I heard this overnight. Coincidentally it’s the anniversary today of Henry having Anne Boleyn killed
I can never quite get my head around that the Church of England was founded by someone like him
I almost certainly spent longer looking for this today than it would have taken to re-do it. My most used powershell debugger commands. I will redo it at some stage and add in:
get-psbreakpoint | disable-psbreakpoint
…and this cmdlet what I wrote: Get-MuNonStandardVariables.ps1
Samuel Johnson said that Stonehenge and Salisbury Cathedral were the first essay and last perfection in architecture
Here on my way town they are only separated by Bluestone Plastics
He’s trying to curry favour so that we win Eurovision
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has given his strongest signal yet that a youth mobility scheme could form part of a new deal with the EU BBC News - Youth mobility scheme could be part of EU deal
Crucial Tracks over the last week - Come From Away, The Stranglers, Abba, Joey Ramone, The Beermats, The Pogues, 23 Skidoo, Christy Moore, Barbara and Barry, The Undertones, The Isleys, and the wonderful Mary Saenz
These are the posts from my Crucial Tracks for the last few days.
16 May 2025 - A song from a genre you didn’t think you’d like - what changed?
“Welcome To the Rock” by Joel Hatch & ‘Come From Away’ Company
The genre is ‘musicals’. A lot of West End musical music, and the shows themselves have left me cold, to be honest.
I saw Come From Away a couple of years back, with family, and really enjoyed it. The story is interesting and works well as a couple of hours in a theatre. The songs are strong, and the folk-rock vibe is a kind of music I like.
More than that…it caught me at just the right time. A couple of bits chimed with stuff that had happened in my life
“Welcome To the Rock” by Joel Hatch & ‘Come From Away’ Company on Apple Music
15 May 2025 - What’s the last song you discovered and loved instantly?
“The Visitors” by ABBA
I must have heard this before, but I hadn’t taken any notice before seeing Abba Voyage last month.
I’ve since learnt that it’s about Soviet dissidents waiting for a ‘visit’ from the KGB/GRU. I live in Salisbury, England, which adds to the song’s resonance
The Salisbury Poisonings - BBC
“The Visitors” by ABBA on Apple Music
14 May 2025 - What’s a lyric that resonates deeply with you and why?
“And If You Should See Dave…” by The Stranglers
“It would be nice to say hello
This is where your solo would go”
The Stranglers were the first band I saw, at what is now the Southampton Mayflower. I’ve hardly listened to them since the 1970s -I’ll occasionally play Nice and Sleazy, or Duchess, or their version of Walk On By. This song is about the death of their keyboard player, Dave Greenhill. I don’t knowuch about Greenhill, but the lament for the loss of a friend is something we can all relate to, sadly.
“This is where your solo would go” encapsulates the absence
“And If You Should See Dave…” by The Stranglers on Apple Music
13 May 2025 - If your life were a movie, what would its theme song be?
“What a Wonderful World” by Joey Ramone
“What a Wonderful World” by Joey Ramone on Apple Music
12 May 2025 - How do you discover new music, and what’s the latest gem you’ve found?
“Henrietta Street” by The BeerMats
It’s a mixture of the streaming service, Shazam-ing stuff, music magazines (through Libby)…and very occasionally seeing bands. This is from a band who I saw last month, who were fab
“Henrietta Street” by The BeerMats on Apple Music
11 May 2025 - What is a song that feels like home to you?
“Blue Is the Colour” by Chelsea Football Club
This feels like home both because it was the first record I had when I was a kid, and because I hear it at Home Games
