Few bands arrive as fully formed perfection, and The Stone Roses (Britain's most overrated band), certainly took their time, with two singles - one great, one not so - and an unreleased album to mark their evolution into their full potential. The album itself, abandoned when the label ran out of money to release it, was produced by Martin Hannett, is a fascinating curio of a band in transition with barely a hint of what they would become. Here It Comes! 27 June 2024.

"What's In The Box?" Screams Brad Pitt. "WHAT'S IN THE BOX?" Well. I don't know, and neither do I... time to look in a bag of goodies chosen by the 14 year old : 1 7", 1 LP, 1 book, 1 CD, 1 DVD and 1 BluRay. Here we go!  Anything embarrassing? Let's find out. 25 June 2024.

Pulp's relatively obscure early years, from 1978 to 1991, saw a slow coalescing of like minded freaks and weirdos over three albums - "It", "Freaks" and "Separations" - and a number of small selling singles (mostly collected into the "Masters Of The Universe" compilation), as Jarvis Cocker found a gang that formed in Sheffield, and, despite hapless record companies who created enormous delays between recording and release, slowly found their place, committed to grasping their one shot, and hitting the target. "Separations" is an enormously under-appreciated album by one of the best bands Britain has ever had. 24 June 2024.

Maiden's sophomore album, "Killers" - the last with original vocalist Paul Di'Anno - is a strange beast of old, unused songs and hastily written new ones, with a new guitarist Adrian Smith adding an extra dimension to the band, alongside some very dodgy lyrics. And then Paul got fired.13 June 2024.

Morrissey's fifth LP - "Vauxhall And I" - is possibly his best solo album, a stunning, delicate, tour de force that explores a new adult identity, with an embedded band, great co-writers, and a lyrical obsession with belonging, nostalgia, loss, betrayal, violence, the relationship between artist and audience, the search for identity and what it is to be a man in a lost Britain in 1993. I love this album, and you should too! 03 June 2024.

"Set To Stun" was an exhibition at Gunnersbury Park Museum in Acton, which ran until 2nd June 2024, which featured three and a half rooms of BBC Science Fiction props, models, designs, and other stuff from the BBC Model Shops including Marvin, The Robot Of Death, Daleks, Cybermen, Stormtroopers, Tripods, plastic guns, laser guns, wooden laser guns, and more, from "Doctor Who", "Star Wars", "The Hitch Hikers Guide To The Galaxy", "Red Dwarf", "The Tripods", "Blakes 7", "Starcops" and more! 31 May 2024.

A dreaded sunny day, so I'm out in the garden, talking about random stuff from a box of goodies picked out by the 14 year old. Any questions, put them in the comments! 19 May 2024.

Another trip to my brothers, and we answer some more questions for you! Forgot to do it with James because we were seeing a band, so we did it the day after anyway. Good questions from ‪@steverichards5503‬ ‪@jessicaronson6880‬ and ‪@markrainbow8855‬  - thank you!  08  May 2024

Another trip to my brothers, and we answer some questions for you! So ‪@steverichards5503‬ ‪@anthonynewsome‬ ‪@simonpatience9540‬ ‪@jessicaronson6880‬ ‪@s.wstudioproductions5977‬ as well as Anna, Morag, Ian, Jon - enjoy an hour of nonsense with some dude who looks like me, but isn't as good a dancer! 04 May 2024

The tenth Kraftwerk studio album - "Electric Cafe" - is my favourite of their records with a subtle theme about man and technology enabling a global village united by electricity, industry and electronics, and how this transforms human relationships. It's a visionary record about the layers of reality and our inner and outer lives, but also the last one by the 'classic; 1975-1987 lineup. It took 5 years to make, over 750 studio sessions, a bicycle crash, an abandoned LP and tour, a standalone single, a video finished two years before the song was ready, low charting singles, endless remixes and overthinking, creative paralysis, and ultimately resulted in the band fracturing. I love this album though, and it has grown in stature with time. Like much of Kraftwerk it was ahead of its time, and in many ways, it still is. 30 April 2024.

Saturday was Record Store Day : and I'm sure some of you bought some records, I certainly did! Here's what I got, and a Random Record Russian Roulette of stuff chosen by the 14 year old. Surprises ahoy. Or something. 21 April 2024.

Questions by ‪@Boyd37733‬ , ‪@DaisyGriffiths-yb6kr‬ , ‪@MelHayes‬ , ‪@jessicaronson6880‬ , ‪@sodiumlights‬ , ‪@zaragozakid310‬ , ‪@lorentoy1994‬ and ‪@s.wstudioproductions5977‬ get answered! Some will get a much fuller answer in future! Any more questions? Please ask. 15 April 2024.

Iron Maiden, world-dominating popular British Heavy Metal Rock combo, released their first LP 44 years ago today on 14th April 1980, so it is time to scale the mountain of hairy, misogynist man rock. It sounded OK when I was 15, but um, not so much now I am 50! I also rate the lyrics on the scientifically proven SWARM scale of stupidity and offensiveness, and overall, it does not go well. 14 April 2024.

30 years ago today Oasis released "Supersonic", and ahead of the inevitable Britpop nostalgia that will drown us all later on this year, I go into the bands early years, the debut LP "Definitely Maybe", and up to the end of 1994, with singles "Supersonic", "Shakermaker", "Live Forever", "Cigarettes & Alcohol" and "Whatever". 11 April 2024.