Friday 5 November 2010

News, Views and Music Issue 79 (Intro)




♫ Hello again and welcome to another eclectic, eccentric and downright electrifying ‘News, Views and Music’ newsletter full of, well, news, views and music. All your usual columns are here, along with a very important discussion about the early primeval stages of psychedelia (well, it’s very important until it turns into a rant about The Spice Girls anyway!) In our website news we had so many visitors on one day last week (Thursday) that the site crashed – sorry about that, hopefully we’ll have the money to do something about it soon but thankyou to the sudden rush of visitors that caused us to jump from 2203 to 2232 in 24 hours. I’m also heading off on a course this week to learn about the ins and outs of becoming self-employed. I can’t wait...Meantime, happy reading!

                                                    

Beatles News: There’s yet another new Beatles book out this month, although unusually in this Lennon anniversary year it focuses on Paul McCartney’s life. ‘FAB: An Intimate Life Of Paul McCartney’ is better than it’s title apparently, offering a good contrast to Barry Miles’ extended interview with Macca first released in 1997. This is the first new biography since wife Linda’s death, taking in five truly variable albums, two classical music creations, a book of poetry and another of paintings and the whole Heather Mills debacle, although AAA fans should be given the warning: this book sounds like a similar one to the Albert Goldman and Geoffrey Guilliano Beatle biographies, too focussed on dishing the dirt on our beloved musicians rather than their music.

Another, perhaps more lasting, addition to the Beatles book shelves is the long-awaited book of photographs by the (then) fab five’s Hamburg friend, arguably the first outsider (along with friend Klauss Voormann who often gets overlooked these days) to believe in The Beatles as much as they did themselves. She even became engaged to one of them – bassist Stuart Sutcliffe, who sadly died in her arms of a brain haemorrhage barely a year before The Beatles’ first release. Many of these photographs have been seen hundreds of times before of course (perhaps the most famous is on the front cover of John Lennon’s ‘Rock and Roll’ record of 1975) but Beatles fans can never see them often enough – some others are far rarer, including one that’s already got reviewers of this book talking: a fragile looking John and George standing in Stuart’s room just after his death looking at his paintings. Definitely one on my Christmas list – the full title of the book is ‘Astrid Kirchher – A Retrospective’ and it’s edited by Matthew Clough and Colin Fallows.

Look out too for a new documentary on Wings’ ‘Band On The Run’ which is finally being issued this week as the debut release of the new Paul McCartney reissue series (see the last few news and views newsletters). The programme was broadcast on ITV at 10.15pm and features (alas all too brief) unseen footage of Paul, Linda and Denny Laine recording the album in Laos and London and the usual shots of the trio organising their ‘renegade’ album cover with some famous friends (including regular Hollies collaborator and the first ever Beatles cover artist  Kenny Lynch). The show saw Macca on good form, speaking at length about his experiences making the album in Lagos including a few stories I’d never heard before (who knew ‘Jet!’ was about a pony? I’d always been led to believe he was a jet-black Labrador with a story about suffragettes in there somewhere). On the downside interviewer Dermot O’Leary was too in awe of his subject and yet still hadn’t done his homework (how could you possibly believe Linda was a professional musician before joining Wings, great and under-rated singer that she was?!) and Denny Laine continues to get ignored in a documentary about a trio for goodness sake! Still, overall a nice addition to the Beatles archives and it’s nice to see the under-rated ‘One Hand Clapping’ footage used on something officially for the first time (barring a brief snippet of ‘Bluebird’ on the ‘McCartney Years’ box set). 

And finally in our Beatles news, John Lennon will be featured on a new £5 coin after winning a poll to find Britain’s favourite Briton (worth, bizarrely, £45 – why didn’t they just make it a £45 coin?!) The Lennon in late Beatles pose picture looks to me like the one from the withdrawn ‘Roots’ album that became ‘Rock and Roll’ in 1975 (strange choice, that), but Lennon’s distinctive features seem to suit the limited edition legal tender well.

Hollies News: The Yesterday channel are repeating some classic Top Of The Pops 2 shows as a double bill in their midnight slot from last week into the foreseeable future, most of them seeming to date from the 2002 period (and so complement nicely the later shows repeated by the channel Dave last year). The best find so far was last Wednesday with the rare 1969 clip of Gasoline Alley Bred featuring a very young looking Hollies with new member Terry Sylvester on only his second single. The band were singing live but playing over a pre-recorded backing tape, making this a must for all Hollies fans with the ability to find old programmes on the web.

Human League News: Well, strictly speaking this is all ‘Heaven 17’ news, the trio formed from the splintering of the first Human League album circa 1981. Classic debut album ‘Penthouse and Pavement’ is to be reissued at long last, although annoyingly I haven’t yet heard what the bonus tracks on the set will be. For those who need a reminder, this is the album that spent over a year on the charts in the 1980s and was split into a down-to-earth ‘pavement’ side and a funky, polished ‘penthouse’ side. The band – or two of them at any rate – were also seen on Jools Holland’s ‘later’ programme last week, plugging the new release with performances of the album single ‘We Don’t Need No Fascist Groove Thang’ and the later classic ‘Temptation’. The Human League, meanwhile, are putting the finishing touches to their first new album since 2001, ‘Credo’, due out before Christmas. More news if and when we hear it...

