Moving onto Sunbury College I hooked up with a guy named David Tinham, and we were joined by vocalist Caroline Tyers to form a band that again never saw the light of day. After college I answered an ad in the NME and auditioned for an Addlestone-based band featuring Jenna (now with the surname Fox) on vocals, Julian Leech on guitar, and wild-man Gary Puttick on drums. Julian left, was replaced by Gary Howes, and then Julian rejoined. We did play some gigs, just small local venues and we did have a name. I liked the idea of having the word ‘Empire’ in the name and either Gary or Jenna liked the idea of turning it into something German / Gothic… so we adopted the rather daft name of Empire Strasse.

A short time after Empire Strasse disbanded (and Jenna went on to work at Lotus before I arrived there), I was introduced to the guitarist of Heaven Can Wait (another Dave) who were looking for a bass player. After a successful audition I joined vocalist Chris, keyboard player Danny, Dave, drummer Simon (who had been to the same school as me) and the aforementioned Caroline later joined as an occasional backing vocalist.

We played a debut gig in a local pub, and over the next year played a number of gigs… more pubs, the Tunnel Club in Greenwich (still there on the South side of the Blackwall Tunnel, but now has a different name), Zetas in Putney, the Rock Garden in Covent Garden, and the Hammersmith Palais. The Hammersmith Palais? Yep, and we supported two bands that you may have heard of – The Chiefs of Relief (formed after BowWowWow split) and Furniture (remembered for their one and only but rather good hit ‘Brilliant Mind’).

It came to pass that being in a band is expensive. For example, at the Hammersmith Palais and Rock Garden gigs we paid them to play there, but got a cut of the tickets. A good strategy for a band waiting experience and to get noticed, but not a good way of making money. Small pub gigs were actually more lucrative. Rehearsing wasn’t cheap either – whether it was the youth club hall in Addlestone or (if we were feeling flush) the rehearsal studio in Kingston, it all cost money. When the rest of the lads decided they wanted to invest a fairly substantial sum of money in getting a demo tape recorded, I had to decline – it was at the time when the mortgage rate had soared, and I was the only one with such a financial commitment. We went our separate ways, and I was eventually replaced by Peter Parker. No, not that Peter Parker…

Heaven Can Wait didn’t make the big time, so I didn’t miss out on fame and fortune. But I do now hugely regret hanging up my bass guitar and wished I’d kept playing, especially now that Lolli is learning the guitar and is so interested in music. I often find myself staring longingly at shiny bass guitars hanging up in music shops that I pass. Sad, isn’t it?

What’s caused this outpouring of musical nostalgia? When Heaven Can Wait played at the Hammersmith Palais (twice) we paid the guy running the mixing desk to record it on video. At gig #1 the plonker didn’t switch on the sound until two songs into the set. When we played the Palais again five months later we were a much, much better band and our small following said the gig was awesome. Unfortunately the video turned up with no sound at all… so the only record of Heaven Can Wait in action is this old VHS tape recorded from an early gig – I don’t recall the year but I’m going to guess at 1988. At the weekend I found it in a drawer, and after a unsuccessful attempt to transfer it onto my Archos media player my good pal and technology guru Gareth ‘G’ Cook came to the rescue.

A bit of jiggery-pokery on the iMac, and here it is on YouTube – part 1 and part 2. I may upload it again with a higher resolution. Bear in mind that the audio was taken directly from the instruments and microphones, it’s not great quality (the bass isn’t very bassy) and there’s no noise from the crowd – when Chris asks if everyone is having a good time, there’s muted response. There were about three hundred people there, and they did have a good time. Also bear in mind that this was recorded in the late 1980s, and therefore my trousers and all other dodgy styling should be forgiven.

Barbara is a return to the more simple straight-forward style of their second album ‘With Love And Squalor’, but it’s evident that Keith Murray and Chris Cain have improved as song-writers and can litter their work with catchy riffs and melodies. And as a former bass-player myself, I can appreciate Chris Cain’s pulsing bass-lines, particularly on tracks like Nice Guys and I Don’t Bite. Best track… undoubtedly Ambition, but the mellow Foreign Kicks runs a close second.

