Miscellaneous - May 2016

  by Admin

published: 15 / 5 / 2016

intro

Hello and welcome to the May edition of the Pennyblackmusic Magazine. For many of our writers Prince was an enormous influence. In this edition we are paying tribute to him with three

Hello and welcome to the May edition of the Pennyblackmusic Magazine. For many of our writers Prince was an enormous influence. In this edition we are paying tribute to him with three articles. In an article entitled ‘Prince: And Getting through This Thing Called Life’ Cila Warncke reflects on his unusual genius. Amongst our regular columns Anthony Dhanendran in ‘Ten Songs That Made Me Love…’ writes of his ten favourite ten Prince songs, while Dave Goodwin reminisces about growing up a Prince fan in the macho world of 80’s Nottingham and talks to seven of our writers about some of their memories of him. In our lead interview this month we speak to Alan Rankine, the keyboardist and guitarist with influential 80’s band the Associates, about the re-release in double CD editions of their first three albums, 'The Affectionate Punch', 'Fourth Drawer Down' and 'Sulk', and their charismatic late vocalist Billy MacKenzie. Amongst our other interviews this month, we have our usual mix of established and newer acts. Penny Rimbaud from the groundbreaking punk collective Crass speaks of his often surprising influences which include classical music, New Orleans jazz, Bill Haley and the Beatles. There are interviews as well with Alan White, the drummer with prog rock group Yes about their recent UK tour and the recent death of their bassist, Chris Squire; Neil Arthur from reformed synth pop band Blancmange; Irish folk pop group the Corrs about 'White Light', their first album in ten years, and Brad Elvis, the Chicago-based drummer with the Handcuffs and the Romantics. Amongst the newer acts, there are interviews with American shoegaze act Ringo Deathstarr; Edinburgh-based alternative rock trio the Filthy Tongues; rising eclectic folk band the Moulettes; Oxfordshire-based alternative rock band Kanadia and C-86 /Dunedin Sound-inspired indie pop trio Rapid Results College. There is also an interview with young producer Peter Waterman about his work on much acclaimed singer-songwriter Hattie Briggs' second album, 'Young Runaway'. Amongst our other highlights, there is an extensive appraisal of ‘Sharon Signs to Cherry Red', an eclectic new double CD retrospective which features indie label female artists from 1979 to 1985, Nicky Crewe attends ‘New Dawn Fades’, the new Joy Division play, while in our 'Re: View' section Mary O’Meara reflects on the Manic Street Preachers’ ‘Everything Must Go’ twenty years on and Paul Waller examines San Franciscan no wave art rock act Tuxedomoon's 1980 underground classic album, 'Half Moon'. In a double instalment of her ‘Raging Pages’ book column, Lisa Torem reviews Bobby Rydell’s new autobiography, ‘Teen Idol on the Rocks: A Tale of Second Chances’, and a new Yes biography, ‘Time and a Word'. We also have twenty-six new album and single reviews. We are joined by a new writer this month. Kimberly Bright is from Indianapolis and the author of the recently revised rock biography, ‘Chris Spedding: Reluctant Guitar Hero’. Thank you to Kimberly. Thank you to Carl Bookstein, Aaron Brown, Malcolm Carter, Nicky Crewe, Dastardly, Nick Dent-Robinson, Anthony Dhanendran, Dixie Ernill, Cat Goodwin, Dave Goodwin, Keith How, Adrian Huggins, Adrian Janes, Erick Mertz, Mary O'Meara, Owen Peters, Billy Seagrave, Anthony Strutt, Lisa Torem, Paul Waller and Cila Warncke, all of whom have contributed to this edition. Special thanks to our webmaster Richard Banks. We will be back towards the end of the month with an album and singles reviews only update, and then in early May with a full update with interviews, features, live reviews and more album and single reviews. We hope to feature interviews then with the Dan Reed Network, Sophia, Marcella Detroit, Esperanza and Vinny Peculiar. Please don’t forget to check out our regular Facebook and Twitter updates. Thank you as always for reading Pennyblackmusic. John Clarkson Magazine Editor www.pennyblackmusic.co.uk Email: john.clarkson@pennyblackmusic.co.uk