Wednesday 31 January 2018

THOM THE WORLD POET: The Daily Poem

Rob Ayling, yer Gonzo Grande Fromage, writes:

"Thom the World poet is an old mate of mine from way back in my history. Even pre-dating Voiceprint, when I was running "Otter Songs" and Thom's poetry tapes and guest appearances with Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth and Mother Gong are well known and highly regarded. It just felt right to include a daily poem from Thom on our Gonzo blog and when I approached him to do so, he replied within seconds!!! Thom is a great talent and just wants to spread poetry, light and positive energy across the globe. If we at Gonzo can help him do that - why not?

FIRST I WAS LOOKING FOR THE MOON
NEXT,I WAS LOOKING UP @THE MOON
And the sky was moving in a slow and spinning way
And stars appeared ,as if to play
And the early morning blue blood moon
put all connection in context..We are spinning
on a rock,among other rocks,some illuminated
by a planet that is decaying over time.
This little mirror of our lives
is still above us tonight..
Will be hollow by morning sunlight
As always,we only have tonight...





YES ALUMNI INTHE NEWS


Steve Howe joined Yes in 1970, just in time to reinvent progressive rock on the band's third LP, The Yes Album. Ever since, his guitar work—a blend of Wes Montgomery jazz finesse, Chet Atkins country pickin', and supercharged psychedelia—has been the band's defining instrumental element.

For decades, YES has been an essential part of the Rock universe. This band is one of the genre's most representational in the tapestry of music it has created for our ever growing music world. When YES created Fragile and their breakout hit, “Roundabout” filled the radio airwaves, their unique music ...

Billy Sherwood on Missing Chris Squire and Special Moments on Stage That Keep Him With Us ...
When you're out there on stage performing, are there moments that have caught you by surprise, since assuming the bass role in Yes? Sure. There are certain moments, and they've been different in each tour. For instance, the first tour that we did, it happened for me when we were playing “Owner.
Jon Anderson Yes Interview 2016 Part 2 Chris Squire.mp3
YES Acoustic - Soundcheck (Steve Howe, Alan White, Jon Anderson, Chris Squire, and Rick Wakeman). YES Acoustic - Soundcheck (Steve Howe, Alan White, Jon Anderson, Chris Squire, and Rick Wakeman).mp3. Play Download ...

CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO
Union
DVD - £10.99

Union (2CD)
2CD - £7.99

FRANK ZAPPA IN THE NEWS

In a recent interview made by Guitar Player Magazine, guitar legend Steve Lukather explained what happened in his auditioning for Frank Zappa's band. He said that Zappa tortured, emberrased and humiliated him. Here's the statement: “See, the way it worked in the old days in your life as a studio ...
"I tell the story in my book about my audition with Frank Zappa which really went south. I came to find out from Steve Vai that I was the sacrificial lamb to get rid of everybody else because there was 150 guitar players sitting there for one position. He [Frank] didn't want to audition 150 guitar players, so he ...
Frank Zappa at the podiumUntil recently, rock musicians with classical interests have been bolder than their classical counterparts about crossing the genre barrier: Frank Zappa, Paul McCartney, Elvis Costello, Karl Jenkins, Bryce Dessner, Richard Reed Parry, and Jonny Greenwood have composed ...

FRANK ZAPPA AT GONZO


Frank Zappa is considered to be one of the most influential rock musicians of the late twentieth century. Between the start of his career in the late fifties and his death in 1993 he recorded and rele..


On September 19, 1985, Frank Zappa testified before the United States Senate Commerce, Technology, and Transportation committee, attacking the Parents Music Resource Center or PMRC, a music organizati..

NAPOLEON MURPHY BROCK NEWS


Project/Object Ft. Napoleon Murphy Brock & Denny Walley (Frank Zappa Tribute)
Project/Object is the longest continually touring alumni based Zappa tribute band in the world and we've been lucky to have them on our stage numerous times! For nearly twenty five years they have toured and performed Zappa music with more of his bandmates than anyone other than Zappa himself.

CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO

Sunday 28 January 2018

THE GONZO TRACK OF THE DAY: Pink Fairies. the snake / city kids



CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO
Naked Radio
LP - £21.49

THOM THE WORLD POET: The Daily Poem

Rob Ayling, yer Gonzo Grande Fromage, writes:

"Thom the World poet is an old mate of mine from way back in my history. Even pre-dating Voiceprint, when I was running "Otter Songs" and Thom's poetry tapes and guest appearances with Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth and Mother Gong are well known and highly regarded. It just felt right to include a daily poem from Thom on our Gonzo blog and when I approached him to do so, he replied within seconds!!! Thom is a great talent and just wants to spread poetry, light and positive energy across the globe. If we at Gonzo can help him do that - why not?

PROSPECTING
MINING FOR YOUR ATTENTION
digging deeper to find gold
Leave those alluvial trinkets
What can be bought and sold
Something darker awaits us
When we go beyond what we need
The Unknown astonishes.Upon that we feed.
We edit out the weather-flu and allergies
We seek only the sunshine of what might never be
When it appears-with a song within our hearts

We realize our edited truth..our life is also our Art.

JON ANDERSON'S DAUGHTER OPENS GALLERY


Anderson is the daughter of Jon Anderson, British/American singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist best known as the former lead singer of the progressive rock band Yes. Anderson had her own singing career, with a 1995 release of “Feel the Sunshine” by Alex Reece on which she was featured.

RICK WAKEMAN NEWS


Rick Wakeman (keyboardist): “David Bowie is far and away the cleverest man I've ever worked with. An absolute walking genius to work with… He was far ahead of the game.” Ken Scott (producer): “He really was the best vocalist I ever worked with, and I worked with John Lennon and Paul McCartney.”

CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO


Richard Christopher 'Rick' Wakeman (born 18 May 1949) is an English keyboard player and songwriter best known for being the former keyboardist in the progressive rock band Yes. He is also known for hi..


Starmus is a festival of music and astronomy on the beautiful island of Tenerife. It is the brain child of Garik Israelian (the astrophysicist who led the team which found the first observational..


On this extraordinary album, legendary keyboard player teams up with an Italian singer named Mario Fasciano. Stavros Moschopoulos  writes: 'Recorded on the Isle of Man, the CD contains 8 new..


With special guests  Various artists including: Ian Paice, Rick Parfitt, Steve Hackett, Andy Fairweather Low, John Entwistle etc..


Richard Christopher 'Rick' Wakeman (born 18 May 1949) is an English keyboard player and songwriter best known for being the former keyboardist in the progressive rock band Yes. He is also known f..


Musician, producer and former Yes member Billy Sherwood has put together what he’s dubbed “the biggest super group of progressive rock players ever assembled,” to form ..


26 tracks in all, of which 10 are previously unreleased (these including an epic version of Matthew the Man - live in Tokyo 2001 and Beijing - widescreen remix from Iona, and other unreleased tra..

DUTCH GARDENING CLUB REVIEW

http://progopinion.blogspot.com/


What a week ... CD THE GARDENING CLUB - The GC (1983/2016) Released in 1983 ... ... while the gunpowder fumes of the punk and new wave were barely erected, ' The Gardening Club ' by Martin Springett seen as "the right album at the wrong time". The work has therefore escaped attention. Hence this beautiful Gonzo Multimedia reissue with impressive art work and five bonus tracks.

