Muzical Mystery Tour

Jimmy Cliff , is a Jamaican ska and reggae musician, multi-instrumentalist, singer, and actor. Along with Bunny Wailer he is one of only two living musicians to hold the Order of Merit, the highest honour that can be granted by the Jamaican government for achievements in the arts and sciences. Another favourite artist from my days at Horsham Youth Club in Hurst Road in the early 970s. He starred in the film The Harder They Come, which helped popularize reggae across the world. ' The Harder they Come ' Cliff is best known among mainstream audiences for songs such as  ' Many Rivers to Cross '   ' You can get it if you really Want ' and his cover of Johnny Nash's ' I can see clearly now ' from the film Cool Runnings and of Cat Stevens's ' Wild World '

The Buzzcocks  were an English punk rock band formed in Bolton, England in 1976 by singer-songwriter-guitarist Pete Shelley and singer-songwriter Howard Devoto. They are regarded as a big influence on the Manchester music scene, the independent record label movement, punk rock. Devoto and Shelley chose the name "Buzzcocks" after reading the headline, "It's the Buzz, Cock!", in a review of the TV series Rock Follies in Time Out magazine.  Devoto left the band in 1977, after which Pete Shelley became the principal singer-songwriter. Shelley died on 6 December 2018,but the band has remained active with guitarist and co-founding member Steve Diggle assuming lead vocal duties. They added a new guitarist Mani Perazzoli. The three great tracks from these guys are ' What do I Get? ' The much neglected ' Everybody's happy Nowadays ' And finally there best piece ' Ever Fallen in love with Someone (you shouldn't have) '

Desmond Dekker was a Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae singer-songwriter and musician. Together with his backing group The Aces (consisting of Wilson James and Easton Barrington Howard), he had one of the earliest international reggae hits with " Israelites " in1968.  Other hits include " 007 (Shanty Town) " in 1967,  and " You Can Get It If You Really Want " in 1970. He had a resurgence of popularity with the early 1980s Ska revival when he scored a hit with a cover of Jimmy Cliff's ' Many rivers to Cross ', sadly I can't find a video of Dekker's version. I remember going to the Hurst Road Boys Club, next to the Post Office in late 1971 and early 1972 and every evening Dekker's Isrealites would be playing along with tons of other Ska and early reggae music.

In my opinion the best ever track by Australian singer, Kylie Minogue , in partnership with Nick Cave , who cover the dark subject of an infamous Australian murder.  For a snake free view see here for ' Where the Wild Roses Grow ' This version of the track is much better but does feature the dreaded S-Word creature.

Robert Wyatt , an English musician and original member of 'Soft Machine', where he was the drummer, he became a paraplegic after an accident were he fell out of a window. His music is always different and challenging and ' Shipbuilding ' is a great. if obvious classic of his. The track was actually written by Elvis Costello...

Mott the Hoople  were an English rock band, popular in the glam rock era of the early to mid-1970s. They are best known for the song " All the Young Dudes ", written for them by David Bowie. The song appeared on their 1972 album of the same name. David Bowie had long been a fan of the band. After learning from Watts that they were about to split, he persuaded them to stay together and offered them "Suffragette City" from his then yet-to-be-released Ziggy Stardust album. They turned it down, so Bowie also penned " All the Young Dudes " for them and it became their biggest hit. They had further hits with ' Roll away the Stone ',  ' All the way to Memphis ' and then with ' The Golden Age of Rock 'n' Roll ' Apart from Ian Hunter on vocals the group had a somewhat revolving cast of musicians - originally the lineup was  Pete 'Overend' Watts on bass, vocals, guitar,  Dale "Buffin" Griffin on drums,  Mick Ralphs o...

Slade were an English Glam rock band formed in Wolverhampton in the mid 1960s,  they rose to prominence during the glam rock era in the early 1970s, achieving 17 consecutive top 20 hits and six number ones on the UK Singles Chart.  All the members of Slade grew up in the Black Country, Drummer Don Powell and bassist Jim Lea were born and raised in Wolverhampton. Lead vocalist Noddy Holder was born and raised in nearby Caldmore, and lead guitarist Dave Hill moved to Wolverhampton from Holbeton as a child. They were the first act to have three singles enter the charts at number one; all six of the band's chart-toppers were penned by Noddy Holder and Jim Lea.  Following an unsuccessful move to the U.S. in 1975, Slade's popularity in the UK waned, but was unexpectedly revived in 1980 when they were last-minute replacements for Ozzy Osbourne at the Reading Rock Festival.  I saw them at Uni in Reading the following year, t he original line-up split in 1992, but reformed l...

