Stuck Between Stations

Polling Station Palaver

2011-05-05T18:48:00.000+01:00

Fun and games today at the polling station - I've just sent this email to both the local council and the Electoral Commission - locations changed to protect the innocent...

Dear Sir/Madam,

I would like to bring to your attention a situation that arose when I tried to vote in the above election this morning, which I feel was unsatisfactorily resolved and which needs to be rectified for future elections.

My name is Paul Waring - my full postal address is [xxxxxxxxxxx]. I have lived at this address with my wife for the past ten years or so.

I went to vote this morning at the polling station at [the local school] (which is approximately 100 yards away from my front door), as I have at every election for the past ten years. This time, however, upon inspecting my Poll Card, the presiding officer advised me that I was not on his list, and that I ought to be voting at [another school] - some five miles away. Indeed, my poll card did declare that my polling station was [the other school]. I had not thought to check this - why would I, given my previous voting experience?

The Presiding Officer kindly agreed to check by telephone with some higher authority whether an error had been made, clearly pointing out that my address placed me firmly within [the local] Ward, rather than the ['not so local'] Ward, and the relative distance from my house to the two polling stations. Notwithstanding this, he was advised that I would not be able to vote locally but would have to go five miles away to vote. He did advise me that one at least of my next door neighbours was still down to vote locally and suggested that there had been a boundary re-drawing that effectively bisected my property and next door.

Despite the implausibility of this argument, I happily accepted that this was the advice he had been given and he had to abide by it. I therefore drove the five miles and regaled the attending officers there with my tale of woe. They confirmed that I was indeed on their list, and so I cast my votes (both Council and AV) there.

However later today I was able to check the Ward boundaries and it is quite clear that my house is firmly within [the local] Ward and nowhere near any boundary with [the other] Ward.

I am therefore disappointed, and not a little concerned, that I have voted in a ward that I do not live in, for candidates who will not be able to represent me. Furthermore, my preferred candidate in [the local] Ward has been deprived of my vote.

Further inspection of my Poll card indicates that my address omits the village name. This is not unusual - [my local town] is indeed part of my postal address and in any event, the house number and post code alone would be sufficient to indicate exactly where I live. However I suspect that - for whatever reason - the sole reference to [my local town] in my address has - incorrectly - been the prime determinant of where I should vote. There is a [xxxxxx Street] in [my local town], and for all I know, there is a number [xxx] as well - but I don't live there.

For completeness, the 'Number on Register' recorded on the Poll card is [xxxxxxx].

If indeed the omission of the my village name from my address is the cause of this error - then I would hazard a guess that I am not the only one affected in this way. I would hope, however, that the number of addresses affected would not be sufficient to have a material effect on the outcome of the election.

In any event, what is done is done, as far as this election is concerned. I would be grateful however if you could investigate, and ensure that my details are corrected so that the same issue does not arise in future elections.

Kind regards

I shall report back with their responses...

I was also going to copy the candidate who has been deprived of my vote, just for devilment like, but sadly can't locate an email address.

Paul's rules for a happy gig-going experience

2011-03-19T17:02:00.000Z

These rules are my distillation of my experiences of gig-going as a fiftysomething who is now attending far more gigs than he used to, egged on admittedly by a music-mad son who likes his dad to buy his tickets for him...

1. Choose your venue with care. Preferably small, preferably standing. Standing because...

2. If your neighbours are annoying you, you can move. Taking the moral high ground and standing your ground (and fuming) is counterproductive. Avoid the braying masses by standing elsewhere. Preferably...

3. Stand at the barrier. Not centre stage, but well off to the left or right. This is ideal because:

3a. You will be stood next to the speakers. It will be loud, so you will not be able to hear the fuckwits.

3b. Off to the side, you avoid the jumping, moshing, crowdsurfing fuckwits.

3c. You will have an ace view of the action. And you will have something solid to lean on.

3d. You will be at the front - with the fans. Who are less likely to talk, and more likely to focus on the performers.

4. Don't drink. You WILL need to go to the loo, and you WILL lose your place. And have to stand with the fuckwits.

5. Choose your act with care. There are some performers who are MADE to be heard live. Focus on them.

6. At festivals - all the above rules apply, especially the 'venue' rules. It is a fact that a small band on a small stage is ALWAYS a better experience than the biggest band in the world on the Pyramid. If you want to see U2 or Beyonce at Glastonbury - set your Sky+ before you go and head off to the Park or the Acoustic tent instead.

Hoooooooooooooot!!!!!

2010-06-13T11:29:00.000+01:00

Today's soundtrack: Mott the Hoople - The Ballad of Mott (A Retrospective)

And so it begins - the 2010 World Cup is two days old! And already I'm sick of that bloody noise, droning on and on incessantly throughout the game.

But enough about Mick McCarthy.

England get off to their traditional awful start, shooting themselves in the foot with yet another dreadful goalkeeping error. Whilst you have to feel for Robert Green, it was woeful. I suspect that's his World Cup over already. Please God let Ledley King's tournament not be over, as the thought of Carragher lumbering about in the centre of defence, a leg-breaking tackle and sending off just waiting to happen, doesn't bear thinking about. Phil Jagielka, Joleon Lescott and others must wonder what they've done to upset Capello.

Still, good to see Messrs Donovan and Howard playing well, as did Joe Yobo and the Yak in the Argentina - Nigeria game.

It's early days, but no single team has really stood out so far. Possibly the South Koreans, but then they were playing a Greek team who were so abject it was untrue. Argentina made hard work of their win against Nigeria, but there is so much talent in their ranks one would expect them to go far. I hope they do - if only for the joy of seeing Maradona strutting about on the touchline like a bearded, bouncy, wind-up weeble. Diego could dominate this tournament - in a very different way - as much as he did in 1986.

So today the delights of Algeria v Slovenia, Serbia v Ghana and Germany against the Socceroos. Come on Timmy! Plus, of course, a Grand Prix to fit in as well. Mrs W can have the telly back when I'm at Glastonbury.

A bit of Mott playing in the background as I type. Back in the mid-70s, Mott were *my* band - firstly the early, pre-fame rocky stuff on Mad Shadows and Brain Capers, then the later, glam-flecked Dudes phase when they bothered the charts for a brief period. The glam stuff never really sat well with them, they were rockers at heart, but when they were good, they were very good indeed. And no-one wrote better songs about being in a band than Ian Hunter.

And here is just such a song! The Ballad of Mott! A song by Mott, about Mott. Tune!

What are they gonna say about him?

2010-05-30T11:04:00.003+01:00

What are they gonna say? That he was a kind man? That he was a wise man? That he had plans, man? That he had wisdom? Bullshit, Man!

I'm gonna say that Dennis Hopper was one of the finest character actors of the last fifty years. He had his demons - and he played some demons as well. Frank Booth may well be the scariest, most believable psychopath ever portrayed on screen - and Dennis portrayed him to perfection. Just how much of Dennis was in Frank?

But Dennis didn't just do scary - he did cool as well. Here's a great scene from a great film. Clarence and Alabama have just left for California, when Christopher Walken comes calling on Dennis to find out where they've gone - with all his narcotics...

You're Sicilian, huh?

Dennis Hopper. Legend. As Frank might have said, "Don't drink to his health. Drink to his fuck."

Tumblrweed...

2010-05-29T14:54:00.001+01:00

Today's soundtrack: Cornershop - Handcream for a Generation

As always, following in the footsteps of my youngest, I've extended my blogging wings across to the next big thing, Tumblr. A slightly prettier blogger, a wordier Twitter, it just might catch on. I'll still keep posting here, for all you blogger diehards, but will port everything across to my Tumblr page as well.

Neatly, I can also link my Tumblr page directly to my own personal website - so those of you who've looked in vain for some content on www.paulwaring.com - look again! Given the nature of Tumblr, you might find some additional content up there that won't ever appear on this page - so get bookmarking...

A while since I've posted - a combination of work taking up most of my time and precious little exciting to blog about, but what else is a boy to do on a wet Bank Holiday Saturday?

With the festival season approaching, the wetness needs to be having a word with itself and disappearing to foreign parts. Weather something like that we had last weekend will do very nicely, please!

And a very pleasant weekend it was too. Went over to Huddersfield to see The Boy, and we ended up in his drinkery of choice - The Parish. No bands, just a nice couple of pints in the sunsheeine and one of the best burgers I've ever eaten. Tasty!

And speaking of festivals, tickets arrived this week for both Glastonbury and Cropredy. Spent the day "working from home" waiting for the Glasto ticket - which finally arrived...at 9:15 in the evening. So a day wasted - but ticket firmly in my grubby paws. Yay! In other Glasto news, U2 dropped out due to Bono's back-knack, to be replaced by Gorillaz. All well and good, but I've got a dilemma now. With U2 playing, it was a no-brainer - off to the Other Stage to see the Flaming Lips (and finally be persuaded - one way or the other - whether they are The Most Wonderful Thing Ever or The Emperor's New Clothes). Now, it looks like I'll have to see the audio-visual extravaganza that is Damon Albarn's side project (or side-side project, not sure which).

Or I could just sit quietly in a corner somewhere, up to my gills in Strawberry Cider.

Cropredy should be interesting - backup festival with Simon, given that Latitude went and sold out on us. Looking forward to some folksy jiggery-pokery, washed down by the odd gallon of real twiggy ale, in the hot August sun.

One band I won't be seeing this summer on the festival trail is Cornershop, that excellently-named fusion of Asian rhythms and western rock/hip-hop/reggae embellishments. Often too eclectic for their own good, they are always interesting, if easier to admire than like.

Here they are, 'Staging the Plaguing of the Raised Platform", which is easy enough for them to say.

No Winners, Only Losers - Election Reflections

2010-05-09T11:24:00.000+01:00

So - three days on from the election - and the dust is still settling.

Ironically, it looks like I got what I wished for - sort of. What I really wanted was an option on the ballot paper that said 'none of the above'. And that's what we've got - so far.

All three major parties managed, unerringly, to lose this election. And despite it being a very good election to lose, I'm not sure any of them meant to.

Labour obviously lost - votes, seats, credibility. Although constitutionally still in charge, Brown is now Dead Man Walking - in his own party as much as in the country.

Lib Dems - incredibly - also lost ground. After the initial flush of Cleggmania, the country looked a little more closely and decided they weren't that keen on what they saw. And, most likely, they were squeezed in a number of seats where the best 'keep Brown/Cameron out' option was someone other than the Lib Dems.

So if Labs/Libs both lost, then the Tories must have won, surely? Well, no, they didn't, did they. Yes, largest share of the seats, largest share of the vote...but our current voting system is called 'first past the post' for a reason. And - despite 13 years in opposition, up against the most unpopular, discredited, party and party leader for decades, in the midst of a massive recession and caught up in a deeply unpopular war - Cameron couldn't persuade the country to give him a clear mandate to govern. And he certainly does not have the 'moral right' to govern that some commentators have ascribed to him - if you're not first past the post, then you're not the winner.

What will we eventually end up with? Clearly some sort of short term coalition or looser alliance, with Clegg as kingmaker. Firstly, and rightly, he is talking with Cameron to see if they can find some common ground. Currently Cameron is playing hardball - a meaningless commitment to do a bit of thinking about PR, and an agreement to explore areas of common ground with the Lib Dems that they were already committed to - in short, Cameron is offering nothing to Clegg in the way of concession. Cabinet seats are meaningless and worthless if they do not come with any associated executive power.

For Clegg to agree to work with the Tories on this basis would be absolute madness and surely would be unacceptable to his party and to the vast majority of Lib Dem voters. This will probably be Clegg's one and only chance to get some meaningful progress made on electoral reform - and he won't get that from Cameron.

So - will Clegg end up propping up the Labour party? I think he'd probably like to - negotiating from a clear position of weakness, Labour will offer far more in the way of concession, particularly on electoral reform. It feels like Labour would sacrifice the chance of absolute power if they could introduce a form of PR that would guarantee, more than likely, an ongoing centre-left coalition that would force the Conservatives into the political wilderness for generations.

But, but... an agreement with Labour alone will still not provide a working majority. And there's the rub. The Scottish and Welsh nationalists would have to be accommodated as well - and how do regional parties fare in a proportional representation-based system? Furthermore, to bring the nationalists along, financial concessions will have to be made to the regions that will squeeze England even more. And the electorate will not like that.

And since the country, quite clearly, does not want Labour, Clegg will get no credit from the electorate for propping up the current government - with or without Brown at the helm. But - big but - he just might get electoral reform.

Despite the advantages of a deal with Labour, I think Clegg has to do a deal with Cameron - for his own credibility and for that of his party. But he won't get PR, and he'll lose massive support both within and without his party in the process. The Lib Dems are not a party of the right (or even the centre-right) so it will be an uneasy and fractious alliance that will do the country no good at all. Might it then be the best option for Labour? To go quietly, lose Brown and bide their time while the Tories and Lib Dems tear each other apart trying to deal with an appalling economic situation, then come back in a year's time?

But if Cameron succeeds in getting a grip on the situation - or if events work to his advantage - he has the power to call the next election at a time of his choosing, and with a modicum of goodwill from the electorate, just might get a working majority this time next year. At which point he drops Clegg like a stone and the Lib Dems are consigned to the wilderness.

Ultimately, Cameron HAS to get the Lib Dems on side - but without conceding an inch on PR. If he can do that, then he might - just might - end up the winner. But in the longer term the biggest loser - ironically - will be Nick Clegg.

Another Year Older...

2010-05-03T10:50:00.000+01:00

Today's soundtrack: Various Artists - 12"/80s

So - another year, another birthday. Spent in far more enjoyable circumstances this year than last year, without a doubt. This time last year I was working my way through an all-day interview session with a predetermined outcome (quite possibly) that did not involve me being the winning candidate. This year however, back in the saddle, it was over to Manchester in the sun for a spot of lunch with Mrs W, Son No 2 and his girlfriend. We went to the Hard Rock Cafe in the Printworks, and very enjoyable it was too. Despite gentle threats, I managed to avoid the birthday sing-song from the waiters and we filled up on nachos and a variety of burgers. I commend the Red, White and Blue!

After the inevitable trip to Fopp, we went our separate ways, me laden down with CDs both purchased and gifted. Coupled with the monthly download from eMusic, I'm now well stocked up with a range of new music to listen to on the trips up and down the motorway, to and from work.

Ah yes, work. Week two passed very smoothly, thank you very much. Lots of meetings in different places as I continued the induction process, all passing off very smoothly indeed. Oh, and a birthday card from the team on Friday as well. I'm going to like this job.

With the extended weekend giving us the chance to recharge our batteries, it's been quite a lazy couple of days. Got back in time on Saturday to catch the second half of Everton's disappointing draw with Stoke that inevitably condemns us to a season without European football. Now whilst part of me thinks this might be a good thing - fewer games, a focus on the domestic competitions - I'll miss the midweek games against obscure Slovenian teams and the inevitable exit to a half-decent Spanish outfit in the 'round of 32' or whatever they call it these days. A fate Liverpool are now condemned to after their meek capitulation to Chelsea yesterday. So it looks like Chelsea's title rather than ManYoo's, thanks initially to Stevie G's misguided backpass that let Drogba in for the first goal. What was going through Stevie's mind, I wonder?

I think Liverpool's close season is going to be hugely interesting this year. Will the FSW still be there? Stevie and Nando? Not if their body language is anything to go by. Which doesn't leave much.

Double bill (quite literally) of Tarantino this weekend - we watched the two Kill Bills over Saturday and Sunday. Hugely enjoyable, entertaining tosh, borrowing heavily from the chop-socky kung fu films of the '70s, with a bit of manga thrown in as well. Loved it, and on the big telly, the blu-ray version looked great.

Despite all my new purchases (and gifts) over the weekend (oh, since you ask, some Fall, Weller, Santana and the new Laura Marling, plus downloads of Midlake, Caribou, Luxuria and a Cath Carrol album I found lurking on eMusic), today's soundtrack comes from that much-maligned decade, the '80s. The 12" collection does what it says on the tin - collects extended 12" remixes of songs released in the eighties. As I type, I have Pete Wylie's 'Tribal Mix' of Sinful playing in the background and very fine it is too.

The 12" remix was very much an eighties thing, and I was an absolute sucker for it at the time - I must have bought more singles on 12" vinyl than on 7" - just to get the extra tracks and the remixes. Some were great - notably the Trevor Horn remixes of the Frankie stuff - and some were pretty awful (the Langer/Winstanley extended mixes of Costello's stuff spring to mind). But to inveterate collectors like myself, it was a great time to be buying singles.

Here's Grace Jones, with Pull Up to the Bumper. Not the extended version unfortunately, but very redolent of the era. This couldn't be more '80s if it came with its pastel jacket sleeves rolled up and a pair of espadrilles on its sockless feet. But it is still very good indeed.

It wasn't supposed to be like this, surely?

2010-04-25T09:43:00.000+01:00

Today's soundtrack: Death Cab For Cutie - Studio X Sessions

So - back at work - aren't the weekends then free for rest and relaxation? Why is it, now I'm working for The Man again, that I ended up working harder round the home today than I have done for ages?

Because the jobs don't go away, I suppose, and maybe also because I'm now back at a proper 'working pitch' that I've more enthusiasm and energy to actually do the things that I would 'eventually get round to' before.

First thing, it was off to the supermarket to do the weekly shop. My turn this week - Mrs W has suggested that going forwards we alternate - her turn next week. Big shop this week, we both need 'cutting-up' for worktime lunchtimes and the freezer has been running a bit low. I did make a schoolboy error at the checkout though - standing in a queue, laden down with a full trolley, and one of the supermarket kids calls me over to a free checkout. Result! I thought - until I realised he'd set me up on a self-service lane. Fine (I suppose) if you've one or two items - but not a trolley-full, surely? Anyway, I got on with it, getting crosser and crosser as I had to weigh (and find the price for) red onions (under 'O' rather than 'R' in the menu) and mini ciabattas (described as 'rolls' in the menu - who would have guessed?) and get the girl to confirm I was eighteen and ok to buy booze.

Sigh.

Mind you,. I still finished quicker than I would have done had I stayed in my queue, so not all bad.

Back home, and after a delightful lunch of BLTs on the small ciabatta rolls I'd struggled to buy in the supermarket, and after the ManYoo-Spurs game, it was out into the garden for more chores.

Firstly, the mower and strimmer made their first appearance of the year, followed by the garden shears as I trimmed back a bush that was encroaching from next door - and then it was the turn of the electric drill, some wood and a raft of wood screws as I finally got round to repairing the fence that had been falling down all year. Lastly, the rake and the hose came into play as I cleared and re-seeded the bare patch of lawn that had been ravaged by birds and badgers over the course of last year.

You'd think that would be enough, wouldn't you? Well no, the work continued, this time in the kitchen. Although this turned out to be a really pleasant surprise. We'd struggled to fit all today's food shopping into the freezer, so to make room, I'd taken out some bags of soft summer fruits that Mrs W had bought ages ago for reasons that are still unclear to me. I had half-hearted plans to mush them up and make some smoothies or something, until inspiration struck.

Crumble!

Did a quick search on t'internet, found a recipe, and got on with it. The fruit I simply drained and placed in the bottom of a dish. The crumble comprised 150g each of plain flour, porridge oats, demarera sugar and butter, mixed together by hand in a bowl until it got all crumbly and sandy. Crumble topping on top of fruit, in a hot oven (180 degrees C) for half an hour or so. It made the kitchen smell delicious and, oh, it tasted good as well! We had it with some fruit yogurt that was lurking, although I've now got some double cream in for tonight's leftovers.

A pleasant little download ep from American 'intelligent rockers' Death Cab for Cutie this morning. We saw Death Cab (named after a Bonzo Dogs song) a couple of years ago at Latitude, and enjoyed them immensely. There's always a place for good, melodic pop sung and played with a bit of wit and style, and the Americans seem to be particularly good at it.

Here's 'The New Year' live on Soundstage from a few years back...

Welcome to the Working Week (again)!

2010-04-24T11:08:00.001+01:00

Today's soundtrack: Nat 'King' Cole - The Unforgettable Nat King Cole

Right, well that's week one out of the way - and I'm knackered!

It's good to be back at it again and - touch wood - everything seems to be going fine so far.

Turned up at the office first thing on Monday morning, to find out that the bloke I'm taking over from was stranded overseas, caught up in the volcanic ash 'incident' that brought the country to a standstill last week. Still, I was expected, and was rescued from reception, and shown to my office.

My office. Oh yes.

Everything was there waiting for me - laptop, mobile phone, stapler, calculator, holepunch - you name it! I found out where the coffee was, then settled down and got on with it. Over the course of the week, I spent time with the team, met a few of the senior executives (at least those who were in the country) and started getting a feel for things.

And so far, I'm enjoying it - enjoying the challenge, the interaction with people, enjoying the fact I'm not stuck in the house by myself trawling the jobsites on the web. And also, today, enjoying the fact that Saturday is 'special' again. Even if I did have to do the weekly shop first thing...

Oh, and the prospect of a paypacket at the end of each month is rather appealing, as well.

That said, it's still been a shock to the system - I'm sleeping like a baby, knackered the minute I pull on to the drive. Luckily, Mrs W has always been there with a restorative G&T to soften the blow! (Oh, and each morning there's been a fresh cup of coffee waiting for me as I've pulled into the car park as well).

Next week, it's off to the main Head Office, than over to York to meet up with the boss, as my 'induction' meetings kick in. Bring it on!

What with all the excitement of the new job, and the travel, there's been little time to focus on the important issues of the week - like the fallout from the volcano, some of which seemed to find its way onto my car, despite a week of clear, blue skies (proving beyond doubt that clouds are made by aircraft) and the climax to the football season (ManYoo regaining the initiative, 4th a straight fight between Spurs and Citeh, Everton nowhere).

Oh, apparently there's an election soon, too. I'm very comfortable with who I'm not voting for - just need to find someone I can in all conscience vote for, now.

I'm still soundtracking the blog, of course - and today it's my mum's favourite, Nat 'King' Cole - he of the honeyed voice, delicate piano and marvellous choice of material. I'd never have ever listened to this stuff when I was a lad, but with the benefit of age and wisdom, it's possible to appreciate this music for what it is - beautifully crafted, played and sung. He died ridiculously young - aged 45 - but is still one of the all time greats.

Here he is, performing 'Nature Boy'. Check out the guitar work as well - simply sublime!

Mistakes & Ladders (T - 3)

2010-04-16T11:55:00.001+01:00

Today's soundtrack: New Order - iTunes Originals

So where did the week go then? As the new job comes rushing towards me, my final few days of "leisure" are racing by at a rate of knots. At the same time, my anticipation levels are rising at a similar rate - I can't wait to get stuck in!

At the same time, now my days at home are numbered, Mrs W has realised that there's not much time left for me to knock off the remaining few chores that I've been putting off for the last year. One of the biggest is getting some paint on the upstairs windows before the wood rots away completely. Now bear in mind that our 'upstairs' windows are effectively three storeys up, above the garage and the lounge, so getting up there is no mean feat.

Put simply, it involves ladders.

Noting my success at climbing trees last week, Mrs W had obviously come to the conclusion that I'd be just as good at climbing ladders. So she got hold of the name of a local hire firm who could provide said ladders for a few days. This week, before I got back to work.

Now I have a confession to make. Ladders and I do not get on at all well. Actually, to be fair, the ladders seem pretty relaxed about me, but I am not at all relaxed around ladders. Especially when I'm thirty foot up the things. But still, the windows were looking a bit of a mess, and I was actually pretty good up those trees...

