Craft beer. Ive pretty much given up drinking anything else.

I cant stand Elton’s music generally (even the early albums) but enjoyed this movie fantasy much more than I expected. Elton himself comes across as a very flawed but endearing human being, which was probably his objective.

“I laughed at all of your jokes – about the dwarves and the artichokes”. Much better I’m sure you’d agree

I always thought it deliberate – part of the idiom of the humble, uneducated, rural singer Bob was affecting at the time.

There is indeed a dodgy note at about 5.33 on my Spotify version – like someone dropped something on the piano keyboard.

Anybody else been listening to the world service podcast “13 minutes to the moon”? Its really good.

Yes – particularly as there are options – blokes, smokes, folks, hoax, cokes, strokes.

“i laughed at all of your jokes…. and bought you all those bourbon and cokes … ” there you go Roderick – not that hard […]

The banjo is widely regarded as the antithesis of cool. I disagree. These guys look like a meeting of grandads but the playing of Clarence Ashley blew my mind. My life was never the same. (I now own 5 banjos).

How about early period cool

Even earlier but non cooler

I really love “our endless numbered days” . Fever Dream is wonderful.

I had “Istanbul” on my list. I only recently realised it was a cover.

I’m rather jealous of the drummer. Would have loved to have been the one guy in a girl band when I was a younger musician. Instead we were boring, all-white, middle-class, northern blokes. In a group interview […]

I once told the “specials” joke to in a restaurant to a table full of my wife’s “mother’s group” friends and their husbands. Boom tish – I finished the joke to stoney silence. Yep – astonishingly nobody had […]

I saw them at Erics in Liverpool in 1978 (apparently 9th September – isnt the internet great), supporting Tanz der Youth at the under-age matinee gig. I remember nothing of Tanz der Youth but me and my mates […]

Christopher Hitchens – always entertaining. Would have loved to let him loose on Trump.
Eh – Lennon and Harrison I suppose. I think the music was over but would have loved just to see all four hang out and be mates again.

Saw her at the Sydney Opera House. I thought she was great. I had no urge to drool.

(Saw PIL a few years ago – one of the best gigs Ive ever seen and Im not really a fan. JL was amazing.)
Worst gig was Cocteau Twins at the hacienda many years ago when they were Peel darlings. Crap.

I’m astonished. All this way down the thread and no mention of “Dear God” by XTC – b-side of “Grass”. Frankly too much of a polemic for me but is a regular in “best b-side” lists.