I rarely, if ever, blog about music. For a start, I haven’t got a note in my head and I know nothing about musicianship. But, maybe because I’m in my dotage, I’ve suddenly acquired a strange enthusiasm for the band Genesis, in its original classic form.

Now I recall that I did once own two or three of their albums – these were the days when they came in vinyl and you put them onto a record player. These were also the days before Internet, MTV, YouTube etc. I doubt I could have named the band members at that time. For sure I wouldn’t have been able to tell you, without looking at the album cover, what instruments were being played and by whom. Still I guess I must have enjoyed the music to a certain degree, albums weren’t cheap.

But that was 50 years ago. Why now, for the first time, am I looking at old documentaries and footage from concerts, memorising complex lyrics, enthusing over the band members’ undoubted mastery of their instruments? It’s odd indeed.

You can trace the band from 1967 to the present day. However the ‘classic’ years were 1970 – 1974. That’s not to imply that they were necessarily the best years, just that for me and others that was when they rose from uncertain roots through to being masters of what is now termed progressive rock. The classic line-up consisted of

• Tony Banks, keyboard
• Mike Rutherford, guitar, bass
• Steve Hackett, guitar
• Phil Collins, drums
• Peter Gabriel, lead vocals

All were masters of their instruments, but they originally struggled to attract other than a niche audience. It was only when Gabriel began to introduce theatrics such as masks/costumes into song segments, and telling whimsical stories while the band re-tuned between numbers, did they start reaching a wider crowd. Even to my untrained ear, some of their best-known works border on genius, such as

• Musical Box
• Cinema Show
• Firth of Fifth
• Supper’s Ready

The ‘classic’ period came to an end when first Peter Gabriel then Steve Hackett left for pastures new. It is history now how Phil Collins eventually stepped up front to lead the band into a new era.

What is also remarkable is that, all these years later, all these guys are both still alive and very active in the music business, as are very early band members like Anthony Phillips and Chris Stewart. We are so used these days to popular artistes passing on too early. Even poor old Phil Collins, the cheeky chappie of the band, now prematurely aged and infirm, still gives it his best shot.

And so, to finish, I commend to you Firth of Fifth with Banks’ dazzling piano introduction which moves onto what is probably Hackett’s finest piece of guitar work.

Back in 2011 I blogged about my favourite female vocalists. And, re-reading the post and listening to the sample song of each that I chose, I haven’t changed my mind. Each of them is – or was – truly unique and exceptional. Eva and Sandy have long since flown this life to meet on another ledge but Stevie, Adele, Carol and Elkie are still with us and are still actively performing.

Do you remember when we were very young and we changed our minds every time the wind changed direction? We’d have our favourite pop group or singer for a week or two before shamelessly changing horses the minute a new lot took our fancy. Then, in our teens, we grew to appreciating particular musical genres and tended to shape our own lives around them. In my school there arose a serious division between Progressive Rock nerds and the Tamla Motown crowd.

Then we grew up and our musical tastes firmed up. I, for one, am pretty stuck with those artistes I grew to admire in my 30s and 40s. Few newcomers disturb these tranquil and comforting waters.

Though now a couple more female artistes have barged in. The Unthanks have been around for a while now and I’ve admired their take on traditional folk songs. Then I was lucky enough to catch them in concert in Cambridge recently. So here are Rachel, Becky and the gang with not an instrument in sight – what do you think?

Tar Barrel in Dale

The end of 2009 was a pretty sad and emotional time for me. My ambitions to live and work permanently in Ireland were falling to pieces after less than two years. I was on the verge of cutting my losses and heading back to Jersey to try to pick up the threads there again.

Before I did that I headed back to Dublin for a last time with my old friend Deirdre from Cork to see Fleetwood Mac in concert at the old Point Theatre, newly refurbished as the O2. Here is my review written the following day.

I’m not in love, but I’m open to persuasion

I arrived in Jersey 35 years ago today – just in time to watch Borg beat Connors in five sets in the Wimbledon singles final. At much the same time, back in Birmingham, a black girl was having a smash hit called Love and Affection. Joan Armatrading had arrived in Brum with the early wave of West Indian immigrants and was brought up in Stechford, just up the road from me – not of course that I realised that until later.

