Author Archive
16 May 2011
Album Review: Sweet – Action: The Sweet Anthology
Today Nicky Chinn turns 66. Songwriter, producer, svengali, Chinn is known for a lot of things, most notably being one of the prime movers behind The Sweet. Here’s a review […]
13 May 2011
Reconsider, Baby: Captain Sensible’s “The Universe of Geoffrey Brown”
This feature is now serving as the basis of a longer, more in-depth discussion of the album in a chapter of Bill Kopp’s upcoming book, What’s the Big Idea: 30 […]
12 May 2011
Martin Newell interview, part 3
Continued from part two… Bill Kopp: The Cleaners From Venus enjoyed – or endured — a brush with the big time in the UK around the release of ‘Ilya Kuryakin […]
11 May 2011
Martin Newell Interview, part 2
Continued from Part One… Bill Kopp: Are there any real drums on English Electric? Martin Newell: Bits and pieces, yes. You know, I never spilled the beans about what happened […]
10 May 2011
Finally, a Reliable English Electric: A Conversation with Martin Newell (part one)
I recently enjoyed the rare treat of a lively and wide-ranging conversation with Martin Newell. He’s largely unknown to American pop audiences, and that’s quite a shame. His music is […]
09 May 2011
Album Review: R&B Spotlight ‘60
Nineteen-sixty might not be the first year that comes to mind when you think of compelling music making the charts. But a new collection from the estimable folks at UK-based […]
06 May 2011
Ivan Julian Makes Some Noise, Part Two
Continued from Part One… Ivan Julian muses, “When a lot of guitarists from bands finally make their solo album, there’s not a lot of guitar on the record! They’re trying […]
05 May 2011
Ivan Julian Makes Some Noise, Part One
When people think of the leading lights of the New York punk/new wave scene of the 70s, Richard Hell and the Voidoids surely come to mind. And deservedly so: their […]
04 May 2011
Album Review: Fairport Convention – Ebbets Field 1974
First, a few words about what this isn’t: While it’s Fairport Convention, it not the earliest lineup featuring Richard Thompson; it’s a later aggregation of the band, but most of […]
03 May 2011
Album Review: The Genuine Fakes
Will Owsley (known as just plain Owsley) was a tragically underrated powerpop musician of the highest order. As an early collaborator with Zak Starkey (Ringo’s son and later drummer for […]