tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39880325014346607332024-02-20T16:54:09.784+01:00Modern GutnishSqueezing the spot of 21st Century life.Bright Ambassadorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14123057194595392156noreply@blogger.comBlogger296125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3988032501434660733.post-92080420914198400722020-07-21T16:32:00.000+01:002020-07-21T16:38:29.558+01:00Cue the Music<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlS-ButmrXzc_K81F-NiQ7rhcxSOtNd6eNNxnzsVFO8f9dEMMJVThS0DE7LoJrltmnjgkFTYVq-xizRlfGPh251EROQr4fziEHajaKalKWRvNMXwO2EQMV4ZhsMjmegaO1df4YZzsqHTpt/s2048/Q1988JUNE_1t.webp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1535" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlS-ButmrXzc_K81F-NiQ7rhcxSOtNd6eNNxnzsVFO8f9dEMMJVThS0DE7LoJrltmnjgkFTYVq-xizRlfGPh251EROQr4fziEHajaKalKWRvNMXwO2EQMV4ZhsMjmegaO1df4YZzsqHTpt/s320/Q1988JUNE_1t.webp" /></a></div>
It's with a tinge of sadness that I read that the next issue of Q magazine is to be the final edition. Q is a magazine that I started reading when I was 17 and had a disposable income in my pocket. Smash Hits, as excellent as it was, I'd outgrown, the 'inkies' like NME and Melody Maker always seemed to take thmeselves far too seriously while Kerrang! just seemed rather childish (and there's a whole other post in how hard rock and heavy metal in the media is dished up to the fans). So Q came along at just the right time as my interest in music was growing massively with its mix of what we now call 'legacy acts' and pushing the hot new darlings. There was also a sense of humour at work, which I wouldn't expect any less with former Smash Hits editor Mark Ellen at the helm. <br />
So yeah, I'd found my mag. Each month I'd devour the mag from cover-to-cover, learning about the aforementioned legacy acts like The Beatles, Stones, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd while looking to see what was new and exciting with the expansive Q Review which covered everything from albums to films to books. I'm not entirely sure but did they invent the star rating system? At the very least they popularised it. A one star review was always much more fun to read than a five star (complete with red stars to emphasise how great this thing was) because you knew the reviewer had put the boot in. This was 30 odd years before the admirable 'be kind' movement. It was the 80s and despite Live Aid, people weren't particularly kind.<br />
Ah yes, Live Aid. Would Q have existed without the events of July 13th 1985? Probably but not in the form it went on to take - Live Aid validated the appreciation of artists whose best work was released perhaps ten to twenty years earlier. So it's no great surprise that McCartney appeared on the cover of issue 1 and the likes of the revitalised Pink Floyd, Bob Dylan and Mick and Keef were regular cover stars in the first decade of its publishing life.<br />
Then, bouyed by the success of Q, the publishers decided to launch Mojo. I think this diluted the brand somewhat. The legacy acts that had their place in Q were now on the cover of Mojo, so Q's shift was then on to the newer artists. To me that wasn't what Q was about. It was supposed to be 'the modern guide to music and more'. So as much as I wanted to read about Radiohead or PJ Harvey I also wanted to read about Fairport Convention or The Isley Brothers. I resented that I was being ased to buy two magazines. So I didn't. <br />
I stuck doggedly with Q until 1997 when my circumstances changed - I had my first mortgage and percieved luxuries like glossy magazines were put on the backburner - I remember the last issue I bought as a matter of course clearly: the issue where the Oasis album Be Here Now was given a five star review. Now I know that artists are much more receptive to giving a magazine more access if that mag is seen as being on board with the product but five stars for Be Here Now? Really? Britpop was already going down the dumper and this lumpen, rambling, overlong, cocaine-fuelled muscal travesty was surely no serious music journalists idea of a five star album, was it? That was where the mag lost some cred with me.<br />
So I did buy the odd issue when I could afford it or if there was something I really wanted to read in it. In fact for quite a while I hardly bought any music magazines regularly. Then the team that brought us Q originally then brought us The Word (or just Word as it was back then, not the definite article). Now this was the very magazine for me: legacy acts? Yes! Newer acts? Yes! Decent review section? Yes! Funny? Yes!<br />
And then, sadly, The Word left us. But that had rekindled my love of music magazines. So I now subscribe to Prog and regularly (not every issue but regularly enough) buy Mojo (I finally succumbed,), Uncut, Classic Rock and Record Collector. Cherish these things and buy them because it's no good lamenting them when they're on the way out. Buy the physical copies. Don't be like the person I heard on a podcast a few months ago say that he no longer bought music magazines "because someone invented the internet". In all spheres physical product is king, streaming services whether that be Spotify, Netflix or Apple can and will pull things down and not bother paying the creatives their worth. Nobody discovered The Incredible String Band because they clicked a link on Pitchfork.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">The photo up there is of the first Q I bought. So I was a regular for nearly a decade. Not bad going.</span><br />
<br />
<br />Bright Ambassadorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14123057194595392156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3988032501434660733.post-35158189944292681772020-07-20T17:44:00.000+01:002020-07-20T17:44:33.340+01:00Percy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS2RW_TcfjlpVmvEsNIT6M4kGda4FocB8mt3o4Uuebv6Jzef6w03pobzHZbrrGPvaIj-LJ_H1r5GpKjPOXxuS7j93Qa-21HfYh7hWbwREwUP56yPMq9ha8Cq7JGIHqwgBUHlrK5q5jY-7p/s1600/Robert-Plant1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="653" data-original-width="980" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS2RW_TcfjlpVmvEsNIT6M4kGda4FocB8mt3o4Uuebv6Jzef6w03pobzHZbrrGPvaIj-LJ_H1r5GpKjPOXxuS7j93Qa-21HfYh7hWbwREwUP56yPMq9ha8Cq7JGIHqwgBUHlrK5q5jY-7p/s320/Robert-Plant1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
There's a good documentary to be made about Rockfield Studios to be made. Sadly, the one shown in BBC4 on Saturday night wasn't it. Dave Edmunds, the guy who made the studios name, was only shown in a brief clip and as much as I'm not fussed about Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody was talked about only in passing. However, we did get treated to Liam Gallagher effin' and jeffin' for ages and Chris Martin droning on about the gestation of Yellow. Which was nice*...<br />
<br />
I was listening to a podcast the other week that claimed Robert Fripp had 'won' rock music: he's very highly respected, lives in a nice house and is clearly still able to make a substantial living from his work. Sadly for him, he has the misfortune to be married to Toyah Willcox so no, Bob hasn't 'won' rock music. I'll tell you who has, another Robert and a contributor to the Rockfield film, Robert Plant. He's filthy rich, can pick and choose what he does, people are still interested in his output, can sell tickets, can and does tell Jimmy Page to do one, retains a highly approachable everyman image which sees him sitting in the stands with all the other punters at football and, crucially, he ISN'T married to Toyah Willcox.<br />
So why not <a href="https://www.blogger.com/Robert%20Plant:%20By%20Myself:%20www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00vy78w%20via%20@bbciplayer">give this a watch instead</a> of the Rockfield film?<br />
<br />
*It WASN'T nice.<br />
<br />Bright Ambassadorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14123057194595392156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3988032501434660733.post-86887212641644679812020-02-17T17:42:00.001+01:002020-02-17T17:43:12.590+01:00Concision<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbUUXYmhHjWR555ur2Gm-SEwN2LWWoEFdqfwTMdRMy007vi0utEf6JHl6L_uUbzmSKk66wTePM7oJW71mxMo9QxNFt9XvBjdCwCbyXf-0Mlu0rpNpokDPkN9wVne2BsHnoJYKl1cEYdbVB/s1600/marshall+amp.webp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbUUXYmhHjWR555ur2Gm-SEwN2LWWoEFdqfwTMdRMy007vi0utEf6JHl6L_uUbzmSKk66wTePM7oJW71mxMo9QxNFt9XvBjdCwCbyXf-0Mlu0rpNpokDPkN9wVne2BsHnoJYKl1cEYdbVB/s200/marshall+amp.webp" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">On Saturday night we watched This Is Spinal Tap, a film which clips along and lasts barely 75 minutes. We then watched Letter to Brezhnev which lasts just over 90 minutes. I've also been listening to a podcast about the third greatest film of the 1980s, An American Werewolf in London, which has a running time of 97 minutes. No film needs to last more than 105 minutes at the very most. Reservoir Dogs lasts 99 minutes which is the perfect length. Tarantino's latest film last</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">s for over 160 minutes. Why? Films are too long these days. If you need your film to last more than an hour and three quarters then turn into a TV series. And don't get me even started on The Irishman. Difference there is that at least you can watch that at home if you're one of these people with Netflix, so you can at least get up and have a walk around.</span><br />
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span>
