Blog No. 5 - 13th March 2006

As in last month’s installment I am still engrossed in working my way through virtually the entire SUNDAZED & NORTON records catalogues. And that’s 45s as well as LPs. There are piles of records strewn throughout the living room. Luckily I’ve got an understanding wife (to be) and two kiddies who’ve grown up surrounded by vinyl, so any temptation on their part to explore my collection is mercifully absent.

I must say that virtually all of these records are completely wonderful. For starters there are about 200 45s titles that Norton Records (New York, USA), have issued over the years. They range from Garage to Instrumental but concentrate mostly on wild and obscure Rockabilly.
So that’s where my head is at for the time being. Their LP titles are also very very cool.

One album which I was particularly impressed by was a collection of early DOUG SAHM 45s from the late 50’s to early 60’s. (LP SAHM, DOUG - SAN ANTONIO ROCK - THE HARLEM RECORDINGS 1957-1961). I’ve been a DOUG SAHM / SIR DOUGLAS QUINTET fan for years and his SMASH LPs from the late sixties are as essential American music as you’ll ever hear. So I approached this LP with some trepidation as "early" recordings by later stars can be a half formed affair at best. But I needn’t have worried. DOUG SAHM was already a fully fledged genius at the tender age of 18 (as well as a performing veteran, playing steel guitar with some of Texas’ top Western Swing acts before he turned 10!!!). HIs sound on these early 45s was already established and very similar to the kind of thing he played and sang right up until his death in 1999. Sahm was (and is) a true original and one of the few genuine geniuses of modern popular music. If you’re interested in Texas music in general and enjoy a wild blend of Blues, R’n’b, Country and Rock, then Doug Sahm is surely the man for you.

Also essential is the SUNDAZED compilation "The Best Of Sir Douglas Quintet" which is actually a reissue of a very rare 1960’s compilation on Tribe Records of earlier 45s (both hits and misses) issued on that label. In fact any of his LPs are interesting, not least his late 70’s output on labels such as Sonet which saw a welcome return to his pure rockin’ Texas Roots. If there’s one artist I wish I could have seen live it’s him (oh, and Link Wray and Hendrix, but that’s another tale).

In recent times I’ve also had a really productive time trimming down by huge 45s collection. I’ve been squirrelling away 45s for years now and must admit that my collection has been getting somewhat out of hand, to the extent that I simply don’t know what I have anymore. Those little platters are everywhere and I thought it prudent to have a bit of a spring clean. On the one hand it’ll release some very tasty titles into this catalogue (starting next month) but it also meant that I spent days listening to 45s that I hadn’t heard in ages. It’s amazing how you can hear any given record with new ears once you’ve not played it for a year or two.

I "rediscovered"some truly brilliant records in this manner. One such gem is a fantastic Pebbles Garage 45 by SOMEBODY’S CHILDREN "I’m going back to New York City" (UPTOWN USA 1966) which is a frantic Garage/Psych killer. Much in the same vein is the ever brilliant "It’s a bad way to go" by (also from New York) THE BRUTHERS, their lone 45, issued on RCA in 1966. (Their entire recorded output is now on one essential LP on SUNDAZED...again). Another killer 45 which can be found cheap (and, oh yes, I have one last copy for sale) is THE BECKETT QUINTET’s 45 "No Correspondence" which was also featured on the PEBBLES LP series many moons ago. Essential riff based hard snotty Garage-just the way we like it.
The FLOYD DAKIL 4 (out of Dallas Texas) had a fairly good 45 called "Dance Franny dance" included on the the first Pebbles LP, but far better is a killer 45 (on EARTH) from 1965 called "Bad Boy" (not the Larry Williams song) which is a typically tight Texan R’n’b Punker much in the same vein as early BOBBY FULLER 4. Who, when I think of it, are also one of the greatest bands of all time. And I have just noticed that this article is taking on a slight Texan flavour. This is only right and just, as I my mind the Lone Star State has produced some of the world’s (and beyond) greatest music: 13th Floor Elevators, Moving Sidewalks, Bobby Fuller 4, The Vaughan Brothers (Stevie & Jimmy and all the band they played in), Johnny Winter, The Stoics (if only for that ONE brilliant 45 "Hate / Enough of what I need"), Buddy Holly, Sonny Curtis, ALbert Collins....the list goes on and on. Also one of the world’s greatest record fairs is held at Austin.

