This blogger is often asked by dear blog readers exactly what The Stately Telly Topping Manor Plague House looks like. So, for you, dear inquisitive blog readers, here is an exterior shot. Nice, innit?
So, dear From The North bloggerisationism readers, guess whom has been out and about in Welsh Wales filming for the next series of Doctor Who this very week, then?
If you said That There Ncuti Gtawa and Miss Millie Gibson, congratulations, you were wholly correct in your outburst.
This blogger should note that, around this time each year, he tends to get a bit morose and grumpy. No, allow Keith Telly Topping to rephrase that. Around this time each year, this blogger tends to get a bit more morose and grumpy than usual. There is a fairly straightforward reason for this morosity and grumpiness. This coming weekend sees the annual Gallifrey One convention taking place in Los Angeles. That's in the United States Of America if you weren't sure. This blogger used to be a regular attendee from 1998 up until 2007. However, for a number of reasons (financial as well as health and well-being related) apart from one - pleasant - return in 2014, he's been unable to go these for the last decade and a half. So, each year, during the third week of February whilst the majority of this blogger's fine fiends and former Virgin and BBC colleagues are over there ...
... this blogger finds himself stuck here, in cold, wet Tyneside. Is it, therefore, any wonder that he gets a bit tetchy and discombobulated around this period? No, don't answer that.
In lieu, therefore, of any potential ten-and-a-half hour flights to LAX (via Amsterdam, usually), The Stately Telly Topping Manor Plague House super-dupa widescreen tellybox Doctor Who activity on iPlayer continues apace, dear blog readers. And, why not? There's only so many times this blogger can watch the same daytime TV regulars before longing for something a bit more timey-wimey.
Which, of course, brings us neatly to Memorably Daft Double-Entendres In Episodes Of Doctor Whom (1963-2022). Number One Hundred & One: The Doctor Dances.
Which, by a (not that bizarre) coincidence was (along with the accompanying The Empty Child) that particular morning's Stately Telly Topping Manor Plague House 'uge widescreen tellybox iPlayer weapon of choice. As a useful reminder that, you know, The Lord Thy God Steven Moffat (OBE) created a little bloody twenty four carat masterpiece with this one (these two, technically). This blogger could write twenty different reviews on those episodes, each taking a different road as to why they were so brilliant; a Marxist parable ('don't forget the NHS!'), a study of loss and grief, The Doctor as Hero, The Doctor as culture moulder ('twenty years till pop music, you're gonna love it!'), a feminist tract (both Rose and Nancy possessing knowledge that influences the men around them), Doctor Who as pseudo-historical. Doctor Who as life affirmation ('Just this once, everybody lives!') Et cetera. Plus, you know, Chris, Billie and Old Barrowman acting their little cotton socks off. It's not a bit of wonder the episodes got an audience of seven million in 2006 and only the most sour-faced and slappable of those didn't, like this blogger, think they were great. Keith Telly Topping recommends them to The House.
Memorably Daft Double-Entendres In Episodes Of Doctor Whom (1963-2022). Number One Hundred & Two: Blink.
Memorably Daft Double-Entendres In Episodes Of Doctor Whom (1963-2022). Number One Hundred & Three: The Fires Of Pompeii.
Memorably Daft Double-Entendres In Episodes Of Doctor Whom (1963-2022). Number One Hundred & Four: The Big Bang.
Memorably Daft Double-Entendres In Episodes Of Doctor Whom (1963-2022). Number One Hundred & Five: The Ark. Oi, that's not a 'thing', it's a Dodo. Behave yourselves.
Memorably Daft Double-Entendres In Episodes Of Doctor Whom (1963-2022). Number One Hundred & Six: The Wedding Of River Song.
Memorably Daft Double-Entendres In Episodes Of Doctor Whom (1963-2022). Number One Hundred & Seven: Partners In Crime.
Memorably Daft Double-Entendres In Episodes Of Doctor Whom (1963-2022). Number One Hundred & Eight: The Mind Robber.
