Quo, Michael, Princess Leia and rabbits...

Another Christmas and another batch of icons has passed away. Like last year, these have been dramatic, extremely saddening and unexpected.

Rick Parfitt was the first to go. I know he lived life to the full, a true rock and roller. He had had heart issues over the years but he was one of the iconic faces of Status Quo, a band that was going to run forever. He and Francis Rossi were the denim clad sound of 70's rock. This is the band that kicked off Live Aid in the 80's and even in the last few years had released some superb tracks.
I had recently been listening to the live version of "Roadhouse Blues/Big Fat Mama", exciting and beautifully imperfect, showing the furious four as the no nonsense powerhouse that they were:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqmXoK93_NY

Then there was George Michael, not someone that I had ever been a big fan of but he was a part of my life, a huge star that I had taken pleasure in slating, then begrudgingly admiring. I think it is tragic that anyone feels the need to hide their sexuality and to be outed in the way he was, it was demeaning and embarrassing but it was the way he handled the situation that commanded my respect. The subsequent single, "Outside" and the video set in a men's urinals with George dressed as a Policeman, it was sheer genius, hilarious and showed a side to the man that I didn't know existed, a sense of humour. This is the only George Michael song that I have on my phone but I think it is a slice of gorgeousness, simply a beautiful and well written song and acoustic, what's not to love?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Syb876tgoaM
To hear what a kind man he was, a charitable person that kept it all secret, not only am I shocked at his death, I am deeply saddened that such a nice person had such a difficult life.

Then there was Carrie Fisher. Maybe not such a shock as she had had the heart attack but you don't believe that Princess Leia can die. I watched the face of my youngest just crumble as she heard. She first remembered Carrie Fisher in "the Blues Brothers" but is such a Star Wars fan, as am I of course. I could hear the collective sob of generations when that news broke. Some of the greatest films ever made and such an iconic character and seeing Carrie Fisher more recently in interviews, such a vivacious woman, it is impossible to think that she is no longer here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftt4f2H3GDs

Lastly, there was Richard Adams, the man that wrote the perfect book, Watership Down". A book that has so many layers that all ages can read it and understand it The writing is prosaic but not overly wordy. He trod a fine line but managed to paint a true picture in words yet still retain the urgency of the story, even Tolkein struggled with that yet Richard Adams made it seem so effortless. It is one of the few books that I know I will shed a tear over at the end. It beautifully handles life and death and I cannot recommend the book enough, it is truly one of the greatest books ever written and I hope that many more will remember him amongst the others that have passed at the same time. If you've not read it, pick it up and prepare for a journey of emotions, picturing the chalky hillsides, the hollow triumph and danger at every turn.

Like last year and the start of this year, we have lost some icons of our youth, people we grew up with, sang their songs, watched their films and read their books. I am grateful that these people have influenced my life in ways that they would never know. They had touched the lives of my children and their influence has been nothing but positive, despite any issues they may have had in their own lives. I hope they lived happy lives and I hope they are remembered by others as fondly as I remember them.

...not even the great John Lewis, can match Richer Sounds for quality of service...

You may remember that I bought a Fatman Blu a year or so back, from Richard at Richer Sounds. For an extra £20 he sold me their extended warranty, for peace of mind and the fact that if I didn't use it, I could claim it back.
Well, the Fatman Blu had a problem so on Friday I called Richer Sounds customer service but as it was 17.01 and they close at 17.00, no-one picked up. "Ah well," thought I, "I'll call again on Monday".
Saturday, mid morning and I am lying like a beached whale across the sofa, watching crap on television when my mobile rings. Unknown number, do I pick it up or ignore it? Always a question. I picked it up and a voice on the end of the phone states that she missed a call from me last night and she is from the customer services team at Richer Sounds and how can she help me.
I was flabbergasted, I am not aware of any company that actively chases problems up but we went through my details and she told me to take the amp into the local branch and they will test it and have the unit repaired.
I unplugged the system and in my lunch break on the Monday, I took the amp into the Milton Keynes store, from whence it came originally after a superb sales job by Richard. I really wish that I had taken the name of the chap that served me on the return unit because he was also excellent. He replaced the amp there and then, it was so simple and painless and it left me with a nice warm fuzzy feeling and the certainty that I would be recommending their service. It is almost a pleasure to spend money there and I can't say that about any other store, not even the great John Lewis (and they are really good), can match Richer Sounds for quality of service, both sales and support.

It's not as if I have spent a huge amount of money there but I may well be on the look out for another amp in the next few years, an upgrade on the Fatman Blu and Richer Sounds will be my first port of call. It is very obvious that the people there know their stuff and they have a love of audio and it is so good to see a company that has pride in its knowledge and staff, and as someone who worked in retail for a good few years in my younger days, Richer Sounds is quite an amazing and unique organisation, who genuinely put the customer first and have service levels that other shops dream of, and that includes their customer service team that called me back..

Go and spend some money there, go buy a record deck to play your vinyl on, invest in a Fatman Blu and take their advice on speakers and don't forget the pre-amp. They will make you very happy at a budget price, go on, go and buy some valves, you know you want to...

...the US people simply voted for change, they are as sick as the rest of us at the career politicians...

Holy crap, Trump won!! My first thoughts were of impending doom and gloom and then I thought "f*ck it, time to get on with things".
Elections are funny things, the implications are potentially massive, but the people that vote, vote for themselves and what they believe and in a democratic society and in the wider democratic community, we simply have to accept this and move on.
I am no fan of Trump, I dislike his misogynistic temperament and I am not sure if he is racist or not but he has gone out of his way to offend minority groups and that offends me. Having said that, he has also spoken some truths that have been picked apart into soundbites, the meanings, sometimes sensible, lost to a tabloid headline. I would've voted Clinton, not because I have any affinity for her but because she is a "kind of" known quantity, she would keep the US on it's current stable course but then they reported on the radio this morning that US wages, on a whole, are less than they were 17 years ago. Bush and Obama have had two full terms each, and the wages for the average US worker has decreased in real terms to a 17 year low, given that, if I was a US worker and had a choice for voting for the status quo or a change, I know where I would have voted.

After the event is a time for analysis and not a time for doom and gloom because it is time to move forward. The speculation by the press is always geared towards the end of civilization as we know it and that may not be a bad thing but they need to temper this with the positive speculation on what could happen that could benefit people. Negativity is a terrible tool in the hands of the press, they cause fear and hatred at a time when people need comfort and a friendly voice but unfortunately, they never seem to stop running things down. We see it in the UK with the Brexit vote, we still have negative campaigning on the part of the press and the BBC seem to be the biggest offender. I was hoping we could have some unity yet the press still cause divisions. I hope the US learns from the UK on this and slaps down the negativity of the tabloids.

We vote in elections for a selected number of candidates that are chosen by other people. There is usually a choice of A, B or C and the US public chose D, they went off script and no-one saw this coming.
What needs to happen now is that people need to learn from Brexit, the fighting and the trash talk has to stop, the headlines need to support the democratic decision and the world needs to recognise that the US people simply voted for change, they are as sick as the rest of us at the career politicians that seem to implement policies that only benefit big business, the already rich and their family and friends. The insults need to stop, the crying whinging of those that feel cheated because they lost, has to stop, they need to get on with their lives and make the best of what comes next. This is democracy and it isn't personal, it is the will of the people and just needs to be accepted.

...the Allman Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd show.

The BBC broadcasted a piece about Southern Rock, over the weekend. I recorded and watched it and it should really have been called the Allman Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd show. Absolutely no complaints from me on that point.
I have albums from both bands, one or two from the Allman Brothers and five Lynyrd Skynyrd albums. My first Skynyrd acquisition was "First...and Last" and whilst it is an odd album, it does have "Comin' Home" on it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i048vKpaALU
Of course there are the obligatory hits, "Sweet Home Alabama" and "Freebird" dedicated to Ronnie's hero, Duane Allman, but "Comin' Home" has everything, great lyrics, a melancholy feel to it, musical craftsmanship, an easy feel and lots of bite when needed and it couldn't come from anywhere else but the Southern States of America. Lynyrd Skynyrd were far more than a redneck Southern band, they fused blues, jazz, rock and country into something fresh but with some heritage to it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PT3XYUegiNs
I love Lynyrd Skynyrd, I love "Sweet Home Alabama", enough that I had to learn it on the guitar and the solos in it are sods to play. This is a band that I have actually loved more as time has gone on, I appreciate them far more now than at 15 years old and it seems to get stronger year on year. Just for the record, nothing against the reincarnation of the band but it is the 1976 version that I love.

