Bowie’s approaches to numerous projects throughout his five-decade career are analysed, dissected and cross-referenced and various life lessons drawn from them. Tindale, whose previous publications have included travel writing and parenting, draws on a wide range of Bowie-related sources to derive a number of key lessons from Bowie’s career.

Arranged across twelve chapters, themes include Bowie’s individuality, his work ethic, his approach to creative collaborations and his attitude to the business side of things. The book is not a long read but it’s well referenced and entertaining and avoids falling into the cult-like demagogic devotion that some of the more hagiographic pieces written after his death have fallen victim to. Moreover, it doesn’t shy away from looking at some of Bowie’s flaws and the odd creative troughs in his career as well as the many peaks. Quirky and thought-provoking How To Think Like David Bowie will be of interest to more than just the most hardened Bowie devotee.

Published: 18th June 2021 and available to order here

Related posts:

Before glam: the debut 60s singles of Bowie, Bolan, Slade, Mud and Sweet

The Sweet versus Bowie: the riff in Blockbuster and Jean Genie – origins a influences

Mike Garson performs Aladdin Sane at Birmingham O2 2017

Holy Holy at Shepherd’s Bush Empire 2017

Holy Holy perform The Man Who Sold The World & Ziggy Stardust De La Warr Pavilion 2019

This week’s featured artist: Tim Izzard and the new glammed-up Ziggy-esque album ‘Starlight Rendezvous’

Album reviews, Glam rock, Hastings music scene, Music news, Rock music, , , ,

Based in Hailsham in East Sussex, Tim Izzard is a musician who has worked across a variety of musical genres but Starlight Rendezvous, released last month, is his debut rock album. Taking glam-era Bowie as its starting point the album makes nods in the direction of pop, prog, rock and garage, and delivers something that is both creative and original yet unashamedly wears its influences as unselfconsciously as Mick Ronson in his golden Starman costume.

Izzard tells us: “It’s a play-it-loud, 40 mins concept album (remember them!) where the time is 632 AF, we are in a Brave New World and ‘The Visitor’, Thomas Jerome Newton, is still alive and still waiting to find his way home after nearly 200 years.”

Izzard adds: “I wanted to write an album that sounded like what first and still excites me musically and that I’d want to listen to once finished. So back to Bowie playing Starman on TOTP and the album, Ziggy. Roxy Music’s first two albums, Transformer/Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground. Bowie’s live Beeb version of Waiting For The Man still does it for me.“

“The chords and melody for Man Who Fell To Earth came easily to me one day, and just sounded immediately like it should be a tribute. So the title Man Who Fell To Earth I chose as he appeared like an alien on TOTP and left us so dramatically two days after Blackstar, almost as if his mission had been accomplished. The lyrics name-check his songs but also the impact they had on me ‘listening in my room’.“

That self-penned Bowie tribute, the excellent ‘Man Who Fell To Earth’ has already been picking up airplay including here on BBC Radio Sussex and in the US on glam rock internet station Dandy’s Stardust Dive.

Tim Izzard’s album Starlight Rendezvous is available on Bandcamp here:

https://timizzard.bandcamp.com/

Released: 13th January 2021

https://www.facebook.com/TimIzzardMusic/

Before glam: the debut 60s singles of Bowie, Bolan, Slade, Mud and Sweet

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

When glam rock burst into the UK pop charts in the early 1970s the genre may have appeared all shiny and new and suitably outrageous but many of its lead players had been trying to make their all-important breakthrough in the previous decade. Five of the acts we look at here all released their debut singles in the mid to late 60s.

Bowie – 1964

David Bowie’s debut single ‘Liza Jane’ which was released under the name Davie Jones & the King Bees and was recorded at Decca Studios in West Hampstead in May 1964 but released on the Vocalion Pop label. Although producer Leslie Conn is credited as the composer the song is an arrangement of an old standard ‘Li’l Liza Jane’ which dates back to at least the 1910s. Bowie released two more singles the following year under the names The Manish Boys and Davy Jones & the Lower Third but his first release using the name David Bowie was his 1966 single ‘Can’t Help Thinking About Me’ which was released as David Bowie & the Lower Third. Bowie’s next single, ‘Do Anything You Say’ released that same year was the first credited solely to David Bowie. Bowie release four more singles and a debut album prior to his first success chart success in 1969 with the single ‘Space Oddity’ which reached number five.

