Tag Archives: Rock music

Are you an aspiring Radio DJ? Introducing Greater Manchester Rock Radio

Music news, Rock music,

I’m pleased to say Darren’s Music Blog is going to be linking up with Greater Manchester Rock Radio. They will be running some of my rock album reviews on their website and I’ll be running occasional band interviews from them here. You can listen in and find out more about the station here. With a wide range of specialist shows – from prog to punk, classic rock, metal and indie check their schedule and give them a listen.

Station Manager, Tony Charles, is also on the look-out for new presenters:

Are you an aspiring Radio DJ? Do you fancy broadcasting on a real web-based Rock Community Radio Station?

If so, then Greater Manchester Rock Radio (GMRR) would like to hear from you.

Founded in November 2018, GMRR is the only web-based community radio station based on rock music in the North West, and potentially in the whole of the UK.

They are on the hunt for volunteers who want to present their own weekly one to two-hour shows or help with interviews /research . For presenting all you need is a love of rock music, a great idea for a show, a PC mic and editing software.

Full training will be provided, and you can pre-record your show from home. Plus, there is the added perk of free entry to a few rock gigs and the chance to interview some amazing bands. (when they are back)

Station manager Tony Charles has been a DJ since the 1980s on local internet radio stations, as well as having experience on stations such as BBC Radio 1, 4 and 5 as a researcher.

He said: “We are getting more and more people tuning into GMRR and as a result we are looking for more presenters to help expand our offerings.

“Our youngest presenter is 20 and our oldest is 72. We’re happy to hear from anyone who’s interested.

“We are also looking for a community and/or a charity to take on a 1-hour slot each week to promote community issues.”

Applicants of any age or background are welcome.

For more information, or to apply, email GMRR station manager Tony at
studio@greatermanchesterrockradio.co.uk

Book review: ‘Uncommon People – The Rise and Fall of the Rock Stars’ by David Hepworth

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

From Little Richard through to Kurt Cobain (taking in the likes of Brian Wilson, Jimi Hendrix, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Nicks and assorted others along the way) David Hepworth’s book is a fascinating collection of pen portraits of rock stars at key moments in post-war popular culture.

I’m not sure I completely buy his central thesis that the mystique-destroying power of the internet, changing tastes in popular music and a music industry that has transformed beyond recognition means we’ll never have anything approaching the slightly preposterous, larger-than-life, self-obsessed personality of the bona fide rock star ever again. Assuming the future of rock ‘n’ roll is one as a niche genre rather than a mass-market genre, surely we’re still going to see the odd flamboyant, charismatic, guitar-wielding eccentric who craves recognition and manages to make some sort of name for themselves, even if they are no longer driving mythological Rolls Royce’s into swimming pools or chucking TVs out of hotel room windows?

Even if you’re more optimistic about the future of rock ‘n’ roll than the author, there is plenty to keep the rock music fan totally engrossed in this book. Did you know the joys of anal sex provided the original inspiration for the lyrics to Little Richard’s Tutti Frutti or that Dave Clarke of the Dave Clarke Five was the one who was sitting with Freddie Mercury on the day he died? Uncommon People has certainly encouraged me to seek out a few more biographies of some of these exotic creatures we called rock stars.

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In praise of Action Records, Preston

Music culture & history, Rock music, , , , ,

Tales of a teenage record-buyer in 1980s Preston

Action Records is a long-running and much-celebrated record store on Church Street in Preston, Lancashire. I know it’s still going – although I must confess I haven’t been in there in almost three decades. Living in London and now Hastings for twenty-odd years it’s really not that convenient for me. And trips to Preston these days tend to be a frenzied whirl of family visiting rather than a time to browse record stores. But as a teenager Action Records was an absolute goldmine of musical discoveries for me.

actionrecords

It was the early 80s, a few years before CDs became ubiquitous, and the second-hand vinyl racks at Action Records at the scruffy end of Church Street were something I poured over at least once a week. New albums back then were comparatively expensive we must remember. Although you could see numerous name bands at Preston Guildhall for just three or four quid (tickets that would cost you almost ten times that these days) to buy a new album you were talking £4.99. My paper-round and (later) my glass-collecting job in the local pub wouldn’t run to many of those. So going to Action Records, with its huge range of second-hand vinyl from around £1.20 to around £1.80, became quite addictive.

On starting out my lifelong obsession with buying rock music not only was I able to rapidly acquire the back catalogues of bands that everyone who was into rock and heavy metal at school was talking about (the likes of Rainbow, AC/DC, Whitesnake and Status Quo), it was also a treasure trove for seeking out the more obscure stuff, too. Albums that had long been deleted from bands that had been forgotten and that 80s fashion dictated should be completely ignored could be snapped up for next to nothing. It’s purely thanks to Action Records that I got turned on to the likes of Creedence Clearwater Revival, Humble Pie, Mott The Hoople, The Sweet, Widowmaker and The Yardbirds.

These days it’s so easy to seek out information on vintage acts and it’s pretty easy to purchase their entire back catalogue. However, pre-internet, unless you knew your music history inside out there was quite a bit of guesswork involved. I would often go by the very scientific method of buying albums through either (a) recognising the name of one of the musicians as someone who had played in another band or (b) liking the cover. I developed a lifelong love of Mott The Hoople and Ian Hunter (neither of whom I’d heard of and about whom absolutely no-one was talking about at the time) purely after being drawn to the bright, florescent pink cover of the ‘Mott’ album and being prepared to shell out £1.20 for it.

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Musically, for me it was an exciting voyage of discovery and Action Records made that possible. Sometimes there would be some helpful bits of advice from Gordon, the proprietor, but never in a way that made you feel small or outside some hallowed music aficionado clique that you were not part of.

I’ve still got much of my Action Records second-hand vinyl, even though I mainly listen to CDs these days, and I’m absolutely delighted that it’s still going. It certainly played a major part in my musical appreciation and, who knows, maybe it’s finally time to pay a visit again next time I’m in Preston.

Thank you Action Records.

There’s a short 2015 film celebrating Action Records’ legacy here: https://vimeo.com/125335358

Record Store Day this year is 22nd April 2017

http://www.actionrecords.co.uk/

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