Sunday 20 March 2011 Playlist

The Surfaris - Wipeout
Album: Wipe Out, Surfer Joe & Other Great Hits
1973 Compilations (out of print) Reissued 2005: Magic 

FEATURED ALBUM 
Pinetop Perkins & Willie 'Big Eyes' Smith - Joined At The Hip
2010: Telarc / Concord
Grown up to me a man'
I would like to have a girl like you
Cut that out


 

 

Cyndi Lauper ftg Charlie Musselwhite - Just your fool
Album: Memphis Blues
2010: Mercer Street

Ella Fitzgerald - Summertime
Album: Ella & Louis Together
2004: Universal Classics & Jazz 

Louis Armstrong - Hello Dolly
Album: The Pure Genius of Louis Armstrong; We have all the Time in the World
1994: EMI 

Michael Feinstein - Let me sing & I'm happy
Album: Remember; Michael Feinstein Sings Irving Berlin
1987: Elektra / Asylum

Dinah Washington - Ain't misbehavin'
Album: The Essential Dinah Washington
2010: Not Now

ALBUM OF THE MONTH
Gregory Porter - Water
2011: Motema
Magic cup
Skylark 






FEATURED ARTIST 
Scott Matthews - Passing Stranger
2007: Universal / Island
Dream song
Eyes wider than before
Elusive

Susan Boyle & Peter Kay - I know him so well
Single: BBC Comic Relief 2011 



Blossom Dearie - Touch the hand of love
Album: Our Favorite Songs
1995: Daffodil 

The Blind Boys of Alabama - Higher ground
Album: Higher Ground
2002: Real World

FEATURED ARTIST 
Anita O'Day - Four Classic Albums
2008: Avid
I didn't know what time it was
Let's fall in love
I fall in love too easily

Peter Grant - Traditional (Chuck Norman remix)
Album: Traditional
2007: Focus / Universal

Adele - Set fire to the rain
Album: 21
2011: XL

Woody Guthrie & Cisco Houston - John Henry
Album: Music Inspired by Oh! Brother, Where Art Thou?
2007: Not Now

 

Roberta Gambarini - No more blues
Album: Easy To Love
2006: Groovin' High Records

Dee Dee Bridgewater - Miss Brown to you
Album: Eleanora Fagin, To Billie with Love from Dee Dee Bridgewater
2010: DDB Records

Nell Bryden - Second time around
Album: What Does It Take?
2009: Nell Brydon Music

Sunday 24 August 08 Chat

Some good news this week - the Banana Splits are set to return!

Yes, Fleegle the dog, Bingo the gorilla, Drooper the lion and Snorky the elephant are to return to our screens via the US Cartoon Network following a 'modern makeover'.
Even if you don't remember the Splits themselves you're sure to recall the Tra La La Song which became a classic back in 1968 when Hanna-Barbera created the original Banana Splits Adventure Hour.
In the same zany mode but perhaps for slightly older and more ironically inclined audiences, the great comedian Peter Kay (think Phoenix Nights and Max & Paddy's Road to Nowhere) has produced a new TV comedy that takes the mickey out of TV talent shows.
Written by Kay and starring the man himself in the role of contestants, the show is called Britain's Got the Pop Factor & Possibly a New Celebrity Jesus Christ Soapstar Superstar Strictly on Ice.
If the title's anything to go by it should be a hoot! Look out for it on Channel 4 in October.

* * * * * * * * * * *

We've got mice. Living in an old house surrounded by fields this is an occupational hazard. But it's a pain as I've only recently managed to clear their brethren out of the car.
Putting moth balls under the bonnet seems to have kept them at bay but when the engine's warm and the windows are closed the smell of moth balls is overwhelming.
So I took a few of the stinkers out of the car (which has made driving a good deal easier) and dropped them down the hole around the water stop tap where the mice are appearing.
The entire house now smells of moth balls and the mice are still in evidence.
So I broke out the traps and loaded them up with chocolate, because everyone in the country knows that mice have a sweet tooth. Except the little devils have grabbed the chocolate and made off with it; chocolate bars 2: mice 0 - the vermin are winning on points.
The food's been that good the mice have invited their friends and now there's mess and droppings all through the kitchen cupboards.
This is the point I realise there could be a nest and babies and the rodents cease being amusing and become disease-carrying pests.
So I've had to take drastic action and purchase anticoagulant grain. They're taking it so that should sort the problem.
Then I'm going to have to think of some way to deaden the smell of the moth balls.
Oh, the joys of county living.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Usain Bolt, the lighting-fast Jamaican runner and winner of the men's 100m sprint in Beijing managed to go on and win not only the 200m but also a third gold medal and third new world record for his part on the winning men's 4 x 100m relay.
What a man! What an athlete! What a showman! What an amazing achievement for a 22-year-old with little previous world-stage experience.
See the BBC's excellent video summary of his achievement here.
And yes, I cried. Phenomenal. Just phenomenal.