It's called "49ing" or "bridging" (the former alludes to The 49th Street Bridge Song aka Feelin' Groovy) and ...

[screengrab] I don't know whether they are connected but there are two Sam Cooke documentaries on BBC Radio 2 to commemorate the...

I have just listened to Hancock's Ashes, an Afternoon Drama written by Caroline and David Stafford which is currently Radio 4's P...

There is now a dedicated blog for Funny Bones, the autobiography of comedy legend Freddie Davies what I cowrote, but I can't resist ...

For those who don't yet know and would benefit from knowing, I bear the happy news that a DVD of extracts from the series Jake Thackr...

At last a chance to see Frankie Howerd's appearance on TW3 in full. If you have seen any of the documentaries about Howerd then, l...

I was sorry to hear about the death of Donald Sinden. I have two memories of him, one shared by the playwright Simon Gray. In An Unnatu...

This is another post which involves recycling, prompted by seeing that Matt the Cat's radio show on the Flamingos is currently availa...

 I thoroughly enjoyed and recommend the documentary Hermitage Revealed, which had its UK premiere at the Curzon Soho last night and i...

There is no pleasure sweeter than the awareness that one is in possession of a perfectly valid reason to recycle old blog posts. Especial...

Went to the V&A on Friday evening to see Steve Clark of dancing duo the Clark Brothers talk about his career in a presentation entitl...

Bit of an unexpected show, this. Terrible title: Sketchiform, or possibly Sketchyform or even Sketch-y-form, like there's some kind of W...

A few days ago I saw And I Ran With the Gang, a play about, and starring, Alan Longmuir of the Bay City Rollers. As plays go, it's h...

Doo wop fans might be relieved to know that a blog has now been created for the book Funny Bones: My Life in Comedy, so consider that destin...

Freddie Davies and Blackpool go way back - about sixty years, in fact - so he's delighted to be having a book signing at Waterstones ...

I have just added the following review of the Network DVD release of What a Crazy World to a well-known shopping website. It rehashes some i...

This is not a review of the film but simply a note to reassure anyone with doubts that the Network DVD release of What a Crazy World is inde...

The origins of Monty Python's Parrot Sketch have been well documented, but on the eve of the team's imminent reunion I think th...

 (headline on Sky News website) Two points as a follow-up to the previous post . I have found suggestions online that the singer of th...

The recent death of Gerry Goffin has been widely reported, and the importance of his contribution to popular music appropriately ackno...

Another videocap from the clip of What a Crazy World in the previous post, out in a month's time.  From left to right, Marty Wilde, D...

It looks as though the Network DVD of What a Crazy World has been delayed - the popular online shopping site where I ordered it now says ...

After the demise of my favourite record shop Cheapo a few years back (see here ), another blow: I learnt this morning that the cafe in my lo...

I happened to notice that Madd, the mango dessert  emporium which took over the former home of Cheapo Cheapo Records in Rupert Street, So...

Doo wop being on my mind in the last few posts, perhaps now is a good time to remind you of the documentary Life Could Be a Dream, which ...

I have now listened to the On the Beat doo wop special and it can be thoroughly recommended. I think it's possible for US readers to ...

This is to alert readers that there will  be an On the Beat doo wop special with Little Anthony and the Imperials available on BBC iplayer s...

Seven of the nine Decca sides on Jasmine's Time Was Flamingos compilation can be found on yout*be. Sound is reasonably good except in th...

Below are my reviews of the two Flamingos compilations as posted on a well-known shopping website. They don't really contain anyth...

Wow! At last there is a Flamingos compilation which includes the sides they recorded for Decca. It's issued by public domain label...

A new clip show entitled The Perfect Morecambe and Wise is currently being broadcast on Saturday nights. Yes, there have been quite a few...

As I have a vested interest in promoting this I can't comment on its inherent quality but this is to let readers know that Freddie...

[19/3/17: this programme was recently repeated on BBC 4 and is once again available on iplayer until 17th April 2017- the link below ...

Great news!What a Crazy World, the film version of Alan Klein's Stratford East musical, is finally going to get a legitimate release o...

Talking of the Magnificents' Lost Lover (see previous post), it has recently been uploaded to youtube, so here 'tis, as the B...

As it is now the fourth anniversary of that day in December 2009 I started this blog with the intention of archiving posts from Steve...

Big news in my little world, and I regret to say it appears to be a done deal, though there is a campaign: Russell Davies' Sunday...

 I have just heard that Lou Reed has died so I am reposting this piece from 2012. The Word - a magazine I ought to have read more ofte...

Have just watched Reuben, Reuben for the second time - with a gap of about thirty years in between. The first time was, if memory serve...

Clips from this edition of Crackerjack have has featured in several documentaries (Danny Baker's programme on Peter Glaze and The Unf...

A clip of 14 Karat Soul not seen before (by me) is cause for celebration. Presumably this is Sesame Street as the background is the same as ...

No time, I'm afraid, to write a detailed post, so consider this an interim bulletin for those who might care. This blog is going back to...

   One final astonishing set of Beatles coincidences has recently been sent to me by a reader of this blog. I present them below. T...

It's not music-related, but I just had a really good idea which I'd like to share. I like to swim, and I take shampoo and showe...

On a certain social networking site I have been entertaining (or not) family and friends with youtube clips of fave songs which actually...

When Frank Zappa used a phrase like "cretinous love songs of greasy simplicity" he may have been thinking about records like t...

                                                                                                 Ah, go on, give us a go ... Yes, th...

My final extract from Bizarre Beatles Coincidences is perhaps the most staggering of all. After this you really will have to buy the book...

On the general subject of new or newish sitcoms I have been unimpressed with two of the latest, Family Tree and Big School. The former is di...