LISTS.

 

LISTS.

—

The Finest Companies are British:

   - Wright's Soap, 'Britain's Might is Wright', (Although my youngest brother brilliantly said to me that soap feels like cranberries taste, I find it traditionally useful. (A block of alum is very serviceable as well.)

   - Twining's Tea, 317 years old, the world's oldest company insignia, the longest standing ratepayer in London;

    - Lloyds Bank, Churchill's bank;

    - C. Hoare, and Co., Britain's oldest bank;

    - Gentleman's Relish; or, Patum Peperium;

   - Yardley's of London, although it wants restoring to English ownership by a wealthy patriot.

    - Cherry Blossom boot polish, 'Well worn but worn well';

    - Aquafresh toothpaste;

    - Loake's shoes;

    - Tunnock's confectionaries.

    - BAE Systems;

    - Britten-Norman;

    - Pooley Sword;

    - KENT brushes etc.;

    - Cambridge Audio;

    - Ingram & Robinson Bookbinders;

    - Diamine Ink;

    - Dents Gloves; 

    - Aston Martin;

    - McLaren;

    - TVR;

    - Shepherd Neame;

    - Westerham Brewery;

    - Hornby Railways;

   - Portals (I would that they should make paper notes for the Pound Sterling, crisp and foldable notes of extraordinary size, enough to rest a weary head upon during the Blitz and the Blackout);

    - Morris Singer;

    - A.W. Hainsworth;

    - Arthur Sanderson & Sons;

    - Severn Lamb;

    - Derwent Cumberland Pencil Company;

    - Historic Flying Limited;

    - Henry Groves & Son;

    - Asprey;

    - Conway Stewart (but I prefer metal to acrylic);

 

 

British Companies Profligately Sold to Foreign Bidders, Without Due Regard for Tradition or Pride.

—

Wright's Coal Tar Soap;

P&O Ferries;

British Airways;

Gieves and Hawkes;

ARM;

London Pride;

Ribena;

Lucozade;

Cadbury;

Yardley's of London;

Jaguar;

Land Rover;

Bentley;

Rolls Royce;

Harrods;

Morrison's;

Wilkinson Sword;

Financial Times;

Boots.

 

Television Programmes:

   - World at War (Laurence Olivier);

   - Civilisation (Kenneth Clark);

   - The Ascent of Man;

   - Whicker's World (in the Aristocracy Business, 'a good frontage', in I Haven't Taken My Shoes Off for 45 Years - 40:00 minutes in, Cunningham Brown, what a fellow! 'The ones who let it down, who sneer at it, are our own brother British people who've never been further east than Margate sands! They're the ones! If they knew the truth of the matter, by God they'd be proud to be British!'

   - Empire Warriors (2004, good old Mitch, poor old Charlie boy);

   - Sherlock Holmes (Jeremy Brett);

  - Number 10: Bloodlines (Jeremy Brett);

   - Floyd on Fish;

   - Floyd on France;

   - Floyd on Britain and Ireland;

   - Floyd's American Pie;

   - Floyd on Oz;

   - Floyd on Spain;

   - Far Flung Floyd;

   - Floyd on Italy;

   - Floyd on Africa;

   - Floyd Uncorked;

   - Floyd Around the Med;

   - Floyd's India;

   - Floyd's Fjord Fiesta;

   - Top Gear (2003 to 2015).

 

Operettas:

   - The Merry Widow:

(I could wish that there were a better recording of Jeremy Brett's performance in this operetta, howbeit there are perfect audio recordings of his singing, which is the version I prefer):

    - Love Unspoken.