Kinks News: ‘See My Friends’ is the proper name of the Ray Davies collaborations CD we began to tell you about last issue, a sort of cross between a duets CD and a covers album. Lots of new faces that you lot will probably recognise but I’ve done my best to avoid include Paloma Faith, Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora and Gary Lightbody, although I have heard of this album’s biggest selling points Bruce Springsteen and Metallica (surprisingly there’s no Noel Gallagher, though, despite the obvious debt of songs like ‘The Importance Of being Idle’ to The Kinks katalogue). Tread carefully, though – most reviewers reckon this album is even odder than it sounds (and even for Ray and his recent addiction to church choirs it sounds really really odd). 

Oasis News: Hmmm, all the green-inked groups seem to be up to something this week...latest Oasis book news is that much derided first drummer Tony McCarroll is putting his side of the Oasis story from rags to riches across and it’s meant to be quite at odds with how Noel Gallgher has been telling things. The drummer – unfairly dismissed after some sterling work on the first Oasis album ‘Definitely Maybe’ – was famously thrown out for ‘having the wrong kind of hair cut’ and was infamously buried alive on the promo for the band’s ‘Live Forever’ single. However, reviewers have said that the book is surprisingly nice and angst-free for the most part, with Noel and the allegedly unreliable bassist Paul McGuigan coming under fire but Liam and McCarroll’s replacement Alan White getting nothing but praise. An intriguing stocking-filler for Oasis fans this Christmas (assuming you have big feet of course, as this is yet another coffee table book).

Pentangle News: Bassist Danny Thompson has at long last been given his due by the younger crowd, with Manchester-based muso Jon Thorne dragging him out of semi-retirement for the title track of new album ‘Watching The Well’, out in early November. And that Pentangle BBC6 session we told you about (broadcast last Saturday in the early hours) was actually a three-song set from the band’s last days in 1972 and much rarer than we expected, made up of three song’s from the band’s rare last album ‘Solomon’s Seal’ (‘The Snows’, ‘Lady In Carlisle’ and a particularly lovely ‘People On The Highway’). 

Rolling Stones News: A good week for solo Stones releases! Ronnie Wood releases his latest solo album next month, ‘I Feel Like Playing’ whose informal title harks back to his debut ‘I’ve Got My Own Solo Album To Do!’ The song getting most interest at the moment is ‘Forever’, a song written in 1974 when Ronnie was in the process of joining the Stones but left unrecorded till now.

And Keith Richards’ new book ‘Life’ is causing more controversy than any Stones release since the 80s, what with its Brian Jones and Mick Jagger-damning anecdotes (the former was ‘selfish’ and the latter ‘possessive’ apparently) and its unheard stories about just how Keef did end up going out with Brian’s girlfriend and – unheard till now in any official tome – how he ended up bedding Mick’s long-term girlfriend Marianne Faithful for ‘revenge’. Reviews have been good, despite the rigmaroles the writer and publisher have put people through (you have to read the book in a locked room without taking any notes, apparently) and its meant to be a very ‘Keef’-like book, full of hazy memories and examples of the shy young boy from London being ‘swayed’ by extreme feelings based on whatever the band, the fans, family or music are doing to him. This is, of course, only the second Rolling Stones memoir and its meant to sit in great contrast to Bill Wyman’s fascinatingly detailed but curiously detached book ‘Stone Alone’. To tie-in with the book, The Culture Show dedicated a special to Keef which was shown on Wednesday, October 28th at 7pm (and should still be available on BBC I-player).  It was an entertaining programme, if only for watching Keith come out with a response which had absolutely nothing to do with the question being asked, although some of the anecdotes – such as Keith’s early childhood in a bomb-hit London in World War Two – were fascinating. Keith’s also much kinder about his fellow Stones than he is in the book, although I don’t quite buy the idea that it was all ‘affectionate criticism’!

Finally, the Stones Top Of The Pops 2 Special from 2002 was repeated on the Yesterday channel last Monday, although alas most of the linking speech was trimmed to fit in the advert breaks. Nice to see the rare promo for one of the band’s better modern songs ‘Love Is Strong’, though, complete with the memorable image of a 100 foot Charlie Watts playing drums on a housing estate!






