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Friday, 7 August 2009

Could we finally have a cool supergroup again?

It sounds as though it cant be a bad thing but how many times have you heard the word supergroup only to be let down by what was eventually offered to the fans? It seems simple enough to take a bunch of talented musicians and have them make some music that everyone will love but somewhere along the way, supergroups stopped becoming fun. Back in the 1960s, Neil Young would be popping up everywhere and the tapes of John Lennon jamming with Keith Richards, Eric Clapton and Mitch Mitchell as Dirty Mac are still revered today. At the time, that band pulled members from The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Cream and The Jimi Hendrix Experience but the era of the supergroup hasn’t been as exciting since then but that may be changing sometime soon.
Even jaded rock fans would have raised an eyebrow at the news that Dave Grohl, Josh Homme and John Paul Jones are going to work together in a group called Them Crooked Vultures. There hasn’t been much music working its way from the band yet but there has been a promise to not suck and if they achieve that, then they will probably be a bigger success than many peoples previous attempts to pull together a supergroup.
Dave Grohl certainly needs no introduction having been in two of the biggest bands of the last two decades. When Kurt Cobain took his own life and ended the career of Nirvana, you would not have put too much money on the drummer going off to become the biggest success of all the group. That is exactly what has transpired with Grohl dropping the drum sticks and picking up guitar and forming the Foo Fighters. The first Foo Fighters record was practically a solo lp in all but name but since then they have evolved into stadium rockers extraordinaire. That has kept Grohl rather busy but he has found time to hook up with some other bands with one of the most popular being with the Queens of The Stone Age.
Grohl joined with Homme and Nick Oliveri, and Mark Lanegan on a few numbers, for the phenomenal ‘Songs For The Deaf’ record so there is a previous working relationship between the two as well. Grohl also provides the link to the other member of the new group as rumours persisted that he would be the man to complete a reunion of another well revered rock n roll band.
When the Led Zeppelin reunion tour rumours were starting to build, the talk was about who would replace John Bonham on drums and Dave Grohl was heavily tipped to take on the mammoth role. We all know that Bonhams son eventually took the chair but perhaps something stuck with John Paul Jones. Grohl may not be playing with Robert Plant or Jimmy Page but he will get the chance to play behind their bass player, which is much more than most rock n roll fans will ever get to do.
Who knows if Them Crooked Vultures will be a success but it can only be hoped they do because with the talent at their disposal, they could be just what the genre needs.

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Tuesday, 4 November 2008

Led Zeppelin to tour without Percy?

So Led Zeppelin are planning on touring without Robert Plant… arghhh! Sacrilege I hear you all cry, and at first I thought so too. Personally I think it is just a ploy to attempt to kick Robert Plant in to action, but if it did get to the point of going out on the road without Percy, it would be horrible to see one person picked out and held aloft as ‘The New Singer Of Led Zeppelin’, after all, no one could be that.

However, I had a plan – so if you are listening Mr Page and Mr Jones (assuming that young Jason doesn’t get a say in the absence of dad John) after hearing all the rumours (Steve Tyler, David Coverdale etc) it got me to thinking that they should go down the route taken by MC5 (although in a bigger scale than the proto-punk legends) and get in a range of different singers. Not necessarily all on the same night, but get in great singers for just a few dates.

Led Zeppelin are one of the few bands that could do it as their back catalogue is so well known and every man and his dog holds them up as a great influence that they could get the best singers and front men in the world in for a handful of gigs so it wouldn't interfere with existing commitments. Just look at how well Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins went down with JP and JPJ at the Foo Fighters show at Wembley earlier this year.

This would also keep the integrity in tact, as it wouldn't be like any single singer was being touted as a replacement for Plant. It would be more like saying that the guy is irreplaceable so let other great singers put their spin on the songs.

No doubt some people would hate it, but it would be great going to go to see ‘Led Zeppelin’ and not know who you are getting, only for Steve Tyler to show up one night or people that you might never usually bother consider watching go at it without their own agenda. I would never usually go and see Meatloaf for example, but I could imagine him doing a stunning job as a one off. Or even some soul singer. After all, every one said Jay-Z would fail dismally at Glastonbury this year, but he received unanimous praise afterwards.