Ladders duly arrived, and I was ready to go - paint mixed, shorts on, brushes at the ready. Next job - get the ladders up into position. Now the bloke in the hire shop had asked me if I'd anyone to help me, as the ladders (all thirty-five feet of them) might be a bit heavy. Yeah, I'll be fine (I lied). A bit heavy was a slight understatement - they weighed a ton!

Somehow, I managed to get them up in place, and started climbing. And the ladder started swaying.

Bugger.

Still, nothing ventured and all that - and despite a few wobbles and crises of confidence, I managed to vaguely slap a bit of gloss in the general direction of the window frames, covering the bare wood and making things look slightly more presentable than before.

Flushed with success, I then did the same at the back of the house (only two storeys up this time - piece of piss!) and luckily managed to engage the services of the next door neighbour to repair some loose cement around the eaves.

Job done - but at the cost of a mass of bruises where I'd wedged arms and legs into the ladders in a vain attempt to feel secure!

Still, Mrs W was happy, and we celebrated by going out for a slap-up Chinese meal in Frodsham. It's a nice restaurant and boasts the waiter with the best memory for his customers ever - no matter how long ago we went in (and it's over a year now) he always remembers us (telling us off this time for leaving it so long). A nice place - the Chinese Delight - well worth a visit if you're in the area.

I also invested in a big external hard drive this week to do a proper backup of all my computery stuff. Having just upgraded to Windows 7, I thought I'd use the built-in backup utility for the task. Big mistake. I set the thing running, and waited. And waited. The percentage indicator was crawling along at around 2% per hour. Still, I left the thing running overnight, only to come down in the morning to a 'fail' message. I set the backup running again, and it crawled along at the same rate as last time. A quick Google suggested I wasn't the only one having a problem. So I canned it and downloaded a backup programme I'd used on a different computer and set that running. Still not quick, but about five times quicker than the Windows option!

So - New Order in the background as I type. The 'album' is a unique iTunes collection, following a specific format of original tracks combined with some re-recorded tracks and brief interview snippets. Against all the odds, New Order rose from the wreckage of Joy Division, found their own style and made some cracking albums through the '80s.

Here's True Faith from 1987. I love this video. Not a clue what's going on, but what's not to like about bouncy people dressed in funny outfits?

JBT at the MA (T - 7)

2010-04-12T10:21:00.002+01:00

Today's soundtrack: James Brown - Live at the Apollo

A busy few days, what with Son No 2 staying over, cat and tree issues and a host of other stuff going on.

So where to start?

Well, let's start with the football. No, not the professional stuff, the real grass roots stuff. Matt and I went along to see my nephew, Ross (11) playing for his team, Vauxhall, against Heswall. Now Ross has always been a good little footballer, but it's been a while since I've seen him play and I have to say that he and his team have come on in leaps and bounds as they've grown up. Quite a few of the kids are on the books of some professional clubs as well as playing for Vauxhall, and it shows. Their ball control is superb, as is their ability to spot (if not always find) a decent pass. After a cagey first fifteen minutes or so, they gradually got a grip on the game, eventually winning 5-0 with Ross scoring the fourth.

On Saturday, Matt and I went into Manchester for a bit of shopping and eating, and then to the Academy to see the John Butler Trio. A full review will appear soon on The Really Hip Art Scene (now here), when Matt gets round to it, and I'll add my two pennorth on the Word website later today (also now up and running). In brief, however, it was a great, lengthy (two and a half hours!) set from a band who are totally in control of their instruments and who have a decent set of tunes to work from. A lot rockier than last time I saw them, reflecting the style of the new album, they still found time for two (count 'em!) drum solos, a (slightly reluctant) bass solo and a lot of audience singingalonging.

Here's a clip of John performing 'Ocean' - one of the most beautiful - and technically challenging - guitar pieces you are ever likely to hear.

I struggle to work out just what sort of audience John Butler has in the UK. They are massive in his native Australia, of course, but in the UK is profile - on the face of it - seems quite low. I don't recall the band getting any measurable coverage in the music press, for example. And yet - both times I've seen them in concert - they've had a sell-out audience that has been, if not fanatical, very vocal in its appreciation of the band and its music.

As for Saturday's audience, well I suspect Matt will have his own views on this, but I thought they were for the most part, engaged, good-natured and high-spirited. I did have the misfortune to be stood behind Mister Floppy Head, however - possibly the most ill-coordinated and arrhythmic dancer I have ever come across. Dancing to whatever he was hearing in his own head, it bore no relationship to the beats being generated on stage at all. In fact, I would hazard that it was actually harder for him to dance the way he was than to actually follow the beats of the songs. Sadly, I also think there was no chemical enhancement involved either - perhaps there needed to be.

Still, a great night out. If you get the chance to see (or hear) the John Butler Trio - you should. Special mention for support act 'The Boy Who Trapped The Sun' as well - one man, two guitars, a lady cellist and a bottle of red wine. And some lovely songs (that you can find on iTunes). Well worthy of your attention.

In other news, we took in a few films over the last few days as well. Pride of place goes to Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds, which we enjoyed hugely. I am told that Law Abiding Citizen was also most entertaining, although I wouldn't know as I fell asleep halfway through, victim of my nocturnal adventures trying to rescue the cat. Finally 2012 was highly enjoyable tosh, mainly through seeing the special effects on the Big Telly rather than through any particular depth in the plot.

James Brown on the soundtrack today. We've not done 'ten best live albums' on the blog yet, but if and when we do, Live at the Apollo will surely be there or thereabouts. A great album that catches James at his most vibrant and soulful - the funk would come later.

Please Please Please - with the cape and the histrionics - Yeeeeou!

Of cats and trees (T - 10)

2010-04-09T08:46:00.002+01:00

Ok, so I'm writing this at just after eight o'clock in the morning and I've already been awake for five hours.

Picture the scene. Son No 2 is staying with us for a few days, and the cat has taken exception to this fact. With no good reason - Matt has barely seen the cat since he's arrived, but it's enough for Pedro that there is another human being in the house.

He's got the hump, basically.

To the extent that he's keeping out of the house as much as possible - including through the night, although he has deigned to cross the doorstep in the early morning if bribed with food and cat milk.

Anyway, this morning I woke up at around three and went to check at the back door. No sign. So back to bed, where I tossed and turned until around half four, when I thought I'd give it another go. Still no sign - but a faint yowling could be heard on the breeze.

So I'm at the bottom of the garden, barefoot in the dew, dressing gown on. Yes, definitely a plaintive cat cry.

Back upstairs, clothes on, torch. Mrs W behind me in dressing gown and training shoes. Down the bank at the bottom of the garden we crawl, around past the neighbour's garden, to the foot of a big bank of leylandii. A very big, very tall bank of leylandii.

And there he is, right at the top. Yowling.

So I'm trying to climb this tree, in the pitch dark, Mrs W holding a torch below. Not a chance.

We leave him there, and wait until daybreak. Mrs W goes back to bed - work in the morning.

Half past six, I'm there, now armed with our longest stepladder. All six foot's worth of it. Clambering up the bank around the back of the trees, I can finally see him, and by climbing up to the toppermost rung on the precariously-balanced ladder, I can actually touch him.

But I can't dislodge him, or pick him up.

Plan B. Scrambling round to the other side of the tree, I can see a gap in the foliage to the flat top of the trunk, which has obviously been lopped in the past. The place Pedro had been perched when I last spotted him. I find that I can balance the end of the ladder on the top of the stump and support the bottom of the ladder myself, thus creating a walkway for Pedro to stroll casually into my waiting arms.

Does he do this? Does he buggery. Instead, he backs away and perches precariously onto one of the highest, flimsiest branches left on the tree.

Now bear in mind the tree is actually growing right on the edge of a vertical bank. On one side of the tree, the drop to ground is probably around ten feet. On the other side, the drop must be nearer thirty feet.

Guess which side Pedro is on.

Plan C. Throwing caution to the wind, and the ladder to one side, I realise that by straddling Pedro's tree and the one next to it, I can actually climb up to the top and get to the stump where he had been sitting. So that's what I do. You now have to realise that I am therefore up in the air, one foot on one tree, the other foot on another tree, and a clear drop of about thirty feet between my legs. But at least I'm in a position to grab Pedro if he comes back to the stump.

What I do when I've grabbed him, I'm less sure.

At this stage, I'm wondering if firemen do still get cats down from trees, but in the event, my thoughts and efforts are academic, because eventually the poor pussy - who is of course absolutely terrified at this stage - steps out too far and the branch he's on can't hold his weight. And so, of course, he falls gracelessly to the ground below. And gets up and trots off into the house to eat his breakfast. Apparently, none the worse for his adventure.

Me, I'm still stuck up in mid-air straddling two trees. At half seven in the morning. Thinking that at the age of fifty, my tree-climbing days should be well behind me.

Anyway, a couple of restorative coffees later, and having got this out of my system, I now need to shower because I smell like a midden and ache like a bastard. In the meantime, the cat has eaten, washed and gone to sleep at the back of Mrs W's wardrobe.

I'm too old for this.

Buried Treasure (T - 13)

2010-04-06T15:26:00.001+01:00

One of my monthly music magazines - Mojo, I think - has a regular feature which focuses on those albums that failed to achieve commercial success, despite being of the highest quality. Occasionally it might be an album that did hit the heights, but that was never capitalised upon by the artist. The overriding feature of the albums is that they have been quietly forgotten, but lie there, waiting to be discovered and appreciated by a new generation. Hence the title of the feature, "Buried Treasure".

I was reminded of this feature the other day when a long forgotten album came up on shuffle, and I thought I'd treat you to a few examples of buried treasure I've got lurking in the depths of my hard drive.

Follow me, and bring along your metal detector...

Mick Ronson - Slaughter on 10th Avenue

This is the album that kicked off the theme for this blog. Mick Ronson was, of course, the guitarist in David Bowie's Spiders From Mars, later working with Ian Hunter and producing Morrissey, before dying at a ridiculously young age. He released (I think) two solo albums in the early '70s, of which this was the first. Heavily laced with the glam trimmings of the time, it showcased a great guitarist with a surprisingly gentle, wistful voice. One track, Only After Dark, was picked up by the Human League, who covered it on their second album, Travelogue. Re-listening after all these years, the quality (and, inevitably, the Bowie influence) shines through.

Red Guitars - Slow To Fade

Red Guitars came from Hull, and came to my attention when they supported The Smiths in Norwich back in the early '80s. I also got to see them later, headlining their own gig also in Norwich. Why they got The Smiths gig is bayond me, as they had very little in common with the Charming Men from Manchester. Guitar-driven and left-leaning (hence their name) they infused their music with African rhythms, decades before Vampire Weekend thought of it. They released a few singles that tickled the top of the indie charts (Fact, Steeltown, the wonderful Good Technology) and this album, before imploding. I think there was a second album but with a different lineup. But as a legacy, Slow To Fade is a gem.

Cath Carroll - England Made Me

Cath Carroll was a music journalist who also played in an early '80s indie band called Miaow. She also released this solo album whilst signed up to Factory. Sounding completely unlike anything else released on the label, the album sank without trace but, to these ears, is an absolute classic. Breathy songs of love, infatuation and oppression, the album had an intelligence that, aligned with its pop sensibilities, could have made her huge. But for whatever reason, it didn't happen.

Deaf School - 2nd Honeymoon

A Liverpool band, dabbling in any number of musical forms and a huge influence on many of the bands that came out of Liverpool in the post-punk era. Ironically, despite their huge local influence, it was probably the rise of punk that ultimately did for the band. Some band members went on to bigger and better things - Clive ("Cliff") Langer as a major producer, Bette Bright as a solo artist before she married Suggs from Madness - others continued to operate on the fringes of fame. They released three albums in the mid '70s (2nd Honeymoon was their first), to mass market indifference - but to Merseysiders of a certain age, they were, for a time, our secret band. And we loved them.

The Farmers' Boys - Get Out and Walk

Baz, Mark, Frog and Stan were Norwich's answer to Hull's Housemartins, before the question had been asked. Unashamedly catchy, impudently covering Cliff Richard songs (In the Country, from their follow-up album With These Hands) and signally failing to impress anyone outside of a hugely passionate but relatively small local following. Oh, and I've just found out - Get Out and Walk is available on CD! And it's in stock on Amazon! Hurrah!

Martin Stephenson and the Daintees - Boat to Bolivia

The Daintees were on the Kitchenware label, along with Prefab Sprout, and the two bands shared a propensity for catchy tunes, delicate arrangements and intelligent lyrics. Unfortunately whilst Paddy McAloon went on to great critical (and some commercial) success, Martin Stephenson remained very much a cult artist, ploughing a lone, idiosyncratic furrow in a countryish/folksy idiom. Boat to Bolivia was their first album and contains some majestic songs, not least Crocodile Cryer, written in the aftermath of his grandmother's funeral.

Dalek I - Compass Kum'pas

Back in the day, one of the most graffiti'd bands around Birkenhead were the mysterious Radio Blank. Their name was painted on loads of public spaces, most notably motorway flyovers. Who were this mysterious band? What did they sound like? Had anyone ever seen them play? Not me, certainly. But then Radio Blank disbanded, and out of the remains came the Dalek I Love You group, or Dalek I for short. Compass Kump'pas shared many similarities with other groups coming out of Birkenhead/Liverpool at the time, most notably early OMD - heavy on the drum machines and synths, cover of a famous oldie (in this case, The Kinks' You Really Got Me). However unlike the other Eric's-founded bands, Dalek I faded away, with the original members drifting off into other Liverpool bands, including Big In Japan and the Teardrop Explodes. However Compass Kum'pas remains as a very impressive legacy.

Jess Roden Band - Blowin'

Jess Roden was one of a number of great British blues singers who was active in the late '60s and through the '70s. However unlike some of his contemporaries - Paul Rogers, Robert Palmer for instance - who went on to great fame, Jess Roden remained a bit of a cult. That's cult. Blowin' is a live album that showcases just what a great singer Roden was at his peak, playing bluesy R&B with a soulful tinge. On my vinyl version of the album, Roden performs a version of Desperado that blows the original miles out of the water. Sadly this track does not appear on subsequent versions of the album, although it is replaced by another cover, of the Temptations' I Can't Get Next To You that also swings like a bastard. Jess Roden - one of the great lost British vocalists.

Thomas Lang - Scallywag Jaz

Another Liverpool crooner, Thomas Lang (born Jones - no wonder he changed his name) released a couple of albums in the early 80s showcasing his great voice. Verging on easy listening, he perfected a style of light jazz (hence jaz) that was picked up by the likes of Black (of Wonderful Life and Sweetest Smile fame) and, on the face of it, was perfect for a world happy to have the likes of Sade and Harry Connick on their coffee tables. Sadly, it was not to be for Thomas. If he was around today, he'd be a shoo-in for the X-Factor as well.

Amsterdam - The Journey

Come on, you knew this was coming, didn't you? Treasure buried so deep only a few select people are aware of the band's existence. Yet if the world only knew... The Journey was the band's first 'official' release, gathering the strongest tracks from a series of internet-only albums. The quality of the album is sublime, the range of styles broad, the emotion and passion tangible in every note. If anything, follow-up album Arm in Arm is the better album, but as a debut, an initial statement of intent, The Journey is untouchable. It deserves to be spoken of in the same breath as The Clash's debut, it is that good.

Oh, there's so many more I could have written about, but this is a decent starter for ten. Treasure, buried in the depths of my record collection. What's buried in yours?

Can I just say... (T - 14)

2010-04-05T18:39:00.002+01:00

...this is the funniest thing I've seen all weekend...

Sunday Easter Sunday (T - 15)

2010-04-05T11:03:00.001+01:00

Today's soundtrack: U2 - War

Busy day today, motor racing and football to watch, with a family get-together sandwiched in the middle.

It was a bit of a procession at the front of the Malaysian Grand Prix, with the two Red Bulls pulling away in the first two slots and staying there for the rest of the race. Consequently the action was all towards the back of the field, with the McLarens and Ferraris trying to make amends for their abysmal performance in qualifying. And for a while it was genuinely exciting, as Lewis Hamilton, in particular, carved his way through the back markers up into a respectable position. Jenson Button also made progress, albeit less spectacularly, largely due to an early tyre change that gave him acres of free space to drive in for a large part of the race.

Ultimately though, the race fizzled out as a combination of tyre wear and a wall of slightly quicker cars halted the charge. Oh for a thunderstorm in the last ten laps!

Then it was out for Easter lunch with the family - a carvery at the Village in Bromborough, and very enjoyable it was too, despite me making my usual schoolboy error of eating far too much (did I really need those last three profiteroles?) and feeling decidedly uncomfortable at the back end of the afternoon. So rather than sit there feeling bloated, we beat an early retreat back home - where the Everton game was being Sky-plussed ready for viewing.

And I wished I hadn't bothered, really. A lethargic performance against a West Ham team that had more to play for, and who deserved their draw, even though the ever-erratic Howard Webb denied Everton a cast-iron penalty. Sadly, it looks as though eighth is the best the club can aspire to this season - when a decent European slot was there for the taking. We are definitely missing the guile and craft that Mikel Arteta brings to the team, and the game against Villa on Wednesday is really our last chance of pushing on for the final European place - a must-win game by any standards.

Sadly let down by Son No 2 today, who gleefully announced that the Pixies were playing Glastonbury this year, only to find he'd been April Fooled (and not for the first time this year!) Still, with confirmations from The Gaslight Anthem and the likelihood of The Hold Steady and The Courteeners confirming soon, I don't think we'll be struggling for things to do and see.

U2 are, of course, already confirmed, and it is 'War' that has come up on the soundtrack today. Their third album, released well before The Canonisation Of Saint Bono, it's not their best work by a long stretch. But it does include New Year's Day and Sunday Bloody Sunday, and generally chunters along quite inoffensively.

Here's a young-looking U2 performing 'Two Hearts Beat as One'. Nice mullett, Bono!

Sympathy for the Journo (T - 16)

2010-04-03T16:27:00.001+01:00

Today's soundtrack: The Stranglers - The UA Singles 1977 - 1982

Just finished reading Nick Kent's memoirs of the 1970s, 'Apathy for the Devil'. The name might not mean a great deal to you, but Nick Kent was a music journalist back in the seventies, and along with his colleague at the NME, Charles Shaar Murray, pointed me in the direction of most of the great music I listened to in that decade.

Nick was also - for a few weeks - an early member of the Sex Pistols, as well as being Chrissie Hynde's lover and a fully fledged junkie. He was also one of the best writers about rock music ever to have put pen to paper.

Apathy for the Devil has come in for some criticism from some quarters, but I enjoyed it. Whilst Kent doesn't write about himself as well as he does about his musical heroes, reading the book took me right back to my adolescence, and reminded me of the time when the NME formed the centrepiece of my week - I couldn't afford too much of the music it wrote about, but I still devoured every word of every issue, vicariously living the life of its writers, who were, to many of us, stars in their own right.

Today's NME is a pale shadow of the magazine that existed in the '70s and '80s and it's a real shame. There is still plenty of quality music journalism out there - in the pages of Word, Mojo and Uncut, and in the writings of Peter Guralnick, Mikal Gilmore and others - but you won't find it in the pages of the NME any more, sadly.

A very pleasing thud on the doormat this morning - my contract of employment! So I've now got written confirmation - I'm back on the gravy train again. Happy days. Just got to fill in a few forms and wing them back to Preston, and then I can enjoy my last couple of weeks of leisure.

Confirmation this morning also, that Formula 1 is at its most interesting when it rains. Ferrari and McLaren's decision to gamble on the length and intensity of a rainstorm in Malaysia found both all four of their cars languishing at the back of the grid, which should lead to some interesting driving tomorrow morning. The drivers seemed pretty philosophical about it, as well they might - it wasn't really their fault that their teams misread the conditions.

One band who - perhaps surprisingly - don't get much of a mention (if any) in Nick Kent's memoirs are The Stranglers, who were there or thereabouts throughout the period Kent is writing about. Maybe they were too far removed from the scuzzy drug scene that Kent was involved in at the time, and possibly too inauthentic as well - their punk credentials were indeed decidedly dodgy. That said, they did release a string of excellent singles in the period from 1977 to 1982, the last part of which I am listening to as I type. By this time, they'd ditched the casual misogyny that blighted their early years and were playing more melodic, conventional material such as Golden Brown and Strange Little Girl.

Whilst never one of my favourite bands at the time - they came across as too old and too muso for me, with their organ riffs and dodgy facial hair - they did release some canny tunes.

"Have you all got your Crackerjack pencils?"

Word Travels Fast! (T - 17)

2010-04-02T10:51:00.000+01:00

Today's soundtrack: Porcupine Tree - Staircase Infinities

After one of the best night's sleep I've had in ages, woke up ready for a trip into Manchester to meet up with Kevin and some of my old mates from the old job. But first, off to the Supermarket to stock up for the Easter break. Big trolley to shove all the chocolate eggs into - right next to the booze and calories, natch. A relatively straightforward shop, albeit augmented by Mrs W's quick waltz round the clothes section. Still, don't have to watch the pennies quite so much now!

Then off into Manchester, and to the old firm's offices. Bumped into a few people outside, who congratulated me on the new job, word obviously having got round quickly! Nice to be able to answer truthfully when people ask me how it's going - the days of the brave face and the 'it's all ok, really' platitudes are past. It really is ok now.

Then to Giraffe with Kevin, for a tasty burger and Red Stripe. We put the world to rights for a good hour or so before going back to the office where I met up with Anne-Marie for congratulations and hugs. It's good, this going back to work lark. For some reason I got to kiss lots of women as a result!

So. I'm in Manchester. No longer watching the pennies, and Fopp just up the road. What's a boy to do?

Half an hour later, I emerged with the new Joanna Newsom, Them Crooked Vultures, the new Jimi Hendrix release and a few Traffic albums from the early seventies. One of which I already own. Don't you just hate it when you buy something you've already got? Or is it just me that does it? It only cost me three quid, at least.

Back home, and a quick text to Matt, who has been spending the week in hospital having his radiotherapy treatment following his throat operation last year. This has been far less of an ordeal, boredom being the primary concern rather than any specific medical issues. You can read about his experiences here.

After a big lunch, there was no need for a massive tea so we had the remnants of last night's (home-made) pizza alongside some potato skins and chicken bits. Watched the end of Supernatural series 3 and - of course - caught up on Masterchef. The six contestants reduced now to five following the departure of Terry, who may well cause himself serious self-harm as a result.

Simon reminded me yesterday that the guitar playing hasn't had a mention in a while and, if truth be known, it did go a bit quiet for a bit. Having said that, I have been picking up both the bass and my six-string more often on the past week or two and enjoying every minute of it. Although my fingers hurt as a result. Not a virtuoso by any means but still enjoying the tinkering!

One man who probably can lay claim to the title of virtuoso is Steven Wilson, driving force behind the horribly-named Porcupine Tree, who actually produce a very acceptable blend of Proggy hard rock. Staircase Infinities is a half hour of nicely melodic, guitar-driven rock that is extremely pleasant to have on in the background.

No Longer Stuck? (T - 18)

2010-04-01T10:20:00.005+01:00

Today's soundtrack: Various Artists - The Burt Bacharach Songbook

Oh my - I got the job!

After a pretty rigorous interview process, I seem to have come out the other side as the Last Man Standing! So, subject to completion of all the formalities and paperwork, I shall be Head of Business Assurance for a major housing association based in Preston - starting on 19 April. Hence the 'T - 18' countdown in the title above.

The recruitment process went through three separate interviews, culminating in a double-header down in London on Monday. On arrival, I was given a topic to present upon for 15 minutes, and given 45 minutes to prepare. No Powerpoint - just a flipchart. So, hoping that handwriting wasn't one of the characteristics I was going to be assessed on, I set to scribbling.

