The news that the Specials, the Who and Ian Brown have made new music cheers this old muso no end. I like the Specials, like the Who (and simply loved their finest album, Who’s Next? after which they might really have called it a day in the safe knowledge they would probably never make anything anywhere near as good and of course they haven’t) and I love Ian Brown in the Stone Roses. I know that the need for nostalgia is rife and for many it’s simply enough to listen to the old songs. Fair enough. The older I get the more I yearn for new music.
As I have stated frequently, I’m of the view that the music scene has never been more exciting. Whether I am listening to the brilliance of Thundercat, Flying Lotus and Louis Cole with their crossover jazz, funk, R&B beauty, or the electronica of Panda Bear or the Nirvana tinged guitar rock of Courtney Barnett, new music is everywhere. I went for many years merely listening to the bands and artists I already knew and loved. I still do, but it’s so much more fun to mix things up a bit.
My all time favourite band is Steely Dan and I suspect they always will be. They still perform, although the only original member of the band is Donald Fagen and, unforgivably for me, they do not play a single song written after 1981. For all Fagen’s musical genius, what’s the point of that? Actually, the Dan and Fagen made a lot of good music after 1981. Why not give us something new, or do what Toto do and play a whole host of deep cuts from the past and the recent past?
From what I have heard, the Specials record is very good, Brown’s even better. I am not expecting much from the Who, but who knows? Maybe Pete and Roger have still got something left in the tank beyond belting out My Generation?
If, like John Miles, music is your first love, then try something new. Listen to BBC 6 Music, especially at breakfast seven days a week where you will get Lauren Laverne on weekdays and Radcliffe and Maconie on weekends.
Most people have already decided what music they like by the time they are in their mid twenties. That was me once, listening to all the old songs. Now I listen to everything and life is so much better.
