Hit Singles

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Half Man Half Biscuit’s All Asimov And No Fresh Air reviewed: biting dispatches from veteran outliers

An irrepressible figure around Liverpool for decades, Geoff Davies’ death in September 2023 left a significant void. In the early ’70s, Davies had co-founded Probe Records – catalyst for the city’s punk scene, where the likes of Pete Burns, Julian Cope and Pete Wylie worked behind the counter – before starting up his own Probe Plus label in 1981. He signed numerous local bands, none more impactful than Half Man Half Biscuit. The surprise indie success of 1985’s Back In The DHSS (budget £40; sales 50,000) opened the door to a career HMHB never expected, largely due to Davies’...
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Wood Guthrie’s Woody At Home, Volume 1 & 2 reviewed: legendary cache of songs restored

When Bruce Springsteen accepted the 2021 Woody Guthrie Prize, awarded annually by the Woody Guthrie Centre, his set included “Deportee”, a song he’s performed since 1981. Carefully chosen from Guthrie’s huge catalogue, it’s a beautifully composed excoriation of the way the US treats migrant workers, written by Guthrie after a plane clash in 1948 killed 28 farm workers – referred to in coverage at the time only as “deportees”. Guthrie sought to humanise these anonymous workers, while challenging the iniquities of the system in which they were forced to exist. The song has been performed by Dylan, Joni, The...
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Dave Davies My Life In Music

LITTLE RICHARDHere’s Little RichardSPECIALITY, 1957Little Richard took my breath away when I first heard him, and he was always in the forefront of all my music. He was raucous and loud and made you wake up and want to rock. I’ve been thankful to him for his influence and humour – his music is sensational and a one-off, never to be repeated. “Long Tall Sally” was inspiring, so we thought it would be a fun cover to do with The Kinks. Ours holds up as a fun and grittier version. I met Little Richard in an elevator once and...
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Mavis Staples announces new album, Sad And Beautiful World

Mavis Staples has announced details of a new studio album, Sad And Beautiful World, which is released on November 7 on ANTI-. You can hear her rendition of Kevin Morby‘s “Beautiful Strangers” below. Produced by Brad Cook (Bon Iver, Waxahatchee, Nathaniel Rateliff), Sad And Beautiful World also includes cameos by artists who have become part of Staples’ world: Buddy Guy, Bonnie Raitt, Jeff Tweedy, Derek Trucks, Katie Crutchfield, MJ Lenderman, Justin Vernon.  Advertisement “It isn’t easy to put into words what it feels like having one of the best, most important vocalists and cultural figures of both the 20th and 21st century sing one of my...
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Michael Shannon, Jason Narducy and Friends reviewed: a deep-diving tribute to R.E.M.

“a fitting hint of calm derangement” Hands crossed on his chest in a stoic cap and shades, or summoning down a chorus with arms stretched wide, he’s suitably enigmatic. The voice is a perfect Georgian tremble, albeit brushed here and there with a touch of Eddie Vedder. As he tells the tale of a man building a wall down the middle of his house to live in different sides as the mood takes him, there’s a fitting hint of calm derangement. If Michael Shannon, Hollywood star of Knives Out and Nocturnal Animals among many other notable movies, is auditioning for the...
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The Smiths’ Mike Joyce announces memoir, The Drums

The Smiths‘ Mike Joyce is releasing a memoir, The Drums, through New Modern on November 6. Says Joyce, “I’ve been asked numerous times, ‘What was it like being in The Smiths?’ That’s one hell of a question to answer! On most occasions, my answer’s been, ‘Have you got a couple of days to spare?’ It felt like going into any detail to explain what it was really like would be impossible. The only way it seems to do that would be to commit to paper. It’s been quite a journey going back forty years to re-live some of the...
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Listen to Bruce Springsteen’s rare Born To Run outtake, “Lonely Night in the Park”

Bruce Springsteen has released a rare Born To Run outtake, “Lonely Night In The Park“, to mark the album’s 50th anniversary. You can hear the track below. Advertisement Tracked during the Record Plant sessions for Born To Run, and heavily considered for album inclusion at the time, “Lonely Night In The Park” can now enjoy it’s first official release. Featuring Springsteen with The E Street Band, the release is accompanied by a selection of rare photographs from Eric Meola’s Born To Run album cover shoot, which you can see below. Photo: Eric Meola Photo: Eric Meola Photo: Eric Meola Photo: Eric...
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The 200 Greatest British Records of the 1990s…Ranked!

You need to be yourself “It’s about…” On the other end of the line a few years ago, Brett Anderson is pausing for a moment to find precisely the right words before he decides what the excellent 1992 debut single by his group Suede is in fact about. Advertisement After some more consideration, and locating the words, he returns. “The Drowners”, he says thoughtfully, “is about …rolling around in acres of engorged flesh.” As you’ll read in this latest Ultimate Record Collection, the great British records of the 1990s can be about this – but also about much more...
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The Beatles’ announce expanded editions of their Anthology documentary series and albums

Peter Jackson is creating a new episode of the TV series The Beatles‘ Anthology series is being revisited on screen, on record and in print. The original eight-part Anthology documentary series was first broadcast in November 1995 across eight episodes. A restoration of the series has been overseen by Apple Corps’ production team, working with Peter Jackson’s Wingnut Films & Park Road Post teams along with Giles Martin, who has created new audio mixes for the majority of the featured music. Advertisement The series has been expanded to include a new, ninth episode, created from previously unseen behind-the-scenes footage...
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The Replacements to release Let It Be (Deluxe Edition) listen to an unheard “Androgynous” now

The Replacements are reissuing Let It Be as an expanded, deluxe edition. The group’s 1984 album is reappearing, remastered, alongside a host of live and studio rarities, some previously unreleased, on October 24. Advertisement The extra material includes Goodnight! Go Home!, a live set from Chicago‘s Cubby Bear venue from that year, while Live At City Gardens, a set recorded at a Trenton punk venue is available only via the Rhino website. To go with the announcement, The Replacements have released an alternative version of “Androgynous”, complete with different vocal take and a longer piano intro – listen to...
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