ANNIVERSARIES: Hey! Ra! Ra! Happy birthday to this week’s bumper crop of AAA members (November 3rd-9th): Bert Jansch (guitarist with Pentangle 1968-72 and various reunions) who turns 67 on November 3rd, Lulu (singer) who turns 62 also on November 3rd, Art Garfunkel (a quite different kind of singer) who turns 68 on November 5th and Gram Parsons (guitarist and much more with The Byrds in 1968) who would have been 64 on November 5th. Anniversaries of events include: The Beatles wow mums and dads at their one and only Royal Variety appearance, telling those in the more expensive seats to ‘rattle yer jewellery’ (November 4th 1963); The Beach Boys’ legendary single ‘Good Vibrations’ enters the UK chart on it’s way to #1 (November 4th 1966); The Who’s Quadrophenia tour suffers yet another blow when the pre-taped section ends up playing out of synch with the band, causing Pete Townshend to physically attack the group’s sound man mid-gig (it’s not his fault by the way) (November 5th 1973); The Beach Boys manage the surely unique feat of making #1 in the UK charts in the same week 22 years apart – with ‘Good Vibrations’ in 1966 and ‘Kokomo’ in 1988 (November 5th); Bill Graham puts on the first of his many legendary ‘Fillmore’ shows starring AAA members Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane, the former before they even have a record contract (November 6th 1965); Paul Simon comes out of retirement with his first concert for five years (November 6th 1980); The Rolling Stones break the record for the most money earned for a single concert (£108,000) after a gig in Los Angeles, beating the previous record: The Beatles at Shea Stadium (November 8th 1969); The Human League officially split into two – Phil Oakey keeps the band name and gains two cocktail waitress singers whilst synthesiser experts Ian Craig Marsh and Martin Ware form Heaven 17 (November 8th 1980) and finally, David Crosby officially leaves The Byrds, to be replaced for a matter of weeks by his old colleague Gene Clark and leaving Crosby free to form CSN (November 9th 1967).


News, Views and Music Issue 79 (Top Five): Early Examples Of Psychedelia 1965-66




Hmm, so psychedelia – that must mean the ‘summer of love’, right? All Monterey Pop, Sgt Peppers and Magical Mystery Tours? Well, not necessarily. Whilst 1967 will always be heralded as the heyday of all things psychedelic, movements don’t just suddenly erupt out of nowhere overnight. So this week we’re looking at the pioneering songs that set the tone early on, back when flowers were things that you found only in gardens and when hippies were still the things that connected your leggies together. And we come up with some very surprising finds about who the earliest ground-breaking flower powery artists were...

5) The Who “Circles” (AKA “Instant Party”) (First released under the former name as the b-side to single ‘Substitute’ 2/1966): Noisy psychedelia doesn’t come any better than this disorientating track about how the narrator is trapped between needing his love in his life and falling out with her big time. Circles play a big part in 1967-68’s music (The Small Faces had green ones, George Harrison had colliding ones, The Monkees saw one in the sky), partly because they were the most interesting looking shapes used in the ‘acid light shows’ of the psychedelia set (Pink Floyd, et al) and possibly partly because of the idea of everything being possible to the youngsters of 1967 reinventing ‘the wheel’ and claiming the shape for their own. Or perhaps they just thought it looked groovy! Anyway, this song’s music suit its psychedelia-ish words, featuring a droning backing similar in style to eastern ragas and a drenched-in-feedback disorientating sound that was still deeply unusual in those early months of 1966. It took a cover version by one-hit wonder Fleur De Leys to fully exploit this song’s psychedelic sound, however, one well worth seeking out by curious Who fans even if it can’t match the sheer oomph of this original. The fact that this fine song was relegated by The Who to a B-side (and one with a very troubled history when their old producer, Shel Talmy, used it as the scapegoat for this publishing dispute with the band and re-issued his own mix of the song on the back of the A-side ‘Substitute’, renaming it ‘Instant Party!’ against the band’s wishes) shows just how great Pete Townshend’s songwriting was back in 1966 – and needed to be, too, given how many great psychedelia classics are waiting just around the corner...

4) The Beatles “The Word” (First released on the album ‘Rubber Soul’ 12/1965): The word, for those who don’t know, is love. Unusually for this list it’s ‘The Word’s lyrics rather than its melody or production values that set it out as being an early example of psychedelia. And what a psychedelic bunch of words they are too: a slight tongue-in-cheek spoof of gospel, this song is all about ‘spreading the word’ of love so that humanity can delight in its togetherness. A rare example of the Lennon/McCartney partnership in full flow (it’s arguably the last 50/50 track until late 1967’s B-side ‘Baby You’re A Rich Man’) the pair celebrated their new found song by writing out this song’s lyrics in brightly coloured crayons – very psychedelic! (The lyric sheet was later given away by Lennon for charity). Musically, this track is very much in keeping with the fab four’s increasingly more sophisticated-sounding pop of 1965 and is played by their usual line-up of instruments, despite the fact that the Beatles had already single-handedly invented most of the sounds of 1967 (feedback on ‘I Feel Fine’, long guitar solos and tape loops).    

