THE REAL GONE SINGLES BAR #135 (FESTIVE EDITION)

For this visit to the Singles Bar, everything has taken on a distinctly festive theme. We bring you eight Xmas recordings from different artists and genres – ranging from the well known to the genuinely cult – which hopefully will enrich your holiday time playlists for years to come. A much loved rock band offer a new cover tune; there’s a brilliantly ugly electronica themed Elvis tribute, and ‘Santa Baby’ as you’ve probably never heard it before. There’s also a touch of Americana, some great pop, and a nod to the mighty Slade along the way. We hope there’s something here for everyone who loves Christmas music… Pour yourself another eggnog and dive in!

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Real Gone Presents: A Boston Round-Up, December 2025

It’s been a couple of months since Real Gone last visited Boston, but the city has continued to deliver more than its fair share of underground sounds. In this round up, we bring you ten of the more interesting cuts that have landed in our inbox, ranging from blue collar rock, to cinematic pop rock, and even a dash of punk. Those of you who have followed us for some time will certainly recognise a couple of these names by now, but we hope you find something new to enjoy!

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THE REAL GONE SINGLES BAR #134

Welcome back to the Real Gone Singles Bar, the place where we explore some of the more interesting individual tracks that have landed in our inbox over the past couple of weeks. This time around, we bring you an unexpected cover tune, two slices of top drawer power pop, and among other things, a great track that bends elements from various different genres into something genuinely interesting. As always, we hope you find something new to enjoy.

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STEPHEN McCAFFERTY – Monsters And Lullabies

Scottish singer songwriter Stephen McCafferty first reached an audience as part of indie rock band Return To The Sun, with whom he gained support from Radio X, while still broadcasting under the XFM name. After the band dissolved, Stephen disappeared. It seemed that, despite support from some high places, he wasn’t going to persue a career in music any longer.

He returned as as solo artist in 2020 with a digital single, ‘Spectre of Light’, but due to everyone being more concerned with a global pandemic and everything closing down, it didn’t appear to make a huge impact. Following another spell out of the spotlight, Stephen re-appeared again in 2024, by which time, the musical landscape looked rather different. His songs, however, remained as solidly written as ever, and his track ‘What Are We Waiting For’ – released digitally in January of that year – re-introduced listeners to a composer capable of a sharing thoughtful lyric, but just as importantly, someone blessed with a melodic ear that could potentially take his new material to an even keener fan base.

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THE REAL GONE SINGLES BAR #133

Welcome back to the Singles Bar, the place where we explore some of the more interesting individual tracks that have landed in our inbox over the previous few weeks. This time out, we’ve got a really arty track with a strong 70s undercurrent, a disarmingly honest number from a young, up and coming singer-songwriter, some vaguely baroque adult oriented pop, a legendary band fusing different styles in an unexpected way…and more. As always, we hope you find something new to enjoy!

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