Greetings from Laurel Canyon!
And all of my friends were there / And no one cared
Say what they may, all of my friends were there / Not just my friends but their best friends too / All of my friends were there
The fools of April continue to do their thing. All in all, my vibe has been to thank my lucky stars to have a healthy family and cool friends.
I think I’ll take a Sunday bike ride and listen to this week’s Idelic set.
Last time I saw Butcher Babies was Halloween in San Francisco, and Heidi and Carla came out with full beards, dressed as men, which pretty much set the tone for the whole night and made it ridiculously fun to shoot.
I’ve always found this band interesting because they sit right in that space between scream-heavy metal and big, almost pop-level hooks, all wrapped in slick production, and it taps into that same part of my brain that loves glam metal and a lot of the early 2000s stuff. It shouldn’t work as well as it does, but it really does.
I met Carla Harvey once at the Golden God Awards, and she was exactly what you’d want her to be. Just cool, no effort, no ego.
If you take the band at face value, it’s obviously commercial and very produced, but there’s still real bite to it, and it leans all the way into being loud, over the top, and unapologetic, which is probably why it lands.
Carla’s been busy with Lords of Acid and her own project lately, but Heidi is unreal live and has the crowd completely locked in from the start. At one point, she walked straight into the middle of a circle pit like it was nothing and just owned it, and you realize pretty quickly you’re watching someone who knows exactly what they’re doing and enjoys every second of it.
VIA PRESS RELEASE | Tina Turner’s ninth studio album, Wildest Dreams, returns for its 30th Anniversary, remastered for the first time and expanded with rare and unreleased music.
Parlophone will release Wildest Dreams (30th Anniversary Edition) on June 26 across multiple formats, led by a 4CD/Blu-ray collection that includes the remastered version of the 1996 album, a compilation of B-sides and rare tracks, and the previously unreleased July 20, 1996, concert at Wembley Stadium—mixed from the multi-track master by Jon Bailey at AIR Studios in London. Recorded before a considerable London crowd during the album’s record-breaking world tour, Turner delivers nearly two hours of hits spanning her career, from “The Best” and “What’s Love Got To Do With It” to her singular version of “Proud Mary.” Acclaimed writer and music historian Jason Draper has written the liner notes, featuring all-new interviews with Roger Davies, Trevor Horn, and Holly Knight.
The concert film Live in Amsterdam—previously known as Wildest Dreams Tour (Live In Amsterdam)—makes its Blu-ray debut in the anniversary set, remastered in 96kHz/24-bit stereo with 1080p upscaled video. Directed by David Mallet, the nearly two-hour film captures Turner’s three-night residency at Amsterdam Arena in September 1996. It was nominated for Best Long Form Music Video at the 1997 GRAMMY® Awards. Pre-order the set HERE.
Other versions available the same day include Wildest Dreams (2026 Remaster) on 2LP, CD, and digitally; and the 2CD Wildest Dreams (30th Anniversary Edition) featuring the remastered album and rare bonus tracks.
Remembering Richard Manuel, born on this day in 1943. —Ed.
Part of what makes The Band so fascinating is they served two very different roles in rock history—first as the backing band that produced a hurricane of sound behind Bob Dylan during his epochal (and polarizing) 1966 tour, then as the purveyors of a totally original fusion of country, rock, R&B, folk, and soul music that would ultimately be labeled “Americana.” A unique designation given that The Band’s members—with the exception of drummer/ vocalist/ and mandolin player Levon Helm, an Arkansas boy—all hailed from Canada.
And Robbie Robertson—who passed away on August 9, 2023—was their leader, a role he assumed both because he became the band’s chief (and in time almost sole) songwriter and had the energy and organizational skills a laid-back Helm (the group’s original leader) constitutionally lacked. Robertson, a young Toronto guitar whiz of Native American/Canadian descent—Dylan once called him “the only mathematical guitar genius I’ve ever run into who does not offend my intestinal nervousness”—was every bit as contradictory a figure as The Band itself.
