Since Live 8 and the perfect Floyd Reunion:

OK, it's Glasto week so I'm starting the thread! Who's going, who's not going, who wants to see who, advice, faves, worsties, etc...

Me: Hope to get there Thursday afternoon. After my first Glasto last year, I'm not going to make the rookie mistake of trying to be everywhere at once but there are a few things I'm looking forward to MGMT, and Saturday night with Nick Lowe and Christy Moore. If I get to catch Vampire Weekend, Phoenix, Hot Chip, The Flaming Lips, Judy Collins, Rolf, Willie Nelson, then great.

I have been getting a lot of milage out of this box set the past few weeks:

It's a pretty good mix of known & unknown, live & studio with a good book and great remastered sound.

Anybody got any favourite box sets or opinions on what makes a good one?

It's Monday and if you live in the UK that means there are new releases out.

Do the Massive still have favourite artists where they just HAVE to buy the new album on the day it comes out? Or has the internet diluted this practice?

I’m in my mid-thirties with two young children and I know that there is a similar demographic amongst the Word Massive. I don’t get to many gigs these days, and it’s been a while since I dropped a £50 note on the countertop at Our Price.

It was with a heavy heart that I had had to miss a Word in Your Ear and True Stories Told Live, even though I live on the Northern Line. Meanwhile, Mark Ellen’s diary has become an aspirational tract on how to lead a life rich in pop culture.

Can those d’un certain age offer any insight into whether maturity offers a return to the opportunity of one’s youth to hoover up all that’s good in contemporary music and arts?

What makes a hit? Or what doesn't make a hit? It's so obvious, yet intangible. I've just finished Will Birch's Dury bio and there's no doubting that this is a solid gold hit:

But what about one of its unloved follow-ups? It's catchy, dancy, but… but… it's not a hit…

What is in the magic that defines a hit record?

Anyone else want to post further hit/not-a-hit combinations?

We should all know by now that HJH means Hey Jude Hitmakers = The Beatles. As a special Thursday quiz, can you identify the following artists:

HMWYRSH

EIDIDIFYH

ICSFMH

DDIOH

UTMOLH

SISOSIGH

WDYWTMTEAMFH

BIYSH

CGYOOMHH

WTSHNNH

WDIAROMH

ZH

Neil Tennant coined this phrase, I believe, to refer to that period in an act's career when they can do no wrong: hit after hit, riding the zeitgeist like Roy Rogers on Trigger, not making it look like work, etc.

Neil says that PSB's Imperial Phase ended with Domino Dancing, as it only hit number 7.

So let's play the "when was their Imperial Phase?" game. To start the debate, I'll offer...

Costello: Debut to Imperial Bedroom.
Prince: 1999 to Lovesexy
U2: War to Zooropa.

(NB: Imperial Phase is not the same as "Jumping the Shark". PSB, EC, Prince & U2 kept releasing good records, it's just... something changed.)

Did you ever have to convince your parents to take you to a gig when a youth. Or did your parents bring you to gigs as a kid that you were or were not interested in. I can think of three:

1987, I'm 12, and my dad brought me and my brother to see Paul Simon on the Graceland tour. Great night. Only in later years did I fully appreciate the line up of Paul Simon, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Hugh Masekela and Miriam Makeba. My dad recognized someone who was able to get my program backstage and signed. I was a happy chappy. Our car pulled up beside Paul's on the way home. Frantic waving from me caused him to disappear from the car window.

1989: My dad was/is pretty affable about going to gigs, so my suggestion that we go down on the evening to try and get tickets for an Elvis Costello solo acoustic show wasn't dismissed. In the end we bought the worst possible seats in the house off a tout for what turned out to be for me a pretty life-changing gig. The ticket said "no support" but there was one: Nick Lowe. Who he? Said I at the time. I quickly found out.

1989: Still 14 with a desire to see the Rock Ledges on concert, surely Bob Dylan would give a good show? The perfect gig for mum! Zimmy, for it was he, played a two-hour wall of guitar noise with vaguely recognisable songs while being barely recognisable himself: he wore a tracksuit top with the hood up for the whole thing. Still, I was young, I was at a gig, therefore I had a great time.

So, readers, any parents-at-gigs stories?

Crowded House have a new album out in May-June called Intriguer. Here's the lead single, Saturday Sun (no relation):

I love the House and all things Finn. I really like this footage because they really are a tight proper band. And there's high hopes for the record as it was recorded in residence in NZ with a new producer - like Together Alone. 

It's hard to explain to people who see CH as MagicFM fodder how great CH are live. In 92 & 07 I saw them do amazing shows in two totally different circumstances. I know Mr Hepworth is a fan so hopefully there'll be a big Word feature coming up. 

Let the Crowded House love-in thread begin!

Very sad news.

http://blogs.suntimes.com/derogatis/2010/03/alex_chilton_dies_on_the_eve...

Hopefully most of us know about Shazam: The mobile phone app or number you dial (old school) which identifies any piece if music being played at the device. I have a long list on my phone of stuff I've Shazammed. Recnt additions include:

Bruises by Chairlift
John Barleycorn by Traffic
You are here by Nathan Fake
Not Even Stevie Nicks by Calexico

What have YOU found via Shazam? 

It's very easy to go off someone or something that you used to like, it's a lot harder to go the other way.

Recently, I have laughed out loud on the tube twice thanks to Danny Baker: His Don Estelle comments in The Word this month, and when he was talking about "the big boxer versus the little boxer" on his podcast. I used to really dislike DB: Daz-selling, Pets Win Prizes-hosting, perma-loud sub-Letterman, or so it seemed. When I moved to London and found out that he hadn't actually disppeared but rather had a local radio show, I slowly got drawn back in. Now I'll even listen to a show about football (*spit!*) because he's so good.

Also, as a teen, I used to dislike Bowie and Floyd, but that was eventually sorted out.

So who used you really dislike but then did a 180 on, and why?

Maybe this is in the same category as asking a lady her age, but there was no mention of The Word in this bit on magazine circulations, and I was curious.

http://m.guardian.co.uk/?id=102202&story=http://www.guardian.co.uk/media...

Picked up the new issue today. Now looks as good as it reads. Well done.

John Hamm hosted Saturday Night Live last week. This sketch has turned me into a Michael Bublé fan.

http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTQ5NDk5OTcy.html

(Apols for the crazy link. NBC are very strict on their stuff being YouTubed or viewed outside the US)