Friday 17 June 2011

News, Views and Music Issue 102 (Intro)




June 17th:

Welcome all to the latest issue of News, Views and Music (free to all, OAPs half price if accompanied by their parents). Well, that was a bit of a gap wasn’t it?! Sorry about that dear readers – it looks like the Human League Review curse (see last issue) hit yet another computer of mine! Ah well, DellBoy seems to be back to normal, all well and restored after her enforced absence and we can get back to doing what we do best – wittering on about forgotten albums from the past. Seeing as we had a couple of weeks on our hands we’ve been busy re-doing our website homepage at the library. What do all you readers think? I’ve been meaning to re-do the first page for ages – partly to make the site easier on the eye and partly because I was running out of space to list all of the reviews we’ve covered to date! – and it was a good chance to slightly alter the other pages too. Oh and have a go at the poll too so you can let us know what artists you want us to cover more often. I know we’d already got a poll on our survey, but many of you have told me that your ‘pop-up blocker’ has, well, blocked it each time you visit the site, so this is another opportunity for you to get involved! Oh yes and while we were away I see that we’ve arrived on Google now – hello all you new readers! – and have passed another milestone of 6500 hits and are already well on our way to 7000!

What else did we learn this week? Oh yes, did you know that the word ‘Tory’ is derived from an ancient word for ‘bandit’? (Which makes David Cameron’s speech about the thought of prisoners getting the vote ‘making him sick’ even sillier– surely that should be the other way round? If it’s good enough for the rest of Europe it’s good enough for us too – and the vote should be a necessity of a democracy, not a luxury to be taken away on a whim!) Or that the Royal Family are really German? (Well, OK, that’s not really a hidden fact any more). Or that the Spice Girls actually thought the ‘Spice World’ film was a good idea? Yes it’s amazing what you can learn these days isn’t it? Which is why we’ve decided to spend this week looking at the top five most revealing AAA interviews. Starring in both our review and top five is Janis Joplin, a singer who would have been 68 this year would you believe – a singer so alive compared to today’s bands it’s surely not possible she should have died so young. 

Talking of Young, I'm sure its the real CSNY I've got in my sims game at the moment. Neil's quit!!! What did I do dear readers? He had everything: his room full of guitars, visiting celebrities all trying to et Crosby's autographs, Nash tidying up after him (he is quite messy!) a great job as a piano tuner on minimum wage...And then he leaves me! Huh! At least he sent Stills a telegram when he did that - all I got was an in-game message! It hasn't stopped Crosby though - if anything the extra attention seems to have helped now. I just wish he'd do a bit less sleeping and a bit more rehearsing. Stills, meanwhile, has taken over Neil's guitar (that didn't take long!) and what with that and the easel set is spending so much time there I can't get him to eat, sleep, shower. Oh Judy Collins, how I sympathise! Nash, meanwhile, has stopped being the nice one talking to the others and putting them in a good mood and keeps having strops every time I ask him to put the rubbish out. Oh dear what next?....Meantime, it’s on with a surprisingly heavy news section this week (apologies for the few we missed telling you about while we were away !)...



                                                          

Beach Boys News: We dont often plug other publications on this website, but we do when theyre unusual or revolutionary. Mojos latest 1960s special Smile The Full Story promises to do both, being the first of their magazines that Ive heard of with affront cover all about an album. The magazine is of course due to tie-in with the eagerly awaited Beach Boys Smile session tapes box set still no news there Im afraid and includes an interesting free gift in the shape of a 7 vinyl single containing the original recordings of Cabinessence and Wonderful. Very wonderful they are too having heard the originals (albeit Cabinessence is only a crotchets difference away from the overdubbed version released on the 20/20 album in 1969). Thats not the whole magazine of course though goodness know enough books have been written about the Smile saga by now as there are also articles on the Beatles And Stones in 1966 among others (thats Revolver and Aftermath period to jog your memories!) Still, welcome as the news is, I must admit that Im getting a bit alarmed that the official CD set of Smile Sessions doesnt seem to be in the pipeline yet we were promised this set sometime in June and its not even made it to Amazon as yet (after all, lets not forget it took three or four attempts and two years to get the Pet Sounds box ready before release).

