Sky Larkin, new single is definitely Newsworthy..tour..video

Leeds rockers and Just Music faves Sky Larkin unveil a lyric video for their newest single 'Newsworthy', which is taken from their third album 'Motto' released last year through Wichita Recordings. The band are due to set out on their UK Spring Tour this April.

The black and white video, produced by Dan Tombs (who has previously worked with Gold Panda and Factory Floor), is made from Prelinger Archive footage of an old-fashioned printing factory, where workers are needed to work at a rapid pace to keep up with the newspaper copying. It's an upbeat rock track with a feisty attitude courtesy of singer Katie Harkin; the guitar riffs are simple, and yet the catchy chorus will have you singing along long after the song has ended.

'Please enjoy the read-along video for 'Newsworthy'', says Katie. 'It's a memento from the age of tactile text, augmented by the wonderful Dan Tombs, and now spat back out into the digital realm.' The band; who are Katie, guitarist Nile Marr, bassist Sam Pryor and drummer Nestor Matthews; will be touring the UK in April for a mini-tour, before joining their label mates Cloud Nothings at a new Leeds festival called Gold Sounds which will see them perform at the Brudenell Social Club on May 26th 2014. 

Tour dates:
April
8th Birmingham The Bull's Head
9th Cardiff Clwb Ifor Bach
10th Northampton Ledgendary Labour Club
11th Bristol The Old Bookshop
12th Portsmouth Edge of the Wedge                  
16th Liverpool Kazamier
17th York Fibbers
18th Newcastle Cluny 2
May
26th Leeds Brudenell Social Club

Tickets for all shows http://www.songkick.com/artists/228093-sky-larkin

Joe Lean Returns...without his Jing, Jang or Jong.

Fantastic news, Joe Lean of the much loved around these parts Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong is back with his new band Boyband. See their debut video below...

The band played their debut gig in London recently kicking off with the single “Motorcycle Boy”, a snarling slice of indie rock which bodes well. We are chuffed that at least a couple of tracks bear more than a passing resemblance to JJJ  – a soaring chorus here, some girl group harmonies there. Joe minces around, staring deadpan into the middle distance, finger-clicking.



A track we didnt get the title of opens with the drum beat from Primal Scream’s “Rocks” before turning into a 60s-esque ballad that opens with Joe crooning “you got me wrong” and a riff-heavy Strokes-esque number called “Tiger Stripes” that features more self-deprecating lines. Closer “Give It Up” features a repeated chorus of “You’re bringing me down”.

We hope this is the start of something for Joe, we were gutted when the JJJ finished and loved their unreleased album, heres to Joe for 2014 (full review here)
@boybandtweets

New Pure Audio Releases, Lennon, Pistols, Stones etc..

Launched in the UK in October last year to great interest, UMC’s High Fidelity Pure Audio range continues to expand as more titles are lined up for release on January 20th 2014. High Fidelity Pure Audio uses Blu-ray technology to deliver what is said to be the ultimate listening experience to the user. 

Brand new products include releases from Genesis, Lenny Kravitz, The Velvet Underground, The Rolling Stones, Sex Pistols, Sam Cooke, Tears For Fears and John Lennon.  
  
As usual these will contain a download voucher to download an MP3 version of the album. Below are the full details of the ones of interest to us.

NEW FOR JANUARY 2014 

THE ROLLING STONES – LET IT BLEED


Release Date: January 20th 2013 
Formats included: 2.0 PCM, 2.0 Dolby TrueHD, 2.0 Dolby

Tracklisting:
1. Gimme Shelter
2. Love In Vain
3. Country Honk
4. Live With Me
5. Let It Bleed
6. Midnight Rambler
7. You Got The Silver
8. Monkey Man
9. You Can't Always Get What You Want 

JOHN LENNON – IMAGINE

Release Date: January 20th 2014  
Formats included: 2.0 PCM, 2.0 Dolby TrueHD, 2.0 Dolby DTS

Tracklisting:
1. Imagine
2. Crippled Inside
3. Jealous Guy
4. It’s So Hard
5. I Don’t Wanna be a Soldier
6. Gimme Some Truth
7. Oh My Love
8. How Do You Sleep?
9. How?
10. Oh Yoko! 

