15 May 2007,London - For the first time in over three decades original 10cc members, Kevin Godley and Graham Gouldman, have reunited to record new music. Best known for such classic 10cc hits as “Rubber Bullets”, “I’m Not In Love” and “Things We Do For Love”, as well as Godley and Creme’s mega-hit “Cry”, Godley and Gouldman have recorded five new songs available for download on their official website www.ggo6.co.uk.

Kevin Godley, former half of the pioneering duo Godley and Creme, who has also directed and produced some of the most successful music videos in rock and roll for such artists as Duran Duran, U2, Peter Gabriel, Herbie Hancock, Rod Stewart, Keane and The Police to name just a few, graces all five tracks with his tremendous voice - arguably one of the great vocalists in music today. “I always figured Kevin had the best voice in the band,” complements Gouldman, “ironic that he never sang lead on a 10cc single… Even I managed that. Now justice has been done. Kevin’s voice and razor sharp lyrics take us places we haven’t visited before… Always a good place to start!”

Graham Gouldman, a prolific songwriter since 1965, who still maintains a touring 10cc, before joining the band penned such classic songs as “For Your Love”, “Heart Full Of Soul” and “Evil Hearted You” for The Yardbirds, as well as “Look Through Any Window” and “Bus Stop” for The Hollies and “No Milk Today”, “Listen People” and “East West” for Herman’s Hermits. He has also worked with the likes of Andrew Gold and The Ramones. “It was exhilarating to hear a haunting Graham Gouldman chord sequence,” says Godley about their recent collaboration, “wrap some words around it and feel something actually come to life, in real time, again. These first five tracks are pretty lean by our previous standards. They’re more heartfelt, focused, less layered and lyrically they’re tougher.”

The five new Godley and Gouldman songs are as followed:

1) “The Same Road ” - A burned-out, homesick, American executive, snarled up in traffic on the Westway, fantasizes about finding a soul mate in a pressurized, loveless world.

2) “Johnny Hurts” - In a dark hotel room, late at night, a man tries to comfort his best friend’s new wife as a disastrous wedding party winds down in the bar.

3) “Beautifulloser.com” - A rich man recalls, with regret, his lost youth and his part in an extraordinary woman’s downfall.

4) “Hooligan Crane ” - Years after the event a victim of school bullying meets his vicious tormentor. Old wounds re-open. For the victim nothing’s changed. For the bully everything has.

5) “Son Of Man” - Hotlegs morph, noisily, into 10cc via self -medicating, mutant primate and northern work ethic. (This is part one of “The Son Of Man Diaries”, a sporadic, mostly audio but occasionally visual look at Godley and Gouldman’s collective history).

Why a reunion now after so many years? “In a nutshell… unfinished business,” explains Godley. “In all the years we’ve known each other we’ve only written three pure, Godley/Gouldman songs. That, and a desire to find out if the music muscle still worked with someone I enjoyed and didn’t have to spend weeks getting to know.” Upon listening to the duo’s new work unquestionably the spark is still there, picking up where they left off in 1976 but with a newly found, contemporary edge. Says Gouldman, “Kevin and I have always stayed in touch even though we haven’t actually worked together for many years, so I was delighted when he called to suggest we write some songs. When I asked ‘Why?’ He said, ‘No reason… just to do it and see what happens.’ A good enough reason for me!”

Much to the elation of Kevin Godley/Graham Gouldman fans worldwide, new material by the dynamic duo are currently in the works.

For downloads and more information visit the official Godley and Gouldman website: www.gg06.co.uk

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No, not Guns n Roses news (Although…). This is about one of the eighties best loved bands, China Crisis returning for a rare and intimate tour in October, to celebrate 25 years since their debut release ‘African & White‘.

The new show will include many previously unheard songs as well as every classic China Crisis tune. There are also plans to get some very exciting special guests involved.

Formed in Liverpool in 1979, core duo Gary Daly and Eddie Lundon rose to fame with intelligent, melodic slices of post-punk pop such as the classic hits ‘Black Man Ray’, ‘King In A Catholic Style (Wake Up)’ and ‘Wishful Thinking’. 2007 sees them release a brand new dvd filmed in their hometown at Paul McCartney’s world famous LIPA Auditorium.

