Welcome to Issue Twelve of Razzmatazz

Well Hello There

Welcome to Issue Twelve of Razzmatazz
Happy Birthday to Lindsay Lohan

Welcome To Issue Eleven of Razzmatazz

hello

Welcome to Issue Ten of Razzmatazz

Hi there

Welcome to Issue Nine of Razzmatazz

Well Hello There!

Welcome to Issue Nine of Razzmatazz
Are you a fan of Wuthering Heights, The Man with the Child in his Eyes, Babooska, Sat On Your lap, Running Up That Hill, Hounds of Love, Don't Give Up, The Sensual World, Rubberband Girl, Moments of Pleasure?


Happy Birthday

And Finally Happy Birthday Al Pacino
Al says: "Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn."

Welcome to Issue Eight of Razzmatazz

Hello!
45 years ago this album was released...

Forget the first and second Velvet Underground albums. They are so revered, over-written about, hailed and acclaimed, set upon plinths in the Rock'n'Roll Hall Of Fame and worshiped by all of Those Who Know and the rest of us who unquestioningly follow the pointing fingers of Those Who Know that it is impossible anymore to hear the music. It is easy to admire 'The Velvet Underground & Nico' and 'White Light/White Heat'  - because the band deliberately set out to make records that would impress the cognoscenti; they knew which buttons to push (songs about S&M and drugs, dressed in distorted, discordant and ugly noise) - if you buy into that living-on-the-edge pose.

  The Velvets' third, eponymous, album is - due to its absence of shock tactics - the real deal. Unpretentious (the nine-minute silliness of 'The Murder Mystery' aside), lyrically and instrumentally spare - which must have been quite a sonic slap in the face for 1969, after Beatles-led advances in studio sophistication and the rise of the guitar hero (Clapton, Hendrix, Page) and the advance towards muso virtuosity - they provide a sound that is entirely simpatico with the album sleeve, an intimate Billy Name black-and-white snap of the group in drab duds (only Mo Tucker's shiny blouse hints at their glamorous job). The CD cover includes a second photo taken that night - and it's pleasing to see that, in both, Lou Reed is in relaxed mood, pulling non-rock-star silly faces.

  White America's musical contribution is Country & Western and, though they share the same tenets of rhythmic simplicity, the Velvet Underground in almost other respect rejects the aspirations of the pioneer spirit, the religious fervour, the epic landscapes, the scorched earth and the bountiful harvests. No, their music is City & Eastern - it's squalid tenement blocks permanently in a skyscraper shadow, it's the stink of half-chewed hamburgers, the taste of bummed cigarettes and cafe coffee, it's black and white TVs that can't get a decent reception (so they never saw Neil Armstrong & co. landing on the moon). There's no flowery poetry here, no genius musicianship. There's no fury in the playing, no ecstatic visions, and very little tension. They sound so tired ("Help me in my weakness," they sing plaintively in the very pretty "Jesus"), the backbeat is so slack it's almost an afterthought, the vocal occasionally barely rises to a spoken whisper. But these are not faults. These are the elements - like Lou's goofy self-mocking giggly vocal on "Beginning To See The Light" - that give the record a rare humanity. It's an open-hearted warts-and-all portrait of young, vulnerable people in all their yearning, keening, plain-speaking, perfect imperfection.

  Some records hit you instantly. They are brash and loud and command your attention. This one is like your shy friend who has been sitting just out of your eyeline for a long time before    you notice him/her. You have to make the first move and, though initially reticent and withdrawn, your friend, like a flower, will open his/her petals and reveal a beauty in the sunniness of your smile.

Happy Birthday to Spike Lee March 20th 57 years young!

Mr Lee says: "I think people who have faults are a lot more interesting than people who are perfect."

Welcome to Issue Seven of Razzmatazz

Well, Hello there! This month Orange Juice are to re-release their four magnificent albums.

Orange Juice were a huge influence on The Smiths, Belle & Sebastian, Franz Ferdinand.
Alex Kapranos: "Whenever I listen to Orange Juice I feel overwhelmed with idealistic optimism. I'm still in awe of the fact that they had the guts to do it." The reissues follow Domino records release of Coals to Newcastle, a 7 disc anthology.
Formed in 1979 by Edwyn Collins, James Kirk and Dave McClymont (bass) and Steve Daly (drums).
You Can't Hide Your Love Forever, Rip It Up, Texas Fever, The Orange Juice.
And Finally... Happy Birthday to Mr Bob Marley!

Marley says: "One good thing about music is when it's hits you, you feel no pain."

Welcome to Issue Six of Razzmatazz

Happy New Year and Happy 40th Birthday to:

Happy birthday also to Granmaster Flash

• Born Joseph Saddler, he is the leader of the influential hip hop group Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five and one of the pioneers of hip hop DJing.He is credited with the invention of the first crossfader, which he made by sourcing parts from a junkyard in the Bronx.
  
  Flash says: "Normal kids in their teens want to go and date girls and do mischievous things, your hormones are jumping around, but I stayed in my bedroom in search of something."
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