 

Gilbert and Sullivan (the original D'Oyly Carte Stereo Recordings from 1957 onwards are the best recordings of Gilbert and Sullivan):

     - Princess Ida:

 

Musicals (Stage and Film):

   - Carousel:

   - The King and I:

   - South Pacific:

   - My Fair Lady:

      - Get Me to the Church on Time;

   - Oliver!:

   - Grease:

   - The Phantom of the Opera:

   - Cats:

   - Evita:

   - Joseph:

   - Starlight Express:

   - Les Miserables:

   - Miss Saigon:

   - Chess:

   - Snow White (1939):

   - Pinocchio (1940):

      - When You Wish upon a Star;

      - Hi-diddly-dee, an Actor's Life for Me;

   - Dumbo (1941):

      - Pink Elephants on Parade;

   - Song of the South (1946):

   - Cinderella (1950)

   - Alice in Wonderland (1951)

   - Peter Pan (1953):

      - The second star to the right.

      - You can fly.

      - Following the leader.

      - What makes the red man red?

   - Lady and the Tramp (1955):

      - The Siamese Cat Song;

      - Bella Notte;

   - The Little Mermaid (1989):

   - Beauty and the Beast (1991):

   - Aladdin (1993):

   - The Lion King (1994):

   - Pocahontas (1995):

   - The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1997):

 

The Best Meals:

(Note: I generally elect to avoid caffeine and alcohol, but teas can be had these days without the one and fine beers, wines, and spirits, without the other.)

(Second Note: Dishes should be eaten in season.)

(Third Note: Places like the Ritz and Rules and Simpsons commonly overcharge for mouse portions of mediocre food. They are not that which they were.)

(Fourth Note: To avoid intoxication, pour glasses about a quarter the normal measure of alcoholic drinks.)

 

Breakfast (tea with all save the cereals):

I. Porridge with an honey and royal jelly intermixture.

II. Melted English and vintage cheddar cheese exposed on the upper side of the toast, showered in Worcestershire sauce, and ornamented with some raw grated English and vintage cheddar cheese, very small pickled onions, and beetroot.

III. Two boiled eggs with plenty of soldiers drenched in full fat butter. Perhaps some Golden Shred on toast afterwards.

IV. A Full English Breakfast comprising a fried egg, two excellently fried sausages, two splendidly fried rashers of bacon, black pudding, sautéed potatoes with some cress delicately strewn thereon, baked beans, fried cherry tomatoes, some red grapes posted round the plate's borders, and buttered toast. As Sir Guy from that first rate documentary The End of the Game by David Graham Scott expressed it 'My breakfast, dear boy, is the eighth wonder of the world'.

V. An omelette cooked properly so as no hint of shame (or raw egg) is found within it. Served with sautéed poratoes, with some cress strewn carlessly thereon, some fried cherry tomatoes, red grapes, and buttered toast; perhaps a quantity of streaky bacon as well.

VI. Sardines on toast with pickled onions and fine salt plentifully poured.

VII. There again, corn flakes and bran flakes can be very satisfactory with an honey and royal jelly intermixture, served with whole milk naturally.

 

Luncheon:

I. If of the Large variety see under Dinner.

II. A Ploughman's Luncheon: comprising a large hunk of bread with full fat butter spread thereon, a sliced apple, grapes, pickled onions, large pieces of cheese (which  might be vintage cheddar, red leicester, wensleydale, or some such other crumbly cave-like cheese, I do not myself enjoy stilton), ham, a pickle sauce, crackers, Scotch eggs, Mowbray pork pies, and so forth.

III. A Betty Weldon Luncheon: comprising, Melton Mowbray pork pies cut into quarters with a light spreading of onion marmalade over the sausage meat; a Scotch egg; first-rate king prawns perched around a crystal glass containing the prawn cocktail mixture, with the last oozings of a lemon lounging upon its surface; parma ham spread delicately about with some prawn cocktail crisps; vintage cheese on crispy crackers;  sardines on toasted soldiers with plenty of salt and vinegar atop them and crisp shreds of onion; paté on soldiers with onion; a small potato salad; very ripe and flavoursome tomatoes on the vine, cut in half with vinegar and sugar atop them; and lastly a sizable crust of bread with good fat butter. All to be served well with a good dry sherry, hock, English beer, or e'en a bottle of champagne.