As you can tell I am once again completely smittne with 60’s Garage, R’n’b, Folk-Rock and Psych.
My little dabble in modern sounds has once again been put on the back burner. I simply find the old stuff more satisfying and half the fun is actually unearthing those sounds that were- up to then - completely lost in the midst of time. There is something quite satisfying (and this may well be a predominantly male trait) in the EXCLUSIVITY of these rare and unusual little bits of black plastic that we’re all obsessed about. When they’re dished up new, and for everyone to have and own without having to work for right of ownership, the fun kind of goes. I’m sure you know what I mean, even if you don’t agree!

Well that’s me done for this time. I’m off to the USA on a family visit and buying trip now, but by the time you read this I will, hopefully, have returned in one piece and with lots of records and good memories.

Blog no. 4 - 21st February 2006

For most of February I was laid low with a vicious ‘flu plus a chest infection that went on for about 4 weeks. Not nice, and for someone like me who’s really not used to being ill, having to stay in bed for nearly 2 weeks was an experience that I don’t want to repeat any time soon. The weirdest thing about it was that during the time I was sick I really had an aversion to any sort of music and the thought of playing a record made me feel distinctly queasy. It worried me a bit, but I knew it wouldn’t last, probably.

It didn’t and the day I really felt better was the day were I gorged myself on listening to records. I played records for about 10 hours straight. I did have a lot of catching up to do.

The funny thing was, that while I was laid up in bed I got out loads of old Garage / Psych fanzines to re-read. Stuff like UGLY THINGS, SHINDIG and Bucketfull Of Brains. So, while I didn’t play a single record, I READ about them instead for 2 weeks. Which is kind of like going to Rock’n’Roll college-you learn so much. I’m always reading anyway, but doing it 8 hours a day for 2 weeks did teach me a lot of things I didn’t know.

So, there I was reading about obscure Teen / Garage combos from the Northwest states down to Texas which rekindled (not that it really needed rekindling) my passion for obscure USA (and UK) 1960’s Garage / R’n’b bands. As you know I’m into all kinds of music but if I do have a "specialized" field in music it is 60’s Garage / Psych. I’ve been exploring this particular musical avenue for well over 25 years, since I was 14 in fact. I’ve just become more obsessive about it in the last few years.

When I finally got myself out of bed and down to the record deck, I instantly got stuck into a whole pile of LPs, EPs and 45s that I’d been waiting to listen to for weeks. First up was a trio of really cool Northwest Garage band compilations on the SUNDAZED label which I got a little while ago. They’re the NORTHWEST BATTLE OF THE BANDS (Volumes 1 to 3) LPs (and on vinyl too, yeah!!) which I’d been dying to hear for ages. Basically, they are all Jerden label 45 releases (or Jerden recordings licensed to other labels) reissued on three seperate LPs. Best of all, these cuts have all been taken from the original master recordings and sound as clear as a bell.

There’s some great powerful tracks here by the likes of The Sonics, The Wailers, Mr. Lucky & the Gamblers and dozens of others. What I’ve always liked about Northwest (the Washington State area) Garage bands is their sheer rawness and power. Some of these bands used to regularly pull 2000 kids to their weekend shows, and they were just local heroes!! They’d release a bunch of singles, maybe make the local charts but very rarely socre a national hit.

