A compendium of musical delights by Alan and Margaret Ashworth
THIS week I am writing about something I don’t see often in the sticks, the collared dove (Streptopelia decaocto), strictly speaking the Eurasian collared dove. This is presumably because it … Continue readingThe collared dove coup
Sweet love song from the Daisies of the Galaxy album, released in 2000.
This was written by the group’s co-founders Bob Geldof and Johnnie Fingers and refers to the 1979 Cleveland Elementary School shooting in San Diego, when 16-year-old Brenda Spencer killed two … Continue readingBoomtown Rats: I Don’t Like Mondays
From his forthcoming album Barn; great to hear that old harmonica again.
This great song was written by Iain Sutherland of the Sutherland Brothers duo and recorded with the band Quiver as Sutherland Brothers & Quiver. It was released in March 1976 … Continue readingEverly Brothers: Arms of Mary
Very, very strange clip, from Dutch TV apparently on Christmas Eve, 1974, although the song is from the 1970 album Despite It All, before the Brinsleys went all R & … Continue readingBrinsley Schwarz: Country Girl
Lovely, moody stuff from the nomad crew.
This was released in 1971 and reached No 31 in Britain. It features drumming by 25 members of the Ingoma people in Burundi recorded in 1967, with a guitar and … Continue readingBurundi Steiphenson Black: Burundi Black
ONE of the most common nightmares, I have been led to believe, involves sitting an exam for which one is completely unprepared. In my case, it actually happened – and … Continue readingWhat’s Latin for failure?
Yesterday we had Canada’s McGarrigle sisters performing this lovely song in 1976. Today it’s the turn of the precocious Soderberg sisters from Stockholm, 40 years later.