#kerr-mcgee

[verifiablebot]

when i get my garage i want a mobile oil pegasus sign to hang up. when i was a teeny baby one of my great-uncles worked for mobile and he wore a pegasus pin on his coat to church and i was OBSESSED with it. i think i just liked pegasi. but i still hold a huge amount of nostalgia for that old logo and it'd be fun i think to have one

[spilladabalia]

Simple Minds: Seeing out the Angel [12'' Extended Version 2023]

[ostensiblynone]

Welcome to the mad ferret review of the last year in the world of Oasis. Enjoy :-)

Summer '98 - Soccer World Cup in France. During this time Noel was having constant panic attacks and wrote Gas Panic about these experiences. It was during the World Cup that Noel decided to give up drugs.

June '98 - Little James, Liam's first song to be recorded properly by Oasis is written. The song is about Patsy's son from her ex-husband, Simple Minds singer, Jim Kerr.

Summer '98 - Who Feels Love? written whilst on holiday with wife Meg in Thailand

Mar '99 - Tony McCarroll, the Oasis drummer who was sacked in 1995 after a fight with Liam settles out of court for a undisclosed fixed sum which means he's no longer entitled to any future royalties from Oasis.

13 Mar '99 - Noel brings the band to Bermondsey's Music Bank Studios for two weeks of rehearsals of the new album. According to Liam that it was during these rehearsals that the band decided that they would give up alcohol during the recording. Although Noel & Liam agreed, Bonehead was not entirely happy with the arrangement.

27 Mar '99 - The whole group fly out to France with Mark 'Spike' Stent to Chateau de la Colle to begin recording the new songs. The luxury French castle is owned by Christian Dior and costs the group £32,000 per month to use it.

31 May '99 - Noel plays an acoustic set at the Kosovo Benefit gig in London. The set included Noel singing an acoustic version of The Verve song 'Bittersweet Symphony'.

Summer '99 - The group finish recording and Bonehead and Guigsy go home to England. Noel and Spike stay in France finishing up different parts and overdubs and has to try to get Bonehead and Guigsy back to finish off their parts on the album. They refuse and don't return to France, so Paul Stacey plays most of the bass tracks, Mark Coyle plays a lot of guitar parts including main slide guitar part on PYMWYMI.

30 Jun '99 - Rumours that Bonehead has quit are denied by Johnny Hopkins, Oasis's PR officer.

10 Aug '99 - Bonehead releases a statement stating he has left Oasis. Noel and Liam state that they haven't spoken to him and they don't really know why he's left.

25 Aug '99 - Noel and Liam present a press conference in The Water Rats in London announcing Guigsy has also left the group.

13 Sep '99 - Baby 'Lennon Gallagher' is born to Liam and Patsy

17 Sep '99 - Noel goes to NYC with Spike, Stan and Howie Weinberg to master and mix the album.

26 Oct '99 - Gem Archer, the ex-Heavy Stereo guitarist joins Oasis as rhythm guitarist. At this time it is rumoured that Monaco guitarist David Potts is to join as bassist. It is later revealed that he spent a week rehearsing with Oasis from the 1st October but didn't fit in.

05 Nov '99 - Oasis record the video for their comeback single 'Go Let It Out' in high security in the English countryside with Noel playing bass and Liam playing acoustic guitar in the video as they still hadn't hired a new bass player.

12 Nov '99 - Andy Bell the ex-Hurricane#1 and Ride guitarist and songwriter joins Oasis to play bass

29 Oct '99 - Oasis officially announce album tracklisting

25 Nov '99 - Oasis announce the UK stadium tour including two nights in Wembley Stadium. It is also announced that Alan McGee the owner of Creation Records is to quit the record label in June 2000. Oasis announce they are to set up their own label, Big Brother.

03 Dec '99 - The first official airing of a new track was Who Feels Love? on the 3rd December '99 promo USA radio show in Philadelphia (PA First Union Center) for the radio station Y-100. It was played acoustically in the radio studio with Noel on guitar/vocals, Mike Rowe on keyboards and Gem playing guitar. Oasis play three short radio gigs performing only old material but playing a cover of the Beatles' Helter Skelter.

25 Dec '99 - the entire album had been leaked on cassette and had been converted into digital mp3 files on the internet. The first MP3 came from the first official promo for the album, a 12" vinyl version of Fuckin in The Bushes which had been released to the press only earlier in the month.

Jan '00 - Oasis play a radio session for BBC Radio 1 - They play an electric version of Talk Tonight and a cover of 'The Who' song 'My Generation'

Jan '00 - By the end of January the original demos for the album including 3 as yet unreleased songs were available online as mp3 files again leaked by an Oasis insider. The three songs were titled: 'Solve My Mystery/Revolution Song', 'Let There Be Love', and 'It's a Crime' But these titles are not confirmed by Noel. [read more about them here...]

27 Jan '00 - Daughter, Anaïs Gallagher is born to Noel and Meg in London's exclusive Portland Street Hospital

07 Feb '00 - Go Let It Out released and it goes straight to number 1. Oasis appear on Top of the Pops on the 10th for their first TV appearance since 1997

11 Feb '00 - Jools Holland Session. Oasis go into the studio to record an amazing special gig for Channel 4 which is to be shown later in this year.

21 Feb '00 - Standing On The Shoulder of Giants released in Japan with one extra track, Let's All Make Believe

28 Feb '00 - Album released in Europe and goes straight to number 1 in the UK.

28 Feb '00 - Album released in USA/Canada which came in three versions. One standard version, One with an edited version of Fuckin In The Bushes and one with a 2 track bonus CD containing Go Let It Out & Let's all Make Believe. It reaches a high of number 24 in the US Billboard Chart.

29 Feb '00 - On the day of SOTSOG's US release Oasis play first gig of world tour in February Tokyo Yokohama Arena

03 Mar '00 - In Fukuoka Japan, Liam pulls out after a few songs due to sore throat. Noel carries on the show on his own.

05 Apr '00 - US tour starts in Seattle, Noel debuts the Oasis version of Neil Youngs song, Hey Hey My My dedicating it to Kurt Cobain who died 6 years ago today. Kurt placed the line from the song 'It's better to burn out than to fade away' in his suicide note.

17 Apr '00 - Who Feels Love? released getting to number 4 in the UK Charts

17 May '00 - A return to the European tour in Lisbon. They play one more night in Madrid, then Alan White has an arm injury for the Barcelona show so it is cancelled. Noel and Liam get into a huge stubborn fight over Noel's plans for a solo album. The fight gets very physical and Noel ends up leaving the tour and returning to England.

