Author Archives: Paul

……. It’s the third time in about ten days. The first time was behind Selfridges. I stared for a moment, he caught my eye so I smiled and said “Big fan of your work”. The second time, two days later, I felt a bit awkward and said nothing. Yesterday in Notting Hill I thought, “Oh […]

…….when the sun comes out, so does the reggae. Today, this is all you’ll need to turn Kingston, Surrey into Kingston, Jamaica.

…….and in today’s glorious sunshine, with our first Wimbledon Men’s Singles Champion in 77 years, this sunny 90s gem is going to sound perfect. Except, of course, for the title. But I couldn’t anything called “I Love Your Expression of Grim Determination And Focus”

…..I’d do Lazy Sunday. In fact, I’ve been doing it already this morning and I sound exactly like Steve Marriott. Well, for the first half anyway. Until he turns into arguably the greatest white blues singer this country has ever produced. And if you want to see what influenced Blur and Madness, look no further […]

……..you may be going for a picnic. So as you lie back in the warmth and sunshine, having had a little too much of everything, make sure you have this going round and round in your head…..

……to “handle a row”, my friend Jon Harrison doesn’t immediately strike you (good job too) as the artistic type. Oh, but he is. Jon is a truly gifted illustrator, cartoonist and web designer. Do you like the illustrations on this site? Every one of them hand drawn by Jon. And this morning, there’ll be dancing […]

American Independence Day. We could have “The Boss” bellowing “Born in the USA” but we’re not going to. I love America but like a lot of Brits, I’ve only really been to the East Coast, the West Coast and Florida. Hank Snow, on the other hand…..

And what was No.1 when I emerged into a back bedroom in London NW2? A week earlier, it would have been Elvis. A week later, Ray Charles. But no, Pick of the Pops that week was this “humorous” ditty by an unknown cockney actor called Mike Sarne, accompanied by a young Wendy Richard who was […]

A naff record, only made naffer by the video of those performing it that, for no reason you will ever be able to explain, you absolutely adore. This, I’m afraid, is mine…..

It’s unbelievable – literally unbelievable – that they’re still the biggest band in the world. Of course they’re fantastic but wouldn’t you rather remember them from the last time they had a hit record and were officially “any good”?