This blogger's fiend Linford noted when this one appeared on this blogger's Facebook page, that he, personally, was enjoying some sausage at that very moment. 'I'll be you are, Linford, I'll bet you are,' replied Keith Telly Topping. After all, whom amongst us doesn't enjoy a right good banger every now and then? The bigger the banger the better, in fact.
Memorably Daft Double-Entendres In Episodes Of Doctor Whom (1963-2022). Number One Hundred & Nine: School Reunion.
Monday of this week marked the one hundredth anniversary of the BBC's first broadcast in Wales. As a consequence, the BBC News website looked in the archives to find its most significant Welsh moments since 1923. Plus that effing awful travesty Gavin & Stacey.
Star Trek: Discovery actor and From The North favourite Anthony Rapp has spoken out against Hogwarts Legacy. On Twitter, Anthony, who plays Lieutenant Commander Paul Stamets in the series (you knew that, right?) joined other protestors in urging a total Geoffrey Boycott of the 'arry Potta game. 'I won't be buying or playing the Hogwarts game because I refuse to do anything that will contribute a penny to JK R*wl*ng,' he wrote. The mass backlash surrounding Hogwarts Legacy stems from That Odious Rowling Woman's crass and ignorant anti-trans sentiments, which the author voiced on social media in June 2020 and has repeated since. While Warner Brothers Games confirmed that That Odious Rowling Woman herself had 'no direct involvement' with the development of Hogwarts Legacy, she will still receive royalties from the game's sales. For what its worth, this blogger has no intention of buying Hogwarts Legacy either. But then, as someone with little or no interest in either the 'arry Potta franchise or in role-playing games anyway, he fully accepts that such a statement is, frankly, a bit of an empty gesture. Nevertheless, he was and remains both appalled and very appalled by various statements made by That Odious Rowling Woman on the subject of trans rights and considers the idea of, in any way, contributing to her already vast fortune to be something he'd rather not do. And, as a consequence, he is at least able to look himself in the mirror and say 'there is a man.'
Next, dear blog reader, we turn to that Indiana Jones & The Dial Of Destiny Super Bowl Trailer, in full. Okay, this blogger is, provisionally, on board. (Then again, Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull looked great from the trailers and that turned out to be something of an all-over-the-place disappointment.)
When this blogger posted the Indiana Jones & The Dial Of Destiny link on his Facebook page, it prompted a brief (and, frankly, rather pointless) discussion between this blogger and one of this blogger's fiends about whether scenes of Harrison Ford killing Nazis in The Last Crusade being 'played for laughs' (ie. the shooting-three-Nazis-with-one-bullet bit) was distasteful or not. This blogger opined that he didn't think they were and pointed out that death scenes being 'played for laughs' in that particular franchise is something which has being going on since Raiders Of The Lost Ark itself (the famous - and genuinely hilarious - bazaar sequence just to take one example). This blogger's fiend did rather ruin his own argument by claiming at one point that Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull was the best of the series. Which is isn't or anything even remotely like it (though this blogger does rather enjoy it a lot more than many fans of the franchise do). All of which brought to mind a recent discussion on From The North's favourite podcast, Kermode & Mayo's Take in which a correspondent, in the nicest possible way, 'took issue' with the world's finest movie reviewer, Mark Kermode, over one of Mark's comments on the Indiana Jones franchise. The correspondent said: 'Mark declared that, having recently re-watched all four movies, they're nothing like as good as we remember them. Mark then gave them a quick rating - Raiders: probably the best. Temple Of Doom: So problematic even Spielberg had a problem with it. Last Crusade: Actually not bad. Crystal Skull: All over the shop!' The correspondent added that, in fact, this is pretty much exactly how most movie-going fans of the franchise remember them too! 'Temple Of Doom is only tolerated for the mine-cart sequence and the rope-bridge stunt. It's the strength of Raiders and the banter between Connery and Ford [in Last Crusade] that keeps us coming back for more,' he said. 'Hopefully we'll find that the Star Trek "odd-numbered-films-are-the-best-in-the-series" lore also applies to the Indiana Jones franchise.' Mark cheerfully agreed, whilst pointing out that, in fact, in the original Star Trek film series, it's the other way around. It's the even-numbered movies (Wrath of Khan, The Voyage Home, The Undiscovered Country) that are the good ones. The Final Frontier, he pointed out wisely, is many things but 'good' isn't one of them.
