New Big Takeover Magazine #68 available now!! The Magazine turned 30 and Mark Burgess was the Life of the Party!!

Just a brief message, in case you hadn't heard: The latest edition Big Takeover is out now. Available for purchase on-line and in your better book/record shops. The magazine comes out only twice a year, but each magazine has enough content to keep you busy for a week! I have seen a lot of worthy magazines bite the dust in my day. But The Big Takeover stands tall after 30 plus years. So for my own selfish reasons, I want this musical institution to keep their streak alive. The Big T is by far my favorite music magazine, and within its pages I have found out about a lot of great new bands, have been reintroduced to some great old bands, and also got to read a lot of intelligent interviews with big stars, and relative unknowns.




Ring My Bell (House)


When I was out of work I remember seeing Arianna Huffington on some TV show, saying, "if you're sitting around on your butt unemployed, why not start a blog?" I was out of work for a while, but the idea of expressing myself in cyberland slowly began percolating. I do think though, that the tipping point was my 2 day excursion to the Bell House in Brooklyn last year to join in on the celebration of the 30th Anniversary of the Big Takeover. Just seeing all the effort being made to put together this show and all the effort it must take to publish a music magazine for these many years had an effect on me. It made me feel a little embarrassed that I was not making any contributions, being an avid music fan for many years. Publisher and CEO Jack Rabid and the many contributors at the magazine managed to put together a pretty amazing show, that included bands from across the US, Europe and even the amazing Don McGlashan from New Zealand!

There were up and comers, like Seattle Visqueen and California Shoe Gazers The Sleepover Disaster. There were great bands that probably have never gotten their just due, like San Francisco's Avengers, Jon Auer of the Posies, Paul Collins, the aforementioned Don McGlashan of the Muttonbirds. Of course there was Mark Burgess of legendary British band The Chameleons, who literally brought down the house with a 2 plus hour set with a rip roaring super tight band behind him. I saw all this and was convinced that it was time I got into the game. So in a way, I guess that Arianna and Jack are my Carson Dalys.

Now it's up to you dear reader, to thank them, or curse their souls.

Edition 68 has Brooklyn band The Pains of Being Pure at Heart on the cover, plus interviews with Teenage Fanclub, Iggy Pop, The Left Banke, Mountain Goats, and Darker My Love. There are also loads of live concert and album reviews inside, including Jack's personal top 40 over the past 6 months. If you like punk, psychedelia, shoegaze, folk, classic rock, power pop, noise there is going to be something here of interest to the music fan. And the price is right, folks. I stumbled onto this magazine by chance while browsing in Borders at lunchtime about ten years ago, and I have been a staunch reader ever since. So do yourself a favor and get yourself initiated into Jack Rabid's musical cult. You'll never go back to mainstream again.



Yowza!!! I was there folks, but toward the back of the room. I was not the guy dancing in front of the stage. For more on those two night, my very first posts attempt to detail the many bands that I saw perform. Mark Burgesses set was a spectacular conclusion to a great musical celebration.