The next 4 concerts are cancelled while ex-Weller guitarist, Matt Deighton, who's never really met Liam joins the group to play rhythm guitar. Gem takes over Noel's lead guitar and the band come back to a storming gig in Milan on 30 May. The next 13 gigs are mainly European festivals until the 1st July when the Roskilds gig is cancelled due to 8 peoples deaths the night before at a Pearl Jam show

03 July '00 - Sunday Morning Call, the last single from SOTSOG. It reaches number 4 in the charts.

07 July '00 - It's officially announced that Liam & Patsy have broken up. Noel says he hasn't seen Liam as happy in ages

08 Jul '00 - Dublin Ireland when Noel returns to join Oasis to an incredible reception at Lansdowne Road in front of a 40,000 packed stadium

21/22 July '00 - Oasis play 2 nights to a packed Wembley stadium with 80,000 each night. They are the second-last group ever to play in Wembley before it is demolished to be rebuilt. The 2nd Wembley show on 22 July is shown on live tv & Liam is blatantly playing up to the camera, ranting between songs

26 Jul '00 - Swiss festival show canceled half way through after thugs throw stones & bottles at the group

29 Jul '00 - Huge Murrayfield show in Scotland followed by another four European festival dates without Noel. On 7 August in Portugal the band are forced to leave the stage again due to more hooligans throwing stones at them.

30 Aug '00 - Amidst huge rumours that a split is to be announced on Tuesday the group play the last 3 dates of the world tour in Reading, Glasgow, then Leeds. The split rumour happened as a journalist asked Noel if they were going to split. He said 'if they were going to split he wouldn't say it till Tuesday after the tour was over. the journalist did the usual cowardly thing of printing that Noel said they were to split with an announcement on Tuesday.

05 Sep '00 - Noel and Meg announce they are to split due to drifting apart over the last year. Again tabloid rumours are full of custody battles and divorce but both Noel and Meg are still very anxious to talk and insist that nothing is definite yet and they are still trying to save their marriage.

Sep '00 - Tailgunner, featuring Oasis producer and live sound engineer Mark Coyle, 'Giants' bass player Paul Stacey and Noel Gallagher on drums, release their debut album.

14 Nov '00 - Oasis release a DVD and video of their huge Wembley concerts from July as well as a double live album of the gig. The album and DVD get some of the best reviews of any of the past few Oasis album releases.

[citizenscreen]

Meryl Streep as Karen Silkwood, a technician at a plutonium plant operated by the Kerr-McGee Corporation. On November 13, 1974, 28-year-old Karen Silkwood was killed in a car accident near Crescent, Oklahoma, a week after complaining to the Atomic Energy Commission about unsafe conditions at the plant.

[diceriadelluntore]

Storia Di Musica #294 - Simple Minds, New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84)

Se in un ipotetico cruciverba la definizione chiedesse: Famoso gruppo rock scozzese degli anni '80 (10 lettere) la risposta è una sola. Simple Minds. Tutto comincia a Glasgow quando tre ragazzi, Jim Kerr, Charlie Burchill e Brian McGee fondano nel febbraio del 1977 un gruppo a tre, Johnny & The Self Abusers, nome in pieno stile punk. Pubblicano anche un singolo, Saints & Sinners / Dead Van Dals, ma l'insuccesso li porta a sciogliere il gruppo. Un anno più tardi ci riprovano, ma scelgono come nome Simple Minds, partendo da un verso di The Jean Genie di David Bowie, He's so simple-minded, he can't drive his module. Si uniscono le tastiere di Michael McNeil e il basso di Derek Forber, e firmano con la Zoom Records, una etichetta in orbita Arista. Suonano come gruppo di apertura a diverse band, come Siouxsie & The Banshees, gli Ultravox di Midge Ure, e pubblicano il primo disco, nel 1979, Life In A Day, dalla stupenda copertina. Vivono in maniera turbinosa il passaggio dalla scarna dimensione del punk all'arrivo imperioso dell'elettronica e della new wave. Nello stesso anno, desiderosi di fare grandi cose, pubblicano Real To Real Cacophony, un disco che vira con violenza verso l'elettronica, con atmosfere quasi spettrali e in vena di sperimentazione. Le vendite scarseggiano, e l'Arista concede un ultimo tentativo: Empires And Dance nel 1980 è un interessante incrocio tra Krafwerk e Joy Division, con canzoni che hanno un potere magnetico come Celebrate, ma nemmeno stavolta arrivano vendite, nonostante la critica apprezzi tantissimo il disco. Si dividono dalla Arista e firmano con la Virgin, ed iniziano con il botto: originariamente infatti pubblicano un doppio album, composto da due album separati, che la casa discografica prontamente vende separatamente, Sons & Fascination e Sister Feelings Call (1981), con Steve Hillage dei Gong in produzione, sono il primo tentativo organico di dare forma alle ritmica mai banali, alla chitarra ieratica di Burchill e a indirizzare meglio la appassionata e versatile voce di Kerr. Finalmente le vendite arrivano e gli album sfiorano la Top Ten degli album più venduti. Ma c'è il primo abbandono: McGee se ne va, e per un certo periodo c'è una rotazione di batteristi finchè, dopo un lungo tour, viene ingaggiato il batterista Mel Gaynor, formidabile, che subito viene mandato in studio per registrare del nuovo materiale.

Ciò che ne viene fuori, abbassata la tensione personale e ritrovato un approccio più spirituale alla composizione, parole di Jim Kerr, è il tanto atteso capolavoro. In regia c'è un giovanissimo Peter Walsh, che a 21 anni aveva lavorato con gli Heaven 17 e a 22 aiuta la band scozzese a produrre un disco che nelle atmosfere generali è sofisticato, etereo ma ricco di vibrazioni intense, suonato benissimo e che ha canzoni meravigliose al suo interno. Il titolo viene in mente alla Band durante un tour in Australia, nel 1981, in cui il promoter oceanico chiedeva se volevano già preparare un tour nel 1983 e 1984: New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84). Il primo singolo è Promised You a Miracle, con il meraviglioso lavoro del basso di McNeil e il riff accattivante di Burchill, con un inaspettato ritmo funk, e con questa canzone debuttano persino in Tv nella storica trasmissione della BBC Top Of The Pops. Il disco ha canzoni che sono diventate famosissime: Someone Somewhere In Summertime, dall'atmosfera sognante e la ritmica innovativa, Glittering Prize che divenne una hit anche per il fantasioso video girato in uan camera tutta dipinta d'oro, canzone che come poche tra l'altro racconta la new wave degli anni '80 nelle sue tastiere a tappeto e nel beat elettronico. Del tocco elettronico dei primi dischi rimane solo Big Sleep, in una mutazione che trova però un perfetto equilibrio in musicalità e diventerà una sorta di pietra di paragone per qualche anno. C'è persino uno strumentale, Somebody Up There Likes You, nella meravigliosa Hunter And The Hunted c'è persino la leggenda del jazz Herbie Hancock a suonare un assolo al sintetizzatore, e New Gold Dreams (81-82-83-84) con il suo andare a salire diventerà una hit e un inno da stadio, anticipando il suono elettronico dei Depeche Mode. Il successo di critica e vendite è altissimo, tanto che la band sfrutta l'onda e pubblica nello stesso anno Sparkle In The Rain. Chiama a produrre uno dei nomi del momento, Steve Lillywhite, che aveva prodotto gli XTC e i primi tre dischi degli U2, per un suono più leggero ma che ha un alone di ruvidezza.

