Pannage

Three-and-half reasons for not posting

noreply@blogger.com (Angus Willson) — Thu, 08 Jan 2015 19:30:00 +0000

Not having posted here for six months, call it a suspension, requires an explanation:

Three-and-a-half reasons
1) trying to spend less time in front of the screen;
2) being busier, of sorts;
Half-reason: no-one reads it (but that shouldn't matter as I blog for myself)

The 'clippings' aspect has been supceded by Pinterest where I have thre boards covering the same ground as this blog. Pinterst does have the drawback of not beig so incklined to add comments or context to the reason for it being pinned.

3) It now all happens over at www.pannage.com/blog

Get yourself over there!

"Lookout" Folkestone Triennial 2014

noreply@blogger.com (Angus Willson) — Sun, 31 Aug 2014 21:07:00 +0000

A welcome return for the art festival which has transformed the town, for a few months, for the third time.

A series of my photos starts from this point on Flickr:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/angus-willson/14909031707/in/photostream/

There is an excellent handbook, with great photographs, from the Folkestone Triennial 2014
www.folkestonetriennial.org.uk

The festival website has images, of course, and sound commentaries.

I propose to put some of the links the artists' websites into this post.

See my post on the Folkestone Triennial 2011

"Why I love Ashford, Kent"

noreply@blogger.com (Angus Willson) — Tue, 19 Aug 2014 19:58:00 +0000

A lovely, positive blogpost about living and working Ashford...

http://ayeayemissy.wordpress.com/2014/08/11/why-i-love-ashford-kent/

and it has had a good response, too.

Broadstairs Folk Week review 2014

noreply@blogger.com (Angus Willson) — Tue, 19 Aug 2014 10:20:00 +0000

To avoid repetition of the links, comments have been added to the preview post. This supplementary post highlights some more of the pleasures and surprises.

There is a loyal attendance of both the Face the Music session and the Acoustic Hour in the Sailing Club (with Gadd's No 5, SeaSider, and She Sells Sea Shells from the bar). Both provide an intimate setting with the artistes - and a glorious view of the Jetty and Viking Bay.

The Acoustic Hour is introduced by Sally Ironmonger, from Medway, with a witty and personal song. We bought the recent CD, The Company I Keep. She is accompanied by her husband, Brian Carter. They peformed two new songs, commissoned by the Festival, at the 'Green' concert which also featured an orchestra and the mighty Chris While and Julie Matthews.

Sally Ironmonger
www.broadstairsfolkweek.org.uk/events/artist/sally-ironmonger
www.sallyironmonger.co.uk/

Pete Morton
www.broadstairsfolkweek.org.uk/events/artist/pete-morton
Spotify: Pete Morton – The Frappin' and Ramblin' Pete Morton 2014
www.petemorton.com
A magnificent voice, a different take on modern folk with the frappin' - and solid grounding in politics. I like the song Rambling Through Old England. Pete Morton also appeared in the impressive 'folk-opera' by Mick Ryan.

Mick Ryan
A Day's Work
Spotify: Mick Ryan – A Day's Work
This was very moving and the best of this type of words-and-music presentations I have seen. It also featured the amzing voice of Greg Russell who also appeared as

Greg Russel and Ciaran Algar
www.broadstairsfolkweek.org.uk/events/artist/greg-russell--ciaran-algar
www.russellalgar.co.uk/
Spotify: Greg Russell – The Call
Winners BBC Radio Horizon Award 2014 and Winners Radio 2 Young Folk Award 2013. In other words, hugely talented.

A real delight was the triple-whammy of Flossie Malavialle at Face the Music, the Acoustic Hour and in concert. Another CD purchased. A big personality and wide choice of songs illustrating Folk Week's 'folk and a whole lot more'.
www.broadstairsfolkweek.org.uk/events/artist/flossie-malavialle
www.flossie-malavialle.co.uk/index1.html

Previous posts on Broadstairs Folk Week

Broadstairs Folk Week preview 2014

noreply@blogger.com (Angus Willson) — Tue, 22 Jul 2014 15:17:00 +0000

The BFW programme and website gets better and better in providing conveniently referenced information about artistes. Post-festival comments in [square brackets].

We take a familiar route through Face the Music and Acoustic Hour at the Sailing Club, taking in a pub gig and then the afternoon and evening concertsin the marquee. Sometimes we fit in a 5.00 concert at Crampton Towers, too. We also like meeting up with friends, local and BFW habitues.

Bella Hardy and the Midnight Watch
www.broadstairsfolkweek.org.uk/events/artist/bella-hardy--the-midnight-watch
Spotify: Bella Hardy – Battleplan 2013
Sounds mighty fine! New to me.
[Yes, where have I been?]

Chris While and Julie Matthews
www.broadstairsfolkweek.org.uk/events/artist/chris-while--julie-matthews
We love these two together and as part of St Agnes Fountain Christnas concert. We have also heard Chris with her daughter, Kellie, at Folk in the Barn.
[Fantastic in two appearances.]

This rolls back a few years but liking a bit of politics in folk music, I will look forward to
Dick Gaughin
www.broadstairsfolkweek.org.uk/events/artist/dick-gaughan
Spotify: Dick Gaughan
[To be honest, a bit passed his sell-by date.]

As usual, we are looking forward to the Face the Music sessions such as
Peter Knight
www.broadstairsfolkweek.org.uk/events/artist/peter-knight
and Peter Knight's Gigspanner
www.broadstairsfolkweek.org.uk/events/artist/peter-knights-gigspanner
[Very interesting talk.]

These are new to me and come with a good pedigree. I really enjoyed 2014 album "Constellations". What great voices! Someone in there reminds me of Annie Haslam of Renaissance. Probably, the concert of which I am most looking forward.
Moulettes
www.broadstairsfolkweek.org.uk/events/artist/moulettes
Spotify: Moulettes
[Well, this was not quite the experience I had anticipated. The performance was all a bit full-on, spacey, prog-rock bananas! I have re-listened to the recordings again and they have nuch greater subtlety than the concert. It's not just the volume in concerts, which is said to be fixed by the loudness of the drum-kit, but the lack of seperation between the vocals and other instruments.]
They were in concert with

London Klezmer Quartet
www.broadstairsfolkweek.org.uk/events/artist/the-london-klezmer-quartet[Brilliant.]

Dud concerts are few and far between at Broadstairs. We are more tolerant than many who will just walk if doesn't appeal or, especially, it it is too loud. This fault mainly results from the bands' own knob-twiddlers taking over the desk and imagining they are playing to a distant crowd of 40,000, not four hundred in an intimate marquee. Seth Lakeman has been a previous culprit. The programme says high-energy but we experienced it as just plain angry and shouty. We had one concert last year when the bass was so pounding it hurt your chest. Forgotten who, and I don't bare grudges.

