Simon Price
Biographer of The Cure & Manic Street Preachers
Music critic, ex-Independent/Melody Maker.
Podcaster with Chart Music
History Of Pop lecturer.
DJ at Spellbound
He/Him.
Welsh.
linktr.ee/simonprice
- Ugh, the spectacle of the centrist establishment scrambling to rebuild Mandelson’s reputation yet again, before it’s even fully finished crumbling, is deeply unsightly. Excellent round-up from Mic Wright here.
- NEW | Journalists who used Peter Mandelson as a resource for years are now pretending to be surprised about his character… Shock! as 'Prince of Darkness' revealed to be a dodgy, duplicitous wrong 'un brokenbottleboy.substack.com/p/shock-as-p...
- Across the world, people have woken up wondering “Who are this exciting new band The Cure who won two Grammy Awards last night? I'd better find out all about them.” Boy, have I got the book for you. geni.us/Curepedia @whiterabbitbks.bsky.social
- The number of events ripping off Spellbound’s ideas at the moment is wild.
- Standing in the dock at Southampton Trying to get to the Netherlands or France #pedanticlyrics
- I wrote an Opinion piece for @theguardian.com about extortionate gig ticket prices (prompted by Harry Styles' Wembley Stadium residency). www.theguardian.com/commentisfre... I don't have a problem with Harry Styles, by the way. He seems like a decent enough guy and his music's fun. Just the prices.
- It feels like this photo will be part of popular culture for years to come, and the phrase “bearing down on you” will never be far away. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
- Brighton! LATE NITE MINICAB FM returns to Komedia on FRI 13 MAR! Cabbies Alexis Petridis & Simon Price spin the slow jams and power ballads that break your heart in the back of a taxi. Fists Of Pure Emotion aloft! Tickets: www.komedia.co.uk/shows/late-n... Info: www.facebook.com/events/85124...
- Tell you who we don’t hear from so much any more. People who told us Brexit will be fine because “we’ll just forge a closer relationship with the United States”.
- Kept awake by wondering which order these things happened in: the arrival of dry roasted peanuts in the UK, the launch of the £1 coin, and the addition of that little fanfare at the end of the Match Of The Day theme.
- Imagine drumming on Double Barrel when you're 18, then going on to play on Police And Thieves, Pull Up To The Bumper, and a million crucial recordings. And, of course, Boops (a track I often get obsessed with). Like the LP title, Sly Dunbar was a Rhythm Killer. R.I.P. www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVIs...
- The loss of Sky Dunbar has got me thinking of Steve Cropper, who we lost a few weeks ago. Similarly prolific and important. Here’s a question: did they ever play on the same record? Feels like they must have done.
- Great piece by @brokenbottleboy.bsky.social on BBC News' asinine, cowardly clinging to a misguided notion of 'balance' in reporting ICE's murder of Alex Pretti, making the vital point that 'balance' - specifically false balance - is the opposite of truth. brokenbottleboy.substack.com/p/reporting-...
- All we wanna do is see you.
- The grabbing hands have grabbed all they can, and advanc3 t!ck3t5 for the @spellboundclub.bsky.social DEPECHE MODE SPECIAL at Komedia Brighton on Sat 21 Feb are already 50ld 0ut... but COME DOWN ANYWAY! We hold back plenty of places for walk-up (£8 cash on the door). www.facebook.com/events/83337...
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- David Bowie's Station To Station is 50 years old today. I really like this Art Deco/Vorticist-inspired imagining by @toddalcott.bsky.social. (We've got the poster framed at the top of our stairs.)
- Enjoyed talking @thecure.com last night with photographers @richardbellia.bsky.social (pictured) & @kcmanc.bsky.social, and Isle Of Wight promoter John Giddings at an event to announce the band's IOW headline slot this June, at Iconic Images gallery (who now have a pile of signed Curepedias, btw!).
- The Cure - BOYS DON'T CRY. I've always preferred the 86 Mix (formerly known as New Voice - New Mix) to the original. It's never been available digitally or on CD. But it is now (as well as a new limited EP). Get stuck in. It might exceed its highest chart position of 22. thecure.lnk.to/BoysDontCryPR
- It's taken me nearly 47 years to realise that On My Radio is the ska I Love To Love. (I say that as someone who holds both songs in high regard.)
- An occasional series in which Late Nite Minicab FM highlights one song from our playlist. This week it's my choice, Leave The Door Open by Silk Sonic. www.youtube.com/watch?v=adLG... If you want to comment, head over to the post on Minicab's page and get involved... www.facebook.com/LateNiteMini...
- A thing nobody says any more is “What time do you make it?” You’ve either got the official actual irrefutable time, on a device, or you haven’t at all. An old wind-up wristwatch, even a didgy, set from a not-infallible source earlier that day, had a certain quality of subjectivity. Hence “make it?”
- “He also accused Lady Beckham of ‘hijacking’ their first dance - claiming that when he was called to the stage, ‘my mum was waiting to dance with me’ instead of his wife and ‘danced very inappropriately on me in front of everyone’.” I’m so here for the film adaptation. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
- Complicating, circulating... Operating, generating...
- Sat 21 Feb, Komedia Brighton: @spellboundclub.bsky.social DEPECHE MODE SPECIAL! 45/45 is the hook: 45 years since the band's debut 45 (Dreaming Of Me, Feb '81) so we're playing all their 80s A-sides. DM every third song! Info www.facebook.com/events/83337... Tickets www.komedia.co.uk/shows/spellb...
- R I S E A N D R E V E R B E R A T E
- One last heads-up: @spellboundclub.bsky.social's annual GOTH SPECIAL at Komedia Brighton TOMORROW! DJs Simon Price & Jayney BlamBlam bring the 80s Gothic A-X from Alien Sex Fiend to Xmal Deutschland via Bauhaus, Sisters, Cramps, Cure etc. 9pm-3am, £8 cash. Full info: www.facebook.com/events/83588...
- Sad to hear of the death of Kenny Morris, drummer on Siouxsie And The Banshees' first two albums. His style, mostly toms with minimal cymbal or snare, was hugely influential in the post-punk era. It's showcased vividly on this German TV performance of Mittageisen. RIP www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNnY...
- I won't lie to you: for a long-term lover of the independent music of the 1980s, receiving a cardboard box held together with THIS sticky tape was enough to reflexively quicken the pulse. (It was the reissues of the first four New Order albums.)
- Zombie Lux Interior knows the score.
- Advanc3 t!ck3t5 for the @spellboundclub.bsky.social GOTH SPECIAL at Komedia Brighton this Saturday are now 50ld 0ut, but COME DOWN ANYWAY! We hold back plenty of places for walk-up on the night, and we'll get you in. Admission at the door is £8 (cash only). Full info www.facebook.com/events/83588...
- NATO has no mechanism for expelling a member. Nor, as I understand it, does the treaty provide for an attack on one member by another (only by outside forces). But we may be seeing the beginnings of a de facto reconfigured NATO minus the US, and/or a European Army. www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/brit...
- Plus excessive use of Caslon Antique Bold.
- The @spellboundclub.bsky.social GOTH SPECIAL at Komedia Brighton (THIS SAT, XI tickets left) is a January tradition since 2017. Here are all the artworks: Specimen, Sisters, Birthday Party, Bauhaus, Danielle Dax, Sisters again, Alien Sex Fiend, Cult, Cramps... YGTI. www.facebook.com/media/set/?s...
- The first time I ever saw or heard anything by Bauhaus, I'm not ashamed to admit...
