My Musical Alphabet : R

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. I also offer up an apology if you find yourself stuck down a half-hour rabbit hole. I know that internet time is precious but in all seriousness, there is only so much crap you can follow.

We are racing on to the end of this musical section of the blog and have now reached the letter R. This brings along a varied selection of tunes for you and the first up is Mr. Golden Oldie himself, Cliff Richard. Yes, he's been around for a long time - from before I was a twinkle in my dad's eye. The song I have chosen is an old mono version with backing by the Shadows. The song is The Young Ones .

Loads of stuff I listen to links together and the following from Demis Roussos is no exception. It links to Status Quo through their frontman Francis Rossi and co-writer Bernie Frost. The track is called Sorry, and a side story is that I first heard it on Simon Bates' radio show back in the day whilst I was out in Perthshire picking berries. Anyway, here it is and I have to say sorry as I don't have a live link for it.

I do like stringed instruments, especially the guitar, and this next piece is really one of the best. The difficulty I have is choosing who to showcase it. I have plumped for a lady on Youtube who plays it. Her channel is well worth subscribing to. There is a little bit of Spanish behind the piece but it is subtitled. If you really must skip forward, it's about the two minute mark that the hairs on your neck will prick up. The piece is Recuerdos de la Alhambra by Francisco Tarrega and is played by Paola Hermosin.

Anyone of my age will surely recognise this next piece from an old soundtrack to the summer holidays. Black and white and jumpy, a TV serial from the 60s. A beautiful story by Daniel Defoe, the series filmed on the Canary Islands. It sure beats today's TV offerings for children. Listening to this I am transported back to the mid-60s sitting on a floor totally absorbed with the pictures and sounds coming out of a 20" TV. 

You may have guessed that I'm talking about Robinson Crusoe and here is your link:

This next piece was a gift from my parents. They knew I was interested in "space". This was at the time of the moon landings and I had not long been given a record player as a Christmas present. I was given two LPs, The Jungle Book (my favourite Disney) and the soundtrack to 2001 : A Space Odyssey. 

I'd like to introduce you to, what is called, micropoliphony. You can nip over to Wikipedia or you can listen.

The music was composed by György Ligeti and is called Requiem for Soprano, Mezzo Soprano, Two Mixed Choirs and Orchestra. You can see it live for a 30 minute chunk of your day if you search for it, or you can have a 7 minute chunk below:

As I said above, I do like stringed instruments regardless of where they come from. This next piece of R-related music is Russian and it is played on the balalaika and you can find it here:

 BTW, that piece was Kalinka.

Now, like fashion, we can all look back and wonder what we were thinking when we pulled on the flares or walked into the barber and asked for a Bowie or a feather cut. I suppose the same goes for music. I was of an age when the Bay City Rollers were at their height. I was a charts follower, I was a Scot. I had a teenage sister. You couldn't avoid them. And as I've said somewhere else in this blog, I do like a nice tune.

Here's my favourite of theirs:

Nearly there and I'm not sure where my liking for Ricky Martin came from but I do like this one and I do prefer the Spanish.

Finally we have an instrumental to finish. Like Ricky above, I'm not too sure where my liking for this came from.

The artist is Robert Miles and here is his dream mix of Fable:

And we have reached the end of the R's. Comments and thoughts are welcome. Next time we will have the usual mix focussing on all things S.

My Musical Alphabet : Q

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 Q and there now follows a nice selection of odds and ends for your pleasure.

Apologies up front for this one - it is rather heavy on the mighty Status Quo. They were a band that I heard in the 60s with their hit, Pictures of Matchstick Men, but didn't get into them until the following decade. That was with their, now distinctive, 12 bar boogie rhythm and the songs Paper Plane and Mean Girl. I used to visit one of my grandparents and would sit with an uncle listening to three albums on repeat - Razamanaz (Nazareth), The Dark Side Of The Moon (Pink Floyd) and Piledriver (Status Quo)

However, there are other items that cycle through my playlist that feature the letter Q so I think I'll continue this blog with those and keep the best stuff for the end.

I was not really a Queen fan. Oh, I did spend a fair amount of time sitting in my best mate's bedroom switching between Queen and Rush but I didn't feel the need to get out and buy their vinyl. They were an OK band to listen to and I have picked up their greatest hits stuff. To cut to the chase the track I do enjoy more than others is 39 . There now follows Brian May playing with a band other than Queen. 

