timebug

Only You - Yazoo/Flying Pickets

The Last Time - The Stones

Out of boredom and lack of choice really, I recently re-watched 'Journey to the Centre of The Earth' (1959) on TV. James Mason, Pat Boone and Diane Baker in a pretty good (although loose!) adaptation of the Jules Verne book. Ray Harryhausen 'monsters', officially some kind of dinosaur, in reality Chameleons with stuck on fins and horns! Good fun and it passes a couple of hours painlessly if you like this kind of thing. My only bugbear when I first saw it and now, is the way Pat Boone has to shovel in a few bits of singing now and then!

I have mentioned before that I am not a Dickens fan; but I have read quite a few in my life, and I still find 'The Pickwick Papers' good fun.

Bring Me Sunshine - Morecombe and Wise

The time has come when my failing hearing has made me go for an audio check. I may need hearing aids, the decision is pemding; many years in a noisy work environment, with no ear defenders (they were not thought of back then!) and many years playing in noisy rock and roll bands have taken their toll. Que sera!

For The Good Times - Perry Como

Something Here In My Heart - The Paper Dolls

In My Life - The Beatles Sorry for my earlier 'miscue' but I had simply followed the post that appeared on my screen as 'latest post'! The wonders of technology sometimes bite you in the foot!

Just read the biography 'Ray Davies' by Johnny Rogan. Not a particularly satisfying read, as Ray Davies himself, as is quite well known, is not the pleasantest of men. Notoriously mean and tight fisted with money, angry and screwed up, he nevertheless wrote many great songs that were/are a part of the fabric of my life. Quite a detailed account of the history of The Kinks, it comes across as a labour of love rather than genuine admiration on the part of the author. Speaking of which, I.M.O Mr Rogan, who has written about thirty such books, does not strike me as a particularly good writer. His prose is often stilted almost forced, and I foubd this marathon sized tome a bit of a slog to finish. I did make it to the end, but came awy fairly dissatisfied with both the writer and the way the book was presented. Interesting enough, but I would earmark it 'only for the real diehard fan'!

Time is On My Side - The Stones (and others!)

In My Life - The Beatles

It's a Heartache - Bonnie Tyler

Girl - The Beatles

Yes, We Have no Bananas - Trad/Music Hall song

I read an abridged version of a book that I was familiar with (an old favourite) and nowhere on the cover did it state that it was abridged. I read through it realised that several of my favourite passages or incidents had been totally removed!

Wherever I Lay My Hat (That's My Home) - Paul Young

Cach Us If You Can - Dave Clarke Five

Lay Down (Candles in The Rain) - Edwin Hawkins Singers

Two Hearts - Phil Collins

Only You - Yazoo/Flying Pickets

Within You ,Without You - The Beatles

That's The Way (I lIke It) - KC & The Sunshine Band

It comes under 'censorship' to me. If a book was written two hundred years ago, it will naturally contain language and opinions of that era. I regard these works as a window into the period,rather than take supposed offence at them! Repeats of old tv shows now carry the same warning about 'language and opinions etc' and I find it quite annoying to be fair. I am an adult; if I choose to read a book from centuries past or watch a tv show from the sixties/seventies I can make up my own mind as to whether it may or may not be offesive in these precious overly sensitive times! We know history is full of sexist/racist things that we now regard as being wrong or 'incorrect'. But that is how it was, and much as we strive to rewrite or whitewash the past, it remains what it was. We learn by our mistakes and try to correct them;that is civilised behaviour. But we should never be blinded to the rue facts of any given situation!

Every Little Thing - The Beatles