WHAT'S
NEW?
18 Feb 2008 There is a new version of Ooh La La by a nearby band, well worthy of a listen. My email is whack, so I need the LV to contact me again to lead you listeners to the correct address. Carry On!
Forum is forthcoming. Tock Tock... If you want it back, email me. I'm surprisingly underwhelmed by it's loss at the moment.
19 Nov 2007 Long time no hear from me, my fearsome friends. Forum is forthcoming. tock... tock... tock...
BIGGY NEWS: click here to ask Woody a question. It's late in the bag, I know, but circumstances beyond my control and all that rubbish.
Do it now, as less than a day means NOW.
I'll be back.
1 Feb 2006 Latest news on The Passing Show, Ronnie Lane music, and Mac's Tribute Album to Ronnie (thanks to Kent Benjamin):
The Passing Show: the Life and Music of Ronnie Lane will make it's full-length World Premiere at the SXSW Festival this year. More info on the exact date and venue as it is determined. However, the following dates are confirmed:-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[SXSW film world debut, exact date/venue TBA, mid-March]
March 31 the debut of a regular run at the Alamo Drafthouse on S. Lamar in Austin
April 1 celebration of Ronnie Lane's 60th birthday at the Alamo with Mac and the Bump Band playing, plus the film
April 23 (Sunday) Big Smash rock film fest in Vancouver, Canada at the Pacifica Cinematheque, with a special filmed intro by Ian McLagan.
More theatrical dates TBA
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The full-length version of the film is around 105 minutes (in other words, roughly 45 minutes longer than the BBC version telecast 6 Jan. 2006), and should be finished in a few weeks. The DVD will likely be the same version that plays theatrically (according to James Mackie, the director), but will include about 15 minutes or more of musical performances of Ronnie's songs taped especially for the film, along with some stories and anecdotes that didn't make the film for length (or irrelevance to the story) reasons.
Also note that the first-ever American release of Ronnie Lane's solo material on CD is coming soon on the Lane estate's own new label, Lane Signature Sounds. It's entitled Just For A Moment, and is a 20-track retrospective of Lane's solo career, 1972-1980. It will be available through the official Ronnie Lane website www.ronnie-lane.com.
Ian McLagan and the Bump Band are releasing an entire tribute CD of Lane's best songs - Small Faces, Faces, and solo, as yet untitled (Mac told me last week it is to be titled "Spiritual Boy"- DM), but Mac promises it'll be ready for sale for the first time at the April 1 Alamo Drafthouse tribute to Ronnie, and thereafter via his website, www.macspages.com. Dunno yet what all it includes, but I'd expect songs like "You're So Rude," "Glad and Sorry," "Show Me The Way," "Get Yourself Together," and I know for sure they've recorded what I hear is a great new version of Ronnie's signature Small Faces song "Itchycoo Park." (As of a week ago, Mac was also laying down versions of "Annie" and "Nowhere to Run"- DM)
Finally, Pete Townshend is releasing a remastered edition of Rough Mix, with four previously-unissued bonus tracks, this spring. The exact release date is not yet announced ('any day now' according to Pete's website).
So, this spring will feature an absolutely unprecedented focus on one of rock music's all-time great songwriters: Ronald Frederick Lane, ol' Plonk hisself.
10 Jan 2006 Want to discuss the Ronnie bio? click here
8 Jan 2006 The Ronnie Lane documentary in the works for over five years, "Passing Show", has debuted on BBC 4. It is to be repeated again this evening, along with a compilation of Small Faces/Faces/Slim Chance TV appearances.
It will make it's full-length debut this spring at Austin's SXSW Festival.
A new official site is now online, as well-
20 Feb 2005 ROD STEWART WON A GRAMMY ROD STEWART WON A GRAMMY! ROD STEWART WON A GRAMMY! I feel like the guy calling the Giant's penant win in the fifties. It's about fucking time. Take the kids out of the goddamned room, because we'll speak in course language now.
Rod Stewart deserved this award decades ago, and many times over. His walls would need shelves to hold them, instead of his collection of porcelain Laurel and Hardy figurines.
