Sixty years ago this week we lost Johnny Kidd.
Ralphadeus. Music movies comics feature in this look at life from Somerset.
Wednesday, October 14, 2026
William the Conqueror ❄️| Full Action Movie
I haven't seen this. Dubbed. Might be OK. William the Conqueror (film) - Wikipedia
Sugar Pie DeSanto with "Rock Me Baby" from the American Folk Blues Festival 1964
With Hubert Sumlin guitar.
Magazine - The Light Pours Out Of Me 1978
Real Life (Magazine album) - Wikipedia This is probably my favourite Magazine moment. Saw them about then.
THE HIGSONS - I DON'T WANT TO LIVE WITH MONKEYS 1981
The Higsons - I Don't Want To Live With Monkeys - Romans In Britain Records - 1981
Susan loved this. Heard originally on John Peel. The Higsons - Wikipedia
The Damned at The Roxy, 1977, 70s London Punk
October 22 we will be celebrating 50 years of New Rose coming out on Stiff. Here is something to watch in the meantime.
Tuesday, October 13, 2026
Memories of Bristol book
Susan picked this up today. The swan image on the cover echoes a bit from Hot Fuzz - see below.
The Skids “Into the Valley” Top of the Pops, BBC, 1979
Their best song in my humble opinion. I remember dancing to this and it is impossible to dance to this without imitating singer Richard Jobson's leggy style of dancing. Into the Valley - Wikipedia
Kate Bush - The Sensual World 1989
The Sensual World (song) - Wikipedia
This song on a scratchy 45 is the only Kate Bush record we own. I like it. Susan doesn't like it much. Our son saw her live a few years ago. Some great folk luminaries play on this. See the wiki for the line-up
William The Conqueror (Ladybird History Series 561 ) Great Rulers by L. Du Garde Peach Publication date 1956
This was my first taste of 1066. Lovely artwork.
HOT FUZZ Filming Locations! Wells, Somerset in England.
Hot Fuzz - Wikipedia 2007. We know Wells very well. I used to work there.
Harrell "Young Rell" Davenport & Timo Haikarainen Blues Band - live at Maanalainen
The Blues Show featured this 19 year old bluesman. The Blues Show with Cerys Matthews - Harrell "Young Rell" Davenport - BBC Sounds
Monday, October 12, 2026
Sunday, October 11, 2026
Hastings 960 - a collosal paper recreation of Hastings 1066
James Mogsymakes says: Awesome day out with The Paperboys Page running the Battle of Hastings with 16,000 paper minis at Partizan Wargaming and History. Kudos to the 28 volunteers who snipped soldiers for the game and Peter Dennis for an entirely cardboard/paper hill, and cheers to our Midgard Heroic Battles veterans who turned up to make the game run smoothly. — with The Paperboys Page and 2 others at Newark Showground.'
Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee - Red River Blues [Colourised] 1946
This is a real rare one!!
This outtake is earlier and longer footage of Brownie and Sonny (as shown on the library of congress documentary). Although the black and white source footage had no audio the quality of the video was so good I had to have a go colourising it and I synced it to the 'live' version shown on the Library of Congress documentary released in 1968. You can find the original here: https://archive.org/details/gov.archives.a... (Brownie & Sonny are about 12minutes into this). Big thanks to the Rr R- Folk Music channel for finding and uploading the silent black & white outtake footage I used to colourise this, check out their excellent channel here: / @rrr-folkmusicchannelfocusi4476
Human League - Path of Least Resistance (live BBCtv 1979)
Susan likes this era Human League.
Top clip of the original line-up performing a song from the first album on some programme called "Mainstream". Repeated as part of the "Sounds of the Seventies" series, hence the daft bookending with Paul Darrow and Patrick Troughton.
The Black Cauldron - 1985 Theatrical Trailer (35mm 4K)
I picked this up recently on DVD. It's a good film. The Black Cauldron (film) - Wikipedia
The Cure Jumping Someone Else's Train 1979
Jumping Someone Else's Train - Wikipedia Just played on Sounds of the 70s. We bought the first threee or four Cure singles.
The music video shows a speeded up view from the driver's cab of a train journey from London Victoria to Brighton Station.[3]
960th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings.
new label 1066
(1066 - 2026)
Abbaye de Battle / County of Sussex / England.
Christian Duchemin 
Samsung S24 Ultra.
Fast Show The Very Best of Jazz Club
The Fast Show - Wikipedia We loved this show and this sketch series was hilarious.
Madonna Beautiful Stranger 1999
Beautiful Stranger - Wikipedia From the Austin Powers' movie The Spy Who Shagged Me.
Alfred The Great (1969) Trailer
Alfred the Great (film) - Wikipedia I saw this at the cinema as a child. The Vikings frightened me. I like this film though I don't own a DVD of it. Filmed in Ireland but set in Somerset and Wiltshire.
Saturday, October 10, 2026
Johnny Shines, Honeyboy Edwards & Walter Horton - 'Love of Mine' live 1969
This was part of a session held on Wednesday the 3rd September, 1969, at the Thunderbird Motel on South Shore Drive in Chicago. Johnny Shines called Big Walter in for the session, and Adelphi sent a taxi to pick him up from home and deliver him to the motel. Upon arrival, Horton apologized for his appearance. It seems he had been in a fight the night before and had just returned home from the emergency room when Shines called. The white stuff you see on his hand is medical tape.
The 101’ers, Joe Strummer - Keys To Your Heart (2026 Mix) [Official Audio]
The 101ers - Wikipedia Saturday Night Selection. There is a new box set of 101ers recordings.
