? Can we 86 the 403?
Mods, was it something I said?
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Count Binface
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If he wins, I am thinking that he could lose the costume, be John Harvey, and sincerely work as an Independent MP for Clacton-on-Sea. If he lived there, he could spend far more time with the voters than Farage ever did. I’d like that to happen because the people that live there shouldn’t have a joke MP (Yes, yes I know they already have one…).
However, I would like him to have the costume on in the House of Commons at least once.
Kinks Ranked!
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Alexis Petridis does it again, but really what an absolutely stunning collection of songs. But where the hell is Big Sky?
Give me your trivia about Aja
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I am standing in for a guy on our local radio station tomorrow at short notice. He usually does a feature on an album. I intend doing Aja so any guff on the album or individual tracks. No mind if you think it is well known having em all together here will be handy.
thanks.
Is it August yet in NZ? If so, it’s Wordle time….
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As agreed and passed unopposed at the recent AGM, the New Rules are in force as from 01/08/26. I’m really looking forward to Frantic Friday (“Anyone who posts an eagle is automatically given a 32 stroke penalty”) and as for “Torrid Tuesday” (“Whoever is last shall be first”) – I simply can’t wait. Best of luck, may the best man win …. as long as he was born in Aberdeen.
My God, what shall we do?
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“Blankety Blank”, “Celebrity Mastermind”, and “Live at the Apollo” to be cancelled as apparently the Beeb has to make savings. While they are at it, they don’t need to send 500 to Glastonbury. I love Auntie, but she has made far too many bad decisions recently, and I suspect that the best brains in media no longer see the BBC as the place to go. I’ve had a bit of involvement making programmes for them, and the folk doing the programme making are generally fantastic. As ever, it’s the management that is the problem. Yes, I pay my licence, and would pay a subscription – if so, I would like to have options as to how the dosh is spent. They can start by having proper “Dr Who” (episodic stories, cheap effects), news programmes for adults, showing “The Singing Ringing Tree” annually, and never ever having Scrappy-Doo on again.
Substack recommendations please
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I’m investigating Substack in an effort to fill the few remaining minutes of my waking day which aren’t already spent looking at a screen, and also finding that a lot of blogs I used to follow have moved over to the platform.
What are your favourites? My interests tend to pop culture, soft-left politics and humour but feel free to recommend anything that others might enjoy.
Recent Flexi Find
Great find earlier today, still in it’s original shop bag! This is a 10″ 78rpm promotional flexi-disc for Dewar’s Whiskey released in 1930, featuring Sandy McNab singing a Harry Lauder song on one side with Mancino’s Orchestra performing Happy Day’s Are Here Again on the flip, pics in comments.
Rubber Soul box set… finally
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If this is your sort of thing and I know there are one or two of us here with a passing interest in the HJHs – it seems the long awaited Rubber Soul box set will soon be with us. Looking forward to this very much.
TALES OF BRAVE ULLYSES! FROM ERIC, JACK AND GINGER ….TO EMILY, NATHALIE AND MARY!
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Amidst all the ballyhoo about the release of Christopher Nolan’s new sword-and-sandals blockbuster, I started to hum to myself that fine song TALES OF BRAVE ULLYSES. My thoughts turned to November 1967 and the release of Cream’s Disraeli Gears on which it appeared. Cream were at the peak of their popularity and owning that album was sure proof that I had my finger on the pulse of the British Blues Boom.
The music was written by Clapton and the lyrics were by Aussie poet and illustrator Martin Sharp. (I’d always presumed they were by Pete Brown who co-wrote with Jack Bruce). Sharp also did the artwork for the album and Wheels of Fire. I’d not heard of him but I understand that he went on to become something of a national treasure in Australia. He was one of the founders of weird and wacky OZ magazine, the bible of the Underground scene and made a great contribution to its visual appeal.
If you read Oz you were definitely “on the bus”. It was dripping with exotic sex, strange drugs and alternative rock n roll. Few newsagents would touch it. I bought my copies at a dodgy greengrocer’s in Wealdstone.
Disco-Prog sensation! Hitherto unknown 1975 Focus film emerges
This is exciting – the first ‘new old’ film of Focus in ages, hitherto unknown. It’s filmed at Castle Groeneveld in the Netherlands in 1975, where Focus often rehearsed, and seems to be for a German channel – the brief interviews at the start are in English, with German translation in the voiceover.