Finished just about on time, then it was downstairs to present my scribbles to the four-man panel. And it seemed to go ok. My mouth didn't dry up, the presentation seemed to flow, I could see I was getting a few nods, and I stuck to my allotted fifteen minutes. After a few questions on the presentation, it was on to the meat of the interview for the next hour and a half. Again, it seemed to go ok. Unfazed by any of the questions, a few more nods, even a few laughs and smiles. In the right place, as well.

Still, you never know. I came out thinking I'd done ok - pretty good, in fact - but the other guy might be even better. Who knows? At least I felt I'd done myself justice and set a decent benchmark for the other guy.

Fast forward to the next morning. An early call from the recruitment agency - always a good sign - no offer yet, but good feedback from the interview...and could I give them the names of some referees they could contact for a reference? Oh yes, I can do that. A few quick emails, and the process swung smoothly and quickly into action. By midday, references had been requested and provided, passed on to the company....

...and the good news came back - you've got it!

Oh my.

So - thanks. Thanks to the two reference providers - you know who you are - who gave me what I am told were 'glowing' references. Thanks to everyone who has sent me good wishes and congratulations - and thanks to everyone who has kept in touch either directly or through this blog for the last twelve months. It's been a long, sometimes stressful year, and your comments and support have helped me get through it all. Oh, and extra special thanks to Mrs W, who has put up with all the ups and downs and mood swings without complaint.

Well without much complaint, anyway.

Anyway, enough of that, it's beginning to sound like a bloody Oscar acceptance speech.

So - the light at the end of the tunnel probably isn't the oncoming train after all. It looks like I'm sorted. Son No 1 is also working and happy in his work, and Son No 2 is successfully completing his treatment this week as well. Onwards and upwards chaps.

Many of you have asked what is going to happen to this blog. Well, I don't want to stop - in fact, I'll probably ramp it up for the next 18 days as we count down to D-Day, and then continue on a more occasional basis, just to keep in touch.

This is what I wrote on Day 1 about the title of this blog...380 days ago!

I'm amused by the irony of this blog title. "Stuck Between Stations" was originally a nod to my refusal to grow old gracefully - stuck, if you will, between the kid I was and the 'grown-up' I refuse to be. And, of course, a reference to the wonderful Hold Steady - a group of musicians who act no older than they need to. The song itself refers to being stuck between stations on the radio - when things are not as 'crystal clear' as they might be. Something else I can relate to at the moment. But now, I'm stuck between two other stations - the job I had and the new job I've yet to find.

No longer stuck between those latter two stations. Thank God.

As for the original reason for the blog title - well, you be the judge!

And so to the soundtrack for today's post. The mighty Burt Bacharach. And from the album, a track whose title reflected the way I felt twelve months ago. Not any more though.

Take it away, Dusty!

American (TV) Without Tears

2010-03-28T11:58:00.001+01:00

And so to the latest challenge...

"Moving away from music based challenges and into the world of television …. Your all time top 10 US TV series imports.

They must be a proper series over a number of years (ie Band of Brothers, as good as it was, wouldn’t count as it is a one off mini-series). They must have been shown on a British channel (even an obscure Sky channel would count!) so cult box-sets bought via the internet also are out. You also must have seen all of the relevant available series. Just having seen a couple of series and raving about it doesn’t count.

Apart from that anything else goes …. comedy, soaps, sci-fi, drama… the choice is yours!"

Oooh - tough one!

After negotiating a bit of leeway in the above rules, I give you the following. I can't hand on heart, say I've seen every episode of every series, and it's slightly skewed to more recent stuff, but there are some gems in here. You should go out and buy them all on DVD...

Bilko

Or, to give it its proper title, 'The Phil Silvers Show'. The series against which all comedy series should be measured. Running from 1955 to 1959 (and no, I didn't get to see any of the episodes when they were first broadcast. How very dare you) the show records the antics of Sgt Ernie Bilko, ostensibly in charge of the motor pool at Fort Baxter in Kansas. Bilko is, of course, far more interested in running scams and get rich quick schemes to the despair of his long suffering Colonel. Phil Silvers steals the show as Bilko, but is ably supported by his squad, including cuddly Duane Doberman. Still funny today, fifty years after its release.

(Oh, and an honourable mention to Top Cat as well, which is essentially Bilko in cartoon form. Nearly made onto this list in its own right).

Cheers

For years, this show kept me in on a Friday night and out of the pub. Which is quite ironic, in an Alanis Morrissette kind of way. A great cast with a wonderful range of characters - Cliff, Norm (Norm!), Frasier, Woody, Carla - a place where everyone knows your name, indeed. Running for so long, with quite a stable cast, meant that you really got to know the characters and pick up on their back stories...which were essentially rather sad - you felt that outside of the bar, people like Cliff and Norm had quite empty lives. But when they were in Cheers bar, they found the companionship and friendship they could get nowhere else.

Twin Peaks

Twin Peaks just about qualifies as it did run to two series, but deserves its place on the list anyway for completely subverting the conventions of the television drama series. As with his filmwork, especially Blue Velvet, David Lynch created a series that peeled back the thin veneer of small town respectability to reveal the evil and horror lurking beneath. On the face of it, a simple murder mystery - Who Killed Laura Palmer? - but it became so much more. The joy was in the detail, the little twists and unexplained mysteries. Where was the Red Room? Why the dwarves and giants? What was it with the owls? A shame the second series lost its way slightly after pressure from the producers to provide some 'explanations' - the joy was in the unexplained and the wierd.

The Simpsons

I doubt very much I've seen every episode of The Simpsons, but I've seen more than enough to convince me this is television material of the highest quality. Initially derided by politicians (who should have known better) for its supposed portrayal of a 'dysfunctional' family - when in fact the Simpsons are the most functional family ever portrayed on screen. The hero is of course Homer - not Bart, who seemed to attract all the original attention. There is a little bit of Homer in all of us - and so there should be.

Again, the joy is in the detail - repeated watching reveals all sorts of wonderful details in the background you'll have missed first time round.

Honourable mention also for Futurama - more great grown-up cartoon fun from the same team.

Prison Break

Just finished watching this one on DVD, so it's fresh in my mind. Not the most cerebral of shows, but hugely enjoyable all the same. The tale of two brothers, Lincoln and Michael. Lincoln has been wrongly convicted of murder and is on death row. Michael gets himself deliberately incarcerated in order to break Lincoln out. From there, the four series alternate between freedom and incarceration as the brothers try to uncover the evil corporation that framed Lincoln in the first place.

Yes, it's absolute tosh, but hugely entertaining tosh for all that.

Dexter

Stretching the rules a wee bit here, as we've only seen the first two of the four series that have been produced. In my defence, it's only the first two series that have been released on DVD, and the third series is on order with Amazon. So it's in.

A very clever twist on the serial killer motif here - in that it is Dexter, our hero, who is the psychopath in this case. His day job is as a blood splatter analyst for the Miami police, but after hours Dexter is out there fulfilling his urges by offing the bad men who the police are unable to catch.

Equal parts amusing, exciting and genuinely shocking on occasion, this is one series where you really will be rooting for the bad guy.

More gloriously far-fetched, entertaining tosh here, and although it has lost its way a touch in recent series, it is still a magnificent show. The central conceit is, of course, that all the action takes place in real time - so the '24' hourly episodes represent just one day's activity on the part of the protagonists. Completely unrealistic and impossible, but who cares? This is Bourne, Die Hard, Bond and any other action film you care to mention stretched out over 24 hours and, if occasionally casually racist and violent, is the perfect way to suspend disbelief and see the goodies triumph over the baddies. Cowboys and Indians for the modern age, Johhn Wayne replaced by Jack Bauer.

The Shield

Cops and robbers - except the line between the two is blurred here to the point of invisibility. The Shield records the day to day existence of a crack police squad who are, for the most part, as corrupt and venal as the criminals they are trying to bring to justice. There is not a single sympathetic character in the whole series, yet you still find yourself rooting for the bad guys (again - bit of a theme developing here).

Michael Chiklis excels as the 'star' of the show, Vic Mackey, but the supporting cast is uniformly strong and has attracted some big names like Glenn Close and Forest Whittaker for important roles in certain series. Harrowing and gritty, but hugely entertaining.

The Sopranos

I've not placed these series in any particular order - apart from these last two, which I think represent some of the finest television drama ever produced. Firstly The Sopranos, the long-running saga of the New Jersey-based mafia family. Yet again, we are rooting for the bad guys, but we know this - and also know that some bad guys are badder than others. Tony's battle to keep his business together whilst dealing with family issues (ageing parent and uncle, growing kids) and his own mental issues is fascinating - and just when you feel you are getting to understand him as a human being, some incident will happen to remind you - graphically - that we are dealing with some very nasty and disturbed individuals.

Powerful drama that pulls few punches - and ended in memorable fashion.

The Wire

As good as The Sopranos is, it's not a patch on The Wire, which I honestly believe represents the best, sustained television drama ever made. Set in Baltimore over five series, the underlying theme is the battle between the police and the drug cartels in the city. Where the series succeeds so well is by covering the stories from all viewpoints - the police force, the corner boys, the politicians, the drug barons - and by judging all protagonists equally.

The show makes no concessions to the viewer - many people have watched the early series with the subtitles on to catch all the nuances of the language of the corners - and it can be difficult to get into - but once you are in, you are hooked.

The series gives no answers, and cleverly depicts the 'circularity' of the streets - as characters die or move on, new individuals come along to fulfil the roles left vacant - but it has some strong and powerful messages about how best to control the drug epidemic in the inner cities, about education, politics and journalism.

A work of true genius.

Spam as poetry

2010-03-25T09:09:00.003Z

I found this in my inbox this morning. No links, nothing to click on to order some Viagra, no money waiting for me in a Nigerian bank account.

Yet I find it strangely compelling, in a Joycean kind of way.

So I want to share it with you.

Who is he? Perhaps you don't care for the brand.
And what can we do? That is why we have the fire.
She must have been a clipper. See what I can do with it.
Habet foenum in cornu*. Oysters will do.
Is not that worse than poverty? It's only a name.
We do not need a candle. He seems very fond of her.
And all of it ugly. The woman of Pablo was watching too.
Never have we seen planes like this. That all our enemies should learn.
But I am not stupid. We are not talking more.

Courtesy of my good friend Seth Keith. Or is that Keith Seth?

*Latin for 'he has hay in his horns'. A quotation from Horace, referring to an angry bull, but applied to anyone feeling angry. I'm here to inform as well as entertain.

Bludgeon Riffola!

2010-03-21T15:39:00.002Z

And so the challenges continue. This time, my challenge to Simon was to name his ten favourite riffs. I put it to him this way...

"Right, after a lot of indecision and prevarication, the next challenge is out there.
And it's the Riff. The guitar line (and it has to be the guitar line) that turns a good song into a classic.
I want your top ten riffs.
No more than two or three bars. Played to death by young boys in guitar shops. Long of hair, behatted and beaded, no doubt.
I'm not talking solos here, I'm talking riffs. Ba-danga-danga-da-dang dang. Ba-danga-danga-da-dang dang.
You know what I mean."

Simon's response to the challenge is here -and mighty impressive it is, too, avoiding the obvious and embracing the concept in equal measure. Including a number of riffs that I should have thought of as well.

As it is, there was only one riff on Simon's list that was in my provisional ten - Seven Nation Army - so I have adjusted my list accordingly. I similarly decided that Smoke on the Water (and one or two others) were a little too obvious to include.

So - ten riffs to send you running to the air guitar shop. In no particular order, of course...

Whole Lotta Love - Led Zeppelin

And here's me saying I was going to avoid the obvious. But how could you not include this? What swung it was the moment in the recent documentary, "It Might Be Loud", where Jimmy Page plays this riff to an audience of The Edge and Jack White, both of whom know a good riff when they hear one. The look of joy on their faces as the power chords rang out was probably the highlight of the film.

Back in Black - AC/DC

I very nearly went for 'Whole Lotta Rosie' but of course could have gone for just about any AccaDacca tune. In the end though, it had to be 'Back in Black', if only for its punchiness and attack. The quintessential AC/DC riff.

Enter Sandman - Metallica

When I was editing down the individual tracks on this list to the essence of their riffs, most could be distilled into ten or twenty seconds, max. Enter Sandman - I just kept the edit playing and playing, as the riff develops and grows. Over a minute of pure riffage before I pressed 'cut'.

The Jean Genie - David Bowie

Generally, Glam Rock gave good riff - and this is David Bowie right in the middle of his Glam phase. Probably the only riff to be in the charts at the same time in two different forms - exactly the same riff graces Sweet's 'Blockbuster'. But this is the definitive Glam riff, courtesy of Mick Ronson, of course.

She Does It Right - Dr Feelgood

Wilko Johnson, with some spectacular pub rock riffage, mastering the art of playing rhythm and lead at the same time, in the same riff. I've seen footage of him playing this riff live, and I still can't work out how he does it. A simple riff on the face of it, but deceptively complex to master.

Safe European Home - The Clash

This is what you get when punk meets heavy metal - The Clash produced by Sandy Pearlman. It irked the purists at the time, but Pearlman added weight and depth to the band's natural intensity, to produce this master opening to the album. It was even better live.

American Idiot - Green Day

Playing this riff immediately after The Clash, and the similarities are obvious. Not just in the choice of notes (there are only so many to choose from, after all) but in the depth and intensity. Often unfairly lumped in with the mass of lumpen Tattoo'd American Punk bands that came through in their wake, this riff kicks off an album of intelligence and variety that transcends its genre.

Song 2 - Blur

Another great riff from a band not really known for their riffage. It also has the classic riff 'trick' that gets me every time - playing the riff once with little tone, then hitting the 'gain' pedal (turned up to eleven) to really hammer the point home. It's got 'woo hoo's' as well. Set the crowd alight at Glastonbury last year. Not that I would know, I was in the Acoustic Tent listening to Georgie Fame.

Walk This Way - Aerosmith

I love this riff - deceptively simple, just four notes played pretty much in sequence four times - but it's perfect in its simplicity and when combined with the opening drum pattern and hint of turntable scratching, sets up the mash of rap and metal perfectly.

Sweet Jane - Lou Reed

This is the lodestone - essence of riff. Three chords - D/A/G - with perhaps a Bm in there as well - it doesn't get any simpler. Can be played gently (as in the VU original) or as an out and out rocker. This version - from Lou's 'Take No Prisoners' live album - is at the rocky end of the spectrum and none the worse for that.

(Oh - and bonus points to anyone who knows where the title of this post comes from...no Googling now, you'd just be cheating yourself...)

What were you thinking?

2010-03-11T12:43:00.001Z

This is Simon's latest challenge to me - the "top ten albums that you can't believe you bought, and just have you thinking 'why?' even now". The example he gave me from his own collection was Mick Jagger's solo album 'She's The Boss', and I can quite understand why.

Now this has proven to be a tricky one. Firstly, I'm not in the habit of buying albums I'm not likely to enjoy. And secondly, I'm pretty accommodating - I'll generally find something to enjoy in most types of music.

That said, there have been one or two things that have slipped through the net...

Captain Beefheart - Trout Mask Replica

There are people who will tell you that this is a classic album - one of the best ever released. Do not listen to these people. This is, in fact, a sprawling mess of discordant, arrhythmic nonsense that should be shunned by any right thinking individual. This is The Emperor's New Clothes in album form. Do not be swayed by the opinion of critics who mistake drug-addled ramblings and noodlings for mystical insight. Captain Beefheart is undoubtedly an artist - but with a paintbrush, not a recording studio.

Limp Bizkit - Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water

This is a horrible album. A really, really, horrible album. For a time, this collision of rock and rap looked like it was the coming thing, lots of bands short on trouser and long on tattoo infecting the airwaves. This lot, led by the risible Fred Durst (backwards baseball cap hiding a major follicular problem) were probably the most hyped and bought - this album sold shedloads. Unfortunately it has no redeeming features whatsoever - awash with whiny self-pity and lumpen beats. (At this point I should also admit to some Linkin Park and Papa Roach lurking hidden in the depths of my record collection. Awful, but positively wonderful when compared to the Bizkit).

Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots

I really, really want to like the Flaming Lips - I really do. I love the idea of the band - the intelligence, the humour, the willingness to try different things...but I just can't get past the awfulness of Wayne Coyne's voice. The problem here is I knew all this before I bought this album - I'd already bought (and hated) The Soft Bulletin. I was swayed by a whole batch of gushing reviews for Yoshimi and my - need, almost - to get into the group. I know lots of people love the album with a passion. But you know what? It's all very...meh, really. And for all the hype and supposed intelligence, "Do You Realize?" must have the tritest lyric since Imagine. "Do you realise - that everyone you know someday will die?" Errr...actually yes, Wayne - I'd kind of figured that out a while ago. "You realise the sun don't go down - it's just an illusion caused by the world spinning round." Oh please.

Various Artists - Cream Ibiza Arrivals

Firstly, a few facts. I am fifty years old. I have never taken Ecstacy. I have never been to, or wanted to go to, a rave. I shun the Dance Village at Glastonbury. So what on earth possessed me to buy this double album of Balearic Beats? Well I suppose a degree of curiosity...which was soon sated. About two tracks in. I didn't stop there though. I also have a Pete Tong triple (triple!) CD of dance traxx(!) and yet another Ibiza double collection. What on earth possessed me?

Lou Reed - Metal Machine Music

Now to be fair, I bought this knowing full well what I was getting into. It was a fiver in Fopp and curiosity got the better of me. This is Lou's contractual obligation album - originally four sides of atonal feedback, each side around fifteen minutes long. As you would expect, it is totally unlistenable. Unfortunately, my copy of iTunes seems to like it, and throws it up on shuffle suspiciously often. Bizarrely, Lou is actually touring Metal Machine Music this year. My advice is stay away - or invest in earplugs.

Razorlight - Razorlight

Now this one is completely unforgiveable, I know. You should be aware that this is Razorlight's second album. I'd already bought their first, when it looked like they might be quite an interesting band. And that first album is ok, but not great by any stretch of the imagination. Now if self-pity is an unattractive trait in a band, self-love is even worse, and in between the first and second album, head Razorlight, Johnny Borrell, seemed to start believing he was the Messiah. Well he's not the Messiah, he's just a very annoying boy, rivalling the sainted Bono for twattishness - and this comes through in every groove (pit?) of this album. A truly horrible listening experience. So why did I buy it? Who knows. Bloody sure I don't.

Roni Size/Reprazent - New Forms

In my defence, this won the Mercury Prize in 1997. The critics loved it. "...as essential as your bread, milk and tv remote control" said Blues and Soul magazine. "...a rhythmically ingenious and spectacularly well-crafted record" said The Times(!). "...you won't have heard anything quite like it before" said Musik. And do you know what, one of those three quotes was right on the nail. And not in a good way. I'll leave you to work out which one. This 'New Form' of music is Drum & Bass, extremely fast beats with a preponderance of, you guessed it, drums and bass guitar/synth in the mix. And do you know what? It is completely unlistenable.

Rufus Wainwright - Want One/Two

I bought both these albums (Want One and Want Two, released as separate albums but intended as a pair) on the same day. I really don't know why, I suppose Rufus was getting a lot of press at the time and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. So really, I should have known what to expect. Now I appreciate that Rufus is a talented guy, and that there is a certain 'flamboyance' about his work - but really, this is all way, way too much for me. Some may enjoy Rufus's somewhat 'operatic' approach to singing, but it makes my ears hurt. Badly.

Uriah Heep - You Can't Keep a Good Band Down

Nowt wrong with a bit of Heep, I hear you say, and you'd be right. When I was in my early teens, I loved the Heep as much as I did the Purps, the Sabs and any number of other early 'metal' bands. But then I grew up. Over the years, I had sold all my early metal vinyl, but was browsing in Fopp (again) one day, and they had this box set of seven (count 'em!) Heep albums for, I think, three quid. So I thought I'd re-live my lost youth a tad. And isn't it funny how - sometimes - things aren't quite the way we remember them? Now of course the odd track still gives me a Proustian rush...but seven albums' worth?

Belle & Sebastian - The Boy With The Arab Strap

Headlining Latitude this year (somehow!) and therefore quite topical at the moment. Now I'm as fond of a bit of fey Northern/Scottish indie as the next man, and I love the likes of Orange Juice, Aztec Camera, Prefab Sprout - even pre-electro Everything but the Girl - but even I have to draw the line at Belle & Sebastian. I have tried - really tried - to get into this album, but whenever I play it, I get to the end of the album with the realisation - again - that not a single note of the album has managed to imprint itself on my brain. I've owned this album for the best part of ten years, I think, and even now I couldn't name a single track or hum a single tune. I know people love them to death, but they are as insubstantial as a fine mist.

The Rather Hip Art Scene

2010-03-10T14:59:00.001Z

The Rather Hip Art Scene is a new website, set up by The Boy and a couple of his mates in Huddersfield, covering music and events in the Leeds-Sheffield-Manchester triangle.

I suggest you have a look - it is really rather good.

http://ratherhip.wordpress.com/

5 - 1: Music doesn't get better than this!

2010-03-07T11:44:00.001Z

5: I Want You Back - Jackson 5

Another deeply troubled individual who had everything, but ultimately succumbed to his demons.

I have a theory about Michael Jackson. For all his talent, all his success through the '70s and '80s, all the millions of copies of Thriller and Bad sold, all the groundbreaking videos...this was a man who knew, deep down, that he'd recorded his best song when he was eleven years old. And that everything since failed to measure up.

Now all that, of course, may be nonsense. Apart from the incontrovertible fact that 'I Want You Back' is the best thing that Michael Jackson ever recorded. Which is nothing to be ashamed of - it is a perfect slice of pure pop music. Everything fits perfectly - even the fact that Michael is wincingly out of tune in places adds to the charm of the song.

4: Teenage Kicks - The Undertones

Another perfect slice of pure pop music. Derry rather than Detroit - The Sound Of Young Ireland. Proof - if proof was ever needed - that the simplest music can be the best. Jeez, even I can play the bass part all the way through! This is music stripped down to its essence - the most obvious of chord sequences paired with the tritest of boy-meets-girl lyrics. But that's what is perfect about it - everything about the song is just right. The group seem to play the song with an air of wonder as well - like 'how the hell did we do this'? John Peel's favourite song? Maybe - certainly one of mine.

3: Dark End of the Street - James Carr

I have so many different versions of this song it is untrue - sixteen different artists including Elvis Costello, Aretha, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Ry Cooder and Percy Sledge - as well as the writer of the song, Dan Penn. On a live recording I have, Dan says he is often asked which is his favourite version of the song - "As if there were any other version than James's".

James is of course James Carr - probably the most obscure of all the artists in my top twenty (all right, twenty-five) list and, yet again, another deeply troubled man who suffered from bipolar disorder all his life. But a great soul singer who - with just a few exceptions - was badly served by his choice of material over the years and was often overshadowed by the established soul greats - Otis, Wilson, Solomon etc.

But he recorded the definitive version of this wonderful song. A classic tale of two lovers, cheating on their partners, meeting clandestinely and guiltily. Knowing that what they are doing is wrong, and they will eventually get caught, but doing it anyway - because they have to. And it resonates with me - I've been to the dark end of that street myself.

2: Another Girl, Another Planet - The Only Ones

I blogged a long time ago about The Libertines, and came to the conclusion that, essentially, they were The Only Ones de nos jours. Except The Libertines never produced a note that could touch anything written by Peter Perrett and his group. Especially not this, their finest moment, with the greatest opening guitar figure - ever.