So, we will give a chance, and on the strength of being part of The English Breakfast, to
Seth Lakeman
www.broadstairsfolkweek.org.uk/events/artist/seth-lakeman
[Loud and fast - but better than last time.]

Jamie Smith's Mabon
www.broadstairsfolkweek.org.uk/events/artist/jamie-smiths-mabon
Spotify: Mabon – Live at the Grand Pavilion
Celtic sounds.
[Technically, very clever.]

Last year Dan Walsh announced he would be joining
The Urban Folk Quartet
www.broadstairsfolkweek.org.uk/events/artist/urban-folk-quartet
[A talented band.]

Also returning to Broadstairs with a line-up change, and we have enjoyed their musical journey, are the mighty and mulit-talented
4Square
www.broadstairsfolkweek.org.uk/events/artist/4square
Must catch up with 'Hearth and Home' 2013 album which doesn't seem to be on Spotify yet.
[Excellent, as before.]

Previous posts on Broadstairs Folk Week

thwarted

noreply@blogger.com (Angus Willson) — Tue, 27 May 2014 10:13:00 +0000

#Nurture1314

Apparently (ie I read it on twitter) this idea started last year as a review of the year and forcast, or wish-list, for the next.

2013

Thwarted on the jobs front
1. I have tried to do the right thing. I have been patient to a fault. Shafted is another word for it.
Even a couple of attempts at lateral jobs have not come off.
2. I have continued as 'an extended professional' and committed considerable input in a voluntary capacity.

Social media
3. Can't think how we got by without it / trying to shake-off the compulsion to look at the phone.
4. We have learned a great deal in the development of social media for professional purposes, but it is remains a minority interest.

Sport
5. I didn't achieve the overall improvement I had hoped for in golf but I did get my first hole-in-one. It does get me outside.

Bird-watching
6. Still rank beginners, but it's another good reason to be outside.

Music
7. I am pleased with the series of blogposts which was then compiled into a digital document available here. Music is a great support.

Parish Council
6. On the local front, a dogged determination eventually saw some degree of justice and integrity prevail. I have remained discrete during this period of difficulty but I am writing it up. Watch this space.

2014

1. I will be more effective in avoiding unpaid work consuming more time than it merits.
2. Meanwhile, if I am doing less work, I can do it better.
3. Towards the end of the year I will have to decide if a term as Parish Councillor is worth repeating.
4. Read more that I don't feel compelled to read because of work. Last year I enjoyed reading some rubbish thrillers.
5. We have booked a holiday. You know, one of those when you go abroad. Nice.
6. I will catch up on sorting the family photographs as Geo-story.
7. More de-junking. Less storing.

Other #Nuture1314 posts here...
Vic Goddard
http://passmorespedagogy.wordpress.com/nurture1314-part-1-the-ramblings-of-a-lunatic/
David Rogers
http://daviderogers.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/nurture1314-2013-year-i-stopped-being.html

Live music - update 2014

noreply@blogger.com (Angus Willson) — Tue, 27 May 2014 10:12:00 +0000

R.E.M.
It should say 'live recordings' update but I have written about it here in 2009 and here - and also here in 2010 as 'live music'. Essentially, I have really valued live recordings as a measure of a band's strength and depth.

In the first post I indicated that the R.E.M. Live (2007) CD was not up to scratch so I am pleased to make amends by praising the 2014 (re-)release of their R.E.M. Unplugged: The Complete 1991 and 2001 Sessions. Besides including all the recorded material, and not just the MTV broadcast programmes, with R.E.M. Unplugged it is rare for a band to have been asked to do this session twice.

References
R.E.M. Unplugged on Spotify

R.E.M. website

Deep Purple
I don't quite understand how this escaped my original list of live albums but Made In Japan (1972) has been added to Spotify so I was reminded of it. I have made use of the line 'everything louder than everything else' (intro to The Mule - the drum solo track) in presentations so it is familiar. It also has the classic, bass-heavy Smoke on the Water live. No-one seems to mind that the distinctive intro is re-started!

Deep Purple In Rock (1970) was the more likely album of my formative years alongside Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. In Rock has the spine-tingling ten-minute track Child in Time. Yet, somehow it did not get a mention in the 55-page overview of my musical preferences published in Shifting Sands: music posts - the ones from this blog.

In Rock is loud, heavy, or hard, rock and yet has subtle passages - and it has the beautiful Hammond Organ.

References
Deep Purple Made in Japan on Spotify 1995 mix and 1972 mix.
About Deep Purple In Rock 1995 anniversary release with additional material and studio chat on Discogs
Deep Purple In Rock Anniversary edition on Spotify
There is also Deep Purple Made In Europe (1976) and Deep Purple In Concert (recorded 1970 and 1972, released 1980) Discogs.

Things I hate...

noreply@blogger.com (Angus Willson) — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 19:37:00 +0000

Stolen from the twitterverse

Climate change report in 60 seconds - BBC News

noreply@blogger.com (Angus Willson) — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 16:42:00 +0000

Using library photographs

noreply@blogger.com (Angus Willson) — Thu, 06 Mar 2014 14:07:00 +0000

Photography

It's interesting to note that Getty Images has set up a way of non-commercial use of their 35 million images which involves embedding, like so...

In doing so, Getty Images is conceding that photographs are so easily purloined on the web. It's a temptation I have avoided. I can't imagine the concept is universally popular as photographers still want to be paid for taking photographs.
More here http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-26463886

I have included this image because in the the summer of 1977 I recycled a red Roberts radio from a dustbin while working for the West Lancashire District Council in a student holiday. With a big PP9 battery it worked fine for many years.

Misplaced

noreply@blogger.com (Angus Willson) — Tue, 07 Jan 2014 12:52:00 +0000

Another delightful inspiration from the GeoCollective...

The Guerrilla Geography Project 2014: Misplaced
Photos and stories of the misplaced, out of place, lost and found.

I couldn't resist this and I have posted an item called Lost Sock about the Folkestone Triennial art project.

Geo-poetry

noreply@blogger.com (Angus Willson) — Tue, 07 Jan 2014 10:57:00 +0000

Sonnet

WRITTEN ON TOP OF THE BEN NEVIS

Read me a lesson, Muse, and speak it loud
Upon the top of Nevis, blind in mist!
I look into the chasms, and a shroud
Vapurous doth hide them - just so much I wist
Mankind do know of hell; I look o'erhead,
And there is sullen mist, - even so much
Mankind can tell of heaven; mist is spread
Before the earth, beneath me, - even such,
Even so vague is man's sight of himself!
Here are the craggy stones beneath my feet, -
Thus much I know that, a poor witless elf,
I tread on them, - that all my eye doth meet
Is mist and crag, not only on this height,
But in the world of thought and mental might!

