The More You Live, The More You Love

Volume 15 The last volume of the year. 01. Blue Nile - I Love This Life 02. Human Sexual Response - Land Of The Glass Pinecones 03. League Of Nations - Fade 04. CCCP - American - Soviets 05. Howard Jones - Angels & Lovers (single mix) 06. Gleaming Spires - A Christian Girl's Problem 07. Profil - Berühren 08. Kim Wilde - Shane 09. Other Ones - All The Love 10. Flue - Fancy Free 11. New Math - They Walk Among You 12. Immaculate Fools - Immaculate Fools 13. Cook Da Book - Your Eyes 14. Simon LeBon - Grey Lady Of The Sea 15. Neon - The Same ritual 16. The Listening Pool - Where Do We Go From Here 17. Jon Astley - Jane's Getting Serious 18. Lax - Ronnie's Song 19. Den Harrow - Future Brain 20. Esquire - To The Rescue

The last day of the year brings me to the final list of the best albums for me over the year 2009. I have to say it was a good year. I discovered some nice new bands which turned out to become live favourites soon afterwards. Also this final list contains a nice mixture of new releases and re-releases. Because 2009 turned out to be a great year of re-releases. 01. (01) Editors - In This Light And On This Evening (2009) 02. (02) White Lies - To Lose My Life... (2009) 03. (--) No-Man - Mixtaped (2009) 04. (09) Thomas Dolby - The Golden Age Of Wireless (collector's edition) (2009) 05. (03) Muse - The Resistance (2009) 06. (--) Keane - Hopes And Fears (deluxe edition) (2009) 07. (10) Florence And The Machine - Lungs (2009) 08. (05) H2O - Faith (remastered) (2009) 09. (11) Ultravox - Lament (remastered definitive edition)(2009) 10. (--) A-Ha - Foot Of The Mountain (2009) 11. (04) Depeche Mode - Tour Of The Universe (Werchter) (2009) 12. (07) Porcupine Tree - The Incident (2009) 13. (--)...

Volume 14 01. Two People - Mouth Of An Angel 02. The Wild Swans - Bible Dreams 03. Rhythm Of Life - Soon 04. 39 Lyon Street - Kites 05. Robert Lloyd - Nothing Matters 06. Fiat Lux - Solitary Lovers 07. Pookah Makes 3 - Lucky Lucky Lucky 08. The Dolphin Brothers - Shining 09. Academy - Stand Up! 10. Our Daughters Wedding - Automusic 11. Boom Boom Room - Take Your Time 12. Win - Shampoo Tears 13. Alan Rankine - The Sandman 14. Private Lives - Break The Chains 15. English Evenings - Touch 16. Nik Kershaw - When I Grow Up 17. Buzzcocks - I Believe 18. Psychic TV - Godstar 19. Bill Pritchard - Tommy & Co 20. Camouflage - Love Is A Shield (extended) 21. The Big Dish - Faith Healer

Simple Minds & Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark Heineken Music Hall, 26 November 2009 An evening of music of two bands I follow since the early eigthies. I became interested in the Simple Minds with the release of New Gold Dream in 1982, and already knew Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark with their great album Architectury And Morality, which are both albums that I count in my list of top albums if the eigthies. So it wasn't hard for me to get some tickets, when I learned during the Lokeren Festival, where Simple Minds performed with Ultravox, another great eigthies band, that Simple Minds would return to mainland Europe with OMD as their secial guests. At half past seven OMD took of with a setlist mainly filled with singles. It was nice to see the band again after a two hiatus, at least for me. They are working hard on a new album for a release in late 2010, but meanwhile it was a nice surprise to see them on stage again although only for an hour. At nine Simple Minds took of...