III. Gentleman's Relish on toast with a cup of tea

IV. A very well cooked beer-battered cod and chips, deposited minerally all over with salt fine and rocky, bathing in very much vinegar, basted with an excellent tartar sauce, and provided at the side with ketchup and excelleht chips. Mushy peas can be complementary, but only if not sour. This all of course to  be eaten with an English ale, British Bulldog for example or 1698.

 

Tiffin:

I. With (in order of preference) plentiful cups of Assam, English Breakfast, Early Grey, lapsang souchong, and Darjeeling, tea, and the milk or cream taken to the tea second naturally, have:

II. Victorian sponge cake, with cream or ice cream if suitable; or,

III. Scones (short o), with the clotted cream on first and the jam on second; or,

IV. A mince pie or Christmas cake, if it is Yuletide; or,

V. Some such other confectionary, I will not be put upon.

 

Dinner:

Appetisers:

I. Kalamata olives with Amontillado sherry;

II. Smoked salmon on buttered pieces of triangular brown bread, coated in lemon juice, sprinkled with cayenne pepper, and served with Pol Roger or a cool crisp hock.

III. Kentish cobnuts with strong English cheeses and salt and vinegar crisps, served perhaps with small cups of London Pride.

 

The Soup Course:

(Served with the appetizers' drink, if sherry pour it in the soup.)

I. Turnip soup.

II. Vichysoisse soup.

III. Consommé soup.

IV. Jerusalem artichoke soup (but beware the gaseous exchanges such artichokes provoke).

V. Tomato soup.

 

The Main Course:

(Commonly to be taken with a supreme claret like Gevrey-Chambertin, or a cold white wine such as Chablis for fish.)

(If at a restaurant, Betty taught me that which Dennis taught her, never taste the wine if proffered as it makes an absurd spectacle and rushes deliberation. Let it be poured, nine times in ten it will not be corked but if it is, allow some thought the question and then call the waiter without making a spectacle.)

I. Dover sole, with small roasted and quite crisp potatoes, parsley, butter, small roasted carrots, lemon, pepper, and asparagus.

II.

 

Supper:

I. A well pickled egg much mixed into some salt and vinegar or prawn cocktail crisps, with a hearty cup of English ale.

 

 

 

Puddings:

(Oft to be served with a dessert wine such as the Frenchmen's Sauternes.)

Autumn and Winter.

I. Apple Pie with custard (I prefer cold).

II. Apple and Blackberry Crumble with custard.

III. Jam Roly-Poly with custard.

IV. Gooseberry tart.

V. Rhubarb Crumble with custard.

VI. Spotted Dick with custard.

VII. Figgy pudding for Christmas, lit in Hine and served with brandy butter.

 

Spring and Summer.

I. Arctic Roll.

II. Summer Pudding.

III. Ice Cream and Cake.

IV. Strawberries, Raspberries, and Cream served with Meringoo.

V. Apple Snow.

 

 The Cheese Course:

(Naturally a vintge Sandeman port is called upon for this course.)

I. Vintage and cave-matured Cheddar Cheese, which crumbles at a spoon-blade's touch.

II. Double Gloucester Cheese, the mere sounding of those words double gloucester is enough to salivate and do a glottal stop.

V. All served with crisp red grapes and excellent crackers, perhaps Kentish cobnuts too, and even cured meats like salami, parmas ham, and salt and vinegar crisps.

 

The Brandy and Tea Course:

I. A small glass of Hine cognac.

II. Plenty of cups of tea (in order of preference: Assam, English Breakfast, Early Grey, lapsang souchong, and Darjeeling, with Lindt white chocolate Lindor balls (or heaven in a sphere), only four at maximum however as neither Epicurus nor the stomach would suffer anymore, then eat an After Eight and retire to bed or the lavatory as the case may be.

(Final Note: Otherwise, 'good plain food'.)