I don’t want to see Jack White, Eddie Vedder as the replacement for Robert Plant, but would love to see them doing a few tracks. Hell, maybe if they got it right then Plant could do a slot himself. It would mean that someone like Steve Tyler could do it in between Aerosmith commitments, whilst also throwing in some unknowns or really left field choices. It would be like the greatest Led Zeppelin Tribute Show. You could even tailor it to different markets. So in Australia they could wheel out Jimmy Barnes, Bryan Adams in Canada or even something as weird as Prince doing a couple of dates in Minneapolis (so long as no idiot thought it would be a good idea to get James Blunt or Robbie Williams involved in the UK).

Anyway, I would still much rather that if it was to happen then Robert Plant did it himself, but if he is determined to duck out, then let’s hope they do it right.

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Thursday, 23 October 2008

The Great Gig Debate - Wish you were there?

There is a post on http://www.thisdayinmusic.com/ asking visitors to vote on the greatest ever live band. I gave this a quick thought and it got me to thinking what a daft question it is. You can ask what you think the greatest band is or what the greatest single, album, live album etc is as you can listen to all the evidence and judge from there. But even if like me your gig count is probably north of 200 shows, how can anyone judge this unless they have been to 1000s – and even then, they haven’t been to everything. Maybe one of the top photographers can judge or a leading journo, but even then they are bound to be prone to a bit of showboating – after all if you have a reputation to maintain, few people are going to say that Status Quo at Cambridge Corn Exchange in the mid-90s was better than Led Zeppelin at Knebworth, even if they did find themselves nodding off during the JPJ’s bass solo, but could have happily kept Rocking All Over The World for many more hours.

So I thought about it from my point of view…..

Skid Row were certainly the most consistent live band I ever saw. Between 88 and 93 I must have seen them 8 o 9 times and they were outstanding on every occasion. Aerosmith were brilliant most of the times I have seen them, but a bit predictable on others. Love/Hate were another fantastic live experience in the early 90’s and deserved full marks every time I saw them, same with the Wildhearts and Wolfsbane, while Motley Crue ranged between "could do better" and possibly the best gig I have ever been to when I saw their secret ‘Four Skins’ show at the Marquee (you can see me on their Anarchy In The UK/USA video). The Foo Fighters at Wembley this year when they wheeled on Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones was a phenomenal gig - if for no other reason than I expected it to be no more than an OK show. Then you have Bruce Springsteen, a man that puts more into a concert than I have ever seen from anyone else, but by the same token The Ramones tended to put in 45 minutes and then sod off (although on the Adios Amigos tour they did put in 2 hours plus) so does that make one a better live band than the other? Does any of this make any of them better than Led Zeppelin or Queen? Maybe not, but how can I tell as I never saw Queen or Led Zep?

Then of course there are Guns N' Roses that if I went on their performances in 1988, were amazing. However, if I go on seeing them at the back end of the Use Your Illusions tour then they were dreadful. Then as an Axl solo project they were arguably tighter than at any other time I saw them, but could I say Guns N’ Roses at Hammersmith in 2007 (or was it 2006? I forget, time flies when you get older) with only Axl from the original line was actually a better gig than when Slash and Duff were still on-board?

But if I had to nail my colours to one band holding better live memories for me it is AC/DC. Great indoors at theatres and arena, while at Donington they were simply magnificent. But is that nostalgia speaking or was that show that AC/DC recorded for their AC/DC Live at Donington album and video actually one of the greatest gigs ever?

I have been to a lot of gigs, but not nearly enough to judge this sort of thing. There again I am probably better placed than the kids that went to see Green Day at Milton Keynes poll a couple of years back and then voted it as Kerrang! Magazine's greatest ever concert. I am sure Billie Joe and the boys were pretty damn good if you were there, but if that genie popped out of the lamp and said "Alex, last wish, now choose a gig you wish you had been at" then I doubt it would have been that. So that is probably the point I am getting at – that the poll should be "What gig do you wish you had been at?"