SEX PISTOLS – NEVER MIND THE BOLLOCKS

Release Date: January 20th 2014  
Formats included: 2.0 PCM, 2.0 Dolby TrueHD, 2.0 Dolby DTS

Tracklisting:
1. Holidays In The Sun
2. Bodies
3. No Feelings
4. Liar
5. God Save The Queen
6. Problems
7. Seventeen
8. Anarchy In The UK
9. Submission
10. Pretty Vacant
11. New York
12. EMI
13. No Feeling
14. Did You No Wrong
15. No Fun
16. Satellite
17. Anarchy In The UK - Live At Happy House, Stockholm / 1977
18. I Wanna Be Me - Live At Happy House, Stockholm / 1977
19. Seventeen - Live At Happy House, Stockholm / 1977
20. New York - Live At Happy House, Stockholm / 1977
21. EMI - Live At Happy House, Stockholm / 1977
22. Submission - Live At Happy House, Stockholm / 1977
23. No Feelings - Live At Happy House, Stockholm / 1977
24. Problems - Live At Happy House, Stockholm / 1977
25. God Save The Queen - Live At Happy House, Stockholm / 1977
26. Pretty Vacant - Live At Happy House, Stockholm / 1977
27. No Fun - Live At Happy House, Stockholm / 1977
28. Problems - Live At Winter Gardens, Penzance / 1977
29. No Fun - Live At Winter Gardens, Penzance / 1977
30. Anarchy In The UK - Live At Winter Gardens, Penzance / 1977 

TEARS FOR FEARS – THE HURTING

Release Date: January 20th 2014  
Formats included: 2.0 PCM, 2.0 Dolby TrueHD, 2.0 Dolby DTS

Tracklisting:
1. The Hurting
2. Mad World
3. Pale Shelter
4. Ideas As Opiates
5. Memories Fade
6. Suffer The Children
7. Watch Me Bleed
8. Change
9. The Prisoner
10. Start Of The Breakdown 

We will be reviewing these discs in the near future, these will appear first in Just Music and within the week here on this blog

WELLER ANNOUNCES FORESTRY COMMISSION GIGS FOR SUMMER 2014

After last summer's sold out Forest Live shows, Weller is once again joining forces with the Forestry Commission for a string of unmissable live dates. 

Paul has confirmed five Forest Live concerts in spectacular woodland locations across the country for the months of June and July. 

Weller and his special guests will be performing at the following shows: 

Saturday 14 June: Sherwood Forest, Edwinstowe, Nr Mansfield, Notts. 
Saturday 21 June: Bedgebury Pinetum & Forest, Nr Tunbridge Wells, Kent.
Friday 27 June: Dalby Forest, Nr Pickering, N Yorks. 
Saturday 28 June: Cannock Chase Forest, Nr Rugeley, Staffs. 
Friday 4 July: Delamere Forest, Nr Northwich, Cheshire.

Tickets to the dates go on sale at 9.00am Friday 17th January from the Forestry Commission box office tel: 03000 680400 and online at www.forestry.gov.uk/music 

Rewind Festival Sunday line up...a treat

Through band self announcements and some digging we understand this is Sunday at the Henley end of this years Rewind Festival... One huge major draw for me but first have a squint at what we believe is the line up.

Tony Hadley ex Spandau Ballet
A Flock of Seagulls,
Boomtown Rats, 
Howard Jones, 
UB40, 
Hazel o Connor, , 
Jimmy Sommerville former Communards and Bronski Beat, 
Tom Bailey only the lead Thompson Twin whoooop, 
The South ex Beautiful South minus Paul, 
Roland Gift frontman Fine Young Cannibals

Very pleased to see Tom Bailey back and clearly knocking out a few Thompson Twins classics. Enjoy one of their finer moments..