John Keats
http://allpoetry.com/poem/8444039-Sonnet.-Written-Upon-The-Top-Of-Ben-Nevis-by-John-Keats

Hat tip: Simon Colbeck on Facebook

Appreciation of Spotify

noreply@blogger.com (Angus Willson) — Fri, 03 Jan 2014 15:01:00 +0000

I am appreciating the musical download service Spotify:

1. Looking up an artist or album after being jogged into a memory from a radio programme, a book or elsewhere.
2. Being pointed towards fresh material via Twitter colleagues, album reviews etc.
3. Making playlists such as those accompanying my "Shifting Sands" musical journey.
4. It's good to listen, usually just once, to the extras on digital re-issues.
5. Spotify makes suggestions according to your listening.
6. I like hearing live preformances of familiar albums and vice versa.

There is one enormous bug-bear and that is the failure to assign a proper 'first publication date'. It's hard enough where there are re-issues, remixes and anniversary editions. Perhaps the reason is a new agreement between publishers and Spotify - but really, it can't be that hard to be clear with importnat information.

Anyway, a quick search proves the value of Wikipedia and suddenly I am immersed in comprehensive back-catalogue details etc. It's also worth checking www.discogs.com

Recent responses to the categories above:

2. Bob Digby tweeted a link to the 'BBC 6 Music albums of 2013' playlist on Spotify and Philip Anderson posted his eight hour playlist for December 2013.

3. Shifting Sands 80s

5. Having listened to Ten Years After a suggesion was made for
Savoy Brown - Blue Matter, 1969, their third album which I had never heard before. And I loved this bluesy-rock! I did know the fifth album
Savoy Brown - A Step Further, 1969, which has the Savoy Brown Boogie - a live medley covering side two. [Spotify link]

6. I found quite a few in preparing the playlists, for example the extensive live recordings of Francoise Hardy.

Suggestions, old and new, are most welcome...

Music from the tens

noreply@blogger.com (Angus Willson) — Sun, 01 Dec 2013 18:44:00 +0000

It's still early in the decade, but there has been plenty going on.

Jimi Hendrix - Valleys of Neptune, 2010 (being dead 40 years is no obstacle!)
Eliza Carthy and Norma Waterson - Gift, 2010
It's certainly a gift to have daughter and mother voices together - and they seem to having so much fun.
REM - Collapse Into Now, 2011
Superheavy - Superheavy, 2011
A brilliant collaboration.
Bruce Springsteen - Wrecking Ball, 2012

Broadstairs Folk Week
Robb Johnson - Man Walks Into A Pub, 2010
Robb Johnson - Some Recent Protest Songs, 2011
4 Square - Chronicles, 2010
Lucy Ward - Adelphi Has To Fly, 2011
Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain - Live in London, 2011
Dan Walsh - The Same But Different, 2012
Cathryn Craig and Brian Willoughby - Real World, 2013
This has a powerful song about J90-Hillsborough and another about autism.

In Ashford, we saw a revived perfomance of
Tony Benn and Roy Bailey - The Writing On The Wall, 2004

We have enjoyed what has become a regular Christmas concert in Canterbury
St Agnes Fountain - Spirit of Christmas, 2010
St Agnes Fountain - Best of... 2CD, 2011

Previous Posts
Live Music Again, Again
Enchanted by Cara Dillon in Sandwich 2010
Music and its influences from different eras
Broadstairs Folk Week 2010 Preview part one
Broadstairs Folk Week 2010 Preview part two
Let this summer last for one more week
St Agnes Fountain concert
The Songs of the Protestors Might Enjoy a Renaissance
Broadstairs Folk Week Preview 2011
Broadstairs Folk Week Review 2011
CD Album of the Year 2011
Rock and chocs: two books with global perspectives
Broadstairs Folk Week Preview 2012
Nutbush City Limits
Broadstairs Folk Week Preview 2013

Now that's what I call music

noreply@blogger.com (Angus Willson) — Thu, 28 Nov 2013 21:04:00 +0000

Reports today (Daily Telegraph, Independent) say it is thirty years since Now That's What I Call Music, 1983, was first issued on vinyl. We have a pristine copy - and vinyl copy of NOW! 14, 1989. We also have a Decca double-vinyl called Formula 30, 1983, which has a much edgier track selection. (Discogs tracklisting)

Now, I was critical of eighties music and this phenomenon sums up the era's issue of mainstream pop music with too much pseudo-style and not enough substance.

However, elsewhere I dismissed the snobbery about compilations. I heard a new case for them on the radio today along the lines of there being so much music on the internet, it is useful having someone else making the choices for you!

I had a compilation, or sampler, called You Can All Join In, 1968, which appears to have disappeared. (Wikipedia) There was another at the time called Nice Enough To Eat. These should not be confused with the rather unpleasant Top of the Pops series which was unrelated to the television programme of the same name and was made of hit songs from re-recordings by session-musicians.

Also interesting is the triple vinyl-album called The Music People, 1972, which provide a much wide sample of pop and rock music of the time. The sleeve notes were very useful, too. (Discogs tracklisting)

Remember this is before magazine cover-CDs - before music magazines, even - and the internet. Only a regular purchase of Melody Maker or New Musical Express would provide such detailed information about the musicians and change in band line-ups.

The Independent has a good article called Now That's What I Call Music: What are the artists on the first cover doing now?

What it doesn't mention is the inclusion of tracks on Now 1 which weren't even hits, yet.
"19. Tina Turner. Let's Stay Together. Just released at time of compilation. Destined to be a smash hit."
and
"28. Simple Minds, Waterfront. Released from forthcoming LP and cassette."

Strings are still pulled, telling us what to like, aren't they?

Blues, Soul and World

noreply@blogger.com (Angus Willson) — Fri, 15 Nov 2013 18:19:00 +0000

These categories should sweep up some timeless sounds.

With my Eeyore disposition, I gotta love the blues. It's said that all modern music comes from the blues and any discerning music-lover should have some genuine blues in their collection.

Compilation - A Little Blues in Your Soul, 1998
"41 all time smooth Blues and cool Soul classics" (double-tape) played in the car forever.

Bill Wyman's Blues Odyssey (2CD), 2002
No, not by Bill Wyman, curated by him. A great collection, too.

Martin Scorsese Presents - The Blues - a musical journey (5CDs), 2003
Amazingly, this avoids duplication with Bill Wyman and starts with items from the 1920s.

