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huw

@huwareyou.bsky.social
153 followers 169 following 196 posts

david essex apologist words for shindig! magazine

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huw @huwareyou.bsky.social · 10h
Deram Records was launched 60 years ago today. Bowie, Beverley, Cat Stevens, Move, Moodies, Mike Westbrook. “A Whiter Shade of Pale”, “Nothing But a Heartache”, “Michael Angelo“, “I Can’t Let Maggie Go”, “Beggin’”, “Rebels Rule”, “Vacuum Cleaner”. Blummin’ “I Was Kaiser Bill’s Batman”. Some label!
Scan of a 1966 launching Deram as “the great new label from Decca” and listing their first releases - singles from Beverley and Cat Stevens and an LP by Johnny Howard.
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Him Over There, and now available for work @snathe.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
"Another Star" is an utterly magnificent noise indeed and I would like to think that the playout lasted for at least another 15 minutes after the fade out ended.
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Centuries of Sound @centuriesofsound.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
RIP to Calypso singer Mighty Sparrow, who has died at the age of 91, such an important figure in a genre which is really unfairly neglected. www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2eK...
youtube.com
Mighty Sparrow singing "Madam Dracula" c.1960
YouTube video by castor3331
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huw @huwareyou.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I know it sounds infantile but I listen to this and it fills me with hope and joy about this whole human race endeavour. It’s just really good innit. Happy 50th!
My hand holding up the vinyl LP “Songs In The Key of Life” by Stevie Wonder
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huw @huwareyou.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
🎶 UPTIRL! SHIBBIN’ UPTIRL! 🎵 m.youtube.com/watch?v=AM2O...
m.youtube.com
uptown girl but every other beat is missing [CC]
YouTube video by Adam Emond
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huw @huwareyou.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
My mum very kindly bought me Dragonfire on VHS off eBay when I was a kid c. 2008. I watched it on our telly which still had a video player; it wasn’t out on DVD yet but I was just that keen to see the face-melting story.
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huw @huwareyou.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
“We don’t know if Bob Marley ever saw The Banana Splits…” The kind of sentence you would only hear in A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs @andrewhickey.500songs.com
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huw @huwareyou.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Here’s looking at you, bro
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huw @huwareyou.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Heartbreaking: Not Only is Someone on the Bus Playing Music Out Loud From Their Phone, But Said Music is “Troublemaker” by Olly Murs
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huw @huwareyou.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Today I found Affinity’s self-titled LP on Vertigo at a car boot sale. I will be chasing this high and racked with this guilt for the rest of my days.
My hand holding up an original vinyl LP copy of Affinity’s self-titled 1970 album on Vertigo. The inner sleeve and disc showing the famous “Vertigo swirl”.
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huw @huwareyou.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
The Iraq War (general) and the Boxing Day tsunami in 2004.
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huw @huwareyou.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
RIP the wonderful Dolly Parton. I’m very fond of this early single of hers that seems to tread the line between countrypolitan and Northern Soul. Ray Stevens wrote it but Dolly makes it fizz. youtu.be/BjqsvN02bF8?...
youtu.be
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huw @huwareyou.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Unexpected find in an EDM-oriented record shop! J. A. Freedman’s only LP from 1969. Eccentric singer-songwriter stuff with brassy backing, a bit Bill Fay. I *think* I first heard of this guy through @23daves.bsky.social‘s superb blog but I could never find a full album rip. Now I can listen - yay!
Picture of my hand holding up the vinyl LP “I Also Sing” by J. A. Freedman (Decca, 1969). Its sleeve has a wonky B&W shot in the centre that shows Freedman playing a saxophone to a camel, a llama and a parrot. This is framed by a colourful psychedelic collage incorporating pop art-ish depictions of coins, a butterfly, faces and buildings.
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huw @huwareyou.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Know your audience.
Screenshot of a Facebook post that reads “Enough already with this Helen Shapiro nonsense.She wasnt so great”. The post is in a group titled Helen Shapiro Appreciation Group.
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huw @huwareyou.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
That one funky bass note after the last “See that girl”. The swirling, wobbly effect on the massed vocals underneath “Oh yeah!”. The way the piano rhythm subtly changes halfway through the chorus.
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Harp & a Monkey Folk Music Club @harpmonkey.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
If anybody has been struggling to get a copy (I know I did!), I have now read and thoroughly enjoyed mine. Happy to pass on free of charge to a fan as desperate to read it as I was. UK-only so the postage doesn’t kill me.
