You may yet have the opportunity to perform that ritual live!

Randy Bachman and Fred Turner, two of the founders of the great Bachman Turner Overdrive are finally back together after being apart for over 20 years.
And they have just started touring  again as full-throttle rock machine, Bachman & Turner. A studio album, set for release in September 2010, will be stocked with great new tracks – all penned by Randy Bachman and Fred Turner – that apparently seamlessly fit among their classic rock anthems.

“I’m thrilled to be working on new music with Fred and feel a sense of excitement and anticipation,” says Randy Bachman. “I feel like I’m coming full circle with a completeness that I never ever thought I’d feel again.”

Here’s the rest of the press release that tells the back story for the uninitiated:

In the mid-70s, after Randy Bachman’s colossal success in Winnipeg rock band The Guess Who, including the #1 Billboard hit  American Woman (a first for any Canadian act); he soared even further with Fred Turner in Bachman-Turner Overdrive, which became nothing short of a musical phenomenon. Their success was extraordinary and spread across the globe. At the pinnacle of their career, the band’s distinctive brand of stripped-down, blue collar, meat ‘n’ potatoes rock headlined some of the biggest arenas in the world from New York’s Madison Square Garden, London’s Hammersmith Odeon, Hamburg’s Congress Centrum to the Falkoner Centret in Copenhagen. Over a four year run, Bachman-Turner Overdrive sold in excess of 30 million records, earning a staggering 120 platinum, gold and silver discs, and notching up hits in more than 20 countries. The band reached #1 on Billboard’s singles chart (“You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet“) and album chart (Not Fragile), as well as charting another handful of hits including “Taking Care of Business” “Hey You,” “My Wheels Won’t Turn” and “Looking Out For #1“.

When Fred Turner and he went their separate ways in 1977, Randy Bachman would not be stopped; he continued to pursue his unwavering love for music as a solo artist and part of the much-celebrated Guess Who reunion, then Bachman-Cummings, as well as establishing himself as a jazz artist and host of CBC/Sirius radio show, “Vinyl Tap.” Fred Turner, on the other hand, carried on with the other members of Bachman-Turner Overdrive, before actually retiring from music at the end of the ’90s to indulge his passion for cars.

Lingering feelings that the two weren’t done just yet persisted for over a decade.

Then last year, Randy Bachman was working on a solo album intending to invite different vocalists to sing on the tracks; he first asked Fred Turner to lay down a vocal on a song called “Rock ‘n’ Roll is the Only Way Out.” “It was perfect for his gritty, refrigerator-sized voice,” explains Randy Bachman. “It turned out so incredible that I asked if he wanted to sing on a few more, send me some of his original material and from that it morphed into a Bachman & Turner project.”

Sharing lead vocal duties, the album features smoking mid-tempo thumpers, “Rock ‘N’ Roll is the Only Way Out” and “Rolling Along”; a funky riff-centric, “Moonlight Rider”; a slow-burning blues shuffle, “Waiting Game”; a gratifying fusion of chords and choruses, “Slave to the Rhythm”; and the distinctive growling vocals as heard on such Bachman-Turner Overdrive classics such as “Let it Ride,” “Roll on Down the Highway,” and “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet.”

Finally, the duo will hit the road together, performing their vast catalogue of hits and previewing a selection of the new songs from the upcoming album, which after everything was all Fred Turner needed to come out of retirement. “If I had a chance to go out and play new things and grow, then I’ll be offering people something,” explains Fred Turner. It’s all about the music, the creative process, collaboration and teamwork of two old friends and partners.

Reunited, Randy Bachman and Fred Turner are offering their legion of fans something new and taking care of some ‘unfinished’ business as well. Bachman & Turner are backed by Brent Howard, Marc LaFrance and Mick Dalla-Vee; this sovereign trio has been performing together for over 20 years.

Bachman & Turner will be kicking off their world debut in June 2010 at the Sweden Rock Festival alongside some of their contemporaries including Aerosmith, Guns n’ Roses and Billy Idol.

Bachman & Turner’s first set of announced 2010 tour dates are

June 7 – London, UK – The Relentless Garage
June 12 – Solvesborg, SE – Sweden Rock Festival
June 25 – Kettering, OH – Fraze Pavillion at Lincoln Park Centre
June 26 – Riverside, IA – Riverside Casino and Golf Resort
July 3 – Charlottetown – Summerfest
July 17 – Nakusp, BC – Nakusp Music Fest
July 25 – London, UK – High Voltage Festival
July 28 – Vienna, VA – The Filene Centre
August 26 – Rama , ON – Casino Rama
August 27 – Lewiston, NY – ArtPark
August 28 – Danbury, CT – Ives Concert Park

Chuck Prophet

I should know.