Nel 1985, Once Upon A Time diviene uno dei pochi dischi di grande successo più criticato dai fan. Il tutto perchè la band decide di fare una cover di Keith Forsey, Don't You (Forget About Me), che diviene una hit mondiale come colonna sonora del film Breakfast Club (canzone in primo momento rifiutata da Brian Ferry) e ritenuta troppo "pop commerciale". In tutta risposta, la Band è una delle colonne del Live Aid, con piena sorpresa di chi li aveva conosciuti come avanguardia nel 1980. Rimane tuttavia uno zoccolo duro di appassionati, tanto che hanno un record invidiabile di ben 21 singoli in classifica fino al 1998, anno in cui dedicheranno un disco a Napoli, Neapolis. I Simple Minds hanno avuto un percorso musicale del tutto particolare, e il loro ricordo è minore rispetto ad altri gruppi del periodo anche per scelte personali che li allontanarono dal pubblico (dopo Once Upon A Time, si presero una pausa di 4 anni per far uscire Street Fighting Years, che contiene due grandi inni della loro antologia, The Belfast Child e Mandela Day). Ancora oggi suonano, pubblicano canzoni e fanno concerti, probabilmente con poche nuove cosa da proporre, ma con una sfilza di canzoni inni che molti ancora ricordano, declamati tra l'altro con il meraviglioso accento di Glasgow di Kerr, che chiama propriamente la sua band Simple Mains.

[darkmaga-returns]

A major conclusion with respect to the JFK assassination is that it might have been done to ensure that Israel got nuclear weapons. Was Silkwood a victim of the same goal some eleven years later?

Sam Husseini

Nov 22, 2024

Ramy Abdu of Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, reports: “After arrest warrants for war criminals Netanyahu & Gallant, Israeli forces escalated mass killings of civilians in Gaza. At least 9 massacres were documented.”

That’s how Israel responds to legal action being taken against it, more lawless carnage. Here’s a bit of it:

What explains this level of impunity?

Today is the JFK assassination “anniversary” — my piece from last year on Israel and the Kennedy assassinations is below.

Part of what compelled me to write it was how raising Israel in connection to that seemed to be systematically avoided.

Well, it looks like there’s a similar pattern with Karen Silkwood, it was just the 50th “anniversary” of her death.

Robert Alvarez is a senior scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies and was senior policy adviser to the Energy Department's secretary and deputy assistant secretary for national security and the environment from 1993 to 1999.

He recently wrote “The death of Karen Silkwood—and the plutonium economy” for the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists: “On the evening of November 13, 1974—that is, 50 years ago—Karen Silkwood was driving to a meeting with a New York Times reporter and an official of the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers (OCAW) union. Her car flew off the road and hit a culvert on a lonely highway in western Oklahoma, killing her instantly. Karen was a union activist working as a technician at a plutonium fuel fabrication plant in Cimarron, Oklahoma owned by the Kerr-McGee Corp.

“Several days before her death, Silkwood’s apartment was purposefully contaminated with highly toxic plutonium—which she had no access to—from the nuclear plant where she worked. Because of her activism, the company had put her and her roommates under constant surveillance. Documents about problems at the plant that two witnesses had seen before Silkwood’s fateful drive were missing. An independent investigation found evidence that her car was run off the road—contradicting official conclusions.”

It’s an important, compelling article.

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

Expert explains evidence for planetary formation through gravitational instability

Exoplanets form in protoplanetary disks, a collection of space dust and gas orbiting a star. The leading theory of planetary formation, called core accretion, occurs when grains of dust in the disk collect and grow to form a planetary core, like a snowball rolling downhill. Once it has a strong enough gravitational pull, other material collapses around it to form the atmosphere.

A secondary theory of planetary formation is gravitational collapse. In this scenario, the disk itself becomes gravitationally unstable and collapses to form the planet, like snow being plowed into a pile. This process requires the disk to be massive, and until recently there were no known viable candidates to observe; previous research had detected the snow pile, but not what made it.

But in a new paper published today in Nature, MIT Kerr-McGee Career Development Professor Richard Teague and his colleagues report evidence that the movement of the gas surrounding the star AB Aurigae behaves as one would expect in a gravitationally unstable disk, matching numerical predictions.

Their finding is akin to detecting the snowplow that made the pile. This indicates that gravitational collapse is a viable method of planetary formation. Here, Teague, who studies the formation of planetary systems in MIT's Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences (EAPS), answers a few questions about the new work.

What made the AB Aurigae system a good candidate for observation?

There have been plenty of observations that have suggested some interesting dynamics going on in the system. Groups have seen spiral arms within the disk; people have found hot spots, which some groups have interpreted as a planet; others have explained it as some other instability. But it was really a disk and we knew there were lots of interesting motions going on. The data that we had previously was enough to see that it was interesting, but not really good enough to detail what was going on.

What is gravitational instability when it comes to protoplanetary disks?

Gravitational instabilities are where the gravity from the disk itself is strong enough to perturb motions within the disk. Usually, we assume that the gravitational potential is dominated by the central star, which is the case when the mass of the disk is less than 10% of the stellar mass (which is most of the time).

When the disk mass gets too large, gravitational potential will affect it in different ways and drive these very large spiral arms in the disk. These can have lots of different effects: They can trap the gas, they can heat it up, they can allow for angular momentum to be transported very rapidly within the disk.

If it's unstable, the disk can fragment and collapse directly to form a planet in an incredibly short period of time. Rather than the tens of thousands of years that it would take for a core accretion to happen, this would happen at a fraction of that time.

How does this discovery challenge conventional wisdom around planetary formation?

It shows that this alternative path of forming planets via direct collapse is a way that we can form planets. This is particularly important because we're finding more and more evidence of very large planets—say, Jupiter mass or larger—that are sitting very far away from their star.

Those sorts of planets are incredibly hard to form with core accretion, because you typically need them close to the star where things happen quickly. So to form something so massive, so far away from the star is a real challenge.

If we're able to show that there are sources that are massive enough that they're gravitationally unstable, this solves that problem. It's a way that perhaps newer systems can be formed, because they've always been a bit of a challenge to understand how they came about with core accretion.

