Perceived wisdom

Perceived wisdom has it that The Beatles will be forever known as John and Paul's group; a group in which George and Ringo did as they were told. You've only got to witness the infighting during the Let It Be rehearsals: 'I'll play whatever you want me to play. Or I won't play at all if you don't want me to play' George tells Paul.

But it was George who had the soul. George who kept it tight at the back. George who had the best songs. Perceived wisdom is just that. Perceived.

Kings & Queens

'So what's this new song all about then?' my friend Phil says as we walk down to the acoustic jam. 'Kings & Queens? Sounds like a homage to The King's Head and Queen's Arms in Leeds.' Spoken like a true Wessie.

No, I've not written a song about public houses; in Leeds, or anywhere else for that matter. But I may have breached my own code about crossing over into (*looks over shoulder*) political songwriting. I say may: it'll be on the new EP later in the year. Tell me what you think then. Bloody hell, get me with my new EP. I'm still banging the drum for Pickering Place (named after London's smallest square, since you ask). Oh, and I'll be playing it in its entirety at The Kirk Theatre with my good friends David Swann and Frozen Gin.

Kings and Queens will line their pockets

The jokers call the shots

We're fighting for our pride here

It's all that we have got

All that we have got

© John Medd 2013

Are we not men?

* Love of German motorways: 98%

* Overalls: 0%

* Dummies: 99%

* Southern Boogie fans: 2%

* Krautness: 100%

* Plant pot fetish: 0%

* Love of German motorways: 2%

* Overalls: 99%

* Dummies: 68%

* Southern Boogie fans: 6%

* Krautness: 0%

* Plant pot fetish: 97%

Precisely

'At the third stroke'

 
Hard to believe (our children/grandchildren certainly wouldn't) that we used to ring up (from our land lines) a pre-recorded voice to get the time. It's almost as unbelievable as Dial-a-Disc. Maybe one day our call centre culture will seem just as anachronistic to future generations.

Perhaps the most famous speaking clock of them all was Pat Simmons (she had the gig from 1963 to 1985). Ms. Simmons sadly passed away in 2005, but her voice has been immortalised forever.

Not least by The Sweet: in 1973 if you flipped Hell Raiser over you'd have found this on the B-side.



Burning was that rare thing - a frighteningly original rock song. And literally frightening. Fast forward to 1:44 for some hot speaking clock action.

Macca Macca Hey!

Not for the first time, Macca finds himself linked to the original blitzkrieg boppers. I doubt if even Phil 'Hair Bear Bunch' Spector (another oily link in The Beatles/Ramones chain) could have improved on this cheeky little mashup.

Have you just trumped?

* Original members still alive: 25 %
* Big in Wolverhampton: 17 %
* Pinheads: 100 %
* Surname ubiquity: 100 %
* Popularity at Christmas: 4 %
* Gabba Gabba: 98 %
* Misappropriation of the English language: 8 %

* Original members still alive: 100 %

* Big in Wolverhampton: 99 %

* Pinheads: 25 %

* Surname ubiquity:  0 %
* Popularity at Christmas:  94 %

* Gabba Gabba: 12 %

* Misappropriation of the English language: 96 %

Friends

You can say what you like about this Blog (and many do) but I try and keep personal issues on the other side of the office door when I write it and, to that end, it's not what you'd call a Dear Diary; obviously it's got my fingerprints all over it (as you'd expect) but I've never gone down the road of logging every bowel movement as some people out there are prone to doing. My friends will often get mentioned here - sometimes by name, sometimes not - and, for the most part, I write nice things about them.

Some friends are like stray cats: they come to us and, if they like what they see, they'll stay. Others just come round for a square meal and disappear, never to be seen again. Since our move last November we've befriended some real Friends: they moved in over the road on the same day as us. Phil is a great songwriter and laughs like Basil Brush and Jane makes Mary Berry's cakes look like roadkill. And she's got a most beguiling smile. I really hope they like it here and stay a while.