He was a Canadian who created American myths, and wrote songs so tightly wound they left little room for him to show off his guitar chops. And he became a case study in the fickle nature of musical genius—after writing the immortal songs on The Band’s first two albums—1968’s seminal Music from Big Pink and 1969’s The Band—his creative wellspring slowed to a trickle; The Band’s subsequent studio albums became increasingly spotty affairs as Robertson went from writing great story songs to stilted and didactic lectures on the loss of the America of his imagining. There are great songs on the later albums, but there are far more forgettable ones.
The Band was a powerful musical outfit—its players were uniformly crack musicians who’d honed their skills touring with Arkansas rockabilly and country legend Ronnie Hawkins, who’d decided he’d sooner be a big fish in Toronto and points north than a small fry in his native America. And they boasted three incredible vocalists in piano player and sometimes drummer Richard Manuel, drummer and mandolin player Levon Helm, and bass player Rick Danko.
Midge Ure is one of the architects of the sound that defined a generation.
As the frontman and creative co-architect of Ultravox, co-writer of “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”, and the producer behind some of the most enduring records of the new wave era—including “Fade to Grey” and “Vienna”—he shaped synth-pop and post-punk at the moment both genres were finding their footing. His fingerprints are all over many eras.
On this episode of Radar, Midge joins us to talk about five decades of making music and his first new album in twelve years. A Man of Two Worlds is out May 8 on Chrysalis—sixteen tracks split across two distinct worlds, instrumental and vocal, from one of the most quietly influential figures in modern British music.
Ure will tour the UK, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand with dates kicking off on May 8th in Bath. More information can found at www.midgeure.co.uk.
Tune in.
Radar features discussions with artists and industry leaders who are creators and devotees of music and is produced by Dylan Hundley and The Vinyl District. Dylan Hundley is an artist and performer, and the co-creator and lead singer of Lulu Lewis and all things at Darling Black. She co-curates and hosts Salon Lulu which is a New York based multidisciplinary performance series. She is also a cast member of the iconic New York film Metropolitan.
Who is Neil Merryweather, and how come I’ve never heard of him? Well, turns out he’s a Toronto bassist/vocalist/songwriter who started out playing the blues before putting out (with his band Space Rangers) a positively wonderful late-era, capital “G” Glam album in 1975’s Kryptonite.
I’ve never read about Merryweather in any of the many books about Glam Rock I’ve read, which boggles the mind. As does his backstory: he went from the Mynah Birds (who also spawned Rick James and some guy named Neil Young), played in a whole bunch of bands you’ve probably never heard of, was asked by Stephen Stills to play bass for Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (and turned him down), recorded a 1969 album (Word of Mouth) featuring the likes of Steve Miller, Dave Mason, and Charlie Musselwhite, and then meandered around (he briefly fronted a band called Mama Lion) before finally forming another band called Space Rangers, which recorded two great albums in 1974’s Space Rangers (which included spacy covers of “Eight Miles High” and “Sunshine Superman”) and the superior Kryptonite. Before disappearing for forty-odd years!
Space Rangers were Neil Merryweather, bass and vocals; Michael “Jeep” Willis, lead guitar; James Herndon, Chamberlin, synthesizer, guitar, and slide guitar; and Tim McGovern, drums and guitar. The Chamberlin (which was news to me) is an electro-mechanical keyboard instrument and precursor to the Mellotron, and Merryweather bought his from Sonny and Cher! It had a piano-style keyboard and used prerecorded tapes featuring various musical instruments or special effects. It, along with the synthesizer, helped Merryweather make the transition from blues/hard rock musician to Space Glammer.
Krytonite is a remarkably solid album—Glam with a hard edge, and consistently up-tempo. I was so excited by “The Groove,” a T-Rex-school Glam opus, that I immediately sent it to my pal Steve Mitchell, Glam lover and the Svengali behind UK “theft band” The Pooh Sticks, to see what he thought.
