Some time ago I wrote about my “Computer Museum”, a collection of hardware stretching back for 35 years. I have got rid of most of it. It all took up so much space. I backed up all the files as well as I could and learnt how to remove all the hard drives. They are… Continue reading My first 40 years, in Lyrics
A short piece about a short phrase: “my bad”. I don’t hate it, and I don’t use it. It came up in conversation recently when 14 of us had gathered for a meal on my wife’s birthday. One of the other mums said that she had only just come across the phrase and thought it… Continue reading “My Bad”
My daughter is taking her Mock GCSE exams this month. When she started senior school she did well enough in her initial assessments to be selected for Mandarin classes. She was in the “MEP” (Mandarin Excellence Programme), a pathway that offered extra tuition in the language and the prospect of an extended trip to China… Continue reading Word of the week: Milord
You might recall the 1985 hit “Trapped” by American singer Colonel Abrams. It reached #3 here in the UK. He had one other Top 40 hit (“I’m Not Gonna Let You Go”) which I am unfamiliar with. When the first of these singles was in the chart, a friend was telling me about his relationship… Continue reading “I’m Diana Ross” (in two ways)
Just over 30 years ago, in the autumn of 1992, the #1 single in the UK was “Ebeneezer Goode” by The Shamen. The chorus, as you may recall, includes words that sound like “Eezer Goode, Eezer Goode, ‘e’s Ebeneezer Goode”. Or, if you prefer, “E’s are good, E’s are good, ‘e’s Ebeneezer Goode”. The E… Continue reading Got any salmon?
Earlier this month, 1966 was one of the featured years on an edition of BBC Radio 2’s “Pick of the Pops”. I’ll be specific: it was on Saturday 6 August, and the broadcast is available, here, until 6 September 2022. It’s well worth a listen. There are many highlights, including #1s by Small Faces (“All… Continue reading “Live my days, instead of counting my years”
As a family, we have started to do the daily Wordle puzzle most days. My wife and our 15-year-old daughter have been doing it for a few months. Our 17-year-old son has been doing it in form time at school from time to time. I have only started in the last fortnight, long after most people.… Continue reading Word of the week: bayou
For most of us, the start of lockdown in March 2020 began a run of 500 nights when we were unable to see live performances of any kind here in the UK. Comedy nights, gigs of all kinds, musical theatre, legit theatre, opera: all closed down. Since July 2021 most live venues have reopened. I… Continue reading “On the road again”
Here are 10 quiz questions based on the lyrics of UK #1 hits, in order of when they reached #1. If you know which afternoon was never ending in “Lady Madonna”, how old Ernie (The Fastest Milkman in the West) was when he died, or what Craig David and his lady did on Sunday, you’ll… Continue reading 10 questions about UK #1s: the answers are in the lyrics
In this earlier piece, about the UK’s best-selling singles by year, I noted that three of the best-selling songs in the 1980s began with the word “Don’t”. We had “Don’t Stand So Close to Me” (Police, 1980) “Don’t You Want Me” (Human League, 1981) and “Don’t Leave Me This Way” (Communards, 1986). Including these titles,… Continue reading UK #1s containing the word “Don’t”
The Compartments 