I’m off to see the second of the Stones’ 50th anniversary shows at the O2 on Thursday, and pretty excited about it. This morning, rummaging through some back issues of Uncut, I came across something I’d written about going to see them at Wembley Stadium in 1982, when they were touring in celebration of their 20th anniversary, amid much speculation that surely this would be their last go-around, retirement their next stop, which is very much what people have thought every time since then that they’ve toured. And yet here they are, 30 years further down the line, and no hint yet that we have seen the last of them.
Anyway, here’s the piece I came across earlier today. Have a good week.
In the current issue of Uncut, I spoke to Bryan Ferry for our An Audience With… feature. Among the reader questions was one from Rob Emery, who asked ‘Why do you think Roxy Music got through so many bass players?’
Graham Coxon has stated that there will not be another Blur album in the near future.
The guitarist made the revelation in a conversation with a fan on Twitter earlier today (Nov 26). Though far from a definitive statement on the future of the band, Coxon gives short shrift to the idea of releasing another album with Damon Albarn, Alex James and Dave Rowntree. Asked if there is a new Blur album coming out and, if so, when? Coxon replied by simply saying "No". Scroll down the page to see the tweet.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs have confirmed that they will play live as part of a Hurricane Sandy fundraiser in New York next week.
The band, who recently hinted at being close to finishing their next album, will play a tiny show at Williamsburg bar Union Pool on December 8. They will be joined on the bill by Tunde Adebimpe of TV On The Radio, performing with the group Higgins Waterproof Black Magic Band. All money raised at the event will go to Waves for Water's Hurricane Sandy relief initiative.
The Rolling Stones were reportedly fined £200,000 after their gig at the O2 Arena ran over the alloted curfew.
The band were due to finish their set by 10:30pm on Sunday (Nov 25) night but played for the sell-out crowd until gone 11pm. The Sun reports that the band were taken to task over this by the local council, who issued them with the penalty. “It means a big fine — but the guys just do their thing. There wasn’t a janitor standing there, jangling his keys, saying. ‘I want to go home’,” said the band's publicist, Bernard Doherty.
In celebration of Neil Young’s triple appearance in our review of 2012 (Americana and Psychedelic Pill in our top 50 albums and Waging Heavy Peace in our top 20 books of the year), here’s a look back at an unusually revealing interview with Neil Young (from our September 2007 issue, Take 127) – taking in car graveyards, his mother’s ashes and the truth about Archives and Chrome Dreams… “The Great Spirit has been good to me,” he says. Words: Jaan Uhelszki
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Apart from a rather undignified search on secondary ticketing websites for Rolling Stones tickets, I spent part of my weekend listening to Jim Williams’ folktronic score for Sightseers, a terrific black comedy from Ben Wheatley.
Two classic compilations from The Jesus And Mary Chain are set for vinyl reissue in 2013.
According to Exclaim, 1972 Records will issue two of the band's compilations on vinyl. The first will be 1988?s Barbed Wire Kisses (B-Sides And More), which contains a collection of limited singles, rarities and B-sides from the band's early career and contains material from their 1985 album Psychocandy and 1987's Darklands'. The second will be 1993?s The Sound Of Speed – which contains material from around 1989's Automatic and 1992's Honey's Dead.