In other Beach Boys news, have a look out for gosh the third decent AAA documentary repeat in a row when Bob Harris millennium-era series The Beach Boys Story is repeated on BBC6 in the 3am documentary slot. The six part series starts this Saturday, June 18th and lasts until Friday, June 23rd taking in Sun, Surf, Smile and the Seventies along the way.

Beatles News: Back in News and Views no 72 we looked at the top five AAA conspiracy theories and naturally enough the much discussed Paul Is Dead rumour was in there somewhere too. Well now the story, which has been laying dormant among most fans since the early 1970s, has taken another weird twist. You see theres a new DVD out, again called Paul Is Dead like the last DVD we reported on these pages, which allegedly uses quotes from George Harrisons last recorded message to the world, where he finally comes clean about Paul being replaced by Billy Shears in 1966 and the worldwide cover-up to stop fans committing sucicide when they learnt their idol was dead. Im surprised it hasnt caused more fuss among Beatleologists actually because it does sound like George and his voice is very hard to replicate, with his the one voice the Beatles Cartoons/Yellow Submarine voice artists never got quite right. Most likely though its yet another hoax in this long running rumour, made up from a mash-up of already existing interview tapes.

Beatles/CSNY/Simon and Garfunkel News: What do these three very different artists have in common, apart from being AAA artists? They all split up in 1970, during a very strange and peculiar period in music that caused all sorts of established bands to go a bit haywire.  All three bands, along with James Taylor, are discussed in Fire and Rain, a new book by David Browne which tells the story of the death of the 60s by tracing each groups problems during that year.

Beatles/Oasis News: More on the Liam Gallagher-produced Beatles film based on Richard Di Lellos book about Apple The Longest Cocktail Party In The World. Liam has just announced that the script is ready to be filmed and hes busy casting and plans to get Oasis old friend Johnny Depp in to play Beatles publicist Derek Taylor. What casting that would be no wonder Liam called both men dudes in his latest interview for the BBC! Depp met the Gallaghers during his first career as a session musician, playing some nicely spiky guitar on the 1997 track Fade In-Out from oasis album Be Here Now and has kept in touch ever since, so its not as unlikely as it would seem. Meanwhile, Keith Richards is set to play Captain Sparrows dad yet again in the latest Pirates of the Carribean film out this week alongside Johnny Depp. Still no sign of a DVD release of Dead Man, though, the other Depp film with AAA connotations (ie a soundtrack score by Neil Young).  

  Monkees News: Its Monkeemania yet again as three of the band (sans Nesmith) tour the UK for their 45th anniversary where the band are playing all the music from their film Head for the first time. Peter and Micky popped up unannounced on Jools Hollands Later... programme last week (still available on I-player dontcahknow) with one of their best interviews for some time, wacky and zany like the best Monkees interviews should be. Micky even got to sing a bluesy version of Im A Believer as Jools co-erced Peter into playing the piano intro (it says volumes that Peters unrehearsed playing was still more convincing than Jools block chord performance!) Davy, meanwhile, was heard late at night on R4s World Service, claiming he had a better voice than Elton John and was in better shape than Paul McCartney. Yep, its just like 1966 all over again in more ways than one...

In other Monkee news, to celebrate the bands reunion and anniversary theres yet another Monkee compilation out in the shops. To be fair the new 2CD set Monkeemania is better than most, being a better introduction to the band than the single disc Greatest Hits sets and less pricey than the four disc box sets, with 57 tracks by my reckoning taking up half of the back catalogue released in their lifetime. Theres nothing new for collectors, though, barring two alternative stereo mixes of Head tracks Porpoise Song and Circle Sky, although word of mouth has it theyre not very exciting or different.  

Oasis (Beady Eye) News: Liam Gallghers new band are set to play their British festival with an appearance at the Isle of Wight next week which, strangely, they arent actually headlining (surely the bands debut album didnt sell that badly?!) We would talk about all the other acts on the show but, to be honest, Ive not heard about most of them and wouldnt know what to tell you about the others. And Noel Gallagher? Rumours are big on the web that the elder Oasis sibling is busy filming the promo video for his first single, due for release in the second half of the year.

Pink Floyd News: To capitalise on both the recent Floyd reunion and the new Roger Waters tour of The Wall, here comes a more deluxe DVD treatment for Rogers charity concert of the show at the actual Berlin Wall in 1990, months after the wall had come down for real. The show, which has already been out last decade as a single disc no-frills set, includes performances from guests like Sinead OConnor, Van Morrison, Levon Helm, Rick Danko, Joni Mitchell and, erm, flautist James Galway as well as Roger himself. Extras this time around include a lengthy documentary about the staging of the show, including the fascinating news that the chosen venue had to be swept for mines before the audience turned up! 

