"But Dad, it's awful!"
"I think it might do alright. It's very ... Eurovision."
So ran the conversation between Amusements Minor and myself in the run-up to yesterday's contest, discussing the UK's entry, Eins, Zwei, Drei by Look Mum, No Computer, aka Sam Battle.
One point from the judges.
No points from the public.
25th and stone cold last.
What do I know?
This is I Played The Fool by Michael Stipe and Andrew Watt. It's the theme tune to a new Steve Carell-powered comedy series called Rooster which looks intriguing but you need to subscribe to HBO Max to watch it, so who knows? But we get a new Stipe song out of it, so... it's not his finest work, but it is nice to hear his familiar voice singing something new. And the lyrics are resonating with me.
Anyone seen Rooster and know whether it's worth a subscription?
Oh, I Oh, I I played the fool A good guy, bad guy Punchline, frown The joke fell flat I′ll come around Look who volunteered to play the fool A sea change came It knocked me down I'm setting up The punchline now Look who tried too hard to play it cool Oh, I Oh, I Oh, I Oh, I Oh, I Oh, I I played the fool Laugh at me I′m trying, trying Falling sometimes Sometimes flying Cry me an ocean Of one liners Cruel, cruel, cruel Sticks and stones You know the rhyme You know it landed Hard this time Look who tried too hard to play it cool We laugh and move on With our lives I'm bootstrap pained But nеvermind I'll find a way To rewrite our bеginnings Oh, I Oh, I Oh, I Oh, I Oh, I Oh, I I played the fool Laugh at me I′m trying, trying Falling sometimes Sometimes flying Cry me an ocean Of one liners Cry me an ocean Of one liners Cry me an ocean Of one liners Cruel, cruel, cruel
I've been watching Mr Mercedes on Amazon Prime, the 2017 adaptation of Stephen King's novel. It's okay, rather than spectacular. Brendan Gleeson is reliably excellent as our hero, retired detective Bill Hodges. Harry Treadaway is a standout as the antagonist psychopath Brady Hartsfield. There's a perfectly serviceable supporting cast too. But the real star is the soundtrack.
Example, you say? How about three. These were all in one episode.
Okay, so the T Bone Burnett track is the theme tune, so is in every episode, and Tunefind tells me the Donovan track is used in a lot of film and TV. But even so, there's hardly an episode of Mr Mercedes that doesn't have me scrabbling for the Internet to ID one tune or another.
It took me a while to track this down but as ever the inestimable Tunefind came to my rescue. It's Escape, an orchestral piece by the composer Craig Armstrong. It starts with anticipatory strings, almost menacing, the sort of thing you might hear as background music in a Craig-era Bond movie or a Nolan-helmed Batman. But as more and more voices get added, the scope of the piece swells too - it takes on grander proportions. And then the percussion kicks in around the four and a half minute mark. The whole thing ends up leaning heavily into "epic" territory.... which is probably why it got picked up for this old Top Gear review of the BMW M5, where I first heard it. So here it is is context, from Clarkson pressing the M button at 1:05
And here's the piece in its entirety. How does Armstrong not do more soundtrack work?
Christmas television is not what is was in our younger day, quality content diluted across so many channels and platforms.
So here's an alternate viewing schedule for you, comprising videos I've squirelled away in my YouTube Watch Later list but never really found a reason to post about individually. Start this straight after Christmas lunch and this little lot should see you through to bedtime. Merry Christmas, ya filthy animals...
You might have seen the Steven Spielberg film Catch Me If You Can, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks, and, if you have, you probably know it is based on the true story of teen conman Frank Abagnale. Well, here is the real Frank being interviewed by US chat show royalty Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show, all the way back in 1978. This is classic time-capsule TV gold. And yes, I am clearing out my YouTube Watch Later list.
But since we are hanging around, still, I'll crack on with this nonsense, whilst you gaze in wonderment at just how staid, parochial and predictable I am.
It'll keep us both busy, if nothing else. Having said that, I've written noticeably less than in years gone by, so I won't keep you for long - we can all be thankful for that.
Best album
Also noteworthy are Bowerbirds and Blue Things by Jetstream Pony and Find El Dorado by Paul Weller, the latter proving what a great reinterpreter he has always been.