Freebird live in 1976: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuZyMx2NXZM

Now the Allman Brothers were a different kettle of fish, they didn't have the big song until "Top Gear" used "Jessica" as it's theme song and whilst it is a great song, they have done better and they have a phenomenal singer in Greg Allman but it was his brother, Duane Allman that made the band so special and it makes his death at the age of 24, all the more tragic. His guitar playing is both intuitive and easy with an abundance of technical ability but his tone and feel are gifts, they can't be learned, those are talents you are born with.
For those that aren't familiar with the Allman Brothers and Duane Allman, he was dead by the time "Jessica" was written and released but you will be more familiar Derek and the Dominoes, "Layla". That song started life as a ballad and it was Duane Allman that wrote the rock riff and it is his slide guitar solo that sparkles and dazzles, Clapton's best song after Cream split and he wasn't the person that made it special, Duane Allman was.
Here is the Allman Brothers and a song called "Dreams" just to show how smooth Duane's playing was: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fyhyor0yU3o
You know that he is jamming that, he's in the zone, playing from the heart and the tone and fluidity of his playing is simply beautiful. I originally heard this song covered by Molly Hatchet, their's is a fine version but the original is in a whole new league.
Here is "Little Martha" and the story behind this song is that Jimi Hendrix showed him this song in a dream and he woke up and wrote it down: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmSPCOby-1A

The Allman Brothers were a mixed band, at a time when segregation and racism in the Southern states was the norm. They had a black drummer and championed black music, they were ahead of the curve in so many ways, Duane Allman was a musician, the talisman of the band, the older brother and leader and this was his dream. He worked in mixed studios, recorded for black artists and loved the blues, he should have been the future.

Ronnie Van Zant, leader of Lynyrd Skynyrd was widely considered to be racist, even the BBC documentary  held up "Sweet Home Alabama" as proof of that with the lyric,
"In Birmingham they love the Governor
We all did what we could do"
Wallace was the Governor and he supported segregation and the assumption, from the BBC, was that the "We all did what we could do" line was in support of him but what they missed was the full line,
"In Birmingham they love the Guv'nor (Boo, Boo, Boo)
"We all did what we could do"
It was a sarcastic line and without the "Boo, Boo, Boo" it becomes a racist line in support of Wallace, that was very lazy journalism on the part of the BBC, so I checked some more into Ronnie Van Zant and whilst Skynyrd did fly the confederate flag in the early days, Ronnie wasn't comfortable with the meaning behind it and stopped using it as a backdrop as well as dropping "Dixie" as the opening song they came on to. Ronnie Van Zant sang about ecology, cared about racism, thought there should be more gun control and disliked drugs and in his spare time at school he was a poet. So this hard drinking, gun toting wild man of rock was all of that as well and despite coming from a Republican family, he supported Jimmy Carter in his Presidential run (as did the Allman Brothers Band), a Democrat.
It seems to be very easy to tar someone with the racism moniker, particularly when they are born in what was considered the last bastion of racism, all you need to do take a few badly used symbols, mis-quote a lyric and feed peoples prejudices.

Southern Rock was epitomized by those two bands. I went on to adore the Georgia Satellites (a seriously good live band), Blackfoot, Molly Hatchett, 38 Special, the Marshall Tucker Band, Ozark Mountain Daredevils and many other obscure and brilliant groups but it all goes back to the founding fathers, Duane Allman and Ronnie Van Zant, the guys that pooled all the influences into the blender and concocted a powerful brew, a new kind of moonshine that gave rise to a new kind of South.

Duane Allman was killed in a motorbike crash in 1971 at the age of 24.

Ronnie Van Zant was killed in 1976 in a plane crash at the age of 29.

Matt Dolphin...naturally a very endearing performer...

I bumped into an old friend, Matt Dolphin, at a party the other week. I can't remember how I met him originally, 25 or more years ago but he left the area and life kind of gets in the way of old friendships, children take priority and your life takes a different turn and so you lose contact with all but a few core friends and that is usually luck more than judgement. Fortunately Matt has retained a close friendship with other friends from the old group, friends that we share.
He is one of those people that I should hate. He is a year or two younger than me, a full head of dark hair, showing a scant few of the lines and years that are etched on my face, good looking and slim and the sort of person you would dislike through jealousy, if they weren't so nice. Matt was always a gentleman, softly spoken and someone it was and is, always a pleasure to meet. I saw him perform "back in the day" and whilst I don't remember too much about the songs or music, I do remember his voice, a deep rich baritone at a time when everyone was trying to hit the highest notes possible, he simply sang the song without the histrionics and drama of "will he or won't he hit the note this time", it was less about him and more about the music, he did whatever the music needed.

Anyway, he is a singer/songwriter now and I found out he was playing in London this Saturday just gone, so a group of us went up to see him perform. I checked him out on YouTube and was very pleased to hear the voice is still in great form but he has written some quite amazing songs, the sort that I would have bought regardless of friendship. I played them to my youngest daughter and she decided that her boyfriend would like it so the two of them and another friend also came to see him. He has that youth demographic nailed then...cool where I am the epitome of uncool, talented where I am decidedly less than talented and where I sing, they laugh, he sings and they tell me how good his falsetto and range is.
It was a nice venue near Euston, the Pack and Carriage, intimate and perfectly suited to the singer/songwriter vibe, sofas and chairs all round, the chitter chatter of earnest conversations from the coiffured bearded and mustachioed clientele and obscure and delicious looking ales and beers that I avoided as I am currently in training...apparently...

Matt's set was short, 1/2 an hour and he is naturally a very endearing performer, not showy as the songs speak for themselves. His guitar playing is very good, lots of finger picking and some hypnotic patterns and the voice was excellent. The set was surprisingly varied, he even produced a banjo for one song and unlike the showier performers that entertain, his is a journey that you are all making together, you are drawn in.

Ignore the drums in the picture above, the whole set was just him.

Grace of the Winds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8O7YK8EBgiU
Deptford Shore: https://www.facebook.com/mattdolphinmusic/videos

I did try to pin Matt down on comparisons but he wouldn't be pinned down, I can see that he writes for himself and any comparisons can be drawn by other people. I heard shades of many people in his playing and singing, I would compare him to Ryley Walker in attitude, where Walker is very American, I think Matt sounds more English, I am sure other people will hear different things but he is more the future than the past, very introspective and thoughtful, it does leave you wondering why he isn't better known.

The interesting thing was after his set, he came and sat with us but as we were talking and it was getting loud inside, we all went outside to talk. He couldn't help himself, he kept glancing through the window to see who was playing and in the end he had to go back inside, he was torn between his friends and the playing musicians. He will probably feel bad that I noticed, particularly as we sloped off without saying goodbye, my daughter's friends had a trek back and time was slipping for them so we had to dash but it was very nice to see someone so genuinely supportive of other musicians, having said that, I think his material was stronger than the others but that may be a friend talking but judge for yourself, he has a couple of CD's available to buy or download (I bought them):

http://www.pennyblackmusic.co.uk/MagSitePages/Review/25688/M/

If you get the chance, go and see him play and be sure to say hello, you can check his Facebook page for dates: https://www.facebook.com/mattdolphinmusic/

It was a glorious night of discovery and it changed my life, I was never sure if that was a good or bad thing.

I try not to dwell in the past but as you get older, you do have a history. It never looked wonderful at the time but looking back, much of it was glorious.

I lived for awhile in the middle of nowhere. I would have been about 15 or 16 and the nearest neighbour was around 1/2 a mile away. I remember sitting in my bedroom looking out the window towards a town in the far distance, wondering when my life was going to start. I remember it so clearly, I felt like I was in limbo, neither child nor adult, living in what felt like purgatory. It is amazing how a feeling can stay with you, if only I'd known that my life had started but I have spent so much time waiting for things to happen to me that I became completely absorbed in what might happen rather than creating what I wanted to happen.

As a young lad, as with most teenagers, I had a bedroom covered in posters and above my bed was the Iron Maiden poster for the single for "Number of the Beast", Eddie holding the severed head of the Devil. I remember the day I bought that, I woke up during one of my "O" levels and decided I would get the bus into Aylesbury with the sole intention of buying that poster, as soon as the exam was done and I did. I wish that I had kept it but as with everything, childish things tend to find their way into the bin.

