The torture of earworms
Earworm: what a wonderful word. It describes, as nothing else quite can, the effect a really invasive melody can have…
The real thing
Every musical career has its own narrative, and most of them include at least one comeback. To come back, you…
Seasonal torture
Three months until spring. Four months until the start of the cricket season. And only nine months until the radio…
That’s what I call music
Albums of the year? What a good question. Some years we can answer it, some years we can’t. The essence…
Here’s looking at you, kid
Many of us, I get the feeling, don’t go and see as many films as we used to, or want…
A shaggy dog story
Books become films every day of the week; more rarely does someone feel inspired to write a book after seeing…
A selection of humorous books
Books do furnish a room, and quirky books for Christmas do furnish an enormous warehouse somewhere within easy reach of…
Trivial moaning
There is much to be said for Schadenfreude. (If it was edible, it would be a meal in a very…
On your marks…
One day there simply won’t be any strange byways of the English language left to write quirky little books about.…
Grace under pressure
Ask any England cricket fan in his fifties to name his favourite batsman and chances are he will say David…
First impressions
First impressions always count, and they are almost always wrong. This is particularly pertinent if you review albums for a…
Very clever Mr Boyd, but not clever enough
First, an appalling admission: I have never read any of Ian Fleming’s Bond books. Nor have I read any of…
My 50 weddings
The lessons of a perpetual guest
Helpful hints for Holloway
For some reason you don’t expect people to be fans of the Mitford sisters, as others are fans of Doctor…
Love rekindled
How and when do you become ‘a fan’, exactly? You can usually spot pop stars who are losing touch with…
J.J. Cale’s vision
‘I don’t really like most of the music you play,’ said the tall blonde woman with whom I share my…
Notes from a big country
The esteemed literary critic, serial academic and one-time Marxist firebrand Terry Eagleton is, at 70, still producing books at an…
Fat boys slim
Don’t worry, I’m not going to go on about Glastonbury. I wasn’t there, I never have been and, unless forced…
