New Found Glory (formerly A New Found Glory) is an American pop-punk band from Coral Springs, Florida, formed in 1997. The band currently consists of Jordan Pundik (vocals), Chad Gilbert (guitar), Ian Grushka (bass) and Cyrus Bolooki (drums). Longtime guitarist and lyricist Steve Klein departed from the band, in late 2013, following "personal differences." During their lengthy recording career, the band have released eight studio albums, one live album, two EPs, and three cover albums.
Click on the links to enjoy the music of New Found Glory.
Formed in Bradford, West Yorkshire in 1980 New Model Army have undergone many line up changes over the intervening years but they have continued to tour and to record new music.
I was trying to recall the first time I ever stumbled across them and I'm fairly certain that they were supporting The Gun Club at the Lyceum Ballroom in London pretty early in their career. I was blown away by the song 'Vengence' that they performed that night. Whilst there have been periods in their recording history that for one reason or another passed me by their last two albums really gripped me.
Click on the links to listen to and enjoy the music. Go on, they say there's no rest....
8th April 1977, that's a day that's seared into the mind and heart of everyone who was ever a Punk Rocker because it was the day that The Clash released their Debut Album on CBS.
In February 1993, the New Musical Express magazine ranked the album number 13 in its list of The Greatest Albums of All Time. NME also ranked The Clash number 3 in its list of The Greatest Albums of the '70s, and wrote in the review that "the speed-freaked brain of punk set to the tinniest, most frantic guitars ever trapped on vinyl. Lives were changed beyond recognition by it".
The Clash 1977 Photo by Chalkie Davies
CBS in America had deemed the album as
"not radio friendly" and chose not to release the album until 1979 and
in doing so revamped the album totally! More than 100,000 copies of the 1977 original had been imported to the States prior to the release of their version!
Omitted from the US version were the following tracks:
"Deny"
"Cheat"
"Protex Blue"
"48 Hours"
"White Riot" (original version)
Added were the following tracks:
"Clash City Rockers" - Initially released as a single (A-side) in the UK in February 1978
"Complete Control" - Initially released as a single (A-side) in the UK in September 1977
"White Riot" (re-recorded version) - Initially released as a single (A-side) in the UK in March 1977
"I Fought the Law" - Initially released as a track on the Clash EP The Cost of Living in the UK in May 1979
"Jail Guitar Doors" - Initially released as the B-side to "Clash City Rockers" in the UK in February 1978
In his 1979 consumer guide for The Village Voice, critic Robert Christgau gave the album's US import an A rating and stated, "Cut for cut, this may be the greatest rock and roll album (plus limited-edition bonus single) ever manufactured in the U.S. It offers 10 of the 14 titles on the band's British debut as well as 7 of the 13 available only on 45. The U.K. version of The Clash is the greatest rock and roll album ever manufactured anywhere"
A free single was given away with the US version of the album and the two tracks 'Gates of the West' and 'Groovy Times' had both been released on 'The Cost of Living EP'alongside 'Capital Radio' and 'I Fought the Law' two months earlier in the UK.
I was a month away from my 14th birthday
when the debut album was released in the UK and I can never forget the
excitement of hearing the album for the first time. It was some of the
angriest and most energetic music I can ever remember hearing. It was
rough sounding as well (none of the polish that their 2nd album 'Give 'Em Enough Rope' had) just like their live shows at the time. There was also something else about the album that was great and that was the lyrics in some of the songs were like a reflection of what was going on in my own thoughts and that's a good thing because The Clash did have something to say and as a kid it was great to hear it set in the back drop of such fantastic music. It's quite strange listening to it again 38 years down the road. Some of the songs even sound like they are still speaking into our lives in big and small ways:
"This time he's gonna really tell the boss
Gonna really let him know exactly how he feels" (Janie Jones) - more than a few of us would love to do that more than once a day in our working situations!
"Who needs the Parliament
Sitting making laws all day
They're all fat and old
Queuing for the House of Lords" (Remote Control) - totally spot on as well for today as we are heading here in the UK toward the General Election!The dissatisfaction with Government that
is so strong today was around back then as well (and the Politicians
haven't changed that much from the words written by Mick Jones and Joe Strummer).
"All the power's in the hands Of people rich enough to buy it" (White Riot) - not much has changed since 1977 this is still the case!
"Hate and war - the only things we got today" (Hate and War) - still got that in abundance in the world today!
