Bread & Roses Song & Spoken Word Award

THE Communication Workers’ Union (CWU) and Culture Matters are pleased to announce the second edition of their successful Songwriting and Spoken Word Award.   The Musicians’ Union is also sponsoring and supporting the Award this time.

The Award is now open for submissions. The new Award is a practical example of cultural democracy, with the aim of encouraging musicians and performers to write material meaningful to working class people and communities, and to encourage those communities to develop and practice their creativity.

There is a £100 cash prize for each of the top five entries.  The judges will be drawn from practising performers, the CWU, the Musician's Union, and members of Culture Matters.

Dave Ward, General Secretary of the CWU, said:

I welcome this continuing partnership with Culture Matters. The arts and culture generally are vital to the labour movement, and working class communities across the country. We want to build on the grassroots DIY ethic started by punk music, celebrate the new opportunities for working class people to write songs, make music and perform spoken word, and encourage contributions from people who might otherwise not consider entering competitions.

We are sponsoring this Award because we want to encourage our members in the CWU, and working people everywhere, to express themselves creatively on themes that matter to them as workers and which help develop understanding of the cultural struggle for a better world.

So get writing and get performing, and send your entries in!

Attila the Stockbroker, one of the judges, said:

This new Award is a great idea. There’s a real need to encourage younger and emerging performers to write and perform songs and poetry that mean something to ordinary working- class people rather than the mind-numbingly bland rubbish force-fed us by the mainstream music business and media.

Get involved – and encourage people you know to get involved!

Submission Guidelines and Award Rules:

Entry is open to all, regardless of trade union membership. The submission guidelines are as follows:

Entries should broadly deal with any aspect of working-class life, communities, culture and concerns.

Entries can be from solo or duo artists/performers, and are actively encouraged from grassroots, younger and emerging performers.

Entries should consist of one song or performance of original material, in English, whether previously published or not.

Entries should be submitted as audio or live/pre-recorded video files (MP3/4 format or video) via email. All entries will be judged equally, but some video entries may be also selected to feature on the Culture Matters YouTube channel, which is currently in development.

Entry is free and is open to all residents of Great Britain, regardless of trade union membership.

Culture Matters will fund five prizes of £100 each.

All entries will remain the copyright of the entrant, but CWU and Culture Matters will have the right to publish them online and in other media.

The organisers accept no responsibility for entries that are incorrectly submitted or not delivered due to technical faults.

By entering the Award, entrants agree to accept and be bound by the rules of the Award and the decisions of the judges.

Due to the likely volume of entries, the organisers regret that they cannot enter into correspondence with individual entrants.

Entries should be sent via email to: entriesculturematters@gmail.com

The deadline for receipt of submissions is midnight on March 2nd 2019. When emailing submissions, please provide your full name, postal address and phone number.

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ANARCHY CAME TO MANCHESTER

 by Steve Watson (Eastern Correspondent)*
 

EACH generation carries those special dates with them as they age. Dancing in the street on VE day, Manchester Woolworths grand opening and a fairly obscure date of a concert held on 4th June 1976 with hardly anyone in the audience.

Anarchy came to Manchester, the Lesser Free Trade Hall to be precise, and apart from the Sex Pistols entertaining a sparse crowd the date has also gone down in legend because if you tot up all the people who claim to have been present on the night the floor would have collapsed under the weight. In fairness the follow up gig, same band same venue six weeks later on (20th July) was quite popular with more paying public, more spitting and bottles being lobbed at the band as a show of affection so its quite possible that many of those claiming to have been at the first gig were confusing the two or just making things up for affect.

One person who was most certainly at the first gig was one Mark E Smith who along with a smattering of others that were genuinely there went on to pick up cheap instruments from Johnny Roadhouse or Mazel Radio and by a combination of luck and hard work ended up in famous or almost famous bands.

Mark E Smith was a quintessential northerner in every sense of the word and apart from what amounts to an extended holiday in Edinburgh whilst he attempted to sort his head out he lived in Prestwich for all but the first six months of his life. While his contemporaries ‘bought’ out of the North or moved to Alderley Edge, Smith stayed put and as an adult trod the same streets that he played in decades earlier.

