“All my people right here, right now, d’you know what I mean?” It’s my favourite line from my favourite Oasis song. Cocky and communal all in one. Relatable and untouchable at the same time. Noel and Liam Gallagher summed up in one almighty hook. Let’s hope D’You Know What I Mean makes the cut for…
Category: Artists: I-P
10 Pointer Sisters’ essentials, from blistering funk to the country song Elvis adored
I’d always been a fan of the Pointer Sisters, but I don’t think I really understood the breadth of their brilliance until I became a dad. Baby Riley Roxy took to Neutron Dance the first instance she heard it. She couldn’t get enough. She’d bop her shoulders, bounce her bum-shuffling legs, and giggle every time…
Barry Gibb on Olivia Newton-John: “We’ve lived the same life”
Barry Gibb wasn’t exaggerating when he told me that he and Olivia Newton John had “lived the same life”. British born, Australian-raised, first strides to fame in the UK, superstardom in the USA, careers of various astounding triumphs that are perennially overshadowed by one particular cultural earthquake; it’s not hard to see the parallels between…
Michael McDonald is 70 & this Yacht Rock classic with Kenny Loggins needs to be heard again
Michael McDonald is as mysterious as any singer I’ve ever heard. This most unassuming of entertainers – a man who couldn’t look more Dad-like and less rock-star if he tried, a Doobie Brother who’s been sober for 37 years, a showbiz veteran who’s been married for almost 40-years – is still, at the age of…
Remembering Meat Loaf: “I figured if the album sucked I could always hang the cover on my bedroom wall”
Guest columnist Rick Morin pays tribute to Meat Loaf who has died at the age of 74 of complications due to Covid. I was 17 when I bought Bat Out of Hell back in 1978. I’d never heard of Meat Loaf and assumed it was some kind of punk band. I suppose I was initially…
Anger & Hope – 10 Vital, Socially-Conscious Soul Songs The World Needs Right Now
Imagine, if just for a second, that President Obama had ordered peaceful protesters outside a historic church to be dispersed with tear gas and rubber bullets just so he could get a photo op with an upside down Bible. No clergy at the church were consulted, no prayers were made and no passages of scripture…
Kenny Rogers Dies Aged 81 – Half A Dozen Unbelievable Songs The Bee Gees Wrote For Him
It’s a testament to how a big a deal Kenny Rogers is that his death yesterday at the age of 81 has successfully snuck its way through all the Coronavirus-related headlines. And Kenny Rogers was – for over 50-years – a very, very big deal. This is a man who sold over 100-million records, who…
USA For Africa: When Lindsey Buckingham Bumped Into Michael Jackson In The Bathroom
USA For Africa. It’s 35 years today since USA For Africa’s We Are The World was recorded. The perennially cool Lindsey Buckingham (Fleetwood Mac) was part of the all-star chorus and I remember him telling me that one of his defining memories of that day was bumping into Michael Jackson in the bathroom. For the…
12 Months Of NZ Herald Concert Reviews, Incl. Paul McCartney, Queen, Katy Perry, Shania Twain, Cat Stevens & Cher.
12 months ago I started reviewing concerts for the New Zealand Herald. Not every week and not even every month, but on average, every couple of months I’d find myself with pen and notepad at a gig by one of the biggest artists of all time. Tough job but someone has to do it! So,…
Katy Perry Live Review: Her “Bonkers” Auckland Concert, August 2018 – NZ Herald
With all the excitement of Pink’s just finished, record-breaking run of seven sold out New Zealand concerts (six in Auckland and one in Dunedin), it’s easy to forget that another female superstar of the same generation was also in town at almost the exact same time. If we wind the clock back about three years, it…
The Most Remote Music Fest In The World: Backstage At The Big Red Bash With John Farnham & Daryl Braithwaite – My Top 50 Photos
In July I was invited to the deepest depths of the Australian Outback to cover the self-described “most remote music festival in the world”, Queensland’s Big Red Bash. With John Farnham the headline act and fellow Aussie baby boomer star Daryl Braithwaite also on the bill, I went to the towering sand dunes on the…
Great Southern Land: The Soundtrack To An Aussie Outback Road Trip – My NZ Herald Article
On Monday I’ll be returning to the Queensland Outback so here’s a recent piece of mine the New Zealand Herald published about my ‘roo-dodging, Aussie-soundtracked road trip there back in 2016: New Zealand Herald, May 6, 2018: ‘Brisbane – Way beyond the beach’ As the title suggests, this was “way beyond the beach”. As in,…