John Hawkins – Old Musical Express

The Captain is in

30th November 20231st December 2023General

“A squid eating dough in a polyethylene bag is fast and bulbous, got me?“ This has become a much loved quote in our house, repeated by offspring who were not even a glimmer in my

Can’t buy a thrill – Steely Dan [Album]

9th July 20229th July 2022Album

The Record and Tape Exchange at 90 Goldhawk Road, Shepherd’s Bush, is entirely responsible to this day for my love of Steely Dan. As a designer I would say the cover of their first record

Bless the Weather – John Martyn [Album]

16th February 202216th February 2022General

This, his fifth album, recorded in 1971, was unknowingly to me the start of a lifelong obsession with John Martyn. Unknowingly because one night in 1973 John Peel played Glistening Glyndebourne, and I nearly fell

Fellow Hoodlums is 30 [Album]

19th June 202121st June 2021Album

Deacon Blue were a successful chart band in the 80s and have subsequently become unfashionable in some quarters, probably due to some questionable style choices in the pop years. Not with me. They actually broke

Free live

24th October 202011th October 2022General, Video

“We considered ourselves a live band that did records every now and then” Andy Fraser. “We really tore up the place, but we were around for less than three years. By the time Fire and

Top 10 singles – Teh Jayhawk

6th June 20206th June 2020General

This was provoked by the Guardian’s clickbait top 100 No 1s of all time, which was so contentious that it sparked off another 100 lists. This is something which changes as you go along and

[Album] Parachute – The Pretty Things

17th May 202017th May 2020Album

The death of Pretty Things vocalist Phil May (he was in Bowie’s address book under ‘God’) prompted a re-listen to a 1970 album which at the time (mid ‘O’ Levels) had quite a profound effect

[Video] 1969. Heavy rock starts and ends here.

8th May 20208th May 2020Video

Never bettered.

[Album] Ram (Walked right out of the machinery)

25th April 202025th April 2020Album

So as a Beatles fan, in 1970 I was fascinated to see what our Paul would do on his own. His first album, McCartney, was a very ramshackle construction made at home with a mixture

[Song] Orbital adventures

10th March 202021st June 2021Song

The first record I bought aged 8. Actually it wasn’t it was in fact Fireball XL5, the music from an execrably bad TV series for kids. (Yes it’s on Youtube). But I saw sense and