US | Taylor Swift Wasn’t the Only Winner of Physical Sales in 2025: Luminate’s 2025 Year-End Music Report is chock-full of useful data for those looking to learn more about the state of the music business and its consumer trends. Among the notable metrics from last year was that Total U.S. Album Consumption (album sales plus track-equivalent albums plus stream-equivalent albums) grew 4.8% year over year in 2025, slightly outpacing total U.S. On-Demand Audio streams (+4.6% YoY). Interestingly, that boost in album consumption seems to have been fueled by physical album sales, which grew a healthy 6.5%, to 16.2 million units—the biggest YoY percentage of all the key U.S. metrics. The most natural explanation for that growth is Taylor Swift, whose latest album, The Life of a Showgirl, and its many physical variants sold incredibly well. But digging deeper into the data shows other key players helped push physical music to a strong late-year finish, which in turn directly impacted overall industry consumption growth.
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Eugene, OR | House of Records: Three Eugene businesses in threatened industries thrive during the pandemic. House of Records lives in a sage-green house finished with a copper-red trim on 13th Avenue in Downtown Eugene. Inside on May 3rd, 55-year-old Greg Sutherland stood polishing a record with scraps from an old cotton T-shirt. He calls records artifacts and says polishing them is his favorite part of the job. That morning, he finished sifting through 500 disks. It took him a few days to get through them all. He liked about 300 of them. For Sutherland, this is routine. “I’ve done the same thing every day for a decade,” Sutherland says. Sutherland has been the manager of the House of Records for 35 years. He was a big fan of the store while he was in college at the University of Oregon. After three years of being a dedicated customer, the store hired him in 1986.
Big Rapids, MI | Book and record store to open in Big Rapids: Two siblings are preparing to open Big Rapids newest business, Books and Beats, a store selling vinyl records, used books and music lessons in downtown Big Rapids. The store is owned by 17-year-old Hudson Pease and 19-year-old Bella Pease, and will be opening directly next to Quinn’s Music at 210 S. Michigan Ave, Suite 2. The shop will offer many used books and records, while offering lessons in guitar, bass and piano, while also hosting small events alongside Budd Greenman, owner of Quinn’s Music. Hudson spoke about the events that they could host in the future. …The siblings said the business fills a gap that Big Rapids is missing, specifically for vinyl buyers. Big Rapids used to have a large bookstore closer to campus, which closed down in 2017, and its audience was mainly Ferris students.
VIA PRESS RELEASE | Jethro Tull Under Wraps: The Unwrapped Edition brings together two of Ian Anderson’s most ambitious and fearless albums—1984’s Under Wraps, a Jethro Tull album, and his debut solo album Walk Into The Light released in 1983.
These two albums hold significant importance in Ian Anderson’s vast body of work, marking a notable shift from Jethro Tull’s established sound. Already recognised as one of his generation’s most innovative songwriters, Anderson embraced cutting edge technology, integrating synthesizers and drum machines. This was a considerable move away from the band’s traditional folk roots and illustrated their ability to adapt to the evolving musical landscape.
This comprehensive 5CD & Blu-Ray set has been overseen by Ian Anderson and includes both original albums extensively remixed twice by Bruce Soord—”2026 Drums” and “Original Drums” remixes. These discs also include associated recordings from that period. The fifth CD is a live recording from a BBC Radio 1 concert at The Hammersmith Odeon in 1984 and the Blu-Ray contains stereo and DOLBY ATMOS mixes, along with promo videos from the era. The set comes complete with a 100-page book offering an extensive article on the making of the records.
Additionally, Walk Into The Light is available as single vinyl featuring Bruce Soord’s 2026 Drums remix and includes its own booklet.
VIA PRESS RELEASE | It’s one of the most eagerly awaited 45s of 2026 so far. Five months after 69 Eyes and guest Steve Stevens (Billy Idol) gave a digital release to their 20th anniversary update of the classic “Lost Boys,” April 3 will see this seething classic finally make it into the physical realm.