I remember getting into rock music, I was a firm Thin Lizzy fan and was already into AC/DC (Powerage, still one their best and most underrated albums). I was introduced by a couple of reprobates at school and they lent me a good armful of singles overnight. I listened to them all, such classics as "Paris by Air" Tyger of Pan Tang, "Restless" Gillan, "Number of the Beast" Iron Maiden and many others. It was a glorious night of discovery and it changed my life, I was never sure if that was a good or bad thing. I grew my hair and lived the music, getting the obligatory tattoos as soon as I was old enough, I had the leather jacket, went to the gigs and surprised people by actually being not a bad person. I liked a drink but didn't do drugs as I couldn't stomach them, the smell made me ill and on the occasions I did try it, I was dreadfully sick.

It was a time of simplicity, there were no smart phones or internet and telephone calls were a static affair, all coiled wires that became tangled till the cord became a knot of plastic and the calls were expensive, there had to be a real justification to make a call but we got by, we had a social life that was pre-planned and it seemed easier, more personal. God, I sound so old!

It was about living and the future always looked scary although I couldn't wait for it to happen to me. I'm not even sure when it did happen to me. I remember depressing times of greyness when I was lacking identity and doubting myself. It was a time of square holes and I was a round peg. I had long hair, no qualifications and tattoos. I owned a bad suit and spoke too fast, it was not an easy time to be me and it involved some time not working and other times working in dead end jobs or retail. I wanted a future, to earn lots of money but I didn't want to sacrifice or compromise my soul. It's funny how even now my music can dictate my life course and here I sit, infront of a desk with short hair, looking reasonably smart and respectable and inside I am the heavy metal kid I always was, hating the idea of compromise but old enough to know that I am, roughly, where I sometimes wanted to be. I was never the poet that I longed to be but that was the insecurity of words on the page, too personal, too close to the mark and I would guess that I couldn't have taken the rejection of it being rubbish, back then and maybe, even now, I think that is part of the reason that I never show it to people, maybe I hope to be discovered after my death when the stones of criticism can't hurt me. I am a little more thick skinned nowadays. years in sales will harden the heart to rejection and in the end you would rather a simple "No" than "maybe..."

I am not really sure on the purpose of this post, it is a ramble on various thoughts and a trip back, a journey I don't make very often but it is also my look back at some very dear friends that were with me for some of this journey, I won't mention their names but I think I learnt about friendship from them, a couple of people that I will always value even if I never see them again, although Tescos is a very busy place for old faces.

Just for the record, I am in perfect health as this does almost sound like a self written obituary!

Gene Wilder

I was very sad to hear that Gene Wilder had died. He made some of my favourite films, "The Producers", "Blazing Saddles", "Young Frankenstein" and of course those amazing films with Richard Pryor, "Silver Streak", "Stir Crazy", "See No Evil, Hear No Evil", amongst others.

There are certain comedians that I return to, the Marx Brothers, early Steve Martin, Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder. I have never seen a film of his that I didn't like and surprisingly I do have "Pure Imagination" on my phone, sandwiched between "Psycho" by Ricky Warwick and "Pure Morning" by Placebo. "Pure Imagination is a wonderful song, I adore it and it matches nicely with "Let's Go Fly A Kite" which I also have on my phone.

Just so you can remember how great "Pure Imagination" is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVi3-PrQ0pY

His family commented on why he kept his Alzheimer's diagnosis quiet, he wanted children to remember him as Willy Wonka and not have to face adult illness, and they finished with this:

"He simply couldn't bear the idea of one less smile in the world."

And Amazon have found yet another way to p*ss me off.

This should be self explanatory. This is a comment I have made on the Amazon site, when asked for feedback:

"I searched for bedfan on google and it said that Amazon.co.uk had this in stock, so I clicked the Amazon link, your own link, and you say that "bedfan" doesn't match anything you have. That's pretty rubbish, why waste my time on your links when you don't even stock it, it is annoying and frustrating. You don't even stock anything similar and it is precisely this kind of thing that makes me look elsewhere. I will dedicate a blog to this, it is an inconsequential thing and that makes it all the more painful, it is an uneducated and clumsy attempt to have me buy something else yet you have nothing even remotely similar, so what have you achieved? You've annoyed me."

The Internet is a repository for all comments, a good online presence and a good reputation is essential. Amazon are usually excellent (apart from the fact they don't pay their way in tax) but this bit is a blemish, something annoying that will simply bug me, nothing serious, just a niggle really, like an itch on the sole of your foot and for that reason I feel compelled to write about it. Funnily enough, if it had been more serious I probably wouldn't have bothered.

By the way, that Ryley Walker album? Simply excellent, go and buy it but not from Amazon...

Damn Planet Rock....Ryley Walker...

Damn Planet Rock, they keep playing songs that I then need to own. Last night they played something that was out of kilter for them, not what I would call rock but it was amazing by a guy called Ryley Walker and it's not even released till tomorrow:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55I8CvHH1U4

I heard this in my head, on vinyl through valves so I have just ordered the LP.

It has that John Martyn feel, a bit of Steve Mason: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CQZEFzHikA.

I guess this is the continuation of the singer/songwriter that has been having a renaissance over the past few years. I am not a fan of Ed Sheeran but he has certainly raised the profile of the one man band, not least because he keeps releasing songs remarkably similar to well known hits of yesteryear. If you're going to do that at least make it something more obscure but on the plus side it means you know that it is a tried and tested formula before you even release it, after all, it's already been a hit once. I do sound like I'm running him down but I would actually rather have 100 Ed Sheerans than a manufactured, auto tuned, plastic androgynous doll coached by Simon Cowell, the man that takes looks and markets them as talent, who takes a song and wrings the soul out of it before releasing it as a sanitized version of what he knows will sell.

Music to some of us is about life, to others it is about fame and to the more callous and less respectful, it all about the money. I have no idea if the Ryley Walker album will be good or not but I am more than happy to invest the cost of an album in him to find out. I love music, it is about life and love and feelings, it stirs me in ways that nothing else can, it shapes my moods and a new song excites me like nothing else. Even now, I get that feeling that I can't do without a song, like being a child and needing it immediately, I still get that with music. I have no idea how I am going to live without "The Roundabout" but then I guess it is due out tomorrow.

I was throwing things at the TV over the Badminton until I realised that I really didn’t understand the rules.

Damn it, it’s happened again. It’s been four years since my last addiction and I was determined that it wasn’t going to happen this time. Four years ago I started off ambivalent but very quickly became obsessed and this year I had the same thought and it happened in exactly the same way, the sports started and I became hooked, watching everything from Athletics to Wrestling, taking in Badminton, Table Tennis, and all the tried and tested favourites.

I have no idea what happens to me, as my youngest daughter said, we both become experts in whatever we are watching. I was throwing things at the TV over the Badminton until I realised that I really didn’t understand the rules. We were both judging the lines that the cyclists were taking in the sprints and eulogising on strategies and tutting over the bits we didn’t agree with. I did the same with the Running (all distances), Heptathlon and I can tell you that Jess Ennis-Hill would have won gold if she’d listened to me, all she had to do was run 1 ½ seconds a lap faster in the 800m, is that so difficult? Yes, I do become unbearably opinionated.

Having said all that, I along with every UK citizen that pays tax, has an investment in the athletes that the UK produces and I couldn’t be prouder. I remember being proud of a single gold medalist and now I am celebrating lots of them. We seem to have the machine in place to produce Olympians, maybe not on the industrial scale of the Americans but we are getting there.

I have seen the armchair warriors slating various athletes and I am offended by that, these people represent the best of British, I hope they carry our sense of fair play and I hope that they try their best, so long as they leave their best on the track, field, pool or court, I couldn’t ask more of them. To watch them struggle but not quit, to take it to the limits of their endurance and to finish, what more would you want from your athletes? Yes, to win is the goal but not everyone can win and to see an athlete turn a defeat to a win in the space between the Olympics, is amazing.

Then we have the super humans and it looks like we might be saying goodbye to Jess Ennis-Hill but we are looking forward to KJT raising her game. We are saying Goodbye to Bradley Wiggins but this just allows Jason Kenny to fulfill his potential and also bring Callum Skinner to the fore, a new boy that is being groomed to take over from Kenny, not forgetting Laura Trott, the invincible smiling speed merchant and then Adam Peaty, a wonder kid in the pool. Doesn’t it just feel good to know the future is in good hands?

