Music’s ultimately about the recorded product, but being handsome certainly doesn’t hurt when you’re trying to launch a career in entertainment. While a woman’s attractiveness might keep her from being taken seriously, a man’s handsomeness is nothing but an asset.…
There are b-sides that are of high quality, that should never have been left off their parent albums. And then there is ‘The End of the Affair’, from Prefab Sprout. If forced to choose between the b-side ‘The End of…
Congratulations to Tony, who scored 48/50 in a 2000s music quiz that produced wildly divergent scores. Since we competed in a 1960s the week before, where the older generation dominated, it seems only fair to split the difference and meet…
Until the emergence of Lorde, song-smith Neil Finn was New Zealand’s most recognisable pop export. Born in Te Awamutu, Finn was enamoured by the tuneful pop of The Beatles and Elton John. Still a teenager, he joined his brother Tim…
Rock chameleon David Bowie experienced two separate career peaks. Most artists improve with experience then run out of ideas, but Bowie reversed his decline and returned with a second set of excellent releases. In the early 1970s his career took…
Happy ANZAC day in New Zealand (and happy 75th birthday to my dad). Congratulations to Enthusiastic Music fan Jim S, who scored 29/29 in last week’s 1960s flop singles quiz. This week, I’ve purposely chosen a quiz that favours a…
Ariana Grande is currently the world’s biggest pop star. She headlined Coachella the past two weekends and she’s broken numerous records; most notably, with the release of thank u, next, she’s joined The Beatles as the only act to monopolise…
I spent many happy hours in my late teens and twenties trawling used bins for CD bargains. I gained a lot of great music this way, and it became even easier as people converted their music collections to mp3. It…
Greetings from Lower Hutt, New Zealand, where we are currently experiencing a bumper feijoa crop. Congratulations to Tony, proprietor , who scored an impeccable 20/20, while many of us were stranded on 14 – good work to everyone who…
The b-side is largely a 20th century commodity – from around 2005, singles charts began to count digital downloads, and the physical single is now obsolete. But there are still 21st century equivalents to the b-side – for example I…