A strange group even by the standards of the late '70s, The Only Ones had served their time in various prog and blues outfits before coalescing behind professional junkie Perrett. They had the musical chops, he had the tunes and the lyrics, and they never came together more exhuberantly than in this three minute blast, although they are by no means one-hit wonders, as a tour round their first three albums would clearly demonstrate.

I saw them live once, at Sheffield Poly in 1978. Ragged and tetchy, they eventually launched into a full-blooded scrap on stage, leaving Perrett to finish the set solo. The self-destruct button was well and truly pressed that night, and I would guess on many other occasions.

1: Superstition - Stevie Wonder

Today, this is the greatest record ever made. On most days, it's still going to be there or thereabouts. I defy anyone not to start moving something when the opening clavichord stabs start playing. What's so great about Superstition? Primarily, it's the groove, I think. It's also a hugely complex song - deceptively so, until you start to analyse it (search on YouTube for a short film explaining the sixteen or so different clavichord parts making up the opening riff). Lyrically, it's all over the place ("If you believe in things you don't understand then you suffer - Superstition ain't the way") but that doesn't matter.

I find it so difficult to explain what is so great about this song that I'm not going to try any more - just watch this. I've posted it before but any excuse. Anyone wondering whether it will be worth seeing Stevie at Glastonbury this year - just watch and learn...

10 - 6: God and Mammon

2010-03-07T10:35:00.001Z

10: Try a Little Tenderness - Otis Redding

As we get into the top ten, soul music (and primarily Southern soul) is making up more and more of my favourites. After explaining why there is so much home-grown stuff amongst my favourites in the last post, why then does all this music recorded by black people thousands of miles away from Liverpool mean so much to me? Quite simply, this is music that transcends all barriers - racial, cultural, geographical - by talking directly to us through our emotions. They called it 'soul' music for a reason. And few people do soul better than Otis. Starting slowly, but building to a powerful crescendo, this is Southern soul in a nutshell.

I recall seeing a rather strange play on TV back in the '80s. Called 'Road', it was set in some sort of dystopian 'alternative' present day, in a deserted council estate left unpopulated and decaying. The one thing I remember about the play was one particular, striking scene, where the cast members congregated in one of the deserted houses. One of the cast (dressed, along with his colleagues, in Reservoir Dogs-esque black suits, white shirts and black ties) produces a ghetto blaster that he places on a nearby table. The cast stand around in a circle, heads bowed, as 'Try a Little Tenderness' plays on the ghetto blaster. The cast then are, individually and collectively, transported to ecstasy by the song. Even in that environment, about as far away from Tennessee as you can get, the song worked perfectly.

9: Belle - Al Green

Another of Southern soul's giants, this captures Al entering his religious phase. The song is addressed to his girl - Belle - who is being gently let down as Al devotes his life to his God ("It's you I want, but it's Him that I need"). Belle is, of course, a metaphor for the wider secular pleasures that Al was turning his back on - not with regret, but with joy and anticipation. As the song fades, Al can no longer find the words to express his feelings, using instead a series of screams and yelps to declare his love for his God. The tune and the arrangement are, of course, smooth as silk and Al sings as if nothing ever meant as much to him as this. In truth, nothing probably ever did.

8: Waterloo Sunset - The Kinks

First - a confession. I don't really like The Kinks very much. I always found them a bit too fey, too frilly-shirted and rooted too deeply in a type of Englishness that I don't really recognise and have trouble empathising with. All that notwithstanding, Waterloo Sunset is one of the greatest songs ever written by an Englishman. I love the melody, the sentiment and the imagery as Terry meets Julie one evening just south of the river, happy and in love despite the 'millions of people swarming like flies' around them. Even the detached air of the song's narrator, looking out at all this from his window gives a cinematic feel to the song that works perfectly.

7: Shot by Both Sides - Magazine

Why are you so edgy, kid?

Ok, time to get a little bit darker, after all this tenderness and love. This was Magazine's opening blast, based upon a Pete Shelley guitar riff, that started to nudge punk into other, more complex areas. It did that without losing the edgy, exhilarating rush of punk - but it added depth to the mix - lyrically, musically and atmospherically. Magazine continued to add texture and atmosphere to their material over the course of four superb albums, and introduced the great, sadly lamented, John McGeoch to the world. However this initial statement of intent encapsulated all that was great about this band in four minutes flat. And oh, it was so good to see them back on stage last year.

6: Man of the World - Fleetwood Mac

That's Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, the early blues-based version of the band, not the AOR cocaine-fuelled behemoth of the '70s. Based in the blues, but ultimately transcending the form with material like Albatross, The Green Manalishi and Black Magic Woman - and especially with this lament, a truly beautiful song. Written by a man who - in theory - had everything; good looks, wealth, a sublime musical talent - but who was deeply troubled. ("I guess I've got everything I need - I wouldn't ask for more. And there's no-one I'd rather be...but I just wish that I'd never been born").

Ultimately of course, Peter Green did turn his back on everything, surrendering to his demons. Happily he is now back, still fragile but making music again. I hope he's now at peace with his demons.

15 - 11: Mersey Paradise

2010-03-06T09:38:00.001Z

A distinct North-West flavour to this batch of songs, for which I make no apology...how can you not be affected by the sounds you hear on your own doorstep?

15: Feels Like Growin' Up - Amsterdam

I have written on many occasions about the wonderful Amsterdam (and Pele, their predecessor band, about whom more later) and will no doubt continue to do so - how this band are not massive continues to amaze me. Still, Ian Prowse continues to do what he has always done - which is to make music from the heart and from the soul. Feels Like Growin' Up is one of the band's more affecting songs and a huge audience favourite from their early days. I remember seeing them in Liverpool a while ago, down by the front with The Boy, as usual. The group's regular photographer was stood next to us, the other side of the barrier in the 'pit'. This bloke must have seen them hundreds of times - yet when I glanced over to him while the group were playing this song, he was stood there in floods of tears. It gets you - every time.

14: Raid The Palace - Pele

Ok, it's the same singer/songwriter, but it's a different band so I'm having it in here. They are my rules anyway so I can tweak them if I want! Pele were the band that so nearly made it in the '80s. Again, led by Ian Prowse and cut from similar cloth to Amsterdam - and just as good. This was their 'hit record' - number one in South Africa, I'll have you know (and at the time probably the last country Ian would have wanted it to be number one in). Unlike Feels Like Growin' Up above, this is a song of defiance, almost a manifesto if you like. Ian was asked the other year if he would like to perform in front of The Queen as part of the 'Capital of Culture' celebrations - this is the song he should have sung if he could have brought himself to do it!

13: Heart As Big As Liverpool - The Mighty Wah!

Unashamedly sentimental, and unfortunately claimed by the 'other' club, this is another one that gets me every time. The Mighty Wah! is of course one of the monikers used by Pete Wylie, one of the original 'Crucial Three' (along with Ian McCulloch and Julian Cope) who came out of the 'Eric's' scene in the early eighties but who, for whatever reason, remained a local cult (that's cult) rather than really breaking through into the big league. He still produced a good handful of classics though (including Story of the Blues, with its defiant coda and Sinful) but this is the one that encapsulates the image of the sentimental scouser. Yes, it's a cliché, but it's a cliché for a reason. You are not alone...

12: She Loves You - The Beatles

You didn't honestly think that The Fabs wouldn't be in here somewhere, did you? Of course not. She Loves You is probably my first musical memory (yes, I'm that old) and will forever be inextricably linked with home. Released when The Beatles were still very much 'our' band, and the sense of pride in a group of scousers making it in the outside world was palpable. And how could I not identify strongly with a left-hander called Paul? But leaving all that to one side, She Loves You is a fantastic pop song that has probably never been bettered. From the opening drum role to the final 'Yeahs', it's come and gone inside two and a half minutes, encapsulating everything good about Beatlemania on the way. Harmonies? Check. 'Oooooohs'? Check. 'Yeah, yeah, yeah'? Oh yeah.

11. Only The Lonely - Roy Orbison

Ok, The Big O didn't come from Liverpool, but he was a huge influence on the original Merseybeat artists - in fact, Please Please Me was originally written with Orbison in mind (and was originally played slowly, in an Orbison style). Roy was an influence on everyone though, Bruce Springsteen (as I mentioned in my earlier album blog), Elvis Costello, Tom Waits to name just three. But although he influenced loads of people, no-one ever sounded like Roy Orbison...because no-one else could sound like Roy Orbison. Roy was not the most attractive of gentlemen, and maybe this was reflected in his material - often downbeat, often written from the viewpoint of the loser. Even when Roy got the girl (Oh Pretty Woman, Running Scared) it was always a surprise to him, counter to his expectations. Great songs, but Roy was at his best when singing about loss, and never better than here - it's the contrast between his vocal and the 'dum dum dum dummy doo wah' backing that I love. We all know the way Roy is feeling tonight, because we've all been lonely at some point.

20 - 16: Southern Boogie and Northern Croonin'

2010-03-05T12:08:00.003Z

20: Sweet Home Alabama - Lynyrd Skynyrd

Basically an 'answer' song, written in response to Neil Young's 'Southern Man'. In a nutshell - we're Southern and we're proud of it. So don't be slaggin' us off with your trendy Yankee ways because we're just fine and dandy down here! And so they are. But it's not really the sentiment in the song that does it for me - it's the groove and the feel - the opening guitar riff is one of the slinkiest there is - not a note too many, not a note out of place. Lynyrd Skynyrd could do overblown when they wanted to - Freebird being a case in point - but Sweet Home Alabama is tight as a gnat's chuff. As, no doubt, they say in Montgomery.

19: Kashmir - Led Zeppelin

Again, it's all in the riff. The spiralling, three-note stab that invokes so well the Eastern 'vibe' implicit in the song's title. A word of warning though - don't listen to the lyrics. Really. They make Spinal Tap's 'Stonehenge' sound profound. But none of that matters. This was a band at the height of its powers, pushing the boundaries in any number of directions, and exploring Eastern rhythms and time signatures that they would return to later in their careers.

Of course, there are many Zeppelin songs I could have chosen. But for me, Kashmir is pure essence of Zep.

18: Coles Corner - Richard Hawley

I love this song. Often - erroneously - described as South Yorkshire's answer to Roy Orbison but more accurately referred to (by himself) as 'that specky twat from Sheffield', Hawley is an absolute superstar. In the ideal world, he would sell more records than U2. With his slicked back hair, his twangy guitar style and his rich, baritone crooning, Hawley evokes an earlier age. And never better than on this song, a slice of pure romance about one of Sheffield's old department stores and a historic meeting spot for the city's youth.

17: Voodoo Chile (Slight Return) - The Jimi Hendrix Experience

My, it's a rockin' selection this time round, for some reason. Jimi needed to be in the top twenty somewhere, and this is the track for me - a track that doesn't outstay its welcome, that rocks like a mother and that demonstrates just what a fine guitar player Hendrix was. Of course, describing Jimi's guitar playing as 'fine' is like describing Zinedine Zidane as a 'capable' footballer. He was the best. Voodoo Chile was one of the final songs recorded with the original Experience, before Jimi moved on to looser, jazzier and funkier work - but this, for me, is the peak.

16: Angel - Aretha Franklin

And changing the mood completely, it's the Queen of Soul at her most soulful. By some considerable distance, Aretha is the best female singer the world has ever seen - in any form of music. This is an uncontestable fact. Whenever any X-Factor wannabe starts warbling in a Mariahesque way, in the mistaken belief that the amount of soul in a performance is directly proportional to the number of notes you can squeeze into a single line, she should be slapped firmly across the face with a copy of Aretha's Greatest Hits and locked in a darkened room with the CD until she learns the error of her ways. Angel is just a beautiful song, written by her sister, with a (no doubt contrived) spoken intro that sets the scene perfectly. In fact why am I writing this? Rather than get into a long, drawn-out thing, I think the melody on the box will help me explain. It's there for you. below - just listen.

25 - 21: From Sheffield to Jamaica (via Memphis)

2010-03-04T13:52:00.023Z

25: A Certain Romance - Arctic Monkeys

I know they've hardly been around forever, but songwriting this good will stand the test of time. I love this track, mainly for the lyrics, which capture perfectly the life of young men in "knackered Converse with tracky bottoms tucked in socks", who think it's alright to act like a dickhead - after a couple of cans. Feeling like I'm almost sixteen again.

24: Unfinished Sympathy - Massive Attack

Famous for its single-shot video, but the song stands alone perfectly without the visuals. Beautiful vocal, subtle, trippy backing with sensitive sampling. Hearing this in a muddy field in Somerset made the hairs on my neck, quite literally, stand on end.

23: In the Ghetto - Elvis Presley

Choosing the song as much as the singer here - I could easily have picked Candi Staton's version as this. It does, however, prove that Lennon was wrong when he said Elvis died when he joined the army. Produced by Chips Moman in Memphis in 1969, Elvis was coerced - bullied, even - into recording some of his strongest material. This downbeat tale of ghetto life was the best of the bunch.

22: The Perfect Kiss - New Order

I have to be quite specific here - only the long version of this song will do - the version used in the video produced by Jonathan Demme, not the shortened album version. This is a song that needs to stretch out, rather like the Stone Roses' extended version of Fool's Gold. This version really comes to life when Bernard stops singing, and Stephen and Hooky start hitting the syndrums, with the whole thing culminating in Hooky's journey from top to bottom of the bass fret. New Order were good, but they were never better than they were here.

21: No Woman, No Cry - Bob Marley and the Wailers

Again I need to be specific - it has to be the live version, recorded at London's Lyceum in 1975. Just a beautiful slice of Lover's Rock, a gentle reggae lilt with lyrics reminiscing about early Trenchtown days. Credited to a friend of Marley's (Vincent Ford) who ran a soup kitchen in Trenchtown but surely written by Marley. Kept his mate in soup in perpetuity, no doubt...

Ok, so the top twenty songs challenge...

2010-03-04T13:20:00.002Z

...is harder than doing albums, by a long, long way.

How to select such a small number from tens of thousands of songs, most of which (on their day) will have meant something to me at some stage? Apart from the Coldplay ones, obviously?

Ah, sod it, I'm having 25. And please bear in mind that on another day, it could be a completely different 25.

The ground rules are pretty much as for the top ten albums - no artists twice and to avoid further duplication, I have ignored the songs I highlighted in discussing those albums. Which does mean that Tangled Up In Blue, Thunder Road, Rain, Stuck Between Stations etc should be thought of as 'bubbling under', at least.

Oh, and other songs that would be bubbling under would include:

When An Old Cricketer Leaves The Crease - Roy Harper
Sour Times - Portishead
Hurt - Johnny Cash
Drive-in Saturday - David Bowie
(White Man) in Hammersmith Palais - The Clash
Let's Get It On - Marvin Gaye
Motorcycle Emptiness - Manic Street Preachers
Strange Fruit - Billie Holiday
I'm Your Puppet - James and Bobby Purify
Heaven or Las Vegas - Cocteau Twins

By the way, this is Simon's fault, he made me do it. And for comparison, his top twenty songs are here.

Let's break this down into blocks of five, albeit in no particular order.

Here we go, 2-3-4....

The Queen is Dead - The Smiths

2010-02-25T13:55:00.003Z

The Smiths - yet another depressing band? Well that's arrant nonsense, I'm afraid. There is nothing depressing about The Smiths - this is (again) one of the most joyous (and funny) albums out there.

Morrissey and Marr both prefer Strangeways, but for me this album represents their peak, when they were still very much a band and the lyricism and music meshed and gelled perfectly.

Firstly the words. Morrissey seems completely at ease with himself on this album - utterly self-aware ("She said 'I know you and you cannot sing' I said 'That's nothing, you should hear me play piano'") and playful ("I didn't realise you wrote such bloody awful poetry"). But at the same time, still able to articulate the angst and wretchedness of adolescence better than just about anyone.

'I Know It's Over' is a classic 'depressing Smiths' song. Except it's not. It's a song for anyone who feels (or has ever felt) alone and unloved - Steven has felt that way as well, and he knows what you are going through. I defy anyone not to feel comforted, rather than depressed, after listening to this song.

If you're so funny
Then why are you on your own tonight ?
And if you're so clever
Then why are you on your own tonight ?
If you're so very entertaining
Then why are you on your own tonight ?
If you're so very good-looking
Why do you sleep alone tonight ?
I know ...
'Cause tonight is just like any other night
That's why you're on your own tonight

It's so easy to laugh, it's so easy to hate
It takes strength to be gentle and kind
It's so easy to laugh, it's so easy to hate
It takes guts to be gentle and kind

But Morrissey does requited, as well as unrequited love, too. Albeit with a degree of obsessiveness that goes beyond the strictly necessary. In the sublime 'There is a Light That Never Goes Out' Steven gets his man(?) and declares his undying love:

And if a double-decker bus
Crashes into us
To die by your side
Is such a heavenly way to die
And if a ten-ton truck
Kills the both of us
To die by your side
Well, the pleasure - the privilege is mine

'Undying' possibly the wrong word, I suppose.

But the album is about more than Morrissey's lyrics, although I could quote them all day. It's about the music, and the musicianship of the band as well. Johnny Marr is undoubtedly the finest guitarist of his generation, understated and unshowy, but always appropriate. Listen to the guitar work on 'Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others' - it's sublime. And if that wasn't enough, The Smiths had the finest rhythm section in the land as well. Listen to the drums at the beginning of 'The Queen is Dead' and the bass on 'I Know It's Over' and tell me I'm wrong.

The Queen is Dead. The finest album of the '80s, by the finest band of the '80s.

Unknown Pleasures - Joy Division

2010-02-25T11:01:00.024Z

Did I say that Horses was arguably the best debut album ever? There are many would argue that Unknown Pleasures runs it close. And they'd be right.

Strangely, there are at least two people who would take issue with that assertion - Peter Hook and Bernard Sumner, who both came away hugely dissatisfied with the finished product, feeling that producer Martin Hannett had delivered an album that did not reflect Joy Division's live sound accurately enough. And in that sense, they are right too, for this is as much Martin Hannett's album as it is Joy Division's.

And in truth, it is the production that lifts this album from being merely great to being an absolute classic. Production that is (Pseud's Corner alert) both of its time and absolutely timeless - that reflects brilliantly the sound and feel of Manchester in the late 1970s, yet has not dated in the same way that much other production work of the time has.

But that is not to say that the production is all - the quality of the songwriting, and the way in which the musician's obvious limitations are used to the advantage of the overall sound, and above all, Ian Curtis's voice - both stentorian and vulnerable at the same time - mean that the source material is immensely powerful in its own right.

And it's not just the music - the overall product - that striking cover adds to the atmosphere of the package enormously. And how many labels would allow a band's debut album to go out with no mention of the band's name (or, indeed, the album title) to appear on the cover?

But ultimately it is the music that makes this album a classic. Even without the benefit of hindsight, there is an air of paranoia, of unease, about the album. And yet it is not a depressing album. If anything, it's an uplifting album - at the risk of coming over all emo, there is an air of understanding about Curtis's lyrics and singing - "I know things seem bad, but they can, and will, get better".

Unfortunately for Ian Curtis, it didn't get better. The guide he was waiting for never did come and take him by the hand.

Songs in the Key of Life - Stevie Wonder

2010-02-25T10:40:00.001Z

To be honest, I could have chosen any of Stevie's albums from the sequence that began with Talking Book in 1972, through Innervisions in 1973, Fulfillingness' First Finale in 1974 and this stupendous double album released in 1976. These four albums (six, if you bookend with Music of my Mind in early 1972 and Hotter Than July in 1980 and quietly ignore The Secret Life of Plants) represents possibly the longest sustained period of quality enjoyed by any artist, ever. And I include The Beatles, The Stones and David Bowie in that.

So why plumb for Songs in the Key of Life, then? Well really, to take both quality and quantity in one package. This is surely one of the few double albums that deserves to be a double, that couldn't be improved by pruning to a single album (I'm looking at you, White Album).

Songs... is also one of the most upbeat albums ever released. The polar opposite of this list's breakup albums, this suite of songs showcases Stevie's happiness in his relationship and the joy of his newborn daughter, his love of music and his God. There is still some grit in the oyster though - in the form of Pastime Paradise (sampled heavily for Coolio's Gangster Paradise) and Black Man.

Love songs aplenty - the gorgeous 'Knocks Me Off My Feet' - surely the most hook-laden ballad ever released, As and Ebony Eyes.

But the album peaks with the upbeat centre of the first disc - the double whammy of Sir Duke (named for Duke Ellington) and I Wish - even this left/leaden-footed white boy can't resist the brass opening of the former, or the loose-limbed funk of the latter.

This is Stevie at his peak - and what a peak.

Sod it - it's a double album - have two videos.

Horses - Patti Smith

2010-02-24T10:34:00.002Z

"Jesus died for someone's sins - but not mine."

The opening line of Gloria, the opening song on Horses, Patti Smith's debut album, released in 1975. Arguably the greatest debut album ever. It sounded like nothing released before, and very little since. It took complex, erudite poetry infused with startling imagery, and combined it with a range of musical styles including rock, rock and roll and reggae. It predated and informed punk, and confirmed that women could compete with men in the rock arena without compromise.

Horses is a difficult album, but sounds to these ears as fresh as it did on first hearing, thirty years ago. Each time I listen (and you do have to listen - this is not background music) new things surface and entrance. The subject matter is stark, but not depressing - there is a confidence and defiance that suggests redemption and self-belief despite the violence and death.

Gloria's opening line is a statement of intent, a manifesto even, which leads into the tale of a lesbian love affair infused with the spirit of Van Morrison's original, which is transcended and pummelled into submission by the band, before slowing into a defiant restatement of the opening line.

Land (Horses/Land of a Thousand Dances/La Mer(de)) is the highpoint of an album full of highpoints, and the possibly the best combination of poetry, imagery and rock ever. As with Gloria, it takes a 60's classic, and subverts it into something huge and compelling. Again, the subject matter is dark - centering on a homosexual rape and subsequent suicide but it makes that response feel almost positive - something other than 'surrender' - before referencing Gloria as the cycle comes to it's conclusion. Powerful, compelling stuff. Patti playing in the sea of possibility.

But to focus on these two (admittedly standout) tracks is to undersell the rest of the album - the stream of consciousness that suffuses Birdland, the lilting reggae of Redondo Beach and the closing lament that is Elegie.

Horses will not be for everyone - it took me a few years to really 'get' the album - but persevere and you will find the beauty that lurks within.

The Seldom Seen Kid - Elbow

2010-02-24T10:07:00.001Z

Elbow kind of passed me by for a long time - I'd heard some stuff and kind of passed them off as another dour bunch of near-Mancs churning out identikit medium-paced tunes of no real substance. Pleasant enough, but not really for me.

That view changed dramatically, one early evening in Suffolk in July 2008, when I saw them live for the first time, performing the bulk of this album. Another band who played with joy and passion and brought their material to life - culminating, of course, in a mass singalong to one of the centrepieces of the album, 'One Day Like This'.

After that, I took the album seriously and slowly discovered an album suffused with passion, regret, love and - that word again - joy, that lodged itself amongst my all time favourites quickly and easily.

So who is/was The Seldom Seen Kid? He was Bryan Glancy, musician-about-town in Manchester, drinking buddy of the band who died suddenly in 2006. The album is dedicated to his memory, and the closing track, 'Friend of Ours', is a moving tribute to him, that perfectly captures the awkwardness of bluff heterosexual Northerners clumsily trying to express affection ("Never very good at goodbyes, so - gentle shoulder charge - love you mate").

