Sixties star launches new album in the Island

  • Nightlife round-up
  • Interview with Sixties star launching new album in Jersey
  • Week to go until launch of new festival
  • What’s On diary

THE former bass guitarist of 60s chart-toppers Love Affair has chosen Jersey as the location to launch his new album.

Mick Jackson, who played an integral role in the band that penned the hit Everlasting Love, officially launched his new release at the Beau Rivage Hotel in St Brelade’s Bay last week.

The musician says Jersey is ‘like a second home’ for him and his family and he could think of no better place to get his new album, ’69 One More Time’, off the ground.

Nightlife caught up with Mick to talk about his career, the new release and… Piccadilly Circus:

What can fans expect from the new album?

Think of the summer of ’69, the most exciting period in rock and pop music, brought right up to date with brand-new arrangements of material from 1969 with strong guitar, bass and drum performances.

Are there any particular tracks we should listen out for?

I am very pleased with the updated version of the old Love Affair song One Road, particularly as it was a very successful hit for the band in 1969. Sixth Form Love Sick Blues is great too, as it is a true account of how my wife, Patricia, and I first met.

Why is it being launched in Jersey?

Jersey and the Beau Rivage Hotel at St Brelade are like a second home to me and my family. Jersey is my love affair and I’ve always come over to the Island several times a year. It seemed the most obvious place to launch these songs.

You’ve had a pretty crazy career. Tell us about being arrested for climbing Eros in Piccadilly Circus and what really happened with Top of the Pops?

Climbing Eros was a publicity stunt dreamt up by our press agent, which went horribly right. We weren’t banned from Top of the Pops – we appeared on the programme dozens of times over four years. However, the producer apparently destroyed all of the recordings after a row with one of the Love Affair members.

Do you still get recognised from your days with Love Affair?

Occasionally I still do get recognised – it amazes me what long memories people have. I suppose we were a boy band of our day and were selected for our looks as well as our musical ability. The modern music business means people don’t have to earn their stripes like they used to. I worked hard for 15 years to become an overnight success and was playing bass guitar from primary school.

Great talent will always rise to the top but there is no incentive to learn an instrument now because kids know if they have the right look and hairstyle and a semi-decent voice, Simon Cowell will get them to the top of the charts overnight.

Do you miss the band?

I miss my old colleagues from Love Affair as friends, although Mo Bacon, Love Affair’s drummer, is still in contact and we have remained close friends. I used to yearn a little for the music but that is now fully taken care of with the huge involvement required with the new album.

Where can fans listen to the new album?

’69 One More Time’ is available on iTunes – where you can hear a preview of all the tracks – as is the single One Road. It’s also possible to listen to via our website.

DJ Max Van Dijk of Tessellate

THERE is just a week to go until Jersey’s newest music festival makes its debut in the Island.

Reasons music and arts festival will take over Coronation Park on Saturday 11 July and boasts a jam-packed line-up that includes Simian Mobile Disco, Wilkinson and Second City plus a host of local talent across four stages.

And music producer and DJ Max Van Dijk, who is from Jersey, will also be bringing his London-based label, Tessellate, to the Island to perform.

He spoke to Nightlife about the gig and said that such festivals offered a great opportunity for emerging local talent.

Tickets for Reasons, which are priced at £57.50, are available online.

How do you feel about performing at a festival making its debut?

Really excited. Reasons’ debut looks set to be a big one.

What is it like returning to perform in Jersey?

It is nice as none of my family really live here any more so I do not get to visit often. Playing in Coronation Park will be cool as well.

How important is it to support new festivals such as Reasons?

Massively important. You always need to support and push what is new, particularly in Jersey where not a lot happens. It’s also great that Reasons is giving a platform to some of the local talent and scenes on the Island, so you’re not just supporting the festival but the local community too.

What can Islanders expect from your set?

Our music policy at our nights is mainly techno, house and disco and our sets tend to reflect that.

What are you hoping for from the crowd?

I just hope that they enjoy the music and have a lovely time.

What does the future hold for you?

We’re doing another festival in Croatia the week after Reasons, hosting a boat party which will be super fun. Back in London, we’ve got our day-and-night terrace party in August, and then more Tessellate nights in September, October and December. Beyond that, just keep on doing what we are doing and hope things continue to grow the way they are.

The sound of Zeppelin

AS IF it needed saying, Glastonbury remains the daddy of UK festivals. There’s nothing quite like it: set in a veritable Garden of Eden but inhabited by the cast of Mad Max, its sheer insanity never fails to astonish.

Over the final full week of June a tented city the size of York emerges and somehow functions, playing host to a performance arts festival in the truest sense, where entertainment runs from 11 am through to the smallest of small hours.

Seeing bands and DJs remains the meat-and-potatoes of Glastonbury, but from cabaret to circus, comedy to lectures, meditation to massages, many revellers venture off the beaten track.

For variety of music, the 2015 edition will be tough to top. My own trajectory took in funk, soul, rap, pop, classic rock, house, techno, jungle, punk, even Burt Bacharach.

Not a single act disappointed, but several dazzled. Mary J Blige’s bawling Friday afternoon showing on the Pyramid Stage was perhaps the first to transcend, and from there the magic came thick and fast. West Holts headliners Hot Chip seized their moment in the spotlight; disaffected Nottingham punk act Sleaford Mods turned critics into believers; and while division of opinion marked Kanye West’s set, George Clinton’s Mothership Returns brought union and communal spirit, not only between funk pioneers The Family Stone and Parliament-Funkadelic but also between 10,000 loose-limbed Yeezus-eschewers.

Patti Smith’s force-of-nature performance will surely be remembered as one of Glastonbury’s most powerful yet, not least because it featured the Dalai Lama. But it was left to Lionel Richie to provide the most winning set of the whole shebang. The match of a showman who clearly ‘got it’ and a 100,000 strong crowd who wanted him to succeed was one made in heaven.

A LED Zeppelin tribute act will take to the stage at Mimosa tomorrow night.

The Zeppelin Express are bringing their worldwide tour to the town venue, offering fans the chance to hear the authentic equipment and musical arrangements used by the original British rock giants.

The free event starts at 7 pm, and the band will be on stage until 10.30 pm.

A spokesman for the tribute group said: ‘They have been playing the music of Led Zeppelin for over ten years. The Zeppelin Express bring their experience together in an undeniably realistic recreation of the sound of Led Zeppelin.’

SATURDAY 4 JULY

  • Blue Note: Live Electric Blues, at 4 pm
  • The Inn: Jonno
  • Kitty O’Shea’s: Run for Cover
  • Mayfair Hotel: Skyline
  • Merton Hotel: Goldstar: Retro party cover band
  • Savoy Hotel: The LQ 5 piece Latin-Jazz band
  • Soleil: Northern Soul & Motown with DJ Rex

FRIDAY 10 JULY

  • Best Western Royal Hotel: Bar 27: The Dice Men
  • The Inn: Matt Holcroft
  • Kitty O’Shea’s: Megan & Johnny
  • Metropole Hotel: Skyline
  • Merton Hotel: Blues Bros party night

SATURDAY 11 JULY

  • Blue Note: Live Electric Blues, at 4 pm
  • The Inn: Megan
  • Kitty O’Shea’s: JC & The Loony Tunes
  • Mayfair Hotel: Skyline
  • Merton Hotel: Goldstar: Retro party cover band
  • Soleil: Northern Soul & Motown with DJ Rex
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