Leaving school at 16, following a stint in a meat processing factory Smith graduated to the Docks, then a hive of industry and employment now a mix of gentrification behind security fencing, plush shopping with the odd surviving bit of the past including kids throwing stones at cars. Whether Smith had read it or not isn’t known but he quit the docks to form The Fall from the Albert Camus novel, and then set about redefining the terms ‘abrasive, curmudgeon, irritating, shambolic and literary genius’ to name but a few!

Mark E Smith died on 24th January this year. For an admittedly limited number of people it was one of those shock moments filtering through on BBC News late at night. Not his actual demise as he’d looked closed to the grave exponentially over his final years more for the fact that this anti hero, argumentative Rottweiler with a unique wit was no longer able to reignite that spirit of the late 1970s with his drunken outbursts and spectacular stage presence. Described as ‘a strange kind of ant-matter national treasure’ Smith’s slurred lyrics were rarely printed on The Fall’s many albums, and even though their output followed the standard pop pattern of having maybe two or three catchy dance tunes on each offering then eight so so’s to fill up space you were drawn in just wondering what the hell he was on about and eventually obscure tracks became favourites.

A Fall gig became over 40 years something of an event to witness not for the music, but his on stage presence, would he turn up, would there be an on stage fight or would he wander off and perform vocals from the dressing room? It really was a lucky dip helped by a constantly changing line up (over 60 Fall members came and went over the years with the longest, bassist Steve Hanley quitting after putting up with Smith for nineteen years following a real fisticuffs scrum on stage in New York in 1998!

He hated London and seemingly most other places apart from North Manchester so he lived in Prestwich, shopped in Prestwich with the odd foray into Whitefield, and would insist that journalists from the music industry meet him in either his local The Woodthorpe Hotel or somewhere in the urban oasis of Manchester. Often drinking the journalist under the table at their expense! A not infrequent shopper in Whitefield’s very own Willy Wonka cake shop Slattery’s he was one of an elite group of musicians to purchase iced buns on Bury Old Road, a list that included Nico from the Velvet Underground and John Cooper Clarke, who likewise lived in Prestwich before sodding off to Colchester, various members of Elbow and more!

Described as a ‘a kind of northern English magic realism that mixed industrial grime with the unearthly uncanny’, which sounds pretty heavy going and probably the better tribute came from Smiths ex wife, but one who put it much simpler on hearing of his death and said he was ‘defiantly Northern England’.

A drinker of Olympic standards as the band’s finances ebbed, and flowed his main problem as far as alcohol went was that he couldn’t afford it, but with a long list of hacks prepared to foot the bill as the band floundered Smith’s presence in print gave him the chance to keep things ticking over until he reinvented himself with another set of musicians ‘falling’ into the line up and reinvigorating The Fall brand! The last eight years of The Fall were a renaissance with sell out gigs, and a mix of all ages watching the spectacle, and proving the point that while Smith was the key the musicians deserved as much praise for their tight playing if not putting up with him!

Last appearing on stage in November confined to a wheelchair and looking as grim as he had for the past few years the only positive was that his days of kicking the drum kit over and twiddling with the amps had passed. His funeral was held last week at Blackley Crem or Crematorium as outsiders call it followed by a final knees up at The Woodthorpe near Heaton Park where if The Daily Mirror is to be believed bottles were thrown and beer generally thrown about at random. Other less reputable sources simply say it was fitting for Mark E Smith and all he embodied!

*  Watson is very much a hypocrite and sodded off from Manchester in 1991 first to Bedford and then Norwich.  He returns several times yearly to visit various Watsons around North Manchester and Oldham.  The Beatles played the Co-op Hall in Middleton, April 1963.  His 88 year old Auntie swears she was there!)

