From The Sickbed…Visual Heaven

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This is my medicine. This gorgeous creature. These rare ones from the Mojo spread are wonderful. I have a lot to thank Tom Sheehan for. Tom capturing Jim in front of a Canadian flag back in 1982 changed my life immeasurably some 34 years later. I will be forever thankful.

The other by Peter Anderson is a great action photo.

On the morning I was travelling down to England, I had this thought in the shower (I tend to have a number of thoughts in the shower…not all of them clean. Lol). I was thinking about how Graeme Thomson had referred to Jim (and his performing style back in the day) at the reading/conversation with John Dingwall at the Mitchell Library as “feline”. And I had these images in my head…

And then these words came to my head. And I kept saying them over and over so I wouldn’t forget them and then, once I was out of the shower, I could write them down. Of course I forgot and only remembered once I had got to England and had nearly arrived at my friend Ruth’s house. Lucky my phone has a little notepad app. I quickly typed it out…

Hypnotising: Like a swaying cobra ready to strike if you’re caught not paying attention.

L. Read, June 17th, 2022

That photo by Peter Anderson….that’s the cobra coiled in the wicker basket, the music working its magic to have him swaying out of the metaphorical basket to hypnotise the crowd. Jesus! He’s divine…

I’ll enjoy my Covid induced fantasy. Thank you! 😜😉

I’m grappling with whether I should just put the whole Mojo article up but I think I better wait until the next issue is available. In the meantime, apart from the article itself, and the piece on the new album (and Jim calling his dad a count – minus the ‘o’ – I love it when it’s used as a term of endearment. Lol) these photos, along with Jill’s magnificent cover photo, are my faves.

Oh…there’s a point. I’ll post Jill’s words from within the opening pages of the mag. She said a very lovely thing. Read below.

Magazine – In A Magazine…

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A feature on Magazine in Mojo magazine….mmmmmm!

It’s a great article. I have to admit that the timing of the band kind of imploding…of McGeoch joining The Banshees and Howard getting ready to quit the band in 1981 in retrospect looks INCREDIBLY fortuitous for Simple Minds joining Virgin…esp. in light of what Simon Draper says in the article …. and the undertone of “we still need a ‘Magazine’ on the label…mmm…well, Bruce Findlay’s banging on the door, desperate to get the Minds away from Arista, ah…why not?” Just my take on it – the subtext, if you will.

Anyway, I think this article is well worth the read.

P.S. I’m with Barry Adamson – Secondhand Daylight is MY favourite Magazine album too. It’s the one I play the most. Permafrost is one of the most erotic, darkly sexual songs I’ve ever heard. It’s braw!

Click on individual images for full scale reading options.

Rave Reviews For The Anchoress

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It’s hard to escape all the amazing reviews coming in for The Art Of Losing, the follow up album from 2016 debut Confessions Of A Romance Novelist by The Anchoress.

Below are the latest reviews printed in Mojo, Classic Pop and Record Collector, as well as a short Q and A interview also from Record Collector.

With just under two weeks until release on March 12th, it is certainly going to be if not THE album of the year, then definitely one of the biggest albums of 2021. Do I smell a Mercury nomination….?

The latest single release is the title track itself. Take a listen by finding the YouTube link further below.

Pre-order copies are selling out fast. You can order by going to the store: https://TheAnchoress.lnk.to/TheArtOfLosing

Jim’s Thoughts On Mac & Co – CAD & BB Album Review

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A couple of little snippets from the latest Mojo magazine – Jim’s fave offering from the Bunnymen and In Memory Of My Feelings gets reviewed.

P.S. I wish I could be as unaffected as Jim is at the thought of someone not thinking of me with the fondest of thoughts – as the idea of him feeling that way with me (ie: he cannae stand me!) makes me want to cry my eyes out.

Simple Minds Magazine Article – Mojo Magazine Early 2012

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It’s a clipping I only recently came into possession of and I had never (for obvious reasons) read the article before.

Some interesting things said. Interesting to read Mick saying that he thought they’d have all stayed together…maybe might had still been together (as of then) if Brian hadn’t have left when he did.

Also interesting them bringing up the cover of Record Mirror mag with Brian on it. I was only very recently chatting to Ronnie about that cover. He said to me it wasn’t the photo he wanted on the cover and shared with me a photo of Jim he had submitted for use (which I won’t be sharing here unless I get photographer’s permission first – I haven’t asked him).

Good bit of talk about Rockfield and Iggy and Bowie in the lead up to Saturday’s airing of the documentary on the BBC.

Jim seems rather more philosophical in this than he has done at other times.

A couple more clippings to come….including another Sheila Rock gem (hence the reason I ended up with the clipping – prior to the “naked titties” one surfacing).

Street Fighting Years Box Set Reissue Reviews

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A couple of reviews of the SFY box set have been printed in both Mojo and Uncut magazines this week. The Mojo one is particularly scathing but the “fortune cookie wisdom” in regards to Jim’s lyrics in the Uncut review isn’t exactly complimentary, either! Although overall, it is a kinder review.

The reissue lands in two weeks time.

Mojo magazine review.
Uncut magazine review.

Lou Reed By Laurie Anderson

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Featured article in the current issue of Mojo magazine (Dec. 2019). Images can be enlarged by clicking on them and choosing the image sizes at the bottom right of screen.