"Radio Radio - I Wanna Bite The Hand That Feeds Me..."

 

Pleading the Hebden Amendment...

 

Well, The Hat wishes to make it clear that he has no desire to go Anywhere Near Potzdamer Platz – however many times they play Bowie's single release – he'd rather hang out round any of the Hebden Blues Festival many stages this year and drop his jaw at the queue of talent lined up to play. That great song-writer Elvis Costello had it absolutely spot on when he groaned about the ridiculous and influential 'Radio Radio'...

 

The squillionth radio plug for the Bowie single got The Very Exasperated Hat thinking.  Two very different singers went on train journeys recently...."Had to get the train from Potzdamer Platz..You never knew that I could do that..Just walking the dead." ..and then... "I followed you on board your mystery train. The sun had long gone down..But light was all around..." The First, David Bowie, emerged from a long silence to release a single track as a precursor to a new album. Inevitably, it attracted a tsunami of publicity ranging from those 'pundits and experts' who thought that without doubt Moses/God/Superman/MajorTom was back down from the mountains to those (a rather brave few) who wondered, quietly, about The Emperor's Invisible Clothes and being the only one out of step. The Second, Jon Amor, announced the break-up of the Jon Amor Blues Group.

 

The Hat mentions this because apart from a general irritation with the global power of the corporate promotion systems and all the fawning wannabees showering indiscriminate praise over an unexceptional song simply because it is sung by someone famous, he has a sad regret that the Blues Group has called it (for the moment) a day. Jon played at the very first Hebden Blues Festival and had been booked as one of the headliners for Hebden 2013. He was in no small part responsible for the successful vibe of the festival and the news of his return this year was greeted with widespread delight. However, after several years making waves together, Jon and his remarkable group are no more - although they leave behind them some spectacular music. Generally described as 'the genuine article/exciting/somewhere between Muddy and the Black Keys/one of the best blues bands around', the band will be missed but The Hat knows that it will not be long before Mr Amor is back out there - with or without round-the-clock radio air time....

Of course, there is nothing new about the coming and going of bands. “There were three of us this morning, I'm the only one this evening but I must go on”. Leonard Cohen wasn't talking about blues bands when he wrote that stunning song 'The Partisan' but the JABG break up reminded The Hat of the huge struggle that many bands have in order to stay together and on top of their form for any length of time. The inter-personal dynamics - let alone the heady debates on style, sound and technique – are enough to put the most even-tempered group under stress. Look past the high profile Fleetwood Mac and Abba conflagrations and permutations (who was married to/living with whom - I dunno) and you will find the amoebic-like split and re-form process going on Absolutely Everywhere. It is also tough on the Faithful Fan base (I'm definitely not talking Take Watsit and Robbie Thingy here) and Fan Loyalties get stretched and battered when a Key Player decides to move on, or worse still for them, the whole band calls it a day.

Often it is simply Ego that starts the process. There has never been any dispute that to stand up on stage and woo an audience takes, not just (hopefully) talent, but a drive, self-belief, authority and a thickish skin that can defy challenge regardless of whether you are a singer, an instrumentalist or both. Once that gets questioned, then the whole house of support cards starts to shake. The Punk scene of course,was infamous for re-cycling its frontmen every other day, only for he or she to start up again in the basement next door. However, that may have had more to do with his or her ability to dodge the spit and bottles as well as their ability to hit a note.

If, like The Hat, you spend the occasional Happy Half Hour with Pete Frame's 'Family Trees' books you will know that you can't keep a good blues man/woman down. The lineage history of some of our favourite musicians and bands is extraordinary....and indeed, that in itself is nothing new - as a glance at the obituaries of any famous blues talent always shows. Their lists of band memberships and collaborations have always combined, overlapped, encompassed and re-emerged phoenix-like from the ashes of the most intimidating personal and group crises and disasters.

One reason for this seemingly constant fluctuation is the genuine desire of many musicians to move on, to develop, progress, push boundaries and experience new and exciting sounds and places. The Hebden Blues Festival Organisers make no secret of their attraction to artists and bands who are on that edgy path. A glance at the headliners, support and Juke Joint bands for Hebden's 2013 Festival shows no signs of any sameness, staleness or self-satisfaction. Once again there is a solid rank of the brilliant, the innovative, the exceptional and the exciting. Once again, there are musicians, song-writers, singers and young bloods all jostling for a piece of your head, your heart and your time. I very much doubt that any of them will want to go to Potzdamer Platz and it is pretty unlikely that they will be on the radio every ten minutes.....but they sure as hell will be worth listening to.....

I do hope you've booked your tickets.

Pip Pip!

The Man in The Hat.