I was out for my walk on Southampton Common yesterday morning, and I have never seen it looking so dry. I thought the pond and lake were in a sorry state this time last year, but they’re even worse now. Clearly the only solution is to harness the power of the Afterword and compile a suitable playlist to summon forth the rains! Any suggestions?

..at the end of a sporting contest, both teams used to give each three hearty cheers and move on. This doesn’t seem to happen so much any more. Which is a shame.

The recent thread on songs played again in the encore prompted the thought about the whole idea of encores. It seems to be established that there should be at least one encore – sometimes with as many as 5 or 6 songs, but recently I’ve rarely seen more than one return to the stage. Is a second encore acceptable? I can remember Southside Johnny at the Brook in Southampton doing at least 4, by which time most of the audience were drifting off. Personally I prefer the approach of the late, great Jackie Leven, who made it very clear that there would be no encores – are there any others who take that approach?

The recent posts on the Mayoral election in New York reminded me of one of my bugbears – how both the mainstream and social media often use the terms Communist, Socialist (along with its Social Democrat/Democratic Socialist variants) and Liberal as interchangeable. They’re really not! However, I do find it difficult to come with a short, easily digestable one liner to sum each of them up. Any suggestions?

No, not another end of year poll or list, but more of a discussion about some of the music that you have either discovered for the first time, or rediscovered – either from the dusty box at the back of your attic, or online, or just out wandering around the world – and that you had forgotten how good it was.

My discovery was Chris Bell’s ‘I am the Cosmos’. I’ve had the Big Star CD of ‘No.1 Record/Radio City’ for years and regularly played it, but didn’t really know much about them, until a feature in one of the magazines earlier this year about the band, and specifically Chris Bell, put me onto this. Loved it! Very Big Star in feel, with lovely melodies.

One of my rediscoveries, that I hadn’t played for years, was the Pete Townshend/Ronnie Lane collaboration ‘Rough Mix’ from 1977. The first time I ever heard of this album was many years ago when I saw Michael Weston-King at the Brook in Southampton, and he covered the beautiful song ‘Annie’, and was praising the whole album – he was quite right to! So I don’t really know why it hadn’t been played for ages, but » Continue Reading.

Below is a really nice article by Elton John in yesterday’s Guardian

I had lunch with an old friend the other day. He retired from a distinguished career in academic and literary circles, and he gives a lot of the credit for his success to two of his teachers in secondary school, who he describes as ‘absolutely inspirational’.

I went to what was basically a public school – at the time it was termed a ’direct grant’ school, as it received government funding for taking in pupils on scholarships or through the 11-plus, which was how I get there. It prided itself on its academic record, and measured success in terms of the numbers of pupils it got into Oxbridge each year, but I can honestly say that I wouldn’t describe any of my teachers there as higher than ‘adequate’, and some were pretty poor. You had to wonder why some of them became teachers at all – I guess they couldn’t think of anything else!

My love of Shakespeare and literature, history, geography and generally trying to understand the world is despite, not because of, my school. I think I’ve learned more about the history of this country since I retired than I ever learned at school!

I have never » Continue Reading.

How come I’ve just receieved the June edition of Uncut magazine? It’s still April! If they carry on at this rate they will have to publish 13 editions in a year. That’s all.

I’m not a drummer, so maybe someone who knows more about the noble art can help me out. I was watching the video of the Beatles performing Hey Jude, and it struck me that Ringo appeared to be using unusually long drum sticks. My questions are:

1. Are the sticks he’s using particularly long, or is it just an optical illusion? 2. Are there a variety of stick lengths to choose from, or is it standard? 3. If so, would a drummer generally tend to favour one length, or vary it depending on what he’s playing? 4. What effect would a different length have on the sound produced?

Thanks in anticipation!

The latest issues of Mojo and Uncut both feature reviews of the re-issued Nico albums, ‘The Marble Index’ and ‘Desert Shore’, declaring the former to be her masterpiece.

I was introduced to Nico’s work at University by a friend who was an Eno fanatic and collected anything he was associated with, and played me ‘The End’ as I was familiar with The Doors and The Velvet Underground. As an impressionable 19 year old, I loved it! And sought out anything else she had issued.