IMAGE: Global spirals in the AB Aur disk. Credit: Nature (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07877-0

[forbiddenclarissaplanets]

Movie of the Day: Silkwood (1983)

This week’s movie of the day is Silkwood (1983), directed by Mike Nicholas and starring Cher, Meryl Streep, and Kurt Russell. Based on the true story of Karen Silkwood who was working at a nuclear facility in Kerr-McGee Cimarron Fuel Fabrication Site in Oklahoma. The facility made plutonium pellets and Karen was part of the team making them. She also became the first woman on their union’s…

[christinamac1]

Karen Silkwood and Kerr-McGee: A Reinvestigation

Silkwood was an outspoken advocate of both maintaining union representation and taking precautions to protect the workers from plutonium contamination caused by the company’s poor handling practices. Van De Steeg’s analysis is definitive proof that Silkwood never spiked her samples. Kerr-McGee argued that she did it to embarrass the company……… Van De Steeg testified that after Bill Silkwood…

[joelgsolis]

Innovating Beneath the Surface: Unlocking the Secrets of Oil Well Drilling

The relentless pursuit of oil, a vital resource that powers industries and vehicles worldwide, has led to the development of complex and sophisticated oil drilling technologies. From the rudimentary tools used in ancient civilizations to the high-tech rigs of today, the journey of oil well drilling is a narrative of innovation, engineering brilliance, and an unyielding quest for improvement. This article explores the transformative technologies and methodologies that have redefined oil well drilling, revealing the secrets behind the industry's ability to tap into the earth's most elusive natural reservoirs.

Ancient Beginnings: The Early Art of Oil Extraction

The quest for oil dates back to ancient times when early civilizations used surface seepages for waterproofing, medicinal purposes, and illumination. In China, as early as 347 AD, workers used bamboo poles to extract oil, a primitive yet ingenious method of the time. These early endeavors laid the groundwork for the development of more sophisticated drilling techniques.

The Dawn of Modern Drilling: Edwin Drake's Revolutionary Well

The modern era of oil drilling began in 1859 when Edwin L. Drake drilled the first successful oil well in Titusville, Pennsylvania. Utilizing a steam engine, Drake and his team managed to drill down to a depth of 69 feet, striking oil and setting the stage for the global oil rush. This groundbreaking event demonstrated the potential of drilling as a viable method for large-scale oil extraction and paved the way for rapid technological advancements.

The Rotary Revolution: A New Era in Drilling

The introduction of rotary drilling in the late 19th century marked a significant technological leap. The rotary drill, which uses a rotating drill bit to bore through the earth, allowed for deeper and faster drilling, making it possible to reach oil reservoirs that were previously inaccessible. This method became the foundation of modern oil exploration and is still widely used today with various enhancements.

Going Offshore: Conquering the Maritime Frontiers

As onshore oil wells began to deplete, the industry turned its sights to the oceans. In 1947, Kerr-McGee drilled the first offshore oil well out of sight of land in the Gulf of Mexico, opening up vast new territories for oil exploration. Offshore drilling presented unique challenges, such as deep-water operations and harsh environmental conditions, driving further innovations in drilling technology and platforms.

Hydraulic Fracturing and Horizontal Drilling: Game Changers

The late 20th century brought about two of the most significant advancements in oil drilling: hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling. Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, involves injecting high-pressure fluid into shale rocks to crack them and release oil and gas. When combined with horizontal drilling, which allows the drill to turn and extend horizontally, these technologies revolutionized the oil industry by making it possible to extract oil from previously unyieldable shale formations.

The Digital Oilfield: Harnessing Data for Enhanced Efficiency

Today, the integration of digital technologies into oil drilling operations is transforming the industry. The digital oilfield uses sensors, data analytics, and automation to optimize drilling processes, enhance safety, and minimize environmental impact. Real-time data monitoring allows for precise control over drilling operations, predictive maintenance, and better decision-making, leading to more efficient and cost-effective operations.

The Environmental Shift: Towards Cleaner Drilling Practices

As environmental concerns over fossil fuel extraction grow, the oil industry is under increasing pressure to develop cleaner and more sustainable drilling practices. Innovations such as reduced-flare technologies, advanced water recycling systems, and the use of non-toxic drilling fluids are making oil drilling less environmentally damaging. Additionally, efforts to improve the efficiency of oil wells help reduce the overall environmental footprint by extracting more oil with fewer wells.

Looking to the Future: The Next Frontier in Oil Drilling

The future of oil well drilling will likely involve a combination of further technological advancements and increased regulatory scrutiny. Innovations such as automated drilling robots, advanced seismic imaging techniques, and enhanced oil recovery methods using CO2 or microbes are on the horizon. Moreover, as the global energy landscape shifts towards renewable sources, the oil industry is exploring ways to integrate these technologies to reduce reliance on conventional oil reserves.

The secrets of oil well drilling have been progressively unlocked through centuries of innovation, driven by the dual demands of resource extraction and environmental stewardship. As the industry moves forward, it faces the challenge of adapting to the evolving energy needs of a changing world, promising a future where the secrets of the earth's depths continue to yield technological marvels.

[sunaleisocial]

3 Questions: Evidence for planetary formation through gravitational instability

New Post has been published on https://sunalei.org/news/3-questions-evidence-for-planetary-formation-through-gravitational-instability/

3 Questions: Evidence for planetary formation through gravitational instability

Exoplanets form in protoplanetary disks, a collection of space dust and gas orbiting a star. The leading theory of planetary formation, called core accretion, occurs when grains of dust in the disk collect and grow to form a planetary core, like a snowball rolling downhill. Once it has a strong enough gravitational pull, other material collapses around it to form the atmosphere.

A secondary theory of planetary formation is gravitational collapse. In this scenario, the disk itself becomes gravitationally unstable and collapses to form the planet, like snow being plowed into a pile. This process requires the disk to be massive, and until recently there were no known viable candidates to observe; previous research had detected the snow pile, but not what made it.

But in a new paper published today in Nature, MIT Kerr-McGee Career Development Professor Richard Teague and his colleagues report evidence that the movement of the gas surrounding the star AB Aurigae behaves as one would expect in a gravitationally unstable disk, matching numerical predictions. Their finding is akin to detecting the snowplow that made the pile. This indicates that gravitational collapse is a viable method of planetary formation. Here, Teague, who studies the formation of planetary systems in MIT’s Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences (EAPS), answers a few questions about the new work.

Q: What made the AB Aurigae system a good candidate for observation?

A: There have been plenty of observations that have suggested some interesting dynamics going on the system. Groups have seen spiral arms within the disk; people have found hot spots, which some groups have interpreted as a planet; others have explained as some other instability. But it was really a disk that we knew there was lots of interesting motions going on. The data that we had previously was enough to see that it was interesting, but not really good enough to detail what was going on.

Q: What is gravitational instability when it comes to protoplanetary disks?