“Blue Is the Colour” by Chelsea Football Club on Apple Music
10 May 2025 - What’s the first song you’d play at a party?
“Could You Be Loved” by Bob Marley & The Wailers
“Could You Be Loved” by Bob Marley & The Wailers on Apple Music
09 May 2025 - What song do you associate with the current season?
“Here Comes the Summer” by The Undertones
“Here Comes the Summer” by The Undertones on Apple Music
08 May 2025 - What’s your favorite love song, and why?
“A Rainy Night In Soho” by The Pogues
We used to go to see the Pogues in the ’80s, and it was lovely to go again last weekend, after 30-odd years, with our eldest
“A Rainy Night In Soho” by The Pogues on Apple Music
07 May 2025 - What’s a hidden gem or underrated song you love?
“Would She Do That for You” by Mary Saenz
“Would She Do That for You” by Mary Saenz on Apple Music
06 May 2025 - What’s a guilty pleasure song?
“Guilty (Duet With Barry Gibb)” by Barbra Streisand
“Guilty (Duet With Barry Gibb)” by Barbra Streisand on Apple Music
05 May 2025 - What’s a song you’ve had on repeat recently?
“(You Gotta Walk) Don’t Look Back” by Peter Tosh & Mick Jagger
"(You Gotta Walk) Don’t Look Back" by Peter Tosh & Mick Jagger on Apple Music
04 May 2025 - What’s a song that helps you focus or concentrate?
“Kundalini” by 23 Skidoo
“Kundalini” by 23 Skidoo on Apple Music
03 May 2025 - What’s your favorite collaboration between artists?
“Miniskirt Blues (feat. Iggy Pop)” by The Cramps
In all honesty my favourite is probably the Pogues' Fairy Tale, but it’s not December yet
“Miniskirt Blues (feat. Iggy Pop)” by The Cramps on Apple Music
02 May 2025 - Which song would you use to introduce yourself to someone new?
“Ordinary Man” by Christy Moore
“I’m an Ordinary Man, nothing special nothing grand”…. although I have seen Christy Moore a zillion times
“Ordinary Man” by Christy Moore on Apple Music
01 May 2025 - A song that tells a story
“Camouflage” by Stan Ridgway
Possibly the last I a series of hit songs with a spooky ending such as Johnny Remember Mr, Big Bad John and, obviously, Ernie
“Camouflage” by Stan Ridgway on Apple Music
30 April 2025 - What song always cheers you up?
“Train In Vain (Stand By Me)” by The Clash
Not necessarily my favourite Clash song but it always puts a spring in my step
“Train In Vain (Stand By Me)” by The Clash on Apple Music
29 April 2025 - A current mood
“Summer Breeze” by The Isley Brothers
It’s unseasonably warm in The Shire today
I enjoyed the classicly British understatement of ‘Everyone in 1945 was a bit tired’
Vincent said: “It’s easy to understand why it was mis-catalogued when it was sold … it’s a long time ago. Everyone in 1945 was a bit tired. It’s worth many, many, many, many times that.”
Harvard’s unofficial copy of Magna Carta is actually an original, experts say - The Guardian
I wrote some bullet points once on why it’s worth going to see Salisbury’s Magna Carta. I should dig that out.
Four Constable images from my longer running route.
- Milford Bridge, with a distant view of Salisbury
- Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows
- Harnham Gate
- Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishops Grounds (a few yards to the right of where I plod along,tbh)
I found this today.
We missed our connection on the way home and had to get a taxi home from Basingstoke
Crucial Track for 08 May 2025 - What’s your favorite love song, and why??"
“A Rainy Night In Soho” by The Pogues
We went to see the Cathedral last night, lit up to celebrate VE Day. These photos don’t begin to do it justice
Crucial Track for 07 May 2025 - “What’s a hidden gem or underrated song you love?"
“Would She Do That for You” by Mary Saenz
“Their eccentric sound at times was almost like if Blur’s Parklife was being played by (very talented) pirates.”
I love this description of Stick in the Wheel by Isobel O’Mahony
"I would love to have been in Memphis at the time of Elvis, or in Liverpool at the time of the Beatles...but I was young and in London during the heyday of the Pogues and that's more than enough musical good luck for one lifetime"
I wrote that, or something like it, while waxing nostalgic during one of the covid lockdowns.
