Articles by Allan Jones - Uncut.co.uk

Here’s a brilliant Richmond Fontaine concert. . .

I don’t want to give anyone the impression that all I do all day is sit around, browsing through YouTube files and watching fantastic footage of my favourite bands – that’s Steve Sutherland’s job, after all.

The Night Lou Reed Bopped David Bowie

The news that Lou Reed is going to be playing his brilliantly grim Berlin song cycle in its entirety at London’s Hammersmith Apollo in June reminds me of when he played what was then known as Hammersmith Odeon, in April 1979, a night that ended in some mayhem, with Lou smacking the proverbial fuck out of David Bowie.

TEN YEARS AGO THIS WEEK

HAPPENINGS TEN YEARS TIME AGO

March 12 to 18, 1997

Jermaine Stewart, the 80s soul star whose biggest hit was "We Don't Have To Take Our Clothes Off", dies of AIDS-related liver cancer, aged 39. Initially finding fame as a dancer on the long-running TV show Soul Train, Stewart also sang backing vocals for the likes of The Temptations, Tavares, Shalamar and Culture Club.

'There's a lone soldier on the cross, smoke pouring out of a boxcar door. . .'

I am risen, Lazarus-like, from a couple of weeks in flu-ravaged purgatory, a desperate condition accompanied by much attendant chest-rattling coughing and colourful spluttering. So apologies for my recent absence here. What passes for normal service will hopefully resume next week, with a return to the daily blogs as advertised at the top of this page.

TEN YEARS AGO THIS WEEK

HAPPENINGS TEN YEARS TIME AGO

March 5 to 11, 1997

The Notorious B.I.G. is shot dead as he sits in a car outside the Soul Train Music Awards in Los Angeles. Police confirm they are investigating links between the killing and the slaying of Tupac Shakur in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas six months earlier, fuelling tabloid stories of a feud between the East Coast and West Coast rap communities. Biggie's demise comes just days after Death Row Records president Marion 'Suge' Knight receives a nine-year sentence for parole violations.

"Letsagettabittarockin'"

The Second Comings Of Arcade Fire And Arctic Monkeys

What I’ve been playing most recently has been Neon Bible, the second album from The Arcade Fire, the follow-up to Funeral and possibly one of the most keenly-anticipated albums of the year, for which great things are predicted and will probably happen.

Even More Thoughts On The Never-Ending Tour

Thanks to everyone who wrote in to identify the clip of Dylan playing “Mr Tambourine Man” that I posted.

'There's a four mile queue outside the disused power station. . .'

Someone’s put up large printed signs all down Stockwell Road and around Brixton Academy, large black letters on a bright orange background, their authorship unknown but their message starkly clear.

The Hold Steady take London by storm

You’ll have to excuse me if I sound as hoarse as a hacksaw this morning and seem more than a little rough around the edges, but I am in slow recovery from an extraordinary night in the company of The Hold Steady, who for today at least are officially the best rock’n’roll band on the planet.