1947 - 2003

“I’ll sleep when I’m dead”

There are many obituaries out there detailing Zevon’s life, and his death from lung cancer on Sunday 7th September. Here, then, I shall do something else entirely, providing not an account of Zevon’s life, but an account of what he has meant to me - a strangely personal account of someone I have never met, but feel that I grew up knowing all the same. He was someone worth being bullied for, after all. In an age of Take That and East 17, when Mr Blobby or Mariah with a funny name who happened to be mates with REM was of no interest to anyone. Well, no interest Carey got to Christmas number one with disturbing regularity, some old geezer other than amusement in the fact that there were children out there who would choose to listen to such music rather than the delights of 2 Unlimited.

Thus, Zevon’s music (along with Richard Thompson, Neil Young, Bob Dylan and Madonna) speaks to me of my childhood, generally recalling such random memories as snatches of countryside through the windows of the back seat of my parents’ car, my sister and I discovering a dead dog in an old, roofless Scottish cottage, leaping from rock to rock along the jagged Cornish coastline. Holiday memories, mainly - the wildness of the isolated Scottish Highlands, or Land’s End seeming somehow to fit perfectly with Zevon’s bitter, acerbic tracks.

It’s hard to think back to just what it was that drew me to these songs. My parents, of course, were the biggest influence - I would never have heard of Zevon if it hadn’t been for them. But there were many other things my parents liked that would make my sister and I groan if they insisted on putting it on the tape recorder as we went on those interminable drives from one end of the British Isles to the other. I loved Zevon’s lyrics, I know. There was something about the bitter sarcasm of his words - a mix of anger, self-deprecating misery and a kind of amusement at the sheer foolishness of it all - that kept my attention: the same kind of thing that would draw me to Morrissey a few years later. And I remember my father marvelling with me over Zevon’s amazing foresight - after all, he had declared that “Baghdad does whatever she please” as far back as 1982 in The Envoy (although, as a 3-year-old, I’m sure I wasn’t aware of the significance at the time).

I also loved the sheer brutality of Zevon’s lyrics, the way he swerved unflinchingly from mocking homicide (”And he raped and he killed her, then he took her home - well, he’s just an excitable boy” - Excitable Boy (1978) ) to scathing political or sociological comment (”For days and nights they battled the Bantu to their knees. They killed to earn their living, and to help out the Congolese” Roland The Headless Thompson Gunner (1978) ) and then to self-destructive venom (”I’m gonna hurl myself against the wall, ’cause I’d rather feel bad than not feel anything at all.” Ain’t That Pretty At All (1982) ). And yet he could also be reflective, peaceful, even tender, and this depth lent his songs a still greater power.

Funny, then, that even these days few people ever seem to have heard of the man. I’ve lost count of the number of times he’s been mentioned to me merely as “that guy you like”. Maybe if his death does any good at all it will cause more people to listen to the records Zevon produced. It is, after all, a tragic thought that the death of such a man might go more or less unremarked. But all I can do, I suppose, is state how much he means to me.

Tracks To Remember By

Desperadoes Under The Eaves (Warren Zevon - 1976) - A rousing melancholic song about air conditioning. Well, kind of.

Roland The Headless Thompson Gunner (Excitable Boy - 1978) - A childhood favourite, Roland inspired myself and a friend, aged 15, to pen a pastiche entitled “Roland The Headless White Duck Rubber”. Because I had a rubber shaped like a duck. With no head. Er, yes…

Werewolves of London (Excitable Boy - 1978) - The one song some people actually *know* (it got to number 21 in the charts in 1978). Lee Ho Fook’s in Chinatown still has a portrait of Zevon in the window, commemorating their mention in the song.

Lawyers, Guns and Money (Excitable Boy - 1978) - Count the number of different grunts, “yeah”s and “wooh”s. Zevon’s the man!

Play It All Night Long (Bad Luck Streak In Dancing School - 1980) - Possibly the only song in the history of the world to mention the cattle disease, brusilosis. Rock ‘n’ roll and farming. Ace!

Trouble Waiting To Happen (Sentimental Hygiene - 1987) - A lovely plinky plonky piano line in a song warning about the perils of getting through the day. Think I’ll just stay in bed…

Reconsider Me (Sentimental Hygiene - 1987) - Strangely moving plea to an ex-lover.

Splendid Isolation (Transverse City - 1989) - There’s mouth organs, Michael Jackson and Goofy in the same verse and the tempting-sounding prospect of “getting away from it all”. Sounds good to me…

Renegade (Mr Bad Example - 1991) - Another burst of melancholy, this time in a looking-back, hopeless and old manner. The revolution has failed, my friend.

1939 - 2004

On Christmas Day 2002, I was stuck in a hotel room in Quebec, recovering from food poisoning that had, in the way of illness, made me ridiculously homesick. Fed up with the Christmas cheer on the radio, I was lamenting the fact that the chances of me hearing the White Stripes’ “Candy Cane Children” were remote in the extreme, and regretting the subsequently poor quality of those cd compilations that had seemed a good idea at the time of burning.

