Simon Price interviews The Boo Radleys, 30th September 1995

Simon Price interviews The Boo Radleys, 30th September 1995. Photos by Tom Sheehan.

Various album reviews including Snoop Doggy Dog and The Boo Radleys, 11th December 1993

Various album reviews including Snoop Doggy Dog and The Boo Radleys, 11th December 1993.

A timely reminder from the Stud Brothers, to all those of you that think Snoop is ‘cool’ and ‘ironically’ go in for all his Shizzle Bizzle shit, why you should feel thoroughly ashamed of yourself.

My love of The Boo Radleys has already been previously documented so it’s no surprise that I’m going to post this review. The fact that Simon Price likes it does surprise me though; “two stunning LPs (no exaggeration)”. I know Martin has no interest in seeing this stuff again – “Never Go Back” as Alfredo tells Toto in Cinema Paradiso – but it’s here for everyone else that does. Here’s a favourite track of mine from this earlier period when the band were just starting to show flashes of their future brilliance – wait for the trumpet solo at the end!

The Boo Radleys – Spaniard

Lots of other records reviewed on this spread apart from these featured two – tuck in!

Andrew Mueller reviews The Boo Radleys Wake Up, 25th March 1995

The great pretendin’, moonshine sippin’, Ween hatin’ Andrew Mueller reviews The Boo Radleys Wake Up, 25th March 1995.

One of the great ironies for the Boos is that the record that made them also ended up breaking them. It’s probably their weakest record but I’m glad it made them some cash if nothing else. Go buy Giant Steps, C’Mon Kids or Kingsize before this though.

Intermission

Taking a short break. Normal service resumes in a week or so.

As I’ll be into my 6th month of this blog soon I thought it might be fun to leave you with some stats.

Here’s the top 10 most popular posts to date

1. “Dear Backlash” – Wing Commander Stubbs
2. My Bloody Valentine live at ULU Feb 25th
3. Kurt Cobain (1967 – 1994) N.M.E. cover
4. About
5. Stuart Maconie interviews The LA’s 1990
6. David Bennun interviews Plastic Fantasic
7. Taylor Parkes interviews The Boo Radleys
8. Sinead O’Connor N.M.E. cover 1988
9. The Stud Brothers interview Radiohead
10. Everett True interviews The Sundays

I never realised that using WordPress to blog would tell me what people type into Google to find this site – does this happen in blogger, typepad etc? Anyway it’s a fascinating barometer of where interest lies.

Here’s the top 10 search terms typed into Google that result in a visit to this blog

1. kurt cobain
2. archived music press
3. sinead o’connor
4. melody maker
5. stone roses
6. “andrew mueller”
7. the sundays
8. justine frischmann married
9. my bloody valentine
10. taylor parkes

Sinead O’Connor at No. 3 is a surprise to me and Heat magazine should get on the phone to Justine’s agent pronto cos there’s clearly a lot of interest.

There’s also the really bizarre searches which are lost on a daily basis…I still remember one visit from the search term “caitlin moran porn” though. That’s some mighty niche porn! Oh and who knew there was a www.caitlinmoraninteriors.com ?

Everett True reviews The Pixes, Ride and other live at Crystal Palace Bowl, 15th June 1991

Everett True reviews The Pixies, Ride, Cud, The Miltown Brothers & The Boo Radleys live at the Crystal Palace Bowl.

“The Pixies are living affirmation that rock is still alive and kicking its way far into our lives. The greatest rock band on the planet? Name me another of their stature.”

I have to agree with ET and it’s really pleasing to think that unlike many bands who were puffed up to dizzy heights only to vaporise to nothing outside of whatever crest of a scene they rode up on, The Pixies music is still as vital and compelling now as it was then. Truly a great, great band.

Taylor Parkes interviews The Boo Radleys, 18th February 1995

Taylor Parkes interviews The Boo Radleys, 18th February 1995. Photos Tom Sheehan & Stephen Sweet.

Welcome to anyone joining from the When Saturday Comes forum link. Thanks to EIM for spreading the word.

A very amusing thread as it turns out. On the one hand you’ve got Taylor (Parkes) feeling like the last kid to be picked for a football kickabout while Spearmint Rhino, (Simon Price) pitches in with “I think the Boo Radleys cover story was by me, but he’s only scanned the cover, not the story…” Well here’s the story in all it’s glory – take a bow Mr. Parkes. God it’s like throwing meat to a couple of hungry lions although this probably still won’t satisfy. I’ve moved my response to anyone feeling Taylor’s confusion about the apparent random posts and lack of ‘meat’ into the About page on this site.

Oh and go and see Martin Carr play The Social on 12th August.

The Boo Radleys live at The Venue, 6th October 1990

The Boo Radleys live at The Venue, 6th October 1990.

This is from Sounds. A one off because a) I’ve only got one copy b) I have a soft spot for The Boo Radleys and c) I wanted to say “Yes” to LeeeNite from the PlanB forums.

PJ Harvey live at Barrowlands, Glasgow 18th March 1995

Everett True reviews PJ Harvey / Tricky live at Barrowlands, Glasgow 18th March 1995.

This post in recognition of the PlanB magazine forum link. Cheers guys. There’s certainly no shortage of Everett True pieces to choose from – he was nothing if not prolific. Picked this one quickly and at random. Will definitely put up more interesting, earlier ET pieces and some Neil Kulkarni stuff too eventually. Neil – I would *love* to hear the drunk, or sober, rant about the demise of the Maker. Can I post it here….please?

Click on the tags at the bottom of each post or just use the search tool to find everything related to a particular writer or year etc. Better still subscribe to the feed.

While I’m at it…..to everyone visiting from Russia – hello – I can’t read Russian but I’m glad you seem to like the blog so much. Blissblogers – more Reynolds stuff coming. Brave Captain forumites – yes more Boo Radleys stuff eventually. And finally to moresundaysplease – you’ll like tomorrows post – it is going to be a Sunday afterall.

The Boo Radleys. Melody Maker cover Feb 18th 1995

Melody Maker cover Feb 18th 1995. Cover photo Tom Sheehan

I have a huge admiration for Martin Carr. Discovered The Boo Radleys back in 1989 through a friend, who had a friend that played drums with them in Liverpool. Bought Ichabod and I and never looked back. Unlike most bands who start brilliantly and then fade The Boo Radleys just got better and better for me, apart from Wake Up! that is.

This cover marks the time of that records release. I’m glad for the success and cash(?) it brought him/them but as a record it always left me kinda cold. Sure, Wake Up Boo! was a great single but the album as a whole just didn’t do it for me. The next two records (C’mon kids and Kingsize) seemed to be completely overlooked, yet they’re the ones I come back and listen to time and time again. I blame the artwork, which, almost without exception, is absolutely terrible. I think I read something about Kingsize only selling 9,000 copies in an interview. That’s a fucking travesty!

Still, no point in looking back. Martin Carr is expecting a baby, has new material out under his own name and is even due to play live in London. Check it out at his new MySpace page.