Stamps I do not like.One little bit.

Some of this stuff may not be mine. Where this is the case, I'll supply a link to an appropriate site.

Time for something different, nothing to do with TV, nothing to do with music. This is a hobby I got into at about the age of twelve. I was able to buy stamps from Boots the Chemist. At that time I liked the look of them even if I'd never come across the term, "Trucial States". The stamps were from; Ajman, Fujairah, Ras Al Khaimah, Sharjah and Umm Al Quwain. Nowadays, they (and a couple of others) are known as the United Arab Emirates. Nowadays they are given short shrift my stamp collectors for whatever reason but they did get me interested in the hobby.

But, less of the history lesson.

What follows is a list of the type of stamp that I do not like for some reason or other. It is not an exhaustive list and it is in no particular order. And it is my choice. I know some will not agree but to each his or her own.

First up is the over-printed stamp. This is just bastardising the original. It adds nothing to the stamp design in any way although it does fulfil the requirement that is is tied to the history of the country.

This is an Austrian stamp from 1919. The original was just a plain, red stamp but as Europe came out of the first world war some things changed.

Next up is a combo - obliteration/over-print.

Another Austrian stamp, this one from 1945. It doesn't matter what you think of Herr Hitler. I understand that at the end of the war money was tight all around and many countries used what they had. Again nothing added to the design by this amendment to the stamp. The original was just his head and the country. This bit of the blog might hit the censors. Some sites won't let you post his head whether you are a rabid Nazi or talking about postage stamps.

Then we have se-tenant stamps, in this case a strip of 5 from Great Britain. This is half of the set from 2016. Can't put my finger on what is wrong, I could easily separate the stamps if I wanted but that is not how they are printed. I possibly could have gone to our local post office and bought 10 individual stamps.

Another philatelic thing I am not keen on is the miniature sheet stamp. These, in this case, are stamps printed together in a sheet format. These are often quite attractive but these stamps are often, but not always, available singly. maybe I'm just being overly picky. Here is an example, again from Great Britain in 2016.

Next up is another from Austria (sorry Austria Post). Talk about pushing the boundaries? In 2004, Austria Post released the following which was a first in combining postage stamps with real crystals. There are two stamps - one is a rock with embedded crystals, the other is a swan with several embedded crystals. Another combo. In this case a miniature sheet with stamps that are very unlikely to ever appear on an envelope. I'll bet you can find used copies on e-bay or somewhere else but I would expect them to be very rare and possibly not with all crystals still attached. I may not like the stamps but Swarovski World in the Austrian Tirol is well worth a visit.

Where to next? You won't be surprised if I say Austria. This next stamp is from 2006 and takes the form of a piece of embroidery. Now before you get the impression that AP are a bunch of weirdos, other postal administrations have had there shot at selling "odd" stamps to the public. Did you know, for example that you can buy stamps printed in colour changing in? Or stamps with writing on that you need a magnifying glass to read? Or stamps made from toilet tissue (unused)? Or stamps made from old post office uniforms?

 Again, it is a nice enough stamp, it just falls into the weird category.

This next one is literally, out of this world. Also out of Austria. This stamp contains 0.03g of meteor dust. Another from 2006. Not sure why AP thought it would be a good idea, unless they are just trying out something new, something not done before. A bit like the scratch-and-sniff stamps of other Postal Authorities. Anyway, here it is.

Next up is a brace of football themed stamps. The first one is of Andi Herzog taking a shot at goal. As you tilt the stamp, you can see an action shot. The right hand of the stamp show the goalkeeper in action. This is what is termed a lenticular stamp. From 1997 or 1998. I might have to video this one to show the effect better.

The second one is from 2008 and is a polyurethane stamp to represent a football. Just odd. BTW, it isn't black and white. My scanner never picked up of the touches of red on the ball.

Another in my longish list of don't likes are labels and ATM "stamps". These really are scraping the barrel. Whatever country issues them. In this case, it's Deutsche Post from Germany. Again, my cheapo scanner picks this up as B&W although it is a pale green. From the 1980s in this case.