And then two things happened. Firstly, John Peel’s welcome tones emanated from the radio in a soothing reminder of all that actually might be good about England. Second, he played “Candy Cane Children”.

Sometimes a person can infiltrate themselves so fully into the consciousness of a nation that their sheer importance can only be estimated when they are gone. A soft-spoken antidote to the brash Zane Lowes of this world, John Peel was nonetheless the most recognisable face on radio, despite his career having begun well before the MTV age. An ear for a great tune and a real desire to spread the music he liked to the world, John Peel was perhaps the only man who could get away with playing anything on the radio, and to hell with the playlist!

There’s no one to replace him, but then how could he ever be replaced? The man who broadcast live shows from bands such as Blur at his own house, who reported eagerly on Glastonbury in his 60s with scabs on his knees like an over-enthusiastic boy… The world will mourn the loss of John Peel for a long, long time.

1932 - 2003

“I keep you on my mind both day and night”

It seems almost spooky watching the MTV Video Music Awards on its first airing on terrestrial television and hearing various artists dedicate awards to Johnny Cash. At the time of the awards, of course, Cash was in hospital, but an unusually bitter poignancy is added to what is usually a tacky, publicity-seeking event in the light of later events - Cash’s death on September 12th due to diabetic complications.

That even such pop superstars as Justin Timberlake proclaim Cash’s genius during their acceptance speeches gives some measure of Cash’s wide-reaching influence. To the younger generation, perhaps, Cash if one of those people that one grows up with without even noticing it. One of those people who can never fade out of your life, because they are always there in records, in magazines, creating the mistaken impression that they simply can’t die.

Music, of course, has a great impression on a child, creating thoughts and feelings that can often not even be explained by by the adult in later years. My housemate remembers being scared of Cash’s “I Walk The Line” as a child, although she cannot remember why. I myself remember, years ago, reading an interview with the man and, although it was not until years later that I realised that this was the same person who had sung “A Boy Named Sue”, a song I had sat in my bedroom listening to on a crappy old tape recorder with a schoolfriend, there was something about him that impressed me.

These, then, are the true heroes. The ones who seem to have been with you all of your life, who have ploughed through problem after problem and kept on battling, through addiction and illness - close to death many times but pulling clear by the skin of his teeth. It is inevitable, perhaps, that death must claim him at last. Inevitable, but by no means less tragic. The world has lost a truly great musician and a great man and, although his music lives on, the opening chords of his melancholic rendition of Nine Inch Nails’ “Hurt” will now be enough to make us cry.

1969 - 2003

“So sick and tired of all these pictures of me”

It seems some strange twist of fate, imbued with all kinds of different and inexplicable meanings that sees an Elliott Smith seven inch (”Pretty (Ugly Before)”) turn up on my doorstep just two days after Smith apparently stabbed himself to death, adding his name to the ever-increasing list of singer-songwriter deaths in the last month.

I was first introduced to Elliott Smith by a friend who herself fell in love with him while in hospital. It was the knowledge that such beautiful music existed in the world, she said, that gave her the strength to struggle through months of chemotherapy. Which makes the fact that Smith himself lost the struggle even more tragic.

Suicide is so frequently romanticised, of course. There’s the tortured poet, bleeding to death in his barren yet pre-Raphaelite coloured attic has been a staple of the arts since well before the death of Thomas Chatterton in 1770. Although suicide was considered heroic even in the days of Ancient Rome, it was Chatterton who became the first icon of suicide, and it was believed both at the time and in later years that his suicide was the culmination of his art in one final statement. In this century, of course, there’s the popular Sylvia Plath conundrum - was she a famous poet who happened to commit suicide, or a poet famous because she committed suicide?

The sheer violence of Smith’s death, however - not the romantic slitting of the rists or quiet decline from pills, but apparently self-inflicted stab wounds rather belies this myth, highlighting the sheer tragedy - the waste that was Smith’s death. May we long remember (and mourn) him through his talent and songs.

Memories of Smith’s Genius

“Needle In The Hay” (Elliott Smith),
“Biggest Lie” (Elliott Smith),
“Oh Well, Okay” (XO),
“Between The Bars” (Either/Or),
“2:45am” (Either/Or),
“Son Of Sam” (Figure 8),
“Everything Reminds Me Of Her” (Figure

One of the most winningly freaked bands to ever detune and beautifully abuse their guitars. Songs drenched with sex and madness, cool like Elastica but completely off the hook, unpoised blasting apart the concept of pop as we know it. Kaito compose chaos and capture the thrilling beauty of the exact moment of fragmentation” - CTCL
“Harnessing the fury and vim of youth in a quickie pop song is tricky: doing so while looking snazzy in a necktie is even harder (!). Kaito is becoming something of an expert at stylishly conveying jittery exuberance. Who ever said that elegance and edginess were mutually exclusive” Time Out New York

The band are Niki Colk on main vocals and guitar, Dave Lake on guitar / vocal, Gemma Cullingford on bass / vocal and Dieta Quantrill drums / vocal. Formed in Norwich & Brighton in 1998, the band’s energetic live shows have seen them steadily gaining a serious underground following across America where, to date, they have done most of their touring.