The Kingsmen of course were one such band, and they had a mega USA smash with LOUIE LOUIE which sort of put the Northwest on the musical map. Paul Revere & the Raiders were, of course, the most successful band from that area but by no means the best. Bands such as The Wailers, The Sonics & Don & The Goodtimes ruled their patch with a sound of iron, well, proto heavy metal actually and kept it up well beyond a time when the rest of the world was already grooving to the soft summer sounds of 1967. The Don & The Goodtimes compilation on Sundazed is another great example of a fab Garage / R’n’b band who, in their day, were local heroes of the highest order.

I hadn’t really been too aware of this band before. They are usually overshadowed by The Sonics or The Wailers, but actually they were just as good but have somehow been more or less forgotten. The sleevenotes to their Sundazed LP mentions that in a "Battle of the Bands" contest between these three bands one time The Goodtimes actually came top! Also mentioned were three LPs that they cut in the 60’s for the labels Wand, Burdette and Epic. Judging by the kind of prices original Sonics or Wailers LPs fetch these days (nothing under £100!) I reckoned that, being at least as rare, Don & The Goodtimes LPs would set me back a similar amount. Sometimes however, when you focus hard enough, strange and fortuitous things can and do happen. Sure enough, just yesterday I was rummaging in a record shop on the Portobello Road....and...scored an original LP copy of "Where the Action is" by Don & the Goodtimes (on the WAND label, 1966) for only £10!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wow - the seller probably lumped this LP in with the really common (and not all that good) KINGSMEN LPs on Wand, of which their must be at least 8 different titles. Now the KINGSMEN LPs really do only sell for about £10 to £15 being at best pretty average musically, but this Don & The Goodtimes LP is, in my book, at least as rare and as essential as any Sonics or Wailers LP! I’m still doing cartwheels now. A vinyl slab of essential Northwest garage history, chock full of killer R’n’b tunes with some brilliant instrumentals too for only a tenner. Now that’s cool!

Also, essential, for me, is a trio of LPs (again on Sundazed) of Garage tracks from the SOMA label out of the Minneapolis. Soma Records had two big hits in the 60’s-one being "Run Run Run" by The Gestures, and the other "Liar Liar" by The Castaways. Of course, these two hits are only the tip of the proverbial iceberg, and Soma was a pretty effective local label that released some superb Beat Invasion and early Garage type 45s. I really like the fact that this label had its own unique sound and some of the songs and performances are pretty terrific. Most bands on the label only released a couple of singles each and The Gestures and The Castaways were poorly served when it came to distributing their nationwide hits. The label simply didn’t have good enough national distribution to satisfy demand, but on a local level (ie in 4 or 5 states) they were quite successful. Again, a lot of these bands, although almost forgotten these days were major pulls in their local area and Teen dances were generally packed to the rafters and shows for 2000 or 3000 raging and spotty fans were not uncommon.

Which brings me neatly to another local scene which, even today, was probably the most influencial music area of the 1960’s outside of San Francisco. Michigan gave us The Stooges, The MC5, Terry Knight & the Pack.....and....Bob Seger Now personally speaking, Bob Seger’s mid to late 70’s work is fairly middle of the road. In the 60’s however, he was one of a large pool of Michigan artists trying to make his mark. And Michigan in the 60’s fairly rocked. The heaviest bands like The Stooges & The MC5 came out of this scene, which was tough and uncompromising. Bob Seger, too, cut some fantastic and rare 45s from about 1966 onwards. There is a bootleg LP from about 1984 (from France) which compiles such Garage 45 classics like "Persecution Smith, "Heavy Music" and "Looking Back" but this LP is almost as rare as the originals! Find one, and you’ll probably pay less than £12.00 (no-one really knows what it is, the front cover is really uninspiring looking) but finding one is the hard part.

That really wraps up this month’s back page but if you’re into delving deep into this type of music, get UGLY THINGS magazine from the USA. It is simply the best 60’s / Garage fanzine ever, and although it appears but once a year, each issue runs to at least 140 or so pages, and will be crammed full of obscure tidbits that I, for one, get really exited about. Go to www.uglythings.com and order directly from them. The mag will apear about a week after you’ve put in your order. I only recommend this magazine because I think it’s great and I am hooked onto every issue I’ve ever read. One for Garage / Psych heads, to be sure-but interestinf enough for anyone whith a passion for 60’s music.