An award-winning German ballet director has, reportedly, been suspended after smearing dog faeces on a critic's face. Well, let's be honest, everyone that had ever been subject of a bad review (for anything) has probably wanted to do something similar. Indeed, the story gave a bunch of worthless Middle Class hippie Communists at the Gruniad Morning Star a right good opportunity for a sour whinge. About all of the times that they'd said something nasty about someone and their work and then found themselves discovering that words often have consequences.
And now, an important From The North announcement. Keith Telly Topping would like whomsoever it is that goes around banning these books (and others) in US public libraries, that despite their best efforts, he's read all of them. Better luck in the next life. And, yes, the fact that one of these, Fahrenheit 451, is a book about the banning (and burning) of books is an irony which should be lost on precisely no one.
Keith Telly Topping is indebted to his most excellent fiend, Mick The Mod, for alerting this blogger to the following which appeared on Mick's mobile alert early this week. 'Strong and fearless'? Not sure about that, dear blog reader. But, 'one of a kind'? This blogger should ruddy cocoa.
This blogger is also grateful to his fiend Eric for letting him known that, not only has the late Wendy Richard had a minor planet named after her but, so has the late John Inman. Which leaves this blogger somewhat stressed in wondering if all of those aliens out there realise that space - including, potentially, their own occupied spheres - is currently being renamed by some obsessive Are You Being Served? fan at NASA. Mark this blogger's words, if in the near future, Planet Earth gets attacked by The Daleks, it's probably because they've just discovered that someone thought it was a good idea to rename Skaro Mrs Slocombe's Pussy.
Popular period drama Call The Midwife has been renewed for two more series, the BBC has confirmed. The announcement of series fourteen and fifteen means the drama will run until at least 2026. Call The Midwife began in 2012 and follows a group of East London midwives as they deal with issues such as racism, domestic abuse and mental health problems in the 1950s and 1960s. Creator Heidi Thomas said that she was 'overjoyed' at the renewal which will see the drama move into the 1970s. She added the new series will explore the lives of the midwives and nuns in their personal and professional lives at the convent they work at - Nonnatus House. Thomas said: 'We are a family behind the scenes, on the screen - and in front of the telly - and I'm thrilled that we're all heading into the 1970s together.' Series thirteen was previously confirmed by the BBC and filming will start in the spring.
Rishi Sunak has declined to say whether he 'has confidence' in the BBC chairman, saying that he 'cannot speculate' while an inquiry is held into the appointment. Richard Sharp is under scrutiny after it emerged he had acted as a go-between for a loan guarantee for then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Although whether a lack of endorsement from soon-to-be-former Prime Minister Sunka could be considered a bad thing or a good thing is something of a vexed question. An MPs' committee has said Sharp made 'significant errors of judgement' in doing this while applying for the BBC job. Sharp insists he got the job on merit. One or two people even believed him. Questioned on Monday, soon-to-be-former Prime Minister Sunak said that he would not 'pre-judge' the outcome of an investigation by the government's appointments watchdog. Asked whether Sharp had 'undermined the impartiality' of the BBC, Sunak weaselled that the controversy over his appointment related 'to a process that happened before I was Prime Minister.' Which is as close as a politician can get to 'it wasn't my fault, honest, I was with Steve at the time' without actually saying it. Sunak added that he couldn't 'speculate' or 'prejudge the outcome' of an inquiry by the independent office for public appointments, which he said would determine whether 'rules and procedures were adhered to.' Later, asked directly if Sunak had 'confidence' in Sharp, the Prime Minister's official spokesperson said: 'Yes, we are confident the process was followed.'