For some modern-played blues, I can recommend
Gary Moore - The Best of the Blues 2CD, 2002

People shouldn't be too snobby about collections when they could have these two gems as a musical education:
Nascente - Roots 20 Years of Essential Folk, Roots and World Music (Britain, Ireland and North America) 2CD, 1999

Nascente - Routes 20 Years of Essential Folk, Roots and World Music (Africa, Europe Asia and the World) 2CD, 1999
Did you see what they did with the titles? Good notes and full of surprises.

Bringing it All Back Home. The Influence of Irish Music 2CD, 2000

Guitar Heroes Rock the Night Away 3CD, 2003

Ali Farka Toure with Ry Cooder - Talking Timbuktu, 1994
A joyous invocation of the universal language of music. This is, of course, a classic.

Essential South African Jazz - The Jo-burg Sessions, 2007
I bought this by chance in Cape Town and it is a delight.

And, seen live in Ashford!
Black Umfolosi 5, Khuluma Lami (Talk to Me), 2008

Simon Scoones, whose good taste gets a mention elsewhere and has a huge reggae collection, gave me a copy of
Easy Star All-Stars - Dub Side of the Moon, 2003
Simon also made compilations - which, in a way, takes us right back to the LPs recorded in the Summer of 1973.

Classics
I am putting in here a series offer that was made available by The Guardian, I think. Or bargain-bin purchases. They were not in my listening-frame at the date of their production. In most cases there will be better recordings, or better-value recordings, elsewhere.
The Band - The Best of Recorded Live in 1972, 1990
Marvyn Gaye - What's Going On, 1971, 2002
BB King - Live at The Regal, 1964, 1997
John Mayal and The Bluesbreakers - Best of, 1997
Soft Machine - Third, 1970 This is a school-days one, courtesy of Jumbo Barker.
Dusty Springfield - Am I The Same Girl, 1996
Muddy Waters - Got My Mojo Workin', 1994
The Velvet Underground and Nico - Andy Warhol, 1967, 1998
Stevie Wonder - Innervisions, 1973, 2000

A whole new world
My account of our music collection has not attempted to cover a whole set of recorded music that Marg uses for Circle Dancing groups. It is rich and diverse from many different countries, tending to magpie individual tracks rather than albums as a whole. It is a creative process as the community of Circle Dancers share new music and choreography.

Autumn turning in the 'hood

noreply@blogger.com (Angus Willson) — Thu, 14 Nov 2013 17:24:00 +0000

Autumn turning
Originally uploaded by Angus Willson
That heavy sky did unburden itself soon after...

Reaching back

noreply@blogger.com (Angus Willson) — Thu, 07 Nov 2013 07:00:00 +0000

The best example of reaching back in time to an artist or band that had passed me by would be Van Morrison. It is not that I hadn't heard of these albums, it's just that I hadn't bought any or followed their career. In some cases it is obviously the compilation or 're-mastered for CD' that has been attractive.

In a phase when I read Q magazine, and there was a habit of list-making, there were two challengers to the Sgt Pepper being 'the best album of all time': Pet Sounds by the Beach Boys and
Van Morrison - Astral Weeks, 1968.
I bought this one CD in the nineties and was bowled over by the production and wide-range of quality songs. Listening to it in the car, I can particularly single out the high-end notes. You should hear the chimes and high-hat cymbal on 'Sweet Thing'. I think you will not find better use of the flute on a pop recording. The sleeve notes apologise for it being recorded by analogue equipment! It was recorded in just two studio days.

Subsequently I bought the 1990 compilation in "newly 20-bit remastered from the original tapes" edition of 1998
Van Morrison, The Very Best of Van Morrison, 1990/1998
It has only 'Sweet Thing' from Astral Weeks. I also have
Van Morrison, Van Morrison, 2006,
which is an import and may have been a magazine cover disc or offer. Not recommended.

In the summer of the solar eclipse, August 1999, we went down to Cornwall to stay with Anton and Irene. There were far too many competing festivals and after the eclipse we paid £10 to walk into a field at Whitsand Bay and watch, with 200-300 others, Van Morrison and full band do a complete set for the Moondance Festival.

From the CD era there are numerous career anthologies each presenting an opportunity to catch up from the old format - or just to catch up with an overlooked artiste. One pitfall is the sequencing: the Led Zeppelin Remaster, 1999, album-track transitions are so seared into my brain that it is jarring to hear a different track follow a familiar one. However, these have great content and good packaging.

Lou Reed - NYC Man, The Ultimate Collection 1967-2003, 2003
"When you're putting out a compilation, the last person they talk to is the artist. They usually hope he's dead and won't interrupt the session. But in this case I was gotten in touch with to help select it, sequence it and get the right people to work on it. We're very proud of the way this [2CD] collection works." Lou Reed (sleeve notes)

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Anthology Through the Years (2CD), 2000
With a surprising familiarity, probably from The Old Grey Whistle Test performances.
Yes - The Ultimate Yes, 35th Anniversary (2CD), 2003
Perhaps a little too much of the pomp-rock and guitar twiddling but remains interesting nevertheless.
Guns N Roses - Greatest Hits. 2004
Missed from first time round but some classic stadium rock for the car.
Genesis - Platinum Collection (3CD), 2004
Worthy of three CDs, this is glorious and likely to send you back to the complete albums, especially The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway.

The Eurythmics - Ultimate Collection, 2005
A class act. Simple. Head and shoulders above their contemporaries.
Supertramp - Retrospectacle (2CD), 2005
There is evidence of a longer and stronger career than you might expect but we followed the albums and saw them live twice.
Steve Marriott - Tin Soldier Anthology (3CD), 2006
Stevie Marriott had a complicated career and I remembered him from the Small Faces and the hard-rocking Humble Pie. Some surprises here, too.

The Doors - The Very Best of the Doors (2CD), 2007
This is so good to hear in CD quality if you remember them from vinyl. The keyboards are top-draw and the whole production surpasses even the legend that is Jim Morrison.

Each of these particular products is an exercise in retrospective. They are influenced by a test of time and changing tastes. Indeed, this series of posts is mostly about music that has been set down rather than in the process of creation. However, it is distinctly not mere nostalgia as there is so much more to be discovered and rediscovered in and beyond these examples. Curation is a creative process.

See posts about the eighties, nineties and noughties.