Manchester Jazz Festival

CARLES BENAVENTTuesday 22 - St Ann's Church | 13.00 Carles Benavent/ bass guitar Jordi Bonell / guitar Our fruitful partnership with mjf has revealed yet another breathtaking virtuoso yet to grace UK shores: this time, a bass guitarist whose performance credentials include Miles Davis, Paco de Lucía and Chick Corea. Carles’ breathtaking facility and lyrical expression forges a fluid lead voice on an instrument originally intended for other roles; in partnership with his guitarist, the dialogue is fiery with flamenco and fusion undertones. moreFREEDIEGO AMADOR TRÍO (Double bill with Tin Men and the Telephone) Thursday 24 - RNCM | 20.00 Diego Amador / piano, voice Jesús Garrido / bass Diego Amador Jr / drums Amador is an electrifying, consummate self-taught musician whose hands race from one end of the keyboard to the other with tremendous force, turning the piano into a percussion instrument, fusing flamenco music with post-bop and avant-garde jazz. more£17.50 To book: www.rncm.ac.uk/performance/tin-men-telephone-diego-amador-trio/

Manchester Jazz Festival & Instituto Cervantes

Instituto Cervantes Manchester and Manchester Jazz Festival gets together to bring some of the best Contemporary Spanish Jazz artists

ONCE again, Instituto Cervantes Manchester collaborates with Manchester Jazz Festival bringing the most outstanding Spanish artists to Manchester. Working together for the past few years, they have brought some of the biggest names of the Spanish Jazz scene to audiences here in Manchester.

This year, the flamenco and jazz bassist Carles Benavent will visit us as a duo with guitarist Jordi Bonell. Benavent is one of the most prestigious and awarded artists of flamenco and jazz worldwide, who has shared the stage with Chick Corea, Miles Davis and the late Paco de Lucía. Born in 1954 in Barcelona’s Poble-Sec, he formed his first band, Crack, when he was thirteen, a jazz-rock-blues group which grew into Maquina!, marking a milestone in the Spanish vanguard music scene of the age. During his entire career he has collaborated with the biggest names in flamenco and jazz, and was an important player in Paco de Lucía’s band for more than 20 years. Since then he had been known as “La Garza Flamenca” and his tours have reached across Europe, America and Japan. He has released several albums under different names and projects such as Jazzpaña, Benavent 3 tríos or Carles Benavent Quartet. He published his last album in 2011, called Un, dos tres…

Carles Benavent will be playing with guitarist Jordi Bonell at St Ann’s Church on the 22nd July at 13:00.

The second artist visiting us is pianist and singer Diego Amador. He is one of these artists whose background is non-academic, due to a strong musical tradition in his family; we could
say that he learnt playing music naturally as he was born in Seville in 1973 into a gypsy family steeped in flamenco tradition.

His first instrument was the guitar, although he started at the age of 11 performing extensively, playing the drums for the group Pata Negra. Many different instruments have started to interest him at those days, most importantly the keyboard, and thanks to that he had the opportunity to accompany many big flamenco names such as Remedios Amaya, Diego El Cigala and Tomatito.

However, Diego has entered the world of the piano through the world of jazz, a music which fascinated him in his childhood, and has made him open to share projects with the greats of this genre. He has collaborated and shared the stage with several international musicians such as Chick Corea, Birelli Lagreene, Luis Salinas, Jorge Pardo or Carles Benavent.

Diego Amador

As time went by, he became a multi-instrumentalist, and equally a composer, recording artist and producer. All the while, his career as a solo artist defines him, without a doubt, as a pianist and singer.

We will be able to enjoy his performance at Royal Northern College of Music on the 24th of July from 20:00 onwards.

Silone police informer turned novelist

& Skinner's gansta rap lyrics!

DOES art mirror life?  Is it possible to find in the fictional writings of a novelist or the lyrics of a song-writer historical evidence of real events or even confessions of past sins?   

Prosecutors and law enforcement officers in the USA have used FBI analysts to look at rap lyrics when investigating gangs.  The New Jersey Supreme Court will soon hear arguments on if 13 pages of lyrics written by Vonte Skinner – including lines like 'four slugs drillin' your cheek to blow your face off and leave your brain caved in the street' – should have been admitted at his trial for attempted murder.   

Erik Nelson, an assistant professor of liberal arts at the University of Richmond, has said:  'What's getting really unnerving, is the amount of time it appears both police and prosecutors are spending over rap lyrics and videos on social media rather than using that time to go and rather more convincing, more conventional evidence.'   

Lorne Manly, a journalist on the New York Times writes: 

'In the profane world of hardcore rap, verisimilitude is prized.  Growing out of the ghettos on the West Coast in the 1989s, gangsta rap made the gritty reality of gangs, violence and drugs central features.'   