Available as a red vinyl 45rpm single, “Lost Boys (20th Anniversary Version)” will be backed by another band classic, a raw and raucous take on 69 Eyes favorite, “Brandon Lee,” recorded live at Helsinki’s House Of Culture, on June 26, 2020. And, like the a-side, the song is a tribute to a Hollywood great, the late actor Brandon Lee. “Lost Boys,” of course, was inspired by director Joel Schumacher epochal vampire movie Lost Boys, as singer Jyrki 69 explains. “The movie came out in the best ’80s hard rock and glam times, and that’s what we wanted to capture—like dreaming what would have happened if Billy Idol, Guns N’ Roses, and Mötley Crüe had come together to make music for it.”
Clearly it was a potent image. Across the decades that followed, “Lost Boys” has become the band’s undisputed anthem, topping 20 million streams. As Jyrki continues, “It is the main song The 69 Eyes is known for around the world. We always end our show with it. It is impossible to play anymore after that.” And it was impossible to allow the song’s birthday to pass by unmarked. Or was it? At first, admits Jyrki, “We really did think that there is no reason to rerecord the song.” Unless they could add something very, very special to the brew.
Remembering Marvin Gaye, born on this day in 1939. —Ed.
Since his tragic and premature death in 1984, Marvin Gaye’s discography has steadily risen in critical esteem, and particularly What’s Going On, his eleventh album and the enduring apex of the man’s posthumous ascension, as it’s landed atop at least one noted list of the Greatest Albums of All Time. And so, Motown/uMe has understandably endeavored with due diligence in marking the half century since that LP was originally released, their work culminating in a 50th Anniversary Edition on double vinyl, which adds six original mono single versions, plus four rare mixes of the title track, to the nine masterful selections that comprise the original album.
As fruitful as the 1960s were for Marvin Gaye, he didn’t really hit his stride until the first half of the following decade, with What’s Going On the record that began his run as a fully-formed, mature artist. It took until the second half of the ’60s for Gaye to really find his footing inside the Motown hit machine, and there was indeed a bunch of excellent singles and even a few classic LPs during that stretch, but with his second record of the ’70s, he began transcending the boundaries of the Motown framework.
Records like What’s Going On can be intimidating to engage with in print, mainly because they can inspire mere rephrasing of long-established observations, or to the other extreme, straining for a fresh perspective (which frequently ends up having little to do with the actual music). It’s been said that any truly great record is inexhaustible, and by that metric, there should always be something new to say about their individual qualities, but it’s just as true that many masterpieces are relatively straightforward in their brilliance.
It’s true that What’s Going On is something of a rarity in how it stylistically advances its genre while remaining pretty firmly inside the realms of pop. There’s nothing edgy about the music (a la Funkadelic), or uncompromising (like James Brown’s work of the period). Instead, Gaye favored sophisticated string arrangements that came to define soul at its most urbane in the first half of the ’70s (Isaac Hayes, Curtis Mayfield, Gamble & Huff), and as the decade progressed, served as a primary building block in the emergence of pop-disco.
VIA PRESS RELEASE | Twenty years after the album that launched them into the global spotlight, Blue October celebrates the anniversary of their platinum-selling record Foiled with two special vinyl releases, arriving May 29 via Republic/UMe.
Available for pre-order now, the anniversary edition comes in two distinct versions: a newly remastered Foiled 2LP on 180-gram black vinyl, featuring a gatefold jacket and fold-out lyric insert, and the Foiled Deluxe 2LP, pressed on smoky translucent vinyl. The deluxe edition serves as the crown jewel of the collection, featuring exclusive bonus tracks not available on any other version—including an acoustic recording of the platinum-certified “Hate Me” and two rare remixes of “X Amount of Words.”
Blue October’s deeply personal songwriting and emotionally resonant sound on Foiled cemented the Houston-bred band as one of rock’s most distinctive voices. While Foiled marked a breakthrough moment for the band, it was only the beginning. Its impact continues to ripple outward as new listeners discover the album alongside the expansive catalog that followed. The connection forged through its lyrics has only deepened over time, helping grow a devoted global audience. Blue October’s catalog now surpasses one billion streams and continues to climb.
