All photos copyright Retro Man Blog 2024. For more videos from the show please check out our Retromanblog65 YouTube channel here and subscribe for free.
All photos copyright Retro Man Blog 2024. For more videos from the show please check out our Retromanblog65 YouTube channel here and subscribe for free.
Photos: top left Bob Gruen, t/r Celeste Urreaga, bottom l/r Retro Man Blog |
Retrosonic Podcast is back with very special guest Barry Myers otherwise known as DJ Scratchy Sounds discussing his excellent limited edition photobook "Road-Eyes 20-20 Double Vision: Photo Tales with The Clash and The Mescaleros". In this thoroughly entertaining episode, Scratchy discusses his early days as a tour DJ and his residency at Dingwalls Dancehall as Punk exploded in London. He explains how he got to tour with The Clash and some of the great support acts he saw along the way such as Bo Diddley and The Cramps. There's his part in some legendary gigs such as the 1978 Rock Against Racism Carnival in Victoria Park and the Ramones 1977 New Year's Eve show at the Rainbow which was to result in the blistering "It's Alive" live album. We discover his affinity with Japan and the fact that he has two volumes of his memoirs written and ready for a publisher to snap up. Then later on reconnecting again with Joe Strummer and his band The Mescaleros joining them at gigs including the Fireman's benefit show at Acton Town Hall during what would sadly turn out to be Joe's last tour.
The episode is soundtracked by songs from The Clash, Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros, The Man, Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers, The Cramps, Dr. Feelgood and Ramones. You can see a video preview of the book and find out the details on how to order it at the Scratchy Sounds web-site here. You'll also find news on upcoming Scratchy Sounds live events and lots of excellent archived radio shows and podcasts. You can subscribe to Retrosonic Podcast for free at Spotify, iTunes, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, MixCloud or direct from our SoundCloud site below.
The Everlasting Yeah - photo by Buddy Ascott |
Damian & Brendan at the launch party - photo by Buddy Ascott |
The launch party crowd photographed by Raymond |
The Everlasting Yeah at The Lexington London in 2016 - photo by Paul Slattery |
The Everlasting Yeah at our Retro Man Blog Night, May 2016 - photo by Paul Slattery |
Buddy Ascott with Brendan |
- Buddy Ascott, August 2024
The Everlasting Yeah with Jon Hunter - photo by Buddy Ascott |
The Galileo 7 |
The Len Price 3 |
The Everlasting Yeah, formed from the ashes of That Petrol Emotion, released one of the best debut albums of all time "Anima Rising" in 2014 and now they are finally going to release one of the most long-awaited, hightly anticipated follow ups of all time too. Yes, the great news is that the band have overcome various trials and tribulations and are now able to unleash their second album "Staying Cool, Staying Free With The Everlasting Yeah". It seems like such a long time ago that they played at one of our Retro Man Blog Nights at the Half Moon in Putney and debuted a couple of new songs, well it was a long time ago, 2016 in fact. One of the songs that I captured on video that splendid evening was called "Dylan '65", I loved it at the time and I'm pleased to see it features on the new album, although I'm not sure if it will be very different from this...
Here's a few words taken from my review of our Retro Man Blog Half Moon Putney show (you can read the full feature here.)
"The chemistry between all four members is apparent when they play live, they look like they enjoy each others company and it certainly pays off in their music. Brendan Kelly's bass throbs with a thunderous intent and his understanding with drummer Ciaran McLaughlin is impressive as they lock into a mighty groove. The Everlasting Yeah have added a dash of Krautrock's motorik beats into the mix too which enables the songs to develop nicely at their own natural pace. In fact there are more ideas crammed into one Everlasting Yeah song than most bands manage in a whole album! Raymond Gorman and Damian O'Neill seem to have some sort of psychic thing going on as their guitars weave in and out of each other like Richard Lloyd and Tom Verlaine at their best. I've always thought that Damian and Raymond were totally underrated as guitarists, they spin out razor sharp shards of spiky and inventive riffs that complement each other perfectly. Like Joey Santiago from the Pixies they take what at first might be familiar melodic lines and twist them to breaking point. You think you know when the pay off is going to come but they surprise you with another unexpected and thought provoking detour. Although Raymond handles most of the lead vocals - ably backed by Ciaran, who takes the spotlight on "Everything Is Beautiful" - there's no front-man as such, TPE's singer Steve Mack having relocated to his hometown Seattle - The Everlasting Yeah are however, a tight-knit gang who present a united front and share some stunning four-part vocals harmonies."
