Remember the 'Top Of The Pops' LPs - I re-created them, but with the original artists.

During the lockdown, whilst trying to think of something to do, I came across one of the old 'Top Of The Pops' albums that seemed so prevalent years ago. And it gave me an idea.

I went on the Discogs web site, and found that all of the albums and their tracklistings were available to buy or just check out on the site.

I didn't want to buy the albums, but I did wonder how the albums would sound if you heard them in the running order, but by the original artists.

I've got a pretty decent sized music collection and felt that I probably already had 80% or the original versions of the songs and that given the time, I could re-do the albums using mp3 versions of the songs.

So I started with Volume 1. Of the 12 songs featured on the album, I had 9. What I decided to do was replace the songs I didn't have with songs in my collection that would keep the same spirit to the album.

Having put together the first album in the same running order as the LP was released but with the replacements, on playback, it sounded really good, so I did volume 2.

I ended up redoing all 92 albums in the collection in the same way. It gave me a pretty good representation of the music we were listening to over the years.

It took a lot of time to complete them, but as we had the lockdown in place, I had plenty of time to spare.

And I have to say, I'm really happy with the results.

Admittedly there are songs missing across the complete collection, but the songs I've replaced them with do not harm the integrity. How could they? I now had the albums with original versions by the original artists.

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I'm back on a nostalgia trip

 This week, I’ve had good cause to go a nostalgia trip.

In the week, I was given a 1960s Fergusson, reel to reel tape recorder. My old one died last year and after taking it to have it repaired, it came back worse than it started. It seems to me that these days, not too many know how to repair old technology. But that’s a different story.

A friend of mine in Scotland was after an old tape recorder recently and went on one of the numerous free-ads sites and asked if anyone had an old tape recorder in their attic that they no longer wanted, and he was offered two which he then collected. He advised me to do the same.

I put a post on our local village reuse and recycle group and asked the same thing, and a day later, a lady got in touch and said that she had her father’s old one in the attic and that if I wanted it, I could come and collect it. However, she wasn’t sure it still worked, but I was welcome to take a chance on it.

I went and collected it the next day, brought it home, plugged it in and hoped for the best. I’m pleased to say, it came on and when I tried it, it played, although somewhat slow. It could fast forward the tapes and rewind. So there was hope.

The reason I wanted another tape recorder was not to record music on to, but to play the tapes I already have to see what’s on them, to compile tracklists of what’s on them, and then make new compilations on mp3 using the many tracks I already have to put on a hard drive or my mp3 player to enable me to hear them again whenever I want to.

The little matter that it played slowly didn’t bother me because all I need to hear is enough of a song to recognize it and enable me to write the song on a piece of paper, then run forward to the next and repeat.

But what actually happened, was that in doing so, as it’s an old valve tape recorder, the longer it was running, the warmer the tape recorder became, which resulted in the old oil on the motor components warming up and going from being congealed to liquid again, which freed the components up and allowed them to run more freely.

Now the tape recorder is running at the correct speed again.

Playing the old tapes again and reminded me of when I recorded them all those years ago. 

There are tapes I recorded when I was aged between 10 and 16 and then from when I was in my 20s (all of which were disco and club classics that I played on my ride when I was travelling) and finally tapes comprising of all the singles that were in the local hospital radio station at Weymouth, that for two years I was Chairman of.

And so hearing those songs have given me some great memories of the past.

It’s going to take a while, but I’m really looking forward to having those songs available at the click of a button on my computer or in my car on the mp3 player in the future.

As for the tape recorder and tapes. I’ll either keep them or gift the tape recorder to someone else and hopefully sell the tapes with the exception of the four tapes that were my Dad’s and were my initial introduction to music as a baby all those years ago.

Those four tapes are my dearest possessions and I don’t think I’d ever be able to part with them.

One other joy of this old tape recorder is that as it has a valve amplifier in it and the whole unit gets warm, it emits an old, much loved smell from the tapes as they play, one which I haven’t smelt in years. They used to be the same when they played on my Dad’s old Grundig player, all those years ago.

Happy memories keep on coming back to me.

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Stock, AItken, Waterman and the twisty road to music niceness...

In the summer of 1987, I was 27. My son James had been born the previous December and we were living and working in St. Osyth near Clacton-on- Sea in Essex.

