The debonair Basil Marigold's

Spotify is a music streaming service. You can have access to as much music as your ears can cope with. What I learnt this year is that it provides a playlist of the 100 most played songs during the year. It has been quite an eye opener! The basic stat is that I use it a lot when I commuting to and from work.  Here are the basic statistics; I have listened to 23,488 minutes of music (16 consecutive days). 2477 different songs 580 different artists Pretty impressive I thought. I started listening to my top 100 songs when the problem was identified. That problem was allowing the children to pick songs when we were in the car. Joshua dominated the charts with his 'Ironman music'. This is basically any song in the top 100 that is performed by AC/DC. I don't mind AC/DC; I like them quite a lot. They have, in their day, made some cracking music. They also provided the music for the soundtrack to the film Ironman 2. Hence the 'Ironman songs' title. Theref

Day 26 - A song that makes you want to fall in love I'll still die on the hill that says Nick Cave writes the tenderest love songs. This is still one of the greatest love songs ever written. Day 27 - A song that breaks your heart Again, another difficult choice as so many songs do. However, I decided on this one as it does the job exceptionally well. From many past experiences this is almost unlistenable to me and I hadn't heard it for many years before I listened to it for this. I have adored Tori Amos since about 1993 and this comes from her, Boys for Pele album. It became a song that I played a lot as a relationship faltered and sadly came to an end. Two people heading in different directions, both incompatible at the time. I guess we are all young once. Still quite a sucker punch after all these years. Day 28 - A song by an artist whose voice you love It could only be her. I fell in love with her voice when she sang, running up that hill. I have adore

Day 20 A song that has many meanings to you. I chose this song from the late 1980s. It is multi-layered to my mind. I love the song, but also the video which took me to where it was filmed, Prague in the 90s because I fell in love with the scenery. Day 21 A song with a name in the title. Quite a few to pick from here, but I went with one of my favourite songs, Jolene, by Dolly Parton. Except in this case I went with a  cover. Here the song is sung by Miley Cyrus. Before all the inherent daftness she was a wonderful country singer. Day 22 A song that moves you forward There can be only one. It is this one. Mighty Zeppelin! Day 23 - A song that everyone should listen too So many top pick from that I went a left field with this pick and picked, the Pixies. A great tune. Day 24 A song from a band you wish could reform. Tough one unless you can resurrect the dead. You'd need to pull that off twice to get the Beatles back together, but that would be g

Day 17 - A song you'd duet with someone on Karaoke The embarrassment factor of Day 17 was quite strong. I haven't participated in Karaoke for about 20 years, and even then, maybe a couple of times at most. Oddly, there was only one song I ever sang on Karaoke as a duet was this one below. Please, before judging me do bear in mind that I never did this even remotely sober.      - Enough said about day 16, I think... Day 18 - A song from the year you were born A surprisingly tough on this as although 1976 was voted the best year in all time by channel 4 viewers some 3 or 4 years ago, for obvious reasons, the level of music released was not vintage! It was a pretty lean musical year. There were only three major releases I enjoyed; Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin, or the Eagles. I went with the Bob Dylan classic, Hurricane.  released on the 5th January 1976, so it has sneaked in. It is classic Dylan. A song about a miscarriage of justice where a black boxing contender is sent

It has been terribly busy at work and I have been far too fatigued by the time I get home to keep up the daily blog of the songs of the Day. I am now about a week behind, so here goes. Day 13 - a song you like from the 1970s An obvious choice in the end and a one by a great artist, David Bowie. Sadly now passed away. This, Heroes is perhaps may favourite Bowie song. He really is a lost legend. In the current world we also need more heroes. Day 14 - A song you'd love playing at your wedding This was an easy decision of course as my choice was obvious from the start. The song that never made it to my wedding was the exit music. The compromise in the end was Samuel Barber's adagio for strings. A quite beautiful song, wonderful. But, in no way comparable to this classic. The song i choose still puts the hair up on the back of my neck every time I hear it. Day 15 - A song you like that's a cover by another artist. A remarkably tough choice this one. One of t

