Being for the benefit of Prudence Farrow

Rock 'n' Roll? Nah, it's jazz

I shudder think how many times Joe Public has crossed that bloody zebra on Abbey Road in an effort to recreate the Beatles photoshoot from 1969; we've all done it, we've all traipsed down to St. John's Wood and annoyed cabbies & bus drivers alike - I know I have. Maybe jazz guitarist Al Di Meola has too, I don't know. Maybe I should ask him. What I do know is that when he brought out a collection of Beatles instrumentals a couple of years ago - Across the Universe - he was channeling his inner John Lennon in more ways than one. Di Meola's virtuosity on the fretboard is matched only by the pose he strikes on the album cover (above). I'm a strong believer that  every great album has to have equally great artwork. That's not negotiable. I will always deduct marks for any album whose cover is suboptimal. Harsh? Maybe. But them's the rules. 

Al Di Meola - Dear Prudence (2020)

Album *****

Artwork *****

Can't you read?

Apparently 40% of UK adults haven't read a book in the last year. And I can believe it. I travel on buses and trains a fair bit and can see that having your head stuck in a book has been overtaken by doom scrolling. It's sad, but what are you gonna do? I've always had the reading bug. It's never left me. I still remember making the leap from junior fiction to adult fiction. I'd been getting my fix down at the local lending library on stuff like The Hardy Boys mystery stories before dipping my toe into Agatha Christie, Roald Dahl and the Fontana Ghost Stories. It wasn't long after that I was topping up my library intake with anything (and I mean anything) I could get hold of from secondhand bookshops, relatives' bookshelves, flea markets etc.

I can remember devouring the Callan novels (c.1974) by James Mitchell. It had been a TV series (and a film, I think) in the late 60s/early 70s but I was always tucked up in bed when it came on; it opened up another world - a world of espionage, exotic locations (well, East Germany), spies & professional hit-men. I was hooked. 

It's only recently I've got around to watching the DVDs and, I've got to say, it's held up remarkably well. Edward Woodward is nothing short of brilliant and his stooge, Lonely, (played by Russell Hunter) is like something out of Samuel Beckett.

Here's the intro/theme music. I remember it, of course, but it must have been through watching  late night Channel 4 reruns many years later.

...

Edward Woodward (1930-2009)

Russell Hunter (1925-2004)

Egg-bound

My love of eggs is no secret. And since I've had more time on my hands just lately I'm able to spend longer over breakfast than usual. As you can imagine, eggs loom large. Poached, scrambled, boiled (with soldiers), eggs benedict, egg shakshuka, are constantly rotated. I'm even buying vintage eggcups online such is my obsession with the oeuf. (I blame Matt in The Abdication for putting me onto Omelegg last time we were in Amsterdam). That and the amazing CackleBean eggs Lucy sells in Kraft Werks (the Pantone reference for the colour of their yokes hasn't even been invented yet).

Couple all this activity with another culinary infatuation of mine - curry - and it's no surprise that egg and tomato curries are getting a lot of bandwidth currently in the Medd kitchen. Easy to prepare, easy to cook - what's not to like? While I've got you, here's another egg related question...

Dean Martin & Helen O'Connell - How D'ya Like Your Eggs in the Morning? (1951)

49 not out

Forty-nine is a funny number. You can see why, can't you? Well, it's odd for a start; all odd numbers are funny. And it's not quite 50. It'd like to be 50, a half century, a bullseye. It just didn't quite make it. I'll be interested to see how many 49s we get in November's Photo Challenge.

I mention it because this year marks the 49th anniversary of the release of Elvis Costello's debut album My Aim is True. And because the artist formerly known as Declan MacManus isn't keen on significant birthdays he's strongarmed his record company into going early and unleashing on the record buying public an all singing all dancing edition of this rather splendid platter, complete with countless versions, outtakes and demos (many previously unheard), and enough reading matter and associated photographs to keep you going till Christmas. In fact, why don't I let the man himself tell you all about it...

Back in 2022, not long after Covid, when I resurrected Vinyl Night - listening to albums in full - we put Costello's tour de force through its paces and it got a terrific reaction; igniting all sorts of memories. The fact that we cranked it up to 11 didn't do any harm either. I've thought recently about bringing Vinyl Night back and, if I do, this is definitely coming back out to play. 

