The King is Dead… Long Live The King!

Michael Jackson was always destined to become a legend, and now he can properly begin that process.

Traditionally, pop stars have struggled to grow old gracefully. Marilyn Monroe, Kurt Cobain, Buddy Holly et al all figured out that if you die young, leave a good-looking corpse and, most importantly, don’t go a bit mental and start dangling babies out of first floor windows, you’ll find it a lot easier to live an unblemished eternity in the hearts of millions when you die.

Not so for poor old Michael who, to use a Presleyan analogy, suffered a harrowingly public “big fat burgers on a toilet seat” phase. However, now that he is gone, fans can mourn his death, the media can start pretending that they never slagged him off whilst he was alive and the King Of Pop can pass happily into legend, where he belongs.

Shamon people.

There’ll never be another Michael.

RIP Michael Jackson, 1958 – 2009

Tickets on sale for Lightyears in Spring City USA

Tickets are now on sale for our show at Chaplin’s in Spring City, USA, on Friday 31 July. Buy yours now by clicking here.

This year’s whirlwind US tour will be taking us to three states – New York City, New Jersey and Pennsylvania – over a jam-packed week that is in danger of ripping a massive hole in the rock-time continuum.

Chaplin’s Music Cafe in Spring City, just outside Phoenixville, is famous for hosting the man himself, Mr Charlie Chaplin, as part of a travelling revue back in 1916. Little did he know that his big-trousered antics would later manifest themselves in popular youth culture in the guise of MC Hammer. Had he known, would he have continued? Would he have simply worn smaller trousers? We simply can’t say.

If you’re a New Yorker, you can catch us for free on Thursday 30 July headlining Union Square’s “Music In The Square” summer season. Fans in Philly can also catch us at Milkboy Coffee on Saturday 1 August and Burlington Amphitheatre on Sunday 2 August.

For full details, click here to visit the gigs page.

As for you Londoners, don’t forget we’re playing The Troubadour on Friday 24 July. Demand for tickets has been high and it’s advisable to buy in advance to avoid disappointment. Click here to buy yours.

Anybody who comes to the gigs in both London and New York (bear in mind that they’re within the same week) gets five free copies of our album, a signed poster and a big kiss.*

*Tony, that doesn’t include you.

The Things We Do For The Queen

When asked to perform an a cappella, barbershop-inspired medley of classic British seaside songs, most indie-rock bands would respond in the following manner: “Are you crazy? Of course not. We are enigmatic, sexual beings. We are totemic idols for the baying masses. We want to be revered the world over for our raw, lithe magnetism. Never would we jeopardise the integrity of our reputation with such foolish and trivial japery.”  

The Lightyears, on the other hand, responded something like this: “YIPPEEEEEE!”

And so it was that, two weeks ago in Seoul, South Korea, we found ourselves performing barbershop versions of “Summer Holiday”, “Beautiful Briny Sea” and “I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside” in front of the British Ambassador and over 500 esteemed guests at The Queen’s Birthday Ball dressed in red and white striped blazers, bow ties and boaters. It was quite a spectacle. Expect it to turn up on YouTube sometime in the coming weeks and possibly threaten our entire future in the fickle arena of rock and roll.

Mind you, Chris Martin once said said that “Rock and roll is doing what you want” – and we certainly wanted to do this. It wasn’t easy, but not even the constant threat of nuclear armageddon could throw us off our course. 

Funnily enough, when we arrived home we discovered that, as is so often his habit, Ben Folds had beaten us to it on this occasion. His recent release, entitled “University A Cappella”, features many of his best-loved songs performed live by college a cappella troupes. Very interesting stuff, especially if you’re already a BF fan. Read about it here. 

And as for us, prancing about in foreign countries dressed up like a cross between Dick Van Dyke and a stick of rock, well, on that matter I have but one thing left to say… Integrity? Schmintegrity.

Sometimes you’ve just got to slap on a candy-striped boater and make like it’s 1924.