3) The Beach Boys “The Little Girl I Once Knew” (First released as a single 11/1965): It may have been the Beach Boys’ biggest flop since 1962, but this little known single arguably paves more of a way towards the ‘Pet Sounds’/’Smile’ recordings the band will go on to be most famous for than any of their better known material. Lyrically, it’s not that different to earlier Beach Boys records, albeit still light years ahead of most songs from the mid-60s – the narrator’s girl has changed since they started dating, growing more mature with every passing day while he wants to stay as a teenager and its causing a big rift between them (it’s a logical extension of Brian Wilson’s jaw-dropping 1964 song about aging ‘(When I Grow Up) To Be A Man’). This forever-changing personality is  a key part of the song, though, transforming herself with such regularity that the narrator is left gasping for breath the second time he ever sees her, after ignoring her the first. Musically, though, it’s the start of a whole new species of songs, the sort that are out to confuse the listener and take them somewhere else rather than merely enforce or reflect what they feel, complete with sudden jolting full stops (part of the reason why this single sold so badly was that radio DJs objected to this song’s few seconds of dead air) and it’s lurching switch between jolly nursery rhyme singalong chorus and verses of desperate grief. Very psychedelic, in other words, and an obvious stepping stone towards the sounds of 1966-68, even though it is yet again all played on conventional instruments.

2) The Kinks “See My Friends” (First released as a single 30/7/1965): Ray Davies was inspired to write this beautiful single after The Kinks played a rare show in India and the elder Kink brother was inspired by the sitar sounds he’d never heard in close proximity before (the same time George Harrison came across the instrument while filming ‘Help!’ , although his experiments with the instrument won’t make it to disc until December that year). This Kinks single doesn’t actually feature any unusual instrumentation outside the two guitar-bass-drums set up, but its droning one-note vibe is clearly inspired by Eastern music and its haiku-like lyric phrases are much closer to summer of love gobbledegook than 1965’s folk-rock boom. The subject matter – betrayal and jealousy – aren’t exactly perennial psychedelic themes but no matter, this song is still clearly

1) The Searchers “He’s Got No Love” (First released as a single 16/7/1965): Bet you didn’t see that coming! But as far as our research goes, the earliest example of the sort of spaced-out, groundbreakingly freeform and other-worldly sounds goes to The Beatles’ baby brothers who have for too long been forgotten for their pioneering work. The band never got much chance to show off their stuff in the ‘summer of love’ when they were at their most unhip, which is a terrible shame given how much this band grows between late 64 and early 66. This flop single ‘He’s Got No Love’ – released at the same time as ‘Help!’ and ‘My Generation’  - sounds much closer in spirit to 1967 than 1965 with its world-weary vocals, smothered production sound and feedback-filled chiming Rickenbacker guitars. The sound of this song also fits nicely with the theme of isolation and despair –not a traditional psychedelia subject, perhaps, but there are lots of examples of it out there on later, much better known summer of love songs. Above all, this song ticks the boxes of sounding other-worldly, transcendental and downright different compared to everything else around at the time. Ha, bet The Spice Girls don’t even know what psychedelia is (or how to spell it!) – hmm, I’ve just got an image of hearing the new Spice Girls reunion single ‘I wanna huh with flowers on’...
A NOW COMPLETE List Of Top Five/Top Ten/TOP TWENTY  Entries 2008-2019
1) Chronic Fatigue songs http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/08/news-views-and-music-issue-1-top-five.html

2) Songs For The Face Of Bo
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/09/news-views-and-music-issue-2-top-five.html

3) Credit Crunch Songs
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/09/news-views-and-music-issue-3-top-five.html

4) Songs For The Autumn
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/09/news-views-and-music-issue-4-top-five.html

5) National Wombat Week
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/09/news-views-and-music-top-five-national.html

6) AAA Box Sets
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/09/news-views-and-music-issue-6-top-five.html

7) Virus Songs
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/10/news-views-and-music-issue-7-top-five.html

8) Worst AAA-Related DVDs
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/10/news-views-and-music-issu-8-top-five.html

9) Self-Punctuating Superstar Classics
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/10/news-views-and-music-issue-9-top-five.html

10) Ways To Know You Have Turned Into A Collector
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/10/news-views-and-music-issue-9-top-five.html

11) Political Songs
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/11/news-views-and-music-issue-11-top-five.html

12) Totally Bonkers Concept Albums
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/11/news-views-and-music-top-five-totally.html

13) Celebrating 40 Years Of The Beatles' White Album
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/11/top-five-issue-13-40-years-of-beatles.html

14) Still Celebrating 40 Years Of The Beatles' White Album
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/12/news-views-and-music-issue-14-top-five.html

15) AAA Existential Questions
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/12/news-views-and-music-issue-15-top-five.html

16) Releases Of The Year 2008
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/12/news-views-and-music-issue-16-top-five.html

17) Top AAA Xmas Songs
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/12/news-views-and-music-issue-17-top-five.html

18) Notable AAA Gigs
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/01/news-views-and-music-issue-19-top-five.html

19) All things '20' related for our 20th issue
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/02/news-views-and-music-issue-20-aaa-songs.html

20) Romantic odes for Valentine's Day
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/02/news-views-and-music-issue-22-top-five.html

21) Hollies B sides
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/03/news-views-and-music-issue-23-top-five.html

22) 'Other' BBC Session Albums
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/03/news-views-and-music-issue-24-top-five.html

