My play started in an epiphany, but it would take me ten years to complete. I had written it off as a failing effort until Roxana Silbert of Hampstead Theatre prompted me to revisit it. Covid intervened, and the production was delayed, leading me to believe it would never be broadcast; nevertheless, BBC Radio 3 […]

Few rock bands survive to be 40 years old. Shonen Knife’s achievement is all the more remarkable since there haven’t been many all-female rock bands from Japan that have converted their fascination with junk food, beautiful animals, and the Ramones into a global career. Let’s Knife, released in the UK by Creation Records immediately after […]

Alan Hawkshaw, a musician and composer who wrote some of the most well-known TV themes in the UK and was copied widely in hip-hop, has died at the age of 84. He was taken to the hospital last week with pneumonia and died early on Saturday. Hawkshaw composed the loping, almost reggae-like tune to Grange […]

Maria Mendiola, a member of Baccara, has died. Her disco song Yes Sir, I Can Boogie, which was released in 1977, is the unofficial hymn of Scotland football supporters. Mendiola was best recognized for her version of the popular song as one half of the Spanish duet. She died on Saturday morning in Madrid, surrounded […]

Musicians haven’t always been good at safeguarding their commercial affairs, sometimes for reasons beyond their control. Unscrupulous deals, public fallouts (see Megan Thee Stallion’s recent spat with her label 1501 Certified Entertainment over a blocked BTS remix), music released without permission (Aaliyah’s back catalogue arriving on streaming services isn’t supported by her estate), and jumbled […]