A small meteoroid entered the Earth's atmosphere and was seen lighting up the sky above the English Channel, creating a stunning shooting star effect early this week. The one metre size projectile was seen entering the Earth's atmosphere shortly before 3AM on Monday morning. Social media users in the South of England, shared footage of the rock which has been named Sar2667 (and, surprisingly, not Mister Rumbold). It is just the seventh time that an asteroid impact has been predicted in advance. The European Space Agency tweeted that it was 'a sign of the rapid advancements in global asteroid detection capabilities.'
This blogger's favourite story involving the great Burt Bacharach who died this week, aged ninety four has been told many, many times previously, including in From The North's obituaries for both Cilla Black and George Martin, but it probably bears one more retelling. Cilla's - astonishing - version of 'Alfie' was arranged and conducted by its co-author, Bacharach, at Abbey Road circa October 1965 (cameras were in the studio and footage of the session can be found here). Burt insisted on numerous takes and Cilla cited the session as probably the most demanding of her entire recording career. For Bacharach's part, he later said 'there weren't too many white singers around, who could convey the emotion that I felt in many of the songs I wrote. But, that changed with people like Cilla Black.' The first take was, according to legend, pretty good, as was the second but the third was as near-as-dammit perfect. However, Burt reportedly asked for one more go which was performed but wasn't as good as the previous three. And so, recording continued. And continued. And continued. After something like thirty takes and with Cilla now a puddle on the floor of Studio One and most of the string players' fingers bleeding dear old George Martin who had sat quietly in the control room whilst all of this malarkey had been going on finally hit the talk-back button and asked 'what, exactly, are you looking for, Burt?' 'I'm looking for a bit of magic, George' Burt said to which George laconically replied: 'I think you'll find we had that on Take Three!' And, indeed, that's version you'll hear on record.
Few songwriters have been able to enjoy hits across six decades, as well as the bonus of a dramatic revival of interest in their work during the later years of their careers. Burt Bacharach could claim both. With his writing partner, Hal David, Bacharach launched himself into the front rank of pop songwriters with a brilliant streak of hits for Dionne Warwick during the 1960s, beginning in 1962 with 'Don't Make Me Over' and proceeding through (among others) 'Walk On By', 'Anyone Who Had A Heart', 'I Say A Little Prayer', 'Trains & Boats & Planes' and 'Do You Know The Way To San Jose?' All became standards in Bacharach's chosen pop-easy-listening genre, their apparent simplicity concealing his mastery of different rhythms and metres. He had soaked up the music of the jazz big bands and bebop and also studied with the French composer Darius Milhaud, who urged his pupil to 'never ever feel embarrassed or discomforted by a melody that people can remember or whistle.' Bacharach's melodies were not only memorable but also frequently suffused with melancholy and/or regret. His gifts as an arranger allowed him to exploit all the resources of an orchestra with precision and his use of plaintive 'Bacharach trumpets' became a distinctive trademark.
Meanwhile he was turning out imperishable classics for a string of different artists. Along with Hal David's brother, Mack and producer Luther Dixon, he wrote 'Baby It's You' for The Shirelles and ended up early a fortune from it when The Be-Atles (a popular beat combo of the 1960s, you might've heard of them) covered it. Tom Jones never particularly liked 'What's New, Pussycat?', the Oscar-nominated theme from the 1965 film, but acknowledged its enduring popularity. Bacharach and David's 'Wishin' and Hopin' gave Dusty Springfield a top ten hit in the US in 1964, shortly before she reached number three in the UK with their song 'I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself'. They followed that with what would become Dusty's theme song, 'The Look Of Love', which featured in the 1967 movie Casino Royale. Herb Alpert topped the US chart with the ballad 'This Guy's In Love With You', Jackie DeShannon did likewise with 'What The World Needs Now Is Love' and BJ Thomas was the lucky recipient of 'Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head', from the film Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid (which brought Bacharach and David Oscars for best theme song and best original score). Bacharach was an Oscar-winner for a third time in 1982, with 'Arthur's Theme'.
