Monday 27 February 2012

New Releases In The Lost Broadcasts Series Available NOW!

The Lost Broadcasts are a series of DVDs featuring performances that have rarely been seen since the original transmission on German television, in some cases more than forty years ago. Some of the artists featured within the series are legendary and these “Lost” performances will be a fine addition to any music fans collection.


The material featured on this DVD is drawn from a session that took place in March 1972 and included the songs Memphis Tennessee, Let It Rock , In The Wee Wee Hours, Oh Carol, (which initially starts as Let It Rock but which breaks down before the band re start and Chuck leads them into the proper take of Oh Carol), School Days, C’est la Vie, Roll Over Beethoven and an extended interview. Incidentally for this session Chuck was backed by Liverpool band Rocking Horse who featured former member of the Merseybeats Billy Kinsley on bass alongside Jimmy Campbell on guitar, Dave Harrison drums and Michael Snow on piano.


The performances featured on this DVD are drawn from two sessions filmed just over a year apart. The first session from January 1970 saw John pioneering a line up without a drummer. The then current album was Turning Point and featured Jon Mark on guitar and John Almond on sax. Holding down the bottom end was bassist Steve Thompson who left shortly before this session was filmed and would eventually join Stone The Crows. The bassist featured here was Thompson’s short lived replacement Alex Dmochowski. Two tracks were performed live in the studio one of which would be familiar to those people owning the Turning Point album as I’m Gonna Fight For You JB featured on that live album. The second track is the extended workout of The Train.

The next session was filmed in February 1971 by which time John Mayall had formed another band, this time featuring American musicians including Don “Sugarcane” Harris, Paul Lagos, Larry Taylor and Harvey Mandel the latter two musicians had previously been with American blues band Canned Heat. The two tracks featured here My Pretty Girl and Deep Blue Sea would feature on the USA Union album which had been released in late 1970.

Night Featuring Chris Thompson Reissue Second Album Long Distance

Night, the band formed by former Manfred Mann's Earthband vocalist Chris Thompson at the end of the seventies, reissue their second album Long Distance through Gonzo on the 16th of April

Originally released in 1980 Long Distance is the second album from Night and this album features material mainly written or co written by front man Chris Thompson although there is a cover of the Todd Rundgren song You Cried Wolf. The line up had changed as well with the departure of both drummer Rick Morotta and keyboardist Nicky Hopkins.

Recorded in London at Battery Studio the album was produced by Tim Friese-Greene who also played on the album. This release is the first time this album has been made available as a single album previously it was part of a double set with the first album and it is the first time it has been released in the UK.
Chris Thompson recorded an exclusive interview where he talks about both Night albums. The interview can be found here:
http://www.gonzomultimedia.co.uk/gonzo_web_radio.html

Judge Smith Releases His Third Songstory Album: Orfeas

Judge Smith releases the album Orfeas through Gonzo on the 26th of March. It is the third "Songstory" release from the former Van Der Graaf Generator man following in the footsteps of Curly's Airships and The Climber

Judge's third Songstory is a retelling of the ancient myth of Orpheus, the magical musician who travels to the Land of the Dead in search of the lost Eurydice. Orfeas features John 'Fury' Ellis, David Jackson & Lene Lovich and the following cast of performers: Gigi Cavalli Cocchi, René van Commenée, Dorie Jackson, David Minnick, Ben Nation, Ricardo Odriozola, Marco Olivotto, 'Black Path', Bert Santilly, David Shaw-Parker & Judge Smith.

Orfeas is performed by seven separate ensembles, playing entirely different kinds of music, including Rock Band, String Sextet, Mediterranean Guitar, Classic Trance and Death Metal.

Judge Smith will be recrdinng an exclusive podcast to tie in with the release of the album

Wally: First Two Albums Reissued With Bonus Tracks In April

Wally reissue their first two albums in April through Gonzo. The first release will be the bands second album Valley Gardens on the 2nd of April. Valley Gardens was originally released in 1975 and features the extended song The Reason Why which took up one side of the album on its original release

Valley Gardens will be followed by the release of the bands self titled debut album on the 23rd of April. Originally released in 1974 the album receved strong critical support and the band supported Rick Wakeman at his Crystal Palace Garden Party Concert.

