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Suede – Bloodsports

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Suede – Bloodsports

Not quite a return to their storming, Britpop peak – but the signs are encouraging... After such a fall, it seemed impossible. That Suede – generally acknowledged to have launched Britpop in 1992 with debut single “The Drowners”, a brilliantly brash, slo-mo amalgam of early Bowie and The Smiths – might somehow scramble back up the cliff face and make another record, was surely blue-sky thinking of the most desperately hopeful kind. The band, who parted ways in November of 2003 had had a rocky run of it. Their last album, 2002’s A New Morning had signalled a fresh start for the newly clean Brett Anderson – who’d spent 18 months in the grip of crack cocaine addiction, his muse deserting him by degrees – and a reboot for a band that had watched the zeitgeist slipping out of focus and all but their most devout fans withdrawing. As it turned out, the “new morning” was more a final dusk. Protracted recording sessions didn’t help, but the main problem was a war on two fronts: an uncertain embrace of acoustic song craft, and electric tracks where their eccentricities became tired tropes. There was a lot to prove, then, when Suede reunited in 2010 for the Teenage Cancer Trust shows. If not exactly a triumphant return to their majestic prime, this one-off was a reminder that that prime was indeed quite something (they were, after all, Melody Maker cover stars before they’d released their first single), and it suggested that Suede’s tank might not be empty yet. It also served as a reintroduction, paving the way for – could it really happen? – a new Suede album. Anderson announced exactly that in September of 2012, just over a year after first mentioning the possibility of a sixth studio LP with the qualification that “nothing would see the light of day unless I was really, really excited about it.” Bloodsports presumably fills that brief. Produced by Ed Buller, who worked on their first three LPs and tagged by Anderson as “a cross between bits of ‘Dog Man Star’ and bits of ‘Coming Up’”, it prompts a sigh of relief, if not wild cheering. Suede were caught between a rock and a hard place; while acutely aware of what made them great, they were not only sensibly unwilling, but also unable to replicate that youthful, amped-up glory (Anderson is now 44). A New Morning, however, proved the folly of reinvention. Bloodsports, then, is a recalibration. If it has any parallel, it’s in the Manic Street Preachers’ Everything Must Go, a punched-up, hook-heavy set more about overall impact than detail, and a calculated counter to their previous record. Anderson claims it’s “about the endless carnal game of love” and it tracks the path of a relationship from infatuation through estrangement to break-up. Accordingly, much of it has a widescreen, (melo)dramatic wallop and none of the songs serve Suede’s comeback too shabbily. “For The Strangers”, “Sabotage” and “It Starts And Ends With You” are unremarkable hybrids of consensual, grown-up rock that drag their heels in terms of contemporaneity (U2, Keane, The Killers) but they push the big-picture buttons effectively enough. Lyrics, though, are still a sticking point. Anderson has long since dropped his Cockney affectations, and he’s no longer seduced by the breath-taking modernity of cigarettes, neon and magazines, but he still struggles with poetic resonance. Analogies are uniformly limited to one thing being “like” another and some metaphors simply don’t ring true. Does any telephone really emit “a brittle sigh”, as is described in “What Are You Not Telling Me”? There’s a territory-reclaiming trifecta, though, that pushes Suede through. “Barriers” is a powerful opening salvo, its clarion sweeps of guitar underpinned by Blondie’s turbo-charged rhythms and pumped up with ’80s cliff-top dynamics. The darkly insistent “Snowblind” easily matches it, as does “Hit Me”, an irresistible, glammed-up stomp that hints at “Sweet Child O’ Mine” and is bound to do the indie-disco business from Brighton to Wick. Bloodsports may not be quite as “furious” as Anderson has claimed, but Suede’s renewed charge is obvious. It’s a creditable step back into the ring after years on the ropes/ Sharon O'Connell Q+A Brett Anderson Did you feel like there was a lot at stake with Bloodsports? There was a huge amount. What was at stake was rescuing the reputation of Suede, really. We probably shouldn’t have released that last album; we did the thing we’d always said we’d avoid – releasing a record just to go on tour. It wasn’t released with the joy and passion with which records should be released. What were you aiming at sonically with the new LP? We were trying to find that sweet spot between feeling like Suede and feeling fresh, which is a really interesting point on the spectrum. I don’t think there’s any point in coming back and trying to reinvent the band, and I wanted it to sound identifiably like a Suede record. But I didn’t want it to sound like self-parody or pastiche. Was there ever a point where you thought Suede were done for good? There was a point about midway through the new record where it wasn’t really coming together like I wanted it to. I did toy with the idea of saying, “Let’s not do this, and I’ll carry on making solo records.” But that was to do with trying to re-establish the band chemistry. We almost approached this like we were a new band. We didn’t want to have this bullshit complacent attitude: “We’re Suede and whatever we do is going to sound great.” INTERVIEW: SHARON O’CONNELL

Not quite a return to their storming, Britpop peak – but the signs are encouraging…

After such a fall, it seemed impossible. That Suede – generally acknowledged to have launched Britpop in 1992 with debut single “The Drowners”, a brilliantly brash, slo-mo amalgam of early Bowie and The Smiths – might somehow scramble back up the cliff face and make another record, was surely blue-sky thinking of the most desperately hopeful kind. The band, who parted ways in November of 2003 had had a rocky run of it.

Their last album, 2002’s A New Morning had signalled a fresh start for the newly clean Brett Anderson – who’d spent 18 months in the grip of crack cocaine addiction, his muse deserting him by degrees – and a reboot for a band that had watched the zeitgeist slipping out of focus and all but their most devout fans withdrawing. As it turned out, the “new morning” was more a final dusk. Protracted recording sessions didn’t help, but the main problem was a war on two fronts: an uncertain embrace of acoustic song craft, and electric tracks where their eccentricities became tired tropes.

There was a lot to prove, then, when Suede reunited in 2010 for the Teenage Cancer Trust shows. If not exactly a triumphant return to their majestic prime, this one-off was a reminder that that prime was indeed quite something (they were, after all, Melody Maker cover stars before they’d released their first single), and it suggested that Suede’s tank might not be empty yet. It also served as a reintroduction, paving the way for – could it really happen? – a new Suede album. Anderson announced exactly that in September of 2012, just over a year after first mentioning the possibility of a sixth studio LP with the qualification that “nothing would see the light of day unless I was really, really excited about it.” Bloodsports presumably fills that brief.

Produced by Ed Buller, who worked on their first three LPs and tagged by Anderson as “a cross between bits of ‘Dog Man Star’ and bits of ‘Coming Up’”, it prompts a sigh of relief, if not wild cheering. Suede were caught between a rock and a hard place; while acutely aware of what made them great, they were not only sensibly unwilling, but also unable to replicate that youthful, amped-up glory (Anderson is now 44). A New Morning, however, proved the folly of reinvention. Bloodsports, then, is a recalibration. If it has any parallel, it’s in the Manic Street Preachers’ Everything Must Go, a punched-up, hook-heavy set more about overall impact than detail, and a calculated counter to their previous record. Anderson claims it’s “about the endless carnal game of love” and it tracks the path of a relationship from infatuation through estrangement to break-up. Accordingly, much of it has a widescreen, (melo)dramatic wallop and none of the songs serve Suede’s comeback too shabbily. “For The Strangers”, “Sabotage” and “It Starts And Ends With You” are unremarkable hybrids of consensual, grown-up rock that drag their heels in terms of contemporaneity (U2, Keane, The Killers) but they push the big-picture buttons effectively enough. Lyrics, though, are still a sticking point. Anderson has long since dropped his Cockney affectations, and he’s no longer seduced by the breath-taking modernity of cigarettes, neon and magazines, but he still struggles with poetic resonance. Analogies are uniformly limited to one thing being “like” another and some metaphors simply don’t ring true. Does any telephone really emit “a brittle sigh”, as is described in “What Are You Not Telling Me”?

