Retro Man Blog

Railcard "Two Steps At A Time" debut LP released on Skep Wax Records

2026-10-04T20:59:53.316+01:00

Retro Man Blog’s ‘Band of The Year’, Railcard, have just released their debut LP “Two Steps At A Time” via the wonderful Skep Wax Records and it looks like they will be smothered in accolades by the end of 2026 as it’s certainly a contender for our ‘Album of The Year’ too. The band were originally formed in 2025 by Rachel Love from Dolly Mixture on vocals and guitar, Peter Momtchiloff from Would-Be-Goods and Heavenly on bass and Ian Button from Penrose Web, Swansea Sound, Heavenly… and so many more bands that he’s giving Mole Lambert a run for his money as busiest drummer around. Paul Kelly from Birdie and Heavenly Films was also involved as he, like the others were born in 1962, a good enough reason to start a band they thought. Paul dropped out and Allison Thomson was brought in as full time member to add trumpet, backing vocals and keyboards. The band recently held a fantastic Sunday afternoon album launch party at The Lexington in London where they were joined by special guest Gina Birch of The Raincoats performing an entertaining solo set. There was also the added bonus of an Indie record fair downstairs in the bar, featuring such cool labels as Glass Modern, Precious, Tapete and of course Skep Wax. As seems usual at Railcard gigs, we spot a few well-known and familiar Indie faces in attendance such as Hue of The Pooh Sticks, Lawrence from Felt, Andy Strickland of The Loft, Lee McFadden from Swell Maps, Cathy Rogers from Heavenly and the afore-mentioned Paul Kelly, along with Heavenly’s Rob and Amelia, the Skep Wax label bosses.

“Two Steps At A Time” ticks all the boxes to meet our criteria for a perfect album – where all the elements must align - from the cover art to the sound, to the track listing and the song writing, where each song could be a classic single in its own right. It’s not as common as you think – be honest, how many albums can you name where you are not tempted to skip the occasional track or cringe at the dated production or gaze in horror at the awful cover? Even some of my favourite bands and artists have rarely made a perfect album – Buzzcocks for example, for me their best album is actually a ‘best of’ compilation “Singles Going Steady”. Off the top of my head some of my ‘perfect LPs’ would include Blondie’s “Parallel Lines”, Love’s “Forever Changes”, Ramones’ “Rocket To Russia”, Sex Pistols “Never Mind The Bollocks” and Shack’s “HMS Fable”… But back to Railcard and if we can start from the outside, the cover art is great, in fact, the band even held an auction at The Lexington for a Rachel Love designed framed fuzzy felt version. The Dinked limited edition is also something very special as it comes in clear vinyl with a poster and bonus 7” single, it’s a classy release. Then there’s the imaginative merchandise that the band dream up - we’ve had the Railcard railcard wallets, a French Revolutionary calendar (OK I admit, this is probably not the most practical item…), Rachel’s own “Cherry Plum” jam and her trademark berets for sale, “Northern Soul Dancing” patches, T-shirts with the tour dates that come with a badge you can pin at the gig you are attending. It’s fun and inventive and shows the band are keen to build something special around them and their name, Ian is even wearing an old British Rail jacket at the Lexington gig.

Rachel with Gina Birch of The Raincoats

The album sounds amazing, it’s produced by the band themselves and mixed by friend of the Blog, Allan Crockford of The Prisoners and The Galileo 7. This might seem like a contradiction but “Two Steps At A Time” is full of warm nostalgia, transporting you back to various musical eras throughout your life, yet on the other hand, it’s an utterly timeless life-affirming album. It won’t date, it will sound as fresh in ten years’ time as it does today and that’s mainly down to the sheer quality of the song writing on offer not just the excellent production, which brings us onto the songs themselves. The insanely catchy album title track almost makes whistling in a song cool, and once you hear it you will not be able to stop yourself. “1962 Forever” is a companion piece to their earlier song “Born in ‘62”, a tongue in cheek self-referential number that explains the reasons for forming the band in the first place, basically because their birthdays were all close together. They manage to paraphrase both Frank Sinatra and Iggy Pop in the lyrics “If we can quote Sinatra here, it was a very good year” and “It’s what the Stooges were trying to say on track 1 side A, it’s 1962 OK”. It’s this humour that endears the band to me, after all, most of their promo videos start off serious and end with the band in fits of giggles. It’s the same on stage, there’s a lovely chemistry between all four bandmates, the glances and apologetic smiles if there’s a little error, checking each other’s reactions and generally enjoying themselves as much as we in the crowd are. Ian Button’s occasional between song chat where he tries to explain the background to certain lyrics can end up spiralling off into Robyn Hitchcock style surreal flights of fancy and often induce much merriment among his colleagues. Ian’s voice is very much an integral part of the Railcard sound, in the way that Rachel and Debsey’s voices complimented each other so perfectly in Dolly Mixture, so it is with Rachel and Ian in Railcard. The harmonies between the two are sublime and lift each song to another level. Railcard’s Sunshine-Pop nuggets are the perfect antidote to these often cynical and negative times. They cram so much into their 3-minute pop masterpieces, the phrase small yet perfectly formed springs to mind.

Peter Momtchiloff contributes two great songs to the album, there’s “Hillman Minx” which reminds me of his Would-Be-Goods bandmate Andy Warren’s other band, The Monochrome Set. Then there’s the beautiful “Paper Thin”, which has a nice urgent guitar riff that lifts the chorus. “Foxy” is a melodic masterpiece, I think it’s up there as one of Rachel’s best vocal performances with ethereal backing vocals from Ian and a glockenspiel motif that again will stick in your head for days. Although Allison Thomson wasn’t born in ’62, she qualifies for a place in the band on merit, adding some superb trumpet throughout the album, and live she also adds keyboards and backing vocals and always looks extremely cool and stylish. The hilarious “Unstable Neighbour” is underscored by some woozy psychedelic trumpet from Allison. “I’m A Disaster” is a 13^th Floor Elevators meets The Kinks style 60’s Psych-Pop masterpiece and is probably my favourite song on the album. In some of their songs do recall Ray Davies’ wonderful pastoral and evocative vignettes that conjure up very English (in a positive way…) situations. An example of such would be “Flannelette” which is another excellent and humorous little number, “when life gets too itchy for you, only one material will do”.

Rob & Amelia from Skep Wax Records

The bittersweet “When You Say You Love Me Something’s Wrong” could have been a Burt Bacharach classic and wouldn’t be out of place on a Dusty Springfield greatest hits compilation. I can also imagine the emotional “Snow Blind” recorded in a Phil Spector wall of sound style, it’s a stunning song. I’m already looking forward to the follow-up, not just to hear more wonderful new music from this delightful band but also to discover what new merchandise they will dream up to accompany the release. This year has certainly been a huge high for Skep Wax Records; they have built up a fantastic roster of bands and everything Rob and Amelia have done is quite obviously bursting full of passion for getting the music they love out there. Railcard on Skep Wax is a perfect example of a record label and band working in perfect harmony and long may that relationship continue to flourish and produce such wonderful releases such as “Two Steps At A Time”.

You can check out an excellent in-depth interview with Rachel at the always superb Write Wyatt web-site here. There are also videos from the various Railcard gigs we've attended this year at our Retromanblog65 YouTube channel here. For more info on the fabulous Skep Wax Records, please check out their website here. All photos copyright Retro Man Blog 2026.

A Voice From The Wings: From Dingwalls To The Clash by Barry 'DJ Scratchy' Myers

2026-09-13T20:54:42.892+01:00

Scratchy at Clerkenwell Festival August 2026 - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog

Back in September 2024 I interviewed DJ Scratchy (Barry Myers) for a special Retrosonic Podcast episode to coincide with the publication of his limited-edition photobook “Road-Eyes 20-20 Double Vision: Photo Tales with The Clash & The Mescaleros”. This was released mainly for his DJ tour of Japan and appearance at the Fuji Rock Festival and featured Japanese translations of the various comments and annotations accompanying the photos. During our chat, he mentioned he was working on his memoirs, and the good news is that finally the first volume has just been published by TangentBooks under the title “A Voice from the Wings: From Dingwalls to The Clash”. We saw Scratchy at the recent Clerkenwell Festival, where he gave an interesting talk and Q&A session about the book and it was good timing as I had just finished reading it the day before. What I must say from the start is this is not just another biography of The Clash, it’s very much Scratchy’s own unique story that takes us on a fascinating musical journey from his time in Ents and radio at Warwick University to his first professional work as a DJ at legendary London venues such as the Speakeasy, Lyceum and Dingwalls and his time on the road with The Clash.

Scratchy at The 100 Club, London - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog

His superb descriptions of the music scene at the time, the various promoters and of course, those legendary and sadly often long-since gone concert halls, are highly evocative, putting you right bang in the heart of the action. Scratchy was there at the centre of London’s Punk Rock explosion and he discusses the impact of first seeing the Ramones and his part in the band’s iconic 1977 New Years Eve show at the Rainbow in London, which resulted in the classic “It’s Alive” live album. When he DJ’d for The Clash at their 1978 Music Machine gigs, his selection caught the ear of Joe Strummer, and this resulted in the band inviting him along as their Tour DJ. Joe dubbed him ‘Scratchy’ and it’s a name that's stuck to this day. The Clash's Roadie, The Baker, called him a “sonic alchemist” which is apt, as to this day, Scratchy specialises in creating a vibe and building an atmosphere at a show rather than just playing a load of records to a room (or field) full of people or pressing the play button on a random playlist, there’s a big difference.

Scratchy at Clerkenwell Festival - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog

I think Scratchy's selection of roots music such as Rockabilly, Reggae, Soul and raw R&B, along with the best Punk sounds of the times, surely must have had some sort of influence on the eclectic sound of The Clash’s “London Calling” album, it can’t have been a coincidence. It was this prime position as a trusted member of the Clash team that enabled him to capture so many superb candid photos, stories and memories that include his brief appearance in the Clash’s “Rude Boy” movie in the scenes filmed at the 1978 Rock Against Racism carnival in Victoria Park. Throughout the book, Scratchy keeps a discreet distance from the band, there’s no salacious gossip about the various members, and he doesn’t really go into depth about their personalities or his personal relationship with each of them. However, he doesn’t shy away from the on-the-road shenanigans, usually involving Topper, but generally speaking he is hanging out with the Baker and Clash Tour Manager, Johnny Green along with various roadies, van drivers and local promoters and often getting stuck in on the frontlines. It’s like a tour diary just from another perspective, as he discusses life on the road, the travelling, hotels and pranks that are played to alleviate the inevitable bouts of boredom. Scratchy captures this perfectly, as good as any band member or music biographer ever has.

What also shines through is Scratchy’s enthusiasm and passion for music of all genres, he’s always seeking out what’s new and interesting in the cities he visits and he talks with glowing praise of some of the great support acts he saw along the way with The Clash, including those on his favourite bill, Bo Diddley and The Cramps. And there’s more, he touches on his own musical endeavours as bassist with The Snivelling Shits and the pages positively glow with energy and passion when he describes his travels around America and his love affair with New York. The book is dedicated to Johnny Green who of course wrote perhaps the definite Clash on the road book “A Riot of Our Own” and who inspired Scratchy to write his memoirs. He starts and closes the book with affectionate and touching eulogies to his great friend and mentor, who sadly passed away before the book was finished. I must also mention just how beautifully presented the book is and what a great job Tangent have done. There are full colour inner sleeves, a cord book-marker and it’s packed full of photos and various pages of Scratchy’s memorabilia including backstage passes, postcards, badges and reproductions of posters from various gigs that he has DJ’d at. In the back pages you can find various playlists and recommended songs to listen to while you enjoy the book.

Scratchy at What's Cookin' London - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog

Scratchy will be releasing part two of his memoirs concentrating on his time with Joe Strummer and The Mescaleros and I’m sure the story will not end there. He is still very active with his Scratchy Sounds radio show on Totally Wired Radio and DJing for various Retro Man Blog favourites such as Oh! Gunquit, The Courettes and King Salami & The Cumberland 3. Not to mention his appearances at London’s premiere local community festivals in Somerstown and Clerkenwell every summer and regular tours of his beloved Japan. I’m sure it won’t be too long before we get news of a volume 3 of the Scratchy memoirs and I certainly look forward to that. You can order the book from all the usual retailers but can also contact Scratchy via his Scratchy Sounds website here for signed copies which come with a free postcard while stocks last.

Retrosonic Podcast · DJ Scratchy Sounds: Photo Tales with The Clash & Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros

Don’t forget to check out our thoroughly entertaining Retrosonic Podcast special episode where I chat to Scratchy about his fascinating life in music and photography – you can subscribe for free at Soundcloud, iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube. All photos copyright Retroman Blog except CD cover.

Railcard & The Corner Laughers at The Betsey Trotwood London, Sunday 9th August 202

2026-08-12T21:25:17.022+01:00

It’s my third Railcard gig already this year and I’m in danger of repeating myself, after all, there’s only so many ways of saying “I bloody love Railcard!” They are fast becoming our ‘Band of the Year’ and it’s not just us; the wind is undoubtedly in their sails as they cruise towards the release of their ‘proper’ debut album “Two Steps at a Time” in September. So, here we are for a Sunday afternoon matinee show at the Betsey Trotwood in Farringdon, it’s such a cool pub that the landlord is wearing a Felt “Me and a Monkey on the Moon” T-Shirt. There’s some Indie Royalty in the bright sunlit room, Railcard’s vocalist and guitarist Rachel Love’s former Dolly Mixture bandmate Debsey Wykes is there along with her partner Paul Kelly, once of Saint Etienne and Birdie. Jessica Griffin from Would-Be-Goods and Pete Astor of The Loft and The Weather Prophets are also present and correct. Yes, there’s a real buzz around Railcard now, so much so that they have even been acknowledged by British Rail, or whoever it is that runs the railways nowadays, with their very own official Railcard ‘railcards’. Handy for one of the best bits of band merchandise I’ve seen in a long while, the plastic Railcard railcard holder, I never leave home without mine.

In fact, Railcard do have a pretty good imagination when it comes to their merchandise – the T-shirt on sale today sports a print of a mock rail network with the station stops replaced by this year’s tour dates and venue. This comes with a “You Are Here” button badge that you are meant to re-position on the shirt according to the gig you are attending at the time. There are also Rachel’s trademark berets in a variety of colours at the merch desk alongside a very fetching Tote bag and copies of their brilliant self-titled debut compilation album that gathered their previous three E.P.s in one glorious package. Last year they also produced some cool Northern Soul style patches together with the release of the “Northern Soul Dancing” E.P. They really seem to enjoy the creative process of coming up with inspired ideas for merchandise and it got me wondering just what new goodies they are going to dream up around the release of the new LP.

Today’s set is quite different from their recent and rather splendid show at the Water Rats when they were supporting Brian Bilston & The Catenary Wires alongside Jetstream Pony, which you can read all about here. They included “Revolutionary Calendar” and “Daydream” from the E.P. collection alongside new songs “Foxy”, which features on the excellent Skep Wax Records compilation “Pets Sounds”. There’s the excellent latest single “Unstable Neighbour” with some spaced out Psychedelic trumpet from Allison and the album title track “Two Steps at a Time”, which comes complete with a catchy whistle-along refrain. Drummer and vocalist Ian Button does his best to explain the background behind some of the songs; however, he is often reduced to amusing Robyn Hitchcock style flights of fancy as his bandmates try to interject and put him off. Rachel is all smiles and occasionally she cracks up when she catches Allison’s eye – it’s this wonderful chemistry between the band that warms the heart of even this cynical old gig-goer. They play a great new Peter Momtchiloff penned track called “Paper Thin” and of course, favourites such as “Railcard”, “Northern Soul Dancing” and the set closer, the hypnotic “Disco Loadout” make their appearance.

However, sadly there’s still no place for my favourite “Born in ‘62” though, which is after all, the song that explains the catalyst behind the band’s formation, fingers crossed that maybe they’ll play it one day. Then it’s all over until, enthusiastically spurred on by Debsey, we all join in to call them back for a well-deserved encore. They don’t take the easy option, deciding to play another new song called “Inspector Sands”, and it is fun watching the band give it a go for the first time. This song Rachel explains, appears on the bonus 7” single that comes with the limited Dinked edition of the new LP. I’d recommend ordering it now, as it appears that some stores have already sold out in advance. Judging on the quality of the recent singles and new songs that I’ve heard them play live, I’m guessing that the new LP is going to be pretty damn good indeed. I’ll be there at The Lexington on Sunday 20th September for the matinee “Two Steps at a Time” launch party, which also features Gina Birch and an Indie-label record fair downstairs. Now, that’s ticking a lot of boxes for yet another very special Railcard event, can't wait!

Special guests on the day were The Corner Laughers from Redwood City, California, or half of them at least, as we were treated to an acoustic duo version of the band featuring Karla Kane on ukulele and lead vocals and Khoi on guitar and backing vocals. The connection between them and the headliners is that Railcard’s Ian Button released Karla’s debut solo album “King’s Daughters Home for Incurables” on his Gare Du Nord Record label and he invited them to play as they were over in the U.K. It was an inspired choice, as their beautiful pastoral Folk Pop songs and Californian melodies made for the perfect soundtrack to the glorious summer weather outside. Karla has a wonderful warm voice and Khoi’s backing harmonies complement her perfectly and they quickly endear themselves to the audience.

