Posts Tagged Rock’n’Roll
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October 5, 2019 by Simon Sweetman
The Vinyl Countdown # 240
Jerry Lee Lewis, Country Songs For City Folk (1965) I always thought “The Killer” was incredible – Jerry Lee Lewis, just a ferocious talent. And the narrative I knew, for the longest time, was that he was done at the end of the 1950s. A blast. A fall from grace. And then in fact total […]Archive
August 5, 2017 by Simon Sweetman
The Vinyl Countdown # 521
The Beach Boys, 15 Big Ones (1976) My Beach Boys fixation has kicked back in – and I’m buying up the lesser albums from the canon, ones that I owned on CD but never got around to buying up on vinyl. Some of the weaker albums in their catalogue have some of my favourite moments […]Archive
May 22, 2017 by Simon Sweetman
Playlist: Boomshack DJ Set (180611)
I just found a setlist from when I played some records before and after and between sets for Wellington’s old favourites, The Boomshack Band. These guys and girls would roll through so many great songs from the 1950s and 60s, rockabilly and rock’n’roll – one time they backed Wanda Jackson as a pick up band […]Archive
March 23, 2017 by Simon Sweetman
Take Your Pick: Paul OR John
Every time I write anything about The Beatles someone tries to pull out the “overrated” card. It’s null/void here sorry, calling the Beatles overrated is just stupid. You might not personally enjoy their music – or maybe you’ve just not heard very much of it (I don’t know you and already I feel sorry for […]Archive
March 19, 2017 by Simon Sweetman
The Ghost of Electricity: War Stories by Jon McLeary # 154 Hail Hail Rock And Roll
“Hard to imagine what music would be like without him or what song writing would be like – never mind guitar-playing and attitude. He was the absolute master.” Jon McLeary I’ve been hearing his songs ever since I was a little boy – his riffs and his stories. The guitar sound that cut through the […]Archive
March 16, 2017 by Simon Sweetman
Filth Doesn’t Need To Be Filthy: They Did Dirt Better, Smarter In The 30s, 40s and 50s…
The old Coasters song Poison Ivy is about a woman that carries a dose of the clap – “you’re gonna need an ocean of calamine lotion” – there are warnings the whole way through the song, most obviously “you can look but you better not touch”. But even in the song’s opening line the overtly […]Archive
February 11, 2017 by Simon Sweetman
The Velvet Underground’s Loaded: Loaded/Fully Loaded, 45 Years On And Still Going…
Those four studio albums by The Velvet Underground all made a huge impact on me. But the sentimental favourite is Loaded – it was the very first CD I purchased. I was a tape buyer, right through until the early-1990s, I wasn’t going to give up that tape collection…I had a tape-deck in my car […]Archive
November 2, 2016 by Simon Sweetman
A Bustle In Your Hedgerow: Good Songs With Terrible Lyrics
I was talking to preachy-preach about kissy-kiss. Actually I wasn’t. Because I don’t even know what that means. Good ole Frank Black/Black Francis – his Pixies work showed off several fascinations with UFOs and drugs and it’s great music. But a lot of the lyrics don’t stand up to scrutiny. Lyrics do not have to […]Archive
November 2, 2016 by Simon Sweetman
Airbourne: NZ Tour (Jan, 2017)
Aussie rockers Airbourne have announced a set of New Zealand dates for early in 2017. Regular visitors and the next best thing to the mighty AC/DC – perhaps (now) even better than the real thing – Airbourne will get the heart charging with their kick-arse rock’n’roll. Stadium rock in intimate venues, expect all of the […]Archive
October 21, 2016 by Simon Sweetman
Hail! Hail! The Great Twenty-Eight: Chuck Berry Turns 90
Chuck Berry is 90 – and you need to listen to his Great 28. Hail! Hail! For he isn’t just the true king of rock’n’roll. He is rock’n’roll. I’m not for a second excusing the behaviour of musicians at their worst but I kinda like knowing that Little Richard (about to turn 84) and Jerry […]Archive
September 19, 2016 by Simon Sweetman