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Rocket Man, the Elton John biopic could have done with some serious editing, knocking at least 20 minutes off it. I was well square-arsed when we came out of the pictures. I'm currently reading Elton's autobiography, as well as being a right rollicking read, we've already met Bernie Taupin by page 50, he's slayed the American glitterati by page 70 and the entire book is out of your way in less than 350 pages. Brevity in all things is what I now demand. Just because you can do something doesn't mean you have to. Films lasting far too long is what puts me off going to the pictures these days. I'm nearly 50, life is short, I have other things to do.<br /><br />I like what this band do. They do prog, but hardly any of t</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">heir songs last more than three and a half minutes. Which is nice. For prog.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LdWKULgyC2I" style="color: #1c1e21; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" width="560"></iframe><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">h</span>Bright Ambassadorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14123057194595392156noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3988032501434660733.post-14146042194598010612019-12-27T10:15:00.000+01:002019-12-27T10:15:46.405+01:00Worzel <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA-Ksd5yJ6A53XZq4HvDE4Zr51iIJ0RpjOtsVIBd6kQ4cf2Q_utNTlSw-ah72wAbvXFR4Pt9kYn64eH8Urc8FZO0gPpsGNZp5Qhu1Fk1-djWDA3v5bjOpG1w5_BfzhfCrK0hPgaJaCW8m2/s1600/worzel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="528" data-original-width="990" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA-Ksd5yJ6A53XZq4HvDE4Zr51iIJ0RpjOtsVIBd6kQ4cf2Q_utNTlSw-ah72wAbvXFR4Pt9kYn64eH8Urc8FZO0gPpsGNZp5Qhu1Fk1-djWDA3v5bjOpG1w5_BfzhfCrK0hPgaJaCW8m2/s400/worzel.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Worzel Gummidge was a fantastic meditation on our countryside, it's lore, tradition and on how we should look after it. And with actual jokes. Mackenzie Crook clearly loves the British Isles but loves it in the right way, not by using a flag or national identity but by celebrating what we have and our luck at the complete accident that we live here. Long may he be be given money to make funny, educational, inclusive and entertaining television. We live in a beautiful country with some truly wonderful people in it, it's fantastic to be reminded of that every now and again.Bright Ambassadorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14123057194595392156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3988032501434660733.post-54415074975794415592019-11-12T20:57:00.000+01:002019-11-12T20:57:20.077+01:00I want you......to attend Flying Vinyl no.5.<br />
Our next Flying Vinyl session on November 24th will feature, just after the time of its 50th birthday, the final LP The Beatles recorded, Abbey Road. Produced at a time when personal and business relationships within the band were coming under strain, musically they were never stronger and more collaborative (all four band members feature on lead vocals and writing credits) which resulted in one of their very finest albums. We'd love it if you could join us and celebrate a significant anniversary of a milestone LP.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2SD6emcNkedMEMAvI0IfZPNjZsAnXMKwNMaPrhHlvZmSnD7nziw80lWaJfQt9rEnM6TRhDOMiNV_C4HjaJJS1nfXNmcVNQ9pU_gDpwFIHxPcg4LEdcozEeGK26xGXkjy3mDFAldGezyAO/s1600/received_553676278741990.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="642" data-original-width="435" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2SD6emcNkedMEMAvI0IfZPNjZsAnXMKwNMaPrhHlvZmSnD7nziw80lWaJfQt9rEnM6TRhDOMiNV_C4HjaJJS1nfXNmcVNQ9pU_gDpwFIHxPcg4LEdcozEeGK26xGXkjy3mDFAldGezyAO/s640/received_553676278741990.png" width="432" /></a></div>
<br />Bright Ambassadorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14123057194595392156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3988032501434660733.post-59931878898471048692019-08-16T15:37:00.000+01:002019-08-16T15:37:28.737+01:00Newark Thrill Pt.2I'll be doing my vinyl thing in Newark again this Sunday, Newark folk. It would be great to see you there.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYW4WeAwWQdREE5svxfAFem_8nD9ZRlKTnhmcHu296APiCCdpTkgOI7uzXoUr0Nhsv0PndTLIWXYzs87CIHBBjrtCJubJKmazCwB3Ceg3Igwc-wkYek7pn32ng0tm16taQXpzRrQr4XyGx/s1600/received_401167503850237.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1023" data-original-width="731" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYW4WeAwWQdREE5svxfAFem_8nD9ZRlKTnhmcHu296APiCCdpTkgOI7uzXoUr0Nhsv0PndTLIWXYzs87CIHBBjrtCJubJKmazCwB3Ceg3Igwc-wkYek7pn32ng0tm16taQXpzRrQr4XyGx/s640/received_401167503850237.jpeg" width="456" /></a></div>
<br />Bright Ambassadorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14123057194595392156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3988032501434660733.post-60006801922194220292019-07-29T16:36:00.001+01:002019-07-29T18:36:23.501+01:00Bright Ambassador Adoring<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYlPELrDd4a3DAtpk6v0mfL2owmqtFl5teWjQ7u9-osw-6wpxm00g-l0y0kLP6VkpLmZ03kfFASHNeCF0Fi9N4kBp2oT1xR8zU5nu9TOSDqtwD6VZIHAQLSXBJCst79REjEWjl7vsU4PFy/s1600/pure-reason-revolution-516a2809128c1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYlPELrDd4a3DAtpk6v0mfL2owmqtFl5teWjQ7u9-osw-6wpxm00g-l0y0kLP6VkpLmZ03kfFASHNeCF0Fi9N4kBp2oT1xR8zU5nu9TOSDqtwD6VZIHAQLSXBJCst79REjEWjl7vsU4PFy/s320/pure-reason-revolution-516a2809128c1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Well now, I received some very welcome news today - one of my favourite bands of the last fifteen years are <a href="https://www.loudersound.com/news/pure-reason-revolution-sign-new-deal-with-insideout?fbclid=IwAR1DYPhurvg3cUNPjphuEWncc07uhiZn0sbkq6rMTn8ooMdeHvG2dUzqjqc">getting back together </a>after having been on a break since 2011. Pure Reason Revolution were<i> my </i>band from about 2005 onwards. This band were pivotal in getting me back into music after other concerns (mortgages, decorating, DIY, idiotic in-laws, my dad's death and life in general) had led me away from it in any meaningful sense in the previous decade. At the time I was with a long term partner, she was the kind of person who would ask "Haven't you got enough records now?". She was a teacher who had an arty disposition so I would never have dreamt of saying to her "Haven't you got enough pens now?"<br />
<br />
Go back fourteen years, I was bored working the late shift one night. This was the time when Mark Radcliffe had a late night show on Radio 2 that ran from 10pm to midnight. Anyone who knows me will tell you that I love Radcliffe as a broadcaster and I think his shows are always worth listening to. This night he just happened to say "I'm going to play a record now by a band called Pure Reason Revolution. This record has got echoes of Pink Floyd all over it. In fact they studied at what used to be called Regent Street Polytechnic which is where the members of Floyd met each other. I'm going to play an edited version of their new single, which lasts for over nine minutes, which is why I'm editing it. It's called The Bright Ambassadors of Morning". He was right about being influenced by Pink Floyd, the title even riffs off a line in Floyd's Echoes. I vividly remember how Radcliffe introduced the record because in the early days of catch-up radio, I revisited that part of the show over and over again during the following week just so I could hear this music which I felt had been written specifically for me. It pushed all of my buttons. I just loved everything about it: the different sections, the harmonies, the drums, the huge riff, even the length of it. This record changed my life. I just had to have this record as soon as possible. I knew that no record shop around here was going to stock such a niche thing so I tentatively made my first purchase from Amazon (sorry, I knew not what I was doing). A few days later a CD single of The Bright Ambassadors of Morning fell onto the doormat. I couldn't believe I now actually owned this piece of music and wouldn't have to listen to it over the internet (how times have changed, eh?). This record became my obsession, I needed to know everything about this band and find whatever else they had out there. This being 2005, MySpace was all the rage, so I set up a profile and found PRR. Turns out that PRR consisted of some friends from Reading (some of whom <i>had</i> been to the old Regent Street Poly) and one of them had been a member of a band made up of schoolgirls called Period Pains who got a bit of press coverage in 1997 when John Peel made their anti-Spice-Girls single his record of the week. And guess what, through MySpace, I found that other people out there liked this band too. Who knew? That was my first foray onto any kind of social media.<br />