My personal highlights were “Changeling”, “Terra Mia” and two songs which hint towards their appreciation of the U.K. “Victoria Sponge” with handy lyrical recipe included, and the single “Rainbow Cardigan”, which even namechecks the Lake Districts’ Kendal Castle. As Karla explained, on record with the full band, they sound a bit different to today’s stripped back affair, but to be honest, it kind of suited the vibe of such an intimate, sun-drenched afternoon perfectly. I picked up a copy of their latest album “Concerns of Wasp & Willow” and bagged one of the last vinyl copies of “Matilda Effect”, which included a free CD version and left the venue with a very large and contented smile on my face. You can see more videos of both bands by subscribing for free to our Retromanblog65 YouTube channel here.

With thanks to Karla and Khoi.

Andrew Perry - A Celebration of a Life In Music at The Social, Saturday 11th July 2026

2026-07-17T22:08:36.005+01:00

It was an honour to be there at The Social in London on Saturday night to celebrate the life of music journalist Andrew Perry, who very sadly, passed away from brain cancer earlier this year. Andy was one of the U.K.'s best and most respected music journalists, contributing to magazines and newspapers such as Mojo, Select, Rolling Stone, Q Magazine and The Daily Telegraph as well as writing and co-authoring books about John Lydon, Tricky and Bez. He also DJ'd with Andy Fraser under the banner Intensive Care and had a regular show on Totally Wired Radio. Andy was as Rock 'n' Roll as most of the musicians he covered but he also kept that passion and enthusiasm of a true music fan. There didn't seem to be any of the cynicism, bitterness or ego that affects many of his fellow music journalists. In fact, the amount of love and affection that poured out following his passing was quite remarkable, more so considering he was working in the field of journalism. Nobody seemed to have a bad word to say about him and that is testament to Andy's character. There were many tributes from high profile names in the music and publishing business including Bobby Gillespie, Tim Burgess, Steve Mason and Ebbot Lundberg to name just a few. Whether you knew AP well or just bumped into him at the occasional gig, he was one of those people that cheered you up immediately. His big infectious smile and positive energy will be sorely missed.

I can't claim to be a long-time, close friend of Andy Perry, we first met in the early 2000's and became mates, gig buddies and most importantly, we were both huge fans of Swedish Psych-Rockers, The Soundtrack of Our Lives. That's really where the connection was. But not only was he a fan of the band, he had the privilege of being able to write about them professionally and he did all that he could to cover and promote the so-called "Swedish Invasion" that included the likes of TSOOL, The Hives and The (International) Noise Conspiracy. I was also a big fan of Andy's writing, and the way he wrote about music was certainly one of the inspirations for when I decided to rekindle my old 1980's DIY fanzine "Out of Step" and turn it into one of these modern Blog type things. Initially when I started the Blog in 2011, it was designed solely to write about The Soundtrack of Our Lives. I chose Retro Man as it was the name of my favourite TSOOL song, and not because I was a nostalgic old git (seriously...) as some people might imagine! Unfortunately, my grand idea didn't really pan out as expected as the band were to split up a year later - I'm sure it was nothing personal. So I expanded my musical horizons to write about all the other great bands I was discovering, along with TSOOL's last shows and their various spin-offs, solo work and musical legacy. Inspired by Andy, my mantra for writing about music was to try and make sure I kept things positive and to write like the fan I was. After all, that was Andy - a music fan first and foremost. I even tried to get him on an episode of my Retrosonic Podcast as a special guest, "Blimey, thanks, I am seriously not worthy!" he replied. To my regret, sadly we never did get round to it.

At Rough Trade East for the TSOOL Record Store Day show, Andy chatting to Ebbot & Alex Kapranos

Despite The Soundtrack of Our Lives split, Andy and I still met up at various band related shows here and in Sweden. He was there at the Half Moon Putney for my gigs with their frontman Ebbot Lundberg, his first solo shows in the U.K. We were backstage at the Refused gig at Shepherds Bush Empire to catch up with his good friend, the former TSOOL guitarist Mattias Bärjed, who was touring with Refused at the time. Then we saw the legendary Swedish Punk band, and TSOOL forerunners, Union Carbide Productions reunion show in Gothenburg. It was a great gig but Andy moaned to me afterwards about the strange decision to hold the show at a posh all-seated theatre, especially considering the wild nature of the band. When a mutual friend from Sweden came over to London to see the Canadian Psychedelic band Elephant Stone, who's frontman Rishi had played sitar for TSOOL on occasion, Andy made sure he came along too and he turned up at The Lexington sporting his bright blue and yellow Torquay United scarf! As a supporter of a lower league club myself, we would sometimes end up chatting about football as much as music. Then, I remember at one of his birthday parties on a boat on the River Thames when he introduced me to Paul Cook of the Sex Pistols, who happened to be drumming with Vic Godard & Subway Sect, one of Andy's special musical guests on the night. It was never dull when Andy was around.

Andy backstage with Ebbot at our Retro Man Blog Night, his first UK solo show

Then our wish came true when we found out that The Soundtrack of Our Lives had decided to get back together. I tried to persuade Andy to go with me to their first reunion show at Gothenburg's Way Out West Festival and he tried to twist my arm to join him at the Azkena Festival in Spain. Then we found out that they were due to play a show at the Electric Ballroom in London on March 6th 2024. The atmosphere was amazing and Noel Gallagher, another longtime TSOOL-super fan and big supporter of the band, popped in backstage. It was just like old times, the band looked and sounded fantastic and we were all on cloud nine, it was great to be there watching the band we loved so much, it was as though they'd never been away. Andy's passing hit The Soundtrack of Our Lives hard, they never failed to acknowledge or appreciate his support for the band and Ebbot published some nice words on TSOOL's social media after the sad news broke.

"Andy had been following and supporting us from the very start. He was a true fan. One of the kindest, wittiest and most big hearted persons I’ve known in this world. Whenever we played—in San Diego, New York, Spain, or Gothenburg—he was always there. We were from the same generation and shared a lot of influences. That connection meant we always understood each other, and our exchanges were consistently inspiring and rewarding. We’ll miss him forever!" – Ebbot/The Soundtrack of Our Lives

Jim Jones & Heavy Friends, featuring Misty and Lucy

Jim Jones with David Holmes

Saturday's event "Andrew Perry - A Celebration of a Life In Music" at the Heavenly Social was an emotional yet ultimately uplifting experience and I'm sure Andy would have appreciated the great music on offer. People were sharing their stories about Andy, and the amount of love in the room was palpable. DJ's including the legendary David Holmes, Rhys Webb from The Horrors, Declan Allen and Andy Fraser provided some cool sounds. Ebbot has recorded a new E.P. of cover versions that he has dedicated to Andy and hopefully that will be released soon, he had sent them to Andy's partner Victoria to play on the night as an exclusive, unfortunately, I was out getting some fresh air and missed them. I will of course advise further details as soon as I get news on the official release. Then there was a cracking live set from Jim Jones All Stars, although tonight they were billed as Jim Jones Heavy Friends who ran through a superb selection of some of Andy's favourite songs. Jim Jones is certainly the go-to man if you want to get a set of killer covers together. I will never forget the "Lenny Kaye plays Nuggets" night at the 100 Club where he pulled together a super-star line-up including such luminaries as Lenny Kaye himself, Brian James, Rat Scabies, Cheetah Chrome of The Dead Boys, Dave Treganna of Lords of The New Church, Peter Coyne of The Godfathers, Jon King of Gang of Four and many more to deliver a stunning two hour set of 60's Garage Psych classics. Tonight Jim and his All Stars did Andy proud by thrashing through some great songs including The Damned's "New Rose", Velvet Underground's "Run Run Run", Eddie Floyd's "Big Bird", Rolling Stones "Happy", Jesus & Mary Chain's "Head On" and MC5's "Kick Out The Jams". The band were joined by Lucy Maycroft for a take on Royal Trux, and then she was joined by Misty from Tuesday's Cockroaches for a superb performance of The Runaways "Cherry Bomb". It was a perfect tribute and their charged, raw and emotional performance was as cathartic as it was enjoyable. More videos can be found at our Retro Man Blog YouTube channel here.

The tickets for the event were a donation to the Brain Tumour Charity, and if you didn't have chance to make it along but would still like to make a donation, then please do check out their web-site here. I'm writing this just as I got the news that Jennifer Finch, the super-cool bassist from L7, has been diagnosed with an agressive form of brain cancer, so it really is heartbreaking that this terrible disease is taking it's toll on people that are far too young.

Excuse me for ending on a rather personal note but one of the last times I heard from Andy was just before my 60th Birthday gig at the Half Moon Putney last September - we were born in the same year, 1965. I had arranged some special guests to play, including The WitchDoktors with Marty Love from Johnny Moped, Nicky Forbes from The Revillos, Damian O'Neill from The Undertones and Gaye Advert DJing, and I really wished he would be OK to make it along. His reply kind of summed up his positivity and love for music despite what he must have been going through.

"Many thanks for invite, I will try..! Currently however on a nightmare oncology journey…desperately missing my Rock action!"

Our sincere condolences and thoughts go out to Andy's partner Victoria and all his friends, family and fans of his writing.

Brian Bilston & The Catenary Wires, Jetstream Pony & Railcard at The Water Rats London 9th July 2026

2026-07-12T22:32:20.464+01:00

This was another very special (but swelteringly hot) night at The Water Rats in Kings Cross in the company of Skep Wax Records, who were hosting the launch party for their fantastic new "Pets Sounds" compilation LP. I was lucky in that I managed to grab the very last copy of the album on vinyl from the night's stock, and it really is a superb collection of mainly animal and pet-themed songs by bands from the Skep Wax stable (sorry about the terrible animal-themed pun there...) such as Railcard, Jetstream Pony and Brian Bilston & The Catenary Wires, who all played full sets on the night and Sassyhiya, Swansea Sound and Gay Skeleton Club who all got up as special guests and performed a song each. Skep Wax is run by Amelia Fletcher and Rob Pursey from Indie-Pop legends, Heavenly and not content with being in at least three bands at the moment, they seem determined to promote and release records by as many of their favourite bands as possible, most of which are currently making waves, in particular The Cords and Special Friend are starting to break through to a wider audience.

Tonight, Railcard open proceedings with their delightful, beautifully crafted songs, as you would expect from the involvement of former Dolly Mixture, Rachel Love. Rachel takes on lead vocals and guitars with Ian Button on drums, Peter Momtchiloff on bass and Allison Thomson on keyboards, trumpet and generally looking very cool, despite the heat. They played a couple of excellent new songs including "Foxy", which features on the "Pets Sounds" album and "Two Steps at a Time", the title track of their forthcoming album which is due out in September. The band have just announced an afternoon matinee launch party for the LP at The Lexington in London on Sunday September 20th and it seems really interesting, as not only is former Raincoat, Gina Birch the special guest, there will also be an Indie-label record fair in the downstairs bar. You can get tickets for this from We Got Tickets and I wouldn't hang around, as demand for this is surely going to be very high. As I have written on the Blog before, I love Railcard, there is just something so likeable about the band and their life-affirming songs that grabs you by the heartstrings. My favourite "Northern Soul Dancing" with Ian on lead vocals, is a fantastic number and I love the sentiment behind the lyrical theme of yearning to let yourself go, to throw yourself into frenzied dancing without a care in the world. I am really looking forward to the new album and especially the launch party gig in September which promises to be very special indeed.

Next up is Jetstream Pony, who I must confess I'd never seen play live before, despite being a fan for a long time and playing some of their early releases in episodes of our Retrosonic Podcast. They didn't disappoint, in fact I'd go so far as saying that they exceeded expectations, and they went down really well with the crowd. Lead vocalist Beth Arzy is an engaging presence up front with an easy humour and a wonderful voice and she makes light of the heat while bombarding the crowd with stuffed cat toys. While they are probably more known for their releases on another of our favourite labels, Spinout Nuggets, they have contributed a track to the "Pets Sounds" compilation called "Grimalkin Tom" which they play tonight and it's a prime example of their trademark shimmering wall of sound. This is mainly down to the twin guitars of Shaun Charman, formerly of The Wedding Present and Mark Matthews who was in The Dentists and that's some pedigree there for sure. Their interplay is superb which is somewhat ironic though, because as far as I know neither were guitarists in their former bands, but you'd never know it and I really love the riffs and textures that they conjure up.

The foundation of any band is of course the rhythm section and drummer Tom Levesley impresses, but I'm completeley blown away by bassist Kerry Boettcher - and I mean that quite literally as I was standing in front of her amp! I might be biased, what with me being a bassist and all that, but she has an immense bass sound - think of "Blindness" by The Fall or "Toiler on The Sea" by The Stranglers or "Research Chemicals" by Viagra Boys and then crank it all up a notch and you might come close. The band play a set comprising mostly of songs from their excellent current album "Bowerbirds and Blue Things" and Beth gives a shout out to Buddy Ascott, former drummer with The Chords (who I happen to be with at the gig) as apparently he was the one who came up with the title. He jokingly tries to use this sudden boost in prestige to get a discount off the album at the merch desk, but I think the young guy behind the counter looks a bit panicked at Buddy's "do you know who I am, I named the album!" line (just kidding!). Hard to pick out specific highlights as the set was full of them, but "Bubblegum Nothingness” really stood out as one of my personal favourites. At one point they are joined on stage by Amelia Fletcher for the spoken word parts on "The Relativity of Wrong", which was originally performed by Eleni Poulou of The Fall on the album itself, and they end with the 'classic' "Had Enough". It was a brilliant set and I kicked myself for not managing to see them before, sometimes these things just happen but I certainly hope I can catch them play again soon.

Unfortunately, due to chatting outside the venue while trying to get some fresh air, I missed most of the special guest appearances but made it back inside to catch the brilliant "Compilation Cassette" by Brian Bilston & The Catenary Wires. The Catenary Wires are Amelia, Rob and Ian Button and last year they teamed up with the author and poet Brian Bilston for the album "Sounds Made By Humans" to put music and melodies to Brian Bilston's observant, humorous poetry and spoken word musings on the minutiae of modern life. The album works remarkably well from all aspects, the songs themselves are enough to satisfy anyone who initially might not be that keen on poetry but the delivery and humour of the words is really the key. I think if you love The Blue Aeroplanes then you will love this album. Tonight they are joined by Dentists/Swansea Sound guitarist Bob Collins who adds some sublime sounds from his Rickenbacker. But back to "Compilation Cassette" and any romantic music fan will understand the pre-digital age love letter of a painstakingly compiled TDK-C90, in which each song was chosen to say the things you couldn't bring yourself to say. It's a beautiful song that strangely reminds me of Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game" and Rob's warm voice contrasts nicely with Brian Bilston's spoken words. Other songs/poems such as "The Interview" and the brilliant "31 Rules For Midlife Rebellion" really strike a chord with those of us of a certain age and I can see lots of knowing smiles around me in the crowd. Regretfully, I couldn't stay for the whole set due to problems on the trains, I didn't want a repeat of the two hour journey from hell up into London on the way home too. A real shame, as I was enjoying the set so much and I hope the project doesn't end with just the one album. I've certainly become a big fan of Brian Bilston's poems now and I look forward to investigating some of his books too.

I really love what Rob and Amelia are doing with Skep Wax, and whilst not all of the bands on the label are to my own musical taste, they have no doubt created a wonderfully inclusive and diverse roster with a real identity. It's a truly Independent label with all the values that I have loved going back to my old days in bands and doing fanzines and cassette labels in the early to mid-80's, that DIY spirit of postivity and mutual cooperation. It's refreshing and inspiring in these often negative and cynical times, it's certainly hard to beat.

For more videos please head on over to our Retromanblog65 YouTube channel here and like/subscribe, it's free!

John Robb "Punk Rock Ruined My Life: And Other Stories" Book Launch & Gaye Advert Interview at Jacksons Lane Art Centre Highgate, 3rd June 2026

2026-06-05T13:47:27.180+01:00

We attended a thoroughly enjoyable evening at the excellent Jacksons Lane Arts Centre in the company of John Robb, the acclaimed music journalist, TV presenter, author, frontman of The Membranes and Goldblade and of course, a cultural ambassador for Blackpool. John was on tour promoting his new autobiography "Punk Rock Ruined My Life: And Other Stories". It was a night of two halves - the first section featured John delivering an impressive one-man blast through his early years, clutching the mic stand as if he was fronting one of his bands. Then after the interval, John introduced special guest Gaye Black, or Gaye Advert as she was once known in her time as the iconic bassist with The Adverts, to discuss her life in Music and Art. In fact, this format runs throughout the intensive nationwide tour, with John's 'solo' talk followed by a Q&A session with various musical pals depending on the show's location, these included such luminaries as Stuart Braithwaite from Mogwai, Pauline Murray from Penetration, Holly from The Lovely Eggs, Steve & Paul Hanley from The Fall and Dave Rowntree from Blur.

John discussed his early life, growing up in Blackpool and how he felt it was such an uncool place that it meant he didn't have to worry about trying to be 'cool'. He talks about discovering music from a very early age and he was particularly taken by "Yellow Submarine" although he preferred the Pinky & Perky version rather than the Beatles original and admits he thought The Wombles were cool. He fell in love with Glam Rock, especially David Bowie and as an avid reader of the music press he found out about Punk Rock. In a bid to look Punk, John started buying clothes in local Oxfam shops, borrowing his Dad's string vest and piercing his ears using a compass and piece of cork. He nails what it was like growing up in the 70's, throwing in some nostalgic comments on those radioactive orange three-bar electric heaters and the state of English cuisine, where the only use of olive oil was when your Mum soaked a piece of cotton wool in it to stick in your ear when you had earache. It's these hilarious vignettes that have many of us laughing and sighing in recognition.

