James McLaren
Blog posts in total 519
Posts
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Tom Jones at 70
Today is Sir Tom Jones' 70th birthday and we're celebrating in style on 成人论坛 Wales. Radio Wales is devoting the whole day to the life and work of Tom Jones, and here's the list of what you can expect: 9am - Jamie and Louise kick off the celebrations in style, welcoming Welsh band OK to the studio to play their favourite Tom songs live. Jamie and Louise will also be asking you to nominate Tom Jones records to play during the show. They'll be hearing from friends, fans and associates of Tom who'll help to tell his amazing story, especially the early days, from recording the demo of It's Not Unusual to meeting Elvis in Vegas and talking to a man who knows a man who reckons Tom still owes him a pint! Midday - The Phone-In with Jason Mohammad wants your opinion on whether Tom is still a sexbomb at 70 and asking if he still has 'The Voice'. 2pm - Roy Noble will be putting his party hat on as Welsh band Brigyn perform some Tom numbers live in studio! Roy's chatting to Tom's number one fan, Ann Hughes in Nefin, whose house is a shrine to the Welsh legend. And there's a chance to relive some seminal moments in Tom's past as Roy delves into the 成人论坛 archive. 6.30pm - The Evening Show continues the celebrations with Al Thompson and Mal Pope, with special guests Stuart Cable and Steve Balsamo reminiscing about the great man. Mal and Steve will be playing tribute to Sir Tom with an acoustic version of A Boy From Nowhere, Welsh band Queensbury will be giving Tom's track Kiss their special rock treatment and Al and Mal will be encouraging the whole nation to sing-along to Delilah just before 7pm. 10pm - Chris Needs welcomes you to the Friendly Garden. If you want to hear a Tom Jones track, give Chris a call from 10pm and he'll do his best to play it on air. We'll be blogging throughout the day, streaming some highlights so you won't miss a thing. Feel free to comment! If you want to have your say, on this or any other 成人论坛 blog, you will need to sign in to your 成人论坛 iD account. If you don't have a 成人论坛 iD account, you can register here - it'll allow you to contribute to a range of 成人论坛 sites and services using a single login. Need some assistance? Read about 成人论坛 iD, or get some help with registering.
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Stereophonics' homecoming
Tomorrow sees Stereophonics play the first gig at the Cardiff City Stadium tomorrow, supported by Kids In Glass Houses. Fourteen years since the release of their debut album, Word Gets Around, they're one of the UK's most perennially successful rock bands, with millions of records sold and ...
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Manics announce tenth studio album details
Manic Street Preachers have announced the title of their 10th studio album and details of a UK tour. Postcards From A Young Man will be released in September this year, as the follow-up to Journal For Plague Lovers. A press release from the band's PR company Hall Or Nothing describes the r...
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Manics join Boy Cried Wolf for single
Manic Street Preachers Nicky Wire and James Dean Bradfield have contributed their skills to the new EP by former Thirteen.13 frontman Wayne Murray, now recording under the name Boy Cried Wolf. Picture 漏 Justin Paget No Comfort For Your Skin features guitar from Bradfield and lyrics from ...
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Eurovision's Cypriot entry appeals for Welsh support
It's good luck to Jon Lilygreen And The Islanders this weekend as the Newport singer and his band of Welsh and international musos represent Cyprus in the Eurovision song contest. Watch Life Looks Better In Spring by the band: The band are asking Welsh as well as Cypriot people to support them as they sing the track, written by Cypriots Nasos Lambrianides and Melis Konstantinou. Lilygreen, 22, was brought in when the duo found Welsh producer Jon Gregory on the web in their search for a vehicle for the song. He suggested they take a look at Gregory's demos and the rest, as they say, is history. Feel free to comment! If you want to have your say, on this or any other 成人论坛 blog, you will need to sign in to your 成人论坛 iD account. If you don't have a 成人论坛 iD account, you can register here - it'll allow you to contribute to a range of 成人论坛 sites and services using a single login. Need some assistance? Read about 成人论坛 iD, or get some help with registering.
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Breakfast Club star Molly Ringwald can't leave The School behind
One of Hollywood's most recognisable faces of the 1980s, Molly Ringwald, has declared a love of Cardiff indie types The School. Famous for her appearances in films such as The Breakfast Club and Pretty In Pink, Ringwald has compiled a 15 track playist for CelebrityTunes.com. Included on ...
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US singer's trip to Marz via south Wales
Cult American indie singer songwriter John Grant has had his bizarre new video filmed in various south Wales locations. I Want To Go To Marz has had a video clip created which takes a surreal journey through Taff's Well, Barry and Pontypridd. It was created by Cardiff film-makers Casey Ray...