So what now? I had to have whatever else this band had out on release. So the CD of their one-off single for Alan Magee's post-Creation label Poptones, which was called Apprentice of the Universe arrived. And what do you know, that track and all the 'b-sides' were great too. This band were hitting the spot for me. A few months later, when they were getting ready to release their debut album The Dark Third, they were out on the road supporting Manchester prog-metallers Oceansize, so I just thought, sod it, I'm going to see this band (she didn't want to come, of course). So I did. On my own. My first time at Nottingham's Rock City in what felt like donkey's years. And they were great. And I got to the front. And I bought everything else they did after that (two more albums) and saw them twice more. One of those times was on their farewell tour, sadly. But I didn't need to ask permission to go because by that time I'd split with the teacher and was living on my own in a flat and had met the woman who was to become my wife who means everything to me and who shares my passion for music and performance. Which kind of felt like a natural end for the band from my point of view - they'd shown me another way, I followed it, was all the better for it and made a massive change. The power of music had pulled me back in. I had left a relationship that was going nowhere because if you love music as much as this, why would you be with someone who asks if you have enough records? Or be with someone who has absolutely zero interest in the things you're interested in? Besides, I was fed-up of being on my own all the time, at home (both her job and her hobby trumped everything) and at gigs.<br />
<br />
Anyway, The Bright Ambassadors of Morning, then. I know it's not everyone's cup o' tea but surely if you love music then you know how it feels to totally connect with something (at the risk of sounding wanky). Here's the video for it, which was on the "Enhanced CD" (remember them?) single. There's a scene in Gregory's Girl where Gregory's sister orders this fluorescent green milkshake thing in Wimpy and she explains that the best bit is just before it hits your tongue, in short, the anticipation. Waiting for <i>that</i> moment. <i>That</i> moment for me hits at about 8m 30s in this video. You're just waiting for it - the headbanging section. The anticipation is better than the moment. You know its coming and <i>that</i> feeling is better than anything else. And <i>that's</i> music for me.<br />
<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bB5nyHp54CE" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
And here they are performing it on the German TV show Rockpalast:<br />
<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0TjY_PcFWwY" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
So that's it, they're back together. I can't wait to hear what they have in store.<br />
<br />
And now you know why I'm Bright Ambassador.Bright Ambassadorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14123057194595392156noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3988032501434660733.post-61437435295417505612019-07-16T11:05:00.000+01:002019-07-16T11:06:25.062+01:00New(ark) Thrill!People of Newark, I start a new listening experience in the town this coming Sunday. Why not come along, full details below.<br />
<span id="goog_1640979894"></span><span id="goog_1640979895"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXkZsOhZWMaQqZY0e6t5r2Ucv3hmGFZ9JD-2C89RAGtLVneCh9k_-RSqNDV41W8i0jUPZezRE4vyYDVDdy4xp6GzpD9rNYHdyCchtrYEHnGVT487I-PoefAFtAzWtF6NRn9V6rSJrnWzf7/s1600/IMG_20190716_110243.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1037" data-original-width="699" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXkZsOhZWMaQqZY0e6t5r2Ucv3hmGFZ9JD-2C89RAGtLVneCh9k_-RSqNDV41W8i0jUPZezRE4vyYDVDdy4xp6GzpD9rNYHdyCchtrYEHnGVT487I-PoefAFtAzWtF6NRn9V6rSJrnWzf7/s640/IMG_20190716_110243.jpg" width="428" /></a></div>
<span id="goog_309197924"></span><span id="goog_309197925"></span><br />Bright Ambassadorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14123057194595392156noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3988032501434660733.post-45286632903197587412019-05-06T11:31:00.000+01:002019-05-06T11:31:22.907+01:00He's gawn completely Radio Rental<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNNDdny2otg8wedzQQUZP43vd7Ss_gQm9L8EvjCw1xmQ4QFi9Dyk8ZCrztnpyGte947Tdn-8h_4URcDBFNwUSyd2JnBlbPB5wbghGazj1emKbikA3faItT0lYtiu0FKerEoubPw7ACiyey/s1600/20190504_190729.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNNDdny2otg8wedzQQUZP43vd7Ss_gQm9L8EvjCw1xmQ4QFi9Dyk8ZCrztnpyGte947Tdn-8h_4URcDBFNwUSyd2JnBlbPB5wbghGazj1emKbikA3faItT0lYtiu0FKerEoubPw7ACiyey/s320/20190504_190729.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
So here I am watching coverage of the 1979 general election coverage on the BBC Parliament channel (which includes the news read by Richard Baker right at the start, which is worth the price of admission alone), and the complete Eighventiesness of it reminded me of this ghost sign that I noticed in town on Saturday. A more recent shop has closed, removed their signage and uncovered this. Funny how there are a certain subset of high street shops that have now completely disappeared. Did you rent a television? My parents did right up until the beginning of the 1990s. There were all the big hitters here in Newark: Granada (where ours came from. The televisions were always modelled as Granada Finlandia. As the name suggests they were manufactured in Finland, I think possibly by a name that would become ubiquitous in the 90s and 2000s, Nokia), DER and the above mentioned Radio Rentals. I also think that electrical retailers Wigfalls (where you could also buy records) and Rumbelows rented TV sets. We had them all here, long gone now of course. Even Dixons/Currys no longer have a presence in the town centre.<br />
Renting electrical items hasn't gone away though. I was watching television the other night (a Panasonic 32" HD smart TV purchased from, ahem, Sainbury's, if you're interested, most definitely not rented) that the online electrical retailer AO are now offering rentals for low-income households on washing machines with a view to rolling the service out to other electrical goods. As it happens Mrs Ambassador found a receipt yesterday for her grandparents' television which was purchased in 1990 for £300, about the same amount you'd pay today for an equivalent set. The more things change, the more they stay the same, eh?Bright Ambassadorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14123057194595392156noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3988032501434660733.post-7024094597194156302019-04-18T19:52:00.000+01:002019-04-18T19:52:09.730+01:00Air bridge<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsDI-02095o9e_sj-u0uaqXQgDRF63DLxVsSr4DdvqYhumHVqoEzBd8wMQNEnv4xRubcHbesKVEgi7uokHZJyFtw8HxO0JlrYrhXIEos4LIrKnzLZHgtPQCGhvyfcwR25XyQuoVoBBw70p/s1600/FB_IMG_1555612948283.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="720" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsDI-02095o9e_sj-u0uaqXQgDRF63DLxVsSr4DdvqYhumHVqoEzBd8wMQNEnv4xRubcHbesKVEgi7uokHZJyFtw8HxO0JlrYrhXIEos4LIrKnzLZHgtPQCGhvyfcwR25XyQuoVoBBw70p/s200/FB_IMG_1555612948283.jpg" width="160" /></a></div>
When I was a kiddywink, this picture of a Jaguar being loaded on to an aeroplane fascinated me. The thought that you could load up a car on a plane and go on holiday somewhere overseas was just mind-blowing, especially when the memory of a Hillman Super Minx estate (it wasn't particularly 'super') constantly overheating on the way to Cornwall burned bright in your mind. I doubt the Aviation Traders ATL-98 Carvair with its piston engines would have spluttered its way much further than Paris, Brussels or Amsterdam - and Dad was NEVER going to take US to France* - but the thought of it was rather nice.<br />
<br />
Inside the book the same aircraft shares its page with the Vulcan. Which is perfectly correct.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8EVw-a311ftohQfhbg5ByqphMsY0-0zwtM7rL_x3poy6uIZYcSBEULFXaFZ5JZmQlzCnwDdIkuV16MmFeplAddrmo0JdSZpAyO1qaHr3iV60UiceQgnwdtt-JOKHbYIEgJwLMJW03TCLd/s1600/FB_IMG_1555612978542.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="403" data-original-width="716" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8EVw-a311ftohQfhbg5ByqphMsY0-0zwtM7rL_x3poy6uIZYcSBEULFXaFZ5JZmQlzCnwDdIkuV16MmFeplAddrmo0JdSZpAyO1qaHr3iV60UiceQgnwdtt-JOKHbYIEgJwLMJW03TCLd/s200/FB_IMG_1555612978542.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
* The last holiday he ever had was actually in Paris, Dad fans.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
Bright Ambassadorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14123057194595392156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3988032501434660733.post-7660106420218830582019-04-16T16:12:00.000+01:002019-04-16T16:12:03.015+01:00Radio, radio<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfYemGKZr25V_w5JbgxwP1o29LW3bFRm_-5KTJ7rob83wRb93Ew_1rg4bkQSy4z5eb3l60Ol3cYcXq-j7IHWPg6b40pdAa8dRNLTslFJ4T16S2AJQZtG4o6XywON9bwBRvaV4A9AJk8oly/s1600/ALL+FM+TRAING+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfYemGKZr25V_w5JbgxwP1o29LW3bFRm_-5KTJ7rob83wRb93Ew_1rg4bkQSy4z5eb3l60Ol3cYcXq-j7IHWPg6b40pdAa8dRNLTslFJ4T16S2AJQZtG4o6XywON9bwBRvaV4A9AJk8oly/s320/ALL+FM+TRAING+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
I don't know if you recall but <a href="http://moderngutnish.blogspot.com/2018/08/the-spirit-of-radio.html">last August some damn fool gave me an hour to play some records that I'd bought from charity shops on the radio.</a> Well that was an experience that I really enjoyed and what do you know, the radio station in question run training days for complete and utter wannabes like me to produce and broadcast an hour of a radio over a six hour course. So when the inevitable question came from family members at the back end of November "Whaddya want for Crimbo?" (well what does a man in his mid-late forties want? Socks? Hankies? No thanks) I asked if they could chip in for this training day so I knew that I was going to get something I really wanted.<br />
<br />