If I have one criticism it’s that the ten tracks pass in less than thirty-two minutes. But it’s short and sweet, and overall I’m in love with Barbara.

In complete contrast, next up is something without electric guitars. Incubus front-man Brandon Boyd stated on the band’s Alive At Red Rocks DVD that he amazes himself every day at how badly he plays the guitar. Six years later Brandon is clearly more confident about his musical abilities and plays everything on his debut solo album ‘The Wild Trapeze’ bar the keyboards. I’d take a guess at saying that Brandon isn’t someone who would sit down at a conventional drum kit, and instead has beaten several different drums and mixed them together. The effect defines the album and gives it a unique feel, and is most evident on the album’s stand-out track Runaway Train.

Overall, everything is done differently to how Incubus would do it… Mike Einziger’s powerful and complex electric guitar work is replaced by acoustic strumming, Ben Kenney’s clear-cut bass-lines are replaced by fuzzy acoustic basses, and Flaming Lips producer Dave Fridmann provides the under-stated keyboards. Overall ‘The Wild Trapeze’ is more moody and restrained than any Incubus album, but occasionally soars to dramatic heights on tracks like A Night Without Cars and Here Comes Everyone. In charge of his own creativity, Brandon’s voice and self-harmonies have seldom sounded better. Thankfully, this is a solo album rather than an album by a solo artist – Incubus are returning to the studio as a band later this year.

Finally, it’s difficult to review an album when it’s only 11% complete, but that’s the situation with The Smashing Pumpkins‘ new offering ‘Teargarden by Kaleidyscope’. The Pumpkins reached the height of their popularity and creative strength with ‘Siamese Dream’ and ‘Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness’ in the 90s, and then saw their popularity decline into an eventual break-up. Billy Corgan went on to form Zwan (who delivered a sole but excellent album) and then followed-up with a rather lacklustre solo album. Getting back together with his once-disgraced drummer Jimmy Chamberlin, Corgan reformed The Smashing Pumpkins and produced a strong comeback album ‘Zeitgeist’ (reviewed here by guest blogger Florida Steve).

After Chamberlin left the band, Corgan continued and recruited 19 year-old Mike Byrne to the drum stool. After working with some touring band members and starting the recording of  ‘Teargarden by Kaleidyscope’, Corgan finalised a line-up by officially adding touring guitarist Jeff Schroeder and (yet another female bass player) Nicole Fiorentino.

The new work is part of Corgan’s new approach to recording and releasing his music – he stated that the old concept of recording an album of ten or so songs was done with, and planned to release ‘Teargarden by Kaleidyscope’ one track at a time via the Smashing Pumpkins web site. Reaction to the new material seems incredibly positive, and judging by the live sessions recorded at New York’s Terminal 5, there’s more great stuff to come. Billy Corgan is an enigma and a genius, he’s still a major force in rock music, and his band are resurgent in doing what they do best, albeit with a changed line-up. Corgan is the lynch-pin but he needs a great band around him as he once did and now has again.

But my real problem with this list of nominees is the glaring omission, mainly those Welsh wonders the Manic Street Preachers – a band who in 2009 released not only the best album of the year, but also one of the best of the decade (Journal For Plague Lovers). The lack of recognition for such a powerful and emotional collection of songs is a farce. Who are the people deciding on the nominations?

Best British band is a category which fares better in my estimation (Doves, Muse and Kasabian), but again, where are the Manics? Instead nods are given to JLS and Friendly Fires… what the hell is going on? Let’s be honest, I like Doves but they hardly set the world alight and their latest album wasn’t that great.

To be honest, I couldn’t give a monkey’s about best single, best female artist and some of the other categories. However, there is one more lunatic category which celebrates The Brits thirtieth anniversary… ‘Brits Album of 30 Years’. Think about some of the great British albums released in the last thirty years… OK Computer (Radiohead), the eponymous Supergrass album, The Holy Bible (more love for the Manics), Power, Corruption And Lies (New Order)… I’m sure you could come up with your own list. Even albums by The Smiths, The Stone Roses, Blur and The Clash could be described as significant even if they’re not my cup of tea. Love them or hate them (probably the latter), the Spice Girls made a huge impact in the history of British pop music.

