BEEHIVE CANDY

Is the glass half full or half empty? Lets go for half full on this occasion. Sometimes broadcasters only cover or transmit part of a concert, and I am guessing (having as a Sparks fan, tried to check this one out) this is what occurred here. Contractual obligation, a lack of appreciation on the part of the producer or presenter, other more 'current favorable artists', and of course available 'air-time' in the 'pre-digital' age, may have resulted in Sparks being cut down to just a thirty minute broadcast on this occasion - who knows? If I had a pound, a dollar (US or any other) or a Euro, for every artists song that has 'lifted' some of Sparks unique style and creativity, I reckon I would be doing very well financially. There are more complete Sparks bootlegs out there, this one stands by the audio quality, and the actual performance on the day. 1994 saw the brothers Mael return with the release of 'Gratuitous Sax and Senseless Violins', in turn ...

Goldfrapp have a new CD album release ( Seventh Tree ) due out here in the UK on the 25th February 2008. I am an unashamed and somewhat 'gushing' fan of Goldfrapp. No doubt (and based on the last three albums) I will buy the deluxe CD/DVD version of the album for my collection, regardless of the freebie mp3 versions that arrive. Every album they have released, contains a healthy amount of 'new direction' whilst retaining the very essence of Goldfrapp, which is a unique style that skips across genres and keeps music cretins (sorry critics) on their feet. From the fourth coming album here is the initial 'single' release: Goldfrapp - A & E.mp3 Back in 2004 Goldfrapp played Glastonbury, and thankfully a reasonable part of their show was recorded for broadcast, on either MTV or the BBC who were both present at that years event. This is one continuous segment of the performance (except for the first song which opened the show and is edited on). The performan...

In the early days of The Monkees , there was some fuss over the fact that session musicians played on their first couple of albums. Add to this the fact that they had been brought together for a TV series, any thought of artistic integrity or status was a definite no. However they were fun, their fan base included The Beatles, and repeats of the TV series, still appear time and again on cable and satellite channels. However by 1968 the TV series was over, the band completed a far east tour, the last with Peter Tork as part of the band at that juncture, and their very alternative and psychedelic film 'Head' was released. This is from the 'far east' tour, and captures a band that at least live, probably still had something to prove. You can also enjoy a couple of 'hot rocking' Japanese DJ's whose voice overs, bring a huge smile to my face, somehow I think this was pretty serious stuff for them. Clearly from a radio broadcast of the show - FM thankf...

Having posted a number of Jeff Buckley live performances last year, I will try hard not to repeat myself. The previous boots are still available, and continue to be downloaded, I guess by new visitors to the Beehive, and a few who discover us through Googling Jeff etc. This is Jeff live at WNEW (Sony Studios) with a very fortunate audience, who also got to 'enjoy' his wine, as well as the music - it will all become clear when you listen. It is so good to hear him in such a fantastic mood, and the intimacy of the event really makes this performance special. WNEW-FM were at this time just into a new music format, that was promoting, less mainstream 'alternative rock' artists, and Jeff fitted in well to these aspirations. It's a great shame the station did not stick at this, but at least they are back to music these days, rather than the horrendous 'talk radio' set up, that existed a few years back. This then is Jeff Buckley live at WNEW, Sony Stu...

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark or OMD as they are more conveniently referred too, emerged from the Wirral Peninsula in the north west of England. Their live debut was in October 1978, close to home in nearby Liverpool. By the time this concert took place less than five years later, they had already notched up six top twenty singles and three top ten albums in the UK. Not bad for a band, whose electronic and partly Kraftwerk influenced music, was often very different from the mainstream at that time. In fairness founders Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys had an ear for a good tune, and with the likes of former Gong bassist Mike Howlett producing some of the material, they had every chance of the success they achieved. When I first heard 'Messages' I was blown away, having been a fan of the likes of Germany's Can, Kraftwerk, and Amon Duul, at last an English band with enough personal originality was coming up with really classy electronic music, yep this band bring back ...