I think I’m luckier still to have gone back to Brixton Academy to see the Pogues again at the weekend, with my daughter and my partner.
Of course it was different without Shane, but it was still a great show. Some bits worked better than others, but that was always the way with the Pogues.
God bless them.
I’m enjoying Austin (the Australian TV comedy, not the city)….but you can’t park up in front of Stonehenge like this
On the other hand the weather is very realistic
#TodayILearned that True by Spandau Ballet was written about Clare Grogan
I wrote the song at my parents' house, where I was still living at the time. As a working-class boy, I wouldn’t think of moving out till I got married. I was infatuated with Clare Grogan [the Altered Images singer and star of Gregory’s Girl]. I met her on Top of the Pops and, at one point, travelled up to Scotland to have tea with her and her mum and dad. Although my feelings were unrequited and the relationship was platonic, it was enough to trigger a song, True, which became the name of our 1983 album, too. How we made: Gary Kemp and Steve Norman on True
Sous les floorboards,….la plage!!
(We’ve been to the Mayflower pub in Rotherhithe. It’s got some decking at the back which goes out over the River. If you look closely you can make it out)
Podcast episodes I enjoyed last month: the Empire, Naomi Klein, the witches of St Osyth, the Titanic, Judaism, pop instrumentals, Barack Obama, Thomas Smallwood, Nazi jazz and Tim Riley
Podcast stuff I enjoyed in April.
One day in the British empire -History Extra - the saying is that the sun never set on the British Empire. An Irish politician’s version of this was ‘the blood never dries on the British Empire’
Naomi Klein - Full Disclosure with James O’Brien - Naomi Klein’s grandfather was a cartoonist who worked on Bambi and other Disney stuff. Walt Disney had him sacked and blacklisted for being involved in a strike
Not Just the Tudors - Witches of St Osyth - Marion Gibson says that “History without empathy is only ever half a story.”
Short history of Titanic - the ship of dreams - at the time of her launch, the Titanic was the largest moving object ever built
Ashley Blaker’s Goyish Guide to Judaism - 2 - this will be available online sporadically as and when the BBC repeats it over the airwaves. It’s very funny. Ashley Blaker simultaneously celebrates and pokes fun at his flavour of Judaism
Hit Parade - Insert lyrics here - Chris Molanphy discusses the rise and fall of instrumentals. “Hocus Pocus by Focus” is indeed fun to say.
The Hated and the Dead - Barack Obama - “Obama was often the smartest person and the room, and he knew it”. I wonder if Obama struggled to work with people who were (a lot) less smart
History Extra - The shoemaker who helped slaves escape the South - this is about Thomas Smallwood, an previously enslaved guy who helped to run the Underground Railroad. He wrote satircal pieces under the name of Dickens' character Sam Weller
The Hated and the Dead - Barack Obama - “was he ready to be President? ……nobody ever is”
‘Swingtime for Hitler’ explores the Nazis use of jazz as a propaganda tool - Scott Simon has an audiobook called ‘Swingrime for Hitler’ in which he discusses the Nazis creating jazz records with propaganda and racist lyrics. One of the main guys in the band on the records went on to to be head of Polydor in Germany.
Word in your ear - Hooray! Tim Riley has a theory about everything in rock! - Tim Riley says that the Rolling Stones, and to a much lesser extent The Beatles, successfully sold African-American music back to America because, being white and English they had license to be more down and dirty, more rough and raw and more rock and roll than the orginal artists
Really enjoyed 24 Hour Party People. It would be nice to think that some of it is true….although it’s obviously a bit sad in parts.
Also enjoyed reading Paul Morley’s bit about the film in the Guardian
Currently reading: Access All Areas by Barbara Charone (music industry supremo, and #ChelseaFc director) 📚⚽🎶
She mentions this song in the book…and I’ve become slightly obsessed with it. Mick Jagger on BVs
Peter Tosh - Don’t Look Back youtu.be/3o4Fgh0KW…