The Clash were an English rock band formed in London in the mid 1970s as a key player in the original wave of British punk rock. They also contributed to the post-punk and new wave movements that emerged in the wake of punk and employed elements of a variety of genres including reggae, dub, funk, ska, and rockabilly.  For most of their recording career, the Clash consisted of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Joe Strummer, lead guitarist and vocalist Mick Jones, bassist Paul Simonon, and drummer Nicky "Topper" Headon. Headon left the group in 1982 and internal friction led to Jones' departure the following year. The group continued with new members, but finally disbanded in early 1986. Their first single ' White Riot ' was the first of three singles released by the band in 1977. The Clash achieved commercial success in the United Kingdom with the release of their self-titled debut album, ' The Clash ', in 1977.  Their second album was ' Give em enoug...

David Bowie was an English singer-songwriter and  a leading figure in the music industry and is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century.  He was acclaimed by critics and musicians, particularly for his innovative work during the 1970s. His career was marked by reinvention and visual presentation, with his music and stagecraft having a significant impact on popular music.  During his lifetime, his record sales, estimated at 100+ million records worldwide, made him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. In the UK, he was awarded ten platinum albums, eleven gold and eight silver, and released eleven number-one albums.  In the US, he received five platinum and nine gold records.  ' Space Oddity " became his first top-five entry on the UK Singles Chart after its release in July 1969.  After a period of experimentation, he re-emerged in 1972 during the glam rock era with his flamboyant and androgynous alter ego Ziggy Sta...

The Adverts were an English punk band who formed in 1976 and broke up in late 1979. They were one of the first punk bands to enjoy chart success in the UK. The band was formed by T.V. Smith (Tim Smith) and Gaye Advert (Gaye Black), both originally from Devon but relocated to to London, the two young punks recruited guitarist Howard Pickup (Boak) and drummer Laurie Driver (Muscat), and the Adverts were born. Their 1977 single " Gary Gilmore's Eyes / Bored Teenagers " reached No. 18 in the UK Singles Chart. The Adverts played at the Roxy Club, London no less than nine times between January and April 1977, the first of which they supported Generation X, their third gig was supporting the Damned and they soon signed a recording contract with Stiff Records. In April 1977, the Adverts recorded the first of four sessions for John Peel at BBC Radio 1.Days later, on 29 April 1977, their debut single " One Chord Wonders " was released by Stiff.  After the tabloid-fueled ...

Dave Edmunds  is a Welsh singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. Although he is mainly associated with Pub Rock and New Wave, having many hits in the 1970s and early 1980s, his natural leaning has always been towards 1950s-style rock and roll. Edmunds had been in a number of bands in the mid to late 1960s and he had a UK Christmas Number 1 single in 1970 with " I Hear You Knocking ". The Brinsley Schwarz connection brought about a collaboration with Nick Lowe starting with this album, and in 1976 they formed the group Rockpile, with Billy Bremner and Terry Williams.  Because Edmunds and Lowe signed to different record labels that year, they could not record as Rockpile until 1980, but many of their solo LPs (such as Lowe's Labour of Lust and Edmunds' own Repeat When Necessary) were group recordings.  Edmunds had more UK hits during this time, including Elvis Costello's " Girls Talk" ,  Nick Lowe's " I Knew the Bride ",  Graham P...

Nick Lowe  is an English singer-songwriter, musician and producer, he was a noted figure in Pub Rock and New Wave and he has recorded a string of well-reviewed solo albums. Along with vocals, Lowe plays guitar, bass guitar, piano and harmonica. He is best known for the songs  and " I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass " (a top 10 UK hit), as well as his production work with Elvis Costello, Graham Parker, and others. Lowe also wrote , a hit for Costello and covered by numerous other groups. Lowe joined school friend Brinsley Schwarz in a band that eventually bore his friends name. Slowly they established credibility on the London pub rock circuit. Lowe wrote some of his best-known compositions while a member of the band, including  " (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding " , a hit for Elvis Costello in 1979; and  " Cruel to Be Kind "  , also in 1979, Lowe's single and biggest worldwide hit, co-written with bandmate Ian Gomm. After...

Generation X were a Punk rock band from London in the late 1970s, largely remembered today for being the musical starting point of the career of its frontman / vocalist, Billy Idol. Influenced by the punk rock movement in London in late 1976, guitarist & vocalist William Broad, a university drop-out from Bromley and associate of the Bromley Contingent ; the drummer John Towe, Tony James, a  former member of the London S.S. all replied to an advert placed in the Melody Maker that was seeking musicians to form a new West London band around the vocalist/frontman John O'Hara aka Gene October. After a few weeks of rehearsals the band became known as Chelsea, and began by playing a few support gigs in West London and Manchester, primarily playing cover versions of rock and roll songs from the 1960s. However, Gene October felt that Broad and James were becoming too dominant creatively and with 'musical differences' being cited,  Broad and James along with Towe abandoned Chels...