Foiled initially sent frontman Justin Furstenfeld and Blue October’s life into a whirlwind, now, as the singer looks back on it 20 years in the rearview, and particularly as the band prepares to launch a yearlong Foiled 20th-anniversary celebration, he has come to realize what a true blessing his band’s most beloved body of work has been in his life.
On April 17, Guerssen Records is releasing four singles to mark the label’s 30th anniversary. All but one 45 is a split, and the bands include The Attack, The Voice, In Black and White, Mandrake Paddle Steamer, Fairfield Ski, Ngozi Family, and Crossbones. The stylistic range, from freakbeat to psych-rock to Zamrock, makes picking up more than one or even the entire batch of these limited editions quite tempting. Happy anniversary to Guerssen Records!
Formed by singer Richard Shirman in 1966, The Attack cut four singles for Decca across a two-year existence. Each record documented a unique lineup of the band, with Sherman the only constant member. Perhaps remembered best for releasing the original “Hi Ho Silver Lining” (Jeff Beck’s more famous version following quickly after), The Attack’s finest moment might just be “Magic In the Air,” a slice of prime freakbeat that was rejected by the label for being too raw and raucous.
“Magic In the Air” is combined with the fuzzed-out and dark, indeed apocalyptic, freakbeat mayhem of “Train to Disaster” by Scotland’s The Voice. It’s the A-side to the band’s only single, released by Mercury in 1966. The Voice might’ve cut another record except that a portion of the lineup bailed for the Bahamas as part of The Process church. Knowledge of this cult affiliation intensifies the darkness of “Train to Disaster,” but it’s a nasty burst of proto-punk scuzz all on its own.
Speaking of Mercury Records, it was the US branch of the label that issued the sole LP by The Wizards From Kansas, a bunch of Sunflower Staters transplanted to San Francisco. But before the formation of Wizards From Kansas, member John Paul Coffin played in the band In Black and White, a psychedelic affair that cut a few songs in a Prairie Village, KS studio in 1967. Guerssen has pulled “Nowhere This Time,” a fine serving of garage-psych for the A-side of this very welcome archival edition.
Durham, NC | Durham record store will close soon after 20 years. When you can still shop: A downtown Durham record store is closing after 20 years, its owner shared on social media. Bull City Records owner Charles “Chaz” Martenstein announced the “retirement” of the store Sunday, March 29 on social media. “It has been my absolute pleasure connecting with all of you through our shared love of (and need for) music,” Martenstein said in the post. “Without your support it would not have succeeded as long as it did and for that, I am eternally appreciative. This community has been amazing from the start.”
UK | Ask The Reader: What’s the UK’s best independent record shop? Vinyl Week is coming soon, and we want to know your favourite stores to buy from. Record Store Day (RSD) is on the horizon, and to celebrate, we’re hosting our usual Vinyl Week in the run-up. This covers all things vinyl, from the best record players to buy, to tips for buying second-hand vinyl and the best RSD special edition releases. But we have a question. What’s the UK’s best independent record shop? And we want you, the readers, to help us answer it. Maybe you have a long-term favourite that’s served you well for years. Or there’s one particular shop that specialises in a niche genre. Perhaps it’s the staff that make it, and you pop there for a chinwag when you’re not even buying anything. Or maybe you just stumbled upon a great little shop while on a weekend away.
Brisbane, AU | Relove Oxley Makes 2026 Record Store Day About Community: Music lovers and collectible hunters, Record Store Day Australia returns this month. The annual, global celebration of independent record stores that originally started in 2008 when Metallica launched the debut event at Rasputin Music in Mountain View, California, will land on Saturday 18 April. As the resurgence in physical formats of music offering tactile experiences blooms further, Record Store Day (RSD) continues to support music communities, labels, emerging and established artists, while highlighting local indie record stores and their unique role as cultural hubs and community spaces. A prime example of this ethos is Relove Oxley. Nestled in a leafy corner of Oxley (near the local train station) in inner-southwest Brisbane, and formerly a FoodWorks store, Relove Oxley is an oasis for lovers of nostalgia, offering an expansive collection of vinyl, CDs, DVDs, toys and collectibles as well as vintage furniture.