Music of the noughties

noreply@blogger.com (Angus Willson) — Thu, 31 Oct 2013 16:39:00 +0000

In this period, 2000-2009, we started attending Broadstairs Folk Week regularly and it became a strong influence on the album purchases. It even has it's own double-CD compilation
One Broadstairs Morning, 2009

However, from the mainstream we have...
Bruce Springsteen - The Rising, 2002
Bruce Springsteen - Magic, 2007
Bruce Springsteen - Working on a Dream, 2008
Manic Street Preachers - Forever Delayed: the Greatest Hits, 2002
Manic Street Preachers - Send Away the Tigers, 2007
The Beautiful South - Solid Bronze Great Hits, 2001
The Beautiful South - Golddiggers, Headnodders and Pholk Songs, 2004
We saw The Beautiful South perform at Bedgebury Pinetum.

Evanescence - Fallen, 2003
Niece, Amy suggested this semi-goth one. Well, I did ask.
The White Stripes - Elephant, 2003
Robert Plant and the Strange Sensation - Mighty Re-arranger, 2005
Robert Plant and Alison Krauss - Raising Sand, 2007
The Traveling Wilburys - The Traveling Wilburys (2CD and DVD), 2007
Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris - All the Road Running, 2006
Mark Knopfler - Get Lucky, 2009
Muse - The Resistance, 2009
The White Stripes album is what I have called elsewhere 'arresting' and Muse, although by no means a new band, provide powerful rock like it really means something.

New additions to the rosta of female singers:
Norah Jones - Come Away With Me, 2002
Norah Jones - Feels Like Home, 2004
Katie Meluah - Call Off the Search, 2003
Joss Stone - Mind, Body and Soul, 2004
Joss Stone - Introducing, 2007
The Little Willies (Norah Jones) - The Little Willies, 2006
Amy Winehouse - Back to Black, 2006
Duffy - Rockferry, 2008

These artistes all appeared from way back with superb albums:
David Bowie - Heathen, 2002
George Harrison - Brainwashed, 2002
Fleetwood Mac - Say You Will, 2004
Eric Clapton - Me and Mr Johnson, 2004
JJ Cale and Eric Clapton - The Road to Escondido, 2006
Bob Dylan - Modern Times, 2006
David Gilmour - On an Island, 2006
Neil Young - Living with War, 2006
Bryan Ferry - Dylanesque, 2007
The Eagles - Long Road Out Of Eden, 2007
Neil Diamond - Home Before Dark, 2008
The Clapton album is a wonderful straight interpretation of all Robert Johnson's songs and Bryan Ferry's does similar to Dylan. There has been a trend of this sort of tribute. The others, like David Gilmour and Neil Young continued to record, in their own ways, with passion.

Similar, but not so superb:
Rick Wakeman - Country Airs. 2003
Rolling Stones - Live Licks (2CD), 2004
Rolling Stones - Bigger Bang, 2005
REM - Live (2CD and DVD), 2006

These are CDs of much older recordings:
Johnny Cash - At San Quentin 1969, 2000
Jose Feliciano - Light My Fire 1969-74, 1997 compilation
Rory Gallagher - Irish Tour 1974, 1998
Jeff Buckley - Grace 1994 and Mystery White Boy 1994, 2007
Caravan - All Over You 1995/6, 2006
Allman Brothers - Eat a Peach , Deluxe 2CD, 2006 (one of the 1973 tapes)

Purchases from bands seen at Broadstairs Folk Week:
Hot Rats - Like Flies, 1999 (Kent-based)
Hot Rats - Tour de France live, 2007
The Holdstocks - Shanties and Seasongs from Way Out West, 2000
Dougie Maclean - Who Am I, 2001

Dougie Maclean - Resolution, 2010
The Angel Brothers - From Punjab to Pitstop, 2002
Spikedrivers - Bluetrash, 2003
Spikedrivers - Ain't it Real, 2005
The Big Session - Volume 1, 2004
Fairport Convention - Over The Next Hill, 2004
Robb Johnson - A Beginner's Guide, 2005
Robb Johnson and the Irregulars - Love and Death and Politics, 2008
Bellowhead - Burlesque, 2006
Happy Trails - White Sands, 2006 (Kent-based)
Eliza Carthy - Dreams of Breathing Underwater, 2008 (a real fave)
4 Square - 20:20 Manchester, 2008
David Ferrard - Across the Troubled Wave, 2009

Cara Dillon - Sweet Liberty, 2003
Cara Dillon - After the Morning, 2006
Cara Dillon - Hill of Thieves, 2008
I 'met' Cara Dillon and Sam Lakeman in a 'face the music' session at Broadstairs where they told their story of near-but-compromised-success in America. In addition to their performance at BFW we saw them in Sandwich in an enchanted evening.

Well, these are everybodies favourites and seen live at BFW, Canterbury, Folkestone, Ashford...
Show of Hands - Cold Frontier, 2001
Show of Hands - Country Life, 2003
Show of Hands - As You Were live on tour, 2004
Show of Hands - Witness, 2006
Show of Hands - Arrogance, Ignornace and Greed, 2009
Great performers, song-writers, story-tellers, and telling-it-how-it-is politics.

Les Barker - Guide Cats for the Blind, 2003
Although these poems had been read on the radio with celebrity readers, it had passed us by until we saw Les read his own hilarious poems to a rapt marquee audience at Broadstairs. I had to buy some booklets, too. A genuine one-off.

Influenced by my colleague, Simon Scoones, I bought and, belatedly, enjoyed on my terrible car journey to work:
The Clash - The Essential Clash (2CD), 2003
See the post 'reaching back' about other great collections from this decade.

Referring to that soul-destroying drive to work and back brings to mind the influence of radio programmes such as the Wednesday night folk programme and Bob Harris Country on Thursday. It was Bob Harris who led me to:
The Dixie Chicks - Home, 2002
This came with a DVD, too, and it is a wonderful performance. I would like Top of the World played at my funeral. (Use the concert DVD, if possible.) Natalie Maines got into trouble for speaking hear mind and I like that.

The radio was influential in other ways. It was Wogan who had the Les Barker poems (see above) and he was a champion of Eva Cassidy who I am putting in this decade although she had already died.

Eva Cassidy - Eva By Heart, 1997-98 ("only studio album")
Eva Cassisy - Live at Blues Alley, 1996-98
Eva Cassidy - Imagine, 2002

Someone on the radio played Passengers with Lou Reed reading the introduction to The Great Railway Bazaar. The rest of the album is quite different, but interesting nevertheless.
Stephen Emmer - Recitement, 2007

Similarly, someone led us to one of our most played CDs in the car...
Ted Hawkins - The Unstoppable Ted Hawkins, 2001
Released after he died, the sleeve notes say it was recorded at The Mean Fiddler Acoustic Room in 1988 off the mixing deck onto a Sony Walkman cassette by someone who wanted to learn the songs. It is a tour de force by a musician from a humble background, 'a busker on the beach' and shows the power of live music. It's not on Spotify.

