11 of 12 in a monthly music diatribe from a 64-year old hippy
OneJemTunes is a monthly foray into my world of music. Published monthly throughout 2023, there’s everything here including downloads, gigs I’ve been to, JemJams listings, birthdays and passings and much more.
And as 2023 is the year I could finally sing the line ‘…when I’m 64…’ and be there, the music world is my proverbial oyster (not that it’s not always been of course – because it has). And still is. Music is one of my passions and as writing is another – it’s a no-brainer to combine the two.
OneJemTunes 23 #11 is mostly about October 2023 (although there’s a bit of looking into and forward to November as well).
Comings and goings – a regular feature throughout the year. On the one hand sadly recording those we’ve lost, but on the other – looking forward to birthdays of those we still have.
On 11th October we lost American singer/songwriter and founder member of the Isley Brothers, Rudolph Isley, aged 84.
Eleven birthdays for the 11th month of the year already gone or coming up are – Rick Allen (Def Leppard drummer) [1st/60], K D Lang (singer/songwriter) [2nd/62], Adam Ant [3rd/69], Chris Difford (Squeeze) [4th/69], Brian Adams [5th/63], Art Gunfunkel [5th/81], Joni Mitchell [7th/79], Bonnie Riatt (blues guitarist) [8th/73], Roy Wood (Electric Light Orchestra) [8th/76], Neil Young [12th/77], and Leo Lyons (Ten Years After bassist) [30th/79]
October downloads and other additions added to my JemTunes music collection:
- James & the Cold Gun [eponymous] (2023) – standout track ‘Chewing Glass’
- Roger Waters – Dark Side of the Moon Redux (2023) – standout track ‘Money’
- The Rolling Stones – Hackney Diamonds (2023) – standout track ‘Sweet sounds of heaven’ (ft. Lady Gaga & Stevie Wonder)
Jem’s daily music lists of 10 – is something I’ve been doing since around the start of the 2019 pandemic and the first UK lockdown. So grateful those dark days are behind us now – but I took a liking to the idea, so haven’t yet stopped. I’m currently on list No. 1317. Quite simply it’s a list of 10 songs (or other music-related things) on different themes published daily on my main FaceBook page. During October 2023, those were…
- NME Number 1 singles of the 1970s [1st to 17th]
- NME Number 1 singles of the 1980s [18th to 30th]
- 10 songs about retirement (31st) – the day of my retirement
JemJams (one of my FaceBook pages) is about posting a new jam every 6 days. JemJams has its roots in something called ‘This is my jam.com’; a website/blogsite to which contributors worldwide added a track of their choosing once every 6 days. No words – no dialogue – no comments. Just the music. ‘This is my jam’ went offline in September 2015. But – as it was such a good idea and something which means a lot to me, JemJams has carried on the task (albeit from just one person) ever since. Here are JemJams 449 to 453.
- 449: Ghost Hounds – Make it shake (posted on 5/10)
- 450: Skindred – Gimme dat boom (posted on 11/10)
- 451: Ally Venable – Don’t lose me (posted on 17/10)
- 452: Royal Blood – Pull me through (posted on 23/10), and
- 453: Michael Katon – Watermelon & Black Coffee (posted on 29/10)
October gigs. Two. Both at Brighton’s ‘Chalk’. Both booked six months or so back. Both long since sold out.
The first was ‘Tigercub‘ supported by ‘James & the Cold Gun’ on the 20th. Tigercub are a three-piece rock band from Brighton, UK. The band are Jamie Stephen Hall (vocals and lead guitar), James Allix (drums) and Jimi Wheelwright (bass). They were formed in 2011 by Hall and Allie who both studied at Brighton Institute of Modern Music (BIMM). They’ve released three EPs, the Hands EP (2013), Repressed Semantics (2015) and Evolve or Die (2017), and three full-length albums, Abstract Figures in the Dark (2016), As Blue as Indigo (2021) and The Perfume Of Decay (2023).
The second was ‘Skindred‘ supported by ‘St Agnes’ and ‘Blackgold’ on the 27th. This was the ‘Smile’ tour in support of the of 2023 album of the same name. Skindred formed in Newport in 1998 and have won several awards including “Best Live Band” at the 2011 UK Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards and the “Devotion Award” at the 2011 Kerrang! Awards
Upcoming gigs. Already been to one in November; Robert Plant on the 1st. Coming up CMAT (at Brighton’s Chalk) on the 15th and Kris Drever (at Brighton’s Komedia) on the 22nd. More on all three in One JemTunes 23 #12 due out at the beginning of December.
jem tunes 