"Because ignorance of your culture is considered uncool"
Most people remember Renaissance as the band which had a number of concept albums and hits via the FM-AOR format stations in the late 1970s. Truth of the matter, that was the third incarnation of the band. Renaissance originally began out of the ashes of The Yardbirds, with Keith Relf...
No particular theme to the Roundtable posts this week. Just running through the library, finding things I haven’t played in a while. I’ve always been a fan of The Smiths. Listening to them reminds me of reading a good book – you can read it several times and find new...
One of my favorite bands of the last 20 years, Portishead in concert are always an eagerly anticipated event. And they certainly didn’t disappoint this year at Glasto. Beth Gibbons‘ mesmerizing vocals, mistakenly considered doom-laden by some, but once you realize that one of her influences was Edith Piaf, take...
Fiat Lux – In session BBC Radio 1 – March 1984 – BBC Radio 1 – Fiat Lux tonight. Never heard of them? Well . . .they were together for only three years. They released one mini-album and 7 singles and had the distinction of their sax and keyboards player,...
Jagwar Ma, in concert at Glastonbury 2016, recorded by the venerable BBC 6 Music on June 25th this year. As I said before, there must be something in the Australian water supply, as that country has been cranking out more than their fair share of mind-melting bands of late. Tame...
Department S – In session for John Peel – November 19, 1980 – BBC Radio 1 – Another short-lived band of the Dawn of New Wave era. Department S were named after a popular 60s TV show. They had evolved from an earlier Punk/Ska band, Guns for Hire and emerged...
Modern-English-Peel-Session-Nov.-11-1980 – BBC Radio 1 – Early glimpses of New Wave tonight, by way of Modern English, a band who not only pioneered a new genre in music, but also achieved hit-making cross-over status. Formed in 1979, Modern English were a four-piece from Colchester who bore a strong resemblance to...
When news surfaced, some three years ago, that Kevin Ayers had died, it was one of those shocking and sad occasions that instantly recalled all those contributions he had made over the decades and how much had gone unnoticed. Ayers was a founding member of the iconic Soft Machine, whose...
The Vapors in concert from Guildford and recorded by BBC Radio 1 on February 11, 1981. Sadly, The Vapors, like many bands from the beginnings of Rock n’ Roll, were often relegated to “one-hit wonder” status – it certainly wasn’t their fault. As is evidenced by this concert, The Vapors...
The Housemartins – in session for John Peel – BBC Radio 1 – November 3, 1987 – Further evidence the 80s produced a wide playing field of bands and artists. The Housemartins described themselves as Christian-Marxists, but the Press said they were Jangle Pop who moved into Alternative as their...
Gordon Skene, two-time Grammy Nominee and archivist runs The Gordon Skene Sound Archive and this website, which is dedicated to preserving and encouraging an interest in history and historic news, events, and cultural aspects of our society. Past Daily is the only place on the Internet where you can hear a Nixon speech, listen to an interview with John Cassavettes or play a broadcast of Charles Munch rehearsing the Boston Symphony in 1950, all in the same place. It's living history and it's timeless.
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