This is an interesting bit of news. It’s a shame – generally the Brits zealously protect anything of historical value. It’s even a small tourist attraction.
I guess Liverpool Town Council thinks of him as ‘just the drummer.’
Brit Celeb Radio # 15 – Brit Gossip
August 4, 2010 By Leave a Comment
The sun might not have been shining in LA but it was radiating from London into the Studio. Catherine and Emily were alone discussing all the celebrity gossip including: Cheryl Cole rushed to hospital, the world premier of ‘Inception’, Ashley Cole’s LA antics, and news on Jennifer Saunders. Great new music was played by the nominated Lina and the girls talked talked talked….tune in.
Listen here:
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Dispatches from the North: North East England Music Roundup
June 30, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Through my involvement with Hartlepool’s local radio station Radio Hartlepool I’ve also become connected to a local charity called Red Dreams that supports young musicians in the town. I volunteer for Red Dreams as a vocal coach and also have the privilege of being exposed to the music and creativity this newest generation of muscians from the North East have to offer. I’m so impressed by the talent of the young people of this town, there must be something in the water.
With this summer’s biggest music festival Glastonbury now passed, Hartlepool and Red Dreams are looking forward to our own home-grown music festival, Pitch Invasion, on the 21st and 22nd August at Seaton Carew Cricket Club. Pitch Invasion features a few tribute headliners and dozens of local bands and acoustic acts.
Here are just a few of the top bands and singer/songwriters and other musical acts that I’ve heard through my involvment with Red Dreams. You can check out more songs at Red Dreams’ MySpace Music Page and check out some great performance videos on their YouTube Channel.
Rayne
Rayne is one of the North East’s biggest up-and-coming bands, having made it to the final of Live and Unsigned at the O2 Arena on July 10th. I saw Rayne perform at a recent awards show for Red Dreams, and I was really impressed with them. They played a couple covers, but their original song “Against the Natural Order” was my favorite of their set. Check out their music at their MySpace page.
Up!Down!Strange!
Up!Down!Strange! made the town’s headlines a few months ago when they beat out thousands of bands nationwide and made it to the finals to compete for a spot at Glastonbury. These young lads also made it to the semi-finals of this year’s UK Songwriter Contest for their original song Cliffs of Fiction. Check out their music at their MySpace page.
Chloe Gibson
Chloe Gibson is by far the most talented teenager I’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing perform. Chloe is only 13 and writes and performs her own music. I see very big things in Chloe’s future. She has already been awarded a semi-final ranking in the UK Songwriter Contest (again, at 13!) for her original song “Breathing and Beating” and also won the solo artist Rising Star award at the Red Dreams Music Awards which was an award chosen by a leading UK record label. She is definitely the one act to watch coming out of Hartlepool. Check out her music at her MySpace page.
Samantha Durnan Band
Samantha Durnan is a very talented and versatile female artist from Teesside. Samantha does acoustic gigs on her own, but also performs with a band of very talented musicians. The Samantha Durnan Band has a very sophisticated and deep sound, with Samantha’s vocals and acoustic guitar at the forefront. Check out Samantha’s MySpace page to hear their music.
Lost State of Dance
Lost State of Dance (or LSD for short) is an innovative indie/techno group. They’ve got a very creative and versatile style and a great mix of male and female vocals as well as a range of both live instruments and electronic sounds without slipping too far into the pop or electronic genre. Check out their music here on their Myspace Page.
I could go on and on, this really only scratched the surface of the great young bands coming out of the North East! I’ll be sure to do another North East Music Round Up again and feature some more great local artists.
Malcolm McLaren: Punk’s Eccentric Uncle
April 17, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Last week the music world lost one of its visionaries – Malcolm McLaren, former manager of the Sex Pistols and punk visionary. He died on April 8th at age 64.
McLaren was quite the colorful character in the British music scene. He took the advice his grandmother gave him, “To be bad is good…to be good is simply boring.” to heart. After attending and being expelled from several art colleges, he began his career as a clothing designer. With his girlfriend, Vivienne Westwood, he opened Let It Rock, a hip clothing store in London.
After meeting the New York Dolls in London, McLaren left for New York to become their manager. This was a short lived journey, since the Dolls broke up shortly afterward.
Upon his return to London, he rejoined Westwood and changed the name of their shop to SEX, selling rather suggestive clothing. But McLaren wanted to manage a band and soon discovered The Strand, three of those members would become members of the Sex Pistols. With McLaren’s recruitment of John Lydon, now christened Johnny Rotten, the new band was ready to take over the music scene.
McLaren was a student of the French Situationists, who believed in performing maddening scenes and incidents to promote “social change.” If anything, he was a keen publicity seeker and knew how to use the media to promote his band. During the Queen’s Silver Jubilee he organized a boat trip down the Thames that included the Sex Pistols performing “God Save the Queen” outside the Houses of Parliament. Instead, the boat was raided and McLaren was arrested. More people found out about the arrest than they would’ve the mini-concert and soon enough, the single made its way up the charts.
With McLaren’s mad ideas, the Sex Pistols represented the look, attitude and sound of punk. Last year he told the New York Times, “I never thought the Sex Pistols would be any good. But it didn’t matter if they were bad.”
After the Pistols broke up, McLaren managed several bands, including Adam and the Ants, and Bow Wow Wow. He also recorded albums of his own, including 1983′s “Duck Rock”. In recent years, McLaren was rumored to run for Mayor of London (can you imagine?!), produced films including Fast Food Nation, and presented two documentary series, Malcolm McLaren’s Musical Map of London & Malcolm McLaren’s Life and Times in LA, for BBC Radio 2.
For music that was meant to be alternative, McLaren made punk mainstream. To Malcolm McLaren punk was more than music – it was a way of life.
Brit Celeb Radio #2 – Notting Hill Carnival, Buppy and the Uplifters
March 29, 2010 By Leave a Comment
If you haven’t been to London’s Notting Hill Carnival, now is your chance to have a taste as Brit Celeb Radio bring you the carnival atmosphere right to your living room.
Special guests from reggae group Buppy and The Uplifters Lennox Buppy Brown and Brit Jahari, joined us in the studio and blessed us with LIVE vocals. Where ever you listen to this show it is sure to bring a smile on your face and maybe a boogie in your hips. Your host Cat is in her usual high spirits and entertainment reporter Emily shares gossip about UK celebs Victoria Beckham, Kate Moss, Cheryl Cole and… Well listen to find out.. enjoy.
Rumor has it next week actor David Collier will be calling into the show and sharing news about his new film ‘The Hunting of the Snark’ also featuring Sir Christopher Lee.
Listen here: http://www.latalkradio.com/images/Catherine-032510.mp3
For past shows listen here: http://www.latalkradio.com/Catherine.php
Or listen live every week on www.latalkradio.com Channel 1 on the ‘Brit Celeb Radio Show’ with Catherine Lyn Scott.
For more information on Buppy and the Uplifters: http://www.buppyreggae.com
and Notting Hill Carnival http://www.thenottinghillcarnival.com/
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Anglotopia was founded by Jonathan and Jackie Thomas for people who love Britain - whether it's British TV, Culture, History or Travel - we cover it all. Anglotopia was started to get us back to the UK for a trip and it did that in 2009. Now, the goal is for Anglotopia to make our dream of living in the UK a reality.