23) Beach Boys Rarities Still Not Available On CD
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/03/news-views-and-music-issue-25-top-five.html

24) Songs John, Paul and George wrote for Ringo's solo albums
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/03/news-views-and-music-issue-26-top-five.html

25) 5 of the Best Rock 'n' Roll Tracks From The Pre-Beatles Era
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/04/news-views-and-music-issue-27-top-five.html

26) AAA Autobiographies
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/04/news-views-and-music-issue-28-top-five.html

27) Rolling Stones B-sides
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/04/news-views-and-music-issue-29-top-five.html

28) Beatles B-Sides
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/05/news-views-and-music-issue-30-top-five.html

29) The lllloooonnngggeesssttt AAA songs of all time
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/05/news-views-and-music-issue-31-top-five.html

30) Kinks B-Sides
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/05/news-views-and-music-issue-32-top-five.html

31) Abandoned CSNY projects 'wasted on the way'
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/05/news-views-and-music-issue-33-top-five.html

32) Best AAA Rarities and Outtakes Sets
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/06/news-views-and-music-issue-34-top-five.html

33) News We've Missed While We've Been Away
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/07/news-views-and-music-issue-35-top-five.html

34) Birthday Songs for our 1st Anniversary
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/07/news-views-and-music-issue-37-top-five.html

35) Brightest Album Covers
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/07/news-views-and-music-issue-37-top-five.html

36) Biggest Recorded Arguments
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/07/news-views-and-music-issue-38-top-five.html

37) Songs About Superheroes
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/08/news-views-and-music-issue-39-top-five.html

38) AAA TV Networks That Should Exist
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/08/news-views-and-music-issue-40-top-five.html

39) AAA Woodtsock Moments
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/08/news-views-and-music-issue-41-top-five.html

40) Top Moments Of The Past Year As Voted For By Readers
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/08/news-views-and-music-issue-42-top-five.html

41) Music Segues
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/09/news-views-and-music-issue-43-top-five.html

42) AAA Foreign Language Songs
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/09/news-views-and-music-issue-44-top-five.html

43) 'Other' Groups In Need Of Re-Mastering
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/10/news-views-and-music-issue-45-top-five.html

44) The Kinks Preservation Rock Opera - Was It Really About The Forthcoming UK General Election?
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/11/news-views-and-music-issue-46-top-five.html

45) Mono and Stereo Mixes - Biggest Differences
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/11/news-views-and-music-issue-47-top-five.html

46) Weirdest Things To Do When A Band Member Leaves
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/11/nerws-views-and-music-issue-48-top-five.html

47) Video Clips Exclusive To Youtube (#1)
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/11/news-views-and-music-issue-49-top-five.html

48) Top AAA Releases Of 2009
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/12/news-views-and-music-issue-50-top-five.html

49) Songs About Trains
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/01/news-views-and-music-issue-51-top-five.html

50) Songs about Winter
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/01/news-views-and-music-issue-52-top-five.html

51) Songs about astrology plus horoscopes for selected AAA members
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/02/news-views-and-music-issue-53-top-five.html

52) The Worst Five Groups Ever!
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/02/news-views-and-music-issue-54-top-five.html

53) The Most Over-Rated AAA Albums
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/03/news-views-and-music-issue-56-top-five.html

54) Top AAA Rarities Exclusive To EPs
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/03/news-views-and-music-issue-57-top-five.html

55) Random Recent Purchases (#1)
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/04/news-views-and-music-issue-58-top-five.html

56) AAA Party Political Slogans
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/05/news-views-and-music-issue-60-top-five.html

57) Songs To Celebrate 'Rock Sunday'
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/05/news-views-and-music-issue-61-top-five_21.html

58) Strange But True (?) AAA Ghost Stories
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/05/news-views-and-music-issue-61-top-five.html

59) AAA Artists In Song
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/06/news-views-and-music-issue-63-top-five.html

60) Songs About Dogs
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/06/news-views-and-music-issue-65-top-five.html

61) Sunshiney Songs
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/07/news-views-and-music-issue-67-top-five.html

62) The AAA Staff Play Their Own Version Of Monoploy/Mornington Crescent!
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/07/news-views-and-music-issue-68-top-forty.html

63) What 'Other' British Invasion DVDs We'd Like To See
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/07/news-views-and-music-issue-69-top-five.html

64) What We Want To Place In Our AAA Time Capsule
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/08/news-views-and-music-issue-70-top-five.html

65) AAA Conspiracy Theroies
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/08/news-views-and-music-issue-72-top-ten.html

66) Weirdest Things To Do Before - And After - Becoming A Star
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/08/news-views-and-music-top-ten-aaa-stars.html

67) Songs To Tweet To
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/09/news-views-and-music-issue-74-top-five.html

68) Greatest Ever AAA Solos
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/09/news-views-and-music-issue-75-top-ten.html

69) John Lennon Musical Tributes
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/news-views-and-music-issue-77-top-five.html

70) Songs For Halloween
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/news-views-and-music-issue-78-top-five.html