You may have noticed, January 2008 has arrived. Well although it can be a lean month for new music, I have two bands that I reckon can be pretty big this year, mind you - the competition will be tough. Just look at some of the established acts with new albums lined up, and these are just the ones I am looking forward to right now! In no particular order... Emmylou Harris, Marianne Faithful, Franz Ferdinand, CSS, Madness, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, The Black Crowes, Billy Bragg, Guillemots, Martha Wainwright, Drive By Truckers, REM, David Byrne, Moby, PJ Harvey, Primal Scream, Supergrass, Counting Crows and The Pogues. Musically that's quite a taster for the year to come. However if you want a recommendation right now, then if you have not yet enjoyed No Fixed Abode , can I be the first to share this superb band with you. Their roots may be in folk (predominately modern), however as I listen I hear so many inspirations (The Waterboys, Bruce Springsteen, Fairport Convention and ...

Whiskeytown only released three albums, and yet they are often cited as one of the key elements in the development of the alternative country rock scene or 'Americana' during the 1990's. Ryan Adams and Caitlin Cary were the only two members of Whiskeytown to see the whole adventure through, indeed Ryan Adams had a reputation of being difficult to work with during the bands history, and therefore the overall turnover of members was quite high. Formed in Raleigh, North Carolina in 1994, the bands first album was released in 1996. Describing this era the entry in Wikipedia states: Faithless Street , released on Mood Food Records in 1996, established the band as one of the genre's leaders, thanks to glowing reviews in publications such as No Depression, and helped the band score a major-label record deal with the Geffen Records imprint Outpost. Faithless was re-released on the imprint in 1998 with nearly a dozen bonus tracks from the era, some of which are new, and othe...

Pink Floyd out takes and demos from 1971 and 1972. There is plenty of Pink Floyd material around from this era, including studio out takes. I plan to feature a couple of live concerts from the seventies in due course, however decided to start with these out takes for one specific reason. The quality is really good, all mp3's are at 320kbps, and the journey from the original masters is a limited one, retaining much of the initial quality. I am personally fascinated by the first track 'On The Run' and where this piece of music may have originally gone, alas - as with all musical history from bands like Pink Floyd there remain so many 'what ifs'. Track listing is: 1. ON THE RUN (OUTTAKE) 1.44m (Recorded at Abbey Road Studios, London, November 1972) 2. TIME (DEMO) 6.05m (Recorded at Abbey Road Studios, London, June 1972) 3. MONEY (ACOUSTIC DEMO) 1.38m (Recording location unknown, 1971) 4. US & THEM (DEMO) 5.27m (Recorded at Abbey Road Studios, ...

I hate the expression 'back to basics'. Yet The White Stripes even when enlisting the bag pipes as part of their sound, have such a raw primal energy, they takes rock'n'roll music 'back to b... I cannot think of another two piece band that generates such an impact (actually I am struggling to think of another two piece rock band as I write this - go on, shame me with the obvious). This is The White Stripes earlier in 2007, performing live for BBC Radio One, in front of an audience of very fortunate fans. Unfortunately there is a little bit of Radio One 'speak' early on, however once the band get going, its all good stuff. Set list: 01 Icky Thump (Performed for Jo Whiley Live Lounge - followed later by Zane Lowe hosting the remaining full show) 02 Let's Shake Hands 03 Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground 04 The Denial Twist 05 I'm Slowly Turning Into You 06 Effect and Cause 07 The Same Boy You've Always Known 08 I Think I Smell A ...

Back in July, I ran a piece on the 1991 'Alanis' album, and the rather dated 1980's 'disco' sound. This was rather cruel considering how young she was at the time (1991 that is, not last July!). I am, I hope in my own small way, something of an advocate for some of the excellent artists that have come out of Canada and achieved international recognition. Alanis Morissette is no exception, indeed as previously mentioned, she was absolutely fantastic when I saw her live in London some years ago. So in order to address the balance here is a concert of Alanis from 1996. This is from a CD boot that seems to have emerged from the Czech Republic on 'Oxygen' records. The album title is 'Miss Thing' which considering that the CD back cover, claims to have 'art direction and design' , makes me wonder about the creativeness amongst bootleggers in that part of the world, (anyway is is now digitized and free of charge). This is Alanis Moris...