Another odd-ball type stamp is that which includes holograms. Not sure whether they are required as part of the design or whether they are added as a security feature. Another from Germany in 1999.

Next on my increasing list are self-adhesives. Now you might think that this is a health and safety issue with SARS-Cov-1. But, no, these type of stamps have been around since the mid 60s when more humid countries tried to find a way to stop their stamps all sticking together. Being self adhesive also led to a load of strangely cut stamps. Things in the shape of bananas and the like. Yeuch! Just in case you think I'm now having a go at Germany. Not at all. Real stamp on the left, the other thing, on the right. From 2010.

And don't get me started on Disney/Hollywood etc. Spurious connections if any. I firmly believe that stamps should be relevant to the country issuing them. In this case from GB in 2015 self-adhesives, miniature sheet and Star Wars.

So that's it. Just some examples of stamps that come into my possession. Bought because they are part of the set, or needed to complete. Doesn't mean I like them.

I haven't posted any stamp on stamp designs yet but I could have. I don't like them either. For many reasons.

As usual, feel free to add your thoughts whether you agree with me or not. It would be helpful to know what you think and if you want this to take any particular direction.

My Musical Alphabet : W

As I keep saying, this stuff isn't mine and may very well be pulled for breach of copyright. You can, of course, go looking on YouTube, or its variants, for other copies. I'm sure you know how.

There is not long left of our musical journey through the alphabet. Now we have another 30 minutes or so worth of W related music for your delectation. Just a reminder to those of you new to this blog - these songs are just a taster of the stuff I like. It is not a comprehensive list. No doubt if I come back to it, I'll smack myself in the head and ask why such-and-such is missing. But, c'est la vie as Sham69 would have said if their album was made in France.

Another German cross-over here with Juliane Werding singing a couple of German covers of songs I first heard in English. I heard the second song, either on the german program of Luxemburg (The Great 208 or The Station Of The Stars) or on another German radio station, Deutschlandfunk. Sadly neither station, as I heard them back in the day, is still with us.

The first was originally sung by Roy Orbison, the second by Maggie Reilly (with Mike Oldfield accompanying on guitar).

Here she is singing "Du schaffst es" then "Nacht voll Schatten"

I never really understood all the hype over Oasis. Maybe another time, another place. Maybe I had other things going on. Whatever, but I did like the track Wonderwall.

Jumping back 50 years brings us to World War 2 and some music associated with it. This isn't about the rights and wrongs of the war, this is about some of the music that I associate it with. One German, one US and one UK.  I give you Lale Andersen singing Lili Marleen. I much prefer her verion to Marlene Dietrich's. Then we have Glenn Miller with In The Mood" and close with We're Gonna hang Out The Washing On The Siegfried Line 

I have managed to find a video of her singing in three languages - this highighting that even during wartime, the different sides were joined in music.

Sorry to jump about here but back into the 70s. If my mum was a swearer, which she wasn't, I can just hear her asking after this fellow and his coloured hair and make-up. She wasn't too impressed. I've been a follower of Roy Wood from his early Move days, through to the ELO and Wizzard and I give you See My baby Jive

I wasn't particulary mad keen on this next band either but some TV series made me seek them out and listen anew. No Boris the Spider yet, but there may be other CSIs on the horizon, so who knows? The Who. CSI themes from Vegas, Miami and NY.

Next up is a  wonderful piece, performed by soloist Yeol Eum Son, playing Piano Concerto No. 21, K.467. The W connection? Wolfgang!

Next up is a Scottish Celtic Rock Band. I first heard them not long after I got married. They originally hail from Easter Ross - a relatively unspoilt area well worth a visit if you're ever up Inverness way. The band go by the name of Wolfstone.

Lastly, I have another French artist for you. Again, like lots of music I like, I am not really sure where I first heard it. From 1982 I'll share with you FR David and Words.

As usual, feel free to add your thoughts, whether you agree with me or not. It would be helpful to know what you think and if you want this to take any particular direction.