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Cardiff's Grassroots youth project relaunches
This Tuesday saw the relaunch of the long-established and important Grassroots youth project, which has seen tens of thousands of young people access its music and media opportunities. Grassroots' Charles Street HQ in Cardiff has been refurbished and their music studio (in which Manic Street Preachers, Super Furry Animals and Catatonia recorded their first demos) has moved to a new location on the first floor. According to WalesOnline the music studio "will be bigger and better with a custom designed recording studio, new equipment, more industry-standard software and a newly added vocal/drum booth. The department will offer marketing skills to young musicians to promote their work through local radio, press, internet, etc. It will also run the acclaimed jam sessions and music technology courses, as well as regular gigs in the Grassroots coffee bar." A new performance stage is also in place. Have your say! If you want to leave a comment, on this or any other 成人论坛 blog, you will need to sign in to your 成人论坛 iD account. If you don't have a 成人论坛 iD account, you can register here - it'll allow you to contribute to a range of 成人论坛 sites and services using a single login. Need some assistance? Read about 成人论坛 iD, or get some help with registering.
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"I hope Cheryl Cole notices us as she is single now"
A north Wales choir is gearing up for this weekend's Big Weekend when they'll be accompanying an indie band in front of 20,000 music fans, and they're hoping their performance will catch the eye of Cheryl Cole.
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Funeral For A Friend to play Casually Dressed shows
To celebrate departing guitarist Darran Smith's time in Funeral For A Friend, the band will be playing two shows, one in London and one in Cardiff, at which they'll be playing their breakthrough d茅but album in its entirety. Funeral For A Friend in 2003
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Alicia Keys' celebration of Wales for Big Weekend
One of the biggest songs of the last five years, Empire State Of Mind by Alicia Keys, has been given a Welsh-flavoured reworking in the run-up to this weekend's Big Weekend in Bangor.
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Solutions, Caesars Rome, I Am Hope - Barfly, Cardiff, Saturday 15 March 2010
I really don't go to as many gigs as I should do these days, but having spent the last couple of weeks writing about Start Something: The Story of South Wales Rock, Bethan Elfyn's Radio One documentary, I felt I really had to go to Cardiff Barfly on Saturday.
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Only Men Aloud scoop top Classical Brit
Only Men Aloud, the all-male choir which won the 成人论坛's Last Choir Standing competition in 2008, last night solidified their place in the upper echelon of popular classical music by winning the top prize at the Classical Brits. The Album of the Year prize went to the choir for their album Band...
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Crunch time for Classical Brit nominees
The Classical Brits take place tonight at London's Royal Albert Hall, and anticipation is high for a strong Welsh performance. Bryn Terfel is the Welsh nominee in the Male Artist of the Year category, up against Antonio Pappano and Vasily Petrenko.
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Terfel's Faenol Festival line-up announced
Bryn Terfel's Faenol Festival, aka Brynfest, is back with a bang this year. Terfel last night announced initial artists on the line-up for the festival, which takes place on 27-30 August. Westlife, Rhydian Roberts, Hayley Westenra, Rolando Villazon, The Feeling and Athlete are some of the art...
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Welsh castle sounds in Jarvis' chillout CD
Jarvis Cocker, the former frontman of Britpop favourites Pulp, has recorded an album of the sounds of nature for National Trust: The Album. It features material recorded at the historic Powis Castle near Welshpool.
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Phil Carradice on Welsh one-hit-wonders
Our 成人论坛 Wales History blogger Phil Carradice is usually to be found talking about battles, bottles and banks but in a one-off entry for us, he's taken a look at Welsh one-hit-wonders. Read on to find out about three Welsh singers whose career never lived up to their initial success...
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Start Something: Listen again
Last night saw the broadcast of Start Something: The Story of South Wales Rock, Bethan Elfyn's examination of the South Wales rock scene and its origins in the economically-depressed Valleys areas. You can listen again to Start Something for the next seven days.
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Start Something: The Story of South Wales Rock
Tonight Radio 1 delves headfirst into the world of Welsh rock. Bethan Elfyn examines why the South Wales valleys have provided Wales' biggest bands of the last 15 years and talks to many of the leading lights, including Lostprophets, The Blackout and Kids In Glass Houses. Find out more about the programme: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00s9wj3M Watch videos of some of Beth's interviews for the programme: http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/music/sites/rock/pages/sw-rock-doc.shtml
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480,000 register for Big Weekend
Back in 1996, 2.6 million people applied for tickets to Oasis' Knebworth shows. It was - and still is - the largest ever registering of interest in a UK concert. Four fifths of those people were unsuccessful and they never got to see their dadrock idols from half a mile away. It's been report...