The Beatles - The Alternate Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and A Little More, was released by Dolphin Productions (CDP 790103 - 2 CD set) in 1997. Like a lot of bootleg CD releases, the packaging attempted to make the album look official, however the back cover failed to list the track contents accurately, and the front shown here was a little predictable. However the music is the key factor, and on this occasion the album is something of a gem to put it mildly. For nearly every track there's the mono mix at some stage in production, and a few stereo versions along the way. There are a lot of fragments from 'The Making Of Sgt. Pepper's' with George Martin playing back the individual tracks and explaining things. There's Anthology stuff, snippets from interviews, songs previously released on the Unsurpassed Masters series by Yellow Dog, tracks from 'The Lost Pepperland Reel' (like the Good Morning Good Morning animal noises) and more. ...

The Devo credentials 'are all there'. The pivotal moment for the formation of Devo was the first hand witnessing by one of the bands founders Gerald Casale of the Kent State University shootings of May 4, 1970. The first form of Devo was the 'Sextet Devo' which performed at the 1973 Kent State performing arts festival. They are 'discovered' by David Bowie and Iggy Pop in 1976, and subsequently record ' Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! ' which was produced by Brian Eno . They are referenced as 'punk', 'new wave', 'post punk', 'art rock', and into the 1980's as the acceptable face of 'synth pop'. That's not a bad selection of street credibility references in any ones books is it? There is so much to Devo, that I am going to take the easy way out, and provide a link HERE to wikipedia. Actually I have read through it and learned a lot more, and of course been reminded of the fantastic visual...

First of all the radio bit. WPLJ became in late 1970, a '100% live free form' rock format station. By September 1971 they had developed into the very first AOR (adult orientated rock) station in the USA. The station would play the music of artists such as Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Aerosmith, Jimi Hendrix, Cream, The Doobie Brothers, Steely Dan, Deep Purple, Rod Stewart, and The Allman Brothers. The station would also play more 'popular' songs from artists such as James Taylor, Stevie Wonder, Elton John and Carly Simon. All in all, and compared to the ' AOR format' in later years, at least the music was new or relatively new back then, and throughout the 1970's WPLJ was one of the most successful stations on the planet! Procol Harum sat comfortably in WPLJ's 'free form' rock format, back in April 1971. Having moved on from the psychedelic pop music phase that was 1967's 'A Whiter Shade of Pale', Procol Harum were a well respec...

The controversy of it all! 1965, the year Bob Dylan 'went electric' . Looking back now, it all seems so quaint. Fans outraged that Bob Dylan had sold out, abandoning his folk roots, and daring to perform with a band, and not only that, some of them had 'electric guitars'. It all began at the Newport Folk Festival in July of that year, with the crowd apparently 'booing' as he performed three songs with what was then most of The Paul Butterfield Band . The legend of going electric (with the famously recorded heckle of 'Judas' the following year in Manchester - England), is of course in the scheme of things pretty unimportant, but way back then the folkies were clearly a serious bunch, not open much to their icons doing the unthinkable. Mind you it did not do Bob's record sales any harm, and can you imagine 'Desire' or 'Blood On The Tracks' as wholly acoustic affairs? After the Newport festival and in support of the...

The Byrds have been credited with forging the link between the musical style's of Bob Dylan and The Beatles back in the 1960's. They can also claim to be one of the pioneers of folk rock and country rock, whilst retaining a pedigree in the sixties psychedelia scene. Not bad eh? In 1969 they performed at the Fillmore West, the concert subsequently being released as an official album, and receiving good reviews and sales. The following year (1970) the Byrds were touring and promoting that years 'Untitled' double album , (with the second half again being live). During the tour the band were legitimately recorded in Holland by Dutch radio organisation VPRO. This concert had a notably different set list than the Fillmore West concert. This then is The Byrds, Live Concertgebouw, Amsterdam (Holland) on July 7th, 1970. This is a pristine copy from the broadcast on the Dutch Radio 2 on August 10, 2006 by KRO, as direct from the original master tape - lets just s...