More Rose-Tinted Puppetry

As I keep saying, all the linked material is not mine and some of the links may not work. Although the links are to open and accessible sites, sometimes the material is copyrighted and the owners pull it or have it pulled. You can, of course, go looking on YouTube, or similar sites, for copies. I am sure you know how.

Reminder : I am a Scot and lived there most of my life, so these comments and history is from that lovely country's viewpoint.

We are still in the early 1960s with this bit of blog. 1964-ish to be vague.

Standby For Action!

I am sure for many of us those three words take us back to our childhood. To the bygone days when we were innocent, to the days of Goodies and Baddies. To the days when we knew that there were no Aquaphibians, no King Titan ruling them in Titanica. No Surface Agent X-2-Zero helping them out. Not like today when the internet quite possibly has a conspiracy group set up around the Government's policy of hiding the truth from us.

39 episodes were made and back then that meant 39 weeks to watch. The TV rule makers would not allow for may repeats whilst a show was still live, so that show ran for pretty much the whole year.

The show was, of course, Stingray - a puppet show with some exciting special effects for the time. This show was the 7th in AP Films' repertoire. I did  not catch any of the earlier ones bar Fireball XL5 as we did not have a TV back then.

The show was set in the 2060s and was about a small submarine craft that was part of the World Aquanaut Security Patrol headquartered in the USA. This might mean that in the coming days the WASP acronym will stand for something else. You never know it might actually be based in the Gulf of America.

The last World War was over but somehow the adults in charge still thought that the selling point to us children should be all about the good guys fighting the bad guys so our hero was the pilot of a combat submarine. WASP was just an good sounding acronym but this was not about security or defense, it was all about torpedoing the ships of those who were there before us. Yeah, right, typical good guy "We know better than you" mentality. The theory that the WASP was there for exploration is shot out of the water early on. It's was a pissing contest before children knew the meaning.

But I liked it, I did not pay a lot of attention, back then, to the guns. By the time of Captain Scarlet And The Mysterons came around I was more aware of them and not in a "I like guns" sort of way. Maybe because I was not part of the American market that these series were targeted at.

But who was this Goodie? I hear you ask?

This was Troy Tempest before he made it big as a Private Eye in the 70s' TV series, The Rockford Files.

And for balance the Baddies:

Surface Agent X-2-0 and King Titan of Titanica, neither of which went on to fame and fortune elsewhere.

After the TV show, Troy went on to star in Singray's further adventures in TV21 magazine.

A rather short one this time but as usual, feel free to add your thoughts, whether you agree with me or not. It would be helpful to know what you think and if you want this to take any particular direction.

My Musical Alphabet : V

As I keep saying, this stuff isn't mine and may very well be pulled for breach of copyright. You can, of course, go looking on YouTube, or its variants, for other copies. I'm sure you know how.

If you're still following me, we are up to the letter V now and I can safely say there are another 10 belters for your ears here. As usual there is something here for everyone and no-one. My usual followers will not be too surprised to see some stuff here, they've come to expect stuff they've never heard before, the odd "I'd forgotten all about that" and stuff they'll never hear again.

Back in the day when we only had 3 TV channels we all watched the same stuff whether we liked it or not as mum or dad were in charge of the TV (sans remote) and there wasn't any children's TV on past 7 pm. So you either heard this on Ed Stewart's Children's Choice on the radio - yes, back in the day there were dedicated radio shows for us. If you didn't hear it there, you saw it on Val Doonican's own show. I give you Delaney's Donkey I have been a bit lax of late not really saying why some of this music is in here, I will try to do better. Mr. Doonican also kept us children amused with Rafferty's Motor Car and Paddy McGinty's Goat. I'm sure you can find them if you want to.

For something more unusual I give you a truly beautiful Christmas carol, IMHO the best by a long shot. It is Silent Night, here sung in German as Stille Nacht by the Vienna Boys Choir. Being brought us as a Catholic we had plenty of carol/hymn singing throughout the year and this was a favourite although at school we sung it in English.