The Undertones were a New Wave band formed in Derry, Northern Ireland in the early to mid 1970s.  During their main period of existance, from eth mid 1970s to mid 1980s, the Undertones consisted of Feargal Sharkey (vocals), John O'Neill (rhythm guitar, vocals), Damian O'Neill (lead guitar, vocals), Michael Bradley (bass, vocals) and Billy Doherty (drums). Much of the earlier Undertones material drew influence from punk rock and new wave; the Undertones also incorporated elements of rock, glam rock and post-punk into material released after 1979, before citing soul and Motown as the influence for the material released upon their final album. The Undertones released over a dozed singles and four studio albums in their hay-day before Sharkey announced his intention to leave the band in May 1983. Despite the backdrop of the Troubles in Derry and across Northern Ireland, the vast majority (though not all) of the material the Undertones released focused not of a the political theme....

The Starjets were a late 1970s group from Belfast, Northern Ireland. The band consisted of guitarist/vocalist Terry Sharpe, guitarist/vocalist Paul Bowen, bassist Sean Martin and drummer Liam L'Estrange.  The group sported a mix of punk and mainstream pop influences. Early sets consisted of such 1960s pop standards as "Please Please Me" by The Beatles and "Sugar, Sugar" by The Archies at a time when such light, happy fare did not go down well with in the punk scene. The band also stood out from their punk contemporaries with their tight, sophisticated harmonies. I saw them at Uni in Reading and loved their energy and humour, believe that they were supporting Joe Jackson at the time. Again a band that suffered because they were not Stiff Little Fingers, a band that had cornered the market singing about the Irish 'Troubles'. In many ways the Starjets paved the way for The Undertones, in that they expressed that life went on despite the 'Troubles'....

The Boomtown Rats are an Irish New Wave band originally formed in Dublin in the mid 1970s, that had a series of Irish and UK hits in th elate 1970s and early 1980s. The group was led by vocalist Bob Geldof, the other members of the original line-up were Garry Roberts (lead guitar), Johnnie Fingers (keyboards), Pete Briquette (bass), Gerry Cott (rhythm guitar) and Simon Crowe (drums). They were another early starter band coming out of the Punk movement but developed their sound to really place them as New Wave artists in my opinion. They always suffered for not being as cool as Stiff Little Fingers or as popular as The Undertones but they were the Republic's pride before teh rise and fall of U2. Their first hit was the controversial ' Mary of the IV Form ', a record I remember going to the local Boots store to purchase soon after hearing it on the radio. They followed this up with ' Lookin after No1 ' Before developing into a more sophisticated sound and teh release...

The Attractions were an English backing band for the English new wave musician Elvis Costello  in the late 1970s and the early 1980s, and again in the mid 1990s.  They consisted of Steve Nieve (keyboards and ukulele), Bruce Thomas (bass guitar), and Pete Thomas (drums). They also released one album (and two associated singles) as an independent entity, without Costello, in 1980. Elvis Costello , began his career as part of London's pub rock scene in the early 1970s and later became associated with the first wave of the British punk and new wave movement that emerged in the mid-to-late 1970s. His critically acclaimed debut album ' My Aim Is True ' was released in 1977. Shortly after recording it, he formed the Attractions as his backing band. His second album ' This Year's Model '. His third album ' Armed Forces ' was released in 1979, and features his highest-charting single, " Oliver's Army ". Elvis Costello an d the Attractions toured and...

Ian Dury & t he Blockheads are a former Pub Rock band formed in London in 1977. Originally fronted by lead singer Ian Dury the band has continued to perform since Dury's death in 2000.  Original members included  Chaz Jankel (guitar and keyboards), Norman Watt-Roy (bass), Mick Gallagher (keyboards and piano), John Turnbull (vocals and guitar).  Often if Watt-Roy was unavailable, due to a conflict with Wilko Johnson dates (for whom he also plays bass), his duties are often covered by Nathan King.  There is a rolling line-up of saxophonists that includes Gilad Atzmon, Terry Edwards or Dave Lewis and from time to time, the original sax player, Davey Payne. The band are best known for their hit singles, recorded with Dury, " What a Waste ", " Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick ", " Reasons to be Cheerful, Part 3 ", and " Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll ". I include all of these below, but first my all time favourite - ' Spasticus Autisti...