If he disappeared from view after that Prophet’s place in the footnotes of rock history would have been assured.

But no – that was not going to be the end of Chuck Prophet. He had more places in the footnotes of rock history to forge.  To those who have followed his evolution he is one of the most interesting artists going around. To those who haven’t he is probably not thought about a lot.

He’s also got one of the best and funniest websites. www.chuckprophet.com

Go and visit the website and read through his blogs. Read his piece in memory of producer Jim Dickinson – it’s both funny and achingly moving. Read his list of his ten favorite movies.

And have a look at the email he sends his mailing list announcing the release of his new album Let Freedom Ring. It’s a refreshingly honest approach to the age old tradition of hyping a new release:

“We’ve been fair. We’ve been MORE than fair. We streamed the record for free, we
posted YouTube teasers, we’ve booked gigs EVERYWHERE. Gigs in places halfway around the world we can’t even find on a map! In your hometown even. And in my efforts to behave like a well adjusted musician, I even opened a facebook account. Okay, so I closed it down five minutes later but that’s not the point.

We’ve dined you and wined you. There were strip clubs, steak dinners, job recommendations…. Who’d you call when you needed help painting your apartment? (You know who you are).

We’re getting used to walking down the street people giving us high fives. So please, don’t lay some rhetoric on us you cribbed from some stupid airport book your dad gave you written by some dweeb editor of Wired magazine. Pah-leese!! We’ve heard it all. CD’s are too expensive! Vinyl is warmer! Corporate America! Global warming!

Boo hoo!

How much did you pay for that jesusPhone? How much for that second Ritual cappuccino? We’re not going to insult your intelligence with indecipherable “bundles” or “Deluxe Packaging”. What are you, TWELVE? We know we’re not talking to nameless trolls here. We know you’re too smart for that. You ARE smart! You signed up for this list didn’t you?

Here’s the deal: ¡Let Freedom Ring! is out today. Now…. Put. That coffee. Down.
HAVE YOU MADE YOUR DECISION FOR CHRIST?”

————————————————————————————————
The album about which he speaks is the latest in a long line of great records. Let Freedom Ring was made in Mexico and in keeping with Prophet’s penchant for being in the wrong place at the wrong time it was made during the initial swine flu revelation.

“I found a studio in Mexico that was state of the art for 1958. In today’s economy, that had its appeal. In terms of perspective, I was writing that album just as the bottom was falling out of the wet sack of the American dream. We didn’t really go for mariachi horns, but we were hoping to feed off the energy there. It’s a city that hustles and bustles and vibrates beneath your feet. I thought, ‘With these songs, why not?’

So who exactly is this great man?

What does Wikipedia say?

Chuck Prophet was born in Whittier, California to a non-musical family. Chuck’s father appears briefly in the 1955 film Blackboard Jungle. After one E.P. and eight albums with Green On Red, he released his first solo record Brother Aldo on Fire Records (UK) in 1990. He has worked as a sideman or session musician with many artists. These include Bob Neuwirth, Kelly Willis, Aimee Mann, Warren Zevon, Jonathan Richman, Lucinda Williams and Cake. He has frequently collaborated with songwriter Dan Penn and Dickinson.

Chuck was signed to New West Records by Peter Jesperson in 2002 after the label promised to pay off his touring van. Chuck made two records for New West: No Other Love and Age of Miracles. After years of mostly European and UK success, 2002’s No Other Love was a breakthrough record for Chuck stateside thanks to the summer single “Summertime Thing” and endorsements from Lucinda Williams, who gave Chuck the opening slot for her summer tour.

The song “No Other Love” was recorded by the rock group Heart at the suggestion of Cameron Crowe. It was also featured in an episode of the television series The L Word, and the film P.S. I Love You.

Chuck parted with New West Records in 2005 after a restaurant tab argument involving an extra order of garlic bread.

Known for his guitar style, which follows in the tradition of such players as Keith Richards and Alex Chilton, Prophet has been recording solo efforts since the late 1980s. Recorded in San Francisco and Nashville, 2007′s Soap and Water received critical praise. Prophet toured Europe and North America in support of the album and appeared with his band on The Late Show With David Letterman, and Last Call with Carson Daly.

Prophet has contributed to several Kelly Willis records, and produced 2007′s Translated From Love for Rykodisc. Willis and Prophet co-wrote six of the albums tracks and Prophet played guitar throughout.

Prophet has released a limited-edition work entitled Dreaming Waylon’s Dreams, which he recorded in San Francisco. The record re-creates Waylon Jennings’ 1975 country album Dreaming My Dreams in its entirety and features among others, members of American Music Club, and Meat Beat Manifesto.

In 2008 Prophet co-wrote Alejandro Escovedo’s Real Animal, to which he also contributed guitar and vocals.