Next up is a weird one because of the story of the band. They are Milli Vanilli. Yes, they are a made up band, the members only danced, they never sang, they got caught lip-syncing. Maybe I should have this listed under the producer or the real voices. But no, this news all came out after I got hooked on the song, so I'll keep it here. My choice for the pair is "Girl I'm Gonna Miss You. This song was in the music charts as I started my first real job after spending a long time in higher education.

I like travelling and whilst doing so I am happy to channel surf foreign TV. It was in Gran Canaria that I found the following Vocal Siete. Yes, travels broadens the mind.

Back to Scotland and some thanks go to my brother-in-law who introduced me to this fine guitarist and band - Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble. They are a Texas blues/soul ensemble who are no longer with us as SRV made the mistake of getting into an aeroplane - yes, another fine musician killed in a 'plane crash. A couple of toons for you, The House Is A Rockin' followed by Cold Shot.

Going back to Glam time we find Roxy Music and I remember at school there was one guy who was into them just like there was one guy into Tull, one into Quo and one into the SAHB. Roxy's entry into here is via Virginia Plain.

Let's head back down to Germany and a fine pair of Volkslieder. I first heard these sung by a German tenor by the name of Rene Kollo. I can't find a link to him singing these anymore but the songs are still on YouTube. The first is Wer recht in Freunden wandern will, the second is Im Krug zum grünen Kranze. The second one is the better of the two in my view.

And we have reached the end of this 30 minute slot from your day. I said earlier that I like all sorts of music and I'll finish off with a fine classical piece with links to Vienna. It's title is An der schönen blauen Donau Op. 314 by Johann Strauß II and dates back to 1857. This is my favourite orchestral piece. I'll give you the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra with Fabio Luisi conducting. I mot likely heard this firstly as part of the soundtrack to 2001 A Space Odyssey.

As usual, feel free to add your thoughts, whether you agree with me or not. It would be helpful to know what you think and if you want this to take any particular direction.

A continuation of my "Rose Tinted TV" retrospective - 1962

As I keep saying, some of the linked material isn't mine and some of the links may not work. Although the links are to open, accessible sites, sometimes the material is copyrighted and the owners pull it or have it pulled. You can, of course, go looking on YouTube, or its foreign variants, for copies. I'm sure you know how.

We are in the early 1960s with this bit of blog. 1962 to be precise.

The TV series I am about to point you to was originally broadcast back then by ATV in the U.K. It is easily recognisable as a very heavily US influenced show. From the opening credits it has the look and feel of all sorts of stuff from across the ocean.

I didn't see it when it first came out because we had no TV and back in the '62 I would have been barely 3 years old. Also, if you didn't catch it when it was shown there were no video recorders, no DVDs, no box sets to binge and you had to hope it would be repeated. When it was repeated it was usually hit and miss. No 24 hr TV channels back then.

Living where we did, we did have access to two ITV channels (Grampian and STV) so there was a slim chance that a repeat showing would be offered at some point. There was also the moot point that an under 5 wouldn't have had much say in what was watched on the box!

Before we get to the serious bit of blog, here's an odd musical intro for you :

I do like a bit of music, as you will have picked up if you've bothered to read any other bit of this blog, and I think that this piece will be familiar to some of you. The music is by Henry Mancini and is for the TV series Peter Gunn.

And? I hear some of you impatient lot.

Well Peter Gunn was an American PI show from the late 50s/early 60s and it starred Craig Stevens as our eponymous dashing lead.

He was reborn, also as a lead, as Michael Strait in another series, "Man of the World."

This new series was another from the ITC fold. The company that would bring us classics such as The Saint, Danger Man, Gideon's Way, The Champions and others as well as the children's shows, Thunderbirds, Joe90 and Captain Scarlet.

As an ITC show there is a whole raft of supporting actors that are easily recognisable from the early days of black and white television - Warren Mitchell, Patrick Troughton, Burt Kwouk, John Laurie and others.

Back to the meat and potatoes : Man of the World gets the title from the premise of the show. Michael Strait is a world-renowned photographer who carries out assignments in all corners of the globe. So, he gets about a bit and he knows his way around.