"What the hell is wrong with me? I'm not who I want to be I tired spot cream an' I tried it all I'm crawling up the wall!" (What's My Name) - in an age of the Social Media Explosion we are still trying to find our identity and sense of belonging and are still unknown!
"Black or white turn it on, face the new religion Everybody's sitting 'round watching television!" (London's Burning) - though today it would probably be our iPhones, Smart Phones and Computer Screens!
"They offered me the office, offered me the shop They said I'd better take anything they'd got" (Career Opportunities) - and the Government today are still forcing people into jobs they are probably going to end up hating! People out of work really have no choice, either take it or you get nothing!
"if you wanna survive you better learn how to lie" (Cheat) - not that I would condone this myself but it still seems to be the way to get what you need that you have to be dishonest. It's a sad fact of life that honesty is not rewarded!
"Scaring the nation with their guns and ammunition Police and thieves in the street" (Police and Thieves) - You only have to pick up a paper or read the news to see the rise of gun violence on the streets of our Cities, and it's not just the 'Thieves' carrying them and causing havoc! Heard today about the situation in South Carolina with the cop shooting an unarmed man!
"I don't wanna hear about what the rich are doing I don't wanna go to where the rich are going They think they're so clever, they think they're so right But the truth is only known by guttersnipes" (Garageland) - I still hold to this even today! The Elite (the rich - and of course not everyone who is financially sound is a creep these days!) always think they are better off than us mere proles!
The Brand New Album from Boz Scaggs, 'A Fool To Care' was released on 429 Records at the end of March. It's been a couple of years since his last album 'Memphis' - which I absolutely loved. This time around there's only one Self-Penned tune on it, 'Hell To Pay' which features the guitar work of Bonnie Raitt. There's also a duet with Lucinda Williams that closes the album, a cover of 'Whispering Pines' originally performed by The Band. Inbetween there's covers of Al Green, Curtis Mayfield, The Reverends and The Impressions, all done with a deft touch by Scaggs. The album was apprarently recorded in four days in Nashville and although done in a short space of time it doesn't take anything away from just how classy it sounds.
I was also excited to hear that the 1969 album 'Boz Scaggs' has been reissued as a kind of Deluxe version. The package contains the original 1969 mix and also the 1977 Remix of the album that had come out on Vinyl. The good folks at Rhino Records have brought them both together for the first time ever. The album was recorded at the famed Muscle Shoals and Duane Allman is just one of many great musicians on the album. The highlight of this album for me has always been 'Loan Me A Dime', 12 and a half minutes of sheer musical bliss! The 1977 Remix extends the song by a further 30 seconds or so.
999 are an English punk rock band, formed in London in December, 1976. From the period of 1976 to 1985, the lineup of 999 consisted of Nick Cash (vocals, guitar), Guy Days (lead guitar), Jon Watson (bass) and Pablo LaBrittain(drums). (As a result of injuries sustained in a motor accident, LaBrittain was temporarily replaced by drummer Ed Case aka Paul Edwards in 1980.) Jon Watson left the band in 1985; being replaced by Danny Palmer, who remained with the band until 1991. Palmer was replaced by Arturo Bassick, who remains the bass player with 999 to this date.
Between 1978 and 2007, 999 released fourteen singles and twelve studio albums. Five of the singles released by 999 between 1978 and 1981 charted within the Top 75 in the UK Singles Chart, with one further single released by 999 in 1978, Homicide, charting within the Top 40. In addition, as a result of extensive touring in the United States in the early 1980s, the band's third and fourth studio albums: The Biggest Prize in Sport and Concrete, each charted on the U.S. Billboard 200.
Despite having formed in 1976, 999 have only experienced two permanent changes to their original lineup and has continued to record and play live to the present day.
Click on THE LINKS to enjoy the music of 999.
The Albums (*just a track from album rather than full album) 999 (March 1978, United Artists Records, UAG 30199) # 53 UK Albums Chart. Separates (September 1978, United Artists, UAG 30209) High Energy Plan (U.S./Canada Release only: 1979, PVC / Radar / Passport)* Based upon Separates, it replaced various album tracks with various singles The Biggest Prize in Sport (January 1980, Polydor Records, POLS 1013) # 177 U.S. Billboard Album Chart Concrete (April 1981, Albion, ITS 999)* # 192 U.S. Billboard 13th Floor Madness (November 1983, Albion, AS 8502)* Face to Face (March 1985, LaBritain, LABLP 1000)*
Going to be taking a few days off as I'm off to London to see The Darling Buds perform two shows over the Easter Weekend. Normal service will resume Tuesday 7th April.
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