no joking, groovy uncle 'play something we know' available to download from itunes tomorrow (Friday 1st April)

FTTBTP's friend Groovy Uncle unleashes his excellent album on itunes tomorrow!

martell & moray - the family have been informed

I've always thought that good music, good lyrics should stand up as poetry. Many song writers have published tomes of their lyrics. Start with the words, read them, understand them and think about them, then listen to them as songs, does the music add or distract? In this case they live in perfect unity.

In today's society of conflict and war, battles being fought on our behalf but not for us, we need music with a conscience! It's time something was said with meaning.

martell & moray have written a 'little boy soldier' for the ipad generation.

check out this and more on their new website

check out more from them on this blog very soon, including a first hand account how Barry's band supported the woking wonders 'The Jam'!

martell & moray are here!

The Family Have Been Informed

Pick up your gun and take a careful aim

Pretend you're still at home, it's just a game

Far across the foreign land you'll find

The enemy's the same, he's human kind

St. Christopher sits cold upon your chest

The medals shining proud upon your breast

A soldier from the very day you're born

And now the family have been informed

You dreamt of being a hero all your life

Decorated and a trophy wife

The friends you knew would all look up in awe

But none of them have seen the things you saw

St. Christopher sits cold upon your chest

The medals shining proud upon your breast

A soldier from the very day you're born

And now the family have been informed

Fight and kill, put a flag upon the hill

Kill with bombs and love, you know the drill

The innocent must pay the price as well

Between the space of heaven and bloody hell

St. Christopher sits cold upon your chest

The medals shining proud upon your breast

A soldier from the very day you're born

And now the family have been informed

You fought your war, you're never coming home

You left this earth, your spirit free to roam

But spare a thought for those you left unborn

Their families will never be

And now the family have been informed informed

martell and moray have moved - www.martellandmoray.com

Introducing: Martell & Moray

life's a bugger most of the time and then you hit forty. Your mind whispers "don't worry sunshine, you're really only twenty, you've got your whole life in front of you" but that bloody mirror just messes everything up. Your past is scattered around you and there's a tired looking old guitar languishing in the corner gracefully turning to dust that you haven't played properly for donkey years…..then one fine day……

…..Mr Moray's inability to keep a credit card in his pocket led him to the counter of an established camera emporium in Tottenham Court Road where the proprietor Mr Martell, a spiky haired gentleman with a crisply ironed shirt who knew a plonker when he saw one, duly relieved him of funds he hadn't got and was never really going to get anyway. From there developed a conversation that ended up with Mr Moray mentioning casually that as a young man he had supported 'The Jam' once at the Brighton Centre, with his then band 'Jump In Your Datsun'. Mr Martell's juices were suitably ignited and not long afterwards Guitar Night began.

Guitar Night comes highly recommended. It frees your soul, and keeps the local off licence and Quaver distributors in business. Here's how it works.....

INGREDIENTS:

2 blokes
2 guitars
2 empty jam jars
1 full bottle of premium brandy
1 bottle of single malt whisky
12 packets of quavers
1 box of maltesers
assorted vegetarian sausages and chicken legs in breadcrumbs

What to do next?

Pour ingredients into a room with closed doors, add casual banter and general merriment coupled with general grumblings about life and relationships….actually take a large jar of relationship grumblings and pour the bloody lot in…and simmer gently until the wee hours adding brandy, whisky and sundry items to taste. When brain to hand coordination noticeably refuses to function entirely, take leave for 3 hours before breakfast with coffee and Nurofen. Repeat this process once a week for about a year or two, release the fruits of your loins in the form of a CD to an adoring public and…erm….wait…..

Where does all this nonsense take place?

….Initially at the home of Solid Boner Productions at 12 Thurloe Place Mews South Kensington, a beautiful mews house Mr Moray used as a glamour photography studio until he realised that after 7 years he in fact had never really ever been able to afford to live there and needed to scarper fairly swiftly. Then Guitar Night moved north east to the camera emporium at 93 Tottenham Court Road, aided by air beds and hampered by noisy outside revellers before Kingsley Photographic, after 46 years of service, suffered a similar fate.