No Superheroes needed, this is just an ordinary guy doing an ordinary job and as an aside takes on the baddies. He doesn't have a employer like John Drake and NATO/MI9. Being a "world renowned" photojournalist also gets us 60s folk out of the country into all sorts of foreign locales (well, at least the Elstree Studios back-lot!) It's amazing that back then all it took to be on the Med was some stock footage of an airliner, a guy in a dodgy 'tasche and a sign saying Sangria! above a shop.

A bit of spy action, a bit of social commentary and all scattered over a limited 2 series set.

The eagle-eyed amongst you will note the B&W cover above. The pilot episode was filmed in colour but as you may be aware, colour TV wasn't introduced in the UK until late 1969, so the rest of the DVD is, indeed, in good old monochrome.

Sadly, the company that released this DVD above went out of business but there is talk amongst the internet chatterers that another company may buy up the rights to re-distribute/re-brand or upgrade to BluRay or whatever comes along.

More info can be found on Wiki  and a quick search on Youtube might bring up a wealth of stuff to watch. Other internet searches amongst the Podcasts for ITC might also find ones that is well worth a listen. And the Blogosphere has some worthwhile finds too.

Catch Up.

"Good Grief!" is what I say when there are children and animals about.

Just had a look at what I have bought to listen to, read or watch but never got around to it.

There is a stack of books in various states of "un-readness".

This stack is matched by a pile of cds that I've copied onto my iPod and listened to bits and pieces of.

This stack is matched by a pile of DVDs that I've accumulated but not got around to watching.

I have a plan - download is the way to go. No more buying/building extensions to the house to accommodate the ever growing pile of stuff. No more trips to IKEA to buy yet another storage unit/bookcase, no more sagging roofs due to the weight of paper up in the loft.

I now have a plan to buy an e-reader and stop "popping in" to Waterstones just for a look. No more being taken in by those 3 for 2 offers. No more buying stuff reduced to a fiver because it is too good to let it pass.

Now I have to be a super-critical buyer and only buy what I really will read there and then.

Apart from holiday reading, of course.

I've just realised that there is loads of stuff I have bought over the years that I have watched only once and am unlikely ever to watch again. Not everything falls into the "Das Boot" or "Where Eagles Dare" category. Most of the books I own have been read only once and then carted off to go on display somewhere. The only stuff I use more than once is probably the music collection. No doubt in the 10,000+ tracks, there is some lonesome song that I have heard only once and as I have not tagged it as a favourite it'll need to take its chances in the random playlist.

Now on-line, there is plenty of option of watching "catch-up" TV - even the foreign stuff is there, if you know where to look. There is a pile of stuff on Youtube that you can watch - all for the cost of your internet connection.

And it all sits on a desk taking up the space of half a dozen hardbacks.

Ötzi the Iceman

Who hasn't been fascinated by mummies?

Well, I caught a documentary on TV all about a Copper Age mummy discovered in the Alps between Austria and Italy.

I remember watching it and thinking, "Who are these people, hacking away at a body in the ice?" I mean, don't they watch any crime stuff on TV?

Anyway, I watched it and was truly amazed at the application of science to the investigation of the body in the ice.

As well as determining the who and the why, there was also the where? Where exactly was this mummy found. In the Alps I hear you call. Yes but where? - it's not as if there are border police up there with a customs post.

In the end, although it was thought he was lying in Austria, he was actually in the South Tirol and that is where he is now. Just do not go saying that is Italy. The body and his belongings are displayed in the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bozen, northern Italy (Southern Tyrol).

The museum is well worth a visit. I did it on a day out from my base in the Tirol, Austria. A short drive south of Innsbruck, over the Brenner Pass into the South Tirol. There is an official website : http://www.iceman.it/

My Musical Alphabet : U

As I keep saying, this stuff isn't mine and may very well be pulled for breach of copyright. You can, of course, go looking on YouTube, or its variants, for other copies. I'm sure you know how, but I have to emphasise - I'm not asking you to do anything wrong, ethically or lawfully. Just need to make that clear.

NB!: Why not try this yourself. A bit like music for life. 

