Exploring Rock's Hidden Gems - The power of B-Side tracks

  THE QUEENS OF THE SOUTH Twelve queens. Three continents. One hell of a rock 'n' roll journey. There is a tendency to look north when we talk about rock royalty. London, Los Angeles, New York. The familiar names, the familiar stories, the familiar faces on the posters. But rock has never respected borders, and rebellion has never required a passport. Down south, women have been plugging in, turning up and challenging expectations for generations. From Australia's sweat-soaked pub-rock stages to South Africa's alternative underground, from the psychedelic experiments of Chile to the fierce melodies of Argentina and Colombia, these queens have carved out their own territory. Some became household names. Others remain discoveries waiting to happen. Some sing in English, others in Afrikaans, Portuguese or Spanish. Their sounds differ, their histories differ, but they share one glorious refusal to play by somebody else's rules. Welcome to the southern court. Leave your ...

  One Band a Month – Grand Funk Railroad: The Band That Didn't Need Permission Some bands win over the critics. Some bands win over the record companies. And then there are bands like Grand Funk Railroad. They turned up, plugged in, turned everything up to eleven and got on with the business of making a racket. The critics weren't particularly impressed. The radio stations weren't always convinced. But the fans? They absolutely loved them. And while other bands were busy worrying about their reputation, Grand Funk were busy filling stadiums. Welcome to November's One Band a Month. All aboard the Grand Funk Railroad! Three Men, One Very Big Sound Grand Funk Railroad came together in Flint, Michigan, in 1969. The original lineup was Mark Farner on guitar and vocals, Don Brewer on drums and vocals, and Mel Schacher on bass. Three musicians. No fancy arrangements. No enormous orchestra of session players. Just a power trio with a serious appetite for volume. Farner brought ...

  Monday Madness: The Bizarre, the Strange and the Weirdest Rock Concerts Ever Rock and roll has never been particularly good at following instructions. Some bands play until the audience begs for mercy. Others walk onstage, make a noise, and disappear before anyone has had time to applaud. Some perform in ancient ruins, on rooftops or hundreds of metres beneath the earth. And occasionally, things go so spectacularly wrong that the audience becomes part of the show. Welcome to Monday Madness, where we're celebrating the bizarre, the strange and the downright ridiculous side of live rock. The Concerts That Barely Happened The White Stripes: One Note and Goodbye St. John's, Newfoundland | 2007 Jack and Meg White had set themselves the ambitious task of playing every Canadian province. By the time they reached Newfoundland, the duo had apparently decided that a conventional concert wasn't quite enough. For their free pop-up appearance, the White Stripes delivered a single C-sh...

  HA, HA, HALLOWEEN: THE HAUNTED SIDE OF ROCK & ROLL Cursed recordings, ghostly encounters and things that go bump in the night Somewhere between the last guitar riff and the final flicker of the studio lights, the music stops being the scariest thing in the room. Forget the plastic skeletons, the cheap cobwebs and the same old Halloween hits played until the neighbours threaten to call the police. We're going somewhere darker this year. Somewhere the corridors are cold, the recording equipment has a mind of its own, and the dead might just have something to say. Rock and roll has always had a complicated relationship with the dark side. Musicians have flirted with the occult, recorded in supposedly haunted buildings, and told stories of encounters that would make even the most hardened horror fan think twice about switching off the lights. Some of these tales come from the musicians themselves. Others have grown through decades of retelling, somewhere between genuine recollect...