What A Nice Way To Turn 17

“...even when we had got big and had support groups, we had to get the supports to tune up for us because we couldn't!” Vic Godard In the mid to late '80's and early '90's, New Zealander David Swift was a regular writer for the New Musical Express as well as a valued contributor to our magazine. It was he who introduced me to the bands on New Zealand's Flying Nun Records most particularly The Chills, The DoubleHappys and The Sneaky Feelings – the latter two of whom appeared on the LP that accompanied issue 6. As well as writing for us an excellent introduction to New Zealand music, he also interviewed the very wonderful Vic Godard and wrote it up for issue 6 of WANWTTS back in 1986. " Vic Godard is back, but only just. The Absent-Minded Tuxedo has, so far this year, given us an LP, and even performed live. And for all we know, he's now gone back within himself for the rest of the decade. He's like that, is Vic. “T.R.O.U.B.L.E.” was issued on ...

....during the same sorting that unearthed Epic Soundtrack's US TV performance, I came across this video too. Back in 1991, Nikki Sudden recorded "The Jewel Thief" album for UFO Records (featuring, among others, all of REM, bar Michael Stipe) and the lead track "I Belong To You" was chosen as the single. UFO commissioned a video and this is it.

Sorting through a stack of stuff for the blog, came across a few videos, one of which was this, Epic Soundtracks & Evan Dando appearing on Conan O'Brien's NBC talk show on 14.11.94, performing "C'mon Daddy", a song they'd just written (about Liv Tyler) but actually not yet finished. (As YouTube seem determined to put a stop on it I've stuck it here and on my Facebook page. It'll probably get taken down, but for now, enjoy this brief but sweet little song.)

Karen Schoemer later wrote for Newsweek, New York Times and Rolling Stone, and in 2006, her book “Great Pretenders: My Strange Love Affair With '50's Pop Music” was published by Simon & Schuster. Back in 1987 though, she interviewed David Johansen, in his Buster Poindexter persona, for issue 7 of WANWTTS. His version of Arrow's “Hot Hot Hot” reached #45 in the US Charts in 1987 and he released four albums in total under the pseudonym, the last in 1997. He's obviously better known to "our readers" as lead singer in the New York Dolls, so the good news is that Karen does get to ask him some stuff about the NYDs. Fair to say that his responses regarding the Dolls lack a degree of enthusiasm and certainly do not point to the likelihood of a future reformation. An Interview With Buster Poindexter by Karen Schoemer “Call him chameleon, conceptualist or dirty old punk, David Johansen by any other name can still shake more action than any other would-be ...

Robert Leroy Johnson 1911-1938 Nikki was more than just a contributor to the magazine - assistant editor it seemed at times and always an inspirational figure. A lot of what we did would not have got done without his constant chiding and encouragement and of course, it provided a virtually unrestricted platform for Nikki's many musical musings. This particular piece never appeared - it was lined up for issue 7 - and there are sections which, in light of his own unexpected and early demise, seem to have significantly added meaning. Nikki Sudden 1956 - 2006 (in Warwick for the "Robespierre's Velvet Basement" photo session) "The legend was there all the time. It was there long before we were born. The kid died at the crossroads – arms outstretched – poisoned by some lousy woman – some dead man – only 21 years old. You know how it was; a few good years, then go. Bury his body in a shallow grave. An unmarked grave. No tombstone, not even a black cross. Let him go...

Mr Epic Soundtracks As described, the second part of the exhaustive Alex Chilton interview by Epic Soundtracks as included in issue six of What A Nice Way To Turn Seventeen. Let's get straight into it. The cover of What A Nice Way To Turn Seventeen Issue Six's magazine The next record to come out would've been “The Singer Not The Song” EP. There was an album that came out after that from all those sessions, “Bach's Bottom”. Did you have anything to do with the release of that? No, Jon Tiven had the rights to those tracks. How about the Chris Stamey single (“Summer Sun”)? Was there anything cut at the same time as that? Well we did four tracks of mine, but Ork Records could never pay for the tapes. Did the whole punk thing going on in the UK in '76/'77 mean much to you? Well, I think it's difficult to understand the English mentality that bred the Sex Pistols, because the social conditions must not exist in America. I always thought that Americans wh...