71) Earliest Examples Of Psychedelia
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/news-views-and-music-issue-79-top-five.html

72) Purely Instrumental Albums
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/news-views-and-music-issue-81-top-five.html

73) AAA Utopias

74) AAA Imaginary Bands
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/news-views-and-music-issue-82-top-five.html

75) Unexpected AAA Cover Versions
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/12/news-views-and-music-issue-83-top-five.html

76) Top Releases of 2010
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/12/news-views-and-music-issue-84-top-five.html

77) Songs About Snow
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/12/news-views-and-music-issue-85-top-five.html

78) Predictions For 2011
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011_01_02_archive.html

79) AAA Fugitives

80) AAA Home Towns
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/news-views-and-music-issue-88-home.html

81) The Biggest Non-Musical Influences On The 1960s
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/news-views-and-music-issue-89-top-five.html

82) AAA Groups Covering Other AAA Groups
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/news-views-and-music-issue-90-top.html

83) Strange Censorship Decisions
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/news-views-and-music-issue-91-top-ten.html

84) AAA Albums Still Unreleased on CD
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/news-views-and-music-issue-92-top-five.html

85) Random Recent Purchases (#2)
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/news-views-and-music-issue-93-top-ten.html

86) Top AAA Music Videos
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/news-views-and-music-issue-94-top-ten.html

87) 30 Day Facebook Music Challenge
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/news-views-and-music-issue-95-top.html

88) AAA Documentaries
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/news-views-and-music-top-five-aaa.html

89) Unfinished and 'Lost' AAA Albums
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/news-views-and-music-issue-97-top-ten.html

90) Strangest AAA Album Covers
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/newsa-views-and-music-issue-98-top-ten.html

91) AAA Performers Live From Mars (!)
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/news-views-and-music-issue-99-top-ten.html

92) Songs Including The Number '100' for our 100th Issue
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/news-views-and-music-issue-100-top-five.html

93) Most Songs Recorded In A Single Day
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/news-views-and-music-issue-101-top-five.html

94) Most Revealing AAA Interviews
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/news-views-and-music-issue-102-top-five.html

95) Top 10 Pre-Fame Recordings
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/news-views-and-music-issue-103-top-ten.html

96) The Shortest And Longest AAA Albums
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/news-views-and-music-issue-104-top-ten.html


97) The AAA Allstars Ultimate Band Line-Up
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/news-views-and-music-issue-105-top.html

98) Top Songs About Sports
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/news-views-and-music-issue-106-top-ten.html

99) AAA Conversations With God
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/news-views-and-music-issue-107-top-ten.html

100) AAA Managers: The Good, The Bad and the Financially Ugly
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/news-views-and-music-issue-108-top-ten.html

101) Unexpected AAA Cameos
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/news-views-and-music-issue-109-top-ten.html

102) AAA Words You can Type Into A Caluclator
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/news-views-and-music-issue-110-top-five.html

103) AAA Court Cases
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/news-views-and-music-issue-111-top-five.html

104) Postmodern Songs About Songwriting
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/news-views-and-music-issue-112-top-five.html

105) Biggest Stylistic Leaps Between Albums
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/news-views-and-music-issue-113-top-ten.html

106) 20 Reasons Why Cameron Should Go!
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/news-views-and-music-issue-114-top.html

107) The AAA Pun-Filled Cookbook
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/news-views-and-music-issue-115-top-five.html

108) Classic Debut Releases
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/news-views-and-music-issue-116-top-five.html

109) Five Uses Of Bird Sound Effects
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/news-views-and-music-issue-118-top-five.html

110) AAA Classic Youtube Clips Part #1
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/news-views-and-music-issue-119-top.html

111) Part #2
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/news-views-and-music-issue-120-top.html

112) Part #3
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/news-views-and-music-issue-121-top.html

113) AAA Facts You Might Not Know
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/news-views-and-music-issue-122-top-ten.html

114) The 20 Rarest AAA Records
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/news-views-and-music-issue-123-top.html

115) AAA Instrumental Songs
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011_12_04_archive.html

116) Musical Tarot
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/news-views-and-music-issue-125-top-23-i.html

117) Christmas Carols
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011_12_18_archive.html

118) Top AAA Releases Of 2011
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011_12_25_archive.html

119) AAA Bands In The Beano/The Dandy
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/news-views-and-music-issue-128-top-five.html

120) Top 20 Guitarists #1
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/news-views-and-music-issue-129-top-ten.html

121) #2
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012_01_15_archive.html

122) 'Shorty' Nomination Award Questionairre
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012_01_22_archive.html

123) Top Best-Selling AAA Albums
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012_01_29_archive.html

124) AAA Songs Featuring Bagpipes

125) A (Hopefully) Complete List Of AAA Musicians On Twitter
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012_02_19_archive.html

126) Beatles Albums That Might Have Been 1970-74 and 1980
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012_02_26_archive.html

127) DVD/Computer Games We've Just Invented
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012_03_11_archive.html

128) The AAA Albums With The Most Weeks At #1 in the UK
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012_03_18_archive.html

