Sex Pistols: The soon to be infamous God Save the Queen ... In stepped a young entrepreneur: Richard Branson … ‘A good teenage bit of terrorism’ … The BBC immediately banned the single … Despite record sales figures, the song never got to number one. ibid.
Throughout the ’70s [Jimmy] Page spent his fortune on acquiring Crowley’s property. ibid.
Jim Morrison: did he really die peacefully in his bath? ibid.
All art is subject to political manipulation except that which speaks the language of the same manipulation. Storyville: When Rock Arrived in North Korea: Liberation Day, Laibach
The first time that a foreign rock band has played in the secretive and restrictive country. ibid. Washington Post
A Slovenian art-rock group called Laibach. ibid.
I’m an award-winning music agent with over 25 years in the business … I’ve seen countless acts come and go. Hits, Hype & Hustle: An Insider’s Guide to the Music Business, BBC 2014
Making a star is a team effort: there are managers, producers, PR and image consultants. ibid.
‘What makes live music so special is that it’s unpredictable.’ Hits, Hype & Hustle: An Insider’s Guide to the Music Business II: On the Road, John Giddings
‘From a bunch of amateurs making it up as they went along into a billion pound global industry.’ ibid.
By the mid 1970s most bands didn’t tour just to earn money from ticket sales … The rules of live music were still being written. ibid.
At the height of their success The Police were playing over 100 shows every year; their relentless touring around the world paid off … They set the benchmark. ibid.
Artists need to get along but it doesn’t always work out that way. ibid.
‘Our first gig we got beat up by the support band.’ ibid. Alex James of Blur
The inevitable reunion … With reunions, relaunches and revivals so fashionable I’m going to look into why so many bands are getting together. What’s different this time around? Hits, Hype & Hustle: An Insider’s Guide to the Music Business III: Revivals and Reunions, Alan Edwards
The music we grew up with never leaves us. ibid.
Blondie: The band had now been back together for over twenty years. ibid.
Making new music is the ultimate test of any band reunion. ibid.
Police: They made nearly £300 million. ibid.
The rise of the retro-festival. ibid.
‘Jimi Hendrix – it goes without saying – changed the face of the Earth.’ Reputations s6e6: Jimi Hendrix: The Man They Made God, BBC 1999
Jimi Hendrix was made and died in Britain … In a basement room in west London he’d taken barbiturates and amphetamines. ibid.
The night he arrived Hendrix played at a club in London. ibid.
The [London] buzz was all about Hendrix: he was said to be so good he was frightening. The Beatles and The Who went to see him play. ibid.
They played working-men’s clubs and seaside towns. ibid.
The tabloids called him the Wild Man of Borneo. ibid.
To the anti-war movement Hendrix became a hero. ibid.
Hendrix floated back to America on a tide of acid. ibid.
He was swamped with adulation. ibid.
He sent money to Martin Luther King. ibid.
The great Hendrix tour rolled on across America. ibid.
He was now their God whether he liked it or not. ibid.
Hendrix flew on to the Isle of Wight pop festival. ibid.
Her sound was unique, but it was not just her voice that made her remarkable. Janis Joplin’s rise to preeminence as the first lady of rock n roll broke the mould of how female singers should look, act and speak. Reputations s7e5: Janis Joplin: Southern Discomfort, BBC 2000
Her premature death at the age of 27 and the legend surrounding her short wild life have obscured Joplin’s personal struggles to come to terms with her past and to claim a place in the exclusive men’s club of rock. ibid.
The female icon of ’60s counter-culture. ibid.
Janis was soon injecting speed. ibid.
Monterey: This was the platform Janis had been waiting for. ibid.
They were living the rock-n-roll life on the road, gigging, travelling and giving interviews. Some of the band – Janis among them – had begun using heroin. ibid.
She was becoming increasingly dependable on alcohol and heroin. ibid.
Once I’d discovered weed and guitars you got into another world: what do you want to go out for? Oasis: Supersonic, BBC 2018, Noel
For that eighteen months, two years, we never gave up … I loved it. ibid.
We weren’t the best musicians but we had spirit. ibid.
Trouble seemed to find us at any given point. ibid.
My father beat the talent into me. ibid.
I remember smashing his [Liam] head in with a cricket bat. ibid.
Oasis wasn’t for wimps. ibid.
I had to start doing vocals … Here he [Liam] comes, here he goes. ibid.
What does a Brit award mean? Fuck all. In the grand scheme of things all that shit is irrelevant. ibid.
250,000 at Knebworth: Things meant more. It was just a great time to be alive … The last great gathering. ibid.
I’d do it all again in a heartbeat. ibid.
Most people probably don’t know what a sideman or a sidewoman for that matter is. I’m a sideman. Have been for 40 years. My name is Earl Slick. I was David Bowie’s sideman. Our job as sidies is to back up the big names. You don’t compete with the lead guy. That’s not a sideman. Matter of fact that’s an out of work musician. Most of the time we’re invisible. Ghosts at the top table. Rock n Roll Guns for Hire: The Story of the Sideman, BBC 2018
Bernard [Fowler] brings a reliability to Mick … I rely on him for so many things on stage. ibid. Ronnie Wood
You are just an appendage of that. ibid. Earl Slick
A big ego is no good for a sideman. ibid. Ronnie Wood
Wendy and Lisa got Prince. They understood him. ibid. Earl Slick
Steve Cropper not only played on hit songs, he co-wrote them: Knock on Wood, The Midnight Hour and many more. ibid.
Otis [Reading] never heard the final track. He was killed in a plane crash. He was just 26 years old. ibid.
To survive when you’re not on the road, a sidie needs to find other ways to use what we’ve got to make a few bucks. ibid.
Existence – well, does it matter? I exist on the best terms I can. Control 2007 starring Sam Riley & Samantha Morton & Alexandra Maria Lara & Joe Anderson & Toby Kebbell & Craig Parkinson & James Anthony Pearson & Harry Treadaway & Andrew Sheridan & Robert Shelley & Matthew McNulty & Ben Naylor & John Cooper Clarke et al, director Anton Corbijn, opening monologue
Warsaw – now we’re Joy Division. ibid. Ian
First gig in London and nobody there. ibid.
Who’s Anik? … I don’t deserve this. ibid. her to him
I never meant for it to grow like this … I’ve no control any more. ibid. Ian
Me and my musical chums dressed up to play a track about the Arthurian legends: grandiose music, a heroic subject, outlandish costumes. This could only be the ’70s – heyday of that much maligned creature, the concept album. When Pop Went Epic: The Crazy World of the Concept Album, BBC 2018, Rick Wakeman
The concept album didn’t stop with the ’70s. ibid.
The concept album in its most ambitious form yet – the rock opera. ibid.
Tommy was released in May 1969 as a double album. ibid.
Marvin Gaye: What’s Going On is not a question, it’s a statement. ibid.
No-one did it better than David Bowie … Ziggie didn’t just exist on the album cover. ibid.
1973 Pink Floyd: The Dark Side of the Moon … The biggest selling concept album ever. ibid.
The concept as total theatre was now a hot ticket. ibid.
A funk universe every bit as creative as Prog Rock. ibid.
Along came Punk and burst our bubble. ibid.