Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Everything reminds me of something

This is a great book. Ian Clayton was in the Morley Literature Festival and is a well known "professional Yorkshireman", a term he resents. The book is about the music of his life and it all gets brought back to his own home in Featherstone, a mining village in the Wakefield/Pontefract/Doncaster triangle. Rather than attempt to review it here, I'll link to a better one on the Beeb here.

The show consisted of readings from his book interspersed with a few stories and music. He featured a blues band put together from a selection of musicians he was friendly with and also a banjo player who was also a Publican. Ian Clayton even sang in the last song, pictured here.

We got him to dedicate a copy to David after the event and he suggested we don't let him read it for a few years yet! More reviews and how to buy on Amazon.

His book suggests an eclectic list of his top 40 recommended Albums and I've found it online on the Grauniad here.

Through a process of random connected thought and erratic surfing after reading his book I have now found out that the well known Dexy's Midnight Runners song Jackie Wilson said (I'm in heaven when you smile) was written by Van the Man. (I also now know who Jackie Wilson is as well). That reminded me of the first time I saw this episode of Top of the Pops (aired in 1982 but I was abroad at the time) and laughed like a drain when I got the in-joke. (Watch the vid below without clicking the in-joke link to see if you can get it if you don't remember it).

4 comments:

Jeremy Jacobs said...

Professional Yorkshireman. Contradiction in terms isn't it?

lol

James Higham said...

Ooh, Jeremy, you are naughty about us tykes.

Shades - like the way your mind works and I hope I'm not being presumptuous here. :)

Shades said...

Jeremy- Laugh out loud! Maybe I'll get the Tee Shirt.

Or I'll set Ian McMillan on you. What number bus goes past your street?

James, I didn't know you were a Tyke. It partially blows away the old saying:

You can always tell a Yorkshiteman...but you can't tell him much!.

Shades said...

Oops- a rather inadvertently funny typo in that last comment!