We aren't going anywhere this Christmas. So today we are meeting my mum halfway at Tewkesbury. It's about 2 hrs for her from Devon, and 2 hrs for us from Nottinghamshire. It makes sense and there is a Brewers Fayre where we know we can eat reasonably well. When I was younger I experienced this quite a lot. It used to be Strensham or Gordano Services. we'd be brought up in the car in Summer or Winter and then we'd be handed over to Nannar and Granddad for a week or two and then we'd do the same for the return. A clear memory from my youth. It seemed an adventure when I was very young. Once, when we had an estate car I distinctly remember lying in the boot of the car in a blanket or a sleeping bag watching the night sky and the yellow lights flashing past as we headed north. We arrived first, but not by much. The motorway was virtually empty on our way down, even going past Birmingham, which usually slows us down. Not today, we flew down and had just started break

Many, many years ago, when I was a preteen. Before colour, and nations, etc I was a preteen. On Day 12 you need to post a song from your Preteen years. One sticks in my mind. There was a show between 1985-88 called Dave Lee Travers Golden Oldie Picture Show. It was I seem to remember, very popular. The basic premise of the show was TV/Film makers were given classic records that had never had a video made for it and then they re-interpreted the song and created a video for it, which the show then played. There was one video that always stuck in my mind as a preteen. 1988 being my last year as a preteen. It was this song by T-Rex, Get it On. I am not a huge fan of the rest of their music. I can take it or leave it, but this song from that show when I was about 10 or 11 was just a wonderful memory that has stayed with me. I do not knowwhy, but there you go.

I am not sure I have ever tired of my music. I have grown tired of what people would class as chart music. I have on occasion stopped listening to some of the musicians I adore because, with an album being on constant play and me being pushed further into solitude is probably not a great place to be. A rare occurrence in the main. The vast majority of songs I would class as listenable all the time, anytime - with the exception of yesterdays - The song I have plumped for today is a classic Led Zeppelin track from the wonderful Led Zeppelin IV album.  The song is Going to California. The song is one of the more stripped back and tender songs on an album that produces some of the Zeppelins most bombastic, loud, brash rock and roll tracks. It is virtually folk rock, before it had been invented. Led Zeppelin did a lot of inventing; Folk Rock, Heavy Metal. They started it all. This one full of mysticism and imagery - a true early hippy trip.

An easier option to choose from in Day 11. It plays to all my strengths. I can do sadness. I can do it very well. I have an entire music collection built on introspection, heartbreak and sadness. How hard can it be? It isn’t! Not even in the slightest. The choice had already been made 25 years ago. A song, by one of my favourite bands that has followed me through life. I have already earmarked it for my funeral. Hothouse Flowers, If you go. A song written about the lead singer, Liam’s friend who at a young age died in a motorbike accident. The song is on their debut album, People. It is heartbreaking song for him and I would imagine a lot of Hothouse Flowers fans. It makes me sad, because a lot of the trauma I have been through has been soundtracked by this song. They do say loss is a difficult thing and this song explains and helps the recovery process. Well, it has for me, at times. An easy choice then. A particularly beautiful one, too. Perhaps not the best memo

As my wife would say. 'None of your songs are even remotely happy!' and in some ways she'd be very right, but there is a little corner of my soul reserved only for pure happiness. Happiness concentrate in fact. I don't parade it around in case I spoil my demeanour. Quite a few songs make me happy. Madness were quite near the top here, but I went with the madness that is Jackie by Scott Walker. And if one day I should become A singer with a Spanish bum Who sings for women of great virtue I'd sing to them with a guitar I borrowed from a coffee bar Well, what you don't know doesn't hurt you My name would be Antonio And all my bridges I would burn And when I gave them some they'd know I'd expect something in return I'd have to get drunk every night And talk about virility With some old grandmother That might be decked out like a Christmas tree And though pink elephants I'd see Though I'd be drunk as I could be Still I would sing my so

A fertile field this one. Most rock being influenced in some way by drugs or drink. However, my initial top choice was the Velvet Underground and ' Heroin' . Essentially, yes, a song entirely about Lou Reed's heroin addiction. It's also a jaunty tune to boot. In the end though, instead of glorifying drugs, I went with the lamentation of Neil Young and his song about lost friends to drugs in the 60s,  The Needle and the damage done'.  A stripped back emotional trap full of pity and sadness. This is what drugs can do sometimes. He's right, drugs and drink have seen a lot of talent go down the drain...