Never mind, something else will turn up sooner or later…..

But seriously folks we both share a love of good music with influences ranging from the Beatles and late sixties Mod through to the eighties classic pop of The Jam, Prefab Sprout and Aztec Camera. If we can do it, so can you……so come on, wash out the jam jars and start thinking of some really good excuses why your other half should let you spend one night a week away from home getting drunk and enjoying yourself thoroughly without them……

Honorary members of Martell & Moray include Macallan, a man who hates peppers but is a master on the sax and mixing desk and 'The Professor', whose award-winning promo films qualified him to shoot our videos.

click on the link below!

martell & moray

JAMMING! in search of Tony Fletcher.......

 

anybody remember Jamming! ? the fanzine, then the record label. had interest from weller and it's creator went on to write some brilliant books including 'Dear Boy' about Keith Moon, well he didn't disappear into the ether and i've tracked him down (actually i've been visiting his ijamming website for years) and he's agreed to answer a few questions. Jamming started as a 6 page, photocopied, hand typed fanzine and ended up in W H Smiths on the shelves next to Sounds, Melody Maker and the Record Mirror. I still have my copies in the loft and hopefully Tony's words will have you scuttling up the loft ladder or visiting his musings on the net.

coming very soon!

coming soon............................

the new generation......Christian Darby Mixtape!

SIDE A

the stone roses - i wanna be adored

I LOVE THIS SONG, IT HAS TO BE MY FAVOURITE 'ROSES SONG, WITH 'FOOLS GOLD' AND 'I AM THE RESSURECTION' CLOSE BEHIND. I THINK ITS THE AMBIENCE AND THE CHILLED OUT ATMOSPHERE THAT THE SONG PROVIDES THAT ENGAGES MY INTREST IN IT, I THINK ITS COOL WHEN THE BASS SLOWLY FADES IN TO THAT EXCELLENT RIFF AT THE BEGINNING AND THEN WITH IAN BROWN PRESENTING HIS MENACING VOCALS.


the verve - bittersweet symphony

I DONT THINK PEOPLE REALISE HOW BIG OF A SONG THIS IS, ITS THE ANTHEM OF ALL ANTHEMS, SUCH A SMALL IDEA OF ADDING AN OCHESTRA IN MAKES THE SONG GO FROM A GOOD SONG TO AN AMAZING ONE, BECAUSE IN THE SONGWRITING PROCESS THAT OCHESTRA RIFF WILL OF ONCE BEEN A BASIC TUNE ON AN ACOUSTIC, A GREAT IDEA THAT PAID OFF BIG TIME, ONE OF MY ALL TIME FAVOURITES, THE VIDEO IS ALSO WELL COOL, RICHARD ASHCROFT IS A BIG INFLUENCE OF MINE.


Oasis - Live Forever


"Maybe I don't really want to know
How your garden grows
I just want to fly Lately did you ever feel the pain
In the morning rain
As it soaks it to the bone"

MY FAVOURITE EVER SONG, THE TUNE, THE LYRICS, EVERYTHING. AND I HONESTLY DON'T KNOW WHY, I LOVE NOEL'S SOLO IN THE MIDPOINT OF THE SONG, IT CREATES ONE OF THEM 'STEP BACK AND TAKE A DEEP BREATH MOMENTS'. ITS THAT GOOD! IT TOTALLY MAKES YOU FEEL ALIVE AND FREE, IT CREATES A FEELING THAT YOU CAN DO AND ACHIEVE ANYTHING YOU SET YOUR MIND TO.

