Back in 2018 I wrote this piece (“An 80-year-old punk”) about Jet Black, drummer in punk-era band The Stranglers. He had just celebrated his 80th birthday. I mentioned that he was older than Neil Sedaka, Judy Collins and Ringo Starr. Ringo, drummer in The Beatles (I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that) has… Continue reading An 80-year-old Beatle
You might remember a story about the devil going down to Georgia, looking for a soul to steal. He was in a bind, he was way behind, and he was looking to make a deal. He came across a young boy (name of Johnny) playing the violin (“sawing on a fiddle and playing it hot”).… Continue reading Charlie Daniels RIP
You remember telegrams, right? Or maybe not; maybe you’re too young. Recently I was explaining to my children, who are both teenagers, how telegrams used to work. They were the quickest way of sending a message composed of text to anyone in the world. They were also expensive, so people restricted the number of words… Continue reading Word of the week: telegram
Coronavirus will probably turn out to be the “Word of the Year” for 2020, not just here in the UK but worldwide. It may well become the Word of the Decade. The word Corona on its own has two meanings for me, both recalling the 1970s. First of all, Corona was a soft drinks brand.… Continue reading Word of the week: Corona
My choices for “Album of the week” have become rather irregular. For six weeks in a row I managed to pick a different album each week, listen to it far more than I usually listen to a single disk, and then Blog about it. The reasons for starting the sequence were explained in this piece… Continue reading Album of the week: #9 “Sunrise” (Elvis Presley)
For the third weekend in a row, here are the questions and answers from the BBC Radio 2 mid-morning quiz Pop Master for the week just ended. There are 10 rounds of 10 questions, for the five days up to Friday 17 April 2020. On the radio, each Bonus Question features a brief clip from… Continue reading Pop Master questions, week ending 17 April 2020
This piece from last weekend listed the questions from BBC Radio 2 mid-morning quiz Pop Master for the week ending Friday 3 April. Here are the questions and answers, 10 rounds of 10 questions, for the week just ended (Friday 10 April 2020). On the radio, each Bonus Question features a brief clip from a… Continue reading Pop Master questions, week ending 10 April 2020
After a gap of three weeks, for reasons explained in this piece, I have chosen another Album of the week. It was the title that appealed to me: “One Day It Will Please Us To Remember Even This”, by the New York Dolls. The album passed me by on its release in 2006. I came… Continue reading Album of the week: #7 “One Day It Will Please Us To Remember Even This” (New York Dolls)
Last month, in this piece, I wrote again about the BBC Radio 2 mid-morning quiz Pop Master. That piece included links to previous Blog posts about the quiz and a couple of recent questions. Here, for the first time, I offer a full week’s worth of questions and answers, 10 rounds of 10 questions, for… Continue reading Pop Master questions, week ending 3 April 2020
For the last six Wednesdays I have been posting “Album of the week” pieces, for reasons explained in the first of them, here. This time last week I was thinking of having a sabbatical (six weeks on, one week off), partly because I couldn’t think of a new album that I wanted to explore. I… Continue reading Album of the week: postponed, in favour of live news
The Compartments 