Bob Marley & the Wailers - No Woman, No Cry (Live) Ok. So, at last, we get to years where I can actually remember stuff. I have a few sketchy memories from before 1975, but concrete reminiscences begin for me in the summer of 1975. Not surprising really, because we spent much of that summer … Continue reading 1975
Category: Projects
Elton John - Bennie and the Jets For those of us who grew up in the commuter town of Watford in the 1970s and 1980s, Elton John has a significance in our lives far removed from the usual associations of tantrums and tiaras. In 1973 he became the President of Watford FC, and then in … Continue reading 1974
Arrival in Manhattan via Newark was strangely underwhelming. I think it must be the comparison with recent trips to Hong Kong and Shanghai, but New York looks somewhat spacious, with big gaps between the skyscrapers. Or it's just the cumulative effect of a long journey and heavy rain on arrival that made it look so … Continue reading TravelBlog 2.1 – Manhattan
On Sunday I'm off to the land of the free and the home of the brave. Or New York city and then Detroit, to visit our offices in the USA. I have visited New York a few times, and it's a great place to be (for a short period, at least). I've never been to … Continue reading TravelBlog 2.0 – La la la la la America
John Martyn - Solid Air One of many tracks that I was introduced to by the marvellous DJ Gilles Peterson. I've a stack of Peterson compilation albums, the first of which was from way back in 1985 - Street Sounds Jazz Juice. This John Martyn track is hauntingly beautiful. Number one on my birthday in … Continue reading 1973
Steely Dan - Do it again For me, Steely Dan are a band whose songs evoke strong memories of childhood in the 1970s. Summer days spent driving to grandparents - the hot sun through the windscreen, windows open (no aircon in those days), and sticky, scorching vinyl seats, listening to the Radio One Roadshow broadcasting … Continue reading 1972
Isaac Hayes - Theme from Shaft For about 20 years I've had the idea of a Blacksploitation cop show with two characters - Rufus Stone and Barrington Mead. Rufus Stone is a place in the New Forest, and Barrington Mead the road on which my Great Aunt lives. Other than their names, sadly I've never … Continue reading 1971
Minnie Riperton - Les Fleurs I don’t remember 1970. I was, at most, a month old. Looking at the history books, however, and it does appear to have been a bit of a grotty year. I kind of imagine that it felt like one long woozy hangover from the 1960s. The end of November in … Continue reading 1970
At the end of November I am going to be reaching the decimally-significant age of 40. Rather than having a rather public mid-life crisis, I seem to be dealing with my departure from the ranks of thirty-somethings by embarking on a series of miniature personal projects which have no particular significance and are significantly cheaper … Continue reading 41-4-40
Shanghai isn't as different a place as I was maybe expecting. There again, I've seen little other than the Airport and Pudong - a business district that has emerged from the fields in the past 10 years. The buildings are tall, and somewhat "space age" in a Buck Rodgers kind of way. There's a definite … Continue reading TravelBlog 10 – Shanghai
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