The Who - Baba O'Riley

AMAZING SONG, I THINK IT'S THE BEST SONG THEY BROUGHT OUT. THE INTRO IS AWESOME, IT TOTALLY MAKES THE SONG AND CATCHES YOUR ATTENTION, WITHOUT THAT INTRO I WOULD PROBABLY SWITCH IT OFF. LOVE ROGER DALTERY IN THIS, HIS VOCALS ARE GREAT! ANOTHER INFLUENCE TO ADD TO MY COLLECTION.

The Jam - That's Entertainment


"Days of speed and slow time Mondays
Pissing down with rain on a boring Wednesday"

A PARTY TUNE! ONE OF THEM WERE EVERYONE CAN GET IN A CIRCLE ON A DRUNKEN NIGHT OUT AND HAVE A BIG LOUD SING-A-LONG, LOVE PAUL WELLER IN THIS, HIS GUITARS MINT. I REMEMBER AT MY LAST GIG I WENT TO (BEADY EYE - MANCHESTER APOLLO - 6TH MARCH) ALL THE CROWD WERE CHANTING THIS BEFORE THE LADS CAME OUT, WAS A SPECIAL MOMENT. 

T- Rex - Children of the Revolution

 "i drive a rolls royce 'cos it's good for my voice
But you won't fool the children of the revolution"

I DON'T THINK T-REX ARE THE GREATEST BAND IN THE WORLD, BUT WHEN THEY MADE A DECENT SONG THEY DID IT IN STYLE, 'GET IT ON' IS ANOTHER PERSONAL FAVOURITE FROM THIS BAND, I LOVE THE LYRICS AND MEANING BEHIND IT.

SIDE B

The Beatles - Day Tripper

YET AGAIN THE INTRO MAKES THIS SONG, THIS HAS GOTTA BE SOMEWERE IN MY TOP 5 BEATLES SONGS OF ALL TIME, I LOVE THE INTRO RIFF, HONESTLY AWESOME, I LOVE THE BEATLES MAN.


Beady Eye - The Beat Goes on


NEW BAND ARE BEADY EYE, FORMER OASIS MEMBERS, LIAM GALLAGHER, GEM ARCHER, ANDY BELL AND CHRIS SHARROCK FORMED THE BAND WHEN OASIS SPLIT. THEY HAVE RECENTLY JUST RELEASED THERE FIRST ALBUM (DIFFERENT GEAR, STILL SPEEDING). THIS IS MY FAVOURITE FROM THE ALBUM, IT'S A SONG THAT WOULD DESCRIBE ALL THE BAND'S I LIKE PUT TOGETHER, IF THE WHO, THE BEATLES, THE JAM AND OASIS COMBINED TO MAKE ONE SONG, YOU WOULD EXPECT TO GET A SIMILAR RESULT, AWESOME!

John Lennon - Imagine

ONE WORD 'WOW'. THE SONG OF ALL SONGS, IN MY EYES I DONT THINK ANYONE WRITE A SONG BETTER THAN THIS, THE VIDEO IS QUALITY TOO WITH YOKO ONO SAT BESIDE JOHN, A TOUCHING MOMENT AND ONE THAT SENDS CHILLS DOWN MY SPINE EVERYTIME I LISTEN TO IT. A REAL CLASSIC. 

The Kinks - All Day and All of The Night


GUITAR RIFF YET AGAIN! LOVE IT! I LOVE THE KINKS, I DON'T THINK THEY WERE AS GOOD AS THE WHO AND THE BEATLES BUT THEY STILL MADE SOME STRONG SONGS, THIS IS MY FAVOURITE FROM THE KINKS, I LOVE THE GRAINY VOCALS.