Prosecutors believe that such lyrics can be useful in building cases because of the search for status:  attaining it, crowing about it, expanding it, is, some think, integral to gang life.  It is claimed that if you listen to these songs you will hear gang members confessing to crimes they had committed previously and were through their art disseminating within their neighborhoods.   

Similarly, in an essay entitled 'The Secret Life of Ignazio Silone' by John Foot in Left Review it is claimed that between 1920 and 1930 Silone was an informer to Mussolini's political police.  A letter from Silone, written in early 1930 and addressed to Emilia Bellone, sister to Guido Bellone, General Inspector of Public Security charge with stamping out subversion in which he pleaded to be released from 'all falsehood, doubt and secrecy', expressing a desire 'to repair the damage that I have caused, to seek redemption, to help the workers, the peasants (to whom I am bound with every fibre of my body) and my country.'  

An article detailing Silone's history as an informer almost up to his expulsion from the Italian Communist Party (PCI) in 1931 was written by Mauro Cananli entitled 'Ignazio Silone & the Fascist Political Police' and published in Modern Italian Studies, 5 (1) in 2000, it was greeted with consternation because Silone after his career as a police informer went on in the 1930s to write books that represented some of the best attacks on Fascism and which John Foot describes this by saying 'his novels had become very effective weapons against it (the Mussolini regime).'  He was central to Italian literature of the period and widely respected outside the circles of the communist party.  George Orwell wrote of a special class of literature that had come out of  the European struggle since the rise of Fascism: 

'Some out of the outstanding figures in this school of writers are Silone, Malraux, Salvemini, Borkenau, Victor Serge and Koester himself.  Some of these are imaginative writers, some are not, but they are all alike in that they are trying to write contemporary history, but unofficial history, the kind that is ignored in the text-books and lied about in the newspapers.'  

As with the US police investigators into gangsta rap some Italian intellectuals claim to be able to see in Ignazio Silone's novels such as 'Bread & Wine', 'The Fox' and 'And He Did Hide Himself' an author finding himself wrestling with issues of treachery and collaboration.  The spy in 'Bread & Wine' relates:  'In my solitary broodings, that left me not a moments peace,I passed from fear of punishment to fear of non-punishment..'  And Adriano Sofri asked in La Republica on the 15^th, April 2000:  'One re-reads all of Silone, and one thinks: how could we not have seen it before?'  John Foot's essay doesn't provide us with any clear evidence as to what might have been Silone's motivation for becoming an agent of the secret police and why he became one at the age of nineteen, but there was 'little to reveal ideological commitment to Fascism later'.  Foot writes:  '... it is striking that the regime did not expose Silone in the thirties, when his novels had become very effective weapons against it.'  The problem was that once Silone had begun to inform it was, says Foot, 'very difficult (and dangerous) for him to stop'.   

Crime fiction was used in the USA to establish the guilt of an author and show he had a violent streak three decades ago, but the case was overturned on appeal, with the decision rejecting the proposition 'that an author's character can be determined by the type of book he writes'.  In the Skinner case the New Jersey chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union has used 'Crime & Punishment' and 'Folsome Prison Blues' to make a  similar point:  'That a rap artist wrote lyrics seemingly embracing the world of violence is no more reason to ascribe to him a motive and intent to commit violent acts than to saddle Dostoyevsky with Raskolnikov's motives or to indict Johnny Cash for having “shot a man in Reno just to watch him die”.'   

The mystery still remains about the relationship between between the artist's real live experience and his creative work.  George Orwell writing his essay about Artur Koestler in 1944 wrote that 'there has been nothing (written in England) resembling for instance, Fontamara or Darkness at Noon, because there is almost no English writer to whom it has happened to see totalitarianism from the inside.'   Orwell continues:  'Most of the European writers I mentioned above (Silone, Malraux, Victor Serge and Koestler) and scores of others like then, have been obliged to break the law in order to engage in politics at all; some of them have thrown bombs and fought street battles, many have been in prison or concentration camp, of fled across frontiers with false names and forged passports.'  Orwell then says one could not expect Professor Laski 'indulging in activities of this kind' nor  indeed today, nor could one anticipate anything of this kind from the henpecked anarchists who operate the Manchester book fair or those Londoners who stay stum about malicious and false allegations of 'anti-Antisemitism' and the destruction of book stalls. 