I do a lot of driving. This one should be relatively easy as I am either listening to podcasts or music while I am driving. My store of knowledge should be strong. There are quite a few contenders here; The Doors, The Who, Neil Young...more than I can possibly mention to be honest. However, the songs that I tend to have on shuffle tend to through up the odd track by a recently deceased hero of mine, Tom Petty, and, when I am driving his songs make me smile. I think, because, I can imagine myself driving across those long American highways from east to west coast listening to Tom Petty and stopping at motels, etc. His music provides that 'feeling' where perhaps driving is fun. So, Tom Petty it is and 'runnin' down a dream'

Yes, I can now claim this title for the following reason. Two weeks ago I found myself in the Binley Mega Chippy. It is the local, and very good chip shop near to work. The story started, as I've mentioned, two weeks ago as I was queuing for some chips for our fortnightly, chips Friday event. The shop was absolutely heaving and everyone was asking for a scollop batch. Which seemed interesting, but not something I thought about, until I went back to work and mentioned it to my personal baker, who one day will be on the great British bake off! The conversation continued like this; "I think I'll get some fish next time. I didn't realise that they did scallops!" This then leads to the discovery that actually in mega chippy they weren't huge fans of fish, but actually, were fans of potato!! It seems in Coventry, and the West Midlands that a scollop is a poor mans scallop! It turned out to be a deep-fried potato hash in a batter. This is then placed

Day Five - A song that needs to be played loud Another of my early favourites. I love my music loud. music is meant to be played Loud. If not, Louder...I had plenty to choose from! Ultimately though, It boiled down to two bands; The clear leaders, Led Zeppelin and the dark horses, Queen. In the end i had to go with Led Zeppelin. A band you could argue that created loud, bombastic music. And when you start looking into the songs of Led Zeppelin my choice wasn't easy either. I went with the obvious. A song I have loved for many, many years. It is so full of norse mythology that drives the track at such a pace it can only been listened to loudly. Sadly, they have yet to invent a speaker that can go louder to make it fully justified! Day Six  - A song that makes you want to dance Very few do, nowadays. They'll make me tap my feet, but dancing is out for me. I cannot dance. I cannot learn to dance. therefore what is the point of dancing. Moving is not dancing, therefo

I am a few days behind so I'll put all the days I have done so far. Day one - A song you like with a colour in Starting strong with one of my favourite bands, Pearl Jam and the colour is yellow. Yellow Ledbetter. One of their earliest songs. Some other contenders were; Pink Floyd - Green is the colour Nick Drake - Pink Moon Day Two - A song you like with a number in it Classic Europop from Germany with Nena and this classic from 1984. Day Three - A song that reminds you of summertime And the very wonderful Nick Drake. A tragic story of a songwriter, a man so incredibly vulnerable and shy, who, through his musical talent, released a few albums in the late 60s. His reluctance to tour, perform or interview meant commercially they weren't successful. He retreated home to his parents home suffering from massive depression and in 1974 he tragically died from an overdose at the age of 26. After his death his music become hugely successful, compared to when he wa

Every now and again on Twitter, someone will post some form of challenge. I tend to look at them and ponder participation, but usually don't get sucked in to taking part. However, I have come across one that got posted which I thought, well, why not? Here it is below; A personal selection of songs over 30 days. Each day for a different reason, a different choice. I love my music. I think second only to books as my cultural anchors as I navigate through life. There are some fantastic options here! it will result in some hard thinking...

The main purpose of my trip to London was to a) meet up with one of my very oldest friends who I have known since Primary school. and b) The Scythian exhibition at the British Museum, here The British Museum is, arguably, one of my favourite places. If you have never been then go, just book the train or tube and, go. You will  not be disappointed! The artefacts the British Empire pilfered from the four corners of the globe and stored them all in this vast building. We managed to get half-price tickets for the event via the Timeout website, which proved to be an utter bargain. The exhibition, sponsored by BP is held in conjunction with the Hermitage Museum of St Petersburg. Both a museum and a city I would love to visit. The Hermitage was founded by Catherine the Great in 1764, when she endowed a collection of paintings she had bought. Since then the Hermitage has expanded and grown to be one of the most impressive museums in the world. A lot of what the hermitage contains is the p

London. Saturday afternoon. It is grey, and it is also drizzling. I am in Fleet Street, heading towards St Pauls. London can be a grim place in these conditions. However, on we stroll. Then, what comes towards would take some believing if I weren't in London, in which case it becomes entirely believable and you tend to just ‘sigh’ and say, ‘ah, London!’ It is called a pedal bus. It is literally what it says on the tin. It has about 8 seats, like bar stools, with 4 on each side. You sit on the seats and then you pedal. The trolley then moves. Basic theory of motion. You pay to do this. You can drink beer at the same time my friend tells me. They certainly were. I assume the person directing the pedal bus is an employee and can’t be one of those drinking! It’s an absurdity. It is so London.

It has been a few years since I have attended a full Remembrance Day parade. This year our children were participating in the parade as part of there extra-curricular activities, so we went with them to the local Parish Church. Which, is incredibly local to us. Both of them didn't seem to mind the autumnal cold that accompanied the parade marchers from the church to the war memorial. It is only a few hundred metres away, but it was a little like a wind tunnel today. They, our children, aren't particularly old so they don't have the sense or understanding of what all of today means. Over time I am sure they will be fed the usual stories at school. Our history curriculum, if like mine, will feed them full of WWI and WWII history. The English obsession; our military prowess in the 20th Century, to the detriment of our other incredibly rich periods that can easily be chosen from. However, the 20th century has been a horrific hundred years for the world, and remembrance is

Edinburgh Castle is an incredible place. It sits atop the whole city. Like a granite sentinel. They say that the actual outcrop has been inhabited for many thousands of years. When your look at the defensive attributes, you perhaps, understand why. It's now been developed around so the Edinburgh you see has an old town and a new town. However, when James the III or the VI were wandering around the castle the view from the bottom of the much smaller city would have been far more impressive than with the old town cluttered around it. The old town is cluttered around the castle now. The beautiful old town, with its internal courts and dark, narrow alleyways. Edinburgh does a neat trade in ghost walks and the legends of the body snatchers haunt the area of the grass market.  Though, of course, the castle as we know it began development in around the 12th century, by David and the chapel that still sits centrally within the castle walls. It's a tiny one room chapel, often sn

For those who are aware of my literary tastes, will know that I am not a voracious reader of Crime novels. They very rarely appeal to me and I am not particularly enlivened by the idea of the police drama, etc. There are two very notable exceptions to this rule for me. Two authors; Agatha Christie, and another, Ian Rankin. As planets can align then 2017 has seen, oddly, an alignment here, too. In August we visited the summer property of Agatha Christie, Greensway. A particularly attractive house set into a stunning view on the river Dart, in Devon. The second opportunity presented itself when we decided to visit Scotland and knew we were going into Edinburgh. This is the John Rebus pilgrimage. John Rebus, is to Ian Rankin what Hercule Poirot is to Agathat Christie. However, this is the end of the comparison. John Rebus is a native of Edinburgh, who served in the Army when he was younger but then returned to the city and became a detective. And this is where the books start. Ian Ran

It has been a fair few years since we last made the visit north of the wall, into the land of the Picts. It is not a particularly easy journey with young children. It is a very long way, and takes a large portion of any day to achieve. Google maps has it done for about 5 and a half hours, not including any stoppages. When the children were very young the very idea of making this journey seemed a self inflicted punishment. However, they are both a little older now and are quite capable of making long trips. Provided, of course, they have their DVD players with them. I cannot express the boredom that I used to travel from Devon to Nottingham with absolutely no entertainment. Counting the number of red cars loses its interest after, oh, I don't know, twenty minutes into a 5hr drive (Pre-M42 of course). So, don't let anyone tell you that all progress is bad. It really isn't! The journey north passed with absolutely no issue. If anything, the problem was one of sheer boredom o

As the late, and very great Tom Petty once sang with his backing band, 'The Heartbreakers'. It's here It is probably my favourite Tom Petty song. He has written many brilliant songs, but this one stands out to me. The lyrics, the sound. An emotive package. But, at the age of 66 Tom Petty died yesterday. Another one of my musical heroes taken from me (Yes, I think this is now becoming personal) way before he was needed. It seemed to be a massive coronary heart attack. He was 66. Hardly an advanced age really and with so much more music he could have made that will no longer get written. That is a loss hard to take.