The main piece of music – ‘My Sweetheart’ from their 1975 album ‘Mother Focus’ – starts at 3:54. The line-up is the classic 1972-73 one – Thijs Van Leer (piano/flute), Jan Akkerman (guitar), Bert Ruiter (bass) and Pierre van der Linden (drums) – but Pierre was not present when they recorded ‘Mother Focus’, with David Kemper on the record (Colin Allen had appeared on the previous one, 1974’s ‘Hamburger Concerto’). Pierre mimes here to the most un-Pierre-like (simple) drumming!
‘My Sweetheart’ is that rare beast ‘disco prog’ at its finest!
In September, the current Focus – Thijs, Pierre + 2 excellent younger players – play a short tour of Britain and Ireland (hurrah!). It can only be legendary!
Fingers X
I’ll keep em’ crossed that you dig this fresh, eclectic mix of tunes featuring film & TV samples on the theme of good + bad luck – link in comments.
Panda Bear & Sonic Boom : Lucky Charm Frank Sinatra : Luck Be a Lady Hot Chip : Bad Luck Happy Mondays : Wrote For Luck Lene Lovich : Lucky Number Creedence Clearwater Revival : Fortunate Son Elvis Presley : Good Luck Charm Alan Price : O Lucky Man! Rickie Lee Jones : A Lucky Guy Emerson Lake & Palmer : Lucky Man The Verve : Lucky Man Andy Votel : I’m Lucky Stevie Wonder : Superstition Lightnin’ Hopkins : Bad Luck & Trouble Bert Jansch & John Renbourn : Lucky Thirteen Daft Punk : Get Lucky Vera Lynn : Wish Me Luck As You Wave Me Goodbye
Includes samples from :
Rocky Horror Picture Show Lost In America Two For The Money Life of Brian The Hunger Games Alien The Servant O Lucky Man! Fawlty Towers Casino The Three Amigos
Whatever happened to “War is Stupid, and people are stupid” George?
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New song by Boy George has a very different tone to previous Culture Club hit
A couple of reviews available
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First come etc….please only offer you are able to deliver by dates below….
Book – Sandy Denny, a people’s history….pdf…needed for 14 August.
Music – Peter Hammill – tears in time – download…needed for 25 September.
What’s the Maddest Big Hit Single?
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I was listening to Kings of the Wild Frontier recently. I really like Adam and the Ants, but as I was listening to it, I was thinking “You know, this is a pretty mental song to have got to number two in the charts”. Turns out I’m not alone in thinking along these lines. Here’s Alexis Petridis in the Guardian talking about the greatest ever number 2 singles:
“The single that launched Adam and the Ants v2.0 remains one of history’s flat-out weirdest bids for screamy teen stardom: the lyrics beckon new fans in – “a wild nobility, we are the family” – set to a cacophony of thunderous drums, shouting, whooping, feedback and Duane Eddy-style guitar. It is unbelievably exciting.”
It certainly is. It’s also unbelievably mental. In fact, I reckon it may be the maddest thing ever to reach the Top 5 of the charts, although I am willing to consider alternative suggestions. Over to you.
1901 – the man who invented the direct-to-customer selling of recorded music
Irish-American vaudeville performer – slapstick comedy and uilleann piping virtuosity – Patsy Touhey was a remarkable fellow. I wrote a chapter on him in ‘The Wheels of the World’, my book on the history of Irish pipers (with John McSherry, one of the greats of today).
He was there at the very beginning of commercial sound recordings at the tail end of the 19th century and, uncannily, he invented the direct-to-consumer template that 99% of recording artists use in the 21st century.
His earliest cylinder recordings, from memory (of writing the book – not of the time!), date to 1898 – though one or two pipers were recorded a year before even that – but the stroke of genius came in 1901. He’d been offered a recording contract with the Edison company, which had pioneered the manufacturing of domestic phonograph players (which used cylinders) in the 1890s, but he didn’t like the terms. Instead, he advertised weekly in a New York newspaper – a list of 150 tunes, one per cylinder for $1 or $10 for a dozen. Every recording was, of course, a unique performance – introduced by Patsy himself, shouting the tune’s title.
As a comparison, the » Continue Reading.