But the album is on no way mawkish, including some beautiful love songs in Starlings ("You are the only thing in any room you're ever in"), The Bones of You and Mirrorball. Grounds For Divorce (opening with another reference to Glancy) adds some grit to the album, with a stunning bass line...and of course, the best 'festival song' written for many a year, the aforementioned 'One Day Like This'.

Ironically, the officially released album may not be the best version. A year after release, the band went into Abbey Road Studios to record the album live, with the BBC Concert Orchestra and a full choir. The songs, partially orchestrated on the original album, lend themselves well to full orchestration, giving the album even more polish and depth.

To have one version of a great album should be enough. To have two brilliant readings of the album is just being spoilt.

So - The Seldom Seen Kid. One album like this a year'll see me right.

Boys and Girls in America - The Hold Steady

2010-02-23T17:28:00.002Z

Moving away for a time from the established classics, this album just had to be in my top ten. The Hold Steady are one of my favourite live bands, and this is their best album, capturing the joy and exuberance of the band perfectly.

The themes are not new - largely focusing on relationships, drink, drugs and the Mississippi River and the recurring characters Charlemagne, Gideon and Holly. The songs are wordy - and spoken rather than sung - but with fantastic, complex interplay between the guitar and keyboards that suggests Born to Run era Springsteen as much as anything else.

My first exposure to the album was live, in a muddy tent on a cold, rainy June day at Glastonbury. They warmed my heart, and continue to do so.

The lead-off track, 'Stuck Between Stations', gives my blog its title and my phone its ringtone. How much more can a song be loved? And how many other songs have the wit and intelligence to reference both Sal Paradise and John Berryman?

Whilst there is something incongruous about a bunch of, er, geeks in their mid-thirties singing songs about teenage lust and drug experimentation ("...it started recreational, it ended kinda medical..."), somehow it all just works. It's almost a self-help guide for teenagers ("You don't have to deal with the dealers, let your boyfriend deal with the dealers") that neither preaches nor judges - but celebrates that all too brief period in your life when all you have to worry about are girls, boys, music and your narcotics of choice.

As they sang on another album, "Oh, to be 17 forever..."

This song is about art, it's about love, it's about depression, it's about alcohol, it's about faith....

If I was ever lucky enough to have been in a rock and roll band, this is the band I would have wanted to be in!

Painted From Memory - Elvis Costello with Burt Bacharach

2010-02-23T17:00:00.001Z

So much Costello to choose from - Imperial Bedroom or This Year's Model both clamouring for attention - but ultimately I had to choose this album, Elvis's 1998 collaboration with Burt Bacharach. Easy Listening? Hardly - this is as far removed from Easy Listening as any album could be - especially if you have ever been unlucky or deceitful in love.

After Blood on the Tracks, this is the second 'breakup' album on my list (what is it with me and breakup albums?) themed around lost love, broken relationships, guilt and revenge. And it is possibly the tension between the smooth, easy melodies and the brittle, tense lyrics that sets this album apart from other albums of the genre.

I make no excuses for my love of Burt Bacharach - he has been involved in the creation of some of the greatest music ever recorded and it is not just Costello in the 'modern idiom' who has recognised that - Noel Gallagher, who only steals from the best, has put on record his love of the man's music (reverse the chord sequence of 'This Guy's In Love With You' and you might recognise 'Half A World Away').

Surprisingly, such a tight collaboration was largely conducted at a distance - the two songwriters swapping snippets of lyric and melody by phone and email. The collaboration began with 'God Give Me Strength', recorded for a film soundtrack and included here as the album's closer.

Inspired by his illustrious partner, Costello's lyrics hit new highs on this album. He explores the overriding themes from interesting perspectives - 'This House is Empty Now' has the narrator walking round an empty home, shorn of his partner and looking to face life alone, remembering the times they shared in the now deserted home. The title track, 'Painted From Memory', suggests that eventually even the faces of those we loved will fade from memory. 'I Still Have That Other Girl' - an affair that is doomed before it starts as Elvis cannot forget the girl he would be leaving.

I know - it sounds like a barrel of laughs,doesn't it? It certainly packs a huge emotional punch, the bitterest pill wrapped in the sweetest of sugar coatings. An unforgettable album.

This House Is Empty Now - Burt on baton and piano, Elvis on vocals. Absolutely sublime - and not just the lyrics. The exquisite little guitar figure after the bridge ("Does the extinguished candle care about the darkness?") is almost throwaway, yet absolutely heartbreaking.

Revolver - The Beatles

2010-02-23T12:12:00.001Z

How to pick one Beatles album from all the others? Clearly The Beatles have to be in the top ten, but which one? On another day, it could have been Abbey Road, or maybe Rubber Soul - Hard Day's Night, even (but never Sgt Pepper).

But today - and to be honest, on most days - it has to be Revolver.

Revolver was the album where The Fabs grew up - extending themselves beyond their Beatlemania beginnings, but still a band, before the self indulgence and bitterness took hold. Their individuality was beginning to show through more and more (the 'John' and 'Paul' songs are obvious throughout) but they are still clearly working as a team - pushing each other to heights they'd not previously reached.

Highlights? For me, John's maturing work in Tomorrow Never Knows, And Your Bird Can Sing and She Said, She Said - but Revolver is more about Paul's work when taken as a whole. Eleanor Rigby is a masterpiece by any standards, and in Here, There and Everywhere and For No One, Paul produced two of his most moving ballads. Finally Got To Get You Into My Life is one of the most joyous songs The Beatles - or anyone - ever produced.

The biggest irony of course is that the best 'Revolver' track never made it onto the official album. Snuck away on the B-side of Paperback Writer, 'Rain' may well be one of the best songs The Beatles (or anyone) ever recorded. If nothing else, it provided Liam Gallagher with a vocal style that gave him quite a nice career, thank you very much.

Speaking of which....

Born To Run - Bruce Springsteen

2010-02-23T12:11:00.001Z

After two critically acclaimed, but relatively poorly-selling, albums, Springsteen felt it was make or break with this, his third release. Famously, he wanted it to sound "...like Roy Orbison singing Bob Dylan, produced by [Phil] Spector."

Well he didn't sound like Roy Orbison. But then no-one sounds like Roy Orbison.

As for the rest - certainly the production was decidedly 'widescreen', in keeping with the cinematic nature of the songs, and the layering and complexity of the production certainly brought to mind Phil Spector. Ironically, the Dylan comparisons that Springsteen had been saddled with in the past were less evident on this album than they had been previously, as he tightened up on the wordplay and allegory, producing a suite of songs that had a clear and consistent lyrical theme.

And that theme? Well to these ears, it was all about breaking free of ties and constraints - leaving behind the mundane and the everyday - the "town full of losers". Of course breaking free is a risky business - and some of Springsteen's characters were taking more - or at least different - risks than others. In Meeting Across The River, the risk comes from dabbling in petty crime and perhaps biting off more than you can chew. Elsewhere though, the risk is more about failure and disappointment - of learning that your dreams and aspirations are just that, and of being sucked back into the life you were hoping to escape.

But that's the risk you have to take. The genius of the album is Springsteen's confrontation of those risks - his willingness to do what it takes and the optimism that suffuses the whole album. He's got his guitar and he's learned how to make it talk - he's gonna get to that place where they really wanna go - and walk in the sun.

Even for those characters left behind on the Backstreets - Springsteen talks of people taking their stand, working all day to blow them away in the night.

On later albums - as he grew older and perhaps wiser - Springsteen speaks of disillusionment and regret at failed dreams. But on Born to Run, he's at the start of the journey - getting out while he's young - pulling out of here to win.

Here's Thunder Road, performed on VH1 Storytellers. And what a story it tells. Possibly my favourite lyric ever.

Blood on the Tracks - Bob Dylan

2010-02-23T12:00:00.009Z

There could have been three or four Dylan albums in this list, but for me, this is his real masterpiece - when both musically and lyrically, he surpassed even himself. Dylan's 'divorce' album, his lyrics are more direct, less allegorical than usual, lending them a power that hits you between the eyes.

The opening trio of Tangled Up in Blue, Simple Twist of Fate and You're a Big Girl Now would grace any album - then to be followed by the icy blast of Idiot Wind, possibly the most vicious put-down ever recorded. Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts is possibly the best cowboy film never made and Shelter From the Storm, steeped in Biblical allegory, foreshadows Dylan's later 'Christian' period.

There is, of course, nothing straightforward about a Dylan album, and the 'official' release may not even be the best version of Blood on the Tracks out there. Having recorded the album and delivered it for release, Dylan had an uncharacteristic wobble, and re-recorded five of the songs in Minneapolis for the final release. Many would say the the original, 'New York Sessions' album is the better album, with a coherence and 'flow' that results from the album being recorded in one place and time.

But then - that's what you get with Dylan. Sometimes frustrating, wilful and perverse - but always brilliant.

Here's the 'New York' version of Tangled up in Blue - see what you think!

Never one to shirk a challenge...

2010-02-23T11:56:00.012Z

So here's the thing. Matt has a University project that requires him to name/discuss his 'all time top ten favourite records'. Not an easy project, and actually whittling down his favourites to a top ten has proven difficult. I, of course, have put my oar in and have, in turn, been challenged by him to "make a list of your all time top ten favourite records... Not records you think should be on there (Dark Side, OK Computer, Sgt. Peppers etc) but your actual favourite ten albums. Warts n' all."

Warts n' all, indeed.

So here goes. In pulling this list together, I have set a few ground rules for myself which I think are important.

Firstly, no compilations, no box sets, no 'Greatest Hits'. Only albums that were recorded, and intended, to exist as a single artistic statement.

Secondly, no more than one album per artist. Otherwise there are a couple of artists who might dominate, and I want to present a spectrum of music to you. And if these are the ten albums that I have to take to my desert island, I will want the variety.

Also, these are not necessarily the albums I play most. Mainly because for most of them, every note, every word, is already seared into my brain - I don't have to play them to appreciate them, they are already hard-wired into my consciousness.

Finally, this is today's list. Tomorrow's list would - almost certainly - look (and sound) completely different.

Anyway, this is the list I gave Matt. In no particular order;

1. Blood on the Tracks - Bob Dylan

2. Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen

3. Revolver - The Beatles
4. Painted From Memory - Elvis Costello/Burt Bacharach
5. Boys and Girls in America - The Hold Steady
6. The Seldom Seen Kid - Elbow
7. Horses - Patti Smith
8. Songs in the Key of Life - Stevie Wonder
9. Unknown Pleasures - Joy Division
10. The Queen is Dead - The Smiths

Even now I'm wavering. No Clash, no Hendrix, no Zeppelin? Nothing from the Atlantic or Stax labels? No reggae - no Bob Marley? Revolver or Rubber Soul? Or Abbey Road? Painted From Memory rather than This Year's Model or Imperial Bedroom?

Well, the list is what it is. And now to put some flesh on the bones - over the next few days let's try and articulate just why these ten made the cut....

Diddle Diddle Dumpling

2010-02-22T10:19:00.001Z

Today's soundtrack: Elvis Costello & Allen Toussaint - Hot as a Pistol, Keen as a Blade

Well, I've given it a couple of days, but I think I'm still in shock over the weekend's football. It's not just the fact that we won, it's the way in which we won - with style and passion, playing the better football and even coming from a goal down. Three great goals from open play as well. Oh, and coming off the back of a similar win against Chelsea. So in the space of around ten days, we've beaten (well) two of the best teams in Europe, and certainly the best two teams in the country.

Typically, after some pretty genuine compliments from United fans, all the comments are about Rodwell's impending move to ManYoo and how Moyes is being lined up as Fergie's successor. Won't happen guys. If we can keep this squad together - and keep the majority of them fit and playing(!) - then we'll be challenging next season.

As we would have been this year, had we not had such a horrendous start.

The Waring culinary spectrum continues to broaden - stew and dumplings after the match, with homemade dumplings (equal amounts of suet and self-raising flour, with a dash of horseradish and sufficient water to bind). The beef stew had a beef and ale base, using a few bottles of Poacher's ale (most of which went to lubricating the chef's throat, I have to admit). Absolutely delicious, and sufficient left over for tonight's tea as well.

Take a look at these puppies!

Homemade pizza again last night, although this time I added some semolina to the bases, Dominos-fashion, which added a pleasing degree of texture to the bases.

Costello and Toussaint on the soundtrack today - an audio rip of a DVD of the two in concert, produced on the back of their 'River in Reverse' collaboration of a few years back. Elvis has always chosen his collaborators well - Burt Bacharach, Bill Frisell, Anne Sofie Von Otter - and his collaboration with Allen Toussaint, one of the great New Orleans jazzmen - is up there as well, with added poignancy coming from the Katrina disaster that happened around the same time and which is referenced in their work.

Here they are on Jools a few years ago - "Who's Gonna Help Brother Get Further". Who indeed?

No Words Necessary...

2010-02-20T17:49:00.001Z

Back on the Interview Trail

2010-02-17T10:20:00.001Z

Today's soundtrack: Bruce Springsteen - The River

Back on the interview trail last night, up in Preston (again) - when did Preston become the epicentre of the internal audit universe? Too early for proper feedback, but I managed to stretch my 30-45 minute interview into an hour and a quarter, which may or may not be a good sign. If nothing else, the poor bloke following me was restricted to half an hour as the building had to close at seven!

Shame.

All of which meant I had to sacrifice the Everton-Sporting game, which kicked off at the ludicrous time of 5:45. Had to listen on Radio Merseyside on the way home. And but for ten seconds of madness with four minutes to go, it was all looking pretty good. A 2-0 lead, with no away goals, taken to the second leg would have been fine. As it was, 2-1, late penalty, sending off and things don't look so clear cut - making a victory feel a bit like a defeat. Still, we do take a lead into the second leg and so (just) have the upper hand. Just. Coupled with the news that Fellaini is out for the rest of the season following the horror tackle in the Derby and the Everton glass is looking more half empty than full at the moment.

Still, ManYoo at the weekend to look forward to. No pressure there then.

Speaking of ManYoo, they managed to pull off a slightly fortuitous away win at Milan last night - after being battered for the bulk of the first half, they went in at the interval level thanks to a goal that bounced of Paul Scholes' standing leg. Second half they did come out fighting, and thanks to the brilliance of The Boy, took a 3-1 lead before Milan clawed a late goal back.

Advantage United for the second leg then. Or rather advantage Rooney. Interesting to see that Siralex is claiming The Boy as one of United's 'homegrown' stars now, in the week before the game against the club that nurtured him and brought him on from the age of 9, and turned him into an England international before selling him for the best part of £25 million quid.

Think again, Alex.

Bit of Springsteen on the soundtrack today, actually the second disc of The River, Bruce's 1980 double album. I find The River to be a bit of a mixed bag. Most of the slower songs and ballads are amongst Bruce's best and most moving. Unfortunately they are accompanied by some of the most lumpen rockers he (or anyone) ever committed to vinyl. Cadillac Ranch, I'm a Rocker and Ramrod - I'm looking at you.

But when the album is good, it is very, very good indeed.

Here's one of the best - Stolen Car, filmed live in 1985.

3D, or not 3D?

2010-02-14T11:00:00.001Z

Today's soundtrack: Deep Purple - Fireball

Picture the scene.

A darkened room, curtains drawn so passers-by cannot see the ridiculous sight of two grown people sitting with pairs of cardboard glasses perched on their noses. Plates of food balanced on their laps - food they cannot see owing to a combination of the darkness, and the disorienting effect of a strip of red plastic covering one eye, and a blue strip covering the other.

A film is playing on the television set in the corer of the room. We realise we are having problems discerning any 3D effect - a problem caused by Mrs W. inserting the 2D version of the film into the player. Finally the correct disc is in place and we settle back to enjoy the eye-popping visual feast on offer.

Whilst still struggling to get any food into our mouths.

Actually, it was quite good fun. The 3D effect worked reasonably well, although inevitably the colours in the film were all a bit washed out. Can't see it catching on though - at least not until the technology allows you to dispense with the silly glasses!

The film was the latest in the 'Final Destination' series - entertaining old tosh, following exactly the same format as the other film in the series (big disaster, Death initially cheated, Death redresses the balance one by one in ever more imaginative ways). Plenty of scope of course for things (generally sharp things) to hurtle out of the screen towards us - and, quite successfully make us flinch and duck.

A shame we couldn't see our food though, as it was actually pretty damn tasty. Moussaka today, not fully authentic but a nice recipe you should try. Hard work though.

To be truly authentic, you should use minced lamb but I chose to go with a 50:50 mix of lamb and beef mince as all lamb can be a bit overpowering. Brown the mince with some onion and garlic, and season with cinnamon and allspice. Completely inauthentic, but I chucked some mushrooms into the pot as well.

When everything is browned, add some oregano, chopped (tinned) tomatoes and some passata and leave to simmer and reduce down.

While the meat is simmering, prepare the rest of the dish. Slice three or four aubergines into rounds about half an inch thick, and spread onto some kitchen paper. Salt both sides of each slice and cover with more kitchen paper - this will draw any bitter juices out of the aubergine slices. Then peel and slice some potatoes into thin rounds and rinse in fresh water. The potatoes need to be cooked briefly to ensure they are fully cooked in the final dish - this can be by shallow frying or by parboiling the slices. However to save time and effort, I just chucked them into the deep fat fryer for a few minutes. Don't let the slices brown - we're not making chips here.

When the aubergines are drained, they need to be fried in olive oil, in batches, until lightly browned on both sides.

Finally you need to make a bechamel sauce, using flour, butter and milk. Add some grated gruyere and parmesan cheese to the sauce as well.

Now you can construct your moussaka. A layer of mince in the base of a large casserole dish, topped with half the aubergine slices. The add the rest of your mince to cover, and top with the rest of the aubergines. Cover with a layer of potato slices, then pour the bechamel sauce on top. Grate some more cheese on the very top, then stick in a hot oven for around 45 minutes for the flavours to mingle and the top to brown.

Look at that - Lovely!

Deep Purple were one of my early musical loves and although time has possibly not been kind to them, I still enjoy hearing them now and then. Fireball is probably slightly overlooked amongst their early '70s canon, falling as it does between Deep Purple In Rock and Machine Head and suffering in comparison, but it is still worth a listen.

Excellent video here - the Purps miming to Fireball on some teeny pop show back in the day - everyone looks like they are dancing to an entirely different song for some reason!

Where do the days go?

2010-02-11T11:33:00.001Z

Today's soundtrack: Various Artists - Blaxploitation - The Sequel

Is it that long since I last posted? It's not even as if my days have been crammed with loads and load of activity either! Still, I'm back now, with a cracking football match to report on.

After being booted off the park (quite literally) by the shower across the park at the weekend, and missing our two best players as a consequence - I didn't hold out too much hope for last night's game against Chelsea.

Actually, before we get to the Chelsea game, let's vent for a bit.

How disappointing is it when a team of Liverpool's (supposed) stature can take to the field with a single aim in mind - that being to nullify the threat of the opposition by deliberately setting out to injure your team's two best players? The tone was set in the first few seconds, when Carragher flattened Pienaar with a forearm smash after the ball had gone - which went completely unpunished by the referee. Of course, Carragher 'isn't that kind of player', is he? If he'd walked - or at least been booked - as he should have, then the game might have been played in a decent spirit. Unfortunately, the tone had been set. Henceforth, Pienaar was either fouled - or fouling - for the rest of the game. Threat nullified. And whilst he could easily have walked for the tackle on Mascherano, the way in which Gerrard eventually got him sent off (falling to the ground, clutching his face after Pienaar jumped gently into his back) was again distasteful.

But Stevie G's 'not that kind of player' either, is he?

And so to the Fellaini incident. Having managed to avoid a crippling lunge from Mascherano, the big man was victim to a two-footed lunge by the big fat Greek lad, who got himself injured in the process. Commentators seemed to make great play of the fact that Fellaini himself was guilty of lifting his foot and thereby going over the top into the Greek's leg with his studs. Well let's be clear here - had he kept his foot on the ground, the likelihood is his ankle would have been snapped in two. I'd have lifted my foot as well!

A shame that the FSW has reduced that team to a bunch of opportunistic cloggers.

Anyway, rant over. On to more pleasing things.

With Arteta and Bilyaletdinov in for Pienaar and Fellaini, we had a very skilful, but worryingly lightweight midfield lining up against a strong Chelsea side. And for the first twenty minutes or so, it looked like we'd suffer as a result. They showed huge amounts of quality to pin us back in our half, and the goal when it came had a certain amount of inevitability about it. Route one stuff, with Drogba flicking a header into the path of Malouda, who outmuscled and outran Philip Neville to push the ball into the far corner.

Oh dear. At this point, it looked like it might end up four or five nil.

But the Blues rallied, and slowly managed to get a foothold in the game. After a succession of corners, with interchanging corner takers, Donovan drilled a corner from the far side just over the despairing head of the hapless John Terry, onto the head of Louis Saha who buried the ball in the net.

1-1, and game on. From this point on, the tide began to turn and we took a grip on the game, with Donovan visibly growing in confidence - a realisation, perhaps, that he was not out of his depth in this company. On the stroke of half time, he was put through one on one with Carvalho, who was fooled by his turn in the box sufficiently to bring the American down. Penalty! Up stepped Louis, having turned Arteta away, to see his shot saved by Cech to his left. Not the best penalty in the world but still a good save.

Oh dear again. What would this do to the players' confidence? 1-1 at half time, which I'd have taken at kick-off, but a nagging feeling that you've got to take your chances against these teams. Would we live to regret that penalty miss?

Well no, as it happens. We kept up the pace, and the pressure, and with fifteen minutes to go, it paid off. A long ball from Distin towards Saha. Terry misjudged the flight of the ball which went over his head onto the chest of Saha. Cute bit of control, left footed volley with pace past Cech. Fantastic goal, and a deserved 2-1 lead.

Could we hold on? As you would expect, this stung Chelsea into action, and we withstood some sustained pressure over the course of the last fifteen minutes, with Distin and the wonderful Johnny Heitinga majestic in the heart of the defence. I am definitely beginning to feel a bit of man-love for our Johnny. Yes, he's a grock, but he's our grock.

After a ludicrous five (five!) minutes of injury time, the whistle finally blew. A stunning result in a high quality game,which went a long way to removing the nasty taste left in my mouth after the derby.

Soundtrack today is from the second of three (possibly more, actually) compilations of soul and funk music under the 'Blaxploitation' banner. The compilations largely comprise extended mixes of '70s sould tunes, loosely associated with the Blaxploitation film genre that was prevalent for a while in the decade. Which means lots of tunes with the word 'Ghetto' in the title, lots of Curtis, Quincy, James and Sly. And which of course means tons and tons of high quality tunes.

This is Bobby Womack, with the magnificent 'Across 110th Street' - from the soundtrack of the film of the same name, and also used by Tarantino over the opening credits of Jackie Brown, his own homage to the genre.

Keeping You Regular!

2010-01-31T10:52:00.001Z

Today's soundtrack: Spiritualized - Ladies and Gentlemen we are Floating in Space

D'you know, it's been a long time since I've given you a recipe, so let's put that right today. As the snow descends yet again, I think we could do with a rich, winter warming casserole, do you not think?

So I give you the Beef, Guinness and Prune Casserole.

No, come back, it's great, honest. Even if you think you don't like either Guinness or prunes, you'll love this.

Start off a couple of hours before cooking by soaking a pack of prunes (about 250g) in enough Guinness to cover. You will probably be left with half a can or so of Guinness - I suggest you drink this straightaway.

Start your actual cooking about three hours before you intend to eat. Cut up a couple of pounds of stewing steak into chunks and coat with some seasoned flour. Fry in oil in a big stew pot until the meat has browned, then take the meat out of the pan and put on a plate to one side.