Best song
Many of the songs I've heard for the first time this year are old, just new to me. But of 2025 releases, I've been impressed by Masquerade by Cardinals, Bonnet of Pins by Matt Berninger and Disintegrate by Suede. Oh, and a late dive for the tape was made by The Light Won't Shine Forever by Aussie band Floodlights. The nod, though, goes to Apple Green UFO by Andy Bell, which makes me feel about 30 years younger than I am. Who could ask for more? Here's the full length version to luxuriate in...
Best gig
As good as the usual suspects (The Smyths, From The Jam, The Wedding Present) have all been, and as good a night out as Roger Daltrey (morphing into Warwick Davis) was, the nod here, unsurprisingly, goes to the Gene reunion show at the Hammersmith Apollo in October. Literally everything I could ever want from a gig.
Best book
Like the song category, this has been tricky because most of what I've read for the first time this year has been old: Cider with Roadies by Stuart Maconie was very enjoyable, but was published in 2005. Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt, though an astonishing work of memoir, is even older (1999). But of course I can always rely on Stephen King - Never Flinch was not only published this year but also dependably enjoyable, even if not his best work.
Best film
The year was bookended by stand-outs: Dylan-goes-electric biopic A Complete Unknown at one end and Edgar Wright's ever-so-slightly-disappointing take on vintage King (as Bachman) The Running Man at the other. In between, A Big Bold Beautiful Journey deserves a special mention, for really making me think, whilst Brad's F1 and Tom's Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning both delivered predictable thrills without reinventing cinema. I must also mention Nina Conti's brilliant surreal simian road movie, Sunlight. Oh, and as a dad, it was lovely to share movie nostalgia with Amusements Minor with the live-action remake of How To Train Your Dragon.
Best theatre
I haven't seen much on stage this year. Does an NT Live cinema screening of Dr Strangelove count? Steve Coogan was excellent in four roles. Also noteworthy was the 30th anniversary on-stage gathering, for performance and anecdotes, of The Fast Show ensemble, minus the late Caroline Aherne. Aren't end-of-year round-ups brilliant?! Oh, and I finally got to see the Jon Ronson: Psychopath Night stage show. Entertaining and thought-provoking stuff.
Best television
I feel like I must have forgotten something, because this reads like a really slow year for TV. Finally got Wednesday 2 on Netflix, which was good but inevitably not as good as the first series, despite a liberal sprinkling of Joanna Lumley. Like the rest of the nation, Amusements Towers got into Celebrity Traitors, despite never having watched a single moment of the regular, non-celebrity version. Apologies if there's a theme developing, but Celebrity Race Across The World also hits the spot in our house. And as I write this, we're half way through Stranger Things 5, so far living up to the almost impossible levels of expectation.
Best sport
I enjoyed Liverpool FC winning the Premier League, even if it felt anticlimatic. Just as well, because they've blown up a bit this season. Other notables included Iga Świątek at Wimbledon and Georgia Hunter Bell at the World Athletics Championships (both awesome), and the Lionesses at the UEFA Women's Euros.
Person of the year
Well, it's not a person but a thing: the NHS. Fourteen years of Tory underinvestment have left it on its knees and, as a result, it's pretty far from perfect these days. Yet still it goes on, against the odds, delivering care and services to our sick and injured. It's easy to point out when things go wrong in the NHS, and to be frustrated by bureaucracy and poor communication... but it gets so much right, still, even in the most trying of circumstances. We'll miss it when it's gone, you know.
Tool of the year
Trump again, obviously. Not content with sending troops into US cities for paper-thin, politically motivated reasons, claiming to end wars that have not ended, failing to touch the sides of what's going on in Ukraine, bulldozing bits of the White House to make way for a huge/vulgar ballroom (compensating much?), not sending anyone of any status or significance to COP 30, doing anything to divert attention from the Epstein files, pardoning people he doesn't even know, expressing interest in somehow running for a third term, presiding over the longest shutdown in US political history, finally promising to release those Epstein files and then not, and so much more besides... he's ended the year by going after the BBC and giving himself a sports day peace prize medal at the World Cup draw. That's a sequence of words I never conceived would be necessary or even feasible to write. What a desperate, sad, insecure, delusional little man he is ... and/or a colossal orange prick.
