A Plea From Mike Mills

I thought we'd start with a piece that was meant to be in issue 7. We'd established good enough contacts with REM to get a track by The Musical Kings – Peter Buck and Kevn Kinney (from Drivin'n'Cryin' – a cover of the Stones' “I'm Free” (which I will put up in the next week or so) and the following bit by Mr Mike Mills. A short, sweet and really quite charming “Letter From America”.

“Lately, I have become increasingly concerned over the lack of culinary diversity here in Athens, Georgia. Walter, over at Walter's Pit Cooked Barbecue, has taken to closing early, if he opens at all, and one can eat only so many of Rocky's Buffalo style chicken wings, excellent tho' they are. Even a nice beef and kidney pie would be a welcome change.

What I believe we need here, that you have a lot of in the UK, is an Indian restaurant. The nearest one to us is in Atlanta, an hour and a half's drive away, and even it is not as good as the majority in England.

So could you please send over an entire Indian restaurant on the next boat? Décor is not important, only the quality of that lovely curry. Thanks very much. Yours, Mike Mills (REM)”

Whilst far from being a Letter Never Sent, definitely a Letter Never Printed.

He also provided us with his Top Ten (well, “Ten Of My Faves”) From 1987.

1.Concrete Blonde – Concrete Blonde
2.XTC – Skylarking
3.10,000 Maniacs – In My Tribe
4.The dBs – The Sound Of Music
5.Guadalcanal Diary – 2 x 4
6.Drivin'n'Cryin' – Scarred But Smarter
7.Cameo – Word Up
8.John Cougar Mellencamp – Lonesome Jubilee
9.Fetchin' Bones – Galaxie 500
10.Buckwheat Zydeco – On A Night Like This

Yes, that's Cameo at number 7.....says he whose Top Ten for the same year appears to have included the Wind In The Willows soundtrack....

NEXT (From Issue 2)

An Appreciation Of John Cale by Mr David J (Bauhaus/Love And Rockets)

Comments

Music That Moves Me by Epic Soundtracks

Late 1995 and through the post comes a package from Epic including a photocopy of his contribution to Rolling Stone magazine's "Alt-Rock-A-Rama" which was eventually published in 1996, and a note.... "Hey Chris Here's my piece Dig it Man! Epic" And here is that piece, together with "videos" of the tracks he selects....all bar one. If anybody has a copy of Harold Smith's Majestic Choir - “We Can All Walk A Little Bit Prouder” single from 1968, it would be pretty cool if you could rustle me up an MP3 of it. Thank-you. And with that, we're back.... Music That Moves Me by Epic Soundtracks Epic Soundtracks (aka Paul Godley) began playing music in 1972 and made his first record in 1977 as drummer with the influential Swell Maps, which also included his brother Nikki Sudden. More recently Epic has re-emerged as a singer, songwriter, and piano player, recording solo albums that reflect many of the influences discussed below. The

Part Two: Alex Chilton by Epic Soundtracks

Mr Epic Soundtracks As described, the second part of the exhaustive Alex Chilton interview by Epic Soundtracks as included in issue six of What A Nice Way To Turn Seventeen. Let's get straight into it. The cover of What A Nice Way To Turn Seventeen Issue Six's magazine The next record to come out would've been “The Singer Not The Song” EP. There was an album that came out after that from all those sessions, “Bach's Bottom”. Did you have anything to do with the release of that? No, Jon Tiven had the rights to those tracks. How about the Chris Stamey single (“Summer Sun”)? Was there anything cut at the same time as that? Well we did four tracks of mine, but Ork Records could never pay for the tapes. Did the whole punk thing going on in the UK in '76/'77 mean much to you? Well, I think it's difficult to understand the English mentality that bred the Sex Pistols, because the social conditions must not exist in America. I always thought that Americans wh

Albion Sunrise by Nikki Sudden - Chapter 12: Johnny Thunders

Nikki Sudden at the 100 Club, Oxford Street, London - 17th May 1983 - Photo by Nik Coleman Following the recently posted introduction to Nikki Sudden's unpublished novel "Albion Sunrise" we've dipped into the tale itself and extracted Chapter 12, "Johnny Thunders". Enjoy. Albion Sunrise: Chapter 12 - Johnny Thunders "In the dark-lit surroundings of The Establishment tea-rooms, general bric-a-brac and curio shop, The Bagman has once more taken up the reins and is keenly talking on the same generally much misunderstood subject of pure rock’n’roll. But, we find that he’s veered from the purity, albeit it seldom seen, or indeed rarely, if ever, understood by the general populace, of Jerry Lee Lewis and Memphis rockabilly, to fields further from home. Unfortunately by doing so he loses Mr. Dickens. For Mr. Dickens’ heart, it must be said, mainly resides in rock and roll’s first few timeless years. “ If there’s anything to be said on the general feelin

What A Nice Way To Turn 17

Search This Blog