The Faces deserved a few, and the Faces belong in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, even though it's a hard sell when the Hall of Fame is a Walk of Shame.
Fuck it, Boys. We're on our own here.
Good on ya, Rod! Good on ya!
23 Jan 2005 Andy Pierce's article about the Faces, published in part in Stomp & Stammer, is now online in full here. A worthy read.
Not just a worthy read, it is actuallu a MUST-READ.
16 Jan 2005 The sections of the site devoted to Kenney and Tetsu never went live when the site was updated for the box set. Whatever the cause, the problem is being fixed. Tetsu's section is now in the new format, and Kenney's section is being rebuilt. Also, Mac's chords section is again live. Mac ows me a load more chords, so I'd love to put all of "Rise & Shine"'s (one of my favorite albums of all time) chords online.
16 Jan 2005 The great Faces article by Andy Pierce is almost ready to debut... I'm waiting for Andy to look it over before it goes live onsite. I've had a few more entries to the 5 Guys photo contest, and I should have it ready to wrap up in a couple days. Also, there will be a belated year-end wrapup for 04, as soon as I get all the info together. Check back- updates coming.
26 Dec 2004 Just in time for the New Year, but not in time for Christmas...
It's time for some Faces products! You know, tee-shirts, hats, coffee mugs, that kinda stuff... but I don't have a lot together yet. I just got word that the first product under development should be available within a couple weeks.
Yep, it's time for the Faces credit card! All you have to do is choose which design you want, and pay the fees for your bank to press a new (or replacement) card for you!
So far, these designs will be available through most banks in the USA, Canada, and the UK. I'll letcha know when you can begin ordering! Click here for more.
10 Oct 2004 Rod will be appearing on NBC's TODAY show this Friday. Woody may just tag along for the ride.
Here's a shot of Woody at the recent Strat Pack concert at RAH. Click it for the big boy. Left to right: Dave Gilmour playing the first production Strat (numbered, logically, 001), a relatively ageless Paul Rodgers, Joe Walsh, I think that's a good shot of Phil May's wig, and Woody in front. To the right, my guess is Albert Lee. Confirmation?
With recent changes in my daily schedule, I'm finding less time to research and update the site. If you have research or HTML skills, and would like to help me add new content to the site (photos, news, articles, you name it) please contact me.
2 Oct 2004 Kevin Westlake, original co-conspirator in Slim Chance with Mr. Lane, has passed away of a heart attack. After years of ill-health and several setbacks he'd survived, I was hoping he was bulletproof after all. Our collective best wishes go out to his family and friends.
Click here for a post on the topic from Rupert Williams, who is filming the upcoming Lane biography.
Oon a happier note, Andy. Pierce, after several computer problems of his own, is bringing forth paragraph after paragraph of his intelligent article on the Faces (and some alledged box set). As more comes in, I will post it on the site- but for now, just keep coming back- when it debuts, it will be one of the better pieces you've ever read on the band.
19 Sept 2004 Andy Pierce has indicated that the long version of the Faces article in Stomp and Stammer will be ready to post on this site within a couple days. The excerpt currently on their site can be found here.
Also, Ron Wood is confirmed to appear at the upcoming charity gig celebrating the Fender Strat. The gig, at Wembley this 24th, will give proceeds to the Nordoff-Robins Music Therapy fund. More here.
18 Sept 2004 Got it: www.thefacez.com. It takes a while to download, so have patience.
Ron Wood is touring America, but a guitar is rarely being brought to light. He's putting his artwork in galleries across the country, and is currently in Vegas. Here's a story.
The musical about Rod, slated to close in October, will feature his significant other, Penny Lancaster, during the last performances. Since it was written by Ben Elton, whose resume is a laundry list of my fave shows, I'd catch it if I could. Wrong continent for me, how bout you? PS: The 'Young Ones' theme song was written by none other than the brilliant Viv Stanshall. And the band Death Cab for Cutie took their name from an obscure Viv single.
Take part in the Faces Contest at Creem's website, you just may win big.
