That sounds really tough @pencilsqueezer. I have psoriatic arthritis but any pain I have sounds a pinprick compared to yours. I really hope 2025 turns out to be a whole lot better for you and, above all, that you […]

October 5th, 1962 – the release date of ‘Love Me Do’ and ‘Dr No’ is as good a start to ‘the 60s’ as anything. I would also agree that the start of glam, around 1972, is a viable end-point. There is a […]

Why not just replace him with Si King, the remaining Hairy Biker. Job done.

Malt whisky for me. My current favourite (a new discovery) is The Glendronach. Here’s my list: The Glendronach The Balvenie Doublewood Caol Isla Bowmore Highland Park Bunnhahabain

‘Starless and Bible Black’ from ‘Under Milk Wood’ is one of my favourite tracks ever. Here’s a good BBC documentary on Stan Tracey. If I recall correctly, he tells how he wrote ‘Under Milk Wood’ on the night bus […]

Jazz is (or perhaps was) a sub-culture as much as anything else. As this wonderful documentary about the London jazz scene is the 50s/60s shows:

For me, Baron Bigod and Delice de Bourgogne are my favourites. I once had a cheese (either French or Italian) that had red wine running through it and it was delicious. Buggered if I can remember the name […]

It’s a very personal thing but, for me, it must swing or have some kind of loose-limbed rhythm and involve improvisation on the melodic instruments. Having said that, some of Miles Davis’ more dense jazz-rock […]

@Mike-H It’s exhausting just reading your list! I bought that Sidestepper album – 3AM (In Beats We Trust) – and enjoyed it immensely. Must dig it out again. Plus, of course, Tubby Hayes Complete Hopbine 1969. […]

I would suggest Dusty Springfield’s post-imperial phase started with the Pet Shop Boys – produced ‘What Have I Done To Deserve This’ from 1987. Dusty’s imperial phase was very much 1963 to 1966, followed up by her […]

We watched it and it was indeed a tough watch. Interesting to see how old fashioned the houses etc looked. Apart from a few things, it could have been the 50s. We are as far away from 1984 now as they were from […]

Any time a suspect is put in a car by the police, they put them in the car while pushing their head down with their hand. Presumably to prevent the poor love banging their head.

Interestingly, there’s a great compilation of The Shangri-Las titled ‘The Myrmidons Of Melodrama’.

Excellent playlist, Twang. These come to mind off the top of my head. Secret Love by Kathy Kirby Big Bad John by Jimmy Dean You Don’t Own Me by Lesley Gore Jealousy by Billy Fury Downtown by Petula […]

John Lawton is another author well worth checking out, particularly his Inspector Troy novels. If you want a modern classic, ‘Absolute Beginners’ by Colin MacInnes is a good bet.

Just realised that the comic I misidentified as Buster was, in fact, The Beezer – another D.C. Thompson publication.

Beano and Dandy for me too but also Buster which is not mentioned much these days. I remember getting a free Thunderclap with Buster once, which was basically a triangular piece of cardboard which made a noise […]

You could try Kythira, an island on the south eastern tip of the Peloponnese peninsula and a short flight from Athens. I haven’t been there since the early 90s but it was very unspoilt with lots of ancient […]

Two others come to mind: “Well, I’ll go to the foot of the stairs” (usually after some surprising news) “I’m a fool to myself”

‘Twenty Twelve” and particularly “W1A” are good sources for catchphrases in our family. ‘Cool, yeah, no worries’ (from the dozy intern Will in W1A) ‘I’m not being negative or anything but…’ (Tracy the comms […]