- Feb 24
FIFTY3 FRIDAYS: SO LONG MOTTY
Though unrelated to music, I wanted to begin by marking the sad passing yesterday of football commentary legend, John Motson – Motty – aged 77. During his 50-year BBC career, Motty covered 10 World Cups, 10 Euros and 29 FA Cup finals as well as being a Match of the Day regular before retiring from the corporation in 2018. His trademark sheepskin coats also made him something of a fashion icon. Writing a fine obituary in the i-newspaper, Daniel Storey closed his piece with a p
- Feb 17
FIFTY3 FRIDAYS: MAINLY NOT ABOUT THE BRITS
So, the BRIT Awards came and went, providing the occasional high, several lows, incoherent speeches, silly outfits, a surfeit of alcohol and vacuous answers to equally dull questions. Last week I wrote about the under-representation of women in the list of 2022 UK top selling acts, and thereby BRIT nominations, fuelled by a big gender disparity within major UK record label signings. Fear not, there are plenty of emerging female artistes who may one day help redress this bias
- Feb 10
FIFTY3 FRIDAYS: A BRIT TOO FAR
As I have said before, I can be a sucker for song contests, TV talent shows and even awards shindigs. This is top of mind briefly as it is the BRIT Awards tomorrow evening, live on ITV and hosted by the affable Mo Gilligan for the second year running. To be eligible to receive a BRIT, an artist (they don’t use the ‘e’) must have achieved at least one top 40 album or two top 20 singles within the twelve months ended 9 December 2022. This may partially explain why there are no
- Feb 3
FIFTY3 FRIDAYS: SONGS FOR A DEPARTURE
It has been a challenging week. I lost my sister to cancer in early January and her funeral was on Wednesday at Macclesfield Crematorium followed by a memorial service at Good News Church in Whaley Bridge. Saying a final goodbye to a loved one hardly comes easy but grief does give way to something uplifting when you are able to celebrate that person’s life within a community bound together by fellowship and love. Among some of my sister’s much-loved songs and hymns, I chose o