For the first time ever… the lads have a go!

1. How did I get into O(+> ?
Well I figured being a Prince fan I might as well….

2. What was the first song I ever heard by Marvin Gaye?
I HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE

3. How many albums by David Bowie do I own?
7 cds.

4. What is my favourite song by Will.I.Am?
HEARTBREAKER

5. What is my favourite song by Ne-Yo?
SO SICK

6. Is there a song by Novice Theory that makes me happy?
ABOUT THE DREAM

7. What is my favourite song by…

I 'borrowed' from another journal on here in 2008 so it's about time I had an update I reckon…

1. How did I get into Brenda Holloway?
Mostly through collections of lesser-known Motown classics.

2. What was the first song I ever heard by Mary J Blige?
REAL LOVE

3. How many albums by Marianne Faithfull do I own?
22 cds.

4. What is my favourite song by Aretha Franklin?
MY SONG

5. What is my favourite song by Chris Clark?
FROM HEAD TO TOE

6. Is there a song by Nancy LaMott that makes me happy?
PS. I LOVE…

Last night I went to the club Heaven (first time I have been there since the '90s!) to see my Pop heroes Alphabeat for the 2nd time live!

Anders SG, Stine, Anders B, Rasmus, Anders R and Troels saved my sanity while I was working in my last Hellish job so many times - their debut album THIS IS ALPHABEAT could shake me from the deepest depression with it's wonderful set of classic, joyous pop songs so they collectively have a special place on my heart. It was great to see the place sold out and there seemed to be…

This has been 'borrowed' from another journal on here…

1. How did I get into Gabrielle?
When I first saw the video for DREAMS I raced out and bought it. I still think it's a fantastic song.

2. What was the first song I ever heard by Tammi Terrell?
AIN'T NO MOUNTAIN HIGH ENOUGH with Marvin Gaye

3. How many albums by Bessie Smith do I own?
Five.

4. What is my favourite song by Marianne Faithfull?
THE BALLAD OF LUCY JORDAN

5. What is my favourite song by Aretha Franklin?
MY SONG

6. Is there a song by Dusty…

Tom Tom Club @ Royal Festival Hall

This is the third time I have seen the funky funsters live and they never fail to have me smiling like The Joker and moving.

Sadly the Festival Hall is hardly conducive to butt-shaking and so I wriggled in my seat impatiently among the firmly planted punters.

Chris 'n' Tina make a great backbone to the fun, their drum and bass lines lines locked down, an onstage partnership as strong as it is offstage. They were joined by their onstage singing buddies - Mystic Bowie bouncing all over the stage with dreads flying…

I always wanted to see Mary J. Blige in concert but was always wary as I was unsure what it would be like. I suspect her 1998 live cd THE TOUR gave me pause. Although she sounded great there is a rapper onstage hollering over her like a cheerleader with Tourettes "Mary in da fuckin' house… make some noise muthafuckaaas". Charmed.

I have also found some of her output to be a bit variable, usually down to the ubiquitous love of the meandering mid-tempo ballad by r&b divas. This inconsistency was evident as late as 2003 when the excellent NO…

I went to the always swanky Bush Hall to see and hear the honeyed vocals of Beth Rowley (Row as in arguing not something you do with a couple of oars - ahem!)

I saw her last year at the IndigO2 where she was the opening act on a bill headlined by Kiki Dee and this is what I thought of her "Imagine a Joss Stone without the hype and a liking for Billie Holliday. I really liked her, great voice, a couple of good songs and how good to hear a new Brit girl singer with a BIG voice…

Last night I joined the children, harassed parents, girls-on-a-night-out and gayers that constitute the audience of the all-conquering Sugababes at the Royal Albert Hall.

It was great, they sounded fantastic and all had their moments to shine - Keisha poised and controlled, Heidi beaming her smile to the highest reaches of the RAH and Amelle squeezing punters hands' at every moment. And the costumes…. they are bringing mini-crini back! We had ostrich feather ones, glitter-ball ones, red swag-curtain ones which were removed to reveal ones made of bubble-wrap plastic! For a ballad section we were treated to long robes with…

I saw Siouxsie at the Shepherds Bush Empire and she was amazing… much better than when I saw her last year at the Astoria.

Mind you, then I was drifting around trying to find a good vantage point but here we were a few rows back in the centre of the dress circle.

She taunted, she purred, she kicked, she pirouetted, she rocked!

All the tracks from MANTARAY sounded richer and more resonant than last year and with a healthy sprinkling of Banshees and Creatures tunes it was a great night.

There was a pungent whaft of musical nostalgia when I saw Linton Kwesi Johnson at the Barbican Hall supported by the mighty Dennis Bovell Dub Band and performers Winston Francis, Jean 'Binta' Breeze and Zena Edwards. Indeed Linton said that for a lot of the audience it would be an exercise in nostalgia but also explained each song before singing it, putting it into the context of the time he wrote it.

I was a big LKJ fan back in the late 1970s and many an ornament wobbled on the sideboards of Enfield as the heavy bass reverb-erb-erbed out of…