The Everlasting Yeah are having a listening party for the album on August 17th from 2-6pm at The London Irish Centre, 50-52 Camden Square, London NW1 9XB. Admission is free and there will be a Q&A session with the band hosted by Jon Hunter from The June Brides. Afterwards you will be able to buy signed vinyl, CDs and T-shirts and chat to the band. For more information on the Event please check out the details here.
You can check out our features on The Everlasting Yeah gigs at The Half Moon Putney and The Lexington with exclusive Paul Slattery photos. You can check out the Retrosonic Podcast archive for special episodes with Damian and Raymond and lots of related features on the band. Don't forget our thoroughly entertaining Retrosonic Podcast with Raymond, Damian and Ciaran where they discussed their time in That Petrol Emotion, the formation of The Everlasting Yeah and their debut album "Anima Rising".
Photo Above: The Raincoats (l/r) Ingrid Weiss, Vicky Aspinall, Gina Birch, Ana da Silva, Palmolive & Shirley O'Laughlin.
Palmolive has a wicked sense of humour with an infectious laugh, a twinkle in her eyes and some of her stories had us laughing out loud. She still carries that spirit of independence and creativity that the initial Punk explosion engendered as in the PR to the book she writes “I want to inspire you to make art, go on adventures, take risks, speak to power, believe in yourself and don’t let someone else write your own narrative.” Fine sentiments indeed. She was a thoroughly entertaining speaker, bursting with energy and I came away inspired and happy that pioneers such as The Slits and The Raincoats are still getting the recognition they deserve to this day. Palmolive and all her former bandmates that were present were more than happy to chat to fans after the talk and it was an honour to meet them and get our record covers signed. Palmolive now lives in America and lectures on Punk History, she will be appearing at this year’s Rebellion Festival which starts on August 1st. She has set up an excellent web-site Punk's Palmolive which is packed full of archive material, press coverage, merchandise and links to what she has in the pipeline. You can also sign up to her newsletter, so you don’t miss out on further news on the book’s release, it certainly promises to be a fascinating read.
All Photos Copyright Retro Man Blog, July 2024.
The set-list is predictable in its typical Blue Aeroplanes unpredictable style – the regular crowd-favourites such as “Jacket Hangs”, "Yr Own World" and “… And Stones” are joined by a selection of deep-cuts and unexpected delights. Tonight, I’m particularly happy as we get “Missy Lane” with Rita on lead vocals and “Mis-Firing,” which has one of my all-time favourite guitar riff intros, and from the band that specializes in killer guitar riff intros, that’s saying something. Bec takes lead vocals on the energetic and punky “(An Unexpected Hit of) Adoration” which is augmented by some great sax from Wojtek’s son, Alexander. They also play “Building An Ark For the Anthropocene” and a blistering “Bulletproof Coffee & A Snake-Oil Shot” from the excellent current album “Culture Gun”, which goes to prove that, despite the many personnel changes over the years, the sheer quality of the songwriting never drops.
Gerard looks extremely well considering the seriousness of his recent situation and is on fine form vocally, he thanks us for being there, and admits he is happy to be here too, as he didn’t think he would make it. Admiration and emotion are buzzing round the audience and the atmosphere is fantastic. But then things take another unexpected turn when Gerard introduces a very special guest during the encore. Yes, it’s Rodney Allen, who has also had to deal with his own life-threatening illness and it was wonderful to see him take the stage. Gerard takes a break to allow Rodney to bask in the outpouring of relief at seeing what a remarkable recovery he has made and the band launch into his signature song “Fun”. Fun is probably not something The Blue Aeroplanes have had much of over the past few years, what with Gerard and Rodney’s health situations and the extremely sad and untimely passing of their genius guitarist Angelo Bruschini last year. However, tonight proved how important a top night of live music can be, it’s almost a transcendental experience. I think there were a few lumps in throats and tears in the eyes of many of the crowd as “Fun” drew to a close and we cheered for Rodney.
Of course, to close the show we get the now traditional chaotic take on Tom Verlaine’s “Breakin’ In My Heart” and the ‘see how many musicians we can get on stage to join in’ competition peaks at thirteen people in all. These include former Blue Aeroplanes guitarist Gerard Starkie, who had opened the show with a short but impressive set of solo songs and a couple of excellent numbers from his other project, The Jesus Bolt. Tonight was a celebration, when the band and audience connect in such a way, it can be cathartic and emotional, there’s just nothing else like it. It was definitely one of those “I’m bloody glad I was there to witness it" shows that’s for sure.