This next one might seem a bit odd if you're new to this blog, otherwise you'll see it fits in perfectly. I know of it from my younger days but in this house, it is a firm favourite of my wife and daughter so I've gotten used to hearing it here, there and everywhere. It's a song from an old Hitchcock movie, "The Man Who Knew Too Much". The singer is Doris Day and the song is Que Sera Sera

Nearly there and we'll get even closer with ?

Eh? What? und so weiter...

? is a Question mark and the link to my Q's is through the German band Nena and their song Fragezeichen from 1984.

The German link continues with Haydn's Kaiserquartett. Yes, OK, that was a sneaky way into the Q's. A little known fact in this household is my liking for national anthems. Indeed, a CD sitting on the shelves has probably only ever been played by me. This piece betters the Swiss, betters the Italian. It is in my view, the best of the bunch. The full title for this snippet is Haydn String Quartet No.62, Op.76 No.3 "Emperor" (2nd mov) by The Veridis Quartet.

Now we have reached the last of the Q's and that is Status Quo, and I am really having difficulty deciding what to put in here. Do I go for their psychedelic stuff, their pop stuff, their C&W stuff, the heavier stuff? Without further ado let's start with Down Down, the band's only number one. This is the one that got my wife hooked. I find it a bit start-stop but when it's going, it hits the mark.

Next up is a country and western offering. Honest. A nice 2 and a half minutes with a sublime solo from Rossi. And some don't rate him as a guitar player. Hard to believe. The link is to a cover version, the video is later. Fine Fine Fine is the song.

Next up is an album recording. I'm afraid that the only live recording has Parfitt sounding rather rough, maybe due to the surgery he was undergoing. Another fine solo from Rossi here. The song is For You.

Now for something from the old days, played a few years back at their reunion gigs. And it's a belter. Solid drums, solid base, manic rhythm and a note perfect lead. IMHO, Quo hit the high with this. The song is called Blue Eyed Lady.

Lastly, I'll finish with Bye Bye Johnny.

No-one, and I mean no-one, can do this Chuck Berry number better than Quo. The only bad thing about this track is that when you hear it, you know the gig is finished. Until the next one.

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 : P

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 P and there now follows a nice selection of odds and ends for your pleasure.

This lot really is in no particular order so we'll begin with someone who many claim to be the greatest. Me? I'm fine with OK. It is, of course, Elvis Presley. I'm a big fan of his Good Luck Charm but I'll give you his version of Muss i denn

I really do like that one, but if you've read any of the other blog posts you'll know that.

I've been a radio listener for most of my life tuning into all sorts of stuff from the Radio 4 shipping forecast, Radio Berlin, The Great 208 and, of course, Radio 1.

Radio 1 brings me to this fine tune, brought to you as an intro and outro to the late John Peel. It is a sublime combination of blues and slide geetar. I give you Pickin' The Blues by Grinderswitch.

Truly hair-raising stuff.

The early 70s is where my musical choices really came to the fore. Until then, I listened to what was on the radio, TV or the record player of the guy downstairs. 

The P that comes from the 70s is Pink Floyd, and their offering is Brain Damage from The Dark Side Of The Moon.

Next up is an odd-ball. I was just going to post a 30 second clip but I thought you might like to have a reminder of how cheesy some of the content was. It is from the company Pearl & Dean.

Mid-way through the 70s as Glam and Prog were disappearing, Punk and New Wave hit the streets.

I'll give you two offerings from a genre often given a bad press. The first is from Sham 69 and a track from their That's Life album - Win Or Lose.

My second offering is from The Buzzcocks - Promises. This one comes and goes from YouTube so you might need to go looking for it.

Next we move over the border into Scotland.

The following song from the Proclaimers resonates with me on more than one level. 

First and foremost I am a Scot, and am aware of much of the history of my country, the good and the bad. 

Secondly, many of my father's aunts and uncles were part of the generation that left Scotland to make their lives in north America. Were they forced (like many highlanders)? I can't say. When I could have asked those who would remember, I didn't even know where they were.

 

Thirdly, I was a student when Thatcher was the UK Prime Minister.  I saw first-hand what effect her policies had on the UK. It is Letter From America .