At the time, my wife was running a snack bar on the Seawick Holiday Camp and I was basically a relief manager on an amusement complex there. One day I could be in the bingo, the next in one of two amusement arcades and the next looking after a set of Dodgems.

It was a pretty varied working week for me but I most often spent my time in the bingo helping the manager and mixing with the bingo players.

It just so happens that one of the bingo ‘regulars’ owned a mobile home on the camp and would be at the camp every weekend and on all of the school holidays, which meant we saw her often and got to know her well.

She was a typical Eastender, friendly, outgoing and often with a story to tell.  Eventually, as is always the case with me, we got to talking about music and what we liked and didn’t like.

It was during one of those conversations, that she told me that her two nieces were pop stars and in the charts at the time.

Being me, I said to her, “I hope they’re not bloody one of those Stock, Aitken, Waterman groups!” because every other record on the radio seemed to one that originated from their studios.

At the time, I thought of them as formulaic pop rubbish, with the exception of Rick Astley, whose voice I quite liked.

It turned out that her nieces were Mel & Kim, who were indeed a Stock Aitken, Waterman group and were at the time riding high with their hit F.L.M in the top 10.

A week later, she turned up with a copy of their first CD and some signed photos for me and a white dress that one of them had worn in one of their videos for their singles, which she gave to the bingo manager’s daughter.

The reason I’m telling you this is because, this morning, I was taking Debz into town and Kylie Minogue’s, ‘Never too late’ came on and reminded me of this.

And as the song went on I was telling Debz how much I hated SAW at the time but how, over the years, I’d come to realise that it wasn’t actually as bad as I thought and how much I’d come to like pretty much all of their output with the exception of Jason Donovan who’s songs I thought were awful.

What I’ve come to realise is that instead of being the dross that I’d taken it for, it turns out to have been perfectly crafted pop; songs that were upbeat and cheered people up.

All those songs I couldn’t stand, I’ve found that I love now. I know all the words of them; they’ve become classic pop hits after all, and are part of British chart history. I sing along to them (even more out of tune than poor old Jason was) and they bring a smile to my face.

And as much as I was a snob about SAW, I’ve been on the opposite side of the fence when so many others have ridiculed my love of certain artists.

Here are a couple of examples for you.

Let’s start off with Village People. I loved them. Still do. I first came across them in the autumn of 1977 when I walked into a record shop in Ashford, Middlesex, and they were playing a disco 12” called, ‘San Francisco.’ It sounded a bit ‘camp’ but I liked it. After all, I was just getting into disco.

A couple of months later, they released, ‘Macho Man,’ which was even more so.

My friends started asking why I was playing that rubbish. They weren’t prepared for what was to come.

‘YMCA’ was next, followed by ‘In The Navy’ and then ‘Go West.’ All of a sudden they were big in the UK, but maligned by many of my friends.

I didn’t care. I loved them. Their songs were danceable, fun, very, very catchy and suddenly they were being played everywhere.

I bought the album ‘Crusin’ and to this day, I still have it, having bought it again a few years ago.

I couldn’t care less that disco was looked down on because it was ‘gay’ music. I loved it. Always will.

The next one couldn’t be more different.

It’s 1980 and I’ve got my first car. On the cassette you’d hear compilations of 12” singles, UB40’s ‘Signing Off’ album, the Diana Ross album that included, ‘Upside Down,’  ‘I’m Coming Out,’ and ‘My Old Piano’, The Crusaders album, ‘Streetlife,’ ‘Donna Summer’s, ‘Greatest Hits’ compilation and more of that ilk. After all, I’m a 20 year-old ‘cool cat’ with an image to uphold.

But what nobody knew, was that when I was on my own, I very often wouldn’t be listening to any of them, because, under my driver seat, sat a Barry Manilow cassette, called ‘Manilow Magic.’ I’d have been mortified if anyone had found out! After all, this was music my Mum liked.

12 unadulterated schmaltzy classic songs that at 20, I wasn’t going to tell anyone I loved. It was the most uncool, untrendy music on the planet.

But those songs... They grabbed me by the throat, shook me about and had me singing every time. Great songs, well performed (apart from my versions)... an audio treat for me.

I love a song with some soul in it, and his performances are from the heart.

‘Looks Like We Made It,’ ‘Ready To Take A Chance Again,’ Tryin’ To Get That Feeling Again,’ and the wonderful, ‘Weekend in New England,’ still, today, reach me in a way that many other songs don’t: and not in a bad way. And for a bit of fun, you’ve always got ‘Copacabana!’

So who am I to say what’s good and what’s not?

That’s the thing about music. There’s something for everyone. It doesn’t matter what you like because, at the end of the day, it’s yours to like.

There’s plenty of music I can’t stand. Rap (after Rapper’s Delight), Grime, Drum and Bass, anything by U2, Oasis and Abba all come to mind. I could go on.

But here’s the thing. Just because I can’t stand any of them, it doesn’t mean that they’re not any good. It just means that they’re not for me.

They weren’t written for people like me. They have their own audience. It doesn’t mean that I’m right and have superb music taste and that if you like them you don’t. Reading this, you’d probably think the opposite!

Music snobs get on my nerves. They think they know it all. They think that they’re better than the rest of us. It’s not true. And it never will be.

Music touches us all in different ways. Music means something different to all of us.

I’ve loved music all my life. I don’t remember a time when I’ve not collected it. My collection comprises of many genres and many artists, from George Formby and Max Bygraves to Led Zeppelin and The Arctic Monkeys.

I used to hate Stock Aitken and Waterman, I don’t anymore. And I’m glad about that.

I get as much joy from hearing, Kylie’s hits as I do from hearing The Kaiser Chiefs singing, ‘Ruby,’ or The Eagles, ‘Lyin’ Eyes’ and long may that continue.

I love oldies. I’m nostalgic about music. It reminds me of my life, good and bad. I love as much musical naffness as I do the virtuosity of others.

And I feel sorry for those that can’t feel the same; those that are enclosed in their little ‘my genre’ closet and aren’t open to listening to other stuff.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t go out of my way anymore to listen to what’s cool and trendy now. I don’t pretend to like something modern in order to keep a bit of ‘street cred.’ I honestly couldn’t care less anymore. After all, we all have our own journey on this road to musical niceness.

But I love it when I do hear something new that gives me that same feeling that those new singles did when I was growing up.

But somehow, I can’t see it happening too much. And it doesn’t matter, because it’s not been written with my demographic in mind.

But as Kylie Minogue sang this morning, “It’s never too late, we’ve still got time...”

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Guilty Pleasures...stop saying it!

For ages, I’ve used the phrase ‘Guilty Pleasure’ whenever I’ve talked about something I like and I know it’s not cool and trendy. But recently, I’ve come to the conclusion that there’s no such thing.

You either like something or you don’t.

And when you choose to bracket your choice by saying it’s a ‘Guilty Pleasure,’ what you’re saying is that your overall taste isn’t as crap as you that particular thing you’re saying you like is.

But let’s get it straight, right here and right now!

What someone else thinks badly of your taste in anything is not your problem. It’s theirs.

After all, I’m pretty sure that there are things you don’t like that other people do. I’m sure you’ve heard someone else say that something is their ‘Guilty Pleasure.’ We all do it.

We’re all as bad as each other.

But do you realise how silly that is? If someone looks down on you because of your taste in something, surely they’re the one who needs to be more open-minded.

When we say a piece of music or a film is a Guilty Pleasure, what you’re really saying is, “I like it but please don’t judge me.”

I’ve come to the decision that no longer will I call anything a Guilty Pleasure. I think you should too stop too. It’s time to stand tall and proud!

We should have the courage of our convictions! And when saying so, we shouldn’t preface it with an apology for liking it. There’s no need to.

Let me give you some examples of the way I’ve made excuses for liking things.

Last year, I decided to buy the ‘Howard’s Way’ box set of DVDs. I only ever saw the first series of it when it was on the telly back in 1986 and for all it’s ‘ham’ acting, I really liked it and wanted to see the rest. In fact, had it the show been more polished, it probably wouldn’t have worked for me. The stories were fine, it was some of the actors who were a bit under-par, but for me, it was a must-watch.

And when I said last year that I was looking to buy it, people 'took the Mickey' and said what a crap series it was and how I was wasting my money.

“But it’s a Guilty Pleasure of mine,” I replied.

I also bought the set of ‘Sunday Night At The LondonPalladium’ shows. They take me back to watching them with my parents as a child. I don’t care, I’m a nostalgic person, it’s my cup of tea. It doesn’t have to be anyone else's.

In the same way, I love Russ Conway’s plinky-plonky piano playing. It reminds me of being a little boy and it holds great memories for me. I like the tunes too but when I mention it to anyone, I always say that Russ Conway is a ‘Guilty Pleasure’ of mine. The truth is when I listen to his music, I don’t feel guilty, I feel happy!

Surely what we like as individuals is up to us? Just because someone else doesn’t like it doesn’t make us wrong and them right any more than if it were the other way around.

I love a Rom-Com. I enjoy them and they make me feel good. I’m not a lover of War films, James Bond or Jason Bourne type films. Halfway through them, I start to get bored. And those dark Batman films just leave me cold. But put Love Actually or Pretty Woman on, I’m as happy as Larry.

I can’t stand X-Factor, The Only Way Is Essex, Love Island or any of those kinds of telly programmes. I love Documentaries, doing up your house programmes and Strictly Come Dancing. And I don’t see why I have to apologise for it.

And neither should you. We’re all individuals. And my God, wouldn’t it be boring if we all liked the same thing?

You shouldn’t be surprised if you hear that I’m listening to, and loving Cheesy Music – Even, Rene & Renato’s, ‘Save Your Love’ makes me smile.

So I’ve decided, I’m no longer making any apologies to the Music Police for the kinds of music I like nor will I apologise to the film critics for my taste.

I love the music I was brought up with now, even though I didn’t like some of it then. My Dad’s brass band and easy listening music used to do my head in – now I love it and have been hunting down all his old albums. In fact, over the last year or so I’ve bought box sets of Ray Conniff and Edmundo Ros amongst others.

I make no apologies for not wanting to like new music. Why should I? 90% of it I don’t like – I’m not in its demographic to start off with. So why bother trying to pretend I’m cool and trendy for liking it when I don’t.

And I’ll make no apologies for liking some novelty hit from the early 60s. Joe Brown’s, ‘Jellied Eels’ will give me more pleasure than any opus from Led Zeppelin ever will. I'm not knocking them, I just like what I like,

Abba make me cringe. Programmes like ‘Shameless’ or ‘Who wants to Be A Millionaire’ will never be on my watch list but that doesn’t mean I’m some kind of superior being for not liking them. At the same time, I like The Spice Girls, Michael Portillo’s Railway journey shows and ‘Lovejoy’.

When it comes down to it, it’s all down to choice and I don't feel I should have to justify what I like to anyone. And neither should you.

We all love stuff that other people think is rubbish. But it’s my rubbish. You don’t have to like it.

I like what I like and I’m not going to hide it away because of what others may think. It’s time to bring some of the great music, films, TV shows and whatever else I like out of the closet.

It’s time to parade our unique likes, and to Hell with those who look down on us.

Let 2021 be the year when we finally say goodbye to the term ‘Guilty Pleasure’ and let’s finally stand tall with our heads held high, behind what we, as individuals like.

As I sing to myself the classic, “Oh your red scarf matches your eyes...”

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Earworms and Earaches 1

This is a new addition to the newsletter - the music I've listened to in the last week whilst I've been in the office doing stuff.

When I first started doing the blog, I talked about doing an 'Earache sessions' blog...but as I never really got around to it,  I thought I'd expand it and let you decide what you thought were Earaches (awful) and what were Earworms (ones you'll be singing for days).

What you may think are Earworms may be considered to be an Earache to someone else. You'll have to make up your own mind.

As well as that I'm going to leave a link to a Youtube compilation playlist taken from the music I've played during the week All you'll need to do is click the link and it will start playing,

This is what I've played this week.

If you know me, you'll know my music taste is eclectic, so you never know what will be on my playlist each week.

Here's what I've listened to this week:

Dean Friedman - Well Well Said The Rocking Chair (LP)

Lighthouse Family - Ocean Drive (CD)

Edmundo Ros - Latin Boss, The Centenary Collection (CD)

Jose Feliciano - Feliciano! (LP)

Basia - Time & Tide (LP)

Boomtown Rats - Tonic For The Troops (LP)

Glen Campbell - I Wanna Live (LP)

The Dooleys - The Best Of (LP)

Herb Alpert & His Tijuana Brass - Greatest Hits (LP)

Here's the link to the playlist

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The Burning House and what I'd take

I bought a book a few years ago. which has caused me to evaluate what’s important to me in my life. It’s called ‘The Burning House’ and the premise is that your house is burning. You have to get out fast. Suddenly you are forced to prioritize, editing down a lifetime of possessions to a mere handful. Now you must decide: Of all the things you own, what is most important to you?

So are the things that are important to your life practical, valuable or sentimental. This is what separates us as individuals and makes us the people we are.

At first, I started to think about what I’d hate to lose in my life. Well, all my music for starters. I’ve been collecting for as long as I can remember. I’d be in a terrible mess if I still had all the vinyl I’d bought over the years. Luckily, back in 2002, I started to convert all my records and CDs into mp3 format.

I now have all my music on hard drives, well on one hard drive and two back up hard drives. There is also my playout computer system that has 46,000 songs that I can choose from for my radio shows. These songs are backed up onto 298 mp3 CDs as back up. So basically, It’s all comfortably backed up and can all be accessed from one of 3 hard drives.

Photos play an important part of my life as I’m a nostalgic kind of guy. I have all my photos on CDs and hard drives. All my pre-digital photos have been scanned and they are also on a hard drive. When my Mum and Dad died, I took possession of three suitcases full of their old photos. These photos have played such an important part of my life. When I used to visit my parents, we’d often get the photos out and my Mum would tell me about the people on the photos. They were a part of the history of my family and their friends.

I’ve managed to scan those as well and have them backed up - one of my sons has a back up as well.

Books would be another area where I’d struggle. I’ve thought about that, and at a push, I could leave all of them because the favourite books could all be bought again.

I’m not really someone who values possessions too much, I could pretty much sell 99% of the stuff I have and replace with new.

So it comes down to what is irreplaceable – priceless – the stuff that it would break my heart to lose. When it comes down to it, what would I want to make sure I got on my way out of the door?

Well, the most important things to me, are probably worth very little on the open market, but they probably say more about me than anything else I own.

The most important possessions I have are four reel to reel tapes that belonged to my Dad. On these tapes are basically the songs and tunes that made me the music lover that I became so early in my life and continue to be today.

So what’s on them? Well, my Godfather owned a record shop, and my Dad used to borrow all the chart hits of the time, take them home and record them (A& B sides). The music on these tapes comes from the chart period of 1958 to 1960. I’m sure he had more tapes, but over the years they disappeared (although I don’t remember there being any more).

Besides all the singles, there’s one tape that has a very early Bill Haley LP on one side and a Gene Vincent LP on the other side. The Bill Haley LP has songs dating back to 1953 on it, the Gene Vincent LP is from 1957. I've pretty much spent most of my life collecting the songs on these tapes.

The tapes are all still playable, but the music has degraded over the 50+ years since Dad recorded them.

It’s funny, I’d never really thought about it before, but now it seems to me that 2 hard drives and four reel to reel tapes could contain the goods and chattels of my life that are important.

Before I go, I just want to say that I’m talking about the things of my life, not the people!

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My All-time Top 100

I mentioned a while back on Facebook, that I was going to have a go at compiling my Top 100 tunes and songs. I asked others to join in as well but so far, only one other has done it - seeing how long it's taken me, I can see why.

Anyway, I make no apologies for anything on this list. The majority of songs on this list are there because they're linked to either a person, a time or memory in my life.

It's not about what I think are the best musical pieces, it's totally personal and about music, that means a lot to me.

In saying that - the lower part of the chart could easily change by the day, especially if I hear a song that I'd forgotten while putting it together.

I've added a link to a youtube playlist if you want to have a listen.

And so here it is:

MY TOP 100 in reverse order

100 Jimmy Cliff – Wild World

99 Neil Diamond - Summerlove

98 Albert Hammond – It Never Rains In Southern California

97 Lord Rockingham’s XI – Hoots Mon

96 Electric Light Orchestra – Starlight

95 Vaya Con Dias – Nah Neh Nah

94 Gary Moore – Still Got The Blues

93 Barbra Streisand – Woman In The Moon

92 Bee Gees – Fanny (Be Tender With My Love)

91 Beach Boys – Break Away

90 Al Martino – To The Door To The Sun

89 Robbie Dupree – Steal Away

88 Charles Sheffield – It’s Your Voodoo Working

87 Perry Como – Love Makes The World Go Around

86 Cornelius Brothers and Sister Rose – Too Late To Turn Back Now

85 Elton John - Writing

84 Randy Crawford – My Heart Is Not As Young As It Used To Be

83 Dawn – Tie A Yellow Ribbon

82 Jermaine Jackson – You Like Me Don’t You

81 Simon & Garfunkel - America

80 Lyn Anderson – Rose Garden

79 Gary Glitter – Rock ‘n’ Roll

78 James Taylor – Secret O’Life

77 The Beatles – I’m Only Sleeping

76 Sammy Davis Jr – The Candy Man

75 Glen Campbell - Galveston

74 The Originals – Down To Love Town

73 Peter Frampton – Show Me The Way

72 Wax – Bridge To Your Heart

71 Anne Murray - Snowbird

70 Rod Stewart – Ain’t Love A Bitch

69 America – Ventura Highway

68 Slade – Let’s Call It Quits

67 Shalamar – Take That To The Bank

66 Santana ft Rob Thomas – Smooth

65 The Hollies – Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress

64 Chuck Berry – Almost Grown

63 Rupert Holmes – Him

62 Stephen Bishop – On & On

61 Barry White – Sha La La Means I Love You

60 The Elgins – Put Yourself In My Place

59 Pickettywitch – Sad Old Kinda Movie

58 Donald Fagen – New Frontier

57 John Holt – You Baby

56 10cc – I’m Mandy, Fly Me

55 Trini Lopez – Sinner Not A Saint

54 Brenda Holloway – I’ll Always Love You

53 Eddie Cochran – Stockings & Shoes

52 Steely Dan – Only A Fool Would Say That

51 Amy Winehouse – Me & Mr Jones

50 Alessi – Oh Lori

49 The Beatles – This Boy

48 The Champs – Tequila

47 T Rex - Jeepster

46 Kirsty MacColl – In These Shoes

45 Etta James – I Just Want To Make Love To You

44 Stevie Wonder – I’d Be A Fool Right Now

43 First Choice – Armed & Extremely Dangerous

42 John Lee Hooker - The Healer

41 Sam Cooke – Frankie & Johnnie

40 Jackson 5 – Looking Through The Windows

39 O’Jays – Backstabbers

38 Barry Manilow – New York City Rhythm

37 Maria Muldaur – Mignight At The Oasis

36 Bob & Marcia – Young Gifted and Black

35 Lloyd Price – Have You Ever Had The Blues

34 The Drifters – Like Sister & Brother

33 Four Tops – Where Did You Go

32 Beach Boys – Don’t Worry Baby

31 Michael Jackson – Off The Wall

30 Van Morrison – Did Ye Get Healed

29 Janis Ian – At Seventeen

28 The Temptations – My Baby

27 Elvis Presley – Kentucky Rain

26 The Beatles – Penny Lane

25 Roy Orbison – Uptown

24 Jimmy Durante – Make Someone Happy

23 Brian Protheroe - Pinball

22 Stevie Wonder – Ngiculela, Es Una Historia, I Am Singing

21 Barbara McNair – Steal Away Tonight

20 Greyhound – Moon River

19 Chris Rea – On The Beach

18 Donald Byron Wheatley – Moondogs And Maddogs

17 Al Stewart – Year Of The Cat

16 Barry Biggs - Sideshow

15 Lavern Baker – Jim Dandy

14 Four Seasons – Save It For Me

13 Gene McDaniels – The Point Of No Return

12 Ray Charles – Hit The Road Jack

11 Neil Sedaka – Brighton

10 Kandidate – Let Me Rock You

9 Percy Faith – Theme From ‘A Summer Place’

8 Bob Dylan – Subterranean Homesick Blues

7 Hurricane Smith – Don’t Let It Die

6 Fortunes – Storm In A Teacup

5 Isley Brothers – Harvest For The World

4 Emilia Mitiku – You’re So Right For Me

3 Gilbert O’ Sullivan – Alone Again (Naturally)

2 Ruby & The Romantics – Our Day Will Come

1 Jackie Wilson – To Be Loved

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10 Early memories

 

Here's this week's top 10 - my early memories.

1. When I was little and on the fairgrounds, a man named Alf Silver used to come on the fairground selling the lights that the showmen used on their equipment. He has a light blue Volkswagen camper van. He was always nice to me and I can remember him taking me to the shops and buying me records.

2. When I was little, my Dad had a reel to reel tape recorder and his tapes had all the hits of the late 50s and early 60s. In Mum and Dad’s trailer, I can remember they had a fold-down be (funnily enough, called a Murphy Bed). And during the winter the tape recorder would be on the floor under the bed. I can distinctly remember crawling under the bed and turning it on and playing it while they were still asleep. I bet they loved me waking them up to that! My sister Pearl told me last year that at 2 years old, I loved Charlie Drake’s, ‘Splish Splash’ and knew exactly where it was located on one of Dad’s tapes and knew how to switch the tape recorder on, and how to fast forward or rewind the tape to that particular point on the tape where the song was.

