OK – I was forwarded an email from Brian Eno this afternoon, asking people to circulate it as widely as possible. To declare an interest, I work for the BBC where the cynically-named Delivering Quality First cuts are about to take a bite out of my little corner of the world. So if this had [...]
Going through my stash of old tracks we’ve previously played on 6 Music Introducing, I came across this mysterious piece by the Portugese musician Joao Cabrita as part of his O Atlas project. The words are by the Welsh poet Kelvin Hayes, but delivered by Joao himself in this strange and slightly otherworldly performance, which [...]
Buckingham New University in High Wycombe generously presented me with an honorary Phd last week. Pic shows yrs trly in borrowed finery with Vice-Chancellor Prof Ruth Farwell. It was surprising – not to mention deeply flattering – to follow the likes of Trevor Baylis, Terry Pratchett and Edwyn Collins in being honoured by the Faculty. [...]
Was pleased and highly flattered to see that my song Glad To Be Gay has made it into Time Out’s list of 100 Songs That Changed History, amid VERY illustrious company indeed. Stravinsky’s Rite Of Spring ? Blimey. Click on the image above to go to the full list. The song also has a dedicated [...]
Friends, musicians and listeners – I’m celebrating my 60th birthday in three weeks’ time on June 1st with a self-financed gig at Shepherds Bush Empire in London – and you can help us spread the word about this great night out: My band includes punk legend TV SMITH on guitar and award-winning composer and producer [...]
Interesting interview with The Big Pink by Alexis Petrides in The Guardian last Friday in which they complained about people assuming that they’re gay. Hmmm. Let’s try substituting “Jewish” for “gay” in that same article and apply it to another (imaginary) Shoreditch band – who’ve been experiencing similar problems. Yes, nods The Big Yid’s Roddy [...]
Photo and text from Mind Out for Mental Health‘s 1 in 4 project, 2002. One way of looking at mental health problems is as a gap between the way we view the world internally and the way we experience it externally. If there’s too big a gap we get into trouble. I went to a [...]
Sunday
show
Blog RSS
Festival at Riverside Oct 20 – Nov 1
To celebrate the 2nd anniversary of BBC Introducing: Fresh On The Net we present a fortnight of outstanding new songwriters, indie bands and electronic artists at Riverside Studios in Hammersmith, West London from Tuesday 20th October to Sunday November 1st. All artists have equal billing and all tickets are £6 – click here to book. [...]