I am going to avoid any pretentious personal charts for the year soon to pass. Rather you can just skip back over the previous 'Whats Up Doc' posts, and if you are still awake, after the ordeal, get a feel for some of the more current music that has appealed to my ears. Among those already featured have been, Vanessa Paradis, Clare Burson, Lucy and The Teenage Monster, Siouxsie, Tegan and Sara, Radiohead, Bruce Springsteen, Babyshambles, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, The White Stripes, Pauline Croze , and plenty of others, some well known and some not so well known. So on this edition I thought I would fill in some of the gaps, of other artists and music, that has appealed this year. Afterwards I will probably remember some more, so lets just say, this is far from definitive. Neil Young's 2007 release 'Chrome Dreams II' is simply wonderful! Full of a variety of styles , it exceeded all expectations by miles. Here are a couple of examples: Links Removed - MP3 Pol...

There are so many positive things to write about Tom Petty and his musical career. For me three things stand out immediately with a dozen or so more, hot on their heels. First of all the music both solo and with The Heartbreakers, and whether studio or live, has been almost 'a' typical working mans (and women's!) rock'n'roll, and also so good to sing or dance along to. Secondly he has the respect and admiration of so many other musicians and artists, and yet his personal ego appears from a far, to be permanently under control. My third initial thought is how he has been prepared to stand up to the music industry, and maintain his principles against the cynical ways within. He has also spoken out on the dire state of commercial radio, and so gets my immediate thumbs up on that one. This is a really good performance (well after the above comments what else would you expect), recorded at the Target Center, Minneapolis, MN, USA, on the 3rd August 1999. The set list is...

As collectors items go, I guess this really is 'A List' material. With the passing of Anthony H. Wilson, founder of Factory Records, along with the film of the late Ian Curtis and Joy Division , (with the reissues of all Joy Division material), obtaining something alternative from the band may prove difficult. That this boot is also a very real part of the post punk and new wave era at grass roots level adds to the attraction. So why were Joy Division playing a gig at a youth club, to an audience of predominately 10 to 16 year olds? They were bizarrely playing the youth club because Bob Jefferson, who was promoting the gigs at the venue on Wednesday nights, had bought them out of their first contract, so they could join Factory Records. He owned Streets Ahead records in Altrincham. They played the gig as a thank you! I do not know the kind person that cleaned up this sound board recording, however considerable work went into developing a digital version. Here ar...

First aired in 1976, Austin City Limits has become American television's longest-running concert music program. The program is taped live by PBS (public broadcast) member station KLRU on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin. Images of Austin, Texas, the self-proclaimed "Live Music Capital of the World," are seen in the opening credits. ACL's set also features a mock skyline of Austin. The show inspired the Austin City Limits Music Festival, an annual live music festival at Zilker Park in Austin. This is the soundtrack to Sheryl Crow's performance on, January 31st, 1997, at Austin City limits, Austin, Texas. Set list is: 1. Every Day is a Winding Road 2. Hard to Make a Stand 3. Leaving Las Vegas 4. A Change 5. Run, Baby, Run 6. If It Makes You Happy 7. Redemption Day 8. Strong Enough 9. Sweet Rosalyn 10. I Shall Believe This is a stereo soundtrack copy - and is a high quality recording. It is also a really good show! Replacemen...

1968 and Simon and Garfunkel were riding high in the charts both with contributions to the 'Graduate soundtrack', and the release of their album 'Bookends' along with hit singles both sides of the Atlantic. This is Simon And Garfunkel Live At The Hollywood Bowl, Hollywood, CA, USA on the 23rd August 1968. Probably intended as an official live album, the original concert recording was engineered by Al Kooper, however it eventually surfaced as a boot, on Vigotone (VT-124) under the title 'Voices of Intelligent Dissent' . Set List: 1. (2:57) Mrs Robinson 2. (2:35) Homeward Bound 3. (4:38) April Come She Will 4. (3:06) Fakin' It 5. (2:35) Overs 6. (1:39) The 59th Street Bridge song 7. (4:30) America 8. (2:46) A Most Peculiar Man 9. (3:12) I Am A Rock 10. (2:07) At The Zoo 11. (3:50) Scarborough Fair 12. (2:19) Bye Bye Love 13. (5:16) Cloudy 14. (2:43) Leaves That are Green 15. (2:23) Punky's Dilemma 16. (3:27) Benedictus 17. (2:4...