Tag Archives: music
Tom Doyle – Ringo: A Fab Life
In the 70’s, he was a happy drunk … by the 80’s, he was just miserable! It is 1962. Ritchie Starkey – better known by his stage name of Ringo Starr – is widely acknowledged as the best drummer in Liverpool. His current gig is with Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He evenhas a featured star slot singing the old Shirelles number ‘Boys’. He is a professional musician. Then two scruffy Beatles turn up and invite him to jump ship and join them. Ringo’s response: Well, I’ve got this gig here at Butlins with Rory for the summer season; I can’t just drop everything and leave them in the lurch. … Continue reading
Cathi Unsworth – Season Of The Witch: The Book Of Goth
Margaret Thatcher and Goth Culture It was the Age of Thatcher, and beyond the playgrounds of the red-braces wide boys and the Sloane Square privileged, it was grim. Unemployment was a weapon in the class war. The Yorkshire Ripper ran riot. Bitter industrial disputes divided communities, while the police was brutally remade into a national instrument to break the miners. And maybe you remember the pop music of the time: Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Madonna, Michael Jackson. Wham! But there was a more intense musical response to the wretchedness of the times, more intense and more appropriate. Punk had come to a sticky end, but it inspired a new generation … Continue reading
Tom Kirkham – Pop Life
2016 was a bad year. Globally, it was the year of Brexit and was rounded off with a Trump! It was bad for pop music too: David Bowie had died in January. And then it seemed the heroes were rushing for the exit. Bowie was closely followed by Merle Haggard and Glen Frey (of the Eagles), and later in the year, Lemmy, Sir George Martin, Leonard Cohen, George Michael and a dozen others. And then on April 21st, Prince, died. On the personal level Tom Kirkham was already having a bad year. He was feeling his mental health wobbling. And Tom Idolised Prince. He was devastated. He felt the urgent need to … Continue reading
Posted in Biography, Cultural History, Humour, Music
Tagged bipolar, David Bowie, depression, George Martin, gig, gigs, Lemmy, Leonard Cohen, Mental health, music
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