A: Gravitational instabilities are where the gravity from the disk itself is strong enough to perturb motions within the disk. Usually, we assume that the gravitational potential is dominated by the central star, which is the case when the mass of the disk is less than 10 percent of the stellar mass (which is most of the time). When the disk mass gets too large, gravitational potential will affect it in different ways and drive these very large spiral arms in the disk. These can have lots of different effects: They can trap the gas, they can heat it up, they can allow for angular momentum to be transported very rapidly within the disk. If it’s unstable, the disk can fragment and collapse directly to form a planet in an incredibly short period of time. Rather than the tens of thousands of years that it would take for a core accretion to happen, this would happen at a fraction of that time.

Q: How does this discovery challenge conventional wisdom around planetary formation?

A: It shows that this alternative path of forming planets via direct collapse is a way that we can form planets. This is particularly important because we’re finding more and more evidence of very large planets — say, Jupiter mass or larger — that are sitting very far away from their star. Those sorts of planets are incredibly hard to form with core accretion, because you typically need them close to the star where things happen quickly. So to form something so massive, so far away from the star is a real challenge. If we’re able to show that there are sources that are massive enough that they’re gravitationally unstable, this solves that problem. It’s a way that perhaps newer systems can be formed, because they’ve always been a bit of a challenge to understand how they came about with core accretion.

[jcmarchi]

3 Questions: Evidence for planetary formation through gravitational instability

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/3-questions-evidence-for-planetary-formation-through-gravitational-instability/

3 Questions: Evidence for planetary formation through gravitational instability

Exoplanets form in protoplanetary disks, a collection of space dust and gas orbiting a star. The leading theory of planetary formation, called core accretion, occurs when grains of dust in the disk collect and grow to form a planetary core, like a snowball rolling downhill. Once it has a strong enough gravitational pull, other material collapses around it to form the atmosphere.

A secondary theory of planetary formation is gravitational collapse. In this scenario, the disk itself becomes gravitationally unstable and collapses to form the planet, like snow being plowed into a pile. This process requires the disk to be massive, and until recently there were no known viable candidates to observe; previous research had detected the snow pile, but not what made it.

But in a new paper published today in Nature, MIT Kerr-McGee Career Development Professor Richard Teague and his colleagues report evidence that the movement of the gas surrounding the star AB Aurigae behaves as one would expect in a gravitationally unstable disk, matching numerical predictions. Their finding is akin to detecting the snowplow that made the pile. This indicates that gravitational collapse is a viable method of planetary formation. Here, Teague, who studies the formation of planetary systems in MIT’s Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences (EAPS), answers a few questions about the new work.

Q: What made the AB Aurigae system a good candidate for observation?

A: There have been plenty of observations that have suggested some interesting dynamics going on the system. Groups have seen spiral arms within the disk; people have found hot spots, which some groups have interpreted as a planet; others have explained as some other instability. But it was really a disk that we knew there was lots of interesting motions going on. The data that we had previously was enough to see that it was interesting, but not really good enough to detail what was going on.

Q: What is gravitational instability when it comes to protoplanetary disks?

A: Gravitational instabilities are where the gravity from the disk itself is strong enough to perturb motions within the disk. Usually, we assume that the gravitational potential is dominated by the central star, which is the case when the mass of the disk is less than 10 percent of the stellar mass (which is most of the time). When the disk mass gets too large, gravitational potential will affect it in different ways and drive these very large spiral arms in the disk. These can have lots of different effects: They can trap the gas, they can heat it up, they can allow for angular momentum to be transported very rapidly within the disk. If it’s unstable, the disk can fragment and collapse directly to form a planet in an incredibly short period of time. Rather than the tens of thousands of years that it would take for a core accretion to happen, this would happen at a fraction of that time.

Q: How does this discovery challenge conventional wisdom around planetary formation?

A: It shows that this alternative path of forming planets via direct collapse is a way that we can form planets. This is particularly important because we’re finding more and more evidence of very large planets — say, Jupiter mass or larger — that are sitting very far away from their star. Those sorts of planets are incredibly hard to form with core accretion, because you typically need them close to the star where things happen quickly. So to form something so massive, so far away from the star is a real challenge. If we’re able to show that there are sources that are massive enough that they’re gravitationally unstable, this solves that problem. It’s a way that perhaps newer systems can be formed, because they’ve always been a bit of a challenge to understand how they came about with core accretion.

[whatilistenedtoatwork]

From May 27th to May 30th, 2024

27-05-2024

DOLLY PARTON “Coat Of Many Colors”; ROY BAILEY “Business As Usual”; IRON MAIDEN “A Matter Of Life And Death”; SEBADOH “The Freed Man”; THE CLASH “Black Market Clash”; BADLY DRAWN BOY “Have You Fed The Fish?”; AUTECHRE “Chiastic Slide”; MOTORHEAD “Ace Of Spades”; 'WEIRD AL' YANKOVIC “Off The Deep End”; JOE HENDERSON “Page One”; FAIRPORT CONVENTION “Full House”; INXS “Kick”; LITTLE RICHARD “Lifetime Friend”; KERO KERO BONITO “Time 'N' Place”

29-05-2024

FRANK SIDEBOTTOM “ABC & D”; ROY BAILEY “Never Leave A Story Unsung”; JANET JACKSON “Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814”; SHONEN KNIFE “Burning Farm”; UMPHREY'S McGEE “Hall Of Fame: Class Of 2011 – Set 1”; MARTIN GREEN & ELIZA CARTHY “Dinner”; LESTER FLATT & EARL SCRUGGS “You Can Feel It In Your Soul”; TEDDY WILSON & HIS ORCHESTRA “Teddy Wilson 1937-1938”

30-05-2024

THE BEATLES “With The Beatles”; SIMON & GARFUNKEL “Bridge Over Troubled Water”; SUZANNE VEGA “Songs In Red And Gray”; ROBYN HITCHCOCK “Groovy Decay”; ELIZA CARTHY & NANCY KERR “On Reflection”; ELLA FITZGERALD “Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Jerome Kern Song Book”; THE CARS “The Cars”; DAVID BOWIE “Aladdin Sane”; TIM BUCKLEY “Starsailor”; DAISY CHAINSAW “Eleventeen”; GENE “Olympian”; THE WEDDING PRESENT “The Old Trout, Windsor, 28-10-1993”; BROADCAST & THE FOCUS GROUP “Broadcast & The Focus Group Group Investigate Witch Cults Of The Radio Age”

[brittwallacerealestate]

Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: Kerr McGee DynaBuckle Belt Buckle.

[hmel78]

In conversation with Derek Forbes ...

