Nina Simone, the High Priestess of Soul, was many things; accomplished pianist of everything from classical to jazz and soul; baritone singer; songwriter; civil rights activist… but, she had another side to her; a woman with a huge temper; often prone to violent and aggressive outbursts; and ultimately, as a result, a convicted criminal - all ultimately, and belatedly, diagnosed with bipolar disorder. So, a complicated lady, with a complicated life… but also one of the most i

I know you are all very excited, but I continue with my mission to bring you new music! Here we are again with ten tunes released over the last month or so - as ever there are some acts you may never have heard of, and a few that you will... 1. Johnny Marr: It's Time Photo: C Brandon / Getty Here's more rockin' times from the Smiths veteran and bona fide guitar hero, Johnny Marr. This one is the third effort from solo album number six, The Age Of Everything. The verse cranks

Here we are at part three of this deep, deep dive into the wonderful world of Neil Finn. We have looked at those early days with New Zealand art-pop royalty, Split Enz, the end of that and the first phase of his own band, Crowded House. So, here we are, as he leaves the band world behind for a solo adventure…. And don't forget to check in on Part 1 and Part 2. Going Solo: As the Crowded House adventure was drawing to a close and a new solo chapter was about to dawn, he even f

Yes, in the last few weeks southern England has finally seen something we were beginning to think we would never see again. After more than seven weeks (52 days) without any measurable amount, the tail end of August finally brought us some rain! So, to celebrate, here are ten top tracks from across the years that are all about the rain. As always, hopefully something in here for everyone. Enjoy.... 1. Creedence Clearwater Revival: Who Will Stop The Rain I don't think we're qu

It used to be that soundtracks were the place for specially commissioned musical scores, the classical sounding epics of John Williams, or the spaghetti sounds of Sergio Morricone. But then, somewhere in the late 1960s, film producers cottoned on to the use of regular mainstream tunes, to complement the themes, era and tone of their movies. Starting with classics like The Graduate and Easy Rider, it has now become the norm. So, here is a playlist with representatives of ten g

Here we are again, with some more new tunes for you to open your ears up for. These songs have all been released in the last month or so - the majority this time are by artists nearer the start of their careers, but there are a few 'old timers' mixed in too. I say this every time with the playlists, but I think there is something in here for pretty much all tastes, so try and give at least one or two of these a go. I had become pretty set in my musical ways for a long time, b

Sixty years ago today (5 August 1966), what many may feel is one of the finest Beatles' albums was released. Revolver, the Beatles seventh studio album, came out on EMI a mere eight months after another one of their most acclaimed records, Rubber Soul, which included a three month break the band took at the start of 1966 (the longest break they had seen since 1962). It was a time when they were starting to explore the themes of eastern philosophy and psychedelia. Also, becaus

We pick up the story of Neil Finn from Part 1. Split Enz is done with, and now aged 27, Finn is ready for his next project. He has formed The Mullanes with fellow ex-Enz bandmate Paul Hester, bassist Nick Seymour and second guitarist Craig Hooper. The first intention was to have the new band as a three piece before they decided to entice the in-demand Hooper into the fold. Finn would tell Australian radio station Triple J in 1985, “We’re glad to have him on board, I’ve always

A debut single can be a tricky thing. You are a young artist ready to set the world of culture on fire and share your talent, so hitting the ground running is important to set you on your way to fame and fortune. Of course, many bands that have become huge, started off somewhat slowly, often both commercially and critically, while a few are off with a bang! So, there are all sorts of musical beginnings; some go downhill from a good start; some get better and better over years

Here we are with another playlist, and it's time to tap into the seemingly bottomless well of interesting and unusual cover versions. Ten more tunes - you might be familiar with some of these versions, but I'm guessing in a few cases, you may not even be aware of the original. 1. Weezer: Africa Photo: NHL While Africa may be considered by many to be a soft rock 'classic', few would have thought it coverable material for cool indie hipsters, Weezer, some 35 years later. Steve

The Paisley Underground sounds like a movement that might have been from the free love west coast of the 1960s - tune in, drop out, and all that. It wasn't, but it was another west coast thing, and very much rooted in some of those earlier sounds, especially the electro-folk guitar and garage rock sounds of bands like Love and the Byrds. Where, What, Who & When Image from PowerPop blog The movement centred on Los Angeles, and while its roots were back in sixties L.A., the soi

I thought for a change, and to challenge myself a little to stay up to date, that I would start dropping in the odd playlist of new songs! These could be from brand new bands, older bands you've still never heard of, and a few old pros that you will definitely know. All these tunes have been released in the last few months, and cover a few different genres, so hopefully something for everyone... 1. Kurt Vile: Zoom 97 Photo: Tore Saetra Here we have the opening track from Phil

I had considered some sort of even more long-winded and pretentious title for the article, including making some reference to his undoubted musical genius, but luckily opted against that route. Neil Finn has fully been a part of my life since 1988, when I first fell in love with the second Crowded House album, Temple of Low Men. I had heard one or two tracks on the radio and then seen a bit of an interview with them on some long forgotten Channel 4 show or other. I was hooked

Once in a while, I hear a song I either haven't ever heard before, or haven't heard in ages - and I think to myself - 'I really need to put that in a playlist'. Since all of our playlists have to be themed (it's the law), it is then a process of contriving something that fits the chosen song. Our Geography series of playlists has spawned many songs relating to actual countries and cities (and towns), but the song in question this time was about a non-specific city. Now, in th

I can't even remember how I latched onto this little bit of narrative. It's a story about the intersection between the worlds of new wave music and academia, and in this case, the title reference is for one and the same person. And yes, I know it is not unheard of for musicians to later become academics, especially with the visual arts connection, but in this case I found it interesting as it is a person you may well have never heard of... On The Beach: Martha Ladly was study

Well, here we are again and it isn't even summer... Round my way the last few days have been, well, scorchio! At least three of recent days here in southern England, have breached 30°C (86°F) in the day - and barely dipped below 20°C (68°F) at night. Now, that might not be much for many of you, but for us, that is something akin to standing in a volcano. So here we are with another round of scorchio playlist tunes (90s British sketch show reference for the uninitiated) - we u

I have finally gathered together another selection of stories with a musical connection, which, as the title suggests, you might hopefully find at least a little interesting. There are a few sporting links in this one, some copycats and a brush with tragedy. If you have missed past installments, you can always catch up: Part 1: Shooting Pigeons here Part 2: Punch Drunk here Part 3: Die Another Day here Part 4: On The Skids here Part 5: Christmas Edition here The Jazz Footbal

I remember reading about Grant McLennan’s death in Rolling Stone. “Grant’s first love was words, but his true genius was with a tune.” (Robert Vickers, 2006) Having read the British music press a lot in my late teens (1980s/90s), I was aware of so many bands and knew so much about a great many of them, without ever really knowing anything about them. That was because much of the stuff being written about would not be played on daytime (or even early evening) mainstream radio

30 April 2022. An auspicious day in musical history for sure. It marked the passing of country star Naomi Judd, not to mention Mac DeMarco's 32nd birthday. But wait - what else happened that day? Well, this labour of love for me, Dreaming of Birds That Are Blue, published its very first post on that very day! So, why don't we celebrate these last four years. As many of you know, it has never really been about the numbers - it is all about music being a safe and happy space fo

I.R.S. is a record label that has interested me for a long time; well since I started to get into R.E.M. in the late 80s and saw that until recently, they had been on that label. The name interested me - I knew enough about the USA to know that there was some government association with this initialism. Before we dive a little bit into the labels history and some of the key bands that were a part of it (we will focus on the original version of it, rather than the time since 2