Chris Difford's Second Coming

Of all the CDs packed and played on my recent country escape, only a handful became promoted to 'perma-plays'. Chris Difford's second solo album The Last Temptation of Chris was one of them. As British as Light and Bitter and as London as Pie and Mash (with liqour) each carefully crafted cracker is packed with more hooks than a velcro belt, more pop than a dropped bottle of Tizer and sensitively scripted lyrics that sit somewhere between Galton and Simpson, Clement and La Frenais, Andy Partridge and Lennon and McCartney

Chris is on tour at the moment, but managed to find time to help with my enquiries...

'The Last Temptation' was recorded at home, how techie are you when it comes to home recording , and is time spent twiddling , time that could be used tunesmithing?

I have a man who does this for me, it costs money but it's worth it.

What about gadgets like Auto-Tune, would you be comfortable using something like that.

Yes I would, it's very handy for an old chap like me.

There are several candid, confessional moments on the album. Does it work - getting subjects out of your head, off your chest and into a song?

It's a great way of saving money in the therapist's chair.

Are you ever tempted to write a book, fact or fiction?

Yes I have, if I had more time I would nail it.

Who is Jim the storyteller in 'Battersea Boys'?

He is a guy I met two years ago in a hospice, he is not very well, but he helped me write this great song.

It seems to be Londoners eye view of life, do you think geography and location have an influence on music and songwriting?

Almost everything to do with it.

As a guitarist are you self taught, and is there one artist, album or track that made you pick up and play?

I learnt to play by watching Glenn play, he is my teacher.

Are you are guitar collector, and if so what's your most cherished possesion?

I have a nice collection, my top guitar is a Jim Olson.

It's Robbie Williams on the phone, he wants to write together what do you say?

I'm coming right over.

So what can we expect at the live shows - how does it break down with new songs, old favourites and covers?

All of the above and some nice lights too.

You've done the album, you're on tour - what's next?

More of the same....and then more of the same again until I grow up.

Have you got favourite lyric or moment on 'The Last Tempatation'?

It's all great, but I think Reverso is fun.


Recommended Reading

Chris Difford's Myspace

Chris Difford's Website

Chris Difford - Fat As A Fiddle

Shameless Self Promotion

Well there's a whole lot of swapping and swinging happening on Planet Mondo today.

Mr Double Down is taking care of business for this weeks Funky Friday - while I'm over at his Hook and Sling site with my brand new fifty minute mix called .....

'Dial M For Mondo'

Which you can try before you buy with this two minute teaser trailer



And if you feel like filling your funky boots with the full track list...

Lets All Make Love In London (intro)
Rare Earth - I Just Want To Celebrate
Marsha Hunt – (Oh No!)Not the Beast Day
The Exciters - Blowing Up My Mind
Little Milton - More and More (on loan from Roman Empress )
The Isley Brothers - Get Into Something
Amanda Shankar - Jumpin' Jack Flash
Wynder K Frog – Bad Eye
Peggy Lee - Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay
Lou Rawls - The Letter
Little Richard - I Don't Want To Discuss It
M.V.Ps - Turnin My Heartbeat Up
The Younghearts - A Little Togetherness
Luther Ingram - If It's All The Same To You Babe
Electric Flag - Soul Searchin
Shirley Scott & The Soul Saxes - Get Back

You can download it right here ‘Dial M For Mondo’

Reasons To Be Cheerful Pt 2 - UK Place Names

I may be getting into BLTP type territory here - but some villages, rivers and streets have the chirpiest, cheeriest names. So cosy they could have been dreamt up by Enid Blyton - places like......

Broughton Poggs - should surely have been a character in The Flumps.

Hatfield Pevrel - I used to know someone with a cat called Hatfield Peverel.

Littely Green - the pub here serves triangular baps called 'Huffers', which are delish.

Steeple Bumpstead - can be sung to the tune of 'Okalahama'.

Cockle Row - I whizz past this everyday on the C2C line.

River Dikler - Aaah bless.

River Piddle - you couldn't make it up could you?

And what joker came up with this one ? Gobblers Knob *does theatrical Tom and Jerry type gulp* . Don't panic - it's in America and is to do with 'Groundhog Day' apparently.

And as a footnote 'Reasons Not To Be Cheerful'.

Why does every person that buggers off and buys a farm (or moves abroad) feel they have to write a bloody book about it!