So who, from the alumni of British bands and artists from the last thirty years gets a nod in this category?

• Coldplay – like visiting Belgium, interesting in places but an overall disappointing experience
• Dido – dreary music for dumped females
• Duffy – one-album-wonder, and sings like me mucking around with a helium balloon
• Keane – wimp rock dominated by a chap who plays the piano out of key
• Sade – 80′s somnambulism
• Travis – more dreariness – “why does it always rain on me?”… because you’re so effin’ miserable

The rest of the nominees are Oasis, Phil Collins, The Verve and Dire Straits. Fair enough. But overall that list looks like a joke. If you were responsible for drawing up that list of nominations, please leave a comment to explain yourself.

Thanks to my brother Florida Steve who noted that I made a slight error in the original version of this post, and also Mrs A pointed out my error while we were driving to Windsor. 1970 was, of course, forty years ago. I’m just in denial about the fact that I was four years old when Abbey Road was released.

However, as it turns out, this is rather like the Smashing Pumpkins’ greatest hits offering ‘Rotten Apples’ which featured a generous selection of previously unreleased and difficult-to-obtain tracks. ‘Monuments and Melodies’ contains the latest single ‘Black Heart Intertia’, some b-sides (such as the wonderful ‘Neither Of Us Can See’ featuring Chrissie Hynde), the two extra tracks from the Japanese version of ‘Light Grenades’ (namely ‘Look Alive’ and ‘Punch Drunk’), an acoustic version of the old favourite ‘A Certain Shade Of Green’, a cover version of ‘Let’s Go Crazy’ by Prince, and four other new songs I’ve never heard before. All-in-all that was six new tracks for me, which will tide me over until the next studio album is released in 2010.

Over the last couple of years I’ve grown increasingly irritated by the fact that if I hear one track I instinctively know which is next, so I suggested to the current Mrs Adams that she at least changes the order. Failing to get any progress with that idea, I decided to create my own Christmas play-list. Naturally Wham got the boot, along with East 17 (because that’s not a Christmas song) and ‘Fairytale Of New York’ which (and I know this won’t be a popular opinion) I can’t abide.

In comes ‘Proper Crimbo’ by Bo Selecta (it’s crap but it’s funny), ‘Little Saint Nick’ by the Beach Boys, Bert Jansch’s version of ‘In The Bleak Midwinter’, ‘Thanks For Christmas’ by XTC  and ‘Christmastime’ by the Smashing Pumpkins which the wife consequently said she wanted too. And there it is, fifty-four top festive songs.

But then I started thinking… if I had to pick just ten, what would they be? This is tricky. A Christmas play-list spans the decades from the Rat Pack offerings of Dean and Frank, through the 1970′s hey-day of Christmas songs (Slade, Wizzard), through to the present day when Christmas songs are seen to be a bit naff. And then you need a bit of choral action. Tricky indeed… but here’s my top ten.

1. I Believe In Father Christmas – Greg Lake
2. Happy Holiday – Andy Williams
3. The Christmas Song – Nat King Cole
4. Happy Christmas (War Is Over) – John and Yoko
5. I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day – Wizzard
6. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen – Perry Como
7. Winter Wonderland – Tony Bennett
8. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! – Dean Martin
9. O Holy Night – Nat King Cole
10. Merry Christmas Everyone – Shakin’ Stevens

Okay, let the agreements and disagreements begin.

Funny that it’s called ‘Safe Trip Home’. Listening to Dido while driving would be anything but a safe trip home, as falling asleep at the wheel is incredibly dangerous. Here’s a money-saving tip… rather than buying an entire Dido album, just buy one track and play it twelve times. The effect is exactly the same.

Why would you want to pre-order something off iTunes? It’s not like they’re going to run out of files to download on the day it’s released.

This took five minutes of configuration – export the iTunes library, manipulate the text file to take out the word ‘the’ and take out any spaces in the band names (this was necessary, otherwise ‘Smashing’ and ‘Pumpkins’ would be treated as separate entries). Copy, and paste into wordle. Play around with the fonts and layout a bit… and there you have it. I actually have fifty-two bands or artists represented in my iTunes library, but I set the maximum words to fifteen so that it wasn’t too crowded and full of words that were too small to read.

