Displaying items by tag: 60s

Robert George Meek was born in 1929 in Newent, England. Joe’s mother wanted a girl and dressed him as a girl. Whilst his three brothers were outward going young Joe was introverted and enjoyed staging magic shows for other children and dressing up for his own elaborate theatre productions. His other love was old radios and record players. Joe began building his own electrical gadgets and would rig up speakers so the local cherry pickers could listen to the radio as they worked. Later he became a mobile DJ, travelling the area with his own mobile set up,

© Words – Chris Madden

The last stand? If this is it (as rumours suggest) and they‘re calling time on the NY&CH adventure then it’s a genuinely fitting eulogy; one borne out of a new found sobriety (Young stopped smoking pot a couple of years back, after an adulthood spent in its mist. I wondered if his playing was a product of his drug use? The answer- a resounding NO!), but more importantly, this is a celebration of the connection between the four players on stage and their audience. Perhaps the tour being titled ‘Alchemy’ is the magic they conjure together?

I've been long excited about The Action's "In The Lap Of The Mods" book like it was the second coming.  The Action, along with The Small Faces, The Kinks and David Bowie are my favourite 60's artists.  From their first single as The Boys all the way down to the material cut before they became Mighty Baby (released in the 80's on a mini LP "Speak Louder Than") and even lead singer Reg King's 1971 solo LP I'm all on board as a one man American cheering section. I'm still, 18 years later, slowly wrapping my head around Mighty Baby.

Pete Best (24th November 1941 Madras, India) is a name that has always been associated with The Beatles, and how his life drastically changed forever on 16th August 1962, when their manager, Brian Epstein, reluctantly fired Best as The Beatles’ drummer. 

The Small Faces were one of the coolest bands to come out in the sixties.  Four impeccably dressed lads originally from East London, Steve Marriott (Guitar and Vocals), Ronnie Lane (Bass and Vocals), Kenney Jones (Drums) and Jimmy Winston (Vocals and Keyboards), who was replaced by Ian McLagan in November 1965.

He could be the king of British Northern Soul, a lost Mod icon, but Graham Dee's air of detached modesty says more about him than either soubriquet. He's just happy to finally see some of his work see the light of day when Acid Jazz released  The Graham Dee Connection: The 60s Collection , rounding up just some of the hundreds of tracks he wrote, recorded and produced in that swinging decade when London was the capital of Cool and Graham rubbed shoulders with its most stellar in-crowd.

When most people think of Bournemouth on the south coast of England, it is probably as a popular holiday resort: a peaceful place of pleasure gardens, guest houses and golden sands. The town is a wonderful destination for those seeking a bit of summertime rest and refreshment, but during the 1960s,

This week, I received an email from Joe Cardamone of the Icarus Line regarding a new project he has been working on with Annie Hardy from Giant Drag. He included a demo of their song Lake of Fire, stating that "Fleetwood Mac is the new black". The track is fantastic. Joe and Annie have perfectly captured the vibe of Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks in their pre-Fleetwood Mac days, when they were a folk-rock duo.

Dusty Springfield was born in 1939 and christened Mary Isabel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien. She came from Scottish Irish decent and her brother Tom, and Tim Filed made up a folk trio called The Springfields. The singing group enjoyed tremendous international success with hits including 'Island of dreams' and "Silver threads and golden needles" At their height of success the trio took the unprecedented step of dissolving the group and in 1963, Dusty started her solo career with,

ZANI  spoke to Steve just ahead of his preparations for his Isle of Wight appearance with Chris Farlowe over the August Bank Holiday Weekend - we covered a lot of ground and got his thoughts on all things Modernist, Then and Now, Personal Inspirations, Style and Shades and his forthcoming album “10 Commitments”…