Blog No.3 - 21st December 2005-12-2

As of last month, I am in the process of making a complete u-turn in my assessment of the current music scene. You will remember that a few issued ago I railed and ranted against "modern" music. While my points about this subject were mostly valid, I did make more of an effort to check out newer acts, and thanks to the packages of copied CDs a few of my readers kindly sent in I was "reintroduced" to newer music. I stopped checking out new bands in about 1997 or so, and had become convinced that all modern music is fairly rubbish. Well a lot of it is, but scratching beneath the surface recently, I have found some that there is still real talent after all. Two people kindly sent in CDs of THE ARCTIC MONKEYS and DEVENDRA BANHART, and both have really grown on me.

Being an incorrigible vinyl hound, however, my interest in new music has mainly been fuelled by the fact that one of our local record shops actually sells newly released 45s. And loads of them! Which means that every Monday I am picking up very limited runs of new releases - ON VINYL, oh yes - by the likes of STEREOPHONICS, OASIS (ok, not new and not even that good), TEENAGE FANCLUB (been around for ages too), THE CORAL, THE DEAD SIXTIES, a new BRIAN WILSON Christmas single (terrible song, but very limited on white vinyl 45, so I had to really...), THE SUBWAYS, BABYSHAMBLES and dozens of other little teenage bands who’ll probably never be heard again. 45s are cool and that is partly the reason why I liked these bands all of a sudden. But there is some good music being made, with a lot of the younger bands not afraid to experiment a little. It actually does seem to me that British Pop is alive and well after all. There may never be another Hendrix or The Beatles again, but maybe I have to be grateful for smaller mercies.

 So while my about face will seem a bit sudden to most readers, I do declare that there is still good music out there, and on vinyl! I’m relieved to be honest, because I was in danger of turning into a grumpy 30 something year old, now I’m confident I’ll grooving with THE KIDS again any day soon (Bet they’ll be pleased)!

 One vintage LP I found that I must tell you about is a fantastic record from 1968: Paul Parrish - "Forest of my mind" (Music Factory , USA 1968) This is a hugely interesting and very entertaining Psych Folk Pop effort. Produced by DENNIS COFFEY & MIKE THEODORE, it is a little gem chock full of self penned songs featuring gentle vocals and some very Psychedelic touches. Flutes, Sitars and beautiful orchestration abound and this really is a lost Psych gem. Definitely one for fans of Soft Psych or Acid Folk, this LP is excellent but unfortunately very hard to find. I got my copy for next to nothing, but I have seen only one other copy on offer...for $120.00 from a dealer in the USA. This maybe excessive but if you see a copy for around £30-50 then pick it up, it really doesn’t seem to turn up often. I certainly hadn’t seen another copy before.

Blog No.2 - 14th October 2005

Watching "late" night telly yesterday (late being any time after 10-pm these days) I thoroughly enjoyed a little programme revolving around the late John Peel’s record collection. To be precise, it was based on a box of John Peel’s essential 45s and featured artists old and new discussing those records and John Peel himself. Actually, it was great TV which I (as a vinyl hound) found truly inspiring and it reaffirmed (if that was necessary) my own dedication to music and vinyl in particular.

 There are times in everyone’s life when we doubt the road we have chosen. I’m no exception and sometimes wonder if I shouldn’t get out a bit more and maybe become a gardener or lawyer...or something. But this vinyl bug has a hold of me and I simply can’t imagine a life where I’m not deeply involved in music. So seeing a hero like John Peel discussed on TV with all his records on proud display is somewhat uplifting, maybe because I do crave mainstream acceptance for what I do and need to be reminded that thousands of you would agree that vinyl is more than just a cultish hobby! Maybe it’s the long nights and my total immersion in all thing music that’s causing me to not see the wood for the trees. Or something.