And a belated birthday wish to Kenney Jones, who celebrated his birthday on the 16th.
17 Sept 2004 Faces tribute band, the Facez, have launched their website. Check it out. Unfortunately, I've lost the link. When I have the link, I'll replace this drivel with same. To quote Encyclopaedia Zeppelinicus: "where's the link? Has anybody seen the link? Where's that confounded link?" Roy?
16 Sept 2004 The contest hosted by Creem Magazine needs to be swamped. The winners will get better, and larger, packages than what this site has done in the past. They are not listing winners or the prizes, but I know two things:
the prizes are fan-credibly-tastic-
all you have to do is score high to be picked as a winner-
They will pull high scores anonomously to determine winners! You don't have to be the first to answer the Qs! Damn, I never thought of that.
If you want a huge, swelling package at your doorstep, enter the contest. If you're afraid you may win, don't kill your significant other- I'm sure arrangements can be made (brown paper wrapper, fake sender's address). If you are male & homophobic, ignore the last paragraph.
PS- Did you know Barry Manilow is sleeping on my couch? He wants to replace Rod in a Faces reunion. He looks right with the spikey hair, nose, and assumed costumes. I took photos the other night, and I'll show them soon. Hell, I'm not a big fan of Barry, but he seemed so desperate. How could I say no? I have to at least put a few pounds on him before the winter cold comes in.
15 Sept 2004 Mac is in a flurry of activity: gigs, radio shows, readings, etc. He's on NPR's MORNING EDITION today, would you believe? It's one of the best radio shows I've heard, and we are all so glad to see Mac on board. And, guess what? You may listen live via radio or the internet. Tune into the above link if your better US stations do not provide NPR's MORNING EDITION. Good on ya!
A couple new shots added to the 5 Guys Photo Contest. News added to the 5 Guys page, and I'm still working on the first mailer to the NEW Faces Mailing List (beta? you betcha!)
Of course, if you are new to the Faces and aren't certain you want to have Mac sign your stuff by ordering his fantastic array of goodies, try this. Get it through Mac, though.
11 Sept 2004 Not much new online today, other than some fixes to the Mac interviews. Well worth looking at, nonetheless. More additions to the Five Guys photo contest, and much other new stuff, in the works.
9 Sept 2004 The long-awaited article by journalist Andy Pierce has arrived as the cover story of "Stomp and Stammer", a longstanding entertainment monthly on better Atlanta-area shelves. Part of the article is online here, and the rest will soon debut on this very site. Keep your eyes peeled, it looks like a great'n!.
5 Sept 2004 Thirteen new photos added today, from a 1971 gig in Dayton. Thanks to Gary Marcum for submitting these shots. That pushes this site over the 1000 mark: it is now 1003 pages deep.
4 Sept 2004 Due to Bill Gates' monopoly, and the inherent security flaws crippling his Microsoft products, I had to wipe my drive and reinstall everything on my computer yet again. It happens about twice a year, so I've pretty well perfected how I do it. Still, Bill Gates is an asshole, and I want him dead.
On the brighter side, I've found a ton of photos that were sent in some months ago, and am building a new gallery to display some of them onsite. I hope to have it done later this afternoon. I also found out today that this site is now 989 pages deep. No wonder it's been such a pain in the butt trying to get the new look of the site transferred over, eh? Do you want to entirely rebuild a 1000 page website? Nope, I didn't think so.
click for a story on the Hollywood Bowl show, which featured Woody and Mac
31 Aug 2004 As some expected, Woody showed up at Rod's Hollywood Bowl performance last night. What many hoped for came far truer: Mac also made an appearance towards the end of the show, playing with Rod and Woody as the latter sang "Ooh La La". What's next? Cast your vote here.
30 Aug 2004 Yet again, five more photos added to the Photo Contest page. It seems there's a Kubrick fan in the audience.
30 Aug 2004 I've added six more entries to the 5 Guys Photo Contest, and overhauled the whole contest page to make it easier to look at the entries. Enjoy.