There is an understanding that this is a bit like a memory wall. You know, you have a largish picture frame with photos that mean something to you. Might be a type of toffee you had as a favourite as a child. A picture of the brand of tea you were brought up drinking. A holiday photograph from your childhood. Things like that.These are things that might help stave off dementia. 

Something similar may happen with music it has been suggested. These songs and tunes I have linked to all mean something to me from sometime in my 60 odd years on this planet.

Last few letters, symbols and numbers to cover before I move to pastures new. Blog-wise, I hasten to add.

I am on to the letter U and I did think that this would be a difficult one to cover but when I sat down and thought it over, there were enough to give a selection into double figures. So without further ado, I'll start with an electronic band that go by the name of U-96. Now, for those that don't know it yet, I have a keen interest in U-boats. One of the better, if not the best, war/anti war movies is Das Boot. The boat in the book was U-A but was based on the author's experiences on the boat U-96 hence the link for this piece with the rest of the blog. The song I have chosen is a thumping tune Mr. DJ Put On The Red Light and is by U-96 Feat. Das Bo:

Switching languages and genres, next up in a cover of a CCR song, Up Around The Bend by Hanoi Rocks. I think this Finnish GlamRock band were brought to my attention by my little sister again. So many thanks should go to her.

Back to German with Udo Lindenberg. Yet again, this guy links with other stuff I'm keen on. He worked with Klaus Doldinger - he who wrote the music to my favourite U-boot movie. Udo played drums on the original soundtrack to a German TV krimi - Tatort. More of German Krimis at a later date. All very spooky, or very inbred. Whatever the case my Udo track is titled "unterm säufermond". I picked up the album Gustav when I was on holiday in Germany. You know some people visit "shite-shops" for holiday nick-nacks. Well I visit record stores. Very rarely do I come away with shite. When I stuck the disc into the player, after a few tracks, a familiar tune was heard, ears pricking up further when the sound of asdic came in. Another weirdness is that the tune was familiar. Although I recognised Windmills of my Mind, I'd never seen the Steve McQueen film, The Thomas Crown Affair. So maybe it goes back to the late 60s and Dusty Springfield, who knows?

Staying in the German I now give you Udo Jürgens. He first came to light in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1964 but I have to admit that I probably can't remember that. I do remember his winning entry for Austria though and I give you in one of the recordings below featuring Helene Fischer. She is singing it to Udo. This was made shortly before he died. 

The second offering is a favourite of mine, Liebe ohne Leiden.

I might have mentioned Matt Munro on another part of this blog. He is a well known singer in my family back with my dad's brothers and sisters in that his songs were often a party piece at Hogmanay and he links to this next fella - Nat King Cole. My dad had a couple of singers that he liked, the other being Perry Como. So, raising a hat to my dear, long departed dad I will share this song, Unforgettable with you.

Let's heavy things up with a bit of metal, a nice by of rhythm guitar, a nice bit of UFO. Metal is one of the lighter shelves in my library (ha ha ha), in fact most of the metal is on compilation albums. This might be having a liking for a nice bit of rhythm, a nice tune. A guitarist who can hit every note on a fretboard in five seconds just doesn't do anything for me. Even someone playing Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D min on guitar at a hundred miles an hour. I really do prefer a nice tune. So here we have Doctor Doctor:

In the mid 70's there appeared a hiatus. Glam, Pop, Prog, Metal, Rock & etc were all given a kick up the arse by punk/New Wave. Given a bad press by the pearl set, we were given a host of classy bands: The New York Dolls and Ramones from over the pond to The Damned, Sham 69 closer to home and for the U's is a track called Alternative Ulster by Stiff Little Fingers.

Back to the B&W 60's for this next track. I like Engelbert Humperdinck. I also like his main rival from then - Tom Jones. It's a track from him that I have shared here. To fit in with the U theme, I have picked It's not unusual, not to get away from those that would be offended by Delilah but just because I'm at the U's.