I hope that was worth it but know, deep down, that it wasn't. Reader: how was 2025 for you?
I don't say this often, but there's a good chance this will be the best song you hear all day.
The Amusements clan has been working its way through Ted Lasso - it's mostly feelgood, mostly family-friendly, mostly funny television that we all get something out of (though the something in question probably varies somewhat amongst the clan).
The title theme is by Marcus Mumford, of Mumford and Sons, and serial soundtrack specialist Tom Lowe; it's an upbeat, positive, happy sounding two and a bit minutes that ably gets you in the mood for what is to come next. It's catchy, it's la-la-alongable, it's everything a good theme tune for a light entertainment programme should be.
And then there's Jeff Tweedy's version.
The sometime Wilco frontman's beautiful acoustic rendition is also used in the show (episode nine of series two, fact fans), specifically to soundtrack a scene following AFC Richmond's FA Cup semi-final thrashing by Manchester City, when coach Beard takes the tube back from Wembley alone. And it is wonderful. Jeff's delicate, finger-picking guitar lets the lyric come much more to the fore, and the upbeat postivity is suddenly replaced by resignation, sadness and, ultimately, acceptance. It's fantastic, I think, and, to repeat myself, is probably the best thing you'll hear today. Here it is.
Yeah, it might be all that you get Yeah, I guess this might well be it If you slow down for a second, take your time You know I'm yours if you remember that you're mine And when everybody's telling me I have no time I prove 'em wrong again Yeah, it might be all that you get Yeah, I guess this might well be it Well, heaven knows I've tried No, my hands won't be tied down And I will not lay them down 'Cause I can finally see the truth So simple but so clear Accepting an ocean's depths were out of reach for me and you If you're coming up for air breathing in You know I'll be there when you first begin And when everybody's telling us we have no time We'll prove 'em wrong again 'Cause, yeah, it might be all that you get Yeah, I guess this might well be it But heaven knows I've tried
The news yesterday that Henry Kelly has died made me sad, as much for that long-lost time in my late teens as for anything else. For me, Henry was Going For Gold, simple as that - the show aimed to identify the quiz champion of Europe, and had contestants from 15 countries ... though all the questions were in English, so the home nations always did well.
Beyond the excellent theme music, Henry's quirky and idiomatic phrasing was another feature of the show, and led to a number of new terms entering my teenage lexicon, notably: "Good man yourself", "You're playing catch-up" and adding "proper" onto the end of everything (as in "You're through to the first round proper" after getting through the actual first round). Different times.
Here's the grand final of the first series, from all the way back in Spring 1988. Beyond the theme tune, the cake (!) ten minutes in, and Henry being Henry, note the winner, Daphne. If she looks familiar, well, she went on to be a member of the in-house pro team on another quiz, Eggheads.
I love everything about this video - it's time-capsule TV and perfectly encapsulates a simpler time, when people clapped each other rather than themselves. How we used to live, eh?
Rest in peace, Henry - you were a good man yourself.
This is The World Is Mine, a 2019 single by UK R&B artist Samm Henshaw. No, it's not my usual bag*, but I do very much like it. I could almost imagine it being a 21st Century Bond theme ... and maybe I'm not alone in thinking that, because it did get picked up for the excellent TV adaptation of Anthony Horowitz's teen spy series Alex Rider. That's where I first heard it, courtesy of Amusements Minor, so today seems a good day, the best day, to post it. The world is yours, my son.
Great video too.
* My usual bag, such as it is, will no doubt resume next time.
One of the beauties of Amusements Minor growing up is that I get to share more diverse things from my own younger days with him, whether that's music, books, film or television. Example? Well, just recently we've started watching The Walking Dead - he's just about old enough for zombies, and the brutal dispatch thereof, we think.
Anyway, we've just got to the downbeat end of the very first series, specifically when Rick and co flee the CDC seconds before it goes up in smoke. That episode closes with this absolute pearl from Bob Dylan, a song for tomorrow is ever there was one.
