991.com brings you excerpts from this weeks R.C. Weekly Newsletter. To receive the full unedited version please contact [email protected] and mention 991.
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Lots of discussions in the office about why there’s something faintly embarrassing about seeing the uh, more mature musician acting like he’s still a kid full of vim (not the cleaning product, that’s Jumping Jack Flash). I am racking what’s left of my brains to remember how I felt when I was young and saw old rockers. Did I believe that people who reached 30, or even 21, had no right to rock? I suspect it was a conceit injected into the culture by punk, but that may not be the case. Many people enjoyed Bill Haley’s UK tours in 1969, ’72 and ’74, and by all accounts those shows were almost as exciting as in the mid-50s when Haley invented teenagers. Did people judge the 40-something Haley in 1969 and decide he was past it? I doubt it. Bear in mind that Bill was in his early 30s when he first kicked off trashing cinema seats in the name of fun. Haley never appeared to be anything other than what he was; an avuncular western swing singer updating Louis Jordan for a new era. Nobody expected him to be anything other than showbiz – it was the sound that was exciting, not his style. So while you might find the music slightly embarrassing and past-it, Haley wasn’t, because he never pretended to be a kid, no matter how much twirling of the double bass went on. To me that is the crucial thing: it’s only the musicians that imagine – or kid themselves that we imagine – they’re still young that are an embarrassment.
When did we start believing that mature folk weren’t entitled to rock? Few musicians dared consider the matter until punk forced them to; The Byrds may have sung as cynical a song about the process as you could imagine, but there’s no mention about what happens when your pants are tight from a beer gut rather than a strategically-placed enhancement sock. One of the few tunes to face the problem was this one; it’s whimsical but at least it was aware that rock’n’roll was getting on a bit. Of course, there is an argument that us old music lovers have earned the right to be as embarrassing as we like, and that if you can’t make the kids cringe with what they love to call “dad dancing”, you’re not doing your job. I figure that you should dance if you want to (yes, that link does lead where you expect; perhaps you’d rather not click), but maybe don’t do it on stage…
The new issue is going out to subscribers in the next day or so; it’s in the shops on the 25th. Lots of unlikely valuable records on the cover – plus a small gratuitous picture of this lady. Inside, The Hollies, Wire, Sandie Shaw, ZZ Top, TT Shakers, more San Francisco Psych and a fascinating story about the acts who laid the foundation for AC/DC. Plus all the usual strange bits and bobs. Record Collector: if I wasn’t working for it, I’d buy it.
Hope you have a great week
Ian McCann, Editor Record Collector
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THE CURRENT ISSUE
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Zeppelin's Houses Of The
Holy at 40, Alvin Lee's last interview The life and times of the UK Subs Legendary British record producer Tony Hall talks about his incredible career West Coast Psych rarities & collectables Simon Dupree & The Big Sound and Gentle Giant We pay tribute to Bert Jansch Plus Billy Bragg, Stephen Stills, British Sea Power, Anthrax…plus much more |
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