CHINA CRISIS TOUR DATES:

Sat 29 Sep - Runcorn Brindley Arts Centre
Thu 11 Oct - Worcester Huntingdon Hall
Fri 12 Oct - Southampton The Brook
Sat 13 Oct - Ebbw Vale Beaufort Theatre
Mon 15 Oct - Rhyl Pavilion Theatre
Tue 16 Oct - Leeds City Varieties Theatre
Wed 17 Oct - Edinburgh The Jam House
Thu 18 Oct - Gateshead The Sage Gateshead
Fri 19 Oct - Wolverhampton Robin 2
Sat 27 Oct - London Millfield Theatre
“Dreamy contemplative pop…the soothing aural equivalent of slipping into a hot bath” Q Magazine

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Squeeze have announced their first reunion dates since 1999. Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook will play eight gigs in November and December, following Tillbrook’s solo dates in Australia this month.

Here are’t dates.

27 November: Southampton Guildhall
29 November: Glasgow Carling Academy
30 November: Newcastle City Hall
1 December: Wolverhampton Civic Hall
3 December: Bristol Colston Hall
4 December: London Hammersmith Apollo
7 December: Manchester Apollo
8 December: Liverpool Philharmonic

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The Police have confirmed the initial dates for the European leg of their previously announced reunion tour, four of which are in the UK. Further dates are expected to be announced shortly.

For now, here are the confirmed gigs - Good luck on getting tickets!
29 Aug: Stockholm, Sweden
4 Sep: Birmingham, UK
8 Sep: London, UK
11 Sep: Hamburg, Germany
13 Sep: Amsterdam, Netherlands
16 Sep: Prague, Czech Republic
19 Sep: Vienna, Austria
22 Sep: Munich, Germany
27 Sep: Barcelona, Spain
29 Sep: Paris, France
13 Oct: Dusseldorf, Germany
15 Oct: Manchester, UK
19 Oct: Cardiff, UK

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Organisers of the Glastonbury Festival’s Left Field Stage have announced they will stage two pre-Glasto nights at the Carling Academy Islington, in association with VirtualFestivals.com and in support of Shelter. The nights will take place on 11 and 12 June, ten days ahead of Glasto itself.

Full line up info is to be announced, though the Tuesday (12 June) night will be headlined by CUD who are planning a number of festival sets this summer following a comeback tour last year.

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Paul Weller’s mates Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler, are regrouping for a twenty date tour later this year. It will be the first time the two former The Jam members have played together since the legendary band split back in 1982. The reunion will coincide with the thirtieth anniversary of the release of the band’s debut album ‘In The City’, which was released in April 1977, and which is due to be celebrated with a number of The Jam re-releases.

The tour will be very much aimed at The Jam fans, and will consist mainly of the band’s greatest hits. Foxton told CMU: “The traditional thing in the music business is to record your album and then tour it, but for this tour we’ve decided to perform The Jam’s greatest hits - ‘Going Underground’, ‘Down In The Tube Station At Midnight’, ‘The Eton Rifles’, ‘Strange Town’, ‘Town Called Malice’ plus some of my own songs. This tour is deliberately intimate and something of a warm-up to our own material which we’ll launch later. The plan is for us to get close to the fans, have some fun and then follow up with a larger tour in the autumn”.

Buckler adds: “I have stayed close to The Jam fans over the years. The songs mean so much to so many people. Fans have been demanding that we play live for years. Paul Weller has a fantastic solo career and is one of the UK’s most talented songwriters. Paul is always welcome to join us for the reunion, but until then, we’ve got a tour and a new album to do!”

The dates of the tour are as follows,

2 May: Oxford Zodiac
3 May: Cambridge Junction
5 May: Middlesbrough Town Hall - The Crypt
6 May: Aberdeen Lemon Tree
7 May: Edinburgh Liquid Rooms
9 May: Nottingham Rescue Rooms
10 May: Stoke Sugarmill
11 May: Liverpool Academy 2
12 May: Sheffield Leadmill
13 May: Preston 53 Degrees
16 May: Bristol Academy 2
17 May: Wolverhampton Wulfrun Hall
18 May: Cardiff Point
19 May: Guildford Surrey University
20 May: Isle of Wight: The Venue - Ryde Theatre
23 May: Norwich Waterfront
24 May: Tunbridge Wells - The High Rocks
26 May: Northampton Soundhaus
25 May: Reading Fez Club
27 May: Portsmouth Wedgwood Rooms

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OMD are planning to tour Europe for a series of performances in which they will play seminal album ‘Architecture & Morality’ in its entirety, backed by a 120 piece orchestra and a choir.

