These Are The Days Of Our Lives - Queen

I missed the 30th anniversary (seriously...30 years?!) of Freddie's death on Wednesday but today seems like a suitable point to revisit the original band's swansong, especially as there's an interesting looking documentary on their last days on BBC 2 tomorrow night as well, I'd better get the hankies in for Mrs Hearing Aid. 

Ellie Finnerty @ The Gresham House Inn, Dawlish – Sunday November 21st 2021

We were only popping in for an hour or so. Three hours (and several fine pints of The General) later we emerged from The Gresham House Inn (what a ruddy lovely pub) after spending an afternoon in the company of hugely talented local singer songwriter Ellie Finnerty. In a hits packed two hour set Ellie literally took us through the A to Z of pop, rock and disco from Abba to The Zutons, kicking off with a sublimely soulful take on Guns N’ Roses Sweet Child O’ Mine.

There was pretty much something for everyone, absolute heaven for a musical magpie like me. Highlights included a Nash-tastic cover of Kate’s Foundations, a spirited rendition of Fairytale of New York (not easy with just one person) and arguably ABBA’s finest moment Dancing Queen (luckily for the rest of the audience I resisted the urge to strut my stuff…it was such a great cover it was a close run thing for a moment or two though).

But the real treats were Ellie’s originals like Generation Z anthem in waiting Screen and a beautifully poignant reflection on the place Ellie and we call home (South Devon’s best kept secret, Dawlish), called Home appropriately enough. Writing and singing from the heart sounds simple but it ain’t and in many of her self penned numbers Ellie cleverly combines that cocktail of emotions that sum up what it’s like to be young and in…and out…and quite possibly back in again…love.

Simply one of the most enjoyable Sunday afternoons I’ve had in a looooooooooooooooong time. Ellie’s off to Cornwall for a while but hopefully she’ll be back in Dawlish soon and, if there’s any justice in the world, on her way to much bigger things. Catch her while you still can and look all smug when she does a Sheeran and ends up playing Wembley.

PS: Went for a walk afterwards and took a little snap of 'home' at night...

Blame - Gabriels

Just in case you don't listen to 6 Music (who've been spinning the heck out of this track recently) here's one of 2021's most remarkable singles. It's a bluesy, jazzy, classical masterpiece!

Suga Mama - The Getup

After a couple of glasses of vin rouge I 'accidentally' placed a bid on 178 CDs on eBay on Saturday night and won the lot for a sniff under £75 (that's roughly 40p per disc). They arrived on Tuesday - free postage too...good grief - and there's some great stuff in there including a gem of an album from The Getup. Get in! 

Linus and Lucy - David Benoit

Picked up a ridiculous number of CDs at the weekend including The Best Of David Benoit featuring a rather ace cover of Linus and Lucy. Good grief. 

Taking Me Back - Jack White

Good grief if only I had 1% of the energy and talent of Jack White. Twenty odd years into his career and he's still producing stuff like this. Apparently he played all of the instruments on this track too. Put him in charge of planet earth for a couple of weeks and he'd sort everything out, he'd probably knock up a killer soundtrack to the whole shebang as well... 

Astro RIP

If there's one thing sadder than the recent passing of both Brian Travers and Astro it's that the band, UB40 of course,  couldn't put their disputes behind them whilst they were all still here. I don't know what really lies behind it all but hopefully now the remaining members of the band will realise that life's too short for grudges... 

This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us - 'Weird Al' Yankovic

If this doesn't make you feel at least 75% happier then quite frankly there's no hope for you. I've never played the accordion but I'm guessing this track ain't that easy to do justice to. 

Ha Ha - Mates Of State

Had a week off work and inevitably ended up in one or two charity shops. Ahem. Over the course of three days I picked up no less than 45 CDs including Mates Of States' Team Boo album for a mere 20p. Good grief. Other bargains included some rare jazz CDs for £1 a pop and a U-Roy album for 30p. Whether my mountain of plastic will ever be worth anything is uncertain but at 20p-£1 per album that's not really of much concern. CDs sound a hell of a lot better than streaming music and, as a man of a certain age, I like to have a physical thing to hold, look at and drool over...and at my age drooling's something I'm probably going to be doing a lot of.