Author Archives: Paul

Heavy metal went into mourning last week with the death of Lemmy, legendary frontman of Motorhead. But on the same day, Meadowlark Lemon, another global legend also passed away. Lemon was clown prince of the Harlem Globetrotters and one the most skilful and entertaining basketball players the world has ever seen. In the 1970s, the […]

…and happy birthday to Sir George Martin who celebrates his 90th birthday and 91st new year today. I still don’t think he gets the credit he deserves for making The Beatles the biggest band ever. In two years, they went from “She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah” to this. Impossible without the musical genius and […]

Apparently this came out years ago but I’d never heard it until last week. I loved it. No idea who it was but I loved it. Then I discovered it was Coldplay. I don’t like Coldplay therefore I can’t like this. But I do. It’s a fantastic version. Oh no, does this mean I’ll be […]

That was the rumour at the time. It certainly sounds like him and the record came out on Stiff, his record label. The Snowmen never revealed their identity. They appeared on Top of the Pops – well, some people miming and disguised as snowmen did – so we still don’t know who they were. The […]

Probably not. Especially given their increasingly ridiculous-sounding subject matter in our ever more secular society. They can be beautiful, they can be poetic, they can evoke the warmth and happiness of childhood Christmases long, long ago. But cool? Nah, no Christmas carol has ever been cool. Except maybe this one.

……is saying “It doesn’t feel like Christmas”. Because it never does. You no longer take part in the Nativity play, sing carols at school or believe in Father Christmas. And although it snows every year on EastEnders, it hasn’t actually snowed in London on Christmas Day since 1970. But today, less than a week before […]

Jose Mourinho is the most successful manager in Chelsea’s history. But yesterday they sacked him for the second time. On this occasion, just seven months after he’d led them to the Premier League title. It’s true that the collapse in their form has been startling. Chelsea have gone from champions to relegation contenders almost overnight. […]

Congratulations to Major Tim Peake, the first Briton to join the International Space Station. Too obvious to salute his achievement with Space Oddity. Or with Ashes to Ashes, Bowie’s other big hit featuring the ill-fated Major Tom. Far better to unearth this hypnotic disco gem. Especially as another term for International Space Station would be……Space […]

…for my daughter’s last school carol service. Like a lot of people without a religious bone in their bodies, I love churches. And especially this one. St. Mark’s is huge, dark, gothic and glorious. Not in a pretty and immaculately kept sort of way, but in the hauntingly beautiful atmosphere which makes its Victorian past […]

…and six days a week, I have to switch it straight off again. During the week, it’s Woman’s Hour – a horribly dated programme which somehow manages to patronise both women and men. And on Sunday, it’s the Archers Omnibus which, if anything, is even worse. A lame soap opera which follows the contrived tribulations […]