In all, a great decade. Read here about the eighties amd nineties.

Previous posts
I'm Shouting At The Telly Like I Care 2008
CD Album of the year 2008
Live Music - Can We Depend Upon the Beeb? 2009
Live Music Again

Broadstairs Folk Week - Planning for our Staycation 2009
The Blues Blows Away the Blues in Broadstairs 2009
Folk Music is also Place Music 2009
The seventies: paranoia and deja vu

Music of the nineties

noreply@blogger.com (Angus Willson) — Wed, 30 Oct 2013 07:00:00 +0000

Having been scathing about the sounds of the eighties I have found that, inevitably, there are good compilations from this earlier era. Most of these are tapes for use in the car. I didn't realise there were so many, and it suggests late-adopter choices:

The Stranglers - Greatest Hits, 1977-1990
Madonna - The Immaculate Collection, 1990
Bangles - Greatest Hits, 1990
Tina Turner - Simply the Best, 1991
Paul Young - From Time to Time, The Singles Collection, 1991
Joe Cocker - The Legend, the essential collection, 1992
Cher - Greatest Hits 1965-1992, 1993
This is quite a mixed bag. But songs prevail.

Led Zeppelin - Remasters, 1999
This took me even further back but playing Led Zeppelin CD quality and loud in the car was a joy. It also provided opportunity to catch up with the highlights of the later albums which I hadn't heard that much.

Simply Red - Stars, 1991
The singles from this album were played to death on the radio but they stand the test of time.

U2 - Achtung Baby, 1991
U2 - Zooropa, 1993
These do have impact even today. But they were getting more and more pompous and Bono was getting ready to be sainted as saviour of the world and getting on everyone's nerves....

One of the big artists of the decade from the USA...
REM - Out of Time, 1991
REM - The Best of REM, 1991
REM - Green, 1988
REM - Automatic for the People, 1992
REM - Monster, 1994
REM - New Adventures in Hi-Fi, 1996
REM - Up, 1998
REM spanned the tape/CD divide. Like many people, I was late to REM with the huge-selling Out of Time and then went to the back-catalogue and forward with new stuff. It was a classic case of the early fans hating the popularity and the band ignoring their hit-single success. Regrettably, they produced a naff life album. See more on Live Albums here.

Bruce Springsteen - Human Touch, 1992
Bruce Springsteen - Lucky Town, 1992
These were, and still are, not regarded as the best albums from Bruce. I enjoy his variety and being prolific allows for different preferences.

Bryan Ferry - Taxi, 1993
Mariah Carey - Music Box, 1993
David Bowie - Black Tie, White Noise, 1993
Rod Stewart - Unplugged, 1993
Neil Young - Unplugged, 1993
Eric Clapton - From the Cradle, 1994
Roy Harper - Valentine, 1994
That's a pretty random juxtaposition. Rod Stewart and David Bowie get a mention in other periods, too. I can't say I remain a fan of Maria Carey. "Unplugged" was an interesting MTV concept and, with good back catalogue, produced some great results.

Neil Young and Crazy Horse - Sleeps with Angels, 1994
A stepping stone in a huge career.

Queen - Made in Heaven, 1995
Very much a favourite album of the period - and so poignant.

Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble - Greatest Hits, 1995
A younger, former work-colleague, whose name I have forgotten, sugested SVR to me for mean and fast guitar licks.

Oasis - Definitely Maybe, 1994
Oasis - (What's the Story) Morning Glory, 1995
Oasis - Be Here Now, 1997
I wasn't particularly bothered by the much-hyped BritBop battle with Blur, or whoever, but these do still have incredible swagger. The musical influences are obvious but it was refreshing to have some new performers.

The Verve - Urban Hymns, 1997
Manic Street Preachers - This is My Truth Tell Me Yours, 1998
And mentioning new bands, both of these have presented new vigour to the music business.

The Corrs - Talk on Corners, 1997
Texas - White on Blond, 1997
Texas - The Hush, 1999
Thankfully, the nineties wasn't just blokes with guitars.

David Gray - White Ladder, 1998
An example of a good album ruined by over-play of a hit single.

Radiohead - OK Computer, 1997
Radiohead - Kid A, 2000
Radiohead - Amnesiac, 2001
These span the decade, but I still find them unfathomable recordings. Some good sounds but the whiny indecipherable vocals do nothing for me.

However, the decade closed with one of the freshest albums and from a seventies star - collaborating with others to combine with his own distinctive guitar. Clever man, Carlos. Probably joint-first with REM's Out of Time for album of the decade.
Santana - Supernatural, 1999.

Tina Turner also ended the decade with a DVD of
One Last Time in Concert, 2000.

See the post on female singers.
Or the one on the noughties.

Lonely Planet Best of Travel 2014

noreply@blogger.com (Angus Willson) — Tue, 29 Oct 2013 13:51:00 +0000

You wait for a list and then two come along together. Actually, it's far more lists - and that makes a list of lists.

TOP 10 COUNTRIES

Brazil
Antarctica
Scotland
Sweden
Malawi
Mexico
Seychelles
Belgium
Macedonia
Malaysia

SOURCE: Lonely Planet Best of Travel 2014

Lonely Planet 2014

Lonely Planet’s best value travel destinations for 2014

BBC News Scotland article "Lonely Planet says Scotland is third best country to visit"

Lonely Planet 2013 http://www.lonelyplanet.com/themes/best-in-travel/
Countries: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/themes/best-in-travel/top-10-countries/
Regions: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/themes/best-in-travel/top-10-regions/
Cities: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/themes/best-in-travel/top-10-cities/

Greatest albums of the past 20 years

noreply@blogger.com (Angus Willson) — Tue, 29 Oct 2013 13:00:00 +0000

"Elephant by White Stripes has beaten releases by Oasis and Radiohead to be named the greatest album of the past two decades by Mojo magazine readers." The i, 29 Oct 2013

Elephant - The White Stripes
Funeral - Arcade Fire
Time Out of Mind - Bob Dylan
OK Computer - Radiohead
This is It - The Strokes
The Soft Bulletin - Flaming Lips
Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot - Wilco
Endtroducing - DJ Shadow
Whatever People Say I am, That's What I'm Not - Arctic Monkeys

Maybe they are over-done now, but I still like a list.

I have three of these on CD. Elephant is arrestingly different and qualifies on those grounds alone. The Bob Dylan needs to be seen in the context of his musical-epoch-making career. I am still baffled by the reputation OK Computer and I regret having two other Radiohead CDs as well!

As ever, I am interested in hearing new stuff, or listening to it with a different view, and will head over to Spotify for some of the others.