Those shared generational experiences don't happen so much in modern life, and an example of this was Top of The Pops, where the whole nation was glued to the TV on a Thursday evening. John talks about forming The Membranes - taking the Punk motto of you don't need to be able to play music to form a band to a new level. He explains how The Membranes became cool in America and how Dinosaur Jr filmed the video to "Freak Scene" in his garden. Unfortunately, one hour just wasn't enough so we only get to the part where he takes his first steps into music journalism contributing to magazines such as Sounds and Zig Zag. I'm looking forward to getting stuck into the book to continue on the journey and hopefully I'll find out if Punk Rock did ruin John's life or indeed, save it.

Please check out John Robb's web-site here for details on the remaining Tour dates and updates on all his many and varied projects. You can order "Punk Rock Ruined My Life" here.

Gaye Black will be curating an Art Exhibition and appearing at the "50 Years of Punk" event at the John Peel Centre in Stowmarket which runs from 9th-14th June. For more information on her Art please check out her web-site here. You can also still download or stream our special Retrosonic Podcast with Gaye, where she discusses her life in music and art and plays some of her favourite records for us.

Retrosonic Podcast · Gaye (Advert) Black, Artist & Former Bassist with The Adverts

The Pandoras at The Hope & Anchor Islington, Wednesday 6th May 2026

2026-05-11T21:56:00.000+01:00

I was thrilled to witness The Pandoras make a rare U.K. appearance at the legendary Hope & Anchor in Islington, a place that has over the years hosted acts such as The Jam, Elvis Costello, The Specials, The Saints and The Clash. It’s hard to believe now, but Joy Division and U2 made their London debuts here and The Damned filmed the seminal promo video for “New Rose” in the tiny basement venue. In the mid to late Seventies, it was a vital outlet for Pub Rock and early Punk Rock acts and was the birthplace of Stiff Records, even The Stranglers recorded a live album here in 1977. It’s also one of the very few legendary London venues to have survived gentrification and redevelopment and it’s great that it is still thriving and going strong to this day. It’s probably hard to believe for first timers to grasp that this tiny, cramped basement has hosted so many well-known names over the years and now it’s The Pandoras turn.

The Pandoras were one of the early front-runners of the Californian Sixties revival of the early to mid-80’s and they straddled the sounds of the Paisley Underground, Power Pop and Nuggets style Garage Rock perfectly. Most acts go through various trials and tribulations over the years, such as changes to their line-up and/or musical differences and The Pandoras certainly had their share of these, but they were also hit by two unforeseeable tragedies. First of all, let’s look at some of the key line-up changes – just after the release of their debut album “It’s About Time” in 1984, there was a falling out and lead vocalist and guitarist Paula Pierce decided to recruit new members including Melanie Vammen on keyboards and Karen Blankfeld (now Basset) on drums and they managed to keep hold of the Pandoras name. Then in 1985 they got in a new bassist, Kim Shattuck and this classic line-up of the band would go on to release their second album, the superb “Stop Pretending”. Then we come to a change of direction which would ultimately lead to another shift in the band’s line-up. This was Paula’s decision to move the band into Heavy Rock territory with the quite literally titled “Rock Hard” mini album. Prior to recording the album, Karen had left the band and Sheri Kaplan (Weinstein) took over on the drums. Paula wanted to push on with this heavier direction and decided that she no longer wanted keyboards so Melanie was ousted, Kim left in support of her bandmate, and both would go on to form The Muffs.

Then the first serious tragedy in The Pandoras history hit with the sudden death of Paula due to an aneurysm in 1991. This was to mark the end of the band from the public eye until 2015 when Melanie, Kim, Sheri and Karen got back for a live reunion show. Kim had moved from bass to lead vocals and guitar; Karen took on bass duties so that Sheri could join on drums and Melanie was in her familiar role on the keyboards. Then, the second tragedy occurred with Kim Shattuck’s sad and untimely passing in 2019 of ALS, a form of motor neuron disease. Kim had a popular stint playing bass with Pixies (although probably too popular for some of her bandmates) and shortly before her death had recorded a fantastic album with The Muffs. She was also part of a great side-project called The Coolies along with Melanie and Palmyra Delran, so Kim’s passing was made even sadder as she was in such fine creative form. Anyway, I digress, let’s get back to tonight’s gig…the crowd is full of familiar faces, many of whom are in bands themselves as I see members of The Parkinsons, King Salami & The Cumberland 3, The Phobics, Baby Seals, The Tuppenny Bunters and The Cannibals/Raw Fun. There’s a charged, expectant atmosphere buzzing round the packed out steaming hot venue as The Pandoras take the stage and hit us with their cinematic Garage Surf instrumental “Haunted Beach Party”.

The current line-up features Melanie on keyboards and guitar, Sheri on drums, the most recent recruit Natalie Grace Sweet on bass and Karen is now up front on lead vocals and guitar. As Sheri mentions during the band introductions, “Karen has played every role in The Pandoras except keyboards!” and she does a fantastic job, you’d never think she had started on drums and moved to bass before finally fronting the band, she’s a natural. Most of the set understandably features tracks taken from their 1986 album “Stop Pretending” but they also throw in some singles such as the brilliant “Hot Generation”, deep cuts like “You Lie” and a cover of We The People’s “You Burn Me Up and Down”. However, debut album “It’s About Time” is also represented as is the band’s foray into Heavy Rock with “Craving” taken from the “Rock Hard” mini-album and as previously mentioned, the first to feature Sheri on the drums. There’s a great cheerful chemistry across the band that seeps into the crowd, and I reflect that after Love with Johnny Echols stunning show at the Shepherds Bush Empire last Saturday (review here), it’s the second time in less than a week that a California based band has made my spirit soar.

The great songs keep coming, "That’s The Way It’s Going To Be” with its stabbing keyboard riff and the catchy backing vocal harmonies on “I’m Your Girl” are just two of my personal highlights. Melanie abandons her keyboards halfway through the show to strap on a guitar, and at one point she leaps down among the crowd during a brilliant blast through “It Felt Alright”. They dedicate the gig to the memory of both Paula and Kim, which is a nice touch, before finishing with “Melvin”, their take on the Van Morrison and Them/Patti Smith classic “Gloria” and it’s a perfectly chaotic singalong to end what was a thoroughly entertaining set. I was so pleased to finally get to see The Pandoras, a great band and great people and I sincerely hope it’s not too long until their return to our shores. Oh yes, there was also the added bonus of Melanie having been in one of my (many…) favourite bands The Muffs, and she gladly signed copies of my Muffs 7” singles that I’d taken along, so I made my way home with a big and very contented smile on my face.

You can check out more videos from the gig at our Retromanblog65 YouTube channel here, it's free to subscribe. In Retrosonic Podcast Episode 49 we played a great track from The Coolies, the band originally formed by Melanie Vammen, Kim Shattuck and Palmyra Delran. We picked the fantastic single "King of Confusion" a Go-Go's cover which featured special guests Clem Burke and Kathy Valentine, you can check that out here.

Love with Johnny Echols at Shepherd's Bush Empire, Saturday 2nd May 2026

2026-05-05T18:50:00.000+01:00

Love with Johnny Echols are back at the Shepherds Bush Empire again, the scene of 2024’s triumphant “Forever Changes” show where they played 1967’s classic album in its entirety, backed by brass, keyboards and the excellent Parallax string quartet. This time round they are touring to promote their excellent new Record Store Day release “Love And Let Live” a white vinyl live album recorded at the Beachland Ballroom in Cleveland last year, the first recording featuring the current line-up. A line-up which apparently is now the longest lasting in the band’s history and one that has been taken to the hearts of Love fans of all generations. As the band’s original guitarist Johnny Echols recently wrote on one of my Facebook posts, “the group is called LOVE, they are revisiting the music of Arthur Lee, and a group of individuals collectively known as Love!” Johnny is now 79 years old and apart from him occasionally having a sit down on a stool while playing, you wouldn’t believe it, especially not from his quite stunning, virtuoso guitar playing. I would say he has been somewhat underrated as a guitarist in the music media over the years, he certainly deserves to be mentioned more frequently alongside his 1960’s peers such as Robbie Krieger of The Doors and Jimi Hendrix, who were after all, both influenced by Love in some way back in their early days. I’m not sure why this would be but he certainly brought those idiosyncratic and often complicated songs of Love’s charismatic frontman Arthur Lee to life. Of course, he was ably assisted by guitar partner-in-arms Bryan MacLean and his bandmates, but the sheer scope of Love’s sound meant that they had to cover a huge palette of musical sounds and colours. From Psychedelia, Folk-Rock and all out Garage Punk attack to intricate orchestral arrangements, beautiful acoustic numbers and even Jazz. These songs were also often tinged with Flamenco, Mariachi and Baroque overtones.

This is where Johnny’s current bandmates excel, in vividly bringing all of the many and varied aspects of Arthur Lee and Love’s musical palette to life. I think similarly to when The Wondermints backed Brian Wilson on his solo tours, taking their remarkable recreation of the Beach Boys intricate melodies to a new generation, then so did Baby Lemonade when Arthur Lee asked them to be his backing band back in 1993. This line-up, prior to Johnny re-joining, was brilliantly captured on “The Forever Changes Concert” live album and DVD recorded at the Royal Festival Hall in London in 2003. Johnny was invited back into the fold and did briefly join the line-up but unfortunately, this intriguing incarnation of the band did not last long as Arthur sadly passed away in 2006. However, it was decided to continue and the Baby Lemonade trio of David "Rusty Squeezebox" Ramsey on lead vocals and guitar, Mike Randle on guitar and drummer David "Daddy-O" Green were joined by the youthful James Nolte, son of David Nolte from the excellent L.A. Garage Power Pop Surf band The Last, on bass. Tonight, at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire, this now familiar line-up is once again augmented by Nick Frater on keyboards. However, this time Nick is on his own, yet he somehow magically covers all the intricate brass, strings, harpsichord, flute and organ sounds all by himself, it’s a mightily impressive display. By the way, for fans of Baby Lemonade, classic melodic song-writing and Power Pop, I can thoroughly recommend Nick's latest album "Oh Contraire!", it’s a belter!

Opening with the snappily titled "Maybe The People Would Be The Times Or Between Clark And Hilldale" from "Forever Changes", the band continue to run through a perfectly paced and plotted one hour and thirty minute setlist. Rusty mentions that it was 60 years ago since Love released both their debut self-titled album and it's follow up "Da Capo". It's difficult to fathom that two records of such quality could be released within the same calendar year of 1966, and even harder to believe that the classic, ground-breaking and hugely influential "Forever Changes" was to be released just one year later. Of course, tonight they concentrate on the Johnny Echols era of those wonderful first three albums and I guess, once that line-up had disbanded and Arthur gathered new recruits for the next album "Four Sail", Love never quite recaptured those glories of 1966-67. Only the beautiful "Always See Your Face" from the post-Echols era makes it into the set and admittedly it is a wonderful song that sounds superb. It’s almost impossible to pick out highlights as I could just say “the whole bloody set was a highlight” but that wouldn’t be very insightful, so I’ll mention the tambourine and bass intro to Bacharach & David's "My Little Red Book" which always sends a shiver down my spine. The triple hit of “Alone Again Or”, “And More” and then “Andmoreagain” is astonishing, you’re going to find it hard to find a better trio of songs in any band’s back catalogue.

Then there’s “The Red Telephone” with its unsettling coda “they're locking them up today and throwing away the key, I wonder who it will be tomorrow, you or me?” which could well soundtrack any news bulletin today. It’s not just the band’s music that is timeless, but I think their political outlook still hits home, for example, “ask your leaders why?” Rusty sings plaintively in the stunning “Live and Let Live” and that one simple question should reverberate across the world. Also, the current line-up is racially diverse, as was Love when they first formed and that is another positive message that highlights music really does transcend all cultures, regardless. I’m sure Love must have broken down some cultural barriers in their day just as multi-racial 2-Tone bands like The Specials, The Selecter and The Beat did in my youth. Along with acts like The Clash and The Ruts turning us kids onto Reggae, it can only be a positive force for good, especially when I think of all the many and varied people I’ve met, friends that I have made and places that I have visited all thanks to music. I’ve written before on the influence that Love had on some of my other favourite bands, particularly those from Liverpool such as the Head brother’s Pale Fountains and Shack (who also backed Arthur Lee for a few shows) and later Mick Head’s Red Elastic Band. Swedish Psych Rockers The Soundtrack of Our Lives were also big fans as you can hear in tracks such as “Where’s The Rock?” and “Lone Summer Dream” and of course, bands such as Ramones and The Damned who actually released Love cover versions. Love seemed to be a band that were and still are, just as revered by other musicians as much as the fans.

As for the current line-up, I think it’s the evident joy that emanates from the band being able to play these remarkable songs that really endears them to the crowd, they seem to be having as much fun as we are, there are smiles everywhere. Rusty is a wonderful singer with a sublime voice but it must have been daunting to take on the mantle of frontman, following in the musical and vocal footsteps of the iconic Arthur Lee. But, as anyone who has seen the band play live will know, he does a fantastic job. Mike's guitarwork is something else too and it's a thrill to watch him play as he's obviously so engrossed in the music. James effortlessly spins out those inventive basslines and I love the pulsing riff to an excellent version of "You Set The Scene". Johnny takes on lead vocals for the highly emotional “Signed D.C.” although he ends with the line “Signed J.E.” which is a nice touch. They close the night with a raucous charge through the Garage Rock classic “Seven And Seven Is”, which I first heard on the reissue of Lenny Kaye’s “Nuggets” compilation back in the 80’s and it still sounds as vicious and charged as any Punk Rock band that I’ve enjoyed over the years. David Green's tremendous drumming really propels the song along at breakneck speed. The love and affection pouring from the crowd as the guys take a bow at the end of the show is tangible, there’s just something very special about this band that grabs your heartstrings. Bear with me here, but in the (highly unlikely) event that I had to pick just one band to see play live, my ‘desert island’ gig so to speak, I'd have to choose Love with Johnny Echols every time. They just encapsulate everything that is good about music to me, life-affirming, emotional and timeless songs that sound as fresh and vital now as they must have done back in the day. And I can vouch for that, as I was chatting to my friend David Arnoff (the legendary Rock photographer) afterwards and the gig got his seal of approval. After all he saw Love back in 1966 at the Hollywood Bowl, and if it’s good enough for him…!

You can see another video from the show at our Retromanblog65 YouTube channel here, where you can also find more videos from previous Love gigs at The Garage and Shepherds Bush Empire in London and The Stables in Milton Keynes. It's free to subscribe. There is also a feature on the 2024 "Forever Changes" gig at the Shepherds Bush Empire in the Retro Man Blog archive here.

Stupidity with Chris Spedding at Dalton's Brighton, Sunday April 26th supporting The Cynz

2026-05-02T16:38:00.000+01:00

It was great to see my Swedish pal Tommy with his Stockholm based Garage R'n'B band Stupidity back on U.K. soil again after a long absence, in fact it was the first time I'd had chance to see the 'new' line-up as original members Tommy on drums and vocalist Erniz have now been joined by guitarist Janne and bassist Ulrika. This line-up was responsible for last year's excellent album "AI (Alternative Intelligence)" where they were joined by Keith Streng from The Fleshtones, who records and plays live with the band when his busy schedule allows. Kicking off with the double hit of "King Midas" and the brilliant "A Monkey In A Suit (Is Still A Monkey)", the band didn't take their feet off the gas for a minute. Their tight and catchy Garage R'n'B, driven by Tommy's insistent drumming was out of this world with the superb "Cheap Thrills" being a perfect example. They play their latest single, a cracking version of Jesse Hector & The Gatecrashers "Carolina" which also features on their forthcoming album "Beyond Stupidity" out soon on Little Steven's Wicked Cool Records. It really highlighted Erniz's raw vocals, he's a great frontman flanked by the impressive riffing of Janne and the ice-cool Ulrika on the bass.

For tonight's gig they called upon the services of another legendary guitarist and friend Chris Spedding, who they backed during his recent Swedish tour. They played Spedding's "Get Outa My Pagoda" and the classic "Motorbikin'" and he stayed on stage to finish the main set which included one of my favourites, the soulful blast of "Save Me". They encored with a spirited version of "BBC", the raucous Psych Punk song from Mike Myers spoof band Ming Tea that featured in the first "Austin Powers" movie. This was an apt and amusing choice considering we are in this English seaside town famed for it's saucy seaside postcards and kiss me quick hats, and it rounded off a thoroughly entertaining show perfectly. I can't wait for the new album!