Well, I can't, obviously. Instead, as 2023 draws to a close (This might get confusing - Ed.), I'm going to write about the things I'm maybe looking forward to for 2024 and then, when this actually gets published in twelve months time, maybe I'll drop into my own comments section and update with how reality compared with hope. Because there's always hope, right? Even for this desperate blog...
So enough prevarication - let's get the crystal ball out.
Best album?
Best song?
This looking forward lark is hard. Most of the new songs that have featured on this blog in recent years have been serendipitous finds, and how do you predict that? So I'm going to take an absolute punt and say that my best song of 2024 will be something I haven't heard even a snippet of yet, by some band that is completely new to me, and will probably be on Bandcamp. I know, brilliant insight, eh? Bet you're glad to be reading this...
Best gig?
Well, this might be a little easier to look forward to, because I've already started booking tickets and planning trips. For example, I already know that I will be seeing The Smyths and From The Jam, and I can confidently state that I will enjoy both very much. I hope to see Sea Power too, touring the anniversary of Do You Like Rock Music? (which is on the Every Home Should Have One masterlist, lest we forget), although the nearest they come to me is on Valentine's day, so that might prove challenging, let's say. There's a chance I may also get to the Suede and Manics double-header tour, which is bound to be something, plus I note Pixies are touring briefly, playing Bossanova and Trompe le Monde in full. Plus hopefully there will also be some festival action, either Latitude (with Duran Duran headlining one day, no less) or CarFest. So there's lots of potential here, basically. More good gigs to go to than I can realistically afford. And I haven't even mentioned the annual pilgrimage to see The Wedding Present, which is bound to happen at some point...
Best book?
Best film?
I'm going to cheat a bit here because Wonka has just come out at the time of writing, but I haven't seen it yet. Based on trailers and the fact that the team behind it gave us the Paddington movies, I'm not really going out on much of a limb here when I predict it will be quite good. But what else? Well, novelist-turned-director Alex Garland's new film Civil War looks interesting (and hopefully not prescient), and stuntman-turned-director David Leitch is bringing The Fall Guy to the big screen, hopefully without dumping on our childhood memories (I'd like a Lee Majors cameo please, David). Amy Winehouse biopic Back to Black will either be terrible or excellent, as will Beverley Hills Cop: Axel F (yes, really). Actually, 2024 looks like being the peak year of sequels, most of which, on paper, leave you scratching your head and wondering "why?" and "please don't be terrible", to whit: Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, Beetlejuice 2 (only 30 years too late), Joker: Folie a Deux, Gladiator 2 (yep, really), and an as yet untitled Alien franchise movie. Leave the horse alone, why don't you, it's dead already... And director Richard Eggers is remaking Nosferatu for 2024 ... really, what could go wrong? Oh, and spoiler alert from December 2023 - I don't actually get to the cinema very much any more, so I probably won't even see half of these. Boo.
Best television?
Best sport?
Well, I'm going to go out on another limb here and predict that the best sport of the year will also, in a way, be the worst, as England threaten to win the Euros but ultimately fall agonisingly short, probably on penalties. Staying with football, I'm hoping for a Liverpool title in the Premier League, but won't mind if it's Arsenal, not least because my old man's a Gooner. Moving down the pyramid, I'm also hoping that Norwich City will somehow (and despite themselves) sneak into the play-offs, but if so they'll undoubtedly revert to form and miss out, whilst watching their noisy neighbours from down the road get promoted as champions. Sigh. In other sport, I hope that Ronnie O'Sullivan prevails at the snooker world championships in May, to stand alone on eight titles in the modern era. And I'm praying for some kind of comeback from Emma Raducanu - such talent, such promise, hopefully to re-emerge in 2024. And of course it's an Olympic year, so I'm hoping that Katarina Johnson-Thompson scoops the heptathlon gold her career so richly deserves. Oh, and is one more title for Lewis Hamilton too much to ask? Probably, but it doesn't hurt to hope.
Person of the year?
Tool of the year?