 

The Best Scents:

   - English Lavender Oil (a good hypnotic);

   - Tea Tree Oil (to be used sparingly);

   - Incense from chain-swung censer teeming;

   - Frankincense;

   - Olbas Inhaler;

   - Old English Oak;

   - 'The best scent is no scent.'

First Rate Electric Music:

'A little bluer, if you please!'

Progressive Rock (and Associated):

Genesis:

   - Where the Sour Turns to Sweet;

   - Fireside Song *;

   - Am I Very Wrong;

   - In the Wilderness;

   - The Conqueror;

   - In Hiding *;

   - One Day;

   - Window;

   - In Limbo;

   - A Place to Call My Own *;

   - The Mystery of Flannan Isle Lighthouse;

   - Hidden in the World of Dawn;

   - Image Blown Out;

   - One-Eyed Hound;

   - Build Me a Mountain;

   - Let us Now Make Love;

   - Looking for Someone;

   - White Mountain;

   - Visions of Angels;

   - Stagnation *;

   - Dusk;

   - The Knife;

   - The Musical Box *;

   - For Absent Friends;

   - Seven Stones;

   - Harold the Barrel;

   - Harlequin *;

   - The Fountain of Salamacis;

   - Dancing with the Moonlit Knight;

   - I Know What I Like (in Your Wardrobe);

   - Firth of Fifth **;

   - More Fool Me;

   - The Battle of Epping Forest;

   - After the Ordeal;

   - The Cinema Show **;

   - Aisle of Plenty;

   - Watcher of the Skies * (Genesis Live);

   - Time Table;

   - Can-Utility and the Coastliners;

   - Horizons *;

   - Supper's Ready *;

   - The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway;

   - Fly on a Windshield;

   - Broadway Melody of 1974;

   - Cuckoo Cocoon;

   - In the Cage *;

   - Back in N.Y.C.;

   - Hairless Heart;

   - Counting out Time *;

   - Carpet Crawlers **;

   - The Chamber of 32 Doors *;

   - Lilywhite Lilith;

   - The Waiting Room (Original and Live in the Genesis Archive 1967-1975);

   - Anyway *;

   - Here Comes the Supernatural Anaesthetist;

   - The Lamia;

   - Silent Sorrow in Empty Boats;

   - The Colony of Slippermen;

   - Ravine;

   - The Light Dies Down on Broadway;

   - In the Rapids;

   - It;

   - Dance on a Volcano;

   - Entangled *;

   - Squonk;

   - Mad Man Moon *;

   - Robbery, Assault, and Battery;

   - Ripples... *;

   - A Trick of the Tail;

   - Los Endos;

   - Eleventh Earl of Mar;

   - One for the Vine;

   - Your Own Special Way *;

   - Wot Gorilla?

   - All in a Mouse's Night;

   - Blood on the Rooftops *;

   - Unquiet Slumber for the Sleepers;

   - In that Quiet Earth;

   - Afterglow *;

   - Undertow;

   - Snowbound;

   - Burning Rope;

   - Deep in the Motherlode;

   - Many too Many;

   - Scene's from a Night's Dream;

   - Say it's Alright Joe;

   - Follow You, Follow Me *;

   - Behind the Lines;

   - Duchess;

   - Guide Vocal;

   - Man of Our Times;

   - Misunderstanding;

   - Heathaze;

   - Turn it on Again;

   - Alone Tonight;

   - Cul-de-Sac;

   - Please Don't Ask;

   - Duke's Travels and Duke's End (Live at the Lyceum Ballroom, 1980);

   - Match of the Day;

   - Pigeons;

   - Inside and Out *;

   - Abacab;

   - No Reply at All;

   - Me and Sarah Jane;

   - Keep it Dark *;

   - Dodo / Lurker (Three Sides Live);

   - Man on the Corner;

   - Like it or Not;

   - Paperlate;

   - You Might Recall **;

   - Me and Virgil;

   - Evidence of Autumn *;