Both reissues have been overseen by founder member Roy Webber and also feature bonus tracks from Roy's own archive in the case of the self titled album the bonus tracks are Right By Me and Yes I Would plus a live version of Your Own Way

The bonus tracks for Valley Gardens are Green Room Smiles and a live version of Nez Perce

Both albums were originally produced by Bob Harris of The Old grey Whistle test fame and Rick Wakeman served as Executive Producer on the self titled debut album.

This is the first time these two albums have been relased on CD in the UK and as such will be welcomed by the loyal Wally fan base

Friday 24 February 2012

Robert Calvert's First Book of Poetry Re Published

Robert Calvert enjoyed massive commercial success in his lifetime as a member of Hawkwind and also enjoyed a successful solo musical career. He was also an accomplished writer and poet publishing a number of well respected books.

As part of their move into publishing books Gonzo Publishing is proud to re publish Robert Calvert's first commercially available book of prose and poetry Centigrade 232.

Centigrade 232 was originally published in 1977 whilst Bob was a member of Hawkwind and original copies of the book now exchange hands for high prices on the collectors market.
Gonzo Publishing have now re published the book  in softback and the book is now available to order directly from the Gonzo website and also other online outlets such as Amazon

Monday 13 February 2012

Mimi Page Breathe Me In Album Trailer


Mimi Page releases her album Breathe me In shortly through Gonzo Multimedia. The album contains the track Black Valentine  which can be seen on video here for all you romantics at heart

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r1rCsmMtRM&feature=related

The album Breathe Me In will be released to Europe shortly through Gonzo Multimedia in the meantime you can watch a trailer for the album here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUbFsY8lSUs&feature=player_embedded#%21

The album has already been well received in America in terms of sales and reviews. Mimi has also played selcted solo dates notably as a guest of Jefferson Starship and Breathe Me In is going to be one of the major releases for Gonzo this spring.
You can find out more about Mimi by going to her website here

http://www.mimipage.com/

Rick Wakeman Live Album: In The Nick Of Time

Rick Wakeman releases his latest album an archive live album entitled "In The Nick Of Time" on the 19th of March.

The album was recorded in 2003 during an extensive British tour with the New English Rock Ensemble. The album is a siongle disc and contains 7 tracks including: Catherine Parr/Beware Your Enemies, No Earthly Connection,White Rock and Wurm which as many will know is a track originally found on The Yes Album as part of Starship Trooper.

In The Nick Of Time has long been anticipated by the large and dedicated Rick Wakeman fan base and the tour from which the album was sourced was one of Rick's most extensive and successful tours to date.

Wednesday 8 February 2012

Jeff Green Live At Progmneister Festival In June

Gonzo Recording artist Jeff Green has been added to the bill of the Progmeister Festival 2012.
The Festival takes place on Saturday June 9th at The Studio Tower Street, Hartlepool, Cleveland TS24 7HQ
More details about the festival can be found here http://www.progmeister.com/
Tickets can be bought here http://www.nettickets.net/

Jeff will be appearing alongside The Tangent and Tony Patterson frontman of Genesis tribute band ReGenesis

Jeff is currently working on the follow up to his debut album Jessica which was released in 2011. The album is called Elder Creek and is expected sometime in the summer of 2012. Jeff will be previewing material from the new album alongside material from Jessica

Jeff's album Jessica can be purchased directly from Gonzo here:
http://www.gonzomultimedia.co.uk/artists/Jeff%20Green

Monday 6 February 2012

Michael Des Barres In Discussion With Gonzo About New Album and Archive Projects

Michael Des Barres recently played a special showcase for Gonzo MD Rob Ayling in front of  a specially invited audience at Little Feat's rehearsal facillity in North Hoillywood.
Michael performed new songs which will fore the basis of a new studio album which will be released later in 2012.
Michael is pictured above front centre with Gonzo MD Rob Ayling front left

Rob Ayling was also discussing with Michael the possibility of other archive projects with Michael which are also looking to see the light of day later in 2012 and into 2013

Michael first came to prominence in the seventies as frontman of British band Silverhead where he recorded two albums for Purple records. Following that Michael formed Detective  with former Yes keyboardist Tony Kaye and recorded two albums for led Zeppelin's Swansong label with the first album being produced by Andy Johns and James Robinson with James Robinson being a pseudonym for Jimmy page.

