W♥M

W♥M200: Anniversary

W♥M200 (49 mins) Read More The Beatles In case you haven't noticed, early next month mark The Beatles' 50th Anniversary in America. The two surviving Beatles members, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, will likely 'come together' on David Letterman…

W♥M is celebrating our seventh anniversary this January 25th, 2014.

Coincidentally, we are also celebrating the 200th episode of W♥M Radio.

Our guests Vu, John, and Emily, discussed:

Beatles in America - the 50th anniversary

90s band reforming:

Guns 'n Roses

Rage Against the Machine

My Bloody Valentine

Garbage

Afghan Whigs

How music has changed throughout the years

Music Blogs

MP3

iPhone changing the state of live music

Memorable Shows

Vintage Trouble

Prince

Gene

Vinyl Revival

Cassettes Revival

Song of the show: Prince and The New Power Generation's "Seven"

Bonus: More Beatles rants

Speaking of anniversary, The Beatles' landmark 50th anniversary in America is taking place this year. Capitol Records, not content with milking music fans from the previous 50th Anniversary or various remastered reissues, is launching a massive Beatles in America campaign.

Rolling Stone #1200 (16 Jan 2014) Rolling Stone LLC

The Rolling Stone latest issue (January 16th, 2014) featured a cover and rather lengthy article on the Beatles in America. Their appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show drew in over 73 million viewers on February 9th, and launched a very successful career of the band.

Itunes has a whole page on The Beatles, touting Beatles music on "iTunes Radio". You can buy their entire discography for a pittance of $120.

A lot of bands that I grew up in the early 90s are riding that nostalgia train, which I really don't have a problem with. I was lucky enough to have caught them the first time around, so seeing them in their current state, some twenty years later, I can really appreciate them now.

So I would say that since 2010, there this might be the decade of the 90s revival bands. Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, Green Day, Eve 6, Garbage, Limp Bizkit, NIN, My Bloody Valentine, Pavement, Smashing Pumpkins, Stone Roses, Blur, oh so many bands to name, are all giving it a last hoorah. Some people are saying they sold-out or cashing in, but who cares? I love it, and I think it's great for both fans who caught them the first time around and those who were too young to have seen them.

Gene Reissue Flyer photo: facebook

Of course, some bands are not around anymore, bands like Gene (Mel capture this great moment from nearly 20 years ago) and Oasis, for example.

All of Gene's albums are being re-released in double disc deluxe CD edition on February 7th, 2014, via Demon Music Group. I may have mentioned that they were all on vinyl, but the fact is only Libertine is on vinyl since they own the legal rights to it. Also, unfortunately, if you live in the US, you have to import this, as their release rights only extends to the UK.

To celebrate, there is a listening party at Camden Barfly in London, February 6th, 2014. London, can you wait? Not for Martin Rossiter, apparently. His name is clearly not mentioned on the promotional flyer, indicating that Steve Lamacq will be doing a Q&A with the band.

200 is a lot of episodes. If you are interested in download some old episodes, head over to archive.org.

This is what the first ten episodes look like:

Show	Guests	Song of the Show	Duration
001 Reason is Treason	Vu	Kasabian - 'Reason is Treason'	07:51
002 Flowers from the Man Who Shot Your Cousin	Vu and Ryan	Flowers From the Man Who Shot Your Cousin - 'Lay Down Your Arms'	10:08
003 The Young Knives/Fancy Bastard	Vu and Ryan	The Young Knives - 'Weekends & Bleakdays (Hot Summer)'	19:11
004 Morrissey	Vu, Christina (Valley Girl), and Ryan	Colin Meloy - 'Everyday is Like Sunday'	16:39
005 Jill Barber and Mook is MIA	Vu and Ryan	Loons – 'The Way The Rain Drives In'	20:12
006 Jazzcast	Vu and Dave	Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, and Max Roach - 'A Little Max'	15:31
007 The Last Town Chorus, The Plastiscines, and the Coathangers	Vu and Ryan	The Plastiscines - '(Zazie Fait De La) Bicyclette'	10:23
008 Luciano Pavarotti	Vu and Christina (Valley Girl)	Luciano Pavarotti - 'Caruso'	08:00
009 We Heart Music's Diner	Vu	DNA/Suzanne Vega - 'Tom's Diner'	14:16
010 Trevor from Ariel Publicity	Vu and Trevor	Adam Von Baron - 'In My House'	17:17

NOTE: You can tell I was still trying to get the hang of recording audio for the podcast. I experimented with various audio recording software, but eventually picked Call Graph because it's free and it's reliable.

