News, Views and Music Issue 30 (Intro)

May 8:

♫ Welcome, dear readers, to another fun filled fanfest of fantastic music. If you’ve been looking through the past darkly and windows of darkness are all you can see through, then you’ve come to the right place. And what a week its been my friends – we’ve had the Kinks howling the blues on BBC4, Johnny Cash howling country on BBC2, 10cc howling on the radio and the ex-Cat Stevens busy plugging his record just about everywhere. Now a word or sixteen about how things are here at the AAA – this might be the last you hear from us in a while, owing to the fact that the local library is being refurbished and Mike’s computer has been having problems accepting pen drives. I hope it isn’t because otherwise you might not hear from us again till the end of June, but fear not – I shall be writing, reviewing and accruing new music all the time so get ready for a large collection of issues when the time comes (unless of course the computer magically fixes itself like it did last week – ah the wondrous properties of music and its ability to fix all ills!) And now, on with the news…

♫ CSN News: More on that CSN DVD we tried to tell you about last week (only for the computer to go haywire instead). It will be part of the ‘classic artists’ series that’s just begun (well done for making CSN top of the list, guys!) and will include lots of documentary footage along with some unseen extras of CSN at work, rest and play. It will be out at the end of June – more news nearer the time (but you can pre-order it on Amazon if you wish).

 ♫ Kinks News: The band were back on television – albeit in their early years 1964 incarnation, with a storming live version of ‘Got Love If You Want It’ getting its second airing on BBC4 as part of their ‘Blues at the BBC’ evening. The extract was from the BBC’s ‘Beatroom’ programme and originally broadcast on October 5^th 1964.

♫ Cat Stevens News: Yusuf’s new album ‘Roadsinger’ came out this Monday in both CD and CD/DVD formats – expect a special ‘bonus’ review sometime this week!  

♫ Anniversaries this extended week (May 4^th-15th): Lots of Birthday cake wishes this time around to Derek Taylor (Beatles press officer throughout the 1960s) who would have been 67 on May 7^th; Pete Wingfield (‘6^th Hollie’ throughout the 1970s) who turns 61 also on May 7^th; Graham Gouldmann (bassist with 10cc 1972-83 plus re-unions) who turns 63 on May 10^th and Ian McLagan (keyboardist with the Small Faces 1966-68) who turns 64 on May 12^th. Anniversaries of events this week: happy birthday recorded music! Yes it was this week in 1886 (May 4^th to be exact!) that a patent was awarded to Chichester Bell and Charles Sumner Tainter for their invention of the gramophone; and Happy 45^th Birthday Moody Blues, who were formed a mere 78 years after the gramophone on May 4^th 1964; the Buffalo Springfield disband on May 5^th 1968 after four glorious but frustrated years with a final show at Long Beach, California (please release the soundtrack of this show, Atlantic!); Mick Jagger and Keith Richards buy a new fuzz-box for their guitar and, duly inspired, end up writing their key song ‘Satisfaction’ the same day (May 6^th 1965); Paul Simon sets out on his first solo tour three years after the break-up of Simon and Garfunkel (May 6^th 1973); An unbeaten record on May 8^th 1965 – no less than nine record in the American top 10 are British (the Beatles’ ‘Ticket To Ride’ and the Stones’ ‘The Last Time’ among them); the Beatles officially sign their contract with EMI and become recording artists, although they won’t actually release anything until October (May 9^th 1962); a year later on the same day, Paul McCartney meets long-term girlfriend Jane Asher for the first time following a prestigious gig for the band at the Albert Hall; The Rolling Stones record debut single ‘C’mon’ (May 10^th 1963); the Beatles officially dissolve Apple Records after eight years (May 10^th 1975); the famous London ‘Games For May’ concert at which Pink Floyd played, among others, debuting their top five single ‘See Emily Play’ (May 12^th 1967); the first ‘new’ Beatles release in seven years – ‘Live at the Hollywood Bowl’ – is released (May 13^th 1977); the Byrds release their first ever single (under that name, anyway!) ‘Mr Tambourine Man’ (May 15^th 1965) and finally, Pink Floyd perform their legendary outdoor concert at London’s Crystal Palace, complete with a 50foot blow-up octopus for reasons best known to the band. The sound system used by the band is so loud that they accidentally kill most of the fish in the nearby lake and are subsequently banned from playing there again! (May 15^th 1970).