Music of the eighties

noreply@blogger.com (Angus Willson) — Fri, 25 Oct 2013 06:00:00 +0000

My considered opinion is that the eighties was not a good decade for music. I know this depends on when you were in your formative years so I don't mean to offend anyone. However, I will look at some of the positives in this post - and some of the more apologetic sounds that I acquired on tape are mentioned here. It is fragmented and reflects the decade as whole.

There were some new contributions...
Dire Straits - Dire Straits, 1978
Dire Straits - Communique, 1979
Dire Straits - Making Movies, 1980
Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms, 1985
Dire Straits - Money for Nothing, 1978-1988
Dire Straits - On Every Street, 1991
Definitely an eighties band, linked with the first mass sales of CDs and music-videos which were almost the making MTV.

John Lennon / Yoko Ono - Double Fantasy, 1980
Philip Lynnott - Solo in Soho, 1980
The Pretenders - Pretenders, 1980

Double Fantasy is both achingly beautiful and painful in parts. It ended up as such an unnecessary swansong. What might have been?

Visage - Visage, 1980
Ultravox - Vienna, 1981
Ulttravox - Rage in Eden, 1981
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark - Architecture and Morality, 1981
Important enough to record once, but not even worth a listen now. Tedious.

I have no idea what they went on to do except Midge Ure’s role in that dire charity single.

Eurythmics - Touch, 1983
Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams, 1984
Eurythmics - We Too Are One, 1989
Quality production and image-making by Dave Stewart and Annie Lennox (see Melanie to Adele). Dave Stewart also produced the enigmatic
David A Stewart - Lily Was Here, 1989

A beautiful piece – was it a soundtrack?

Paul Simon - Negotiations and Love Songs 1971-1986, 1988
An interesting resurgence in his career after Graceland, 1986.

Simply Red - A New Flame, 1989
Jimmy Somerville, Bronski Beat, Communards - The Singles Collection 1984-1990, 1990
Very much an second-part of the eighties feel about these two.

Phil Collins - Face Value, 1981
Phil Collins - ...But Seriously, 1989
These bookend the decade after he left Genesis and he is, I believe, a marmite performer.

Sky - Sky 2, 1980
Sky - Sky 3, 1981
This is an odd concept of popularising classical playing and an indication that pop music didn't really know where to go after the fall-out of punk. The appreciation of the sheer virtuosity may well have been a reaction to 'anyone can play'. It provided dinner party background instrumentals and was mined mercilessly for television incidental music.

Tina Turner - Foreign Affair, 1989
Tina's career deserves a page of its own and, in fact, one song, Nutbush City Limits, has a post to itself here. Famously rescued by the gift of the song Private Dancer, written by Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits, and the album of the same name,1984 , she continued to record and tour Europe for huge audiences. I almost wore out a VHS recording of the Foreign Affair concert recorded in Barcelona, 1990. At the time it was called the Farewell Tour. Watch the amazing entrance and dancing for Steamy Windows on YouTube. Always candid in interviews, Tina Turner is a class act.

ZZ Top - Eliminator, 1983
A music-video influenced purchase, no doubt, but superb double-guitar playing. The one without the beard was called Beard!

Some of the musical big beasts survived the trends running against them...

Fleetwood Mac - Tusk, 1979. But really the eighties.
Fleetwood Mac - Mirage, 1982
Fleetwood Mac - Tango in the Night, 1987
Stevie Nicks - The Other Side of The Mirror, 1989

U2 - Rattle and Hum, 1988
Late to the U2 party, I was introduced to live Rattle and Hum by Anton and Irene and only later heard the studio albums. It is a great live album. See the nineties for what followed.

Bruce Springsteen - Live 1975-1985
Once again a later joiner but a real favourite - and triple album at that - and preview of the powerful and political albums that followed. The solid power of guitars (see Nils Lofgren) and finest use of saxophone in rock anywhere.

Note, there are two very significant bands with female voices here. For at least four more woman singers from this decade, read Melanie to Adele.
Or read about my music in the nineties.

Book reference
Turner, Alwyn W. (2010) Rejoice! Rejoice! Britain in the 1980s, Arum

Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd

noreply@blogger.com (Angus Willson) — Thu, 24 Oct 2013 08:16:00 +0000

These guys have staying power.

The Rolling Stones are behemoths of rock and roll. Both raw and sharply commercial they have survived, against all the odds, decades. Who would have thought it?

In their early days one was thought to be a Stones or a Beatles fan. Unlike the Beatles, the Rolling Stones have been able to re-present their music over and over again in live concerts. They are entitled to their naff period (cf Rod Stewart), I suggest Steel Wheels but they built such an impressive list of tracks it does not matter. In a classic case of moving from pirate to legal ownership, I bought these first two in CD format:

Get Yer Ya-a's Out, 1970
Exile On Main Street, 1972
Let It Bleed, 1969
Goats Head Soup, 1973
It's Only Rock and Roll, 1974
then a gap until
Steel Wheels, 1989
and the re-packaged and new compilations:
Get Stoned, 1963-71
No Stone Unturned, 1963-68
Rewind, 1971-84

I didn't buy Black and Blue, 1976, and Some Girls, 1978, but student friends had them and we saw them live at Stafford in this period.

The Martin Scorcese film package, Shine a Light, 2008 is an interesting account of the old geezers at work. The Ronnie Wood and Keith Richards autobiographies are well worth a read and Keef's answers how he survived: be wealthy enough to have people to look after you. It also shows how hard he worked to produce Exile on Main Street.

Book references
Loewenstein, Dora and Dodd, Philip (eds) (2003) According to the Rolling Stones, Phoenix
Richards, Keith (2010) Life, Phoenix
Wood, Ronnie (2007) Ronnie, Panmacmillan

Pink Floyd
Also with the complications of changes in personnel, Pink Floyd spanned the decades. Steve had Ummagumma, 1969, and Marg had Meddle and had seen it performed live as an encore. We didn't own Dark Side of the Moon until the 20th anniversary CD release but it forms a visceral part of our student soundtrack. Wish You Were Here is probably my favourite and it remains a memory of the pudding shops in Istanbul where I ended up on a student Euro-rail trip with Steve Gross. It was a Marg I was missing, of course, and years later we returned to Istanbul together.
Relics, 1971 (an early out-takes and oddments album)
Atom Heart Mother, 1970
Meddle, 1971
Dark Side of the Moon, 1973
Wish You Were Here, 1975
Animals, 1977
The Wall, 1979
The Final Cut, 1983
The Division Bell, 1994

It was tragic that Roger Waters thought people knew he was Pink Floyd and then was surprised when they virtually ignored his solo output. The rest of Pink Floyd continued a run of studio albums and stunning live performances. They read the times and perpetuated the concept album without the pretensions usually associated with the form (cf Rick Wakeman). Pink Floyd created the soundtrack to our lives.

