Search Results

Nice piece, although some might take issue with the assertion that "his [Bill's] career was stunted by the eruption of punk in the mid-1970s", and that "His excellence as a player counted for nothing once the gritty minimalism of the new wave bared its teeth." I would contend that Bill happily embraced some key elements of punk and new wave and, artistically at least, it did no harm to his career. Also, various respected musicians from the late 70s and early 80s have cited Bill as an example of someone who aspired to doing something beyond occupying 'axe hero' status, and hence was able to survive that era with his credibility very much intact.

It's all about what kind of a person you are really, what your intrinsic values are. I would have thought having the good grace and manners to keep such, really quite vitriolic, comments to yourself, at such a sensitive time, would have been the prudent thing to do...However it (still) is a free country, so there you go. Just for some clarity, the British Empire no longer exists. It was the Queen who oversaw the dismantling of this and the transformation of the empire into the commonwealth, which is not an imperial institution. This marked an end to Britain's old relationship with the world as it existed, prior to the Queen coming to the throne. So the Queen was not the head of an empire and that was the whole point. We are now starting to see a whole rush of people, especially those with connections and affiliations to the extreme left, who are using the death of the Queen to try and push their own politicised agendas, which I find wholly repugnant and unsavoury...and some of the vile comments I've read, posted on social media, just beggar belief. The Queen was a ceremonial monarch, a constitutional monarch, she didn't set foreign policy or represent political agendas, in any way. So, in actual fact, her role was more of a decorative one and she was not involved in politics. To this end, she did not express her own political views and she kept her private life separate from her public role. I would say, being nasty and horrible to a 96-year-old lady who has just died, and doing so on a public platform, is not a great thing to do. Holding your council and showing a little respect under such circumstances would seem the right thing to do...But there no doubt will be many such comments and far worse to come... Remember, you don't have to say everything that's on your mind, especially if it's negative. To round this up, many people will find the Queen was our tie with history, a constant, she connected us with the past and, especially during tough times she connected us with each other, with a genuine care, I believe. Possibly the last part of the establishment that respects British history, that didn't want to undo history, tear down statues, rename buildings, and try and redefine everything. She had a respect for that and it's these kinds of values that cuts against the grain of the ever increasing narcissistic and often hysterical era, fuelled to a large extent by the woke-driven idiocies and agendas of the progressive/extreme left, that we now find ourselves in... genuinely, frightening and dangerous times. In losing the Queen, a connection with the past, all our past's, has been lost and it's this that people will feel very strongly. As for your personal beliefs regarding end-of-life possible experiences, well they are just that, your own beliefs, totally subjective thoughts, whether that scenario be for the Queen, or indeed for yourself. So your end comment is meaningless for anyone but you.

Chimera is such a perfect album that almost any track from it could have been a single (I recall Tony Mitchell in Sounds chiding Mercury Records for not releasing one). But we all have our favourites, and for me the pinnacle is 'Another Day, Another Ray of Hope', an absolute classic. Always a great disappointment to me that UK audiences were never afforded the opportunity to see the Chimera/Vistamix songs played live. What a show that would have been.

Just got back from a vacation in Costa Rica. 3-19 January, and it still wasn’t long enough. This guy visited us on a banana tree off the back deck, every morning during our breakfast. We also had tanagers, coti, macaws & other wildlife. Quite refreshing to be out of the cold of Kansas City & be able to swim every day in 82°F (27.8°C) weather. Our view, with the banana trees on the left. Could get used to this. .

I like the fact that you are listed on the Wikipedia Gibson ES 345 page as such- Notable users include Chuck Berry, B.B. King,Freddie King,Bill Nelson........😎

OK, there are now some Samples of a few of the tracks on the album's page in the discography...just to whet your appetite!

Trump is already trying to gum up the works with lawsuits. He's desperate to delay his departure from the White House as long as possible, should he not win a second term. But if he does lose, he may well find he gets a different kind of term, once his Presidential immunity is removed.

😎

A great Merle Travis advert for Guild guitars...

Motörhead – Killed By Death (Official Video) Motörhead - Killed by Death

A fan photo' of myself and my late friend Alan Quinn, performing as 'The Practical Dreamers' at 'The Warehouse' club in Leeds in the 1980s. Alan is playing my Aria bass which I'd lent him for those gigs. I'm playing the Yamaha SG 2000 that I originally bought to stand in for my Gibson 345 with late period Be Bop Deluxe. I sold that Yamaha when I was going through hard times in the early '90s. Wish I still had it. The jacket I'm wearing was an old American marching band uniform which I'd bought from a shop in London's Covent Garden. I actually ended up in an argument with Annie Lennox about that jacket when I was espousing left wing socialist views and Annie said, "how can you be a socialist when you're wearing expensive clothes like that?" She was totally unaware that the jacket was second hand and had cost me next to nothing to buy. Goes to show, you don't need lots of money to be stylish, just a knack for putting the right pieces of clothing together, even if they're cheap, second hand clothes.

Sparks - Big Boy

MY DUESENBERG 'STARPLAYER TV.' I BOUGHT THIS GUITAR FROM MUSIC GROUND FOR A VERY REASONABLE PRICE SOME YEARS AGO. IT HAD BEEN RETURNED BY ITS ORIGINAL PURCHASER DUE TO IT ARRIVING WITH SOME SUPERFICIAL DAMAGE. I GOT IT FOR FAR LESS THAN THE ALMOST 2K THEY COST TODAY... .

Gibson 60' Corvette Les Paul