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Hancock's Half Hour: 20 Episodes of the Classic BBC Radio Comedy Series: Series 5

Alan Simpson, Sid James, Ray Galton and Tony Hancock

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The complete fifth series of the legendary BBC Radio comedy series starring Tony Hancock. Created by...

Adam Ant recommended The Modern Lovers by The Modern Lovers in Music (curated)

"Jonathan Richman sounded a bit like Lou Reed. The songs were fantastic. The only place you could buy that album was the Rock On store in Camden Town. I think everybody, including John Rotten and all of the Pistols, had been down there at some point to buy it. Anybody that later got into the punk rock scene had bought this record. It still sounds really good. John Cale produced it. It's under-produced if anything, which is what's so good about it. His voice is great. American punk rock was completely different from the London scene – you had Richard Hell & the Voidoids and Television and that, and it all seemed a bit arty. But this was four college kids from California who had got together and made a dark record. It sounds like a guy who's had his heart broken. It's a romantic punk record, really. 'Roadrunner' is the one everybody learnt when they were rehearsing or trying to get into a band. The way he sang, he just sort of threw it away. I can't really think of anybody who'd done it like that before. The solos were great, just one or two notes. Very simple stuff, which was what appealed to the punks. The whole punk thing was about stripping things down because people couldn't play very well. Get the band first and worry about the music later. I saw Jonathan Richman last year doing a festival somewhere, just him and a drummer. He's the only person I know who tells the sound guy to turn it down. But back then he was streets ahead of everyone."

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Rachel Unthank recommended Frost and Fire by The Watersons in Music (curated)

Frost and Fire by The Watersons

1965 | Folk, Pop

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Album Favorite

"This had a massive impact on the way my parents brought us up, especially my dad, who's a singer himself. Here were a family from the North digging into old songs and traditions, and it made Dad really interested in doing the same. He became a member of a longsword team – I know – and then he got into reviving Mummers' plays, including the only surviving Mummers' play including its own dance. Every Boxing Day, us kids would be dragged down to see it, Dad playing this character who would be killed and brought to life again [laughs]. So many of our rituals as a family were about similar things: carolling on the green, singing folk in the pub and having this real passion for the seasons. For me, revisiting tradition is very rooted in wanting to recognise social struggles, the situations of the working classes, and the pastoral. These songs aren't about looking backwards and inwards, but about learning about the realities of your culture and wanting to share it with others. I remembering going to a Swedish festival some time ago, being encouraged to share songs from where I was from, and realising then what a very powerful currency those songs were. They help you connect with other countries' forgotten stories and emotions – and actually, that's something that happened to me in Harare doing Africa Express as well. These Ethiopian women encouraging me to sing for them, and then watching their reactions… it's very moving seeing people respond to these songs from different parts of the world. It makes you realise there's so much that connects us."

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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2395 KP) rated Mulberry Mischief in Books

Aug 28, 2019

Mulberry Mischief

Sharon Farrow | 2019 | Mystery

10.0

(2 Ratings)

Book Rating

Halloween Mischief and Murder

It’s the week before Halloween in Oriole Point, Michigan, yet the town is focusing on health thanks to the Haunted Halloween Harvest Health Fair. The Saturday the festival opens, Marlee Jacob, owner of the Berry Basket, is cornered by Leticia the Lake Lady. Leticia is one of the odd characters who call the town home. She is ranting about the shadow people who have come to town and demanding that Marlee order mulberries so Leticia can use their protective properties to cover her cabin. Marlee thinks Leticia is harmless if a little off, but that’s before a dead body turns up. Will the latest happenings disrupt the health fair?

Picking up this book, I knew I was in for another fantastic ride, and I wasn’t disappointed. While it takes a couple chapters for the body to drop, we are meeting characters who will become important to the story and trying to make sense of some puzzling things that start to happen. The pace doesn’t slow at all once the murder takes place, and the revelations are only beginning as Marlee pieces things together. The suspects are all strong, and I could have believed any of them were guilty until Marlee pieced together the final clues. Of course, the series regulars are as fun and charming as always – I love them! I’m not quite ready for fall, but this book still put me in the Halloween spirit. We get four berry inspired recipes – two featuring Mulberries and two berry inspired Halloween treats. I really can’t recommend this series highly enough. New fans will be hooked, and existing fans will love Marlee’s latest adventure.