Richard Wright 1943 - 2008

The news of Richard Wright's death came as something of a shock as there had been no prior indication that he was ill.

He was undoubtedly a key figure in the development of the Pink Floyd both in the Barrett-era and afterwards. As a musician, he has long been sadly underrated - listening over the last day or so to Wish You Were Here with almost a new pair of ears showed how he almost dominates the album musically. I'm clearly just as guilty of underestimating his contribution myself, as I don't believe I would have described the album in that manner before now.

As a writer, he was responsible for some of the iconic Floyd moments, most noticably The Great Gig In The Sky and Us And Them from Dark Side Of The Moon. His vocals, particularly the harmony work alongside Gilmour (most singularly demonstrated on Echoes) was sublime.

There has always been a languid, melancholic streak to the music of the Floyd (and which is very easily mistaken for blandness) which I think can largely be attributed to Wright. It's no coincidence that the more Wright was marginalised in the band (and for which I, for one, remain disinclined to forgive Waters notwithstanding his recent recantations on some of his tomfoolery) the less they sounded like the Floyd. It was precisely the mix of the hard-bitten message behind the sweet melodies that gave the Floyd it's power and impact - too much of The Wall and The Final Cut amounts to bombast which hits you straight in the face but is all the more ineffective for that.

David Gilmour's tribute to his friend and colleague was warm, loving and well-measured. I will watch the soon to be released Live In Gdansk concert with an added interest along with a touch of regret that it will represent Richard's last musical contribution to us.

Texas Boogie Rools....

After some delays the new edition of ZZ Top's Eliminator has now hit the streets. Of all their albums, this is the one that will be most recognised containing as it does the songs that catapulted the band to mega status with the iconic imagery and the accompanying videos.

Sonically, the new package packs a powerful punch and the extra live tracks show that the band were able to match the power of the recordings in the live arena. We do have to suffer the 12-inch mix of Legs, but that's what the programmable facilities on your CD handset are for!!

There's also an additional DVD containing, inevitably, the videos for the singles from the album as well as live footage from their appearance on The Tube, including the song they played after the credits had rolled.



This is the third part of a reissue programme for the Top's albums with Warner Bros - Tres Hombres (with the sublime La Grange) and the half-live Fandango (disappointing live side undercutting a series of exceptional studio tracks including Tush) have already been released. Hopefully, the other albums will follow in short order.

I'd also recommend the recently released DVD Live In Texas which shows that the trio still have what it takes to rock the joint in the noughties

Mott The Hoople Reunion?

My mailbox has been bulging this week with suggestions that the original Mott the Hoople line-up (Ian Hunter, Mick Ralphs, Overend Watts, Buffin and Verden Allen) have been discussing some gigs in 2009 to celebrate their 40th Anniversary.

This would be excellent news not least as it would allow those who are only familiar with the post-Dudes version of the band to be reminded that before their fateful dalliance with Bowie they were one of the coolest rock and roll bands in the land.


Their four Island albums contained a mixture of original songs and well-chosen covers (introducing me to the likes of Jesse Colin Young, Danny Whitten and Doug Sahm through their covers of Darkness, Darkness, Downtown and At The Crossroads respectively). And via Hunter's vocals and Allen's organ managed to do a decent job of being Dylan without the Bobster being present - check out Backsliding Fearlessly from the first album.

Throw in some priceless rockers - Rock'N'Roll Queen, Thunderbuck Ram, Walking With A Mountain, The Moon Upstairs - plus awesome epics in the shape of The Journey and Half Moon Bay to demonstrate that there's a whole priceless back catalogue worthy of investigation before the dudes were born, never mind being young.

I had the pleasure of seeing Mott twice at the legendary Green's Playhouse in Glasgow including on the iconic Rock'N'Roll Circus tour and they were the first gigs I can recall where the audience and the band were as one. Terrific memories.

All of the Island albums have been reissued on Angel Air Records and are worthy of investigation. If you were only able to buy just the one then make it Brain Capers.



As for Dudes itself, it was a great single but it wasn't Mott The Hoople and the album that shared its' name was very weak. The later albums were good but much more mannered and missing that spark that crept out the door when Verden Allen left the band; the door was slammed tightly shut when Mick Ralphs jumped ship to join Bad Company (a band not fit to lick the bootlaces of any of its' predecessors). Nevertheless, what proved to be the farewell single, Saturday Gigs, was a classic and a fine way to close that chapter on the bands' history after which Ian Hunter moved onto his solo career and his long term but occasional partnership with Mick Ronson. The rest of the band regrouped as Mott and then refashioned themselves as the British Lions along with John Fiddler, late of Medicine Head.

The clip is a promo for an Island-era single which failed to trouble the charts but did have the band appearing on Top Of The Pops.



Worth going to see almost forty years on? Bring it on!!!!

Remembering 10cc......

Having caught up with listening to new purchases, I'm now sitting listening to the debut album by 10cc. It's the first time I've listened to it for a while but it's still an astonishing album that sounds as fresh as the day it was released.





Now I was at school when Donna first trickled into the charts. As if admitting to enjoying something in the charts wasn't bad enough, this was an era where if you weren't wandering the corridor with the latest Mahavishnu Orchestra album firmly in your grasp you were clearly some kind of uncultured yobbo.

Now a single bathed in retro humour that snuggled safely in the top 5 and which was released on, horror of horrors, Jonathan King's record label had to suggest I had taken leave of my senses. However, it was a damned fine record then and still is. Not sure what to say about Mr King these days though!

Rubber Bullets was a home run for me and I was delighted to see it soar to top position in the charts.

Being a confirmed fan I was looking forward to an album and it didn't disappoint. What was incredibly amusing was the endorsement by John Peel on the album sleeve which had my hipper than hip schoolchums in quite a quandry!

The album's a delight from top to botton and provided further single success with the sublime The Dean And I. It's all entirely open to the charge of being a bit too clever for its' own good, but that's never stood in the way of the tremendous quality of the music.

The band went onto make a series of good albums but I'm not convinced they ever managed to top their debut effort. The loss of Kevin Godley and Lol Creme disrupted the magical chemistry of the original quartet and neither grouping was as strong apart as they were together.