Paul Simon is one of my musical heroes. I have had the privilege seen his wonderful band perform outdoors at Edinburgh castle. I have bought his records. I am a fan. To say he is an impressive songwriter, guitarist and...
Category - General
Bruce Springsteen watched on helplessly with the rest of the world as the second plane flew into the twin towers on September 11, 2001. He was in New York, only 15 miles away and that afternoon could actually see in the...
Venezuela’s story is front page news at the moment. It is a long sad story of injustice, corruption and poverty. However, beneath the political headlines there is a remarkable story. A musical story. Journalist Ed Vulliamy...
It seems remarkable that World War 1 opened the door to the growth of an African American musical phenomenon Jazz. It begins with a New York Regiment the 369th consisting mainly of African Americans, achieving fame for...
What do you recall of Paul Robeson? He is best remembered today for his his peerless version of ‘Old Man River’, written for him, but there is much more to this man. He played ‘Joe’ in the musical ‘Showboat’...
I know most music lovers can come up with their ‘best ever’ concert, so what would be your choice? Let me lay out why I think this one may deserve consideration for such a grand title. The concert was set in...
The African Children’s choir can sing with great joy I wonder if you can name the only ‘Spiritual’ which got to the number one spot in the USA’s singles top 20? It is a difficult question even for a pop...
Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were motivated to improve when they observed Lennon and McCartney complete a song quickly. It was ‘I wanna be your man’ and both bands, the Rolling Stones and Beatles recorded it. After...
Every journey begins with a single step. Even to sing or dance we sometimes have to undertake a journey. It will be hugely impressive to experience the power of music as over 100,000 people journey from all over the globe...
The answer was Yes! Buggles were the group who predicted the radio being hi-jacked by filmed images. They had a decent video though it dated quickly. By October 1979 they reached number 1 in the UK charts. Their lyric caught the...