But then you have the other champions, the Olympics is a far wider family than Britain, I am sorry to see Michael Phelps go, he is special and not someone that you see many of in a lifetime (maybe Ed Moses for those of a certain age) and then you have the new kids on the block, Simone Biles (simply wow!), and Nafissatou Thiam.  We’re not the only ones with newly sprouting seeds and that is something incredible to behold, watching the older generation make way for the new, it’s not often we see such a big handover.

There are so many moments that I can pick in the various Olympics that I have watched, the great Ovett and Coe duals (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txkz8VLO3iE),  Alan Wells winning the 100m in a very cold Russian stadium without the Americans there and visiting the US and beating them at home to show he was the true Olympic champion (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTEIM3BWbSw)  or maybe something more recent, the incredible effort of Chris Hoy in his final race, being overtaken, not giving up and by sheer will power and guts, pulling it back to a win: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCsRgnPqANM).

My daughters were laughing when they found that Great Britain won a single gold medal in 1996 because they were born into a time of plenty, a time when we expect medals in sports, a time when the Government, rightly, invested in people’s ability. Sports isn’t a business that generates lots of obvious money but it does generate national pride. Every year we have the World Championships, we win some and lose some but our athletes gear themselves towards the Olympics and they make us extremely proud, we live the glory with them, they represent a vision of our nation that we want the world to see and that changes from year to year but this year it is a clean, drug free vision of athletes training to perfection and it is excellent to hear the great and the good condemning nations and athletes that demean the spirit of the games by cheating. Maybe it should be one strike and out for good. To hear the American team speaking out against one of their own is incredible and real testament to their feelings on cheating. It raises my hopes for a cleaner future because if the Americans put fair play before Gold, the world is truly changing and maybe the Russians can do the same.

We are heading into the final straight and the finish line is approaching faster than I hoped and I’m starting to wonder what I will do once this finishes. I know that I will feel lost and a little empty but my life rolls from one event to another, from the 6 Nations to the Isle of Man TT. With that in mind, I am feeling a little better, it will be a tough fortnight but I am sure that I can survive until the Paralympics.

Bring it on!!

The Somme 100.

I have nothing to say. Wilfred Owen and the many war poets said it better than I ever can. They changed language and understanding of war and the politics of war, far better than anyone since and probably since Shakespeare.

Karl Jenkins - "Benedictus" from the "Armed Man: A Mass for Peace"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kTffgdNhNw&index=12&list=PL292A2AE7B9FD983A

So what was the view in the UK when the "Brexit" was announced?

So it's all done, we are leaderless, friendless and have a currency that has fallen through the floor.

I fell asleep early last night and woke at 2.30am and then stayed awake to watch the drama unfold. It was exciting to see democracy really at work, to see a decision made where every vote actually counts (perhaps we need a referendum on alternative voting again).

So what was the view in the UK when the "Brexit" was announced?

This:

Nobody was laughing, nobody had taken to the streets to celebrate, nobody was gloating but it was a truly beautiful morning, another morning, the same as yesterday and tomorrow.

I was awake when they called it at 4.40am, I'd been watching for 2 hours and 10 minutes. I considered having a cup of tea but decided to run instead and I am glad that I did. Too much time is spent worrying and on a morning like this, the birds were singing, the streets were deserted and the sun was welcoming after the poor weather of the last week or so and the World continues to turn, we all continue to breathe and love, the only difference is that the debate on this issue is over and it is time to mend fences, to make a fractured Britain whole again.

(I did have that cup of tea when I got home though)

...I was never a European. She was born European first...

When you believe in something, you often can't see the wood for the trees and this whole Brexit Vs Remain campaign has stirred the passions of a great many people in this Country.
You know where I stand on this and there is not much that will change my opinion and the same goes for everyone that has made a decision on either side. Neither of us can see valid points on the other side. I see absolutely no advantage to staying in the European Union and no hope of reform where others will see absolute darkness if we leave to stand as an Island alone in the big wide World.

My eldest daughter was a remainer, I am not sure if she still is as it is not a subject we can discuss. I did ask her why and as she is in London, many of her friends are very pro-Europe (as many students and Londoners are) but besides that, she was uncertain, it was just how she felt.

I thought about that and realised something, I was born English first and British second, I was never a European. She was born European first and British second and English third. Europe is part of her identity, part of her DNA.

I am hoping for a 100% turnout tomorrow, then, whatever the result, democracy will have spoken loud and clear.

...the head of BDI...is urging Germany and the EU to create a free-trade regime that could be imposed in the event of Brexit.

If there's one thing I hate, it's blatant lies. We all know that politicians lie or at the very least, distort facts to suit their agenda and that is something we have seen throughout this campaign.
The £350million a week, the £4,300 deficit in personal finances, WW3, etc, all scaremongering and I don't care about those, it is stupid and I do shout at the television when I hear some of the stupid things that are being said. What I struggle with is the people that shout the loudest and lie the most.

Last night was the EU Referendum Debate at Wembley. I enjoyed the debate but someone needs to explain to the Remain team what a debate is, you answer a question and make your point then shut up while the other person makes their point. To hear Sadiq Khan and Ruth Davidson heckling during Bojo's response is not only rude, it demeans the whole debate.
However, I am chuckling this morning because it was over the economics that Bojo was heckled, he said we could strike a deal with the Germans as it would be in their best interests and he was called a liar.

I've just read this:

Markus Kerber, the head of BDI, or federation of German industries, is urging Germany and the EU to create a free-trade regime that could be imposed in the event of Brexit.

"Imposing trade barriers, imposing protectionist measures between our two countries - or between the two political centres, the European Union on the one hand and the UK on the other - would be a very, very foolish thing in the 21st century," Mr Kerber told the BBC's World Service.

"The BDI would urge politicians on both sides to come up with a trade regime that enables us to uphold and maintain the levels of trade we have, although it will become more difficult."

Just curious as to who's the liar now? It appears that the Brexit camp were right all along and the so called "experts" have again misread the situation or possibly sold their souls for money or honours.

I just received this email and responded (my response first). I wonder if he's actually read it:

To: TAYLOR Keith
Subject: Why I'll be voting Remain tomorrow

And here is why I will be voting Brexit.

Democracy is the cornerstone of the UK, we had one the earliest and most advanced democracies ever. It evolved over thousands of years and it should have been untouchable but we have seen the European Court of Justice demean and take precedence over our laws, over our democracy.

This is a democracy paid for with blood, the blood of British men, women and children, it is enshrined in the stories of King Arthur and the reality of Alfred the Great. It is written on the Magna Carta, a document that is celebrated globally and yet you are happy that the founding stone of this age of Britain, can be signed away on a whim.

Perhaps you have been in Brussels too long, drawing your large paycheck and expenses, with a far larger carbon footprint than I have, the irony isn’t wasted, and you send me an email full of righteous BS that has little to do with the average person or the fears that they have. You spout off about the beauty spots in the South of England yet you are intending to build millions of homes across the diminishing green spaces, after all, where else do you intend to house the 1 million+ immigrants we will have every 3 years? You offer more of the same where we need change. You offer a renegotiation but Jean-Claude Juncker has already said that that will not happen. Yes, the unelected man at the top of the food chain has already p**sed on your fire there, there will be no renegotiation.

From: TAYLOR Keith [mailto:keith.taylor@europarl.europa.eu]
Sent: Wednesday, 22 June, 2016 3:38 PM
To: TAYLOR Keith
Subject: Why I'll be voting Remain tomorrow

Dear constituent,

Since I became a Member of the European Parliament in 2010, thousands and thousands of South East residents have contacted me with your questions and concerns on European matters. I'd like to thank you for being one of these people. 

As your Green representative in the European Parliament, and ahead of a vote tomorrow that will shape our country for generations, I felt it was important to share with you the reasons why I believe a vote to Remain on 23 June is a vote for a fairer, safer and greener future.

I will be voting for Britain to remain a member of the European Union because I believe that the best way to tackle the collective challenges the UK and Europe face is to work together on shared solutions. Climate change, the pollution of our oceans, international terrorism, and the refugee crisis show no respect for borders and require collaborative and cooperative solutions.