Followers of my eclectic musical tastes shouldn't be surprised to find the next item in my list. It's from the Pointer Sisters. I don't know where I first heard it or when. Whatever the case, I like a nice tune and this fits the bill. It's the song, Slow Hand .

Nearly last song time and it's likely to be something you've never heard. The band go by the name of Predatür. If you open your ears to the songs First Time and It's A Drag, you'll know where I'm coming from.

As usual, before wrap up, if you want to make any comments or ask any questions about this selection, go ahead.

Definitely last song and it's a belter. Not in the Gerry Cinnamon way but in a two and half minutes of bliss way. From the mighty Quo, it's Paper Plane.

'Till next time - sláinte mhaith!

My Musical Alphabet : O

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.

I have said this because I have found, fairly recently, that UK copyright chasers are being quite strong in getting music pulled from on-line sources. If you've tried the internet source Music Garden, you'll know what I mean. It is a bit hit and miss though.

I'll post a link/s for the stuff you really should search for as well as the video/s that I like. Sometimes YouTube leaves them up, sometimes anyone can see them, sometimes your country may be blocked.

Anyhow, my musical alphabet tour has reached the letter O and in no particular order I shall start with a Moldovan O. That will be in the form of the band O-Zone. Now, unsurprisingly, Romanian (the language of Moldova) is not a language I am overly familiar with - likewise, the music. This track, though, managed to tickle my fancy when I first heard it. I don't know where or how but it goes my the title of "Dragostea Din Tei." It did reach near the top of the UK charts. I rarely pay attention to the lyrics of songs other than ballads so I can't help with the meaning of the song. You'll need to translate it all yourself.

The journey continues westwards to the Austrian Tirol for my next pairing. Firstly we have, Gerhard Friedle. Of course, he is better known to you as DJ Ötzi, and he hit my ears a long time back with "Anton aus Tirol". 

On the back of him I would like to introduce you to Sandra Stumptner, better known as Antonia aus Tirol. I know that seems like a tenuous link with the guy above. Anyway, this lady goes by the moniker of Antonja following a re-launch recently. She brought us the classic , " Ich bin viel schöner" She fits into the O as sie kommt aus Österreich.

Moving north west we find Mike Oldfield. I didn't get into him back in the days of Tubular Bells or his Christmas song, I picked up on him with Moonlight Shadow. His version is OK and highlights his guitar playing skills. 

There are several versions of this. I quite like the instrumental cover by the Shadows.

If you followed any of this blog, you'll remember that I have quite a connection to lots of German stuff and Moonlight Shadow is no exception. Here are a couple of covers. They both hit the spot, well, my spot. The first is from Juliane Werding. Possibly more of her later. I think I heard this on a DLF (Deutschlandland Funk), a German radio station, or perhaps the German broadcast of Radio Luxemburg.

More recently, I have heard another cover. This by a lady who goes by the name of Sotiria, a Berliner (not the doughnut).

Now I come to Original soundtracks. These are not the American Graffiti type (brilliant, in any case) but the other kind. I'd like to draw your attention, if I may, to some that I really like. First up is that for Len Deighton's, "Game, Set & Match" You need to search for Game, Set & Match Richard Harvey.

Sadly, I understand that the author of the stories behind this fine TV series wasn't too happy with it or the producers and bought the rights to it. It was shown once on TV and never again. You can find it on Youtube and it really is worth a watch. It is an espionage series set at the mid to late 80s full of Solidarność and perestroika.

The next one is Len Deighton's, "The IPCRESS File." Here the theme is covered by an orchestra. You'll need to search for IPCRESS Danish National Symphony Orchestra to find this one. This is from the original Michael Caine take from the early 1960s and not the Joe Cole one from 2022. Both the movie and mini-series are well worth a watch.

Next up is a pair of martial arts movies. Bruce Lee's, "Enter The Dragon," and "The Game Of Death". The first one was produced by Warner Brothers and pretty much introduced Bruce Lee to the west. The music is by Lalo Shifrin and the soundtrack is a nice mix of eastern and western music. The 2nd film was released after Bruce Lee had suddenly died. The music was by John Barry and very Bond-esque.