The 15 tracks let classical progressive rock with influences from the symph and folk with many associations with the early Genesis and especially Camel. Where the wind players play a role I even hear a touch of Soft Machine. The vocals of Springett are beautiful, sometimes too beautiful and too good, there could have been a raffle. The extensive staffing plays technically high and the whole is contained in a beautiful, warm production.I canindeed suggest that in 1983 attention went to other music. The neo-prog that also emerged in those days also tolerated less of this type of work. That is why this reissue is so right because it is an excellent album with melodic progressive rock. Springett is still active and is working on a new album from The Gardening Club. Do not let it escape your attention now! Harry de Vries (what a week 01)

CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO
The Gardening Club
CD - £9.99

THOM THE WORLD POET: The Daily Poem

Rob Ayling, yer Gonzo Grande Fromage, writes:

"Thom the World poet is an old mate of mine from way back in my history. Even pre-dating Voiceprint, when I was running "Otter Songs" and Thom's poetry tapes and guest appearances with Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth and Mother Gong are well known and highly regarded. It just felt right to include a daily poem from Thom on our Gonzo blog and when I approached him to do so, he replied within seconds!!! Thom is a great talent and just wants to spread poetry, light and positive energy across the globe. If we at Gonzo can help him do that - why not?

WHERE DID YOU FIND HAPPINESS TODAY?
TO BE WITH THOSE OF KINSHIP
Of common language and of cultures
Shared and understood together/in solidarity
She who had been to Palestine said those who had not
were subject to propaganda that imprisoned lots
Those under language imperialism/those with no language
Those between host and foreign dialects
where land is wealth and inheritance.Speech
may be a river,but springs of cultures ensure the flow.
There are worlds beyond the world we know

January 26: Happiness is being back on Wiradjuri country

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I was happy to arrive back on country today to start studying the Wiradjuri language with Uncle Stan Grant Snr at Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga. I’m really looking forward to being on this new journey with a group of committed students all seeking the same  cultural knowledge.
My arrival here came after a day of mixed emotions on what is now standard on January 26. My timelines on social media today were generally full of the solidarity I know within my own circles but also beyond, as 10s of 1000s of people marched nationally in a show of unity and acknowledgement that it’s time to change the date of a national celebration.
My wonderful day included meeting three Kaurna women at Sydney airport. They were on their way home after the march. We talked books and writing. I then bumped into Adam Goodes and his gorgeous wife on the way to the gate. I had dinner with one of the other students here and had a catch up about life. And these moments far outweigh the few injections of race-hate into my day today. Those injections stung, as injections do, but they did not beat me, because love and kindness will always win over hatred and intolerance.
So, where did you find happiness today??

THE GONZO TRACK OF THE DAY: Jerusalem - The Hymn

Being Sunday I always post sacred music. The name of the deity may change, or even the deity Him/Herself but the spirit remains the same.

Friday 26 January 2018

Gonzo Weekly #271

Gonzo Weekly #271
THE MARK HIS WORDS ISSUE
 
Gonzo Grande Fromage Rob Ayling talks frankly about his friendship with Fall leader Mark E. Smith who died this week, Alan concludes his surrealistic exposition featuring Salvador Dali, Andy Warhol, Nico and Alice Cooper amongst others, Neil explains all about Sharon Tandy, and Graham brings us up to date with Hawkwind as well as going into the studio with The Space Pharaohs Arizona’s leading Hawkwind tribute band. And meanwhile, Jon talks about the end of the world!
 
Hail Eris!
 
And there are radio shows from Strange Fruit, AND Friday Night Progressive, but Mack Maloney is absent this week due to problems beyond our control. The columns from all sorts of folk including Neil Nixon, Roy Weard, C J Stone, Mr Biffo are on hiatus this week, but we do have the irrepressible Corinna. There is also a collection of more news, reviews, views, interviews and southern dibblers who have gone for a snooze (OK, nothing to do with small marsupials who have probably got hangovers and have decided to have a little rest, but I got carried away with things that rhymed with OOOOS) than you can shake a stick at. And the best part is IT's ABSOLUTELY FREE!!!
 
