Author Archives: graemelawrence

I Wish My Brother George Was Here. Having listened to Del the Funky Homosapien’s second album, “No Need For Alarm”, only a few weeks ago, the change in sound is immediately obvious and stark. While the 1993 release was largely produced by Del himself, his debut, “I Wish My Brother George Was Here”, was producedContinue reading “The Sound of 1991.”

Spartacus. The first thing to mention about Spartacus is the cast and crew. Kirk Douglas. Laurence Olivier. Jean Simmons. Charles Laughton. Peter Ustinov. Tony Curtis. Stanley Kubrick. Dalton Trumbo. When a group of individuals as talented as that is assembled something great is destined to happen: Spartacus doesn’t disappoint. Spartacus (Douglas) is a defiant slaveContinue reading “The Cinema of 1960.”

Unbelievably a third year from the 90s within the first four weeks. The selected films from 1991: Miller’s Crossing. Riff-Raff. Thelma & Louise. Kiki’s Delivery Service. Boyz n the Hood. There were some seriously great albums released in 1991 (Nevermind, 2Pacalypse Now, Blue Lines, Screamadelica, De La Soul is Dead, …), hopefully I’ve found someContinue reading “Week 4: 1991.”

January: Manchester City sign Denis Law for a national record fee of £55,000 February: Joanne Woodward receives the first star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame The 1960 Winter Olympics are held in Squaw Valley, California. The USSR claim the most medals (21) and the most gold (7) March: Alberto Korda snaps the iconic pictureContinue reading “1960: The News.”

January: Ramzi Yousef is sentenced to life in prison for the 1993 World Trade Center bombing The Drudge Report breaks the story about US President Bill Clinton’s alleged affair with Monica Lewinsky February: The 1998 Winter Olympics are held in Nagano, Japan; Germany win the most gold (12) and overall medals (29) Andrew Wakefield publishesContinue reading “1998: The News.”

Raining Stones. Post-Thatcher Manchester. Les Battersby Bruce Jones, is trying to make his way in life without a steady source of income; a situation all too familiar to those born north of the line that has divided the UK since the Industrial Revolution, and a recurring theme of director Ken Loach. When Bob, our protagonist,Continue reading “The Cinema of 1993.”

My Name is Joe. Glasgow. Joe is an unemployed recovering alcoholic. His only family is the hopeless football team he manages. Sarah is a community healthcare worker. She regularly makes home visits to one of Joe’s friends, Liam, to check up on his son, Scott. Scott’s mum, Sabine, is a heroine addict. Liam is aContinue reading “The Cinema of 1998.”

The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. I’d been meaning to listen to this album for a while and when I finally did, it did not disappoint. The record that propelled Lauryn Hill into superstardom and brought hip-hop into the musical mainstream is rightfully regarded as one of the best albums of the 90s, if not allContinue reading “The Sound of 1998.”

Sketches of Spain. Having loved Miles Davis’ previous album, “Kind of Blue”, I was expecting a similar form of modal jazz that made that record so pleasant on the eardrums. “Sketches of Spain”, however, marks a different musical direction by Davis, made all the more impressive by the fact that the recording of the twoContinue reading “The Sound of 1960.”

Still playing catch up after last week, sorting out the content for the coming week first. The films of 1998: Titanic Boogie Nights My Name Is Joe Funny Games Dark City The albums: The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill – Ms. Lauryn Hill XO – Elliott Smith Moon Safari – Air Music Has the Right toContinue reading “Week 3: 1998”