Volume 13 01. Academy One - Forever And Ever 02. Shack - Ali's Vacation 03. Random Hold - Walking On The Edge 04. Robert Lloyd - Funeral Stomp 05. The Light - Pride Of Winning 06. The Swinging Laurels - Peace Of Mind 07. Martin Gore - In A Manner Of Speaking 08. Pookah Makes 3 - Take It Back 09. Paul Haig - Something Good 10. Way Of The West - Drum 11. 21 Strangers - More Cain Than Abel 12. Martin Ansell - Shine 13. Shock - Angel Face 14. De Film - Here We Are 15. Alan Rankine - Last Bullet 16. Andy Pawlak - Mermaids 17. The Big Supreme - Let's Turn Our Love Around 18. Boys From The East - Brilliant 19. Black - Everything's Coming Up Roses 20. Boom Boom Room - Here Comes The Man 21. Empire - Talk Free 22. Men Without Hats - Living In China 23. Bourgie Bourgie - Careless

Yes at the Waerdse Tempel, Heerhugowaard on 14 November 2009 Band: Benoit David - Vocals Steve Howe - Guitar Chris Squire - Bas Oliver Wakeman - Keyboards Alan White - Drums A nice evening of Yes music I have to say. The band returned to an early eigthies way of line-up, Steve Howe, Chris Squire and Alan White, accompanied by two new members, Benoit David and Oliver Wakeman, which gave the band a change to perform tracks that hadn't been performed since Jon Anderson returned in 1982. It was great to hear them perform Tempus Fugit and Machine Messiah. The setlist wasn't well balanced, but it gave a good idea of what the band has been capable of writing over the fourty years of existance. Benoit David sounds a lot like Jon Anderson but he is able of creating a complete different atmosphere on stage. And well what is it with the Wakeman family, it seems they're all capable of playing like pater familias Rick Wakeman. Oliver Wakeman played like he was in Yes for years, as if a ...

It's been a couple of months since I first started this item. Since then a couple of very strong albums were released and yes this has had an impact on me listening to music. This meant a lot of great albums were dropped in favourite of new albums, which even produced a new number one. 01. (--) Editors - In This Light And On This Evening (2009) 02. (01) White Lies - To Lose My Life... (2009) 03. (--) Muse - The Resistance (2009) 04. (--) Depeche Mode - Tour Of The Universe (Werchter) (2009) 05. (08) H2O - Faith (remastered) (2009) 06. (07) Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid (live at Abbey Road) (2009) 07. (--) Porcupine Tree - The Incident (2009) 08. (02) Keane - Perfect Symmetry (2008) 09. (--) Thomas Dolby - The Golden Age Of Wireless (collector's edition) (2009) 10. (--) Florence And The Machine - Lungs (2009) 11. (--) Ultravox - Lament (remastered definitive edition)(2009) 12. (04) Simple Minds - Graffiti Souls (2009) 13. (10) Echo And The Bunnymen - Ocean Rain Live 2008 (2009) 14...

Volume 12 01. Scary Thieves - Tell Me Girl 02. Vitamin Z - Burning Flame 03. Microdisney - Town To Town 04. The Adult Net - Waking Up In The Sun 05. Terry Blair & Anouchka - Ultra Modern Nursery Rhyme 06. Secession - Fire Island 07. The Comsat Angels - Will You Stay Tonight 08. The Painted Word - Independence Day 09. The Quick - Hip Shake Jerk 10. Yello - I Love You (7" version) 11. Virgin Dance - Are You Ready For That Feeling 12. The Caretaker Race - Somewhere On Sea 13. Millions Like Us - In Love With Yourself 14. The Mock Turtles - Strings & Flowers 15. Dollar - Give Me Back My Heart 16. Swans Way - When The Wild Calls 17. The Adventures - Another Silent Day 18. Power - Work Hard 19. Giant Steps - (the world don't need) Another Lover 20. B-Movie - Remembrance Day (extended) 21. Clark Datchler - I Don't Want You! 22. China Crisis - Scream Down At Me