 Anyhow, it was a good programme. If you missed it, I’m sure it’ll be repeated at some point and if you need validation for your vinyl addiction then watching the show will surely absolve you of any guilt..should you feel it. What I really liked about Peelie was his complete and utter lack of elitism and his whole hearted acceptance of any music- if he liked it. I’m sure quite a few of you have been in bands and maybe even had your record played on his show. Mine was - apparently - but I missed it, to my ever lasting disappointment*. The only I actually encountered the man was in Guildford in Surrey about 10 years ago. I was carrying a box of about 60 LPs from a local record shop to my car. I had just crossed a main road (with my box) when a shiny silver Mercedes glid past me. I noticed the driver taking an usually long look at my box (of records!!). It took me about 2 seconds to realise it was John Peel and for the briefest moment my crate of vinyl connected two record fanatics in a momentary and unspoken bond of vinyl comradeship. Or so it felt.

 I remember in 1982 when I was fifteen years of age staying up late and listening to every minute of his radio show desperate to hear to EVERYTHING he played. If something sounded promising I’d hit the "record" button on my tape deck and over the years I built up an impressive collection of hundreds of Peel spins. It was thanks to Peel that I recorded all the early SMITHS radio sessions before they’d even released a record. I remeber going to see THE SMITHS play at KINGSTON POLYTHECHNIC to about 200 people, Morrissey sitting in the bar with a pint of Ale before the show chatting to one or two people. No sign of hero worship yet. I remember first hearing THE CRAMPS, THE CHOCOLATE WATCHBAND, THE MILKSHAKES & THE STINGRAYS on Peel’s show. The latter two were virtually local bands to me, as they played regularly about 6 miles down the road from me at Hammesmith’s legendary Clarendon Hotel. I also saw GREEN ON RED, THE THREE JOHNS and a guy named CARLTON B MORGAN there. The last named was also played on Peel’s show and was a Welsh Captain Beefheart (if you like) and sounded awesome. He’s one of the great lost artists of the 80s I think, although there is a super obscure 12" EP in existence. I suppose my (and everyone else’s) appreciation of John Peel ties in with my disdain for the music industry in its present shape. Let’s hope someday another music obsessive gets to bend the airwaves to his own unique taste as Peelie did for 40 years or so. Respect!!!

 It must seem from my comments and stories on this page that I only listen to old music now and to an extent that is true. I do look forward to time when my once great passion for all new music might be rekindled. I took great pleasure in listening to the CDs some of you sent in. I really enjoyed the ARCTIC MONKEYS in particular, I think that is a band that could go far. I also really like THE CORAL and think the path they’ve made for themselves in the last few years is one that they are pursuing with great aplomb. One of the great bands of all time I think are THE LA’S and it’s good to see them back this year. I haven’t yet heard any new recordings, but after fearing that we’d never see them do anything again, just to know they’re around is enough for the time being.

 I would still recommend you listen to my old chum Rick Corcoran who records under the name of THE ORGONE BOX. I sometimes help out on guitar when we play live, but that’s not why I am recommending him. No, it’s out a firm conviction that there is a man who’s a major talent but has had no mainstream success of any note. If you have internet access go to this link:

www.minuszerorecords.com/orgonebox.html

 This will give you all the information you need, including reviews and mp3 soundclips. If you do want to explore his music further we do have some CDs for sale here. In the future I am hoping that Rick will finally finish his latest masterpiece, in fact his first new recordings since 1996 (!!!). I’ve heard the demos and works in progress over the last two years and the music does sound stunning. Let’s hope it gets finished soon. When that happens the plan is for SUGARBUSH RECORDS to release this latest CD. A vinyl version is also on the cards, but that will really depend on cost, it seems more likely that this will be a CD only affair. That may seem odd from a vinyl fan like myself, but issuing an LP his horribly expensive these days. But like, I said I will look into it, maybe it will prove to be viable after all.