As I type this post, at the tail-end of 2023, I have an awful and inescapable fear that repugnant man-child and morality-vacuum Orange Don will somehow evade all attempts to rein him in, whether in the courts or in the Republican party, and that not only will he contest the 2024 presidential election as a free man but that he will also win it. It chills my heart to think of him back in power, but I can see it happening, I really can. I just pray that in the twelve months that elapse between me writing this and you reading it, something legal, conclusive and incontrovertilbe happens to prevent him: either he is convicted of something, or the Republican party realise they don't have to remain in his thrall, or the Democrats find a way to beat him, or the US electorate come to their senses. I can't think of too many things more dangerous for the world than a stupid, immoral, entitled person with ultimate power but little accountability and even less care. It is a hideous, but very real, prospect for us all.
Well, that's the future foretold. Hardly a cheery note to end on, but really, what else did you expect from me? I wonder what you'll make of all this in December '24? Blimey, I wonder what I'll even make of it...
'Tis the season. The workplace Christmas "do" season, that is. This, from David Mitchell and Robert Webb, is for anyone with/without people skills, who loves/hates mingling at social events. You know who you are.
May not be entirely SFW, linguistically.
"...as relaxed and friendly as a serial killer doing a police interview whilst still wearing his last victim's skin." Genius.
In honour of the future wife's birthday, I present this little nugget from 27 years ago. Time flies, eh? I doubt Men Behaving Badly would get made these days.
Kids today, eh? They don't like bands, or albums, they just like tracks. Example: Amusements Minor loves No Sleep 'Til Brooklyn but, despite my best efforts, steadfastly refuses to entertain anything else by The Beastie Boys. Anything! I blame Spotify. Or maybe I'm to blame, perhaps I haven't enthused enough (or too much). But I like this song... and love the video, which feels like all the best and worst aspects of every late 70s American cop show combined in three nostalgia-soaked minutes. Keep 'em peeled for a fleeting glimpse of Starsky knitwear even!
So, bottom line - I'm not picking a specific moment in this video because the whole thing is excellent. "Starring Nathan Wind as Cochese" indeed... Enjoy.
If I've got this right (and that's by no means certain, given the challenges of scheduling posts months in advance), this evening will see Comic Relief on the Beeb. Now, I know you're not allowed to say this, because it's all for charidee, but not all the comedy on offer this evening will be that funny. So here's a 15-minute CR special from 1988, can you believe, that still is. Stephen Fry's King Charles is particularly enjoyable...
Cromwell: The moment has arrived. Are you ready to meet your maker?
King Charles: Well, I'm always absolutely fascinated to meet people from all walks of life but, er, yes, particularly manufacturing industry.
It's just snappy, quotable line after snappy, quotable line...
"...your family's record in the department of cunning planning is about as impressive as Stumpy Oleg McNoleg's personal best in the Market Harborough marathon..."
"...I'm a busy man and I can't be bothered to punch you at the moment. Here is my fist. Kindly run towards it as fast as you can."
They don't make them like this any more, sadly.
Do you have a karaoke stand-by? Something you can manage a passable rendition of, should a microphone be forcefully pressed into your reluctant hand? I once, drunkenly, attempted Roxanne by The Police but that was a mistake - Sting's voice is very high in the chorus. REM, Bowie and Morrissey have provided me with safer ground, at various times. One thing's for sure, I have never been drunk enough to attempt Daltrey vocal gymnastics like this:
Ah. There's nothing I don't love about that clip. Anyway, here's how Baba O'Riley should be performed live - a track which remains a career highpoint for The Who, in my humble.
As I write this, way back in the comparative safety of December '23, series two of the equal parts gripping and annoying drama Vigil is being heavily trailed on BBC1. All of which reminds me of this track, Fuel to Fire, by Agnes Obel, which was used in series one. I don't know anything about Agnes that can't be gleaned from her Wikipedia entry. However, I do know that this track is atmospheric, borderline haunting, and sticks in the mind, especially the simple piano motif throughout the verses. Good video too.
A mid-programme selection of television adverts from ITV and the long hot summer of 1976.
Lots to enjoy here: the deadpan pay-off from the Birds Eye voiceover; the Smash robots; Bernard Cribbins voicing a prototype Busby for BT; Lorraine Chase on a Campari ad ("Nice 'ere, innit?"); the Bilko-esque Corona fizzical; an of-its-time slice of 70s machismo for Yorkie; and a hot-off-the press ad for cold Guinness, reacting to the (then) unprecedented heatwave.
A simpler time, and better for it, I think.