Go to Podcast Archive Page for more information.

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Archive of this show at archive.org. More information on podomatic.com

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Gene at the Roxy Theatre, Hollywood (07/22/1995)

Gene at the Roxy Theatre (ticket stub) Hollywood (07/22/1995) Read More Gene I saw Gene in 1995 in Los Angeles, at the height of Britpop and the band was riding on its wave. Check out the autograph of the "Sleep Well Tonight" (the cover artwork is unique to …

If you know me, you know that I'm a big Britpop and The Smiths fan, so, of course, I followed all similar-sounding bands of that time period. One of those band was called Gene. In the 90s, I lived in central California, in a town that bands will often skip over. Any shows that I really wanted to attend, I would have to travel, and that meant a three hour drive into Los Angeles.

This was Gene's very first U.S. tour, they were out promoting their debut album, Olympian. My friend Melinda and I attended their "industry show*" at the Roxy in 1995. I barely remember this show, hey it's been nearly 20 years now! Thankfully, Mel captured the moment in her fanzine, Stupid Shiny Black Shoes, which was a lot more in-depth than whatever the LA Times published (which is nothing more than calling Gene a Smiths tribute band). What Mel reminded me of was that show had a super rare triple encore, and how people were allowed to smoke at clubs!

What Mel wrote:

Gene wowed 'em all at the Roxy in Los Angeles on 22 July 95. The show began at a little past 10:30. The lights went purple and blue, and the smoke (mostly from the human smokers rather than the smoke machines) swirled in the lights. A beautiful and romantic song crooning "Jean, Jean, Jean..." awaited the appearance of Gene. The song was from a soundtrack based on the play/novel "The Prime of Miss Gene Brodie." Then Matt James came on and with a forceful drumming launched into the aggressive "To the City." I found myself thrown into the manic energy of glamour and excitement of Gene's performance.

I sadly have to admit that it's been a long gap between the time I saw Gene perform and the present time that I am writing this recollection. I cannot remember all the songs they played nor the order, but there were several tidbits I still remember. As an introduction to "Sick Sober and Sorry" [singer Martin] Rossiter mentioned that last night he had several friends who were now "sick, sober, and sorry." He introduced a b-side with some relevant words about how screwed up the British Royal Family has been. Before singing "London, Can You Wait?" Rossiter admitted that this song was his mother's favorite. Then he suavely mocked "Oh, heaven forbid that we should play music that Mother likes!"

Although Gene does not sound much like the Smiths, Martin Rossiter's British charm and compelling stage presence is incredibly Mozzesque. They are sick and tired of being compared to the Smiths, and I sincerely believe that Rossiter does not consciously try to be Morrissey. Rossiter can't help being a good-looking singer from England, can he? I'm sure he doesn't rehearse Morrissey moves and gestures in front of the mirror at home! Earlier Martin Rossiter expressed his dislike of "industry" shows, events largely attended by music industry types and are bored and blasé about the bands. Naturally, he'd like to be performing to a roomful of madly adoring fans who squeeze and push their way to be up front and close to the gods. At least it would be your music. Despite Los Angeles being an "industry" show, enough fans snapped up the remaining tickets offered to the public to fill the floor in front of the stage. They certainly made up for the clueless folks lounging around the tables in the back. The floor crowd was extremely enthusiastic and hungry for Gene. Several times it appeared that they all wanted to drag Martin into the crowd and take his lovely self home.

Gene had an excessive number of encores (for a young band with only one album out), and I didn't really mind since I loved every second of it. They gave us a particularly moving performance of "Olympian" as an encore. Earlier in the show Rossiter mentioned that they weren't rock 'n roll gits like "Bon Jovi," but they took all the worshipful rock conventions and ran with it -- i.e. three encores. But they could get away with it because they were brilliant. It would have been perfect if they had said, "Hello, Cleveland!"