- Adge Cutler & The Wurzels ' Back on the Farm' 1967
I enjoyed the book on him. Very good on the Bristol Jazz and subsequently folk scene that spawned the band. Scrumpy and Western music was a group of artists including people like Fred Wedlock, the Yetties, and the Pigsty Hill Light Orchestra to name but a few.
The Premiers Farmer John 1964
American Bandstand. August 01, 1964. First appearance by The Premieres on American Bandstand.
Dodge City Chronicles by Andrew Barnes
Dodge City Chronicles by Andrew Barnes — British Comic Crime Fiction
A friend recommended these books. They are set in Radstock and Norton in the 80s I believe.
“Boom Boom!” John Lee Hooker Brings The Blues | The Blues Brothers (1980)
Sue and I saw this at the cinema when it came out. Blues Unlimited magazine flagged and though I'd never heard of the concept considered it worth going to see it. In pre Youtube days you would go to the cinema to see two minutes of your musical heroes. It really took off on VHS.
Blues Brothers book
Today's charity shop purchase. Looks good fun.
The saga behind The Blues Brothers, as Daniel de Visé reveals, is epic, encompassing the colourful childhoods of Belushi and Aykroyd; the comedic revolution sparked by Harvard's Lampoon and Chicago's Second City; the birth and anecdote-rich, drug-filled early years of Saturday Night Live, where the Blues Brothers were born as an act amidst turmoil and rivalry; and, of course, the indelible behind-the-scenes narrative of how the film was made, scene by memorable scene. Based on original research and dozens of interviews probing the memories of principals from director John Landis and producer Bob Weiss to Aykroyd himself, The Blues Brothers illuminates an American masterpiece while vividly portraying the creative geniuses behind modern comedy.
THE LAIR OF THE WHITE WORM Trailer [1988]
*TONIGHT 10PM*
An archaeologist discovers a cult planning to resurrect a legendary snake monster with human sacrifice. Ken Russell's horror, with Amanda Donohoe, Hugh Grant and Peter Capaldi.
The Lair of the White Worm
Freeview 81 | Sky Q 182 | Freely 141 | Freesat 164
Friday, October 09, 2026
Wargaming Normans
I had a Norman wargames army. I bought it off a friend so I didn't paint it. I think it was Essex. Sold it to Chris Scott. Nowadays it looks as if Victrix is worth investigating.
Tony Joe White Polk Salad Annie
The original. Polk Salad Annie - Wikipedia I love this song. Knew the Elvis version but this is the best.
Tony Joe White - Polk Salad Annie - 1 September 1969
Slab House Inn near Wells
I forgot the name of this pub Slab House Inn, West Horrington it was driving me mad - I dug out maps and all it said was PH. Then suddenly the name came to me about a month later. Closed now I went there a few times with Susan when I was working in Wells. Called the Slab House as during the Black Death food and drink was left on a slab there.
X RAY SPEX - Identity "Live Birmingham" (Revolver TV, Outtake #2) 7th August 1978
Great band. We saw them about this time.
Thursday, October 08, 2026
Boiled eggs
Sue likes these. Unusual to get white eggs here. We used to keep chickens. Bread is sourdough.
Ralph and Henry c1976
At my parents' house copying the Stupidity album cover pic. This line-up busked in Frome Town Centre. We soon got a bassist (Ivan) and a drummer (Bunse) who was very young (about 14 - me and Ivan were 16) but it never stopped us getting gigs in pubs. We never got stopped from drinking. I drank from about 14, in village pubs that didn't care.
 |
| Here we are in 1978. |
Stupidity Dr Feelgood 1976
Stupidity (Dr. Feelgood album) - Wikipedia
This came out September 1976. It got to number 1 without a single. It was probably their high point certainly of the Wilko period. I remember borrowing Henry of the Ba Detectives' copy as I was too poor to buy it for myself.
I Wanna Be Sedated The Ramones 1978
Our kids favourite Ramones song though they didn't know what sedated meant.
Road to Ruin (Ramones album) - Wikipedia
"I Wanna Be Sedated" was described by the author Brian J. Bowe as one of the band's "most classic" pieces of music. After a show in London, Joey told manager Linda Stein: "Put me in a wheelchair and get me on a plane before I go insane."[14] This quote would be the chorus to "I Wanna Be Sedated", whose lyrics invoke the stress which the band was under during touring. It is the most downloaded song from the catalog by The Ramones.[13]
My 1066 books
Some books I have acquired. One is a library book. I visited the Tapestry on a school trip in the 70s but the souvenir booklet was picked up by our daughter from Cheddar Car boot sale. I used to have spears and shields and kit that would have passed the test to take part in the reenactment this weekend but I am too old but I wish them well.
Screamin' Jay Hawkins - Alligator Wine (1957)
Halloween must-have. A big budget follow up to I Put a Spell on You but it flopped.
Screamin' Jay Hawkins - Wikipedia I actually met him in about 83.
Donovan - Season of the Witch - Live (Bouton Rouge, 1967)
Another song for Halloween playlists. Released 1966. Season of the Witch (song) - Wikipedia
In a retrospective song review for AllMusic, Lindsay Planer commented: "Few songs so perfectly reflect the dawn of the psychedelic pop era as aptly as Donovan's 'Season of the Witch' ... Both lyrically as well as musically, the languid and trippy contents project a dark foreboding atmosphere [and] a sort of sinister tale of paranoia and the paranormal".[8]
Mitchards the Butchers Radstock pics by Sue
Established 1913. Quality meat with famous faggots (see below). They source their meat from local farms.
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