Category Archives: Books Films, TV & Radio

Calling out around the world – the Martha Reeves interview

It was 10.30am local time in Detroit, Michigan, when I got through to soul legend Martha Reeves, and she still had a little packing to organise before heading to the UK. Within a couple of days she’d be thrilling crowds … Continue reading

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Rollin’ Home with the Quo – the Francis Rossi interview

When you phone a rock’n’roll legend, you don’t expect him to answer within two rings and launch straight into a breezy rendition of a classic from Singin’ in the Rain. “Good morning, good morning!” What’s more, that vast Status Quo … Continue reading

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Jools Holland and his Rhythm and Blues Orchestra – Blackpool Empress Ballroom

If a building really carries social history within its walls, there can be few greater examples in Lancashire than Blackpool’s Empress Ballroom. The ornate decoration throughout the Winter Gardens tells its own stories, and there’s no disguising the magic of … Continue reading

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Testing the Big Band theory – the Jools Holland interview

It’s difficult to write about Jools Holland without going down the retro route. He is after all a man who carved out a career celebrating the best in popular music from the past century. His long-running BBC television show Later … Continue reading

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Rediscovering Alice’s Wonderland – a 150th anniversary celebration

To heed the King’s advice to the White Rabbit, I should begin at the beginning and go on till I come to the end, then stop. But I’m not so sure any appreciation of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland books … Continue reading

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Looking Glass Girl by Cathy Cassidy – a writewyattuk review

In the year Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland turns 150, we can expect a number of events set around that influential work and all it led to. Alice is a little too Marmite for some tastes, and I totally … Continue reading

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Taking the Long Road home – the Milltown Brothers interview

Matt Nelson is on his way home from work to Burnley, having moved back to the North-West around a dozen years ago. Milltown Brothers’ chief singer-songwriter is a family man these days, a dad-of-three who runs a visual effects film … Continue reading

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Experiencing eclipses and supersonic flight – the Smoke Fairies interview

Katherine Blamire was roaming around rural Yorkshire with fellow members of the band Smoke Fairies when I called her, enjoying a day off from a UK tour supporting Public Service Broadcasting. To add to 13 shared dates, the band headlined … Continue reading

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The Astounding Broccoli Boy by Frank Cottrell Boyce – a writewyattuk review

Frank Cottrell Boyce has a lot to live up to when it comes to publication time, not least considering the quality of his first three children’s novels, Millions, Framed and Cosmic. I also enjoyed the Merseyside author’s re-imaginings of Ian … Continue reading

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Public Service Broadcasting / Smoke Fairies – The Ritz, Manchester

It’s ironic that the night we decided to do without the car and took the train to Manchester, my better half and I were let down by public transport. Not so much Public Service Broadcasting as Replacement Bus Service, cheated … Continue reading

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