Raisins in the Sun was a one-off collaboration with Jules Shear, Harvey Brooks, Paul Q. Kolderie, Jim Dickinson, Sean Slade, and Winston Watson, recorded in May 1999 and released by Rounder Records two years later.

Chuck appears as an actor playing The Connection in Revolution Summer, a film directed by Miles Matthew Montalbano and produced by Jonathan Richman.

Chuck contributed “You Did” (bomp shooby doobie bomp) as the theme song to the “smart, original, and horrifically funny” Teeth (film). Chuck’s song Love Won’t Keep Us Apart is featured in the FX program Sons of Anarchy.

“You Did” was also featured in the closing credits of the HBO series True Blood episode “Keep This Party Going” (S02E02).

In May 2009, Prophet along with a cast of characters including Ernest “Boom” Carter headed to Mexico City to record a collection of “political songs for non political people”.

The “Mission Express” is a bus line that runs through Chuck’s neighborhood and is the name of Chuck’s current band.

The lineup:

*Stephie Finch: (singing, Vox organ)
*Kevin White: (bass guitar)
*Todd Roper: (drums, vocals)
*James Deprato: (guitar, lap steel)

Albums
* Brother Aldo (1990)
* Balinese Dancer (1992)
* Feast of Hearts (1995)
* Homemade Blood (1997)
* The Hurting Business (1999)
* Turn the Pigeons Loose (2002)
* No Other Love (2002)
* Age of Miracles (2004)
* Soap and Water (2007)
* Dreaming Waylon’s Dreams (2007)
* Let Freedom Ring (2009)

That label is about to re-release Lowe’s first three albums as a limited edition box set. The collection of Dig My Mood, The Impossible Bird and The Convincer has been dubbed The Brentford Trilogy.

Nick Lowe began his musical career in 1965, when he co-founded the band Kippington Lodge, with Brinsley Schwarz. The band later became known as Brinsley. Lowe wrote some of his best-known compositions while a member of Brinsley Schwarz, including “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding”, a hit for Elvis Costello in 1979, and “Cruel to Be Kind”, a solo hit for Lowe in 1980.

After leaving Brinsley Schwarz in the mid 1970s, Lowe began playing in Rockpile with Dave Edmunds. The label’s first EP was Lowe’s 1977 four-track release Bowi, apparently named in response to David Bowie’s contemporaneous LP Low.

Nick Lowe produced Elvis Costello’s first five albums, including My Aim Is True, This Year’s Model, and Armed Forces. He also produced The Damned’s first single, “New Rose“, considered the first English punk single, as well as the group’s debut album, Damned Damned Damned.

Because the two main singers in Rockpile had recording contracts with different record labels and managers, albums were always credited to either Lowe or Edmunds, so there is only one official Rockpile album. However, two of the pair’s most significant solo albums from the period – Lowe’s Labour of Lust and Edmunds’ Repeat When Necessary – were effectively Rockpile albums.

Lowe’s best-known song from this era is probably “I Knew the Bride (When She Used to Rock ‘n’ Roll)”.

In 1979, Lowe married country singer Carlene Carter, daughter of fellow country singers Carl Smith and June Carter Cash and stepdaughter of Johnny Cash. He adopted her daughter, Tiffany Anastasia Lowe. The marriage ended in the mid 1980s, but they remained friends, and Lowe remained close to the Carter/Cash family. He played and recorded with Johnny Cash, and Cash recorded several of Lowe’s songs. Lowe’s first son, Roy Lowe, was born in 2005.

After the demise of Rockpile, Lowe toured for a period with his band Noise To Go and later with The Cowboy Outfit, which also included the noted keyboard player Paul Carrack. Lowe was also a member of the short-lived mainly studio project Little Village with John Hiatt, Ry Cooder and Jim Keltner, who originally got together to record Hiatt’s 1987 album Bring the Family.

A New York Daily News article quoted Lowe as saying his greatest fear in recent years was “sticking with what you did when you were famous”. “I didn’t want to become one of those thinning-haired, jowly old geezers who still does the same shtick they did when they were young, slim and beautiful,” he said. “That’s revolting and rather tragic.” Rock critic Jim Farber observed: “Lowe’s recent albums, epitomized by the new At My Age, moved him out of the realms of ironic pop and animated rock and into the role of a worldly balladeer, specializing in grave vocals and graceful tunes. Lowe’s four most recent solo albums mine the wealth of American roots music, drawing on vintage country, soul and R&B to create an elegant mix of his own.”

In March 2009, he released a 49-track CD/DVD compilation of songs which spans his entire career. Proper Records released it in the UK and Europe. It is titled “Quiet Please… The New Best of Nick Lowe”

He’s recently released his new album House Of A Thousand Guitars in America. Now I could bang on about how great he is but I’m just a bloke with a website. It’s probably a whole lot more useful to observe what more important critics have to say.

