How credible is a pop musician of fourty or fifty years old? Twenty years ago you could read some discussions about this question, but that doesn't happen anymore. Of course, this has also to do with the the fact that the young popmusic fan of the seventies or eighties is now middle-aged. Their taste of music probably has changed a bit, but they didn't completely forget their old idols. When you go to a Stones or Roxy Music concert, you'll see an audience of several generations. I suppose there are not that much music lovers in their forties who listen to bands of which the members are early twenty, but if a band makes good music I don't notice their age. But it is fun to write something about a band with people of my own age for one. A band like The Hepburns.
The band was founded in the eighties Llanelli, Wales and they signed a contract with the popular Cherry Red label and that's were they released their debut "The Magic of the Hepburns". In March 1989 they recorded a John Peel Session and it looked like they were becoming stars. It didn't happen. Cherry Red stopped releasing their albums and the manager of The Hepburns was killed in an accident which led to the disappearance of the mastertapes of the second album. Maybe their decision to stay in Wales had also something to do with the fact that they never became famous. There didn't happen much for ten years until they signed with Radio Khartoum from Berkeley, California in 2000. They released "Champagne Reception" and "The Last Thing I Saw Before I Said Goodbye" and next week they will also release "Something Worth Stealing", the new album by The Hepburns. The band consists at the moment of Matt Jones, Mike Thomas, Pat Grover and Sue Reece. This album contains twelve of the ninety songs they have recorded over the last years. The rest will be released over the next year or so on the future albums "Where the Missing Words Live", "Insomniac's Lullaby" and "How the Fallen are Mighty". You can download three of these beautiful songs below. Music for fans of The Smiths and Aztec Camera.
> mp3: The Last Thing I Saw Before I Said Goodbye (from "Something Worth Stealing")
> mp3: My Brother the Submariner (from "Where the Missing Words Live")
> mp3: Writer Friend (from "How the Fallen are Mighty")