3. When my sister Pearl was a teenager, her mates would come around our place and get me to do my party trick. Apparently, before I could read or write, I knew all of the records of the time, just by looking at their labels – they would ask me to find a certain record in the box and I could pick it out of all the records in the box. Pearl told me that once, one of her friends asked me for a record, I went for a rummage, pulled it out and gave it to her. She said, I’d given her the wrong song, and I apparently told her to look at the other side – I was right!

4. Being at Butlins, Clacton on Sea aged 3 or 4 and seeing a film being made with Freddie & The Dreamers in it. We had side stalls in the park and I have a vivid memory of them coming in the front gate and crowds of people watching the filming. The film was called, ‘Every Day’s A Holiday.’ It also starred Mike Sarne who sang ‘Come Outside’ with Wendy Richard, John Leyton, who sang ‘Johnny Remember Me,’ The Mojos, who sang, ‘Everything’s Alright’ and other actors including Ron Moody. I bought the DVD a few years back – I wasn’t in the film. And it wasn’t very good either!

5 Two fairgrounds always stay in my mind from when I was a kid, and both are associated with sweet things. Victoria Park in East London was a favourite place of mine as it had a big playground and as there were a lot of us kids, we always used to go and play there. Close by was a little snack bar and in it, they used to sell Jubblies – Pyramid-shaped blocks of flavoured ice. At the time I only remember the orange ones. The other place was Tooting Bec – and the reason I remember it so well was because just outside the ground, against a fence was a ‘Micky’ machine. A ‘Micky’ was a chocolate mild drink, much like you can buy today, but back then, they were sold by United Dairies via the Milkman. Therefore, the Micky machine was a rare thing and for 6d (2 1/2p) you could buy a little bottle of it.

6 When we were in the park at Butlins, Clacton, not far from our side stalls was a photo machine and I loved going in there and getting my photo taken. I’d take 2 shillings from the takings, and go and get photos done – you used to get 4 photos taken – usually, you wouldn’t see my face until the last photo – the other three were often the back of my head as I was climbing on the stall!

7 We were at Burnham with the arcade on the seafront. I was around five years old and playing on the beach. A bigger boy came up to me, punched me a few times and took my bucket and spade. I ran back crying to my Dad and got the first of many lessons from him. He looked at me, told me to point the boy out on the beach which I did. He then said words to this effect, “Go down there, fight him and get your bucket and spade back. I’m not always going to be here to fight your battles so you may as well start now.” Although I didn’t want to do it, I did. I went up to him and told him I wanted my things back. He laughed. And so I did as Dad said, ran at him and started hitting him. He was too strong for me though and he soon started getting the better of me. However, my Dad had followed me and stopped the fight and got my bucket and spade back. I’ve never liked fighting from that day, but that was the occasion where I learned to stand up for myself and I’ve done so ever since.

8 Also, while we were on the seafront, my Dad became friends with John Tandy who ran the donkey rides on the beach. I spent a lot of my time on the beach with John, helping with the donkeys (at least, I thought I was helping). I took a shine to one donkey in particular and John told me I could name him. I called him ‘Pinto’ and my Dad painted his name onto his bridle for me. John Tandy was like my second Dad when I was little. And I was his little ‘Donkey Boy.’

9 I was at St. Andrew’s Junior School at Burnham when man first walked on the Moon and I have a vivid memory of the whole school watching the landing on a black and white TV the following day. There was a dividing section of wall that could be folded back, opening up two classes and making one big room and that’s what happened that day. It was so exciting for us to see it and I can remember it was just before the end of the summer term.

10 When I was around 9 or 10, I decided I wanted to learn to dance and enrolled in the Julie Bowden school of dance. I was one of only two boys in the group and we learned ballet and tap. Each year the dance school would put on summer shows in the Princess Theatre and I was given the job of compere. In the Mary Poppins film, Dick Van Dyke sings a song that goes “It’s a Jolly Holiday with Mary,” well we had our own version. At the start of the show, I’d welcome everyone to the show and I had to start the show with a song and this was the song, except there were some word changes. I can’t remember it all, but part of it went, “Have a Jolly Holiday at Burnham, Burnham makes your heart feel light.” And then the rest of the kids would join in with me. It was very much like the variety shows of the day, and we’d all have little things to do and then we’d do group dances. I’m thinking I picked the wrong career and should have gone on the stage!

