lll ll'l() (Jill (SE; TONY BLACKBURN Rewind at Liquid Room, Edinburgh, Sat 4 Dec.
Anyone who turns their telly on to the painful sight of the I’m a Celebrity. . . bandwagon this year will doubtless be confused by the suspect notion that anyone whose name has been mentioned in public before is a national idol. It ain’t like the good old days. Back then, it was all real celebrities around these parts. Men like, ahem, Tony Blackburn!?
The ex-Radio One airwave-chewer (now on Real Radio, Classic Gold - where he once, in mirthsome anti-rock’n'roll fashion, was suspended for defying a station edict that Cliff Richard should not be played - and the occasional slot with GMzTV) has been watching it himself, but he’s not impressed. ‘I’ve not been getting into it,’ he says. ‘In fact, I find it hard to distinguish between them. Brian Harvey and that other guy [Fran Cosgrove, who he?], and the blonde ones, they all look the same. Besides, they’re all tied down, they’re not available.’
Fair point, but whether or not we want to eventually see Janet Street Porter in the back of Huggy Bear’s proverbial pimp-ride is a pretty short debate. Anyway, Tony’s moved onwards and upwards, which is why he’s on Rewind's poster this month. ‘What I do isn’t so much about all that mixing and scratching,’ says the anti-John Peel. ‘That stuff passed me by altogether, I’m afraid. I have done Ibiza, but it’s not my sort of thing.
‘My show’s much more personality-driven, more of a theatrical send-up,’ he continues. ‘All the party classics, like “Dancing Queen" and “YMCA”, and me prancing around in a sparkly jacket. I think it's important to actually do something when people come to see you. I find watching someone behind a turntable rather boring.’ We wouldn’t expect any less. If you want cheese done right, Tone’s your man. (David Pollock)
combination of Jazz. big band sung; ant Jamaican music influences.
So which explanation is true?
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This issue: The Ska- Talires; OK. And have they been going non-stop for 40 years? Nx‘, ’l_i";‘,- In wiry: ’yafri '~’:’ we ;'::'»- :‘ 3'
Few bands truly deserve the label ‘legendary’ but it’s ‘:"i’l 2" mud, ~ " a f:”":’ °' 2 g H ;.,-" :' :
difficult to argue against it being applied to the «; a‘fw '.' K,- M" 1” ‘/ . ’2' g » ' z ’ ‘ ’
Skatalites. Formed in 1964, the pioneers of ska have '1' . "/l’." [w [Jr-u ' :' l' w :
long been assured a unique place in music history. "i.."l‘:"i' t; "' _; i"‘.'-‘,-' : v . , ; v I I. , ,
Hats off. How exactly did they invent a whole new U " “7.4V: ‘1. ‘:'-: ' «- '
style ofmusic? ‘~’:t':.f~,..';i ,C'rl: ’l’.l,.‘-:"»’:’,“’ .-
That depends on who you ask. Sonic riientlms; 'iiz‘ii'Wfll t Oh dear. So when did they reform?
have accidentally stumbled on the ska sound .'.llll€: f",1'7§l fa T’w. T' .u'i new ".’;-’:f' 0' a ’ " ' -' 2'" '
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beat. Others maintain it came about tlir't‘vgh a ilétill/{k'étftt Liz” " "0“ “t "-: m2.- .uwu ~ :;~
Hold on, if the Skatalites invented ska, shouldn’t we blame them for inspiring all those terrible US ska-punk outfits over the years?
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-'- THE LIST 47