November 27:
♫ Hello again dear AAA reader and welcome to another week of news, views and music. While you’re busy pulling up a chair and squinting at your computer screen, we’ll get on with the business of telling you what we’ve been up to this week. Well, we put together a rather fetching promo for the website to be shown on Youtube – but our computer crashed; we tried to put together another list of rare albums for our Amazon readers – but our computer crashed; we tried to hunt for another web host to put our website on – but our computer crashed; we then gave up on the whole thing and decided to have fun cooking virtual pizzas on facebook – but our computer crashed; in the end we said ‘the heck with it’ and read a biography of John Lennon instead. But we do still have our Youtube clip ready to play and will let you know when its uploaded so you can all go and see us and support the site. Till then, it’s on with the news section...
♫ Belle and Sebastian News: According to the B and S fansite, the band have been busy gathering material for their first album in what will be four years and are due to go back into the recording studio in the new year. We were mentioning just a few issues ago how quiet B and S suddenly were and after the various band members had scattered off to record solo albums and play with Snow Patrol it seemed that B and S were all over, so that’s very welcome new indeed. More news if and when we hear it!
♫ Johnny Cash/Neil Young News: We don’t always mention what Johnny Cash’s estate has been up to seeing as he’s not a fully fledged AAA member (although his catalogue seems to be busier than ever since Johnny’s sad death in 2004), but UK viewers keep your eyes peeled for a second Johnny Cash night on BBC4 this week! Documentaries this time around include the first TV showing of the previously DVD-only ‘Folsom Prison Album’ documentary, looking at the making of Johnny’s most influential album of 1968. There will also be an hour compilation of highlights from the sadly short-lived Johnny Cash Show that ran from 1968-70 which will definitely feature Neil Young singing ‘The Needle And The Damage Done’ according to all the usual TV guides and may also feature The Monkees singing ‘Nine Times Blue’ from 1969 as well (although that might just be wishful thinking on our part!)
♫ Oasis News: Further confirmation that Oasis really have split for good this time is the news that Liam Gallagher is busy recording a solo LP for release sometime in the new year. Liam is using the rest of Oasis as his backing band but understandably is not featuring brother Noel – further blurring the lines as to why the band have really split (according to Noel they were all fed up of Liam’s being late and drunk for gigs and showing disinterest in recording). More news if and when.
♫ Cat Stevens News: And in a good fortnight for television, Yusuf Islam – formerly known as Cat Stevens – will be appearing in an episode of channel 4’s ‘Live At Abbey Road’ series in the early hours of Saturday night> Sunday Morning (November 28th/29th).
♫ Neil Young News: Wow. I mean wow. Neil Young’s ridiculously-expensive-on-DVD-so-amazingly-I-don’t-own-it acoustic concert film ‘Heart Of Gold’ is to receive its terrestrial premiere on Channel 4 on the Afternoon of Saturday, December 5th. Next you’ll be telling me Neil’s 1972 film ‘Journey Through The Past’ will be getting its television premiere. No? Didn’t think so somehow, but ‘Heart Of Gold’ is a nice treat all the same, reuniting Neil with much of the Nashville musicians and audience he made with his best-selling album ‘Harvest’.
♫ ANNIVERSARIES: Many happy returns of the dates section to the following AAA luminaries (November 27th-December 3rd): Gilbert O’Sullivan who turns 63 on December 1st and Chris Hillman (bassist with The Byrds 1965-68 and guitarist with Manassas 1972-74) who turns 67 on December 4th. Anniversaries of events include: The Beatles release the double EP set ‘Magical Mystery Tour’, a full month before the TV special of the same name is given a screening on Boxing Day (November 27th 1967); The Rolling Stones record their infamous live LP ‘Get Yer Ya-Yas Out!’ during a four-day stay at Madison Square Garden (November 27th-30th 1969); John Lennon gives his last ever live show – singing three songs as special guest at an Elton John show in Madison Square Garden. It’s also the night he gets back together with Yoko after their ‘lost weekend’ (November 28th 1974); On the same day in 1968 Lennon causes controversy with the release of the ‘Two Virgins’ record and its full frontal cover and Lennon becomes the first Beatle to be fined for drugs possession (November 29th 1968); Paul McCartney doesn’t have much of a better time on November 30th, when Wings’ second ever single becomes their second to be banned from airplay for ‘suggestive lyrics’ (‘Hi! Hi! Hi!’, released in 1972); Lennon then releases ‘Happy Xmas (War Is Over)’ in 1971 – contrary to popular opinion, it’s a huge flop at first – mainly because its released too late in the day for Christmas airplay; The Monkees break the American record for most #1 LPs in a single year when 4th release ‘Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn and Jones LTD’ reaches the top spot on December 2nd 1967 (its no 18 on our list!); The original Moody Blues sign off with the release of their last ‘proper’ album ‘Seventh Sojourn’ (its album no 53 on our list!); The Who spend their one and only night (so far!) in prison as a group – after causing $6000 of damage to a hotel room in Montreal (Its news to John Entwistle, who went to bed early and got woken up by a policeman in his bedroom!) (December 2nd 1973); Pigs might fly – well they do for Pink Floyd anyway when a 40ft inflatable porkie being photographed above Battersea Power Station for the album cover ‘Animals’ gets loose and causes havoc with air traffic before being finally shot down (irony of ironies the final cover is photo-shopped and doesn’t feature the errant pig at all!) (December 3rd 1976) and finally, 11 people die during a crush to gain entry to a Who concert on December 3rd 1979 – the band don’t spell it out as such but this pretty much ends the band’s time as a live act (December 3rd 1979);
No comments:
Post a Comment