The Damned had at it's core Dave Vanian (David Lett), Captain Sensible (Raymond Burns) and Rat Scabies (Chris Millar) who had previously been o a band with future Pretenders frontwoman Chrissie Hynde. Brian James (Brian Robertson) had been a member of the London SS, which included musicians who later found fame in The Clash and Generation X.  Scabies knew James through a failed audition as drummer for London SS. When the two decided to start their own band, with James on guitar and Scabies on drums, they invited Sid Vicious and Dave Vanian to audition to be the singer. Only Vanian showed up, and got the part. Sensible became the band's bassist, and the four called themselves The Damned. The Damned were the first Punk group to release a single ' New Rose ', release an Album ' Damned, Damned, Damned '  and the first to tour America. In my opinion ' New Rose '', has stood the test of time and despite being the first punk single, it is still one of the ...

The Stranglers  emerged via the punk rock scene, f ormed as the Guildford Stranglers in Guildford, Surrey in the early 1970s, they originally built a following within the mid-1970s pub rock scene. With their local connections, they were and remain one of my favourite bands of the period.  I went to see the Strangers when they played Crawley College in 1977 and again when they were at Crawley Sports Centre in 1980.  T he Stranglers are one of the longest-surviving bands to have originated in the UK punk scene. While their aggressive, no-compromise attitude had them identified by the media with the emerging UK punk rock scene that followed, their unique approach rarely followed any single musical genre, and the group went on to explore a variety of musical styles. They had major mainstream success with their 1982 single " Golden Brown ". Their other hits include " No More Heroes ", " Peaches ", and  " Always the Sun ". The Stranglers' early sou...

Dr. Feelgood were a Pub Rock band formed in the early 1970s in Canvey Island, Essex, the group are best known for early singles such as " Back in the Night " and " Milk and Alcohol ".  The group's original, distinctive British R&B sound was based on Wilko Johnson's choppy guitar style. Along with Johnson, the original band line-up included singer Lee Brilleaux and the rhythm section of John B. Sparks, known as "Sparko", on bass guitar and John Martin, known as "The Big Figure", on drums.  I was actively aware of the band from about 1975 onwards and followed them until about 1980, although with diminished enthusiasm as other genres began to take a lead.  First track here is the classic ' Milk and Alcohol ', a favourite of my friends when at Uni in Reading in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The other classic is ' Back in the Night ' I have one or two of their singles in my collection, these are firmly stuck in the loft ...

Eddie and the Hot Rods  were a  pub rock  band from  Essex  founded in 1975.  This was one of the first Pub Rock / New Wave cross-over bands that I became aware of in late 1976, before we knew what New Wave was, with their album ' Teenage Depression ', I'd just started 6th Form College at Collyer's and this was the 'must hear' album of that period. Never their greatest fan, t hey are best known for their 1977 UK top ten hit " Do Anything You Wanna Do ", which  I did like. Before rising to semi-stardom in 1977, the Hot Rods underwent several changes in personnel: one of the first members to leave the band was "Eddie" himself, which was a dummy that featured prominently in the Hot Rods' early gigs and was discarded as the joke had worn thin. Otherwise, the band consisted of Barrie Masters on vocals, Pete Wall and Dave Higgs on guitar, Rob Steele on bass and Steve Nicol on drums.

Graham Parker & the Rumour were a late 1970s Pub Rock band, where The Rumour were a recording band in their own right but also the backing unit for Graham Parker, together and separately they had quite some success. Members of The Rumour came from a number of various pub rock bands such as Brinsley Schwarz, Ducks Deluxe and Bontemps Roulez.  Throughout most of their existence (1975–1980), The Rumour consisted of founding members Bob Andrews (keyboards), Brinsley Schwarz (guitar), Martin Belmont (guitar), Andrew Bodnar (bass), and Stephen Goulding (drums). Lead vocals were shared amongst all group members and obviously later on with Graham Parker himself. 1979 was the peak period for the band and they had a couple of notable chart successes which I liked. ' Holdback the Night ' being the first of these... The other was ' Hey Lord don't ask me Questions ' Members of The Rumour (often, but not always, acting as a unit) also kept themselves busy during this era appe...

Brinsley Schwarz   were a 1970s  English   pub rock  band, named after their  guitarist   Brinsley Schwarz . With  Nick Lowe  on bass and vocals, keyboardist  Bob Andrews  and drummer  Billy Rankin . They were later augmented by  Ian Gomm  on guitar and vocals. I got hold of a live album of theirs around 1976 or 1977 and oved it, it had a number of moderate hits on it which are detailed below. Again never saw the band live but they were influential on my musical tastes and also on other bands coming out of the Pub circuit during this period. In no particular order, these are my favourite Brinsley Swartz tracks, first up are ' Hooked on Love ' & ' Surrender to the Rhythm ' from the Old Grey Whistle Test, on BBC2. I actually remember seeing them play on thi sprogram - assume this is the film of that session The other clip I have here is ' What's so funny about Peace, Love and Understanding ', this song was recorded...