After emails back and forth with the guy who runs the station, a date was decided for March 1st. The day came and I find myself in the Levenshulme area of Manchester ringing the doorbell of a former library which is home to the station. Inside I met Jason*, our trainer for the day, along with my fellow trainees Freya and Luisa. A tour of the studio while the station was playing a mid-morning automated playlist was followed by us recording our own voices and learning about operating a fader on a training laptop. Then came the production part of the day where we had to decide what kind of two hour show we wanted to produce. So we decided on each of us having our own thirty minutes followed by thirty minutes of what some would call, ugh, "chat 'n' choons". Luisa decided she wanted to make a show with music related to fashion as that was her bag. Freya, an Aussie, was there for radio experience because she had been working in TV and wanted to transition to the wireless so she decided to theme her show on Australian music that might be unknown to a UK audience. I decided that mine should feature music from Manchester, basically because I'd taken two hours' worth of music and was looking for a label to hang on it.<br />
To cut a long story short, zero hour of 5pm arrived and we were on air. Only having one studio Nicky,<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
who was on air before us with her regular show, very kindly played a long final track to give us all time to get in the studio to set up and sort ourselves out. We decided to let Luisa and Freya go first as Luisa, in particular, was quite nervous, so she could get her solo segment out of the way.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5AN1Q40Xd9VUa-Sve_EEQQOBy6y0ywWm4rYFL1LX0Pr28fq87Ku0eeUYnKyON8MkWh7mBbAWfHrR8uj9wGb2qxascv-rPxl-zEoacywaKt2ife1kv0q0afWwoa0r_jkYOOEPq0KMsswCm/s1600/ALL+FM+TRAINING+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5AN1Q40Xd9VUa-Sve_EEQQOBy6y0ywWm4rYFL1LX0Pr28fq87Ku0eeUYnKyON8MkWh7mBbAWfHrR8uj9wGb2qxascv-rPxl-zEoacywaKt2ife1kv0q0afWwoa0r_jkYOOEPq0KMsswCm/s320/ALL+FM+TRAINING+1.jpg" width="320" /></a>6pm arrived and I was on. Well, I had a blast and you can hear the results in the link below. Stick around because after thirty minutes you can hear me pontificate on subjects ranging from fast fashion (of which I'm an expert...NOT! Ho-ho!), Australia's participation in Eurovision (I chose that topic) and, as it was a Friday night, is British pub culture on its knees? After only knowing each other for six hours or so beforehand there was much camaraderie and willing each other on because we all kind of clicked.<br />
It's a bit of a cliche but the two hours flew by and we were saying our goodbyes and going home. I'd recommend it to anyone, it put a real spring in my step for the next couple of weeks and, if they were offering it to paying punters, I'd participate on All FM's thirty hour radio training course which goes more in depth into stuff like Ofcom regulations, legal stuff etc. If only I'd taken up the chance to do hospital radio when I was at school...oh well.<br />
<br />
*Jason is also a regular presenter of Charity Shop Classics so it was nice to finally meet a voice I'd got used to hearing coming out of a radio. And he was brilliant.<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe frameborder="0" height="120" src="https://www.mixcloud.com/widget/iframe/?hide_cover=1&feed=%2Frich-goodall%2Fall-fm-drivetime-second-hour-01032019%2F" width="100%"></iframe>Bright Ambassadorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14123057194595392156noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3988032501434660733.post-19778980277992403942019-03-14T11:30:00.000+01:002019-03-14T13:47:36.898+01:00New Boots<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpE_NLcaO7HkZvG8eAIZaTJcVeayjeFJvp5OTZ9M0M-lmkB0fCRt3eRRmHGC0wmTagIKn4Wp8oU2_0xpraGmlv7Uz6JiT7o_7zQno65jBvMo8vR3f9rlXFgcLf8FEi2W9DByHKe0NOer9O/s1600/nancy-sinatra-these-boots-are-made-for-walkin-1966-13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpE_NLcaO7HkZvG8eAIZaTJcVeayjeFJvp5OTZ9M0M-lmkB0fCRt3eRRmHGC0wmTagIKn4Wp8oU2_0xpraGmlv7Uz6JiT7o_7zQno65jBvMo8vR3f9rlXFgcLf8FEi2W9DByHKe0NOer9O/s200/nancy-sinatra-these-boots-are-made-for-walkin-1966-13.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
Tracks of My Years Part 3: Nancy Sinatra - The Boots Are Made For Walking<br />
<br />
<a href="https://moderngutnish.blogspot.com/2015/03/stand-still-laddie.html">The last time I did one of these</a> was in 2015 so I suppose I'd better get back on track with it. <a href="https://moderngutnish.blogspot.com/2015/03/piss-on-goons.html">If you don't remember</a> (and why would you?), these are songs which I remember really leaping out of the radio at me when I was a kid and somehow shaped my musical taste. And in a lot of instances they frightened me. This is definitely one that frightened me.<br />
The sad death of the Wrecking Crew drummer Hal Blaine this week helped remind us of the amount of excellent work he did. One of those songs he played on, These Boots Are Made For Walking is a record that both fascinated and scared the living daylights out of me as a child. For some context, among records like The Runaway Train, The Laughing Policeman, The Laughing Gnome (and all manner of other records with the word 'lauguing' in the title) and Nellie the Elephant which would get played week in, week out on Radio 1's Junior Choice in the 70s and early 80s, Nancy Sinatra's most well known song would also always get an airing. I think the record both enchanted and frightened me for a variety of reasons. First, there's that slightly off-kilter descending double bass part that leads into the verse. Secondly, this person wants to walk all over you in their boots. Why would she want to do that? Of course at the time I was too young to realise that she wanted to<i> metaphorically</i> walk all over you in her boots (although I'm led to believe that people <i>literally</i> like to be walked on in boots). Thirdly, she talked about matches. Now, I was always taught that matches were never to be touched*, so what's she going to do with those matches? Isn't it all rather dangerous to be playing with matches? She'll burn herself. Put. The. Matches. Down (as before, it was metaphorical matches she was playing with. Again, that bit was lost on me). Fourthly (is that a word), she actually talks to the boots. "Are you ready boots? Start walkin'" Are these magic boots? Wow.<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SbyAZQ45uww" width="560"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
*A message that was lost on my sister who once tried to set fire to our wooden garage. Think she might be something of a pyromaniac as she would often light matches and watch them burn down to nothing. And she taught me that trick of flicking your index finger in and out of a lit candle. There were a lot of power cuts in the late 70s.Bright Ambassadorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14123057194595392156noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3988032501434660733.post-55393253872630473292019-03-10T19:53:00.000+01:002019-03-11T00:17:47.952+01:00Start the Dance <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFNO9QzKIUJhsKlKHqjX3mwQFJjSqOg7pdWrZNNJ9nWtF-pRKEiv71PnhOh47xWxH4f3i423w15ZJ-_JWs70hW5RtjWhX6BM-PCfXFUzKlVsF9T3IbjF7kxh2ecKOWUWzH861zMewzBKOR/s1600/CS21252-02A-MED.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="307" data-original-width="300" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFNO9QzKIUJhsKlKHqjX3mwQFJjSqOg7pdWrZNNJ9nWtF-pRKEiv71PnhOh47xWxH4f3i423w15ZJ-_JWs70hW5RtjWhX6BM-PCfXFUzKlVsF9T3IbjF7kxh2ecKOWUWzH861zMewzBKOR/s200/CS21252-02A-MED.jpg" width="195" /></a></div>
There's been a lot of talk about The Prodigy this week, for all the wrong reasons. I recall when they first hit and got songs like Charley and Outta Space in the hit parade they were seen as a bit of a joke act (but not a full-on joke like Altern 8). However, they made Music For the Jilted Generation which got nominated for the Mercury Prize and <a href="https://youtu.be/svJvT6ruolA">released this as its lead single.</a> I doubt Keith Flint had very little to do with its inception or production but I'll never forget hearing this coming out the PA at Rock City. It made your whole body vibrate.<br />
I'd already been discovering that Marshalls set to 11, a huge kit and a biker boot resting on a monitor didn't necessarily have to equate to HEA-VEE. Getting into stuff like Ministry, Nine Inch Nails and Godflesh along with more traditional bands at the 'alt' end of the rock scene like Helmet, Nottingham's own Fudge Tunnel and Corrosion of Conformity was already turning my head to another form of headbanging.<br />
Hearing No Good (Start the Dance) that night, in its natural setting, a club, meant that I suddenly 'got' rave culture. It still sounds fantastic. And, alarmingly, it's now a quarter of a century old. Oh dear.Bright Ambassadorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14123057194595392156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3988032501434660733.post-67539490814920656622018-12-22T16:43:00.000+01:002018-12-22T16:56:12.691+01:00Christmas Top of the Flops<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS2sOPJe6DDbjAbQ4Q-5vUQBwdJk2GlKi2_R7ktU7WgL5dnShtOCThCqAdhe3GgbNyKXiynecRPUiLelxH9YIOuInDV6N7Bt05Yy7-aGv5Am2sJUztA0KP0dMdwk_d2OQjxvePTb6-7k-A/s1600/christmas+tape.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="400" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS2sOPJe6DDbjAbQ4Q-5vUQBwdJk2GlKi2_R7ktU7WgL5dnShtOCThCqAdhe3GgbNyKXiynecRPUiLelxH9YIOuInDV6N7Bt05Yy7-aGv5Am2sJUztA0KP0dMdwk_d2OQjxvePTb6-7k-A/s200/christmas+tape.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