“Record Of The Month!…transcendent…Nile’s finest collection of original songs!
FOUR +  STARS!” – STEREOPHILE

“He’s a master…it’s amazing…one of the best
albums I’ve ever heard!” – NORM WINER (WXRT) (one of the most respected US radio programmers –ed)

“BRILLIANT…AMAZING…an utter embarrassment of riches! The first great album of 2009!” – POWER POP

“REMARKABLE new album!…RIVETING!…Springsteen, Mellencamp, Van Morrison…Willie Nile has earned his standing in that esteemed company!” – BLURT

“A one-man Clash! -
UNCUT

“Willie Nile’s “Magdalena” is the ‘Coolest Song in the World!’”
- LITTLE STEVEN (UNDERGROUND GARAGE)

“The title song references Hendrix, Dylan, The Stones, Lennon, and John Lee Hooker, and manages the incredible feat of living up the best of every
one of them!” – POWER POP

“Nile has never released anything less than great. (House Of A Thousand Guitars) is ANOTHER GEM from one of the most underrated singer-songwriters of our time.”
- NO DEPRESSION

“He’s never been better!” – HITS MAGAZINE

“…one ace song after another!” – THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

“Nile’s incredibly rich vision encompasses loud, fast rockers, sweet, melodic
pop, and stately piano ballads. They don’t make ‘em like that anymore?
Well, Willie Nile just did. FOUR STARS! ****”
- THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER

“Nile spins another ROCK ‘N’ ROLL CLASSIC! Talk about a second wind! His Benjamin Button-like excursion continues with House of a Thousand Guitars,
featuring a dozen songs that capture both the heart of rock ‘n’ roll and the depth
of middle-age. Mark this one down for your end-of-the
year best-of list.” – HYPERBOLIUM

“He is one of the most moving artists of the last 30 years in the US rock scene. PURE DYNAMITE! Maybe because of a pact with the devil, time seems to have stopped, for he’s cryonized in his youth, and in front of the microphone he’s a hurricane!”
- 20 MINUTES

“FOUR STARS! ****” – AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN

“The Troubadour Of New York City. This album has some of the most meaningful
lyrics you’ve ever heard. The Ramones meet Sun Records. Doesn’t have an artificial or cheaply sentimental bone in its body. Nile’s music is an organic blending of the old and the new that yields ASTONISHING results. Honesty, integrity, and a sense of the absurd combined with a razor sharp wit. Nile continues to create music like few others. – BLOGCRITICS

“He is the bastard child  of Bob Dylan, Joe Strummer and Lou Reed. If authenticity
is an important issue for you, then Willie Nile is your man.
- POP MATTERS

“FOUR STARS!****”
- THE SPRINGFIELD REPUBLICAN

“If it were only for the STUNNING pop beauty of “Her Love Falls Like Rain” and the
anthem “Give Me Tomorrow,” Nile’s House of a Thousand Guitars would be one of the year’s essential discs. However, Nile keeps the quality high throughout the album. Every listen can produce a new favorite.”
- KNOXVILLE NEWS-SENTINEL

“A songsmith’s songsmith.”
- THE AUSTIN CHRONICLE

“If great reviews were currency, he could bail the country out of its fiscal
problems with his mattress money….A great album!”
- CINCINNATI CITY BEAT

“Every bit as good as Streets of New York.”
- HIGH NOON SALOON

He never really stopped working though and has released a steady stream of albums over the years. His latest is  entitled The Place And The Time is about to be  released in the US and hopefully will find its way here.

Steve Forbert  was born on December 13, 1955 in Meridian, Mississippi and is best known for his song Romeo’s Tune, which reached No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1980.

The song was lifted from his album Jackrabbitt Slim which had been recorded in Nashville, Tennessee and produced by John Simon, who had worked with The Band. A little known fact about Forbert is that he  has a cameo appearance in Cyndi Lauper’s Girls Just Wanna Have Fun video, playing her boyfriend.

Even though he never again reached the commercial heights of Romeo’s Tune  in total he has released twelve studio albums, three live sets and four DVDs since 1978  – to say nothing of the several compilations and archival releases that are available through his website (www.steveforbert.com).