If you've made it this far, I have a little surprise for you. I do like a jodel. Now these come in all flavours and I have no skin in this game. I like pop jodels, cowboy jodels, schlager jodels, volks jodels, the whole kit and caboodle. I also like this: Now, some would say that this is the only true jodel. This is De Bärge zue by Jakob Ummel - performed by Jodelduo Daniela & Marco Bühler, Peter Rymann

This last track is a bit sneaky, I have to admit. The link to U is tenuous. U96-Das Boot soundtrack - Erinnerung.

Forgive me, but I had to get this one in whilst I remembered about it. There is a quote attributed to Chopin:

“Nothing is more beautiful than a guitar, except, possibly two.”

I'll leave you with Darko Nikcevic and Srdjan Bulatovic.

As usual, feel free to add your thoughts, whether you agree with me or not. It would be helpful to know what you think and if you want this to take any particular direction.

My Musical Alphabet : T

As I keep saying, this stuff isn't mine and may very well be pulled for breach of copyright. You can, of course, go looking on YouTube, or its variants, for other copies. I'm sure you know how.

Slightly earlier than ususual but I have a busy weekend coming up - we are now up to the letter T and a fine, mixed selection I have for you, even if I do say so myself.

I'll start off with some stuff you really do need to see and be part of. Now, I can't dance to save myself, I am a typical dad dancer. However, I do admire others who can.

We head over to the Alps for this next set of three. To the Tirol to keep with the T theme. There now follow three Schuhplattler dances - The Millers' Dance is first up. I come from a family of farmers/millers back in the day (mid 1700's) so this is an apt choice although I can't imagine them dancing like this at the foot of the Sidlaw Hills.

Next up is The Miners' Dance  - this one has no connection to my genealogy that I can see unless my Fife forebears were coal miners rather than fisher folk or weavers,

and lastly, The Wood Cutters' Dance - this is my favourite one. Again, no lumberjacks/wood cutters in my family tree (Did you see what I did there?)

Staying in the Tirol region is some more instrumental music. I've liked this stuff from my youth. I've always liked waltzes and similar music. It also fits in well with some early stop motion puppetry from TV - Trumpton, Camberwick Green and Chigley. You might remember the music box at the start when Windy Miller or his neighbours made an appearance. 

Another coincidence here - some of my ancestors worked a farm centred on Windy Mill near Tealing in Angus! 

The music I refer to is the dance called the Ländler, music written in the same time signature as the waltz (3/4). They do sometimes have Schuhplattler elements, even some yodelling but I'm happy enough listening to them played in the zither or by orchestra. You may have heard them on the BBC's New Year's Day concerts from Vienna in the past. Anyway, here's my pick of the bunch, "Die Romantiker" by Josef Lanner, a contemporary of Josef Strauß the elder:

I may have mentioned elsewhere in this blog that I quite like soundtracks. Well, this flows over into TV theme tunes. I find it eye-opening that back in the 60s when you had a 30 minute TV show, they could knock off 5 minutes for commercials, a couple of minutes for theme intro/outro and still fit a story with a beginning, middle and end in. No need to watch an entire season to find out what was going on, no multiple story arcs. Just good solid screenplay/writing. Anyway, off the soapbox and back to the music-box.

Themes: I'll give you four. Four from potentially hundreds.

My first choice is a piece written by Mike Post from that ground-breaking police TV series Hill Street Blues 

Next up is this link to a guitar cover for you of the Department S theme followed by the original TV one:

Again, if you've read any of this blog you'll be aware that I don't confine myself to one genre of pretty much anything. You won't be surprised, then, to find some foreign TV Themes.

Over to the German speaking world and a TV Cop/Detective show that goes by the title of Die Rosenheim Cops and I'll bet you've never seen/heard the following before - a whistling orchestra! And I only found out today that there are words to this theme as well.

Staying in that neck of the woods if a few hundred miles up the Autobahn I now give you a theme from a program I saw whilst channel jumping in the mid 90s. It involves car crashes aplenty. Sadly, possibly due to Covid-19 lockdowns, the program has been reduced a few a year rather than entire series. It goes by the full title, Alarm für Cobra 11 – Die Autobahnpolizei. A real bug bear of mine is that this fine series is available in more than 40 countries world-wide except here in the UK. From Afghanistan to Vietnam but no UK. Grrr. I would put money on it being because, in the UK we don't like subtitles or dubbing.