In other news, there were no less than two Floyd-related programmes on radio four during the week we were away. First up, Roger Waters was the first AAA star since Yoko Ono to feature on Desert Island Discs and delivered what has generally been taken as a sweet and highly revealing programme. Roger spoke about the death of his conscious objector dad Eric during World War Two, the illness of Syd Barrett and its impact on him as a close friend and Rogers happiness that the Floyd managed to get back together for Live 8 before the death of founding member Rick Wright. Rogers choice of music was similarly eclectic, with a pretty equal mix of rock and classical (well he did write an opera after all!), starting with a fellow AAA song, CSNYs Helpless. And we thought it was David Gilmour adding all those West Coast influences to Floyd songs over the years! Anyway, have a look out on I-player for the programme if you didnt get to hear it as if nothing else it marks only the third time weve had an AAA member on the programme (after Yoko and Paul McCartney).

The other programme was The Twilight World Of Syd Barrett, commemorating the fifth anniversary since the founding Floyds death. Despite being the usual talking heads style documentary about Syds decline, covering much the same ground and using a lot of old sound-bites, this was another excellent doc that chimed in well with what we were saying about Syd in our review last issue. Another one well worth looking out for on I-player!  

Otis Redding News: Following on from last weeks superlative seven part Paul Simon Songbook comes the second straight AAA documentary in a row on BBC6, yet another repeat of the so-called Otis Reading Story [SIC]. First heard in 2002, weve reviewed this two part special on our site already suffice to say it does a fair job at condensing just four years of musical activity into two hours. The two parts are repeated this Thursday and Friday, June 16-17th in the 3am documentary slot.

Rolling Stones News: Keith Richards was interviewed this week and let two rather interesting lion-sized cats out of the bag. The first is that the Stones might be touring again next year to celebrate their 50th anniversary, with a special gig in London in June 2012 a half-century to the day since their first gig. The second is that Mick Jagger was genuinely hurt by some of the things Keef said about the singer in his book Life, published last year and out in paperback as of next month, and that it nearly broke the Stones up for good. To be fair, Keef is surprisingly complimentary about Mick in the bands early years but does savage him past about 1972, claiming he changed completely and started hanging around with establishment figures (to be fair again, Keef by his own admission was hanging out with some very unsavoury figures at the time). It sounds like the burnt bridges have been rebuilt even before we heard about it though and the Stones juggernaut will keep rolling on into their sixth decade unchartered territory for a rock and roll band without any proper break-ups or reunions! 

In other news, look out for a live session from the Stones in the live music hour slot on BBC6 this Thursday, June 16th at 4am. Alas no more details are available at the time of going to press so we dont know what era Stones it is, but we do know the Stones share the show with Thin Lizzy and Bolt Thrower.

10cc News: We at the AAA were sad to hear the news that Graham Gouldmanns partner in his spin-off band Wax, Andrew Gold, died last week at the age of 59. The singer and multi-instrumentalist, best known for his solo single Lonely Boy, did much to help resuscitate the older Gouldmanns flagging career in Wax during the 1980s and early 1990s, bringing out both mens commercial instincts after the last few poor-selling and increasingly serious-sounding 10cc discs and seeing the 10cc man back in the charts for the first time in almost a decade. We havent covered either of the Wax albums on this site (the excellent Magnetic Heaven, 1986) and slightly less special American English, 1992) but both are well worth seeking out for fans of simple, melodic pop (indeed Marie Claire, from the former album, may be one of the best songs Gouldmann ever had a hand in).

