Nick Heyward - Blue Hat For A Blue Day

Not what I was going to blog about at all (that will have to wait now), but I got taken unawares by a clip from this track cropping up as a very, very easy question on PopMaster this morning (even poor old Ken sounded taken aback).

Pity the very lovely Mr Heyward has not allowed embedding, however, here's the link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WK9mATObZMk

Walker Brothers - No regrets

Played on Ken Bruce this morning. Not particularly rare or shocking, I know, but worthy of mention when it crops up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7PuSl7AbUo

My Annual Post

I have been reliably informed that it has been almost a year since I posted anything on here. For the record I've been kind of busy and not really had chance to listen to the radio as much as I would like to, so therefore less listening = less synhotr.

I have been eagerly awaiting my anniversary post and hoping for a spectacular song to mark my comeback. I finally heard it Monday on Radcliffe and Maconie and have been procrastinating over writing the blog ever since. I heard the song again this afternoon. A prod if ever there was one, to get off my backside and write.

So here it is, "King of the Road" Roger Miller. I remember hearing it all the time as a kid on the radio and was convinced he was singing "tailors for sailorettes". The mind boggles. People sewing uniforms for WReNS?

Anyway here's a link to the song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmOe27SJ3Yc

Enjoy!

Marc v Buddy

A friend posted a link to this on Facebook earlier today and it reminded me again of something that always makes me smile - the Great Marc v Buddy debate. It's probably the first time that I realised boys weren't necessarily as stupid as they acted.

When I was 7 the only person I came into contact with who knew anything about music was my Mum and the boys in my class at school were only there for fighting with each other or making Dean kiss Beverley in the class play. Generally you just ignored them as they ended up punching each other and crying like girls. Older boys were more interesting although mostly just as stupid.

In Miss Bamkin's class I used to sit on a table with, amongst others, Neil Morton and Neville Yates. I don't remember what we were supposed to be doing, probably Creative Writing or Nature Studies, when suddenly the rest of the table were alerted to a slight air of discord. Seemingly from nowhere Neil and Neville, who were never the best of friends, had started to get increasingly loud. The usual hissing of banal insults ("you smell", "you stink") had taken on a much more academic tilt. Apart from the personal hygeine it would normally be over cars and motorbikes with those two. Never football. This time they were at it hammer and tongs over music. In particular they were debating who was the best and most influential. Who would stand the test of time and be regarded as a legend and who would be discarded as a forgettable pile of something flushed down a toilet. Each was as vehemant as the other that he was backing the right horse.

I sat in amazement at the eloquence coming out of their eight year old mouths as they took each other on. Neville in the Buddy Holly corner and Neil sparring for Marc Bolan. They certainly knew their stuff. Back catalogues and chart positions were reeled off, drumming techniques and guitar licks compared. As for the effect of recording techniques ...

The only thing they seemed to agree on was that Elvis and Cliff were not fit to polish the boots of their heroes.

It was fascinating to watch and clearly more interesting and ultimately more educational than what we were supposed to be doing. Then they went and spoilt it all with "because my Dad says so" and "my brother knows better than your Dad" accompanied by Neville lunging across the desk at Neil. What kind of an end to a decent argument is that?

At this point the Teacher stepped in and, as usual blamed Neil for being a disruptive influence. Poor Neil. Always in the doghouse. I felt so hurt on his behalf.

I suppose really that although this song is about only one of them, aspects of it could apply to either or any gifted musician that makes their mark and passes too young.



Me? I went home and aksed my Mum who Buddy Holly and the Crickets were and why were they better than Marc Bolan and T-Rex.

Spanish Wine - Chris White

It's overcast, warm and muggy with the odd slight breeze, but Zoe Ball decided to play this at roughly 10:21 this morning



and suddenly the sun shone in the car.

Oh, how I wished I could be 12 years old again, with this persistently on the radio and the odd airing for Henry Gross' "Shannon". I don't remember the Hot Hits LP's being shown here, but weren't MfP and Pickwick roughly the same company?

Anyway, that's me off to iTunes, Spotify and the rest to see if I can grab the mp3.

Good grief, as I write this - the sun is trying to squeeze it's way through....

My World - Secret Affair

This came on the radio as I managed to find somewhere to park the car at work this morning - an estimated 13,000 visitors on campus having put paid to finding an empty bay in the usual places. I wish it had come on earlier so I could have had a good old sing-song in the car on the new relief road. For some reason I associate this song with exam revision at School. Looking at the date it must have been my second Maths CSE re-sit...

I always used to think Ian Page looked like Allan Clarke's younger brother. Not these days, so enjoy the music while you compare and contrast.

And that gives me the chance to air another favourite (that I haven't heard on the radio in aeons)

PS: Didn't notice the Noel Gallagher lookey-likey in that last link

Spoilt for Choice

Having my breakfast:




1977, what a year. It's packed with all sorts of memories involving phone boxes, hanging around on street corners waiting for my friend's latest crush to come by on his evening paper round, Jim Callaghan driving his tiny car away from St. Paul's, my Uncle Tony being thanked for giving someone a good thumping (their coat had been set alight by the sparks from the Jubilee Bonfire in Windsor Park), getting frowned at by the Queen and Phil and Brucie trying to cover his face in case he was recognised. Unfortunately Anthea didn't follow suit, so that was a fail for him.

Arriving at work:

Supertramp - Dreamer

(Edit Video embed removed)

This reminds me of my German penfriend, Beate. She was accompanied on her first visit by two albums, "Breakfast in America" and Genesis' "And Then There Were Three". She returned with a hankering for David Gates compositions, but a search to find a copy of "The Sound of Bread" in Neuss proved fruitless. Apparently somewhere down the years she managed to get a copy.

Making my tea:




As far as I remember when I was at College, everyone I knew hated this. Personally, I loved it!

Couple of worthies

In a generally forgettable Steve Wright this afternoon there were a couple of items worth mentioning. He played 'Gonna make You A Star' by David Essex, which brought back floods of memories of sitting in front of the telly watching Top-of-the-Pops and losing 7-0 to Fen Drayton on a bog of a pitch in force 6 slicing sleet. The other was 'Judy Teen' by Steve Harley. Such a great song. Really good to hear it again. Saw him do it live at Buxton Opera House a couple of years ago.

Well, almost ....

Simon Mayo was threatening to play Trans Europe Express as part of his train-themed evening show. He bottled it.

I scared myself

A good Steve Wright oldies today, all from about the late 70s early 80s, including the Doobie Brothers (What A Fool Beleives), the Lotus Eaters and Erasure (A Little Respect) but the stand out track for me by some considerable distance was Thomas Dolby's 'I Scare Myself'. Although it's a track that goes on my CD player fairly regularly its a rarity on the radio and it was a huge pleasure to hear it being picked out by someone else because sometimes it seems that I'm the only person who admires this man's work.

I nearly fell off my chair

Simon Mayo just played 'Ships In The Night' by Be Bop Deluxe. Extraordinary !

(Edit by alcdreview: And in the interests of "spreading the love" - here's a link to an Old Grey Whistle Test performance)