I'm sure our memories must play tricks on us at this time of year. I say that because songs that have always seemed to be embedded in our consciousness as stone-cold Christmas classics, when you delve deeper, and from my own memory, weren't such massive songs during the festive period at all. And I can pinpoint when all this started happening: the run up to Christmas 1985 when Virgin/EMI released The Christmas Album (or The Christmas Tape, as it was in our house) all done under the Now! banner.<br />
I mean, there were some bone fide yuletide tracks on there that did transcend the years and always seemed to chart on re-release. I'm talking about Slade, Wizzard, Bing Crosby etc but some of the others? Hmm, not so much.<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Queen - Thank God It's Christmas. Reached no.21 in 1984. This was of course before they re-wrote their own history and played a make-or-break gig at Wembley Stadium on July 13th 1985.</li>
<li>Elton John -Step Into Christmas. Reached no.24 in 1973. A song I had never heard before that fateful Christmas in 1985. Now it's all over the place. I guess it keeps Elton in 'fruit and flowers' these days.</li>
<li>Kate Bush - December Will Be Magic Again. Wheezed its way to no.29 in 1980. A song written for her 1979 BBC Christmas Special. This was before she went down the dumper for a bit and made an album that sounded like King Crimson with a Fairlight.</li>
<li>Chris De Burgh - A Spaceman Came Travelling. Didn't chart on original release in 1975. I had heard this single before but only because we had a teacher at school who'd been a bit of a Head back in the day and used to start his year assemblies with a bit of rock music (on one occasion treating a load of bemused 1980s kids to Black Sabbath).</li>
<li>Beach Boys - Little Saint Nick. Didn't chart on original release. Something doesn't sit quite right with me when a band associated with California sun and the outdoor life sing about reindeer.</li>
</ul>
All those songs now seem as much a part of Christmas as mince pies, drinking too much and having to be nice to people. And the tracklisting of today's Now Christmas album just grows and grows. The edition in this house had grown to three CDs as at some point with a lot of artists realising how much the publishing on a Christmas track can be worth. Indeed, the most valuable song for non-Beatles royalties in Paul McCartney's catalogue is that ultimate in will-this-do? filler, Wonderful Christmastime. And what's on in the background while I'm writing this? Freeview Channel 88, the Now That's What I Call Christmas channel showing Pete Waterman's Christmas 1972-Now. The songs keep coming: East 17, Bo Selecta, Peter Kay, Steps, Jon By Jovi, Mariah Carey, Mickey Bubbles...Bright Ambassadorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14123057194595392156noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3988032501434660733.post-38203579638799780842018-12-22T08:37:00.001+01:002018-12-22T16:44:18.538+01:00Blue (Peter) Christmas<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbUigaX_6jlHUI_eMF70ukE7VLe5amqfE-8E12HIvp0MzoFKJCoQTh_szR20g-FO2rBk-a3SOlc0LyH3geKCTP4HlSuJVTa01RhGv5Bx3KPMWB0xRaLFKbKHfx_-I3U3jq8QW8hcJZUsUK/s1600/john-noakes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="539" data-original-width="810" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbUigaX_6jlHUI_eMF70ukE7VLe5amqfE-8E12HIvp0MzoFKJCoQTh_szR20g-FO2rBk-a3SOlc0LyH3geKCTP4HlSuJVTa01RhGv5Bx3KPMWB0xRaLFKbKHfx_-I3U3jq8QW8hcJZUsUK/s320/john-noakes.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Yes, we all know about John Noakes, Simon Groom, Janet Ellis, Peter Duncan, Skelts and all but Blue Peter is still worth watching. Of course it's changed to fit with a modern audience (and is confident enough to gently take the piss out of itself) but it never forgets its core values. For many of us in the UK, along with Elizabeth II, BP is just about the only constant; one of the very, very few things we know have always been there throughout our lives.<br />
<br />
Thursday's show, the last before Christmas, visited a tinsel factory, showed us how glass baubles are made and how Christmas jumpers are manufactured. But it was the last five minutes which, I'll be honest, brought a lump to my throat. They still have the same nativity scene, they still have the advent crown (nonnaked flames though), they still brought in the Salvation Army band, they still got the kids in to sing a rousing O Come All Ye Faithful. And at that point, I may have had something in my eye.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/Blue%20Peter,%20Blue%20Peter:%20It%E2%80%99s%20Chriiiiiiistmaaaaaas!:%20www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0001l2s%20via%20@bbciplayer">UK readers can find the episode by clicking here.</a><br />
<br />
And for those of you outside the UK, <a href="https://youtu.be/PsUhrH36ozI">here's an advent crown compilation:</a><br />
<br />
<br />Bright Ambassadorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14123057194595392156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3988032501434660733.post-76769010898953812592018-12-12T18:13:00.002+01:002018-12-12T18:13:39.836+01:00Oh yes it is!A Facebook friend of mine posted this panto bill earlier. Funny how certain pantos seem to have fallen out of favour. I'd never heard of Robinson Crusoe as a panto before. While other ones from my youth like Mother Goose and Babes in the Wood have fallen completely out of favour (Nottingham Playhouse are, as it happens, doing Babes... this year but it's being billed as ROBIN HOOD and Babes in the Wood). While others are now popular which were pretty much unheard-of in my childhood like The Snow Queen, thanks to the success of Frozen. I'm pretty sure our local theatre just has Cinderella, Aladdin and Jack and the Beanstalk on a three year loop.<br />
And they only last barely a month even in the biggest cities these days. I saw the record holder for longest panto in history at Nottingham Theatre Royal as relatively recently as the very early 1980s (Keith Harris with Orville & Cuddles and Barbara Windsor. Can't remember who was the dame in that one, it was either John Inman or Barry Howard from Hi-De-Hi, I saw them both) which started on Boxing Day and finished just before the following Easter.<br />
<br />
And was Hughie Green creaming off the most popular acts from Op Knocks?<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMLdL0gwchVvf7GGMJ-3heCj3X_3SGGF85uWQ44w0jRxEB4syewLmBmpjHwgcQFj2topxQvLFTcwOw8d9fYB6Ixoc-ARg1o1g1XgWn13Y2xSE_82IewFPkR7GybFgTvTfPbMXamv0EHW4X/s1600/FB_IMG_1544634410669.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1167" data-original-width="720" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMLdL0gwchVvf7GGMJ-3heCj3X_3SGGF85uWQ44w0jRxEB4syewLmBmpjHwgcQFj2topxQvLFTcwOw8d9fYB6Ixoc-ARg1o1g1XgWn13Y2xSE_82IewFPkR7GybFgTvTfPbMXamv0EHW4X/s640/FB_IMG_1544634410669.jpg" width="394" /></a></div>
<br />Bright Ambassadorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14123057194595392156noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3988032501434660733.post-397786277741217062018-10-10T16:21:00.000+01:002018-10-10T16:30:53.251+01:00Granada Experiment<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
I've just watched an edition of 1970s Schools and Colleges programme <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCVQU-GG6CLDehGl2Zt7fLCo_BB00C3eS-5aXe3CeL6K7Cgyx9gico5C1dO0Iu8efq69o10gidBoqVFT0CVO34FFrtH-Npv2oKYV7E9R_sWw3M4btk5-97Jb4jtBefKScKhYP0bmNGIsoO/s1600/Screenshot_20181010-161057.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1280" height="125" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCVQU-GG6CLDehGl2Zt7fLCo_BB00C3eS-5aXe3CeL6K7Cgyx9gico5C1dO0Iu8efq69o10gidBoqVFT0CVO34FFrtH-Npv2oKYV7E9R_sWw3M4btk5-97Jb4jtBefKScKhYP0bmNGIsoO/s200/Screenshot_20181010-161057.png" width="200" /></a></div>
Experiment, after seeing a BBC Archive post this morning about today being the 16th anniversary of Look Around You first broadcast. Experiment is widely regarded as the inspiration behind the series and it has to be said that the people behind it, Robert Popper and Peter Serafinowicz got the tone and look spot on. What I'd like to know is Experiment classed as hauntology? I remember being frightened by it as a child in the 1970s and it had to be said that I haven't just come over all warm and fuzzy after watching this edition in which a locust has some pretty horrific things done to it ("there's a break to give the locust time to settle down" Settle down? You've just removed its legs) by a man who looks like a fair-haired Peter Kay. And who does this particular experiment serve? I thought Experiment was aimed at O and A Level students, what they do here looks like it would only be of interest to someone doing a Ph.D thesis on the nervous system of orthoptera. The whole thing is so cold and stark, there's no theme music, no proper titles to speak of and nobody directly addressing the camera.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSYkcuR7D3PZ-KeMCibOmYGwGJPAAOpIDnNGsqxGqvnpPpnC89qIxlAJ2ANefM9Y1DpYwHi_r9cA-477W65Dsr0V1N6MEs072gRHZNKJ8Em_zPLmzIgm5vGN-FoxldJIsikMfBU3FGcNvN/s1600/Screenshot_20181010-161217.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1280" height="125" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSYkcuR7D3PZ-KeMCibOmYGwGJPAAOpIDnNGsqxGqvnpPpnC89qIxlAJ2ANefM9Y1DpYwHi_r9cA-477W65Dsr0V1N6MEs072gRHZNKJ8Em_zPLmzIgm5vGN-FoxldJIsikMfBU3FGcNvN/s200/Screenshot_20181010-161217.png" width="200" /></a></div>