Bolan – 1965

Marc Bolan’s debut ‘The Wizard’ was released by Decca in 1965. “I sounded like Dylan,” Bolan later admitted in an interview. Mark Paytress in ‘Bolan – The Rise and Fall of a 20th Century Superstar’ takes up the story: “On the morning of September 14th 1965 Mike Leander, Jim Economides, Mark Pruskin and Marc Bolan congregated in Decca’s Broadhurst Gardens studios in West Hampstead. A small backing orchestra, comprising string section and pop instruments, and The Ladybirds vocal group were briefed and awaited further instructions from Leander. It was ten in the morning and everyone knew the session would be over by lunchtime.” When it failed to make its mark on the charts a couple more solo singles followed after which their was a stint in John’s Children. Bolan then enjoyed modest success in the underground acoustic duo Tyrannosaurus Rex before shortening the name, expanding the personnel, turning up the amps and hitting glam rock superstardom.

Slade – 1966

Recording as the N’ Betweens prior to changing their name firstly to Ambrose Slade and then Slade, Noddy Holder, Jim Lea, Dave Hill and Don Powell made their debut single in 1966. ‘You Better Run’ released by Columbia was a cover of a song by US band The Young Rascalls. Ian Edmondson & Chris Selby in ‘The Slade Discography’ take up the story: “Visiting American record producer Kim Fowley saw something in them that he liked and decided to to approach them with a view to recording some music. Fowley was what was referred to in those days as a ‘freak’. This was a combination of his height and his way out American dress style and attitude. He was fond of calling his records ‘Instant Productions’. This seemed to be mainly because he didn’t waste a lot of time and money on recording.” ‘You Better Run’ sold exceptionally well in Wolverhampton but failed to sell many copies elsewhere. Several more singles and two albums would follow until the band hit the UK Top 20 with ‘Get Down and Get With It’ in 1971.

Mud – 1967

Mud released their debut single ‘Flower Power’ on CBS in 1967, a song written by the band’s guitarist Rob Davis. Several more flop singles would follow until Mud hit the charts with ‘Crazy’ six years later, after they were signed to Mickie Most’s Rak label and enjoyed the fruits of the Chinn-Chapman songwriting team. Even at this early stage, however, three-quarters of the classic Mud line-up are already in place: Les Gray, Rob Davis, Ray Stiles. Drummer, Dave Mount, would join a year later. The band worked the social clubs of Surrey whilst continuing with their day jobs, Les Gray recalling in an interview: “We would do anything because we wanted to work.” Before finding their glam-meets-rock n roll-revivalist niche they hit us with this wonderful bit of psychedelic kitsch silliness.

The Sweet – 1968

The Sweet’s debut single ‘Slow Motion’, a song written by Wolverhampton pianist Dave Watkins, was released in July 1968 on Fontana. Set to be released under their original name The Sweetshop the band’s name was hurriedly shortened when they discovered another band had been using the same name. At the time of their debut three quarters of the band’s classic line-up, Brian Connolly, Steve Priest and Mick Tucker are already in place. Guitarist Andy Scott would join two years later in 1970. Produced by Phil Wainman, who would go on to produce the band’s hit singles during the glam era, ‘Slow Motion’ is a long way away from Blockbuster! and Ballroom Blitz but at the same time not a million miles away from the string of bubblegum hits (Funny Funny, Co-Co, Poppa Joe et al) that the band had before hitting their stride with a rocked-up glam sound.

Book: The Sweet in the 1970s

If you enjoyed reading this my book ‘The Sweet In The 1970s’ is out on 30th July 2021.

