NancyJohnson

As mentioned earlier, just bring a few (interesting) bits. Edging on the side of reason, people would be far more engaged in something different, rather than another Precision or Jazz. Also, it's a village hall, not the O2. 😏

Well, it's started. This inevitable urge to simply go back to passive basses. I suppose getting handy with the soldering iron over the last few months on other basses, I've decided to start putting the basses that have had retro-fitted active electrons installed, back to passive. I'm just sick of batteries, and the disparity from bass to bass. Obviously the Spector is the only one that came with the preamp installed as stock, so that will be unaltered. Bliss.

We have two rooms here, one with a little stage. We're putting on the timed stuff on the staged area (see post #1); it's feasible that you could do something in the second room, but obviously there's no guarantee of an audience, given the crossover in the main room.

This post is hurting my eyes. Just keep typing...the text will wrap automatically, no need to keep hitting enter after every few words!

A few years back (2009), I went to see NIN/Jane's Addiction/Street Sweeper at the Docklands O2 on the NINJA tour - it took three hours to get there (and the same back), horrific car park fee and maybe a 25-30 minute walk from the car to the venue. We missed the first band and saw about 15 minutes of Jane's Addiction. In the venue, the staff were literally barking at the punters to keep inside the yellow lines at ground level. It was the most soulless gig I've ever been to and it really tainted my feelings about schlepping up to the smoke for gigs. From memory, that was £35.00 a ticket. I just don't know why people want to go to see live music any more, especially in big places - I recall Steve Jones from the Sex Pistols commenting about why would anyone want to go [to Earl's Court] and see four dots on the stage - now at the big venues, I'd wager people spend more time watching a screen than the blokes on stage. The old Hammersmith gigs, you could swing the car into a parking place under the flyover for nowt, walk in and be home an hour after the gig. As @neepheid says, someone is having a huge laugh at the punter's expense; also take into account all that money sitting in a bank account for the next nine months earning 5%.

Don't go to a lot of gigs now; ticket prices aside, I honestly abhor the inconvenience and associated costs of the journey in and back (generally Reading to Landaan), the cost of getting a pint etc. Anyhoo...on to ticket prices. Guess I'm a little behind the curve here, but interest spiked when I read the happy news that Sugar had reformed and are doing two dates in London next May. Got the mailing list presale, no prices, navigated through that, no prices, tickets in basket, no prices, get to the end £62.10 a pop, plus a ticket agency fee. (God knows how the 10p element was calculated out.). At which point, I just shut down Firefox and went and made a coffee. My head was reeling... You're probably looking at £200+ to see a band play for 75 minutes. Old enough to remember going to see Rush at Hammersmith and the ticket was under £4.00. Five bands at the Lyceum for under £5.00. These prices seemed reasonable at the time, even adjusted for inflation.

Van Halen - Live In Pittsburgh 98. Blimus!

Honestly, Jellyfish should have been enormous. Off the scale enormous. Luckily there's enough projects involving everyone involved (well, except Sturmer) to satiate the desire for music. If you've gotten past theose, check out Sugarbomb.

There's this allusion that you need to buy these angled shims for £££, because anything else will have an adverse effect on tone (chortle) and sustain (chortle, again). Just make sure the neck is straight, then pop in a bit of playing card, business card, sandpaper, cornflake box into the back of the neck pocket, screw the neck back on and continue the set up. There's probably hundreds/thousands of vintage Fenders that have never had the neck off that are harbouring all manner of horrors in the pocket, and nobody is complaining about those not housing $30 StewMac shims.

Or not that kind of stuff. 😄

This is worth a watch, too. I'm sure it's been posted here previously.

Once you get past the XTC and Dukes regular release stuff, I would strongly suggest delving into Transistor Blast (4CD) and the Coat of Many Cupboards (4CD) collections. Andy Partridge's 'Fuzzy Warbles' collection (just the nine CDs) is great, as is his Failed Songwriting Career EPs. Andy has also done the Powers and Monstrance albums, which for the sake of completion are worth a listen, although probably not more than the once. Colin's reboot with Terry Chambers as TC&I (EP and Live album) is good. There's also some decent live recordings on the Internet Archive website (from 1978-81). Finally, there's also superb tribute album called 'The Garden of Earthly Delights' on Futureman Records.

To be honest, anything. Start from the beginning and listen to how they evolved!

