THEORIES, RANTS, ETC.

Editor-in-Chief & Associate Publisher Phil Alexander Deputy Editor Andrew Male Senior Editor Danny Eccleston Art Editor Mark Wagstaff Reviews Editor Jenny Bulley Associate Editor (Production) Geoff Brown Deputy Art Editor Russell Moorcroft Associate Editor (News) Ian Harrison Picture Editor Matt Turner Picture Researcher Ian Whent Contributing Editors Sylvie Simmons, Keith Cameron Contributing Editor (US) Ben Edmonds 313 897 2053 For mojo4music.com contact Danny Eccleston It’s more than seven hours and 15 days since he went away and it’s going to be a long time before the reality of his passing sinks in. He was of my generation. He grew up in a world without Jimi and The Beatles. He was a child of his time and beyond, absorbing all that was around him – jazz, rock, soul, funk. From the fusion of all the influences came a uniqueness in both composition and performance unrivalled in this era and in probably any other. From his emergence in the late ’70s as the new Stevie Wonder into the commercial heyday of the ’80s his presence soared above contemporaries – I was a fan. The first live review and pictures of him playing the Lyceum in London said only one thing – this man is a star! There were a few wilderness years in the ’90s where he became an object of ridicule in the red tops and the ‘serious’ music press but, as a fan, this never bothered me. His experimentation with genres and pushing boundaries was what I wanted and expected. He was still playing live so we had him to ourselves. In 1993 my wife was pregnant and couldn’t attend the Birmingham NIA. I couldn’t sell her ticket outside the venue for the face value! Into the ’00s his music mellowed and became more relaxed. I always felt this was natural as he had nothing left to prove to anyone. The last Hit And Run Tour saw him become the media darling again and rightly so. Anyone who saw the shows with 3rdEyeGirl realised he was still the giant he always was. This was matched with the recorded output, a true return to form and something for fans of all his musical aspects. Accolades get bandied about very casually these days and it would be wrong to try and attach any one to Prince. He came to my generation and we were blessed. Thankfully, we all lived to see the Dawn. Aidan Faherty, Stanley, Co Durham Lots of interesting material on early Pink Floyd and Syd Barrett in MOJO 271, although I thought Jim Irvin might have picked up on the provenance of Astronomy Domine, the opening track on The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn. Judging by the striking similarity of the pulsating introduction to both tracks, the Floyd must have been listening to Are You Lovin’ Me More (But Enjoying It Less) from The Electric Prunes’ eponymous debut album, which was released several months before Piper…. Check ’em out. They’re too close for it to be a coincidence. Ian Roberts, Leicester OK, I’m fully aware that most of your audience is pop/rock oriented, and as you’re a UK music magazine I generally give you a break for lack of jazz coverage, especially from the US (although you’re a bit better than the other UK monthly music magazine that last year somehow went through the so-called “50 Greatest New York Albums” from Gershwin to Sharon Van Etten without mentioning anything by Duke Ellington). So it is really wonderful to see a fine interview with the great Sonny Rollins. But haven’t any of you seen The Terminal with Tom Hanks? Then you would know Benny Golson plays sax and is not a trumpeter! So sad that only Rollins and Golson are still with us from that iconic photo. Richard Borow, via e-mail