- Aug 27, 2021
FIFTY3 FRIDAYS: DEATH OF A LEGEND
Musicians truly lost one of their own this week with the sad news that The Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts had died at the age of 80. The word legend is passed around all too frequently but Charlie, the beating heart of the band since 1963, fully lived up to the label. Many a fine word has been written in tribute to the iconic drummer over the past days and few more telling than the affectionate recollections offered by music writer and broadcaster Paul Sexton in the i-n
- Aug 20, 2021
FIFTY3 FRIDAYS: DIDN’T SEE IT COMING?
Let’s face it. August hasn’t been a great month. Firstly, the extreme weather patterns threatening across the planet; one person’s flood being another’s wildfire. Then the IPCC’s frankly terrifying report which describes clearly and unequivocally the impact of man-made climate change. Now we have a grave situation unfolding in Afghanistan amid blind protestations that we didn’t really see it coming; a scarcely credible position given the laser-like ability of satellite imager
- Aug 13, 2021
FIFTY3 FRIDAYS: MORTON VALENCE REVISITED
Friday the thirteenth, eh. The last one was back in November and it led me to discover that a morbid fear of this date existed or, not for short, paraskevidekatriaphobia. Forgive any hint of superstition here, but today’s column deviates from a diet of mostly new music to dust off a couple of early releases from one of my all-time favourite bands, Morton Valence. If the name is familiar to you, then I hope you will enjoy the reminiscences. If it’s new to you, perhaps you too
- Aug 6, 2021
FIFTY3 FRIDAYS: IT’S A MYSTERY
The power of music to take you back to an event or simply a moment in time should never be understated. As one who finds it tricky with age to bring some names to mind immediately, others seem simply etched there. The key to all this is the song. This week I was reminded of one that dates back 40 years now through an inspired cover, a family connection and vinyl in need of a dusting. With Sun is the genial alias of singer-songwriter and poet Alice Hale. She began writing when