129) The AAA Singles With The Most Weeks At #1 in the UK
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012_03_25_archive.html

130) Lyric Competition (Questions)
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012_04_15_archive.html

131) Top Crooning Classics
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012_04_22_archive.html

132) Funeral Songs
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/news-views-and-music-issue-142-top-five.html

133) AAA Songs For When Your Phone Is On Hold
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/news-views-and-music-issue-143-top-five.html

134) Random Recent Purchases (#3)
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/news-views-and-music-issue-144-top-five.html

135) Lyric Competition (Answers)
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/news-views-and-music-issue-146-top.html http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/news-views-and-music-issue-145-top-five.html

136) Bee Gees Songs/AAA Goes Disco!
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/news-views-and-music-issue-147-top-five.html

137) The Best AAA Sleevenotes (And Worst)
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/news-views-and-music-issue-148-top-ten.html

138) A Short Precise Of The Years 1962-70
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/news-views-and-music-149-top-eight.html

139) More Wacky AAA-Related Films And Their Soundtracks
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/top-five-for-news-views-and-music-150.html

140) AAA Appearances On Desert Island Discs
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/top-eight-aaa-desert-island-discs.html

141) Songs Exclusive To Live Albums
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/news-views-and-music-issue-153-top-10.html

142) More AAA Songs About Armageddon
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/aaa-armageddon-songsalbums-top-5-for.html

What difference does a name make? Arguably not much if you’re already a collector of a certain group, for whom the names on the album sleeves just...

This week’s top ten honours the humble motor car. The death trap on wheels, the metaphor for freedom, the put-down of capitalism, a source of...

This week we’re going to have a look at the 10 AAA singles that spent the most weeks at number on the American chart ‘Billboard’ – and it makes for...

Following on from last issue’s study of the American Billboard charts, here’s a look at which AAA albums spent the most weeks on the chart. The...

There are many dying arts in our modern world: incorruptible politicians, faith that things are going to get better and the ability to make decent...

This week we’ve decided to dedicate our top ten to those unsung heroes of music, the session musicians, whose playing often brings AAA artists (and...

Naturally we hold our AAA bands in high esteem in these articles: after all, without their good taste, intelligence and humanity we’d have nothing to...

What do you do when you’ve left a multi-million selling band and yet you still feel the pull of the road and the tours and the playing to audiences...

‘The ATOS Song’ (You’re Not Fit To Live)’ (Mini-Review) Dear readers, we don’t often feature reviews of singles over albums or musicians who aren’t...

In honour of this week’s review of an album released to cash in on a movie soundtrack (only one of these songs actually appears in ‘Easy Rider’...and...

Hic! Everyone raise a glass to the rock stars of the past and to this week’s feature...songs about alcolholic beverages! Yes that’s right, everything...

154) The human singing voice carries with it a vast array of emotions, thoughts that cannot be expressed in any other way except opening the lungs and...

Everyone has a spiritual home, even if they don’t actually live there. Mine is in a windy, rainy city where the weather is always awful but the...

Having a family does funny things to some musicians, as we’ve already seen in this week’s review (surely the only AAA album actually written around...

Some artists just have no idea what their best work really is. One thing that amazes me as a collector is how consistently excellent many of the...

159) A (Not That) Short Guide To The 15 Best Non-AAA Bands http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/a-not-that-short-guide-to-15-of-best.html%20%0d160

160) The Greatest AAA Drum Solos (Or Near Solos!) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/the-greatest-aaa-drum-solos-or-near.html%20%0d161

161) AAA Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall Of Fame Acceptance Speeches http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/aaa-rock-and-roll-hall-of-fame.html%20%0d162

162) AAA Re-Recordings Of Past Songs http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/aaa-re-recordings-of-past-songs-news.html%20%0d163

163) A Coalition Christmas (A Fairy Tale) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/a-coalition-christmas-news-views-and.html%20%0d164

164) AAA Songs About Islands http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/aaa-songs-about-islands-news-views-and.html%20%0d165

165) The AAA Review Of The Year 2012 http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/the-aaa-review-of-year-2012-news-views.html



166) The Best AAA Concerts I Attended
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/the-best-aaa-concerts-i-attended-news.html

167) Tributes To The 10 AAA Stars Who Died The Youngest http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/tributes-to-10-aaa-stars-who-died.html



168) The First 10 AAA Songs Listed Alphabetically
http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/the-first-10-aaa-songs-if-listed.html


171) The 10 Best Songs From The Psychedelia Box-Sets ‘Nuggets’ and ‘Nuggets Two’ http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/the-best-of-two-nuggets-psychedelia.html%20%0d172

172) The 20 Most Common Girl’s Names In AAA Song Titles (With Definitions) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/girls-names-in-aaa-song-titles-from.html 








180) First Recordings By Future AAA Stars http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/first-





185) A Tribute To Storm Thorgerson Via The Five AAA Bands He Worked With http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/a-tribute-to-hipgnosis-via-five-aaa.html



