Old Man Riva

Re. Vincen Garcia, what a great story! Good luck to him!

I was surprised to see the Albert Hall gig is pretty much sold out. Good on ‘em…

Been thinking of Paul Ryder recently, so this has been given a good old blasting…

… which is why they were never allowed to go anywhere near a car radio/cassette player! Cleaning tape heads was a near-religious experience for me. Cotton buds (not too fluffy, so reducing the minute chance of bits of fibre actually finding their way into the inner workings) and isopropyl alcohol. Press play, and then carefully clean each head with one end of the cotton bud, and then lightly clean/finish off with the other. Once done, onto the roller and tiny steel part that came into contact with the actual tape. Use the tape counter to ensure each part of the process was afforded equal time to get the job done properly. The satisfaction when viewing the dirty cotton bud and seeing all the residue made the whole thing worth it! My dad walked in on me once, and when I excitedly told him what I was doing and showed him the cotton bud evidence I genuinely think he would have preferred that I was out on the town taking drugs…

The 120s were handy for the Radio 1 concerts that were occasionally aired. And, yes, they were a pain for getting snagged up in the machine…

I was really into Language Barrier. Obviously the tracks and the playing were great, but I thought the idea for the project and the production were out of this world. It reminded me of World Destruction by Afrika Bambaata and John Lydon from the year before, which I loved. Ditto stuff like the AAA Sun City project/album. Funnily enough, Little Creatures was the first Talking Heads album I didn’t really get on with!

I actually think it’s aged really well. I always credit BAD with introducing the everyday wearing of oversize baseball caps to the UK yoof! That and white 501s…

Ditto. Inexplicably left off my list!

A few already mentioned (Sting, Propaganda, Kate Bush and U2), but definitely these: Bryan Ferry - Boys and Girls Scritti Politti - Cupid & Psyche 85 Sly and Robbie - Language Barrier Grace Jones - Slave to the Rhythm 1985 was a good year…

Recently became aware of this guy, Chanan Hanspal, through a series of interviews he did with Andy Partridge from XTC (well worth watching). I subscribed off the back of those (and his content on Zappa and the Mighty Boosh) and this popped up a few days ago. I really like his style, and his musical knowledge and how he imparts it is top drawer - like a Beato of the Valleys!

In terms of overall musicianship, for me that’s probably one of the best rock bands assembled. Every member is a stellar player…

Jim Lea is a fabulous musician - violin on Coz I Luv You. Wow! He also co-wrote most of their songs and (for me) was the creative force within the band - and, along with Don Powell, I thought he was cool as f**k too! And as you say, his bass playing was wonderful too, in an effortlessly musical way… .

This is the first ‘proper’ album I ever owned as a kid. To this say, when I listen to it, the raw energy and pure excitement takes me back to being an awe-struck kid. That said I personally don’t think it trounces the studio stuff. Slade had a fabulous knack of producing the most exciting studio tracks, that sounded other-worldly on the mono radio (1) at the time. Massive, boot-stomping raucous rock ‘n’ roll. Big guitars. Big drums. Even bigger vocals! For me, both the studio stuff and Alive! are fabulous, but in their own way. I’d say neither is better, just different. Brilliantly different. One final peeve I have re. Alive!, though. When I was a kid the sound of someone burping on a record was one of the funniest and cool things I’d ever heard! Now I think it detracts from the stunning Darling Be Home Soon and really wish they hadn’t done it! Though I still do laugh at burps!

... brilliant stuff. Here's another...

I’ve been overdosing on The Tubes today. From the 1975 debut, where they out-Toto Toto before Toto formed Toto…

Bought this (the single) when it came out with saved up pocket money. Anything Ferry sang sounded mysterious and cool to me at the time - mostly it still does. Had no idea it was a cover, until my disapproving uncle pointed out it was by Bob Dylan (“who?”)…

… this may be a better example?

Yes, they’re like the fanned frets of today, but not as angled, from what I can tell. It’s difficult to tell from the pic on the page, but if you can manage to expand the pic and have a look at how the final/highest fret is positioned in relation to the end of the neck (angled and not parallel) you should hopefully be able to get an idea. Let me know if not and I’ll try and take a better (more close up) pic…

… and if you really want to get into the detail and the nitty-gritty of Fender from the start through to 1970 then this is the place to look. The depth of knowledge and level of detail is phenomenal (not to mention the fabulous images) - and it was certainly news to me that in the mid 60s Fender toyed with a ‘slant frets’ instrument (the ‘Marauder’)!

… on the subject of excellent books on Fender, this is definitely worth a look. It offers a detailed look at Fender over the first 75 years, covering most/all of their output - guitar, bass, amps, keys etc. It also comes in a very natty tweed-style cardboard wrap. Not reliced!

To add to Meterman’s excellent compilation recommendations, here’s some that I’ve gotten a lot out of over the years. They were a gateway into artists and tracks that I’d not previously been aware of. So, slightly off the beaten funk track I’d definitely recommend these…

… and you could definitely lose yourself in this. It’s in E. Just E.

If there is then hopefully this is on it…

Love that track. The set list for that tour included some interesting choices - Mountains and segueing into Wanna Be Starting Something was a good un (there’s a few good clips on YouTube). Re. The 12” you mention. Was that the double 12” containing both tracks? That was fairly collectible for a while…

… the B-side of Mountains is an instrumental called Alexa de Paris. His guitar playing is very Zappa-esque, to my ears. Great track. (but way too many fantastic tracks to have a favourite…)