What A Nice Way To Turn 17

A couple of Big Star related singles, one featuring Mr Alex Chilton and one Mr Christopher Bell, the sleeves (including credits) and the YouTube clips of one track from each single. Then a little thing that's gonna please ya, a Big Star (Pete Frame-style) Family Tree from my collection. 

With a kind of vested interest in the release of, in April 2012, the 2CD set by Epic Soundtracks "Wild Smile" on Troubador Records - honoured to have compiled the second CD of rare and unreleased music and to have scribbled the sleeve notes - as my contribution to promoting its release, here's an imperfect (unreleased, perhaps understandably so.....) gem that doesn't feature on the set.

From a Spanish radio session in 1995, a lovely leisurely acoustic version of the classic "When The Rain Comes".

Okay, so there's a danger of this becoming almost exclusively an archive for the works of Nikki Sudden and his brother Epic Soundtracks - not necessarily a bad thing - and to be fair the first two posts of 2012 feature Nikki - but rest assured, we'll deliver a little variety in months to come. Anyway, I've been planning for some months now to start the process of copying some videos on to DVD and getting them on to YouTube - finally got round to coming up with this half hour extract from a video made back in 1991 by my brother, Nik, and ace photographer Steve Gridley. Brief details of the various locations used appear on the notes with the clip. Still to come, more of Nikki strumming away in his parents' garden, some live acoustic and band stuff and some cool clips of the '95 version of the Jacobites messing around in the studio. Kinda good to be up and running again - we'll see how long it lasts this time!

Nikki Sudden at the 100 Club, Oxford Street, London - 17th May 1983 - Photo by Nik Coleman Following the recently posted introduction to Nikki Sudden's unpublished novel "Albion Sunrise" we've dipped into the tale itself and extracted Chapter 12, "Johnny Thunders". Enjoy. Albion Sunrise: Chapter 12 - Johnny Thunders "In the dark-lit surroundings of The Establishment tea-rooms, general bric-a-brac and curio shop, The Bagman has once more taken up the reins and is keenly talking on the same generally much misunderstood subject of pure rock’n’roll. But, we find that he’s veered from the purity, albeit it seldom seen, or indeed rarely, if ever, understood by the general populace, of Jerry Lee Lewis and Memphis rockabilly, to fields further from home. Unfortunately by doing so he loses Mr. Dickens. For Mr. Dickens’ heart, it must be said, mainly resides in rock and roll’s first few timeless years. “ If there’s anything to be said on the general feelin...

Nikki Sudden & Jowe Head at the Epic Soundtracks Tribute at London's The Garage 10th January 1998 In addition to his recently published (excellent) autobiography "The Last Bandit", Nikki seemed to be forever working on one written project or another - be it his history of The Wick, the house on Richmond Hill in London sold by actor John Mills to the Stones' Ronnie Wood, or one of several plays written for, but never taken up by, Radio 4 (including "The Bagman And The Twangman"). I have to admit though that I never saw much of the "Bring Back Ian McLagan" project which he mentions below. By far the biggest of these was "Albion Sunrise", his as yet unpublished novel. I'll post a couple of chapters over months to come, but, for now, here's his introduction. "This book was begun in Berlin during January, February, March, April & May of 1997. On the computers of Brenda Parkerson & Britta Schenkel, and the lap-top th...

There was a good degree of camaraderie between fanzines back when we were "in our pomp" (coughs....) and planned for the issue that never happened was this English translation of an article on Suicide which originally appeared in Finnish magazine Ripple. Whilst it borrows from (uncredited) previously published interviews with Rev and Vega, if you know little of the history of this massively influential New York duo, it remains an excellent introduction to the origins and art of Suicide. As an introduction to Suicide, a snatch or two of cheap melodrama couldn't be much worse than any other way. So, who could know what Suicide really is? “Suicide is painless” No, it is a desperate, painful act. “An act like Suicide is prepared with the silence of heart” (Camus) Pathetic, unverified. “Suicide interviewed in 1971; “What is your message to the youth of America?” “Shoot up, man. Just shoot up.” Stinking Black Humour. “Suicide is like coming in off the street and fin...