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huw @huwareyou.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
Loved Bill Oddie. RIP. He did everything - he even had a Zombies-ish beat ballad in him. youtu.be/aEzXDY-_MkQ?...
youtu.be
I Can't Get Through
YouTube video by Bill Oddie - Topic
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huw @huwareyou.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
I have been on here for ages but I have never really regained all the friends and interactions I had on Twitter. I miss it tbh! But then also it was an unhealthy thing to care so much about, probably. I don’t have any hot takes or interesting things to say. Dead embarrassed to be so into music tbh.
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huw @huwareyou.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Wrote the Wikipedia page for Oh No It’s Selwyn Froggitt and got it to Great Article status
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Pete Paphides @petepaphides.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
I love that Rupert's People song, but it's currently on another playlist I've made called A Whiter Shade Of Paler Shade Of A Whiter Shade Of Pale!
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huw @huwareyou.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Laura Nyro didn’t often play ”Stoney End”. I am in bits hearing this version. youtu.be/EWGMSAGnIl4?...
youtu.be
Laura Nyro - Stoney End LIVE @ Hoch Auditorium @ University of Kansas, March 27, 1971.
YouTube video by Den Knee
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Samuel Cox @desolationbro.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
Wrote a handful of pieces for this, including a meditative wander around XTC’s Swindon (where I just so happen to have grown up). recordcollectormag.com/rc-specials/...
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huw @huwareyou.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
The new Record Collector special devoted to XTC features my interview with Colin Moulding and a piece I wrote on the band’s final album Wasp Star. I am utterly thrilled to be part of it.
Promotional image for Record Collector’s XTC special magazine, showing the cover (carrying the headline “Making Plans for Vinyl”) and detailing the issue’s contents including new interviews with the four members of the 1979-83 lineup, contributions from celebrity fans and album reviews. The magazine was published on 16 July.
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Chris Shaw @chrisshaweditor.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
Huge thanks to @petepaphides.bsky.social (who turned me on to Andy Bown’s music) and @huwareyou.bsky.social (who helped make it happen) for this episode. It’s probably the antithesis of ‘rock musician interviews’ but we had lots of fun making it🙂
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huw @huwareyou.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
I’m on a podcast talking about a magazine about a band!
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huw @huwareyou.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
subjecting my little nephews to “little white bull”, “a windmill in amsterdam” and “right said fred”. welcome to huw-nior’s choice lads.
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huw @huwareyou.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
is there anyone I can talk to about Laura Nyro is there a Laura Nyro discord
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huw @huwareyou.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
It is my birthday on Friday and I have no plans. I left it too late, my friends are busy. Should I go somewhere on my own? Is that tragic?
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huw @huwareyou.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Elvis Costello played a blinder in Shepherd’s Bush tonight and I am on a high like no other.
Me with Elvis Costello
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huw @huwareyou.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
The Wallace and Gromit forum for kids circa 2009. There was a civil war when I asserted that Wallace never says “cracking cheese” in any of the films.
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huw @huwareyou.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
DJing for the Lemon Twigs at Shepherd’s Bush Empire, where “Hancock’s Half Hour” was recorded (rock and roll). I don’t know how I got there!
Me (Huw) and my friend Matilda on stage spinning records.
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Ned Raggett @nedraggett.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
Ten years gone for Merle Haggard the other day. Kaleb Horton had the definitive piece at the time. It remains such. They’re both ghosts in the culture now, but ones that I always feel.
kalebhorton.ghost.io
From The Archives: Merle Haggard, Son of Bakersfield
Note: I wrote a bunch of stuff before posting the actual article. You know, like recipe sites, except I heard some of those guys make money. So just scroll down a thousand words for the actual thing y...
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huw @huwareyou.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
just heard some blokes on a podcast say that jimmy carr is the bob monkhouse of today and I was a little bit sick in my mouth.
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huw @huwareyou.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
I (quickly) ranked my top ten Paul McCartney albums for Rough Trade. Hope people like it. blog.roughtrade.com/gb/ranked-pa...
blog.roughtrade.com
Ranked: Paul McCartney's Greatest Albums | Rough Trade
Across solo records, collaborations with Linda and the ever-shifting identity of Wings, we rank and review Paul McCartney's ten greatest albums.
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huw @huwareyou.bsky.social · 22/03/2026
I’ve been watching Powell and Pressburger’s I Know Where I’m Going! (1945) and I noticed a familiar extra early in the film. That’s the centenarian broadcaster and actor Pete Murray, right? Right?
B&W shot of a sharp-dressed man resembling Pete Murray amidst a gaggle of people. B&W shot of a sharp-dressed man resembling Pete Murray amidst a gaggle of people.