   - Open Door *;

   - Mama;

   - That's All;

   - Home by the Sea;

   - Illegal Alien;

   - Taking it All Too Hard;

   - It's Gonna Get Better;

   - Invisible Touch;

   - Do the Neurotic;

   - In Too Deep;

   - Domino;

   - Throwing it All Away;

   - The Brazillian;

   - No Son of Mine;

   - Jesus He Knows Me;

   - I Can't Dance (Live);

   - Driving the Last Spike;

   - Never a Time;

   - Dreaming While You Sleep (Live from the Earl's Court Exhibition Centre);

   - Tell Me Why;

   - On the Shoreline;

   - Living Forever;

   - Hold on My Heart;

   - Way of the World;

   - Since I Lost You;

   - Fading Lights;

   - Congo;

   - Shipwrecked;

   - Not about Us;

   - Anything Now;

   - Phret;

   - Banjo Man;

   - Nowhere Else to Turn;

   - 7/8;

   - One Man's Fool *.

 

Anthony Phillips (his music is very good for reading):

   - Which Way the Wind Blows;

   - God If I Saw Her Now;

    - The Geese and the Ghost, Parts 1 and 2;

    - Sleepfall: The Geese Fly West;

    - Wise After the Event;

    - Regrets;

    - Paperchase;

    - Sisters of Remindum;

    - Bleak House;

    - Falling for Love;

    - Slow Dance, Parts 1 and 2 *;

    - Field Day (the album);

    - Wildlife (the album);

    - Seventh Heaven * (an excellent album, especially:

       - Credo in Cantus *;

       - A Richer Earth;

       - Kissing Gate;

       - Sojourn;

       - Speak of Remarkable Things;

       - Winter Song *;

       - Our England **);

   - Field of Eternity;

   - Stranger;

   - Reaper;

   - Otto's Face;

   - Old Wives Tale;

   - Arboretum Suite: Over the Gate;

   - Arboretum Suite: Lights on the Hill;

   - Sistine *;

   - The Princess Waltz;

   - Diamond Meadows;

   - Sunset Riverbank;

   - Days Gone By.

 

Peter Gabriel:

   - Solsbury Hill;

   - Don't Give Up;

   - Mercy Street;

   - In Your Eyes;

   - The Book of Love (The Magnetic Fields);

   - i/o;

   - Olive Tree;

   - Live and Let Live *;

   - Playing for Time.

 

Steve Hackett:

   - Hands of the Priestess (which Koji Kondo plainly lifted for Zelda's Lullaby);

   - Star of Sirius;

   - Every Day.

   - Narnia;
   - Racing in A;

 

Tony Banks:

   - After the Lie;

   - For a While;

   - The Gift;

   - I Wanna Change the Score;

   - The Final Curtain;

   - A Piece of You (Strictly Inc.);

   - Walls of Sound (Strictly Inc.).

 

Mike + The Mechanics:

   - Silent Running;

   - All I Need is a Miracle;

   - Taken In;

   - Nobody's Perfect;

   - The Living Years;

   - Get Up;

   - Word of Mouth;

   - Everybody Gets a Second Chance;

   - A Beggar on a Beach of Gold;

   - Over My Shoulder;

   - The Best is Yet to Come.

 

Phil Collins:

   - In the Air Tonight;

   - This Must Be Love;

   - Behind the Lines;

   - Droned;

   - Hand in Hand;

   - I Missed Again;

   - You Know What I Mean **;

   - Thunder and Lightning;

   - I'm Not Moving;

   - If Leaving Me is Easy;

   - I Don't Care Anymore;

   - I Cannot Believe it's True;

   - Like China;

   - You Can't Hurry Love;

   - It Don't Matter to Me *;

   - Thru These Walls;

   - Don't Let Him Steal Your Heart Away *;

   - Why Can't it Wait 'til Morning *;

   - Against All Odds **;

   - Only You Know and I Know (01.58 - 02.27);