In addition to that tour, band leaders Andy McClusky and Paul Humphreys are also apparently working on an audio visual installation ‘The Energy Suite’ with artist Peter Savile, to be premiered in Liverpool in March as part of the city’s Capital Of Culture thingy.

Anyway, here are the local dates that the band - with its original line up of the aforementioned McCluskey and Humphreys, plus Martin Cooper and Malcolm Holmes, and that bloody great orchestra - will play:
(tickets)
13 May: Dublin, Olympia
15 May: Glasgow Clyde Auditorium
16 May: Liverpool Empire
18 May: London Hammersmith Apollo

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In the history of modern American music there are few bands like the Pixies. Theirs was an unparalleled musical path, influencing countless others despite modest financial success. In 1992, their chief songwriter and vocalist Black Francis announced his intention to quit via a blunt facsimile. That it seemed, was that.

Then to the amazement of everyone, the Pixies reunited in 2004. loudQUIETloud is the story of this unforeseen plot twist - a deeply compelling portrait of four band members and their difficult, tense and ultimately triumphant return.

Beginning with the very first rehearsal to the final show nearly one year later, the press shy Pixies granted unprecedented access to NY directors Steven Cantor & Matthew Galkin for the duration of their 04 tour. From the loud emotional highs of performing to renewed tensions between personnel, the band’s combustible stage dynamic is laid bare.

Featuring the seminal ‘Where Is My Mind’, ‘Gouge Away’, ‘Hey’, ‘Caribou’ and many more Pixies songs.

loudQUIETloud is released by Plexi.

Press Quotes

“Fascinating documentary about the Pixies’ 2004 reunion tour, contrasting footage of their electric performances and excitable fanbase with stilted backstage scenes”
TIME OUT

“A study of an older and wiser band tentatively treading the reunion trail”
TOTAL FILM

“A must-have for any Pixies fan…the film charts the progress of the tour from the band’s perspective, encompassing meetings with obsessed fans, family visits and the various simmering tensions within the group ”
HOTDOG

“A subtle, sensitive record of a group of people struggling to figure out what they once achieved”
UNCUT - DVD OF THE MONTH

“It’s been the daddy of all rock reformations, Pixies airing all their classics with ferocity and somehow sustaining their enigma and this straight ahead on-the-road documentary capturing it all is totally riveting. ”
MOJO

“A rock doc gem that goes beyond the boundaries.”
CLASH

“It’s part Some Kind of Monster and part Spinal Tap, but mostly it’s a descendant of, and as good as, the really great fly-on-the-wall music docs like Pennebaker’s Don’t Look Back.”
STOOL PIGEON

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Pixies man Frank Black has told Billboard that he tried to write some tracks for a new Pixies album to persuade bassist Kim Deal to participate, and failed. The band reformed in 2004, of course, but only released two songs. Black says he wrote a number of tracks “in an attempt to convince one of the Pixies to make a Pixies record again. I can’t say who she is.”

Black continued: “I tried to find my Pixies muse and write a so-called Pixies number but they weren’t any good. They sounded a little contrived or something. That’s the problem with trying to repeat something you did a long time ago; if you go ‘Okay, I’m gonna try to recreate something, tap into some mood I used years ago’, even if it’s the same songwriter, it’s kind of fakey. What can I say? Sometimes I wish I could just spit out some Pixies-esque songs, but it doesn’t really work that way. You write the songs and they come out the way they come out. They might sound like the Pixies, but these days mostly…not.”

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One of the three great Stourbridge acts to emerge, and in some ways define the original indie sound of the eighties, has returned with a new single. The Neds are releasing ‘Hibernation’ on limited edition CD via their website (nedsatomicdustbin.co.uk £3.99) and as a digital single (From here 99p for Hibernation or £2.99 for all three tracks).

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