As mentioned this is not officially confirmed but most of this comes from the artists. 

How EMI made a mess of The Beatles

The Beatles music is closely controlled these days, soon to be highlighted by the new American albums box set which bans the fake stereo version that actually featured on those albums at the time.

Time and EMI haven’t though always been as kind to The Beatles as (thanks to our friends at superdeluxeediton) we take a look at our favorite Beatles releases that weren’t handled with quite as much care.

With The Beatles (above) and Revolver (below)
with their tampered tracklists.

Those 1970s cassette releases.

Most bands take great care in assembling their album, what tracks open and close the album. Back in the day, you had to add into the mix what songs would close Side 1 of the vinyl LP , and of course open side 2. You would think that with a band of The Beatles stature that such things would be sacrosanct.  Oh no, in the 1970s, EMI issued all the studio albums on cassette and rejigged the running order so as to make the tape lengths roughly equal on both sides.

So for example, instead the first track on the Please Please Me being I Saw Her Standing There (with Paul’s memorable “1,2,3,4..” count-in) it’s Misery on the tape! Only Sgt Pepper’s Hearts Club Band went unbutchered; Rubber Soul doesn’t begin with Drive My Car, The White Album (incredibly) doesn’t end with Goodnight, and Abbey Road kicks off with Here Comes The Sun not Come Together. 
Incredible.

It wasn’t until the reissue in 1987 that the running orders were corrected. Imagine The Stone Roses debut opening with Elizabeth My Dear…

Rock ‘n’ Roll Music compilation(s)

Now this is one I remember from my childhood. As the Beatles contract with EMI ended in 1976, the label sought to exploit their product. Fifties music was staging a bit of a comeback at the time and so EMI hit on the idea of Rock N Roll Music, a double album in June of that year. The artwork was the first thing to take exception to, a mish mash of iconic 50’s images, doubly odd for a band that were such icons of the 60’s. This  prompted Ringo Starr to complain to Rolling Stone: "It made us look cheap and we never were cheap. All that Coca-Cola and cars with big fins was the Fifties!" Lennon was also critical of the artwork and wrote an angry letter to Capitol Records saying it "looks like a Monkees reject" and instead suggested the use of photos by Astrid Kirchherr or Jürgen Vollmer, both of whom had photographed the band during their Hamburg days.  Lennon even offered to design the cover himself.

The gatefold sleeve

Undeniably much of the Beatles early work up to the release of Please Please Me and Beatles For Sale had its heart in the 50’s. Many of those cover versions made up sides 1 and 2 of this new compilation. Sides 3 and  4 picked up what were, however tenuously deemed as being Rock n Roll derived, hence Birthday and Drive My Car

The artwork was improved when this double was split into two albums. As a final insult these ended up on EMI’s budget ‘Music For Pleasure’ label. Beatles don’t do ‘budget’!

The Beatles’ Movie Medley

In the early 80’s the Stars on 45 was in full flow.  A medley of Beatles songs sung by a Lennon sound-alike had been a big hit. An official Beatles medley of snippets from various Beatles songs was produced. It remains the only Beatles single not released on CD, to be honest it works but does it qualify as treating the Beatles material with respect by Jive Bunny-ing it?

Parlophone Records initially refused to issue the single in the UK, regarding the medley as "tacky". But after the import demand for the U.S. release grew, it was finally issued and reached No.10 on the British charts in 1982. The original flip side was an interview with the Beatles about the making of the movie A Hard Day's Night and is considered quite rare. 
Listen below..