So I ask the question, was Granada the most hauntological of TV companies? Let's look at the evidence: Experiment (if indeed it is classed as hauntology) World in Action, Hickory House, Picturebox and the old Kabin in Coronation Street? I should cocoa.<br />
<br />
Write it down.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fqYUVit3gj4" width="560"></iframe>Bright Ambassadorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14123057194595392156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3988032501434660733.post-35263696830968986522018-08-06T09:28:00.000+01:002018-08-06T09:32:38.061+01:00The Spirit of Radio<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy7Z1KYaJyRmQDBswB-PM7I2srjjLgGfMGSi-7TEDrPlQe8I3f0VDc1jWSjiKFlYLlrZV2O576mhjSzVEymYp1YSZgEbo6zfTVsrFFdckWfFk6eKMpiFv1MNJxnf4JWUtgjuZlQ1eAwAK_/s1600/IMG_20180805_212909_377.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy7Z1KYaJyRmQDBswB-PM7I2srjjLgGfMGSi-7TEDrPlQe8I3f0VDc1jWSjiKFlYLlrZV2O576mhjSzVEymYp1YSZgEbo6zfTVsrFFdckWfFk6eKMpiFv1MNJxnf4JWUtgjuZlQ1eAwAK_/s200/IMG_20180805_212909_377.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
A few months ago I was asked by the people who run the Charity Shop Classics show on a Manchester community radio station called <a href="https://allfm.org/">All FM</a> if I'd like to be a guest presenter for their show. Charity Shop Classics is a show I've been listening to for quite a while now and it's fair to say that I love the concept of the show and the music we hear which is presented by good people. So I took it as a great honour that I was asked to contribute with my USP being that every track played, bar one, was purchased from my local Oxfam Books & Music store in my hometown of Newark. It took a few months to get together, what with one thing and another but the results were on air yesterday. My links at times leave a bit to be desired but I enjoyed doing it, which is kind of the point. You can hear the results in the link here:<br />
<a href="https://www.mixcloud.com/CharityShopClassics/charity-shop-classics-show-202-listeners-choice/">https://www.mixcloud.com/CharityShopClassics/charity-shop-classics-show-202-listeners-choice/</a>Bright Ambassadorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14123057194595392156noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3988032501434660733.post-11048874080111417622018-05-22T08:56:00.000+01:002018-05-22T08:56:57.539+01:00Bitter and LemonsI've been watching those classic Coronation Street episodes that ITV3 are showing in the afternoon. I promised myself that I would only watch them until Hilda Ogden left but here I am thirteen months later (in Coronation Street repeats terms that is, in reality, with them showing two episodes a day, it's only about three months).<br />
I view it as a kind of time capsule of the mid-late Eighties. I mean, who wouldn't be charmed/alarmed at Bros and Rick Astley being referred to as the latest thing the kiddywinks are going mad for? Or gasp as Kim Wilde's latest chart hit gets played on the jukebox in Jim's Cafe? Or gaze in wonderment at The Kabin selling long-defunct cancer stick brand Players No.6? Or smile when you see that The Kabin is also selling the Official 1989 Iron Maiden calendar?<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYbeMTfJcoeLNX5V5olp354f7hQuiC8E-icBbG7BMXb8kKCrLSMsrq7KAGB354dScu66mnXPi_gzPbSNvSnrhFiITmovlKfMj9ODq-v4Lcs6qHCWmfufvsvkllRnT56auVfv4FuZJ37hqu/s1600/IMG_-pp8ixw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1248" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYbeMTfJcoeLNX5V5olp354f7hQuiC8E-icBbG7BMXb8kKCrLSMsrq7KAGB354dScu66mnXPi_gzPbSNvSnrhFiITmovlKfMj9ODq-v4Lcs6qHCWmfufvsvkllRnT56auVfv4FuZJ37hqu/s320/IMG_-pp8ixw.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
But what I have noticed, above everything else, is how much bitter lemon is consumed in the Rovers. In fact, it seems the only drinks consumed in the Rovers are bitter, light ale, tomato juice and bitter lemon. Was bitter lemon really this popular? We used to have it Christmas or Mum would sometimes get a bottle in because she might have fancied "something sharp to drink". Indeed, we sometimes still buy it but I could never imagine that people would go to a pub and order a bitter lemon. Here, take a look:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiovz3UXI7pFMv4c_v__eJsCPialy1W_eeS7LlQoHKqrkmwsrcqDpJsVhGoGg3lUWQMmqaXtsNYdXZcXB5B_sfZlVTtx88-PRxaxPkD4cBfOkFX6QKpKrKYdskkGg7ZQnW6u-R8C6hUA3Lx/s1600/20180321_082847.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiovz3UXI7pFMv4c_v__eJsCPialy1W_eeS7LlQoHKqrkmwsrcqDpJsVhGoGg3lUWQMmqaXtsNYdXZcXB5B_sfZlVTtx88-PRxaxPkD4cBfOkFX6QKpKrKYdskkGg7ZQnW6u-R8C6hUA3Lx/s320/20180321_082847.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWxFdzUTM4HOgQ1hJOtk5WZNp282iFK2-bt4wHC1XNoQ8WHLBQiqWKk1sKNxCadgVJNU_q5y01aYhZnqGrK7aYGeZa4YQ6-5Kq9TrKSfXLIM6b8ECL1NYdsnKhaO9TWMGUU151KsElSQyz/s1600/20180321_082741.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWxFdzUTM4HOgQ1hJOtk5WZNp282iFK2-bt4wHC1XNoQ8WHLBQiqWKk1sKNxCadgVJNU_q5y01aYhZnqGrK7aYGeZa4YQ6-5Kq9TrKSfXLIM6b8ECL1NYdsnKhaO9TWMGUU151KsElSQyz/s320/20180321_082741.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Dk91bn38hi1VxOKfy2Ikllfdw9QSwkRzPT7UyqtIxyMC_aU0nC844jDblw0e9Nb3Dx7BWVp0FMNJ42nOirKX8-KmXEe-UeGxICNaypEBK0URIzGJHpffACuCEptdZxN1rbpjW312BH4y/s1600/20180503_071218.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Dk91bn38hi1VxOKfy2Ikllfdw9QSwkRzPT7UyqtIxyMC_aU0nC844jDblw0e9Nb3Dx7BWVp0FMNJ42nOirKX8-KmXEe-UeGxICNaypEBK0URIzGJHpffACuCEptdZxN1rbpjW312BH4y/s320/20180503_071218.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKyFL0eltHNroVe_ql_9Cx05kh8-VdBw5QLYJD9CsOnna2nUmTpDXwkOxLq8u6wq3woyBBZVnosHNzp77c7l6kg3rkWrTLI6FxmIFWQDHCfU1dgMedQnRD2Gk3ZUJUEmWjlXa_qbwBidWD/s1600/20180323_083225.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKyFL0eltHNroVe_ql_9Cx05kh8-VdBw5QLYJD9CsOnna2nUmTpDXwkOxLq8u6wq3woyBBZVnosHNzp77c7l6kg3rkWrTLI6FxmIFWQDHCfU1dgMedQnRD2Gk3ZUJUEmWjlXa_qbwBidWD/s320/20180323_083225.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwiVR5HKZnBPe9gs6ZHo6AUNEFgCPAwnwa-OGS9SgsAC3bX1jKv_31a41RWhVaiGavmBJiQ75Rcx6_ZlEFeWhq4Sq21wGvh6S7aU8iYhHx1UbJ5YfTCHwV2V-o-HRWgPDFCp7rWKQYeS_b/s1600/20180317_090732.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwiVR5HKZnBPe9gs6ZHo6AUNEFgCPAwnwa-OGS9SgsAC3bX1jKv_31a41RWhVaiGavmBJiQ75Rcx6_ZlEFeWhq4Sq21wGvh6S7aU8iYhHx1UbJ5YfTCHwV2V-o-HRWgPDFCp7rWKQYeS_b/s320/20180317_090732.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Dierdre and Emily throwing a curve ball here with a pair of orange juices. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghuM2pff2dduMoX79Enck97W3pps00I02dIe7IJcYm-h0tgcp3UP8fmop1LUmt9ydSY1NLSm1o5zWwW2cxVFArGTKukyrt29loHw-oQnPpwvc7CO-R2xx8eb-Qo_rLFlTB3gjyFSFYvQ5F/s1600/20180202_153100.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghuM2pff2dduMoX79Enck97W3pps00I02dIe7IJcYm-h0tgcp3UP8fmop1LUmt9ydSY1NLSm1o5zWwW2cxVFArGTKukyrt29loHw-oQnPpwvc7CO-R2xx8eb-Qo_rLFlTB3gjyFSFYvQ5F/s320/20180202_153100.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp7Qg_xIv2S6xB_pDq5ulRYR0nfpWql6xQtrzzGl33bme4zLdGd5DfBg2muJi7BQLPO5jKYKPde9MvXpCekLEdpNztp72a46FTb-v9wOtXLOYWZxWmuV8deFTk58etpGuG0uJ4wR-2oXBA/s1600/20180201_161246.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp7Qg_xIv2S6xB_pDq5ulRYR0nfpWql6xQtrzzGl33bme4zLdGd5DfBg2muJi7BQLPO5jKYKPde9MvXpCekLEdpNztp72a46FTb-v9wOtXLOYWZxWmuV8deFTk58etpGuG0uJ4wR-2oXBA/s320/20180201_161246.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKPCCac1ELjtGyMBwn6f3kinJBzrsUIYE42YYvluZitKA8pnBrinsjZAz1eoDE2MIQsBO_MZ9UYnPhXYwynHtzaDOnxvsHncY0JzlDdymPntH9A5DquBZuHvOhoBfb36C0Voh_RBemXQ80/s1600/20180317_092754.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKPCCac1ELjtGyMBwn6f3kinJBzrsUIYE42YYvluZitKA8pnBrinsjZAz1eoDE2MIQsBO_MZ9UYnPhXYwynHtzaDOnxvsHncY0JzlDdymPntH9A5DquBZuHvOhoBfb36C0Voh_RBemXQ80/s320/20180317_092754.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQhIKhR1vE6rlad35zTdMrjYPHyhsLwzue1sOPrLTA11gfdD_8fgLKkoBqcYsamXCLx9Cq9VqknJVsG0GVtJ9lKxuQIqUYAF40ehFMbIyGUGOEKu_zxjGMs6z9cTKGwwyd_fFxSJz9Dw_K/s1600/20180320_080655.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQhIKhR1vE6rlad35zTdMrjYPHyhsLwzue1sOPrLTA11gfdD_8fgLKkoBqcYsamXCLx9Cq9VqknJVsG0GVtJ9lKxuQIqUYAF40ehFMbIyGUGOEKu_zxjGMs6z9cTKGwwyd_fFxSJz9Dw_K/s320/20180320_080655.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Curly's got a round in. Bitter lemons for everyone!</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0r9cT_B0TCgv1kgvvefueYTfH-7zxkSztIuKUHgF7xi3rcy840MOzHFkjxHDnT8Ec3PIYhWT8huWhyyzd2cyOF3q40TNXUF3XCctoTi6mMqX1DTUeHxLNzb7eIoypxSQoPvnwgpjwwN10/s1600/20180221_075334.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0r9cT_B0TCgv1kgvvefueYTfH-7zxkSztIuKUHgF7xi3rcy840MOzHFkjxHDnT8Ec3PIYhWT8huWhyyzd2cyOF3q40TNXUF3XCctoTi6mMqX1DTUeHxLNzb7eIoypxSQoPvnwgpjwwN10/s320/20180221_075334.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />Bright Ambassadorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14123057194595392156noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3988032501434660733.post-91922671066273250322018-03-19T10:15:00.003+01:002018-03-19T10:26:53.065+01:00In Defence of Ed Sheeran<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD9I_7twqOAyzfD1x8HhNi-CefAYDaPBhNViM37HDBsePiDtQz5FQnA2ljcmD4abcK3K53Z8dU291DPzuiKfEsnuTCAhftM6acrfhICKNQPkmQWGU2QAx_PA21HT5ans1GTH01PJB6ZCYT/s1600/2014%25252F05%25252F23%25252F5c%25252Fedsheeransi.0d1ad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="534" data-original-width="950" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD9I_7twqOAyzfD1x8HhNi-CefAYDaPBhNViM37HDBsePiDtQz5FQnA2ljcmD4abcK3K53Z8dU291DPzuiKfEsnuTCAhftM6acrfhICKNQPkmQWGU2QAx_PA21HT5ans1GTH01PJB6ZCYT/s400/2014%25252F05%25252F23%25252F5c%25252Fedsheeransi.0d1ad.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
