News, Views and Music Issue 112 (Intro

September 16^th:

Dear all, we’re back again with another issue hot on the heels of 111 to make up for the wait you had while our computer got fixed. It’s still not quite right now but, never mind – at least we’ve got our old graphics back and I don’t have to write at the library in bursts of two hours anymore! Alas I still haven’t got my webcam sorted so no chance of adding to our YouTube videos worst luck, but thankyou to all my recent twitter followers – I’m close to having a whole 100 of you now! By the way, why aren’t more musicians on twitter? I’m following Paul McCartney, Yoko Ono and Micky Dolenz but none of them seem to tweet very much (unlike the Dr Who clan who are endlessly talking about something – usually being rude about the sixth dr’s coat!) I’m amazed the likes of Noel and Liam Gallagher (Beady Eye and even the defunct Oasis do have a twitter account but there isn’t a personal one) and Pete Townshend aren’t on twitter (especially as Pete seems to have invented the whole idea, what with his ‘Lifehouse’ concept and all). Oh and in other news we’re ever so close to 9000 hits on the website now and are planning a really big party on the day we finally hit the five-digit mark! Hopefully it will be around the time the new ‘Smile’ set is released (if it ever actually is, what with the amount of times we’ve seen it on the schedules now!) and just so you know I shall be using the money earned from Amazon to pay for part of it! Anyways, you’re all invited to join in, wherever you are – drop us a line on the forum or message board or email address or twitter feed or Facebook group or carrier pigeon – and I’ll send/tweet/post you some cake and a few celebratory words. Remember, this site is for all of us (well, perhaps not Spice Girls fans!) and you’re all a part of it now too if you’re reading this, whether you like it or not! Anyhow, on with the newsletter and – after the deluge that was last week – there’s not much to tell you so far this week... 

                                               

♫ Lulu News: Lulu’s still going in Strictly Come Dancing, that horrible show where celebrities you’ve never heard of prance around for the enjoyment of judges who can’t even nod their head in rhythm never mind their feet. In case you hadn’t heard, Lulu is the first ever AAA star to take part in this event – and it says much about the way her career has denigrated since the early 70s that Lulu’s modern image fits perfectly with the show. She did look good, though, I have to say, despite being twice the age of most of the contestants who this year include astrologer Russell Grant, impressionist Rory Bremner and loads of sporting/soap opera stars I’ve never actually heard of. Sorry about that rant, I feel better now honest; it’s just that I hope Lulu goes out early so I don’t have to watch many more episodes of this monstrosity!

♫ Oasis News: Yet more Oasis BBC sessions on BBC6 this week – the third in as many weeks – with a repeat of the Clapham Grand show from 2005 (the ‘Don’t Believe The Truth’ tour). Highlights of the show (usually about 30 mins or so) are repeated in the ‘archive hour’ slot at 4am this Thursday, September 15^th. Oh and while we’re on the subject, weren’t last week’s December 1993 Sessions fascinating – the earliest recordings known of Oasis barring a demo tape only heard on bootleg. Liam sounded really young and unsure of himself, whilst the band haven’t quite got the hang of their ‘wall of noise’ sound yet. It’s only a small leap to first single ‘Supersonic’, though, released in April 1994 which curiously was missing from the performance (we got ‘Up In The Sky’ ‘Columbia’ and ‘Cigarettes And Alcohol’ instead!)

ANNIVERSARIES: It’s that old familiar birthday feeling for AAA members born between September 13^th and 19^th: Bernie Calvert (bassist  with The Hollies 1966-80) turns 67 on September 16^th; Kenny Jones (drummer with The Small Faces 1965-68 and with The Who 1979-82) turns 63 on September 16^th; Lol Creme (guitarist, pianist and just about everything with 10cc 1972-76) turns 64 on September 17^th, Joanne Catherall (singer with The Human League 1981-date) turns 49 on September 18^th and finally Beatles manager Brian Epstein, who would have been 77 on September 19^th. Anniversaries of events include: John Lennon’s Plastic Ono band make their live debut at the Toronto Peace Festival 40 years ago this week,  just days after the release of final Beatles album ‘Abbey Road’ – the gig is issued on LP later in the year (September 13^th 1969); David Knopfler is forced to leave Dire Straits, the band he helped form, after one too many rows with elder brother Mark (September 13^th 1980); Pete Townshend mentions plan for an unnamed rock opera about a deaf, dumb and blind boy for the first time – it will become the legendary ‘Tommy’ a year later (September 14^th 1968); The Grateful Dead become the first Western group ever to play at the site of the pyramids in Cairo (September 16^th 1978); The album or long-playing record turns 78 on September 17^th – the date when the first player able to play records at 33 and 1/3^rd speed goes on sale; Pink Floyd become the first rock band to play at Montreux’s Classical Music Festival (September 18^th 1971); short-flighted Byrd Gram Parsons died in the Joshua Desert in still unexplained circumstances at the age of just 27 (September 19^th 1973) and finally, Simon and Garfunkel re-united on stage for the first time at New York’s Central Park (September 19^th 1981).