Cards on the table first: Up until 1977, and the release of Yes’s Going for the One, when I was 13 years old, my collection of ‘new’ LPs consisted solely of the first four of Rick Wakeman’s solo albums. I…
View More Rick Wakeman – Live at the London Palladium 2023 [4CD Box Set]
Lene Lovich, whose work experience included providing screams for Hammer Horror Film Productions, earned her 15 minutes of fame on the back of a surprise hit single with her first release for Stiff Records. Over the course of her time…
View More Lene Lovich – Toy Box: The Stiff Years, 1978-1983
For me, having begun to explore progressive music from around 1975, John Wetton is one of a much-loved group of artists who I have listened to and followed for close to 50 years now. In my case, it started with…
View More John Wetton – An Extraordinary Life (8CD Boxset)
Christina Booth, lead vocalist with Magenta, has collaborated with her colleagues from the Tiger Moth stable to create her third solo album, Bar Stool Prophet. Unusually, these days, this is not a ‘lockdown’ album, with many of the tracks starting…
View More Christina – Bar Stool Prophet
Nell’s Jazz and Blues Club, London Saturday, 14th October 2023 This was the final night of Bruce Soord’s first ever solo tour, to promote his latest album Luminescence, released on 22nd September. The album was partly inspired by Bruce’s intention…
View More Bruce Soord / Smalltape
The Edgar Broughton Band (EBB), by their own admission, were impossible to pigeonhole. Having changed the band name as they evolved from a blues-orientated sound to an eclectic mix of rock and psychedelic influences over the course of their first…
View More Edgar Broughton – Break the Dark
For some men, and women, of a certain age, Judie Tzuke’s appearance on Top of the Pops to sing hit song Stay With Me till Dawn was a life changing experience. I was a teenager at that time, and the…
View More Judie Tzuke – Jude the Unsinkable
The Id have been making music as a band since 2016. They work remotely on different continents and the band members are all involved in multiple collaborative and solo projects. Drummer Mark Murdock has a background in jazz fusion, also…
View More The Id – Disaster Movie
It’s not unusual to discover that pop stars of the ’70s and ’80s were influenced over the course of their musical career by Progressive Rock and a few, such as Gary Kemp and Nick Beggs (who also happens to be…
View More Howard Jones – Celebrate It Together: The Very Best of Howard Jones
Sparks have been enjoying ‘another’ renaissance recently and this album has many of the hallmarks that you would expect to hear from such an accomplished and long-standing band. It’s full of great ideas, unexpected twists and turns, and of course…
View More Sparks – The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte