Shaggy and Sting together on the same album? Sure! Why not? Pete Douglas reviews. Were we living in the year 2006, the random chucking together of Jamaican dancehall cross-over king Shaggy and tantric sex master Sting might seem like something two high A&R reps cooked up at an industry conference. During a bygone era of … Read more
With the announcement today that Roger Waters is heading back to New Zealand for a tour next January, Pete Douglas takes a look at his intermittent and sometimes misunderstood solo career. It’s hard to imagine now, but when Roger Waters left Pink Floyd in 1985, he initially struggled to match the success of his remaining … Read more
Pete Douglas listens to the new Queens of the Stone Age album and discovers a band still finding ways to make rock n’ roll sound fresh. Over the course of the first fifteen years of their existence, Queens of the Stone Age at times seemed less like a band, and more like a broad banner … Read more
Pete Douglas asks Queens of the Stone Age about their new album, classic rock and fate of the humble guitar. Last week Queens of the Stone Age played a great show in that strange school hall of a venue known as the Logan Campbell Centre on a very stormy night. I was there and chatted with the … Read more
Today would have been the 67th birthday of broadcasting legend Sir Paul Holmes. To celebrate, Pete Douglas looks back on that strange time when a broadcaster could release an album on a major label for seemingly no other reason than shits and giggles. “Hi there – do you … Read more
Longtime Hugh Laurie fan Pete Douglas counts the reasons why the Chance actor and Spice World star remains one of the greats of our time. How is it the second week of April already? I feel like I have only just digested my Christmas pudding, taken the decorations down from the tree, experienced the empty … Read more
Beer baron Sir Douglas Myers’ many achievements have been revisited after his passing last week. Pete Douglas takes a look at one of the most fascinating and unlikely of his successes – helping bring the great Gnarls Barkley single ‘Crazy’ into the world. Deep into the second season of the greatest teen soap … Read more
Pete Douglas looks at how a litany of amazingly bad fashion choices correlate with the band’s best music. Nothing makes you feel quite as old as a band you’ve grown up with being inducted into the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame. This struck me hard two years ago when I was faced with the sobering … Read more
Longtime Kim Possible fan Pete Douglas blows the cover on his favourite spy television shows of all time. Back in the mid-2000’s my wife and I went on our OE, and had the bizarre idea of living in Cork, Ireland for a year rather than the usual London jaunt. We were cool, we were different, we were … Read more
Pete Douglas runs down his favourite TV soundtracks of all time after killing the mood at a party with some tense Twin Peaks tunes. Here’s a hot party tip: if you play the theme song from Twin Peaks in the middle of a Saturday night gathering it’s a bit of a mood dampener. I learned … Read more
All-American hero, songwriting colossus, rock n’ roll star … under-appreciated fashion icon? To mark Bruce’s New Zealand concerts this week, Pete Douglas shines a light on the best of his looks through the years. You could say that I’m quite a big Springsteen fan. I’m the kind of fan who converts the top 200 songs … Read more
Pete Douglas investigates how the Canadian post-grunge monolith became the universal shorthand for all bad music, while all other comers fell by the wayside. Last week, bearded hipster-king and early Elton John enthusiast (that new song sounds like an outtake from Honky Chateau) Father John Misty jumped to the defence of Canadian post-grunge whipping … Read more
Poor old Donald Trump, struggling to get any of those liberal whack job musician types to take part in his inauguration celebrations this week. But maybe The Donald has missed the ace sitting right there in his deck all along, says Pete Douglas. Unless you have been living in a cave or have been mercy … Read more