Thursday 28 March 2024

Small World gigs 2024

 


The Mark Three to make 'live' debut at the sold-out Mods Mayday 2024 at 229 The Venue, London, on Sunday 5th May

 

https://www.facebook.com/TheMarkThree

The Threads return with the 4-song 12" 'International Times' EP for a May release (Intervallum Music)

 


https://www.facebook.com/TheThreadsOfficial

Pete Townshend's interview with Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show

 


https://www.facebook.com/share/v/3jtY2ppd11c1a7Wt/?mibextid=WC7FNe


Shindig Issue #150: WE ARE 30 YEARS OLD!!!



 www.shindig-magazine.com

The Specials Family - 'When The Lights Go Out' tribute to Terry Hall & John Bradbury

 


A planned brand new single paying tribute to the late great Terry Hall & John Bradbury received its world exclusive first radio airplay last week on the Trish Adudu Show on BBC Radio CWR. 

And “When A Light Goes Out” is an impressive tune indeed with a smoothly flowing & infectious reggae/ska rhythm underpinning soulful & uplifting vocals from Lynval Golding. 

Billed as The Specials Family, the recording also features Horace Panter & the rest of The Specials’ line-up from the last few years, Steve Craddock, Nikolaj Torn Larsen, Hannah Hu, Tim Smart & Kenrick Rowe. 

“When A Light Goes Out” looks set for an official release in May backed by a Roger Rivas dub of the tune & is a top notch tribute indeed to Terry & Brad! A recording of the single’s broadcast on BBC Radio CWR has already notched up almost 10,000 streams on YouTube! You can listen to it here… 

http://youtu.be/w8zvWbvsQNI

A Different World - The Holland Dozier Holland Songbook will be released on 26.04.2024

 


A long-overdue addition to Ace’s ongoing Songwriter Series, the words and music of brothers Brian and Edward Holland and their colleague Lamont Dozier were and still are the foundation on which the international success of The Motown Sound was built.
Between 1963 and 1968 Holland-Dozier-Holland wrote hit after hit for Berry Gordy’s company, their songs making stars of some of Motown’s biggest names – including but not limited to the Supremes and Four Tops. From 1969 to 1973 the trio carried on penning smashes and classics for their own Invictus/Hot Wax/Music Merchant set up, creating new stars in the Honey Cone and Freda Payne, among others.
Holland-Dozier-Holland songs have been revisited many times by all sorts of artists, and “A Different World” brings two dozen diverse names and interpretations of their repertoire, with Motown and Invictus stalwarts like the aforementioned Supremes and Tops (as well as Martha and the Vandellas, Kim Weston, the Miracles and more) sharing disc space with The Band, Brenda Lee, The Vanilla Fudge, Laura Nyro and even The Fall – just a few of the non-traditional names who reinterpret Holland-Dozier-Holland’s vison of ‘The Sound Of Young America’ in their own individual and inimitable ways.
As ever, “A Different World’s booklet is packed with label shots, copious other images and an extensive sleeve note that gives deep detail about the featured songs. It may be long-overdue, but it is an essential tribute to a stellar writing team and is well worth the wait!
1. WHERE DID OUR LOVE GO - DONNIE ELBERT All Platinum AP-2330 (1971)
2. LOVE'S GONE BAD - CHRIS CLARK V.I.P. 25038 (1966) 2.21
3. JIMMY MACK - MARTHA & THE VANDELLAS “Watchout!” LP Gordy S 920 (1966)
4. DON'T DO IT - THE BAND Capitol 3433 (1972)
5. BABY I NEED YOUR LOVING - MARVIN GAYE AND KIM WESTON “Take Two” LP Tamla TS 270 (1966)
6. HOW SWEET IT IS (TO BE LOVED BY YOU) - BRENDA LEE “Feels So Right” LP MCA 5626 (1985)
7. REACH OUT, I'LL BE THERE - GLORIA GAYNOR “Never Can Say Goodbye” LP MGM M3G 4982 (1974)
8. HEAVEN MUST HAVE SENT YOU - DIANA ROSS & THE SUPREMES “25th Anniversary” LP Motown 5381ML3 (Recorded 1967) (1986)
9. MEDLEY OF SOUL (I CAN'T HELP MYSELF/IT'S THE SAME OLD SONG/SOMETHING ABOUT YOU) - BIG AL DOWNING Silver Fox 11 (1969)
10. WHILE YOU'RE OUT LOOKING FOR SUGAR - THE HONEY CONE Hot Wax HS 6901 (1969)
11. THERE'S A GHOST IN MY HOUSE - THE FALL Beggars Banquet BEG 187 (1987)
12. TAKE ME IN YOUR ARMS (ROCK ME A LITTLE WHILE) - THE ISLEY BROTHERS Tamla-T-54164 (1968)
13. YOU KEEP ME HANGIN' ON - THE VANILLA FUDGE Atco 6590 (1968)
14. A LOVE LIKE YOURS (DON'T COME KNOCKING EVERYDAY) - DUSTY SPRINGFIELD “It Begins Again” LP Mercury 9109 607 (1978)
15. THIS OLD HEART OF MINE (IS WEAK FOR YOU) - BETTYE SWANN “The Complete Atlantic Recordings” Real Gone Music CD RGM 0213 (2014)
16. NEW BREED KINDA WOMAN - HOLLAND-DOZIER FEATURING LAMONT DOZIER Invictus ZS7 1254 (1973)
17. BAND OF GOLD - FREDA PAYNE Inferno HEAT 17 (1979)
18. LEAVING HERE - EDDIE HOLLAND Motown M-1052 (1963) 2.30
19. I'M IN A DIFFERENT WORLD – THE FOUR TOPS Motown M-1132 (1968) 3.00
20. I THINK YOU NEED LOVE - DIONNE WARWICK “Just Being Myself” LP Warner Brothers BS 2658 (1973)
21. (COME ‘ROUND HERE) - I'M THE ONE YOU NEED - THE MIRACLES Tamla T-54140 (1966)
22. COME SEE ABOUT ME - BARBARA MASON “Yes, I’m Ready” LP Arctic ALP-S 1000 (1964)
23. HELPLESS - KIM WESTON Gordy 7050 (1965)
24. COME AND GET THESE MEMORIES - LAURA NYRO “Angel In The Dark” CD Rounder 11611-3176-2 (2001)
Stereo except *Mono

