So tonight's a night in for me on my own. My Wife is out and so is our houseguest so I'm left to my own devices. It's been a busy day and so this is good news. I'm prepped - a nice healthy meal (good quality veggie curry bits from Waitrose) and I've got a ton of music mags to catch up on, and loads on the Sky planner that's been there for far too long (some BBC documentaries like that Synth Britannia...
Played squash last night - it was good and I felt fine. We watched the first episodes in the brand new series of Gavin and Stacey and QI and eventually I fell asleep, only to be woken in the early hours by a nagging ache in my jaw. Oh no, not toothache again! The dentist managed to squeeze me in and did an X-ray of the offending tooth, which showed an abscess building up. I was offered 3 options -...
David McNamee had a piece on "the most iconic and greatest of all organs" in the Guardian on Monday: What's the best ever Hammond organ song? There are just too many. But let's just say that if you don't get Winwood's work on Gimme Some Loving by the Spencer Davis Group, then you'll never get the Hammond. Take it away , Steve.
Growing up as a teenager from 1994-2001, I felt jipped with the music of my generation. Rap and Hip Hop were the prominent genres, Grunge and Alt Rock were the main rock scenes, and all music I couldn’t relate to. I spent my musical upbringing in my father’s records: The Beatles, The Stones, Zeppelin, Van [...]
This is a vehicle for Richard Norris (Beyond the Wizard's Sleeve, The Grid) to create a groovy acid-fried psychedelic rock. 'Children of the Sun' mixes hippy sentiment - "we are children of the sun/ and we'll light up the sky for you" - with up-to-the-moment beats, sounding like it should be pumping out of a quadrophonic system. 'Zeitgeist' reinforces the dance/psych crossover, with Norris...
Island Records' founder, Chris Blackwell, says there is little chance of him returning to the music business full-time, pointing out that the contemporary scene's instant-sales regime does not mesh with his policy of artist development.
A little over a month ago I mentioned that at the station I do my show from in Vancouver, we do an annual "show swap" in which a programmer of one show tries their hand at another, usually in a...
I have just got back from seeing the Animals and Spencer Davis, so here is the obligatory indistinct snatched concert photograph. I went out of curiosity but enjoyed it far more than I expected. It was every bit as much a Spencer Davis Group show as an Animals show. We got Keep on Running, When I Come Home, Somebody Help Me, I'm a Man and - as the encore even after House of the Rising Sun - Gimme Some...
I'm Sunday Stealing again: 1. When you go to Wowmart, what one thing do you get every single time, besides a funky-wheeled squeaking cart full of frustration? The heebie-jeebies. Since I never go there on my own, only with other people, usually those with whom I am related, I find that it's almost like suffocating. 2. What is something that people are currently “into” that you just don’t...
Just wanted to say a quick howdy-do to my new followers! I'm up to a whopping 69 new followers....You know I really wanna make a Beavis & Butthead-ian joke about that, but for the sake of retaining an iota of class and dignity, I will refrain. I'm just sayin', 69 is a funny number. The joke could write itself, people! Just so you know: if you follow me, I will follow you right back! I'm all for...
- Steve Winwood began making rock and roll history at the age of 15. He was the high pitched singing star and keyboard player of the Spencer Davis Group. Once the '60s arrived and swept over England, he started the band, Traffic, and continued with Blind Faith – a super group consisting of Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker (both of Cream). It is clear that Winwood always had an open mind to music....
It is some time since I inflicted by obsession with the Spencer Davis Group on you, so here goes. While I was at the launch of The Gates of Troy on Thursday I bought another book. (Waterstone's are no fools.) It was Keep on Running: The Story of Island Records . In his contribution Joe Boyd recalls: I was taken to a Birmingham pub where Steve Winwood and the Spencer Davis Group (managed by Chris Blackwell)...
See Dazed Digital for the run down of The Boathouse at Port E. I did a show on the pirate radio station while I was there - Boat Sounds - a selection of music all about water, the sea, boats, river - you get the idea. Here's the playlist: Let's Wade in the Water -Marlena Shaw Jesus Gave Me Water - BB King Beyond The Sea - Stevie Wonder La Mer - Charles Trenet Cry Me a River - Julie London You Left...
The Zombies, The Yardbirds and The Spencer Davis Group The Fillmore At Irving PlazaNew York, NYJuly 10, 2009 "I'm A Man," "Over Under Sideways Down," "Heart Full of Soul," "For Your Love," "The Train Kept A-Rollin'" and "Gimme Some Lovin'" were but a few of the huge hits served up to a very happy and attentive crowd at The Fillmore At Irving...