What is my point? Well (1) I feel our threads listing our choice artists inadequately list enough women artists (2) Having ripped all my CDs onto MP3 I realise I have too few woman artists (3) Recently on another thread I commented on the lack of front page female artist portraits on The Word mag. So, where are all the female musical artists...and who are they?

A few I recently enjoyed listening to are:
Regina Spektor (thanks Archie)
Emily Loizeau (Thanks to The Word)
Astrid Williamson...not sure where she came from..
Sibylle Baier (imagine a female german english speaking Nick Drake)

C'mon then, check your collections and share your favourites

or is it simply a "condition of the heart" as to why he and his legal eagles take most of his fan-posted stuff of Youtube et al? Is it a case of "Damn U" or "Arrogance" or is there "Something in the Water [that] (Does Not Compute)"....sorry for the puns.....but what do you all think?

I posted this deep on another thread but i think its worth a headline post - hope you enjoy the self mocking Trial of Ralph McTell, a fine troubadour - now there is a word you dont hear often enough. I cant get over who they get for one brief sketch.

All us guitarists have been here at some point have we not?

So I could not resist a post of a personal favourite - Oh Well
Peter Green led Fleetwood Mac
Note the maracas...a traditional rock instrument?

Surely among the best was Mr Handsome Rockin Pelvis in 1968? Handsome and Epic?

....of the collection. So which artist do you have most tracks by? Be honest now. Having sorted out my CD/Itunes collection and in the event of any damage/loss I wanted a list so I copied and pasted my itunes list into MS Excel. Then, with a minute on my hands I thought to pivot it to find the which artists I have accumulated the most tracks by. Here is my top 10 artists based on tracks (No cheeky remarks please!):

The Beatles 408 – sort of obvious
Chris Rea 355 – includes his blues box sets here
Tom Waits 223 – Naturally
Prince 202 - those triple sets stack up
Bruce Springsteen - 169 I am bound to be missing some here
Yann Tiersen 117 (French dude) Amelie, Goodbye Lenin etc
Billy Bragg 86 – the odd box set here too
David Gray 83 – I think hes great
Bert Jansch 70 – acoustic period
Joe Satriani 70 – shredding period….still prefer him to Vai

It must influence what turns up on the MP3 shuffle. Gone on, have a go, surprise yourself…..maybe

Has anyone any favourite moments when Teacher and Student meet to share some riffs? A favourite of mine is here with Stevie Ray Vaughan & Albert King in Session

Do hats help the groove or does the groove make you wear hats?

What are your favourite uniforms/attire in rock and pop?

When all the spleen venting is over...stick a happy record on

Just wondered if we can put together a list of poets who turn up via the MP3 shuffle sitting next to your usual rock n roll stuff?

My choice is Les Barker who was celebrated on a 2CD set with his poems read by Ken Bruce, Terry Wogan, Ned Sherrin, Mike Harding, Johnnie Walker, Paul Gambaccini, Mark & Lard etc etc

There's not much footage around but here he is "Teaching Geography To George W Bush" and more

I did want to put the Daschund poem up but this is afterall a family site

When guitar shredding tires my mind I look forward to turning to artists mainly associated with the piano such as Tom Waits, Randy Newman, Billy Joel, Elton John, Ray Charles, Yann Tiersen...and even a bit of Freddie Mercury. Most are old school though...

Current/new artists that are piano led are low on my radar. I like a bit of Duke Special and lots of Matt Hales from Aqualung (however his latest fab album is heavy on the six strings). So who is currently tinkling ivories that you think is worth a look/listen?

I know its a subjective exercise but Liege and Lief always gets hailed as the Greatest Folk Album Ever. It's alright but it was "folk rock" which was not the thing that got me into trad folk. I think we need to move on and find a successor. So what gets your vote?

Me? Well i put forward the one album I still love today that started me off in ealry 1990s which was Life and Limb by Dave Swarbrick & Martin Carthy featuring the fab Sovay

3 reasons for posting this

(1) Its Chris Rea and I like him, particularly his latest stuff
(2) Its an OGWT clip...never tire of those
(3) A challenge: How many songs can you recall that have a question in the title?

Here is mine, Chris Rea with "Whatever Happened to Benny Santini?"

...a touch early Springsteen here dont you think? Or was Springsteen like an early Chris Rea? Ah you decide

Womad Festival, organisers have said. "Every artist that you can think of is performing at Womad - and a lot you could never think of." Wow, that is a big claim or is it lazy BBC Website editing? Is it just me who thinks the BBC, for all its size has crap music journalism on its news website...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7525203.stm

I have heard that many a comedian wanted to be a rock star and that many a rock star would like to be funny. I think Tom Waits can manage both. Here he is talking about his kids and his horse pictures. Have you any other candidates for a job swap or job share?