Uploaded September 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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News, rants, theories, stories and assorted old hokum which this week stumbles into …

… Kate Bush, Thunderbirds, Tim Buckley, the Blind Boys of Alabama … the magical bass adventures of Danny Thompson (and the time he headlined over the Beatles)

… how Claudia Cardinale wound up on the sleeve of Blonde On Blonde

… would Roxy Music have made it if their albums had been released in brown paper bags?

… how TikTok is destroying the “superfan”

… do late night TV hosts need us more than we need them?

… Boris Johnson chose the Clash? Charles Kennedy chose Toploader? Theresa May chose ‘In These Shoes’ by Kirsty MacColl? MPs on Desert Island Discs

… packaged goods: how CDs removed music’s greatest marketing tool

… the peculiar life of Johnny Carson

… have you ever bought an album solely on the strength of its cover?

… and Carmel, Andrew Ridgeley, Jay Leno’s pay packet and birthday guest Jon Pickles on high-impact sleeve art.

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