This issue features:
 
Paul McCartney, Jack White, Erykah Badu, Elton John, Neil Diamond, Rod Stewart,Strange Fruit, Friday Night Progressive, Hugh Ramopolo Masekela, Preston Shannon, Terry Evans, Mario Guccio, James Walter Rodford, Derrick Coleman, Naomi Parker, Lari White Cannon, Ursula Kroeber Le Guin, Jeremy Inkel, Mark Edward Smith, Barbara Dickson, Jessica Lee Morgan, Rick Wakeman, Billion Dollar Babies, Tangerine Dream, Rob Ayling, Alan Dearling, Gala Dali, Salvador Dali, Andy Warhol, Jeff Fenholt, Sharon Tandy, Kev Rowland, Eigensinn, Empire, Engst, Enslaved, Entheos, Gnaw, Hangman, The Fright, In Search of Sun, In-Defilade, Hawkwind, Space Pharaohs, Metallica, Jimi Hendrix, Beatles, The Who, ELO, Pink Floyd, Neil Nixon, Bill Fay
 
And the last few issues are:
 
Issue 270 (Eric Clapton)
Issue 269 (Narnia)
Issue 267-8 (Happy New Year)
Issue 265-6 (The Who)
Issue 264 (John McLaughlin)
Issue 263 (The magic Band)
Issue 262 (DikMik)
Issue 261 (Leonard Cohen)
Issue 260 (Amsterdam Squat Festie)
Issue 259 (Out come thee Freaks)
Issue 258 (The Devil's Jukebox)
Issue 257 (Judge Smith)
Issue 255/6 (John Lennon)
Issue 254 (Mr Biffo)
Issue 253 (Dana Gillespie)
Issue 252 (Cropredy)
Issue 251 (Scott Walker)
Issue 250 (Jamms)
Issue 249 (Bill Bruford)
Issue 248 (The Selecter)
Issue 247 (Don Airey)
Issue 246 (Steve Hackett)
Issue 244-5 (Summer Special)
 
 
All issues from #70 can be downloaded at www.gonzoweekly.com if you prefer. If you have problems downloading, just email me and I will add you to the Gonzo Weekly dropbox. The first 69 issues are archived there as well. Information is power chaps, we have to share it!
 
You can download the magazine in pdf form HERE:
 

SPECIAL NOTICE: If you, too, want to unleash the power of your inner rock journalist, and want to join a rapidly growing band of likewise minded weirdos please email me at jon@eclipse.co.uk The more the merrier really.

RICK SPRINGFIELD NEWS


When Australian heartthrob and General Hospital star Rick Springfield first sang her praises in 1981, the world responded resoundingly to his impassioned plea and pulse-quickening music. Jessie's Girl would top the singles charts and earn a Grammy Award for best male rock vocal performance.
Rick Springfield reveals darker side in 'Snake King'
Rock singer reveals different mood on album 'The Snake King' due Jan. 26. ...


(RED BANK, NJ) -- Lowlight, the New Jersey-based, female-fronted synth-pop collective described as the state's “hardest working and most fiercely loyal” outfit by Bob Makin, will tour in support of Rock and Roll Hall Of Famers The Pretenders across the East Coast. This news comes as the five-piece, ...


24 at the Mesquite Arena. All proceeds from ticket sales and auction benefits Mesquite ISD teachers and students by funding innovative educational programs. Last year's gala raised close to $175,000 in net proceeds with Rick Springfield as the headliner. Randy Lewallyn, executive director of Mesquite ...

