Ramblin' with Roger (Free subscription) | 02/06/2010
Valentine's Day - love it or hate it? Well, I don't hate it anymore. But I'm still less than enamored by it than I might be. I still feel more affinity for the heartbreak songs than the "true love" tunes. Even as a kid, I related to songs of love lost. Later it was the revenge songs such as Del Shannon's Hats Off To Larry or the Johnny Mercer song I Wanna Be Around . My favorite Valentine's...
Dickiebo (Free subscription) | 01/28/2010
BBC Review He lived the American Dream, but became a casualty of it too. Adrian Edwards 2010-01-22 There’s no doubt that Del Shannon lived the American Dream, but it might also be said he was one of its casualties. Born Charles Weedon Westover, he began playing the guitar and singing at the age of 14. Runaway, which he co-wrote [...]
Londonist (Free subscription) | 01/28/2010
On Tuesday night cult singer-songwriter, author and “ Gilmore Girls ” star Joe Pernice brought his extensive repertoire of Teenage Fanclub-esque country pop to the gothic surroundings of the Union Chapel . The former Scud Mountain Boy is taking time off from the Pernice Brothers to plug his recent covers album, “It Feels So Good When I Stop” in his first UK shows since 2003....
Havering On (Free subscription) | 01/25/2010
I've just written the sleeve notes for a new 30 Del Shannon compilation. It's a fabulous musical journey through the career of one of the greats from the 60s. You can buy it HERE
Review Site (Free subscription) | 01/24/2010
Cut out a piece of felt that is half a centimetre bigger than the battery compartment all the way around. Cut out a second piece, but this time as well as the half a centimetre all around, also make an increase in the length of the rectangle by 3cm, this will give the pocket a [...]
Hi! (Books, bikes, movies and me) (Free subscription) | 01/11/2010
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aObKAieGVU
Matrixsynth (Free subscription) | 12/31/2009
YouTube via VoiceEncoder Roland SVC350 vocoder according to VoiceEncoder. Extended vocals come in at the five minute mark, but if you have the time, listen to this one through. Trippy piece. Curious what other synths they used. "BearEssense: "The Big Hurt". Copyright 198?, BearEssense. All Rights Reserved. For listening pleasure only." The original: Miss Toni Fisher - The Big Hurt...
Learning Curve on the Ecliptic (Free subscription) | 12/28/2009
Two musicians from past decades had birthdays this week, and on the same day, 30 December: Bo Diddley (1928) and Del Shannon (1934).....Ah yes! I remember them! They're not alike in style or personality though; their natal charts contain very different configurations, linked only by a common Sun and Mercury in Capricorn. I'm taking a quick drive-by look at these two musicians, and their natal
PowerPop (Free subscription) | 12/04/2009
Well, it's Friday and you know what that means. Yes, my Oriental amaneunsis Fah Lo Suee [The Woman Without a Joke] and I will be heading to Darien, Connecticut and the historic Wee Burn Country Club for a couple of rounds of golf with Tiger Woods and his lovely wife Elin Nordegren . Unfortunately, Wee Burn used to be restricted, so it's unclear which of us will or will not make it onto the green. As...
Mod 64 (Free subscription) | 12/03/2009
Archie Bell & The Drells - Tighten Up Arthur Conley - Sweet Soul Music The 5th Dimension - Aquarius/Let Rhe Sunshine In Doris Troy - Just One Look Paul Maauriat - Love is Blue The Ventures - Hawaii Five-O Van Morrinson - Moondance Singing Nun - Dominique Aretha Franklin - I Say A Little Prayer - Chain of Fools Otis Redding - I Can't Turn You Loose Blood, Sweat & Tears - You've Made me So Very...
It's only rock n roll (Free subscription) | 11/26/2009
Track Listing 01 - Summer Holiday - Cliff Richard 02 - Sweets For My Sweet - The Searchers 03 - Twist and Shout - Brain Poole and The Tremeloes 04 - How Do You Do It - Gerry and The Pacemakers 05 - Scarlett O'Hara - Jet Harris and Tony Meehan 06 - Bad To Me - Billy J Kramer and The Dakotas 07 - I'm Telling You Now - Freddie and The Dreamers 08 - Hello Little Girl - The Fourmost 09 - Two Kinds Of Teardrops...
George Szirtes (Free subscription) | 11/25/2009
A rare day at home, bar a visit to the dentist. Dentist fills one tooth, photographs another, says come back. Fine. It's a beautiful sunny morning, if blowy, and I return to translate, to write yet another introduction to something, and to deal with correspondence. The sun shines. Le soleil brille. At about one C and I decide to have hot comfort-food lunch at the caff on the corner - sausages and mash...
Word Magazine blogs (Free subscription) | 11/15/2009
All this reminiscing around the career of the mighty ELO got me musing about something. Is Jeff Lynne basically the single luckiest/most fulfilled bloke in the entire history of rock music? Let's look at the evidence... Here's Jeff, a member of an obscure Brummy beat combo who's grown up being heavily influenced by a range of artists, each of which have blended to form a part of his musical DNA. There's...
The Rap Sheet (Free subscription) | 11/11/2009
Series Title: Crime Story | Years: 1986-1988, NBC | Starring: Dennis Farina , Anthony Denison , Bill Smitrovich , Steve Ryan , Paul Butler , Bill Campbell , Stephen Lang , John Santucci | Theme Music: Del Shannon In the mid-1980s, with two successful years behind him as the executive producer of ratings winner Miami Vice , screenwriter and director Michael Mann decided that his next TV series would...
McIlWeb (Free subscription) | 10/09/2009
(note: This is not a "Best Songs" list, nor it is a list of "Most Important Records"; those would be decidedly different lists) 1 - "Good Vibrations" (1966) by the Beach Boys 2 - "Be My Baby" (1963) by the Ronettes 3 - "Like A Rolling Stone" (1965) by Bob Dylan 4 - "Strawberry Fields Forever" (1967) by the Beatles 5 - "I Heard It Through...
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