His fill discography is impressive:

* Alive on Arrival Nemperor/CBS Records, 1978
* Jackrabbit Slim Nemperor, 1979
* Little Stevie Orbit Nemperor, 1980
* Steve Forbert Nemperor, 1982
* Streets Of This Town Geffen Records, 1988
* The American In Me Geffen Records, 1992
* Best of Steve Forbert: What Kinda Guy? 1993
* Be Here Now: Solo Live 1994
* King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents Steve Forbert
* Mission of the Crossroad Palms Giant/Warner Bros. Records, 1995
* Rocking Horse Head Giant/Warner Bros. 1996
* Here’s Your Pizza 1997
* Be Here Again: Solo Live 1998
* Evergreen Boy 2000
* Acoustic Live: The WFUV Concert 2000
* Live at the Bottom Line 2000
* Young Guitar Days 2001
* More Young Guitar Days 2002
* Any Old Time (Songs of Jimmie Rodgers) 2002
* Solo Live in Bethlehem 2002
* Rock While I Can Rock: The Geffen Years 2003
* Just Like There’s Nothin’ to It 2004
* Good Soul Food – Live at the Ark Rolling Tide Records 2004
* DVD Anthology: You Cannot Win If You Do Not Play 2005
* It’s Been A Long Time: Live Acoustic With Paul Errico 2006
* Strange Names & New Sensations 2007
* Best of the Downloads Vols. 1 + 2 2008
* The Time and The Place – release date 3/31/09

We are better for it.

The other factor is longevity – by performing under a number of different incarnations and configurations Stan Ridgway has managed to keep his output fresh and interesting. He has a highly distinctive voice and style and in the absence of evolution he could easily have become a self-parody or even worse just got bored (and boring).

He hasn’t.

“Music is more than just chords and notes to me, it has the ability to make pictures in the mind,” he says on his website. “My records are designed to be seen as well as heard.”

“It’s a hybrid of all the music I’ve loved and admired,” is how he describes his music. “There are no boundaries on art and no rules to follow in music. A song is really just a strong point of view.”

Lyrically Ridgway works in both harsh reality and romance – but its not your standard view of reality and it’s a very different vision of romance – its more about hopeless romantics than any picture perfect view of suburban utopia. It’s what lurks below the surface that intrigues him and while his music oscillates between the abrasive and the embracing he always finds a way to draw the listener into his web.

His website lists his influences as  “European soundtrack music, American folk tradition, primitive rock ‘n’ roll, blues, psychedelia, free jazz and all that is avant-garde.” And if you give his music more than a cursory listen you can hear all of the above.

Stan Ridgway first came to widespread attention as the singer for Wall Of Voodoo, the LA band who were formed with the intention of  making music for low budget horror films. Instead they ended up making hit records including the single Mexican Radio. That was about a quarter of a century ago.

“Life is absurd. But that doesn’t mean it has to be meaningless,” he says. “From an early age music centered me in a chaotic world that didn’t make sense. I’ve always liked tall tales, urban myths and ghost stories,” he says. “I like a strong protagonist, as well as a story that unfolds with drama, color and detail. A song should take you away for awhile and into another world.”

Ridgway has gone on to release eight solo albums, an impressive catalogue that reads as follows:

Snakebite: Blacktop Ballads and Fugitive Songs (2004)

The Big Heat (1986)

Within these albums are songs like Camouflage, Don’t Box Me In, Goin’ Southbound, I Wanna Be A Boss, Salesman as well as some oddities pulled together on Holiday In Dirt.

Between this Ridgway has contributed to his partner Pietra Wexstun and her band Hecates Angels and worked with her on a more experimental sonic soundscape outfit under the name of Drywall. Three albums have resulted.

These days Ridgway has embraced the music of his entire career. He is currently touring America under the title “Desert Of Dreams: A Sandstorm of Song,” an all inclusive retrospective show highlighting Ridgway’s musical journey from past to present. Ridgway and his band are performing key songs and music from his entire career in an intimate acoustic format with Pietra Wexstun (keys, melodica, vocals) and Rick King guitar, bass, vocals). New songs will be played as well from his soon-to-be-released new solo CD out this summer.

There’s also  another album recently released – an EP of children’s songs entitled Silly Songs For Kids that Ridgway and Wexstun explain like this;

“With lots of of nieces and nephews around, we are always making up songs for them when we get together and well, things just happen. Childish and silly? We hope so. I guess you could say we are exploring a new frontier”

The Desert Of Dreams shows sound great and this review indicates that it would be a very welcome tour should it ever make it to Australia.

“Accompanied by Rick King on guitar, Amy Farris on viola, Joe Berardi on percussion, and Pietra Wexstun on keyboards, Ridgway performed older numbers like “Calling Out to Carol” and “Peg and Pete and Me” alongside “Wake Up Sally (the Cops are Here)” and “King for a Day” from what he called his “latest opus,” 2005′s Snakebite: Blacktop Ballads and Fugitive Songs.