Rick Springfield takes a walk in the desert in the haunting new music video for his song In the Land of the Blind. The song is on his new album, The Snake King, out Friday. The collection "assails religion, forecasts the collapse of the ecosystem and blames willful ignorance for hastening our dystopian ...
“Extra's” Renee Bargh sat down with Rick Springfield after he shocked the world with his confession about depression and multiple suicide attempts! Of his private pain, Springfield said, “It's part of me, so I had to talk about it and people pick up on it because it's kind of a new subject, I guess.” Chester ..
One only has to read Rick Springfield's revealing 2011 memoir Late, Late At Night and its accounts of depression to understand the guy knows what it's like to have the blues. But that he's playing the blues on his new album The Snake King, which comes out Friday (Jan. 26) and is premiering in full ...
January 25, 2018 -- Grammy-award winning singer and songwriter Rick Springfield will headline the Santa Monica-Malibu Education Foundation's 13th annual benefit concert for the arts in March. Joining Springfield on the stage at Santa Monica High School's Barnum Hall March 10 are Terri Nunn, lead ...
The summer concert series was an all-time record for us; When we had Rick Springfield perform, there were more than 18,000 people within a very packed area having the time of their lives. We look forward to expanding on that with more free concerts beause that's what our customers are saying they ..
Rick Springfield | The Snake King
Jesus Was an Atheist. God Don't Care. Suicide Manifesto. That's right … Rick Springfield is back with a brand new studio release and it's darker than black, in the best way possible-it's the blues. Quite obviously known for having upwards of 17 Top 40 hits, the multi-faceted talents of Springfield roam from ...

CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO
Live And Kickin
DVD - £10.99

PLAYLIST: SF – 241 - 14 Jan 2018 –

Strange Fruit is a unique two-hour radio show exploring the world of underground, strange and generally neglected music. All shows are themed and all shows set out to give the most hardened of sound-hounds some new delight to sample.

The show is also unique in providing homework for undergraduate students on North West Kent College’s Foundation Degree in Professional Writing (who dig up many of the odd facts featured in the links between tracks).

Neil Nixon, the founder and presenter of the show has released a book about rare albums for Gonzo Multimedia.

The show is broadcast on Miskin Radio every Sunday from 10-00-midnight.

SF  – 241 - 14 Jan 2018 –

The Mustang:  Ah Cid
The Human League:  Sin City
The Flying Lizards:  Sex Machine
Ozric Tentacles:  Far Memory
Halou:  Hollow Bones
Tom Verlaine:  Days on the Mountain
Blind Willie Johnson:  Dark was the Night Cold was the Ground
Mud:  Grecian Lament
Jeanne Lee and Ran Blake:  Laura
Ozric Tentacles:  Switchback
Lee Kristoffereson:  Night of the Werewolf
Brave Captain:  Tell her you Love her
SKUNK:  Harvest Queen
Faye Richmond:  If I Can’t Sell it I’ll Keep Sitting on it
Jim White:  Still Waters
Blue Tapes House Band feat. Chris Cummings:   Robin Williams
Al Kooper, Mike Bloomfield, Steve Stills:  Season of the Witch
Kishore Kumar:  Yeh Shaam Mastani
Ozric Tentacles:  Zingbong
Robyn Hitchcock:  The End of Time


THE GONZO TRACK OF THE DAY: KARNATAKA - Fairytale Lies [2015]



CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO
Secrets of Angels Live in Concert
CD - £9.99

Secrets of Angels Live
DVD - £10.99

New Light
2CD - £10.99

Secrets of Angels
CD - £9.99

The Gathering Light
CD - £9.99

Storm 
CD - £9.99

Delicate Flame Of Desire
CD - £9.99

THOM THE WORLD POET: The Daily Poem

Rob Ayling, yer Gonzo Grande Fromage, writes:

"Thom the World poet is an old mate of mine from way back in my history. Even pre-dating Voiceprint, when I was running "Otter Songs" and Thom's poetry tapes and guest appearances with Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth and Mother Gong are well known and highly regarded. It just felt right to include a daily poem from Thom on our Gonzo blog and when I approached him to do so, he replied within seconds!!! Thom is a great talent and just wants to spread poetry, light and positive energy across the globe. If we at Gonzo can help him do that - why not?

IF CIVILIZATION IS A BOOK
Books are still being written
If a short story,ditto.As for songs-
you can down and upload millions daily/
and art pours out of homeless art galleries..
Versions of visions get distorted in journalism
and history is rewritten headlines.If you ever thought
there was a "Golden Age",you may well be living in it.
As for "civilization"?-it is an ongoing river
that will not be dammed ,nor stopped by vacant observers

and is best known by its creators..