The son of Bert Bacharach, a nationally-syndicated newspaper columnist and Irma Freeman, an artist and songwriter, Burt was born in Kansas City, but the family moved to Queens, New York, when he was a child. At the insistence of his mother, Burt studied the cello, drums and piano. His ears were opened by the innovative harmonies and melodies of jazz musicians of the day such as Thelonious Monk and Charlie Parker and he played with several jazz combos before enrolling in music courses at the Mannes School of Music, New York and at McGill University in Montreal. He served in the US army (between 1950 and 1952) and, while acting as a dance band arranger in Germany, he met the singer Vic Damone. Back in the US after his discharge, Bacharach performed as a piano accompanist to Damone and to numerous other artists on the club circuit. One of them was the actor and singer Paula Stewart, whom he married in 1953. He was fortunate to fall into one of the all-time great songwriting partnerships with David, whom he first met at the New York songwriting beehive, The Brill Building (also to be the home of other renowned songwriting duos including Leiber & Stoller, Goffin & King and Pomus & Shuman). David had been writing hits for such luminaries as Sarah Vaughan and Frank Sinatra since the late 1940s. Bacharach and David scored their first big commercial coup when the country singer Marty Robbins took their song 'The Story Of My Life' into the US Top Twenty in 1957. A cover version by Michael Holliday reached number one in the UK the following year and Perry Como brought them another smash with his recording of 'Magic Moments'.
After the breakdown of his marriage (he and Stewart divorced in 1958), Bacharach travelled to Europe to become pianist and bandleader for Marlene Dietrich, a role he would sustain until 1964 (they topped the bill at the 1963 Royal Variety Performance). During this period, back in New York, and wrote material for The Drifters, as well as the Chuck Jackson hit 'Any Day Now' before resuming his partnership with David. Their song '(The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance', inspired by the John Ford western, became a US hit for Gene Pitney in 1962. Pitney did better still with the duo's composition 'Only Love Can Break A Heart' later that year. Then came Bacharach and David's historic partnership with Warwick. She was a member of The Drifters' backing singers, The Gospelaires and the songwriters invited her to make some demo recordings in their office at the publishers Famous Music, in The Brill Building. One of them was for 'Make It Easy On Yourself', which became a big hit for Jerry Butler (and, in Britain, an even bigger one for The Walker Brothers a few years later). David recalled: 'She said, "I thought that was my song!" We said, "No, you just made a demo." She was really very hurt and angry. Then we realised here's this wonderful singer and we're using her to make demos - she could be a star!'
So it proved, and the hits with Warwick became their calling card. They wrote and produced twenty American Top Forty hits for her over the ensuing decade, including seven that reached the Top Ten. One of these, 'I Say A Little Prayer', also gave Aretha Franklin her biggest solo hit in Britain. Throughout the 1960s anything Bacharach and David touched became commercial gold dust. They wrote film scores for What's New, Pussycat? and Casino Royale, the theme song for Alfie and scored the successful Broadway musical Promises, Promises, whose title song provided another hit for Warwick and spun-off a chartbuster for Bacharach himself with 'I'll Never Fall in Love Again' (also a hit for both Johnny Mathis and Bobbie Gentry). The writers always had a soft spot for the UK, probably because so many British-based artists had hits with their material, including Cilla - whose version of 'Anyone Who Had A Heart' was her breakthrough hit - Sandie Shaw (the wonderful 'There Is Always Something There To Remind Me') and Dusty Springfield.
The Carpenters ushered in the 1970s with '(They Long To Be) Close To You', a US number one, but although Bacharach's eponymous 1971 LP became a sought-after collector's item, the decade would prove to be ultimately disappointing. In 1973 Bacharach and David collaborated on a new musical version of the 1937 film Lost Horizon, but it was a commercial disaster that prompted angry splits between Bacharach, David and Warwick, and involved them in a spate of lawsuits. The writers parted company after a disagreement over royalties and in his 2013 autobiography, Bacharach cites Lost Horizon as very nearly ending his musical career (though it did produced at least one great song, 'The World Is A Circle'). Bacharach's second marriage, to Angie Dickinson whom he had married in 1965, began to dissolve, although they did not divorce until 1980.
