I've been watching Andy & Alex reviewing songs from
bands they've never heard of before for some time. Both guys are in college, so
this stuff was recorded almost thirty years before they were born. What is it
like to hear it for the first time? Well here you go. This is what they are
doing, and often it's just like the first time you heard this stuff too. So
smile, and re-live it with them. Very cool.
I would have mentioned them in the FAS introductions but there just
hasn't been room as I cram the magazines with everything I can about the Free
albums at this point. During the lockdown its been fun watching them, and
Youtube has been good for when the TV has been shite - most of the time it
seems!
Sadly Youtube seems to be determined to kill its platform,
and over the past few weeks the amount of ads has been ramped up to a ludicrous
level, making some content on there pretty much unwatchable! Sure, they have to
make money, and I don't mind the ads at the beginning of what I want to watch,
but slamming them anywhere in the content of those using the channel is crazy.
Halfway through a sentence... really?? The low banner ads are annoying enough,
often blocking text that is currently part of what is being shown, but ads
randomly lobbed into the middle of the content is distracting at BEST. Oh
well... Rant over... Anyway, if you want to check out the young pups (early
20s) digging 70s rock you can find their channel here.
The videos are fun and engaging, and they seem like
genuinely nice guys. So, check out some of their other reviews. There are plenty of things up there and
sometimes their reactions are priceless. Makes my cynical and shrivelled old
heart a little lighter in these really strange times (well, weird actually).
All good.
They have 'reviewed' some interesting stuff and this
includes both 'All Right Now' and 'Bad Company' (see here). Seems
sometimes their audience leads them astray and I'm sure some of these
people are the ones that shout out for 'Shooting Star' at Paul
Rodgers/Bad Company shows and 'Smoke On The Water' at Deep Purple shows
but there you go. I mean, who recommends 'Bungle In The Jungle' by
Jethro Tull as a great track? What? Ahead of 'Living In The Past', 'Sweet
Dream', 'Teacher' !! Anyway, I actually agree generally with the comments
made for 'All Right Now', and Simon Kirke himself echoes some of their
thoughts in a couple of upcoming introductions he's written for FAS #153 and
#154. They really should have listened to the single version IMHO - also a
little research on the bands before they play the track wouldn't go amiss but
it's their channel and maybe just going in blind is better for them.
I have, incidentally, sent them some stuff (including the 'Mr
Big' from 'Free Live!', and they have received it, but they don't
seem to play much (any) of what they get mailed to them at this point, mostly
it's voting online, but there you go. Again, that's up to them.
Regardless, I thought I'd give them a shout here if only for
the amusement they have given me over the past four months.
Also worth checking out, if you are a bit of a muso, are the
channels by people like Rick Beato, Rhett Shull and of course Davie504. Nothing
Free related there (yet) but just good and informative content. Enjoy.
PS. Rick Beato... No FREE 'What makes this song great?',
seriously??
There are two different covers
– one featuring Paul Kossoff's legendary 'All Right Now' Les Paul, the
other the late Peter Green. You'll find both at your local newsagent, NOW.