Details here

Related posts:

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

The Sweet versus Bowie: the riff in Blockbuster and Jean Genie – origins and influences

Slade, strikes and the three-day week: the story of the greatest Christmas record ever made

From AC/DC to ABBA: five classic glam rock singles by non-glam bands

Lost In Space: interview with former Slade legend Jim Lea

Interview with Andy Scott ahead of Sweet’s 2019 UK winter tour

Live review: Holy Holy perform The Man Who Sold The World & Ziggy Stardust at De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill 17/2/19

Glam rock, Hastings music scene, Live reviews, Rock music, , , , , , , ,

The Bowie-inspired supergroup Holy Holy, featuring original Spider from Mars Woody Woodmansey and David Bowie collaborator and legendary producer Tony Visconti, first got together in 2014 when they toured Bowie’s groundbreaking The Man Who Sold The World album in full, which both men played on. This was followed with a 2017 tour playing The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars in full. Now, in 2019, Holy Holy are back with another tour performing not one, but both of these legendary albums in full, back-to-back. Bexhill’s De La Warr is absolutely packed out for an evening of Bowie worship. Fronted by Heaven 17’s Glenn Gregory, Woodmansey and Visconti are joined by James Stevenson and Paul Cuddeford on guitar, Berenice Scott on keyboards and Jessica Lee Morgan on saxophone, guitar and additional vocals.

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Beginning with The Man Who Sold The World set, the heaviest of Bowie’s early 70s albums, the band don’t hold back on songs like the doom-laden All The Madmen and The Supermen as well as the lighter but no less brooding ‘After All’, not to mention a majestic rendition of the album’s title track. As I observed on a previous tour, Gregory is a powerful singer and great performer who does a nice line in Bowiesque vocals but without ever descending into play-acting or parody. Although the venue is all-seated tonight, many in the crowd don’t need much encouragement at all from Gregory when he says they are welcome to make their way to the front (even if the venue management appear to take a slightly different view).

If the atmosphere for the moody, dark proto-goth vibes of The Man Who Sold The World is reverential when the band switch to performing Ziggy Stardust, however, it’s one of unadulterated, joyous celebration. This is exactly as it should be for one of the truly classic albums of the second-half of the twentieth century. From ‘Five Years’ (track 1 side one on the original vinyl) through to ‘Rock n Roll Suicide’ (track 6, side 2) the classic songs keep rolling one after another, each one greeted with tumultuous, affectionate, thunderous applause.

Yes, those on stage didn’t write these songs and (in the majority of cases) weren’t the ones to originally perform them. Their creator, together with two of his three Spiders From Mars band-mates, is no longer with us. And yet, and yet… this is very much a band, not a disparate collection of musicians and competing egos coming together to reel off a tribute, but a band – one that has genuinely gelled musically, one that works the stage together and one that laps up the love shown by tonight’s audience. Everything about this performance screams out that this is something special, that this is something way beyond the myriad of Bowie tributes that can be found up and down the country.

The encore sees a surprise rendition of Bowie’s 2013 hit ‘Where Are We Now’, something the band only hit on part way through the current tour, Gregory tells us. That’s followed by a triumphant ‘Life On Mars’, a superbly energetic’Changes’ and a gloriously raucous ‘Rebel Rebel’.

Bowie’s music needs to be kept alive and deserves to be kept alive and, really, no-one does that better than Holy Holy.

Set-list:

Width of a Circle
All The Madmen
Black Country Rock
After All
Running Gun Blues
Saviour Machine
She Shook Me Cold
The Man Who Sold The World
The Supermen

Five Years
Soul Love
Moonage Daydream
Starman
It Ain’t Easy

Lady Stardust
Star
Hang On to Yourself
Ziggy Stardust
Suffragette City
Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide

Where Are We Now
Life On Mars
Changes
Rebel Rebel

http://www.holyholy.co.uk/

20190217_225646

When Darren met Woody…

Related reviews:

Holy Holy at Shepherd’s Bush Empire 2017

Mike Garson perfoms Aladdin Sane at Birmingham O2 2017

Book review: ‘Look Wot They Dun! – The ultimate guide to UK glam rock on TV in the 70s’ by Peter Checksfield

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

Rather than another biography giving an overview of the various glam acts of the 1970s ‘Look Wot They Dun’ is basically an encyclopedic directory that methodically lists all the TV appearances of numerous bands associated with the glam era throughout the 70s. Fifty different acts are covered in all, with the appearances for each in turn listed chronologically.