(The mighty - and somewhat hung over - ORGONE BOX in concert, London July 2005, pictured are (l & r) Markus Holler & Rick Corcoran

 Over the years I’ve spent some considerable amount of brain time thinking about my favourite all time LPs. While this list changed all the time it is time for me to put it down on paper. It’s not really all that spectacular or surprising, but here we go (in reverse order):

 10. Small Faces - "Ogdens Nut Gone Flake" (Immediate UK 1968)

9. Wings - "Band On The Run" (Emi UK 1973)

8. Nick Drake - "Heaven In A Wildflower" (Island sampler LP)

7. Tim Hardin - "The Best OF" (Verve 1969 LP)

6. Stooges - "Fun House" (Elektra 1970 LP), sometimes @ No.1!!

5. Love - "Forever Changes" (Elektra 1967 LP)

4.The Beatles - "Rubber Soul" (Parlophone UK 1965), an obvious choice but it’s a great LP.

3. The Beatles - "A Hard Days Night" (Parlophone UK 1964), the LP that started it all for me. My granny got me this for my 6th birthday in 1973, and it was like being reborn! (Already?)

2. Jimi Hendrix Experience - "Elelctric Ladyland" (Track 1968 2LP), simply out of this world, a piece of genius.

1. The 13th Floor Elevators - "The Psychedelic Sounds Of..." (International Artists USA 1966 LP) - It appears that this is also Robert Plant’s favourite LP of all time. A true classic, but it only sounds great on original pressings.

*the song was "Coming into Los Angeles" from my Silent Blue LP on Sugarbush Records from 1990.

Blog No.1 - 1/10/2005:

I’m not sure if it’s just me but I am getting an ever increasing feeling that today’s music, "modern" music - call it what you will - is no longer of interest to me. Or at least what seems like 99% of it. Maybe I’m missing something. But the media outlets that I used to rely on to point in the direction of something new and unheard that would blow my socks off aren’t delivering any more. John Peel is dead, TV is so safe and bland that to find something of value would be a minor miracle, papers such as NME and MOJO do cover many new acts but the coverage is too derivative and too dependent of hype to truly make a startling new discovery.

One reason could be, of course, that new music has lost something because the talent isn’t there or at least it’s not being recognised. I doubt that. There are, and always have been, exceptional writers, singers and musicians. I get the feeling that it is to do with the way the music industry is being run.

When you realise the naivety and sheer recklessness of the music biz in the 50’s and 60’s you begin to understand why record labels, DJs, A&R men and promoters took such chances. I today’s world this is impossible. The stakes have been raised so high that the only people who seem to be able to run labels and record companies who have the clout to push new artists to a world wide audience are accountants and businessmen who have no love for music but see music as just another commodity.

There must be great music out there but unfortunately, for me anyway, the bands & artists that are pushed simply have little to offer. It’s easy enough to fall for a concerted media campaign that pushes this band or that but when the dust has settled there is really precious little left.

Since this is a very opinionated column and only reflects my own taste, or lack thereof, I’ll give you some examples.

David Gray: massive media coverage, critical acclaim at seemingly every corner, huge sales. The reality? A hugely overrated songwriter and performer who’s blandness is only matched by my loathing for him. Another band who had the critics falling over themselves where MY MORNING JACKET. Why? Who knows. It seemed to me that they were a pretty sloppy caricature of CRAZY HORSE without a single song of note. The fact that they fought their record company over the right to record and produce their own albums - in the own studio, no less - sounded cool at the time. The actual results were pretty dire and they could have done with a sympathetic and capable producer.

Far worse is the current trend of 1970’s / 80’s type retro bands who take Punk & Post Punk as their template. FRANZ FERDINAND, THE STROKES and the truly awful KAISER CHIEFS etc have had more than their fair share of a media blitzkrieg that seems to ask no questions of what it is promoting. At around £14.99 a pop for a new CD any music fan should think twice before being burned again and again. Maybe that’s why the media go into overdrive because it’s the only way to convince the legions of the sceptical to part with their money. Like being bullied into a purchase. I have no doubt that the "artists" named above will sink into well deserved obscurity very quickly. Others, like the awful COLDPLAY, obviously seem to be here to stay. They have successfully transcended the stage of utter hype to comfortably selling millions of copies of any new album they release. Fair play to them, I can’t argue with ten million punters and am free to ignore them anyway.