There’s a territory-reclaiming trifecta, though, that pushes Suede through. “Barriers” is a powerful opening salvo, its clarion sweeps of guitar underpinned by Blondie’s turbo-charged rhythms and pumped up with ’80s cliff-top dynamics. The darkly insistent “Snowblind” easily matches it, as does “Hit Me”, an irresistible, glammed-up stomp that hints at “Sweet Child O’ Mine” and is bound to do the indie-disco business from Brighton to Wick. Bloodsports may not be quite as “furious” as Anderson has claimed, but Suede’s renewed charge is obvious. It’s a creditable step back into the ring after years on the ropes/

Sharon O’Connell

Q+A

Brett Anderson

Did you feel like there was a lot at stake with Bloodsports?

There was a huge amount. What was at stake was rescuing the reputation of Suede, really. We probably shouldn’t have released that last album; we did the thing we’d always said we’d avoid – releasing a record just to go on tour. It wasn’t released with the joy and passion with which records should be released.

What were you aiming at sonically with the new LP?

We were trying to find that sweet spot between feeling like Suede and feeling fresh, which is a really interesting point on the spectrum. I don’t think there’s any point in coming back and trying to reinvent the band, and I wanted it to sound identifiably like a Suede record. But I didn’t want it to sound like self-parody or pastiche.

Was there ever a point where you thought Suede were done for good?

There was a point about midway through the new record where it wasn’t really coming together like I wanted it to. I did toy with the idea of saying, “Let’s not do this, and I’ll carry on making solo records.” But that was to do with trying to re-establish the band chemistry. We almost approached this like we were a new band. We didn’t want to have this bullshit complacent attitude: “We’re Suede and whatever we do is going to sound great.”

INTERVIEW: SHARON O’CONNELL

Thom Yorke interviewed by Alec Baldwin on WNYC podcast

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Thom Yorke interviewed by Alec Baldwin on WNYC podcast
Thom Yorke joined Alec Baldwin on the latest episode of his WNYC podcast series Here’s The Thing yesterday (April 1) for an hour-long interview. The Radiohead frontman was in the studio to promote the latest album from his side project Atoms For Peace, AMOK, released earlier this year. Over the...

Thom Yorke joined Alec Baldwin on the latest episode of his WNYC podcast series Here’s The Thing yesterday (April 1) for an hour-long interview.

The Radiohead frontman was in the studio to promote the latest album from his side project Atoms For Peace, AMOK, released earlier this year.

Over the course of the show, Yorke discussed his whole career, from Radiohead’s early days to the foundations of his new band, Atoms For Peace. He also talked about fatherhood, shunning celebrity and his work as an activist. Admitting that he finds performing “either wicked fun or really awful”, and he also stated he would tour more if he didn’t have children.

Speaking about forming Radiohead, Yorke also revealed how he chose the line up for the band in 1985.

“I got Ed [O’Brien] because he was dressed like Morrissey and he had some cool socks, and I saw he had a guitar. I had no idea whether he could play or not. I didn’t really care. I got Colin [Greenwood] because I knew Colin could play very well and I needed a bass player who could play very well, but he’d never played bass before. And his brother Jonny was this mythical musical prodigy, so I roped him in, and then Phil [Selway] was the only drummer we knew anyway, so – and he had a house down the road that we could rehearse in.”

Here’s The Thing is a fortnightly podcast from public radio station WNYC. Thom Yorke’s episode is available to listen to and download here.

Johnny Marr to support The Stone Roses at London gigs

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Johnny Marr to support The Stone Roses at London gigs
Johnny Marr has announced that he will support The Stone Roses at their two London gigs this June. The Manchester band will headline two huge dates at London's Finsbury Park on June 7 and 8 followed by a single show at Glasgow Green on June 15. The supports for the Glasgow show are Primal Scream, J...

Johnny Marr has announced that he will support The Stone Roses at their two London gigs this June.

The Manchester band will headline two huge dates at London’s Finsbury Park on June 7 and 8 followed by a single show at Glasgow Green on June 15. The supports for the Glasgow show are Primal Scream, Jake Bugg and The View. Marr is the first act to confirm his appearance on the bill for the London shows, posting a message on Twitter this morning (April 2).

Johnny Marr released his first solo album, The Messenger, this year and picked up the Godlike Genius title at this year’s NME Awards. Meanwhile, The Stone Roses documentary Made Of Stone is to open nationwide on June 5, shortly before the Finsbury Park gigs.

The film was made by This Is England director Shane Meadows and goes behind the scenes on the Manchester band’s 2012 reunion, from the early stages to their celebratory hometown gigs at Heaton Park. A premiere on May 30 will be attended by the band and will be satellite-linked to 100 cinemas as part of nationwide preview screenings running concurrently with the premiere launch.

Steve Buscemi to direct Vampire Weekend live stream

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Steve Buscemi to direct Vampire Weekend live stream
Steve Buscemi is to direct a live stream of a Vampire Weekend concert, which takes place at New York’s Roseland Ballroom on April 28. The gig launches the fourth series of American Express Unstaged and will be streamed via VEVO and YouTube. Previous episodes of the programme have featured the li...

Steve Buscemi is to direct a live stream of a Vampire Weekend concert, which takes place at New York’s Roseland Ballroom on April 28.

The gig launches the fourth series of American Express Unstaged and will be streamed via VEVO and YouTube. Previous episodes of the programme have featured the likes of Usher, Jack White and The Killers, whose concert was directed by filmmaker Werner Herzog.

In a statement, Vampire Weekend frontman Ezra Koenig described Buscemi as “a wonderful actor, a NYC legend and a great director.” Buscemi has directed several episodes of the US drama The Sopranos as well as four feature films, including 1996’s Trees Lounge.

Last week, Vampire Weekend bassist Chris Baio revealed that Buscemi was a distant cousin of his. Writing on the band’s official Twitter account, they revealed that the Boardwalk Empire star was “very excited” about the discovery.

Buscemi was also spotted with the band at the New York Easter Bonnet festival this weekend, where he sung the group’s latest single “Diane Young” through a loudhailer.

It was recently reported the release date of Vampire Weekend’s third album Modern Vampires Of The City has been pushed back a week due to “unexpected delays”. The record will now be released on May 14.

Mick Taylor hopeful of joining The Rolling Stones onstage at Glastonbury

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Mick Taylor hopeful of joining The Rolling Stones onstage at Glastonbury
Mick Taylor says he is hopeful that he will be able to get up and play with The Rolling Stones when they headline Glastonbury in June. As confirmed last week, the Stones will headline the Saturday night of the festival on a bill which also includes headliners Arctic Monkeys and Mumford & Sons. ...

Mick Taylor says he is hopeful that he will be able to get up and play with The Rolling Stones when they headline Glastonbury in June.

As confirmed last week, the Stones will headline the Saturday night of the festival on a bill which also includes headliners Arctic Monkeys and Mumford & Sons. When The Rolling Stones performed in London at the end of 2012 they played with a number of guest stars including Florence Welch, Mary J Blige and former guitarist Taylor.

Speaking to The Sun about the Somerset festival, Taylor said playing with the band “would be great”, adding: “I really didn’t think they’d be touring again. But I hoped they’d want to re-create some of the music from my days in the band. It would be a big noise, I tell you.”

However, Taylor was not completely sure the band would be able to find room for him during their set. “Having said that, the last time I saw them play live from the crowd was at Wembley Stadium six or seven years ago and to me it seemed that they hardly played anything from the ’70s or indeed the ’60s.”

