After the success of last year’s Sgt Pepper remix reissue, this 50th anniversary edition of my favourite Beatles album was the one to look out for!
Rock History
ROCK HISTORY : WE LOVE PROG!
Prog!
ROCK HISTORY | PoP LEGENDS : STYX
Mention Styx online and chances are you are going to be trolled. But for a time, the pop-rock quintet were one of the biggest bands on the planet.
ROCK HISTORY – THE KEY GENRES THAT MAKE UP POWER POP ROCK N ROLL PT. IV
If you’ve missed it, I’ve covered the primary colours of Power Pop, Pop and Pop-Rock thus far. Last but not least of course, I want to talk briefly about Rock N Roll.
ROCK HISTORY – THE KEY GENRES THAT MAKE UP POWER POP ROCK N ROLL! PART III
It’s been a while since we talked about the key components of Power Pop Rock N Roll. You can catch up on previous instalments concerning Power Pop and Pop. This time – finally – we discuss Pop-Rock!
ROCK HISTORY | PoP LEGENDS | POP CLASSIC SONG : PRETENDERS – “BACK ON THE CHAIN GANG” (1982) [PoP20 REMIX]
PRETENDERS “Back on the Chain Gang” (off the album, Learning to Crawl)
PoPTV | ROCK HISTORY : TOP FIVE ROXY MUSIC SONGS
When Roxy Music first appeared in the early 70s, they were the consummate art-rock combo.
ROCK HISTORY | POP POWER !!! TEARS FOR FEARS – RULE THE WORLD : THE GREATEST HITS
80s music powerhouse Tears For Fears return with a greatest hits compilation which includes two new songs viz. the anthemic “I Love You But I’m Lost” and the balladic “Stay”.
ROCK HISTORY | 1971 – NEVER A DULL MOMENT BY DAVID HEPWORTH
1971 – Never a Dull Moment: Rock’s Golden Year by David Hepworth My rating: 3 of 5 stars The story of the ascent of rock music is lovingly told by the author, who turned 21 that year. The context behind many of the classic rock artists and albums is vividly Continue Reading
ROCK HISTORY – THE KEY GENRES THAT MAKE UP POWER POP ROCK N ROLL! PART II
Last time out, we took a closer look at POWER POP in our analysis of the key genres that make up our preferred musical styles. Next, we look at POP.
ROCK HISTORY – THE KEY GENRES THAT MAKE UP POWER POP ROCK N ROLL! PART I
We love analysing our favourite music, which as it now stands, we apply the all-encompassing term POWER POP ROCK N ROLL to define. We do not believe that any artist or band worth their salt would create music that could be pigeon-holed so easily, which is why our term POWER Continue Reading
ROCK HISTORY : ELVIS COSTELLO – UNFAITHFUL MUSIC & DISAPPEARING INK
Like most artists that emerged during the post-punk/new wave era, Elvis Costello suffers from the same dilemma, that is, of being perpetually branded as a product of the 80s music scene.
ROCK HISTORY : BORN TO RUN BY BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
Considering that rock legend Bruce Springsteen is famous for his lyrical genius, the very idea of a Springsteen memoir is exciting and intriguing. Would an autobiography match up to the cinematic lyrics found in classics like “Born in the USA”, “The Promised Land” and of course, “Born to Run”?
ROCK HISTORY – IT’S STILL ROCK N ROLL TO ME
Back in 1980, singer-songwriter Billy Joel was already railing against the stratification of rock & pop music.
ROCK HISTORY : DAVID BOWIE – THE PLAN EP
The legendary David Bowie passed away on 10th January 2016, mourned by music lovers worldwide. On what would have been his 70th birthday (i.e. 8th January), the No Plan EP was released.
ROCK HISTORY : FROM R&B TO ROCK N ROLL – ESSENTIAL SONGS
Rhythm & Blues is the bedrock of much of modern rock and pop music. Basically R&B is a genre of popular African-American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was coined in the post-war years to replace “Race Music”, meaning – “a catchall term referring to any music that was Continue Reading
ROCK HISTORY: MINISTRY – TRAX! RARITIES
The 80s was a special time for rock music as the aftermath of punk in the late 70s resulted in bands reinventing rock music by infusing many different musical styles into traditional rock forms inspired by world music, the avant garde and also more significantly, the technological advances in synthesisers.
ROCK HISTORY: NOT DEAD YET BY PHIL COLLINS
As the title of his autobiography Not Dead Yet suggests, singer/drummer/producer/actor/film composer Phil Collins is a bit of a joker. This 400-page book is written in a breezy style and it would not be too difficult to finish it all off in a couple of days.
ROCK HISTORY: ONLY THE GOOD DIE YOUNG
2016 will forever be notorious for the number of celebrity deaths that occured during its 12 months. We are not of the view that there is anything too distinctive about the number of deaths this year, except to opine that this seeming increase in celebrity deaths may be down to Continue Reading
ROCK HISTORY – RAY DAVIES: A COMPLICATED LIFE BY JOHNNY ROGAN
The Kinks is a band that deserve more recognition than they have received. Although never quite valued in the same manner as many of their 60s peers, in many ways, The Kinks contributed as much to the development of rock music as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who & Continue Reading
ROCK HISTORY: FIVE REASONS WHY THE ROCK N ROLL HALL OF FAME IS A FARCE
A furious debate typically surrounds the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame when it announces its annual inductees. In 2017, the likes of Tupac, Pearl Jam, Joan Baez, Electric Light Orchestra, Journey and Yes have been added to the list.
ROCK HISTORY: SONGS OF PROTEST (PART I)
With the election of Donald Trump as the 45th President-Elect of the USA, commentators have remarked that perhaps this era will also see the return of the protest song, prevalent during the tenure of hardline conservative leaders like Ronald Reagan (USA) and Margaret Thatcher (UK) in the 1980s.
ROCK HISTORY: ALBUM COVERS – WHEN ART MET ROCK!
In the 1950s, at the dawn of rock ’n’ roll and the apex of hipster jazz music, album covers were functional and intended as a pure marketing tool. To wit,
ROCK HISTORY: ALBUM COVERS – IN THE TOILET!!!
A light-hearted post ‘celebrating’ the album covers which for some reason were set in the lavatory! Check ’em out!! MILLIE JACKSON – BACK TO THE S__T!
ROCK HISTORY: IF NINETIES ROCK WAS SIXTIES POP
In our humble opinion, the Nineties represented perhaps the final great rock decade before being utterly overwhelmed by hip-hop music as the defining modern cultural zeitgeist. But what is interesting to note is that in many ways, much of the rock music made in the Nineties reflected nostalgically the pop Continue Reading