Showing 1 - 6 of 6
Blessed be the funk
Life, John Clewley, Published on 18/06/2025
» Last week, two giants of US popular music passed away. Beach Boys legend, composer/songwriter Brian Wilson, and funk pioneer Sly Stone of Sly & The Family Stone fame.
The unremovable Scratch
Life, John Clewley, Published on 31/08/2021
» "Hello, Hello, Hello … This is a skeleton from outer space having a party."
Rediscovering forgotten grooves
Life, John Clewley, Published on 05/01/2021
» Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia and the country's most populous city has a long history as an important Indian Ocean port connecting traders. As we saw with my recent review of the first international release of popular Djibouti music, The Dancing Devils Of Djibouti by Groupe RTD on the Ostinato label, ports at the western edge of the Indian Ocean region played a crucial role in developing popular genres of music.
Heart of music beats on
Life, John Clewley, Published on 27/10/2020
» British documentary filmmaker Jeremy Marre, who died aged 76 in April this year, made films for television on popular music from all corners of the planet. From his breakthrough TV film Root Rock Reggae in 1977, to his last film, a documentary on jazz great Count Basie in 2019, Marre was in a class of his own.
Motown memories
Life, John Clewley, Published on 22/10/2019
» Songwriters pen the hits but the singers or bands are the big stars, and sometimes the producers are the ones who get the credit. I grew up with the Great American Songbook or "American Standards" at home, played on the piano by my father while we sang the lyrics. These were the songs that featured in Broadway theatre and in Hollywood musicals. What are now known as standards were crafted by George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, Johnny Mercer and Richard Rogers.
Horns of Africa
Life, John Clewley, Published on 13/11/2018
» Summer and autumn releases are out and there are some fascinating new albums that are well worth checking out. The European Broadcast Union's Top Ten World Music Chart for November features hits from the Horn of Africa, Turkey, Zimbabwe and Colombia.