I really enjoyed the headline act The Cynz, who have also played with Stupidity in New York and Sweden and they extended the invitation for the Swedes to join them for their gigs in London on the Saturday and in Brighton which was a nice touch. The Cynz are fronted by the charismatic vocalist Cyndi Dawson, and although they're actually from New Jersey, they have the raw and dirty sound of a classic downtown NYC/CBGB's Punk Rock 'n' Roll band. Songwriting partner and guitarist Henry Seiz not only adds some mean riffs but his backing vocals lift the songs to another level. My personal highlights were "Weight Of The World" from their "Five Mortal Cynz" E.P. and a trio of tracks from their latest LP "Confess" which is out now on JEM Records, the blistering "My Father's Gun" and "Woman Child" and the melodic almost Go-Go's sounding "Love's So Lovely". They also threw in a great cover of 13th Floor Elevators '60's Nuggets classic "You're Gonna Miss Me" for good measure. I'm enjoying checking out The Cynz new album and discovering their back catalogue and hope to see them play live again one day.

For more videos from the gig please check out our Retromanblog65 YouTube channel here.

Lenny Kaye's "Nuggets Live at The BBC" - E.P. Launch, Listening Party & Movie Screening at the Spice of Life, London April 18th

2026-04-21T13:56:00.000+01:00

Alan Blizzard, Marty Love, Jim Jones, Joe De Lorenzo, Guy Griffin and Alan Clayton

Back in 2023, Patti Smith Group guitarist Lenny Kaye played some successful and well-received shows in the States to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the release of his iconic and hugely influential “Nuggets” compilation. Lenny was backed by a stellar line-up consisiting of some of his many musician friends, playing cover versions of some of those classic tracks that he had included on the album. The U.K. based Damned aficionado Kevin Shepherd, then suggested to his friend Joe De Lorenzo, the promoter and tour manager for The Damned, that Lenny should consider bringing the Nuggets show to London. Somehow, using his extensive contacts, Joe made it happen and he assembled an impressive Transatlantic cast for a two-night stand at the 100 Club back in April 2024. The core band backing Lenny featured bassist Dave Treganna of Sham 69 and Lords of The New Church, Jim Jones of Thee Hypnotics and Jim Jones All Stars on guitars and vocals, drumming duties were shared between Rat Scabies of The Damned and Marty Love of Wingmen and the Johnny Moped Band. The other ever presents were Derek Cruz from the Jesse Malin band on Guitars, Harmonica and Percussion and Greg Rice on the keyboards, who both did a superb job considering they were in for the long haul.

Joe with Richard England, Marty Love and Jim Jones

Jim Jones on stage at the Nuggets 100 Club show from Alan Blizzard's movie

We were also treated to various special guest vocalists including Clive 'The Doctor' Jackson of Dr & The Medics, Jon King from Gang of Four, Alan Clayton of The Dirty Strangers, Peter Coyne of The Godfathers, Anita Chellamah from Cherry Bombz and they were joined by New Yorkers, Roxanne Fontana and Amanda Cross. Then we had the guest guitarists, Cheetah Chrome from CBGB's legends Dead Boys, Japanese guitarist Tsuyoshi Kitagawa, otherwise known as Go Ohgami, Billy Shinbone from The Sinclairs and Guy Griffin of The Quireboys. Most memorably of all, it also featured Brian James of The Damned with what was to be his last ever live performance before he sadly passed away. If that wasn't enough, former Clash compatriot DJ Barry 'Scratchy' Myers warmed up the crowd perfectly and Go-Go dancers Moana Santana and Helene de Joie provided some suitably 60's style atmosphere.

Nuggets promoter Joe De Lorenzo

Brian James filmed at rehearsals by Alan Blizzard for his "Nuggets: The Movie"

Then recently it was announced that Johnny Depp’s record label IN-2, in conjunction with the U.K. based Cadiz Music, were going to release a “Lenny Kaye’s Nuggets Live at The BBC” E.P. consisting of a Marc Riley session that they had recorded while they were in London for the 100 Club shows in 2024. It was a special Record Store Day release, so on Saturday, we went along to the Spice of Life in London’s Soho for the E.P. listening and launch party organised by Joe De Lorenzo and Cadiz Music. The afternoon event also included an exclusive preview of the forthcoming LP “Riot On Oxford Street: Live at the 100 Club” and a screening of Alan Blizzard’s excellent behind-the-scenes documentary "The Nuggets Movie” filmed during the 2024 London trip. There was also the added bonus of a Q&A session with Jim Jones, Marty Love and Joe, hosted by Richard England of Cadiz, and there were appearances from ‘Nuggeteers’ Alan Clayton, Greg Rice and Guy Griffin who were happy to chat to members of the audience and sign copies of the E.P.

Lenny Kaye at the 100 Club Nuggets show on April 4th 2024

It was a thoroughly entertaining afternoon and there was some good news too, there are plans underway for some gigs later in the year to promote the release of the live LP, so please keep an eye out for more information on that. Can’t wait! You can read all about one of the 100 Club gigs in our Retro Man Blog feature here, which also includes lots of photos and videos from a truly remarkable night. More videos from the gig can be found by visiting our Retromanblog65 YouTube channel here, it's totally free to subscribe. Here's an example of one of our videos, Lenny Kaye with "I Wanna Be Your Dog" featuring Brian James it what was sadly to be his last ever live performance, Cheetah Chrome of The Dead Boys, Rat Scabies of The Damned and Dave Treganna of Lords of The New Church...

The Damned 50th Anniversary Show at Wembley Arena with The Loveless, Peter Hook & The Light and The Courettes

2026-04-18T11:29:00.000+01:00

My first introduction to The Damned was watching them play "Love Song" on Top of The Pops as a kid back in 1979 and the first thing that hit me was that immense blast of a bass riff by Algy Ward. I got the album from where it came, “Machine Gun Etiquette”, and it still stands out as one of the very best Punk Rock LPs of all-time, certainly one of my favourites too. However, what came next was a big departure, not just with the line-up as Paul Gray from Eddie & The Hot Rods replaced Algy on the bass, but in the sheer scope of the songs on their next release, an ambitious double album entitled “The Black Album” which included the 17 minute Gothic masterpiece “Curtain Call”. I finally got to see them play live in 1981 at the Lyceum in London on the tour promoting the album, and I was totally blown away. I still think of that fantastic line-up of Dave Vanian, Captain Sensible, Rat Scabies and Paul Gray as 'my' Damned and "The Black Album", "Strawberries" and "The Friday 13th E.P." from that era are absolute classics. So, it was quite emotional to see that very same line-up on stage at the Wembley Arena to celebrate the band's 50th Anniversary with a setlist that featured many of the songs they played back at my first ever Damned gig! When the gig was announced I must admit to being disappointed to see they had chosen such an awful venue, I am not a big fan of such large soulless places, and I was in two minds whether to go or not. However, I didn’t want to regret missing out on such a special occasion and when I saw the superb support acts lined up, I snapped up a ticket. I must admit I was very pleased and relieved that I did, in the end it was a triumphant and hugely successful show despite my initial misgivings about the venue. At least I wasn’t the only one to dislike the place, even Captain Sensible held the same view, “I prefer the Hope & Anchor” he announced, “Wembley Arena is a big concrete shithole, but at least tonight it’s our big concrete shithole!”

Dwarfed by a huge backdrop and screens showing some fantastic spooky graphics, the band opened with “Street of Dreams” from the “Phantasmagoria” album, (which ironically didn’t feature the Captain or Paul Gray) and then treated us to a first set that was an absolute treat for us “Black Album”/”Strawberries” generation of fans. The brilliant “Wait For The Blackout” was one of the highlights of the night for me and this was followed by the epic “History of The World (Part 1)” and an atmospheric “Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde” complete with old horror movie back projections. It’s a song that highlights Paul Gray’s immense bass playing, and the sound is spot on tonight so you can really appreciate his talents and wonder why he is such an underrated bassist. Maybe it’s because his playing didn’t define The Damned in the way that maybe JJ Burnel, Peter Hook (more on him later) and Jah Wobble did on their respective bands. Captain Sensible in his trademark beret, black and red stripey jumper (with the addition of an oversized ‘50’ badge) and Gibson SG guitar, looks as good as he sounds, defying the years, it’s hard to believe the band are celebrating their 50th year as he’s barely changed since that first time I saw him. We then get two tracks from “Strawberries”, the brilliant, soulful “Stranger On The Town” is an absolute delight that gets the crowd moving and the Psychedelic Pop strains of “Under The Floor Again” is an unexpected gem. Dave moans about Su Pollard keeping “Eloise” off the top of the charts, I’m not a big fan of the song but I guess it has to be included as it was their biggest hit, and I guess an entry point for a lot of new fans at the time.

The band remind us that it’s not all about nostalgia and that they are still releasing new material with “Wake The Dead” from the 2023 “Darkedelic” album. Personally, I think the band were rejuvenated when Paul Gray re-joined and they released the brilliant “Rockfield Files” E.P. and it got me interested in their new material again. It was a similar situation when Baz Warne took on lead vocals with The Stranglers and the quality of their music and live performances shot up to another level and seemed to re-energize the band, and their fans. Captain takes over on lead vocals for the whimsical “Life Goes On” underpinned by another superb Paul Gray bassline that I’m sure Nirvana pilfered for “Come As You Are” and the pure pop of “Is It A Dream?” are pointers that The Damned weren’t always just about Anarchy, Chaos and Destruction, we’ll save those traits for the second set. My love of “Machine Gun Etiquette” is rewarded by “I Just Can’t Be Happy Today” which highlights the skills of keyboard player Monty Oxymoron who has now become an integral part of the band, “Hurry up Beethoven”, Dave jokes with him at one point. The first set draws to a close with the classic “Smash It Up Parts 1 & 2” after which the band retire for a short interval, and we are kept entertained while we wait by the Pearl and Dean music and loads of old nostalgic TV adverts.

The band return for a second set and take no prisoners with a far Punkier selection of songs, the back projection shows a clip of the band’s appearance on the classic comedy show The Young Ones and we get the rush of “Nasty”, which is a fantastic and unexpected surprise. That awesome bass intro of “Love Song” is like a rush of adrenaline and that’s followed by the blistering “Machine Gun Etiquette/Second Time Around” which almost careers off the rails. Despite missing his cue on occasion and some dodgy Elvis style hip swings, Dave Vanian is in fine form, starting off in trilby, black mask and long black coat, there must be a Dorian Gray style portrait hanging up in his loft, as he is defying the years like his bandmates. Rat Scabies proves that he is one of the best drummers to have come out of the Punk explosion and it’s so great that he is back in the line-up where he belongs. Dave pays tribute to Brian James and also to Algy Ward and Bryn Merrick which is a nice touch, and they slam into “Fan Club” from the debut album.

I’m over the moon as next up they play what could well be my all-time favourite Damned track, “Disco Man” from what must be the best ever 4-song E.P. of all time “The Friday 13th E.P.” and I can feel a lump in my throat and a tear in my eye. It’s impossible for a band to satisfy everyone, especially one that’s been going for 50 years with such an immense back catalogue, but I think they got the setlist just about right. After all, if every fan submitted their ideal setlist, I’m sure every single one would be different! Also, we already had the special treat of the original line-up reunion with Brian James at the Hammersmith Apollo, so they could be forgiven for missing a lot of the early material. Personally, as it was their 50th anniversary, I would have liked to have heard “Problem Child” or “Stretcher Case”, but I was happy that I got a fair few of my favourite songs. Talking of favourite songs, “Ignite”, the opening track from “Strawberries” was incendiary, if you pardon the pun, and it turned into an immense call and response singalong with the crowd. The classic “Neat, Neat, Neat” sparked off some mosh pit action but then the mood changed for the epic, cinematic classic “Curtain Call”, a duo of songs that couldn’t highlight the scope of The Damned’s musically ambitious eclecticism any better. Of course, the set closes with “New Rose”, that very first Punk single released in 1976, fifty years ago. I’ll say that again, fifty bloody years ago, hard to believe it when the band you are watching are looking and sounding as fresh, energetic and vital as ever. Let’s hope for a few more birthday celebrations to come.

I mentioned earlier that one of the reasons I decided to go was the great line-up that didn’t just consist of the usual Punk bands that I was expecting. The Loveless is Marc Almond’s fun Rock ‘n’ Roll side project and they played a great set mainly consisting of covers with a couple of originals thrown in. They had that down and dirty sound down to a tee and some highlights included takes on 13th Floor Elevators “You’re Gonna Miss Me” and a rousing, Glamtastic “Hell Raiser” by The Sweet. Guitarist Neal X was in top form and the version of his old band Sigue Sigue Sputnik’s “Love Missile F1-11” really worked. As did, Soft Cell’s classic cover “Tainted Love” which was out of this world played in the Rock ‘n’ Roll format. Marc Almond’s voice was fantastic, and he really seemed to enjoy fronting this excellent band.

Peter Hook & The Light also delighted the crowd with their set of Joy Division numbers that all sounded immense. The band were formed out of the ashes of Hook’s own Monaco with the addition of his son Jack on second bass, in fact Jack seemed to carry most of the burden, playing more than his Dad, who concentrates on singing, legs wide in familiar pose. Hooky, who’s wearing an Oasis T-Shirt featuring one of my Retro Man Blog colleague Paul Slattery’s photos, has such charisma that he seems to shrink the size of Wembley Arena, and Joy Division’s icy songs flourished in the environment. Talking of T-Shirts, guitarist David Potts is wearing one featuring the cover of The Damned’s “Friday The 13th EP” and he said he was chuffed to bits to be on the same bill as one of his favourite bands, it was a nice touch. We get a superb selection of songs such as “Transmission”, “Disorder”, “Shadowplay” and “Ceremony”, which was the Joy Division song that crossed over to New Order and inevitably, the set closed with “Love Will Tear Us Apart” and the crowd sang their hearts out.

Opening up the night were one of our Blog favourites, the Brazilian/Danish duo The Courettes, and I must admit I was a little worried about how they would fare in the cavernous Arena. But I needn’t have been concerned, and I was so pleased for Martin and Flavia that they went down so well despite the extremely early start. In the end they owned the huge stage of the Arena, it was certainly a far cry from the first time I saw them at the Fiddlers Elbow in Camden, but Flavia’s electric presence and Martin’s dynamic drumming style, more than compensated for the huge empty space around them. Of course, having such memorable and timeless songs helps and their trademark wall of sound, bubble-gum harmonies and fuzzed up riffs really endeared them to the thankfully, quite large crowd that were there early enough to see them play. “Boom! Dynamite!” was a real highlight with Flavia machine-gunning the crowd with her vintage guitar and “Hop The Twig” with its Cramps style intro went down a storm and I’m sure they gained a whole bunch of new fans. So, overall it was a superb night and I must admit that the sound and lighting at the venue were excellent, it was loud and powerful even from where I was sitting at the side of the stage, but I don’t think I will attend many more Arena sized shows, as just like the Captain, my heart is at The Hope & Anchor.

You can see more videos from the show at our Retromanblog65 YouTube channel here. Also, don't forget our thoroughly entertaining Retrosonic Podcast with Flavia and Martin from The Courettes, which can be found at our Soundcloud archive here.

Retrosonic Podcast · Presenting the fabulous Courettes

Paul Gorman "London Calling: The Clash In The Capital" A New Map of the Band's London Landmarks

2026-04-04T17:32:00.001+01:00

We went along to the Showroom Gallery to see author, music journalist and cultural commentator, Paul Gorman discussing his excellent new annotated map "London Calling: The Clash In The Capital" at a launch party hosted by the gallery owner Andrew Renton. Situated just off the Edgware Road in the heart of "Clash country", a stone's throw from the Westway, it's the perfect location for the pair to cover just a few of the 130 landmarks relating to The Clash that are featured in the map. Some of these included the nearby Joe Strummer Subway where one of Mick Jones' early Rock & Roll Public Library exhibitions was held and the DHSS office on Praed Street close to Paddington Station where Mick worked during the height of the IRA's mainland bombing campaign, a stint that inspired the line "I won't open a letter bomb for you" in the classic "Career Opportunities". Also on Praed Street was the basement where the pre-Punk London SS held auditions that saw various luminaries try their luck for a place in the line-up including Tony James, Mick, Rat Scabies, Terry Chimes and Brian James. The London SS never actually got to play a gig but the various budding musicians did go on to form bands such as The Damned, Chelsea, Generation X, The Boys and of course The Clash. There's the story of Joe Strummer in the queue to collect his dole money at the Lisson Grove Labour Exchange noticing two guys furtively looking at him. He thinks they are going to beat him up but it was just Paul Simonon and Mick Jones plucking up the courage to go and talk to Joe after seeing his band The 101'ers with the intention of inviting him to join their band.

Paul and Andrew discussed the proliferation of abandoned and derelict buildings in the area at the time, many of which had still not been renovated after the war. This enabled students, artists and musicians to squat in these often large houses and this active scene spawned Joe's Pub Rock band The 101'ers, named after their squat at 101 Walterton Road. Joe also shared a squat with Sex Pistols roadie John Tiberi in nearby Daventry Street which now boasts an English Heritage Blue Plaque. The pair also talk about the gentrification of London, with areas such as Notting Hill which used to be run down, now only being affordable to millionaires. Some more locations included Mick's Gran's 18th floor flat in the high-rise Wilmcote House where Mick would look down from the balcony onto the lights and traffic of the Westway below. This would inspire the line "up and down the Westway, in and out the lights, what a great traffic system - it's so bright" in "London's Burning". Of course there are more iconic locations covered in the map such as the Hammersmith Palais where Joe and Don Letts attended a tension-filled Reggae all-nighter which was to lead to one of The Clash's best moments, "(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais". There's the Camden Stables Market, home of the band's "rehearsal rehearsals" practice space and site of the infamous pigeon shooting escapade. Of course, there's also legendary venues such as the 100 Club on Oxford Circus and the Roxy Club on Covent Garden's Neal Street where the band made some of their earliest appearances. That's just a few of the locations covered in this superb, comprehensive round-up of London places that featured in The Clash's history. On our way back to Paddington station we made a quick stop at Paul Simonon's local, The Royal Exchange, which must boast one of the coolest pub signs around.

