Some subjects are stepping stones, and Old School – rap and hip-hop from the day – helped step me up.
I didn’t notice at the time, but the story of how rap got into the head of a kid from the Yorkshire coalfields is quite a story in itself. Continue Reading
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On 1st of August it is Yorkshire Day; when we celebrate the auld county.
Eons ago I ran a website devoted to Yorkshire, and once published a charts of the top 50 Yorkshire songs of all time – and I’m highly tempted to roll it out again to remind folks how many classy acts have emerged from the my home county. Continue Reading
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The song Shipbulding came at us quite literally out of left field.
Written by a singer still struggling to to shake off a superficial “angry brainic” persona – Elvis Costello – in response to a complicated political war. Continue Reading
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The Vox Continental is quite simply the king of keyboard cool.
It’s a transistor-based combo organ that came out in ’62 and immediately looked and sounded so rock’n’roll every hipster band had to have it. That reverse harpsichord-style black-and-red keyboard and the chrome Z stand gave it such a 60s vibe, and it had such a wonderful sound…. Continue Reading
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The last great single by one of England’s finest bands, The Clash. It’s pretty much a solo number by a world weary Joe Strummer, trying to strike a spark beneath the embers of a band whose fire had long gone out. Continue Reading
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Almost thirty years ago one of England’s best garage acts got lumped into a music mag campaign called C-86. A pre Brit-pop attempt to collect the leading indie acts of the day into a handy British music movement and sell a few papers.
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As a kid living in a coalfield backwater and getting into punk rock there was a big local problem. Everyone else.
At 15 it was clear that all my musically-inclined peers were into traditional long haired rock, and Led Zeppelin were, at the time, considered the dog’s bollocks. Continue Reading
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I’ve been into dub forever. Never mind all that talk of transplanted psychedelia, it was all about those after hours sessions at Studio One and Treasure Isle, re-cutting instrumental tracks for the emerging dancehall DJ scene. Continue Reading
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Rock n roll had to start somewhere, and this gloriously raucous cut from Chess Records in ’51 is a good place to start. This was a 19 yr old Ike Turner record fair and square – Jackie Brenston was the bass player of Ike’s band, and he did write the thing, but why Sam Phillips put Jackie’s name on the label is anyones guess. Continue Reading
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Keith Hudson’s Nuh Skin Up was something else. Some fine 12″ version vinyl had been emerging from Jamaica for a few years – one being Hudson’s ‘Brand’ from ’77. But suddenly there was this menacing and downright angry piece of dub, sonically pushing the limits. Continue Reading
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A blog for me to let off steam about music.
I've had this idea for a while that there's nothing new under the musical sun, so this blog puts me on a mission to travel through music I haven't heard before, and to re-examine the songs I know and love.
© 2023 If You See What I Mean… | Musical notes.
To me, rock music was never meant to be safe. I think there needs to be an element of intrigue, mystery, subversiveness. Trent Reznor
