I had forgotten this song until today's Sounds of the 60's. Now I can see where Status Quo got their moves. Dig the crazy keyboard player, er, man.

The Chantay's - Pipeline (Lawrence Welk Show 5/18/63)

I love Lady Penelope. "What an evening"

"It isn't over yet...Beany (winks)"

Cliff Richard Jr sings Shooting Star

Another autograph thread. Who, when, why. Also time to admit it...have you ever signed autograph? Well I was asked but was mistaken for James Warren (Stackridge, natch!) at Cropredy. I declined. I'm sure those blokes off the Whistle Test have signed a few bus tickets/bare midriffs/plaster casts in their time.

Would you want to sign an autograph or hundreds. Nearest I have got was signing hundreds of computer-printed cheques on a monthly purchase ledger run. Bloody boring. I've seen Leonard Nimoy at a book signing whisking though a pile of books in hardly any time at all with a barely legible scribble and without looking up at the star-struck recipient. I've also seen the like of Toyah Wilcox/Jeff Wayne/him-off-Red-Dwarf at a memorabilia show desperate to sign an autograph for anyone.

Must dig some out of the archives. Sure I have some pop stuff signed "to Beany.."

Settling down for the evening, expecting some intelligent programming on BBC HD at 8pm - Lark Rise To Candleford if you must know - and what do we have instead? Only blooming Lambing Live.

Why oh why BBC do we have to endure this muck. The sight of newborn baby white fluffy things is simply not good telly (ahhh...). I was so shocked and disgusted at the sight of that dowdy Miss Kate Humble testing the fertility prospects of the "tups" at market by feeling their *cough* testicles that I had to switch off and take a cold shower.

I had since watched the shameful episode several times on iPlayer and the revulsion I have for the wanton hussy has not abated. Indeed I may request a refund on my licence fee. See if you agree with me dear friends. For surfers of the interweb this will only work within the confines of the British Isles. About 19 minutes in. Keep away from children and small dogs.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00rf170

It's my birthday today and I'm in the mood for mischief and some dad dancing! You too can, er, get down and shake your funky stuff. You know you want to.

This CD has the sub-title "Songs You Never Thought You'd Hear". It has been on my very long shopping list of music I have wanted to own for 8 years, but could not be arsed to order it from America. Today I found it in a second-hand shop in Manchester for the princely sum of £3. For lovers of cover versions it is a treasure.

Soundclips can be heard here www.pigsflycd.com/mainpage.html

Don Ho "sings" Shock The Monkey. Peter Noone nails White Wedding. Billy Preston develops Girls On Film. Marvellous!

So do the Massive have any examples of Songs You Never Thought You'd Hear?

Three words to strike fear into the hearts of regular gig-goers or just an excuse to spend longer in the pub before hauling yourself off into the venue to see your chosen headliner.

The excellent thread on first gigs had me digging through the dusty old archives, diaries and old ticket stubs. On only two gigs was there a mention of a named support act. In the case of America supporting Family it was done to flog more tickets.

I've been at other gigs where the support act was just as good, if not better, as the main act; Dire Straits, Talking Heads, The Clash, The Jam, Tom Petty, Chris De Burgh(?), etc. This thread is more about the bands who never break out of being a support act. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride. The act that you often want to just get off...and you sometimes tell them to GET OFF!

Singer-songwriters with acoustic guitars, presumably booked to avoid much moving of equipment in the interval (Rab Noakes). Bands with the same management/record label as the top billing (Chris De Burgh again). Or those just permanently available. Often with forgettable names, like, erm... Some mentioned in the gigs thread; Meal Ticket, Cochise, Seekers of Attention.

The worst band I ever saw was Rothko, supporting Porcupine Tree. Just three bass guitars. I do regret missing the support act when I went to see Dream Theater in Sheffield i.e. Porcupine Tree and Tori Amos in Manchester i.e. Divine Comedy. I have been lucky to have avoided the comedians and jugglers that seem to crop up occasionally supporting top turns. Many support acts are never introduced or even introduce themselves so I often go home none the wiser.