BYRONIC BLAST from 'Better to have loved...'

Gerry O' Gorman's Rock Band: Homage to Burnley Clarets   

THIS Thursday, 'Gerry O & the Flat Back 4's' will be rendering eleven songs inspired by the fans and players of Burnley FC.at the Burnley Mechanics Theatre starting at 7.15pm.  Gerry O' Gorman,  told Northern Voices that he is looking forward to the gig as he has supported the Burnley Clarets since he was a lad living in Bacup and first went to Turf Moor in 1968.   

Now living in Castleton, Rochdale, Gerry contacted the Voices having located issues of significant interest to him on this Blog such as the Sophie Lancaster case, Cyril Smith and the problems in the building trade such as the blacklist.  This Thursday he will play and sing alongside Tom O' Gorman and James Gansler as The Flat Back 4's – a band specially put together for Thursday's concert.  

 

The versions of songs are based on songs that sounded over the years on the Longside terrace of Turf Moor.  In this work is a bit of Rock n'Roll Byron commemorating the romantic poet's Rochdale links and 'The Night I Met PJ' – put together after Gerry met the 1960's legend PJ Proby in Bury.  

 

Gerry told the Rossendale Free Press: 

'I wrote the “Better to have loved..."  because I'm a songwriter, musician and Claret's fan who wanted to try to convey some of the drama and emotion in following a team like Burnley, who are often the underdog and rarely win any trophies but retain an incredibly loyal, optimistic set of fans.'  

 

The gig is on Thursday, October 31^st, from 7,15pm.  Tickets cost £10 with some concessions, and are available by calling 01282 664400.  Gerry's CD 'Better to Have Loved...' is available via:  gerry.ogorman@hotmail.co.uk  

THE JAM at Holmfirth

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All Mod Cons – 35^th Anniversary Tour

Saturday 5^th October 2013

The Picture Dome, Holmfirth

www.seetickets.com / www.ticketweb.co.uk

Tickets:£20

Following 2012’s ‘In The City’ tour, Bruce Foxton and From The Jam announce the ‘All Mod Cons’ 35^th Anniversary Tour - September–December 2013.

On Saturday 5^th October The Picture Dome, Holmfirth will be pounding with the sound of 1978 as The Jam bass player Bruce Foxton and his band From the Jam perform the classic album ‘All Mod Cons’ in its entirety. The gig is part of a 3 month tour that celebrates the 35^th anniversary of All Mod Cons.

As well as ‘Down In The Tube Station At Midnight’ and ‘A Bomb In Wardour Street’ the band are also excited about playing ‘Billy Hunt’, ‘Mr Clean’ and the second single released from the album ‘David Watts’ originally penned by Ray Davies of The Kinks. “The energy in rehearsals is great and we’re really looking forward to getting back on the road!” says Foxton.

The Jam exploded onto the punk scene in 1977 delivering their ferocious mission statement - debut single ‘In The City’ – and in 1978 released their third album ‘All Mod Cons’. The Jam became the sound of The British youth and one of the greatest and biggest selling bands in British history. In 2000, Q magazine placed ‘All Mod Cons’ at Number 50 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever.

From The Jam have gained a reputation for the kind of incendiary ‘live’ performances that sealed the reputation of The Jam all those years ago. From The Jam will be performing All Mod Cons in its entirety followed by a selection of the classic hits and great album tracks from across the fantastic catalogue produced by one of Britain’s’ seminal bands.

Talking about the tour singer and guitarist Russell Hasting says “Bruce has often commented on the general vibe in the studio and the feeling that "they were onto a good thing" as every track stood out and was fun to do!When we were recording his ‘Back In The Room’ album, the recording process was likened to that of All Mod Cons and we thought, why not play the album front to back as it had never been done before. Also tracks like ‘The Place I Love’ and ‘Fly’ were never in the live set.“

Watch The Making Of All Mod Cons featuring interviews with Paul Weller,Bruce Foxton and Rick Bucklerhttp://youtu.be/GphDS1FKAEE

New Bruce Foxton album, ‘Back In The Room’ is out now with special guests Paul Weller & Steve Cropper.

