David Surkamp Passed Away

October 14, 2026

The amazing David Surkamp died yesterday, aged 73; the voice of PAVLOV'S DOG, who shattered the universe with “Julia” and other classics, has dissolved in silence. A lot of people couldn’t stand his vocals; a multitude loved them. Almost everyone adored songs Surkamp wrote or co-penned, and it’s hard to believe David could compose the likes of “Theme From Subway Sue” so quickly and easily.

“It’s just the way my art is, the way I think. I don’t do very much stuff that’s premeditated,” he told this scribe ten years ago. “I can pick them like antenna: I guess there are songs out there and I just grab them out of space and time.”

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Is Super Deluxe Edition Of The Beatles’ “Rubber Soul” Worth Your Money?

October 13, 2026

Watch the video.

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Elton John Strips Down Extra Instruments For The “Westies” Anniversary

October 11, 2026

One of the few major artists who can’t get their reissue campaign on proper track, Elton John‘s been lagging behind the actual dates for anniversary editions of his classic platters, and except for the “Madman Across The Water” box set, those expanded editions were largely disappointing. Even last year’s reappearance of “Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy” felt very much disappointing, as it contained less interesting material than the one which celebrated the album’s 30th year. Still, the fresh emergence of 1975’s “Rock Of The Westies” – scheduled for November 20th – should go even farther.

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MAD PAINTER Take Their Poetic Vision To An Island

October 9, 2026

As far as modern takes on classic rock go, there are ensembles that embrace the idiom without forays into pastiche while retaining all the panache their heroes from the past deployed, and that’s the way Boston’s own MAD PAINTER have been working for the last decade. Upping the standard set on their previous album, "Splashed" from 2024, the American band release its follow-up today: featuring a dozen cuts – eleven originals and a “mandatory” URIAH HEEP cover – of prime hard rock and prog, “Island Poetry” rides a variety of moods, designed by Alex Gitlin and in half of the cases given lyrical substance by yours truly.

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THE ALAN PARSONS PROJECT Reformat “Tales” For The 50th Anniversary

October 7, 2026

It’s never a good thing when a new edition of a classic album expands a previous reissue, and fans who already shelled out for a smattering of extra material have to buy the same stuff and then some, with this “some” often being of dubious value. Fortunately, the 50th anniversary re-emergence of THE ALAN PARSONS PROJECT‘s “Tales Of Mystery And Imagination” which will be released on December 11th is as far from a money grab as it could be. While the 40-year version of the British ensemble’s debut album wasn’t cheap, because it included – alongside three CDs with the original 1976 album, the platter’s 1987 remix and a collection of work-in-progress tracks – two LPs and a Blu-ray, the new offering comes split between various formats which one may want to combine, yet the availability of separate variants should make them affordable, especially when an aficionado picks a triple-disc mediabook.

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