"London Calling: The Clash In The Capital" is designed by Scott Sugiuchi, who has also worked on album cover art for one of our favourite bands The Woggles, and comes with a postcard and London Calling stencil. It's published by Herb Lester Associates and is another addition to their fantastic collection of music-related maps that include London guides on David Bowie, Rolling Stones, Sex Pistols and Malcolm McLaren, all written by Paul Gorman. Then there are guides on The Velvet Underground and CBGB's era Punk in New York, Serge Gainsbourg in Paris and 1960's Los Angeles. You can order directly from Herb Lester here. Author Paul Gorman has written books on legendary Pop boutique Granny Takes A Trip, The Face magazine and biographies of Malcolm McLaren, Goldie, Barney Bubbles and Boy George and you can find out more information by visiting his Instagram site here.

Here's Paul Gorman discussing the map with David Hepworth and Mark Ellen for their excellent "A Word In Your Ear" Podcast.

Heavenly - Live at the Cowley Worker's Social Club Oxford and New Album "Highway To Heavenly"

2026-03-19T22:18:00.000+00:00

We haven’t even got to British Summertime yet, but Skep Wax Records have already released an impressive hat-trick of LPs that I’m sure will be vying for top spot in our ‘best albums’ of the year list come December. The label, run by Amelia Fletcher and Rob Pursey from the recently re-ignited Heavenly, Talulah Gosh, Marine Research, The Catenary Wires (and more…) have put out fantastic records by former Dolly Mixture Rachel Love’s new band Railcard, featuring one of our favourite guitarists, Peter Momtchiloff, then there was Would-Be-Goods sublime “Tears Before Bedtime”, featuring Peter Momtchiloff, and now Heavenly’s very own out-of-this world comeback album “Highway To Heavenly”, featuring, yes you’ve guessed it Peter Momtchiloff! As I said recently in my feature on the brilliant Bizarro Promotions night at the Water Rats with Would-Be-Goods, Railcard and Helen McCookerybook, I have been on a Dolly Mixture binge since reading Debsey Wyke’s quite brilliant autobiography “Teenage Daydream” and seeing her at various events recently. I then found out about Railcard and when ordering their new compilation album from Skep Wax, discovered that Heavenly had also just released a brand-new album entitled “Highway to Heavenly”, their first for 30 years or so. I loved what I heard so ordered that from Skep Wax too and bloody hell, is it great! It’s short but perfectly formed, I don’t think I have heard such an immediate, impactful record for a long time, one listen and you’re hooked. I’ve often discussed with guests on my Retrosonic Podcast what constitutes a perfect album, and it’s rarer than you think, even from your very favourite bands or artist. Off the top of my head, I can think of a few such as “Rocket to Russia”, “Parallel Lines”, “Forever Changes”, “Grand Prix”, “Never Mind the Bollocks” but many other albums that I love have got some flaw or other.

Be honest and think about albums that you would consider ‘perfect’ – ones where you can’t help but listen from Track 1 Side 1 all the way through to the very end without skipping a single song. Where the artwork, production and running order is faultless and where every track would make a perfect 7” single in its own right. Where each song burrows into your ear and sticks in your head after just one listen and you wonder if you’ve heard this all before in a previous life. Where you feel somehow different after listening to it, whether it makes you feel inspired, motivated, moved, emotional or just happy enough to jump around the living room with a tennis racket as a guitar, well “Highway to Heavenly” has all these things and more. After digesting the album, I was desperate to see the band play but was soon disappointed to find out that all the gigs I could have attended were sold out. But there was a stroke of luck as their gig in Oxford was moved to a bigger venue, and it gave us the chance to snap up tickets for the Cowley Worker’s Social Club on the outskirts of the band’s ‘hometown'. The venue was an old-school Phoenix Nights style social club, but it was spacious, the staff were friendly, drinks were reasonable and I happily noticed lots of seats for all of us old folks in the audience. But hang on, I then noticed there was a fair proportion of youngsters there. It was an all-ages gig, and it was refreshing to see so many young people in the audience, quite a few sporting Heavenly “Riot Twee” and “P.U.N.K. Girl” T-shirts. As the band appeared, I roused myself from my seat and made my way to the front of the stage and was suddenly surrounded by some enthusiastic teenagers who I soon discovered were singing along to all the songs, even the new ones, word perfect. Guitarist Peter Momtchillof was also impressed, looking on intriguingly he even asked a bunch of excitable youngsters gathered in front of him “how do you know all the words, the album’s only been out for 2 weeks?!”

Heavenly seem to have a struck a chord with a younger audience, apparently due to the video for “P.U.N.K. Girl” going viral here and in the States. But I guess it could also be down to Heavenly’s all-inclusive, D.I.Y. ethic and of being embraced by the Riot-Grrrl movement. There’s also the legacy stretching back to Heavenly’s forerunner, Talulah Gosh, who it could be said were one of the key acts of the 80’s ‘C-86 scene’ that set the template for countless Indie-Pop bands to follow. Whereas contemporaries like the Jesus & Mary Chain took to the dark side and out-fuzzed and out-feedbacked everyone else, Talulah Gosh and their like basked in the sunnier side of 60’s influenced Pop married with buzzing guitars. That lineage might stretch to The Velvet Underground to Buzzcocks to Dolly Mixture to The Pastels to The Smiths, bands that were ideal for lovestruck, confused, inquisitive teenagers to take inspiration from. Whether that might be in the lyrical content, of finding out you are not alone in the world or in the good old Punk maxim “anyone can form a band”. Heavenly are still continuing in that tradition and a good example of this is in tonight’s opening number, the fantastic new single “Portland Town” with its lyrical wish to be able to live your life how you want, on your own terms and not be bound by what society might deem as acceptable. It’s kind of naïve of course, but why not? In these increasingly confrontational and negative times with too much cultural dumbing down, a lack of funding for the arts and venues closing left, right and centre - why not wish for a better and more positive place? “Conformity stinks, creativity’s free” sings Amelia and I think to myself, maybe that’s a great slogan for a new Heavenly T-Shirt.

The band, comprising Amelia on vocals and guitar complete with a “Hey Ho, Let’s Go” sticker, Rob on bass, Peter Momtchiloff on guitar, Cathy Rogers on keyboards and vocals and Ian Button behind the drums, take the stage and you can sense a huge collective smile emanate from the crowd. They proceed to play a set comprising most of the new album but peppered with some older numbers, a pick from all their previous releases except 1991’s “Heavenly Vs. Satan” for some reason. We get “Sperm Meets Egg, So What?”, “Me And My Madness” and “She And Me” from “The Decline and Fall of Heavenly” and “Our Love Is Heavenly” from “Le Jardin de Heavenly”. My smile gets wider when they play one of my favourites, “Space Manatee” from 1996’s “Operation Heavenly” which reminds me of Pixies with Rob’s bass line taking the lead and some splendid guitar work from Peter. Amelia’s brother and original Heavenly drummer, Matthew, sadly died just before the release of “Operation Heavenly” after which they decided they just couldn’t continue the Heavenly name without him. It meant that sadly this excellent album had an understandably low-key release, and Amelia writes about this difficult time in the updated sleeve notes booklet included with the Skep Wax reissue.

In fact, it was the communications around the idea to reissue the Heavenly back-catalogue on Skep Wax and the excellent Damaged Goods Records releasing a singles compilation, that was to lead to the reunion. This was initially meant to be just a one-off gig at Bush Hall in London with Ian Button from Rob and Amelia’s project The Catenary Wires, on drums. However, this soon snowballed into more gigs which led onto new songs which would eventually find their way onto “Highway to Heavenly”, their first release since the afore-mentioned “Operation Heavenly”. The songs from the new album played tonight go down really well, as I said earlier, they are immediate and laden with catchy hooks and gorgeous harmonies shared between Cathy and Amelia. The up-tempo “Excuse Me” is excellent in a Buzzcocks kind of way, “Good Times” starts off as a swaying, beautiful Phil Spector style number before bursting into a stellar chorus. The self-referential “Skep Wax” is another goodie, Amelia tells us it’s all about the positive power of music, and there’s one of the album’s highlights “Scene Stealing” which tackles the worrying rise of on-line influencers. “Press Return” has a pulsating synth line reminiscent of Pulp, it’s superb and I realised it’s almost impossible to pick a favourite track from the album, they are all so good.

I’ll digress slightly and get onto a couple tracks from the new album that they didn’t play tonight. I was a bit disappointed they missed out “She Is The One” as I love the way the beautiful melodies soar. It’s a masterclass in dual-vocals, reminding me of the chemistry between Belinda Carlisle and Jane Wiedlin in The Go-Go’s back in their prime. And then the album closer “That Last Night” starts with an upbeat tune which initially disguises the serious subject matter of dementia, loss and grief, “when we saw you that last day, we wondered if you knew that we were even there” is heartbreaking, and as someone who has a parent suffering from Alzheimer's, it is comforting knowing that this terribly distressing illness is being talked about. Amelia sings about embracing the happy memories, with one scene bordering on an irreverent Dave Allen TV sketch, involving a wheelchair accident in a church. But then a crunching, discordant chord interrupts proceedings to remind you of the seriousness of the situation. The song ends on a plaintive note “and did I do all that I could?” It’s a haunting end to the album that shows the real depth to Heavenly, they are not just there for the innocent days of youth but they’re facing up to the realities of our generation too.

Back to the show and the oldies “P.U.N.K. Girl” and “Atta Girl” are superb, with everyone around me joining in on a mass sing-along, a brilliant end to a quite wonderful set. The band just had to return for an encore, but Amelia took the stage alone, guitar in hand and apologised to her Heavenly bandmates before playing a solo rendition of Talulah Gosh’s “Beatnik Boy”. This was thanks to someone in the crowd requesting a dedication to his mum and as it was Mother’s Day the day after, I guess Amelia couldn’t refuse. The rest of the band then returned, Amelia put down her guitar to dance, and they played “C Is the Heavenly Number” which went down a storm. All the band members hung around for quite some time after the show to happily sign merchandise and chat to fans. I saw one comment on the band’s social media from another mum saying how happy her 13-year-old daughter was that Amelia took the time to chat and sign her records. It’s these little things that mean a lot and can guarantee another Heavenly fan for life. You can’t beat being amongst a friendly crowd on a night of joyous, life-affirming live music and Heavenly delivered the perfect tonic to all the bad news swirling around at the moment.

You can read about the recent Would-Be-Goods, Railcard and Helen McCookerybook gig at the Water Rats in our Retro Man Blog feature here, which drew a crowd packed with Indie-Pop and Punk celebrities including Lester Square and Dave Morgan from The Monochrome Set, Pete Astor from The Loft and The Weather Prophets, Jon Klein from Specimen and Siouxsie & The Banshees, Ian Greensmith and Bob Collins from The Dentists, Debsey from Dolly Mixture and Gaye Black from The Adverts. Our feature on the Dolly Mixture movie screening and Debsey’s Q&A with author Daniel Rachel can be found here. More videos from these events and from Heavenly’s Oxford show can be seen at our Retromanblog65 YouTube channel here, you can subscribe for free to access our whole archive of all-original live videos. For more information on related bands and labels please check out the links below.

Damaged Goods Records

All photos and videos copyright Retro Man Blog 2026

Baz Warne of The Stranglers "Convivial Tour" Acoustic & In Conversation About His New Book "No Grass On A Busy Street" at St. Pancras Old Church, March 5th 2026

2026-03-08T19:41:00.004+00:00

“Soon, all that’s going to be left is a large pair of smoking boots” Baz Warne tells us, making the sign of the cross and glancing up to the heavens. I’m not sure that the beautiful St. Pancras Old Church has ever had so many swear words bouncing around it’s ancient stone walls. The Stranglers vocalist and guitarist briefly wonders if he will be struck down from above for yet another brutally honest and expletive ridden appraisal of something or someone who winds him up. Baz is in good form, preaching to an attentive flock of fans gathered here today on this sold-out date of a U.K. tour entitled “Convivial” promoting his new book “No Grass Grows On A Busy Street: 25 Years On The Road with The Stranglers”. Yes, it’s hard to believe that Baz has been in the band for so long and yet still there are people who hark back to the Hugh Cornwell years and make comparisons. This is something Baz has to deal with on a regular basis, and he does so tonight with his customary self-deprecating good humour. When tonight’s interviewer, Mark Hart from the Rock ‘n’ Roll Book Club and Music Maps Podcast mentions “So, The Stranglers were looking for some hired help I gather, yet you initially turned them down” Baz replied “I did, and I bet there’s a few people in here who wish I still had!” and he mimics “oh, he’s not Hugh is he?” before raising his middle finger. We all clap and cheer our support, Baz smiles and says, “I see there’s quite a few not clapping!”

It’s a shame that Baz still has to contend with this after 25 years as a Strangler, of course Baz is not Hugh, and I very much doubt he wants to be, after all, he didn’t join a tribute act. What he did do for me, and obviously many other Stranglers fans, considering the number of sold-out shows at impressive venues around the world the band still plays, was to revitalize and re-energize The Stranglers. For me personally, The Stranglers had lost their mojo even when Hugh was still in the band when people seem to forget that the last few albums with him were lack lustre affairs. JJ had lost his mojo and was playing one of those humiliatingly naff Steinberger headless basses, there was an awful brass section and Dave’s trademark organ was reduced to weak synth background noise. I remember being hugely disappointed at their last ever gig with Hugh at Alexandra Palace, it was awful. There was no energy, no passion and it was obvious the band were going through the motions and destined to call it a day. However, as much as I wanted to continue to support the band when they decided to continue after Hugh left, I just couldn’t handle the Paul Roberts, John Ellis line-up era. Paul’s overtly theatrical vocals and performances just didn’t cut it with me until I heard the track “Norfolk Coast”. There was Dave’s swirling organ again and finally an old-school killer bass intro from JJ that had me intrigued. The album of the same name was still patchy but promising, and it was no coincidence that the ousting of the much-maligned Ellis and the addition of new guitarist Baz Warne had something to do with it.

Just as I thought that Paul Roberts might be winning me over, it was announced that he was leaving the group and the band were reverting to the classic four piece line-up, which meant that Baz was taking on guitars and lead vocals and JJ was back to singing his songs again. Then the album “Suite XVI” was released and I loved it, so I decided to see them play live and was blown away by the sheer power and intensity. It was a throwback to the sound of “The Raven” and I was absolutely thrilled. Baz was great, mastering Hugh’s intricate and often baffling guitar riffs, adding a big visual presence, simmering with aggression and it was good to see the crowd taking to him and embracing this new era of The Stranglers. Most die-hard Stranglers fans have accepted Baz whole-heartedly and I often find it’s the ones that moan about the ‘good old days’ and say, “it’s not the same without Hugh”, haven’t actually seen the band play with Baz. Of course, it’s not the same, and nobody needs to put Hugh down or belittle his legendary status or role in the band, those were the classic days. This is The Stranglers now. Sadly, Dave and Jet are no longer with us but what’s wrong with accepting both the current Stranglers and Hugh’s solo material, nobody can force you to take sides. All I can say is, if you are still in any doubt of Baz’s (and indeed Toby and Jim’s) abilities and contributions, get yourself a ticket to the next gig, give them a go and I’m sure you will feel very differently.

Anyway, I digress…back to the night and Baz explains that “No Grass On A Busy Street” is a collection of various diary entries, interviews and tour blogs throughout his 25 years with The Stranglers. However, he has fleshed these chapters out with his current thoughts, looking back on the earlier writing, which give an interesting contemporary perspective. He has also included some more background on his upbringing and family life, of growing up in Sunderland in the Northeast of England and on his time in Canada, where the family relocated due to his Dad’s work. He told us he added this new autobiographical section rather reluctantly and on the advice of his publisher, as he couldn’t believe that anyone would be interested in his life outside The Stranglers. He’s wrong of course, and some of the funniest and most revealing moments during the talk are when he discusses his family and early years. Mark asks questions on a wide variety of topics that despite sometimes veering on the trivial, such as “what’s the hottest gig you’ve ever played?” Baz answers all with a mixture of charm, candour and good humour. For example, after a particularly sweaty show at Fibbers in York, “I was so hot and soaked through that I didn’t want to get on the bed, so I laid on the floor and when I got up there was a large Baz-sized outline on the carpet” and “We’d have a competition to see who had collected the most sweat in their Dr. Martens”.