His stirring version of “Underneath the Big Green Tree” was among the best songs of the night and probably the best of the songs taken from his underrated 1995 Black Diamond. Riding along with Ridgway’s songs, the audience traveled all over the map, stopping to check out a carnival here, a roadblock there and finally a madcap barbeque, (Ridgway and side project Drywall’s 2006 “BBQ Babylon”) before a grateful Ridgway put on the brakes, offering his thanks to the crowd.”

We can only hope.

See Prefab Sprout created literate (but not literary) intelligent (but not intellectually intimidating), musical (but not virtuosic) pop music that seemed best suited for lazy Sunday mornings rather than frantic Saturday nights.

That sounds a lot like Coldplay to me.

The English band’s core members were Durham County brothers Paddy and Martin McAloon joined by Neil Conti and Wendy Smith along with producer Thomas Dolby who was on board for most of their best recordings.

The bands first single was released in 1982 and soon after they were signed by the Kitchenware label which was a Sony subsidiary. Their debut album Swoon was released on the Kitchenware record label in March 1984.

But is wasn’t until the release of the following album, the Thomas Dolby produced Steve McQueen, that the band really started to gain attention. With songs like Faron Young and When Loves Breaks Down becoming critics favourites, Paddy McAloon started believing his own publicity if some press quotes are to be believed.

The album was called Two Wheels Good in the US after the family of Steve McQueen arked up.

The next album From Langley Park To Memphis featured their biggest hit The King Of Rock N’ Roll and indicated another English band with an increasing fascination with American pop culture. The song Cars And Girls referenced Bruce Springsteen and McAloon’s view of what he saw as Springsteen’s lyrical pre-occupations. Stevie Wonder and Pete Townsend both appeared on the album.

The next album 1990’s Jordan: The Comeback, again produced by Thomas Dolby, was nominated for a BRIT Award and was an ambitious project, a sprawling concept album that in addition to its religious references featured several songs about a character who has been described as a mix of Howard Hughes, Jesse James, and Elvis Presley.

The album was not a big success and for many it was the last they heard of the band.

In fact Prefab Sprout released another album Andromeda Heights in the UK in 1997 and embarked on a short UK tour in 2000. Several compilations followed along with a The Gunman and Other Stories a concept album themed on the American Wild West.

Paddy McAloon released the album I Trawl The Megahertz as a solo record in 2003 before reports that his hearing had deteriorated, reportedly due to Ménière’s disease.

Apparently he is on the improve and according to Mojo the band are working on a new album with the ambitious working title Let’s Change the World With Music – The Blueprint.

They had actually suggested this as a possible name for an album earlier in their career but it never came to fruition. Two mooted songs God Watch Over You and Ride, were given to Australian artist Wendy Matthews and featured on her album Witness Tree.

The new album is supposed to be released in 2009, a view that appears to be re-enforced by the Kitchenware label’s website.

Wrong.

The best thing to ever come out of The Netherlands is the song Radar Love.

Radar Love is quite possible one of the greatest rock songs ever committed to vinyl. What makes its all the more curious is that it was released by a Dutch band called Golden Earring. What is almost incredible is that Golden Earring are still going strong today a full 48 years after their formation.

Golden Earring was formed in 1961 in The Hague by 13-year-old George Kooymans and his 15-year-old Rinus Gerritsen. Both are still in the band today. The name Golden Earrings (the ‘s’ was dropped early in their evolution) was taken from a song, originally sung by Marlene Dietrich in 1947 and covered by Peggy Lee in 1948.

Golden Earring recorded several pop songs in Holland and had some chart success but it wasn’t until 1968 that the band had a number one hit in the Netherlands with the Dong Dong Diki Diki Dong.

This was followed by a successful psychedelic album Eight Miles High, which featured an eighteen-minute version of the title track, itself a cover of the 1966 hit song by The Byrds. The live version, which could last 45 minutes (great song, but 45 mins sounds excruciating), was considered by some to be a highlight in their first and second American tours, in the middle of the hippie and flower power era.

The came Radar Love.

The single from the album Moontan became a hit in both Europe and the USA. Golden Earring embarked on their first major US tour in 1969 – 1970, and were among the first European bands to do so. Due to American influences, their music evolved towards hard rock, and they performed along with Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix. Between 1969 and 1984, Golden Earring completed thirteen US tours. During this period, they performed as the opening act for Santana, The Doobie Brothers, Rush and .38 Special. In the early seventies, when “Radar Love” was a hit, they had KISS and Aerosmith as their opening act.

Singer and Lyricist Barry Hay explained the origins of Radar Love on the bands website.

“One evening I had a few friends over, one of whom was American, and I was brainstorming with them about the form and contents of the story. It had to be something very simple, to which every average person could relate, such as someone in the bathtub and ….. Everyone started to put in ideas and it when it got too chaotic I kicked them out of the house and sent them to some nightclub so that I could work in peace. The idea of an ordinary guy in his car became to take shape and when my American house guest got home in the early hours and read the lyrics, he went wild: “This is it, brilliant! The ultimate American car song!!!”