Miles Kane - Come Closer

OK, OK, NOW I KNOW I WAS ONLY SUPPOSED TO DO TEN SONGS, BUT I COULDN'T HELP BUT ADD 'MILES KANE' TO MY LIST. FORMER MEMBER OF 'THE RASCALS' AND ALSO DUETED WITH ARCTIC MONKEYS LEAD SINGER 'ALEX TURNER' IN THE 'LAST SHADOW PUPPETS'. I THINK MILES IS A REALLY STRONG YOUNG TALENT, IF PEOPLE WANT TO KEEP ROCK AND ROLL/MOD MUSIC ALIVE I FEEL WE SHOULD ALL GET BEHIND MILES, HIS MUSIC BRING'S BACK A REALLY 60'S FEEL, LIVERPOOL BORN JUST LIKE THE BEATLES, THIS IS HIS NEW SINGLE. I SEEN HIM LAST MONTH WHEN HE SUPPORTED BEADY EYE, HE IS A MUST SEE!

"Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go." -T.S. Eliot

today's tune......................

i'm a late convert to the kinks, i've always liked them, 'Ape Man' was one of the records my brother left behind and was one we played on a sunday evening. in those days you played the b-side too. i've had the greatest hits for a while but in my recent past i've discovered the warmth and depth of the song writing and subjects that as you get older you can identify with, a britain that exists on a sunny afternoon past. i now want a village green preservation society badge. weller says that waterloo sunset is one of the all time greatest lyrics, but i think this is up there and just invites the listener to sing along, forget the violent protests in London yesterday, let's save the village green! 

my tune of the day - connett

i remember seeing 'Connett' on a steaming hot carnaby street saturday, i'd made the trip to the smoke especially to catch their flame. since then i've followed the trail, nobody can deny their passion. Paul Weller liked what he'd heard and this black barn recording was the result. now we await the next tunes to drop, feelings are that their's is an upward journey. catch connett for an entire week on this blog in April!

Radio Find The Torch! Christian Darby Interview

unhappy with our original interview, we decided to have another go, so here it is, I gave christian a call and got him to tell me a bit about himself. We'll be following this up with chrisian's mixtape and some more comment closer to the release of his debut album release - dig the new breed!

Connett take over!

Connett will be taking over the blog to celebrate the release of their stunning new album 'love and curses' out on 208 records in April - honestly you'd be foolish to miss it!

interviews, mixtapes, favourite tracks and much more!

CULTURE: Syd Barrett Exhibition

Syd Barrett  

Art and Letters 

Exhibition Dates: 

18th March –10th April  2011 

Private View:  

Thursday, 17th March 2011 

Idea Generation Gallery, Redchurch Street, 

London, E2 7JB 

Syd Barrett | Art and Letters, at The Idea Generation Gallery, will be the first and largest exhibition of its kind, offering 

a rare insight into the lesser known side to the original Pink Floyd frontman’s inspiration and creativity. The exhibition

will include a series of previously unseen photographs ranging from intimate images from Syd’s childhood holidays 

through to the psychedelic hothouse of 1960s progressive rock as well as personal love notes written during the 

early days of Pink Floyd. Not only a stunning documentary of Syd Barrett, the exhibition features a series of 

completely unseen photographs of early Pink Floyd, including the first ever images of the band playing live in 

Denmark and images by the photographer Mick Rock he had considered lost forever. The exhibition will also include 

an extraordinary collection of Syd Barrett’s original artworks – the largest to date. 

Syd Barrett | Art and Letters will put the artist in a completely new light, allowing us to celebrate his life as an 

exceptionally gifted painter as well as iconic musician. This exhibition accompanies the publication of the book 

‘Barrett: The definitive visual companion’ by Essential Works.  

Northern Soul, Nightshift and Frank

a nice little short film found on the Groovy Uncle website enjoy!

"Northern Soul, Nightshift and Frank" is a short promo video to celebrate Northern Soul and Pete Mckenna's works which include the new edition of "Nightshift", "Who The Hell's Frank Wilson?" book and theatre production and the book the "Mis-spent Memoirs of Northern Soul" all coming in 2011.

Martell & Moray - their best song yet!

the family have been informed


click on the link to hear the song!

CULTURE: Reading Steady Go!