Andy Burnham cometh

Burnel v Burnham

In 1978 when the Stranglers were labouring away in the studio recording what would become their Black and White album, J.J. Burnel - the band's bass player and resident motorbikin'/ Karate expert - stayed on in the studio while the rest of the band went for a well deserved pint and started recording a few more tunes he'd been holding back. These Can influenced tracks started life on a budget beatbox whereupon Burnel would layer more instruments and before you know it he'd got an album's worth. The resulting long player Euroman Cometh saw the light of day the following year where it reached the dizzy heights of #40 in the album charts. Still, not bad for a collection of dirges and drones knocked up on a basic drum machine. It's got a charm all its own (something that can't always be said about the erratic character that made it). Do the European, in particular, whilst not only very much on point (thank you, Andy Burnham) has, I think, stood the test of time remarkably well.

J.J. Burnel - Do the European (1979)

Blonde on the Tracks

I'm sure many of you of in this esteemed parish will be aware that Robyn Hitchcock has a new album out at the moment. It's called The Confuser and is available, I assume, in all good record stores (and maybe some that don't quite cut the mustard). The album's title is a direct reference to the ongoing doppelgänger thing that he and Nick Lowe have got going on - they are, apparently, forever being mistaken for one another (oh, the weight we grey haired men of a certain age carry around with us); anyway, Nick Lowe's third album in his Brentford Trilogy was called The Convincer and Hitchcock's partner, Emma Swift, has dubbed her other half The Confuser. Geddit? 

Swift herself is no slouch either. Her critically acclaimed 2020 album Blonde on the Tracks containing eight choice Bob Dylan cuts is really rather good. 

Emma Swift - Simple Twist of Fate (2020) [no prizes for spotting the polka dots!]

Back of the net!

Remember those 'Focus On...' Q&As they'd get 70s footballers to do in Shoot magazine? (I guess you have to be of a certain vintage.) In the course of these mild interrogations we'd learn that nothing excites their palette more than eating steak and chips whilst listening to a bit of Tom Jones on the stereogram. Period kitsch? Yes, but so much more than that. They're mini time capsules that shine a light into a world that's sadly long gone. Someone who understand this - probably even better than me - is my very good friend Steve.

NAME

Steve 'Brasso' Brassington

PLACE OF BIRTH

Coventry 

HEIGHT

6 ft.

WEIGHT

15 stone 

MARRIED

Yes, to Jackie 

CHILDREN

Two - Shane & Faye 

CAR

Austin Ambassador Y reg. 

FAVOURITE PLAYER

Tommy Hutchison. Followed by Stan Bowles and Alan Hudson 

FAVOURITE CLUB

Blackpool

MOSRT MEMORABLE GAME

Inter v AC Milan at the San Siro in 1997 - I've never experienced anything quite like it. 

FAVOURITE COUNTRY VISITED

Canada 

FAVOURITE FOOD

Chicken Madras

MISCELLANEOUS LIKES

Spending the afternoon in a proper pub talking about 70s music and 70s football. That’ll do me!

DISLIKES

The disappearance of characters and lack of spontaneity in the modern game 

FAVOURITE TV SHOW

Slow Horses  

FAVOURITE FILM

MC5 - A True Testimonial 

FAVOURITE GROUP/ARTIST

Can’t name one, and could change on any given day, but will go with three today: MC5, Love, and the Cramps

WHO WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO MEET?

Gary Oldman. And Muhammad Ali (that’s compulsory, right?)

King Eric

It matters not a jot if you're red or blue, United or City, Oasis or Blur. Or, indeed, none of the above. Like I say, that's not what this is all about. Please indulge me: if you can spare 57 seconds out of your busy schedule then I urge, nay, beseech you to listen to this Liam Gallagher story about Eric Cantona - you'll be thanking me later. Upon getting Oasis back together Noel Gallagher said he'd forgotten just how funny his brother was. So had I.

Rio Grande

I may have mentioned before my love of all thing philatelic. Some of my stamps and first day covers sit in numerous albums collecting dust, others are in dinky little frames dotted all over the house. Many more exist merely as torn off envelopes with said stamp still attached to them (removing them being a job for another day; there's always another day). I mentioned first day covers - will the new Duran Duran commemorative issue be gaining admittance to Medd Towers I hear you ask? Er, no. Whilst I do have a number of musically themed specimens, I draw the line at Le Bon and his mates. Nothing personal, Simon. But it all just looks a bit tacky to me. A bit gawdy; I'll let you join the dots...

However, I will leave you with the magnificent Grade II listed Art Deco Cinema situated opposite my hotel in Dalston E8 a couple of weeks ago. I'd seen countless photographs of her but never in the flesh. Her name is Rio.

