So this is happening over the weekend/ next few days and i'm trying to look forward to it but not expecting much. All of it's for charity so fair's fair and that, but all of it somewhat predictably without original lead guitarist Bernard Butler returning to the fray.
I saw this and the original line up perhaps 13,14 times in their heyday in the early 1990s, but over the years like with almost any youthful passion for a band, the ardour waned and i pretty much gave up on listening to them altogether many years back.

I should really enter the spirit of the occasion, stop moaning and just enjoy the gig i'm going to (the Manc Ritz show) and honestly i wish them all well and everything, but my heart's not quite in it yet. Main reason for my sense of oncoming gloom is i saw this line up do a going-through-the-motions job in that frequently cheerless slot; 'The Glastonbury Pyramid Stage at tea-time' in 2003. A bit depressing.

Still, i've got the weekend to gee myself up into the swing of things, crack open Dog Man Star and speed-read my copy of their biography, see if i can still clamber into my 1994
'Gay Animal Sex' t shirt (banned by the HMV chain!).

If you're going to any of the 3 gigs, what are you expecting?
I hope you enjoy it and .. i hope i can too by the time Sunday comes around!

Any love for the 'Duel' hitmakers? A Secret Wish was easily one of the best albums of the 80s i think. Like a cleverer, colder, slightly eerie Frankie Goes To Hollywood but just as melodic and with a 20 year old gorgeous German model as a frontperson instead of Holly Johnson.

I ask you Word massive, what's not to love?

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/media/ar...

21st Century POP!

What say you?

(Thats not a dodgy link by the way it's the Gorillaz own official You Tube)

http://thequietus.com/articles/03546-suede-reform-for-charity-gig

Woop?
Woop!

@ 3.30. Might be worth a listen, what say you?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/6music/shows/jarviscocker/

Just named 4th in the BBC Sound of 2010 poll but don't let that put you off, i'd have thought this lot would be right up some of the WORD massive's street. If you like Pet Shop Boys 1980s b sides, OMD, Tears For Fears that sort of thing.

There's some admirably intelligent, artsy imagery on their myspace too and they do a nice line in references to French composers and whatnot on there.

Smart, stylish, nice tunes so far. What's not to like?

IS there such a thing? Guess who just got one for Christmas.

I'm sure there must be all manner of 'IPOD guide' type things on the web but crucially i'd like the WORD reccommended one if 'the massive' can advise me of the existence such a thing. I don't move without consulting you guys on such matters obviously.

Thanks, i really appreciate it.

Ps: Oh by the way i kind of know what i'm doing as i've been using MP3s for almost 10 years but never so much as looked at an IPOD before.

http://paganwandererlu.wordpress.com/2009/12/18/mccartney-sgt-pepper/

Or bits of software or whatever else you may have used?

This looks handy = http://www.roxio.co.uk/eng/products/easy-lp-to-mp3/standard/overview.htm...

but i've seen it get a shoeing elsewhere.

I don't move without consulting you people on such issues i tell you.
Thanks all.

Luke Haines' 'Britpop... ' book seems to have 'crossed over' into the popular consciousness as very few music books do and it's probably due to the winning mixture of the sex drugs 'n' rock n roll subject matter with a quite remarkable candour. It's a tasty combo!

Are there any others out there like it?

No really!
I don't like how Yoko's always had brickbats chucked at her down the decades but really, you have to laugh.

http://www.nme.com/news/the-beatles/46667

Ever since i was 15, people have been telling me it's 'not as good as it was when (insert mid 70s/ late 80s journo here) wrote for it' only now, as i still read it, there's 2 generations of people saying it instead of just 1.

The new editor's appointment will stir up the usual 'God the NME! Is that still going?' talk on various forums as per. I'd say if many a WORD reader gave it a once over they'd be pleasantly surprised by at least 1 or 2 of the pieces in any given issue. The whole thing is usually written with a zeal and cheer missing from many a more po faced publication/ online music site, not THIS one obviously!

I'll miss it when it's gone.

No-one mentioned this yet? It's amazing, especially if you don't know 'the full story' (which i didn't)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00f815m/Neil_Young_Dont_Be_Denied/

Amazing to see he did an 80s electro album, a 50s rockabilly piss-take and..a *comedy film* with Devo in!

http://beastieboys.com/

.. i hope he gets well soon.