In loving memory of Melinda (1970-2010).

* Industry shows are basically shows meant for people in the music business. These shows are often small-capacity venues and the actual "tour" is really only restricted to five or six major cities. Also note that these shows aren't often widely publicized, for example, before Adele became a household name, I attended her industry show at the the Theatre De La Jeune Lune, Minneapolis 6/2/08, which no one knew about, so it had less than 200 people in the audience.

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com

Roz, Boz, and Moz

I wanted to call this article "A Pair of Martins" (a pair of Genes/jeans?), because Boz's real name is Martin Boorer. Instead, "Roz, Boz, and Moz" seems like a cleverer title.

MARTIN ROSSITER
facebook.com/martinrossiter

Read More Gene So, anyroad, we're all pretty big fans - I think mostly because their songwriter, Martin Rossiter, reminded us of Morrissey so much. He's so smart and witty and charismatic, it's really hard to resist!

As a huge Smiths fan in the early 90s, we were always searching for the "next Smiths band." The title would fall to Gene in 1993. Their music was as sensitive and gentle as The Smiths, and even singer/songwriter Martin Rossiter bore incredible similarities to Smiths singer Morrissey. So much, that Gene fans were calling Rossiter as "Roz" (Morrissey's nickname was "Moz").

I saw Gene in 1995 in Los Angeles, at the height of Britpop and the band was riding on its wave. Check out the autograph of the "Sleep Well Tonight" (the cover artwork is unique to the one-track radio promo). The band would return after the fall of Britpop in 2000, selling out most of their US tour dates. Even Morrissey, who was living in Los Angeles at the time, showed up at their show.

Gene broke up officially in 2004, but just recently, Martin Rossiter announced the released of The Defenestration of St Martin in collaboration with Pledge Music. You can order the album now at pledgemusic.com, but I believe the official release date is listed as November 26th. According to Rossiter, "The album is already recorded, it is beautiful and I'll fight anyone who says otherwise."

Read More Morrissey So, it's time the tale was told on "Jack the Ripper"! The song originally appeared as a B-Side on his single, Certain People I Know (Dec 1992).

BOZ BOORER
bozboorer.com

As I previously mentioned, I followed Morrissey in the nineties. Around the Kill Uncle, we found out that his touring band would include Boz Boorer as guitarist. We finally saw the rockabilly band when the music video for "We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful" was unveiled on MTV's 120 Minutes. Back then, we didn't really have the internet and most of the information surfaced on fanzines and magazines. There wasn't much on Boz Boorer, other that he was in a band called The Polecats in the 70s and 80s.

Anyway, since then, I've seen Boorer a number of times as Morrissey's guitarist, but I never did follow up on his solo or Polecats works. I've always liked him as songwriter; he's co-written some of my favorite Morrissey songs, including "Jack the Ripper," "Pregnant for the Last Time," and "Satan Rejected My Soul."

Boz Boorer's latest release is called Some of the Parts, which came out today (August 31st). I did listened to the album and I was surprised to find out that Some of the Parts is pretty diverse in its sound: from rock ("Slippery Forces") to blues ("I'm Gonna Make Your Mind") to jazz ("Jazz Interlude") to instrumental ("Bozanova Brown"). I was expecting it to sound like rockabilly, which it did have its moment with "Tokyo Calling."

It did occur to me that hardcore Morrissey fans will likely pick up Some of the Parts and may be disappointed that it sounds nothing like a typical Morrissey album. That's really not the point to Some of the Parts. To me, Boorer is trying to tell you about his passion for early American rock, and if you keep that in mind, you'll appreciate the music on the album.

Boz Boorer's Some of the Parts is out now via Fabrique Records.

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic ♥ +W♥M

W♥M058: Q Magazine's Britpop Quiz

W♥M058 (53 mins)

 

Me Me Me - Hanging Around

Recorded in the same session as Britpop Top Ten Countdown (which I still consider the best show ever), this super hard quiz was written by some hardcore journalist at Q Magazine, published in a paperback book called Q Quiz Book. The book is free, along with Q Greatest Rock & Pop Miscellany Book, as bonuses for an annual subscription. I got the book via one of their magazine off the stand.

