Ginger Baker’s Marquee Escapades Ready For Release

October 18, 2024

AIRFORCE might be the most prominent of the bands Ginger Baker steered towards melodic delirium, but the early ’80s saw another one emerge in the wake of the legendary drummer’s leaving HAWKWIND after his short stint with the space-rock bandits which resulted in the “Levitation” album. It was this ensemble that was to play in Italy in 1981, the tour booked by Baker’s manager before Baker jumped ship and thus nulled the arrangement but decided to go ahead with his own collective. Called NUTTERS, the group included another ex-Hawk, Keith Hale, on keyboards, his Toyah compadre Riki Legairm on bass and two former BURLESQUE members, guitarist Billy Jenkins and saxophonist Ian Trimmer; the line-up able to come up with a set of new pieces rather than rely on their leader’s illustrious past and continue entertaining the audiences on their home turf too.

Continue reading

Posted in News Tagged

Ringo Starr, John Paul Jones, Peter Gabriel And Other Stars Play For Change

October 17, 2024

Quietly running for more than two decades now, the multimedia music project Playing For Change is one of the most outstanding examples of music’s ability to cross borders and become international language. Each of the perennials covered within this framework sees an array of stars and unknown performers pass a tune around in a circle that’s meant to be unbroken, which makes for riveting experience on YouTube. There have been a few albums released with the project’s songs, yet the one planned for November 15th promises to be the most remarkable of all.

Continue reading

Posted in News Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

Interview with Danny Peyronel

October 15, 2024

A little bit more than half a century ago, a Juilliard student abandoned a bright future as a classical composer and flew from New York to London where a gloomy rock ‘n’ roll career seemed to await him – and Danny Peyronel never looked back because it didn’t take him long to land a job with HEAVY METAL KIDS, and from then on the sky was the limit for the young musician. Proceeding to play on UFO’s “No Heavy Petting” and leaving his indelible mark on the ensemble’s sound before that stint proved to be brief, Danny would go on to further creative challenges and successes. He wrote for Meat Loaf and Sade, heard his lyrics sung by David Gilmour and formed a few groups, yet cutting a solo path never felt too interesting a prospect for Peyronel. Although he made such an effort in 2004, another two decades passed until he decided to try again and deliver "It Happens When You Look The Other Way": the album which will define the veteran’s talent and shine a light in his personality. Only his personality started to get shaped in darker period, the era that became a starting point for this conversation.

Read the interview.
 

Posted in News Tagged

Paul Samwell-Smith’s Memories Make A Dedicated Book

October 14, 2024

It’s impossible to overestimate the significance of Paul Samwell-Smith‘s contribution to popular music. A “mere” bassist with THE YARDBIRDS, it was him who came up with the famous rave-up, cowrote such much-covered classics as “Still I’m Sad” with drummer Jim McCarty and co-produced their “Roger The Engineer” album before leaving the ensemble for good. And in this case “for good” meant not only “forever” but also “for something better than ordinary” – because the player turned into a producer most famous for his work with Cat Stevens. So one can imagine, the man has a lot of stories to tell, and now a lot of those tales, captured by the author David French, formed a book.

Continue reading

Posted in News Tagged

Susanna Hoffs To Issue Garage Album

October 14, 2024

Her fans might have given up all hopes of hearing another album of original material, but one never knows with Susanna Hoffs whose last such record was out back in 2012, because “Someday” was preceded in this regard by her self-titled 1996 platter, all the releases between and the two longplays and after the latter being collection of covers, done as charming as befits the lady. And she’s well aware of the issue, of course: that’s why October 18th should see the chanteuse’s almost apocryphal opus hit the shelves.

Continue reading

Posted in News Tagged