The Final one is for, "Das Boot," in particular this fine guitar piece. The film is, in my view, the best anti-war war movie ever made. As Chopin said, “Nothing is more beautiful than a guitar, except, possibly two.”

Lastly for the letter O, I'll finish with this piece that gets my neck hair standing on end - it is the 4th movement from Beethoven's 9th symphony, know by the title, "Ode an die Freunde"

My Musical Alphabet : K

Long time, no see. Lots of excuses for the tardiness of this blog but none to concern anyone.

I'll let the music choice speak for itself as this tribute to Mother's Day (in the UK). 

I seem to have got out of kilter and managed to post some earlier selections. Consider this the Great Reset.

I reached the letter K in my tour of the alphabet some time ago and have the following fine offerings for you this very day. I was at a flamenco song and dance repertoire recently and surprised that the auditorium was packed to the rafters. I mean flamenco guitar doesn't fit into the "nice tunes" category. Likewise the singing. Anyway, that is my roundabout way of saying that my musical tastes are, indeed, somewhat varied.

I am one of those folks that, Facebook tells me, has lived in 8 decades! In my defence, I just scraped into one of them and another one has barely started. Anyway, in that time I have seen fashions come and go but music has always been there, whether it be background noise like in the old tranny days or the more modern, let's see what the internet can find for me, ones.
Enough of the waffle, I know Social Media is calling on your time so let's get into my musical selection of the Ks. WARNING WARNING WARNING flashing lights from the outset.

K2 der Berg ruft

I'll bet that wakened you up! That was from the 90s from that days before I had a computer so it must have been tracked down after that but I've always had an ear for a bit of yodelling.

Next up Kraftwerk - Schaufensterpuppen

I possibly heard about this German band on the TV years and years ago. The TV programme "Tomorrow's World" had a segment dealing with electronic music. What is really strange to me is that I've never been a big fan of keyboards but this was something different. My pick from this band is the following which, in English, is Showroom Dummies.

Next up is something different(!) If you've ever been to the Austrian Tirol - highly recommended - you will have heard Das Kufsteinlied. I'll bet you've never heard it metalpunkedup. There now follows a clip of Wilfried doing his best to frighten off the tourists.

It's time to slip a sly little yodel in here. It's accidental, I assure you. We move across the pond for this next offering, to Georgia in the good old USA. The band are Georgia Satellites and their contribution is this (Keep Your Hands To Yourself)

We'll head back to 1972 for my penultimate offering. This is the band Kayak from the Netherlands. I know how I heard of this band - I have this on 7"! Anyhow, thanks for listening and if you want to ask anything or just give a WTF? go ahead.

Best 'till last : I haven't forgotten K-Pop. This one is special:

 

Books

A bit of an odd one this, no links, just some ramblings of an old man.

It most probably started with an encyclopaedia in the house - the sort of book you could look through for interesting pictures. I remember a medical one we had which was unusual as it must have been a pricey set. We also had a bible, a dictionary, and a ready reckoner. No works of Shakespeare.

Then I was at school winning prizes, collecting tea cards and watching TV, and then possibly the Observer series of books. I had a handful of those that have gone by the wayside. I say that, as I recently saw some for sale in an Oxfam charity for £30 a copy-!  The first fiction book I remember having comes to me with a saying, "the sun shines but the ice is slippery". I can't remember what the book was called or who wrote it or who was in it but that sentence was a code for the gang of two that was in the story. Even Google falls down on the job. It was a square fronted, hardback probably just over a hands-width. My Robinson Crusoe was the same style.

An old black and white movie was "The Tales of Robinson Crusoe" that I watched on the Saturday matinee along with Flash Gordon. I also saw it on TV and the haunting theme tune has always been in my memory. Any road up, I had a copy of the bought for me, "Robinson Crusoe". Then there was a lull and lack of funds meant I didn't have many books myself until the early 70s when I landed myself a paper round job. I now had money to fritter away on the important things in life - the SF section of John Menzies.

The "Golden Age" of science fiction pre-dated me by a good 10 years but I now caught up quickly with the masters - Simak, Asimov, Silverberg, Smith, Heinlein, Bradbury...a quick Google or search on Wiki will find it all listed.

I don't know how or why it happened but I stopped reading SF and moved genres to spy fiction. My top authors are Deighton, Forsyth, Le Carré, Follett and Ludlum. Deighton in particular has me hooked from the first words - he really is a master story teller.