Fans of ‘Simple Minds’, should need no introduction to Derek Forbes. From 1979 - 1985, he formed part of the creative force which drove ‘Simple Minds’ to the pinnacle of their music career and become one of the most successful bands ever to come out of Scotland.  His bass lines pushed ‘Simple Minds’ through the boundaries of their experimental post-punk / new wave early albums, to the dancefloor, and more importantly, the charts. In 1985, with the release of ‘The Breakfast Club’ film - which has become something of a cult classic - the single “Don’t You Forget About Me”, catapulted ‘Simple Minds’ into the Top 10 around the world. Around the same time, Forbes left the band ... his reasons for why have been speculated on for decades, and with the recent release of his autobiography ‘A Very Simple Mind’, curious minds may finally find out what happened on that fateful day. Many folks are of the opinion that, with Forbes departure, the band lost it’s sound and became just another pop band, striving to make records and money on relentless tours, without much music of substance. That’s not in any way a criticism of the musicians hired by the band to carry the work forward, but for many fans of ‘Simple Minds’ early work, the new stuff has just never come close.

I caught up for chat with Derek when he was releasing the ‘ZANTI’ album “Broken Hearted City” back in 2018, but hadn’t published it until today! [18.02.2024] HR : We’ve known each other forever, but this is the first time you’ve allowed me to interrogate you.

DF : Aye, and don’t think you’re getting anything exclusive, you know I’m writing a book!

HR : I’ve a wealth of exclusives I could publish already ...

DF : [Laughs] You wouldn’t dare. That look says you would.

HR :  I’ll play it safe today!

DF: Keep in printable ..........

HR : How did you get the gig with ‘Simple Minds’?

DF : I had met Jim Kerr when he was around 15. He came to a gig I was doing at Langside College in Glasgow, when I was a Lead Guitarist. We met again in 1977 at the Mars Bar in Glasgow, where I was playing bass guitar with ‘the Subs’ (Subhumans). Jim was a regular at our gigs, he wanted me to join his band, 'Simple Minds'. Jim and Charlie asked me to stand in on bass, after original bass player Tony Donald left, after one gig. My school pal Duncan Barnwell, who played lead guitar along with Charlie, in 'Simple Minds', was instrumental in my joining Simple Minds. I went for an audition with the Rezillos, and a good looking dude got the job, even though Jo Callis had voted for me to join. I was still playing weekends with Simple Minds at that time. They asked me to join full time again, but I said I wanted to get back to playing lead guitar, because that is what I was , a lead guitar player. One night in Glasgow, I turned up at ‘the Subs’ rehearsal room to find that my Gibson Les Paul guitar had been stolen, so I said “fuck it”, and told 'Simple Minds' I was in! I found out later, (2018), that it was Russell Barrie who nicked my guitar, and without whom, I would never have joined ‘Simple Minds’, and they would have been average.

HR : That’s not the most expensive guitar in the world is it? Remember that?

DF : No! That was the blue bass. [Laughs] Wikipedia ... that was funny.

HR : I know things have been tense between you and JK for a while, but what was the camaraderie like in the early days?

DF : It was all fun, although very serious when it came to recordings and song writing. Generally it was immense fun, always laughing and joking, with many a hilarious story to tell. Wind ups galore. We were five young men, who were just about to embark on a meteoric rise to fame. It was a magical time.

Simple Minds circa 1979 : L-R Derek Forbes, Jim Kerr, Mick MacNeil, Charlie Burchill, Brian McGee

HR : How did you work as a creative unit?

DF : Very simply, (forgive the pun, what pun?) The chemistry between the five of us has never been equalled in later formations. The first five albums were the most intensely creative in the bands history , numbers 4/5 Sons and Sisters, had us churning out songs and ideas with such ease, that we couldn’t decide what to leave out, hence the ‘double ‘ album. Which became two separate albums, ‘Sons and Fascination’ and ‘Sister Feelings Call’.

HR : When the bands original drummer Brian McGee left the band, the sound of the albums seemed to change - was that just coincidence?

DF : No! We were so used to ‘Irish Face’ Brian McGee, being there at the back, and it was a real blow to us. This period was the start of the demise of the chemistry. Brian brought a lot to the table, and with the original five guys, we were one of the coolest bands around. Gigs were always sold out. Later, in the following couple of years, we were to hold the record of 10 sold out nights in a row, at Hammersmith Odeon (now the Apollo).

HR : There’s a distinct difference in style between ‘Sons and Fascination’ / ‘Sister Feelings Call’, and ‘New Gold Dream’ - what prompted that?

DF : I think it was going from one Producer to another, both with their own individual ideas of how the songs should be presented. Steve Hillage was incredible to work with. The fact that Steve was an astounding musician, and a guitar hero to boot, gave us the freedom to express our selves. It was anarchy, as both Steve and ourselves had no one to tell us when to stop! But, what a collection of songs we were left with. Steve got rushed to hospital one day, with a suspected heart attack.. but he was back the next day, and got straight back into the job. 

HR : Knowing Steve, it was probably a bowl of stew he’d eaten!

DF : [Laughs] kin’ell, aye! Was it you who told me about that?

HR : Probably - the Deeply Vale collective mind altering incident ...

‘New Gold Dream’ was written by Forbes, Kerr, Burchill and MacNeil, with no mention of a drummer - what happened there?

There were three drummers on NGD. Firstly, there was Kenny Hyslop, (nickname John), on ‘Promised You A Miracle’. It was Kenny who came up with the idea. He used to listen to lots of radio stations whilst on Tour. ‘Promised You A Miracle’ came about from a track Kenny had taped in New York, which he had heard on a black radio station. I wrote a similar bass line to the song, and Mick MacNeil and Charlie Burchill chipped in with their parts. Kenny played the drum parts, and we had the music. Kerr then took the music away and wrote lyrics and melody (what melody?) to it.. hence our first big hit, and, at last, our first appearance on ‘Top of the Pops’!

Drummer number two on NGD, was Mike Ogletree, (nickname Velcro Heid). Mike was the drummer with ‘Café Jacques’, a Scottish band who were managed by Bruce Findlay, (Simple Minds Manager). I saw ‘Café Jacques’ on the ‘Old Grey Whistle Test’ around 1975/6, (I think), so I was familiar with Mike’s work. Mike’s cymbal work is fantastic on NGD album, and it’s probably the best on any of our albums. As time went on Mike got a bit overwhelmed with the bands ever shining star, becoming brighter by the second. We toured the World with Mike on drums, but it was clear that the job wasn’t for him. Take a step back to the recording of New Gold Dream album. Our Producer, Pete Walsh, had noticed that Mike was struggling with some of the parts, and put it to Mike and the rest of us, that we should bring in a session drummer, to complete the tracks. Step forward Mr Mel Gaynor. Mel finished the album for us, and at one point, both Mike and Mel played together in the Studio, each on a drum kit of their own. I was in the room with them, and we all played together .. the song? ‘New Gold Dream’.

Simple Minds circa 1985 : L-R Mick MacNeil, Derek Forbes, Jim Kerr, Charlie Burchill, Mel Gaynor

HR : I love the keyboard on ‘Hunter And The Hunted’, but that wasn’t Mick was it?