22 Aug 2004 Mac has been making a splash. He was on NPR's "Fresh Air" for a full forty-minute interview, which is online here. Today, Mac will also be performing live on KUT's hour-long "Live Set" program. It's tonight at 7pm Texas Time (1 AM in London... stay up, have a pint, have a listen). That's 8 pm on the east coast, 5 pm on the west, and 9 am in Kuala Lumpur. You can listen live here.
Also, eight new photos have been added to the 5 Guys Photo Contest, and a few prizes are left in the Creem "Ten Things You Knew About the Faces" contest.
16 Aug 2004 Sorry, I've been away on vacation. Now that I'm out from behind bars, I have time to say that our judicial system is totally fucked up. I now know from the best perspective: I was a victim of it.
Also, the FACES FIVE GUYS CONTEST is going on now. The contest ends as soon as all prizes have been won, so please check it out NOW!
1 Aug 2004 The new version of the Rod section of this site is live. So is a good portion of Woody's. Hope ya like it.
30 July 2004 At last, the Five Guys Photo Contest page is online. It has info on how to enter the contest, as well as a gallery of the current entries. Check it out now.
26 July 2004 Hey, we're starting to get entries trickling in for the Five Guys Sanpshot Contest. For info, go here.
22 July 2004 I can't top this. It's the best review of the Faces ever put on paper, and it judiciously dismisses the use of "sloppy" journalism. I'm so tired of hearing congresses of critics decide the Faces were sloppy, all based on an early 70s review. Everybody calls the Faces sloppy. Well, to be blunt, fuck 'em. They are followers, not thinkers. Here is the critique I want to put plasma lights on:
Damned straight. From my screwed eyes to your scewed minds.
19 July 2004 Mac's new section of the Faces site debuted last night, and Ronnie's is now online. Woody's and Rod's sections will be next, hopefully later tonight or tomorrow.
Five Guys goes live in the States in a few hours.
18 July 2004 For those that don't understand bandwidth, imagine a huge reservoir of water. Every time you look at a webpage, you draw water from the well. The Faces site has a reservoir of water. The more people that look at the site, the more water is drawn. I pay for the water, and get 2,000,000 gallons of water for folks to use each month. When the water is gone, everyone goes thirsty, and the site simply goes offline until the next month, when 2,000,000 more gallons are paid for.
A few months ago, we hosted Nikki Sudden's forum on the Faces server, so it was drawing from the Faces' well. That caused too many people to drink from the well, and the Faces site went offline for a few days because the reservoir went dry. Nikki's forum was movred to his own server, and I started looking for a new company to buy water from at a better price.
A new company was found, and the Faces site moved to their servers (reservoirs) a few weeks back, getting ready for all the water that would have to be handed out once the Box Set went live. Some of you may recall the Forum going offline for a few days... that's when it happened. So, we've been drawing from a bigger reservoir for a few months. It's costly, but water don't come cheap.
Today, I looked at how many people have hit the site in the past few weeks, wanting to know how much water was being handed out. Guess what? Yesterday, this site got nearly 10,000 hits. About a year ago, the site broke a record because about 600 people had looked at it in one day. So, 10,000 hits in one day? Great stuff. In the first two weeks of this month, the Faces site handed out 4,000,000 gallons of water. By the end of the month, it could be 12,000,000 gallons passed around. Maybe I should have made a better analogy: replace water with Blue Nun in this tale.
I welcome all new visitors, but a big thank you to all you old bastards whom have hung around here over the past few years. I'm proud to help spread the word about a band of great guys so worthy of such rabid devotion. Nothing is better than 5 guys: bass, drums, guitar, keys, and lv... particularly when it was a band of brothers. OK, so they were a dysfunctional family, but name one family that isn't, and name another that did better.
9 July 2004 There have, indeed, been sightings of the box set in the UK. We've got a couple contests brewing, too... one here, and a silly one here.
5 July 2004 Theoretically, the box set is currently available in the UK. And at Mac's site (signed copies, no less).
I've added some bells and whistles to the site (the new bits of the site, that is). There's now a menu tab at the top right for the Forum, and an area of the bottom of the pages to sign up for the Faces newsletter. Also, I almost forgot to add the sitewide search engine to the new version of the site. That, too, has been corrected. And, if you run your mouse over the top menu tabs, they should change colors on the rollover.
