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May 8, 2022 by Simon Sweetman
They Call Him Magic: The Magic Johnson Doco Series
We all have our lists of pandemic viewing, the things we got into because of forced closures and time spent indoors – and one of the big ones was The Last Dance – ostensibly about The Chicago Bulls basketball team, but really about Michael Jordan’s mile-wide competitive streak. I lapped up The Last Dance, compulsive […]Archive
May 7, 2022 by Simon Sweetman
Photos from Photospace: Dirty Spoons w/ BOX OF HAMMERS and Bachelor of Architecture
Last night, Saturday, May 7, we hosted a gig up at Photospace Gallery in Courtenay Place. The excellent The Show Must Go On exhibition featuring some extraordinary rock’n’roll images captured by Murray Cammick is on until the end of May. And we thought it a nice idea to stage some sort of gig there. So my band, […]Archive
May 7, 2022 by Simon Sweetman
Danny Elfman’s Soul Music
This week I have gone all in on the music of Danny Elfman – and though I can’t say I’ve been all-in before, not in this way (devouring the scores, finding rarities, searching deep) I can tell you that I’ve been obsessed with Elfman’s music for about 30 years. It was probably the 1989 Batman […]Archive
May 3, 2022 by Simon Sweetman
The Best New Zealand Music Drives Me Home
Drive along any coast of this country and listen to Pink Frost by The Chills or Anything Can Happen by The Clean or Hanging In The Wire by Dave Dobbyn or Clockhouse Shuffle by Waves, or, well, I’m obviously just naming songs. New Zealand songs. New Zealand artists. Some well-known, some less obvious, but from […]Archive
April 28, 2022 by Simon Sweetman
Once I Was Such A Good Shot
When I was 13 I was in the school’s First XI hockey team, at that point the youngest and even the first ever junior to be in with the seniors. We were playing the best school in the league and in the final moments of the game the ball was dragged back in front of […]Archive
April 25, 2022 by Simon Sweetman
Danny Elfman at Coachella (2022)
Every year I try to get excited about Coachella – and the ability to watch it live from all the way down here in little old New Zealand, and in the comfort of my own home. But then I find there’s not much I want to actually see. This year I was a bit more […]Archive
April 24, 2022 by Simon Sweetman
Those Days Were Ours: Part-Remembering Happy Days
Sunday, Monday, Happy Days! These days are ours… Happy Days was filmed in front of a live studio audience. I spent a huge amount of my childhood watching re-runs of Happy Days. I started watching it when the original series was winding up. But I didn’t know that. The timeline was all out of whack for […]Archive
April 19, 2022 by Simon Sweetman
A Few Stray Thoughts on Billie Holiday
The image is of Billie Holiday, with a gardenia in her hair. That image might night tell you that she wanted a husband and children – but it’s the truth. That image might not have ever told you that she could live 100 days in a single night – but that was also, and far […]Archive
April 18, 2022 by Simon Sweetman
Discovering Weld
My nephew has just turned 14. He flew down to see us – he’s been flying as an unaccompanied minor for around half of his life. He’s no longer a minor. Just a dude on a plane. This reminded me of my first time on a plane by myself. I’m not sure they had unaccompanied […]Archive
April 16, 2022 by Simon Sweetman
Interviewing Rick Allen
I interviewed Rick Allen, drummer for Def Leppard. My main worry, when they told me he was on his way down for a chat, was whether he’d lost his left or right arm in that horrific car crash. Would he be able to shake my hand – just normally? Or would he invert the other […]Archive
April 15, 2022 by Simon Sweetman