David Gilmour also made a brilliant CD we have called
On An Island, 2006.

Book reference
Schaffner (1991) Saucerful of Secrets - The Pink Floyd Odyssey, Delta

Have you seen blogposts on the eighties and nineties?

Music of the late 70s

noreply@blogger.com (Angus Willson) — Wed, 23 Oct 2013 06:00:00 +0000

As this post avoids duplication from others such Musical Influences and Dodgy Tapes, it may appear dis-jointed. It indicates some exploration backwards and side-ways according to the various opportunities at the time from other students to first workplace. It is highly selective, of course, and as notable for not embracing punk or new wave as anything else.

With a link back his Truth album (1968) - a favourite of all time - I bought two instrumental LPs with an almost jazzy and funk feel to them.
Jeff Beck - Blow by Blow, 1975
Jeff Beck - Wired, 1976

Dr Hook - Bankrupt, 1975
This really is a one-off, but an hilarious romp.

Eagles - Their Greatest Hits, 1971-1975
Eagles - Desperado, 1975
Eagles - Hotel California, 1976
Supreme craftsmanship.

Fleetwood Mac - Fleetwood Mac, 1975
Fleetwood Mac - Rumours, 1977
Fleetwood Mac - Tusk, 1979
They don't come any bigger and better than these first two albums. The story of falling in love, complicated relationships and break-up has always been a musical theme but these guys did it in public. Further albums appear later and we saw them live, without Christine McVie, at Earls Court in 2003.

Peter Frampton - Frampton Comes Alive! 1975
A thrilling live double-album putting everything together at one time.

Genesis - Trick of the Tail, 1975
Genesis - Seconds Out (Live), 1977
Genesis - And Then There Were Three, 1978
Genesis - Duke, 1980
I didn't really 'get' Genesis at first but house-share Ted Montague was the influence here and they grew on me. The three-CD Platinum Collection from 2004 is a great perspective.

Elton John - A Single Man, 1978
This seems odd standing alone but Elton John gets full coverage under Musical Influences.

Mike Oldfield, Tubular Bells, 1973
Mike Oldfield - Hergest Ridge, 1974
Jean-Michel Jarre - Oxygene, 1977
I can remember Tubular Bells blaring out on each of five storeys of a hall of residence and, of course, it didn't matter that they weren't synchronised.

Renaissance - Turn of the Cards, 1974
Renaissance - Carnegie Hall Live, 1976
This was Marg's album and a fine live double-album followed. Another female vocalist. We saw Renaissance live in Liverpool.

Tom Robinson Band - Power in the Darkness, 1978
It might seem an odd one, but Tom was at the same school. There you go...

Sailor - Trouble, 1975
Steve Gross as Ents Sec booked them to appear at Edge Hill and this is a rare case of seeing them live before buying an album. Steve, a house-mate (and later our best man), did a great job and on a fairly modest budget booked a few live bands at that early point in their careers when they were on the way up such as Smokie. For this reason he knew much more about the current pop and rock scene than I did. Also I recall some amazing cabaret acts the likes of which I have not seen since. We were also dragged into the setting up and clearing away after these college events.

Small Faces - Ogden's Nut Gone Flake, 1968
How did this get into the late 1970s? Well, that is when I first heard it from the unusual round sleeve. There's great production depth to this and the wonderful voice of Stanley Unwin. We saw the Small Faces in their Reunion 1975-1978 format and the image is from the tour brochure.

See also the Steve Marriott 3-CD box-set.

Rod Stewart - Sing it Again, Rod 1969-72
Rod Stewart - Smiler, 1974
Rod Stewart - Atlantic Crossing, 1975
Rod Stewart - A Night on the Town, 1976
Rod Stewart - Foot Loose and Fancy Free, 1977
Rod Stewart - Blondes Have more Fun, 1978
Rod Stewart - Tonight I'm Yours, 1981
Well, that's embarrassing, isn't it? Rod Stewart has cycled through naffness to alright many times in his career.

Stephen Stills and Neil Young Band, Illegal Stills, 1976
Both characters appear elsewhere, of course.

Supertramp - Crime of the Century, 1974
Supertramp - Crisis? What Crisis? 1975
Supertramp - Even in the Quietist Moments... 1977
Supertramp - Breakfast in America, 1979
This is the highlight of this page for me. Sometimes regarded as a 'poor-man's Pink Floyd', they had in common concept albums with big soundscapes and profound lyrics - but they toured in this period and we saw them twice.

Tomita - Snowflakes are Dancing, 1974
Tomita - Pictures at an Exhibition, 1975
Tomita - Firebird, 1976
Tomita - Daphne and Chloe, 1980
Tomita - Dawn Chorus, 1984
Snowflakes was Marg's before we knew each other. I introduced the first two to my colleague Malcolm Burt who returned the compliment with the eighties albums. (Pictures links with the version by Emerson, Lake and Palmer.) Marg also had the first of these and Malcolm was responsible for the second:Vangelis - Heaven and Hell, 1975
Vangelis - Beauborg, 1978

Rick Wakeman - The Six Wives of Henry VIII, 1972
Rick Wakeman - Knights of the Round Table, 1975
Very prog rock, too. It's great that Rick Wakeman doesn't take himself too seriously. He did a solo tour as raconteur and we saw him in Folkestone.

Jeff Wayne - The War of the Worlds, 1978
With Richard Burton's spoken interludes and David Essex singing, there is more to this than it seems.

Wishbone Ash - Classic Ash 1970-6, 1977
Another Ted Montague influence. Double guitars. They kept touring and we saw them in Gravesend for a reason I could hardly remember but Marg says it was to see Jughnu Bangra.

Ten Years After - Greatest Hits, 1977
A chance purchase of older material.

Gladys Knight and the Pips - 30 Greatest, 1977
I am unsure how this arrived.

Wings - Band on the Run, 1973
Wings - Wings Over America, 1976
Wings - London Town, 1978
Wings - Back to the Egg, 1979
Over ten years after the Wings Over America tour, and the world tour, I worked with Sarah McCullough who had travelled with her guitar-playing husband-at the-time Henry .

Many other albums of this era are identified in the blogposts called Musical Influences and Dodgy Tapes.

Read a blogpost about this era headed Bob Dylan, Neil Young and Nils Lofgren.

Also The Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd.
Book reference
Francis Wheen's (2009) Strange Days Indeed: The Golden Age of Paranoia, Fourth Estate.