Bridget St John on Kevin Ayers: “He was a lovely, beautiful human being”

Michael Bonner
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Bridget St John on Kevin Ayers: “He was a lovely, beautiful human being”

Hopefully, you'll have seen the new issue of Uncut by now, which includes a terrific cover story on The Who's early ascendancy, plus Cream, Matthew E White, Jeff Lynne, Kurt Vile, and more - including a piece by Allan on Kevin Ayers. I helped Allan out with the interviews for his story, not all of which we were able to fit into the final piece for space reasons. One of those was with Bridget St John, who'd been a friend and sometime collaborator of Kevin's since the late 1960s. So with me filling in for Allan on newsletter duty today, it strikes me as a good opportunity to run in full the transcript of my interview with Bridget. Here it is. How did you first meet Kevin? I’m pretty certain that the first time I met him was in late 68 or 69 at a CND rally at Chalk Farm Roundhouse. I think it was probably 69. Everyone – a lot of people were there. But I remember very clearly hanging with him and I think his lady at the time and a lot of other people. I think Robert was there, Robert Wyatt. What were your first impressions of him? A lovely, beautiful human being. I’d say that was my first and last impression of him. I think he was very strong and very sure of what he wanted, and I suppose I’m talking creatively because that was most of my connection with him was through music. But he was gentle but sure of what he wanted from whatever he was doing. In my case, either me singing with him on his songs or him producing the single that he produced with me. He was very clear and not waffley at all. What do you remember of the shows you played together? We were both with Blackhill Enterprises, which was Andrew King and Peter Jenner and sometimes we’d do the same gigs together and I would sing mostly ‘Jolie Madame” with him, and then he played on my live John Peel session, I think it was a Top Gear session, but again that’s on the BBC release that I have and “The Spider And The Fly” that I did with him is on there as well as “Jolie Madame”. As a performer, he was very spontaneous, I would say, he wasn’t one of those musicians that everything is the same every time you play it. I think he’s very much in the moment. The song would be the same but I think his feeling for it would be coloured by whatever he was feeling and it always felt fresh. Kevin had a reputation for not taking himself or his music too seriously. Is that fair? I don’t know if I would use that phrase. I think he had a lot of fun with his music. “The Spider And The Fly”, when we were putting together the BBC album I’d actually forgotten that we’d done that and it’s just got a lot of humour in it. I think a lot of his music has humour in it but that doesn’t mean he didn’t take it seriously. He wasn’t like one of those obsessively serious musicians. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOMS4Zs6PtM What do you remember of the sessions for “The Oyster And The Flying Fish”? He wanted me to sing with him. I think our voices were very simpatico, they worked really well together and we were able to sing well together. I’m not a perfect singer and I think that suited his style. I could tune into what he was doing and I think it worked really well. I remember rehearsing with him and I still have the yellow lined sheet of paper where he wrote out all the words and the chorus. What was he like in the studio? I think he was controlled and spontaneous at the same time. It’s that thing of you can’t plan your whole life because you’re not going to allow things coming at you, and I think in that sense he was like that in the studio, but at the same time he went in knowing what he wanted to do. Kevin also produced a single for you, “If You’ve Got Money”, which was a co-write with Daevid Allen. How did that come about? Daevid didn’t actually play on it. When we did “If You’ve Got Money”, we had to do a b-side, and Kevin said, ‘Daevid Allen wrote this great song and I think it’ll be perfect for you.’ That was “Yep” and it was the b-side but I love it, you know. I think it was a beautiful song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wGWWcpbQ-0 Do you think the four Harvest albums deserve to be his best-remembered work? I don’t have an overview of all his work, do you know what I mean?… I always thought Shooting At The Moon was a fabulous album. And Odd Ditties was another one, but I’m not sure if that was collection, though. I never really thought about whether it was a release or a compilation. You’d be able to find that out. What is it about Shooting At The Moon particularly that’s so memorable for you? I think it’s partly because that was the time that I was involved with him and the rest of the guys – David Bedford and Mike Olfield and Lol. That was my time with them, if you like, the period I remember best so maybe it’s just the album I know best, but it just encapsulated what they were doing then. You mention Dave Bedford, Lol Coxhill and Mike Oldfield…What did you make of those guys? In a way, the whole band was a band of eccentrics, which was interesting. I got along with all of them. I liked all of them, and they were all very different. Lol was older than the rest of us – well, certainly much older than Mike Oldield, who was young – but always very gentle with a great sense of humour. I think that was part of what made that band work. They all allowed each other to be themselves and they all did have a sense of humour. David was classically trained anyway and brought another dimension to things and then Mike was this really talented musician, playing bass with him, but he can play guitar too, but Kevin was playing guitar then. You worked with Kevin again, in 2007, on his album, The Underground. How was he during that period? He came to New York but I never actually met up with him because he got to New York and then was sick, so I went to somebody… Gary Olson, who had a studio out in Brooklyn, and I went out to his studio and the tracks were laid down and I did my vocal to Kevin’s vocals so I never actually met up with him. I wrote him a long letter and sent him herbal teas but I never actually met up with him. It’s funny, I was thinking of him before he died, not knowing he was going to die obviously, and thinking, ‘Maybe later I’d like to go to the south of France and just see him one more time.’ That wasn’t meant to be. Did you think Kevin had it in him to be a star or was he not much bothered by notions of success? I think he might be a little bit like in the sense that it’s much more about the work and the rest will take care of it. My feeling is that I have to do the work and whatever happens it’s out of my hands, although I know there are people who work very hard at trying to make sure that they’re involved in the rest of the stuff around the work, I don’t think he was very interested in the whole business of music, you know. Do you have a favourite memory of Kevin you could share with us? I think just working with him and being around… I described him to someone as this really gentle soul and I feel blessed to have been part of his flight through music. I don’t know anything about his demons and I’m glad I didn’t. He was like my friend and musical collaborator and friend in harmony, if you like, in terms of singing. It was always comfortable working with him. Just love for him, really. I don’t have anything else to say really, other than good things. Follow me on Twitter @MichaelBonner

Hopefully, you’ll have seen the new issue of Uncut by now, which includes a terrific cover story on The Who’s early ascendancy, plus Cream, Matthew E White, Jeff Lynne, Kurt Vile, and more – including a piece by Allan on Kevin Ayers.

I helped Allan out with the interviews for his story, not all of which we were able to fit into the final piece for space reasons. One of those was with Bridget St John, who’d been a friend and sometime collaborator of Kevin’s since the late 1960s. So with me filling in for Allan on newsletter duty today, it strikes me as a good opportunity to run in full the transcript of my interview with Bridget. Here it is.

How did you first meet Kevin?

I’m pretty certain that the first time I met him was in late 68 or 69 at a CND rally at Chalk Farm Roundhouse. I think it was probably 69. Everyone – a lot of people were there. But I remember very clearly hanging with him and I think his lady at the time and a lot of other people. I think Robert was there, Robert Wyatt.

What were your first impressions of him?

A lovely, beautiful human being. I’d say that was my first and last impression of him. I think he was very strong and very sure of what he wanted, and I suppose I’m talking creatively because that was most of my connection with him was through music. But he was gentle but sure of what he wanted from whatever he was doing. In my case, either me singing with him on his songs or him producing the single that he produced with me. He was very clear and not waffley at all.

What do you remember of the shows you played together?

We were both with Blackhill Enterprises, which was Andrew King and Peter Jenner and sometimes we’d do the same gigs together and I would sing mostly ‘Jolie Madame” with him, and then he played on my live John Peel session, I think it was a Top Gear session, but again that’s on the BBC release that I have and “The Spider And The Fly” that I did with him is on there as well as “Jolie Madame”. As a performer, he was very spontaneous, I would say, he wasn’t one of those musicians that everything is the same every time you play it. I think he’s very much in the moment. The song would be the same but I think his feeling for it would be coloured by whatever he was feeling and it always felt fresh.

Kevin had a reputation for not taking himself or his music too seriously. Is that fair?

I don’t know if I would use that phrase. I think he had a lot of fun with his music. “The Spider And The Fly”, when we were putting together the BBC album I’d actually forgotten that we’d done that and it’s just got a lot of humour in it. I think a lot of his music has humour in it but that doesn’t mean he didn’t take it seriously. He wasn’t like one of those obsessively serious musicians.

What do you remember of the sessions for “The Oyster And The Flying Fish”?

He wanted me to sing with him. I think our voices were very simpatico, they worked really well together and we were able to sing well together. I’m not a perfect singer and I think that suited his style. I could tune into what he was doing and I think it worked really well. I remember rehearsing with him and I still have the yellow lined sheet of paper where he wrote out all the words and the chorus.

What was he like in the studio?

I think he was controlled and spontaneous at the same time. It’s that thing of you can’t plan your whole life because you’re not going to allow things coming at you, and I think in that sense he was like that in the studio, but at the same time he went in knowing what he wanted to do.

Kevin also produced a single for you, “If You’ve Got Money”, which was a co-write with Daevid Allen. How did that come about?

