Author Archives: Paul

In one of the best episodes ever, John Cooper-Clarke was on Desert Island Discs this morning, Dubbed the “punk poet”, he was always much more than that. Interestingly, he praised two very unlikely, very un-punk figures for aiding his success. He credited Bernard Manning with giving him his first break. But years before that, his […]

I should have gone down to the bookies about ten years ago when I first thought that Boris Johnson would become Prime Minister. Even when I said so on this very blog five years ago, I’d have got very decent odds. Back then, he wasn’t even an MP and Brexit wasn’t even a word. Beneath […]

I love to ride my bike, especially on a beautiful day like today, but sadly I don’t enjoy it any more. There’s far less room on the roads now but not because there are more cars. It’s more because cars today are so much wider. Compare the size of the current Mini, Fiesta or Fiat […]

i don’t mind admitting this because I’m sure I’m not alone: I was always too frightened to play cricket. I played happily in the playground or in the street with a tennis ball but with a real cricket ball? Forget it. Way too hard. I’ve been ski-ing down black runs and regularly ridden a motorbike […]

I used to have loads. My mum had four brothers and my dad had six. And they were just the real, blood-relative uncles. There were also all my aunts’ husbands and the friends of my parents whom, like any 1970s child, I’d address as “Uncle” or “Auntie”. But yesterday, my Uncle Norman died. He was […]

Sixty-five years ago today, a DJ called Dewey Phillips on WHBQ in Memphis played a new record by an unknown 19-year-old singer. Just listen to it and it’s hard hard to imagine by it was an instant sensation and the station was inundated with calls for Dewey to play it again. And again. And again. […]

I was at the seaside today and, and as always, got myself a little portion of cockles and whelks, soused in malt vinegar. As I walked towards the seafood stall, this song came into my head. Well, just the line “I’m like a one-eyed cat peeping in a seafood store”. It was only then, after […]

Gorgeous weather, kind wishes and thoughtful gifts. But the older we get, the more desperate we become for any indication that we’re not ageing as quickly and horribly as the mirror would have us believe. So my favourite bit today was when someone (with patently poor eyesight) asked me whether I’d hit the “Big Five-0″ […]

Glastonbury. What’s not to loathe? So smug, middle-class and “establishment”. A bit like the Chelsea Flower Show or Last Night of The Proms. But at least these events and those involved in them acknowledge that they’re solidly establishment. Whereas middle-aged “Glasto” enthusiasts behave as though they’re rebellious and non-conformist. “Ooh, aren’t we edgy? We’ve got […]