Various Artists C91 Cherry Red Records Almost four decades ago, back in 1986 when New Musical Express ruled the world of music journalism, the paper issued now the now-famed c86 cassette, which was full of sharp, sometimes shocking new [...]
Howard Jones At The BBC Cherry Red Records The early 1980s were an exciting time for music. Much like in the ‘60s and ‘70s, the BBC was still an important force in music and artists were invited into the BBC studios to perform live and [...]
Al Stewart Time Passages (Limited Edition Box Set) Esoteric Recordings Last year Esoteric Records, with help from Al Stewart, released the 45th anniversary edition of Year Of The Cat. It only makes sense that his follow-up, Time Passages, [...]
Mercury Rev Snowflake Midnight (Deluxe Edition) Cherry Red Records Let’s put things straight where Mercury Rev is concerned: they are a prog rock band. However, instead of being part of the much-maligned branch of prog rock that deservedly [...]
ALIVE FOREVER A CONVERSATION WITH GARY BROOKER OF PROCOL HARUM Gary Brooker formed Procol Harum in 1967, and the band was huge from the very beginning with their debut single, the incredible and revolutionary “A Whiter Shade Of Pale”. The band [...]
Strawbs Settlement Cherry Red Records The Strawbs released their self-titled debut in 1969, their first official album. This is their 27th release, and their second with this particular lineup. Once again the band has not only reinvented itself, [...]
WHAT YOU GET IS ROUGH AND READY A CONVERSATION WITH CHRIS THOMSON OF FRIENDS AGAIN It seems as though Scotland has always been a hotbed for music and bands. By the 1980s, Scotland was known for bands as diverse as Altered Images, The Skids, [...]
Friends Again Trapped And Unwrapped Cherry Red Records This re-release is ridiculously overdue. Friends Again released their one and only album in 1984, Trapped & Unwrapped: Collection. Since it was released on CD in 1989, it has all but [...]
DRAGONS AND PSYCHEDELIC COUNTRY SOUL A CONVERSATION WITH GREG SOWDERS OF THE LONG RYDERS Psychedelic country soul are three words that can be mashed together only to describe the American country and legends of Paisley Underground, The Long [...]
The Long Ryders Psychedelic Country Soul Cherry Red Records The Long Ryders put themselves at the forefront of Americana, as part of the Paisley Underground scene in the 1980s. Since disbanding in 1987, and re-forming several times over the past [...]
Spray Anthologised By Cherry Red Banoffeesound/Ninthwave Records Spray is a synth-based duo from the U.K., made up of siblings Ricardo Autobahn and Jenny McLaren. Both were originally in the band Cuban Boys (of “Hampsterdance” fame, which was [...]
Chris Squire Fish Out Of Water Esoteric Records/Cherry Red Records Fish Out of Water was released in 1975, when Yes was on a hiatus. Following 1974’s Relayer, the band took a break while members pursued solo projects. Fish Out Of Water was [...]