A cheese grater will cost you eighty five earth pounds at Daylesford Organic Farm - so go here instead 'The Crock Shop' just up the road in sunny Stow.

If you do visit any of these places - don't forget to follow the country code....

Joe And Petunia - Country Code


When In the Country

Rural Retreat

Tomorrow I'll be heading off here for a week (not the plynth or those buildings - but this town), so while I'm away why not have a dig round on my other blog if you haven't yet.

There's goodies like - mini mixes, mashups, rare tracks, remixes and interviews.

See you in a few days..

Working Titles

Things I don't own and probably never will, but have the names ready - just in case....

Pet rat - Snapper
Pet cat - Ezekiel

Pet dog - Banjo
A racehorse - Babacombe Lad
Chintzy tea room/holiday cottage/guest house - The Spinney

Sweet Tooth

With Easter approaching I'm in a let's go choco' mood - so it seems appropriate to post a list of 'Sweets I Miss' and 'Sweets I Can't Believe Are Still Going'.

Sugar Sugar - Sweets I genuinely miss

Midnight Mint
Why hasn't this tasty treat been revived yet? Dark chocolate and melty minty ice cream. Gorgeous. (See also - Lord Toffinghams Lolly and that fist sized dark chocolate heart on stick thing)

Maynards Milk Gums
Not the loose milk bottle shaped ones weighed out from a jar , but the crinkle wrapped pocket size packet - even the little speckles and dimples were tasty .

Buttersnap
Yes there's 'Dime', 'Daim' or whatever it is, but it's not as creamy crunchy as the ''snap'.

Glees
'Skittles' - are nearly there but, to quote Roy Walker 'it's good but it's not right'.

Toffee and Mallow eggs
Just so scrummy.

Bar Six
An obscure classic, similar to Terry's 'Waifa'.

Fry's Five Centre advert



Alan Hawkshaw - The Night Rider (better known as the "all because the lady loves" Milk Tray music)


Shout About Pepsi - Denny Wright and The Hustlers




What Are You Still Doing Here? - Sweets Still Hanging On In There

Tunnocks (any variation)
Unchanged and unstoppable. Like the sort of thing Private Pike would have had in his lunch box .( Fancy a Virtual Tour of Tunnocks Towers? Then just click here)


Anglo Bubbly
And 25 for just one earth pound - amazing.

Parma Violets
Not only are they still going, but they've even gone all outsize too.

Lovehearts
They've updated them you know, with things like 'Fax Me' and 'Email Me', but hadn't got up to speed with Facebook or Text speak last time I had a pack.

Have a peep here and here for more tuck shop treats.

Scans taken from Robert Opie' 1970s Srapbook a great book, but the tacky clipart cover ( which none of his other 'scrapbooks'have ) does it a huge disservice

Buzzbox

Hurrah - The Harold Lloyd 9 DVD Box Set (I'm never sure if it's 'box' or 'boxed') has arrived. Disc 1 is out of the way, and after only watching the iconic clock hanging epsidode in scraps, bits and bobs - to see the full stretch of 'Safety Last' is nail bitingly, neck tighteningly tense.

Here's a Clip from 'An Eastern Westerner' set to the John Spencer Blues Explosion ( a band I've always swerved, but actually like the sound of after hearing this)



I'm also on a bit of a Monty Python buzz at the mo', I picked the 'Python Personal Best' Box Set (I'm never sure if....) for eight earth pounds, via 'new or used' on Amazon. Which is good, but missing a few classics 'Spanish Inquisition', not much 'Gumby' and an edited version of 'Argument room' - edited to the point of 'Argument Room' not being in it..but the Terry Gilliam disc - one solid hour of surrealist animation - makes it worth grabbing at any price. Here's another DIY soundtrack where....

Star Trek Meets Monty Python

Straight Talking

Am I missing something? Twenty three people complain about one burlesque meets biblical advert for hair straighteners (which I still haven't seen) and suddenly it's like the Blitz, with the 'Straightgate' exploding cluster bomb style across the news and being reported with all the fuss and faff of Chicken Little claiming the sky's falling down.

It's twenty three people - out of a UK total of sixty million , one of them being the Archdeacon of Liverpool - someone whose job description is to wag his finger about such hairesy.