Well, Ludlum died and Deighton stopped writing fiction so I found a new genre - police procedurals probably on the tail of Hill St. Blues on TV.

My first was most likely Wambaugh but followed with the characters: Hamish Macbeth, Bob Skinner, Jo Faraday, John Rebus and Tweed.

As usual, throw your comments in after reading this or have a look at some other posts that will take you to my reviews on Goodreads but, in all honesty, I'm not sure what, if anything, you'll see there that isn't already here.

Next up in this series will likely be something that I am currently reading or something I have read recently. We'll see.

My Musical Alphabet : N

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.

Anyway, we have now reached the Ns and if you've been following any of my internet footprint you won't be surprised by this mixed bag of classy tunes:

1st up is a nice R&B&NW type boogie number with some nice harp accompanying the guitars.

Nine Below Zero - Pack Fair and Square

I possibly heard hem in John Peel's/Alexis Korner's/Paul Jones' radio shows. Being a Quo fan I always had my ears peeled for this sort of stuff. 

Originally released in 1956 by Big Walter Price and his Thunderbirds. Yeah, yeah, never heard of them.

Next up is something German (quelle surprise). Not her 99 but something entitled Irgendwie Irgendwo Irgendwann by Nena:

Nena - still going strong

Triple whammy time - Nazareth, Scotland and slide guitar! My formative years would have been the 60s but as I moved away from hearing background sounds to listening to them, an uncle of mine got me listening to Quo, Nazareth, Floyd and Yes. There follows one of several fine tunes belted out by our Dan.

Nazareth - Bad Bad Boy

Hmm, time for another bit of German? Of course. Guess what, it combines another favourite - EUROVISION. Not from 1982 but Nicole is still going strong and here she is from 2016 with a few more languages thrown in to emphasise what we seem to be missing in these turbulent times.

Nicole - Ein bisschen Frieden

And to close we have a bit of a cross-over - Glam/Punk/New Wave? Covering an old Bo Diddly tune with some more harp, I give you the New York Dolls.

NYD - Pills

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 - "Open channel D"

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 foreign variants, for copies. I'm sure you know how.

I am still stuck in the early 60s here (well, there was so much class) and I have reached an import from the U.S.A. - More dots to follow in the guise of U.N.C.L.E. This was possibly the start of the TV spy craze following on from Bond in the movies.

The Man From U.N.C.L.E. opening sequence

As you can tell from the colours above (or lack thereof), this is from the first TV series shown in the 60s version. Later series were broadcast in colour. I am not really a movie buff so can't compare this to the new edition released in  2015. I have never seen an episode of the Girl from U.N.C.L.E. either.

The show starred Robert Vaughn and David McCallum (before he became Dr. "Ducky" Mallard in NCIS).

And for that tenuous link watch the following to the end. It is only 40 seconds.

"What did Ducky look like when he was younger?"

Believe it or not, there were over a hundred episodes of this series produced.

This is one of the few imports that I saw. Other stuff from then (Munsters, Westerns, Land of the Giants, etc.) I did not really see so am not really in any position to pass comment. Even with the advent of the 'net, I have not gone looking for that old stuff. You need to remember that back when I was a youngster TV only had 2,3 or 4 channels (1 of those had odd stuff on it (BBC2) and 2 of the remaining pretty much duplicated each other (STV and Grampian). No video recorders, no downloads, no streams - you watched it now or waited forever for a repeat. As it was "back in the day", I didn't follow this up reading any of the books that came out on the back on the TV shows.

Short and sweet, that's it for now. Comments, as always, are welcome.

My Musical Alphabet : M

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 foreign variants, for copies. I'm sure you know how.

My next dive into my musical alphabet brings me to the letter M and you won't be surprised to find something German in here if you've been following any of this blog. I say German but I wouldn't use it to brush up on your language skills - it is written in a dialect (Swabian if you're interested). The song starts in at about 40 seconds. This version is sung by what sounds like a mixed male choir. By now you may be saying to yourself, "That sounds familiar." Well, it is a well known song but you be more familiar with is as Wooden Heart as sung by Elvis Presley.