The EU has shown just how important it is for defending our freedoms. EU-wide laws are providing stronger protections in the workplace, safeguarding human rights and advancing equality, supporting a greener  economy,  improving animal welfare, and challenging the power of multinational corporations and global finance.

On many of these issues the EU has been a force for positive change here in the UK. It is EU action on air pollution, for example, that is forcing our Government to take this public health crisis seriously. In the South East we enjoy 300 miles of beautiful coastline and it is thanks to EU laws and successful legal action by the European Commission that our beaches are as clean, clear and swimmable as they are today, despite strong resistance from the UK.

And it is thanks to the world-class EU Nature Laws that wildlife and the natural beauty spots we cherish in the South East, from the New Forest, to the South Downs and the RSPB reserve in Dungeness, are protected from over-zealous developers.

Over recent months, I have been reading your emails and speaking to people out in the constituency – from local businesses to charity workers, from climate to animal rights campaigners, from academics to students – about their views on the EU. I’ve been delighted to hear first-hand how the European Union benefits us all in so many different ways.

The benefits the EU brings are significant. They are not abstract, but safeguards that affect our daily lives: it’s our right to get home from work in time to see our families, it’s the air that we breathe, it’s clean beaches on our holidays, it’s equality between men and women in the workplace and it’s the historical anomaly of living in a Europe of lasting peace between neighbours.

Many of you, understandably, also have concerns about the European Union – the way it works and some of the laws it makes. As a Green, I recognise that the EU is far from perfect, and I’m committed to working for a better Europe, which is more democratic and accountable to you all. But I, and my other UK colleagues, can only continue to work for a better Europe, if we keep our seat at the table.

The EU is a powerful force for collective and progressive action.  If we walk away, the UK will be leaving the big political battles to others, unable to properly defend the interests of its citizens.

I want us to remain an outward-looking country and I believe that by working together with our closest neighbours, we have a greater chance of building a better Europe and securing a fairer, safer and greener future. 

That is why I will be voting Remain on 23 June.

Best wishes,

Keith Taylor 

Green Party MEP for South East England

The European Parliament

Rue Wiertz

1047 Brussels, Belgium

www.keithtaylormep.org.uk

Brexit...keep an eye out for a fast moving landmass inhabited by drunken red people. And they're singing.

So what would happen in the event of "Brexit"? I think we should send back this awful weather, it is European weather, it comes off the continent and we get their recycled rain. Even when we get hot weather, we are often warned about Saharan dust, jeez, is there nothing we can do to keep the immigrants, illegal or otherwise, from our shores?

I have a far better proposal, why do we have to be in Europe? Why can't we use the Engineering resources in this country to sever the UK from the seabed, erect a huge sail in, say, Birmingham, and we set sail for fairer climes. Can you imagine the surprise on the faces of the French when they get to the end of the Channel tunnel to find there is no UK there.
We could even get a "trailer" in the form of Ireland, if they want to come along for the ride. A stout chain and we'd be good to go as I guess the only other option would be to cut the Country in half and take Northern Ireland with us. And then there's the Isle of Man and the various other islands dotted around the UK, we could end up with quite a flotilla.

I wonder if it would be possible to have a huge stealth "cloak" cast over the UK so we can't be tracked. We could just appear off the coast of Florida or Mauritius or show up in Australia (to show them how to play rugby). We could plan our year around the weather, hold a referendum for snow or sun over Christmas, how much sun we want in Summer and the temperature. It would be like an eternal cruise, we could become a migratory species of human, evolving to cope with the changing world characteristics.
We would be able to avoid terrorist attacks because they can't find us. Migration wouldn't be a problem and with our history, we are all a stones throw from being the World's greatest sailors, I am sure it wouldn't take much to fire up the brine that flows in our veins.

If we stay in the EU, we have to put up with this terrible secondhand weather, we are surrounded by cold grey seas, wouldn't it be nice to see clear blue or green oceans? We could just set sail on a speculative trip maybe head South just to see if we like it, we can always turn West if we're not keen on being neighbours with Spain. We could stop by at Greece and buy some more of their antiquities and they can ask for them back in 100 years. We could take a trip around Italy and maybe steal Sicily. It would probably be an international incident, if they could find us. We could drink and then fall asleep in the sun, just as we do on the beaches of Spain and any other Country where the alcohol flows and the sun shines. The world would be on red alert to keep an eye out for a fast moving landmass inhabited by drunken red people. And they're singing.

I'm voting Brexit, a far more exciting prospect than the status quo that simply sees everyday as the same again. Time for an adventure.

My first sporting hero was Muhammad Ali.

My first sporting hero was Muhammad Ali and it is starting to feel as if this year is going to rob me of all my heroes.

I am of an age where Ali was the World's greatest star. In an age before the Internet and social media, he was the headline. He was the greatest boxer in the world and he was loved by the world. He lived his hard years before I was born and whilst I was a baby so I only ever knew him in the golden years of the heavyweights, during the mid and late 1970's when he was past his prime and fought on with the heart and the skill of a natural boxer, lacking the speed of youth.

My Dad and my Grandad are and were both huge boxing fans and Muhammad Ali was the pinnacle of boxing, he overshadowed everyone before and after. Who, in everyday life, remembers the greats before Ali? Sugar Ray Robinson, Joe Louis and going back even further, the great Jack Johnson (http://www.cyberboxingzone.com/boxing/jjohn.htm)? These are the fighters that Ali knew and modeled himself on, adding that unique Ali twist that would mark him out as "the Greatest". He was mouthy, funny and ultimately, very humble.

Ali fought in the golden age of the heavyweights, a time when any number of those fighters could have been rated as possibly the greatest ever and he beat them all. Joe Frazier, one of the boxers with the biggest hearts I've ever witnessed, a boxer that would have died in the ring rather than quit (his corner threw in the towel as they feared he would die), fought Ali 3 times and each fight was brutal, equal and full of heart, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUraXMe18pE. There is, of course the "Rumble in the Jungle" and the subsequent film, "When we were Kings" a film I made my youngest watch a few years ago, and she was riveted, the backdrop and the buildup to the fight, the gamesmanship, Ali's use of the press and the love of the people and ultimately the phenomenal fight.

I was still too young to appreciate boxing at this time but I knew that song - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KW5qF9fheXw

Yes, I know it's a terrible song but it was catchy and I was a child. I know that Ali didn't like the song but as a child, I did and it was at this time, along with the paternal influence of my Dad and Grandad, that I became aware of boxing.

Ali changed the face of all boxing, he talked up the fights so much that huge amounts of money were injected into the sport and the athletes started to earn serious amounts of money, particularly the heavyweights and some of the other divisions followed sometime later.

Father's are influential on their children, my Dad followed athletics, sometimes rugby but always boxing, he is a font of knowledge and knows his boxing history. My relationship with boxing is chequered, one of my best friends is a huge boxing fan so I fall in and out of love with boxing. The heavyweight division had a brief renaissance in the mid 80's and into the early '90's but has always lacked the class and quality of the 1970's.

The beauty with Ali is that he transcended the sport and national barriers, everybody wanted him and he obliged. Seeing him so ill with parkinsons disease later in life could have been tragic but he didn't conduct himself like that. You could still see the brightness, the humour and the speed of thought in his eyes and despite the slow words, the wit was still there:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhjBFEKFGRU

Given that this award was presented in 1999, twenty years after he hung up his gloves and he garnered more votes than the other athletes combined, says so much about how the British feel about him.

I won't finish with Ali the boxer, he was "the Greatest", I won't finish with Ali and his good works, these are all documented, I will finish Ali vs Freddie Starr, I was shedding a few tears on Saturday morning and this made me smile:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqr_FtlJEcg

And I changed my mind, I will finish with the famous interview with the three kings, Ali, Frazier and Foreman:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlB-NRQv3OY

...HMV try and sell me a loyalty card where any other music store would value my business...

I visited HMV today to buy some vinyl. They have a pretty good selection and I was there to pick up the new Adam and the Ants "Kings of the Wild Frontier" box set for my wife, an avid Adam Ant fan since day one. She has every record of his and they are all signed. I was dragged kicking and screaming to see him about 10 or more years ago and he was excellent live. She saw him last year with my youngest and they both came home gushing about how wonderful he is so when he announced his latest tour, coming up in June, I was asked to book 4 tickets.
So as this is the 35th anniversary of "Kings...", I bought my wife the box set as a present. While I was there, I found a My Chemical Romance album that my youngest doesn't have, and as their greatest fan, I felt obliged to buy it for her and before you pick apart that last statement, it is a greatest hits package with some extra demos and previously unreleased tracks, she has all studio albums. This is a double album so she will be most excited.
As my eldest is home for a few days, I found a Max Richter album that looks very interesting, ambient classical music and as her love of music starts and a stops at classical, I bought her the vinyl.