Neil Young News: The Neil Young Archive releases have been a bit quite since the 20-years-in-the-works Anthology set finally made its way into the shops in 2009. But now at last comes the fifth release in the series: a compilation of gigs played by Neil with the International Harvesters band in 1984 and 1985. The set, titled A Treasure, is becoming quite a talking point because it features the first legitimate release of no less than five unreleased songs of mixed quality (which have been around on bootleg for yonks): Soul Of A Woman ( a rather drab Motown-Soul hybrid with some excruciating lyrics), Let Your Fingers Do The Walking (another of Neils occasional chauvinistic songs), Amber Jean (a quite lovely ballad about Neils then new-born daughter, now aged 27!, similar to the track Already One but better), Nothing Is Perfect (an excruciating country song also heard at the Live Aid concert) and Grey Riders (no classic, but at least this sounds like Neil, complete with scratchy guitar riff and very like Johnny Cashs Ghost Riders Ive always thought). As you can probably tell, this isnt really my favourite period for Neil the album hes plugging at the time is his all-out country set Old Ways, a quite yucky collection of faux country that was a horribly nasty surprise after the sublime Trans, but to be fair that albums songs do sound better live. Theres a couple of surprises in the rest of the concerts track selection too a quite exquisite Flying On The Ground Is Wrong, last played by Neil on the first Buffalo Springfield album in 1966, and a much better version of Shots than the noisy electrified version on Re*Ac*Tor. Still, the quicker the Neil Young Archives series gives us sets by the Transband, the Tonights The Night band or more Crazy Horse the better.




ANNIVERSARIES: First up, Birthday greetings to the AAA legends born between June 4th and 10th: two very different legends born on the same day of June 7th - Clarence White (guitarist with The Byrds 1969-72) who would have been 67 and Billy Kreutzmann (drummer with The Grateful Dead 1965-95) who turns 65. Anniversaries of events include: The Searchers release their debut LP ‘Sweets For My Sweet’ (June 4th 1963); Murray Wilson, manager and father to 3/5ths of The Beach Boys dies of a heart attack, accelerating the decline of elder son Brian (June 4th 1973); The Hollies – with Graham Nash back in the ranks for the first time since 1968 – score their first hit in nearly a decade with ‘Stop! In The Name Of Love’ (June 4th 1983); Copyright laws in Russia are relaxed, leading to Western groups getting royalties for the first time – the Rolling Stones are the earliest group to benefit under the new law (June 5th 1976); The Silver Beatles and The Pacemakers, the two leading groups in Liverpool along with The Searchers, share their first gig together at the Grosvenor Ballroom (June 6th 1960); The Beatles have their first session at Abbey Road Studios – band, manager and critics still disagree other whether this second meeting between the fab four and George Martin is a recording date or an audition (June 6th 1962); John and Yoko team up with Frank Zappa for a gig at the Fillmore East, later released by both partnerships under separate names (June 6th 1971); The Rolling Stones release their debut single ‘C’mon’ and make their first British TV appearance on Thank Your Lucky Stars on the same day (June 7th 1963); John and Yoko appear on David Frost’s TV show (June 7th 1969); Brian Jones officially leaves The Rolling Stones less than a month before his death (June 8th 1969); Oz Magazine release their ‘school kids’ magazine and get charged under obscenity laws – John Lennon is among celebrities who help out with the fine (June 8th 1969); The Beatles’ legend reaches a new level when the band play their first post-Hamburg gig in Liverpool – just weeks before the band looked finished with three of the four members deported from Germany (and amazingly John Lennon is the one who stayed legal!; June 9th 1962); The Rolling Stones visit Chess Records where many of their favourite blues records were made – they add to the long list of hits with ‘It’s All Over Now’ (recorded June 10th 1964); The Beatles release a single and an LP with the same name – A Hard Day’s Night – and both make #1 (June 10th 1964) and finally,  Janis Joplin plays her first gig with Big Brother and the Holding Company (June 10th 1966).

Now for the weeks we missed – June 11th to 18th: Paul McCartney (do I really need to tell you who he is?!) turns 69 on June 18th (the same day as Nick Drake, interestingly). Anniversaries of events include: The Rolling Stones, taking a break from recording ‘Beggars Banquet’ at London’s Olympic Studios, return to find the building on fire, nearly losing all their hard-earned work to the flames! (June 11th 1968); The Beatles receive their MBEs from the Queen at her ‘keen pad’ Buckingham Palace (June 12th 1965); Mick Taylor officially joins the Rolling Stones (June 13th 1969);  The Graham Nash-organized ‘No Nukes’ concert campaigning for nuclear disarmament, featuring the first CSN reunion since 1977 takes place (June 14th 1981); Some interesting tour dynamics next – the Rolling Stones fly back to the UK partway through their first American tour to honour a commitment to Oxford’s Magdelen College for a fee of £50 (30 times less than the cost of the flight for band and crew!) (June 16th 1964); The Monterey Pop festival takes place featuring AAA bands Buffalo Springfield, The Byrds, Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Otis Redding and Simon and Garfunkel (June 16-18th 1967); The Byrds’ first week on the UK charts, with ‘Mr Tambourine Man’ on its way to #1 (June 17th 1965); On the same day The Kinks start their first American tour – and after certain shenanigans on the plane on the way over, their last till the 1970s (June 17th 1965) and finally, The Beatles’ ‘Butcher sleeve’ is released on the cover of American album ‘Yesterday and Today’ – and is recalled in its thousands after horrified fans complain about the slabs of meat on the cover (June 17th 1966).

