For my next track of the week I'm going to Scarborough Fair. It's a journey of around 150 miles from where I live now to the seaside town of Scarborough on the north east coast of England. I'll have to travel back in time, too, because the fair hasn't been held since 1788, but that's OK; time…Read more Scarborough Fair
Track of the Week
Stairway to Heaven
Our living room is light and airy but rather bland: magnolia walls, white ceiling, beige carpet. A raspberry red sofa and a matching armchair add a big dollop of colour but they are old and the covers become increasingly shredded each time our beloved cat uses the furniture as a scratching post. The time has come to re-think the…Read more Stairway to Heaven
Baker Street
London is a big city. A really big city. The population of Greater London is currently estimated to be about 8.6 million, only slightly less than New York. Crotchety Man was brought up in the suburbs of England's capital city and it will always have special memories for me. London, though, can be a lonely place…Read more Baker Street
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.
Flowers in the Window
It's Spring here in England. A time for the grass to grow, the flowers to blossom and the birds to build their nests. Right on cue, a pair of blue tits has taken possession of the nesting box on our garage wall. Like them, Mrs Crotchety and I are making a new home for ourselves and I…Read more Flowers in the Window
Crazy Man Michael
One sunny Spring morning Mrs Crotchety and I decided to drive over to Melton Mowbray and explore our nearest market town. There's a very pretty area by the church but it's not a particularly attractive place on the whole. It's mainly known for pork pies (Ye Olde Pork Pie Shoppe is famous) and Stilton cheese. There was also a well-documented episode in 1837 in…Read more Crazy Man Michael
End To End
Some bands I like, some bands I love. If I love them I'll buy several of their albums; if I only like them I try to find a Best Of... CD and maybe one or two download tracks. Blondie I like. At least, I like most of what they were doing in the eighties. I…Read more End To End
Lay Lady Lay
A lot of complex, challenging music has featured on this blog recently so I'm going to choose a nice simple song as my track of the week: Bob Dylan's Lay Lady Lay. (There should be commas in there really but it's usually written without the punctuation and I'll stick with that convention.) The first time I…Read more Lay Lady Lay
Streets of London
If Leonard Cohen's songs are poems set to music then Ralph McTell's are stories. He tells them like your favourite uncle did as you sat on his knee as a kid. There's a warmth in his voice and a chuckle in his eyes as he lets the story slowly unfold. In Streets of London, though, there's a…Read more Streets of London
Crotchety Man 