That's Twenty three people- the same headcount as players on a football pitch(including the referee), an empty looking bus load of biddies and less than the average class size - I've stood in bigger ques. Full marks to the good people at 'ghd' and their creative team on achieving saturation on a scale way beyond budget. I'd never heard of the 'ghd IV styler' before all this . I may even go and buy one now.

Lynsey De Paul - Storm In A Teacup



(a song I never get tired of and which ties in with this, that and the other)

Electronic Tagging

I've been tagged by Cocktails

The script is....

Get the book you're reading.
Turn to page 123.
Skip the first 5 sentences.
Post the next three.

This extract is taken from my current read - see above

"are you a piano player?" and he said, "no... you got one of my T -
shirts on, I designed that" I got the T - shirt from Let It Rock .
Tony James

So I'm passing the baton to BLTP and Feedback Report
(If you hear any popping sounds that'll be resolutions 4 and 5 on my 2008 list )

I Can’t Stand Up For Falling Down

When was the last time you fell over in public?

Mine was last Friday. But this was no slight slip that could be stopped with a steadying hand, or by dropping down into a one kneed proposal pose. No,no, no. This was a dignity free, slapstick acrobatic, both legs up in the air, bowling ball roll (sideways too).

I’d only bent down to pick up a shoe, flung from the baby buggy of the woman walking in front of me, but a medley of slippery soles, being a touch off balance with a bundle of boxes from Post Office and a robust forward thrust as I bent down to grab the shoe had me upended and rolling and tumbling like a wheel from a cartoon car crash. And, in front of a packed gallery of three - yes three - heaving bus stops. I even heard an offstage gasp from the old couple behind me.

Knowing how much entertainment gold there is in watching someone have a wobbler, how do you recover from a trauma like this? There’s only one way. Reach for your mobile phone, and role play receiving a call (or making a blame and claim call) at the precise moment you’ve recovered with a flourish and are back on steady legs. You can even lend a bit of weighty embellishment to the performance by frowning like a champ and giving the phone a few theatrical “what’s happened to the reception ?” glares until you’re safely out of sight.

'The Man Trap' - A Public Information Film on the perils of polished floors.



Freeze framed at the hand to mouth reaction moment, as any later would see Mum and daughter fold like falling trees, giggling themselves silly as Dad goes bouncing down the hall like Tigger.

Stress Down Friday

This.... is Mr Ernest Ranglin- you may not know the name, but I guarantee you will have heard his playing at some point - Ernest is Jamaica's King of the Strings and has lent his laid back guitar style to tracks by Prince Buster, Jimmy Cliff, The Skatellites and most famously.. Millie's 'My Boy Lollipop'. This tune is taken from one of his more recent recordings 'Below The Bassline' where his sunshine shuffling style is set to an acoustic Jazz/Reggae infusion.

Before the phrase " Jazz/Reggae infusion " has you reaching for the remote, hang on for a just one mo'... this really is worth a spin and I guarantee ' Below The Bassline' is the perfect soundtrack for sipping on a sunblushed summers evening .

Ernest Ranglin - 54-46 Was My Number.mp3




If you fancy something more uptown, uptempo - why not see what's shaking on Planet Mondo.

If you're after something more downtown, downtempo - why not try a mellow melter from Johnny Adams.

Mondo Bizzaro

Lawks and lummee!! What in the name of Harry H Houdini is a popping here then?
Lungbusting, levitation, ramping up the camp and meringue bouffants all round - that's what.

The amount of 'Elnett' used (David going for the 'flyaway' type) to keep those silky superstructures in place must surely have shot the first holes in the ozone layer.

David Copperfield and Bonny Tyler - Holding Out For a Hero


Almost as brain quaking as Uri Geller's appearance in Daredevil, or Batman riffing on the The Beatles 'Paul is dead' rumor.

I'd love to see some joker overdub this clip with...


Cliff Adams - The Night Rider (better known as the "all because the lady loves" Milk Tray music)



Actually all you need to do is turn the Youtube sound down, press play on both clips at the same time and you're there - works a treat.

Hooray For Harold Lloyd

They don't show silent films on TV anymore. Which is a tragic shame, as I've been waiting decades for 'Hooray For Harold Lloyd' to be repeated. I've got about three hours worth on clunky ol' VHS but the video was 'lofted' a while ago - so that's that.