JON ANDERSON NEWS


Yes singer Jon Anderson is preparing to release a solo album he started 27 years ago. Anderson, who now fronts the two-year-old lineup of the band featuring Trevor Rabin and Rick Wakeman, said he'd also explain why it took nearly three decades to complete the project. “The new year promises to be ...

CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO#
Survival And Other Stories
CD - £9.99

U.S GARDENING CLUB REVIEW

The Gardening Club - 'The Gardening Club: Expanded Edition'


Title - 'The Gardening Club: Expanded Edition'
Artist - The Gardening Club
Taking it from the top, and simply put, Martin Springett is an extraordinary artist.
He was born in Crayford, Kent, England, in 1947 and studied art for two semesters at the Brassey School of Art in Hastings, Sussex. He then emigrated to the West Coast of Canada in 1965, but returned to the UK in 1973 to pursue music in various bands.
He spent time in Germany, and toured through Europe, and whilst in London, Martin started to illustrate and design record covers for Columbia records.
Upon his return to Vancouver, Martin carried on with music and illustrated various books and magazines. In 1978 he moved to Toronto, maintaining activity in every area where illustration is required.
Indeed, it was around that time that he released his own album, The Gardening Club, in 1983. An absolutely glorious, melodic and original album, Gonzo Multimedia has now brought it back to life, and into the public eye, with this stunning remastered and expanded edition.
1. 'Midnight Road'
2. 'Mole Hole Blues'
3. 'The Traveller'
4. 'Andromeda'
5. 'The Garden'
6. 'Three Days at Brighton'
7. 'Rebirth'
8. 'The Stone That Speaks'
8. 'Endersby's Ride in 3 Parts'
9. 'Nirvana Isn't'
10. 'After the Glow'
11. 'Upside Down Blackbird'
12. 'When You Live This Way'
13. 'New York Moon'
A lost in time gem of an album, containing 12 string guitars and flutes galore alongside the clean sheen of a typical 1980s production and some mighty fine pastoral instrumentals, The Gardening Club: Expanded Edition (which also features the original cover art now with a 24 page illustrated lyric booklet, created especially for this re-release by Springett himself, of course), is as great to listen to today as it was back then.
The melodic 'Midnight Road' kicks things off, before the guitar wizardly of Springett comes to the fore on 'Mole Hole Blues', which is backed beautifully by the flute and drum work of 'The Traveller.' The thought-provoking, spacial 'Andromeda' is next and that's backed by the shortest track on the album, the delicate acoustic guitar work of 'The Garden.'
'Three Days at Brighton' is yet another, fun, jaunty track that seemingly includes all instruments known to Springett, and then comes both the triumphant 'Rebirth', before the longest track, the ethereal 'The Stone That Speaks'.
The beautiful guitar playing of Springett again comes to the fore on the magnificent 'Endersby's Ride in 3 Parts', before thus newly expanded edition concludes with five bonus studio tracks; that all, each and every one of them, showcase just what an incredible talent illustrator Martin Springett truly is: 'Nirvana Isn't, 'After The Glow', 'Upside Down Blackbird', 'When You Live This Way', and 'New York Moon.'
www.MartinSpringett.com
The Gardening Club @ Facebook!
www.GonzoMultimedia.com
CD Purchase Link

IAIN MATTHEWS NEWS


“The original Matthews Southern Comfort was a vehicle for my musical concepts and forty years on the ideas and songs are still coming," says frontman Ian Matthews, who released the first Matthews Southern Comfort album in 1969 after leaving Fairport Convention. "With this new line-up, Like A Radio ...

CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO

Thursday 25 January 2018

FAIRPORT CONVENTION IN THE NEWS


British folk-rock icons Fairport Convention are live at Nottingham Playhouse next week as part of their Wintour 2018. The band was credited with creating British folk-rock music with their iconic album Liege and Lief, which BBC Radio 2 listeners voted the most influential folk album of all time. They have ...

CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM GONZO
...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.