Daevid didn’t actually play on it. When we did “If You’ve Got Money”, we had to do a b-side, and Kevin said, ‘Daevid Allen wrote this great song and I think it’ll be perfect for you.’ That was “Yep” and it was the b-side but I love it, you know. I think it was a beautiful song.

Do you think the four Harvest albums deserve to be his best-remembered work?

I don’t have an overview of all his work, do you know what I mean?… I always thought Shooting At The Moon was a fabulous album. And Odd Ditties was another one, but I’m not sure if that was collection, though. I never really thought about whether it was a release or a compilation. You’d be able to find that out.

What is it about Shooting At The Moon particularly that’s so memorable for you?

I think it’s partly because that was the time that I was involved with him and the rest of the guys – David Bedford and Mike Olfield and Lol. That was my time with them, if you like, the period I remember best so maybe it’s just the album I know best, but it just encapsulated what they were doing then.

You mention Dave Bedford, Lol Coxhill and Mike Oldfield…What did you make of those guys?

In a way, the whole band was a band of eccentrics, which was interesting. I got along with all of them. I liked all of them, and they were all very different. Lol was older than the rest of us – well, certainly much older than Mike Oldield, who was young – but always very gentle with a great sense of humour. I think that was part of what made that band work. They all allowed each other to be themselves and they all did have a sense of humour. David was classically trained anyway and brought another dimension to things and then Mike was this really talented musician, playing bass with him, but he can play guitar too, but Kevin was playing guitar then.

You worked with Kevin again, in 2007, on his album, The Underground. How was he during that period?

He came to New York but I never actually met up with him because he got to New York and then was sick, so I went to somebody… Gary Olson, who had a studio out in Brooklyn, and I went out to his studio and the tracks were laid down and I did my vocal to Kevin’s vocals so I never actually met up with him. I wrote him a long letter and sent him herbal teas but I never actually met up with him. It’s funny, I was thinking of him before he died, not knowing he was going to die obviously, and thinking, ‘Maybe later I’d like to go to the south of France and just see him one more time.’ That wasn’t meant to be.

Did you think Kevin had it in him to be a star or was he not much bothered by notions of success?

I think he might be a little bit like in the sense that it’s much more about the work and the rest will take care of it. My feeling is that I have to do the work and whatever happens it’s out of my hands, although I know there are people who work very hard at trying to make sure that they’re involved in the rest of the stuff around the work, I don’t think he was very interested in the whole business of music, you know.

Do you have a favourite memory of Kevin you could share with us?

I think just working with him and being around… I described him to someone as this really gentle soul and I feel blessed to have been part of his flight through music. I don’t know anything about his demons and I’m glad I didn’t. He was like my friend and musical collaborator and friend in harmony, if you like, in terms of singing. It was always comfortable working with him. Just love for him, really. I don’t have anything else to say really, other than good things.

Follow me on Twitter @MichaelBonner

Michelle Shocked tells Piers Morgan: “I admit I made a mistake.”

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Michelle Shocked tells Piers Morgan: “I admit I made a mistake.”

Last night (Monday, April 1), Michelle Shocked appeared on Piers Morgan Live on CNN. Her appearance on Morgan's show came after a difficult fe weeks for the singer. On March 17, she launched into an anti-gay tirade on stage in San Francisco. Subsequently, eleven scheduled American concert dates were cancelled by the venues themselves. Speaking to Morgan about the March 17 incident, she said, "I admit I made a mistake, Piers. If I had the chance to do it again, I don't think I would have taken the audience up on their choice. I had presented an entire performance, and I framed it as 'truth,' and then I came out back for an encore, and they requested 'reality.' What has consequently taken place ever since then is my manifestation of how little I think of reality." On March 28, Shocked had turned up in Santa Cruz, California, at Moe's Alley - one of the venues who had cancelled her performance there. She sat outside the venue wearing a mask across her mouth that read 'Silenced By Fear'. She was wearing a white, disposable safety suit with 'gimme wit not spit' written on the back. A series of posters had been placed above her head, bearing slogans such as 'does speech really scare you that much?' and 'what would you say to Michelle Shocked if you had waited to hear her side of the story vs. what was reported? Were you there?' Earler that day, reports the New York Times, she had posted her intentions on Twitter. “It’s an art project,” she wrote. “’My Summer Vacation.’ I want your autograph. Bring Sharpie.” Clips for the interview with Piers Morgan can be found here.

Last night (Monday, April 1), Michelle Shocked appeared on Piers Morgan Live on CNN.

Her appearance on Morgan’s show came after a difficult fe weeks for the singer. On March 17, she launched into an anti-gay tirade on stage in San Francisco. Subsequently, eleven scheduled American concert dates were cancelled by the venues themselves.

Speaking to Morgan about the March 17 incident, she said, “I admit I made a mistake, Piers. If I had the chance to do it again, I don’t think I would have taken the audience up on their choice. I had presented an entire performance, and I framed it as ‘truth,’ and then I came out back for an encore, and they requested ‘reality.’ What has consequently taken place ever since then is my manifestation of how little I think of reality.”

On March 28, Shocked had turned up in Santa Cruz, California, at Moe’s Alley – one of the venues who had cancelled her performance there. She sat outside the venue wearing a mask across her mouth that read ‘Silenced By Fear’. She was wearing a white, disposable safety suit with ‘gimme wit not spit’ written on the back. A series of posters had been placed above her head, bearing slogans such as ‘does speech really scare you that much?’ and ‘what would you say to Michelle Shocked if you had waited to hear her side of the story vs. what was reported? Were you there?’

Earler that day, reports the New York Times, she had posted her intentions on Twitter. “It’s an art project,” she wrote. “’My Summer Vacation.’ I want your autograph. Bring Sharpie.”

Clips for the interview with Piers Morgan can be found here.

Levon Helm documentary due for release in America this month

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Levon Helm documentary due for release in America this month

A documentary about Levon Helm is due to air in America later this month. Called Ain't in It for My Health: A Film About Levon Helm, the documentary was directed by Jacob Hatley, who trailed Helm for two years during the recording of his Electric Dirt album. In a statement reported on Rolling Stone, Helm's collaborator and musical director Larry Campbell said, “Jacob was the perfect fly on the wall for many months as we experienced the ups and downs of a wonderful time in all our lives.” The documentary will premier at New York’s Cinema Village on Friday, April 19 - the first anniversary of The Band drummer’s passing - before showing in select cities in the US. There is no news yet as to when, and how, it will be available to UK viewers. The anniversary of Helm's death will also be marked by Garth Hudson and several of Helm’s other collaborators, who will play a show at Tarrytown, New York’s Music Hall on April 19. The show, called "Songs Of The Band", will honour Helm as well as his other, deceased former Band colleagues, Rick Danko and Richard Manuel. Tickets and more information about the show can be found on the venue's website.

A documentary about Levon Helm is due to air in America later this month.

Called Ain’t in It for My Health: A Film About Levon Helm, the documentary was directed by Jacob Hatley, who trailed Helm for two years during the recording of his Electric Dirt album.

In a statement reported on Rolling Stone, Helm’s collaborator and musical director Larry Campbell said, “Jacob was the perfect fly on the wall for many months as we experienced the ups and downs of a wonderful time in all our lives.”

The documentary will premier at New York’s Cinema Village on Friday, April 19 – the first anniversary of The Band drummer’s passing – before showing in select cities in the US.

There is no news yet as to when, and how, it will be available to UK viewers.

The anniversary of Helm’s death will also be marked by Garth Hudson and several of Helm’s other collaborators, who will play a show at Tarrytown, New York’s Music Hall on April 19. The show, called “Songs Of The Band”, will honour Helm as well as his other, deceased former Band colleagues, Rick Danko and Richard Manuel. Tickets and more information about the show can be found on the venue’s website.