188) Surprise! Celebrating 300 Album Reviews With The Biggest 'Surprises' Of The Past Five Years Of Alan's Album Archives! http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/celebrating-300-album-reviews-10.html


190) Comparatively Obscure First Compositions By AAA Stars http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/comparatively-obscure-debut.html



193) Evolution Of A Band: Comparing First Lyric With Last Lyric: http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/evolution-of-band-comparing-1st-lyric.html







200) The Monkees In Relation To Postmodernism (University Dissertation) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/university-dissertation-monkees-in.html


202) Carly Simon's 'You're So Vain': Was It About One Of The AAA Crew? http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/carly-simons-youre-so-vain-was-it-about.html















217) AAA 'Christmas Presents' we'd most like to have next year http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/aaa-christmas-presents-wed-most-like-to.html




221) Dr Who and the AAA (Five Musical Links) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2014/01/dr-who-and-five-musical-links-to-alans.html

222) Five Random Recent Purchases http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2014/01/five-random-recent-purchases-news-views.html

223) AAA Grammy Nominees http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2014/02/aaa-grammy-nominees-top-twelve-news.html

224) Ten AAA songs that are better heard unedited and in full http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2014/02/ten-aaa-songs-that-are-better-unedited.html

225) The shortest gaps between AAA albums http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-shortest-gaps-between-aaa-albums.html

226) The longest gaps between AAA albums http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2014/02/the-longest-gaps-between-aaa-albums.html

227) Top ten AAA drummers http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2014/03/top-ten-aaa-drummers-news-views-and.html

228) Top Ten AAA Singles (In Terms of 'A' and 'B' Sides) http://www.alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/top-ten-aaa-singles-and-b-sides-news.html

229) The Stories Behind Six AAA Logos http://www.alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/the-stories-behind-six-aaa-logos.html

230) AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!! The Best Ten AAA Screams http://www.alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/the-best-aaa-screams-top-ten-news-views.html

231) An AAA Pack Of Horses http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/aaa-songs-about-horses-top-ten-news.html

232) AAA Granamas - Sorry, Anagrams! http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/aaa-anagrams-news-views-and-music-issue.html

233) AAA Surnames and Their Meanings http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/aaa-surnames-and-their-meanings-news.html

234) 20 Erroneous AAA Album Titles http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/twenty-erroneous-aaa-album-titles-news.html

235) The Best AAA Orchestral Arrangements http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/fifteen-great-aaa-string-parts-news.html

236) Top 30 Hilariously Misheard Album Titles/Lyrics http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/top-thirty-hilariously-misheard-aaa.html

237) Ten controversial AAA sackings - and whether they were right http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/ten-controversial-aaa-sackings-news.html

238) A Critique On Critiquing - In Response To Brian Wilson http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/a-critique-on-critiquing-in-response-to.html

239) The Ten MusicianS Who've Played On The Most AAA Albums http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/the-ten-musicians-whove-played-on-most.html

240) Thoughts on #CameronMustGo http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/thoughts-on-cameronmustgo.html

241) Random Recent Purchases (Kinks/Grateful Dead/Nils Lofgren/Rolling Stones/Hollies) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/six-random-recent-purchases-kinksg.html 

242) AAA Christmas Number Ones http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/aaa-christmas-number-ones.html 

243) AAA Review Of The Year 2014 (Top Releases/Re-issues/Documentaries/DVDs/Books/Songs/ Articles  plus worst releases of the year) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/aaa-review-of-year-2014.html

244) Me/CFS Awareness Week 2015 http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/mecfs-awareness-week-at-alans-album.html

245) Why The Tory 2015 Victory Seems A Little...Suspicious http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/why-tory-victory-seems-deeply.html

246) A Plea For Peace and Tolerance After The Attacks on Paris - and Syria http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/a-plea-for-peace-and-toleration.html

247) AAA Review Of The Year 2015 http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/the-aaa-review-of-year-2015.html

248) The Fifty Most Read AAA Articles (as of December 31st 2015) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/the-fifty-most-read-aaa-posts-2008-2015.html

249) The Revised AAA Crossword! http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2016_07_10_archive.html


251) Half-A-Dozen Berries Plus One (An AAA Tribute To Chuck Berry) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2017/03/an-aaa-covers-tribute-to-chuck-berry.html

252) Guest Post: ‘The Skids – Joy’ (1981) by Kenny Brown  https://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2017/06/guest-post-skids-joy-1981.html


254) Guest Post: ‘Supertramp – Some Things Never Change’ by Kenny Brown https://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2018/06/guest-review-supertramp-some-things.html

255) AAA Review Of The Year 2018 https://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-aaa-review-of-year-2018.html

256) AAA Review Of The Year 2019 plus Review Of The Decade 2010-2019 https://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2019/12/the-alans-album-archives-review-of-year.html



257) Tiermaker https://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2019/06/alans-album-archives-on-tiermaker.html

258) #Coronastock https://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2020/04/coronastock.html

259) #Coronadocstock https://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2020/05/coronadocstock.html