It was not until the early 1980s that Bacharach's magic touch returned, when he won the Oscar for best original song for the chart-topping theme from the film Arthur, which he had also scored. One of its co-writers was the lyricist Carole Bayer Sager, whom Bacharach married the following year. The couple went on to write 'Making Love' for Roberta Flack and 'Heartlight' for Neil Diamond. In 1986, Bacharach enjoyed one of his best ever years, achieving two US chart toppers with 'That's What Friends Are For', recorded by Warwick with Elton John, Gladys Knight and Stevie Wonder as a charitable fundraiser for AIDs research and the Patti LaBelle/Michael McDonald recording of 'On My Own'. In 1991 his marriage to Bayer Sager ended and, two years later, he married Jane Hansen. In a 2015 interview, Bacharach - who was nicknamed 'the playboy of the Western world' during the 1960s - admitted: 'I didn't mean to hurt anybody, but when you wind up being married four times, there are a lot of bodies strewn in your wake.'
During the 1990s, Bacharach and David reunited with Warwick for 'Sunny Weather Lover', from her CD Friends Can Be Lovers and Bacharach wrote songs for James Ingram and Earth, Wind & Fire. In 1995 he co-wrote 'God Give Me Strength' with Elvis Costello for Allison Anders' film about The Brill Building era, Grace Of My Heart and this resulted in the Costello-Bacharach CD Painted From Memory (1998) which brought him a whole new generation of fans. Bacharach's contribution to pop history was acknowledged in a 1996 BBC documentary, Burt Bacharach - This Is Now, and he would find himself being hailed as an 'icon of cool' by bands as varied as Oasis (Noel Gallagher was a huge fan and performed a fine version of 'This Guy's In Love With You' accompanied by Burt at London's Royal Festival Hall in 1996), REM, Massive Attack and The White Stripes. In 1997, an all-star cast including Costello, Warwick, Chrissie Hynde, Sheryl Crow and Luther Vandross banded together at The Hammerstein Ballroom, New York, for a serenade of Bacharach's songs called One Amazing Night and the Rhino label issued The Look Of Love, a fine three-disc compilation of his music.
Bacharach's profile received another huge boost from his appearances in all three of Mike Myers's 1960s-spoofing Austin Powers movies. He earned an Oscar nomination for the song 'Walking Tall', his first collaboration with the lyricist Tim Rice, which was performed by Lyle Lovett on the soundtrack of Stuart Little (1999). His 2005 CD At This Time unusually found Bacharach writing lyrics as well as music and even provoking some controversy by touching on political themes. 'All my life I've written love songs and I've been non-political,' he said. 'So it must be pretty significant that I suddenly have strong feelings of discomfort with the state of the world and what our [US] administration is doing.' This did not prevent the CD from winning the 2006 Grammy award for best pop instrumental album. In 2008 he opened the BBC Electric Proms at The Roundhouse, with Adele and Jamie Cullum among his supporting musicians. His autobiography, Anyone Who Had A Heart: My Life & Music, was published in 2013 and two years later he performed at the Glastonbury festival in the Sunday Afternoon Legends slot. He continued to tour past his ninetieth birthday, with concerts in the UK, US and Europe in 2018 and 2019. He returned to movie soundtrack composing with his score for A Boy Called Po (2016), featuring the theme song 'Dancing With Your Shadow'. The film concerned a child with autism and inspired Bacharach to write the music in memory of Nikki, his daughter from his second marriage, who took her own life in 2007 having been affected by Asperger's Syndrome. In 2018 his song 'Live To See Another Day' was released, its proceeds donated to families affected by the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012. In addition to his Oscars and six Grammy awards (plus a lifetime achievement award in 2008), he was awarded the Polar music prize in Stockholm in 2001. In 2011, the Library of Congress awarded Bacharach and David the Gershwin prize for popular song. Burt is survived by Jane, their son, Oliver and daughter, Raleigh, and another son Cristopher, from his third marriage.