Into the eigties  and Micheal formed Chequered past with former Sex Pistol Steve Jones and former Blondie rhythm section Clem Burke and Nigel Harrsion(Nigel had also been a member of Silverhead)
In the eighties Michael also replaced Robert Palmer in the Power Station performing at the legendary Live Aid concert in Philadelphia.

As a songwriter Michael also scored a massive success when he co wrote the song Obsession with Holly Knight which was a huge hit on both sides of the Atlantic for Animotion

Michael Des Barres is also an accomplished actor starting his career in the film To Sir With Love alongside Sidney Poitier and Lulu. he subsequently appeared in Television in the dramas McGyver and Miami Vice(With The Power Station),music however is Michael's first love and the new album is big priority for Michael this year along with the other archive projects currently under discussion with Gonzo.

Watch this space for more details

Wednesday 1 February 2012

Please Help In Appeal That Will Benefit Tibetans In Exile

Gonzo Multimedia are heartily behind an appeal which could benefit 56,000 Tibetan’s living in exile.
We need just x40 hard drives. Can you help by providing one?That old spare hard drive, abandoned in the corner of your desk space would give several thousand Tibetans, lay and monastic, direct access to their heritage and in doing so would enable us to fulfil H.H. Dalai Lama’s request for his people.

In the 1980′s, at the urgent request of H.H. the Dalai Lama the Meridian Trust began to film many of the old teachers who escaped from Tibet before they passed away. This original filming initiative came to be known as the L
ama Project; a total of 600 hours of unique footage was recorded.

To learn more about the Project go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MciTeg3r548
and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=xcNtoNeR228

Meridian Trust has digitized and encoded these 600 hours of unique Buddhist teachings so that they fit onto a
120GB (or larger) portable hard drive. In March this year around 40 representatives from the major monasteries of India and Nepal are meeting at Sarnath University, India, making this the ideal opportunity to give each monastery a copy of the Lama Project on hard drive.


 
You can help by:

While the Tibetans have had so much of their culture and traditions destroyed, the culmination of the Lama Project directly gives back something of what has been lost. We are sincerely grateful for any contributions you feel you can make towards helping us achieve our goal.

Anyone giving to this URGENT appeal before the end of February 2012 will receive a FREE CD of ‘Songs for Tibet’.
View the map of the network of Monasteries: http://www.tibetanknowledge.org/provisional/map.html

Monasteries that will benefit:Ulan Bator: Gandan Monastery Library, Mongolian National LibraryLadakh: Lama Yuru MonasteryHimachal Pradesh: Drolma Ling Nunnery, Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, Menri Bon Monastic Centre, Thupten Dorjidak Institute, Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts, Tibetan Medical InstituteDehra Dun: Bon Zamongyal Yungdrung Ling Monastery, Drikung Kagyu Institute, Mindroling Monastery, Ngor Monastery, Sakya College, Sakya MonasteryKathmandu: Shechen Monastery, Thukche Choling Nunnery, Trangu Tashi Choling Monastery, Triten Norbutse Bonpo Education CentreSikkim: Dodrup Chen Monastery, Rumtek College, Sikkim Institute of TibetologyArunachal Pradesh: Gyuto Monastic UniversityVaranasi: Central Institute for Higher Tibetan Studies, CIHTS Medical Institute, Thrangu Vajra Vidhya InstituteOrissa: Dechen Choephel Ling MonasteryNorth Kanara: Drepung Gomang Monastic University, Drepung Loseling Monastic University, Ganden Shartse Monastic University, Ganden Jangtse Monastic University, Jangchub Choling NunneryMysore:. Dekey Larsoe Computer Input Centre, Dzongkar Chode College, Gyumey Monastic University, Ngagyur Nyingma Monastery, Rabling Computer Input Centre, Sera Jey Monastic University, Sera Mey Monastic University


THANK YOU for any help you can offer!

Very best wishes,

Dolma Beresford
Director

...BECAUSE SOME OF US THINK THAT THIS STUFF IS IMPORTANT
What happens when you mix what is - arguably - the world's most interesting record company, with an anarchist manic-depressive rock music historian polymath, and a method of dissemination which means that a daily rock-music magazine can be almost instantaneous?

Most of this blog is related in some way to the music, books and films produced by Gonzo Multimedia, but the editor has a grasshopper mind and so also writes about all sorts of cultural issues which interest him, and which he hopes will interest you as well.