The whole lot came to around £120 and then I was offered a loyalty card and then I got very annoyed.

The young girl that served me was great, friendly and very good, service that you hope to receive in a store but then she offered me the loyalty card and whatever good feelings I had about buying from HMV evaporated.
Looking at all the points I would get for this little lot, I was interested in the loyalty card until I was told I had to pay for it. £3 for a loyalty card? Why should I pay so they can market to me? Would you buy a Tesco clubcard or a Nectar card? It is nonsensical that in this day and age, where the Internet and other retailers are the competition, particularly given the hard time that HMV have gone through, that they would charge for a loyalty card.

I am speechless and offended and I am not sure why I am so angry about it but it just feels wrong, I spend £120 and HMV try and sell me a loyalty card where any other music store would value my business and try and retain my trade by giving me, not selling me, reasons to come back.

It feels like a rip off to me,

...Professor Patrick Minford, economist, on the EU economic debate. Poor old Nick Clegg appears to be absolutely out of his depth.

I came across this and it kind of turns the EU economic debate on its head. I found it enlightening and it seems too simplistic to be right. Why I haven't I heard this before?

This is Professor Patrick Minford, economist, on the EU economic debate. Poor old Nick Clegg appears to be absolutely out of his depth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xskWLMu5Ggo

These are the sort of things that can spark a proper debate, maybe we don't need politicians to run this campaign for us, maybe we just need economists on both sides to debate it. It just seems that he spoke about things that I understand and it made far more sense than a blanket of possibilities that I can't visualise, things that may or may not happen. When someone says this is the default level that we would be at if we left the EU with no agreements in place, we are then at a starting place, a known value.
I'm not sure that I am convinced on every single point he makes but at least he is starting from a figure that the UK would be working from, before any agreements are in place and that has to be the starting place for any discussion on a post EU economy for the UK.


I was getting annoyed at David Cameron and George Osborne but then it dawned on me that they are consistently painting themselves into a corner and it only a matter of joining the dots to find the contrariness of their speeches.
A few months back, David Cameron was saying that of course the UK can survive outside of the EU it just wouldn't be as profitable. Now he is threatening war and destruction and Osborne has said it will be catastrophic. If it is that disastrous, who in their right mind would put it up for a debate and a referendum? That is an insane thing to do, unless they are panicking and are resorting to blatant lies? I do wish that a journalist would pick them both up on their contrary positions and find out what has changed in the last 4 months.

The EU referendum: ...we need a Churchill, someone that knows what it is to be British first and European second...

I have been avidly listening and reading everything relating to the EU referendum and there are several things that are swaying me. The first is the fact that everyone admits that the UK can exist comfortably outside the EU, it is just a matter of how much the UK's economic growth will be, more or less than remaining and that appears to be the biggest concern.
So, when Barack Obama tells us what is best for the US, that he wants us to remain in Europe, that is fine, I am not offended because of course he should voice the opinion on what is best for the US but to then say that we would have to go to the back of the queue for a trade deal, that doesn't sound like the way a "friend" would talk to another "friend". What happened to the "special relationship"? Besides, the US doesn't have a trade deal with Europe and won't for several years, if at all. It doesn't seem to have affected how we trade with the US at the moment.

The biggest issue that we have, being English, is that we are a nation of adventurers, we want to know what is behind the final frontier and we always have someone stupid enough to go and look.
The rest of the World, "Oh look, a bear. Do you think it's asleep?"
England, "Let me poke it with a stick so we can find out."
It is what we do, we are curious people with big hearts and a genuine sense of justice. We disagreed with Tony Blair when he lowered our standing in the world by helping the US invade Iraq and now we find ourselves with the unique opportunity to do something that is essentially English, to go our own way.

Globalization is what we've always done. Sir Francis Drake, the second person to circumnavigate the globe, set up trading agreements with China on the way past. Our history hasn't always been glorious but it has been global for the past 500+ years and before that it was pan-European. Globalization is nothing new to us, we're not shying away from it but I do believe that each European country is bigger on its own than as part of a federation of Europe. Being English and being European, I speak with my counterparts across Europe and they too feel the same way that we do, with the exception that they won't get a referendum.
I would thank Cameron for the referendum but I can see that he had no choice but to call it, his party is against him and he is sitting there with Jeremy Corbyn, Ken Livingstone and the idiot Osborne, while opposite sit the bulk of the Conservatives.

Getting back to Barack Obama and why I find his comments distasteful, he tried to invoke the spirit of WW2, a war that we fought by ourselves until 1941, holding back the might of the German empire while the US sold us equipment to keep us fighting, running up a debt that we finished paying in 2006.
Remember WW1? We finished paying off our debt to the US last year, 2015. We stood alone in Europe, facing off against huge odds while the tide of men washed and crashed against the trenches, breaking against the lines of bayonets, strafing machine gun fire and drowning in the mud and yet our allies bring up how much we owe them as allies, maybe we should we remind them that we stopped the invasion of Europe twice, English lives fought and died alongside the invaded French.

I am not anti-US, I think Americans are amazing people, they have a positivity that is infectious and their belief in the American way is incredible but it is not right that WW2 is brought up to guilt us into staying in Europe when it was our men and women that made the ultimate sacrifice for two years before they helped their allies.
My Grandad was part of the British Expeditionary Force, a professional soldier not a conscript. He wasn't evacuated at Dunkirk, he had to fight his way across France and from there went to the Middle East and fought there. He didn't see home for years. His brother was in the RAF, his father, who fought in WW1, was captured at Singapore by the Japanese.
This is the first reason why I want to vote out of Europe. I don't think the world owes the UK a debt but you know what? You're welcome for our sacrifice in WW1 and WW2, nearly every English family lost someone in those wars and our Commonwealth cousins sent soldiers to both wars, the Canadians and the Australians and New Zealanders are incredibly brave and their sacrifices were essential to Britain being able to stand and yet we are not allowed to open into trade agreements with them because Italy objected.

Secondly, I don't like the rhetoric coming from the top. In David Cameron we have another great appeaser, another Chamberlain. All scare tactics as he kisses the bare arses of the other European leaders in his attempt to tie the UK into a permanent agreement that will destroy all democracy in all but name. This is the greatest threat to the UK since WW2 and the more I think on it, the worse it will be if we stay. The French and the Germans will be leaving at somepoint and someone will be left trying to hold water in a colander as the deficit out weighs the size of the European economy, our ability to defend our selves becomes a European project led by other nations and the intelligence is compromised as we are contracted to share with Europe first. The inability to control our borders will suddenly become the number one concern yet there will be nothing we can do about it, and all the while we pay the lions share to be a part of the failing project. The writing is on the wall already, there are no plans to reform the EU, why would there be? No-one is going to vote for a reform in Brussels, they weren't elected. Neil Kinnock was turned down twice by the British electorate yet he walked into a job in Brussels, unelected and has more power over the fate of the UK than ever before. How can that be? I didn't vote for him. Why would he or any other of the anti democracy elite reform the cushy number they have? They are living the dream off the back of the fools that are too scared to leave.

