Tag Archives: feature

Feature: Albums that time forgot … BLACKTHORNE – Afterlife

BLACKTHORNE - Afterlife

Music For Nations (1993) Graham Bonnet’s career started in the late 1960s with a conventional pop approach and early solo albums.  It was only in 1979 when he came to Ritchie Blackmore’s attention as a potential frontman of Rainbow (replacing … Continue reading

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Feature: Call Collect – An introduction to STEVE HACKETT

Steve Hackett Liverpool Philharmonic Hall 7th May 2017 photo Steve Goudie 27

Alan Jones and David Randall chart the rise and revival of progmeister par excellence, Steve Hackett When we reviewed the Steve Hackett gig in October 2013 following the release of the second Genesis Revisited album, Pete Whalley summed things up.  … Continue reading

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Feature: Gigs of the Millennium – JOE BONAMASSA

Joe Bonamassa - The Cavern, Liverpool, 27 June 2016

In June 2016 Joe Bonamassa trod the boards at the venue where – nearly over 50 years earlier – the Fab Four had fired their opening salvo.  This historic gig has become one of life’s highlights for GRTR! reviewer Alan … Continue reading

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Feature: Gigs of the Millennium – Steve Tilston, Argent, Camel, The Tubes

Fee Waybill - The Tubes

David Randall surveys a near-20 year period, reflecting on what constitutes a great gig… What makes a good gig?  It can often be the events surrounding it – a pre-gig meal or drink for example -  your fellow gig-goer(s), the … Continue reading

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Feature: Call Collect – An introduction to ROY BUCHANAN

Roy Buchanan - Alligator Records pubilicity photo, 1985

David Randall reflects on a patchy early recording career, with Telecaster Titan Roy Buchanan only realising his full potential three years before his untimely death… The story of Roy Buchanan is one of a great unsung hero, a feeling of … Continue reading

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Feature: Albums that time forgot – NOTHING BY CHANCE – Ghosts Of Love

NOTHING BY CHANCE - Ghosts Of Love

Dover/Chrysalis/Starward [1991] Bob Harris has a lot to answer for.  I am sure – like many other musical insomniacs – he influenced our choice of album purchase in the early 1990s.  As mentioned in despatches elsewhere, his overnight show for … Continue reading

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Feature: What FREEDOM CALL mean to me

Freedom Call

Joe Geesin recounts an enduring 20 year passion, cultivated after a few drinks and an introduction to the German metallers Freedom Call… After a decade of writing features and sleevenotes, (I first starting writing reviews for Record Collector magazine in … Continue reading

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Feature: Music Industry v Covid 19

Whitesnake - DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL, Donington Park, Leicestershire, 14-15 June 2019

Many reading this will be furloughed writes Brian McGowan… over 6 million UK jobs have been so far. Many will not. Maybe you’re working from home. Maybe you’re less fortunate. You’ll know that the music industry is an integral part … Continue reading

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Feature: Bands that time forgot – BAD COMPANY (1986-1996)

Bad Company in 1995

For most, Bad Company conjures up the classic seventies line-up fronted by Paul Rodgers and with Mick Ralphs, Simon Kirke and Boz Burrell.  The eponymous and classic first album yielded a handful of airplay and chart hits and set the … Continue reading

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Feature: Bands that time forgot – CELTUS

Celtus in 1997

The two brothers John and Pat McManus had previously been members of eighties Irish heavy rockers Mama’s Boys. Both were multi-instrumentalists and their desire to achieve a more atmospheric, reflective groove was partly influenced by the premature death from leukaemia … Continue reading

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Feature: Albums that time forgot – 21 GUNS – Nothing’s Real

21 GUNS - Nothing's Real

Z Records [1997] The 1990s was a hard time for melodic hard rock bands feeling the chill wind from Seattle.  Joey Tempest from the band Europe told me that they also succumbed to the prevailing trend, and that when visiting … Continue reading

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Feature: What FREE mean to me…

Free

Alan Jones on a woman in a diaphanous dress, a wailing Les Paul, and a T-shirt that said it all… It could have gone either way. In the late sixties my musical experiences were limited to my mother’s meagre collection … Continue reading

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Feature: Albums that time forgot – JONATHAN TYLER & THE NORTHERN LIGHTS – Pardon Me