I was listening to our incredibly local local radio station when Ed Sheeran's Castle on the Hill was played. I listened to it and I thought to myself, do you know what? That's not a bad song. Yes, the lyrics are a bit on the Summer of '69 side but I like the way the record thumps along and it's about having a good time with your friends. What's wrong with that?<br />
You see I've never understood the bile levelled at Sheeran. If you don't like his music then fair enough, I get that, but what is it that drives people to be incredibly rude about him? You can't say he hasn't paid his dues, he talks of train fares to get to gigs that were more expensive than the fee he was being paid. Indeed, a very good friend of mine would regularly go and see him in the pubs and clubs of the toilet circuit years ago and was incredibly affronted when he couldn't get tickets to his show at Nottingham Arena last year ("This is the first time we've ever missed him in Nottingham" he moaned).<br />
Is it because he's clearly middle class? Funny how people don't mind that when it comes to Mick Jagger or Jimmy Page but hate it when Chris Martin or Sheeran are unashamedly middle class.<br />
Is it because he's enormously successful? Granted, he's more likely to win the Queen's Prize for Export over the Brian Eno Award for Innovation but who cares? If he makes music that people like, and they clearly do, then is that so bad? If you listen to the right radio stations then it's quite easy to avoid his music and nobody's forcing you to buy or stream it.<br />
Is it because he's ginger? And not only ginger but not exactly the most handsome of men? This anti-ginger, anti-unhandsome business seems to be particularly peculiar to the UK. I like to call it The Mick Hucknall Syndrome.<br />
And you can't say he hasn't got a massive pair of balls; step out onstage at Wembley Stadium with no backing band with just an acoustic guitar and looping station for support? I hope he had his brown pants on.<br />
I think I can put my finger on what it is: snobbery. People hate it that he's successful. Why should it be like that? And if you like something then you should feel no shame in admitting it and enjoying it. As <a href="https://youtu.be/LdRLUyYItis">this excellent fellow says, in his East Midlands' accent, "If you like it, stand up for it"</a><br />
I'm not saying I love everything he's done. In my book for every Castle on the Hill there's an A Team. For every Shape of You there's a Lego House. For every Sing there's a Galway Girl.<br />
Anyway, here's a very good friend of mine adding to Castle on the Hill exactly what it needs: a great big dollop of drums because Ed doesn't need the cash of somebody else adding to the 300m plus views the original's had on You Tube.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/P-VGUvhFTck/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/P-VGUvhFTck?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<br />Bright Ambassadorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14123057194595392156noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3988032501434660733.post-68079091045268994352018-02-13T17:27:00.001+01:002018-02-13T17:40:42.988+01:00My 80s Diary<div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px; margin-bottom: 6px;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSSuTQRUSHTFKMEk6tkgw0MUa1RAULIaCyrUJQ4XuYBBk8aDwPQ46zYU_AjB9b34WW-xlPIKr8ODftkMHkhhyphenhyphenodjTlRDMnknNVKf2rUF2Vx9cE1TtzHbLL8forDdeOh7NVpvHRN3uVJL_j/s1600/mole_2243069b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="387" data-original-width="620" height="124" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSSuTQRUSHTFKMEk6tkgw0MUa1RAULIaCyrUJQ4XuYBBk8aDwPQ46zYU_AjB9b34WW-xlPIKr8ODftkMHkhhyphenhyphenodjTlRDMnknNVKf2rUF2Vx9cE1TtzHbLL8forDdeOh7NVpvHRN3uVJL_j/s200/mole_2243069b.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
I think I might start tweeting my 1980s diary, which appears to be all the rage at the minute. I've never kept a diary, of course, but they all follow the same pattern (the following is entirely fictional, by the way):<br />
<i><br /></i></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<i>"12/04/85 Listened to Run DMC tape. I didn't like it much but Wayne says they're the future and that rock music is dead. Had Findus Crispy Pancakes for tea. Watched Top of the Pops and Blackadder. Bed ."</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>"14/05/85 Had a tin of Quatro. It's better th<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">an Lilt"</span></i></div>
<div class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #141823; display: inline; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 6px;">
<i>"18/06/85 Got an A for my geography homework. I think Miss Harris fancies me. Mum cooked my favourite tea - Bird's Eye potato waffles, beans with sausages in and a fried egg"</i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<i>"19/07/85 Got off with Janine Smith at the end of term disco. We danced to Nik Kershaw, Bryan Adams, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Duran Duran and Paul Young. We shared a tin of Quatro and had a finger of Twix each. Janine doesn't like Quatro much. She thinks Lilt is nicer. She's wrong but I didn't tell her. We've agreed to meet up in the library to do our summer geography project together, after she comes back from her family holiday in Lanzarote. I said "Lanzagrotty", she laughed"</i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<i>"12/08/85 - Waited at the library for Janine. She never showed up. Oh well, she has BO anyway. Bought a U2 tape from Boots to cheer myself up. Salad, ham and chips for tea"</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>"03/09/85 - Back to school today. Got Mr Johnson for a form tutor, he's alright but his breath smells. Got told off for forgetting my football boots"</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>"19/09/85 - Thursday night means Top of the Pops night! That man Cameo was on wearing a bright red cricket box, I don't know what that was about. It wasn't as good as last week's when Marillion were on"</i><br />
<br />
See? An absolute piece of piss. Of course, what these diaries fail to mention is how much wanking in bedrooms was going on.</div>
</div>
Bright Ambassadorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14123057194595392156noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3988032501434660733.post-27271457898182959352018-01-24T09:35:00.002+01:002018-01-24T09:35:09.541+01:00Film '18<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN4s4Cv3z-0J2xnXGNaE5pIFy-xvI5uYA6Kuxrs3Btabtb3MTLKl1_eRZI0Rdk39np3aBmimwAojUEIlrc050NfGUdr5p6WQKIEboyo8n_M_CTS0AonJtFLmwiO8dmvL4S1-5hyEBPvnxI/s1600/8029411.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="562" data-original-width="838" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN4s4Cv3z-0J2xnXGNaE5pIFy-xvI5uYA6Kuxrs3Btabtb3MTLKl1_eRZI0Rdk39np3aBmimwAojUEIlrc050NfGUdr5p6WQKIEboyo8n_M_CTS0AonJtFLmwiO8dmvL4S1-5hyEBPvnxI/s400/8029411.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
I've been having a discussion on Facebook, prompted by the Oscar nominations, about films. I have to say that the idea of sitting in a cinema is becoming less and less appealing as I get older. At risk of sounding like a grumpy old man, people in cinemas get on my wick.<br />
<br />
First we have to pay nearly ten pounds a pop for the privilege of sitting in there with people who won't sit in their allocated seats (I was once given short shrift by a guy at a cinema in Nottingham when I informed him that he was sitting in my seat for a performance of far-fetched Brad Pitt WWII film Fury. Flaming pillock).<br />
Then they have to bring in all manner of food. I mean, those nachos they insist on serving these days look horrific. What is that fluorescent orange gloop they have to smother them with? It looks radioactive. And that's before we've even got started on rattling sweet wrappers and bags. Then, when they're not pushing food into their hungry maws, they're talking. Or looking at mobile phones. It's only in the past decade that I've actually seen people being ejected from a cinema for bad behaviour (The Woman in Black in Birmingham). Is that because people no longer know how to sit quietly for a couple of hours?<br />
<br />
Then there's the films themselves. That's when you can actually get to the main feature part. You can put another thirty minutes on the stated start time because first we have to sit through half an hour of adverts, which wouldn't be so bad if they were <a href="https://youtu.be/aNE1l4NAgMw">still like this.</a> The main features are rubbish these days too. I went to the cinema five times last year, two of those films (Trainspotting 2, Dunkirk) were rubbish, one was okay-ish (Murder on the Orient Express), one was quite good (The Death of Stalin) and the other one was Dave Gilmour* at Pompeii, so I knew what I was getting with that. All films these days seem to be based on comics, and not the sort of comics I like either. If someone made a film based on The Tough of the Track (Alf Tupper), Braddock VC or Billy's Boots then I'd be well up for that. If they're not based on comics it has to be a historical drama where they get all the facts wrong. And if it's not those then it's some worthy old bollocks. Why does nobody make daft comedies any more? Police Academy, Trading Places, Groundhog Day, Rita Sue and Bob Too, those stupid-but-good films with John Candy, Chevy Chase or Dan Aykroyd?<br />