The Cure, The National, Queens Of The Stone Age for Lollapalooza 2013

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The Cure, The National, Queens Of The Stone Age for Lollapalooza 2013

The line-up for this year's Lollapalooza festival has been announced. The Cure, Mumford & Sons, The Killers and Nine Inch Nails will headline the festival, which takes place in Chicago from August 2 - 4. "The first time I ran into Robert Smith of the Cure was 1997 in New York City," said the festival's organiser, Perry Farrell, in a statement. "We were both going into the same club; and it was Halloween. I was dressed as myself and so was he. I am so happy the Cure have finally arrived at Lolla in Chicago!" Other bands playing include New Order, Queens Of The Stone Age, The National and Phoenix. Three-day passes for the festival have already sold out. However, there will be a limited number of day passes which will go on sale on April 3 at 9am EST. You can find more information at Lollapalooza's website.

The line-up for this year’s Lollapalooza festival has been announced.

The Cure, Mumford & Sons, The Killers and Nine Inch Nails will headline the festival, which takes place in Chicago from August 2 – 4.

“The first time I ran into Robert Smith of the Cure was 1997 in New York City,” said the festival’s organiser, Perry Farrell, in a statement. “We were both going into the same club; and it was Halloween. I was dressed as myself and so was he. I am so happy the Cure have finally arrived at Lolla in Chicago!”

Other bands playing include New Order, Queens Of The Stone Age, The National and Phoenix.

Three-day passes for the festival have already sold out. However, there will be a limited number of day passes which will go on sale on April 3 at 9am EST. You can find more information at Lollapalooza’s website.

Kurt Vile streams new album ‘Wakin On A Pretty Daze’ – listen

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Kurt Vile streams new album ‘Wakin On A Pretty Daze’ – listen
Kurt Vile is streaming his new album, Wakin On A Pretty Daze, ahead of its official release on April 8. Scroll down to listen to the record via NPR. The follow-up to 2011's Smoke Ring For My Halo is Vile's fifth album and was produced by John Agnello. Wakin On A Pretty Daze is Album Of The Month ...

Kurt Vile is streaming his new album, Wakin On A Pretty Daze, ahead of its official release on April 8.

Scroll down to listen to the record via NPR.

The follow-up to 2011’s Smoke Ring For My Halo is Vile’s fifth album and was produced by John Agnello. Wakin On A Pretty Daze is Album Of The Month in the current issue of Uncut.

On Saturday (March 30), Kurt Vile threw a parade in his home city of Philadelphia. Hosted by comedian Tom Scharpling, the parade – believed to be for the filming of a new video – took place at a secret location in the city.

Kurt Vile will play Field Day in London on May 25 with The Violators.

The Wakin On A Pretty Daze tracklisting is:

‘Wakin On A Pretty Day’

‘KV Crimes’

‘Was All Talk’

‘Girl Called Alex’

‘Never Run Away’

‘Pure Pain’

‘Too Hard’

‘Shame Chamber’

‘Snowflakes Are Dancing’

‘Air Bud’

‘Goldtone’

First Look – Olivier Assayas’ Something In The Air

Michael Bonner
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First Look – Olivier Assayas’ Something In The Air

At the end of last week, I watched the new film by Olivier Assayas, which has been called Something In The Air in England, though its original French title – Après Mai – arguably feels a little more evocative. The film is set in 1971, and Assayas is interested in how a generation of politicized students defined themselves in the wake of the May, 1968 demonstrations in Paris. Essentially, it’s a rites-of-passage piece, pivoting on high school student Gilles (Clement Metayer), who is torn between the heavy demands of his fellow students activists and pursuing his own less militant interests in film making and painting. Assayas was 16 in 1971, and this is clearly autobiographical stuff. I think one of the film’s strengths is its terrific attention to detail – particularly apparent on the soundtrack. I’m reminded a little of Bertolucci’s The Dreamers, which was set during the ’68 protests and featured such predictable cultural signifiers on the soundtrack as Hendrix, Dylan, Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead and The Doors. On the other hand, the soundtrack for Something In The Air appears to be a very personal choice, clustered around the progressive psych-rock/psych-folk of Syd Barrett, Kevin Ayers, Nick Drake, Dr Strangely Strange, the Incredible String Band and the Amazing Blondel. Ayers – solo and with Soft Machine – features quite high up Assayas’ list of personal faves. Gilles is dumped early on by one girlfriend, who tells him she is leaving Paris for London, where her step-father is “doing the lights for Soft Machine”. A wonderfully woozy party sequence, set in a huge country house, is soundtracked by the Soft Machine’s “Why Are We Sleeping” and there’s a tremendous use of Ayers’ “Decadence” at the film’s close. Anyway, I'll be writing in more detail about the film itself in a future issue of Uncut. The soundtrack is available from iTunes, incidentally. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SL-vlwLZv6Q Follow me on Twitter @MichaelBonner

At the end of last week, I watched the new film by Olivier Assayas, which has been called Something In The Air in England, though its original French title – Après Mai – arguably feels a little more evocative.

The film is set in 1971, and Assayas is interested in how a generation of politicized students defined themselves in the wake of the May, 1968 demonstrations in Paris. Essentially, it’s a rites-of-passage piece, pivoting on high school student Gilles (Clement Metayer), who is torn between the heavy demands of his fellow students activists and pursuing his own less militant interests in film making and painting.

Assayas was 16 in 1971, and this is clearly autobiographical stuff. I think one of the film’s strengths is its terrific attention to detail – particularly apparent on the soundtrack. I’m reminded a little of Bertolucci’s The Dreamers, which was set during the ’68 protests and featured such predictable cultural signifiers on the soundtrack as Hendrix, Dylan, Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead and The Doors. On the other hand, the soundtrack for Something In The Air appears to be a very personal choice, clustered around the progressive psych-rock/psych-folk of Syd Barrett, Kevin Ayers, Nick Drake, Dr Strangely Strange, the Incredible String Band and the Amazing Blondel.

Ayers – solo and with Soft Machine – features quite high up Assayas’ list of personal faves. Gilles is dumped early on by one girlfriend, who tells him she is leaving Paris for London, where her step-father is “doing the lights for Soft Machine”. A wonderfully woozy party sequence, set in a huge country house, is soundtracked by the Soft Machine’s “Why Are We Sleeping” and there’s a tremendous use of Ayers’ “Decadence” at the film’s close.

Anyway, I’ll be writing in more detail about the film itself in a future issue of Uncut. The soundtrack is available from iTunes, incidentally.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SL-vlwLZv6Q

Follow me on Twitter @MichaelBonner

Freddie Mercury sneaked Princess Diana into London gay club dressed as a man

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Freddie Mercury sneaked Princess Diana into London gay club dressed as a man
Freddie Mercury dressed Princess Diana up as a male model to sneak her into a London gay club, it has been revealed. The revelation comes from the autobiography of comedienne Cleo Rocos' autobiography, which has been serialised in The Sunday Times. The 80's star attended the club with the couple an...

Freddie Mercury dressed Princess Diana up as a male model to sneak her into a London gay club, it has been revealed.

The revelation comes from the autobiography of comedienne Cleo Rocos’ autobiography, which has been serialised in The Sunday Times. The 80’s star attended the club with the couple and fellow comedian Kenny Everett.

In the book, Rocos recalls an afternoon when the unlikely gang of friends were drinking together at Kenny Everett‘s house in London. Looking for further entertainment, the group hatched a plan to smuggle Diana into the Vauxhall Tavern in a camouflage army jacket, leather cap and dark aviator sunglasses.

“Scrutinising her in the half light,” writes Rocos, “we decided that the most famous icon of the modern world might just — just — pass for a rather eccentrically dressed gay male model.”

On entering the club, she wrote: “The place was full. It took an absolute aeon to edge our way to the bar, with person after person cheerfully greeting us. It was fabulously outrageous and so bizarrely exciting. Our hearts pounded with every new leather-clad hairy body that approached, but no one, absolutely no one, recognised Diana.

“On we inched, through the leather throngs and thongs, until finally we reached the bar. We were nudging each other like naughty schoolchildren. Diana and Freddie were giggling, but she did order a white wine and a beer. Once the transaction was completed, we looked at one another, united in our triumphant quest. We did it!

“Never has going to a bar been quite so exhilarating and fun. We then made a swift exit, a cab was hailed and we whisked Diana back to Kensington Palace. The jolly queens queuing outside unknowingly waved back as their ‘queen of hearts’ waved goodbye. Not a single person ever found us out.”

