I thought when watching Abba Voyage how much more I would have enjoyed it if it was based on a band I actually liked. A carefully chosen show going through by all eras of the Floyd’s music with top-notch lights a […]

Last Night in Soho is a really decent attempt at a disquieting Hammer-style B movie. And the existence of the film and his quote proves the melodrama implicit in DDDBM&T’s song. There are loads of these: A Taste […]

Last Night in Soho by Dave Dee Dozy Mick and Titch.

I also did a shift or two at Total Sport. Most were after Danny Kelly’s time, and I did get features printed about the gay Olympics and terrier racing (“Young, dumb and full of Chum”), which I’m sure he would h […]

I’ve been a radio nearlyman for 40 years. I first did a couple of shows on Chorley Community Radio, which despite the resepctable-sounding name, was actually a pirate. It operated out of two bedrooms in a rather […]

I’m not a big lager drinker but I’m yet to find an AF beer that beats Becks Blue. It has the other advantage of being considerably cheaper than the rest. Incidentally, I was at alcohol-free Indian restaurant the […]

How are the massive feeling today? Tickety boo or not so pucker? I didn’t get where I am today without remembering the myriad catchphrases from The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin.

Tim Staffell of Smile / Humpy Bong has a further claim to fame. He built the models for Thomas the Tank Engine. Not just Thomas and friends but the Fat Controller and the whole island of Sodor.

I was a big fan until I came upon him on social media. He’s firmly of the “so-profoundly-pro-Palestinian-that-he-blames-Israel-and-the-west-for-everything’ persuasion, as well as displaying some old-f […]

I remember not liking Goods & Services at first. But it’s a pretty good document of their work. I once saw them effectively booed off at the Mean Fiddler but I would always go back and see them year after year. […]

I feel this joke needs more appreciation.

It’s hard to imagine now but there once was a time when Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine were No 1 album, festival-headliner massive. A lot of their appeal, like a proto Sleaford Mods, was in smart alecky w […]

In no particular order …. After the Flood Mr Bates Nolly One Day Behind Her Eyes Griselda Under the Banner of Heaven Things You Should Do Baby Reindeer The Dry Blue Lights The Responder The a […]

There’s a separate comp to be made of Van covers. I like Art Neville’s version of Warm Love.

It seems a concerted effort on energise their repertoire a bit – and I approve. Will always have a soft spoilt for Elbow, one of the few bands who can make a space like that seem intimate. However, what really […]

It wouldn’t be the first time. “Old Van Morrison’s moaning / Something about a copycat”. I bloody love Mike Scott but have only really liked Where the Action Is of his most recent records. Like Van the Man, he […]

That’s four of the above I’ve added now, plus a firm note to self to check out Blue Rose Code. I especially liked that and Satan Is on the Loose.

Yeah, She Knows is on there. I knew this aspect of Thin Lizzy’s work existed but never found many examples. But on She Knows, Phil mirrors the guitar with a bit of “dweeb-dweeb-dip-dip” vocalising, which is very […]

I did say it was hard thing to pull off. But the Decemberists, Steve Forbert, Bruce and Antony & the Johnsons songs all contain more than trace elements of Van.