However, at that time ‘The Marble Index’ was out of print, so I didn’t hear I until much later, by which time it didn’t have the same impact as the other 3 of her first 4 albums. So – is it a masterpiece? I can’t really judge, as I still prefer the others, having played them repeatedly in my student house.

I can never understand why ‘Chelsea Girls’ attracts such lukewarm praise. I love it – it is a beautiful record with some excellent songs, well suited to that voice. Am I it’s only fan?!

I was listening this morning to Mozart’s Horn Concerto (number 4?). Am I the only one who can’t listen to it without automatically singing the words provided by Flanders and Swann?

When I was young, their LPs ‘At the Drop of a Hat’ and ‘At the Drop of Another Hat’ were my parents’ favourites, and played so often that I know them by heart. I haven’t heard them for years now, but can still remember the lyrics and the dialogue. And Keats’ ‘La Belle Dame Sans Merci’ will always be ‘The beautiful lady who never says thank you’!

At the time, I didn’t much care for the song ‘Slow Train’, as it wasn’t funny, but now it just sounds so poignant and a reminder of a long lost age – so much so, that we played it at my mother’s funeral, and it fitted perfectly.

Last month saw the paperback publication of the very last Alan Banks novel, following Peter Robinson’s death a couple of years ago. One of my favourite crime series (and forget the not very good TV version), so I thought it a good opportunity to see if there are any other fans of crime fiction in the Afterword world – be it cosy, police procedural, noir or just plain nasty! Apart from Banks – and just focusing on series, rather than stand alone – I have a soft spot for Peter Lovesey’s Peter Diamond series set in Bath, Anthony Horowitz’s Daniel Hawthorne books, and Ellie Griffiths’ Ruth Galloway – amongst many other too many to mention. Any Afterword favourites or recommendations that I need to add to my list?

In a previous thread about film versions of Macbeth, I mentioned that probably my Shakespearean film was Orson Welles’ The Chimes at Midnight, which is a beautiful adaption of both parts of Henry IV. The discussion made me think more widely about favourite Shakespeare plays and productions on screen or stage. I think the Henry IV plays would be my all time favourites. They’re both funny and sad, and full of memorable characters. And, particularly in the second part, very moving about growing old and looking back on what we’ve done in our lives. My school was very strong on studying the Bard, and, unlike many, reading the plays for O Level and A level was inspiring rather than off putting. Following closely behind would be Hamlet, Richard II and Macbeth. I admire rather than love King Lear – I can appreciate it’s power, but it really is so very depressing! So what are your favourite plays, and the most memorable productions that you’ve seen? Some of mine to follow.

I do like to have some Christmas music on at this time of year, but not always the standard hits that you hear everywhere, so I’d be very grateful for any suggestions of Christmas albums slightly off the mainstream. My usual ‘go to’ albums include anything by Kate Rusby, Blind Boys of Alabama’s ‘Go Tell it on the Mountain’, Thea Gilmore ‘Strange Communion’ and (obviously) Bob Dylan ‘Christmas in the Heart’. And King’s College Choir is reserved for Christmas morning. What are your favourites/ recommendations?

Follower of this site since The Word days, and I’ve been meaning to start participating for ages, but have finally got round to becoming a contributor – thus fulfilling my New Year’s resolution (of 2020!) I’m sure you’ll all be kind, patient and considerate with me. A quick introduction – my musical tastes seem to follow the usual Afterword suspects, so there won’t be too much rocking the boat. But a few names maybe not mentioned quite so much include Lloyd Cole, The Jayhawks, Steve Earle, Marianne Faithfull, The Handsome Family, Graham Parker and Jackie Leven. The first single that I bought with my own money was the England World Cup Squad ‘Back Home’, though I used to listen to my big sister’s collection before that. First album was Mott the Hoople ‘All the Young Dudes’ – still a great favourite. I’ve noticed that there are a number of Afterworders in and around Cambridge, which is my home town, though I now live in Southampton, where I’ve been for many years. I’ve even noticed at least one fellow Cambridge United supporter, which is heartening to see, as there aren’t that many of us! Even though I’ve never contributed before, I » Continue Reading.