Some questions are dubious, as far as Britpop is concern, like The Verve question... but overall one of the better quiz out there.

The later part of the show, we talk a bit about The Abercrombie Hotel closing down, Pavement, and Empire of the Sun.

Also, don't forget to see DJ Sal in Sydney at britpop.com.au.

Below are the questions and answers.

Q Quiz				Answer				Points
01 From which London suburb did The Bluetones hail?				Hounslow				0
02 What was the Boo Radley's debut album called?				Ichabod and I (1990)				0
03 What was the name of Elastica's long-delayed second album?				The Menace (2000)				1
04 What was Pulp's original name?				Abacus Pulp				1.5
05 What was the name of the band fronted by Danny Goffrey's wife Pearl?				Powder				1
06 What was the name of Sleeper's first Top 10 single?				"Sale of the Century"				0.5
07 Who replaced Bernard Butler on Suede?				Richard Oakes				1.5
08 What were Blur originally known as?				Seymour				1
09 Which Ocean Colour Scene song was the theme music on Chris Evans's TV show TFI Friday?				"The Riverboat Song"				1
10 Which Britpop supergroup featured both Blur's Alex James and Justine Frischmann Justin Welch from Elastica?				Me Me Me				1.5
11 How many Brit Awards did the Verve take home in 1998?				3				0
12 In which year was Pulp's first Peel Session?				1981				1
13 What was the name of Echobelly's singer?				Sonya Madan				0
14 Which Britpop frontman had his shoes stolen by muggers in 1997?				Rick Witter				0
15 Which member of John Power's band Cast also performed with Shack?				Peter Wilkinson				0
16 One of the follow was not a member of Kula Shaker. Which one? a) Alonza Bevan b) Jay Darlington c) Steve Peck d) Paul Winterhart				C				0
17 Who was the singer of the Seahorses, John Squire's post-Stone Roses outfit?				Chris Helme				0
18 Which member of Dodgy went out with Denise Van Outen?				Andy Miller				0
19 In 1995, with Britpop at its zenith, which three acts headlined the Reading Festival?				Smashing Pumpkins, Bjork, and Neil Diamond				0
20 What item of furniture played a prominent role in the video to Supergrass's Alright?				bed				1
21 What was Marion frontman Jaime Harding convicted of stealing in 2000?				a garden gnome				0
22 Which Britpop outfit were the first to appear on Top of the Pops without releasing a record?				Menswe@r				0
23 How many Top 5 UK albums did Space manage?				2				1
24 Gene's 1994 debut single For the Dead came in a limited run of how many?				1994				0
25 Which former member of Pulp now runs a ceramics shop?				Nick Banks				1
Bonus Questions
26 The infamous "Battle of Britpop" - name the two singles by Oasis and Blur that went head to head that same week. Bonus point: Who won in term of most singles sold.				"Roll With It" vs "Country House"; Blur won the battle (but Oasis won the war).				1.5
27 Elastica stole the guitar riff of "Connection" from what 70s punk band? Bonus point: name the song.				Wire; "Three Girl Rhumba"				0
28 Name Blur's bassist Alex James' unusual hobby?				Cheese lover				1
29 Before Kanye's "I'll let you finish" upstage, which Britpop maverick danced his way on stage during Michael Jackson's performance of an award show. Bonus point: name the award show.				Jarvis Cocker; The Brit Award				1.5
30 Name the lead singers of (1) Oasis, (2) Blur, (3) Pulp, (4) Suede, (5) Sleeper, and (6) Elastica.				Liam Gallagher, Damon Albarn, Jarvis Cocker, Brett Anderson, Louise Wener, and Justine Frischmann				3

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Archive of this show at archive.org. More information on podomatic.com

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic ♥ +W♥M

W♥M057: Britpop Top Ten Countdown

W♥M058 (69 mins)

Suede - Metal Mickey     Britpop: Jarvis vs Blur ♥ Flyer (12/05/09)

BRITPOPCAST #4: TOP TEN BRITPOP COUNTDOWN

This is the best of the best, and as far as I'm concern, this is the best countdown ever. If you had to listen to just one of our podcast, I think this the one you have to listen to.