Fayetteville, NC | Back-A-Round Records reintroduces vinyl to Fayetteville: The door chimes as Joseph Mason opens the door at Back-A-Round Records. The sound of rock music fills his ears as he ascends the narrow staircase lined with graffiti-esque art, glowing under black lights. Mason, a regular at the record store, begins thumbing through the worn sleeves of vinyl that crowd the small shop. All around him are boxes packed with music from records, CDs and cassette tapes, spanning genres and decades. “You never know what you’re going to find in a place like this,” Mason said, his eyes fixated as he flipped through the records. “It’s like you’re actually surrounded by Spotify.” During his search, Mason pauses when he pulls out “Why Can’t We Be Friends,” an album by War, and smiles.
VIA PRESS RELEASE | Beloved synth-pop pioneers Book of Love announce the 40th Anniversary edition of their landmark self-titled debut, arriving June 26 via Rhino Records. Originally released on April 1, 1986, Book of Love introduced a new voice in American electronic pop with enduring classics including “Boy,” “I Touch Roses,” and “You Make Me Feel So Good” and more.
40 years later, this special anniversary edition—remastered by its original engineer, Ted Jensen—will arrive during Pride Month in a clear vinyl variant. The album artwork has also been refreshed in collaboration with original art director Nick Egan to honor the anniversary, including a four-page insert featuring outtakes from the iconic photo session with Michael Halsband. Furthermore, in celebration of this milestone release, it features new liner notes by writer and music historian Kurt B. Reighley, who sat down with founding members Susan Ottaviano and Ted Ottaviano to reflect on the album’s creation and its lasting cultural impact. GRAMMY®-winning producer Dave Audé has also shared a new remix of “Boy,” reimagining the band’s breakout single for a new generation of listeners, out today.
Amid the neon haze and grit of 1980s Manhattan, Book of Love were trailblazing innovators—four art-school outsiders who turned synths and drum machines into anthems for queer and marginalized youth, crafting a sound as bold, offbeat, and electric as the city itself. Signed to Sire Records by the legendary Seymour Stein, members Susan Ottaviano, Ted Ottaviano, Jade Lee, and Lauren Roselli released their debut album on April 1, 1986, ushering in a new chapter for synth-driven pop music emerging from downtown New York.
Beyond its shimmering hooks, the album resonated deeply with LGBTQ+ audiences, with “Boy” becoming an underground club anthem that gave voice to a community long before queer stories were celebrated in pop music. Four decades later, its perspective remains strikingly relevant.
VIA PRESS RELEASE | Analogue Productions announces the forthcoming release of Tres Hombres, the 1973 breakthrough album by ZZ Top, as a definitive Ultra High Quality Record (UHQR) 45 RPM 2LP edition—the pinnacle of high-fidelity vinyl production. Arriving April 24, 2026, and limited to 5,000 numbered copies worldwide, this meticulously crafted release offers the most sonically and visually stunning presentation ever produced for the Texas trio’s landmark recording.
Originally released in 1973, Tres Hombres transformed ZZ Top from regional heroes into national rock contenders, capturing the band’s signature swagger and grit alongside some of the most infectious guitar tracks ever recorded. Powered by the unmistakable chemistry of Billy F. Gibbons, Dusty Hill, and Frank Beard, the album fused Texas blues, boogie, and rock into a lean, electrified style that remains instantly recognizable. Decades later, its influence continues to reverberate across rock and blues music, earning recognition on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
At the center of the album is the immortal single “La Grange,” whose iconic opening riff would become a cornerstone of 1970s blues-rock. But Tres Hombres is far more than a one-song showcase: from the driving frunk of “Waitin’ for the Bus” and “Jesus Just Left Chicago,” to the smoky soul of “Hot, Blue and Righteous” and “Move Me on Down the Line,” the album delivers groove after groove with an effortlessly cool attitude, capturing ZZ Top at the moment their sound fully came into focus.
