A compendium of musical delights by Alan and Margaret Ashworth
A SEARING initiative to deal with the problem of poor language skills among children has been announced. Staff at Clarks shoe shops are to be tasked with improving youngsters’ vocabulary … Continue readingAn insole to the intelligence
FOR those who remember Talking Heads, it’s usually because of David Byrne, the flamboyant front man in the ‘big suit’ who gurned, crooned, shouted, whooped, sometimes gibbered and always demanded … Continue readingHead Girl: Tina Weymouth
WHAT a choice set of comments on my post about Brinsley Schwarz. Author and former Kursaal Flyer Will Birch reminded me that he wrote about the ‘hype of the century’ … Continue readingThe best little record shop in the land
THIS week another of British rock music’s true originals, Kevin Ayers. Along with Syd Barrett, Kevin was one of the first to sing in an English accent rather than pretend … Continue readingWe need to talk about Kevin Ayers
WHEN considering subjects for this column, the usual yardstick is the more obscure the better. However this week I’m making an exception for the mighty Bob Dylan. And in particular … Continue readingBob Dylan’s finest hours?
IF EVER a group got off to a bad start, that group would be Brinsley Schwarz. While still unknown to the British press and public, in April 1970 they were … Continue readingSurrender to the Brinsleys
ALTHOUGH not normally an admirer of fantasy fiction, I make an exception for Mervyn Peake’s remarkable novels Titus Groan and Gormenghast. They contain some of the most vivid description and … Continue readingPeake of perfection
IT must have been in December 1975, two years after its release, that I declared: ‘If I hear that bloody Slade Christmas record again I will kill somebody.’ Since then … Continue readingA Christmas selection box (guaranteed Slade-free)
CHILDREN as young as eight are to be taught at schools in Leftie Brighton (where else?) that boys as well as girls can have periods.All lavatories (I presume they are … Continue readingA period of transition
WHEN, in September, I wrote a tribute to the incomparable Sandy Denny, I somehow managed not to mention that during her early days with Fairport Convention the band contained another … Continue readingMatthews Country