<br />
I dunno, maybe I'm just more into television these days. Namely imported television. Deutschland 83, Witnesses, Modus, that silly Swedish Scooby Doo thing that BBC4 showed in the autumn. All much more deserving of my time, I think. I'm currently well into French law and order procedural Spiral. We've only discovered it on series 6 but it was my birthday last week and Mrs Ambassador gave me the first four series in a boxset. I can't wait to sink my teeth into all 4000+ minutes of that.<br />
It's either that or I stick to the excellent television channel Talking Pictures TV.<br />
<br />
*I say 'Dave' because he insists on being called 'David'<br />
<br />Bright Ambassadorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14123057194595392156noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3988032501434660733.post-73089938720592250822018-01-09T11:04:00.000+01:002018-01-09T11:07:28.955+01:00Brum Brum.Ah, 2018 then. How are you? Oh right, excellent. Anyway, enough about you, as it's a new year and a chance to set out some new life goals, I thought I'd go back to blogging. The micro-blogging of Twitter doesn't interest me at the moment so I thought I'd have a go at this again. See how it goes, and all that. Just a quick one to ease me in:<br />
<br />
There is absolutely nothing I don't love about this photograph.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqBe_BzkJfIqkHhCs3yl4BZTHKtVhSOEBhdMWUpia_Zk_cJtFVRH6lliN02rGAo2_PalbVMgfksMTr6Z3ab2LYOwWWGhWZmlc0QIXKwFIn5O1gnLK5c088L5qSEl8sTJNHHtSNnlXOpKwn/s1600/144703007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1024" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqBe_BzkJfIqkHhCs3yl4BZTHKtVhSOEBhdMWUpia_Zk_cJtFVRH6lliN02rGAo2_PalbVMgfksMTr6Z3ab2LYOwWWGhWZmlc0QIXKwFIn5O1gnLK5c088L5qSEl8sTJNHHtSNnlXOpKwn/s320/144703007.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
It's Rush outside the Holiday Inn in Birmingham in 1978. A very West Midlands' decade, were the 70s, think about it: ELO, Black Sabbath, Wizzard, Trevor Francis at Birmingham City, Spaghetti Junction, Jasper Carrott, Tiswas ATVLand Birmingham B1 2JP, John Swallow, Red Robbo, the Bull Ring, Crossroads etc. The Brutalism architecture in Brum is one of its great strengths, I find. What a pity theses days that the city seems intent on erasing every last piece of it. I mean, look at the concrete in that Holiday Inn. Also look at the Renault 16. They were everywhere then. I really hope that's the car which will transport the Canadian rockers to the Birmingham Odeon. A very Renault decade was the 70s. And look at Rush, a very Rush decade was the 70s, with their epic twenty minute songs, moustaches and Geddy Lee's boots...Bright Ambassadorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14123057194595392156noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3988032501434660733.post-74710188525525768292016-01-21T18:19:00.001+01:002016-01-21T18:57:51.169+01:00By Chance Two Separate Glances Meet<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMxJRcZeVFXKRuCWxScV0qKgxJbZLepxUCp4Q57rCfyte6MVQFpkBS4Bq3Ct9bODcW15c9w3Bq0bmMb_hZmYZEMEdx-G26RXscblqHQEYg37hq2u_lKs5Ve16HRwzIRefx3_WMiB5cH7MK/s1600/crippled-black-phoenix-promo-2015-650x400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMxJRcZeVFXKRuCWxScV0qKgxJbZLepxUCp4Q57rCfyte6MVQFpkBS4Bq3Ct9bODcW15c9w3Bq0bmMb_hZmYZEMEdx-G26RXscblqHQEYg37hq2u_lKs5Ve16HRwzIRefx3_WMiB5cH7MK/s320/crippled-black-phoenix-promo-2015-650x400.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">I've been listening to the 40 minute cover version of Echoes on Crippled Black Phoenix's new EP. I think the CBP EP - which has a running time of an hour, so hardly an EP - has done more to restore my faith in the music of Pink Floyd than the miserbalism of The Final Cut, the Floyd-by-numbers of A Momentary Lapse of Reason and the borefest of The Endless River ever will. As I'm on a mid-period Floyd tip at the minute, I've been watching Pink Floyd in Pompeii. It's such a shame that this is the only proper visual live record of the Pink Floyd lineup of Waters, Gilmour, Wright and Mason. When you think about all the gigs they did in support of Dark Side of the Moon, Animals and The Wall and it's a wonder none of it was captured properly on film. I know that it is something that irks members of the band. Mind you, they had such difficulty around the cinema release of ...in Pompeii that they were probably put off. And who would have foreseen Imax or hi-def Blu-Ray with a 5.1 surround sound mix in the mid-70s?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">Watching Pink Floyd in Pompeii also served to remind me how good Nick Mason was before he became the world's most bone idle drummer.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;"><br /></span>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/amVzlvA1FS0" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
Any road, my I point you in the direction of Crippled Black Phoenix's version of Echoes? It has a total running time of about double the original and takes in some interview audio with the band (which I think is from the documentary footage of ...in Pompeii. The bit where Mason asks for apple pie with no crust being a highlight. "They've only got round apple pies left, Nick". Anyway, who wants apple pie with no crust? Bloody freak), a dollop of The Tornados' Telstar and finishing up with a version of Childhood's End from Floyd's most underrated LP, Obscured by Clouds. It really is a very good thing from a band who've had their ups and downs recently but who have come storming back with this.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0Nw8EWNEq4I" width="560"></iframe>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/L3QCb3pGHZg" width="560"></iframe>Bright Ambassadorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14123057194595392156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3988032501434660733.post-85888162295495898362015-03-26T19:39:00.000+01:002015-03-26T19:41:25.242+01:00Record Store Day<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlqkNiHZulIUwd1BHvSXuhvk8S01g0Y607L2RvFFsXtavMwBwoSfb_ZW8BkwezabmAdBjMvKuNo6iiFnAze5YbDJ-6qjBVBLKy5JhXPo0lvR0OZQI4ndHvnIVWDva9Y8-CUgw0b5YBrM8R/s1600/20120421-Record-Store-Day-The-Crowd-at-Sonic-Boom-36-Photo-by-Corbin-Smith.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlqkNiHZulIUwd1BHvSXuhvk8S01g0Y607L2RvFFsXtavMwBwoSfb_ZW8BkwezabmAdBjMvKuNo6iiFnAze5YbDJ-6qjBVBLKy5JhXPo0lvR0OZQI4ndHvnIVWDva9Y8-CUgw0b5YBrM8R/s1600/20120421-Record-Store-Day-The-Crowd-at-Sonic-Boom-36-Photo-by-Corbin-Smith.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
Any fans of record shops will know that <a href="http://recordstoreday.co.uk/">this year's Record Store Day</a> is just around the corner. Now I quite like the idea of RSD, unfortunately, like Emerson Lake and Palmer or the Sony Discman, the theory is much better than the reality.<br />
I've only 'done' RSD once, two years ago. Unless you're wont to get out of bed at stupid o'clock in the morning on a Saturday then I really wouldn't bother going. I can guarantee that by the time you get there, whatever you've gone for will be gone. When I went to a participating RSD shop back in 2013 the only thing I went for had been sold out for ages. The handy thing was, that when I was standing in line, I had two studenty types behind me who couldn't wait to get in there and buy, ugh,'vinyls'. I got there at around midday and certainly didn't expect to queue to get in when I arrived. So what happens then? Well, you just buy something. Anything so that you don't feel that you've had a wasted journey. I came home with, amongst other things, a Frankie Goes to Hollywood picture single. It's a nice thing to have but it's hardly essential.<br />
Last year I saw the author of<a href="http://lastshopstanding.com/"> Last Shop Standing, Graham Jones</a>, give a talk on record shops. This came a few weeks after RSD 2014. When he took questions from the floor he was asked what could make RSD better. He came up with a number of ideas to improve the RSD experience for everyone. He suggested that the organisers were considering limiting official RSD releases to new music only. Or introducing a loyalty card scheme so that regular independent record shop customers could get first dibs on RSD by getting four stamps on their card over the previous year. None of these ideas have been implemented. So this year there are<a href="http://recordstoreday.co.uk/exclusive-products/rsd-2015.aspx"> well over 500 official RSD releases.</a> I've had a look at the list and there's absolutely nothing I'm desperate for. So yet again we will see people queueing outside Piccadilly Records in Manchester before it's even closed the day before. And for what? A few 7" singles that you didn't really want because the David Bowie picture disc you went in for sold out at 8:30, while you were still parking the car. I realise that RSD is important for independent record shops in their constant struggle to survive against downloads, online stores and supermarkets but against the backdrop of me supporting independent music stores throughout the rest of the year and tales of an unscrupulous retailer reserving stock for favoured customers means that on April 18th I'll stay snuggled in bed for as long as I please.Bright Ambassadorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14123057194595392156noreply@blogger.com9