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The Music Of My Life #6

I was staying with my sister on a fairground at Crowthorne and on the Saturday afternoon, I was walking across the ground and from David Traylen's Octopus I heard a song that was stunning. It turned out to be T. Rex's 'Jeepster.'

I went over to David and he had the album Electric Warrior (Can't remember whether it was a cassette or LP). He played it all and I knew that when I got home that was going to be one for the collection,

It's an album I've loved ever since. But the song started it all off for me.

If the video deosn't play, click here

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Did Brian Jones drown or was he murdered?

 

They used to say that you’re either a Beatles fan or a Rolling Stones fan.

That’s true in my case. I’m most definitely in The Beatles camp. But that never stopped me buying Rolling Stones records or reading books about and by them.

I’ve read biographies about Mick Jagger and Keith Richards and have found them intriguing.

I was only 8 when founder member of the group, Brian Jones died, so didn’t really know much about him, but over the years, I’ve learned more about his life.

He certainly appears to have been a tortured soul and one who really lost his way to drugs. And the story of his death due to drowning in his swimming pool didn’t surprise me.

Last night I saw a documentary, Rolling Stone: Life and death of Brian Jones. It’s a documentary about the events in the life of Rolling Stone legend Brian Jones that lead to his death.

It backed up my feeling that he was an unstable man but hearing the stories of his upbringing and his father’s contempt for him, it didn’t surprise me.

The fact that his parents kicked him out a few days before Christmas in his teens reinforced, for me reasons why he went overboard.

However, there’s no doubt he was his own worst enemy.

But what I wasn’t expecting was how the story of his life panned out. This documentary gave plenty of reasons to be able to assume that his death wasn’t as it has been reported.

There’s enough evidence here to assume that the true story of his death hasn’t been told. And it makes compelling viewing.

There’s a lot of events put forward in this documentary to make you wonder whether his death really happened as reported at the time.

It certainly made us think differently.

If you’re a music fan in general, this is a really good watch. And it’s worth taking the 90 minutes to see it. If you’re an Amazon Prime viewer, it’s available on the platform as part of your subscription.

It’s also available on DVD.

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The Earache Sessions! - The background

 

Around 6 or 7 years ago, I bought a job lot of LPs. I knew before I collected them that 95% was what I think of as Charity Shop albums, but the 5% I wanted was going to make the rest worth buying – there were in the region of 8-900 LPs.

After I’d taken the ones that I’d wanted out and added them to my collection, the rest of these albums were packed into cardboard boxes and never looked at again.

Then about 4 years ago, after having them cluttering up the garage, I decided that I needed to do something with them.

I’d seen a lot of recycling of albums online, turning them into all sorts of things.

I opened the top box and grabbed some of the albums. I bought some photo paper  that came with a sticky back, made up some designs the size of an LP label, printed them off, bought some clock workings and turned a load of old LP’s into novelty clocks and sold them via an online store as a way to recoup the money I’d paid for the LPs in the first instance.

Once again, they sat in the garage until a couple of years ago when I once more opened the top box  grabbed some out and this time painted them up with various designs and put them back onto the online store and tried to sell them again – not so good this time, so once again they went back into the box.

But now, just for the fun of it, I’m going to grab a selection of them at random and I’m going to play them and see what I think of them – this is either going to unearth some great music that I would never have ever gone out and bought in any other circumstance, or it’s going to be an excruciating listen!

However it turns out, as I listen to them, I’ll let you know how I get on – I’m doing this for your benefit – so that you never have to do this yourself.

Perversely, I think this might be fun!

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Disco and its part in making the pop single longer.

Remember Disco?

It was my ‘coming of age’ music.  It played an important part in my teen years.

And it also played a major part in enlivening the record scene and giving it a huge boost at the time.

And a major part of that was the development of the 12”single. My first was T Connection’s classic ‘Do What You Wanna Do’ which I bought in the spring of 1997.

It started a love of 12” singles and responsible for me spending so much money on music for the next few years.

The other day, I came across this short video that explained how the 12” made pop songs longer. I thought you might enjoy this.

If you can't see the video, click here

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