Anyway, here it is:

Muß i' denn zum Städtele hinaus

By the way, if this hankering for all things German is rubbing off on you the following site is a treasure trove - http://ingeb.org

This next M is also covered by Movies. You are unlikely to know me but I am not really a fan of musicals. Now and again one comes along which is a classic from day 1.

The following track is sung by Louis Prima...

I Wanna Be Like You - The Jungle Book

This is Disney's best without a doubt but second place is sometimes amusing too as evidenced by this:-

From Valiant

It's amusing as I am quite partial to yodels. Real yodels, the Alpine kind, not these pygmy ones or those from the Australian outback or the Mid West of the old USA.

This penultimate video combines Movies and Guitars. Nothing sounds better than one guitar, save perhaps two. It is from the Movie Das Boot. BTW there is a "prequel" on Sky Atlantic should you be interested.

Erinnerung performed by Darko Nikcevic & Srdjan Bulatovic

I do like a bit of classical now and again. This next from Mozart. Possibly one you're not too familiar with. Unless you're also a fan of Movies. Harry Palmer's outing in Funeral In Berlin featured this.

Mozart: Piano concerto #23 in A, 3rd movement. (K.488)

No video link for that one.

I'll finish off with one for my dear old Mum. I saved up my pocket money to buy this for her. Sorry for the cheesiness here but Opportunity Knocks for Neil Reid:

Mother Of Mine

Well, there you go for February. March's output is likely to be a delve into the realm of 60s TV. I look forward to catching up with you then.

Well that's it for the M's. I think you'll agree a nice little collection of tunes. Feel free to add any comments whether you like these songs or not. And if you're wondering where Metallica is all I can say is that they are not on my radar. If they're on yours and you'd like to see them mentioned, drop a comment. There might not be another way.

Dundee Part 1 - The City

Bonnie Dundee

Where it all began 

I suppose I should tell you a bit about myself to give you an insight into the stuff on here. It might be ten years late but better late than never, eh?

The picture above was taken from the Kingdom of Fife showing the Tay road bridge leading to Scotland's best city - my city - Dundee. That hill, all 571 feet of it, is a volcanic plug - an extinct volcano. There, that's your first odd fact.

I was born there some time before that road bridge was built (Jeez, I sound old) when the only way over to the other side of the river was a long car drive, the railway bridge (the one over the Silvery Tay) or the "Fifies" - the paddle steam boats. The Silvery Tay - the river of McGonagall infamy. You want bad poetry, go and read this.

Dundee is a coastal city on the Firth of Tay. It is a long and thin city stretching along the coast and back to the hills.  If Facebook is to be believed, Dundee is making the news as a great place to be, a great place to visit. The waterfront is being regenerated and boasts some class sites: 2 nautical museums: RRS Discovery, Captain Scott’s Antarctic expedition ship, and a 19th-century warship, HM Frigate Unicorn. North of the water, Verdant Works is a museum celebrating the city’s jute-manufacturing heritage. The McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery & Museum displays art and archaeological finds. I wonder if the skeleton of the Tay Whale is still there? Then there is the brand new V&A museum, Scotland's first design museum. Check out our old friend YouTube

Behind the strange dialect (Eh, eh hae a fleh in meh eh), Dundee is a truly inspiring city - just have a gander over to Wikipedia for a rundown.  You can also check out Trip Advisor and the like with the caveat - read with a large dose of salt. Some people will pick holes in anything for their five minutes of fame.

Back to me. I'm a schemie - born on a housing estate and spent most of my early years on one or other. All my school mates were the same.

I was a child in the 60s so spent my time outside playing in the back green, or down by the burn, or out by the gas tank. No 24 hr TV, no computers, no consoles.

I studied at the best secondary school in the city and the teachers there played a great part in where I am today, but the school is no more. Like lots of the city, those in charge decided to pull it down as it served no useful purpose.

I wasted a couple of years in Glasgow before heading back east to commute from Carnoustie.

I settled in a tower block before travelling all the way to the south of England for employent and that is where this story finds itself now

Do have a look at the Wikipedia site, it's well worth it.

Well, there you go. Thanks for taking the time to have a read/listen to my warblings. Feel free to like, comment or share (as they always say on YouTube). If you have any questions about Dundee or Scotland, drop me a message and I'll see what I can do.