Get Hip

14/10/2026

I remember getting a cassette version of 'Snap!' for a Christmas present back in 1983. Such a great comp of The Jam and there were a couple of unreleased recordings on it as 'Funeral Pyre' wasn't the original single but a remix done in 1983 and 'That's Entertainment' was the demo version.
Sadly, my copy of the cassette didn't come with the live EP which early copies of the vinyl & cassette did. But a school mate Bob Baxter sold me his copy of the 7 inch EP for 50p a few years later. I loved the cover of the Small Faces tune 'Get Yourself Together' on that EP.
I've since picked 'Snap!' up on CD which came with the live EP but am still looking for the Japanese release of the CD which came with a mini 3 inch CD of the live EP.

Today marks the 43rd anniversary of the release of one of the finest greatest hits albums ever! “Snap” by The Jam was unleashed by Polydor Records on 14th October 1983 & was a wonderful collection of gems from the legendary Woking based mod & power pop powerhouse. The band had split up in December 1982, but their enduring popularity & the excellence of their music saw the double LP spend 30 weeks on the UK charts peaking at number 2. So many great songs that still sound razor sharp over 4 decades later!

11/10/2026

Sunday Sounds: And it's 2 new albums that dropped in the post this weekend, The Hornets 'Lonely At The Bottom' and 'Love You More' by The Crystal Teardrop. Both albums are very 60s influenced but very different sounding, The Hornets with an R&B sound (sort of early Rolling Stones) and The Crystal Teardrop are more psych influenced.
Hard to choose which of these I like the best as both are really good and will be up there in my albums of the year. I've caught The Hornets live twice this year but must make an effort to catch The Crystal Teardrop.

10/10/2026

A Get Hip night with no DJ's and no dancing allowed???
Seems it was 6 years ago today that I put on the 'lockdown' Get Hip night at The Georgian.
Looking back now the rules were a bit crazy for us while our government were partying in Downing Street and they were different depending on which side of the river Tees you were on. 6 days earlier I had celebrated my 50th Birthday in Middlesbrough but couldn't have any mates there. But just a couple of miles away in Stockton you were allowed up to 6 people round a table in pubs & venues. Still, without having any live music for such a long time I wasn't going to pass up on this night when it was offered. Nervous Twitch did a great set on the night, the staff were great (even letting me buy some drinks from the bar as my Nokia 3310 doesn't do apps) and I'm sure everyone there enjoyed the night.

09/10/2026

It's 40 years ago this month since I played my first gig.

It was 40 years ago this month that I played my first ever gig. Saturday 4th October 1986 at Nunthorpe School fete (see photo below). I remember the date well as it was also my 16th Birthday. The band was called The Alternative, a name I had taken from a heading in one of the music weeklies about the Redskins - 'The alternative Xmas broadcast'.

I had got my first bass guitar back in October 1985 and couldn't play a note. I ended up getting lessons off Mick Hutchinson who had played bass with Chris Rea and by January 1986 The Alternative formed with Carl on guitar, Warren on drums and me on bass. We tried out a few singers before Julian joined as lead singer & keyboard player.

Our first live appearance was at a school assembly sometime in July 1986. I can't remember the exact date but I do know the 3 songs we played, 2 covers - 'Twist & Shout', 'Please Please Me' and one original song 'One Solution'. By the time of our 1st proper gig we had added a few more original songs - 'Two Timer', 'Out In The Street', 'What People Think' as well as covers of 'Revenge' (by 80s band The Gents), a few Who numbers - 'My Generation & 'Pinball Wizard' as well as a cover of 'Wipe Out'. I think we ended up playing most the songs 3 times to pad the set out!

The Alternative didn't last too long and I left the band sometime in 1987 after playing 2 more gigs with the band. By 1990 I had jacked in playing the bass altogether, I sold my Ibanez Rickenbacker copy bass and my Japanese Fender precision to have some money for the Bridlington mod rally. Then about 3 or 4 years later I got the bug again and bought a Westone Thunder bass and joined the ska band The G-Men and have played in bands ever since.

I've also played with The Alternative's guitarist Carl a few times since. We were in the power pop band Afterglow of which our best song appeared on the Mod compilation 'Shake' which came out on the Biff Bang Pow label. The song was never given a proper name, it was always lets play that 60s sounding song and so it became '60s Song' which we recorded on the day we split up. Afterglow also had a track released in the USA. Carl was also in an early line up of The Che Men and played on the bands 2nd recording session.

07/10/2026

Here's an English translation of the interview with me from the Spanish fanzine Conexión issue 9 which is out now.

29/09/2026

To mark the 40th anniversary of Only In My Dreams, we’re releasing a very limited 7” single this Friday. Details here…

* Strictly limited edition of 100

* Individually hand-numbered

* White vinyl

* Brand new pic sleeve design and white inner

* Only In My Dreams newly remastered at Metropolis by Andy ‘Hippy’ Baldwin, backed with All I Want To Be

* 5 test pressings available on black vinyl, with white label signed by all 7 band members (except Matt, who’s unfortunately out of reach).

* Available to buy from Bandcamp this Friday 2nd October from 9am. We’ll publish the link when it goes live on the day.

Thanks to all of you who have shown interest and encouraged us to get this done. The original idea of making only 40 wasn’t feasible in the end unless they were cut by lathe, which wouldn’t have been high-enough quality. So we went with a one-off pressing of 100. That will be it - no extra made for promo or anything. And it includes our own copies! It’s something we wanted to share with families, friends and fans, so thanks for being a part of it.

29/09/2026

There's an interview with me about my band The Che Men in the Spanish fanzine Conexión issue 9 which is out now.

28/09/2026

Review of The Hurricanes latest album from Shindig! magazine.
The Hurricanes were one of the last bands to play at the Get Hip club night and 'Songs From The White Room' is one of my favourite albums of the year.

If you've not yet had a listen to our new album 'Songs From The White Room' on one of those digital platforms or even gone as far as purchasing a CD of the album, well here's a review to tempt you, from the good people of Shindig! Magazine... the latest!