Dave Wilson

Wilson began playing guitar at the age of 15 and by 1974 was performing professionally. He studied at Humberside College for a degree in Food Science and Microbiology, later teaching food hygiene/microbiology. He continued to play guitar and, influenced by contemporary electric blues players, he formed his own blues-based band, the Mighty Houserockers in 1981. Wilson developed a good local following in the Midlands region and over subsequent years played at numerous UK and European blues festivals, including Colne, Luxembourg, Cork, Geithoorn and Oudenaarde…

Granted, their success was nominal in the States and they fared significantly better throughout Europe, but Dave "Dee" Harman (guitar/vocals), Trevor "Dozy" Davies (bass), John "Beaky" Diamond (rhythm guitar), Michael "Mick" Wilson (drums), and Ian "Tich" Amey (lead guitar) were a highly underrated instrumentally self-contained unit with a penchant for aggressive pop leanings that remained buoyant and catchy, while simultaneously flirting with the subterranean freakbeat and mod scenes as well. That distinction can be heard between the pulsating rhythms of "Hold Tight," "No More Love," and "We Got a Good Thing Goin'" - recalling the unmistakable backbeat of the Dave Clark Five. This is especially true of the opener, the self-parodying "DDD-BMT," which is not a synthetic drug reference, but rather the group's initials and is instantly comparable to the Monkees' "(Theme From) The Monkees," which commenced their pre-fab debut LP…

Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich followed up their self-titled debut LP with the tongue-in-cheek If Music Be the Food of Love…Then Prepare for Indigestion (1968). The quintet of Dave "Dee" Harman (guitar/vocals), Trevor "Dozy" Davies (bass), John "Beaky" Diamond (rhythm guitar), Michael "Mick" Wilson (drums), and Ian "Tich" Amey (lead guitar) return with another batch of strong Brit-pop compositions, including a pair of their most prolific sides, "Bend It" and "Hideaway." While all but unknown stateside, the combo became hugely popular throughout Europe - which may well account for the distinctly conspicuous Mediterranean flavor on the former. Their left-of-center sense of humor surfaces on the Noel Coward-esque potty platter "Loos of England"…

Steven Wilson's 4½ is a six-track (+ bonus track for Japan) stopgap mini album between 2015's Hand. Cannot. Erase. and whatever full-length comes next. Four tunes have origins in the previous album's sessions; another dates back to those from 2013's The Raven That Refused to Sing and Other Stories. There is also a re-recording of "Don't Hate Me" that first appeared on Porcupine Tree's 1998 offering, Stupid Dream. The players are by now familiar: Wilson's current working band comprises Guthrie Govan, Adam Holzman, Nick Beggs, Dave Kilminster, Craig Blundell, Marco Minnemann, Chad Wackerman, and Theo Travis. Opener "My Book of Regrets" is a nine-plus-minute exercise that commences with a seductive pop melody, and offers a hooky chorus and syncopated dynamics. It evolves into spiraling prog rock courtesy of Beggs' front-line Chris Squire-esque bassline, fueling Govan and Wilson's spiky…