Paradiso, Amsterdam 09 September 2009 It was 25 years ago that A Flock of Seagulls played in the Netherlands. Then at the Noorderligt in Tilburg, this time it was at the Paradiso in Amsterdam. In all those years a lot has changed. The 'new romantics' was at its highlights, and A Flock of Seagulls had scored a small hit with The More You Live the More You Love, and Mike Score was a fashion icon with his hairstyle. Nowadays it is a band living on the fame of their early eigthies hit I Ran, which became a hugh top ten hit in the US, but hardly did anything in the Netherlands. It were the singles Wishing (If I Had a Photograph of You), and The More You Live the More You Love which gave the band some success overhere. It also is a band that consists of a founder member accompanied by new members. Of the original band only Mike Score is present, accompanied by Joe Rodriguez on guitar, Pando on bass and Micheal Brahm on drums. The sound of the band was heavy but very well balanced, an...

Volume 11 01. Sons Of Heroes - Strange Eyes 02. Empire - My Imagination 03. Associates - Those First Impressions 04. Fiat Lux - Secrets 05. English Evenings - What's The Matter With Helen 06. Cava Cava - Brother Bright 07. The Pale Fountains - ... From Across The Kitchen Tabel 08. Electric Guitars - Language Problems 09. B-Movie - Scare Some Life Into Me 10. The Time Dance - Picture 11. Gangway - My Girl And Me 12. Perfect Day - Jane 13. Waterfront - Nature Of Love 14. Dalek I Love You - Ambition 15. The Passion Puppets - Voices 16. Haircut 100 - Too Up Two Down 17. The Light - Contrasting Strangers 18. H2O - You Take My Breath Away 19. Bonk - I'm Not Unusual 20. The Painted Word - Frances 21. Clark Datchler - Broken Spirit

After the release of Double Exposure, Steven Wilson decided to focus on his own projects. No-Man had had a good start from both Exposure albums, and soon afterwards his new progressive band Porcupine Tree would be formed which is still active and will release a new album The Incident soon followed by a hugh European tour. But from the now turned prog lowlands, The Netherlands, came some new volunteers to carry the flag. Main man was Peter Lindenbergh, also responsible for a magazine in English on progressive rock called Freia. In later years the editorial staff would change the name to Background Magazine. Since it wasn't an English project anymore, this album features only main land European bands, with the Netherlands delivering three out of eight contributors. In the years to follow this release The Last Detail, Asgard, Isildurs Bane and Odyssice would become names in the prog scene. The most important thing of this compilation was the fact that the musical atmosphere of the pro...

10cc did a theatre tour through the Netherlands during February and March. I recently found the time to write a late review about it. It sounds strange but it turned out to be a great succes. 10cc nowadays is mainly Graham Gouldman, the only founder member left of the four who started 10cc in 1972. Besides Graham Gouldman Rick Fenn and Paul Burgess are involved with the band since 1977. Mick Wilson joined in 2000 and Keith Hayman is the musical director of Cliff Richard and working with 10cc since 2006. Still the subtitle for the tour is "Featuring Graham Gouldman and Friends". But it's nice to see such respected artists perform in a theatre creating an intimate atmosphere. Although I've never seen the legendary line-up or the two plus line-up in later years, this re-incarnation of 10cc delivers a good evening of great songs performed with a lot of fun and enthusiasm. It was just a walk along memory lane with a pack of great seventies hit singles, some sixties tracks ...

A year after the release of Exposure, Double Exposure was released. This time more bands wanted to anticipate in the concept. So in the end it turned out to be a double vynil album with contributions from England, Spain, Germany, The Netherlands and Italy. Again the concept was to give bands a change, which just had released an album or were in the progress making one. But this time it turned out to be that bigger names were involved. Ishtar - M'Allegro Molto Vivace The Bond - Seriously Sibling Mazlyn Jones - First Light Heimdal - Somnis No Man Is An Island Except For The Isle Of Man - Faith's Last Doubt Anthony Philips - Promenade Rousseau - Breakfast At Tiffany's Airspeed - Far Away Screams Haze - In The End Plenty - Forest Almost Burning / Sacrifice Rog Patterson - Party Piece Galadriel - Summit Abel Ganz - Dangers Of Strangers Weirdstone (the old trip) - Circles Egdon Heath - In The City Notturno Concertante - Nocturne Anthony Philips is the best known participant on th...

