I return to the subject of money and football. I outlined some milestones in this piece from 2022. It was mainly about Kylian Mbappé, a player you will probably have heard of even if you do not follow football closely. He won the World Cup with France in 2018 and is about to join Real… Continue reading £40m for 48 minutes of football
If you follow tennis at all you will know that Carlos Alcaraz is a 21-year-old professional tennis player from Spain. You might have seen him win the French Open yesterday, beating Alexander Zverev over five sets to become the first player to win his first three Grand Slam tournaments on different surfaces. The French Open… Continue reading Word of the week: Alcaraz
I have been meaning to follow up on earlier pieces about the price of beer. In 2018, in this piece, I recorded a few milestones from over 40 years of drinking in pubs here in London. The price of a pint had not yet reached £6. In this 2022 Post I noted that we had… Continue reading The £7 Pint
I have been poorly recently. In May, for the first time in many years, I was laid low with a chest infection. Long ago, starting in 1998, I had chest infections fairly regularly, half a dozen or so over a 10-year period. The first one, in the summer of 1998, really knocked me back. I… Continue reading “We can call it pneumonia if you like”
Here’s a list of the songs that I performed in public for the first time during May 2024. Each month I aim to play at least one new song from each of the following repertoires: Songs that reached #1 in the UK. Songs that reached #1 somewhere else. Songs that have not reached #1 anywhere.… Continue reading Repertoire: Songs debuted in May 2024
I return to the theme of acts who have spent one week, and one week only, at the top of the UK charts. This earlier piece lists 40 acts that spent a single week at the top of the album charts. The list below is for every act, up to May 2024, that has spent… Continue reading Every act that has spent a single week at the top of the UK singles charts
Next Sunday, 26 May 2024, Leeds United will play at Wembley for the first time in 16 years, in the play-off final for the EFL Championship. The opponents will be Southampton. Whoever wins will be promoted to the Premier League, the top tier of English football, as you probably know. As I have mentioned over… Continue reading Word of the week: Wembley
If you have been involved with enough quizzes, seen enough quiz shows, and care about pop trivia you will know that The Who never had a UK #1 hit single. They were Stuck at 2 twice: “My Generation” was kept off the top for 2 weeks by “The Carnival Is Over” (The Seekers, 1965) and… Continue reading 40 acts who spent a single week at the top of the UK album charts
I am in a Sam Cooke frame of mind, singing and playing a range of his songs that I have learnt over the last 25 years. Some of them reached #1 in various countries. He only had one UK #1, as a songwriter: “Only 16”, recorded by Craig Douglas (1959). He wrote and recorded “You… Continue reading “Touch the Hem of His Garment”
A week ago I teamed up with some friends and family to take part in a pub quiz for the first time this year. I wanted to catch up with the guy who hosts it, and there was also a decent jackpot on offer: £680, in cash. The prize for the winning team is a… Continue reading Word of the week: Belgrade
The Compartments 