Chop a couple of onions and fry off in the oil and meat juices left in the pan. Add a pack of button mushrooms, unsliced. Then slice three or four carrots and a few sticks of celery and add those to the pan. Finally chop some garlic finely and add to the pot. Stir and fry until cooked through and browning.

You'll probably be getting a bit thirsty by now so I suggest you open another can of Guinness and have a slurp (or two).

When the veg are sizzling nicely, return the meat to the pot and stir in until mixed through. Then add your prunes, along with the Guinness they've been soaking in. Add more Guinness, sufficient to just cover the meat and veg in the pan. Drink any Guinness left in the can.

Leave to simmer on a very low heat for at least two hours, until the meat is cooked through, stirring occasionally to ensure the casserole doesn't stick. By this time all the prunes should have dissolved and the sauce should have thickened to a decent gravy-like consistency (due to the flour you coated the meat in at the start. You did coat the meat in flour, didn't you?). If the sauce is too thin, thicken with cornflour. Alternatively, if the sauce is too thick, simply add more Guinness, remembering to drink any that is left over.

Have a quick taste. The sweetness of the prunes should have nicely counteracted the bitterness of the Guinness, but if it's still a bit bitter for your taste, add a teaspoon of sugar. When no-one's looking.

Serve with rice or baked potatoes. If you're posh, serve some broccoli or another green vegetable on the side.

You'll probably have loads left over, which is a good thing as the tastes do improve still further if re-heated the next day. Or stick it in the freezer.

BLTs on mini Ciabattas for lunch today as well. Oh my.

Spiritualized are providing the woozy soundtrack to this cold Sunday morning here - Ladies and Gentlemen... is a great album for slipping on in the background and drifting along to. Which is the point, really. When first released, this in-no-way-influenced-by-drugs album was available in blister pack form, the CDs packaged like a box of pills, complete with instructions ("Spiritualized is used to treat the heart and soul. For aural administration only. Use only as directed by a physician. Keep out of reach of children").

All I want in life's a little bit of love to take the pain away.

iPad - huh? What is it good for?

2010-01-29T13:03:00.002Z

Today's soundtrack: The Silver Seas - High Society

Absolutely nothing?

(with apologies to Edwin Starr)

Now obviously, I've not seen an iPad yet, although I've been following the build up (and the post-launch disappointment) with some interest. Many of you will know that I have been known to indulge in Apple products from time to time - although without ever being tempted down the Mac route.

So what is the iPad good for? According to Steve Jobs, it is intended to sit in that space in between the mobile phone and the laptop that is currently filled by the rapidly-growing netbook market. That is to say, something that is extremely portable, that will carry out basic computing tasks (primarily centered around web access, media playback and email) and that does so slickly and intuitively. In addition, the iPad is 'taking on' the other area of rapid gadget growth - the 'ebook' reader - through the iBookshop that was also announced this week.

And - to be fair - all the indications are that the iPad will do these things very well. But will it do it better than the alternatives that are already out there? Also, if (like me) you already have iPhone, netbook and laptop (and desktop) - do you still need an iPad?

Let's consider the evidence.

What can the iPad do that your iPhone (or, indeed, your iPod Touch) can't do? Not an awful lot, really. It just does it on a bigger screen with marginally more functionality. But can you slip it into your pocket? Err, no. For certain apps, the iPad is just too bulky as well. For instance, I have a very nifty shopping list application on my iPhone. You input your shopping requirements, and tick them off as you go round the supermarket. Easy with the phone, just a bit clumsy with an iPad.

Oh, and it doesn't make phone calls either. Or take pictures.

So it ain't going to replace my phone anytime soon.

What about my netbook? Would the iPad replace that? What can it do that my netbook can't? Both can play songs and movies. Both can carry out general 'office' tasks. Both can be used for surfing and emailing.

But my netbook can also be used for making video calls - it has a webcam built in. My netbook can do two (or more) things at once (for example, check emails while surfing, or do instant messaging. Or listen to internet radio). The iPad can't - it can't multitask. Nor can it print directly to a printer - wired or wirelessly. Nor does it have the ability to directly import files etc via USB - there are no built in USB ports.

My netbook has 160gig of memory - the most the iPad has is 64g. Which is not augmentable via USB sticks for the reasons outlined above.

Oh, and the iPad has no built in keyboard - you can either tap onto the screen, like your iPhone, or use a bluetooth keyboard, or buy the separate keyboard that has been designed for the iPad - the existence of which is surely tacit acknowledgement by Apple that the on-screen alternative is not ideal?

Finally - my netbook cost less that two hundred quid - less than half the cost of the cheapest iPad.

So it's not going to replace my netbook either.

Now - if I had neither phone or netbook - would I then be in the market for an iPad? Well no, for the reasons outlined above. It's not a phone - so you need a phone in any case...and the netbook does more, better.

So to the final category. Is the iPad merely a better, more fully functioned eBook?

Well it probably is, actually. The big USP of the dedicated eBook is the use of 'electronic ink' - displays that are supposed to be easier on the eye than a typical LCD screen and which use far less battery power to drive. But they are monochrome only and take an age to refresh when you turn the 'page'. The iPad displays in colour, is very responsive and does an awful lot more than your average eBook. Also, the cheapest iPad is almost exactly the same price as the equivalent Kindle.

The argument about e-ink versus LCD remains - but I am not persuaded by the eyestrain claims made in favour of e-ink. Like most of us, I spend hours at work or at home staring at LCD displays and rarely suffer from any form of eyestrain. Whilst the e-ink screen may well be easier on the eye, I do not believe the 'hazards' of LCDs are as big as they have been made out to be.

So. The iPad. Not an iPhone killer. Not a netbook killer. An eBook killer? Well maybe. But then there is another alternative to the eBook called the Paperback. Robust, easy on the eye and easily portable. I know what I'd rather read...

IMPORTANT CAVEAT: All the above has been written without actually seeing, or holding, an iPad. Once I have done so, I reserve the right to discard everything I have written above and to covet the iPad as, indeed, I have done with just about every piece of kit Apple has produced, ever.

And so to today's soundtrack. I doubt many of you will have heard of The Silver Seas, but High Society is a thing of rare beauty, referencing the Beach Boys and the wider Californian/Laurel Canyon scene whilst remaining completely up to date. Despite these reference points, the band actually hails from Nashville - although any pure (or alt) country styilings are difficult to discern.

This is great - 'The Country Life' recorded in the studio back in 2005.

Inbetweenies

2010-01-25T10:45:00.001Z

Today's soundtrack: Richard and Linda Thompson - Pour Down Like Silver

So, as the Staines contract draws to a close, it's time to take stock and look for the next role. Strangely, I don't feel 'unemployed' any more, rather 'between contracts' - hence the obscure Ian Dury reference in the title above. Better an Inbetweenie than a Doley!

Still, needs must, so I'm back signing on again. This time round, it's Chester rather than Warrington. So I can hang around with a better class of doley once a fortnight. If, indeed, it comes to that. There are a couple of contract opportunities floating around that might turn into something tangible, although both are back down in the South East.

In the meantime though, it's back to life/back to reality in the Cheshire Plains - and back to blogging as well.

The Staines work was good fun, and has given us a little bit of welcome breathing space, and has given me the appetite to do more work in this vein - at least until the permanent jobs start appearing again. Up to a point, it's nice to be master of my own destiny again. If I thought I could pick up a steady stream of such work, I'd do this full time. Big 'If' though.

In my final few days away, I filled my evenings beginning to work through the first series of 'Spectacle', a music/chat show hosted by Elvis Costello. Originally recorded and broadcast in the States, the series was somewhat lost in the depths of Channel Four's late night schedules and was consequently largely overlooked in this country. So I was surprised to see the DVD of the first series for sale - but wasted no time getting a copy.

Four episodes in, and I'm pleased to report it is one of the most intelligent music shows I have seen in a long time - whilst Elvis (initially at least) is not the most polished of interviewers, his love of music and his respect for his interviewees comes across clearly. And the music is superb too - whether performed by Elvis and his band (including, at various times, James Burton, Allen Toussaint and Attractions Steve Nieve and Pete Thomas) or in conjunction with his guests.

Oh, and some high quality guests as well. Elton John in the first show, focusing heavily on his first few albums when his credibility outweighed his popularity. Bill Clinton on the second, as a jazz fan (and sometime musician) rather than as a president, then Tony Bennett - dapper and smooth as silk, one of the last great crooners. Then in show four - Lou Reed, for once engaging and erudite rather than bitter and abrasive.

To come - Smokey, Rufus Wainwright, Kris Kristofferson, James Taylor and others.

I have no idea what the potential audience is for a show like this - it's hardly appealing to mainstream tastes - but I'm delighted that there are producers who are prepared to invest in this sort of programming even though the returns must be tiny compared to the investment required.

Anyway, Here's Elvis and Lou duetting on 'Perfect Day'. Fascinating contrast between Costello's crooning and Reed's, er, idiosyncratic approach to the melody. And Elvis still looks threatening on the 'you're going to reap just what you sow' line.

Richard Thompson apparently makes an appearance on Spectacle on a later series, but comes up on the soundtrack today with wife (of the time) Linda. I prefer the R&L albums to the solo Richard work - Linda's voice is that much easier on the ear and adds variety and nuance that can be missing from Richard's solo albums.

By any standards, this is gorgeous. 'The Dimming of the Day'. Richard and Linda Thompson.

10 Rules for the perfect record shop

2010-01-18T21:44:00.004Z

The shop should only sell music. No DVDs, books or video games.
Discs should be easily browseable, sorted by artist and by genre.
The proprietor(s) should be extremely knowledgeable about the most obscure corners of the music spectrum and be prepared to flaunt this knowledge at any opportunity. Mild sarcasm is allowed if a customer's desired purchase falls below their very high standards.
Vinyl (preferably second-hand) should be given as much floor space as CDs.
Lighting should be low-key, if not downright dark. Natural light is to be discouraged.
Music should be playing at all times. Such music must not, at any time, reflect current popular, or even critical, acclaim. Any enquiries of the proprietor as to what is actually playing at any given time may be greeted with raised eyebrows and snorts of derision.
On each visit, you should be able to search the racks of your favourite artist(s) and find items you did not know existed.
You should be allowed to browse at your leisure - for hours at a time - without interruption. ON NO ACCOUNT should the proprietor or any other member of staff ask if they can help you find what you are looking for.
The walls should be papered with concert posters, obscure vinyl picture sleeves and ticket stubs. No original wall space should be visible.
The faint smell of patchouli should linger on the air.

I can't watch this too many times...

2010-01-17T11:37:00.003Z

Absolutely sublime!

The Big Chill

2010-01-10T12:25:00.001Z

Today's soundtrack: TV On The Radio - Young Liars

By Christ, it's cold.

Set off to Staines last Monday in sub-zero temperatures, but due to a combination of good fortune and good timing, I managed to avoid any road-related trauma and reached the office just after eight. The road-related trauma was not long in coming though - although for Mrs W, rather than me.

Tuesday, and whilst it was a tad chilly in the South, the skies were clear. Unlike the North, where it snowed like a bastard all day. Mrs W had struggled into work - to the surprise of many - and later struggled as far as the local town - five miles from home - before having to ditch the car by the side of the road. Rear wheel drive is not recommended in the snow!

Nothing I could do to help - I was miles away in the balmy south - and no way anyone could reach her. But - left to her own devices - she struggled home a few hours later, not without some kind offers of help from complete strangers, which was good to see.

Anyway, the bleak weather turned its eye southwards, and heavy snowfall on Tuesday night led to the realisation, on Wednesday morning, that travelling down south with one pair of flimsy work shoes was a BAD IDEA. So off to Millets, for wellies and a pair of those chunky items that cross walking boots with trainers.

Suitably shod, the snow wasn't a problem for me any more, although it did prevent a lot of people getting into work that day. With more snow falling, the office was closed at three pm (as it was for the rest of the week). Back up north, Mrs W managed to retrieve her car from the drifts, with the help of one of the neighbours, but it did mean a day off work.

Thursday, and I got into the office to find one meeting cancelled, another potential meeting scuppered by the meetee staying at home, and a lot of people suggesting I make a run for it while the roads were (relatively) clear and quiet. Alarmed by the prospect of having to spend the weekend in Staines (lovely place though it is), I hit the road. And again, was lucky enough to have a clear run all the way back.

A doddle, this snow-driving.

Well that was until I took Mrs W to work on Friday. For some reason, her company did not think it worthwhile gritting the staff car parks, which were consequently ice rinks. The 4x4 coped - just - but they are setting themselves up for a nasty incident if they don't get their fingers out! Despite the four wheel drive, I had a little wobble on the way back home, but thankfully no more than that.

And thankfully no other major problems, other than a bath that would not drain because the water from the previous bath had frozen in the pipes outside (which, I discovered, had a bit of a 'bow' in them). After a bit of pipe-warming (involving hot water bottles and kettles) we managed to get the blockage melted and shifted.

Still, I can't remember too many winters colder than this one. There was the time in Sheffield when it was so cold the water froze in the toilets, and I was around for the Really Big Freeze in 1963 (although I don't remember anything about it) but this is as cold as it has been for as long as I can remember.

Pussy cat loves it, at any rate.

The Big Freeze caused most of the footy to be postponed this weekend, although the Everton game went ahead as planned. Now we normally go to Arsenal and get tonked, and the 6-1 at home on the first day of the season didn't augur well - but the lads done good. In the lead twice, pegged back by two wickedly deflected shots, the latter of which fell two minutes into injury time. Chances to go 3-1 up as well. Now I'd have snatched your hand off for 2-2 at Arsenal before the game, but to play so well and come so close to winning made the draw feel more like a defeat.

The signs are good for the rest of the season, though.

TV On The Radio today, an achingly trendy band from Brooklyn. The 'Young Liars' EP was their first release, and it's precociously good for a debut effort. The group combine elements of jazz and soul with indie rock noises, that greates a musical stew that is - more often than not - better than it sounds. Difficult to describe what they sound like - best listen for yourself!

This is Staring At The Sun, from the EP, performed live in 2004. Excellent Afro/Beard/Glasses combination sir!

(Don't) Look Back in Anger - a personal review of 2009

2010-01-01T11:41:00.002Z

Today's Soundtrack: Ruben Gonzalez - Introducing...Ruben Gonzalez

So - the pizza bases are rolled out and in the airing cupboard, rising. The wine is in the wine glass, Reisling. And I'm sat at the computer - musing.

I think it's fair to say that, on the whole and all things considered, 2009 was a shit year. Probably the shittest on record for me, personally - and possibly for the Waring family, past and present, generally.

Let's have a look at the lowlights.

March - made redundant. Kicked out of a job that I loved, something I'd built up from scratch over a three year period to something that was - just - on the verge of something interesting. The right people were in place to take things on to the next level - except I wasn't going to be involved. Despite the kind words, and the honest praise that my (ex) colleagues gave me, bottom line was that I was the expendable one. And it wasn't just me, of course. Two of my cousins, my first wife, and many close friends also lost their jobs this year. My son, graduating with a good degree, has struggled to get his foot on the job ladder and is temping where he can until things pick up.

April - we lost our cat, hit by a car before my eyes, dying in my arms. A source of real joy and pleasure, particularly for Mrs W. A good, happy life cut short in moments.

November - and worst of all - my son told me that the lump in his neck was not a benign piece of gristle, it was something that needed to be cut out as soon as possible, along with half his thyroid gland, a series of lymph nodes and (possibly) some nerves and veins as well. To be followed by radiotherapy to kill off any remaining Bad Cells that might have escaped surgery.

Oh, and I turned fifty. At a point in my life where I'd kind of hoped things would have settled down into a steady and comfortable, if dull, routine - all of a sudden I'm lumbered with a raft of financial and personal uncertainties and stresses I could, quite frankly, be doing without at my age. It was never supposed to be like this...

But however bad things get, there will always be good things to provide some sort of balance? Won't there? Well yes, 2009 did have its moments here and there. Let's look at the good bits of 2009.

I may have lost my job, but the response to my loss from friends and close colleagues - who know a bit more about my abilities than the people making the ultimate decisions, unfortunately - confirmed to me that I am, actually, pretty good at what I do. When I get the chance to do it. So I look forward with some optimism despite the conditions. I am currently working on a short term contact that came about as a result of a personal recommendation from my former employer - that wouldn't have happened if my abilities were in question. So let's build on that in the New Year, things can - and will - get better.

Hopefully before the money runs out.

My football team continued to overachieve - fifth place in the league and two trips to Wembley, despite a succession of injuries to key players throughout the season. Put to one side the so-called Big Four, and Everton 'did the double' in 2009, which I think is rather a nice way of looking at things. Now admittedly it's not looking so great this season - but a couple of decent cup runs and a few players back from injury could turn things round dramatically.

On the music front, both Glastonbury (with Matt and the Wells Massive) and Latitude (with Simon) were big highlights in the year. The weather stayed good for the most part, the company was excellent and the music - for the most part - was sublime.

Key highlights from a year of festival and gig-going would include:

Magazine in Manchester and at Latitude. How to do a reunion tour with style and class. All the hits, plenty of humour and fantastic musicianship, all comfortable with each other.
Doves in Delamere Forest. Local lads made good.
Glastonbury - many, many highlights, but The Gaslight Anthem, bringing on Bruce Springsteen in the JP tent was possibly the biggest. Neil Young and the neverending Rockin' in the Free World. Roger McGuinn in the Acoustic Tent. Hot Rats and Dead Weather in The Park.
Latitude - Pet Shop Boys, sublime both here and earlier in the year in Manchester. Nick Cave, raging and ranting. Squeeze, the greatest greatest hits set imaginable. The Gaslight Anthem and Doves, again. Surprise of the festival - St Etienne, only there to get a decent spot for Magazine but enjoyed every minute.
A reformed Pele in Liverpool. Old mates together for a fond farewell.
Depeche Mode - Stadium Rock with synths. A great night out.

New music - well there wasn't a right lot of 'new' this year that gripped me. My favourite new 'discovery' would have to be The Gaslight Anthem, but most of this year's 'new' was surprisingly 'old'. However honourable mentions for the Arctic Monkeys' third album, Truelove's Gutter by Richard Hawley, The Duckworth-Lewis Method, Doves' Kingdom of Rust - and Mew, who I discovered (new and old stuff) in the wake of Latitude.

Most of the year's viewing was of DVD Box Sets, series-long blasts of immersion in some compelling drama. Started the year with The Wire, continued with The Shield and we're currently halfway through Prison Break. Loved them all, but The Wire was magnificent, really living up to the hype. Honourable mentions also to Dexter, The Corner and the Red Riding trilogy.

Reading material this year was rather dominated by Davids Peace and Simon - The Damned United, the four Red Riding books - and then Homicide and The Corner. All wonderful on the page as well as on the screen. And - of course - The Word: magazine, podcast, blog, way of life.

Other good stuff?

Well, putting this thing together has given me a great deal of pleasure this year - glad I've kept it up and it amuses me, if no-one else.

Having the time to spend in the kitchen and the joys of breadmaking.

Pedro - bowel-related mishaps and all - has been a source of joy since he came into our lives in May.

Having the love and support of a good woman - thank you, Mrs W.

But most of all, seeing Matt, awake and talking, after eight hours of surgery in December. That was the best thing that happened this year.

But still - roll on 2010. Bye bye 2009 - you won't be missed.

On the soundtrack today, Ruben Gonzalez. One of the Buena Vista Social Club musicians, Ruben was in his late seventies when 'rediscovered' by Ry Cooder. Releasing his first album (Introducing...) at the age of 78, he continued to play with the BVSC and solo until just before his death at the age of 84. A dapper, dignified old man with a light touch on the keys. Proof that age is no barrier to talent.

Finally! Three points!

2009-12-29T12:01:00.001Z

Today's soundtrack: Wailing Souls - Most Wanted: Classic Cuts 1978-1984

Back to football today, in celebration of an increasingly rare event - an Everton home win! Yes, it was only Burnley, and a Burnley reduced to ten men with half an hour to go at that, but I'll take that at the moment!

At the start of the day, I wondered whether the game would go ahead, if the fog blanketing Cheshire was at all widespread. I'd have been sat in the Main Stand unable to see the near goal, never mind the Park End. Happily the fog seemed to lift somewhere under the Mersey, and the ground was clear - if a touch crisp. Happily the long johns had been called into service and my nether regions were reasonably snug for the duration.

The Bank Holiday brought about a capacity crowd, which was nice to see, although inevitably when the ground is full, the proportion of fuckwits in the crowd increases significantly - those who go to one or two games a year, get their football knowledge from Sky and have an opinion - usually wrong - on everything. I don't know why they go, if they hate the players, the manager and the style of play so much. I on the other hand would never shout expletives at the players on the pitch (hem hem).

Admittedly, it wasn't a day for the purist. Burnley are a well organised spoiling team, and without particularly threatening themselves, were adept at restricting us to a) pretty passing moves that stopped short on the edge of the penalty area or b) long ball humps that came straight back to us. Stalemate, and a first half that finished goalless, with very few chances.

And a very real chance that the second half would pan out exactly the same way.

Luckily, it didn't. The game turned on a couple of incidents, just enough for Everton to make the breakthrough they just about deserved. Firstly, Burnley had a man sent off for a second bookable offence - a silly tug on Steven Pienaar's shirt right in front of the referee. Initially, Everton failed to capitalise on the extra man, persevering with the Yak up front by himself, supported by Tim Cahill and then Marouane Fellaini. However as the game move into its final phase, Moyes brought James Vaughan on for Bily, and within a minute or two the lad had scored, a tap-in after the Yak had failed to convert. Despite Yakubu looking suspiciously offside when the ball went in, the goal stood and - finally! - we had our noses in front.

The points were wrapped up in the final minute, when Pienaar squeezed a neat shot in at the near post following good support work from the Yak. Three points, a nice climb up the table and a few more players coming back from injury. Despite some tough games coming up, the future's feeling a bit brighter than it was before the game.

Plus points - the return of Neville and Vaughan, some neat approach play and the continuing improvement of Fellaini in a deeper-lying midfield role. However we need to find a bit of ruthlessness up front to start converting draws into wins. In a very tight league, every point will be valuable this year.

Incongruously, I'm typing this in sub-zero temperatures with some hot reggae playing in the background. The Wailing Souls have been around for decades, but their best period is covered by this album, a dubbed-up collection of 12" mixes from the late seventies and early eighties.

Here's 'War' for your delectation. Ire Ridim!

...and relax...

2009-12-26T09:40:00.002Z

Today's soundtrack: Marvin Gaye - Let's Get It On

I think you all know that the last month or so has been absolutely manic - lots of stress, lots of driving, lots of everything.

Well today that stops - for a time, at least. Boxing Day. Christmas out of the way, nowhere to be, nowhere to go. Time to nest, kick back and chill. The house needs a scrub, as do the cars, and in a week's time the Staines Run starts again for a couple of weeks - but for now - the world can stop turning for a bit. You know it makes sense.

Another lovely Christmas yesterday - lie in, Buck's Fizz with the presents, phone calls from the family and all's well in the Waring clan. In the afternoon, across to our kid's house, for more presents, lots of food and some good family chat. I'm blessed with a wonderful family, no tension or strife, just people happy and relaxed in each other's company. Spent most of the day (when I wasn't eating - mushroom and chestnut soup, smoked salmon and crab salad, turkey with all the trimmings, christmas pudding, profiteroles, since you ask) helping my nephew and niece get their new iPod Touches set up on iTunes, downloading games and music. Nice to be involved and - for once - looking like I knew what I was doing!