Please let me know if you experience any troubles with what bits of the new site are online. I'd prefer to fix them before I copy any missed mistakes across the entire new site. Any comnments can be emailed to me or, better yet, posted here.
21 May 2004 More news on the box set here.
If
you live in America and want to learn why the music industry is currently
in the worst shape it's ever been, I implore you to watch PBS. The next
episode of their series, Frontline, is titled, "The
Way the Music Died" . From
the Frontline website: "...over the last twenty years, MTV, compact
discs, corporate consolidation, Internet piracy, and greed have contributed
to a perfect storm for the recording industry. FRONTLINE examines how
the business that has provided the soundtrack of the lives of a generation
is on the verge of collapse." Highly recommended.
16
May 2004 There's
a new page in development to highlight information on the Faces box
set, Five Guys Walk Into a Bar. Click the
above banner to visit that page.
13
May 2004 It's
been a long time since I've updated the site, sorry... Technical
issues, issues with time constraints bearing down on me, all kinds
of valid excuses. Let's press forward, shall we?
The site has moved to a new server in the past couple of days. This has meant an interruption in access to the site, and an interruption in access to the forum. Some new members and new posts to the forum may have been lost in the transition, and I apologize for any confusion or disappointment. It's a natural part of moving to a new server, so consider it as growing pains, and let it go.
While I concentrate on the new version of the Faces site, which I've got to get finished to debut alongside the release of Five Guys Walk Into a Bar- the Faces Box Set- I will hand over much of the day-to-day updating of the Faces site to our very own Lynne the Grasshoppa. Please, folks, put your hands together for Lynney, make her feel welcome, and pass the Blue Nun her way...
Artwork for Five Guys Walk Into a Bar coming soon... as soon as I have authorization to pass it around the classroom.
21 Apr 2004 Sorry there's been few updates recently. Computer and time issues.
Info
on Rise & Shine, 5 Guys, and the Lane Tribute blast coming.
28
Mar 2004 Yet
another computer setback. I'm finally getting everything fixed
and working again, but I've lost all email archives from Jan 04 through
today, so if you sent anything, please send it again.
27
Feb 2004 Estelle
Axton, cofounder of Stax, has passed
away. Behind that legendary label was one helluva lady.
24
Feb 2004 Our
condolences go out to the family and friends of Bob
Mayo, who 
passed
away yesterday. Bob was on tour with his longtime friend, Peter
Frampton, when he died suddenly from a heart attack in Basel, Switzerland.
Mayo, an incredibly talented multi-instrumentalist, appeared on many of Frampton's albums, and was with Frampton, on and off, even before the landmark Frampton Comes Alive album. He also played on albums by Ian Hunter, Foreigner, Hall and Oates, Joe Walsh, and many others.
Bob Mayo 1951-2004
11
Feb 2004 Go
here to hear Mac rise to the occasion: this Face in a face-off
discourse about Rise & Shine, cut by marvelous cut.
7
Feb 2004 Check
out this
review of Mac's latest album at Creem's website. I'll
end up building an area for reviews of Rise & Shine, as we'll
need it.
2
Feb 2004 The
20Q with Mac that was put together by visitors to the Faces Forum has
made it's debut on www.ianmclagan.com.
The
Faces server went down for a couple days due to excessive traffic- We're
back up now, but I'm looking for another server that will allow for the
increased traffic this site is getting. We'll need more space and
bandwidth to allow for the site upgrade coming when the Box Set is released. Any
reccomendations?
24
Jan 2004 BIG
NEWS DAY, LOTSA READING- Hoping to find a current copy of
Word Magazine, a new UK publication, after scourging through the mag
racks at the lame megamedia stores, one was found. It was at
a decent mom-n-pop bookstore- the recent January issue. Looking
for a promised 2-page review/spread on Ronnie Lane, based on a recent/decent
repackaging of Ronnie's first two solo disks from Island, I found
instead Mac McLagan!
