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Post by Lord Emsworth on Aug 4, 2020 8:07:17 GMT
:format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(40)/discogs-images/R-1588159-1384842519-1260.jpeg.jpg) I was just listening to Pacific Street (1984), the debut album by The Pale Fountains Still sounds wonderful One of the thousands of ways in which punk and new wave energy split off into so many myriad directions The Pale Fountains were the first group I can recall that helped to rehabilitate artists like Love and Burt Bacharach
They did feck all commercially but I think their music really stands up The band split up in 1987 Mick Head formed Shack with his brother John Andy Diagram would later join James Bassist and founder member Chris "Biffa" McCaffery died in 1989 of a brain tumour I've got everything Mick Head has ever recorded and it's all great Check out... Shack Michael Head introducing The Strands Michael Head & The Red Elastic Band The Magical World of the Strands is a lost classic for anyone that enjoys Love, The Byrds etc
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Post by zeopold on Aug 4, 2020 12:44:41 GMT
Great band... sadly Michael Head was a great talent undone by his fondness for 'Horse'  |
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Post by Lord Emsworth on Aug 4, 2020 14:59:42 GMT
Yes indeed, he liked the brown sugar, as he sung about memorably here.... “Okay, what happen to all my clothes and furniture, you know they can’t just disappear… X hits the spot when you’re not around.”
X Hits The Spot
For an album mired in addiction The Magical World Of The Strands is superb. Heroin fuelled musical meditations often inspire dark and/or self indulgent tunes. What strikes me about The Magical World Of The Strands is how bright it sounds, although that could be because Mick was getting better. On Loaded Man, Mick's brother John confronts the addiction and articulates his wishes for Mick to get better. Heartbreaking stuff as you probably know... Loaded Man
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Post by zeopold on Aug 4, 2020 18:29:25 GMT
Yes indeed, he liked the brown sugar, as he sung about memorably here.... “Okay, what happen to all my clothes and furniture, you know they can’t just disappear… X hits the spot when you’re not around.”
Liverpool's answer to 'Waiting For My Man' |
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Post by Lord Emsworth on Jun 9, 2022 9:07:03 GMT
The Pale Fountains Lavinia's Dream - what a tune
The Pale Fountains - Lavinia's Dream
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Post by Lord Emsworth on Jun 21, 2022 10:08:39 GMT
Checking out the new(ish) Michael Head album Dear Scott First impressions, it's more Head brilliance  |
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Post by zeopold on Jun 21, 2022 10:35:39 GMT
Checking out the new(ish) Michael Head album Dear Scott A bunch of songs that sound like Michael Head... nothing wrong with that. He's touring at the moment, good to see he's got his act together. |
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Post by Lord Emsworth on Jun 21, 2022 10:47:05 GMT
Checking out the new(ish) Michael Head album Dear Scott A bunch of songs that sound like Michael Head... nothing wrong with that. He's touring at the moment, good to see he's got his act together. Tour's over now Def good to see him fit and working again On my second listen now and, yeah, it's a bunch of songs that sound like Michael Head That said, all his albums start like that but some reveal themselves to be really special e.g. Under The Kitchen Table, Here's Tom With The Weather, The Magical World of Michael Head and the Strands I'll report back The Dear Scott is F Scott Fitzgerald, the title inspired by The Pat Hobby Stories, a collection I've not read. Sufficiently intrigued to put that right in the next few weeks |
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Post by Lord Emsworth on Feb 21, 2024 9:06:02 GMT
Album / Tour / Book all coming up in a few months...
• Thu 2 May – Glasgow, Mackintosh Church
• Fri 3 May – Newcastle, Gosforth Civic Theatre
• Sat 4 May – Leeds, City Varieties
• Wed 8 May – Brighton, CHALK
• Thu 9 May – London, Earth Theatre
• Fri 10 May – Manchester, Gorilla
• Fri 13 Dec – Liverpool, Liverpool Philharmonic Hall
Ciao Ciao Bambino: A Magical Memoir
Michael Head & The Red Elastic Band - Loophole
driftrecords.com/products/michael-head-the-red-elastic-band-loophole |
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Post by Lord Emsworth on May 9, 2024 7:43:35 GMT
I saw Michael Head & The Red Elastic Band last night
They were on fine form
Second time I've seen Michael in the last few weeks and it seems he's in a very good place
Looks happy and healthy and his performances are full of heart and soul
When he soars he soars
Great to have him out there again - can't wait to hear Loophole. The new tracks I've heard are all very promising
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Post by zeopold on May 10, 2024 19:29:03 GMT
it seems he's in a very good place Great news... one of the most underrated British songwriters still living, long may he continue |
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Post by Lord Emsworth on May 16, 2024 14:53:35 GMT
And yet another new album that I am excited about and that is out tomorrow...
*
From Shack and The Strands to The Pale Fountains and the Red Elastic Band, Michael Head has bewitched, enchanted, bewildered, and entranced us with his subtle indie pop poetics.
If you’ve been keeping up with Head’s resurgence over the past 10 or so years, you’ll know that he’s in a prime purple patch and ‘Loophole’ eagerly grasps the baton from the critically acclaimed ‘Dear Scott’, continuing the gorgeously affecting odes to life and death that could only have sprung from this Merseysider’s romantic heart.
Whilst Head’s world-worn outlook initially appears to contain a certain weariness, he injects his music with an irresistible sense of optimism that’ll have your steps springing as if someone has space-hoppered your soles.
And if you’re new to Mick’s world, you’ve just discovered the perfect introduction to ‘our greatest living songwriter’.
*
Flipping gorgeous and the St Etienne tracky top is great too....
Michael Head & The Red Elastic Band "The Human Race" Live from Winter Gardens
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