A HISTORY OF ROCK MUSIC IN 500 SONGS
Want to know why 1938 was the “Year Zero” for Rock Music? Curious about the woman who more or less invented modern electric guitar playing? Need to discover why ‘backbeat’ was so revolutionary?
Then Andrew Hickey’s brilliantly researched podcast is for you…
I’m still in the foothills of this musical Everest, but my aural crampons are firmly attached - 4 episodes down, another 200 to go.
Hickey’s delivery is considered, the content slightly nerdy, but he has a great eye for a story which elevates his deep knowledge into a hugely enjoyable listen. There’s a brilliant anecdote, for example about Rosetta Tharp (the aforementioned guitar pioneer and a huge star in her day) who sold 20,000 tickets to her wedding - before attending to the minor detail of who exactly she would marry.
Hickey makes the point that Rock has been supplanted by Hip Hop as the dominant musical culture our time, but argues that this makes now the ideal moment to write its history; while memories are fresh and when it still means something to millions of people.
He funds this outstanding work through a Patreon account that offers access to bonus episodes and his books. I urge you to support him.
A History of Rock Music in 500 Episodes is available via Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other platforms.
The Walk In
Is Stephen Graham ever in anything that’s less than brilliant?
This tense drama tells the story of reformed far right activist Matthew Collins (Graham) who played a key role in bring down National Action – a terrorist organisation associated with a plot to murder Labour MP Rosie Cooper, and who supported Jo Cox’s killer.
Collins’ job is to ‘turn’ the wavering Robbie Mullen (Andrew Ellis) - an NA informant who only partially renounces his extremist views – and persuade him to give the crucial evidence that would bring down the organisation.
This comes at no small price to Collins himself whose role as the UK’s neo-Nazi hunter comes – in Jeff Pope’s script anyway - at a huge personal price, putting almost unbearable pressure on his family life.
SWANSEA SOUND/THE PROCTORS
One of the reasons I promote gigs is to enjoy performers I wouldn’t otherwise get to see – so last week, I gave a Birmingham debut to The Swansea Sound, a band composed of minor indie royalty.
Vocalist Hue Williams was in Pooh Sticks; bassist Rob Pursey previously lined up in Sarah Records luminaries Heavenly alongside keyboard player and vocalist Amelia Fletcher (who also appeared in Talulah Gosh); guitarist Ian Button has played with Wreckless Eric and was a member of Thrashing Doves.
Swansea Sound initially emerged as a lockdown project but has now developed a life of its own – an amiably rackety punky powerpop alternative to Rob and Amelia’s more cerebral but equally enthralling Catenary Wires.
The Rock n Roll Brewhouse isn’t a huge venue, but I’m delighted to say it was full to capacity and the band were warmly appreciated.
A word, too, for support act The Proctors whose soulful indiepop won them new admirers.
Lance Reddick RIP
(pic by Gage Skidmore)
The death of an actor can hardly be a ‘highlight’, but the untimely passing of Lance Reddick at the age of 60 allows us to recall his immense performance as Cedric Daniels in HBO’s landmark cop drama ‘The Wire’.
Daniels treads an uneasy path between the machinations of his own superiors and the wayward cops in his charge like McNulty; meanwhile he crosses the line himself, conducting an affair with State Attorney Rhonda Pearlman (McNulty’s ex) risking embarrassment to his wife who has her own political ambitions.
He embodies a modern Everyman, uneasily trying to figure out a route through a troubled, tangled world - and where any mis-step could trigger a landmine.
p