“There may never be a Jam reunion but it’s reassuring to see someone as talented and passionate as Bruce Foxton being able to take these wonderful old songs out on the road and communicate so successfully with this Modern World” LouderThanWar

Legend of Tarifa at Cervantes in Manchester

A debut performance of The Legend of Tarifa by Manchester-based writer Natasha Smith will take place this summer on 24 July at the Cervantes Institute on Deansgate in Manchester. 

Blending poetry, music, song and dance, The Legend of Tarifa is a tale of magic and mermaids and a young man’s quest for eternal love, inspired by the passion of Flamenco and Andalusia. 

The Legend of Tarifa is written and produced by emerging writer, Natasha Smith, who’s currently studying for a masters under Jeanette Winterson, Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Manchester. 

The original music score was composed by Gillian Menichino, who is doing a PhD in music at the Royal Northern College of Music. The dancers are from Manchester Dance School, the Danceworks. 

Having lived in Tarifa for eight years, the town’s magical bohemian quality inspired Natasha to write The Legend of Tarifa: 
'I’m fascinated by the enduring power of fairytales so I wanted to see if I could recreate that with a modern twist. A mermaid story was a logical choice for me. When you live by the sea for so long, it’s impossible not to be inspired by it. By mixing poetry with music and dance, the aim is to create a really unique performance that appeals to a wide audience of different cultures. I wanted to bring a slice of Spain to an English audience.'

The composer Gillian Menichino jumped at the chance to be part of this project.

'The moment Natasha described the idea behind the poem I knew I wanted to be involved. Spain is so culturally rich and I know so many people, who just like me, are fascinated by this country. I loved the idea of creating a piece of music that invokes the vibrancy of its culture and brings it to a Manchester audience,' she said.

As a Spanish school whose remit is to promote Spain around the world, the Cervantes Institute is the perfect venue for this event. 
The performance will begin with Gillian’s music, which is interwoven throughout the poem. The orchestra includes violin, double bass, flute and Spanish guitar. The performance also features an authentic Flamenco singer and photographic slideshow.

¿Te ha gustado esta entrada? ¡Compártela!
Information and bookings on: secman@cervantes.es


Tel: 0161 6614201

Jim Pinkerton, 'Verdi Man' & opera buff

WHEN in the Autumn of 2001 the distinguished old Lancashire anarchist and former international secretary of the Syndicalist Workers' Federation, Jim Pinketon, had just suffered what was to be his first stroke and was speechless in bed in Ashton-under-Lyne General Hospital, Harold Sculthorpe produced a pair of headphones and played him some Puccini, Derek Pattison, another life-long friend said:  'Jim was more of a Verdi man, Harold!'.   This year is the bicentennary of both Verdi and Wagner and it caused a little consternation when last December the Teatro alla Scala in Milan opened its season with 'Lohengrin' in observation of Wagner's bicentennial rather than with an opera by Verdi, who was born in Roncole, Italy, in the Duchy of Palma, on either the 9th or 10th, October 1813 (the records are unclear). 

Wagner was born in Leipzig, Germany, on May 22nd, 1813 (no doubt the German records are clearer).  It seems they never met and had little nice to say about each other.  Yet in later life, in 1899, Verdi told a German newspaper that Wagner was 'one of the greatest geniuses' who left treasures of 'immortal worth', admitting that as an Italian, he could not claim to 'understand everything' in Wagner, but he declared before 'Trista und Isolde... I stand in wonder and terror.'  The scholar Richard Taruskin has suggested that though some of Verdi's praise may have been genuine there is 'sufficient evidence of leg pulling' in the old man's answer to the fawning German interviewer.  Anthony Tommasini, the journalist, writes:  'For the most part Wagner and Verdi existed as titans in their separate realms.' 

The Puccini music made Jim Pinkerton jerk briefly in his hospital bed when the head-phones went on his ears possibly showing some recognition, but he was never to converse again with any of us and died on March 9th, 2002 at the age of 79-years.  He was never again to listen to his 78rpm records of Caruso, Nelly Melba, Alfredo Kraus and a Zazuela from Spain or drink his fine Burgundy.

Since its excursion last year into Wagner the Teatro alla Scala has redressedv the balance in the months since with new productions of four Verdi operas, the latest being 'Oberto, Conte di San Bonifacto'.  'Oberto' was Verdi's first opera ever.  Tommasini writes:  'By midcentury Verdi had become the Italian opera composer best known and most performed in Europe' as 'commissions even came to him from St. Petersburg ('La Forza del Destino') and Cairo ('Aida').'  For Tommasini:  'He was a colossus who expanded on and experimented with the Italian tradition but never really moved beyond it.'