Get your coat on

Ian Prowse and Amsterdam , The Bodega, 2 October 2026

Sometimes I'll hear a line in a song that will stop me in my tracks; after which it'll then be committed to memory where it's then (more often than not) afforded mantra status. There's a couplet in Stand Your Ground, taken from Ian Prowse's joyous new album, No Names, that resonates with me every time I hear it. To the point that I'll be making it a new resolution.

If there's a choice to be made of staying in or going out

Then get your coat on, hit the town...

At a time in my life when it could be quite easy to say no and not do something, I hear this as a clarion call to reach out. Make that phone call. Meet that friend. Go to that gig. You're a long time dead. I know, I'm a little ray of fucking sunshine aren't I?

Ian Prowse - Stand Your Ground (2026)

Ian Prowse · Stand Your Ground

A tale of two cities

I feel proud to be associated with the two cities that between them host the oldest and largest travelling funfairs in Europe, namely Nottingham Goose Fair and Hull Fair. They've been in existence since the late 13th Century and now will regularly pull in over half a million punters. After leaving Nottingham at the end of the first week in October the caravans literally roll from one to the other, pitching up at Walton Street in Hull where they do it all over again. These days I just pop along for an hour to take some snaps and, most importantly, have my annual fix of the world famous mushy peas. Don't judge me.

Guitar porn

Johnny Marr recently trousered a cool £3.65M after selling 80 of his iconic guitars plus associated amplifiers and memorabilia. The 111 lots massively exceeded Christie's initial guide price of £1.2M. And it won't surprise you to learn that Marr donated the entire proceeds of 31 selective lots to the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association and the National Autistic Society; showing yet again what an all round good egg he is. Here's Johnny with his old friend Noel Gallagher previewing the sale a couple of days before his beloved collection - including a Cherry Red Gibson ES-355 and 1982 Rickenbacker 330 Jetglo (both used by Marr when writing and recording with the Smiths) - went under the hammer. 

Falling

Hello and welcome to October's Photo Challenge. Yes, yes, yes, it's my Autumn Almanac. Whether you're of the opinion that this most beautiful of seasons starts on 1 September or on the Autumn Equinox a couple of weeks later, I think both dates have been shunted back this year as a consequence of just how fucked up our Summer has been. That said, it's not stopped you from sending me some beautiful photographs. Thank you, as always. And a special thank you to Alfa Dave who provided the prompt for this month's challenge. If you have an idea for a future PC please do let me know. For fear of repetition, deviation or hesitation (but mainly repetition) feel free to look at previous challenges in '23, '24, '25, and those covered earlier this year.

Rol is feeling Autumnal, I can tell. He's even strayed over the West Yorkshire border: ''Hi John, some Autumn pics taken in the Lake District.'' Thank you, Rol. I'm sure you'll be back in God's country before too long.

David Cooper next: ''Hi John, as usual, three from me - all have been taken very locally. David.'' Cheers, Coops. Lovin' the spider web.

It's lovely to have Jo Shreeve back: ''A pumpkin patch at Trevaskis Farm between St. Ives and Truro.'' 

 

''My attempts at pumpkin growing - this year's batch is better than ever!''

''And Wells Cathedral between the Autumn trees x.'' Thanks, Jo! Wells Cathedral gets you a podium finish, for sure. You also have some serious looking pumpkins there. And thank you for providing our one and only scarecrow!

Claire says: ''Make room for the shrooms! (and always forage responsibly).'' Nice one, Claire. Any of these edible? I'm guessing not.

Johnny Legs: ''Autumn leaves.'' Cheers, Legs. Glad to see it's not just me who points their camera up.

Miss Turner with a double header: ''An Autumnal bottle of gin won as a raffle prize, and an Autumnal insect.'' Thanks, MT. I'm guessing the critter didn't come with the hooch?

Ernie - ''Here's a couple of shots of Kaunas in Lithuania taken one October.'' Good work, Ernie.

Tim from Hucknall's got a tasty quartet: ''Hi John, here’s a quick handful that hopefully hit the Autumn brief:

1. Textbook unoriginal leaf shot, I do like the texture & colour though.

2. Eldest daughter & fiancée giving off Autumnal vibes in Wollaton Park.

3. The beech woods at the back of us over the M1. Stunning at all times of the year but peaking in Autumn.

4. Taken in September so must be Autumnal, this years velour chair crop growing in the field to the west of Hucknall, ripening nicely to a dusky red and almost ready for harvesting. Very much like mushrooms you can’t predict where the spectacular growth will next appear. This number doubly impressive as it swivels to maximise the amount of sun its flowering head receives. Tim.'' 