Finally, June 19-25th: Brian Wilson (bassist, songwriter, singer and so much with The Beach Boys 1962-1988) turns 69 on June 20th, Ray Davies (lead singer, rhythm guitarist and songwriter with The Kinks 1963-93) turns 67 on June 21st and Clint Warwick (bassist with the original Moody Blues 1964-66) would have been 62 on June 25th. Anniversaries of events include: The first recording by 10cc – sort of – is released on its way to #2, ‘Neanderthal Man’ by ‘Hotlegs’ (as a trio before Graham Gouldmann joined) (June 19th 1970; The Prince’s Trust benefit concert of 1986 takes place in London’s Wembley Arena with Paul McCartney and Dire Straits among those taking part (June 20th 1986); The rather grandly named Celebration of Light Festival takes place featuring AAA bands enjoying their time back in the spotlight after their respective ‘wilderness years’: The Beach Boys and Pink Floyd (June 21st 1971); Mick Taylor releases his first (and only true) solo record five years after leaving The Rolling Stones (June 22nd 1979); Mark Chapman pleads guilty to murdering John Lennon the previous year (June 22nd 1981); John Entwistle marries Alison Wise during time off between Who tours (June 23rd 1967); Ringo travels to Nashville to record his second and decidedly country-orientated album ‘Beaucoups Of Blues’ (June 23rd 1970); A good fortnight for ex-Beatles as George Harrison’s second album ‘Living In The Material World’ dislodges Paul McCartney’s fourth album ‘Red Rose Speedway’ at the top of the US album charts (June 23rd 1973) – the same day 10cc score their first #1 UK single with ‘Rubber Bullets’; John Lennon publishes his second book ‘A Spaniard In the Works’ (it was the usual rubbish, but it didn’t cost much according to the rear sleeve) (June 24th 1965); Jefferson Airplane score their biggest hit for the next 20 years when ‘White Rabbit’ is released in America (June 24th 1967); It’s the start of an era with the first really big rock show on America’s West Coast at the Hollywood Bowl. AAA stars taking part include The Beach Boys and The Byrds (June 25th 1966); The Beatles take part in the ‘One World’ satellite link-up – the first time ever that Britain had seen live footage of different countries in their living rooms. The fab four, representing the UK,  wrote their latest single ‘All You Need Is Love’ specially for the event (June 25th 1967) and finally, The Rolling Stones play their first gig with Mick Taylor in Rome, just eight days before his predecessor Brian Jones drowns (June 25th 1969).

News, Views and Music Issue 102 (Top Five): Notable AAA Interviews




Some musicians love giving interview so often we’ve heard about every single second of their life so far. Others don’t like giving them at all and have barely spoken more than a few grunts to interviewers with a microphone. In between, though, are those erudite artists with something genuine to say and an ability to say it well. This week we’re celebrating the top five revealing interviews, ones that really added to our knowledge of an artist’s inner thoughts and meant we never quite listened to their music in the same way again. Now, we’ve already covered several documentary programmes on our top five’s in the past (such as the Paul Simon Songbook, being repeated this week on BBC6) so see this instead as an additional list of did-they-really-just-say –that moments good and bad featuring five very different AAA legends:

5) Cat Stevens speaking to Mojo Music Magazine October 1995: This interview was unexpected to say the least – in 1995 Cat or Yusuf as he was now known had been away from the public eye for 17 years and his latest work of art, a series of Islam hymns, didn’t exactly put him back in the spotlight either. But some of his comments did. A decade before his comeback into music there he was telling us that according to the Qur’an spending your life listening to music was a waste of time when you could be putting your spiritual life in order and preparing for death. Yusuf seemed to forget that he himself had been doing exactly that, notably with his song ‘Miles From Nowhere’ from ‘Tea For The Tillerman’ and that art-forms are probably the best means of understanding your frailties and difficulties and coming to terms with spiritual blockage. The poor Mojo interviewer is unsurprisingly taken aback, asking Yusuf why he’s saying such things in a magazine dedicated to record collecting, alienating all his fans who might read the article at a stroke. Thankfully Cat’s changed his mind in the 16 years since that interview, returning to the guitar as a means of spreading a message of peace to the post-9/11 world and admitting that the Qur’an is ambiguous, to say the least, about whether true followers can be musicians too, but that doesn’t stop this short four-page interview being one of the stranger and more puzzling AAA interviews around.

4) “The Confessions Of A Coke Addict”: David Crosby talks to ‘People Magazine’ in April 1987 (re-printed in Dave Zimmer’s CSNy book ‘Four Way Street’): Many CSNY fans plump for the two alarming articles about Crosby in the months before his prison sentence for drug and weapon possession in 1985, one for Spin Magazine given the sensational title ‘The Death Of David Crosby’ and the other, ‘Long Time Gone’ for Rolling Stone magazine, given the subtitle ‘Rock’s favourite threat to society’. Neither is strictly true – Crosby, convinced that a direct conversation with a journalist would be the only way he could tell the ‘truth’ about his condition as he saw it, saw his plans backfire drastically as both pieces picture him as a drug-addled mess, un-capable of any future work and a sad shadow of his former self (the first memorably describes him as an ‘overweight pirate suffering from scurvy’). For me, though, the truly remarkable article is Crosby’s follow-up ‘The Confessions Of A Coke Addict’ where, just two years later and barely weeks out of prison Crosby is as eloquent, revealing, honest and downright brave as he ever was. “I thought I was going to die on drugs...and I’m surprised to be alive” he says at one point and unlike so many shallow out-of-rehab musicians you fully believe him. Crosby’s discussions of fellow rock stars, drugs (‘most people who go as far as I did with drug abuse are dead’) and the gradual loss of support among his closest friends speaks volumes, as does Crosby’s determination to turn his life around (which thankfully he did, thanks to CSNY and solo albums plus a revealing book also titled ‘Long Time Gone’). This article also includes one of the most-quoted Crosby philosophy pieces on the subject of hard drugs: ‘There are four ways you can go – you can go crazy, you can go to prison, you can die or you can kick. That’s it.’

3) Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey interviewed for the DVD “The Who: Tommy and Quadrophenia Live” (2003): I was put off getting this set for years as I’d heard so many bad things about it. There’s The Who playing their best known album ‘Tommy’, only instead of 1969 they’re playing it in 1989, with a whole band of extras making up for the loss of Keith Moon and some very 80s arrangements of some typically 60s songs. They also play ‘Quadrophenia’ four years later with Pete barely playing any electric guitar and Roger having a bad hair and a bad throat day. And I haven’t even mentioned the list of lame guest musicians, people like PJ Proby and Billy Idol who really should know better. But oh the extras! If you can bear it, play both the Who and Quadrophenia sets with the option for ‘The Who talking heads’ turned on. Roger is nicely witty, honest and touching, like Roger always is these days, a mixture of humility and confidence rare in rock circles. And Townshend? Well, when has Pete ever been more revealing than here? Tommy and Quadrophenia are both about childhood, his and others of his generation, with 60s flower children brought up on bombsites by parents too afraid to care, growing up with the certainty that they will never let there be such a gray and nasty world around them ever again. Both of these well loved, much discussed albums suddenly take on a whole new meaning, as anecdote after anecdote pass by and Pete seems to grow younger by the second, as his unfulfilled dreams and ideas suddenly blossom forth once again. Since hearing this DVD (you really don’t need to see it!) ‘Tommy’ has gone from being a lauded but actually quite ambiguous and strange rock opera that doesn’t quite come off to sounding like one of the best albums ever made. And ‘Quadrophenia’, already one of the best albums ever made, suddenly sounds like the most perfect concept album there ever was. Just what an interview should do in fact, changing our ideas about something we thought we knew back to front.