Baz tells us about his audition for The Stranglers and how proud and thrilled he was to join the band as, like us he was a big fan. He talked with honesty about his relationship with his bandmates, it wasn’t the usual ‘everyone is lovely’ kind of thing but he said it was more like a family, admitting that Dave could be sarcastic, Jet was gruff, Toby like an excitable puppy, and JJ can be rather prickly and aggressive and he mentioned one incident where he went toe-to-toe with JJ, luckily JJ diffused the situation by saying “let’s have a cup of tea”. He also told us that he had to suffer his “thousand yard death stare” if he happened to hit a bum note. However, he said JJ could be incredibly warm and he’s one of his best friends, joking that JJ was very disappointed not to be asked to be best man at his wedding, but Baz was worried he might try to pull his mother! Baz did drop in some hilarious impersonations of JJ, Jet, Dave and Toby throughout the talk. In fact, during the tour JJ called him up at one point to say “hey, I hear you’re doing impressions of me on your tour”. At first Baz was a bit worried until JJ laughed and said he was over the moon. What was apparent though was the real love and genuine friendship he has for his current and former bandmates. He opened up that he and JJ were devastated by losing Dave Greenfield who, it was clear had made a huge impression on him, telling us how proud he was of the latest album “Dark Matters” and the sad circumstances around the recording of it, with the untimely passing of Dave. He played an emotional “And If You Should See Dave…” which took on an extra poignancy in the hallowed surroundings.

Baz then spoke about Toby’s recent TV appearance on The Repair Shop with admiration, where Toby took in Dave Greenfield’s old battered and broken organ to get it repaired. Baz mentioned that he really wants to get a new album out with Toby and that very same keyboard on it. He mentioned that hopefully the new album would be “full of joy” and that he’s already written a “really fast punky tune, a serious kick up the arse”. Ruts DC guitarist Leigh Heggarty who is also in Wingmen with Baz, was in attendance and they exchanged some banter and Baz told us the good news that they are working on a new Wingmen album along with Paul Gray from The Damned and Marty Love from the Johnny Moped Band. Baz regaled us with more tales of life on the road including humorous encounters with Blondie and Debbie Harry, Simple Minds and their American Tour Manager and Ricky Wilson of Kaiser Chiefs. He stressed the importance of the road crew or “technicians, as we have to call them these days” and dealing with outdoor festivals in dangerous pouring rain. He also touched on the much-anticipated Stranglers documentary, of daring to drop “Golden Brown” from the set, the on-the-road routines and the song writing process in particular how proud he and JJ were with “The Lines” after they finished it and recorded it in one take. He then strapped on his guitar and treated us to a sublime version of the song.

One interesting thing that Baz mentioned was that it would be JJ calling the shots if the band were to end, if they ever stopped enjoying it or feeling they were not moving forward. He said that he believes it couldn’t be a band unless they have at least one original member in the line-up. Throughout the evening Baz also treated us to a few more songs on acoustic guitar including “Long Black Veil”, “Breathe”, then a unique version of “Peaches”, and his favourite Stranglers song, “Goodbye Toulouse”. So, it was a thoroughly entertaining evening in the company of a real character. I’m sure Stranglers fans will have warmed to him even more after this tour and he would have won over a whole load of doubters, that’s for sure.

All photos and videos copyright Retro Man Blog 2026. Check the Stranglers and Wingmen archive labels for more of our features with reviews, photos and videos on both bands. For more information on Baz, please check out his official Facebook page here, The Stranglers can be found here and Wingmen here.

The Prisoners at King's Hall Herne Bay, Saturday 28th February 2026

2026-03-07T17:29:00.000+00:00

Band reunions can be hit and miss affairs – some acts resist the temptation all together in the hope of not tarnishing a legendary reputation such as The Clash, The Smiths and Talking Heads, for example. Some bands you think have reunited have never actually gone away, they just evolve over the years – dealing with various bust-ups, court cases, serious illnesses, and of course untimely deaths along the way by replacing key members. Kind of like a football team, you still support them despite them selling your star striker, sacking a favourite manager and dropping down to the lower leagues, occasionally to rise again like a phoenix. The Stranglers were totally reinvigorated when they reverted to the traditional four-piece and moved Baz Warne up front and are now selling out huge venues like the Royal Albert Hall again. The Undertones with Paul McLoone now fully grown into his role as frontman, are probably playing more gigs now than they have in years. Then at the other end of the spectrum are some bands who are more like Trigger’s broom and really should know better, somehow continuing without any original members in the line-up at all. Some misjudge it completely and get in totally inappropriate replacements so that you wonder who is actually advising them. There are some bands who tread the cabaret circuit, happy to get together for the occasional festival, play the hits and collect a big pay cheque.

Then there’s the rare case where some reunions really work, such as Pixies – which hit to a completely new generation of kids and some like Wire, who still produce superb new and vital music. So, what happens when it’s one of your really ‘special’ favourite bands, and it’s no secret that The Prisoners are one of mine. Thankfully, like The Soundtrack of Our Lives, another act who mean so much to me that the announcement of a reunion a few years ago stirred up mixed emotions. On one hand it’s ‘please god, let it be good, don’t tarnish the many happy memories, don’t let yourselves down’ and on the other, there’s the excitement that you’d get to see them play again. Thankfully in both cases, neither band let me down in the end. Of course, The Prisoners did get back together for some shows and a so-so single “Shine On Me” in 1997, but that didn’t last long, it was over pretty soon. Once it was clear The Prisoners reunion wasn’t a long term prospect, Graham and Allan followed up on the Prime Movers with the superb Solarflares, a three-piece that eventually reverted to the classic Prisoners style line-up by adding Parsley on the organ. Then Graham recruited The Woggles’ rhythm section for Graham Day & The Gaolers and released two brilliant albums with material that matched the quality of The Prisoners. After a hiatus, the news was out that Graham had got the three-piece Solarflares line-up back under the guise of Graham Day & The Forefathers - “we’re basically a tribute band to ourselves” he told me in our Retrosonic Podcast special. There was no talk of new material – just a set of stripped back versions of classics from the back catalogue – The Prisoners, Solarflares, Gaolers and Prime Movers. They went down a storm and released a raw, live in the studio album of choice cuts called “Good Things”.

Fed up with the pressures of fronting a band, Graham then started The Senior Service where he could indulge in his love of Barry Gray’s wonderful themes to Gerry Anderson TV shows such as Thunderbirds and Fireball XL5 and John Barry and Ennio Morricone’s evocative Spaghetti Western and Spy movie theme tunes. Of course, this aspect was nothing new, The Prisoners and Solarflares in particular would often include at least one or two instrumentals on their albums and in their live shows. Graham seems to have a love/hate relationship with both singing and fronting a band and with the Hammond organ. He sometimes needs a break from both. He once told me his dream was to just play guitar in one of those groovy bands you saw in a 1960’s hippie exploitation movie, where assorted spaced out kids dance away under psychedelic liquid lights. Either that or just playing guitar in The Woggles, his favourite band, would have been cool. The opportunity for this wish did occur, although in rather sad circumstances, when The Woggles guitarist Jeff Walls passed away in 2019 and they needed a replacement. So, Graham ended up touring the States, Europe, the UK (you can see a feature on The Woggles brilliant 100 Club gig here) and even Japan, where Graham, that icon of cool, was enjoying himself so much that he even performed in fancy dress costumes such as lederhosen or karate monkey suits! But the pull of The Prisoners was strong, and circumstances conspired to facilitate the latest and long-awaited reunion. The Prisoners had that something special, that all important chemistry and a hugely dedicated fanbase, as shown in the brilliant book “A Taste of Ink! The Prisoners Sentenced By Their Fans”. Plus, they had James Taylor on the Hammond organ. James had gone onto forge a respected career in Jazz, Soul and Funk with The James Taylor Quartet and it didn’t seem likely that he would be interested in revisiting The Prisoners given his success. Wrong! The news filtered through that the original line-up was getting back together, initially incognito at a friend’s party at the Billabong Club in Rochester in 2021.

Then came the announcement of a show at the Royal Function Rooms in Rochester (check out our feature here), in early December 2022 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of their debut album “A Taste of Pink”. Due to the demand, it ended up as a four-night stand from November 30th – 3rd December 2022 and it was also live streamed on-line. It was emotional, it couldn’t end there could it? Thankfully no, there were shows in Herne Bay in December 2023 and the fantastic news of a brand new album, “Morning Star” followed by a gig in May 2024 at the legendary Roundhouse in London’s Chalk Farm (read all about it here), actually the band’s biggest show to date. But “Morning Star” was superb, the sound of a band having fun, embracing their influences, although sometimes sailing a bit close to the wind in the shades of The Who, Ramones, Small Faces and Hendrix, which coloured the songs, but who cared. The quality of the songs was what mattered and there were some that easily stood up to the classics, in particular “Winter In June” and “Something Better”. Everyone was on top form, with James Taylor in particular shining out with some superb Hammond. Then came the feeling that was it, all over again. In some ways it would have been a fitting way to draw a line under it all, to go out on a high, but it seemed a fire had been lit. This year came the announcement of a new single “Autumn Skies” and live shows at King’s Hall in Herne Bay, an impressive Edwardian Pavillion on the sea front where they would celebrate three albums over three nights. On the Friday night it would be 1983’s “The Wisermiserdemelza” (and my entry point to the band back in the day), Saturday would be the classic “The Last Fourfathers” from 1985 and then Sunday it would be 1986’s “In From The Cold”, where they would be joined by the James Taylor Quartet’s sometime Brass section.

The venue was great, and in some ways better than the Roundhouse, where the sound can sometimes get a bit lost in that cavernous building. It was packed out on the Saturday night, sadly the only night I could attend and there were so many eager, happy and familiar faces in attendance, many of whom I’d got to know through my Retro Man Blog gigs with Graham Day & The Forefathers and The Solarflares. Kicking off proceedings were Lord Rochester, featuring Russ Wilkins, formerly of The Milkshakes, Saskia Holling on bass and vocals and Lois Tozer from The Embrooks on drums and maracas. Their Bo Diddley influenced rhythms went down really well and they were the perfect opening act. My personal favourite was the Crampsian rumble of “Transcontinental” and the insanely catchy “Chicken Salt” and Russ closed the set by announcing “This is for the Mods… and the Punks” and they launched into a cracking version of “What’cha Gonna Do About It”. Next up the always reliable Masonics, aided and abetted by Ludella Black, entertained the crowd and played my favourite track “Silently By Night”, so I was happy. DJ Wendy May was spinning some mighty fine tunes, putting everyone in an even better mood and you could feel the atmosphere start to build.

Then The Prisoners took to the stage, looking great and starting strongly with “I Am The Fisherman”, the crowd went mental, you can’t get much better than this. They play a good chunk of “The Last Fourfathers” including “The Drowning” and “Take You For a Ride”, ending the section with a powerful version of “Night of The Nazgul”, one of their best instrumentals. Then we get “This Road is Too Long” and “Save Me” from the current album and in between there’s the new single “Autumn Skies” before a nice surprise from their debut album, “Til The Morning Light”. They then flit between the “Last Fourfathers” and “Morning Star” albums including a great version of “Whenever I’m Gone” and I see that Eddie Piller, who released the single on his Countdown label back in 1986, is in the crowd. The James Taylor written and sung “Go To Him” is a highlight as it channels the way the Ramones took those Phil Spector, Shangri-La’s melodies and married them with fast Rock ‘n’ Roll, plus it has a classic “Blitzkrieg Bop” style call and response section of “just go, just go, just go with him!” Considering Johnny Symons isn’t regularly playing like his bandmates, his drumming is superb throughout and Allan’s impressive bass riffs and backing vocals complement Graham perfectly, who is in mighty fine voice. When he’s not singing, Graham stalks the front of the stage, guitar pointing out to the adoring crowd. There’s a really nice chemistry fizzing between all four of them, from Allan with his deadpan between song banter to James’s cheerleading and encouraging the crowd to sing along, they look like they are having as much fun as we are. They always did carry a reputation for being ‘surly’ and ‘difficult’, but it’s certainly not been evident at any of the reunion shows. After all, all four members spent a long time afterwards signing the new single and chatting to fans at the impressive merch table stocked by our favourite record label Spinout Nuggets and Sound Is Colour clothing.

Someone posted a nice photo in The Prisoners forum from one of the Herne Bay nights of Allan and Graham smiling at each other, one wag commented “must be A.I.” and Allan himself replied “Fake News!” The set draws to a close with the Prisoners very own Garage Rock classic “Melanie” and then “Reaching My Head” the song which started it all for me and quite obviously The Charlatans too as they nicked the bassline and made a career out of it. A stunningly emotional “Thinking Of You (Broken Pieces)” nearly has me welling up, something in my eye! Then “I Drink The Ocean” segues into a fantastic version of Deep Purple’s “Hush” and sadly, that’s it, all over. An absolutely momentous night, we got twenty three superb songs from a band that despite starting over forty years ago, strangely seem to be at the top of their game. Maybe it’s the impressive back catalogue, the lessons that have been learned, of getting older and wanting to do things right. Maybe it’s the huge wave of respect and affection that the crowd shows towards the band, that special bond, I don’t know what it is but all I do know is that I don’t want it to end, again. I’m hopeful that there will be more to come from The Prisoners in the future so let’s hope it becomes more permanent so that we can finally stop labelling it all as just another reunion.

You can read all about how I first got into the band and my experiences of putting on shows for the Forefathers, Solarflares and Senior Service, in my feature on The Prisoners Roundhouse gig here. Our thoroughly entertaining Forefathers Retrosonic Podcast with Graham, Allan and Wolf Howard is still available in our archive here. You can listen to them discussing and playing a pick of their favourite songs from all aspects of their musical careers.

Retrosonic Podcast · Graham Day & The Forefathers

Unfortunately, the brilliant book “A Taste of Ink!” is now sold out, but if you are interested, then please contact them here and register your interest as I’m sure they will consider a re-print if there is a big enough demand. However, don’t despair if you did miss out on “A Taste of Ink!” as a new book has just been announced. “Graham Day - 45 Years of Music”, originally a limited edition book in Italian by Antonio Bacciocchi and Luca Frazzi, has now been translated, expanded and revised by Thomas Buch and Les O’Hare and will be available to order on 20th March. Please check out their Facebook page here for details on how to get hold of this promising looking book.

For more videos from the gig, please head on over to our Retro Man Blog YouTube channel and subscribe for free here. All Photos and Videos copyright Retro Man Blog 2026.

Would-Be-Goods, Helen McCookerybook and Railcard at Water Rats, London - A Bizarro Promotion, February 21st 2026

2026-02-28T12:23:00.004+00:00

Even Pete Frame would struggle to compile one of his exhaustive Rock Family Trees about the Indie talent pool surrounding Skep Wax Records and their proprietors Amelia Fletcher and Rob Pursey. Stretching back to the C-86 Twee Student Jangle Indie-Pop scene, or whatever ridiculous genre the music press deemed to patronise the acts with, their band Talulah Gosh was to go on to spawn many and various bands, spin-offs and side projects, not to mention the influence they would have on generations of eager young fans into forming their own bands. Each trademark branch of those intricate Pete Frame diagrams would probably feature guitarist Peter Momtchiloff in some guise or other though, and tonight Amelia and Rob’s former Talulah Gosh and current Heavenly colleague appears in two out of the three acts on show. Hosted by Bizarro Promotions, this sold-out gig at Water Rats in London’s Kings Cross is basically a showcase for two brand new Skep Wax releases – their compilation of Railcard’s first three E.P.’s and the latest excellent album “Tears Before Bedtime” by headliners Would-Be-Goods.

Tonight’s gig came at the perfect time for me, an absolute godsend as I must admit I’ve been on a bit of a Dolly Mixture kick recently, ever since reading Debsey Wykes’ fantastic autobiography “Teenage Daydream” and coincidentally bumping into her at two recent unrelated book launch events. I then went along to see Debsey interviewed by Daniel Rachel about her book in conjunction with a rare screening of the excellent Dolly Mixture documentary “Take Three Girls”. So, suddenly I’d get the chance to see another Dolly Mixture, Rachel Love, and her new band Railcard, for the first time. The Water Rats is sold out and there are almost as many musicians in the audience as there would be on stage throughout the night. Here’s just a few that were in the room – Allan Crockford from The Prisoners (who mixed the Railcard recordings), Viv Bonsels from The Galileo 7, Pete Astor from The Loft, Kevin Younger from The High Span, Ian Greensmith from The Dentists and his former bandmate Bob Collins who is now in another Skep Wax act, Swansea Sound. Then there’s Dave Morgan from The Monochrome Set, Jon Klein from Specimen and Siouxsie & The Banshees and even Gaye Black from The Adverts. It would have made for one hell of a supergroup. Oh, and yes, it’s Debsey again, here to support her former Dolly Mixture friend and former bandmate.

Railcard take the stage, Rachel looks amazing and I’m immediately captivated by her cheerful smile and the promise of hearing those wonderful songs live for the first time. The aforementioned Peter Momtchiloff is on bass duties and there’s Ian Button from Heavenly and Penrose Web and Papernut Cambridge (and more!) on drums and vocals with Allison Thomson on trumpet, keyboards and vocals. Ian takes over lead vocals on the brilliant, foot stomping “Northern Soul Dancing” which is my personal highlight of their set with excellent lyrics about getting to the age where you wonder if it’s really too late to try and recapture that abandon and exuberance of youth. Busting out those spins, kicks and flicks on the dancefloor, it’s a classic.

