Ever since I bought my first record — ‘God Save The Queen,’ by the Sex Pistols – I’ve been smitten with punk and all its subdivisions: the raucous music made by skinny white guys with guitars and an attitude. From seeing The Clash in the summer of ‘77, through Factory [...]
Charlie Brooker recently wrote an article savaging this year’s crop of ChristmasTV adverts. The piece is typically acerbic and amusing – and most of the commercials Brooker picks on deserve everything he gives them – but his primary target is poorly chosen. The John Lewis Christmas advert, embedded above, is [...]
‘Better than Josh Pearson!’ That was what it said on the hand-printed sticker. The sticker was attached to an odd-looking CD in the new releases section of the Edinburgh record shop, Avalanche. The shop’s proprietor, Kevin Buckle, was the man behind the claim. I asked him about the album. It [...]
The Jam were once described as the ‘last great English singles band’. For a group that released such classic chart-toppers as ‘Going Underground’ and ‘Town Called Malice’ that might seem fair enough, but it grievously underestimates their musical canon. The quality of their output on LPs, B-sides and even on [...]
‘I’m an extraordinary person! There’s only one of me, like there’s only one of you. We’re unique! Young! Unrivalled! Smashing! Bloody marvellous!’— Jo and Geoff in A Taste of Honey ‘Now? We’d probably have to make it via reality TV.’ Rita Tushingham and Murray Melvin dive enthusiastically into the idea [...]