I might say The Who at Charlton Athletic, but was that because of my dad banging on about how great it was or because it was their finest moment? Would I choose Woodstock, Monterey Pop, Isle of Wight or Altamont because of their cultural significance? Seeing Bruce Springsteen at Hammersmith in 1975 as he toured Born To Run would have to come close to the top. With the likes of Freddie Mercury, Bon Scott and Phil Lynott dead before I was able to see them, how could I pass that sort of opportunity by? The Rolling Stones at the Marquee, The Beatles at the Cavern, Sex Pistols at the 100 Club or New York Dolls at Max’s Kansas City may or may not have been great shows, but should I choose one of them for their ‘I Was There’ bragging rights? I wouldn’t say no to seeing Elvis or The Rat Pack in the Las Vegas prime either, but would they be top of the list? There is a chance that I would correct one of my few regrets in life – when I passed on a ticket to see Nirvana at the Astoria because a girl I was trying to bang wanted to see Slayer and Mind Funk at Hammersmith (no, since you asked, to make matters worse I didn’t get a result with the girl)

I have no idea and it would be a struggle if such a situation arose, but if anyone knows of a genie then I would happily take on such a task.

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Tuesday, 21 October 2008

LYRIC T-SHIRTS

When we started doing Lyric T-shirts the response was fantastic. Customers really loved the style and concept as it gave them a subtle alternative to other T-shirts. Unlike our usual image T-shirts which are screen printed, the lyric T-shirts are digitally cut from flex vinyl. This gives them a super sharp edge, which is not suitable for the artwork of our image T-shirts, but makes the lyrics look fantastic on the T-shirts.

At present we have 60 or so lyric T-shirts available - I would say from A to Z, but it actually only from A to W - although I think we will do an XTC or X-Ray Spex T-shirt as well as a Zappa or ZZ Top lyric T-shirt just so we can....

So which lyric T-shirt do we have?
AC/DC - Highway to Hell
AC/DC - Whole Lotta Rosie
Adam & the Ants - Prince Charming
Adam & the Ants - Ant Music
Aerosmith - Love In An Elevator
Beastie Boys - Fight For Your Right (To Party)
Black Sabbath - Paranoid
Blur - Boys & Girls
Bob Dylan - Subterranean Homesick Blues
Bob Marley - No Woman No Cry
Boomtown Rats - I Don't Like Mondays
Bruce Springsteen - Born To Run
David Bowie - Life on Mars
Don McLean - American Pie
The Doors - Break On Through
Foo Fighters - Monkey Wrench
Foo Fighters - Best of You
Genesis - Lamb Lies Down On Broadway
Genesis - Ripples
Green Day - Basket Case
Guns N' Roses - Paradise City
Happy Mondays - Kinky Afro
Iggy and the Stooges - Search & Destroy
Iron Maiden - Run To The Hills
Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah (also doubles as a Leonard Cohen T-shirt)
Jimi Hendrix - Purple Haze
Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart
Kate Bush - Wuthering Heights
Led Zeppelin - Stairway to Heaven
Led Zeppelin - Black Dog
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Freebird
Madness - House of Fun
Metallica - Enter Sandman
Metallica - Master of Puppets
Motorhead - Ace of Spades
Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
Oasis - Champagne Supernova
Patti Smith - Gloria
Pearl Jam - Alive
Pink Floyd - Another Brick In The Wall
Pink Floyd - Comfortably Numb
Pogues - Fairytale of New York
Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
Queens of the Stoneage - No One Knows
Radiohead - Paranoid Android
Rage Against The Machine - Killing In The Name
REM - Everybody Hurts
REM - Losing My Religion
Rolling Stones - (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
Sex Pistols - Anarchy In The UK
The Smiths - This Charming Man
The Sweet - Blockbuster
T-Rex - 20th Century Boy
Thin Lizzy - The Boys Are Back In Town
Tom Waits - Tom Traubert's Blues
The Who - My Generation
The Who - Pinball Wizard
The Wildhearts - Greetings From Shitsville

There will be loads more over the next few days, weeks and months. We have so many more ideas from so many different bands and genres. Indeed if you have any ideas, then let us know

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