Russell Leadbetter

WHEN the gifted singer-songwriter Nick Drake died, aged 26, fifty years ago this month, very little news of his passing was published. It was understandable, perhaps, given that Drake had in his lifetime released three albums that despite their brilliance had not sold very well. Though fellow musicians spoke highly of his abilities, he was a diffident live performer, and was reluctant to promote his albums; his media profile, to use a modern coinage, was non-existent.

THEY could have been, as more than one critic subsequently noted over the years, one of the finest bands of the nineties.

Janey Godley, a stand-up comedian, author and broadcaster, has died after a long fight with cancer

IT is an arresting line-up for any new group: an award-winning arranger and composer who has scored feature films, and TV dramas and documentaries; a celebrated Scottish stage and screen actor; and a renowned singer songwriter who has just released her tenth solo album.

MEDIA interest in Roddy Frame’s Aztec Camera had been building at a giddy speed before the release, in April 1983, of their debut album, High Land, Hard Rain.

IT seemed, on the face of it, a simple enough question. How, a fan asked of Nick Cave, do you cope on tour? Cave and his band, the Bad Seeds, kicked off their ‘Wild God’ European tour at the Rudolf Weber-Arena in Oberhausen, Germany, on September 24. The UK leg gets underway in Leeds tonight and continues in Glasgow tomorrow night.

TWO years ago this month, Bob Dylan and his band rolled up at the SEC Armadillo in Glasgow, as part of his Rough And Rowdy Ways world wide tour, which had begun in 2021.

WHEN Simple Minds released their sixth studio album, Sparkle in the Rain, in early February 1984, it won a lot of critical acclaim. Not every reviewer, however, was blown away.

IT was the spring of 1990, and the Glasgow rock quintet, Gun, were about to have a huge moment.

ON Sir Paul McCartney’s official Facebook page there’s a video clip of his concert earlier this month at the River Plate Stadium, Buenos Aires.