Before I put this mini series to bed I'd just like to mention a couple of people. First up is the renowned composer of light music* (a d...

I think it was 2003 when I saw the Polyphonic Spree live; the NME Awards Tour had rolled into Rock City and Paul, my friend and neighbour, a...

Chet Atkins was a guitarist's guitarist. Every bit as influential as Bert Weldon or Les Paul, Atkins' (musical) diet was more varied...

Peterborough is synonymous with two things. One, its Passport Office: time was when it was the only place in the UK that issued passports an...

If you're so inclined, and dig deep enough into the bowels of this blog, I'm sure you'll stumble across copious references to to...

The story of Jimmy McCulloch is not an epic tome; more a slim novella. Born in 1953 in Clydebank he picked up a guitar at 11 wanting despera...

Bloody brilliant! P aul McCartney would often gives songs away: Mary Hopkin (Goodbye) and Badfinger (Come and Get It) being two luck...

Timing is everything - boiling an egg, the 100 metre dash, buying newly released vinyl; in 1977 and most of 1978, despite being a huge Beatl...

Quite how many Os should appear in the spelling of today's post is really up to Paul McCartney. Or, indeed, Stevie Riks - the one ma...