Showing 1 - 10 of 16
Exile songs resurface
Life, John Clewley, Published on 27/09/2025
» From the early 1970s to the 80s, Mogadishu boasted one of the Horn of Africa's liveliest night scenes with groups from this "Golden Era" like Dur Dur Band entertaining at clubs and hotels across the city. A coup in 1991 and subsequent civil war put a stop to the music and musicians had to go underground or migrate. Those who went by the latter route took their music and culture across the Somali diaspora (one of Africa's largest).
Celebrating three decades of discovery
Life, John Clewley, Published on 27/02/2024
» World Beat celebrates 30 years on the music trail this month. The column started in Feb 1994 when Chuan Leekpai of the Democrat Party was in his first term as Prime Minister.
Farewell to a legend
Life, John Clewley, Published on 05/12/2023
» News of the passing of frontman and singer of The Pogues, Shane MacGowan, on Nov 30 sent shockwaves of sadness around the world of Irish music. Tributes were published across media, from the Irish president to his former bandmates.
Music for the soul
Life, John Clewley, Published on 29/08/2023
» Highlife was one of the first popular styles to emerge in post World War II sub-Saharan Africa. It came out of Ghana's clubs and bars in the 1950s, where big swing bands, pioneered by the "King of Highlife" ET Mensah, whipped up one of West Africa's best loved urban dance genres.
Let the good times roll
Life, John Clewley, Published on 06/06/2023
» Last month, one of the great explorers and producers of American vernacular music, Chris Strachwitz, passed away. He was 91 years old. He was the founder and co-owner (with Tom Diamant) of Arhoolie Records which since its first release in 1960, Texas Sharecropper And Songster by Texan bluesman Mance Lipscomb, has put out an astonishing 44,000 records.
The world beat goes on
Life, John Clewley, Published on 04/01/2023
» This year the entertainment business returned to some form of normality after the hard slog of lockdowns and lack of customers. It was good to see music lovers back at festivals and clubs. And the best festive season present of all was the performance of Ethiopian legend Hailu Mergia and his trio at Studio Lam on Dec 21.
House of the rising Son
Life, John Clewley, Published on 27/09/2022
» Son House is regarded as one of the greats of early blues, along with early recording stars like Charley Patton and Robert Johnson. He made 78rpm records in the 1930s but a spell in penitentiary halted his career and by the 1940s he had abandoned recording. It wasn't until 1964 that Nick Perls, Dick Waterman and Phil Spiro "rediscovered" him working at a gas station. He was completely unaware of the interest in folk blues at the time (Skip James and Bukka White were already playing crossover folk clubs).
Summer vibes
Life, John Clewley, Published on 24/05/2022
» The Thai entertainment scene got a welcome boost this past week with news that bars, clubs and pubs will reopen from June 1, albeit with a closing time of midnight. The government also announced that the lifting of restrictions would apply to 31 provinces that have successfully controlled potential outbreaks of Covid-19, with the other 46 provinces still under Covid-based surveillance and restrictions.
A modern-day bard
Life, John Clewley, Published on 07/12/2021
» John Cooper Clarke, Britain's "punk poet" has had an interesting life. Now 72, the "Bard Of Salford" recalls the highs (and there were a lot) and lows in a rambling, funny autobiography, I Wanna Be Yours (Picador), which was published in 2020.
Can I interest you in South American psychedelics?
Life, John Clewley, Published on 25/05/2021
» The Caribbean is in the spotlight in this week's column, with two new and contrasting albums from different parts of the region featuring.