When it comes to Bob Dylan, Crotchety Man came late to the party. He had raved about House of the Rising Sun (by the Animals), adored Blowin' In The Wind (by Peter, Paul and Mary) and swooned over Mr. Tambourine Man (by the Byrds). He was moved by The Times They Are A-Changin', With God on Our Side and Just Like a…Read more Bob Dylan
1980s
Through Barricades
It's hard to imagine now (even for me) but Crotchety Man was once a quavering choir boy. In fact, there was a time when my brother and I were joint head choristers at our local church. He had the better voice and greater confidence but I was older, which made it difficult to promote one of us…Read more Through Barricades
Vienna
Back in January 1981 Ultravox released the single, Vienna. It was played a lot on the radio and shot up the UK pop music chart. I had it earmarked for the best single of the year and a certainty for the number one slot. After the musical wilderness of the seventies Vienna was a breath of fresh air. In…Read more Vienna
The Rising Sun
This time, for my Track Of The Week, I'm going to do something a bit different. Instead of focusing on a specific recording I'm going to explore about a dozen different versions of the same song: The House of the Rising Sun. The link is to a Spotify playlist containing recordings from 1941 to 2001…Read more The Rising Sun
That’s Entertainment
We have the Radcliffe and Maconie radio show to thank (again) for my next Track of the Week. There was the usual stuff coming over the air waves a few days ago: some news from "Alcopops"; snippets of amusing banter; an eclectic mix of music. Not all to my taste but generally speaking very entertaining. I…Read more That’s Entertainment
Road to Nowhere
The weather forecast for tomorrow and the next few days is lousy here, but there's not a cloud in the sky this morning so let's make the most of it. How about a drive through the glorious English countryside? We don't have to go anywhere in particular. We'll just point the car in a random direction and drive.…Read more Road to Nowhere
R.S.V.P.
One sunny summer's day around 1980, while browsing through the albums in my local record shop, I came across a striking and unusual cover. In the centre there was a large black and white photograph of a diver in mid flight, arms spread wide. This was surrounded by a wide silver grey border with the words The Monochrome Set above…Read more R.S.V.P.
King Crimson
They say, if you invent a better mousetrap the world will beat a path to your door. I think there is some truth in that, but it has to be a much better mousetrap. Fortunately, there are a few examples of products that are so desirable that they hardly need to be promoted at all: the Morgan sports car, the…Read more King Crimson
Crotchety Man 