Running:From: 09 Apr 2011 To: 09 Oct 2011

Venue:John Madejski Art Gallery, Reading Museum & Town Hall, Reading, RG1 1QH

Reading Steady Go! exhibition logo

This exhibition explores the explosion of youth culture in the 1960s and its legacy in today’s music and fashion.

In the early 1960s Reading emerged from the rationing and austerity of the post war years. A generation of ‘Baby Boomers’ enjoyed increased spending power, more freedom and leisure time.

The term ‘teenager’ was used for the first time and alongside the new buildings that rose up in Reading, various youth cultures emerged. Young people began to define their identify through allegiance to different styles such as Teddy Boy, Rockabilly, Beatnik and Mod.

The early Mod pioneers were known as 'Modernists', because of their liking for Modern Jazz. They approved of all things new and revelled in the coffee bars and supermarkets that came to Reading in the late 1950s.

The town’s Mods soaked up the influences and latest trends from London. They listened to black American R & B artists, wore smooth cropped hairstyles, tailored jackets and neat Italian rounded-collar shirts.

Our exhibition intends to be an insight into the real Mod world. It goes beyond the popular myths to show their passion for music, fashion and being young.

Reading steady go - Reading Museum- test video

CULTURE: Satellite! St Albans Punk & New Wave '76-'81 at St Albans City Museum NOW!

St Albans Punk & New Wave '76 - 81' is an exhibition focusing on the explosion of creativity that followed the appearance of the Sex Pistols at St Albans College of Art and Design.

The exhibition will be linked to a number of complementary events during St Albans musicCity.

Exhibition Details The Museum of St Albans 
Hatfield Road, St Albans AL1 3RR
Tel. 01727 819340
Email museums@stalbans.gov.uk or visit www.stalbansmuseums.org.uk

Exhibition Dates March 8 - April 2 2011
Monday - Saturday 10.00am - 5.00pm, Sunday 2.00pm - 5.00pm
Admission Free

---

Once upon a time in 1975...

A recently formed band called The Sex Pistols turned up at Hertfordshire College of Art and Design in St Albans pretending to be a support band and managed to blag their way on to the bill.

John Lydon (aka Rotten) recounted on The Sex Pistols song Satellite:

"It's the story of the travelling nonsense, around the satellite towns of London, and picking up enough money to survive for a day or two. We had to do it, but in a way, that's what built the Sex Pistols crowd. They came from all those godforsaken new towns; Milton Keynes, St Albans. As bad as it was in London for young people, they had nothing at all in the end satellite towns. No social scene, nothing."

A student there at the time - Shanne Bradley - was so impressed that she booked the band twice more during 1976. When the band were unavailable for a further booking she got The Damned to perform (their second ever gig).

Shanne was also inspired to form her own band - The Nipple Erectors - and following an audition at her bedsit an unknown singer called Shane McGowan became their lead singer.

As the punk scene began to develop other bands toured through St Albans including The Clash on their infamous "White Riot Tour".

Inspired by these gigs and the buzz they caused a cluster of bands formed around the area, playing local venues and organising their own gigs. Others wrote fanzines or designed posters and badges. A few joined London bands such as Paul Dean - bassit with X-Ray Spex and another Art College attendee John McKay who became guitarist with Siouxsie and The Banshees.

Local artisit/designer Phil Smee was inspired to start a record label - Waldoes Records, and began by releasing The Bears "On Me/ Wot's Up Mate" in 1977. Others released DIY singles and cassettes-including several local band compilations.

New Wave became the catch all title for the disparate and individual acts that, inspired by punk's initial blast developed their own "alternative" pop styles, from punk-funk to caustic acoustica!

There was no more inspired and electric scene at the time than that of St Albans and that sense of DIY inventiveness would endure for generations to come! St Albans MusicCity, March 12 - 20, demonstrates how eclectic and abundant that culture remains -www.lemonrock.com/musiccity

What lies herein are memorabilia, reminiscenes and sounds from an abundantly creative period in St Albans creative history.