As much as I am fascinated by this era and as much as I will always love bands like Sweet and Slade and T. Rex, I must admit when I first picked up this book I wasn’t sure whether there would be enough in it to sustain my interest across a whopping 286 pages. However, I soon began to get engrossed, reading some of the fascinating little snippets and insights that accompany many of the entries. In one of his earliest TV appearances, Elton John, for example, is wearing “a horrible outfit of faded blue jeans, a long-sleeved orange T-shirt and a sleeveless striped cardigan” prior to the emergence of the flamboyantly-dressed larger-than-life character of later appearances. The Sweet’s Andy Scott had a run of appearances on Opportunity Knocks in late 1966 in an outfit called The Silverstone Set, we learn, several years before finding fame with the glam rockers. And Mud’s first TV appearance, back in 1968, is on the Basil Brush Show while David Essex’s first appears some two years earlier on the Five O’clock Club.

Indeed, although the book is presented in catalogue format and lacks an explicit overarching narrative there are, nevertheless, obvious patterns that begin to emerge across a significant number of bands. First we see tentative appearances on scratchy black and white shows during the 60s beat boom (Marc Bolan and David Bowie/Jones on Ready Steady Go, the aforementioned Andy Scott on Opportunity Knocks etc.) Then we fast-forward a few years and see those same people bedecked in glitter and glam hamming it up on Top Of The Pops in the period 1971-1973. Then by around 1974 we mostly see the glam bands to start putting away the bacofoil and the glitter and opting for a more conventional rock star jeans-and-leather jacket or cool-white-suit look. Then, finally, in many of the cases we see the number of entries for TV appearances steadily declining as the second half of the seventies draws to a close.

Though I would have welcomed a bit more by way of narrative thread, the book nevertheless provides a fascinating insight into how one of the most visual musical genres of the twentieth century projected itself on to our TV screens. And as an invaluable reference tool I’m sure ‘Look Wot They Dun’ will be something I’ll be going back to again and again.

Published: February 2019

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Live review: Kevin Armstrong at the Kino, St Leonards 15/2/18

Hastings music scene, Live reviews, Music culture & history, Rock music, , , , , ,

This review was originally published by The Stinger here

Kevin Armstrong’s guitar playing has accompanied stars including David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Morrissey, Prefab Sprout, Sinéad O’Connor, Roy Orbison, Brian Eno, Grace Jones, Paul McCartney and Gil Evans. For one night only Kevin guides us through his legendary career.

As a child Kevin Armstrong grew up with Beatlemania. By his teens he was buying his first guitar and living and breathing music. Experiencing life as a professional musician in the post-punk scene of the late 70s/early 80s he then found himself in a band that suddenly got dropped by their record label and, looking around at the changed Duran Duran/Spandau Ballet era-music scene, it became, in Armstrong’s words, “all c*nts in suits singing about their holidays.”

A new opportunity arose, however, when Armstrong was ushered in to Abbey Road studios to do a session to find out he would be working with David Bowie on songs for the Absolute Beginners film. Although the film would be critically panned on release, the title track was a commercial success and, importantly, got Armstrong noticed by Bowie as a musician he could work with and was asked to put a band together for Bowie’s Live Aid appearance. Breaking from his easy chat tonight, Armstrong reads out a passage describing in detail the emotions running through his head on that momentous day. Highlighting Bowie’s generosity, Armstrong talks of him taking the trouble to introduce each member of his band on stage at Wembley that day, knowing full well the impact it would have on their careers; as well as personally thanking Armstrong for the role he played in putting the band together in interviews afterwards.

In spite of being a Beatles fan Armstrong’s collaborations with Paul McCartney proved less personally rewarding, however. “We had to sit around all day listening to these very long Beatles anecdotes that never seemed to have a punchline,” he reveals to tonight’s audience, emphasising the importance of a personal spark in a relationship for a musical collaboration to really work.

What did turn out to be a very enduring collaboration though was when Armstrong was invited to play guitar on the Bowie-produced Iggy Pop album Blah Blah Blah and to subsequently tour with him. That musical collaboration was rekindled in recent years with Armstrong putting a band together and touring with Iggy once more. There are many amusing anecdotes this evening but one of the funniest is Armstrong’s description of the metamorphosis that the normally urbane, well-spoken James Osterberg goes through in the hours leading up to a show as he transforms into the crazed madman called Iggy Pop.