Album Of The Year Contender – 2026 edition
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Occasionally, an album will just grab you from the off & get better with each listen. These are usually the albums that move in & take up residence in your brain. Sometimes these albums are a flash in the pan & 6 months to a year down the line, they are gathering dust on the shelf with the rest. However, sometimes you hear something that you know is here to stay & 2026 has served up a belter with the 15th album by Tricky called Different When It’s Silent.
The last couple of times i have had this feeling, i have been rewarded with albums which are now nestled in my all time top 20 (the last albums by Bill Ryder Jones, CMAT, Fred Again.. & SOAK immediately jump to mind) & I can’t help feel that this is one to add to the list. It is a really lovely album & each listen is revelaing another layer of brilliance.
What are your 2026 albums which are contenders for the end of year list? I hope that each of you have found one that has grabbed me like this wonderful album has
Rick Beato and the big names snub
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I am not sure about this beef. Seems he has had plenty of big names , Jarrett, Joel etc. Hard to imagine Mick and PMac would now go on under duress. I thought well maybe the Rick Rubin thing was filmed over a period and they can edit. But some of Beato’s interviews are done in stages and I am sure there is editing. Some of the Mick interviews have been quite derailed musically, not puffery.
Feelin’ 1994 pt.1 mix
I hope you dig my latest mix Feelin’ 1994 pt.1, featuring some of my fave music and film samples from this year, link in comments.
Soul Coughing : Is Chicago, Is Not Chicago Sebadoh : Not Too Soon Beck : Mutherfuker Veruca Salt : Seether Oasis : Cigarettes & Alcohol Supersuckers : 400 Bucks Frank Black : Freedom Rock Tom Petty : It’s Good To Be King Jeff Buckley : So Real New Bad Things : I Suck Julian Cope : Paranormal in the West Country (Avebury) Gorkys Zygotic Mynci : O Caroline Morphine : Sharks Patrol These Waters Madder Rose : Roland Navigator Nirvana : The Man Who Sold The World Divine Comedy : Life’s What You Make It Ween : Baby Bitch
including clips from :
Dumb & Dumber Interview With a Vampire Naked Gun 3 Pulp Fiction Forest Gump Ace Ventura The Mask
Burnham
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The cabinet is not as radical a break with the past as some (well, Owen Jones in the Graun today) had hoped for. But is he going to be the most consequential Lab leader since Blair?
Prog at the Proms
I didn’t go to this as I generally avoid gigs but I was intrigued to check it out via BBC Sounds and I must admit that it all sounded rather awful. I adore Peter Hammill and it’s wonderful to hear him do his thing (even if it is the rather predictable ‘Refugees’) but, sadly, to the uninitiated it’s hardly likely to win many converts as his delivery was rather weak and shouty. Gruff Rhys, who I also admire greatly and is a thoroughly decent sort, was also way off-key on his rather ‘phone it in’ version of Tull’s ‘Living In the Past’ (another unimaginative choice from their huge repertoire- and are they/were they really ever ‘prog’ anyway??). I’d be interested to know if, among the prog fans here, anybody listened in and had a more positive opinion of it. I mean, it’s obviously nice to see prog being recognized and celebrated but my gripe was with the rather obvious choice of material and the weaknesses of the vocal performances. The orchestra was great throughout however. Apparently it’s televised on the 24th.
Back in the old days…
..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 Mahavishnu Project, live in Germany 18/7/26
A sensational performance from Gregg Bendian’s periodically-performing 10th Dan Mahavishnu Orchestra homage ensemble in Garmany last week, uploaded today (URL in the comments).
I’ve just listened to the whole show, while involved in economic activity, and made a note of the set:
Meeting of the Spirits John’s Song #2 Sanctuary Trilogy Trilogy Cosmic Strut Lotus Feet Celestial Terrestrial Commuters Smile of the Beyond Birds of Fire Dream Dance of Maya One Word
Kevin Keegan -Superstar
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Kevin Keegan has died. I am sure many of will have memories of him as a footballer and / or manager. Thr one that has stuck in my mind was when he came off his cycle in an episode of Superstars. We can’t go back, yet there is something I kiss about a time, 50 years ago, when famous sporting stars took part in t.v. competitions. And when, having come a cropper, the first move before getting patched up seems to be to have a swift half. Good on you Kev.
ATM: Ole Blue Eyes
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One of the local charity shops has a load of Frank Sinatra LPs in stock for £1.50 each. I bought Songs for Swinging Lovers.
What should I get next? Are there any clunkers to avoid?
