We lobbed the cracked wooden ball of enquiry at the rock and roll coconut shy this week and a few choice items dropped off their perch, among them …
… was Kate Bush ‘the Queen of Prog’?
… ELP, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple playing to 350,000 people on a Speedway track.
… the three things that sparked the Abba revival.
… the Further Adventures of Desmond and Molly Jones, Mean Mr Mustard, Polythene Pam, Father McKenzie, Rocky Raccoon, Maxwell Edison, Rose and Valerie, Sweet Loretta Martin, Vera, Chuck and Dave … Beatles characters awaiting development deals.
… was Britpop the moment the engine went into reverse?
… the two years went rock went ‘fancy dress’.
… why the Stones in 1964 were five walking fashion statements.
… Bookends by Simon & Garfunkel and its Yes connection.
… how the Beatles were in uniform on every album cover.
… David Vine at the 1974 Eurovision: “if all the judges were men, this lot would get a lot of votes and you’ll see why in a moment!”
… plus a birthday guest party - Al Hearton’s life in a Kate Bush tribute band and Stephen Lambe on the complicated birth of 90125 by Yes.
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Smoking on album sleeves, Smash Hits The Musical and records you own but have never played
Echo & the Bunnymen, why the rock press were “divs” and the secret of good hair by Will Sergeant
An Insider’s Guide To Goth by Cathi Unsworth (via Cruella De Vil and the Cure)
Nick Drake – a whole new perspective by Richard Morton Jack
Gary Numan, unlikely sex symbols and U2’s £1,000 night in the desert
Does Gary Numan regret throwing the glo-stick that hit David Bowie?
Why a sumptuous new book about the Island label is “like entering the record shop of your dreams”.
Mojo’s 30th birthday plus bands whose t-shirts you’d wear even if you didn’t have any of their records
The “unknown woman” in McCartney’s photos, the Human League and a new U2 game
Pulitzer Prize winner David Remnick takes the long view of Bruce Springsteen, Aretha Franklin, Macca and more
The Stones return, rock’n’roll marriages and Freddie’s 50 kimonos
Plaid shirts? Brown ale? A smoke-stained pub rock special with Simon Matthews
What Kevin Armstrong learnt as the sideman for Bowie, McCartney, Morrissey, Sinead and Iggy Pop
Which acts will “go down in history” and what matters more than their music?
Bob Dylan - why he signs autographs left-handed and other mysteries solved by Ray Padgett
Achtung Baby, rock fantasy friends and the band that inspired the Bad News Tour
Robbie Robertson, Billy Connolly, Bridge Over Troubled Water and the “fake history” of Punk
Sinead O’Connor, that Morrissey outburst, over-long films and the pitiful plight of roadies
Tales of Hipgnosis sleeves (and the new film) and why the world needs Steely Dan more than ever
PP Arnold remembers life in the Ike & Tina Turner Revue aged 17
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