The song is now genuinely iconic. It has its own website www.radar-love.net which claims that over 375 cover versions of  Radar Love have been done including those by  U2, Blue Man Group, R.E.M., Bryan Adams, Carlos Santana, Def Leppard, Ministry, Crowded House, the Alarm, James Last Orchestra, Thunder, White Lion, and many more. It also lists many tv shows, movies and books where Radar Love is either featured or referred to.

Golden Earring had a minor hit with Twilight Zone and in 1984 When the Lady Smiles became a hit in Canada and becoming the band’s fifth number one hit in their native country, but not in the US.

Tragedy hit in 1984 when the band were playing a concert at a US theme park when a fire killed eight teenagers. After this the bands attention increasing went to Europe.

In 1991, Golden Earring scored another hit in the Netherlands with Going To The Run, a ballad about a Hell’s Angels motorclub member who was a friend of the band and died in a crash.

Since 1992, they have focussed largely on acoustic shows which remain very popular in Europe and releasing acoustic albums which have been some of the band’s best selling albums, such as The Naked Truth, which sold over 500,000 copies in the Netherlands alone.

Golden Earring continue to perform over 200 concerts a year, both acoustic and electric mainly in their home country of the Netherlands and occasionally in Belgium and Germany. These energetic live performances have been recorded on several live albums.

Golden Earring have not toured in North America or other continents since 1984. They have never toured Asia, South America or Australia.

Strangely the bands last album was recorded in New York in 2003 and apparently there is another album finished and awaiting release.

To promote the release of the album, Golden Earring will do two gigs in the UK for the first time in thirty years, with one concert on 14 March 2009 at The Shepherd’s Bush Empire in London and one show at Ipswich Regent Theatre on March 13, 2009.

Golden Earring celebrated their 47th anniversary in 2008 and have been performing almost continuously since their foundation in 1961. They have had the same unchanged line-up of the same four musicians and friends since 1970, augmented time to time with a fifth member (Dutch keyboardist and leader of legendary band Supersister, Robert Jan Stips).

Lead singer Barry Hay now lives in the Dutch Antilles island of Curacao in the Caribbean, presumably in a tax haven from the on-going royalties from Radar Love.

More information about Golden Earring can be found at www.goldenearring.nl

There is a great range of merchandise available – who wouldn’t want a Golden Earring t-shirt? Surely it would have to be a must have fashion accessory. I’ve just ordered mine.

For those whose memory is failing here are the lyrics to Radar Love.

I’ve been drivin’ all night, my hand’s wet on the wheel
There’s a voice in my head that drives my heel
It’s my baby callin’, says I need you here
And it’s a half past four and I’m shiftin’ gear
When she is lonely and the longing gets too much
She sends a cable comin’ in from above
Don’t need no phone at all
We’ve got a thing that’s called Radar Love
We’ve got a wave in the air, Radar Love
The radio is playing some forgotten song
Brenda Lee’s comin’ on strong
The road has got me hypnotized
And I’m speedin’ into a new sunrise
When I get lonely and I’m sure I’ve had enough
She sents her comfort comin’ in from above
We don’t need no letter at all
We’ve got a thing that’s called Radar Love
We’ve got a light in the sky
(Instrumental break)
No more speed, I’m almost there
Gotta keep cool now, gotta take care
Last car to pass, here I go
And the line of cars drove down real slow
And the radio played that forgotten song
Brenda Lee’s comin’ on strong
And the newsman sang his same song
Oh one more radar lover gone
When I get lonely and I’m sure I’ve had enough
She sents her comfort comin’ in from above
We don’t need no letter at all
We’ve got a thing that’s called Radar Love
We’ve got a light in the sky
We’ve got a thing that’s called Radar Love
We’ve got a thing that’s called Radar Love

The surprisingly truth is that Harley and his band Cockney Rebel continued to have a viable career for several years after that and he continues to play and record today.

South Londoner Harley had not surprisingly been influenced by The Beatles and The Rolling Stones very early in their careers after having classical music tuition as a child and teenager but it was Dylan that made the greatest impact on him.

He started singing in folk clubs at the start of the 70’s before forming Cockney Rebel with drummer Stuart Elliott.

As Cockney Rebel they released two albums The Human Menagerie and The Psychomodo and had a couple of European hits.

But it wasn’t until the band officially became Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel with the 1975 release of The Best Years Of Our Lives and its single Make Me Smile that life changed for Harley.

The single reached No 1. in the UK and many European countries and has been confirmed it one of the most played records in the history of British broadcasting.

