After a certain amount of ribbing for Peel around these parts over his Damascene conversion to the new orthodoxy of 1977, it’s good to see he had pretty good ears even before Punk. One of these albums is in my all-time Top Five, five are more or less excellent, and the Be Bop Deluxe, while not really my thing, is still an interesting historical artifact. Only three are real duds: Rod, BJH and Supertramp. Crime of the Century really is dismal, isn’t it? The Pickwick Dark Side of the Moon. But not quite as good as that makes it sound.
I think the point wasn't that he had bad taste pre-punk - but that he really good taste for the most part that he then junked for the New Wave.
The stuff in this 1974 selection is all erased from the later 40 faves of all time list from 1979. Rock Bottom, Phaedra, I Want to See the Bright Lights, Tiger Mountain, Kimono My House, Veedon Fleece - not one of them makes into the 40 of all Time. Nor is there anything much like these albums either. He makes like he wasn't ever the great champion of the Underground.
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... there is this corruption of sensibility that sets in after the first
few decades as a music nut, where you get more of a buzz from contemplating
shit...
Up Middle Finger
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This pair had a Top 10 hit with a song that is basically about an
intra-scene war - the nu garage rappists (Oxide + Neutrino, So Solid)
versus the old...
None more Old Wavier
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Fascinated by this particular performance of a song that was among the
select group of pre-punk songs to cut through to me, a child then not
paying th...
Still In A Dream - my new book, out in June
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Excited to announce the publication this summer of Still In A Dream:
Shoegaze, Slackers and the Reinvention of Rock, 1984-94. On White Rabbit
Books. It'...
RIP Kenny Morris
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One intriguing counterfactual in rock history is what would have happened
if drummer *Kenny Morris* and guitarist John McKay had not quit *Siouxsie
and t...
angel delights
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https://rada-ve.bandcamp.com/track/saturn-rings-songs
*Go on* - listen to that gorgeous bubble bath of synthtronica!
Another vintage release, with a vi...
After a certain amount of ribbing for Peel around these parts over his Damascene conversion to the new orthodoxy of 1977, it’s good to see he had pretty good ears even before Punk. One of these albums is in my all-time Top Five, five are more or less excellent, and the Be Bop Deluxe, while not really my thing, is still an interesting historical artifact. Only three are real duds: Rod, BJH and Supertramp. Crime of the Century really is dismal, isn’t it? The Pickwick Dark Side of the Moon. But not quite as good as that makes it sound.
ReplyDeleteI think the point wasn't that he had bad taste pre-punk - but that he really good taste for the most part that he then junked for the New Wave.
ReplyDeleteThe stuff in this 1974 selection is all erased from the later 40 faves of all time list from 1979. Rock Bottom, Phaedra, I Want to See the Bright Lights, Tiger Mountain, Kimono My House, Veedon Fleece - not one of them makes into the 40 of all Time. Nor is there anything much like these albums either. He makes like he wasn't ever the great champion of the Underground.