Laurel and Hardy always left me cold - those breathing spaces and built in silences allowing for audiences to guffaw themselves purple, just fell flat in the front room. And skits with stairs, pianos and tangling themselves into reef knots with each others jackets was just plain irritating.

No, Harold Lloyd was always the kiddie for me, with his energetic enthusiasm, unyeilding optimism, dynamic acrobatics (all performed with a thumb and several fingers missing), a kittenish eye for the girls and that fantastic haircut. Even the music in these made for TV comps was pitched perfectly in each scene.

Unfortunately these two clips, intact with the music have been dubbed in French so the broad Brooklyn accent supplying the narrative is gone.

'Hooray For Harold Lloyd' - Opening Titles


There was a scene in the closing credits of 'HFHL' of Harold stealthily blackflipping on a bridge and then leaping over a wobbly cyclist - I'd be eternally grateful if anyone could identify the films these scenes are from.

This is possibly the greatest of all Harold Lloyd's shorty films..

Harold Lloyd - 'Hey There'


Recommended Reading

The Harold Lloyd website

The definitive DVD box set - complete films, not the TV comps

Happy Shopper

Bennett Brothers Inc. BlueBook of Quality Merchandise 1970

I found these retrotastic scans as part of a set on Flickr recently, and after years of scouring, scanning and sifting - this the closest I've got to getting my mitts on a complete 1970s catalogue.

For something that seemed to achieve saturation on a massive scale during the seventies - it's almost impossible to uncover any 'vintage'catalogues. Boot sales, charity shops, libraries and ebay - I've tried them all, and not a sniff of these handbooks for home shoppers. It makes sense that'spring/summer' would have been lofted, boxed or binned when 'autumn/winter' arrived(with Christmas hampers and tinned hams at the back), but I'm boggled that so few of these scrapbooks of style have survived.

So, until I eventually track down one of these treats, I'll have to console myself with these catalogue scans and some sounds that may have been spun on a sterogram purchased in monthly payments.

It's All At the Co-Op Now - Alan Hawkshaw.mp3



Life of Leisure - Keith Mansfield.mp3

I'm Only Sleeping

"How do you sleep ?" John Lennon asked of Paul McCartney shortly after The Beatles split. I don't know what Macca's reply was, but generally I'm a rock solid snoozer who can cruise along on six to seven hours sleep a night(does a catch up on the train count?). Five Centres had a rumble recently about how song snippets can nag away at night and stop him dropping off. For me it's certain red wines or random thoughts rattling around like dropped marbles that starts a wide eyed wakefulness which then sets in for a few nights.

My antidote used to be a quick blast of 'Melody FM' - Glen Campbell crooning 'Galveston' or 'By The Time I Get To Phoenix', Randi Crawford 'Tradewinds', or endless Carpenters, Helen Reddy and Sounds Orchestral tracks were dead cert's for getting back on the nod in no time. But since 'Melody' became 'Smooth' it's gone all soppy, stodgy and just doesn't work anymore.

This doesn't matter though, as I've developed a new sure fire snooze system so simple and effective that it works for almost everyone apart black eyed insomniacs. It's this...

Do an A to Z of something - films, songs, singers, places names, superheroes, animals..any category is up for grabs and so much the better if it's really boring. Having a subject matter focuses your thoughts, and the dullness of having to grind through an alphabet of anything will have you heavy lidded and yawning within a few shakes of a sleepy sheeps tail. Most people that I've recommended this to are back in the land of nod by or before reaching the letter M. In the unlikely event that you should manage to do the loop and return to A, try doubling up and duplicate two things that begin with a letter for example...

British Towns - Andover,Ashford, Basildon, Basingstoke..

It may sound crazy but it works, and as John Lennon sang..

"Whatever gets you through the night it's alright, it's alright"

Never Mind The Quality Feel The Bandwidth

Do you remember the snappy slogan from pie in a tin people Fray Bentos? “No fat, lumps or gristle - guaranteed".

Digital Radio broadcasters should chew over that phrase or perhaps adopt it as a ‘Mission Statement’ before dishing up any new digital sizzlers and spectaculars. Marvellous as it is having untold channels and choice, what’s the point in lending an ear to something that’s all stodge and no substance.

I had a recent grumble about rubbish radio on Sunday mornings, but yesterday after rescanning the frequencies to weed out the dead DAB stations I came across a couple of broadcast crackers that prove the world really has gone inane.