Going into the recording, we already knew that it would be one massive recording session that will be split into two parts. So the first part is the countdown, thirty of our favorite Britpop tunes. The second part will be uploaded next week and involves a very hard Britpop Q Magazine Quiz. Seriously, it was hard, even for seasoned veterans like ourselves.

The next show, some ideas: Britpop girl bands ? Britpop band reunions ? If those doesn't sound appealing, let me know what you'd like us to discuss. Otherwise, I can always talk hours on end about stalking Louise Wener.

As for the Britpop top list, these are our preference and not a mean to measure how important a band is to that genre. Also, obviously we all had our Pulp, Blur, and Oasis moment, but the choice in songs are interesting to note. I have always known that my top two are the Blur vs Oasis, it was the other eight that was hard to have placement. I could have easily had a top 20 or 30. Easily.

Some honorable mentions should be sent to Cast, Salad, Charlatans.

Vu 10. Gene - Sleep Well Tonight 09. Echobelly - I Can't Imagine the World Without Me 08. The Bluetones - Bluetonic 07. Shed Seven - Dolphin 06. Sleeper - Nice Guy Eddie 05. Pulp - Disco 2000 04. Elastica - Stutter 03. Suede - Metal Mickey 02. Blur - Girls and Boys 01. Oasis - Supersonic

Sally 10. SFA - Ice Hockey Hair 09. Doves - Pounding 08. Teenage Fanclub - Sparky's Dream 07. Blur - Sunday Sunday 06. Suede - Animal Nitrate 05. The Coral - Dreaming of You 04. Ocean Colour Scene - The Day We Caught the Train 03. Dodgy - Good Enough 02. Pulp - Babies 01. Stone Roses - Fools Gold

Kristen 10. MSP - Motorcycle Emptiness 09. South - Keep Close 08. Pulp - Acrylic Afternoons 07. Oasis - Columbia 06. Wendys-Pulling My Fingers Off 05. Supergrass - Moving 04. Blur - This is a Low 03. Oasis - The Masterplan 02. Suede - Killing of a Flash Boy 01. Pulp - Sheffield: Sex City

If you like what you heard, and you happen to be in Sydney in early December, DJ Sal is doing her bits at britpop.com.au.

PS, stay after the song and you're in for a Buzzcocks treat.

W♥M Radio is available on iTunes, please subscribe!

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Archive of this show at archive.org. More information on podomatic.com

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic ♥ +W♥M

Gene - Be My Light, Be My Guide

 

 

Gene - Be My Light, Be My Guide

 

 

Gene - London, Can You Wait? (live)

In a recent photograph with and old friend, I noticed that Gene's "Haunted by You" poster in the background (as well as other favorites, including the movie, "Amateur").

I've seen Gene before, they put on a pretty good show. Check out their live album Waiting for Sunset, which was recorded in June 2000 in Los Angeles. I didn't know that they released a DVD version of this CD (it would only make sense, I suppose).

So, anyroad, we're all pretty big fans - I think mostly because their songwriter, Martin Rossiter, reminded us of Morrissey so much. He's so smart and witty and charismatic, it's really hard to resist! Gene's sound is also very similiar (maybe a tad more rock 'n' roll) to the Smiths.

 

 

Autograph "Sleep Well Tonight" (US Promo)

Anyway, this is just a quick summary of Gene: they were known as The Go Hole, and then re-named Sp!n. When Martin joined the band they took the name of Gene.

As Britpop died out circa 1999, it was harder and harder for US residents to get a hold of their albums. In fact, I had to get Revelations and Libertine on import via friends. Libertine was eventually released in the US, a year later.

Gene broke up on 16th December 2004, but the record companies keeps releasing compilations and collections well into 2006. But that's just the way it goes.

ALBUM DISCOGRAPHY

• Olympian (1995)
• To See The Lights (1996, B-Sides and Rarities compilation)
• Drawn To The Deep End (1997)
• Revelations (1999)
• Rising For Sunset (2000, live recording)
• As Good As It Gets (2001, Best Of compilation)
• Libertine (2001)
• Let Me Move On (2004)
• The Collection (2006, Singles Compilation)
• John Peel Sessions 95-99 (2006, BBC Radio)

vu