Lonely Planet Guide to World Music for the Over 50s

Avoid over-production at all costs. Don’t be sucked in by the sheer volume of World Music out there. This just means there is a lot of rubbish produced & over-hyped.

There is the odd exception to this latter rule. The Buena Vista Social Club was everything & more than the hype led you to believe.

Don’t be afraid to dig deeper or go back even further. Remember a lot of World Music was around before Womad/Womex & the Peter Gabriel/Eno/David Byrne axis.

On a purely personal level, the areas of specific interest to me: includes the superb ‘Sublime Frequencies’ label output by the Bishop Brothers of Sun City Girls, especially the ‘Cambodian Cassette Archives’.

On African music I would suggest you keep it really real & discount anything produced in Paris. Also I would add that acoustic instruments are better than electric, unless of course we are discussing Fela Kuti or King Sunny Ade or that astonishing Ethiopiques series.

The corners of this diminishing planet that provide the best world music are:

· Tibet/Mongolia

· Brazil/cuba/Columbia

· Bali/Indonesia/cambodia

· North africa

Rough Guide to the Workplace for the Over 50s

Why cant we afford to retire at 50. I for one would be extremely busy doing the things I don’t have time to do just now as work keeps getting in the way!

Remember, (if your faculties are starting to go already: write this down in caps!), we work to live we do not, & should not, live to work.

Lonely Planet Guide to Mobile Phones for the Over 50s

Learn to use one, it could save your life or someone else’s life. It doesn’t have to be the latest kit, with cameras/mp3s …etc, but consider that it could be used by the emergency services as a tracking device to find you if anything ever went ‘pear shaped’.

In this increasingly hostile & crazy world you know this makes sense need I mention 11 September?

Essential Guide to Death for the Over 50s

As you hit 50 you realise that the list of dead people that were a part of your earlier life, has suddenly taken an exponential growth.

Even if you discount the usual ones that died tragically young & are always in the news like: Hendrix/Joplin/Morrison/..etc

But I get upset when the dying are aged like Leary/Ginsberg/Zawinul….etc………

What is important is that Death is not the End………..it’s just a new beginning…………

0 - 1

Although I had to listen to the match on the radio, something incredibly special happened tonight in Paris.

A little, proud, crazy nation from the 'group of death' & against all the odds & against the best players in the world, reminded us of what it was like to be Scottish & brought all those wonderful memories flooding back , Archie Gemmell included.


Time to pause for reflection.

Rough Guide to Outdoor Festivals & Synthetic Drugs for the Over 50s



Don't be stupid! Avoid at all cots.

Essential Guide to Extreme Sports for the Over 50s



Don't be stupid! Avoid at all costs.

Rough Guide to the Wireless for the Over 50s

Do you need access to decent radio now that John Peel has gone? To be perfectly frank, Peel’s usefulness for me ended around 72, although I still loved him as a person, who stuck by his principles.

I spent many years in radio wilderness, after having grown up on ‘Top Gear’ & ‘The Perfumed Garden’ & I finally got back to radio through Radio 3 for jazz & classical.

Nowadays the net has created podcasts on everything & the BBC has that superb ‘listen again’ option & in essence it’s a minefield without a googlemap.

As I am running out of time to listen to what I want to hear, I have had to limit my choices. I pick up Gilles Peterson’ Radio 1 show, ‘Jazz on 3’ & naturally the ‘Freak Zone’ on Radio 6. This is all I have time for in a week. If not, I would listen to Resonance FM ( I especially miss ‘Mixing It’ dropped from Radio 3 & now on Resonance FM

Love Liza Reprise



Oh now I remember another reason why I loved that film so much. I have just got a hold of the soundtrack & yes it was by Jim O'Rourke so I am off on a Jim O'Rourke thingie just now. As he has been so prolific I have a wide range of titles to re-listen to.

Joe Zawinul R.I.P.

Big Hills & Wee Men


Or was it Wee Men & Big Hills? Seeing Mr Keith in his usual gaming pose, reminded me that I need to get out more!

I recently read a book by Peter Kemp who lived a stone's throw from the above address, where he describes his life in Govan & the Clyde Shipyards & then his ramblers in the hills.

Its not a poetically brilliant book, but it is written with passion as he tells of his completion of the Munroes with some very local, colourful characters.

Death by Bongos

If like me you can never have enough bongos, beards or sandals, you might enjoy some of these interesting grooves.

I seem to be going through one of those peculiar phases in which you find yourself as you approach your mid fifties.

I was a late discoverer of Mandrill & I am enjoying catching up with their albums. Last year I was overwhelmed by Exuma a mental, Mexican psychedelic band lost in the realms of voodoo.

As I write this I am grooving to Chaino – Africana & Beyond & this is a seriously bongo-ed voodoo fest. Don’t listen to it with the lights out.

Still Lazy After All These Years


Probems at work. Friends & In-laws getting seriously ill.
Walking on eggshells & feeling like a man carrying a drop of rain on a vine leaf during a thunderstorm.

The lack of a decent summer & Kenny Miller leaving Celtic, Its all too much to handle as I am getting old & grumpy!

But hey always look on the bright side of life. I just got my hands on Loudon Wainwright III Album II that I have on scratchy vinyl. Brings back memories.

Listening to Heron's 1st & 2nd lps on repeat & they cheer me up.

Is Love's 'da Capo' better than 'Forever Changes'? It matters not a jot! They are both stone cold classics that should be played every day.