So, home to settle down for the evening, to flop in front of a double Prison Break with some vintage port and a plate of cheese and biscuits, before retiring for the night.

And now it's early morning, Mrs W still in bed, cat fed and out playing, just Marvin and me getting it on. But not in that way, of course.

When you are looking to chill out, who better to soundtrack that than Mister Lover Man himself. Let's Get It On is quite possibly the raunchiest album made - smooth as silk and sweet as molasses.

Here's the man on Soul Train - Distant Lover. Relax with Marvin, he'll cure your ills.

...dressed in what they call "The Mode"...

2009-12-24T13:58:00.001Z

Today's soundtrack - Depeche Mode - Songs of Faith and Devotion

(Especially for Kevin.)

A bitterly cold Manchester night. Packed streets, last minute Christmas shopping for the masses, standing room only in the bars and restaurants of the city.

Met up with Kevin at the office, collected Ade and headed off to the Printworks for sustenance. Hard Rock seemed appropriate, especially with the 'Mode on loop. The staff obviously knew who tonight's headliners were!

A leisurely meal, waiting for Mark and Jane to arrive. Then - eventually - off to the MEN. Slightly nervous about missing the support band - after my unfortunate Joy Division incident I never miss support bands - but on this occasion I went with the flow (and luckily don't think we missed much. Nitzer Ebb are the support on the next leg of the tour - now that would have upset me!)

Now I have to admit that I've never been the biggest DM fan. Yep, I like the band, have a few albums, but have never seen them live and wouldn't necessarily turn to them first when putting the music on. So to be going along with some really big fans was a bit unusual for me - it's normally me who knows all the songs and the trivia. Not this time!

In our seats (seats!) in plenty of time for the main event, with a good view of the action. After a build up of some thumping techno, the lights dimmed and on came the band. Gore and Gahan out front, Fletch stood behind a keyboard, occasionally poking at a key or two, a drummer and a proper keyboardist.

Confidently (and bravely) the band started with three songs off the new album. I guess you can do that when your fanbase is as loyal and devoted as theirs, but it did seem to get things off to a tentative start with the audience. But with the fourth song - 'Walking in my Shoes' - things really got going. One of my favourite DM songs, Gahan in good voice (as he was throughout) and the audience really woke up.

Other highlights - a thumping 'I Feel You', a delicate solo section from Martin Gore, and a rousing climax of ,Never Let Me Down Again', synchronised armwaving and all. Back for a four song encore, inevitably climaxing with 'Personal Jesus'.

Enjoyed it immensely, even waving my arms around like a loon. Dave Gahan is a perfect advert for a life of debauchery and substance abuse, Martin Gore is clearly more than a fey synth dilletante and Fletch is quite simply the luckiest man alive. Kev asked me why they had stayed together so long - why indeed? I suspect that being mates before they were a band is a large part of it - and also their ability to reinvent themselves, growing up as a band as they did as people, and finally I suspect their ability to release their personal pressures and concerns through their music.

Depeche Mode. Grown up music for the masses. Listen without prejudice.

Here's 'I Feel You' - filmed from the crowd on the night in question.

Travellin' Blues

2009-12-19T11:13:00.004Z

Today's soundtrack: Hindu Love Gods - Hindu Love Gods

Phew, what a week that was! So much to talk about, we might have to split this blog over a couple of days. I might even revert to daily postings over the Christmas break. Or I might get a life instead - who can tell?

Firstly, the important stuff.

Matt was in hospital for six days in total, they let him out on Wednesday in the end. After optimistic predictions of a Monday release were dashed (to his great disappointment) things moved on steadily until he was able to make good his escape. I believe there is a half-dug tunnel behind one of the gent's toilets, if any current inmates are interested...

I got to see him on Sunday, when he was still in some discomfort and the drains from his neck were still draining steadily - and a lack of sleep was making him probably feel even worse than he was anyway. But by Tuesday, when I got over for my final visit, the 'old' Matt back was again, one of the drains was out and the other was likely to follow imminently.

The body is a marvellous thing - cut it up, take bits out - but give it a couple of days and it steadily makes itself better, re-routing fluids and joining ends of cut flesh back together again. Let's hope the self-healing process continues - with a bit of a nudge from the radiation in the New Year!

At the time of writing, Matt is back home, Facebooking and chilling. Half the staples are out with the rest to follow on Monday.

Oh, and everyone who's emailed or otherwise passed on their thoughts, prayers and best wishes for Matt - thank you all, it's much appreciated and good to know that people - even complete strangers in some cases - have such generosity of spirit and goodwill. You look for positives where you can at times like this, and this is certainly one of the biggest for me.

The stresses of the week were not confined to me - the car has been complaining more and more about the miles I have been subjecting it to, what with the weekly Staines run now augmented with a diversion or three to Bath. Finally it spat its dummy out big time on the Tuesday night run to Bath and back. An intermittent misfire now became permanent, preventing me getting above 2000 rpm and more pertinently - above 60 mph on the motorway (50 mph on any sort of uphill slope). With my plans of nursing the car through the Staines project and getting it sorted in the New Year dashed, I had to get it fixed - and quick, otherwise I wasn't coming home at the weekend!

So - Wednesday morning, and I'm trawling the internet for local Nissan garages. The nearest was in Shepperton, about 15 minutes drive away (or half an hour, with the car limping along at its current pace). My plan was to leave Staines the following lunchtime. What were the chances of getting it booked in, diagnosed and fixed within 36 hours? Slim to none, I assumed.

But no, thanks to the good people at West London Nissan (free plug, chaps) the car was booked in Thursday morning, checked and fixed by lunchtime and I was checked out of the hotel and on the road by two thirty. The rapidly arriving snow, coupled with my nervousness that the 'fix' may prove to be temporary, caused me to change my plan to detour across and see Matt so I headed home. And got back without incident, thankfully.

Stress levels still hovering around the 'about to blow' indicator, I got in to see that in my absence, two parcels had been delivered and left a) with the neighbour and b) behind the bin. Went out to the bin. Nothing. Looked in the bin. Nothing (well, a load of rubbish, but you know what I mean). Mrs W arrives home, not to a lovely welcome, but a tirade about the potential loss of half my Christmas shopping. Bless her, she could obviously see I was on the verge of complete and utter breakdown and resisted the temptation to punch my lights out. Instead, she knocked on the neighbour's door to find that not only did he have the parcel delivered directly to him, but had also taken in the parcel lurking behind the bin. Panic over.

Mrs W then - sensibly - went out to another Christmas do, leaving me to slump in front of the telly, with drink and curry, to watch the Everton Under-11s take on the mighty BATE and slump to a creditable (but wholly irrelevant) 1-0 defeat. It was nice to see the kids getting a runout, hopefully the experience will spur them on to fight for a regular position in the men's team in due course. Adam Forshaw, Shane Duffy and Jamie Bidwell caught the eye of the new starters, and the old man, Carlo Nash, looked comfortable in goal. They might not - yet - have the stature of the Arsenal kids, but they did not disgrace themselves either.

Today's soundtrack comes courtesy of the Hindu Love Gods, a one-off 'supergroup' comprising REM without Michael Stipe, but with Warren Zevon. A drunken session of blues standards and other covers led to the album, which sounds like what it is - a group of mates relaxing (suitably refreshed) and having fun. No classics, but 'good time' stuff that brings a tap to the foot and a smile to the face.

Tell you what, you search for 'Hindu Love Gods' on YouTube and you get some funny stuff coming up. What you don't get is any drunken blues. So let's try something else!

Click on the DivShare player that should have mysteriously appeared below, and you'll hear the HLG's take on Prince's 'Raspberry Beret', and very fine it is too!

Oh, Kev - I'll get to the Depeche stuff over the weekend - I promise!

Feeling Supersonic (Give me Gin and Tonic)

2009-12-12T17:57:00.005Z

Today's soundtrack: Oasis (of course)

The Boy won't be pleased about this but I've got to get it out of my system. Sorry Matt.

Spent all day Friday at the hospital in Bath, waiting.

I'd arrived about half an hour after Matt went down to theatre. A good thing, because I was having a bit of difficulty holding myself together and the last thing he needed was me fussing and fretting. A bit of calmness from his Mum, a huge amount of maturity from him, and he was wheeled away, with me well out of it, battling the fog on the M4 and the mist in my eyes.

A nice touch on the way into the hospital, made me smile when I needed it.

"I'm looking for my son, he's having an operation today."
"Well, I can direct you to the childrens' ward sir?"
"Err, no, actually he's twenty."
"No, you don't look old enough sir..."

Well you get your positives where you can on a day like this, don't you?

I tracked down the day surgery and announced my presence to the girl on the front desk, and settled down to wait. Could be 5-6 hours, they'd said. Nothing was going to happen for at least that time, but where else was I going to be? 100 miles away in Staines? 200 miles away up north?

So I waited. Drank coffee and ate doughnuts.
And waited. Read my book.
And waited.

Matt's mum returned around four, and we sat and waited together. Eventually some news began to filter through.

"First part of the operation finished, about two hours into the second part."
"Getting close, about 45 minutes to go. All seems to have gone ok."

Then, finally, after eight hours of surgery, the news we'd been waiting and praying for.

"All finished, all fine, Matt's going into recovery now. You'll be able to see him in an hour or so."

The second surgeon came to talk to us. Yes, it took longer than anticipated, but no complications. Just took a while to feel their way through the Waring Fat Neck and cut out all the Bad Things. And all the indications are that they've got everything they need to get out - a big lump had to be removed, some other bits and pieces - but they managed to save some of the thyroid itself and it seems all major arteries, veins and nerves escaped untouched.

If there is any Bad Stuff left, the radiotherapy should sort all that out in a few weeks' time.

So finally, we got to see him. He's going to have a cracking scar - no-one's going to mess with him round the pubs of Huddersfield, that's for sure! Currently stapled together pretty much from ear to ear, tubes coming from orifices old and new, but - oh thank God - awake, breathing and talking. With a raging thirst, of course. Oh, and sadly lacking his collection of festival wristbands - they had to come off before the operation as well!

Spent about an hour and a half with him, then left him to sleep. Lost it a bit again on the way out, but - finally! - pulled myself together before the long drive home.

Thank God Matt had the presence of mind to realise this was something he had to see the doctor about - and that they were quick to respond and get him in as soon as possible. Thank God for the skill of the surgeons and the care on the ward.

Matt's still got a few hurdles to get over - not least the radiotherapy in the New Year - but this was the worst bit. Let's hope the New Year brings good things - not the remorseless knocks and battles that 2009 subjected us all to.

You gotta walk, don't look back.

So today's soundtrack. Nothing random today - for Matt, it has to be Oasis really. But which song? Well there can only be one. A song of optimism, joy and defiance.

Maybe I just want to fly
I want to live I don't want to die
Maybe I just want to breathe
Maybe I just don't believe
Maybe you're the same as me
We see things they'll never see
You and I are gonna live forever

Take care, Matt. Thinking of you always. Gentle shoulder charge - Love you mate.

As always, the Daily Mash is spot on...

2009-12-10T19:08:00.001Z

RAFAEL Benitez last night said Liverpool have turned their 16th corner of the season and that this time everything was going to be grand.

The Champions League has introduced Benitez to some of Europe's most beautiful corners
As Liverpool went down to a final Champions League defeat by Fiorentina, Benitez said he was pleased with Alberto Aquilani's full debut and his ability to fit in to the team's style of play by running around looking confused and angry while achieving absolutely nothing.

The manager insisted: "We always start slowly in this competition, so being knocked out of it will really give us the motivation we need to go on and win it.

"We have turned many corners this season - some of the corners have led to more corners, while some of the corners have had little shops on them selling failure sandwiches.

"This latest corner seems to have led us into a dark alley that is filled with unstoppable zombies and their werewolf pals."

He added: "But I believe we have the quality to turn any corner that is thrown our way by the football-corner-throwing gods. Corners. Corrrrnerrrs. Thank you and good corners.”

Assistant manager Sammy Lee clarified Benitez's post-match comments, adding: "He has his lucid days and the kind of days where he buys Dossena. We're trying to work out a combination of medication that will stop him from mistaking Voronin for a footballer.

"In the meantime we just humour him by setting some training cones out on the pitch and telling him it's all the trophies he's won. It seems to calm him."

Club captain Steven Gerrard said: "The gaffer pointed out that if you turn a corner 16 times, you'll be facing the way you're meant to in the first place. To be honest, I just switch off these days and brush up on my Spanish. No, no reason."

Link here: http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/sport/sport-headlines/liverpool-turn-corner-into-terrifying-alley-full-of-zombies-200912102300/

Black Tie, White Noise

2009-12-06T11:02:00.001Z

Today's soundtrack: The Who - Odds and Sods

Another early return home for the itinerant accountant this week, as Friday night was the big gala night out for the sales and marketing team from Mrs W's employers - a night out for which she'd somehow wangled an invite!

So - for the first time in a looong time - it was on with the monkey suit, the cufflinks and the dicky bow. That's me, not Mrs W, by the way. She had her new party frock on - it was red and long, fashion fans, with a pleaty bit on the front. And very nice she looked, too. By contrast, I could probably have done without sporting the extra chin which was rather obvious on the official photo...

I have to say that, despite these uncertain times, Mr W's company know how to put on a party. Minor quibbles - the 'Liverpool Theme' involved all the table numbers being marked by a RED football shirt and the prominent Liverpudlians used to name the individual tables included only one with an Everton connection - and who now plys his trade in the Manchester area.

But we're not bitter.

Everything else was absolutely perfect - from the hamper and flowers in the room, the free drinks, carols, and the 'turns', to the full English breakfast the following morning. The hangover was remarkably light, as well - all things considered...

Because we're not as young as we used to be, the rest of the weekend became an exercise in studied laziness, although there is the small matter of a football match to get myself along to this afternoon. Not a good time to be playing Spurs, I fear. But we'll see.

Short week in Staines was leavened by a final visit from Simon, his last week before his return to the daily grind - good luck for Monday, young man! Not that you need it, of course. We did the Jimmy Spice buffet thing again, which is highly recommended if you fancy a Chinese meal. Followed immediately by an Indian meal. With all the trimmings.

*Burp*

Watched 'The Damned United' this week in the hotel. Bit of a strange one, really. I enjoyed it while I was watching it, but at the end felt strangely dissatisfied. I think it's a combination of things. As a portrayal of the football world of the late '60s and early '70s, it is superb. The impersonation of Brian Clough is, on occasion, spot on although occasionally veers off into camper territory than I remember from Cloughie. But it's all a bit 'Mike Yarwood' on occasion as well.

I think I'd have enjoyed it a lot more if I'd not read the book first. The book is a masterful portrayal of what *might* have been going on in Cloughie's head during those few days as manager of Leeds, pulls no punches when it comes to his developing alcoholism and is just a far more rounded portrayal of a very, very complex man than the film allows. The story is about much, much more than Clough's enduring bitterness following a perceived snub from Don Revie back in the '60s when manager of Derby. It is, however, better on the relationship between Clough and Peter Taylor, the ultimate breakdown of which is the real tragedy of Clough's life.

So. See the film, then read the book. Not the usual order, I grant you, but trust me on this one.

Today's 'white noise' comes from The Who - not one of their established albums, but 'Odds and Sods', a collection of - yes - odds and sods from their career, including their first single, 'I'm the Face', from their days as The High Numbers.

As always with these things, it's a bit hit and miss, but there are a few gems lurking amongst the, quite frankly, lightweight early b sides and covers. Gems like this one - Water - which was only ever a 'b' side (to 5:15, I think) but was a feature of their live shows for many years.

What would you tell your sixteen year old self?

2009-11-28T11:29:00.003Z

Double post today but I thought you should all see this thread on the Word website, which is funny, moving and (for our younger readers) hugely instructional as well!

My response is somewhere about halfway down...

Just for the love of drilling!

2009-11-28T10:56:00.001Z

Today's soundtrack: Neil Young - Decade

A shorter week in Staines this week, I had a meeting arranged in Liverpool for Friday so had the pleasure of a relatively easy trip up the motorways on Thursday afternoon. That said, still a few quiet nights to fill in the comfort of my Stainesian pied a terre. I'm now a regular, of course, and the longer I've stayed in this hotel, the better the rooms have been. This week, I was given a ground floor room, which I had some doubts about - until I saw the four poster bed!

A far cry from the first room they gave me, with the bathroom door that wouldn't shut properly and the noisy water pump that kept me awake half the night...

Still spurning the horrors of being the sad lonely bastard in the corner of the restaurant, my evening routine continues - nibbly bits to eat with cutlery purloined from the office, a smuggled drinkie or two and a DVD on the lappy. I decided a bit of humour was in order this week so took the Eddie Izzard box down south with me.

Oh, I love that man. Surreal, tangential, observational but above all funny. And funny in an uncontrollably giggling, tearful kind of way. Not nasty or shocking - just funny. He also stands repeat viewing as well - the routines about cats and dogs, and the Death Star Canteen - I can watch them time and time again and laugh as much as the first time I saw them.

Eddie Izzard - definitely my favourite comedian. And Son No 1 is off to see him in a week or so - lucky so-and-so!

Here's the Cats and Dogs routine - drilling just for the love of drilling!

Back home, after the obligatory dodgy Friday night film, I put BBC4 on, where it was 'Johnny Cash Night'. I was only going to watch for a while but ended up there for hours. It wasn't just the footage of Cash, excellent though that was (Jools Holland appearances around the time of the early American Recordings, the 'Hurt' video) but the extracts from his US TV show, when the cream of '60s and '70s rock guested on his show. Successions of great performances, duets with Dylan and with Joni, Derek and the Dominos, Stevie Wonder and a brilliant performance of 'Ring of Fire' by Ray Charles, converting the original's rockabilly twang into something deep and slinky, straight out of Soulsville.

Hit it, Ray!

Another guest on the show was today's cover star, Neil Young, performing 'The Needle and the Damage Done' - his lament for the loss of Danny Whitten to the heroin addiction that eventually killed him. A hugely powerful song that doesn't preach, but says more in just over two minutes than any 'Just Say No' campaign ever could. Just as powerful on a cold, blustery Glastonbury evening earlier this year as it was back in the day.

Just when you think 2009 can't get any worse...

2009-11-22T11:08:00.002Z

Today's soundtrack: Dusty Springfield - Dusty in Memphis

...it does.*

Roll on 2010 - the sooner the better.

But since "a double dose of positive mental attitude" is the prescription, I'm not going to dwell on that topic, I'm going to stick to writing about the good, the positive.

Like Everton.

Oh wait...

Another trip to Old Trafford, another defeat. You could argue that United's first goal was a once-a-season special, that the third was a lucky deflection and that the scoreline didn't reflect the play, but that would be to ignore the fact that, once again, Everton went to one of the Big Four with a game plan that put avoiding defeat ahead of anything else - a game plan that rapidly unravelled the minute Fletcher scored that goal. It was only in the second half, when Moyes was forced to play 4-4-2, that we looked in any way threatening.

Again, roll on 2010.

A double dose of Memphis this week, with Dusty on the soundtrack (about which, more later) and with part of my hotel-based entertainment this week involving 'The Road to Memphis', one of the seven films making up 'The Blues', the Martin Scorsese-produced series about the real American folk music. The Road To Memphis focuses on a number of performers coming together for a major performance in Memphis - long-established performers like BB King and Ike Turner, but also Bobby Rush, scratching out a living on the chitlin circuit, and the wonderful Rosco Gordon, who gave up the blues for twenty-odd years to work in a dry cleaners in Queens, and who sadly died just six weeks after his joy-filled performance on stage in Memphis with some of the greats.

How 'Blues' is that?

Here's A Little Bit of Magic from Rosco.

Memphis just might be my favourite American city. We spent a few days there a couple of years ago, courtesy of our good friend Elaine, and did the tour.

Graceland - which is as gloriously tacky as you'd expect, but also deeply moving as well. I did have a barely controllable urge to sing a 'ragga' Heartbreak Hotel by Elvis's grave ("Too much fackin' perspective!") but managed to resist the temptation. I'd have probably had my lights punched out by Elaine if I'd been in any way disrespectful!

Sun Records - the place just oozes history. The tiny studio, looking just as it must have fifty years ago, and still in use.

The Stax museum on McLemore Avenue - sadly the original Stax building was knocked down years ago, but has been lovingly rebuilt as a shrine to the home of Southern Soul.

The Peabody Hotel, Rendezvous Ribs (yummy!), the Lorraine Motel, Schwab's department store, the Gibson guitar factory - all there and all fascinating.

And Beale Street - yes, it's a tourist location now, and all the old bluesmen in the film bemoaned the loss of the 'old' Beale Street - but it's still the best night out around. Bands playing for change in the street and on the square - bands who would knock the socks off some of the biggest names around. Playing for the joy of playing and for the love of the Blues.

And yes - Dusty recorded in Memphis - the incongruous blend of Soulsville and this slightly prim English rose managing to produce one of the best albums of the sixties. Great songs, great musicians and a great soulful singer with a real feel for the music. Apparently she was almost rendered incapable by nerves, and recorded most of her vocals one line at a time - but the end product was seamless.

*if you want to know what I'm talking about - have a read of this.

One Summer, this winter

2009-11-15T14:16:00.001Z

Today's soundtrack: Beck, Bogert & Appice

Another week in Staines, with the routine pretty firmly established now. Early start on a Monday, lunchtime dart on a Friday, a night out with Simon and a DVD series in the evenings.

This week I watched One Summer, a drama I last watched when it was broadcast back in the mid-eighties. For a host of reasons, the series didn't find its way onto DVD for many years - but did eventually come out a couple of years ago.

Essentially the story of two Liverpool scallies - Billy and Icky - who leave the city to start a new life in Wales, near the site of a school trip Billy had enjoyed some years earlier. The boys hook up with Kidder, an ex-schoolteacher who lives in a semi-derelict cottage. The story is essentially about the relationship between the two boys, and between the boys and Kidder. Unfortunately there are no happy endings although one of the boys, at least, comes out of the story a stronger, more mature person.

The series was as affecting and moving as I remember it being all those years ago, although there were many details I'd forgotten - or failed to pick up on at the time. If you chance upon a copy of the DVD - going for a song on Amazon - then it's definitely worth a few hours of your time.

You can find out more about the series here, if you're interested.

Back even further for today's soundtrack, to 1973, when the peripatetic Jeff Beck hooked up with Tim Bogert and Carmine Appice in the shortlived supergroup, the imaginatively-named Beck, Bogert & Appice. The album's ok, but not really a stone classic, despite the pedigree of the participants. Sometimes the whole does not equal the sum of the parts, unfortunately!

Here's some grainy footage of the boys playing Stevie Wonder's 'Superstition' - not as well as Stevie Ray Vaughan, and certainly not as well as Steveland himself. But it still has a smidgen of charm, and demonstrates exactly where Nigel Tufnel got his haircut from!

"So don't you like football then?"

2009-11-07T10:52:00.002Z

Today's soundtrack: Rockpile - A Mess of Blues Live 1977

My, but they're a strange lot, darn sarf.

Spent all week in Staines, getting my feet well and truly under the table. I've been there long enough now to start getting to know people, and to enjoy a bit of old chat (as I believe they say down there.)

A bit of old chat with people like Jacqui, for instance. Our conversation went something like this:

J: Where you from then?
P: Oh, up north, about halfway between Manchester and Liverpool.
J: So who d'you support then? ManYoo?
P: God, No!
J: Liverpool?
P: What? You must be joking!
J: So don't you like football then?