DF : No - that’s Herbie Hancock! He was working in the studio next door, and I asked him what he thought was missing from the track and he laid that down in one take.

HR : By the time NGD was released, your touring schedule was pretty rigorous - what are your best memories of touring? What was your favourite leg?

DF : Probably my right leg ... I love kickin’. I like meeting people, and travelling through lots of countries, so, all through the years, and albums , there have been many adventures. Too many to talk about.

HR : ‘Sparkle In The Rain’ followed fast on the heels of NGD-  it had a different edge altogether, harder somehow, and it charted at number 1 in the UK - how did that feel? 

DF : It rained the first night.  It was the start of one of the best years with Simple Minds. America, then Australia with Talking Heads, Pretenders and Eurythmics, and back to America with the Pretenders, followed by Japan with the Pretenders , then out to Europe, before going to Barwell Court, home of John Giblin, to write the new album.

HR : Despite touring in North America “Sparkle ..” only charted at number 64 in the USA charts.

DF : Aye, but whilst we were there we were offered the chance to record ‘Don’t You Forget About Me’, which Jim was not keen on doing. We decided that I would sing it, if Jim didn’t, but I managed to convince Jim to do it, and the rest is history..

HR : Did that success change the relationship of the band?

DF : It made the greedy brothers more greedy. Money seemed to be an issue. It was simpler in the past. When we had no money, we were more interested in the Art... money changes people.

HR : Within months of DYFAM giving Simple Minds the global success the band deserved, you’d ended up parting ways.  There’s always been a lot of speculation about why that was - do you want to give us your side of the story?

Not now, no. You know it already, and Jim’s side.

HR : You’d better put it in the fucking book then! We’ve talked round it a lot over the years, but I know it’s a painful memory ... DF : It was like losing my family in a plane crash. I was on my own.

HR : But you managed to land on your feet again not long afterwards, right? I had to spring back into action, so I recruited my friends, Geordie Walker from ‘Killing Joke’, Billy Currie from ‘Ultravox’, Ray McVeigh from ‘the Professionals’, and Ray Weston who has played with that many people, you had best Google him. We went into Richard Branson’s barge Studios in London, and laid down some tracks. Virgin weren’t interested, so I was now truly free. I got the call from my Simple Minds Manager, Bruce Findlay, and he told me that ‘Propaganda’, the German band from Düsseldorf, were looking for a bass player for some Shows in London. The shows were at the Ambassadors Theatre in London’s West End. It was billed as ‘ZTT The Value of Entertainment ‘. We played there, every night, for two weeks. The only band missing from ZTT’s roster was ‘Frankie Goes to Hollywood’. The bands who did play were, ‘The Art Of Noise’, ‘Propaganda’, ‘Instinct’, ‘Andrew Poppy’ and ‘Anne Pigalle’.

‘Propaganda’ were Claudia Brücken, Susanne Freytag, Michael Mertens and Ralf Dörper (who didn’t play the shows), myself on bass, and the wonderful Steve Jansen (Japan) on drums.

HR : I know you’re going to frown at me for asking this ; You’re not credited on “Once Upon A Time”, but you did co-write some of the tracks ...

DF : Yes I did. We even did ‘Ghost Dancing’ at the Barrowland while I was still in the band. I didn’t write ‘Alive and Kicking’, which is one of the few tracks that I rate , after my departure. Charlie worked really hard to get me back in the band, and I had a meeting with the band at their Studios at Lochearnhead, Scotland. Jim played me the new album ‘Street Fighting Years’, and I thought it was poor. I left to mull over their offer, which was, even by today’s standards, very agreeable.  I was working with ‘Propaganda’ in Abbey Road Studios at the time, and Charlie called to see if I had made up my mind, which I had. My answer was NO.

HR : Just going back to your earlier answer  - Brian McGee ended up joining Propaganda - how did that come about and  what was it like to work with him on something different?

DF : Going back in time to not long after playing in London with Steve Jansen and ‘Propaganda’, we did one last TV Show called ‘Bliss’, in Carlisle , and that was to be Steve’s last gig with us. One night, at my farm in Kilmacolm, Brian McGee turned up for a peace pipe of three, and I asked him what he was up to musically. He had just left the band ‘Endgames’ and was at a loose end, whose end, I don’t know. I asked if he would be interested in playing with ‘Propaganda’, and he said yes. I immediately called Michael Mertens in Düsseldorf, and he said ok, if you think he is the right man, then he is in. It was as if someone had turned on the fun button. We had the Germans in stitches. We went to London to rehearse for the World Tour. We had recruited Kevin Armstrong on guitar. Kevin said to me one day, after rehearsals, “I am going to meet Bowie and Jagger at 4am in Soho”, but he didn’t tell me why. It turned out Kevin had been asked to be musical director for the Bowie / Jagger performance of ‘Dancing in the Street’... if you know Kevin, then you know his history. He played in David Bowie’s band for years, at ‘Live Aid’ and even through ‘Tin Machine’ and beyond. Most recently he is with Iggy Pop and has had stints with Sandie Shaw and Thomas Dolby, to name a few... the mans a legend and a thoroughly nice bloke.

HR : “1234” is a stunning album, what are your memories of recording that?

Two years with the wrong Producers. During that album, I met my future wife, got married, had our first son, and moved house twice, and the album still wasn’t finished. I loved working with all the different musicians who guested on the album, from writing with Howard Jones, and having Greg Hawkes from ‘The Cars’ play keys on one song, and the top of the tops, was having Dave Gilmour of ‘Pink Floyd’ play a solo on one of my tracks, at Abbey Road, where we were  to work for six months, after working in Bath for a year. The album took 2 years to record and mix, and if you include the 2 year sabbatical before we signed to Virgin Records, when Claudia left and they fought to be released from ZTT.. then you are looking at an album where a lot of the songs had been written for four years, before the finished album came out. Nightmare! The musical landscape had changed dramatically by the time ‘1234’ was released.

Feat. David Gilmour

HR : You rejoined Simple Minds for the “Neapolis” album and subsequent tour in 1998 - but that reunion was short lived , how come?

DF : Have you heard the album??? I told Jim and Charlie that if I was to write a bass line for any of the songs, then I would be wanting a writing credit. Jim said “no, we don’t work like that anymore” it would just be a session in there eyes. I said “ok, you tell me what to play then!” For the most part I redid Charlie’s attempt at bass playing. ‘Glitterball’ was just strumming big, fat bass chords. The track in my head, was quickly renamed ‘Shitterball’. If you watch the ‘Live’ shows with me, then the bass obviously stands out, and I tried my best to make it more Minds like ... the VH-1 Show is probably the best for comparison to the finished album ... the show was miles better. I had fans coming up to me, and saying they didn’t like the album ...

