In Summer 2022, I welcomed subscribers to mailing list by asking them the question “what was the first chart single you bought?”. Here’s a compilation of the responses I received. https://youtu.be/86URGgqONvA?si=Ef4L9OgxFaVu3Lv8 Claire Norman: “The first single I bought for myself was Iron Maiden – Run To The Hills, 12 inch picture disc (vinyl), in the early 1980s.ContinueContinue reading “Subscriber Series: First Chart Singles”
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Five Predictions for 1993
As the year comes to a close, here are my thoroughly researched predictions for 1993. These are based on a variety of news sources and memorandums from industry contacts. I am not a financial advisor and can accept no responsibility for any business investments made based on the following informations. 1. ‘Smart’ Hi-Fi’s Next yearContinueContinue reading “Five Predictions for 1993”
What is Christmas?
As I write I’m surrounded by boxes. The same boxes that materialise in my lounge every year as November becomes December, then once again as December becomes January before disappearing out of sight and far out of mind for another 11 months. I’m talking of course about Christmas decorations. The belongings that have been withContinueContinue reading “What is Christmas?”
The content creche
So, we’re all content creators. It doesn’t pay the bills for the majority of us, but we’re keeping the cogs of industry turning, much like we do by filling up the aisles of supermarkets or behemoth shopping centres. Q. When did this happen? A. Probably the day we popped our Freeserve CD-Rom into our homeContinueContinue reading “The content creche”
Sunny Southsea Saturday
One of my Top 5 records of the year is Garageband Superstar by Lauran Hibberd (take a listen on Spotify). It was great to get to see her on the album tour Saturday night at Wedgewood Rooms in Portsmouth. I also enjoyed both of Lauran’s support bands, Viji and Daisy Brain. Before the gig SamContinueContinue reading “Sunny Southsea Saturday”
The inconvenience of opinion
I grew up without satellite or cable. The limitation of terrestrial TV inspired some odd viewing choices. Perhaps none as strange as the BBC’s viewer opinion show Points of View. For some context, I’ve looked into the dates. I can remember watching Anne Robinson present the show. According to the ever reliable source Wikipedia, Anne presented PointsContinueContinue reading “The inconvenience of opinion”
Train Station: Reading ’09
I’ll confess to not having yet seen Trainwreck: Woodstock ’99, the Netflix documentary series that has inspired this article, but I’m familiar with the festival’s uncomfortable place in music history. I’ve also never been to a Woodstock event, the furthest from home I’ve travelled for a music festival was Groezrock in Belgium. I did howeverContinueContinue reading “Train Station: Reading ’09”
The tasty chaos of pizza marketing
In a previous article I wrote about finding alternatives to Amazon. As a result of reading it one of my LinkedIn connections DID buy something she’d usually order from Amazon elsewhere. Does this make me an influencer, or an activist? I’m going to see if I can get lightning to strike twice and influence you all to want pizza forContinueContinue reading “The tasty chaos of pizza marketing”
Pinball and Pale Waves
Back to Vinilo in Southampton for another in-store, this time it was Pale Waves, who just released their third album Unwanted on Friday. Fingers crossed for a good chart position for them later this week. Before their set I found an arcade right around the corner from Vinilo that has four pinball machines as partContinueContinue reading “Pinball and Pale Waves”
Binley Mega Chippy: Big catch or small fry?
I’d like to think I’m not becoming too cantankerous as my generation sails further out towards irrelevance island. I tried to approach NFTs with an open mind in my previous article. If there’s one thing that’s always irked me though it’s hysteria surrounding new trends. This isn’t a modern phenomenon, it’s timeless. The giddy height ofContinueContinue reading “Binley Mega Chippy: Big catch or small fry?”
A pint of NFT
This is the story of my unlikely entry point to NFTs (spoiler: they’re a right faff). I was talking with NFT champion, Josh Williams at a You Are The Media event and he suggested that a practical use of NFT, beyond owning expensive digital artworks, would be a more secure form of e-ticket. Q: “Stop the bus. What’s an NFT?”ContinueContinue reading “A pint of NFT”
Women in Music (III)
Last week was a fun one, with two great gigs of very different sizes. On Wednesday I got to see Beabadoobee play an instore acoustic show at Vinilo Record Store in Southampton. Congrats to Bea on making it to number 4 in the UK album charts (I bought two copies 💁🏼). Check out some ofContinueContinue reading “Women in Music (III)”
Liam Toms 