A great afternoon/evening in Brighton, yesterday. A spot of Fish 'n' Chips on the beach, a stroll along the front and on to the main event... Monty Oxymoron's solo album launch. Of course, no Damned members in attendance (natch)...nor his wife!! The silly bugger forgot to tell her the date, when she was arranging to travel on a break with her mother!! He's 'Not of This Earth', really! It had the propensity to go all manners of wrong...but it was fantastic. Monty was open and enthusiastic. His friends and hard-core fans were appreciative and in good heart...and he played magnificently. I recommend his interpretations of some of the band's back catalogue, wholeheartedly. Also got to have a long chat with label owner Ian Damaged. Lots of gossip, which I'll not post in a public forum, but he was VERY forthright on some matters. Of course, our copy of the album still hasn't turned up...but, what do you expect from Monty...? Addendum: It's turned up...and it's not the same as a recording. In that pub, with the lights down low and Monty crazily pounding and gently caressing the keys, it was a thing of true wonder. It's still good, but it'll not get too many more plays from me.
Very sad news! RIP Rick Davies Hadn't realised he was 81 and had been ill for some time. Supertramp were a major part of my musical education. Creating a unique mix of commercially palatable but also complex progressive songs. Much of that was down to Davies (& Roger Hodgson) great musicianship and voice. Some of his songs are true classics! Rick Davies, Supertramp frontman and co-founder, dies aged 81 | Music | The Guardian https://share.google/BXY4I6j4TaJq0lHfY
One of my longest friendship is with a bloke who is the spitting image of the original drummer in The Commitments. When we first met, in 1979, he was the proud owner of a number of Supertramp albums, for which he was given merciless ribbing. Two years later and he was a huge Crass fan. Even I don’t lay any particular claim in that direction. Looking back, Supertramp were ok...but you couldn't have got that out of my teenage self..not even with pliars, garden shears, a cattle prod and blow lamp. Oh no...!
As you well know, many of the initial punk era ('76/77) were closet Prog fans! Supertramp didn't really fit into MOR or prog: they were just talented musicians writing radio-friendly, seriously catchy songs. They will be remembered by the majority for those and not the epics such as Crime of the Century or Fools Overture.
Out today... I'm really impressed with this version, especially the piano. I'm presuming that the vocals come off a live recording when the boys supported Motorhead on tour about 10 years back. There are 2 other UK bands on the album (ANWL and GBH), the rest are all American... Still, I'll give it a listen.
A reasonable summary of my reaction to what Ticketbastard are charging for SOAD tickets at our stadium...
Veey sadly, The Damned's Tour Manager, Joe De Lorenzo, has called it a day. He's been the Sergeant Major to a platoon of misfits for neatly a decade, during which time, their stock has risen enormously. They will miss him more than they will ever know... ...hopefully, it is that he's tired of the travelling, the recent loss of some great mates , including Brian Janes, who he'd known for nearly 50 years and his stated desire to finish his memoirs and concentrate on other things (like posts from Mrs B on Facebook). Of course, the fear is that something is REALLY wrong within The Citadel...**** knows, it wouldn't be the first time!!!...say it ain't so, Joe!! Say it ain't so! As always...time will tell. Thanks for everything, mate!
Gutted to hear that Danny Thompson has died age 86 Danny played double bass with bands and artists Pentangle, kate Bush , Nick Drake, john Martyn Richard Thompson to name but a few , in his later years I recognised him in a coffee shop near where I live and after a quick Google to be sure it was him I went and introduced myself , we had a brief chat which was mainly about john Martyn and Nick Drake , such a nice guy and a real gentleman, when you read about some of the fun and games they had with John Martyn it is a wonder he lasted 82 yrs , I will raise a glass of something to a wonderful musician tonight and will play a selection of his music RIP Danny