JONATHAN TYLER & THE NORTHERN LIGHTS – Pardon Me

F-Stop/Atlantic [2010] I do like a good rummage through the charity and record shops bargain CDs to take a punt on an unknown album based either on the cover, band members/instruments played or song titles (the latter can be a … Continue reading

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Feature: Bands that time forgot… LOVE AND MONEY (James Grant)

Love And Money - 2011

Love And Money formed out of Glasgow-based ‘Friends Again’ in the early eighties and whilst their debut album ‘All You Need is…’ hinted at the funky tunesmithery to come it wasn’t until 1988′s Strange Kind Of Love that the band … Continue reading

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Feature: Bands that time forgot…RIVER CITY PEOPLE

River City People - 1991

River City People consisted of two brothers Tim and Paul Speed (guitars and drums respectively)and Dave Snell (bass) who in 1987 were all studying at Liverpool Polytechnic. Vocalist Siobhan Maher had previously worked with Snell in a band called Peep … Continue reading

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Feature: Call Collect – An introduction to NIGHT RANGER

Night Ranger - HRH AOR – Pwllheli, Wales, Friday 9 March 2018

Andy Nathan favourites Night Ranger remained a largely USA-based phenomenon until their reformation in the late 1990s.  Their UK gigs from 2011 onwards would make grown men cry… When Night Ranger played their first-ever headline show in England at the … Continue reading

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Feature: Call Collect – An introduction to RORY GALLAGHER

Rory Gallagher - Isle of Wight 1970

Rory Gallagher’s legacy has been maintained with a raft of posthumous releases including the more recent ‘Blues’ anthology.  Joe Geesin takes up the story. Irish born blues/rock guitarist/vocalist Rory Gallagher made his name in the 70s and 80s, and is … Continue reading

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Feature: Albums that time forgot – IT BITES – Map Of The Past

IT BITES - Map Of The Past

Inside Out (2012) www.itbites.com The second (and final) album released by the reformed It Bites, that saw John Mitchell (Arena, Kino) take over from Francis Dunnery in fronting the band. John Beck (keyboards) and Bob Dalton (drums) remained from the … Continue reading

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Feature: What GILLAN mean to me

Gillan in 1978

Gillan (the band) made an impression on a young Joe Geesin but he maintained his interest interviewing band members and writing their sleevenotes.  Here he recounts an enduring hard rock and collecting passion. Gillan in 1978 (left to right) Liam … Continue reading

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Feature: What THE MOTORS mean to me

The Motors - 1978

Joe Geesin reveals his first vinyl purchase and a longer term love of the pop rock band The Motors Many will remember the track ‘Airport’, by The Motors, or at least recognise it, a pop track often played on television … Continue reading

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Feature: Call Collect – An introduction to DEMON

Demon - 2016

Jason Ritchie highlights the recording history of NWOBHM band Demon Formed in Stoke back in the NWOBHM the band initially lived up to their name with singer Dave Hill rising up from coffins on stage, along with lots of devil references … Continue reading

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Feature: Call Collect – An introduction to WISHBONE ASH

WISHBONE ASH - The Tivoli, Buckley, 3 November 2018

GRTR!’s melodic rock maestro Andy Nathan charts the progress of Wishbone Ash, currently celebrating their 50th anniversary Wishbone Ash may have a criminally low profile in the wider world, but there aren’t many bands that can boast both a history … Continue reading

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Feature: Call Collect – An introduction to COZY POWELL

Cozy Powell

Joe Geesin recalls Cozy Powell’s long career, the key albums, and a friendship with one of rock’s finest drummers Colin Flooks, better known as Cozy Powell, was a renowned rock drummer who, like many, lived like he played – hard … Continue reading

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Feature: Call Collect: An introduction to FOCUS

Focus - Hard Rock Hell Prog, Pwllheli, 21-22 March 2014

In their own words, Thijs van Leer and Jan Akkerman discuss the early days of Focus and their wider success…and demise in the late 1970s.  This feature is based on interviews in 1990 for a ‘Record Collector’ article published in … Continue reading

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Feature: Call Collect – An introduction to BLUE OYSTER CULT

Blue Oyster Cult

Jason Ritchie picks out some of the key albums from the heavy metal masters Formed from the late 60’s band Soft White Underbelly, Blue Oyster Cult (BOC) are often dubbed ‘the thinking man’s heavy metal band’. But for me they … Continue reading

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