A bit longer than four minutes, eh? 😏

OK kids. I've uploaded the 'This Is Pop' documentary to my Google Drive. It's 2GB, MP4 format and a joy to watch. I'll leave the link active until I need the space. Obviously files are prone to have download issues, if the link is on the wonk, let me know. You should just be able to click and download. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1__xzmx6z_hz4sSVieht-5NQVLRkImfgN/view?usp=sharing

If anyone wants to read further, here's a copy of Complicated Game - Inside The Songs of XTC by Andy Partridge and Todd Bernhardt. This came to me from a music writer pre-publication. It's in ePub format, so you'll need to download an ePub reader (Microsoft Store etc.). Obviously, it goes without saying, the book is still in print. Complicated Game - Inside The Songs Of XTC.epub

I'd concur with music from our formative years having a lasting effect on us, which us why I continue to enjoy certain periods of Japan, Queen, Sparks, Mott The Hoople, Sweet, Rich Kids, Cheap Trick etc. Coming to XTC at 40 years old made things a little different; the music doesn't etch itself into your psyche like it would have done when you're 15 years old, so it's genuinely harder work. The beauty here is also the wealth of additional content available if you want to do a deep(er) dive; Steven Wilson's curated reissues (and 5.1/Atmos mixes) are sublime.

I'm in contact with Colin, been trying to get him in for the 2025 SE Bass Basheroonie. He's declined - which is a huge shame - and I get the distinct feeling he finds the adoration a bit uncomfortable and bothersome. XTC are a weird one for me. I loved the singles back in the day, but they were more a guilty pleasure as musically my head was elsewhere. Sadly it was only after they called time that I really got into them; I suppose it was great to just go through the entire catalogue over a short period of time and appreciate how they evolved. It kind of saddens to read a comment like @Dad3353 giving the four minutes. While people obviously cite The Beatles as being the quintessential British band, XTC should also be seen as a national treasure, there's so much depth in the writing and arrangements, from the quirky angular punk/pop of White Music and Go 2 through to the majesty of Apple Venus and Wasp Star. The band were lyrically and musically smart. Andy Partridge once remarked something along the lines of the band being 'clever and from Swindon' which aptly characterised the struggle they were always going to face for exposure. Had it been New York, another story. The whole backstory is fascinating (try an watch the This Is Pop documentary for a quick deep dive to the withdrawal from touring, which just adds to the enigma). @Dad3353The whole catalogue is on Spotify; get yourself a coffee and listen to the Fossil Fuel collection; it's a decent entry point. Identify the tracks that light your candle and do an album - I'm not going to say you won't be disappointed (even though I just did), because you possibly will. Each to their own. They really were (and still are) a fantastic, fantastic band.

To make the hole smaller, or to grab the screw, a bit of a wood toothpick and some woodglue. Don't even bother letting it dry/set. Little bit of glue, pop the toothpick in, screw her home.

Ray Cokes just posted to Facebook about the closure: A lot has been said in recent days about the end of MTV. Although I of course feel for those who have lost their jobs at the company, I do think that this death of MTV as the end of an era has been slightly exaggerated. For me, MTV – the pure original Music Television – died a long time ago, perhaps as far back as the year 2000. For a long time now, music videos had been replaced by mindless reality shows and MTV no longer meant what it used to mean. However, I'm proud to have been a part of the revolution back then and shall be eternally grateful for my time spent there (some of the best years of my life) and the everlasting career it gave me in subsequent years, as well as the lifelong friendships forged in those heady, exciting days. Now, to the future. We all know that times have changed and we no longer get our music fix from television, preferring instead to watch what we want, when we want. As most of this viewing is done on YouTube, I have an idea for a future where those who enjoy curated musical suggestions, as well as those artists who appreciate (and need) the exposure, could satisfy their needs. What if YouTube started to offer a monthly paid license fee to online creators so that we could actually host a music show on their platform without being demonetised or suffering the dreaded copyright strike? A reasonable fee that would be shared between the record company and the artist, as well as Google naturally taking a piece of the pie. I for one would be so inspired to broadcast a weekly show that featured music videos and live interviews with the bands. There will of course be those who will pick apart this idea and tell me why it wouldn’t work; record companies who hate the idea of creators making (small) money off the back of their artists (although they already sold them out to the streamers) and others who will just tell me I’m an out of touch boomer or whatever. Bring it on. I don’t mind. It’s just an idea after all, and as I still meet so many people who miss the concept of MTV, as well as artists who bemoan the fact that there are hardly any outlets to promote their music these days, I still think it’s worth considering. Perhaps I’ll see you one day on Most Wanted 2.0. Until then, you can always hear my curated music on radioeins in Berlin, live between 21.00 and 23.00 CET every Saturday evening. On the radio, on the radioeins app or online at radioeins.de Thanks as always for your time and your never-ending positivity, love and support towards me and my work. It’s crap but I love it!

Basic set-ups are very easy (by basic, I'm saying truss rod adjustment, intonation etc ) and a small amount of tickling only takes a few minutes. Assuming the above actions go without any problem, you may be opening yourself up to additional problems.

The organising committee. Might be windy tonight.

Ooh!

If at all possible, if anyone has a 12-string bass they're prepared to bring along, I'd love to see how my XB Driver handles it.

I understand the whole country of manufacture and costing of instruments, but the scope of manufacturing within this business is unfathomable. I've said it for years that if Fender were a car maker, they'd have gone out of business decades ago. There's no real innovation; they're surviving off the back of under ten models, most of which have been in production for 60 years.