The BBC News website's Burt Bacharach: Twelve Of The Legendary Composer's Most Magic Moments is highly recommended even if the authors, Paul Glynn & Daniel Rosney, did manage to somewhat stuff-up the chronology of 'Alfie'! (Cilla recorded it first, Cher's version appears on US prints of the movie. In Britain, Millie Martin sang the movie version but Cilla's cover was the hit.)
This blogger was also very saddened to hear, just before posting this latest bloggerisationism update, of the death of Rachel Welch, aged eighty two. Always rather under-rated as an actress, she appeared in several of this blogger's favourite movies, including Bedazzled, The Last Of Sheila, Hannie Caulder, Fuzz, The Three Musketeers (and its sequel) and Lady In Cement.
Next, dear blog reader ...
Followed, inevitably, by ...
This probably isn't going to end well either.
Police Crack Case Of Two Hundred Thousand Stolen Cadbury's Creme Eggs In Telford according to the BBC News website. Police had previously said that they had narrowed down a list of potential suspects to 'everyone with a sense of taste.'
Meanwhile, dear blog reader, a Mars Wrigley factory has been fined after two workers reportedly fell into their chocolate vat. This information is provided to you by this blogger just, you know, on the off-chance that you're about to tuck into to a well deserved Mars Bar.
One of those 'make an Asperger's-style list of stuff you've done in your life and then tell other people about it' things has been doing the rounds on yer actual Facebook recently. This one concerning rock and/or roll jiggs attended (or, in the case of one of the ten questions, not attended). This blogger normally avoids these sort of things like the plague, wishing to save his Asperger's-style lists for something far more trivial that that. But, he decided he would take part in this, particular, one because it gave him the chance to brag about having seen, in no particular order: Paul McCartney & Wings, Deep Purple (and hated every single minute of it), New Order, The Housemartins, The Jam, Oasis, james, Dexy's Midnight Runners, The Stone Roses, Buzzcocks, Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, The Who, Richard Thompson, Lindisfarne, Donovan, The Clash, The Specials, Hawkwind, Julian Cope (before he went metal), Joy Division, The Smiths (before Morrissey when mental), Ian Dury & The Blockheads, Rockpile, Elvis Costello with both The Attractions and The Confederates, The Monkees (with Mike Nesmith), The Patti Smith Group, Public Image Limited, Kraftwerk, The Stranglers, The Go-Go's, Killing Joke, The Tourist, U2, Ech & The Bunnymen and The Bootleg Be-Atles. Amongst many others. And, he concluded with the wish that this blogger could have seen David Bowie on any tour other than Glass Spider. Sods law, innit, the one time Keith Telly Topping saw The Grand Dame, he had a rotten haircut and played most of Never Let Me Down. There have been war crimes trials over less.
A pity, this. Keith Telly Topping really rather fancied a decent bout of tipcat tonight, an'all ...
Here is a definite contender for the From The North Headline Of The Week award.
On the hop, surely? Let it be noted, however, that this blogger had nothing against this man's right leg. Unfortunately, neither has he. Nah, lissun ... 'The worst job I ever had, right, was drawin' all those lines on the white suit of that David Bloody Bowie ...'
The actual nominees for the From The North Headline Of The Week award are as follows. The Manchester Evening News's Oldham Family Flee As Candle Tribute To Whitney Houston Sets Fire To Their Home.
Then, there is Devon Live's Man Finds God In A Cupboard. Oh, is that where he's been all this time?
And, also, the North Wales Daily Post's Snooker Star Thinks Seagull Stole His Terry's Chocolate Orange After Llandudno Match. This blogger believes it's the sub-header, The former world champion said he was 'fuming' that makes it art.
And finally, dear blog reader, sometimes, captions simply aren't needed. Don't ask, please.
