Author Archives: Paul

Status Quo’s version of Rockin’ All Over The World is not the original. Neither is Rod Stewart’s version of Sailing. And over here, we’re far more familiar with the the Isley Brothers’ version of Summer Breeze, but this is the original, which was a much bigger hit in the States. In London, it was 21 […]

This is my daughter’s new favourite phrase. If I say anything gently reproving to her, I’m immediately accused of being passive-aggressive or “pass-aggress”. Which got me thinking about this old Seekers hit. On the surface, it’s a jolly little number, singing the praises of a swinging sixties chick. Yet it’s probably the most passive-aggressive record […]

…there’s no denying that Cream were a fantastic band. Only three of them but Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker punched well above their weight in talent, influence and musical significance. In the late 60s, they turned rock music into a serious art form which was either a wonderful or awful thing. I think […]

…was the news that Wilko Johnson has recovered from pancreatic cancer. I’ve loved Dr Feelgood since buying Stupidity from Woolworth’s with my paper round money. Wilko invented that sharp, choppy guitar style that was the basis of their sound. A couple of years later, that very sound formed the basis of punk but for thirty-odd […]

All the papers reported the death yesterday of 70s glam star Alvin Stardust. But “Alvin” was just a joke name under which songwriter Peter Shelley had recorded “My Coo Ca Choo”. To Shelley’s astonishment, it entered the charts and the call came to appear on Top of The Pops. Shelley didn’t want to so he […]

I saw that sign outside a little farm out beyond Cockfosters. When my kids were small, they used to love going over there to pick their own strawberries. I was always very strict, telling them not to eat any before we’d paid for them because that was stealing. Unfortunately, I failed to practise what I […]

I’m usually dead against Radio 2’s policy of giving radio shows to celebrities just because they’re famous, but Idris is different. He was a DJ long before was an actor, playing at parties around the West African communities of East London. I worked with him on some Vodafone commercials last year then went to see […]

I found myself in the Mary Lou Room at the Groucho Club watching a live art exhibition. Sculptor Frances Segelman was sculpting a hermaphrodite artist called XXXora who lay semi-naked before her. During this, we had to listen to XXXora talking about the painful struggle of androgyny and dual sexuality and how her true catharsis […]

It’s a miserable, grey Monday and it hasn’t stopped raining. Rainy days and Mondays get everyone down. But the reason I’ve waited ages to play it is because we haven’t had a rainy Monday for a very long time. We’ve enjoyed a very good summer in 2014. As we did in 2013. So rainy days […]