Linda Ronstadt, 1970s. A couple of weeks ago Linda Ronstadt (67) announced to the music world she can no longer sing a single note as result of Parkinson’s disease. Diagnosed late last year, the sad news has only just been made public. In thinking about it all, I realised there is a case to be…
Category: Artists: A-C
My Dream Bruce Springsteen Concert Setlist
Bruce Springsteen, 2007. In August Bruce Springsteen wasn’t only in the news for announcing his largest ever Australasian tour (for February and March 2014), but because Bruce himself sent out his first ever tweet. Obviously one of those stories made more headlines than the other, but nevertheless, when @springsteen said on August 20th: “Bruce here… looking…
When David Frost Took On Margaret Thatcher – My Tribute Plus A Poignant Bee Gees Song
Sir David Frost with Richard Nixon – 1977. Just 15 minutes before the end of last night’s episode of The Two we heard the sad news that one of the finest British broadcasters of them all – Sir David Frost – had died of a heart attack aged 74. Pam and I were already planning…
Kenny Rogers’ 75th Birthday – 2 Songs The Bee Gees Wrote For Him Just As Good As ‘Islands In The Stream’
Barry Gibb & Kenny Rogers, 1983. A quick post to say Happy 75th birthday to Kenny Rogers for yesterday and to draw your attention to two of the other songs (aside from Islands In The Stream) from his Bee Gees’ written album Eyes That See In The Dark. 30 years ago Rogers teamed up with…
Why Bruce Springsteen’s Never Released A Real “Greatest Hits” Album
Bruce Springsteen in the mid-70s. Bruce Springsteen is coming back to New Zealand for the first time in just over a decade so I thought I’d use this opportunity to sort out my hero’s track-list for a compilation which has oddly never been released. Throughout a 40 year recording career which has given him critical…
The Other Bee Gees Song About Staying Alive – How The Early 70s Were Their Most Underrated Era
Bee Gees in the early 70s. I had an email from a fellow diehard Bee Gees fan yesterday reminding me about arguably the most overlooked period in the Gibb cannon, the early 70s. Sandwiched between the brothers’ first wave of 1960s Beatle-esque hits (though that is a too simplistic descriptor) and their enormous R&B hits…
The Great Shame Of The New Bee Gees Biography, Plus 10 Of The Best Post Disco-Era Gibb Songs
Maurice, Robin & Barry Gibb – 1979. I can’t let this slide, I’m sorry. Half-way through David N. Meyer’s new and “definitive” biography on the Bee Gees I was thinking that despite the constant factual errors and the presumptions, it was gripping writing and unique analysis. I even contacted the author to point out several…
35 Years Since “The Worst Movie Of All Time” – Why ‘Sgt. Pepper’s’ Wasn’t Quite The Disaster It’s Made Out To Be
35 years ago this week a film many regard as the worst in movie history was released. Which is no mean feat considering it was produced by one of the sharpest showbiz svengali’s of the 60s and 70s Robert Stigwood, that it featured the music of the Beatles and that it starred A-listers of…
The Death Of Glee’s Cory Monteith – A Glee Cover Of An Early 80s Brothers Gibb Song
Cory Monteith. Hearing of a 31 year old whose life has ended, possibly in part due to their inability to overcome their demons and addictions, is pretty heartbreaking. I wasn’t a big watcher of Glee, probably only because I’m not a big watcher of a lot of TV these days, but I liked that there…
Robbie Robertson Of The Band Turns 70 – A Song Of His Even Better Than ‘The Weight’.
This month Robbie Robertson, the chief songwriter and driving creative force of The Band, turned 70. As The Band themselves noted, the simultaneous humility and arrogance of being called “The Band” is genius. “We’re just the band,” versus, “We are The Band.” It’s a little bit like having a radio show called “The Two.” Other…
Barry Gibb Reveals Who He’d Most Like To Write A Hit With
Barry Gibb was recently asked who’d he like to co-write a number one hit with, answering either Chris Martin from Coldplay or Paul McCartney. In England to accept a lifetime achievement award from the Nordoff Robbins 02 Silver Clef Awards, Barry also did several interviews promoting the September UK / Ireland leg of his Mythology tour. In…
10 Years Since Barry White’s Death – A Forgotten Song Robbie Williams Sampled For A #1 Hit
Barry White. It’s 10 years today since soul / R&B great Barry White died, aged just 58. While he only dominated the charts in one decade (the 70s) he continued scoring with occasional songs well into the 80s and 90s and all told had close to 20 US or UK top 40 hits. White was…
