Introduction to The Long Play Project

The new LP. What do albums reveal about how musicians grow?

“The Long Play Project is a narrative non-fiction publication exploring what changes in musicians when they outgrow their own methods.

Why do some musicians continue to grow long after the world expected them to stop?

What happens when musicians find themselves confronting problems they don’t yet know how to solve?

Where are the stories hidden in the music?

Through ambitious albums, abandoned projects, and unlikely masterpieces, I investigate what happens when artists move beyond their comfort zone. The records matter, but so do the questions behind them. How does mastery develop? What does failure teach us? Why do some artists evolve while others repeat?”

These are the opening paragraphs of my new Substack About page. That’s the direction of travel for LP. Or, as it’s now formally known, The Long Play Project.

Come back to 1976 with me.

I applied to the NME to become a music journalist. For some weird reason they hired Tony Parsons and Julie Birchill instead. In the absence of anything remotely ‘online’ existing, it would have to be a proper job for me when I left college.

We’ll skip over the years in admin jobs I was terrible at, and fast forward to the time between 1980 - 2020, lecturing in colleges and universities. I was better at that, but let’s not get stuck there. Fast forward to 2023.

Now ‘retired’ from that career in teaching and learning, and benefiting from the invention of the internet, the doors opened wide. I could write about music and show the NME what they missed. Well, in theory anyway.

But did I have anything to say?

There was only one way to find out. I posted my first piece on Substack in September 2023, not really expecting anyone to read it.

They did read, and continue to do so. Thank you. Seasoned writers from MusicStack (I wasn’t aware any such subset existed) welcomed, supported, and collaborated with me.

I didn’t really have a plan, other than to write about complete albums. Taking in the whole creation is important. And so it’s been, mostly on, sometimes off, since then. I love music more than ever as a result, finding great records via some brilliant MusicStackers.

To get you in the mood, the new Atmos version of Peter Gabriel’s ‘Don’t Give Up’, via Apple Music.

And yet. For a while I’ve had a nagging feeling this whole publication could be more. Not more words, or more playlists, or more posts, but more coherent. My first book (which came about because I’m here) held a clue.

When I look back at my writing across the past couple of years, I notice themes. As someone who has never had the chops to play an instrument or write a song, I’m fascinated by those who have learned to craft a new piece of music.

And so here’s The Long Play Project, where I explore what musicians learn when they outgrow their own method. I might be retired from the world of education but I’m still fascinated by the process of learning. In this project, I weld together my twin obsessions of learning and music.

The book I mentioned, Pete Townshend’s Lifehouse, began as a straightforward account of the concept, intended to be The Who’s follow-up to Tommy. The book changed during the writing. It offers clues as to where I’m going next, while only scratching the surface of this Project (it’s worth reading to discover more about Who’s Next and Lifehouse).

Albums are at the heart of the Project. If albums are what you came here for originally, you’ll still find plenty of writing about them.

To specifics.

The Long Play Project has a monthly rhythm, which begins to beat on Sunday 14 June (full details of each element are in the About page).

The beats of the first four weeks are:

14 June: The Long Play Project Essay - Peter Gabriel, So. Was this when Gabriel learned to embrace commercial success?
21 June: LP Select #073 - So’s influences, alternative and cover versions, with a listening guide for paid subscribers.
28 June: The Long Play Project Essay - King Crimson, Lark’s Tongues in Aspic. There’s plenty to learn from ROBERT FRIPP’s approach to teaching and learning, srt out in his own Substack. How did he apply his process, so far, to the 1973 Crimson album?
5 July: The Long Play Project Audio - further thoughts and reflections on Lark’s Tongues, for paid subscribers.

… and then the cycle repeats. Because life happens while we’re busy making other plans, forgive me if I’m ever a day or two late. I hope not, but … stuff.

Each essay is complete in itself, and will focus on one or two aspects of the album’s creation. Each record is my jumping off point for a wider discussion on how musicians push their own boundaries, grow, and are continually learning. Clearly, it’s not only musicians who do that, so there’s a subtext here. But the prime directive will always be the music.

My aim remains to inspire you to listen - again, or for the first time. I may return to the same album several times in the course of the Project, circling around, asking a different question each time, which perhaps gives rise to further questions and further learning …

This Project is a long-term venture, including separate publications as part of my LP Editions imprint, and I have early plans for expanding the audio elements, too. Stay tuned.

When you simply want to read an essay about an album you like, or listen to an hour of music without pondering the bigger questions, you’ll be able to do that here, too.

I hope you’ll engage with this. It’s early days. I’m excited to discover the destination of the path, and the twists and turns it wants to make along the way. Let’s all learn something and, most of all - rock on.

See you next Sunday.

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