The song has been covered more than 100 times in seven languages (including a pretty decent version by Nick Barker in Australia) and has been featured in several movies including The Full Monty, Velvet Goldmine, Best and Saving Grace. The song has also been used on more than twenty TV and radio advertising campaigns around the world.

The song was supposedly about some of the other members of Cockney Rebel and their apparent ability to disappoint Harley.

Other albums followed with Timeless Flight (1976) , Love’s A Prima Donna (1976) and Face To Face (live) following in quick succession. Two solo albums – Hobo With A Grin and The Candidate followed before Harley stepped away from the rock world.

He spent  quite a bit of time in musical theatre and recorded two more solo albums in the 90’s.

Since 1999 Harley has presented his own show for BBC Radio 2, Sounds Of The Seventies comprising classic tracks and rarities from the era and anecdotes from Steve himself. The show aired weekly until 2008.

Steve and his band continue to tour regularly, playing between 70 and 100 concerts most years. In recent times, Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel have played Glastonbury Festival three times, the Isle of Wight festival in 2004 and many of Europe’s major rock festivals.

In 2005 he released another album under the name Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel called The Quality of Mercy.

In 2008 he released a book entitled The Impression Of Being Relaxed, a 160 page collection of his diary entries originally published on his website. A three CD anthology of his music has also been released in recent years.

Harley’s other interest is horse racing and he has owned horses since the mid 80’s. Ironically though he has no connection with Irish Group 1 winner Cockney Rebel although he has been at the track when the horse has won several big races. The horses owners actually sought and received Harley’s permission before giving the horse its name.

He didn’t waste it.

He had previously released major label albums on Columbia and A&M and although he received some critical acclaim he didn’t sell a lot of records.

Sweet was a native of Lincoln, Nebraska who relocated to Athens, Georgia in the early 80’s. Sweet collaborated with R.E.M. member Michael Stipe under the name Community Trolls as well as being in Stipe’s sister Lynda Stipe’s band Oh-OK, and in 1983 also formed another band, Buzz of Delight.

It was some time after that that he was given his shot at Columbia.

After being dropped from A&M Sweet quickly recovered and formed a new band including extraordinary players  Richard Lloyd (ex Television), Robert Quine (who played with Lou Reed amongst others) , Greg Leisz (who plays with anyone so long as they are good!) , Lloyd Cole, and Fred Maher (ex Scritti Politti and a gun producer in his own right). The new group spent 1990 assembling Sweet’s next work, originally titled Nothing Lasts. It would have been a disgrace if this collection of players couldn’t have created an outstanding album.

Sweet found another label (Zoo) changed the name of his album to Girlfriend and before long his exquisite power pop songs were hits, especially the title track and other gorgeous and irresistible songs like I’ve Been Waiting, Divine Intervention, Evangaline, Holy War and Thought I Knew You.

Sweet toured Australia around that time.

A series of albums followed including Altered Beast,  Son of Altered Beast, 100% Fun, Blue Sky on Mars and  In Reverse. The albums all had some great tracks but Sweet, despite maintaining a dedicated fan base, was never able to reach the heights of the commercial success of Girlfriend,

Since the turn of the century Sweet has made some interesting collaborative decisions and continues to enjoy a lot of respect in the music community. He’s has an enviable reputation as the musician that other quality musicians like.

As testament to this in early 2002, Sweet formed The Thorns with Shawn Mullins and Pete Droge, two other highly regarded singer-songwriter types. Sweet released a new album of solo material, Living Things in late 2004, though the material on the album was recorded in 2002.

In April 2006 Sweet hooked up with Bangles member Susanna Hoffs to release a collection of 1960′s songs.  Under The Covers Vol. 1 featured their versions of songs including Monday, Monday and The Kids Are Alright.  As a collaboration between these two it comes as no surprise that the album is long on pop melody.

Matthew Sweet’s latest album is called Sunshine Lies and it was released on a interesting label called Shout Factory, which specialises in everything from jazz, blues and country to re-releases of retro recordings and a big catalogue of quirky old tv shows and box sets. Its not your typical record company but it does seem suited to Sweet’s place in pop culture.

Sweet has described the new record’s sound as “power-pop-folk-rock-psychedelic-melodic-singer-songwriter-type stuff” , which could just about describe his entire career.

As usual, Sweet (guitars, bass, keyboards, mellotron, lead and harmony vocals), who produced and mixed the LP at his own Lolina Green Studios in L.A., has a great band including Richard Lloyd, Greg Leisz and Ivan Julian (Richard Hell & the Voidoids) along with drummer Ric Menck (Velvet Crush). Susanna Hoffs also makes a fleeting vocal appearance.

Whether Sweet ever returns to Australia is problematic. Apparently he has a fear of flying and the alternative means of getting to Australia have their own problems. Hopefully something can be worked out.