What A Nice Way To Turn 17

Mercury Rev cover Nikki Sudden's "Silver Street" to exceptional effect.

Johnny Thunders & Jerry Nolan Back in 1985, I was put in touch with Nina Valez Guidio (aka Nina Antonia) to discuss a proposal that we should do a special issue of what A Nice Way To Turn Seventeen dedicated to Johnny Thunders. Nina was working on what would become “Johnny Thunders; In Cold Blood”, the official biography, that was eventually published in 1987 by Jungle Books. I was a fan of The Heartbreakers especially and held a slightly morbid fascination of the self-destructive tendencies of Johnny Thunders. More importantly, I loved the “Hurt Me” album that had come out in 1983 and I'd been at the Heartbreakers' March 1984 reunion shows in Nottingham (still one of the best live shows I ever saw) and London (as described below – an interesting show shall we say – glad I'd seen them in Nottingham though......). He'd appeared in issue 1 and issue 2 of WANWTTS with both pieces, “Heartbreaker! Hipshaker! Troublemaker! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!” and “My Guitar Never...

From the Jacobites limited edition "Kiss Of Life" LP, a fairly magical version of the Cat Stevens song.

All over in one minute 26 seconds. It seems 1977 had its moments.....

Photo: Diptychon:XVI Face A Nikki Sudden Untitled by Robert Maria Quickborn "Went to bed after finishing at least one bottle of port. Fell asleep to the strangest dreams possible. One of them involved my friend, Dave Burns, who died a few months or so back. He was standing there - wherever it was it wasn't on earth - wearing a beautiful suit from some material I gave him years ago. He told me that he was really enjoying myself. I asked if I could see my brother - to be told that he was busy. I was asked if I'd like to stay, but I said I couldn't. I've had these kind of dreams a few times since Epic died - with him asking me to come with him. I told my mother of this and she said, 'Don't go...' Sometimes it seems that it would be so easy to slip over. But then you leave despair behind... " This was Nikki in his journal for May 2004. The Dave Burns to whom he refers is none other than Desperate Dave, and it is he I have to thank for this piece (a...

attack! Attack! ATTACK!

I write this on the eve of the fifth anniversary of Nikki Sudden's passing on 26th March 2006. I have no doubt I am one of many friends and fans who miss him enormously. Rest assured the folks in my house will be lifting a glass of port in his memory tomorrow. Back in the mid to late 1980's I was doing my bit to try and get my friend Nikki Sudden a higher profile in the States. I guess I'd come to the conclusion that the UK was long since a vain errand, that mainland Europe had embraced him already, and that now, the Land Of The Free stood a chance of being more open to what he was doing. To be fair, the obvious interest from, and regard in which he was held by, The Replacements' Paul Westerberg at least served somewhat as a pointer for me. So at the invitation of Art Black and Monica Dee of (Hoboken, New Jersey) fanzine "Away From The Pulsebeat", I wrote a kind of background and introduction to Nikki. This appeared in their early 1988 ed...

A young James Luther Dickinson (from Jim Dickinson Facebook Photos) I found a further tape with another (somewhat shorter) section of the Jim Dickinson "interview" on WEVL Memphis which I present to you here, once again with the music he played (with one extra bonus track). JLD – I stole my arrangement of “John Brown” - anybody who's heard – I had never heard the Dylan version when I cut the song – it doesn't have the chorus in it. Only thing I'd heard was the Staple Singers which is what I copied – which makes mine sound stupid (...PAUSE....) A little song about mama! This is with Dr John and Charley Freeman playing guitar and Memphis's own Charlie Lawing playing clarinet with French embouchure – and T Tommy McClure playing the inside out stereophonic Lesley-ised bass.... James Luther Dickinson - "John Brown" Another great ending on that one – reminds me of the Lawson & Four More record. JLD – Well that was, yeah, Terry Manning's ...

A late 70's recording by the late great.

Photo - deSingel International Arts Campus On the first anniversary of Alex Chilton's sad death, in addition to pointing you in the direction of the two part interview we ran on this blog earlier this year; http://whatanicewaytoturn17.blogspot.com/2011/01/alex-chilton-by-epic-soundtracks.html and http://whatanicewaytoturn17.blogspot.com/2011/01/part-two-alex-chilton-by-epic.html here's a piece I ran on another blog I was working on a while back, posted on 21 st July 2009: "To a generation of 20 and 30 somethings, the name Alex Chilton probably attaches itself more to The Replacements than to the man himself, from their song "Alex Chilton" : "If he was from Venus, would he feed us with a spoon? If he was from Mars, wouldn't that be cool? Standing right on campus, would he stamp us in a file? Hangin' down in Memphis all the while. (chorus:) Children by the million sing for Alex Chilton when he comes 'round They sing "I'm in love. ...