WORD has a big spread on the Blues, and Mac has a great few paragraphs about, you guessed it, Howlin' Wolf! Well, as Mac played with Chester Burnett before he was a Small Face, he has some very nice things to say in the January issue of Word. It's the first issue of Word I've seen, and so far so good.
We'll all be much better when we see a 2-page spread on Ronnie Lane... but finding Mac's words of wisdom is equally Nice. Look for Word at your retailer, and smack them if they don't get it for you. If they are a major chain, never go back, as you never should have wasted your time there in the first place.
More Mac Audio on the way-- the 20Q from Faces Forum members will debut on the Mac Forum at www.ianmclagan.com! Well, we thought the easiest thing was to slice off the Mac section of the Faces forum and build an entire new Mac Forum around it on ianmclagan.com... well, we're a pretty tight little community, and we work well together! Speaking of Mac, all of those in-the-know that I know know Mac's knew album is his best. Knot saying I know what you don't know, but the knames that have said they know it's his best is a knowledgeable lot! Look forward to Rise & Shine, folks!
James McMurtry will be releasing his first live album, Live in Ought Three, around the same time as Rise & Shine. This album was recorded over two consecutive nights at the now-defunct Zephyr Club, as well as two other venues at other times. If it sounds anything like what I heard, it will be another top-notch album by James McMurtry and the recently-named Heartless Bastards, his backing band of many years, Ronnie Johnson and Daren Hess. The latter two, of course, were Ronnie Lane's rhythm section during Lane's Texas Years.
When McMurtry was in town, I set up a local radio performance where they played a half hour set live with guitar, bass, one drum, and one helluva lotta heart. It was evidently voted as one of the top 5 live appearances of 2003 at that great station, KRCL. Thanks to Dave at KRCL
more about both incidents originally reported on the Faces site here.
hear the conversation with Ronnie Johnson from that same weekend
15 Jan 2004 Finally! The debut of www.ianmclagan.com, the sister site to www.macspages.com! This site, designed and managed by Bump secretary Lynney, is the perfect compliment to Mac's own website. Visit, view, contribute!
14 Jan 2004 Reprinted from bbc.co.uk:
Gillespie chooses 'fantasy' tracks
Primal Scream singer Bobby Gillespie is picking his favourite tunes from the BBC's archives for a fantasy music festival on digital radio station 6Music.
He is selecting session and archive tracks from acts such as Roxy Music, Public Image Ltd, the Faces, Buzzcocks and Led Zeppelin during a series of guest spots on 24 and 25 January.
Highlights include a session from Joy Division featuring Love Will Tear Us Apart, and the Rolling Stones performing at Leeds University in 1971.
His weekend of DJing culminates in an hour-long concert from Primal Scream recorded during their UK tour this month.
10 Jan 2004 Just got word of a nice charity event on behalf of the Paul Kossoff Fund. Davids Kossoff and Clayton will be in attendance, and the senior Koss will be introducing the event, along with the music of Freed. More details on the Tetsu page.
8 Jan 2004 Alan Pollard sends news from just southwest of London:
I was at the final concert at the Civic Hall on Sunday last. Kenney Jones and the band were absolutely phenomenal ! The whole concert was easily the best I have been to and I have been at many in my 53 years ! What a band - they have everything a dedicated live concert audience want - Robert Hart is dynamite, Rick Mills one of the best base players in the world, Kenney Jones wonderful drummer and everyone else just magic !!!!!! Pass on my thanks and regards to all. It was a privilege to be there.
Alan Pollock
Guildford.
4 Jan 2004 I've re-encoded the Charlie Hart and Roland/Ronnie interviews to correct errors that occurred on playback. They should play error-free now.
1 Jan 2004 At long last, the first half of the audio from the interview I did with Charlie Hart is online. Charlie was Lane's right-hand man in Slim Chance, and this is very good information coming from inside the Lane camp during the mid-to-late 70s. Well worth a listen for any fan of Lane, Faces, or music in general.
Happy New Year.
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