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huw @huwareyou.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
Hell of a record tbf
Scott 4 (1969), Scott Walker’s album released under his birth name of Scott Engel, perched on my record shelf.
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Rob Chapman @scribblerrob.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
60 years ago. Flicker flicker flicker blam Powis Gardens. It all begins here, underground pop dance fans.
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Chthönic Smïth @chthonicsmith.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
They deserved more acclaim but couldn't shake the manufactured/pretty boy tag. Once they started writing their own material you got Sunshine Cottage, an overlooked popsike classic with Miss Jones on the b-side - a decent immitation of the Small Faces (no wonder Marriott wanted Frampton to join)
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huw @huwareyou.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
Heads-up 60s music nerds! The new issue of Shindig! features my article on The Herd, gothic psych idols led by Peter Frampton and Andy Bown, who I interviewed for it. There’s an excerpt from it here! :) shindig-magazine.com?p=7440
shindig-magazine.com
Issue #171 – The Herd -
Psych-pop idols THE HERD were responsible for a string of unforgettable singles in the late ’60s including 'From the Underworld' and 'I Don't Want Our Loving To Die', but behind the hits lay a frustra...
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Andrew Hickey @andrewhickey.500songs.com · 05/01/2026
Agreed with this statement. So much of the "Golden Age of TV" nonsense was based on the false idea that US network TV was all TV (not helped by a generation of Guardian culture-writers who thought American shit was better than British gold), at the same time post-1990 British TV quality cratered.
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DJ Punctum @djpunctum.bsky.social · 31/12/2025
Phil Upchurch gone? Man, that got NO publicity! One of Stepney's most trusted right-hand men. R.I.P. immense talent; I still can't sit still.
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huw @huwareyou.bsky.social · 31/12/2025
@andrewhickey.500songs.com The new Rotary Connection bonus is a joy - thank you Andrew! I noted that you mention Phil Upchurch, who sadly died only last month; I was wondering if you were familiar with this, the first recording of “I Am the Black Gold of the Sun”? :) m.youtube.com/watch?v=qgzN...
m.youtube.com
Black Gold
YouTube video by Phil Upchurch - Topic
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Andrew Hickey @andrewhickey.500songs.com · 22/12/2025
I managed in my forties to find a way to make a living from doing the thing my brain is broken for, and both I and (I like to think) the world are better off for it. Imagine if I could have done it in my twenties, when I had energy, instead of destroying my health for decades with shitty jobs.
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huw @huwareyou.bsky.social · 21/12/2025
I’m writing about a really big musical group. To give you some clue, everyone’s talking about them. They are the subject of nepo baby / industry plant allegations. There’s solo stuff by the one of them. You guessed it - it’s Paul and Barry Ryan!
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huw @huwareyou.bsky.social · 17/12/2025
In case anyone missed it, there’s a Shindig special bookazine out now featuring a lengthy cover story I wrote on the beginning of Sparks! I spoke to three early members - John Mendelssohn, Earle Mankey and Jim Mankey - and there’s a special contribution from Russell Mael.
The cover of the Shindig! magazine “Patchwork”, with Ron and Russell Mael circa 1974 pictured and the caption “SPARKS: THE EARLY YEARS”.
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Mark Lewisohn @marklewisohn.bsky.social · 16/12/2025
In Tune In I quoted a 1960 Paul McCartney letter declaring that the Beatals (yes) had ‘competence, confidence & continuity’ … and just today I’ve found that Paul nicked it from a Midland Bank cheque book, Competence–Continuity–Confidence being printed on the inside back cover. Great nicking, Paul!
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huw @huwareyou.bsky.social · 12/12/2025
work party tonight. must not get drunk. must not try to explain who stanley baxter was to co-workers.
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huw @huwareyou.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
Saw Cliff Richard last night (it’s okay I wasn’t cool anyway). A unique experience and I enjoyed every minute of it, to be honest. Reminded me of this great piece from his last tour by @fergalkinney.bsky.social thequietus.com/quietus-revi...
thequietus.com
Middle England Gospel: Cliff Richard At Hammersmith Apollo | The Quietus
Underneath the Hammersmith Flyover, parked in single file down a busy street and flanked outside the Apollo, there are coaches booked in package deals from Essex towns. Clacton and Colchester, Chelmsf...
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huw @huwareyou.bsky.social · 14/11/2025
Hot Chocolate were fucking brilliant and for years, honestly. #TOTP
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huw @huwareyou.bsky.social · 14/11/2025
I love Suzi but “Devil Gate Drive” is a bit shit tbh. #TOTP
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