Princess Diana died in a car crash in 1997. In 1991, Queen singer Freddie Mercury passed way from an AIDS-related illness.

Morrissey to release live DVD of Hollywood gig

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Morrissey to release live DVD of Hollywood gig
Morrissey is set to release a new live DVD, according to reports. As Pitchfork says, a report on Morrisey-solo.com - which was subsequently confirmed by a representative - reveals that the singer's March 2 concert at Hollywood High School in LA will be released on DVD by Eagle Vision. You can see...

Morrissey is set to release a new live DVD, according to reports.

As Pitchfork says, a report on Morrisey-solo.com – which was subsequently confirmed by a representative – reveals that the singer’s March 2 concert at Hollywood High School in LA will be released on DVD by Eagle Vision.

You can see a clip from the show, in which Morrissey performs “The Boy With The Thorn In His Side“, by clicking below.

The setlist for the show in question was as follows:

‘Alma Matters’

‘Ouija Board, Ouija Board’

‘Irish Blood, English Heart’

‘You Have Killed Me’

‘November Spawned a Monster’

‘Maladjusted’

‘You’re The One for Me, Fatty’

‘Still Ill’

‘People Are the Same Everywhere’

‘Speedway’

‘That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore’

‘To Give (The Reason I Live)’

‘Meat Is Murder’

‘Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want’

‘Action Is My Middle Name’

‘Everyday Is Like Sunday’

‘I’m Throwing My Arms Around Paris’

‘Let Me Kiss You’

‘The Boy With The Thorn In His Side’

Morrissey recently cancelled the remaining dates on his US tour and cited “medical mishaps” as the reason behind the scrapped dates. He has been suffering from mounting health issues over the past few months, including Barrett’s esophagus, a bleeding ulcer and double pneumonia.

The singer’s publicist, Lauren Papapietro, said in a statement: “Despite his best efforts to try to continue touring, Morrissey has to take a hiatus and will not be able to continue on the rest of the tour. Morrissey thanks all of his fans for their well wishes and thoughts.”

Earlier this month, meanwhile, the singer said he had been “cautioned” to retire from music due to his recent health troubles, but said leaving his career behind would be “difficult for me because it’s very ingrained in me.” He released his most recent album, Years Of Refusal, in 2009.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs debut new track ‘Under The Earth’ – listen

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Yeah Yeah Yeahs debut new track ‘Under The Earth’ – listen
Yeah Yeah Yeahs have previewed another new track from their forthcoming fourth album Mosquito - click here to listen to "Under The Earth". The song, which is streaming at the New York Times, will feature on the New York trio's latest studio effort, which is set for release on April 15. Mosquito is...

Yeah Yeah Yeahs have previewed another new track from their forthcoming fourth album Mosquito – click here to listen to “Under The Earth”.

The song, which is streaming at the New York Times, will feature on the New York trio’s latest studio effort, which is set for release on April 15. Mosquito is the follow-up to 2009’s ‘It’s Blitz!’. It sees the band again working with long-time producers David Sitek and Nick Launay, and was recorded at Sonic Ranch in Tornillo, Texas. Earlier this week, the band unveiled the video for their latest single “Sacrilege” – scroll down to the bottom of the page and click to watch.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs will curate I’ll Be Your Mirror at London’s Alexandra Palace alongside Grizzly Bear over the weekend of May 4-5. Bands confirmed for the event so far include The Walkmen, Black Lips, Real Estate, Dirty Beaches and Cass McCombs.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs will also play:

Manchester O2 Apollo (May 1)

Leeds O2 Academy (2)

London Alexandra Palace (4)

Producer Phil Ramone dies aged 79

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Producer Phil Ramone dies aged 79

US music producer Phil Ramone has died aged 79. Ramone, who was nicknamed the 'Pope of pop' by Billy Joel, who he produced many albums for, was known as a pioneer of digital recording and produced records for Bob Dylan, Paul Simon and Frank Sinatra among others. According to Billboard, Ramone was hospitalised in late February with an aeortic aneurysm and died at the New York Presbyterian Hospital on Saturday (March 30). Confirming his death, his son Matt Ramone said he was "very loving and will be missed". Born in South Africa in 1941, Ramone was gifted musically from a young age and could play the violin and piano when he was three years old. He came to the US as a teenager to study violin at New York's Juliard School, before launching the A&R Recording studios in 1958. Ramone had a prolific career and won 13 Grammys including ones for Album of The Year for Paul Simon's 'Still Crazy After All These Years', Bill Joel's '52nd Street' and Ray Charles 'Genius Loves Company'. He was session engineer on Bob Dylan's 'Blood On The Tracks', and produced Frank Sinatra's 1993 comeback album, 'Duets', and a further six Bill Joel records. Most recently, he worked with Tony Bennett, Rod Stewart, Joss Stone and Lela Hathaway. Along with his son Matt, Ramone is survived by wife Karen and sons BJ and Simon.

US music producer Phil Ramone has died aged 79.

Ramone, who was nicknamed the ‘Pope of pop’ by Billy Joel, who he produced many albums for, was known as a pioneer of digital recording and produced records for Bob Dylan, Paul Simon and Frank Sinatra among others.

According to Billboard, Ramone was hospitalised in late February with an aeortic aneurysm and died at the New York Presbyterian Hospital on Saturday (March 30). Confirming his death, his son Matt Ramone said he was “very loving and will be missed”.

Born in South Africa in 1941, Ramone was gifted musically from a young age and could play the violin and piano when he was three years old. He came to the US as a teenager to study violin at New York’s Juliard School, before launching the A&R Recording studios in 1958.

Ramone had a prolific career and won 13 Grammys including ones for Album of The Year for Paul Simon’s ‘Still Crazy After All These Years’, Bill Joel’s ’52nd Street’ and Ray Charles ‘Genius Loves Company’. He was session engineer on Bob Dylan’s ‘Blood On The Tracks‘, and produced Frank Sinatra’s 1993 comeback album, ‘Duets’, and a further six Bill Joel records. Most recently, he worked with Tony Bennett, Rod Stewart, Joss Stone and Lela Hathaway.

Along with his son Matt, Ramone is survived by wife Karen and sons BJ and Simon.

Queens Of The Stone Age debut new song ‘My God Is The Sun’ at Lollapalooza Brazil – watch

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Queens Of The Stone Age debut new song ‘My God Is The Sun’ at Lollapalooza Brazil – watch
Queens Of The Stone Age debuted new song "My God Is The Sun" at Lollapalooza Brazil on Saturday (March 30). The track is the first taste of new music from the Josh Homme-fronted group and is taken from the band's forthcoming new album …Like Clockwork. You can watch a video of the band playing the...

Queens Of The Stone Age debuted new song “My God Is The Sun” at Lollapalooza Brazil on Saturday (March 30).

The track is the first taste of new music from the Josh Homme-fronted group and is taken from the band’s forthcoming new album …Like Clockwork. You can watch a video of the band playing the song by scrolling down the page and clicking ‘play’.

The gig at the Lollapalooza festival in Sao Paulo, Brazil was the rock band’s first live performance since a string of dates in 2011 to support the re-release of their 1998 self-titled debut album.

Queens Of The Stone Age are set to release …Like Clockwork, this June on their new label, the independent Matador. The album contains a list of guest stars, including Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner, Dave Grohl, Elton John, Trent Reznor, Jake Shears of Scissor Sisters.

To hear short snippets of tracks from the follow-up to 2007’s ‘Era Vulgaris’ visit QOTSA.com.

Photo: Danny North/NME

Signed copy of Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band auctions for $290,500

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Signed copy of Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band auctions for $290,500

A signed copy of The Beatles' Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band has sold at auction for $290,500 (£191,000). The record was purchased by an anonymous buyer at an auction in Dallas, US on Saturday (March 30). The sale was originally estimated to be around $35,000, with the final price shattering the previous record for a similar item, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The UK Parlophone copy of the record, with high gloss cover and gatefold, is believed to have been signed by all members of The Beatles around the album's original release date in 1967. According to Rolling Stone, the item was originally priced at $15,000 but early pre-auction pushed the price up to $110,000 a week before the auction date. Gary Shrum, consignment director of Heritage Auctions, which ran the sale, said that the bidding had "taken on a life of its own". Last November, a collage by artist Sir Peter Blake used for the insert in The Beatles' Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band fetched more than £50,000 at auction. The collage featured on the 1967 album and shows Sergeant Pepper along with the four Beatles. Copies of it were inserted in the record for fans to cut out and keep.