HR : That’s very diplomatic of you - personally I thought the album was awful and I’d have been a bit embarrassed to have been a part of it, but that’s just me ...

DF : [Laughs] Sounds about right

SM 1997 : L-R Charlie Burchill, Derek Forbes, Jim Kerr, Mel Gaynor

HR : You ended up recording and touring with Big Country for a while  -  did you know Stu and the guys in their early days?

Yes. I knew Stuart from way back in 1977, before ‘Simple Minds’ existed. I was great friends with Richard Jobson. We would go out clubbing in Glasgow, and he would stay at my house, or flat sometimes. Once he said to my mother..”I’ll put you in touch with a good hairdresser “, and her reaction was hilarious.. she was small but very feisty, my mother. Once ‘the Skids’ were big, we, ‘Simple Minds’, would meet up in pubs, usually in London, with the whole band. Stuart was funny, but usually quite quiet, and shy. Jobson had moved to London. He stayed with my long long time friend Ray McVeigh, in De Vere Gardens , Kensington, and it was he who introduced me to Ray. After Bill left ‘Skids’, Richard asked me to join them, but I saw the bigger picture with ‘Simple Minds’. Later on Stuart Adamson told me, that he wanted me to play bass on the brand new band ‘Big Country’, but he was too shy to ask me... 

HR : I didn’t realise that - strange that it came around eventually then. Was there a sense of pride when you were asked to step into the bass boots for them?

DF : Not really!  I love Tony’s work, and I think the feeling is mutual.

HR : The album “The Journey” was the first one that Bruce Watson had recorded since Stu passed away - it had Mike Peters at the helm - do you think Stu would have been proud of it? 

Not really! It was easy to spot who the real writer was. Without Stuart it wasn’t like ‘Big Country’ really, although I thought it was a great album. ‘The Journey’ album had Jamie Watson and I in the Studio during the week, recording and writing parts, whilst Bruce was working at the Naval Dockyard in Rosyth, and only appeared at weekends . Mike Peters hardly showed up, and he only lived about Forty minutes from the studio, and Mark Brzezicki would be off playing with ‘From the Jam’, and getting to the Studio when he could.

The mainstays were Andrea ‘Ando’ Wright (Producer/Engineer), Myself and Jamie ... we were the inbetweeners, whereas the rest were the weekenders. It was a fun time though..

You did all the artwork for that didn’t you?

HR : [Laughs] Controversially, Yeah, and the record store day stuff. I didn’t take the photos though, I’m not being blamed for those. I still laugh about the ‘new shirt’ that nobody could see the pattern on ...

DF : [Laughs]

Big Country circa 2013 : L-R Bruce Watson, Jamie Watson, Mike Peters, Derek Forbes, Mark Brzezicki

HR : On a personal creative front - you released your debut solo album “ECHOES”, which features a number of reworkings of Simple Minds songs.  You played all the instruments on that -  was it cathartic in a way? A reward for putting a completely personal spin on the compositions?

DF : I am not Cathartic, I am Presbyterian!

It was a mistake that went right. I was booked in the Studio to record an acoustic album of ‘Simple Minds’ songs. I was supposed to do it with Simon Hough of ‘Big Country’, but he had an important gig that had just came in, and had to cancel. I called Andrea, my friend and astounding Engineer, and told her that Simon couldn’t make it. She suggested that I do it on my own, and to bring every instrument; effect pedals, bells, whistles, cuddly toy, and a few Aleister Crowley books ... because we were going to need some Magick ...

HR : Did you put on a big pointy hat and all that?

DF : I did, and I played, sang and drummed everything on my own.. it was a fantastic experience ... I mentioned the fact that it was meant to be an acoustic album on social media and radio, and all of a sudden, ‘Simple Minds’ announced that they were doing an acoustic album and tour... [Laughs] I wonder where they got that idea?  A similar thing happened when XSM were doing so well playing all the old songs accurately, to critical acclaim .. then suddenly out of nowhere the 5x5 Tour was announced.. funny that

HR :  XSM. That brings back memories. The Academy tour we did was funny, apart from your sulking. One day I’ll write my own book!

DF : Do that.

HR : You were part of another project recently with Anni Hogan, under the name of ‘ZANTi’ -  I must say that the album is absolutely epic! How did your relationship with Anni come about? 

DF : Anni and I met fleetingly, years ago, and I was looking for a keyboard player to write with. Andrea ‘Ando’ Wright, mentioned Anni, and I recalled meeting her at a Sci-fi  convention, that by sheer chance, I had wandered into..so Ando called her, to see if she was up for it.   It turns out that Anni was a huge admirer of early ‘Simple Minds’, and agreed to meet up with me. We met in Liverpool, and later we booked Parr Street Studios, after sending each other snippets of songs and ideas. We got together in the Studio, and finished the songs there, writing like demons.. it was like meeting your song writing soul mate. We just clicked, and we wrote and produced our first album as ‘ZANTi’ on Downwards Records - available in all the usual formats - it’s called ‘Broken Hearted City’.

HR : Your vocals on the album are something else. What has it been like to work on material that is a complete departure from anything you’ve recorded before?

DF : A dream within a dream. 

HR : And will there be more?

DF : You can count on it.

STILL WAITING ..........

Look out for Derek on the road with his current band “Derek Forbes & The Dark”; and be sure to grab yourself a copy of his autobiography “A Very Simple Mind”

[memorableconcerts]

Simple Minds, grupo de Rock New Wave oriundo de Glasgow, Escócia. Após a extinção da banda punk Johnny and the Self Abusers, seus ex-integrantes resolveram apostar em outra sonoridade, formando assim o embrião do Simple Minds, que oficialmente foi criado no mesmo ano de 1978 por Jim Kerr, Charlie Burchill nas guitarras, Tony Donald no baixo e Brian McGee na bateria. A eles se juntaram um segundo guitarrista, Duncan Barnwell, e o tecladista Micheal McNeil. Com esta formação o grupo faz a sua primeira apresentação ao vivo, abrindo dois shows no "Glasgow´s Satellite Club". Logo depois Donald se desentendeu com o grupo e deixou a banda, para o seu lugar entrou Derek Forbes. Já com o novo baixista o grupo passou o ano tocando em vários cidades da Escócia e abriu a apresentação do Generation X em Edimburgo. Faixas reputadíssimas como "Promised", "Glittering Prize", "Alive and Kicking", "Sanctify Yourself", "All the Things She Said", "Ghostdancing" e "Someone Somewhere in Summertime", e seu maior sucesso: ´´Don`t You Forget About Me``, fazem do Simple Minds uma das mais populares bandas de Rock, sendo convidada para participar de alguns grandes festivais pela Europa. É mais um grupo dos anos 80 que ainda nos anos 2000 está ativo.