I think it was somewhere around 1984 when I listened to the radio on a frequent base. Every Thursday we had a two hour program running on the Dutch radiostation Hilversum 3 in which they played tracks from new albums. It was a great program called LP Show. A couple of years later they changed the name to the CD Show. It was a well known program where they played every style of music, normally without talking through the intro and outtro of the music, and on several occations they broadcasted live shows. Through this show I discovered new music. Became interested in bands like Marillion, Pallas, IQ and Pendragon, and so into progressive rock, or the neo-prog as it was called, since all these bands were from the eighties. It was also around this time that a small Dutch magazine called Sym-Info was starting, and this magazine brought more names to my attention. It was basicly an A5 magazine at the start filled with reviews, but later on with interviews. Since they knew the music they were...

Volume 10 01 Flynn - The Only One 02 Thomas Leer - Number One 03 B-Movie - Forever Running 04 It's Immaterial - Heaven Knows 05 Wild Swans - Revolutary spirit 06 Two People - Rescue Me 07 Turquoise Blue - We Are Lost 08 Vitamin Z - Dancers Of Eve 09 Endgames - First Last For Everything 10 Box Of Toys - Precious Is The Pearl 11 Mick Karn - Buoy 12 Pete Shelley - Waiting For Love 13 Peter Godwin - Images Of Heaven 14 The Big Dish - Prospect Street 85 15 Cava Cava - Where's Romeo 16 Foreign Press - The Great Divide 17 Care - Flaming Sword 18 Academy - On The Beach 19 Matt Fretton - It's So High 20 Bill Pritchard - Romance Sans Paroles

August 22nd, The Rosemary Branch Theatre, Islington, London 20 years after performing its debut concert at the venue, No-Man returns to The Rosemary Branch for the launch of the band's forthcoming double DVD, Mixtaped. The presentation will consist of a special 70 minute preview of last year's Bush Hall performance (in widescreen and 5.1 surround sound), a 20 minute excerpt from the No-Man documentary Returning, and a 5.1 showing of the videos for Back When You Were Beautiful (especially commissioned for Mixtaped) and Wherever There Is Light. There will be two screenings at 2pm and 7pm. No-Man merchandise will be on sale and Tim Bowness, Steven Wilson and Mixtaped/Returning director Richard Smith will be in attendance at both showings. Please note that tickets are extremely limited due to the size of the venue and no refunds can be given. Venue location: Rosemary Branch Chech out at: No-Man website

Several people have asked me to repost the eigthies material of No-Man. So here it is again. No-Man is the band of Steven Wilson and Tim Bowness and dates back to the late eighties. After playing in Karma and Pride Of Passion Steve Wilson decided to start his own band. The first release, From A Toyshop Window, of this band, called No Man Is An Island Except For The Isle Of Man was released on the compilation album Exposure (1986). On this track Wilson plays all the instruments. It's a very progressive rock orientated song. On the Double Exposure album from 1987 the name is cut to No Man Is An Island, and ex plenty vocalist Tim Bowness and Stuart Blagdan on guitar have joined the band. Faith's Last Doubt is the track featured on this compilation. In 1989 The Girl From Missouri 12" is released which shows a hugh step forward towards the music No-Man is known for these days. Violin player Ben Coleman has joined the band and Blagdan has left. Later that year they change the na...

