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THE BLOG BY SUZY STARLITE & SIMON CAMPBELL

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  • Home
  • VIBES
  • Music
  • Hire me
    • TUITION AND COACHING
    • Production, mixing and session work
    • REVIEWS
  • Gallery
    • VIDEO
    • GEAR GEEKERY
    • STARLITE CAMPBELL BAND
    • '70s
    • '80s
    • '90s
    • '10s - Now
  • Equipment
    • Electric guitars
    • Acoustic Instruments
    • Amplifiers & speakers
    • Microphones & DI boxes
    • Cables, Pedals & FX
    • Synthesisers & electronic wizardry
  • About
    • Interviews
  • Contact
    • MASTODON

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VIBES: The blog of Suzy Starlite and Simon Campbell

VIBES is the blog of Suzy Starlite and Simon Campbell.   

It is brought to you via the wonderful Substack, home of free thinkers, authors and journalists and is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

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Feb 5 2023

David Crosby: the early years

Have you ever experienced the feeling that the world will never be quite the same again when one of your favourite musicians shuffles off this mortal coil?

Everything feels a little strange, you feel a sense of loss and a…

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Jan 27 2023

My journey with Fylde Guitars

Roger Bucknall, two new guitars and myself

When people from England hear the word Fylde, they associate it with Blackpool, its tower, beach, kiss me quick hats or perhaps Fleetwood, Fishermen’s Friends and Lytham St Annes.

Mention it to guitar…

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Jan 20 2023

A tale of three rings!

The following is a tale of three rings: one lost, one found and one I never had.

The wedding ring

I’ve been thinking about wedding rings recently as I don’t have one. I did, but then I lost it.

Well…

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Jan 13 2023

Jeff Beck

There are many guitar players that have influenced me over the years. The quartet of Beck, Page, Clapton and Green always spring to mind first. These are all legends of the British blues explosion and ones who spearheaded the British…

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Jan 11 2023

The end of Big Tech

Yesterday was my birthday. I am 65.

When I was growing up, 65 was the sunset of one’s career and the onset of blissful retirement. Nowadays people are living longer and coupled with a declining birth rate, there are fewer…

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Jul 1 2022

No Treble Magazine

It's an absolute honour to be featured in this month’s ‘Wonder Women’ series in 'No Treble' online magazine in the USA.

It’s the second time I’ve had to really dig deep about my life, music and the bass for a…

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Jul 7 2021

Big Pink Vauxhall Viva's and The Language of Curiosity!

If ever I’m asked for any words of advice when it comes to starting a new job, a new course or in fact anything new, I aspire to live by this simple mantra: be authentic, be yourself and… be curious.

…

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Apr 16 2021

My father's drill

My father taught me everything about DIY. 

The first experience I can remember was changing a tyre on the drive of our family home on Countess Lane in Radcliffe. I can’t recall the car, possibly a Triumph 2000, but do…

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Feb 20 2021

Music from the big pink in Portugal

The modern recording studio (for this purpose say from the late ‘60s) can be a very strange environment. Many are pretty cold and sterile, not just the decor but also the ‘sound’ of the recording space. Dead and lifeless acoustics…

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Feb 14 2021

Rupert Neve

Earlier today I learned that Rupert had sadly passed away.

He leaves behind a huge legacy of equipment, knowledge and legendary recordings that were facilitated by the electronics he designed.

I was very fortunate to spend a couple of hours…

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Feb 5 2021

Hello

Hello, I’m Suzy Starlite - custodian of the groove, storyteller and full-time musician with the Starlite Campbell Band. 

Music is my language… 

I love gigs - they are the way we can all hang out together.

I love festivals -…

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Jan 25 2021

10 things about Portugal

Suzy and I moved to Portugal in October 2020. It’s a very long time since I was last in the country and Suzy had never been before. Here are our top ten observations so far.

Repair not replace

Stuff that…

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Jan 18 2021

The fixer

Suzy and I have moved six times since we became a couple in 2013. Isle of Man to Duras, France - Duras to Valencia, Spain - Valencia to Estivella, Spain - Estivella to Castletown, Isle of Man - Castletown to…

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Jul 30 2020

Let's talk guitar cables

The cable that links your guitar to the first effect or amplifier input is the most important part of tone retention. The greater the capacitance per metre of cable, the more top end you will lose, as essentially, the cable…

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Jun 30 2020

Big Jim Sullivan

I may be wrong, but many of you reading this may not know this man.

So I have taken extracts from his Wikipedia article plus a 'Forgotten Heros' piece from Premier Guitar Magazine for the quotes in this article. Between…

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Aug 21 2018

'The Custodian of the Groove'

I’m thrilled and totally stoked to be featured in the September edition of Bass Guitar Magazine with a front page name check and in-depth interview article inside.

I had fun chatting about our forthcoming Starlite Campbell Band’s headline gig at…

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Mar 12 2018

Luckiest Girl in the World

Totally bowled over to be a part of the wonderful Lehle family of musicians!

Most of my tone comes from the Mike Lull V4 and Gretsch Thunder Jet basses (both fitted with Curt Mangan stainless steel flatwound strings in combination…

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Jan 15 2016

Squeezing Lemons with John Paul Jones

Lemon is great for killing parasites in chicken, a zesty addition to a large vodka and tonic and also apparently an age-old tradition in the playfulness of sexual innuendo in Blues music: way back in 1929, Joe Williams was singing…

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Jan 7 2016

Keeping it Simple

“If I have seen a little further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants.” Isaac Newton, 1676

A lot of music leaves me feeling detached and unengaged because, putting it simply, it doesn’t make me feel anything. Sometimes…

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Dec 15 2015

Walking the Bass Line #1

The hardest part about playing a new instrument is trying to work out what direction to go in and really where to start.

When I decided to play the bass guitar this problem was promptly taken away from me as…

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Nov 25 2015

French Horns and Tangos

On the second day of thinking about the music that has inspired me, having started with the first gig I ever saw, (Stevie Wonder at the NEC in Birmingham) it naturally drew me back a little further to my…

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Nov 24 2015

Women and Music

The giant Apple, it doth appear, wants to help choose the music we hear.

Through tales of broken hearted girls and women bereft of intelligence pills,

The Prince will come and save the day – Be SAFE and shop the…

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Oct 8 2015

Luxury

In celebration of National Poetry Day, here is a short poem written a few months ago…

Luxury
Draw me a line with your own free hand, it will never be perfectly straight.
Give me a line from your rhetoric, will
… Read more

GIGS

Jun24

Starlite & Campbell @ Valašský špalíček 2023

Saturday, June 24 @ 7:00PMSat, Jun 24 @ 7:00PM

Valašský špalíček 2023, Žampach

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Oct3

Starlite & Campbell @ Red Arrow Music Club

Tuesday, October 3 @ 8:00PMTue, Oct 3 @ 8:00PM

Red Arrow Music Club, Ramsgate

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Oct5

Starlite & Campbell @ The Eel Pie Club

Thursday, October 5 @ 8:00PMThu, Oct 5 @ 8:00PM

The Eel Pie Club, Twickenham

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Oct6

Starlite & Campbell @ The Met

Friday, October 6 @ 8:00PMFri, Oct 6 @ 8:00PM

The Met, Bury

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Oct7

Starlite & Campbell @ The Witham

Saturday, October 7 @ 8:00PMSat, Oct 7 @ 8:00PM

The Witham, Barnard Castle

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