Sessions album (unreleased)

EMI had milked their assets relentlessly.  They reissued all the singles in the mid-seventies and were constantly putting out compilations such a Love Songs (1977), Rarities (1978), The Beatles Ballads (1980) and 20 Greatest Hits (1982). There were also a number of box sets including The Beatles Collection (vinyl ‘blue’ box) and The Beatles Box. What they hadn’t done at any point during the 1970s was issue any previously unreleased studio material. The truth was 12 years after the band split they were still not exactly sure what they had, so in 1982 engineer John Barrett was tasked with listening to all the session recordings.

Not the actual sleeve, it was never designed,
this is the bootleg

This eventually lead to The Beatles Live At Abbey Road, a tour of the famous recording studio open to the public for a couple of months in the summer of 1983. This tour was accompanied by a soundtrack featuring outtakes and alternate mixes. Ironically the preparation and reproduction of these tapes meant they fell into the hands of Bootleggers, for many years the John Barrett tapes were a fantastic collection.

Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick eventually prepared a 13-track Sessions album planned for release by EMI in 1985, but never issued due to stong objections by the surviving Beatles. The album consisted of thirteen finished, but unreleased, Beatles songs. A single—"Leave My Kitten Alone", with an alternative version of "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da", which was not to appear on the album, as its B-side—was also planned, but it too was left unissued.

Versions of all the songs planned for Sessions would eventually see official release as part of The Beatles Anthology series in 1995–96, with the exception of "Christmas Time (Is Here Again)", which was concurrently released on the "Free as a Bird" single.


Love Me Do 50th Anniversary reissue

Just to bring things right up to date and show the lack of care and consideration for The Beatles remain… On the 5th October 2012 EMI proudly re-issued the seven-inch single of The Beatles debut single Love Me Do to celebrate 50 years since the original release.

However, EMI had accidentally released the version of the song with session drummer Andy White rather than Ringo behind the kit. Andy played on the album version of Love Me Do, but not the version issued as a single back in 1962 which featured Ringo.

In September 1962 The Beatles had recorded "Love Me Do" twice already: at an EMI audition on 6 June 1962 with Pete Best on drums when he was still a member of the group; and again on 4 September 1962 with Ringo Starr on drums. Producer Geroge Martin had disapproved of Best's drumming and was now also unhappy with newcomer Starr's drumming.  On 11 September 1962 EMI wanted the song recorded again, and The Beatles played "Love Me Do" a third time, this time with White replacing Starr on drums. White was known to to Martins assistant and so was called in to  have a go!

EMI withdraw the incorrect version on the eve of release but not early enough to stop some fans getting deliveries from online sites. A number of copies escaped and a corrected release was made on 22 October.

So there you have it, how a band as huge as The Beatles can still be treat by the label as mere fodder!

Boomtown Rats self confirm Rewind Appearance

The Boomtown Rats have confirmed a number of UK 2014 appearances on the back of a hugely succesful 2013 UK tour and new hits collection. We caught Bob and the Rats at the end of last year in Doncaster and were blown away. A very powerful live band - original memners thankfully - and a witty and snarling front man pumping out the hits.

The band have confirmed they will play at the South and Scottish ends of the highly succesful Rewind Festival this summer, though not as yet the new third site in Cheshire.

The dates so far are:

JUNE
Sunday 1st - Wychwood Festival, Cheltenham Racecourse, Gloucestershire
Saturday 7th - Jersey Festival
Friday 27th - Grassington Festival, Yorkshire

JULY
Friday 4th - Chilfest, Tring, Hertfordshire
Saturday 5th - Whitehaven Festival, Cumbria
Sunday 20th - Rewind Festival, Perth, Scotland

AUGUST
Sunday 17th - Rewind Festival, Henley-on-Thames

OCTOBER
Saturday 11th - GB Alt Festival, Skegness, Lincolnshire

Watch: The Boomtown Rats live at IOW last year and the rather superb Someones Looking at You

Morrissey speaks - Novels, Albums and David Bowie

In a wide-ranging new Q&A with fans, Morrissey reveals that he’s midway through writing a novel, about to start recording a new album, and how he failed to get David Bowie to record a duet of the Righteous Brothers’ “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’” — “with David doing the deep Bill Medley parts, and me doing the Bobby Hatfield shrieks.”