Before you mention it… yes, I like a-Ha. No shame in that. They’ve moved on to a more mature sound since their 80′s pop days. No surprise about the biggest names there, and there is no truth in the rumour that Westlife were #sixteen in popularity.

Celebrities die all the time, but seldom has a death touched me so personally. Of course I never knew the man, but I have spent many, many hours enjoying his music. David Gilmour, who describes Wright as his musical partner and friend, has provided a fitting tribute on davidgilmour.com.

Today’s set of announcements, by Apple’s standards, were not incredible. Even the BBC News pages didn’t go overboard, but of course they gave Apple more coverage than they gave the Archos 5 a couple of weeks ago even though Archos’ announcement was a bit more revolutionary.

Firstly, the 4th generation nano… hey, what do I know? I’m sure Apple have done market research on what people want and the devices they have to fit into the market to suit peoples’ requirements. The nano’s raison d’être is that it’s small. So what have Apple done? Made it bigger. To be fair, the capacity has jumped up to 16gb and the screen is a bit bigger, which is nice. They’re also claiming it’s the slimmest iPod so far, but looking at the pictures it looks less flat than the 3rd generation iPod nano (I shall have a look at Lauren’s tomorrow). They come in loads of colours which is nice for people who want to choose a nano based on a colour preference, but bad for indecisive girls who will buy a pink one and then spend the next year wishing they’d gone for purple. Or orange.

Apple have added some interesting features to the nano… shake it and it will shuffle your music selection. I presume you can lock it otherwise that ‘feature’ will be a complete pain in the arse if you’re jogging. And like the iPod touch, if you tilt the new nano the screen will go into landscape mode (that’s quite cool for a small device).

The iPod classic is now available as 120gb, which isn’t terribly exciting news. The iPod touch has a slightly different case, external volume buttons and a built-in speaker. The iPhone 2.1 software update has less bugs and doesn’t crash as often (Mr Jobs is refreshingly honest at times).

All of the new devices, and iTunes 8, (which thankfully now features an install option to prevent it creating iTunes and QuickTime shortcuts everywhere) support a new feature called Genius. Setting up Genius involves the rather frightening announcement that iTunes is going to look at your music library and send the results to Apple. Mind you, I have nothing to hide, all my music is legitimate… and it’s not like I have anything by Westlife or Scouting For Girls to be embarrassed by. After a while, Genius tells me that it’s been turned on (ooo-err) and I can now create Genius playlists and use the Genius sidebar. Errr, okay, and this does what exactly?

“To make a Genius playlist, select any song from your library and press the Genius button at the bottom of the window. Genius playlists and recommendations will get even better over time, as more iTunes library information is gathered from you and other Genius users.”

Oh right, so just a couple of hours after launch I shouldn’t expect too much right now. So here goes, this is live… I clicked on ‘Talk Shows on Mute’ by Incubus. It told me I was missing ‘Earth to Bella, Pt. 1′ – which actually I have, but spelt ‘Part 1′. And if we’re going to be really anal (and I am), it’s not correct to use a period (.) after ‘Pt’ because the last letter of the abbreviated word is there. Genius also suggests that I should buy something by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, but it’ll learn in time (because it’s a Genius) that I don’t like them.

Let’s try another… ‘Perfect’ by Smashing Pumpkins from the ‘Adore’ album. It suggests five songs that I’m missing, three of which I have (genius). And it also suggests I’d like the Stone Temple Pilots, Interpol, Pearl Jam, Pixies and Alice in Chains… which I guess is a fairly accurate stab at matching the genre. Oooh, and ‘In the Meantime’ by Spacehog – that IS a great song that I don’t have. Genius indeed.

Now, call me cynical, this doesn’t seem to be creating a playlist, it seems to be creating a list of music that Apple can sell you. I know an organisation who could learn from Apple’s marketing, but I’m not saying who.

Addendum: actually there is a little button down the bottom which does create a playlist of stuff I already have. Sorry Apple. Mind you, why it would put ‘Go With The Flow’ by Queens Of The Stone Age with ‘God Only Knows’ by the Beach Boys is anyone’s guess.