A signed copy of The Beatles’ Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band has sold at auction for $290,500 (£191,000).

The record was purchased by an anonymous buyer at an auction in Dallas, US on Saturday (March 30). The sale was originally estimated to be around $35,000, with the final price shattering the previous record for a similar item, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The UK Parlophone copy of the record, with high gloss cover and gatefold, is believed to have been signed by all members of The Beatles around the album’s original release date in 1967.

According to Rolling Stone, the item was originally priced at $15,000 but early pre-auction pushed the price up to $110,000 a week before the auction date. Gary Shrum, consignment director of Heritage Auctions, which ran the sale, said that the bidding had “taken on a life of its own”.

Last November, a collage by artist Sir Peter Blake used for the insert in The Beatles’ Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band fetched more than £50,000 at auction. The collage featured on the 1967 album and shows Sergeant Pepper along with the four Beatles. Copies of it were inserted in the record for fans to cut out and keep.

Blue Öyster Cult – The Columbia Albums Collection

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Blue Öyster Cult – The Columbia Albums Collection

“Guess what? I got a fever. And the only prescription is more cowbell.” Classic BOC, boxed... As much as it is in their umlaut and heavy rock, Blue Öyster Cult’s story is also written in their cover versions. A faithful, affectionate “Be My Baby”. After John Lennon’s murder, a screamingly heavy note-perfect “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)”. A crazed 1972 “Born To Be Wild”, not to mention a 1978 “Kick Out Their Jams”. While they enjoy a reputation, in part thanks to the efforts of The Simpsons and Saturday Night Live, as the archetypal metal band of middle America, Blue Öyster Cult were a far poppier, more melodic, even more countercultural proposition. A lot of guitar, a lot of show, a lot of mythology: at their best, the band were an arena rock MC5. A garage rock band with chops in excess of their calling, the young members of Blue Öyster Cult couldn’t fit in on Elektra, and instead spent the 1970s making a fantastical world of their own on Columbia. Strange hierarchies. Automotive speed. Sado-masochism. Blue Öyster Cult might well have been designed with the interests of the college-age male in mind. Rather than show the world their unimpressive faces, the band hid behind a firewall of mystical imagery and enormous riffs. Even until the end of their career, their albums were assembled with the help of clandestine guests: producer Sandy Pearlman; journalist Richard Meltzer; Patti Smith. All intoxicating stuff. But without the band’s classic 1976 single “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper”, it’s doubtful we’d be talking in quite this detail. Written alone, as were later hits like “Godzilla”, by the band’s extraordinary guitar player Donald “Buck Dharma” Roeser, the single was a watershed moment for the band. It took BOC from a band you would see play at a city college to one you would see at a metropolitan sports arena and made the inescapable fact of death a staple of FM rock radio like no song since “Stairway To Heaven”. Having tasted the highs of success, however, it became difficult for the band to know quite where to go next. Their records remained as theatrical as they had hitherto been, but their concepts were now written with the mainstream rather than underground in mind. Spectres from 1977 was propelled by “Godzilla” and “RU Ready To Rock”. Meanwhile, throughout the late 1970s, the band would be able to feed their live repertoire (there are three original live albums in here, a “best of the broadcasts” live radio disc, and also a download code to four more full concerts) by adding to their repertoire of decent songs at about the rate of one an album. Most, like “Black Blade” (from 1979’s Mirrors) or the Rainbow-like “Burnin’ For You”, another Buck Dharma joint from Fire Of Unknown Origin (1981) are good. Their parent albums, beyond 1980’s Cultösaurus Erectus, however, are more of a challenge, a mixture of self-glorifying heavy metal anthems and science-fiction hijinks (writer Michael Moorcock wrote songs for BOC, as he had done for Hawkwind) played out in Jim Steinman-style AOR soundscapes. It’s particularly painful to attempt to reconcile, say, ’85’s flat Club Ninja as the work of the same band that made the first three records included here. Known for their monochromatic covers, the band’s eponymous debut (1972), Tyranny And Mutation (1973) and Secret Treaties (1974) enjoy a mythology of their own, and rightly so. These are “the black and white albums”, and they announce the death knell of 1960s peacerock culture in terms abstract (“Transmaniacon MC”, about Altamont), anthemic (“The Last Days Of May”) and formal (“Hot Rails To Hell”, written on their first tour, supporting Alice Cooper). The band’s management had initially proposed them as an American riposte to Black Sabbath, (the two would later tour together), but what they got was something less monolithic, but ultimately far more enjoyable and dangerous. At their peak Blue Öyster Cult played music with the fury of punk, the classicism of Bruce Springsteen and the macabre preoccupations of the Velvets. It’s hilarious, and at the same time no laughing matter at all. Cowbell and all, it is simply great rock’n’roll. John Robinson Q+A Eric Bloom What’s it like seeing your career laid out in a box like this? My favourite disc is the rarities, the live tapes of “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)”, and the three songs that we submitted to the movie Teachers. Terrible movie, but I think the songs are good. Our management did the dirty work of listening to all the tapes. Our soundman George had a lot of these, and he did a lot of work cleaning them up. There’s a Who song, I think. I was talking to our manager and he said, “There’s a better performance of that but the lyrics are so wrong we couldn’t put it on there.” Do you see your career as pre-“Reaper” and post-“Reaper”? That’s sort of true. When we weren’t making a living we had band houses; a lot of the writing was collective. We would create in the basement or living room. Tyranny And Mutation, a lot of it was written on tour. I remember sitting in hotel rooms and Albert would hit a spoon on a book for a drum sound. But as we got more successful, we got four-track recorders: Buck wrote “Reaper” like that and just walked in with a completed song. How did you evolve from the underground Stalk-Forrest group to the heavier Blue Öyster Cult? Before I got there, it was like a jam band with improvised lyrics. We were not making a living playing original material, so we had to go back to the bars and play cover material, which honed our skills a little bit. We would get fired if we played originals. It was a lot of fun. We used to play biker bars and there were fights every night, guys would shove another guy’s head in the bass drum. So we got louder and heavier – it was evolution. We would play an original and say, “Here’s a Glen Campbell song…” How did it work in the band with contributions from Sandy Pearlman and Richard Meltzer? The first band house we had on Long Island, Meltzer lived in with his girlfriend and he had lyrics he would lay on us, and Sandy had lyrics he would lay on us. Sandy would give us direction: if he thought it was wrong, he would speak up. What do you make of it when Blue Öyster Cult shows up in The Simpsons or Saturday Night Live? We’re always happy to show up in mainstream places like that. The “More cowbell” sketch was from the mind of Will Ferrell, I think. INTERVIEW: JOHN ROBINSON

“Guess what? I got a fever. And the only prescription is more cowbell.” Classic BOC, boxed…

As much as it is in their umlaut and heavy rock, Blue Öyster Cult’s story is also written in their cover versions. A faithful, affectionate “Be My Baby”. After John Lennon’s murder, a screamingly heavy note-perfect “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)”. A crazed 1972 “Born To Be Wild”, not to mention a 1978 “Kick Out Their Jams”. While they enjoy a reputation, in part thanks to the efforts of The Simpsons and Saturday Night Live, as the archetypal metal band of middle America, Blue Öyster Cult were a far poppier, more melodic, even more countercultural proposition.

A lot of guitar, a lot of show, a lot of mythology: at their best, the band were an arena rock MC5. A garage rock band with chops in excess of their calling, the young members of Blue Öyster Cult couldn’t fit in on Elektra, and instead spent the 1970s making a fantastical world of their own on Columbia. Strange hierarchies. Automotive speed. Sado-masochism. Blue Öyster Cult might well have been designed with the interests of the college-age male in mind. Rather than show the world their unimpressive faces, the band hid behind a firewall of mystical imagery and enormous riffs. Even until the end of their career, their albums were assembled with the help of clandestine guests: producer Sandy Pearlman; journalist Richard Meltzer; Patti Smith.