I asked Tim if the velour was native to Nottinghamshire and if so had he seen any more examples? His reply came back quick as a flash: ''It does appear that the bulk of the UK's free-range chair crop is generated from Hucknall and its environs - here's another one ready for harvesting.'' Superb stuff, Tim! Strong Autumnal chair game!

Both The Swede and I have been blighted by technical gremlins of late and as TS told me ''I was on the verge of throwing my laptop out of the window when these photographs wouldn't send.'' I'm glad you persevered, TS. Your Autumnal walks look delightful.

Pete Zab: ''Hi John, I had hoped to provide some new pictures for this but circumstances have prevented it. So, I've had to dip into the archives - Fallen leaves, Woodthorpe Park; Floating Leaves, Nottingham Playhouse on an Autumn morning; Wollaton Park; and finally, Reflected Living - Woodthorpe Park.'' Cheers, Pete. I know Woodthorpe Park is your manor and is always  photogenic.

Swiss Adam dialing in from Manchester: ''Hi John, there's not much in the way of Autumn round here yet so I've gone back a year to October 2025 and this tree near our house which turned gold last Autumn. No filters, no FX.'' Thank you, Adam. The colour you've captured is, for me, the quintessential colour of Autumn. (If Riggsby's reading this he'll know the Pantone reference.)

Kate's just returned from the foggy, foggy dew: ''Looking into the mist at Mitchell's Fold stone circle.''

''October sun at Mablethorpe beach.'' (I've spotted young Harry! - JM).

''And lastly - Reflection at Newstead Abbey.'' Thank you, Kate. So glad Harry gets in to most of your snapshots!

Alfa Dave, thankfully without said Alfa this month! ''How about the Fall in Central Park?'' Absolutely, Dave! I see you've traded her in for a young filly...

Alyson from the Highlands kicks off with a belter: ''The first is from my series of 365 photos when I documented the seasons for a whole year. I loved the colours on this tree not far from us.''  (I know I said earlier that Adam had summed up the colour of Autumn, but this runs it a close second - JM.)

''And these long shadows are from a walk we went on the morning after a posh wedding.'' Thank you, Alyson. I thought I'd get more long shadows but I think you and Walt were the only two.

Matthew: ''First signs of Autumn? Here's three: swallows gathering for their journey south. They were about gone by 26 September, their numbers being boosted by our nesting facilities.''

''Shorts in the sale - a sure sign.''

''And pumpkins ripening.'' Excellent, Matthew. The shorts tickled me. 

Walter from Germany next: ''Hi John, here are some pictures I took a couple of years ago: a walk from the TV Tower in Stuttgart through the woods to the city, and snapshots taken whilst walking in the park to my reading mentorship early in the morning. Cheers, Walter.'' Danke, Walt; I'd recognize that shadow anywhere.

K from the Kotswolds with some pumpKins: ''Hello John, just two this month - a magnificent pumpkin in Valencia, c.2023. And then fast forward to this year, Casa K back garden and Catty K inspecting the UK entry: "Munchkin Pumpkin" indeed! K x. Thank you, K. Most excellent.

And finally a newbie: John (@JBC on Bluesky) calls himself a photographer and gardener. He shoots the natural world, mainly flowers. I love his stuff. And I love this photo of ''An Autumn day on Lake Tugalo at the end of the Chattooga River between South Carolina and Georgia.''

And a map from me to give a bit of context to all the above locations. I didn't ask John if he caught the last train to Clarksville after he took this photo (only an idiot* would ask that kind of question). Thanks, John. I love it when newbies stick around, so maybe we'll see you again next month?

* Which doesn't necessarily rule me out. 

Before we get the leaf blower out, just time for a few of mine. First off, a team huddle at Nottingham Moderns in Wilford this weekend gone.

Yep, it's that tree.

The Promenade, Victoria Park in Nottingham.

From our recent visit to Barnard Castle.

A bush with orange things on.

Barnard Castle again.

A fallen leaf.

And finally, an Autumn flag in Kirkcudbright.

...

Sunrise/Sunset Reprise

Before I go, just time for a quick plug for the ad hoc series we run in conjunction with Photo Challenge. You see a nice sun in the sky, ping it over to me and I'll post it. My friend Neil was recently in Grenoble for a friend's wedding and he saw this. Thanks, Neil. Fabuleux!

And that really is it. Thank you to everyone for their amazing photos. I'll post November's theme in the comments below in a day or two.