Nigel Williamson (born 1954) is a British journalist.
Educated at University College London, Williamson worked as a reporter on Tribune (1982–84) and was then briefly its literary editor (1984) before becoming editor (1984–87) as successor to Chris Mullin. Just before the 1987 general election he was hired as the editor of the Labour Party's members' magazine Labour Party News (1987–89), to which he added the editorship of the party's monthly New Socialist (1987–89) replacing Stuart Weir. He also served as a press officer to Labour leader Neil Kinnock during the 1987 general election.
In 1989 Williamson joined The Times as a political correspondent with a twice weekly column on the op-ed page. He became diary editor (1990–92), then home news editor (1992–95) and Whitehall correspondent (1995–96). He went freelance in 1996 to become a music critic, celebrity interviewer and obituarist for The Times. He writes on pop and world music for a variety of publications and was a contributing editor to the magazines Uncut and Billboard . He is also a contributing editor of Songlines magazine. He has written several books, including Journey Through The Past: The Stories Behind The Classic Songs Of Neil Young , The Rough Guide to Bob Dylan , The Rough Guide to Led Zeppelin , The Rough Guide to The Best Music You've Never Heard and The Rough Guide to the Blues , [1] The Straight Ahead Guide to Bob Dylan and The Straight Ahead Guide to Led Zeppelin .
Williamson is also a member of Kent County Cricket Club. He expressed his concern over Kent's logo rebrand in 2010, calling it "banal and meaningless". [2] In 2011, Williamson and fellow member Graham Holland started a campaign for more open and accountable management of Kent County Cricket Club and for the club's first contested committee election since 2008. [3]
Neil Gordon Kinnock, Baron Kinnock is a Welsh politician. As a member of the Labour Party, he served as a Member of Parliament from 1970 until 1995, first for Bedwellty and then for Islwyn. He was the Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition from 1983 until 1992, and Vice-President of the European Commission from 1999 to 2004.
Physical Graffiti is the sixth studio album by the English rock band Led Zeppelin. It was released as a double album on 24 February 1975 by the group's new record label, Swan Song Records.
"Misty Mountain Hop" is a song from English rock band Led Zeppelin's untitled fourth album, released in 1971. The song was released as the B-side to the single "Black Dog" and performed in most of the band's 1972 and 1973 concert tours.
Tribune is a democratic socialist political magazine founded in 1937 and published in London, initially as a newspaper, then converting to a magazine in 2001. While it is independent, it has usually supported the Labour Party from the left. From 2008 it faced serious financial difficulties until it was purchased by Jacobin in late 2018, shifting to a quarterly publication model. Since its relaunch the number of paying subscribers has passed 15,000, with columns from high-profile socialist politicians such as former leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn, former Second Deputy Prime Minister of Spain Pablo Iglesias and former Bolivian President Evo Morales. In January 2020, it was used as the platform on which Rebecca Long-Bailey chose to launch her Labour leadership campaign.
Nigel Griffiths is a British Labour Party politician, and former Member of Parliament (MP) for Edinburgh South from 1987 to 2010.
"Heartbreaker" is a song by the English rock band Led Zeppelin from their 1969 album, Led Zeppelin II. It was credited to all four members of the band, recorded at A&R Recording and Atlantic Studios in New York City during the band's second concert tour of North America, and engineered by Eddie Kramer.
Uncut magazine, trademarked as UNCUT, is a monthly publication based in London. It is available across the English-speaking world, and focuses on music, but also includes film and books sections. A DVD magazine under the Uncut brand was published quarterly from 2005 to 2006. The magazine was acquired in 2019 by Singaporean music company BandLab Technologies, and has been published by NME Networks since December 2021.
"All My Love" is the sixth song on Led Zeppelin's 1979 album In Through the Out Door. Credited to Robert Plant and John Paul Jones, it is a rock ballad that features a synthesizer solo by Jones. It was written in honour of Plant's son Karac, who died while Led Zeppelin were on their 1977 North American tour.
"The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is a recurring opinion survey and music ranking of the finest albums in history, compiled by the American magazine Rolling Stone. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and industry figures. The first list was published in a special issue of the magazine in 2003 and a related book in 2005.
