Sondheim and Bernstein's 1957 musical has been reborn as a new Hollywood blockbuster – and a 180g reissue of the original recording. Steve Sutherland reports
The twenty seventh of September 1957, the morning after the night before, and the reviews are in... 'The most savage, restless, electrifying dance patterns we've been exposed to in a dozen seasons... a profoundly moving show that is as ugly as the city jungles and also pathetic, tender and forgiving... flaring scores that capture the shrill beat of life in the streets... The astringent score has moments of tranquillity and rapture, and occasionally a touch of sardonic humour… This is a bold new different kind of musical…'
Inside a former church in London is a recording facility used by such stars as Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and Adele. Steve Sutherland invites you to pull up a pew as he tells its story
Some time in 1985, so the story goes, Dave Stewart of British pop duo Eurythmics had been working in Los Angeles with Bob Dylan and invited him to stop by his recording studio any time he found himself in London. The studio, which was called The Church, was in Crouch Hill, N8 and a few months later Dylan did just happen to be in the UK, so he decided to take up Dave on his offer.
Boasting three of his most cherished songs, this LP would put Stevens in the vanguard of the '70s singer-songwriter movement. Steve Sutherland hears the 180g reissue
In Malibu, it seems, miracles really do happen. 'I was an Englishman. I didn't know it wasn't wise to go out at that time of day and take a swim, so I did. I decided to turn back and head for shore and at that point I realised, "I'm fighting the Pacific". There was no way I was going to win. There was no-one on this earth who could help me so I did the most instinctive thing... I called out to God and said, "God, if you save me, I'll work for you", and in that moment a wave came from behind me and pushed me forward. He saved me... The tide somehow had changed and I was able to get back to land.'
The Dublin quartet's second album took three years to produce and cost them their record deal, but Steve Sutherland couldn't be happier to hear it once again
Before we get started, be warned: 'It's too easy for this album to turn you into a pretentious t**t.' These aren't my words by the way. They're from a book all about Loveless by an American chap called Mike McGonigal, who immediately goes on to prove his point by stating that the first time he heard the album in question, he felt, 'as if I'd been suspended upside down in a tank filled with beautiful fish'.
It was a hit factory in the heart of Soho, a studio in an alley where The Beatles, Bowie, Queen and Elton John would craft their chart toppers. Steve Sutherland on Trident...
'You're a sewer rat decaying in a cesspool of pride… A dog with disease, you're the king of the sleaze…' Life On Two Legs, Setting The Record Straight may not have featured in many best-selling book lists but it's one heck of a read. Authored by Norman J Sheffield in 2013, its title is a play upon 'Death On Two Legs (Dedicated To…)', an uncharacteristically vicious song written by Freddie Mercury which opened Queen's fourth LP, 1975's A Night At The Opera.
The singer-songwriter's sophomore album from 1989, reissued on 180g vinyl, showcased her lyrical wit and Johnny Marr's lush guitar licks, says Steve Sutherland
What can you buy for £61? A new pair of trainers at a discount store? A set of Sennheiser HD 200 PRO closed-back headphones? A Billie Holiday Classic Lady Day vinyl box set?
It was where Big Star were born, Primal Scream embraced the Blues, and Isaac Hayes made Hot Buttered Soul. Steve Sutherland has the story of Ardent Studios in Memphis
Over there in the corner is a teetering tower of folding chairs. On the chairs are sheets of glass. And around the tower are something like 100 microphones, all set up and ready to capture what comes next. And what comes next is cacophony as the band hurl cinder blocks at the tower in an attempt to simulate the sound of a car crash.
Beginning life in East London, SARM's name is synonymous with artists keen to use the latest tech to push the potential of sound to excite. Steve Sutherland has the story...
The Boy couldn't get out of bed. The phone rang. And rang. And rang again. The boy turned over, tugged the pillow down hard over his head, and fell back asleep. The phone rang. And rang. And rang again. Eventually the ringing roused him. He'd had a heavy night and was feeling rough. He answered the phone. The voice on the other end, Irish, cursed him.
For this fifth long-player, the thrash-metal pioneers transformed into heavy rock titans. Now the LP is out on 180g vinyl, Steve Sutherland relates its rocky birth
Lars Ulrich is not amused. 'Is this the test pressing?' he asks his manager, Peter Mensch. 'No', Mensch answers emphatically. 'That's the jacket, the cover that's going out across the country.'
Buy this reissue for the title track, says Steve Sutherland, but who was John Barleycorn? The unsparing details will be no surprise to all who have seen The Wicker Man…
Police Sergeant Neil Howie steps inside the bakery. He has flown here, to Summerisle, a small, remote Hebridean island, on a one-man seaplane to investigate the whereabouts of Rowan Morrison, a young schoolgirl who's reported missing. He's been to the school, the church, the library, the pub, the graveyard, even to the Laird of the island's manse, but every local he questions is infuriatingly vague, reluctant to divulge any helpful information.
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