...Just a quick update. Ringing is still there five days and counting...

'If I die tonight, bury me in my favourite yellow, patent, leather shoes' - so sang Nick Cave midway through his set list at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham. An evening of firsts. Nick Cave did do a concert programme, so I ended up with a shiny new key ring! The bad seeds are his backing band. I am now, it seems, an honorary member. The other first was being searched before being allowed into the venue. You are filtered in lines and then bag searched (I didn't have a bag as I had read the security info and couldn't be bothered with the hassle these things invariably bring - I still remember the farcical bag search at the Pink Floyd exhibition), but I have never been searched going into a gig from memory. This is okay because Terrorists will not win and they will not get us to change the way we live. No one now believes this, do they? (Have you witnessed the protection blocks?) However, I am then inside my least favourite Nottingham music venue. It's designe

The word legend seems to be easily spoken of nowadays. It's a strange phenomena of our celebrity obsessed society that clamours for heroes. Their own mundane lives and imagination escapednonly by their belief that maybe they too can become famous trough the pursuit of the trivial and outlandish as the very people they now idolise followed the same route but got 'lucky'. It could have been me they say. This is appalling thinking and seems to be overwhelming at times. So, legend, hero, idol and all the other superlatives are bandied around like cheap confetti at a large wedding.  Tonight however, I do go to see, and listen to a legend: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. An Australian singer who has been making music for 40yrs. Firstly as in the band, the birthday party but for the majority as an artist with his backing band, the bad seeds. It is not everyone's type of music. Though, if you enjoy songs with an emotional narrative then the man is the one for you, really.

While pottering around a local shop in town on Saturday. I found myself in an aisle looking for, above all things, a glue stick. Behind me stood about 3 or 4 locals having a conversation. It went roughly like this between also the dramatis personae; Person 1 'So, he's been away then?' Person 2 'Yes' Person 3 'Didn't he go to Paris?' Person 2 'No. He didn't go to Paris. He's never been to Paris.' Person 3 'Oh, wasn't it somewhere exotic, though?' Person 1 'Was it America? I'd heard he'd been to somewhere in America' Person 2 'No. He went to Whitby.' At which point I think I sighed and left the aisle as swiftly as possible...

I was sat in the dining room this afternoon catching up on some paperwork when the landline phone started ringing. This is an odd sound for me as I am rarely in, but since I have been off work at home for the last week we tend to get 3 or 4 very pointless calls a day. They are either energy efficiency windows or automated messages. All rubbish. So, today, the phone starts ringing while the children are in the front room. They are very focused when they are watching television. As I say I am in the dining room. It rings a few times. By this point I have decided I am not going in to pick it up. The ringing stops suddenly and a plastic on plastic noise.  I then hear my son say to his sister, the television queen, 'Problem solved.'  By the sounds of it he has learnt to lift the receiver and then just put it straight down!  An effective new anti-phone spam device...

The one benefit of extended holidays is that I often find this the time to make a dent in the books to be read pile. A good meaningful dent. I know I shall never clear the to read pile as if you could do that then you are doing it wrong. This pile should always exist. In fact the last thought on your death bed should probably be, 'damn, I'm not going to have a chance to read that one now...poot!'.  People may of course disagree with me over this. I mean, they'd be wrong but they'd be entitled to their opinion.

We find ourselves in Devon again. It's a fairly annual event. Last year we came down loaded with our English Heritage card. We made the most of it during our stay by visiting places like Totnes Castle, and Berry Pomeroy. This year we have no English Heritage card. We have swapped. We now have membership of the National Trust. Slightly different to English Heritage as if it rains then with National Trust you find that most sites have a good, solid roof on it. This was not always the case with English Heritage. The odd afternoon stood sheltering in Abbey archways is proof positive of this. So, armed with our bright orange National Trust cards we begin adventures in Devon. One of the places that was on our list was Greenway. The holiday home of Agatha Christie. It's a property that clings to the banks of the river Dart. Up river from Kingswear & Dartmouth. There are a few ways to visit the property. We pre-booked a car parking space. However, you have the option of arriving by