TW Classic, Werchter 20 June 2009 Recently I visited the latest edition on TW Classic in Werchter. It wasn't really a classic line-up but it turned out to be unforgettable. The first artist I saw that afternoon was Tom Helsen. He's a Belgium singer, who I got to know through his collaborations with Milow. His music is a cross between Milow and a Dutch band called City To City, which had their moment of fame in 1999 when they scored a number one hit in the Netherlands with The Road Ahead. So not a very special sound a bit like middle of the road music but a nice opener. I missed Motor so I can't tell how they were. Setlist Tom Helsen: Sun In Her Eyes Bring It Home Change Yourself Longface Numbers & Figures Shades Night And Day Easy Slowly Home Out Of Something Every Little Thing When Marvin Calls Next in the program was Duffy. She became known to the public through her singles Stepping Stone and Mercy. Her first album Rockferry refers to the sixies, a period Amy Whinehou...

At the moment i'm enjoying my holiday and listen to a lot of (mostly) new music. In my present top 15 there are some great new bands, to me, with very good releases. 01. White Lies - To Lose My Life... (2009) 02. Keane - Perfect Symmetry (2008) 03. The Script - The Script (2008) 04. Simple Minds - Graffiti Souls (2009) 05. 10CC - Windows In The Jungle (japanese re-release + bonustracks) (2006) 06. Coldplay - Left Right Left Right Left (2009) 07. Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid (live at Abbey Road) (2009) 08. H2O - Faith (remastered) (2009) 09. It Bites - The Tall Ships (2008) 10. Echo And The Bunnymen - Ocean Rain Live 2008 (2009) 11. IQ - Frequency (2009) 12. Ultravox - The Very Best Of (2009) 13. Steven Wilson - Insurgentes (2009) 14. Depeche Mode - Sounds Of The Universe (2009) 15. No-Man - Schoolyard Ghosts (2008) Other albums that need to be mentioned and get a recent re-play, but are not in my top 15 at the moment, are: Propaganda - A Secret Wish (special edition) (1984) Marillio...

Nik Kershaw played with band at Zeche in Bochum, Germany on Saturday 16 May 2009. We drove up to Bochum in the early afternoon, arriving in our hotel around half past three. The hotel Schmidt-Mönnikes was nicely situated, about a five minute drive from the venue. Also the hotel is in a nice suburb with a beautiful park full of rhododendrons. We had a nice walk through the park and afterwards, after returning back at the hotel, had dinner at Vitrine, the restaurant which is in the same building as the hotel. We arrived at the venue at a quarter to eight and had to wait for half an hour before the band and of course Nik Kershaw came on stage. They opened with Wide Boy. Close to the stage the voice of Nik was drowing out. Furtherup in the venue his voice was better, but sounded more shrill and sharp. Also I had the idea that he looked tired and the sound was way too loud. I don't know if this was to mask the mistakes which were made during the first twenty minutes of the concert or th...

It took me some time to come up with a review for this concert. It was great to go to London after more than ten years. And during your stay get a change to see one of your favorite bands makes it more special. We arrived in time to have a quick dinner down the road at Fogg. A nice restaurant with a card referring to the travel Phileus Fogg undertook according to Jules Verne’s book Around The World In 80 Days. They’ve got meals from all the continents Philieus Fogg crossed during his trip. You can choose your own courses or decide to take a complete meal. When I entered the Roundhouse I was able to get a last soundbit of the support, Anne-Marie Helder, who sounded dreadful. I was glad I had spent the duration of her performance to some quality time in a nice restaurant. At a quarter after eight the lights dimmed and Ultravox stepped on stage and took off with Astradyne. From that moment the atmosphere was great. Both band and audience were enjoying the gig. Billy Currie was met with gr...

Being a fan for many many years I was really surprised the band decided finally, after 25 years, to do an European tour again. I am aware of the fact that it's only Mike Score nowadays who's left of the old line-up. Still I like to see them, because back in 1984 I was unable to visit the famous Noorderligt at Tilburg. On 09-09-09 A Flock Of Seagulls will play the well known Paradiso theatre in Amsterdam. I became an instant fan of the four when I heard I Ran on the radio. But it was Wishing (if I had a photograph of you) which really turned me into AFOS. Through the years I was able to track down most of their vynil releases. And of course the CD's followed as well. I even became a member of the Airborne Division. With the internet things changed and in 1996 I was able to get a CDR copy of most of the b-sides and rare recordings of AFOS ripped from vynil, which I like to share with you. The recordings are from the period 1982 - 1985 when they had the line-up of: Mike Score ...

