The Commodores in the mid 70s. It’s one week today until Lionel Richie plays the first of three dates on his 2014 New Zealand tour*, so I thought it was time to remind people not just of how good he is, but how funky. I’m not one of those precious music fans who subscribes to…
Category: Music
Coldplay Announce New Album & Release New Single – ‘Magic’
Here’s Magic, the brand new Coldplay song and first official single from their 6th album Ghost Stories – released May 19th. The atmospheric, bass-heavy, partially falsetto-sung ballad is a song I like a lot and wouldn’t be surprised if it becomes a slow-burning hit. Remembering that 2011’s Paradise didn’t fully reveal its charms to people instantly,…
Bruce Springsteen Concert Review: Auckland, March 2014 – The Extraordinary Live Appeal Of The E Street Band
UPDATE MARCH 10: I don’t know if this is some kind of record, but a week after Bruce Springsteen played to 80,000 fans across two nights in Auckland, he has no less than seven albums in the New Zealand top 40. What’s more, he has three in the top 10 and five in the top…
Bruce Springsteen Covers The Bee Gees At His Epic Brisbane Concert
This is why I love Bruce Springsteen. Last night in Brisbane he played for more than three hours*, performed an entire classic album mid-set and opened with a cover of the Bee Gees. Bruuuuuuuuuuuuce! Can’t wait for Saturday night in Auckland. In the meantime, here’s his Stax-like cover of Stayin’ Alive – chosen for the…
Bee Gees Boxed Set Of Studio LPs 1987-1991: 3 Essential Songs From Each Album
Along with a possible posthumous Robin Gibb album and talk of the first solo Barry Gibb release since 1988’s Hawks soundtrack, Bee Gees fans also have a new boxed set to look forward to in 2014. Released in April, The Bee Gees: The Warner Bros. Years 1987-1991 will comprise five CDs covering three studio…
RIP Charlotte Dawson – Elton John’s Blistering Attack Against Trolls, ‘All The Nasties.’
Charlotte Dawson. So sad to hear about New Zealand / Australian broadcaster Charlotte Dawson’s death. Whatever the details turn out to be, she was someone long tormented by online abuse. The things we say to each other online are often so staggeringly horrid – hopefully this makes some people think again before typing. As Elton…
Eminem At Western Springs, Auckland – My All-Time Hip-Hop Top 20
Eminem. Has anyone ever written blogs about Captain & Tennille and Eminem on the same day? It’s the question on everybody’s lips this summer. Suffering a whiff of FOMO* right now with 50,000 of my fellow Aucklanders at the Eminem Western Springs gig, I couldn’t resist making a semi-controversial list. Here are my top 20…
Captain & Tennille Divorce After Nearly 40 Years Of Marriage – The Forgotten Art Of Cuss-Free Pop Music
Captain & Tennille. I’m mildly gutted to hear Captain & Tennille are divorcing. After 39 years of marriage! I only found this out when I saw that this Valentine’s Day was 40 years since they married. Unsure whether they were still a couple, a quick Google search revealed they’d gotten a divorce just last month….
‘Valentine’s Day’ By Bruce Springsteen – One Of His Most Underrated Ballads
Happy Valentine’s Day everyone. Here’s one of the great underrated Bruce Springsteen ballads, Valentine’s Day, from 1987’s Tunnel Of Love. It’s a reflective, melancholy piece with some spiritual themes too. This has always been my favourite verse: They say if you die in your dreams you really die in your bed But honey last night I dreamed…
Sheryl Crow Gets Her Political, Rock & Roll Swagger Back – ‘Shine Over Babylon’
Sheryl Crow. For her 52nd birthday, here’s precisely the sort of Sheryl Crow song I wish more people knew. I saw a recent interview where she said she wanted to be remembered for music that mattered so with that in mind, have a close listen to Shine Over Babylon. From her excellent 2007 LP Detours,…
RIP Philip Seymour Hoffman – A Sad, Stunning Burt Bacharach Instrumental In Tribute
Philip Seymour Hoffman. Some people mock the tributes and grief seen on social media when celebrities die, as if we kid ourselves into thinking we’ll miss people we never knew in the first place. Maybe sometimes there’s a slither of truth in that, but it overlooks our ability to be profoundly inspired by figures we…
The Time I Requested A Song At A Sly & The Family Stone Concert
Sly Stone. Crazy dream stories are much like poetry on the radio: boring and usually vaguely awkward. But I’m going to take a punt and describe last night’s possibly edam cheese-inspired drama in the hope it’s semi interesting. I dreamt I was at a Sly & The Family Stone gig at a nonexistent 1000-seater venue…