The Q&A was posted late Thursday at fansite True To You, and also finds the singer addressing his vegetarianism, fashion sense, crusades for animal welfare, listening habits and The Smiths (“As an entity, I have no interest in the Smiths, so as long as I’m not asked about the Smiths, I won’t slip into permanent unconsciousness. And that’s a promise.”)


You can read the full q and a Here at True To You or the highlights below

Why he is writing a novel

“In 2013 I published my Autobiography and it has been more successful than any record I have ever released, so, yes, I am mid-way through my novel. I have my hopes. The actuality is that radio stations will not play my music, and the majority of people have lost faith in the music industry, and it’s generally assumed – quite rightly – that the number one chart positions are “bought” by the major labels, so there really is no passion left in pop or rock music, and I don’t think people believe for an instant that the faces we constantly see on television and in magazines are remotely popular. It’s all, now, solely a question of marketing. All success stories are safe and dreary, and you will never be taken by surprise by a hit song that sounds out of place. This is not just my view but the view of everyone I know.”

New album

“Well, we are about to record our new album, and one of the tracks is called Istanbul. It is second to Rome as my most favorite city in the world. When I’m in Istanbul I feel as if I could never die. My life is matched. I have been trying to book the Istanbul Opera House, and I long to play Ankara, Izmir and Bursa, but local promoters say I am not well-known enough. Even if I sing to one hundred people in Izmir I’d be happy!”

That David Bowie duet

“When I made the record Ringleader of the tormentors, the producer (Tony Visconti), who is a very close friend of David Bowie, tried to get both Bowie and I together to do our version of ‘You’ve Lost that Lovin’ Feelin’,” with David doing the deep Bill Medley parts, and me doing the Bobby Hatfield shrieks. I loved this idea, but David wouldn’t budge. I know I’ve criticized David in the past, but it’s all been snotnosed junior high ribbing on my part. I think he knows that.”

Favorite song he’s written

“It would be ‘Life is a Pigsty’ from Ringleader of the Tormentors. I’m accused of always saying too much, but dear God, there are enough people who say nothing. Surely at least one of us can be allowed to speak freely? Feelings, I think, are much deeper than expressions, and all of us carry a terrible loneliness within us, and life is a pigsty because we all — without exception — end our lives in tears. Very few people die in a fit of hysterics on a Ferris Wheel.”

Now enjoy a rare version on Sweetie Pie...beautiful!

Blondie - Medley - New Year's Rockin' Eve 2014

Blondie rounded off a very succesful 2013 with a gig in Times Square and we get bloody Gary "Ken" Barlow. Enjoy this..

Just Music 2013 Award Winners

As published in the 21st December issue of Just Music, these are the results of our 12th annual survey of our readers. Our readers are 75% UK, a further 15%  mainland Europe with the remainder split almost equally between Japan and the U.S.

We had an impressive 71% response, possibly down to very generous prizes being offered courtesy of Sony UK, Jessops, BMG-Europe and Ticketweb.

So...
Best Band: Arctic Monkeys
Best Solo: Ellie Goulding (intrestingly on 26% of respondents voted to this category)
Best New Act: China Rats

Best Live Act 2013: Arctic Monkeys
Best Comeback Live: Boomtown Rats

Best Album: David Bowie - The Next Day
Best Single: Daft Punk - Get Lucky (by a mile this one)

Best Live Venue: Leeds First Direct Arena
Best Festival: Glastonbury

Best TV: Breaking Bad 
Best Film: Django Unchained (although Gravity was very close)

The world would be better without: Justin Bieber - retaining the title for the third year, well done Justin.

Agree, disagree, any more categories we missed? Do let us know, we love an argument!