LTW Newsletter 95

Dear Warriors,

Happy oestrogen, my bunny rabbits!

Happy Easter my Runny brabits! 

Easter came and went with its annual erratic calendar appearance and the fields are full of joyful rabbits embracing the spring and the great rebirth of life. Their white tails flickering in the distance like prime targets for birds of prey and other hungry felons of the fields. 

’Tower power’ as we used to say growing up in Blackpool - a place where having a replica Eiffel Tower and going to the same school as Jethro Tull had formed a decade before seemed normal. Possibly because I just made a rare trip back to the old town to play a gig on Sunday or because I’m writing my memoirs and gone all warm and nostalgic about getting attacked ion the streets for being of a punk rock by angry mobs of holiday makers the old town has been on my mind. That long musical journey that started from dreaming about glam rock to being empowered and fired up by punk rock has somehow dumped me here still feeling somewhat louder than war.

Record Store Day recently whizzed by, and the key annual event for the record shops is ostensibly a good thing, and anything that supports the grassroots is great, but what about the vinyl itself? The holy grail of music collecting of course but is it all it's cracked up to be these days asks Martin Grey in the great Record buying swindle…

The seventies wasn't just Bowie and Bolan you know! the charts were full of other glam superstars. Sweet had a stunning run of hits that started with bubblegum pop and ended up with a series of glam stompers that were as good as anything from their rivals. Often budged aside from the narrative, their classics stand the test of time and despite sadly losing 3 members who have died in the past few years guitar player Andy Scott still tours the band celebrating that glorious catalogue. 

We were sorry to hear of the death of the mighty drummer from Blondie, Clem Burke. Not only a monumental player whose combo of Keith Moon and Ringo Starr chops was more than key part of the band but also a true music head who gave his all whether drumming for one of the biggest bands in the world or in the local bar pick up band. I’ve never heard a bad word about him and from anyone who met him or from his contemporaries and it seemed like all were in agreement that we have truly lost one of the good guys. 

We were also sorry to hear of the passing of Dave Allen from Gang of Four- the bassist who, as his next band Shriekback once sang, was ‘the spine is the bassline’. A great player with his powerful and elastic bass lines and his future vision really gave both bands a crucial twist. 

It was great to see a couple of brilliant new bands in Manchester this week. The post punk with a twist of Mogwai/Sonic Youth sounding [slab] have managed to create their own sound from their influence and delivered a mesmerising set in the city.

The next night we went to the White Hotel which is already a legendary venue in the city. Marooned in the industrial wasteland between Strangeways and Salford it looks like an apocalyptic film set and was where fast rising Manchester band Yaang packed the venue out with their set of off kilter pop/noise. There is going to be plenty more said about this band this year.

It was great to hear that full-time eccentric Edward Tudor Pole has his memoirs coming out soon. Having lived his life under his own rules he somehow briefly ended up as the Sex Pistols post Rotten singer and then became a TV presenter and had hits as Tenpole Tudor in a haphazard career that is full of highs and lows and plenty of great stories. 

We have been waiting for the band to come along and harpoon the blubbery mess of Donald Trump. Maybe it could be Dead Pioneers - the native American fronted punk band who have the songs and attitude that made it our album of the week

One of the best punk bands out on the circuit now are Lambrini Girls who delivered a short, sharp set full of passionate politics and even get their fans to build a human pyramid

‘Feral theatre-punks’ Theatre Workers And Television Union (or Twat Union) make their first trip to Manchester. Iain Key was there to witness.

Manic Street Preachers gave it their all at the second of two intimate Shepherd’s Bush Empire shows. Their take-no-prisoners performance and careful song selection show off all sides of a band that clearly still really care — about the purity of their live shows and about connecting with their audience.