The Who’s Roger Daltrey joins Paul Weller on stage at Royal Albert Hall for TCT to perform 'So Sad About Us'

 


Paul Weller invited Roger Daltrey on stage with him last night (March 24), to perform a live rendition of The Who’s ‘So Sad About Us’.

The moment took place during the closing night event for the 2024 Teenage Cancer Trust gig series, dubbed ‘Ovation’. It was billed as “a celebration of 24 years of gigs” for the charity, and saw live performances from Weller, Daltrey, Kelly Jones, Robert Plant with Saving Grace and Eddie Vedder.

Taking place at the historic Royal Albert Hall after kicking off the 2024 concert series on Monday (March 18), soloist and former frontman of The Jam opened the night by performing an eight-song setlist.

This started with two tracks taken from his 2018 album ‘True Meanings’: starting the show with ‘Gravity’ and following on with a rendition of ‘Mayfly’. Other solo tracks included ‘Amongst Butterflies’, ‘Rockets’ and ‘Wild Wood’, as well as a performance of The Style Council’s 1985 track ‘A Man Of Great Promise’.

It was during the penultimate song of his set that Weller surprised the audience by inviting the shows’ curator Roger Daltrey to the stage for an impromptu rendition of The Who’s 1966 track ‘So Sad About Us’ – a collaboration he said they hadn’t rehearsed for.

He closed out his set by playing ‘That’s Entertainment’, which he originally shared as part of The Jam back in 1980.

https://www.nme.com/news/music/the-whos-roger-daltrey-joins-paul-weller-on-stage-at-royal-albert-hall-for-tct-3609005

MARCH OF THE MODS TO MAKE RETURN TO RYDE THIS WEEKEND

 


https://www.islandecho.co.uk/march-of-the-mods-to-make-return-to-ryde-this-weekend/

Pete Townshend half-speed mastered LPs to be released on 17th May

 

17 May 2024 sees the release of the second pair in a series of half-speed mastered studio albums from Pete Townshend, ‘All The Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes’ and ‘White City (A Novel)’.
These limited-edition black vinyl versions have been mastered by long-time Who engineer Jon Astley at Close To The Edge and cut for vinyl by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios with a half-speed mastering technique which produces a superior vinyl cut and are packaged in original sleeves with obi strips and certificates of authenticity.

