Blog
Colin Blunstone and The Zombies
Colin Blunstone: “The Zombies were a school band really.” An archive interview with Colin Blunstone taking in: The Zombies; recording Odessey and Oracle in Abbey Road; 40th Anniversary celebrations of the album; recording his first solo singles in 1969 under the name Neil MacArthur; his first three solo albums (One Year, Ennismore and Journey); working on 1972’s ‘I Don't Believe in Miracles’ with arranger Christopher Gunning; good song-writing; taking care of his voice; the rights to The Zombies’ recordings and much more.
Julian Cope’s Postcards
Julian Cope’s Postcards taking in: Krautrocksampler, Cope’s Notes, Julian Cope and Donald Ross Skinner’s Rite, Faith magazine, 1993’s The Acoustic Tour, bootleg tapes, John Cooper Clarke, The Modern Antiquarian, Royal Kilmainham Hospital, Vinyl Dublin, stone circles, Gaulstown Dolmen and The Heavy Camel Corps of the Sudan campaign of 1885. There are only a handful of artists that I’ve stayed the course with; Julian Cope is one of them. I’ve been a fan for a long time - The Teardrop Explodes are one of my favourite bands.
Dead Dog’s Eyeball
I’m on a bit of a Daniel Johnston kick. Last week Joyful Noise/Shimmy Disc announced Daniel Johnston in the 20th Century: “the first comprehensive collection of Daniel Johnston’s influential and revered 20th century discography, available for the very first time in 24bit lossless audio.”
I picked up all 14 albums on Shimmy Disc’s initial 48-hour “pay as you want” deal. I know some of these albums but it’s been a revelation wading into the complete collection.
I’m not sure when I first heard the name Daniel Johnston. Like many it might have been seeing the late Kurt Cobain sporting his Hi How Are You t-shirt in photographs. I do remember when I first heard Johnston’s music.
Top 10 Irish Albums of 2023
It’s been another incredible year for Irish music. Lankum have rightly topped a load of year-end lists with False Lankum. They get my top spot for Irish album of the year. Lisa O’Neill and John Francis Flynn, two other artists currently receiving a lot of justified attention, also make my Top 10. The other seven albums on this list are all worthy of your attention. Songs from all ten of these albums were featured on Songs To Learn And Sing on 103.2 Dublin City FM throughout 2023 and Episode 940 (06 December 2023) features 12 of my favourite songs from these 10 albums.
Dark Star - Twenty Twenty Sound (Harvest, 1999)
My recent post about Hip-Pocket Records and my 4” Flexi-disc of ‘The Letter’ by The Box Tops got me thinking about other unusual records in my collection. Dark Star released a 5” clear vinyl version of their tune ‘Graceadelica’ in 1999. Dark Star were formed by Christian Hayes, David Francolini and Laurence O'Keefe after their previous band Levitation had disbanded. Terry Bickers had formed Levitation with the lads after leaving The House of Love.