ckw

The two that stick in my mind as 'special' were 1 - Supertramp at the Montreal Forum (Feb '76) fantastic performance and atmosphere 2 - Simon & Garfunkel at the RDS Dublin (June '82) - again, incredible atmosphere It feels almost churlish not to mention some others (Springsteen concerts are always terrific) but those 2 stand out as never to be repeated experience As to the worst - well I've seen a lot of bad concerts, and I tend to blank them, but perhaps the most disappointing was Elton John St. Mary's stadium, Southampton 2005 - expected much, but the show just lacked energy and direction. The support (Lulu) put on a better show! Cheers Colin

Just to add to the perfect list - both of Hugh Laurie's albums ('Didn't it Rain' and 'Let them Talk'). If you like traditional jazz blues, these are both incredible. He's a great musician and singer (if a bit quirky). Cheers Colin

Agreed ... as I have discovered. I think the difference between rap and other genres you mentioned is that the lyrics are very much to the fore. I certainly have a lot of misogynistic material in my many '70s albums, but they were purchased primarily for the melody/instrumentation rather than the words. I think the 'why' is that no art form springs spontaneously from the air - it is (nearly) always based on what came before. For me with my kids it is not so much you should listen because its 'better' but that you might actually like it. For instance my son become a massive Neil Young fan after I played him 'Cinnamon Girl' and he realised the he was playing grunge 20 years before there was a word for it I find it interesting that many of the older rockers tend to revert to much older or roots music for new releases - I think there is a joy in discovering that, for example, once stripped from all the Broadway musical associations, Berlin and Gershwin wrote some amazing songs. My journey into older music and ultimately jazz all stemmed from, believe it or not, Peter Skellern's 'Astaire' album (with the Grimthorpe Colliery brass band). A friend got it as a joke, and we had a good laugh on first listen. But the songs stuck in our heads and we found ourselves listening again and again and started seeking out the originals. Cheers Colin

Same here, though I think it was initially the subject matter rather than the songs themselves that put me off. However, I've come to realise this is just poetry to a beat. Just like Ginsberg and friends were doing in the 50s/60s. What goes around comes around. I vividly remember hearing Costello's 'My Aim is True' (possible no filler candidate) for the first time in Canada when the airwaves were full of slick late 70s rock and thinking this was what the Beatles invasion must have been like 15 years earlier. Cheers Colin

I ordered some paints recently. I got the standard confirmation (presumably auto generated), then a couple of days later a despatch notice with a tracking number (for the Polish postal system). After that it took between 2 and 3 weeks for the paint to arrive (the tracking number was useless once the package left Poland). If you haven't got the despatch notice, then I would assume they haven't been sent - maybe awaiting stock? Cheers Colin

You'd probably hate it 😄 I think each generation strives to produce/consume music which is poison to the previous one! I think, if you're seriously interested in music, you have to make a bit of an effort to explore different periods and genres. For the majority(?) of adults music is just a pleasant background noise - not that many people I know choose to sit down to actively listen to an album today, but can all talk enthusiastically about the music they grew up with. We all have limited time, and between books we 'should' read, TV shows/films we 'should' watch and albums we 'should' hear, its hard to keep up, and, after all, leisure time is not supposed to require a lot of effort! Cheers Colin

Interesting - of course any general rule is subject to many exceptions, but I wonder if also relates to how music was consumed. I think into the early 60s music would be largely played on the family radio/record player, but with the advent of transistor radios and smaller record players teenagers were more likely to have their own personal device (portable record player, and then cassette players, Walkman's etc.) which help make for a stronger attachment to the music they listened to (and also didn't have to listen to what the rest of the family was playing). Cheers Colin

Of course! I chose not to go down the jazz road 'cause there are far too many. I think with jazz its more about the artist's performance rather than individual songs, so if you like Davis, Hancock, Coltraine etc. etc. you're probably going to listen to a given album all the way through. The whole idea of the perfect album has more relevance with the resurgence of vinyl. I'd got used to shuffling tracks, skipping the ones I didn't like on CD and streaming media - having returned to vinyl and being forced to listen to the songs as the artist intended has been a bit of a revelation ('cause I'm too lazy to get up and lift the needle!). So for example, I would never choose to listen to Stg. Pepper (the song), but in its proper place it works. My own problem with that album is 'A little Help from My Friends' ever since I heard Joe Cocker's version! Yes I think the generation thing is showing here. To my mind the '70s was the last time the perfect album was really achievable - with absurd budgets and seemingly unlimited studio time and less pressure for the 'hit single' everything was about the album. Since the 80s I do think things have reverted to collections of songs (with some exceptions of course) as the idea of track order has become pretty irrelevant. At the same time, it did mean that many almost perfect albums were produced which were spoiled by a moment of musical self indulgence! I have read that your musical tastes are pretty much programmed in during your teenage years so most of us probably have a generational bias as to what makes a great album. Cheers Colin

Rumours - Fleetwood Mac Born to Run - Springsteen Transformer - Lou Reed After the Gold Rush - Neil Young Tapestry - Carole King Re: Rubber Soul ... I struggle with 'What Goes On' and would propose 'Revolver' instead (of course early Beatle albums are tricky because US/UK releases have different tracks) Cheers Colin

I suppose it comes down to what you consider 'classic'. For me Neil Young and Tom Waits have long runs of what I would consider 'classic', but by an objective measurement, I think the Rolling Stones must be up there - 24 UK releases (excluding compilations), all charting in the top ten, most in the top 3 - though personally I would only consider 2 or 3 'classics' Cheers Colin

Albion do a .6mm brass TUBE (bought some from Jadlam last week). If that's not stiff enough you could insert something in the tube to help. Cheers Colin

Sadly the original Klear/Future/Revive It formulation is no longer available. There are similar products available, but whether or not they perform as well is unknown - my biggest concern would be long term yellowing. AFAIK none of the alternatives have been around long enough to see if they pass the yellowing test. I have moved to using lacquer based paints/varnishes which are totally resiliant to oil based paints/thinners, and are a better option IMHO to Klear. Cheers, Colin

And don't ever drop it. I've managed to break two now doing just that. The brittle blades shatter easily. Cheers Colin

I had a similar experience in Montreal 1975 in a baby nappy brown Dodge Dart (automatic of course). On the plus side, the lessons were pretty good (part of the driver ed program at school) and I got plenty of practice on snow and ice. My Dad taught me to drive a manual in a red Cortina GT mk III (quite the sporty car in Canada!). When I moved to Ireland I got a 'visitors' licence which was basically a standard licence with the word 'visitor' stamped on it. By the end of the year it was valid for, the ink from the stamp was almost invisible so when I handed it in for renewal I was given an unstamped licence in exchange This I was later able to exchange for a full UK licence. God help me if I ever have to take a 'real' driving test!! Cheers Colin

I've not used them with metallics (as I use the AK Extreme Metal range which doesn't need thinning), but I understand that with metallics a faster dry is better because it dosn't allow the metal flakes to settle. Cheers Colin