Lets start a support group for the support group.

This email hit my spam box this morning. It is so different to the usual V1agra and Nigeria scams that it could be real...

I'm obviously too old for this opportunity but there could be some young Massive types who would welcome the chance to play for The Arse. I'm still waiting for the chance to play with The Oasis or Utoo.

OPPORTUNITY FOR YOU TO BECOME AN ARSENAL FOOTBALLER IF YOU WANT.

Arsenal coach (Arsene Wenger) is offering opportunity to people all over the world to become one of the most Arsenal young stars in the nearest future.

Arsenal needs interested people that can perform well in the field to train them here in Emirate. We shall offer you a free visa to London and an apartment to live for this training scheme once you are qualified to participate with us.

So if you are interested about it you should contact our Accounts Management Officer for more details on how to complete the necessary steps.

I heard the charity record for Haiti this morning and must admit to liking the cause but not the record. Don't get me wrong, I've actively supported charities all my working life but I only buy charity records if I like the the song or if I collect records by a particular artist - the sad completist in me.

Here are a few in my collection.

Ferry Aid - Let It Be. Contains Sir Thumbs Aloft and Lady Kate

Who Dares - Doctor In Distress. Sits in my the box marked "so bad it's good". Contains Colin Baker, Justin Hayward and others too shameful to mention. For Cancer Research.

Pulp - Bad Cover Version. Sadly this spoof of Band Aid does not appear on YouTube (legal reasons?) but here are some photos. The Brian May lookalike is Jarvis.

http://www.pulpwiki.net/Pulp/BadCoverVersionPromo

Veteran British actor Ian Carmichael has died at the age of 89. Sad to say I thought he was already dead. Made some dashed spiffing fillums and TV shows in his time.

Most radio presenters with a show featuring music from a particular decade will slap on any old random hits from that period. Not so the master of all popular music from the 1960's.

Brian Matthew's show is essential listening for anyone with an ear for great and obscure music from an era when, well, pop music began. He was slap bang in the middle of the music scene back then and still retains an encyclopedic knowledge of the time without ever seeming to show-off.

Try to catch his show on the BBC iPlayer (UK only). Here are two tracks he played consecutively today (I think). Marvellous.

I remember all the fuss last year when The Boss played a blinder at half-time. I had not seen anything about this year's act and had to go searching for this link.

Ladies & gentlemen...please welcome...The Who!

http://blogs.nfl.com/2010/02/04/the-who-rock-the-halftime-show-news-conf...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8497433.stm

This is what the fuss is all about.

Now if I can only find my cassette recording of a little dittie I wrote in the '60's "Born In't Bolton Town" which is not a million miles from the later "Born In The USA" I could be on to a winner here.

Heard this track twice now on the Ken Bruce Show and bloody love it. Is that allowed at my age? Will I be shunned by the Massive unless I quickly declare my love for RT?

Pish! For all I know Owl City could be secret lemonade drinkers and I would not care a hoot! No official videos allowed but this version has had 5m+ hits. Flip.

As I needed to do some work on the old PC tonight I opted for a bit of soundtrack music as background noise. It's been in my MP3 folder for yonks so I gave the Original Music from Doctor Who, Series 1 & 2 a whirl. Then lo and behold, this track pops up. From a Christmas episode apparently but had totally passed me by. Not showing up on any other CD according to Amazon. See if you like it.

Oh look! There is a second Neil Hannon song on the CD. Available on Amazon as individual downloads. There are other TV listing magazines, etc... The work is still waiting to be done.

How many bands have you seen live that finish with the SAME song at every concert. None I would guess, unless you have been to a Runrig concert. As far as I know they ALWAYS finish with the song below.

Is that a good thing? At least you know the show is over when you hear it. What song would you expect from other acts?

The HJH's - well obvious innit
Dame David - Rock & Roll Suicide
Brooce - Born To Run (off the stage to the nearest limo)
Bob Dylan/Van Morrison - bloody anything really, you would be past caring