Yesterday evening Armatrading arguably stole the show from the headline act Ray Davies. She is by now of course a legend of British music and she has a firm following in Jersey. No fuss or frills, baggy trousers and an old top with butterflies on it. But she is a performer who radiates enjoyment and endears herself to her audiences. Yesterday evening she alternated between her back catalogue and some of her new stuff, all of which was well received. I must admit I didn’t realise that she could rock hard and loud as well as captivating the audience with her soulful stuff. Starlight is the title track of the new album and it was well received. But of course All The Way From America, Me Myself I, Drop The Pilot, Call Me Names and her signature song went down best. Versatility is her game and she and her excellent band blasted through their last two numbers leaving me dazzled and in need of a steadying pint. Brilliant from the Brummie chick.

By 1977 by comparison The Kinks had had their glory days. They plodded on before disbanding in the ’90s. Now amazingly 68, Ray Davies reprises those glory days with his own band. And does he do it with panache. He let it rip last night with energy and loudness, goading the Jersey audience into greater clapping, waving and singing efforts. Where Have All The Good Times Gone opened the show. All Day And All Of The Night, See My Friends, Dedicated Follower Of Fashion, Sunny Afternoon, Dead End Street and others followed. The gorgeous Waterloo Sunset was done as an acoustic break from the rocking. I was puzzled as he sang the wimpy Kirsty McColl song Days until learning it is in fact a Davies composition – I listen to it with new ears.

I thought his best song of the night was 20th Century Man , and Davies ended a great set with the deadly You Really Got Me which will once again have sent some local residents scurrying for the telephone even though both evenings finished bang on 10 o’clock, but that’s Jersey.

A great two days. Ticket sales weren’t as high as expected but, if the promoters do it again this festival is destined for repeated success.

Off to People’s Park wondering how to look cool. I needn’t have worried – it was pretty much a regular middle-aged Jersey crowd made up mainly, it seemed, of ex-cricketers. I missed the early stuff and it was Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry first up for me. I guess this was pretty much a first for Jersey, a pure, laid-back reggae beat pounding over the west of the town. Perry is a legend and went down well with many in the crowd. I’m less of a music connoisseur though and the whole thing was a bit too one-paced for me. And when the band was forcibly removed to allow set-up for the next act Perry was still under the illusion that he was in Dublin, if I interpreted his Rasta-speak correctly.

So onto Nouvelle Vague who, frankly, I’d never heard of. But they’ll have gained a few extra Jersey fans with this knock-out performance. Their specialty is in covering New Wave numbers with drive and not a little flair. Visually it’s all about the girl singers. Apparently the girls vary but this lively pair were a mixture of Agnetha, Anna-Fried and Liza Minelli. They sang brilliantly, interacted and danced together and put on a great bit of theatre. Behind them a keyboard and a heavy rhythm section drove the whole thing along. A great set including the Dead Kennedy’s Too Drunk To Fuck which the crowd thoroughly enjoyed singing along to. I hope the Bailiff doesn’t hear about it. These guys will be welcome back any time.

I was necking a beer in the hospitality tent when the opening bars of Brown Eyed Girl struck up, sending us all scurrying for the main tent. The Man Himself was in town. And he didn’t disappoint. Complete with cravat, dark glasses and trilby the legend that is Van Morrison was playing the People’s Park, a bit surreal in itself. Backed by half an orchestra, heavy on the brass, Morrison gave a great show. No chatting, no banter with the audience, just 90 minutes of his back catalogue which, of course, we were there to hear. Going way back to his Them days many of his classics were there; Bright Side Of The Road, Days Like This, Moondance, In The Midnight Hour, Whenever God Shines His Light, my favourite Have I Told You Lately and many more. 

Morrison’s voice is as good and strong as ever. He has no chat but he gives his performance all he’s got and the excellent band play no small part in the deliverance. And, having opened with BEG there was never a doubt what was going to close the show. As The Man disappeared offstage, never to reappear, a stunning, loud Gloria outro by the band will have kept the neighbours awake a while longer.