Hamilton Saint

A Night to Remember is a much better film about the Titanic disaster.

compromised?

Zéro de conduite by Jean Vigo (1933) - about his boarding school experiences. A big influence on Truffaut's 400 Blows and Lindsay Anderson's If ....

Scotland doesn't have the vote? Well ... no wonder they want to separate!

Locked Down - the new album by Dr. John (Mac Rebennack), produced by Dan Auerbach. Great music, interesting arrangements, poor sound. I notice this on a lot of contemporary albums - the sound is squeezed and compressed, lacking high-fidelity frequency response. Sounds thin and murky.

Ian Anderson wrote a song on this theme - it's on Tull's third album Benefit. Here's an excerpt from the lyrics: "I'm with you L.E.M. though it's a shame that it had to be you. The mother ship is just a blip from your trip made for two. I'm with you boys, so please employ just a little extra care. It's on my mind I'm left behind when I should have been there. Walking with you." The song is called "For Michael Collins, Jeffrey and Me."

West Ham, Everton and Liverpool - because of rivialries with friends and relations.

Le Tissier's wonder goal against Man U's Taibi.

A friend of mine had a small wedding reception (about thirty people) at a local restaurant which featured their own regular house band - a black R&B/blues band. After the meal, the music was about to begin. I kid you not - my friend went over and made a request - for the first dance, he and his new wife grooved around the dance floor to the band's version of B.B. King's The Thrill is Gone.

Sorry to hear that. One of my great heroes when I was a kid.

Interesting read. Thanks!

Great song; superb recording!

Stand By Me - the John Lennon version.

Yes! I have the following vinyl LPs in my collection. I've used them often in radio documentaries, also as incidental music in the theatre. Interesting stuff. Eno has done some recordings right here in Hamilton (Grant Avenue Studios - established by Dan Lanois and his brother, Bob) Music for Airports Music for Films Discreet Music Possible Musics Plateaux of Mirror

Happy Birthday, Ron!

Your main problem being that he went left instead of right?

How does that video demonstrate then that he's a "complete clown"?

Old Testament

No, you pay with an invisible 8 pound note.

I'm wondering why you keep putting an s on the end of words that don't need it.

Blackpool. Not that I like them; it's just that I dislike W Ham.

You seem to have a whole set of assumptions and prejudices about what these folk and folk-rock musicians think and believe about music. You write "that idea that if you take everything away and just sing it earnestly it reveals what the listener might never have suspected, *gasp*, a good song, smacks to me of arrogance and laziness". What makes you think that is an attitude they hold? It's not theirs, it's yours. Why do you think the folk scene "is largely consumed by its own smugness and self-reference"? That's your characterization - and it's not one I understand or share. How many of June Tabor's albums have you actually listened to? Have you ever listened to any of them? She does traditional folk ballads, but also covers contemporary singer-songwriter material in the folk/folk-rock scene. I've been listening to her for 35 years. She's brilliant. Consistently brilliant. For over three decades.

Your argument is an interesting one, but it's undermined by your prejudice (" ... faux authenticity ..."). Jimi Hendrix's version of "All Along the Watchtower" (bluesy-rock) is completely different from Dylan's (acoustic-folk), but they're both effective versions of a good song. Miles Davis's version (jazz) of the filmtrack song "Someday My Prince Will Come" (Disney pop ballad) is completely different - and excellent. Joe Cocker's version of "With a Little Help From My Friends" (gospel/soul) is an excellent cover of the pop original. And so on. We can enjoy very different arrangements of the same song - if they're done well. The music and lyrics of a good song can work in any style. But if you're biased against a particular genre you're just not going to appreciate it. Your attitude to folk and folk/rock ("the beige premise that songs should be stripped of their excitement and set instead to a backing of humdrum strum-along") means you're never going to like a song done in this way, no matter the quality of the original song. By the way, June Tabor, the vocalist singing here with The Oyster Band, has demonstrated over and over again in some 20 albums since 1976 an exquisite taste in contemporary songwriting, and she has recorded fantastic versions of many wonderful songs. If your bias makes you deaf to that quality, it is your loss, my friend.

No, it isn't! You just need to listen with an open mind (and ears!).

Now that we're finally back in the Premier League, it's gonna be fun to play Pompey and establish definitively who is the best team in Hampshire.