Traffic Radio
A station that provides non stop traffic news! Given that most cars aren't fitted with DAB receivers, Traffic Radio broadcasts 24 Hour rolling road news that you can only hear at home. What genius came up with that one?

Birdsong
Yes – that’s it nothing but birdsong for 18 hours a day.

The delivery of DAB seems to have become clumsy and wrong footed. I was all for it initially (I've got 4 digital radios at home) but the pattern of promotion seems aimed at specialist stations all doomed to digital failure within a year. The majority seem to be made for the wrong demographic - the elderly (Oneword, BBC7, Ourkind, Primetime, Saga) never the first to take up any new technology, or hopeless stations that I wouldn't listen to on analogue or digital. Stations like...

Planet Rock
'The Greatest Driving Albums In The World Ever' on 24 hour rotation

The Jazz
Jazz Fm was constantly in flux on FM, why should it work on DAB.

The key to success, like most musical formats is portability. Why not bolt DAB onto iPods and MP3 players or manufacture reasonably priced pocket size units this would instantly increase the potential audience.

Then we just need something worth listening to.

Kissy Kissy

It doesn't get better than a bit of Bacharach for smoochy moods, add Herb Alpert and the muted toot of his trumpet as the cherry on top and it's almost too perfect.

Herb Alpert - 'This Guy's In Love''


Mai Oiu, a song and a smile from Sacha and Brigitte. C'est si bon. But you may need to lever le petit doigt dans le oreille when Brigitte steps up to the mic.

Brigitte Bardot and Sacha Distel - 'Tu es le Soleil'

Brigitte Bardot will be featured on Planet Mondo for tomorrows Funky Friday

Blimey - it's Bill Cosby getting his specs all steamed up.

Bill Cosby - No One Can Love.mp3



If you fancy something with a bit more raunch 'n' roll, why not get your fruity boots over to Planet Mondo for a bespoke 'Electric Blue' mondo minimix.

Reverse Randomizer

I’m all for the idea of the randomizer – shuffling your iPod/MP3 player and listing the first five tracks played, but these are five songs that definitely won’t be appearing on any of my randomizers. I can’t stand them, and wouldn’t let a single one within a mile of my MP3 player

‘Horse With No Name’ – America
Doesn’t it just grind along and drone on and on and on.

‘In the Year 25 25’ – Zager and Evans
Strip away the galloping urgency, the manic key changes and the dopey predictions - there isn’t really much of a song left.

‘Telstar‘- The Tornados
Not in anyway listenable. It sounds like the sort of music they’d shake a leg to on Tracey Island.

‘How Do You Do It’ - Gerry and the Pacemakers
This and the other one ‘I like It’ put me off discovering decent sixties music for years.

‘The Glory of Love’ – Peter Cetera
There aren’t many people I really could punch, but Pete qualifies with this song and that voice - so weedy and wimpy it makes Scooter from the Muppets sound like Lemmy.

Phrases On Stun

There's a handful of phrases, sayings and statements so cliched, corny and plain baffling, that I would rather be fed my own ears on a skewer than have to ever hear them again. Instant shoulder cringers like....

"How goes it/the Battle?" - We're in the Digital Age, not the Dark Ages.

"Do the Math." - *shudders*

"Go Figure" - *gags like a cat with a furball*

"Surely." - as in "you surely can." What's wrong with "Yes"?

"Discuss." - When barked as an order at the end of some dreary theory.

"Back in the day." - What day? When??

"Bailiwick." - As in "it's not my Bailiwick". I've only heard this wheeled out on one occasion, but it was used three times by a repeat offender during one meeting. Unforgettable and unforgivable.

"It was all I could do." - What was all you could do? They never say!

There's a few more cheesy nuggets on my list, but I'll have to stop before I go cross eyed and faint from the horror of it all.

The Cillit Bang Award - No Ball Games

The first Cillit Bang Award (an occasional honour given out to the grim and the grotty) goes to a Grotbag Of The Week caught completely offside - Ashley Cole

Bright Ambassador has the perfect piece on why Pepe Le Puke is a CBA winner. Perhaps Ashley could regurgitate his carrot based bedroom technique into a book for all drunken fumblers to enjoy "The Joy of Sicks"

Sherbet - Howzat