Next up is a seies going by the title, "Countdown – Die Jagd beginnt". No links to this as the usual YouTube stuff seems to have other tunes tagged to it. The theme music is a track called "Man Up" by a band called The Blue Van.

We are now at the end, of the T's at least and I'll finish off with an oldie. The usual B&W stuff. From the days when my time was mostly spent playing with not a care in the world. Yet another instrumental and a space theme. The song is Telstar by the Tornados. Yup, I've plumped for this than the other versions out there.

As usual, feel free to add your thoughts, whether you agree with me or not. It would be helpful to know what you think and if you want this to take any particular direction.

My Musical Alphabet : S

As I keep saying, this stuff isn't mine and may very well be pulled for breach of copyright. You can, of course, go looking on YouTube, or its variants, for other copies. I'm sure you know how.

We are now up to the letter S and my collection of musical items associated with it.

This first S I am posting as a sort of tribute to my wee sister who I lost last year. I really have no idea how she got interested in it, but it is through her that I watched the movie. I'm quite partial to foreign, subtitled movies in any case. So, this first piece for your ears is a triple S. One for Soundtracks, the second for Eric Serra. Monsieur Serra has written soundtracks for many movies but my choice goes back to 1985 and a film starring Christophe Lambert and Isabelle Adjani. The third S is for this film Subway and here is your link:

Next up is a another song that I don't know the provenance of. What I mean is that I'm not sure where I first heard it or even who I heard singing it. I have a feeling I was out Christmas shopping in a department store and it was part of the "musak" being played over their sound system. This is another beautiful song with a truly remarkable voice. There are covers of this song but I prefer this voice. Haunting stuff. It is Songbird by Eva Cassidy. 

My next offering was originally from 1973 by the Walkers but I have chosen a more European cover by The Vengaboys - yes, that fine Dutch Eurodance ensemble performing Shalala lala.

The 80s have been derided by some of my FB chums but I do like a lot of the Italo disco-type stuff that came from then. Does anyone remember Sabrina? I'm not sure why (cough), but there is a lot of stuff on Youtube for this lady. My pick of the bunch is this - Boys (Summertime Love):

Now, let's head back to the 60s again with this lovely song. The 70s was the music that I "got" but the 60s was the stuff that seeped in. It was there in the background - TV, radio or next door.  My next track is from The Tremeloes. A lovely set of harmonies in the song Silence is Golden:

We haven't had any blues for a while so here we are. We need to head back to the swamps for this one, according to Wiki. It was written by Slim Harpo back in 1957 but for you, I'll let you in on a little secret. I have a The Rolling Stones Reader's Digest box set and only heard this track on one of the discs. It is a mono recording of "I'm A King Bee". A bit of a coincidence in that the Stones have a new album out as I post. Also of note is that I am not a big fan of this band apart from their album Some Girls and some lovely slide by Brian Jones back in about 1965.

Next up is a band that may be new to you. They hit my ears in 1980-ish and I thought "Quo have some competition here". They go by the name of Spider and were part of the NWOBHM. The track I have chosen for you goes by the title "All The Time".

If we jump over the Channel we hit Germany eventually (provided you head in the right direction) and I have loads of tasty stuff on the shelves from there. As is often the case in my music collection there is a link between much of it. Spider Murphy Gang links my love of all things German, many things Alpine, many things Rock'n'roll. So, here we have the cover called Schuitog in the vernacular of Bavaria. School Days as Chuck would have called it.

Lastly, we come to another band where it is really hard to find the best to showcase. They are a one-off. Having said that, there are Hank Marvin soundalikes around.

To me, they ARE the sound of the 60s. Sunshine comes out of that guitar.

I have to plump, after much thought, for "Moonlight Shadow". I've heard many versions of this song but this one ticks all the boxes.

Here are The Shadows:

As usual, feel free to add your thoughts, whether you agree with me or not. It would be helpful to know what you think and if you want this to take any particular direction.