Volume 9 01 Alan Rankine - The World Begins To Look Her Age 02 Duran Duran - The Chauffeur 03 Gene Loves Jezebel - Desire 04 Human League - Seconds 05 Eight Point Five - Mary 06 The Cry - Laughing & Crying 07 A Drop In The Gray - Heartache Feeds Heartache 08 Dial - Modern Day Love 09 Empire - This Is My Word 10 King - Won't You Hold My Hand Now 11 Data - Fallout 12 B-Movie - Ship Of Dreams 13 H2O - Who'll Stop The Rain 14 EBN-OZN - AEIOU Sometimes Y 15 Dukes Of The Stratosphere - Vanishing Girl 16 Box Of Toys - I'm Thinking Of You Now 17 David & David - Welcome To The Boomtown (album version) 18 Hidden track

Volume 8 01 The Thought - There's A Boy (remix) 02 Boom Boom Mancini - Red Skies 03 Shop Assistants - I Don't Want To Be Friends With You 04 Rain Parade - Mystic Green 05 Toyah - Rebel Run 06 Henry Badowski - My Face 07 The Allies - Emma Peel 08 Stephen Duffy - I Love You 09 Robert Marlow - The Face Of Dorian Gray 10 Pseudo Echo - His Eyes 11 Altered Images - Don't Talk To Me About love 12 Hazel O'Conner - Eighth Day 13 Tones Or Tail - Go 14 Bodeans - It's Only Love 15 Reward - It Must Be Love 16 Playing By Numbers - Automatic Introductions 17 This Other Eden - Angels Tell Lies 18 Pop Will Eat Itself - There Is No Love Between Us Anymore 19 The Fools - World Dance Part (remix) 20 Camera Obscura - Destitution 21 Industry - State Of The Nation 22 The Reels - Comedy 23 After The Fire - 1980-F

Volume 7 01 The Police - Synchronicity I 02 Theatre Of Hate - Do You Believe In The Westworld 03 Dial M - House Of Joy 04 Kids In The Kitchen - Current Stand 05 Our Daugther's Wedding - Lawnchairs 06 Dekkan Danse - I Can't Believe It 07 The Boomtown Rats - Talking In Code 08 The Thought - The Rise And The Fall 09 One The Juggler - Everyday 10 The Jericho - Muscle Deep (single version) 11 Blue Train - Wheels Go Round 12 Ministry - I'm Falling 13 Icehouse - Walls 14 The Tempest - Bluebelle 15 Roaring Boys - House Of Stone 16 It's Immaterial - Ed's Funky Diner 17 Fashion - Love Shadow 18 Re-Flex - How Much Longer 19 H2O - Turn Back In Anger 20 Romeo Void - Say No 21 The Act - Too Late At 20 Enjoy.

'Mixtaped' concert DVD/CD, documentary and new No-Man material The live recordings from the No-Man mini-tour of autumn 2008 are now complete in terms of audio soundtrack and visuals. The band are planning a double DVD release in spring/summer 2009, which will be called 'Mixtaped'. The DVD will feature a second disc comprising a detailed documentary on No-Man's history, written and produced by Richard Smith and featuring interviews with Tim and Steven, as well as several extras. An audio CD of the best of the Bush Hall performances, also called 'Mixtaped', is likely to be released at a later date.

