July 2011
1 post
4 tags
Going Up and Going Down
Oh, hello. It’s been a while.
Today I want to talk about football and the MLS. I know, to some it isn’t real football - or even real soccer - but it’s the only live football we have here in North America.
In particular, I want to discuss passion - and the lack of it in the MLS. Not in the stands but on the pitch. Now this can’t be put down to the relatively poor skill...
January 2011
2 posts
5 tags
John Lennon Speaks Zen
I finally got round to reading the amazing last interview with John Lennon in the December 23rd issue of Rolling Stone. I’d love to link but I can’t find it on their site, sadly. Anyway, I’ve always thought he was a bit of a tiresome peacenik but this interview made me remember that he was actually one of the more intelligent musicians we’ve been blessed with. I highly...
6 tags
I did an interview last year
It got printed here last week. Enjoy.
December 2010
1 post
5 tags
Bad Gifts Don't Save Lives
So, here, rather late, is the War Child Holiday Gifts campaign. It launched a while ago but, being rather slow, I’m only getting to it now. Anyway, don’t buy crap this holiday give something worthwhile. You know it makes sense.
Videos are funny, too…
September 2010
1 post
12 tags
When it all came together...
So, 15 years ago today we were number one on the UK album chart. Well, because it was a compilation album they refused to put it in the actual chart, but the day before, War Child’s Help album had sold 72,000 copies - more than any other album in the country had managed over the previous six days. It was all pretty amazing. Help went on to raise $2.5M for Bosnia. Tony Blair gave it an...
April 2010
1 post
3 tags
Let's have a listen to Robyn!
So, in case you hadn’t spotted it, Robyn’s new album leaked all over the interweb today. Rumour has it, it’s the first of three albums for 2010. This is a very good thing. We like Robyn.
So, let’s take a little listen - it’s not very long, so this shouldn’t take long…
Track one is up and running. So far, a lot of things are killing poor Robyn. More...
March 2010
1 post
11 tags
The Word and other stories
So tonight’s post is an ode to a lost age. It was an age when music mattered more than life itself - kinda - and when those who documented it were like gatekeepers to a secret garden.
At this point you think I must be talking about the 60s or 70s but that was before my time. No, I’m thinking about the next decade and a half. My coming of age period. I would like to claim - and often...
February 2010
3 posts
5 tags
I did an interview the other day
I think it turned out pretty well as a War Child 101. Thanks to J.P. Douglas at 56 Rebels. And thanks to a creative collaboration between @photojunkie and @brundle_fly for the image…
10 tags
How a girl called Sarah turned me on.....to...
So, on Friday I met a new friend who we shall call Sarah, for that is her name. Somehow the conversation around the table got round to the subject of favorite music. You know, how it used to be back in the day - favorite band, best album ever, perfect song.
And that’s the point of this post. Much as this new, instant update, totally connected, ‘me and my community’ world has...
7 tags
What the egghead of pop taught me
When I was a young man, I had the luxury of working for Brian Eno. Watching a documentary on Roxy Music the other night, I was struck by just how much my approach to pretty much everything bore Brian’s influence.
I went to university in York (England), studying music. Not the greatest career move at a time when the UK was at the bottom of Thatcher’s second major recession. But I...
January 2010
1 post
8 tags
Changing The Game. Which Game?
All the talk around the iPad (other than name jokes) has been whether it’s a game changer. Well, is it? That depends on what game you’re talking about. It may be, if you’re just talking about how it will affect the consumer habits of the ‘connected’ and affluent tech-heads in the west. Maybe it will change the way you surf, read magazines, play games. Hell, you...