What did this mean for Verdi? 

Anthony Tommasini writes:
'Verdi was born to an Italian opera tradition that embraced tried-and-true procedures regarding recitative and aria, scene structure and the like.'  But, 'In letters he complained endlessly about the tyranny of the tradition... the ridiculous expectations of opera audiences for set-piece arias and ensembles could infuriate him as much as the absurdities of the Italian censors, who vetoed story lines and settings that were deemed incendiary.'

Stravinsky wrote in his book 'Poetics of Music' defending the oom-pah-pah aria in the style of Verdi:
'I know I am going to counter the general opinion that sees Verdi's best work in the deterioration of the genius that gave us "Rigoletto," "Il Trovatore," "Aida" and "La Traviata," ' but, 'I maintain that there is more substance and true invention in the aria "La donna è mobile" (The woman is fickle), for example, in which the elite saw nothing but deplorable facility, than in the rhetoric and vociferations of the "Ring," (Wagner) ' 

Jim Pinkerton, who retired as a copy-taker on the Sunday People in the 1980s, was a northern, working-class, anarchist intellectual who loved Verdi and took a dim view of the English anarchist movement.  Culturally he would have preferred to belong to the Italian middle-class as that would have given him greater access to the music he so passionately desired.  But politically he adored the Spanish anarcho-syndicalists of the CNT, particularly the Catalans, as compared to them, he observed: "we English are like shrivelled up prunes".  When one considers the the British left today, particularly the half-baked anarchist movement of this island one can't help but think that he was right in this insight.

ROCHDALE: Why is it not on the Musical Gig Map of England?

A report by Chris Hewitt:
CHRIS Hewitt is a Rochdale ex pat who grew up promoting live music in the town and continues to do so around the world as well as running a record and music dvd company which has strong links with musicians who originally came from Rochdale.
The recent blue plaque day evening event saw a host of music fans attend a £15 a ticket event at the 250 capacity town centre Back Door. 
Venue at Broadwater- unfortunately people paying £15 a ticket to see original live music in Rochdale is somewhat of a one off. The fact that the powers that be through the years have consistently failed to maintain or even provide a suitable venue in the town centre together with funding /subsidies for regular music events has meant that Rochdale has slipped down the ladder behind towns much smaller than it.
The Gracie Fields theatre was built as a poor substitute for a town centre theatre/ music venue. The College Halll had its stage door access wiped out by the expansion of St Mary’s Gate to a dual carriageway and furthermore despite being originally in the control of the Council’s own Education department and hosting some great town centre live pop music events and the youth music festival it was always a bureaucratic obstacle course to hire it- even when I was running concerts at the college in conjunction with Paul Gibson who was then in RMBC Entertainments we found that trying to book the College Hall from Education was even difficult in the name of another council department. I believe Hopwood Hall no longer allow bookings of the College Hall for concerts ? Champness Hall hosted some great concerts in the 70’s but would not survive as a concert hall today as not having an interval bar under the Methodist rules would mean it would not work as a cultural venue in today’s climate- does this no alchohol rule still apply to Champness Hall today?
Until such time as one of the grand schemes for a town centre theatre/ music venue are actually built ( and don’t forget to budget for some funds for events to put in it or you still have a building that is a white elephant- as Rochdale needs funding for music and arts events to put it back on the cultural map of England ) surely an investment of say £50,000 per annum towards a series of indoor live music events for over 18s at Back Door Broadwater would help to bring some much needed cultural status back to the town and continue the great positive feeling that the blue plaque day and evening created. Whilst Rochdale Development Agency does a great job of bringing new business to the borough and the Re-Thinking/branding project preaches sermons about why people should be thinking about “why I want to visit Rochdale or I want to go to Rochdale it’s assets are attractive” a positive thriving live music and culture policy for over 18’s from RMBC / Link4Life in a venue like Back Door which would take so little to continue after the success the blue plaque day and evening created would help to bring people back into the town centre in an evening and encourage people from outside of Rochdale to visit the town. The general feeling of well being and being part of a cultural event is something even the police have mentioned when I have been at meetings about music and culture in Rochdale. To quote a strap line from Bury Met below- they present music and theatre at their 240 capacity venue that leaves people inspired and enriched. Rochdale has created some great musicians ( and many musicians from outside have used Rochdale to record their music there), artists, poets writers, and great sound technicians and the one thing we haven’t got is a focussed venue hub where these people and the ones who will be tomorrow’s and the audiences can meet.