We are English and it is our way to take chances because we are arrogant and have self belief, it is in our DNA, it is a national trait. Look at English Rugby, Stuart Lancaster is a good man and tried to instill a sense of decency and humility in the squad. Along comes Eddie Jones and tells the squad to play like Englishmen, there is no shame in arrogance and it is what England does best when they can back it up. We now have a team that is not embarrassed to win and winning is now a part of their psyche. Maybe it takes someone from outside of the UK to spot what it is to be English, in the same way that Americans are decent and positive people, Canadians are quirky and have a dry humour, the French are argumentative and very nationalistic yet can be so self effacing and the Germans have been told they can't be proud for too many years, they are nation that has had the shackles thrown off and are stretching themselves to see what they are capable of. They are more aware of what Europe means than we are, and they are stopped at every turn by their leaders as their democracy works against them from making any decisions that might threaten the EU project.
We need to stop appeasing Brussels, we need to get rid of Chamberlain because we need a Churchill, someone that knows what it is to be British first and European second, someone with the back bone to call this what it is, a transparent attempt to turn this collective of disperate Countries, with a shared and often difficult history, into a  United States of Europe, a federation in which every nation will lose its identity, becoming a state within a larger federation, except that it will be run by a dictatorship, unelected faceless people that work out our futures in an excel spreadsheet. This is not the way it is meant to end, this is not what WW2 was fought for, it was fought for the freedom of sovereign nations and here we are, close to signing away our freedom, democracy and sovereignty. If I believed that staying in the EU was good for me, I would vote to stay but I can't see a single good reason not to leave.
We need to do the British thing and do our own thing, we are the housemate that doesn't like the rota, that plays the music too loud and too late and doesn't get on with anyone else in the house and dislikes your friends. We are better as neighbors, we have the space to appreciate what you bring to the world and we like saying "morning" as we collect the milk from the doorstep. We'll even make small talk over the fence!

Another plus, Ken Livingston said that he might emigrate if we vote out, that has to be a good enough reason to vote out if not for any of the reason above!

...he transcended gender, race, colour and was just "Prince"

I have written a few thousand words about Prince so far, but I have no idea what I am trying to say. His death is devastating and I am shocked to be devastated by it because I didn't think I was a fan. Then I glanced at my phone and saw the dozen or so Prince songs that seem to have found their way into my life.

I was struggling to say that Prince was a soul made of music in the same way that Hendrix was. My relationship with Prince was mixed but I appreciated that he pushed the boundaries of music and integrated so many influences that he transcended gender, race, colour and was just "Prince". He was prolific, just like Hendrix. Music was his whole life, just like Hendrix. He was a great guitarist, just like Hendrix and they shared many influences but Prince was no copyist, he was influential like Hendrix and like Hendrix, he existed because of music, he was a collection of musical notes in human form, creating music from touch and from the heart.

He was a man that said, "Baby I'm a star, that's what I are" and whilst I laughed and cringed, I understood that. He picked a perfect rhyme with poor English where he could have picked a lesser rhyme with better English but it would have spoiled the vibe and I absolutely understand that and it still makes me smile.

I live in the UK and we have royalty but when you say Prince, there is only one man that springs to mind.

Here are some of the songs that I have on my phone. When you listen to "When Doves Cry" the arrangement is so sparse, you forget how much space and emptiness the song has, much of it is purely vocal and drums yet it's not how you remember it. 

http://www.zippcast.com/video/d207f8a53b091fa00d3

http://www.mojvideo.com/video-prince-when-doves-cry/63806cee6342494500af

http://en.musicplayon.com/play?v=442853

I still haven't said what I hoped to say because words are failing me. This year seems to go from disaster to disaster and it is difficult to speak from the heart when you have said all the words you would want to say about Prince, but you have said them about someone else. 

This is heartbreaking.

"Should I stay or should I go now?"...I have no clue which way I will vote, my head and my heart are everywhere...

"Should I stay or should I go?" to quote the Clash. The EU referendum is upon us and I am undecided. The Englishman in me wants to go but that is a kneejerk reaction, I need to base my decision on what is best for me and my family in the future.
I don't know the benefits and drawbacks to either camp, not really. Immigration is brought up so much but how much does that affect me personally?

Big business and the luvvies are all out banging their drums, stay or else it will be worse for you but really they have no idea, no-one does. This is a referendum of the people, a chance for us to say something and what we want is facts. I have zero interest in what BP or any other business has to say, they don't decide what we do and their opinions and speculations are irrelevant, besides, how can a company have an opinion? It's not a sentient being and given BP's spectacular f**k up oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the subsequent cover ups and lies as they tried to wriggle out of it, I would take everything they say as a blatant lie.
Wow, it is as if BP is making my decision for me, they say stay and that means go.
Then there is the scaremongering and it does seem to come more from the Stay campaign, as I guess it would. This is a step into the unknown, some would say the abyss where others might say into the bright tomorrow.
I don't want to hear from Emma Thompson or any other luvvie, as much as I appreciate their work on stage and screen, their opinions are formed from behind lavish houses and huge amounts of money, not cut with the same concerns that we have. Much of the acting profession, particularly at the top, is very left wing, formerly known as "champagne socialists", the people with the money to believe in the things that the poorer and disenfranchised can't afford to believe in. It's different beliefs all the way up the social ladder until you reach a level where money becomes no object and you can afford to have a social conscience. It does sound as if I am picking on Emma Thompson and yet I went on the Climate Change March on behalf a Greenpeace, alongside her (I mean that in the loosest terms, alongside as in one the many thousands that marched alongside her), an organisation that I know is close to her heart and I share many of their ideals yet her opinion on the EU is insignificant, whatever happens will have no impact on her life where it potentially could cause major upset in lives of the average person, not those in the 1% and we don't need the rhetoric of big business and the people that it really won't affect, as much as we need the debate to happen, simple facts from both sides.

I have a lot to learn here and we don't need the same screw up as the Scottish referendum, lots of irrelevant arguments about side issues where the main facts are ignored. We need to know the meat and bones of both sides and less scaremongering, we know that leaving the EU is the unknown and that means that scaremongering is pure speculation, yes, we need to know what the dangers are but with such an uncertain looking Europe, I would say there is a danger there too, in a few years Europe won't be looking as it does now, change is coming and it won't be pretty. Maybe if the UK leaves, Europe will splinter as the other nations see that there is life beyond the Federal State of Europe, or the UK stays and we all pull together, strength in numbers. If we go then it is for good, if we stay then we have to bite the bullet and go in fully.

I have no clue which way I will vote, my head and my heart are everywhere but once the good arguments come in and we can cut through the bullshit, this will be an interesting debate that I am sure will have a profound effect, not just on Britain but the rest of the EU as well. I just hope that the politicians can put away the slings and arrows and carry on this debate with good grace but it appears David Cameron is intent on starting a war with Boris Johnson so I guess that is the end of the reasoned debate, then the gloves will come off and the debate will descend into a farce of mud slinging and name calling. It's almost as if I am psychic!

Let's finish the way we started:

"This indecision's bugging me
If you don't want me set me free
Exactly who I'm supposed to be
Don't you know which clothes even fit me
Come on and let me know
Should I cool it or should I blow?

Should I stay or should I go now?
If I go there will be trouble
And if I stay there will be double
So you gotta let me know
Should I stay or should I go?

Inglorious, the Winery Dogs, Tax the Heat, Anthrax and Wolfmother...thanks Planet Rock.

Music was ever my passion. The keenest of listeners, close minded and open minded, the weird conundrum of being open to new music yet set in my ways enough to be dismissive of new music yet all the while I have those guilty pleasures tucked away in my collection, songs that I keep to myself, out of character and out of keeping with my ways.

Anyway, in the spirit of embracing new music and new bands, I went to see the Winery Dogs supported by Inglorious a few weeks back. I was quite excited by Inglorious, a new English band that Planet Rock had been promoting and the couple of lead off tracks from the then soon to be released album, sounded excellent.

They hit the stage, all young and rocking and the first thing that you notice is the singer, a natural frontman, larger than life, commanding the stage yet endearing, you can't help but like him. I do hope that he doesn't lose that natural friendliness. Then there is his voice, good god, can the boy sing, a huge range with soul and depth and he uses all of it. Cracking covers of Toto's "Gone Girl" far better than the original and a very faithful cover of Rainbow's "Surrender". Their own material stacked up well and they are definitely a band I won't even need to keep my eye on as my youngest was all enamored by them, meeting them after their stint and now keeping in touch over Twatter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJTdvTfEFGc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vf2ioGvVmA

The headliners, Winery Dogs, Richie Kotzen, Billy Sheehan and Mike Portnoy, a 2 album super group that attracted the wannabes and the genuine muso's. Kotzen is a great guitarist with a soulful voice, remarkably reminiscent of Chris Cornell. Billy Sheehan is a bass supremo, a guy at the top of his game for many years and Mike Portnoy is a powerhouse drummer, ex-Dream Theatre, he is mentioned in the same circles as Neal Peart but with maybe a touch less reverence. Their 2 albums are excellent and the show was great, enough virtuoso playing without ruining the songs and I loved them. They funk, rock, mellow things down and cover all the bases, mind you if you look back who they've all played with and the stuff they've done, they have covered all the bases. I will definitely be seeing them again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jivL-GXNhUk

Their Bowie tribute, so sweet:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbLyGsCt_BI

All in all it was a great night, great support band and an excellent headliner, the future for rock is looking better.