In December 2003 Blast First released an E.P CD / 10″ vinyl featuring four tracks from the “Band Red ” album - Should I / Driving Manual Auto / Anamoy / Try Me Out. The full album will be released in March 2004. “Band Red” was recorded at The Sickroom in Norwich, co-produced by Owen Turner of Magoo (Chemikal underground/ Global Warming) and re-mastered by Sean Magee at Abbey Road. Kaito have, in the last 18 months, opened for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Rapture, Clinic, The Datsuns, Polyphonic Spree, Radio 4, Erase Errata, Liars and Pretty Girls Make Graves and British Sea Power

Back In 2001 they released their first full length record ‘You’ve seen us you must have seen us’ on Fierce Panda (UK) and Devil-in-the-woods (USA). They then completed three successful, self financed US tours, enjoyed a John Peel session as well as receiving airplay on BBC 1’s Steve Lamacq’s evening session, and John Kennedy and Claire Sturgess’ shows for XFM. Yet strangely both press and promoters missed their UK debut which caused the band to concentrate on touring the USA.

To tie in with the release of the EP they have a new video for the opening track “Should I”. There are two versions both directed & produced by Matt Keen. Their previous 2001and 2002 videos, ‘Go’, shot in LA, had several showings on 120 minutes in the US, whilst ‘Shoot shoot’, shot in London, was repeatedly shown on MTV2 in Europe at the point of the release of their follow up EP ‘Montigola Underground’ (USA 2002 DeviI-in-the-woods).

The fact that Franz Ferdinand released their debut single a mere two days before the gig doesn’t prevent the ICA from being crammed, its arty but hardly functional bar becoming an area of extreme gridlock between bands. Thankfully, within the venue itself, there is a little more breathing space. And this is good, for no one could stand through three quarters of an hour of Franz Ferdinand’s catchy 80’s melodies without at least tapping their feet!

Their aim as a band, so Franz Ferdinand say, is to “make girls dance”. If tonight’s set is anything to go by, they’ve achieved this goal already - the first few rows seem to be not only almost entirely female, but incapable of staying still. And when a band can create such infectious pop without losing any of the volume of their guitars, who can blame them? Their simple yet dominant basslines pound through the body, almost moving it of its own accord. And it is perhaps a nod to the band’s more intellectual aspirations (they’re named after an assassinated Austrian Archduke, after all) that sees the screens behind them displaying retro scenes, including those from such classic movies as “Peeping Tom”.

The 80s are the decade of choice at the moment. This has led to some disastrous fashion mistakes and some even more disastrous music in the Hoxton circuit. Franz Ferdinand, however, are the 80s at their best - think Adam Ant and Duran Duran, with a little Talking Heads and the occasional glimpse even of Morrissey (when the keyboard player dances, it’s only the gladiolae that are missing). When they finish up with current single “Darts of Pleasure”, the miracle is that this is actually nowhere near their best song. Franz Ferdinand, it seems, have so much more to offer the world.

Setlist: Cheating On You/Better On Holiday/Tell Her Tonight/Shopping For Blood/Take Me Out/Van Tango/Auf Asche/This Fire/Michael/Darts Of Pleasure

Artist of the Year:  Not sure about this one…generally I’m happy that people are listening to and buying rock’n'roll again…it’s very exciting!
Personal highlight of the year: Walking into Virgin Megastore and seeing our debut single on display…I think the first time’s the best time!
Who made it who should have flopped? All the purveyors of ‘whiney-rock’, I think we had enough of that in the 90s
How are you going to see in the New Year? Partying for at least three days with a few close friends.
Who do you think deserves success in 2005? The Break-Up. Oh yeah and YSOS should go national…
Why should people be interested in your band in 2005?? Well possibly because we can reach different audiences, but then everyone says that…

Artist of the Year:  Bloc Party
Personal highlight of the year: Secret Machines at Reading
Who made it who should have flopped? Babyshambles and Keane
How are you going to see in the New Year? At our bass player’s house with a 4k p.a system & decks
Who do you think deserves success in 2005? Crimea, Clor and us
Why should people be interested in your band in 2005?? Because our album is finally released & it rocks!

Artist of the Year:  Ronny Growler
Personal highlight of the year: We pulled off a great UK tour with no management, agent, label or money. We’re quite proud of that!
Who made it who should have flopped? Pretty much all the “London’s Burning” acts apart from Neil’s Children
How are you going to see in the New Year? I imagine we’ll get drunk in Edinburgh or Golders Green
Who do you think deserves success in 2005? The Victorian English Gentlemens Club, David K and the Defendants, Scarlet Soho, Mystery Jets, Carnival of Souls, New Rhodes and any other decent, original and hardworking bands
Why should people be interested in your band in 2005?? All we ask is that those who want to hear original, challenging music that does not value style above substance give us a chance to thrill you

Artist of the Year: The Killers
Personal highlight of the year: The bottling of 50 Cent
Who made it who should have flopped? Babyshambles, Razorlight, Snow Patrol, Keane
How are you going to see in the New Year? I plan to take over a youth hostel in Brighton with a few close friends
Who do you think deserves success in 2005? Elton John
Why should people be interested in your band in 2005?? There will be no option