Category ACROSS THE DECADES
ROCKIN’ ALL OVER THE WORLD—AUSTRALIA
SUNNY BUT OVERCAST It is a puzzle why some bands get so little attention outside their country of origin. And sometimes precious little inside it. The debut by Sydney’s Sunnyboys is an excellent example of an album that is worthy of greater regard. It would most likely thrill fans of Matthew Sweet’s more driving work […]
1970 COUNTDOWN | #20 —#11
20 VAROUS—Woodstock: Music from the Original Soundtrack & More It is sprawling, patchy, frustrating, and incomplete yet the soundtrack to the film of the event of the decade (the 60s, that is) is essential. Held in August 1969 on Max Yasgur’s dairy farm just outside of the small town of Woodstock, the actual name of […]
1970 COUNTDOWN | #30 — #21
Vinyl Connection’s countdown of 1970 favourites resumes after a home-organising hiatus. Welcome back folks! #30 — #21 30 JOE COCKER — Mad Dogs and Englishmen * The throaty growl of Sheffield born Joe Cocker gave a fresh twist to his rock ’n’ soul stylings, as evidenced by his iconic set at Woodstock. Cocker’s skill was […]
EUROPE ENDLESS
It’s just another elderly musician gone. Happens so regularly that writing rock obituaries would be a full-time job. So why does the death of Kraftwerk co-founder Florian Schneider fill me with sadness? Actually, not sadness… loss. A electronic hole in the musicverse leaving one man standing. Hütter and Schneider, Schneider and Hütter. Now just Ralf. […]
1970 COUNTDOWN — INTERIM REPORT
My first computer-based list of albums was created on an Apple Classic. Filemaker Pro was the program, as I recall. Back then I insisted on spelling it programme. Queen’s English. The entire collection was housed in a three shelf unit made from a cut down wardrobe. When I took to the robe with a circular […]
YOU’VE GOT AN (OLD) FRIEND
Occasionally I have posted an article originally commissioned by Discrepancy Records here at Vinyl Connection. This is one of those posts, the catalyst being comments on the appearance of Carole King in the recent Album Cover Quiz. * No matter what the decade, a good song is a good song. And they don’t come much […]
1970 COUNTDOWN | #40 — #31
With this, the fourth instalment in the endless 1970 countdown (that began here), we cover entries #40—#31. * 40 SYD BARRETT — The Madcap Laughs He has been named ‘the greatest cult hero in rock history’ and is one of the 60s most studied casualties. After Pink Floyd’s fabulous debut, Barrett became more and more […]
GOODBYE WILD THING
I don’t want to appear uncharitable, but how come it misses Donald, glances off Boris, and takes out Tim Brooke-Taylor? In what universe is that fair? Cambridge graduates Bill Oddie (born 7 July 1941), Graeme Garden (born 18 February 1943) and Tim Brooke-Taylor (born 17 July 1940) first performed to a large audience (larger than […]
1970 COUNTDOWN | #50 — #41
Continuing a personal trawl through Vinyl Connection’s favourite albums of 1970 Previous instalments… 70 FROM ’70 — PART 6 70 FROM ’70 — PART 7 * 50 GRATEFUL DEAD — Workingman’s Dead Tuneful country-folk songs with pleasing, slightly ragged harmonies. Some of these took their places in the Dead setlist for years. “Dire wolf”, “New […]
TROUBLED TIMES
Back in the early days of Vinyl Connection, I wrote about one of the styles of music that has given me enormous pleasure over the years: Power Pop. Jangly guitars, catchy choruses, some salt in the chocolate. The piece still reads OK, and the playlist is a good test of whether you are likely to become […]
1970 COUNTDOWN | #60 — #51
Continuing the countdown of Vinyl Connection’s seventy favourite albums from 1970. The first part is here. 60 ERIC BURDON & WAR — Eric Burdon Declares War Born in the industrial north of the UK, Eric Burdon disbanded The Animals (by this time pre-fixed by his name) and in late 1969 teamed up with US […]
1970 COUNTDOWN | #70 — #61
70 HAWKWIND — Hawkwind Transitional sounds from the veteran space-rockers. Of course they weren’t veterans in 1970, more young psychedelic hippies feeling their way from free street-party gigs to the recording studio. Still, any album that opens with an endearing blues-based groove as infectious as “Hurry on Sundown” is all right in my book. After […]
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