Nine Feet Underground

I've been thinking of writing something about Microdisney and especially the combination of their tunes and lyrics, once described by the late, but inestimably great, John Peel, as 'an Iron Fist in a Velvet Glove'.  Sadly, on the 18th of May, Cathal Coughlan died, before I got to write anything. Instead, then, this post will be a tribute to the great man. Where to begin? Well, I first heard Cathal (as part of  Microdisney) on the John Peel wingding back in the early 1980s.  Guess it may have been 'Pink Skinned Man' that I heard first, but whatever it was I know I was struck by Cathal's lyrics and voice. After that, I was hooked.  I listened to every session and early plays of new songs that Peelie got hold of and went out and bought the albums and singles as they were released. I became a huge advocate for the band, though few other people I knew got it. Their first album, 'Everybody Is Fantastic' (a sarcastic title if ever there was one), came out in 19...

There’s nothing like being topical and, as this post demonstrates, NineFeetUnderground can’t be accused of being too topical.  To be fair this was largely written at the time however “real life” prevented its completion. As the post is mainly a personal perspective I have decided to post as it was originally conceived – with the appropriate amount of grunting, sweating and recriminations… In the space of just under two weeks music lost two of its greatest figures, first on the 28 th December a few days after his 70 th birthday Lemmy died then on the 10 th January, two days after his 69 th birthday and the release of what proved to be his final album, David Bowie died.  A lot of media coverage followed both of these sad events – both making the main TV and radio news – so I just thought I’d write a few words about how they both touched my life though I met neither of them (well, I "almost" met one of them - read on). Ian “Lemmy” Kilmister to me was first ...

Today would have been John Peel's 76th birthday were it not for his untimely death in 2004.  As a small note of respect for the man who introduced me to more new and exciting music than any other person, here's a musical tribute. I'm not 100% certain whether it was John Peel or Alan "Fluff" Freeman who first brought Captain Beefheart to my attention.  If it was Alan Freeman, then the first track I heard would have been 'Big-Eyed Beans From Venus' - I know I heard him play it. If it was Peel, then I really have no idea - he played so many of  Either way John  Peel remained a huge fan of the man, regularly including tracks in  his radio shows and was the person who first brought Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band to the UK This is one of my favourite Beefheart tracks: Happy Birthday John. Gone but not forgotten.

Even after the announcement in February that Daevid Allen had terminal cancer with no more than 6 months to live, it still came as a shock to hear of his death on 13 th March 2015. Daevid Allen was a one-off – someone who embodied the most positive aspects of the late 1960’s hippy vision and dressed it up in his own singular world vision – the planet Gong. Whilst his songs often encapsulated this vision with serious messages about the way we are treating the planet or the iniquities of capitalism, he never took himself too seriously. Briefly a member of Soft Machine – he only appears on their very early single ‘Love Makes Sweet Music’ – he went on to form Gong with his partner Gilli Smyth and others.   Gong has never had a fixed line-up – there are even albums released under the name Gong on which Allen does not appear – but for many the line-up that truly represents Gong is the one that recorded the three albums known as the Radio Gnome Invisible trilogy: ‘Flying Te...

The 25th October 2014 marks a decade since John Peel died of heart attack, at the age of 65, whilst on a working holiday in Peru.  I first heard of his death on that day on my way back home from Leeds.  When I got off the train at Kings Cross I had to walk to the tube station via the street (there were building works going on) and on my way I passed some 'Metro' stands and the headline caught my eye, so I picked up a copy and read the bad news.  A lot of words have already been written this month about John, his legacy and what he meant to many of those who met and worked with him.   I didn't ever meet John though did see him near Broadcasting House one evening in the 1990's - just didn't have the bottle to say hello. Apart from having influenced and broadened my musical horizons for more than 30 years – from teenager to father of three – he also introduced to some of the artists and bands I still love today.  This post i...

Earlier in December (1st) Richard Coughlan, drummer and original member of Canterbury-scene band Caravan, died after a long illness. Though I never met him the music he made with Caravan sounds as great today as it did when I first heard it as a teenager. Keyboards and guitar dominate the band's sound, but the versatility and variety of percussion and drum patterns Richard played underpin all of their best songs. He will be greatly missed. Caravan continue to make music today - though with only Pye Hastings remaining from the band that made their first album back in 1969 - but it's most fitting to choose a couple of older Caravan songs featuring Richard in his memory. "Place of My Own" from Caravan's first album: Finally the song generally referred to as "For Richard" (though the title refers to Richard Sinclair, not Richard Coughlan) from Caravan's second album, "If I Could Do It All Over Again, I'd Do It All Over You...

Nine Feet Underground was saddened to hear of the untimely death of Trish Keenan, lead singer of Broadcast, earlier this month. I've been a fan of Broadcast and Trish's voice since I first heard the band on John Peel's radio show way back when. Most recently I have been entranced by Broadcast's recordings with The Focus Group, especially 'Investigate Witch Cults of the Radio Age'. Apart from sending me back to the albums - including the aforementioned joint EP with The Focus Group and 'The Noise Made By People' - I've also been looking and videos and live recordings on You Tube. As a small gesture in return for the pleasure their music has brought me, here's a link to them performing 'Come On Let's Go' from the album 'The Noise Made By People' on Jools Holland's show way back in 2000.