Mod Memories Book - 'Memories from a Mod who was there' by Emma Merchant

 



BORN and bred in New Town, musician Dennis Siggery can tell you a thing or two about Reading and its music scene during the heady post-war Mod days.

The singer songwriter, who is still putting out albums – his 34th currently in production – has gathered together his impressions of life during the late 1950s and 1960s in his book: Mod Memories.

“Lots of books have been written about the Mod era,” he said.

“But they’re not all by someone who actually lived through it.

“I was there, and my songs played a part in the music movement.”

Dennis’s book is full of anecdotes and stories from a childhood growing up in East Reading, of his Mod beginnings as a teen, and of Reading’s music clubs and nightlife.

“I’ve tried to include lots of stories and a bit of humour,” he continued.

“I’m proud of the Mod days, proud that I was there, and part of it all.

“And I’m proud of my background.

“Growing up in the East End of Reading, the people in New Town were great.

“Yes, they could be rough, but they were honest, lovely people who looked out for each other.”

The Mod movement started in the late 1950s, when a group of young Londoners began modeling themselves on continental fashions; wearing sharp suits, and whizzing around on Italian scooters.

The Modernists, as they first called themselves, were into modern jazz, blues and R&B.

They loved music and fashion, and lived for the weekends.

“There were two kinds of Mods,” explained Dennis, “The ones that rode scooters, and the ones that didn’t.

“We were the kind that didn’t.

“We loved fashion, and spent our money on sharp clothes and vinyl records, but not scooters.”

Dennis and his fellow Mods would get haircuts at Francesco’s Italian hairdresser, on Reading’s Oxford Road, and they would pay for smart Italian suits to complete the look.

And each weekend, armed with little blue pills to keep them awake, they would take the town and city by storm in Reading’s and London’s burgeoning music clubs.

Dennis remembers buying his first pair of Levi’s from Jean Machine in Reading, and immediately bleaching them in the bath to achieve the right cool look.

Music was always his passion, but for some time, after he was married, he followed a conventional lifestyle and made a success of work.

Dennis said: ”I’ve always worked hard, and I love a challenge, but it got to the point – after we’d been married for thirty years, with a big house, and three great children – when I realised I didn’t want to do this any more.

“The challenge had gone, and I just felt I wasn’t going anywhere.”

In 1998 he returned to his first love, music, and now sings with his band Eric Street Band.

Dennis on vocals, Gordon Vaughan, on guitar and keys, Henry Smithson on bass guitar, and Adam J Perry on drums, together produce a rock’n blues sound, and are currently working on their latest as yet unnamed album, to be released around June.

“All 12 songs on it have been written by me, or co-written with Gordon – and they’re all new,” he said.

Dennis’s tracks are inspired by the people he meets, women he’s loved, things that happen in his life, and things he reads in the news.

“My songs are all stories,” he said.

“So many lyrics are just words, but I want mine to mean something.

“The Light Of Life was written about one of my friends with dementia.

“I gave the song that name because it’s exactly what happens – the condition can take the light out of your life.

“And Mr Fat Cat was about someone I knew who’s firm went down.

“He kept his posh house and cars, but his workers didn’t get paid.”

Now a Wokingham resident, Dennis has lined the walls of his home with vinyl classics, CD’s, and pictures, in homage to the Mod era.

“I loved it,” he said.

“ I loved the clothes, the fashion, the music, and turning heads.

“They were dark days in the post war period, and we wanted to stand out.

“None of us wanted to be like our dads, dress like them, or to live the same life they had.”

Dennis says he’s never wanted to be famous, but is keen to leave something behind in his book – a record of a time and lifestyle of which he is still proud.

“I’ve had a great response to the book online, and from friends,” he said.

“But I’m never truly happy with what I’ve done.

“I’m still hoping to make that classic album, and I’ll keep pushing myself until I do.

“I’m young in my head, like Rod Stewart – old but not old.

People of Dennis’s era, with fond Mod Memories and a curiosity about Reading’s 1960s night life, should enjoy reading Mod Memories.

It’s available from Amazon books, for £6.99, or £3.99 on Kindle.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CN4YRFX8?psc=1&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&ref_=chk_typ_imgToDp

Small World gigs 2024