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	Bthe LiNK online
	FROM THE EDITORS
	Sometimes it takes a real effort to pull this mag together - and that’s been the case this month. For a variety of reasons. A big thanks to our mates at Thurstons Printers for their understanding. And being a bit loose on what is normally, for us, a sacrosanct deadline. Apologies must be extended to those of you who got the February mag a bit late - the weather again, plus one or two extenuating circumstances..... On the planned distribution weekend we got, unexpectedly, totally snowed in..... Ian, who normally goes through hell and high water distributing northwards, was hemmed in playing bass in Trinity Studios up in the toon with ‘Winter in Eden’. And so on and so forth. Look forward to hearing their new stuff though. See them at the Georgian in Stockton on Friday 26th March...... There has been stacks of stuff in through the mailbox for inclusion in the March LiNK. Clearly spring comes. Some excellents CDs that we haven’t had the space to review - check Aaron Carey’s “6 String Master”. A new single from a guy with a refreshing sense of humour. We’ve been watching “Flight of the Conchords” on DVD recently. The series is excellent. Aaron brings a similar sense of antipodean humour to his work. Check him out at www.myspace.com/aaroncarey and buy this tune though the usual worldwide download scenario. And the live scene is particularly vibrant. More listings details included in the mag than ever. Spring comes. A note to all that, though we can’t guarantee to include it, any contribution to the mag is welcome. We get plenty of previews. A few reviews would be nice - though of course Fischer and Robert Nichols and Angie and one or two others always let us know what’s been going on. On a regular basis. All the best, Pete Bell MUSIC AND POLITICS. The young David Cameron apparently bounced around his dorm to Eton Rifles, and a long and pointless row broke out over his boyhood love of The Jam culminating in Weller asking “It’s like, which bit didn’t he get?” Cameron’s colleague Nicolas Soames professed an admiration for Dido (although he might have been referring to the character in Purcell’s opera ). Andy Burnham erstwhile Culture secretary (by the way who’s got that job now albeit temporarily?) is a big fan of The Wedding Present…. Does this help us judge them as people we’d like to represent us in parliament? I have to say I doubt it . All those musicians who openly supported Thatcher (Joan Armatrading , Sir Cliff, Gerry Halliwell, Phil Collins, Tony Hadley, Eric Clapton…….) & Blair (Billy Bragg, Damon Albarn, Noel Gallagher …) do they really believe it did them or the country any good ? I think music, if it has a part to play in the political life of the country, is much better fighting against something e.g Rock Against Racism , Folk Against Fascism or by using political lyrics to make points (Joe Strummer, Billy Bragg, Leon Rosselson, etc etc ). Free Nelson Mandela, Ghost Town, Strange Fruit, Stand Down Margaret, A Change Is Gonna Come, Masters Of War still resonate today. Tony Benn is perhaps the only politician who has been able through his work with singer/songwriter Roy Bailey to really bridge that divide between real politics and music and should be treasured for that even if you don’t agree with his political views. Music is an honest expression of peoples’ feelings. Politics tends towards expressing what it thinks people want to hear. Allying oneself as a musician to a political party or a political leader is likely to end up with you being sullied by their inevitable failures and inability to speak honestly. Jim McLaughlin
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