The main question I have though is whether we will ever see the freshness, talent and devastating originality of JIMI HENDRIX, THE BEATLES, SYD BARRETT, NICK DRAKE, GRATEFUL DEAD again.

The genius of these artists has nothing to do with posterity or a hankering after "better days". Great music then is great music now is great music for ever. While past has plenty of examples too of overhyped yet well selling losers, it does seem strange that we haven’t seen and heard as much pure genius in the past 15 years as we were spoiled with before. Like I said, maybe I’m just missing something. The fact that bands such as COLDPLAY, OASIS, BLUR, FRANZ FERDINAND are selling out huge concerts and shifting zillions of records is somewhat depressing in view of the fact that they have nothing really to offer - at least....me, I guess.

I simply believe that the "golden age" of popular music is behind us and a similarly huge event as ELVIS or the BEATLES may well not happen again in our lifetime. Maybe that kind of stuff only happens when your 14 or 15 and the genius you discover then stays with you for ever. Maybe the 14 and 15 year olds of today are making their own life changing discoveries. I hope so for them.

The other point is that I am really WANTING to find great new music but there is so much mush that the good stuff seems to get lost and almost impossible to do so. On the other hand, I have of course been berating the mainstream. Although most of the aforementioned bands have "underground" pretensions, they are of course essentially mainstream acts and are also marketed at the likes of myself (late thirties blokes) who lived through and listened to Punk and Post Punk when it was around originally. I just feel sorry for the "kids" who are being conned into thinking they’re listening to something radical and meaningful, when in fact they’re being cleverly being sold mere product by huge corporations.

I’d like to think that somewhere in the underbelly of popular culture something is stirring that will, once again, shake up the status quo just like ELVIS, THE BEATLES, THE PISTOLS or HOUSE MUSIC did years ago. With a distribution networks as efficient as the internet there must be a chance that a movement will, somehow and somewhere emerge and grow quite organically and, most of all, offer some fresh and inspirational sounds.

While I know there are some great artists out there it would be nice to think that can be recognised by those who’s job it is to do so. But mainstream music journalists are a pretty lazy and impressionable bunch and cannot be relied upon. Which is a real shame as it makes finding true talent hard. I find that reading underground fanzines such as THE P. TERRASCOPE, BUCKETFULL OF BRAINS and SCRAM does help but it’s hard to back up what you’ve read in these pages by actually listening to these artists on the radio. I suppose I am technologically a bit behind as I should have installed an internet radio player onto my computer years ago, thereby having the choice of listening to whatever I want...for free.

But being subjected to dross every day of the week by way of the TV and Radio is no fun and I suppose the lack of quality is only a sympton of a much wider malaise. I mean, in this day and age with the talent that is around why do most TV channels devote the largest slice of their airtime to talk shows and reality TV? Because they’re cheap of course and on the whole they are successful. It could of course be miles better but as long as people are watching, listening and spending money, who cares?

History will judge the decades and I bet it’ll be found that the 1990’s and beyond will prove to be very barren ground for music and arts historians. Unmade Beds (by Tracey Ermin), Swapping Wives, Human League haircuts backed up not much else, ultra violent movies, PlayStation and the like point to an immature and undeveloped sense of culture. What King Tony pronounced "Cool Brittania" some years ago has proved to be just another snappy soundbite of very little substance. Last weekend’s superb DYLAN documentary by Martin Scorcese proved how much we are losing and I, for one, am quite happy to relieve the past. As long as I can find boxes of dusty little vinyl records from a bygone era I am satisfied, these days it’s the only way to get my musical kicks.