But I'm not done yet. I also adore Tax the Heat, another new British band and their album isn't due till April. Again, the 2 lead tracks (thanks Planet rock) are excellent and I have pre-ordered their album, as I did with Inglorious except that Tax the Heat had the option for vinyl. I have also pre-ordered the new Anthrax album off the back of bloody Planet rock playing "Breathing Lightning" and I adored it so much I have that winging it's way to me when it's released in the next week or 2 and they also played the new single from Wolfmother, "Victorious" and I bought the flac of the song and I'm now considering ordering the album as well. Damn you Planet Rock, you are like kryptonite to my bank account. On the plus side, it does feel really good to be listening to music again. I spent all Saturday streaming songs from my phone and listening to vinyl and I discovered that 1989 and 1990 were good years for music.

Tax the Heat:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoqgbYMqBpk

Anthrax:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXYKpKWHxaI

Wolfmother:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZDg_MLmp7M

Planet Rock, Judas Priest, Thunder and Childline/NSPCC

Everytime I try and write something nice, bad news seems to crop up and posts get binned regularly as I feel the need to either say something on events that have affected me or to say nothing as a mark of respect. Other times life just gets too busy and things slip or are forgotten about. This is a catch up post on several exciting things that have happened to me.
The first was a new car, it is a nice car, economical with many features I like including digital radio. That is something I never had much interest in until I got it. I then discovered "Planet Rock" radio and my life has actually changed as a result. I listen to more music and I've just started going to more gigs again. This started last year when I entered a competition to win tickets to see Judas Priest. I don't enter competitions but in this instance I just knew that I would win and sure enough I did (thank you Planet Rock for that!).
I took my youngest daughter and we saw the mighty Priest supported by Michael Schenker, a truly great guitarist with some fantastic songs, he is sadly underrated and seems to have been forgotten. he has such a beautiful touch on the guitar, his tone and his sense of melody are amazing, he needs to be rediscovered by everyone.

Michael Schenker: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBmmJjsURD4

I'd not seen Judas Priest before, I have several of their albums and the last album "Redeemer of Souls" is brilliant, a real return to form, consistent and absolutely heavy metal. Judas Priest are an institution and I can't believe I've never seen them before and my daughter, after the gig, was incredulous that I'd never seen them before.
They are the epitome of heavy metal, walking the line between caricature and something far more primeval and dangerous. I loved the show, it was like being assaulted. Rob Halford has the most amazing voice, he hits insane high notes and he's no spring chicken but has managed to retain his voice and range. The Priest have a huge catalog to draw from and they did. My highlight was "Screaming for Vengenace" where my daughter adored "Turbo Lover".

Priest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiecuPjbnjU
           https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV2WEJYZRuA

We are both sold on the Priest and will be seeing them again if we can.

I found out too late that Thunder were playing at the 100 Club on Oxford Street and by the time I looked, the tickets were well and truly sold out, disappearing in less than 10 minutes, bear in mind this band are playing Wembley next month.
Your question might be, "Who are Thunder?" and that is a question that goes back to the late '80's. They released an acclaimed album, "Back Street Symphony" and toured relentlessly. I was initially put off them by a band called Terraplane that I really didn't like and they later became Thunder. Now I tend to bear a prejudice so it is a testament to Thunder that their first album was a real killer with no filler and live they were incendiary. I saw them low down on a couple of festival bills and they blew the headliners off the stage (taking the scalps of Aerosmith, Whitesnake and ZZ Top at various times). They were not a band that a self respecting headliner would take out with them unless they were at the top of their game.
Now I'd not seen Thunder in a number of years but heard the lead track, "The Thing I Want" off their last album "Wonder Days" and loved it, here was another band of a certain age, hitting their stride again and as it turned out, they never really lost their stride, it was more that we became estranged from each other.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hD1kEfLN6M

Anyway, Planet Rock were offering a pair of tickets to the annual childline/NSPCC fundraiser that Thunder always do, to the sold out 100 Club gig, and yes, I won them! So last night I was at a sold out show for a select few 350 people to see a band that is headlining Wembley in a month!

Let me paint the picture, 5 older men came on stage, all short grey hair, the most unlikely looking rock stars you can imagine. The singer, Danny Bowes, was Dad dancing and bouncing constantly, a man in his element and he treated this like Wembley, the man is a born show off with a wicked sense of humour and did I mention the voice? No? Power a-plenty, bang in tune and an English voice cut from a similar cloth to maybe Paul Rogers, the blues rock voice that England does so well, he can lend himself to the big power ballad or the out and out rocker as well as cover versions. He is an amazing frontman, the complete package, a cheeky chappy with the voice you simply can't doubt. I can't find much footage from the 100 Club gig (yet) so here is some live footage from a few years back:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYGwpQPBUyE

A great song and a great voice and a full gig of killer songs like this can't fail and it didn't. This wasn't dangerous or rebellious or even a nostalgia trip, this was about having fun and raising some money for charity into the bargain. I laughed, sang and remembered what a great band they were and how great they are now. The years were stripped back as the night wore on, the songs were evergreen, the band was tight and the pressure was on the audience to deliver, yep, as bizarre as it sounds.

After the main set finished, the band had nowhere to go, so we were instructed to turn around and face the far wall and cheer as if the band weren't on stage, to simulate them being off stage. Yes it was a really funny moment, 350 people facing the other way while the band told us when they would be leaving the dressing room and when we could turn back. They were in brilliant form and the shame is that they simply got better throughout the night and come the final encore, they looked warmed up! I promise not to leave it anywhere near as long before I see them again and I will be buying the new DVD and filling in the blanks in my collection and thanks to Thunder I will setting up a standing order to childline/NSPCC today, I kept meaning to but they have given me the push to do it, every month counts.

And now Glenn Frey.

What is it with this year? Is this a big cull of superstars? I've never seen anything like it and now I hear that Glenn Frey has died. He co-wrote "Hotel California" that has to rank up there with "Stairway to Heaven" as one of the most heavily played rock songs ever and the guitar solos are sublime.
Planet Rock this morning said that one hell of a supergroup is forming in heaven and they're not wrong.
I like the Eagles, who didn't? Even the Sid Vicious liked the Eagles, "We are better than anyone, ain't we? Except for the Eagles, the Eagles are better than us,"
They were crossover before crossover was really accepted, taking the harmonies of Crosby, Stills and Nash, running it through a Country filter and creating those laidback, gentle classics and later, rocking it up, both ways worked for me.
This has always been one of my favourite Eagles tracks and I only just found out that Glenn Frey sang it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCoFc661GZU

A sad loss and I shall dig out some vinyl tonight and play some Eagles to remind myself how great they were.

It does appear as if a generation is disappearing and I suppose it is. They are all around the same age, which seems a little young to me but I guess we are witnessing the first generation of rock stars departing the stage. previously generations of teenagers listened to the music and wore the fashions of their parents but rock 'n' roll changed that. The Beatles changed that again and so rock 'n' roll became something else and the stars of that earlier generation died young such as Eddie Cochran, Buddy Holly, Gene Vincent etc or they were forgotten. Only 1 star really survived the Beatles and that was Elvis. In the '60's the Who, the Stones, the Kinks, Hendrix, Mountain, Led Zep, the Doors, Janis Joplin, etc, moved music towards the rock we know and love today but so many of them died along the way, creating the "27 club" but some of the music and the bands were seminal. Often overlooked and forgotten is the Band, the group that helped create Americana and I can hear shades of that influence in the Eagles, a hidden depth that transforms a band into something mythical. Very quickly we appear to be losing them and it is a shock to us because these are the rebels of a previous age, the generation our parents or grandparents grew up with and they seem to have maintained their influence on music over the decades and may of them are undergoing a resurgence, coming back into fashion and producing some of the best music of their lives.

Glenn Frey was a superb songwriter and being part of a band meant that he possibly didn't get the credit he deserved but then the same goes for all the Eagles, they each bought something special to the mix and it is a shame that a large part of that is now gone. It is a pity that they came back together so briefly but I am glad that hell did freeze over because we were at least left with some great songs at the end of times.