No-Man will be releasing a new EP in summer 2009 (most probably in early May). The EP will be called 'Wherever There Is Light' and will feature one previously released track plus new recordings and live audio/visual content (serving as a taster for the forthcoming live DVD). The full tracklisting for the EP is: Wherever There Is Light Death Was California Counting Carolina Skeletons (live) All The Blue Changes (live) Wherever There Is Light (video) All The Blue Changes (live video) 'Wherever There Is Light' is taken from last year's 'Schoolyard Ghosts' album (as is the accompanying video for the track) and features frequent band ally Theo Travis on flute and ex-American Music Club pedal steel guitarist Bruce Kaphan. All of the live tracks were taken from No-Man's concert at Bush Hall, London on 29th August 2008 and feature the full live band. The new studio tracks were recorded at No-Man's Land during 2008 and 2009 and feature a guest performance by...

In 1985 "The Small Price Of A Bicycle" was the second album of The Icicle Works after the critical acclaimed self tittled debut album of 1984, which featured the hit single Birds Fly (whisper to a scream). The band consisted of: Robert Ian McNabb - Vocals; Guitar; Keyboards. Chris Layhe - Bass; Keyboards; Violin; Backing Vocals. Chris Sharrock - Drums and Percussion Guest: Jacques Loussier on Rapids Lip Service - Brass on All The Daughters (of her father's house) The album was produced by Wally Brill, engineered by Richard Manwaring with assistance of Jacques de Jacques. Hollow Horse produced by Hugh Jones. All The Daughters (of her father's house) produced by Geoff Muir and The Icicle Works, remix engineer, Gary Thomas. tracklist Hollow Horse Perambulator Seven Horses Rapids windfall Assumed Sundown Saint Sojourn All The Daughters (of her father's house) Book Of Reason Conscience Of Kings

On a recent CD hunt in Alkmaar I was able to collect some nice eighties albums again, which I will share over the next couple of weeks. The first album to share is of the band The Ward Brothers from Barnsley who made one album "Madness Of It All" for Siren Records in 1986. The band consisted of: Dave Ward - Lead and backing vocals, percussion and drums Derek Ward - Keyboards and programming Graham Ward - Guitars and backing vocals Guests on the album are: Martin Bullard - Synth bass and keyboards (joined Smokie in 1988) Wesley Magoogan - Saxophone on "Why Do You Run" Louis Restro - Bass and additional keyboards on "Madness Of It All" The album was produced by Mike Howlett and engineered by Steve Power. "Madness Of It All" produced by Don Was with Frank Fillipetti. Engineered by Frank 'Sushi' Filipetti. "Cross That Bridge" produced by Don Was. engineered by Phil Brown. "Madness Of It All" recorded at Soundtracks and Rig...

Last week I decided to check at a recycle shop in the village. I checked one about a month ago at Beverwijk, a nearby city, but that turned out negative. Coming home from work I decided to pop in. And I was suprised to find 11 12 inches, nearly all bands that weren't that known in the Netherlands during the eighties. And for just 75 cents each it was a bargain, considering the good condition most of them are in. Have been playing some of them a lot these days. Blossom Child was the first one that became an instant favourite. I Pray is a great song with a nice bass line. The song was a hit in France. Also Roy White turned out very nice. The Sandman of Alan Rankine, known from The Associates, I already knew, as ABC of course. Here you find some of the songs I was able to track down.

It's been awhile since I went over to England to interview this band. The trip was nice. I spent some time with friends in Grimsby, and was able to make the trip to Appleby to have an interview with the band and their manager in a local pub. The interview was published in iO Pages 29 (December 2000). Over the years I always kept appreciating the music of Castanarc. Mark Holiday and David Powell confronted the listener with a mixture of ambient progressive rock and uptempo high-energy rocksongs, in which the band didn’t bogged down in copying their own work, or work of others. But it turned out that in 1999 Castanarc released their final album Little Gods, a beautiful diamond, which continued to follow the atmospheric and musical direction the band undertook in earlier releases like Burnt Offerings and Rude Politics. After the release of Little Gods Mark and David told me they had great plans with their label. Neil Duty had returned and they were setting out a course concerning gig...