Their songs are catchy and immediate, “Narcissus” is built on a driving military style beat with some biting lyrics and the sublime “Cherry Plum” is one and a half minutes of pure gorgeousness. They don’t play my favourite “Born In 62” though, I love that song with its Sonics “Strychnine” motif, and I was hoping it might make an appearance. The Dolly Mixture movie director, Paul Kelly, told me that song summed up the loose concept behind Railcard, all the original members were born in ‘62. He said that he was in an early incarnation of the band but I can’t remember if he said his role was Off-Peak Railcard, Family Railcard, Student Railcard or Senior Railcard? Talking of which, I was gutted they had sold out of the plastic Railcard railcard holders, a brilliant idea for band merchandise. I’m sure they have now gone on to be much sought-after collector’s items; I shall not rest until I have trawled eBay and spent my life’s savings on one. They play a great cover of Dandy Livingstone’s “Think About That” and close the set with the hypnotic "Disco Loadout" and the warm applause from the crowd fills the room. There’s something totally addictive about Railcard, something uplifting and refreshing – they will leave a smile on your face and a promise to yourself to bust out some Northern Soul shapes as soon as you get home. Well, once you’ve had a sit down and a nice cup of cocoa that is.

Rachel Love of Railcard and her former Dolly Mixture colleague Debsey Wykes

Next up is Helen McCookerybook, formerly of Indie-Pop pioneers The Chefs, who treated us to a thoroughly entertaining set. Starting off alone with the beautifully evocative “London” she is then joined by Robert Rotifer on guitar and vocals and Ruth Tidmarsh on bass and vocals and their harmonies have a real chemistry that ooze warmth. My personal highlight was “Three Cheers For Toytown”. Helen explains at the start “usually we have Terry Edwards playing trumpet but he’s off playing with The Nightingales, so we’re going to hum his parts. “Sixties Man” is another great moment, as is the audience participation on “The Sea”. Helen has an engaging presence, and her voice really draws you in and it’s no wonder she got a fantastic reaction from the crowd.

Would-Be-Goods open the set with the brilliant “The Morning After” which has a chorus that reminds me of The Monochrome Set, not surprising as to singer Jessica Griffin’s right stands the always impressively impassive Andy Warren (of Monochrome Set and before that, the original Adam & The Ants) nonchalantly spinning out some superb bass lines on his trademark Rickenbacker. There’s also a big link between the two bands, Bid and Co. were the backing band on Would-Be-Goods early releases and Peter Momtchiloff, now on stage with his guitar, was in Bid’s side project, Scarlet’s Well. On drums and vocals is Debbie Greensmith from Thee Headcoatees and Ye Nuns and that completes a superb line-up. However, similar to Railcard, Would-Be-Goods were also guilty of not playing one of my favourite songs tonight, sadly there’s no “Emmanuelle Beart”, but they are promoting their latest release “Tears Before Bedtime” after all, so some older numbers are bound to be missed out. Anyway, it’s not such a big issue with the new album being so damn good, packed with songs of the quality of “Tears For Leda” with its killer guitar riff intro reminiscent of The Kinks’ “Till The End of The Day”.

Jessica Griffin’s songwriting is something special, she has a knack of transporting you from a summer picnic on the riverbanks of an English university town, punts flowing past and the sound of leather on willow in the background to the cafes and patisseries of Le Marais and the Rive Gauche followed by a stroll past Serge Gainsbourg’s house on Rue de Verneuil. There’s beautifully constructed exotica such as “Madame X” but Jessica can then hit you right in the heart with stripped back, emotionally raw songs like “Heart of Tin” and “Too Old”. They play a good chunk of the new album and despite only listening a few times on-line prior to picking up a vinyl copy on the night, the songs are immediate and you find they are already lodged in your head. “The Gallopers” and “Witch Hazel” are prime example of the wonderful melodies that sound as familiar as most of the old favourites. Talking of which, I moaned about not getting “EB” but the brilliant “Cecil Beaton’s Scrapbook” keeps me quiet and more than makes up for it. “The Camera Loves Me” is another oldie and mighty fine goodie and it’s great to see Debbie singing the backing harmonies with a big smile, glowing with enthusiasm. It was a fantastic set, and I can’t recommend the new album highly enough, it’s an absolute classic. I mentioned this to Andy Warren, and he replied in perfectly deadpan manner, “thanks, yes it’s a cheerful album”. Priceless!

All photos and videos copyright Retro Man Blog 2026. More videos from the gig can be found at our Retro Man Blog YouTube channel here, please subscribe for free to access our whole archive of original live videos. Here are some useful links, please click to investigate further...

Debsey Wykes "Teenage Daydream - We Are The Girls Who Play In A Band" book

Debsey Wykes Q&A on her book “Teenage Daydream” and screening of “Take Three Girls The Dolly Mixture Story” at the ICMP London February 19th 2026

2026-02-21T16:37:00.001+00:00

I went along to the ICMP Music College in Queen’s Park for the first time for a rare screening of “Take Three Girls – The Dolly Mixture Story” directed by Paul Kelly from Heavenly Films and the partner of Debsey Wykes bassist and vocalist with the band, who met when touring as part of St. Etienne’s live line-up. The screening was followed by a Q&A session with author Daniel Rachel interviewing Debsey about her excellent, critically acclaimed autobiography “Teenage Daydream: We Are The Girls Who Play In a Band”. They discussed various key aspects of both the book and the film along with the process of writing and the background of collating all the information from Debsey’s suitcase full of diaries along with the ‘brutal’ editing process. I think it’s testament to Dolly Mixture and their legacy that they set a template for many an all-girl and female fronted Indie-Pop band for years to come. Not just with their vintage 60’s style look and timeless songs of seemingly wide-eyed innocence but that most crucial of things - the classic song writing and gorgeous vocal harmonies, which still sound as fresh today as they ever did. Unfortunately, it’s a sad fact of musical life that true originators and talent often get commercially overshadowed by the impersonators. For example, take three of my favourite bands, The Prisoners, Shack and That Petrol Emotion, they too never hit the mainstream heights that they deserved but were somewhat crushed in the rush to copy their sounds and for record companies to later cash in on the slipstream. I think Dolly Mixture suffered from this too but I sincerely hope that Debsey’s superb book, along with a wider release of the documentary, might go some way to redressing that balance.

Daniel confronts the sexism that the band were subjected to, from the ‘male obnoxiousness’ of the times to the more ingrained discrimination from the record companies and music press in general. There’s a harrowing tale of the time that Debsey was assaulted on stage by a skinhead at a Bad Manners gig which is quite shocking but it’s a reminder of the gig-going times of the late 70’s and early 80’s. Touring with Bad Manners also opened them up to being spat at and being subjected to outbreaks of sieg-heiling from a hostile audience. Bad Manners as a band were very supportive and protective of Dolly Mixture though but it must have been disheartening for the band to have to endure. Although, the sexism they faced from the male dominated music industry was sadly to be expected in those times, what surprised me most is the antagonism and outright hostility they faced from some of their female peers – most noticeably from The Modettes. They think they are in for some welcome support from a female journalist who then proceeds to complete slag the band off for no apparent reason in print. It’s spiteful and unnecessary and you wonder why this kind of bullying would exist, especially towards a band such as Dolly Mixture, who whatever you thought of their music, were hardly controversial or antagonistic.

They did however receive some unexpected support from Captain Sensible, who along with The Damned’s bassist Paul Gray offered to help them in the studio. He then asked them to back him on his new solo career and they eventually reached Number 1 in the charts together with the single “Happy Talk”. This led to various appearances on Top of The Pops and despite Captain generously promoting Dolly Mixture in their own right, they still couldn’t seem to break out. Despite the good intentions and success, maybe it was more a curse than a blessing as they were more likely to get labelled as just the Captain’s backing band. More support came from some very unexpected people such as Eric Faulkner of Bay City Rollers, Dave Goodman the sound engineer for the Sex Pistols and Buffin from Mott the Hoople who all helped them out in the studio. They even wrote a comeback single for the child-star Lena Zavaroni. Terry Hall gave them Single of The Week in Melody Maker and invited them to play with The Fun Boy Three. Paul Weller’s Mum, Ann and Dad, John were also extremely supportive and Debsey talks very warmly about Ann in particular, who she wished had been their manager. Paul Weller signed them to his fledgling label Respond but sadly soon lost interest to concentrate on his next protégé. John Peel was also a huge fan but apparently his producer John Walters hated them and they never got their session repeated, which was very rare. The Undertones continue to cement their place in music history as being the nicest guys in Rock ‘n’ Roll as they offer Dolly Mixture a support slot the very next night after the girls hung around with their demo tape outside a gig in Cambridge. Debsey asked for Damian O’Neill’s autograph and he told her he had loved their Peel Session. “Just bring your guitars to Aylesbury Friars tomorrow” they said and this led to a proper tour with The Undertones. So despite these welcome offers of generous help and support it’s even more unbelievable why the band could not break out into the mainstream. There’s also the irony of having U2 support them at the Moonlight Club in West Hampstead, a gig that my Blog colleague Rock photographer Paul Slattery attended, they had no idea at the time that U2 would go on to be such global superstars, sometimes there’s no justice!

The book is a charming collection of diary entries, fan letters and reminiscences about what it’s like to form a band, of playing in bedrooms, swapping instruments and taking those first steps out to play live. Debsey captures those innocent times perfectly, of going up to London with a stash of demo tapes and heading to a phone box to call various record companies plucked from the telephone directory. She also discusses the band’s influences such as Glam Rock, The Monkees, Blondie and Debbie Harry, Patti Smith and Poly Styrene of X-Ray Spex and the Ramones. They also started delving back into the 60’s of Bacharach and David, Motown, The Shangri-La’s and the Ronettes and you can see touches of all these in the Dolly Mixture sound. It’s shocking to think Dolly Mixture didn’t even release an official album until their own self-released “Demonstration Tapes” compilation just a year before they called it a day. Even to this day, it’s quite difficult to track down copies of their records and surely, some proper record label with sense should consider a thorough reissue plan.

The Long Play Sessions is a series of talks with musicians and music related authors about their current books held at the ICMP campus in Queen’s Park. They have already hosted Daniel Rachel being interviewed by Miranda Sawyer about his latest book “This Ain’t Rock ‘n’ Roll” and have upcoming talks booked in with Lawrence from Felt and Will Hodgkinson about their superb book “Street Level Superstar”, Keith Cameron on his history of Manic Street Preachers and Melissa Auf Der Maur from Hole and Smashing Pumpkins discussing her forthcoming autobiography. It’s a great venue and Paul Wilson seems to be doing an excellent job in attracting some top names to his sessions and being a music college, of course they have good access to enthusiastic staff and top audio/visual facilities.

For more on Daniel Rachel's books including the superb "Too Much Too Young: The 2 Tone Records Story", please check out his website here.

Ray Stevenson "Not Just Punk" - New Book from the legendary music photographer

2026-01-18T22:22:00.001+00:00

We went along to the Farsight Gallery for the launch party of the new book "Not Just Punk" from legendary music photographer Ray Stevenson. The gallery was packed with familiar faces including some that feature in the book itself including Gaye Black of The Adverts, Neal X of Sigue Sigue Sputnik and Spizzenergi. Also in attendance were Leigh Heggarty of Ruts DC, Tom Crossley of The Phobics, Barrington Francis of The Saints, Anne Pigalle, Chris Musto of Glen Matlock's band, Debsey Wykes of Dolly Mixture, Paul Kelly the Heavenly Films director, Clash DJ Scratchy Sounds, author Daniel Rachel, Roxy club owners Andy Czezowski and Sue Carrington and music photographers Paul Slattery (my Retro Man Blog colleague), Jill Furmanovsky, David Corio and Erica Echenberg. There was a presentation of some of the photos featured in the book and a Q&A session with Ray hosted by Farsight Gallery owner Sean McLusky (Subway Sect and JoBoxers). It was another great event at the Farsight Gallery which is located on Flitcroft Street just off Denmark Street close to the site of our beloved and much-missed 12 Bar Club. I'd recommend signing up to their mailing list as they do put on some superb shows which have previously included Mick Jones Rock 'n' Roll Public Library and the Batcave LP launch party.

Ray Stevenson with his new book "Not Just Punk"

Eric Waring, DJ Scratchy Sounds, Gaye 'Advert' Black and Paul Slattery

Gaye Black of The Adverts

Here's a brief biography of Ray courtesy of the Farsight Gallery...

Ray Stevenson started out as a teenage darkroom apprentice back in mid 1960's London. After meeting with rising folk star Buffy Saint Marie, discovered folk-nights at the Marquee Club, then he was introduced to seminal folk venue Les Cousins by Sandy Denny. Ray became a regular at both of these venues shooting many unknown musicians like Bert Jansch, Roy Harper, Al Stewart, John Martyn, Cat Stevens and Marc Bolan. Stumbling upon a Jimi Hendrix sound-check gave Ray a taste for plugged-in-guitars and opened up another trajectory that resulted in him photographing a much broader range of musicians. His photo ‘The Who at the Marquee 1967’ was used by the Royal Mail in their 2025 commemorative collection. But the Stevenson portfolio went beyond photographing the musicians of the day as his work also featured models, hippies, ballet dancers, the occasional film star and friends. One of those friends was David Bowie, whom Ray shot many pre-glam photos of. None of this activity was enough to pay the rent, so he took a 9-to-5 job in the BBC Open University dark-room.

Sean McLusky (R) interviews Ray

Anne Pigalle with Spizz who features on the book's cover and inside... both photos above by Paul Slattery

Then in early 1976, Ray's brother Nils asked him to take some pictures of a new group called the Sex Pistols. And so began Ray's second wave of live visual work - capturing the nascent Punk movement and the New Wave and Post-Punk scenes that followed it. His photos of the Pistols, Clash, Siouxsie Sioux, Soo Catwoman, Jordan, 2-Tone, Sigue Sigue Sputnik, et al are now rightly seen as iconic and have been used in numerous books, magazines and documentaries. His own photo books - Sex Pistols File, Vacant, the Siouxsie & The Banshees Book and Photopast - sold many thousands of copies worldwide and are regarded as collectors' items. In 2007 Ray was described 'as the most important rock photographer of his generation'. He has now released ’Not Just Punk’, a look back at some of those glorious times and people.

Paul Kelly, Paul Slattery, Daniel Rachel and Debsey Wykes

Paul Slattery, Ray Stevenson and David Corio

You can check out more about Ray Stevenson and his work at his official website here and you can order the book at Amazon here. For more information on the Farsight Gallery please subscribe to their newsletter via their Farsight Collective site here or on Instagram here.

Sex Pistols in Carnaby Street by Ray Stevenson - Courtesy of Farsight Gallery

2026-01-04T17:08:00.000+00:00

Here's just some of our favourite singles, compilation albums and reissues of 2025...

1. The Blue Aeroplanes "Magical Realism The Best of 1985-2025" compilation LP
2. Mozart Estate "Tower Block In a Jam Jar" compilation LP
3. KVNX (Kathy Valentine & Neal X) "I Love You More" single
4. Patti Smith "Horses" 50th anniversary reissue LP
5. Thee Moot "Sweet As Saccharine" single
6. Francoise Hardy "Voila - Best of" compilation LP
7. The Limiñanas & Bobby Gillespie "Prisoner of Beauty" single
8. Bo-Gumbos "Bo & Gumbo" reissue LP
9. The Dear Boys "Put It Down" single
10. The Fall "50,000 Fall Fans Can't Be Wrong" compilation reissue LP
11. The Baby Seals "Tamoo Trance" single
12. The Galileo 7 "Everything To Everything Else" compilation LP
13. R.E.M. "Radio Free Europe" reissue EP
14. Viagra Boys "Consistency of Energy/Call of The Wild" reissue EP
15. Cast with P.P. Arnold "Poison Vine" single
16. The Blue Aeroplanes "Outsider Art, The Other Best of 1985-2025" compilation LP
17. The Penrose Web "It's The Penrose Web" EP
18. The Duke Spirit "Cuts Across The Land" reissue LP
19. The Skids "Radio Sessions 1978-1980" compilation LP
20. The Guy Hamper Trio with James Taylor "Chatham's Burning" EP
21. Jamie Perrett "Age of Reason" single
22. Killer China Dress "Kung Fu Attack" single
23. The 5.6.7.8's with Ludella Black "Beat Girls" EP
24. The Embrooks "Terry and Julie" single
25. The Galileo 7 "Look Away" single

Retro Man Blog's 25 Favourite Albums of 2025

2025-12-31T20:28:00.007+00:00

Happy New Year to all Retro Man Blog supporters, subscribers and contributors. Here's our favourite 25 Albums of 2025, another great year for new music...