2) Janis Joplin interviewed by Dick Cavett: four interviews recorded for the Dick Cavett show in 1970 (although alas only three of them exist) available on the 3 DVD set ‘The Dick Cavett Show: Music Icons (along with other programmes featuring AAA stars Crosby and Stills, Jefferson Airplane, Rolling Stones, Paul Simon and George Harrison – the first of these nearly gets the show taken off air after insulting sponsors Shell and the third ditto for broadcasting the ‘f’ word during one of their songs – in 1969!): There are two factors that make the American Dick Cavett show a must-see for connoisseurs of 1960s music. The first is that you get to see guest combinations that are unthinkable on any other series – Janis alone ends up talking to Raquel Welch, Gloria Swanson and Margaret Kidder (Lois Lane) on her three shows. The second is that Cavett is a rare interviewer, one who openly admits he has little knowledge of his stars and his music and is both brazen enough to laugh at himself and his guests and give them the respect and openness to talk as equals (Janis legendarily loved the Cavett shows because she was treated as a ‘lady’ rather than a ‘freak’, although several of the questions point towards the latter). Of all the artists who appeared on his show between 1969 and 1974 , though, cavett is most linked with Janis, who loved appearing on his show (to the host’s amazement as he admits in an interview) and performs no less than six songs for his audience, four of them then-unreleased (they only came out posthumously on ‘Pearl’, see above). There are many interesting points Janis makes during the three existing shows she appeared on – just a handful are her awkward revelation to Raquel Welch that she didn’t understand her latest film and that she found it ‘choppy’ even if the star herself ‘looked great’ (would any other guest have made such an honest observation without starting a row?), calling Gloria Swanson a ‘silver tongued devil’ and joking with her about ‘giving head’, admitting she’d been asked to play a role but wouldn’t be a virgin because ‘my acting’s not that good!’ (to the shock of the audience and, most movingly, talking in her last show about going back to a high school reunion, an event that took place just weeks before her death and upset her greatly (some biographers think her schoolmates’ disdain for her life and career added to her death after Janis had waited 10 years for ‘revenge’ and grew depressed that they hated her as much as ever, despite her talent and fame). This long lists sounds like Janis is trying to be controversial, though it’s actually her fellow guests who get her into trouble, repeating something she said at a past meeting or in the ‘green room’; Janis herself is fragile but brave, insecure but confident, fearless but afraid. Janis’ image as such these days is that she was always going to die young and she was always the ballsy, uncaring desperado – but these three shows give us the chance to learn so much more. And who can help but sympathise with Cavett’s refusal to believe the news about her death just two months on from this last show because he had ‘never known anyone more alive!’ A fascinating set of documents with guest and interviewer at their best. And why people still watched the awfully staged Johnny Carson show over this one I’ll never know...

1) John Lennon talks to Rolling Stone Magazine in 1970 (published in book form as ‘Lennon Remembers’ in 1981): Jann Wenner knew it was a coup to get some words with John just weeks after the Beatles break-up had finally been announced. What he didn’t account for was that Lennon would be quite so controversial or so intense, with the small artcle planned turning into three lengthy pieces before coming out as a book after the great man’s death. Not that this interview reveals Lennon as such a great man – he talks about his frailties and insecurities (the interview took place during Lennon’s ‘primal scream therapy’ phase – see Review no 43 for more), his childhood (the place where all but the most fanatical followers heard about Aunt Mimi, Uncle George and mother Julia for the first time in-depth) and his fading relationships with the other Beatles (Paul, predictably, gets a bad time of it but so too does George Martin who Lennon sees as staking claim to their own talents). Never has a leading figure ‘dropped his trousers’ (to use Lennon’s phrase) more during the course of a single (lengthy) interview, with no subject off limits whether personal, political or social. We’d been used to flippant comments and some pretty subversive stuff from the Beatles during the 1960s but this was new ground altogether and The Beatles’ story was never quite the same agin following itg’s publication. Of course, typically Lennon, he wrote much of the interview off as him being in a ‘bad mood’ when asked about it years later and much of it we know he knew to be false even then (such as writing ‘70%’ of McCartney’s ‘Eleanor Rigby’, for which he contributed a single line). But somehow for all the mistakes and the ragged petty jealousies Lennon comes out of it much stronger and believable, a fragile legend who put his career on the line for the sake of truth and honesty – and largely for good reason.

Well, that’s it for another week. Join us next issue when we’ll be bringing you yet more news, views and music. Till then, happy listening!      

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