"Sick Again" is a song by English rock band Led Zeppelin, from their 1975 album Physical Graffiti. It was written by Robert Plant about underage teenage groupies, or as he called them, the "L.A. Queens", with whom the band were acquainted on their 1973 US Tour.
"Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" is a song written and performed by Bob Dylan. It was originally recorded on August 2, 1965, and released on the album Highway 61 Revisited. The song was later released on the compilation album Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. II and as two separate live versions recorded at concerts in 1966: the first of which appeared on the B-side of Dylan's "I Want You" single, with the second being released on The Bootleg Series Vol. 4: Bob Dylan Live 1966, The "Royal Albert Hall" Concert. The song has been covered by many artists, including Gordon Lightfoot, Nina Simone, Barry McGuire, Judy Collins, Frankie Miller, Linda Ronstadt, the Grateful Dead, Neil Young, The Black Crowes, Townes Van Zandt, and Bryan Ferry. Lightfoot's version was recorded only weeks after Dylan's original had been released and reached #3 on the Canadian RPM singles chart.
Colin Irwin is a British music journalist. Irwin was an assistant editor of Melody Maker in the 1970s and 1980s, before leaving in the summer of 1987 as the magazine moved in a different direction, and editor of Number One magazine in the late 1980s and early 1990s. His book In Search of the Craic details a comic journey around Ireland seeking out pub music sessions and became a best-seller in Ireland. Subsequent books were In Search Of Albion, a similarly light-hearted journey around English traditions and rituals and Sing When You're Winning, about the history and culture of terrace songs at football matches. He has also reviewed music for The Guardian, Mojo, The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, fRoots and Spiral Earth and has been a Mercury Music Prize judge.
The Bob Dylan World Tour 1966 was a concert tour undertaken by American musician Bob Dylan, from February to May 1966. Dylan's 1966 World Tour was notable as the first tour where Dylan employed an electric band backing him, following him "going electric" at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. The musicians Dylan employed as his backing band were known as The Hawks, who later became famous as The Band.
Sir William Pearce was an English chemical manufacturer and Liberal Party politician in the East End of London, in England. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Limehouse constituency from 1906 to 1922. He played cricket as an amateur for Kent County Cricket Club and Essex County Cricket Club in his 20s, making three first-class appearances, all of them for Kent.
"Everything is Broken" is an uptempo rock song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, and released as the first single from his 1989 album Oh Mercy, where it appears as the third track. It was later anthologized on the compilation albums The Essential Bob Dylan in 2000 and Dylan in 2007. The song spent eight weeks on Billboard's "Mainstream Rock Songs" chart, peaking at number eight on October 27, 1989. It was produced by Daniel Lanois.
Bob Dylan bootleg recordings are unreleased performances by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, that have been circulated throughout the public without undergoing an official, sanctioned release. It is commonly misconceived that bootlegs are only restricted to audio, but bootleg video performances, such as Dylan's 1966 film Eat the Document, which remains officially unreleased, are considered to be bootlegs. Dylan is generally considered to be the most bootlegged artist in rock history, rivaled only by the Grateful Dead.
"Sugar Mama" or "Sugar Mama Blues" is a song that is a standard of the blues. Called a "tautly powerful slow blues" by music journalist Charles Shaar Murray, it has been recorded by numerous artists, including early Chicago bluesmen Tampa Red, Sonny Boy Williamson I, and Tommy McClennan. John Lee Hooker and Howlin' Wolf later adapted "Sugar Mama" for electric blues and rock group Led Zeppelin reworked it during early recording sessions.
Neil Spencer is a British journalist, author, broadcaster and astrologer who lives in north London. He edited the New Musical Express (NME) from 1978 to 1985 and was a founding editor of the men's magazine Arena and of the jazz/art magazine Straight No Chaser. He writes regularly for The Observer, specialising in astrology, music and other aspects of popular culture. According to his website, his work has also appeared in The Independent, Mojo, Uncut and Elle, among other publications.
"Crime in the City " is a song written by Neil Young that was first released on his 1989 album Freedom, although Young had performed longer versions in concert earlier. It was not released as a single but reached number 34 on the Billboard Magazine Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. It is a lengthy song, with a released version of almost nine minutes, but earlier versions were more than twice as long. It has been characterized as a document of moral rot in urban regions of the United States in the late 1980s.