Rochdale Metropolitan Borough has a population of around 206,000;
Rochdale has population of around 94,000. 

Holmfirth has a population of 17,970 

Holmfirth played host/ plays host to the following indoor live music in 2009- this is just a few from the last quarter of 2009: 
American touring blues man Walter Trout on the 23rd October £17

Barclay James Harvest 25th October £21

Magnum 30th October £18-50

Southside Johnny and the Asbury Dukes ( from the USA) 19th November £20

Kiki Dee 21st November £15

Steve Hackett ( ex Genesis) 22 nd November £22

Boomtown Rats 4th December £12

Bad Manners 27th December £16
Hebden Bridge has a population of 11,253: 

Hebden Bridge Trades Club has hosted concerts by:
Gong Legend Daevid Allen plays the Trades

Juno winner James Keelaghan visits Trades

DJ James Holroyd, Sisters of Transistors and the Hello Sailor burlesque team Motion Theory, Salsa, quiz and 20/20 cricket at the Trades

Big Apple troubadour Jeffrey Lewis plays the Trades

Live Ashes at the Trades

Celtic rock kings Peatbog Faeries play Trades

New Trades Roots label Owter Zeds 25th anniversary event at the Trades Top poet Simon Armitage to rock the Trades

Ska warriors Natural Rhythm storm the Trades Club

Monkey business and Steve Gifford at the Trades

Glastonbury favourites 3 Daft Mondays swing into the Trades "Incredible" Mike Heron at the Trades

Dr Feelgood back at the Trades

Nick Harper hits the peaks at the Trades May Day weekend at the Trades Club

Peter Kay rocks the Trades Club Squeezing out the hits at the Trades Southern Tenant Folk Union at the Trades

Becks and The Bullets back at the Trades

Australia's Emily Barker plays the Trades.

Bury has a population of 60,718: 

Bury Met has a capacity of 240. 
It presents new and exciting artists who go on to become household names as well as established artists performing to sell-out audiences all over the world.  Audiences at The Met have enjoyed a pre-Partridge Steve Coogan, legendary performances by Joy Division and The Pixies, pre-Elbow Elbow, pre Hollywood Lee Evans and live music and theatre that leaves people inspired and enriched.

Ashton Under Lyne has a a population of 44,000:

The Witchwood in Ashton is a small but much extended public house now a listed building owing to its contribution to live music and part of the live gig

music circuit of the UK. When Rochdale/Middleton’s indie guitar world stars The Chameleons decided to reform in the early 2000’s they decided to try one night not in their home borough ( because there is nowhere with that cultural live music buzz in RMB )but in Ashton because it has such a great venue. Their one night sold out and became five consecutive sell out nights and then they went on to play London Shepherd’s Bush Empire and then toured the world for a second time.

The Witchwood Ashton – a small selection of upcoming gigs below. 

Limehouse Lizzy 14th Nov £12

Bad Manners 14th Dec £14

UK Subs 10th Dec £8

Prodigy tribute

Legend Bob Marley tribute £12

Clone Roses £10. 

My point is Rochdale has the largest population of all of these towns, in the past it has had the largest effect on the UK music scene through it’s recording studios, Deeply Vale Festivals, Rochdale Festivals, bands that were created in Rochdale, the growth of Wigwam into one of the major sound production companies in the UK and yet Rochdale has lost its way in supporting a live music venue for over 18s. I believe a lot of hard work from the team of people ( including myself) who want to solve this problem and create an over 18’s music venue at the Back Door on Saturday evenings initially and finance from RMBC / Link4Life and even business sponsorship would put Rochdale back on the cultural map of the UK not just for the one day that it happened on September 23rd 2009 – the blue plaque day.  Incidentally press articles mentioning that day and Rochdale in a positive light are still happening even now over a month later.