Wrong, Jacqui, but at the same time, so very, very right as well. Especially after Thursday night, when the unwinning sequence continued against Benfica. Luckily, Simon was over again, so I was able to forget about the match as we put the world to rights over yet another Roshni's curry. 0-0 at half time was respectable, 0-2 at full time...not so much.

Still, we should still qualify for the knockout stages, when no doubt we will be humiliated by a half decent team of European veterans at the first time of asking.

At least we are not Liverpool, though.

I ventured out of Staines this week to visit the new shopping centre in Shepherd's Bush, Westfield.

What a bloody silly place to put a shopping centre! Probably not a good idea to drive there, though.

Still, once there, I had a good old meander, sorted out Mrs W's birthday stuff and copped a bite to eat - a very acceptable burrito from one of the varied concessions, since you ask. It's quite an impressive place, if you like that sort of thing, but ultimately not as varied or comprehensive as I thought it would be. Give me the Trafford Centre any day.

Another top tip for the weekend - if you buy the new version of Football Manager with the intention of whiling away the long, lonely hotel nights with a bit of computer-based escapism - then be sure not to take an empty box away with you. Take the disc as well.

So I whiled away the long, lonely hotel nights with another DVD box set - this time going back in time to watch The Singing Detective, which was every bit as good as I remembered it - especially Joanne Whalley's eyes. Oh yes.

Watching it again, would something like The Singing Detective ever get commissioned nowadays? Imagine the pitch:

"It's about this writer, who is in hospital with a nasty skin disease. While in hospital, he daydreams about a detective story, in which he also plays the main character - and sings as well. "The Singing Detective", see? He also has a series of flashbacks to a Vale of Dean-based childhood where everyone speaks in an impenetrable burr. Oh, and at random points in the series, the actors will launch into improbable song and dance routines to break up the action a bit."

I don't think so, Mr Potter.

"Oh, and there's a bit of tit in it for the dads. And Joanne Whalley is going to play a young nurse with big brown eyes."

Where do I sign up?

Marvellous.

All with a bit of Rockpile in the background. A Mess of Blues is - I think - a bootleg of a BBC radio performance from back in the '70s. The cover says 1977, but I suspect that's a bit early. Anyway, a decent performance it is, a young(ish) Nick Lowe performing with Dave Edmunds, Billy Bremner (not that one) and Terry Williams. Lots of stuff from Nick's first album, some decent covers and the glorious 'I Knew the Bride (When She Used to Rock 'n' Roll). Basic, no-nonsense pub rock, and there's nowt wrong with that at all.

Here are the boys, looking incredibly fresh faced, with the aforementioned bride. Rock on!

Awopbopaloobop.....

2009-11-01T11:27:00.002Z

Today's soundtrack: Scientist v. Prince Jammy - Big Showdown at King Tubby's

Ah well.

Preston was not to be, then. After a very strange interview that focused heavily on a role I had twelve years ago, I came out of the company's offices knowing full well that it wasn't going to happen. Sadly it seems that, although the first two guys who interviewed me had thought I was perfect for the role, their understanding of what the role required was completely different to that of the Chief Exec!

So the company is back to the drawing board and, it would seem, so am I. But not quite - the response down in Staines to the outcome was firstly sympathy...but quickly followed by a pleased 'so we can keep hold of you for a bit longer, then!'

Indeed they can. Yes, the journey is a nightmare, and staying away from home for most of the week is a drag, the work is good and the people I'm working with are friendly and helpful. Oh, and the money's alright, too!

Although not normally the shy and retiring type, I'm having a real problem motivating myself to go out and eat in public of an evening, so it was nice to spend one evening last week out with Simon, who lives not a million miles away from Staines. After a couple of pints in the Slug & Lettuce, we agreed a curry was in order and wandered over to Roshni's, just next to the bridge over the Thames. Roshni's had been recommended to me by one of the directors' secretaries, so we thought we'd give it a go. 'Fine Indian Cuisine', it said on the door - no back street curry house this!

Oh, it was fab. I started with some Murg Kathi rolls - a new one on me, chicken tandoori wrapped in a very thin chapati-type wrap, with a delicate sauce on the side...quite possibly the nicest starter I've ever had in an Indian restaurant. followed by Gosht Xacutii - Lamb cooked with coconut and masala spices. Accompanied of course by a selection of rices, breads and veggy dishes as well. Far too much, even for two stout lads like us.

We'll go there again, I feel!

The rest of the week, I was happy to pick up some stuff from the supermarket and graze in my hotel room (a much better room this week) watching DVDs on the laptop. This week, it was Tutti Frutti, the '80s series with Robbie Coltrane and Emma Thompson about The Majestics, failed Scottish Rock 'n' Roll band on their silver jubilee tour. I really enjoyed this series years ago when it was first on the box, and was pleased to see it finally released on DVD a while ago. Watching it now, whilst the '80s fashions have dated horrendously, the show is still really enjoyable with great supporting characters. The series is completely stolen by Richard Wilson as dodgy manager Eddie Clocherty - the interaction with 'Miss Toner', his 'assistant' is an absolute joy.

Back home then, to a joyous welcome from cat and wife, to a Chinese takeaway and to a dozy evening that ended up with me falling asleep in the chair until three in the morning. Takes it out of you, this working malarkey!

Off to Goodison to watch the injury-depleted Blues battle with the Villa on Saturday. I wasn't expecting a great deal, but first half at least, we began to play like we can, missing players notwithstanding, and took a well-deserved lead just on the stroke of half time. But of course, this is Everton, so we came out for the second half completely flat and had conceded within a minute of the restart. I don't know what Moyes says to the team at half time, but the number of times we get caught sleeping within minutes of the restart is deeply worrying.

After the equaliser, things went flat for a while, sparking into life with a couple of sendings off near the end of the game, for the scorer (Bilyaletdinov) and one of theirs for a bad tackle on the Yak, who was looking to be close to back to form. Indeed, overall the team seem to be getting things back together with some decent performances and although it was disappointing not to win, there were some signs that things might be turning around.

Just in time for Benfica on Thursday, a game I'll sadly miss being stuck down in Staines.

An obscure bit of dub on the soundtrack today, from a couple of King Tubby proteges. Scientist and Prince Jammy share the album with five tracks each, the ten tracks being labelled 'Round 1' through to 'Round 10'. Who wins? It doesn't matter when the dub is as heavy as this.

Great cover art too!

Here's Round 5 - is there anything that isn't lurking somewhere on YouTube?

Welcome to the Working Week!

2009-10-24T11:39:00.001+01:00

Today's soundtrack: Lloyd Cole and the Commotions - Rattlesnakes

Look, no daily count in the title today! Now I'm working again, there's nothing to count from! I might have to resurrect the count in due course, but for now, we're back to zero.

Yes - the working week. God, it's hard, isn't it? Although it did get easier as the week went on, I have to admit it's been a bit of a shock to the system.

But there is an element of riding a bike to it - there's nothing in the actual work itself that I'm thinking - how do you do this, I can't remember. It's still all there, and the synapses are all flashing like buggery. Assuming that's what synapses do.

But I'm still knackered.

I gave myself an early start on Tuesday, out of the house around half five, to try and avoid all the likely traffic build-up points before any traffic actually got there. And that worked fine, getting me down to Staines before nine. A bit too early for the company, actually. Eventually though, I was through reception, and meeting up with all my new (temporary) colleagues. The company currently employs a lot of temps, so getting me set up was a breeze - passes for the doors, computer logins, email addresses - all pretty much ready and waiting for me when I got there.

So I've spent the week talking to people, shadowing them while they work, understanding and documenting processes - and already coming to one or two conclusions where things might be improved. There's a long way to go though - plenty of areas to cover!

Staines itself is - to my surprise - quite a pleasant little town. David Byrne once described Memphis as "...home of Elvis, and the ancient Greeks". If he had been writing about Staines, he might have said, "...home of Hard-Fi, and of Ali G". Which would suggest that Staines was a warren of concrete underpasses, security cameras, populated by blinged-up wannabe gangstas with their kecks clinging precariously to their upper thighs.

Well not in the bits I've seen. The Thames flows through the town, swans and rowers skim the surface, there's a market day on Wednesday and there's a Waitrose quite handy. My hotel is a quaint old building just on the other side of the river to the offices, a short walk away. Not the best hotel I've ever stayed in, but clean, comfortable and handy. I've had no problem sleeping, anyway. Here's the view from the office window - check those mean streets!

One thing I can never get used to is the 'stuck in the hotel, alone' syndrome. Went out for a meal with the FD one evening, but for the other two nights I was left to my own devices. Rather than sit alone in a restaurant, I chose to get some chuck in from the supermarket and squirrel myself away in my room. Plenty of entertainment though - I took the 'Red Riding' trilogy of DVDs down with me to watch on my laptop - one film per night.

I blogged a while ago about reading the books - and I'm glad I read the books before watching the films. The screenwriter and the various directors have done a really good job of extracting the meat of the story from the books, without compromising too much in any particular area. In fact, the films clarified a few areas in the books that I'd struggled with (I think - there's some conflation of characters that might have misled me a little bit) and - possibly the biggest compliment I can pay to the films - they've made me want to go back and re-read the books, in the expectation I will get even more out of them second time around.

So home for the weekend, and also Monday next week - when I have my second interview for the permanent job in Preston I've mentioned before. Down to the last two - one final push, and I might be sorted before Christmas. God, I hope so.

And all this to the jangly, literate sound of Lloyd Cole and the Commotions. An ideal soundtrack, actually, to the past week's bedsit life. Back in the '80s, Lloyd soundtracked the existence of many sensitive singletons in his black rollneck sweater and Gitane-cracked voice, singing about simple metaphors, Eve-Marie Saint, girls with "...cheekbones like geometry, eyes like sin, ...sexually enlightened by Cosmopolitan.." and driving round in daddy's 'deux chevaux'. Obviously I wasn't sensitive, or a singleton (for long, anyway) at the time, but Lloyd still soundtracked part of my life, and Rattlesnakes is still one of my favourite albums.

This is great - Perfect Skin, source of the great line quoted above.

Day 218: Signing Off...?

2009-10-19T10:38:00.003+01:00

Today's soundtrack: Various Artists - True Romance Soundtrack

Right, it's Monday morning, and tomorrow I start work!

On a contract basis, so come the end of November I might be right back where I started, but for the next few weeks I shall be spending my weeks in Staines, just outside London, doing an internal control review for a business linked with my ex-employer, who kindly referred the contract on to me.

All the planning is done, terms of reference have been prepared and reviewed - now it's just a case of getting down there and rolling my sleeves up. Not without a certain amount of trepidation - it's been the best part of seven months since I picked up a calculator in anger - can I still do it?

Course I bloody can.

Spent Sunday frantically trying to finish off my chores - and finally got the bathroom finished, tiles grouted and cleaned. A few scratches on the glass tiles I'm not too happy about, but otherwise a pretty decent job. Then I watched a bit of the Blackburn-Burnley game, read the paper and watched the Grand Prix. Nice to see Button finally sewing up the Championship - he gave up trying to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory with a super drive from the back of the grids into the points - and ahead of Rubens Barrichello, giving him the margin of victory he needed to make the final race in Abu Dhabi academic.

We also finished the final series of The Shield as well, which I wholeheartedly recommend to you. As good as The Wire and The Sopranos? Probably not, but not embarrassed in their company either. The series cleverly has you rooting for the bad guys and is really well scripted and acted. Not sure what we watch now though...

Today's soundtrack is from the film True Romance, probably Mrs W's favourite film, and certainly one of mine. Written (but not directed ) by Quentin Tarantino, the dialogue is sharp, the acting superb, with some nice little cameos, and the storyline as touching as it is violent. Go and rent it, now.

The music included on the soundtrack is a combination of 'film' music, with an eclectic selection of tasty tunes from the likes of John Waite, Shelby Lynne and Soundgarden(!) The highlight for me though is Hans Zimmer's theme tune, instantly memorable, played I believe on a vibraphone(?)

So, one and all, I suspect that might be the end of the daily blogs - at least for the time being - but keep checking back for at least weekly postings.

Take care - all of you. I love you all.

Day 217: And the day started so well...

2009-10-18T10:12:00.004+01:00

Today's soundtrack: The Beatles - Mono Masters, Volume 2

"Previously, on 'Stuck Between Stations'..."

You recall yesterday's season ticket related trauma?

the discovery of the loss.
the frantic search of house and car.
the phone calls - to shops, club and police.
the 'crime number'

This morning then, it was up and out early to the club, clutching crime number and last year's season ticket,to try and make everything right.

Now I love Everton with a passion, but the only certainty with the club is that they will let you down. Time and time again. They don't mean to, they don't actively try to, but they do.

Except today, they didn't! (Well they did - later on - but more about that anon.)

Parked up at the ground, queued up at the ticket window and eventually got to the counter. To be told I was in the wrong queue and needed to go to another window under the main stand. Which I did. I told my tale of woe to the young lady there, who took my previous season ticket and crime number away into the back office.

And - wonder of wonders! She was back in a couple of minutes with a new season ticket! She did relieve me of a ten quid 'admin/handling charge', but I could live with that quite happily.

So, after all yesterday's trauma, getting the replacement card took all of five minutes. Well done Everton - efficient and effective service!

Now, would the card actually let me into the ground this afternoon...

Well it did, but to be honest I wished it hadn't. The team huffed and puffed against an effective Wolves team, missed a succession of straightforward chances before Joe Yobo gifted a goal to the visitors with fifteen minutes left. Only an 88th minute equaliser spared the team's blushes.

Luckily, I'd not engaged in any pre-match banter with Kevin (other than a quick 'Come on you blues' text) so I didn't get too much egg on my face.

Unlike the young Liverpool fan who, no doubt invoking the spirit of 'Dr Fun', thought it would be a good wheeze to chuck a Liverpool beach ball onto the pitch at Sunderland. A beach ball that deflected a shot from Darren Bent into the net, with Pepe Reina making a despairing dive in the direction of the beach ball instead.

Oh, how we laughed.

Apt that in a blog that is focusing heavily on events in and around Liverpool, today's soundtrack is provided by a bunch of cheeky young Scousers who could go far. The 'Mono Masters' can be found in one of the recently released remastered box sets of Beatles stuff, and Volume 2 collects up all the latter period mono releases not included on any of the regular albums - essentially a few singles releases and some stuff from the Yellow Submarine soundtrack.

There's been a lot of debate about the relative merits of the new remasters, in either mono or stereo, when compared to the original releases, but given my exposure to the remasters is through some relatively lossy mp3 downloads, I'm not really qualified to comment. At the end of the day, it's still The Beatles, isn't it?

Here's one of their throwaway b-sides. Never found a place on any of their albums, was never an a-side...and is quite possibly one of the best songs ever recorded by anyone. Oasis - and Liam in particular - learned everything they needed from this one song. All together now: "When the sun sheeeines...."

Day 216: Shitshitshitshitshit....

2009-10-17T10:47:00.001+01:00

Today's soundtrack: Kasabian - Empire

And the day had started so well too. A quick trip out to Marks and Sparks to stock up with goodies for the weekend - including some cheeky bottles of wine and three walnut whips that just fell into my basket - plus the purchase of some more grout to finish off the bathroom when....disaster!

I looked in my wallet at the space where my Everton season ticket should be and...nothing! It wasn't there!

Cue panic.

I got home, searched the car to no avail, and then went through the house from top to bottom, searching through coat/jacket pockets...

Nothing.

I couldn't remember where or when I'd last seen it - other than two weeks ago, at the last home game. It had obviously fallen out of my wallet at some stage since then, probably when I'd been buying something.

So on the phone, mentally retracing my steps to every store I'd used my wallet in over the past couple of weeks. B&Q. Marks & Sparks. Sainsbury's. Tesco. Blockbuster. To be fair, everyone I spoke to was very helpful, and made the effort to check to see if anything had been handed in, but they all drew a blank.

Last thing I wanted to do was report the card missing - I had vague recollections of the small print that came with the card advising you to insure the card against loss or theft - because they were not replaceable. I didn't want to have to go through that palaver - not least because the period when I could have lost the card straddled two insurance periods - the insurance renewal came up in the middle. Unable to say with any certainty when the card had gone missing, I had visions of a stand-off between two companies, both denying responsibility. But there was nothing else for it, I had to call the club. By now, it is fast approaching the end of the working day, and I've got a match to go to tomorrow. Can I get this sorted in time?

Completely thrown by the girl's response from the club. "You need to report it to the Police, and get a crime number", she said. "Without that number, we can't replace your card."

"But there's been no crime", I say. "I just lost it".

"Sorry, we need that number".

OK then - so I called the Police. To tell them I'd lost my season ticket. "But no crime has been committed, Mr Waring. Why are you telling us this?"

"Because the club told me to".

Ok then. Card reported as lost. And here's your number. Which had the rather tell-tale letters 'L', 'O', 'S' and 'T' as a prefix.

So off to the club tomorrow first thing to give them this number, and see what transpires.

To be continued....

Kasabian's 'Empire' is the soundtrack to all this. Despite being one of many 'K' bands that seemed to come from nowhere in the mid-2000s, Kasabian are a cut above your average landfill indie band. Fixtures at Glastonbury, I always seem to be somewhere else when they are on - but they are by all accounts a great live band, particularly in the festival environment.

Here they are at Glastonbury in the 2007 rain, Shooting the Runner...

Day 215: Out on the Tiles

2009-10-16T09:37:00.001+01:00

Today's soundtrack: Various Artists - The Complete Motown Singles, Volume 5: 1965

With the impending resumption of the working week - suddenly the pressure's on to finish all the half-arsed (and half-completed) jobs that are kicking around - including the bathroom tiling, which those of you with long memories will recall I started way back on Day 179. Over a month later, I finally got round to putting back the tiles I'd taken off - hopefully sag-free - along with the mirror tiles to replace those I smashed in the removal process.

Two key problems to deal with (well, three, if you include my general cack-handedness when it comes to Bob The Builder stuff like this).

Firstly, the reason the tiling was needed at all was to rectify a few rows of tile that had been forced into a space that was too small to accommodate them - hence the bowing of the tiles on the wall. So if the tiles were actually to fit the same gap this time, I either had to trim the tiles or - hopefully - compromise on spacing to squeeze the buggers in.

Secondly, the mirror tiles were not made to the same dimensions as the tiles they were replacing, necessitating a gap around them that had to be filled somehow. I am hoping the gap is groutable, as it is really too narrow to successfully cut tiles down to size. The gap also means I need about four tiles to defy gravity during the setting period, lest they slide down the wall into the gap above the mirrors.

So today, it was all about sticking the tiles to the wall and getting them to stay there, keeping flat to the wall rather than bowing. And - I think - I just about achieved that. Tomorrow is about grouting and cleaning, when the job - should - be a good 'un.

Before and during pictures up there - there will - eventually - be an 'after' picture as well!

Quiet on the job front today following the frenetic bursts of activity earlier in the week - just formal confirmation from the insurance company of the terms around temporary work - essentially I can do 90 day's worth without my claim being affected. Just need to sort the Job Centre out now, and I think we are good to go!

The rest of the day was spent making sure I had sufficient kit together for my Staines trip, and doing a bit of prep around the issues involved. After a bit of consultation with former colleagues, that angle was satisfactorily covered, and I also seem to have commitment to a lunch from the good man who provided the introduction in the first place! Coupled with plans for dinner with Simon when I'm down in Staines, and my social life won't completely grind to a halt while I'm out of the North!

Double Bubble on the Masterchef front, with the final semi-final and the 'eliminator' for the final. Puzzlingly, the preview on the internet suggested there would be five contestants in the eliminator - how would that work, after four semi-finals? All became clear, when the two final semifinalists could not be separated by the judges - so they put them both through!

And they were good, Steve and Daniel. So good, that both made it through to the final, along with Simpering Sally (Marianne, actually). So it was goodbye to hot favourite Ryan, and to Matt, who'd seen off other hot favourite Ludovic.

Smart money must be on Steve - but I wouldn't write off Marianne just yet...

Motown produced some of the greatest music in the '60s, and 1965 was probably when the best of the best was released, pretty well everyone being on the top of their game. The 'Complete Singles' series is exactly what it says on the tin - a series of box sets, containing every single 'A' side and 'B' side released in a particular calendar year. Amongst others, 1965 gave us:

Ask The Lonely
Nowhere To Run
Stop! In the Name of Love
Tracks of my Tears
Shotgun
Uptight (Everything's Alright)

Wow!

It also gave us 'Do The Boomerang' and 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Me' - but overall, the level of quality control is exemplary.

Here's Martha and the Vandellas from 1965 with Nowhere to Run - Forget the Supremes, these girls were the best Motown girl group by a distance!

Day 214: You put the first disc in, take the first disc out...

2009-10-15T09:55:00.003+01:00

Today's soundtrack: Porcupine Tree - Coma Divine

...in, out, in, out....and continue for the next 70 discs. All day.

That was today's job, folks, and very, very dull it was too.

Captain Paranoia had struck and I decided to do a full, permanent backup of my iTunes library. In the past, I've backed up from one external hard drive (where my 'original' music and stuff is held) onto another external hard drive - but the backup drive is now too small to hold all my music and films, as well as my photos and other documents - so whilst the plan is to get another, bigger, hard drive for music backups, I thought I'd also copy to DVDs so I have a permanent and largely unbreakable backup. So that's what I did.

Unfortunately I have got a BIG iTunes library and, whilst the process is all automated from within iTunes, you still need to feed it with blank DVDs on request. Which I did - 71 DVDs, at approximately six minute intervals. As the Yanks say, do the math.

And yes, 71 DVDs is a lot of gigs. As in gigabytes, not concerts, although there's plenty of them as well!

Whilst all this was going on, I was pushing for some answers on the job front - and largely getting them, I have to say.

Firstly I took a call re the permanent role in Preston - still the preferred candidate, but one more person for them to consider in this round. But all being well, I'll be called for second (final?) interview next week. But either way, the timings of the permanent role will not have an impact on the contract work in Staines.

So - secondly - let's ensure the Staines work would not cock up the mortgage insurance. No response to yesterday's email, so on to the insurers by phone (following a bit of nagging from Mrs W!) And, again, good news! Obviously they won't pay me while I'm working, but when I stop, the benefit kicks in again seamlessly and - even better - the payment period is extended to add back the period spent working and not claiming! Result!

Finally, in touch with Staines to confirm that its all systems go for next week - starting work on Tuesday! There might be some tweaking of Terms of Reference, but the meat of the review - and the cost/expense structure - is all agreed.

So - finally - I'll be working for The Man again and, for a period at least, not living the high life on your taxes. To the tune of sixty-odd quid a week. Bring it on!

But Paul! What does this mean for the blog? I don't hear you wail. I'm not sure actually. I doubt I'll be able to update stuff on a daily basis, but I'm not about to stop. Mind you, stuck in a hotel in Staines - with wireless access to the internet - it might be one way of staving off the 'sad lonely man in hotel' syndrome. We'll see - no promises. Enjoy it while you can!

Porcupine Tree? What sort of name is that for a group, Paul? Well it's a mighty silly name, if you ask me. But - perhaps surprisingly - a remarkably good group. 'They' are essentially one man - Stephen Wilson - playing progressive rock (no shit Sherlock) blended with some 'heavier' material. Heavy on the guitars and the synths, with some flowery lyrical flourishes, they are well worth a listen - if you like that sort of thing. And I do.

Coma Divine is a live album from 1997 and captures the band on good form. Long, instrumental passages interspersed with shorter, even poppier, pieces. Probably one for the committed fan rather than the casual listener but never boring.

Here they are - Arriving Somewhere But Not Here!