I’d be happy to never hear That Song again, but Rick Astley seems like a decent sort of chap. Refreshingly down to earth and happy to play along with being a meme (is that what the young people say? Are you a […]

For a change, what about David Gilmour’s inaudible, visual count-in after the intro to Run Like Hell (at about 7:23) here:

How exciting must it be to be on stage with a top band in a stadium full of screaming […]

The only time I’ve taken a CD to a hi-fi shop, I used the title track of Daylight Again by Crosby, Stills and Nash. I was just there for some cheap speakers, but the salesman said, “Why not try it on this set-up?” […]

I’m really enjoying it. I don’t watch enough football to be able to comment on the quality, but the games certainly seem to involve fewer shenanigans/dives and vicious tackles than men’s games, so the 90 minutes […]

For another remarkable shot, at a faster pace, there is the window jump in The Bourne Ultimatum, where the camera tracks Jason Bourne. How to film Matt Damon/a stuntman leaping through a window? Get the camera […]

Marillion: Fugazi is better than Misplaced Childhood (probably their best known) and Clutching at Straws (their biggest seller, I was surprised to learn today).

MC might have the big hits, but Fugazi opens […]

As much as I try, I just cannot get A Sky of Honey to stick in the brain. I’ve listened to Aerial a lot, but I’m still not sure I could name any of the tracks that make up A Sky of Honey. It’s fine, but lacks that […]

I completely agree. In my former career, some years ago, I had to spend time with numerous MPs of all sides, and in private generally found them to be OK as people – some had opinions and beliefs that I agreed […]

In a similar vein to Grohl and Kiss Guy is Bruce Springsteen and a boy from the crowd. I know this was all over the net a while ago, but it’s always worth watching again just for the absolute joy and disbelief […]

It’s You by Talk Talk, at Montreaux. Frankly, you can keep Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock and all the freeform neo-jazz post-rock studio experimentalism business – here they are on fire, with everything turned […]

I’m McIntire, and so’s my wife!

I’ve just started reading Bill Flanagan’s book from many years ago, “U2 at the End of the World”, in which he accompanies the band during the making of Achtung Baby and on their Zoo TV tour. I have to say that […]

It’s incredible to think that “He tried to grab the steering wheel and then went for his own bodyguard’s throat” could soon become just another item on the endless list of odd/incredible things that Trump has been […]

If you ever need somebody to program your video recorder (Betamax preferred) so that it records two weeks’ worth of programmes over Christmas, my rates are very reasonable. I only require one pristine copy of the […]

Thanks, Salwarpe, for these thoughtful reviews. I much prefer Floodland to the majority of the first album and the early singles, but it’s clear that the Sisters’ early years were some wild’n’crazy times indeed, […]

(i) Can’t remember anything in particular other than Tie a Yellow Ribbon, which seemed to be on the radio all the time, and which I hated with absolute blind fury.
(ii) Prince Charming – title track of the first […]

I’m always amazed that people as successful as members of the Eagles (or the Kinks, or Oasis, etc.) could get *that* angry.

To have achieved the kind of success that 99.9% of musicians could only dream of, […]

An old tin and a string? You were lucky. In our day we used to *dream* of having an old tin and a string, etc…

I used to read it fairly regularly, largely for the high quality of the writing. But I wonder if it fell between too many stools, trying to cover too many topics.

Now, all these years later, I honestly can’t […]