Armstrong is one of rock’s archetypal great side-men, a musician with that instinctive feel for what the headline artist needs and delivering it with style and creativity rather than ego and me-too-ism. By way of illustration, he plays us a clip from the Tin Machine tour that Armstrong was briefly involved with, which was the sound of every musician on stage competing against one another in a wall of noise and pretty much drowning Bowie out completely.

I’ve seen many of these type of artist talk events over the years. But with a mix of live songs, film clips, spoken passages and lots of relaxed informal chat this was genuinely one of the most thought-provoking, funny and insightful that I’ve experienced. Gavin Martin (renowned former NME journalist and now music editor for the Daily Mirror and himself, like Armstrong, a local Hastings resident) is a skilled operator at teasing out revealing nuggets from his on-stage guests at events like this. But he hardly needs to say a word as host this evening. I was surprised afterwards that this was Armstrong’s first ever gig of this type. However, if it was a case of starting out with a friendly home crowd he has absolutely nothing to worry about in taking this format elsewhere. An evening with Kevin Armstrong like this is going to be well-received by audiences wherever.

http://www.kevin-armstrong.com/

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Photo: artist publicity

Related review:
Mike Garson performs Aladdin Sane at Birmingham O2 2017

The top ten posts of 2017 on Darren’s music blog

Glam rock, Hastings music scene, Live reviews, Music culture & history, Rock music, , , , , , , , , , ,

Wishing you a happy New Year and thanks to everyone who has visited Darren’s music blog during 2017. Here are the top ten most popular posts from the year, with the highest number of visits:

1. The Sweet versus Bowie: the riff in Blockbuster and Jean Genie – origins and influences: actually written in late 2016 but consistently the most popular post throughout the year. Here I trace the origin of that famous riff – back through the glam era, the Yardbirds and those blues masters. Full post here.

2. Stone Roses at Wembley Stadium: “From the moment they first walk on stage to play ‘I Wanna Be Adored’ to the last climatic strains of ‘I Am The Resurrection’ the whole show is pretty much a celebration of that unforgettable and seemingly unrepeatable debut album.” Full review here.

3. Giants of Rock weekend at Minehead: Excellent performances from Troy Redfern, Focus, Bernie Torme, Bernie Marsden, Oliver-Dawson Saxon, The Pretty Things and Killit captured here. Here’s to Giants of Rock 2018. Full review here.

4. In praise of the CD: It was only a few years ago that people were finding it hilarious that I was clinging obstinately to the CD rather than embracing digital formats. Now, with the renaissance of vinyl, some still regard me as a Luddite dinosaur for not embracing the switch back to the 12 inch. Here I gave seven reasons why the CD is king for me. Full article here.

5. For One Night Only – Slade’s Jim Lea in Bilston: “We had been warned not to expect a live performance. But he certainly gave us one, and not some gentle, reflective, soul-searching, acoustic reinterpretation but a full-on, amped-up, raucous rock performance that so perfectly captured the spirit of Slade.” Full review here.

6. Sweet in London & Bilston: “This is a small venue with a tiny stage and it was absolutely rammed but the atmosphere was electric. It was evident that the band were also getting a huge buzz from playing to such a responsive audience, too.” Full review here.

7. The changing demographics behind charity shop CDs: another piece exploring my CD obsession. Here I talk through my observations hunting down charity shop bargains. Full review here.

8. Hastings Fat Tuesday 2017: my preview piece ahead of Hastings’ annual Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras) celebrations with many, many dozens of gigs across the town was shared widely. Full article here.

9. Holy Holy perform Ziggy Stardust at Shepherd’s Bush Empire: “Holy Holy shows a way forward as to how we can continue to enjoy some of the greatest music of the twentieth century well into the twenty-first. A genuinely and truly impressive gig.” Full review here.

10. W.A.S.P. at White Rock Theatre, Hastings: “The Crimson Idol tells the story of a boy Jonathan and explores themes of estrangement, drugs, fame, money and suicide. It has become something of a cult heavy metal album and, twenty-five years since it was originally released, Lawless and his band are touring it in full.” Full review here.

Thanks for visiting Darren’s music blog everyone. Thanks also to publications like Get Ready Rock, the Hastings Independent, The Stinger, fRoots Magazine, Bright Young Folk and the Hastings Online Time for running many of my reviews and articles.

Here’s to 2018!

Darren