As you may already know, the Ukraine football association has decided to licence England’s qualifier with Ukraine on October 10th for an Internet-only broadcast. This means it won’t be on any TV channel in the UK, nor will it be available in the pubs.
The early-bird cost is £4.99, rising to £11.99 on the day. I won’t go into how wrong I think this is, but what I can tell you is that if you follow the link below (make sure you use the link below!) you can watch the game online for free. All you need to do is open an account with Bet365 and put some money in it, you don’t even have to lay a bet!
Follow this link to see Ukraine vs England free
Simples!
I know this is a couple of years old now, but I just saw it again and remembered how utterly brilliant this was. If you missed it the first time round, it’s the audition of Carphone Warehouse salesman Paul Potts on the TV show “Britain’s Got Talent”. Unmissable viewing.
Now I’ll readily admit that Aphex Twin is not everyone’s cup of tea – I love some of the stuff the guy churned out but some I just didn’t get. But as far as music videos go, then there area handful that have become embedded in my brain down the years and the video of “Come To Daddy” below is one of them.
It’s probably the darkest, most disturbing “mainstream” pop video I’ve ever seen but fascinating and totally brilliant. If you’ve never seen it, then here’s your chance:
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Interesting story on the BBC today about Youtube pulling all UK music videos from the site in a reaction to the charges being levied by PRS (Performing Rights Society). Now music licencing is a complicated beast but essentially there are “Master rights” and “Publishing rights”, usually held by a record label and a publisher respectively, and both need to be licenced to play or sell music to the consumer. Roughly speaking, PRS handle licensing for UK companies when it comes to visual stuff, while sister company the MCPS handle audio rights.
The problem the music industry has is that too many people want their cut. You have the writer, performer(s), manager, record label, publisher, promoter, distributor and then the licensing organisations all looking to benefit from Read the rest of this entry »
While I was writing up my Top albums, I decided I had to do the singles that have impacted me most down the years. An almost impossible task, and one I shall no doubt update as time goes on and I realise that there were so many songs I forgot!
The following list is my Top X songs – singles and album tracks that I played over and over or bring back memories of a certain time. Entirely off the top of my head and spanning 1971 when I got given my first ever record called something like “Hot Hits 18″, right up to the present day. It reflects the fads of times forgotten, the punk era, new romanticism, trance and more. Read the rest of this entry »
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Just fancied making a note of my top 10 albums that I have ever bought. Now these aren’t necessarily ones I still listen to today, although obviously I have them all in my collection, but they are the 10 albums that have made the biggest impact on me – the ones I have listened to the most over the years and have bought me most enjoyment.
Although they are not in order, I’m typing as I think, so it makes sense that those near the top of the list came to mind first and are probably deserving of their spot. Read the rest of this entry »
moreIf like me, you have an affinity for the Ramones – one of all-time favourites as I grew up through the Punk era – then you might be interested in these videos I found on Youtube.
The first two form a short 2-part documentary called “The Ramones – How It All Began” and features interviews with all the band members tracing the roots of the Ramones. I found it fascinating and I still can’ get over the transformation of Joey Ramone from schoolkid geek to powerful frontman. Keep your eyes peeled for Read the rest of this entry »
I was recently participating in a forum thread on the worst pop video ever made. Boy there were some bad ones but this one just made me fall of my chair. As far as serious mucic videos go, someone, somewhere, someday, is going to be somewhat embarrassed. So if you have 3 minutes and need a laugh, then this is unmissable!
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Those who know me know I used to have a passion for the band Orchestral Manouevres In The Dark (aka OMD). I used to collect records, CDs and stuff by the band and still to this day have a huge collection of special editions, promos, test pressings, imports and unusual items. Actually I have considered breaking it up on several occasions but for whatever reason decided not to. Can’t play the vinyl anymore though 
Anyway, after a few years in the wilderness doing other stuff, it appears Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys, the two founder members, are back together and out on tour. In fact they went out last year and did their “Architecture & Morality” album live with a string of hits at the back end of the show. I just bought the 2007 tour DVD (see pic) as I missed the tour Read the rest of this entry »
Music taste – you can’t define it! What I do know is that from my heady days of Punk, wearing the striped jumper and “Damned” t-shirt and pogo-ing to the Pistols at every “disco” I went to, I’ve moved on. My iPod (OK, actually it’s a Creative Zen ‘cos it’s way smaller) is loaded with electronic chillout music. From the moody and down-tempo sounds of Cell to the ambient soundscapes of Xerxes and through a whole gamut of artists imbetween.
I listen to DI.fm Chilled radio 12 hours a day through my PC. Truly superb and the ideal music to work to, or relax to. Depending. The playlist is Read the rest of this entry »