1. The Liminanas "Faded"

2 . Mandrake Handshake "Earth Sized Worlds"

3. The Minus 5 "Oar On, Penelope

4. WitchDoktors "Izzatso?"

5. Viagra Boys "Viagr Aboys"

6. David Byrne "Who Is The Sky?"

7. WITCH "Sogolo"

8. Oh! Gunquit "Flex"

9. Sparks "MAD!"

10. The Penrose Web "The Least of Our Concerns"

11. Spiders "Sharp Objects"

12. Jetstream Pony "Bowerbirds and Blue Things"

13. Stereolab "Instant Holograms On Metal Film"

14. The Hives "The Hives Forever Forever The Hives"

15. Robert Forster "Strawberries"

16. The Guy Hamper Trio "Volume IV: The Goddess Tree"

17. Luke Haines & Peter Buck "Going Down To The River To Blow My Mind"

18. The Phobics "Gimme Cyanide"

19. Pink Nun "Pink Nun"

20. John McKay's Reactor "Sixes And Sevens"

21. The Capellas "Untamed"

22. MIEN "MIIEN"

23. Palooka 5 "MetroKino"

24. Paper Lips "Melodic Melancholic"

25. Proper "Meant To Say Something"

Mandrake Handshake - Photos and videos from Fabric London November 26th

2025-11-28T17:09:00.000+00:00

There have been some fanastic albums released this year and we've been to many superb gigs - Mandrake Handshake, the Oxford based nine-piece Psychedelic collective, have been responsible for two of the best. Firstly, their debut LP "Earth-Sized Worlds" set an almost impossibly hard-to-beat standard from as early as it's release back in February, staking a claim for Album of The Year even before the second month was over. Then, finally we just got to see them play live at Fabric at their biggest headlining London show to date and they were even better than expected. Luckily, the stage at Fabric is pretty big so there was plenty of space for the nine bandmates to strut their stuff - Trinity Oksana has the sultry voice of an angel, next to her is the looming prescence of Elvis Thirlwell, the band's Joel Gion, on general vibes, tambourine and various items of percussion including a good old-fashioned triangle at one point. The other side of Trinity is Rudy Mae Symonds who adds some wonderful backing vocal harmonies and at the far end is the super-cool Row Janjuah on some pretty impressive lead guitar. A superb rhythm section is augmented by keyboards, synths, rhythm guitar, flute and sax and it all makes for a stunning aural and visual assault on the senses.

This most exotic and eclectic of bands conjures up some truly mesmerising music and as they drop the word 'motorik' into the lyrics of one of the many highlights "Hypersonic Super-Asterid" - you can see they are clearly influenced by the driving hypnotic drum beats of Can - they have even cleverly labelled themselves as 'flowerkraut' - which sums them up perfectly. I love the Eastern guitar riff intro to "The Change and The Changing" which is a beautifully pastoral piece of Tropicalia and the single "King Cnut" is a laid-back delight. I think if you have any albums that feature Ardneks cover art then you won't go far wrong with Mandrake Handshake - they have certain similarities with Moon Duo and Flamingods but I also see touches of the Anatolian Psych of Lalalar and Gaye Su Akyol and the sitar driven music of Karma Sheen or Rishi Dhir's Elephant Stone and Mien. Of course, named as they are after a Brian Jonestown Massacre song, there is a certain influence there but probably more from the 2012-15 albums "Aufheben", "Revelation" and "Pish" (from where the "Mandrake Handshake" track appears). There's also a bit in common with Anton Newcombe's L'Épée collaboration with The Limiñanas but all in all this wide musical palette is moulded into a unique sound that is all of Mandrake Handshake's own creation. A quite wonderful gig draws to a close and the audience gives them a truly well deserved and rousing send-off. I'm pleased I got the chance to see Mandrake Handshake in a venue of this size as I'm sure it won't be long until they are packing out far bigger places. Please check out their Bandcamp page here to buy their records and for more information, please visit the band's Facebook page here.

Thunderbirds at 60 - Exhibition and Presentation with Dee Anderson, Mary Turner & David Hicks at Slough Museum

2025-11-24T20:58:00.002+00:00

Slough Museum has been running an excellent exhibition to celebrate 60 years of Thunderbirds since early October with various regularly changing displays and happenings along the way. Sunday November 23rd saw the biggest event so far where a capacity crowd was treated to presentations and Q&A sessions with Dee Anderson, the daughter of the show's creators Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, puppeteer Mary Turner and cameraman and director of photography David Hicks. There were fascinating insights from all three speakers into the making of the iconic Sci-Fi series packed with behind the scenes information, anecdotes and technical information. Dee explained fondly what it was like growing up in such a creative family and admitted it did make her popular with her classmates. She also told us how the character of Parker was inspired by a waiter in a local pub who had once been a butler for the Queen and she spoke warmly about the musical maestro Barry Gray, who provided so many of those magical theme tunes. An audience member chipped in with the link between Barry Gray and The Who, which of course was of particular interest to me. Mary explained how she created those wonderful puppets and that Sylvia was especially fond of Lady Penelope when she saw how the design resembled her looks.

David worked on the anniversary episodes and talked about the technical side incuding the various cameras, lighting and special effects. Of course, in those days there was no digitial film or CGI, everything was strictly analog and do it yourself. Apparently, David is writing a book about his experiences which will be something to keep an eye out for. There were also some former Century 21 employees in attendance and it was nice to see them enjoying the reunion with their colleagues. The museum, which is located on Slough Trading Estate just around the corner from the Anderson's original AP Films/Century 21 Studios, has some fantastic displays of puppets, stage sets, posters, comics, toys and memorabilia that will delight the die-hard fan along with the more curious visitor. The Museum Manager, staff and volunteers were all excellent and deserve a lot of credit for a thoroughly entertaining day.

The Exhibition runs until December 20th and is open Fridays 11am-4pm and Saturdays 10am-2pm but please check with the museum before visiting. For more information on Thunderbirds check out the web-site here and for all your merchandise needs, please visit the Gerry Anderson Store here. Here are some more photos...

WitchDoktors "Izzatso?" - Feature on the New Album with Photos, Videos and Tour Dates

2025-11-07T16:34:00.000+00:00

WitchDoktors released their long-awaited brand new album "Izzatso?" on Halloween via Bomber Music, and if you're after vinyl then you can choose from three appropriately spooky coloured discs - either blood splattered, pumpkin or black and gold swirl vinyl. There's a tendency for music journalists to reach for the same old cliches when reviewing new albums, four lazy phrases such as 'best album of their career', 'return to form', 'all killer no filler', 'every track could be a single' spring to mind. Luckily, I'm not a music journalist so let's just deconstruct those cliches for a moment... First of all, yes, I'd say that "Izzatso?" is the best album of WitchDoktors' near-30 year career to date. I say that with a slight caveat though because there's always an initial rush of excitement when you give a new record by one of your favourite bands its first spin. When it's as good as "Izzatso?" there's a kind of relief that the band haven't let you down and then, after more plays, it dawns on you that this could well be an absolute classic in the band's impressive back catalogue.

Next cliche - 'return to form' - if I was in a band I'd be pretty insulted when journos drop this phrase into a review as it's kind of implying the last release was basically crap! This definitely doesn't apply to WitchDoktors, for as great as "Izzatso?" is the band have never been out of form and it would be doing a huge injustice to previous albums such as "Voodoo Eye" or "$3 Hooker". However, "Izzatso?" does contain all the best elements of WitchDoktors crammed into it's eleven superb songs, capturing the very essence of the band perfectly. The album kicks off with a drumbeat and a distant 1,2,3,4 before "Lightning Strike" zooms in on a wicked Bo Diddley beat overlaid by some excellent slide guitar courtesy of special guest Leigh Heggarty from Ruts DC. "Before The War" one of the sides of the debut single from the album has already established itself as a bit of a WitchDoktors classic with it's memorable singalong chorus.

Of course WitchDoktors are steeped in the influence of The Clash, particularly that period when they threw off the shackles of Punk Rock and embraced American roots music with the "London Calling" album. So, WitchDoktors also cherry pick from the raw Country of Johnny Cash, fuzzed up 60's Garage Rock nuggets, the swampy Blues of Gun Club and The Cramps to the downtown New York sleaze of The Heartbreakers. WitchDoktors dressed in their bowling shirts, shades and trilby hats look cool, like a gang, just like a real band should and live, they are a supercharged blur of energy, they know the score. Frontman Andy Last and guitarist Tony Major certainly know how to work a crowd and engage with them in concert and they've managed to truly capture that dynamic on record with "Izzatso?", the guitar work is stunning throughout and Andy has never sounded in better voice. Among their contemporaries I guess Jim Jones shares similar ideals, in fact next track "High, Dry and Burnt" reminds me of his current outfit, Jim Jones All Stars, with a menacing bassline courtesy of Lee Page and brass section. Also similar to Jim Jones, WitchDoktors do love their Rock 'n' Roll myths and legends too - railway tracks, whiskey, movie stars, murder ballads, voodoo, neck tattoos and tiki bars - it's all there in their albums but "Izzatso?" adds in more thoughtful subjects such as PTSD and environmental and climate issues. Next cliche up, 'all killer, no filler' - well that's definitely true, every song is well worth its inclusion, nothing overstays its welcome.

One of WitchDoktors biggest talents is their understanding of the dynamics of Rock 'n' Roll, on record and in concert. Live, they know how to pace a show, build the tension and when to release it. Same on their records and with "Izzatso?" in particular, the track-listing is perfectly plotted with songs that are buzzing with ideas, genres, riffs and harmonies. To get the full effect you've got to play it from side one, song one all the way through and it all makes perfect sense. Back to The Clash and WitchDoktors have also taken their love of Reggae and similar to The Ruts really make it work. This is no doubt thanks mainly to Joe Colfar who is certainly one of the best drummers around with an instinctive feel for the genre as you can hear on the brilliant "Spanner In The Works". Then there's "Freedom Fighter" which wouldn't be out of place on Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros "Global A-Go-Go" album it's that good. The final cliche I picked on was 'every song could be a single' - possibly, although I have one reservation in the slightly downbeat closing track "Kicking The Can" which in context of the album works perfectly well but I'm not sure it would fare as a stand-alone single.

However, WitchDoktors have already got a head start with the release of the stunning 7" vinyl single "Before The War"/"Spanner In The Works" which is a tour-de-force double shot of Punk and Reggae that must rank up there among the very best double A-sided singles of all time. Talking of singles, "One Shot" would make another great one with it's wah-wah guitar and some superb drumming from Joe. "Planet of Pain" is a blistering quintessential WitchDoktors number that rubs leather clad shoulders next to my favourites "I'm Sick" and "No Pain No Gain". It blasts off like Rocket From The Crypt with some cool brass and Andy's rasping voice, not to forget a great bass riff and guitar freakout that will have you leaping about the room like crazy. "Jezebel" is a tuneful Pop Punk number with some nice Buzzcocks "ooh ooh" backing harmonies and the stabbing rhythm guitar of "God Knows" continues with this more melodic lighthearted side of the band. Then they up the tempo with the excellent "Candy Star" which surfs in on a naggingly catchy Pixies style guitar riff, I love this track.

The album closes with the afore-mentioned "Kicking The Can" which starts off in the backstreets of Paris with its mournful accordion before mariachi trumpets and twanging guitars transform the song into an evocative Spaghetti Western number. It's a slightly unassuming ending to the album but I guess it's good to have a bit of an atmospheric comedown after all the undoubted highs of a quite brilliant record. With "Izzatso?" it's like the band have been slowly building up to creating this masterpiece, an all-time classic album that will proudly sit alongside all the favourites in your collection. I'm just wondering how the hell WitchDoktors are going to better it? Here's a little bonus - The Voodoo Eye (WitchDoktors with special guests) performing "Suffragette City" with Stevie Savage and Nicky Forbes from The Revillos at the Retro Man Blog Birthday Gig and Alzheimer's Society Fundraiser, Half Moon Putney back in September.

The band will head off on tour to promote the album so please check out the official WitchDoktors Facebook page here for more details. You can order "Izzatso?" on CD, download or your choice of coloured vinyl at their Bandcamp site here. Check out our YouTube channel Retromanblog65 for loads of original WitchDoktors videos including their special appearance at the Retro Man Blog Birthday Gig & Fundraiser at the Half Moon Putney back in September. Videos and photos by Retro Man Blog and Ruth Rae.

Bobbie Dazzle at The Lower Third, London October 24th by David Leach

2025-10-31T18:29:00.000+00:00

Once upon a time a review in the Melody Maker or a few listens to a new artist on late night BBC Radio 1 were enough for me to think about attending a gig. Nowadays in an age of a more fragmented media it's a sponsored Facebook advert for a new artist that brings me out to a gig in Central London. First, a little bit about the location. I used to come here not so long ago when it was the ‘12 Bar Club’, an iconic, small ‘spit and sawdust’ Rock and Roll venue that hosted mainly Punk bands. Its closure was met with understandable dismay as it went hand in hand with the gentrification of the whole area and there was a genuine feeling by many that a part of ‘Old London’ had been erased. The venue is now reopened, refurbished and renamed as ‘The Lower Third’ and has a very different appearance and ‘vibe’ to the 12 Bar. I'm guessing the name is a reference to the early David Bowie band name. Initial impression is it’s a very smart looking venue and the upgrade is actually really good - the original ‘12 Bar’ music room was built around an ancient forge, which now forms the smaller upstairs music hall while you have to go down a flight of stairs of Wetherspoons proportions to get to the newly created main venue where I am attending tonight's show. Bobbie Dazzle is the artists name and she and the musicians in her band hail from the Midlands, an area known for great Rock bands such as Slade, Wizzard, ELO and Black Sabbath. Musically, the apple hasn't fallen far from the tree and it's not an exaggeration to say they give all those great bands a run for their money during tonight's performance which features a set mainly consisting of their 2024 debut LP "Fandabidozi" plus both tracks from new single "Spotlight".

Set opener "Flowers on Mars" makes me immediately realise that it was a great decision to dive further into that Facebook advert. Bobbie’s powerful rock vocal is an immediate attention grabber with the fabulous chorus (which becomes a theme) putting me in mind of the 5th Dimension's "Aquarius", the song pounds along with some great guitar flourishes and keyboard runs; it’s more Psychedelic Pop Rock than the advertised Glam Rock but rather wonderful all the same. We are hit with more and more ear worm rock tunes - "Merry-Go-Round' (another great chorus) has flashes of ‘Prog’ in its construction and a rather fetching flute solo from Bobbie herself. The music has many influences that work side by side with one another without getting in each other's way, the Glam Rock vibe doesn't feel forced or awkward or indeed a pastiche or a micky take, it feels genuine, cool and original. "Back to the City" (another great chorus) is the closest tonight gets to Glam Rock with the call and repeat nature of the chorus getting stuck in the brain - real ABBA vibes with this one and the same again with "Magic of Music" (another great and rather grand chorus) which Benny and Bjorn would have been proud of….which is funny as not long afterwards they throw in an ABBA cover, "Watch Out".

Bobbie announces the end of the hour-long show by saying they've played all their songs, but to expect a new album in the new year. She follows this by explaining the process behind her writing the last song of the set "Lightning Fantasy"; finding a page of lyrics written by her late father amongst his record collection, she has worked his words into this song which kicks off like Motorhead and stays at the same pace throughout while highlighting Bobbie's soaring vocals. It's a powerful and spectacular show closer. Whilst it's fair to say Bobbie is the focal point of the show, her band were fantastic, putting in a tight dynamic and versatile performance. All that remained for me to do was to purchase the new single "Spotlight" and say a few words of praise for such a great show to Bobbie on the way out while she signed it. It was great to see a ‘busy’ venue for what turns out to be Bobbie Dazzle's first headlining gig in London, and I suspect that she and her band will be a ‘hot ticket’ in an even busier venue when they return.

- Words, video and live photos by David Leach, October 2025

For more information on Bobbie Dazzle, please check out their official web-site here.

Glen Matlock "I Was A Teenage Sex Pistol" Documentary Screening and Q&A at The Barbican Centre, Thursday October 23rd

2025-10-25T12:03:00.004+01:00

Last night, we went along to the first screening of the new Glen Matlock documentary "I Was A Teenage Sex Pistol" at the Barbican Centre, part of the excellent Doc 'n' Roll Film Festival. The movie was followed by a Q&A session with Glen and directors, Nick Mead and Andre Relis being interviewed and taking questions from the audience. The documentary is based on Glen's memoir "I Was A Teenage Sex Pistol", telling his often overlooked side of the story, his part in the formation of the Pistols and his contribution to the song-writing of many of those classic tracks. Glen explains how he got to work with Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood in their Kings Road store Let It Rock which would evolve into a hangout for disaffected local youth including Steve Jones and Paul Cook. He explains how the Pistols got together and the personal dynamics that made the band so unique. More poignantly he discusses the negative impact of the infamous appearance on the Bill Grundy TV show and the frustration he felt in not being able to get out there and play, which was always his priority.

Chris Musto, Neal X from Glen's band, Glen and Kathy Valentine from The Go-Go's

The machinations going on behind his back to get John Lydon's mate Sid Vicious in to replace him and Malcolm's preposterous press release to say he had been sacked for "liking the Beatles" is something that clearly still rankles. I guess his book and this movie must go someway to putting those demons to rest and he also busts some long standing myths about his relationships with Sid, his bandmates and manager. Although of course the movie concentrates on the Pistols, it does touch on his musical career after he left the band such as his time with The Rich Kids, touring with Iggy Pop and Blondie and his solo music too. "I Was A Teenage Sex Pistol" paints a picture of a man who basically just wants to get out there and play, to experience the shared joy of performing and writing music with like-minded people. Throughout the movie there are enlightening interviews with some impressive guests including Steve Jones, Paul Cook, Billy Idol, Debbie Harry, Chris Stein and Clem Burke, Dead Boys guitarist Cheetah Chrome, Kenney Jones from The Who and Neal X. In fact Neal was there at the screening along with drummer Chris Musto, both from Glen's current band. Also in attendance were Kathy Valentine from The Go-Go's, Billy Doherty from The Undertones and Tony Major from The WitchDoktors.

For more info on the Doc 'n' Roll Film Festival please check out their web-site here. For news and information on Glen Matlock's current recordings and gigs etc. please check out his official web-site. You can see a feature on his superb gig at The 100 Club in London earlier this year with Kathy Valentine supporting in our Blog archive here.