Or, put another – literal – way: ‘Best Wishes’. In France, you’re more likely to hear this than ‘Happy New Year’, although in the subsequent ritual verbal exchanges it’s probably going to be escalated to ‘bonne année‘ (good year) and the final dénouement: ‘et surtout, bonne santé‘ – ‘and, above all, good health’. At this…
Looking back at the dear departed of the music world in 2023, I must confess that many of the names were quite unfamiliar to me, although there were several prominent artistes (most recently, of course, Shane MacGowan) on the list. Another of the great losses, however, was Tina Turner. This just oozes seductiveness. Tell me…
It’s that time of year again… As a general rule, Christmas songs don’t really do it for me (bah, humbug). Perhaps it’s the over-familiarity of the same old chestnuts, on repeat, being belted out of every supermarket PA system from about the beginning of November. Although I will admit to having a bit of a…
…to be jolly? If suppose so, if you like that kind of thing. Anyway, in these parts it’s definitely been the season for Christmas markets (marchés de Nõel). Every self-respecting village (as well as some that patently have no shame whatsoever) puts on a Christmas market at some point during the first two weekends of…
Initially I was stumped when I saw that the theme for Song Lyric Sunday this week was a one-take recording. Surely any song that comes out of a studio has been dubbed, multi-tracked and heaven knows what else? Except maybe back in the fifties. So what to do? Why, pick something from a live recording…
Thirty years or so ago, I worked in ‘The City’ (for the uninitiated, that’s the London financial district). As it was a requirement to get to one’s desk at an ungodly hour in the morning, like most of my fellow wage-slaves I would usually purchase my breakfast on the way into the office. On this…
For this week’s Song Lyric Sunday, Jim asks us to find a song that stands as a great album closer. You need look no further than this. There’s a school of thought that believes ‘Revolver’ is an even greater album than it’s successor, ‘Sergeant Pepper’ and I must say that I’m minded to agree. I…
For this week’s SLS, Jim wants us to pick a song that won a Grammy award. The Grammies have been going since 1959, so there’s plenty to choose from. A fair few of them are, in view, distinctly ho-hum, but if there was ever a song that deserved to win in this (1973) or any…
Hang on. ‘Acoustic rock’? Isn’t that a contradiction in terms – an oxymoron, if you will. Like ‘military intelligence’? Well, apparently not. It’s rock music played on acoustic instruments, apparently. Personally, I don’t get it. I’m a simple man, and for me, it’s an either/or. However, there are, admittedly, lots of songs that in their…
This week’s challenge for Song Lyric Sunday is to post an underrated deep album cut. Tricky, because who knows what other people consider to be underrated – it could be a firm favourite for someone. It may seem counter-intuitive to select a Beatles album, but everything is relative and a song that’s on the same…
the only deadhead in the hameau 