I hate to see you cry

For reasons not entirely of my own making, the playlist in my car over recent weeks has comprised, seemingly, more than its fair share of tear jerkers: everything from Del Amitri's Driving With The Brakes On and Ben Kweller's Thirteen to Another Train by Pete Morton and I Can't Let Go Of Her Now by Justin Currie. All tunes that have featured in this blog at some time or other.

Something inside me stirs whenever I hear a minor chord and before I know it I'm reaching for the Kleenex. We had friends round recently who'd never heard Baz Lurhmann's life affirming Everyone's Free To Wear Sunscreen; when I pressed play I really had to bite my lip before doing a Mick Hucknall. It's unnerving how certain pieces of music can still creep up on me.

So, after today's offering from Alan Hull I should really try and make future selections more upbeat than down - more anthems and less dirges. But I can't promise. And, anyway, I love sad songs.

Alan Hull - I Hate To See You Cry

Don't spare the horses

A line in Rocking Chair by Jack the Lad makes great play of the fact that riding between London and Leeds in one day was a big deal. It would have been.

Jack the Lad: Charismatic

Time was when the fastest way of getting between the two cities would have been aboard the mail coach. Averaging speeds of between six and eight miles per hour and stopping for fresh horses horses every 10 miles and you can see why packing an overnight bag would have been wise. That and a pistol: highwaymen weren't just a figment of Adam Ant's imagination. Having said that, East Coast Trains will take anywhere between £100 and £150 off you for travelling with them for the two hours and 10 minutes the journey takes today.

Jack the Lad were formed after Lindisfarne disbanded (the first time) and Alan Hull, vocalist and chief songwriter, went solo. The other three brought in Billy Mitchell, another Geordie singer, and together they made a handful of cracking albums on the Charisma label. I remember Fluff used to play them on his Saturday afternoon radio show in the mid seventies. He probably squeezed them in between Tony TS McPhee's Groundhogs and Genesis.

Plaque of all trades

 Alan Hull: Guitars, Piano, Harmonium, Vocals, Guinness*

Alan Hull, songwriter, musician, poet, professional Geordie, Labour Party activist and humanist died in November 1995. He was just 50 years of age.

Hull had been the driving force behind influential Tyneside folk rockers Lindisfarne. He wrote many classic songs for the band, including We Can Swing Together, Lady Eleanor and Fog On The Tyne as well as persuing a successful solo career.

There's now a head of steam building for the top brass in the North East to commemorate his life with a blue plaque. You'd think it was the least they could do - to honour one of their own. If you can take five minutes out of your day and lend your support, that would be admirable. Thank you.

Alan Hull - Breakfast (1973)