All intoxicating stuff. But without the band’s classic 1976 single “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper”, it’s doubtful we’d be talking in quite this detail. Written alone, as were later hits like “Godzilla”, by the band’s extraordinary guitar player Donald “Buck Dharma” Roeser, the single was a watershed moment for the band. It took BOC from a band you would see play at a city college to one you would see at a metropolitan sports arena and made the inescapable fact of death a staple of FM rock radio like no song since “Stairway To Heaven”.

Having tasted the highs of success, however, it became difficult for the band to know quite where to go next. Their records remained as theatrical as they had hitherto been, but their concepts were now written with the mainstream rather than underground in mind. Spectres from 1977 was propelled by “Godzilla” and “RU Ready To Rock”. Meanwhile, throughout the late 1970s, the band would be able to feed their live repertoire (there are three original live albums in here, a “best of the broadcasts” live radio disc, and also a download code to four more full concerts) by adding to their repertoire of decent songs at about the rate of one an album.

Most, like “Black Blade” (from 1979’s Mirrors) or the Rainbow-like “Burnin’ For You”, another Buck Dharma joint from Fire Of Unknown Origin (1981) are good. Their parent albums, beyond 1980’s Cultösaurus Erectus, however, are more of a challenge, a mixture of self-glorifying heavy metal anthems and science-fiction hijinks (writer Michael Moorcock wrote songs for BOC, as he had done for Hawkwind) played out in Jim Steinman-style AOR soundscapes.

It’s particularly painful to attempt to reconcile, say, ’85’s flat Club Ninja as the work of the same band that made the first three records included here. Known for their monochromatic covers, the band’s eponymous debut (1972), Tyranny And Mutation (1973) and Secret Treaties (1974) enjoy a mythology of their own, and rightly so. These are “the black and white albums”, and they announce the death knell of 1960s peacerock culture in terms abstract (“Transmaniacon MC”, about Altamont), anthemic (“The Last Days Of May”) and formal (“Hot Rails To Hell”, written on their first tour, supporting Alice Cooper).

The band’s management had initially proposed them as an American riposte to Black Sabbath, (the two would later tour together), but what they got was something less monolithic, but ultimately far more enjoyable and dangerous. At their peak Blue Öyster Cult played music with the fury of punk, the classicism of Bruce Springsteen and the macabre preoccupations of the Velvets. It’s hilarious, and at the same time no laughing matter at all. Cowbell and all, it is simply great rock’n’roll.

John Robinson

Q+A

Eric Bloom

What’s it like seeing your career laid out in a box like this?

My favourite disc is the rarities, the live tapes of “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)”, and the three songs that we submitted to the movie Teachers. Terrible movie, but I think the songs are good. Our management did the dirty work of listening to all the tapes. Our soundman George had a lot of these, and he did a lot of work cleaning them up. There’s a Who song, I think. I was talking to our manager and he said, “There’s a better performance of that but the lyrics are so wrong we couldn’t put it on there.”

Do you see your career as pre-“Reaper” and post-“Reaper”?

That’s sort of true. When we weren’t making a living we had band houses; a lot of the writing was collective. We would create in the basement or living room. Tyranny And Mutation, a lot of it was written on tour. I remember sitting in hotel rooms and Albert would hit a spoon on a book for a drum sound. But as we got more successful, we got four-track recorders: Buck wrote “Reaper” like that and just walked in with a completed song.

How did you evolve from the underground Stalk-Forrest group to the heavier Blue Öyster Cult?

Before I got there, it was like a jam band with improvised lyrics. We were not making a living playing original material, so we had to go back to the bars and play cover material, which honed our skills a little bit. We would get fired if we played originals. It was a lot of fun. We used to play biker bars and there were fights every night, guys would shove another guy’s head in the bass drum. So we got louder and heavier – it was evolution. We would play an original and say, “Here’s a Glen Campbell song…”

How did it work in the band with contributions from Sandy Pearlman and Richard Meltzer?

The first band house we had on Long Island, Meltzer lived in with his girlfriend and he had lyrics he would lay on us, and Sandy had lyrics he would lay on us. Sandy would give us direction: if he thought it was wrong, he would speak up.

What do you make of it when Blue Öyster Cult shows up in The Simpsons or Saturday Night Live?

We’re always happy to show up in mainstream places like that. The “More cowbell” sketch was from the mind of Will Ferrell, I think.

INTERVIEW: JOHN ROBINSON

Ask Debbie Harry

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Ask Debbie Harry

Ahead of a run of June UK tour dates for Blondie, Debbie Harry is set to answer your questions in Uncut as part of our regular An Audience With… feature. So is there anything you’ve always wanted to ask her? What are her favourite memories of playing CBGBs in its heyday? What's her favourite Blondie song? She acted in films for directors including David Cronenberg and John Waters. Are there any other film makers she'd like to work with? Send up your questions by noon, Thursday, April 4 to uncutaudiencewith@ipcmedia.com. The best questions, and Debbie's answers, will be published in a future edition of Uncut magazine. Please include your name and location with your question. Blondie will play: Nottingham Sherwood Pines Forest Park (June 14) Thetford Forest (15) Isle of Wight Festival (16) Liverpool Academy (18) Isle of Man Villa Marina (19) Gloucestershire Westonbirt Arboretum (21) Kent Bedgebury Pinetum (22) Dublin Olympia (25) Belfast Waterfront (26) Yorkshire Dalby Forest (28) Staffordshire Cannock Chase Forest (29) Glasgow Clyde Auditorium (July 1) Edinburgh Usher Hall (2) Newcastle Academy (4) Cheshire Delamere Forest (6) London Roundhouse (7) London Kew Gardens (9)

Ahead of a run of June UK tour dates for Blondie, Debbie Harry is set to answer your questions in Uncut as part of our regular An Audience With… feature.

So is there anything you’ve always wanted to ask her?

What are her favourite memories of playing CBGBs in its heyday?

What’s her favourite Blondie song?

She acted in films for directors including David Cronenberg and John Waters. Are there any other film makers she’d like to work with?

Send up your questions by noon, Thursday, April 4 to uncutaudiencewith@ipcmedia.com. The best questions, and Debbie’s answers, will be published in a future edition of Uncut magazine. Please include your name and location with your question.

Blondie will play:

Nottingham Sherwood Pines Forest Park (June 14)

Thetford Forest (15)

Isle of Wight Festival (16)

Liverpool Academy (18)

Isle of Man Villa Marina (19)

Gloucestershire Westonbirt Arboretum (21)

Kent Bedgebury Pinetum (22)

Dublin Olympia (25)

Belfast Waterfront (26)

Yorkshire Dalby Forest (28)

Staffordshire Cannock Chase Forest (29)

Glasgow Clyde Auditorium (July 1)

Edinburgh Usher Hall (2)

Newcastle Academy (4)

Cheshire Delamere Forest (6)

London Roundhouse (7)

London Kew Gardens (9)

Wilko Johnson cancels final two shows

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Wilko Johnson cancels final two shows
Wilko Johnson has cancelled the final two shows of his farewell tour. The two sold-out shows were due to take place at the Oysterfleet Hotel on Canvey Island on Sunday, March 31 and Monday, April 1. Johnson, who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer before Christmas, recently told Uncut editor Alla...

Wilko Johnson has cancelled the final two shows of his farewell tour.

The two sold-out shows were due to take place at the Oysterfleet Hotel on Canvey Island on Sunday, March 31 and Monday, April 1.

Johnson, who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer before Christmas, recently told Uncut editor Allan Jones that he anticipated having to cancel dates on the farewell tour if his condition became too difficult to manage.

“Obviously I hope I’ll be fit enough to do [the tour],” he said. “I’m not going onstage ill. I don’t want people to see me like that. But I’ve got every reason to hope I’ll be fit to do those dates.”

Johnson’s final gig was a guest spot with Madness at the BBC on Saturday, March 22, to mark the closure of BBC Television Centre in Shepherd’s Bush, London.

Johnson joined them for “Madness”. The BBC are streaming the show on the iPlayer until the end of the week.

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