Old Man Riva

Went to see triple harpist Cerys Hafana at Kings Place (on York Way) in London. Wasn’t sure what to expect but am always happy to shuffle along and have a look at something that may not be an obvious choice, when it comes to my usual listening habits. I was thoroughly blown away. Cerys covers a mixture of classic (predominantly Welsh) folk pieces along with original compositions. She switched to guitar at one point, with an interesting non-standard tuning, which felt a little odd compared to the rest of the set. Still enjoyable, mind. The venue was cool too - she was in the smaller room at the venue, which held around 200 people. Nice and intimate. The sound was excellent and the playing other-worldly. I’d imagine in years to come on Harpchat there’ll be folk saying, “Yeah, but Cerys only needed 90 strings”! To give a little taster, here’s a clip of her set from a few months ago. She gives an interesting insight at 8mins 16secs into how a triple harp works.

… if that’s the case then young Burns-bass can only play this using a sixpence as a pick whilst wearing clogs. Them’s the rules!

German art rock from 1972. Having a 1970s comprehensive school education we didn’t do German as a language subject, but, if pushed, I’d hazard a guess this translates as, “you’ll not be seeing this in Smash Hits”. Anyway … On a similar theme: From 1979, a groovy little number by the excellent Can. Bass was supplied by Rosko Gee at this point…

Should be a good evening... https://allevents.in/london/a-very-simple-mind-an-evening-with-derek-forbes/10000729633622807?ref=eventlist-cat

… the old curmudgeon actually looks like he’s enjoying himself!

The London Cast of ‘Hair’ followed by Chris Barber was a nice touch!

JPJ, with an honourable mention for Bobby Vega …

That’s great, thanks for the heads up! I love this track and bass part. Ron Carter on electric bass…

More guitars (and guitar changes) in a 60 minute set than you can shake a stick at - and if you ever want to see a guitarist wear three guitars at once then now’s your chance! A terrific (and often overlooked) rock ‘n’ roll band. Oh, and Bun E Carlos. What a performance…

Sorry Dad, just not a fan of talk shows. Especially the US ones…

That’s rotten behaviour from the seller, and good on you for calling them out on it. Who knows, maybe they’ll have a think about it in their quieter moments and do the right thing and list it correctly? What’s the story with the bass, how did the neck and body meet?!

XTC. This is a BBC session of a track from the Oranges & Lemons LP. Colin Moulding on vocals and (wonderful) Wal bass. I really dig this version as I think it sounds more airy than the album version, and the overall band performances feel slightly looser… That said, both are fabulous!

I pretty much recorded it all (inc US stuff) on VHS video. There may be a few bits towards the end that got missed, but most of it is recorded for posterity on a large number of TDK 180 tapes! Re. Zeppelin. There’s been recriminations over the years… https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/jimmy-page-regrets-led-zeppelins-reunion-phil-collins/

Re. Vincen Garcia, what a great story! Good luck to him!

I was surprised to see the Albert Hall gig is pretty much sold out. Good on ‘em…

Been thinking of Paul Ryder recently, so this has been given a good old blasting…

… which is why they were never allowed to go anywhere near a car radio/cassette player! Cleaning tape heads was a near-religious experience for me. Cotton buds (not too fluffy, so reducing the minute chance of bits of fibre actually finding their way into the inner workings) and isopropyl alcohol. Press play, and then carefully clean each head with one end of the cotton bud, and then lightly clean/finish off with the other. Once done, onto the roller and tiny steel part that came into contact with the actual tape. Use the tape counter to ensure each part of the process was afforded equal time to get the job done properly. The satisfaction when viewing the dirty cotton bud and seeing all the residue made the whole thing worth it! My dad walked in on me once, and when I excitedly told him what I was doing and showed him the cotton bud evidence I genuinely think he would have preferred that I was out on the town taking drugs…

The 120s were handy for the Radio 1 concerts that were occasionally aired. And, yes, they were a pain for getting snagged up in the machine…

I was really into Language Barrier. Obviously the tracks and the playing were great, but I thought the idea for the project and the production were out of this world. It reminded me of World Destruction by Afrika Bambaata and John Lydon from the year before, which I loved. Ditto stuff like the AAA Sun City project/album. Funnily enough, Little Creatures was the first Talking Heads album I didn’t really get on with!

I actually think it’s aged really well. I always credit BAD with introducing the everyday wearing of oversize baseball caps to the UK yoof! That and white 501s…

Ditto. Inexplicably left off my list!

A few already mentioned (Sting, Propaganda, Kate Bush and U2), but definitely these: Bryan Ferry - Boys and Girls Scritti Politti - Cupid & Psyche 85 Sly and Robbie - Language Barrier Grace Jones - Slave to the Rhythm 1985 was a good year…

Recently became aware of this guy, Chanan Hanspal, through a series of interviews he did with Andy Partridge from XTC (well worth watching). I subscribed off the back of those (and his content on Zappa and the Mighty Boosh) and this popped up a few days ago. I really like his style, and his musical knowledge and how he imparts it is top drawer - like a Beato of the Valleys!