   - Long Long Way to Go (03.16); 

   - I Don't Wanna Know *;

   - One More Night;

   - Don't Lose My Number;

   - We Said Hello Goodbye;

   - Doesn't Anybody Stay Together Anymore?;

   - Inside Out;

   - Take Me Home;

   - We Said Hello Goodbye;

   - A Groovy Kind of Love *;

   - Hang in Long Enough;

   - That's Just the Way it is;

   - Do You Remember? *;

   - Something Happened on the Way to Heaven;

   - Colours;

   - I Wish it Would Rain Down;

   - Another Day in Paradise *;

   - Heat on the Street;

   - All of My Life;

   - Saturday Night and Sunday Morning;

   - Father to Son;

   - Find a Way to My Heart *;

   - Can't Turn Back the Years;

   - Everyday;

   - We're Sons of Our Fathers;

   - Survivors;

   - We Wait and We Wonder *;

   - Hero;

   - Lorenzo;

   - Love Police;

   - Wear My Hat;

   - It's in Your Eyes;

   - Take Me Down;

   - The Same Moon;

   - River so Wide;

   - No Matter Who;

   - Two Worlds;

   - Son of Man;

   - Strangers Like Me;

  - You'll Be in My Heart *;

   - Wake up Call;

   - Come with Me;

   - Don't Get Me Started;

   - The Least You Can Do

   - Look Through My Eyes;

   - No Way Out *;

   - On My Way;

   - Welcome *.

 

Yes:

   - I See You;

   - Yesterday and Today;

   - Time and a Word;

   - Yours is no Disgrace;

   - The Clap;

   - Starship Trooper;

   - Heart of the Sunrise;

   - America;

   - Close to the Edge;

   - And You and I;

   - Siberian Khatru;

   - The Revealing Science of God;

   - The Remembering (High the Memory);

   - The Ancients (Giants under the Sun);

   - Nous Somme du Soleil;

   - Soon.

 

King Crimson:

   - The Court of the Crimson King (Live from The Tokyo Tapes - Steve Hackett);

    - Islands.

 

Caravan:

   - Nine Feet Underground (the magnum opus of my cousin's father).

 

Jethro Tull:

   - Bourée;

   - Aqualung;

 

The Enid:

   - The Lovers;

 

Emerson, Lake, and Palmer:

   - From the Beginning.

 

Renaissance:

   - Song of Scherazade;

 

The Alan Parsons Project:

   - Don't Answer Me;

   - Eye in the Sky;

   - Old and Wise. 

 

Unique Artists:

Gilbert O'Sullivan:

   - Intro (From Himself);

   - January Git;

    - Bye-Bye *;

    - Permissive Twit;

    - Matrimony;

    - Independent Air * (the latter part of the Commonwealth);

    - Nothing Rhymed *;

    - Too Much Attention;

    - If I Don't Get You (Back Again);

    - Houdini Said;

    - Doing the Best I Can *;

    - Outro;

    - Disappear;

    - Mr. Moody's Garden;

    - Everybody Knows;

    - Underneath the Blanket Go;

    - We Will;

    - I Didn't Know What to Do;

    - No Matter How I Try *.

    - Intro (From Back to Front);

    - I Hope You'll Stay;

    - In My Hole *;

    - Clair;

    - That's Love;

    - Can I Go with You;

    - Who Was It? *;

    - What Could Be Nicer?;

    - Out of the Question **;

    - I'm Leaving;

    - Outro;

    - Alone Again (Naturally) **;

    - Ooh-Wakka-Doo-Wakka-Day *;

    - A Friend of Mine;

    - They've Only Themselves to Blame;

    - Where Peaceful Waters Flow;

    - Ooh Baby;

    - I Have Never Loved You as Much as I Love You Today;

    - Not in a Million Years;

    - If You Love Me Like You Love Me *;

    - Get Down;

    - A Very Extraordinary Sort of Girl;

    - Why Oh Why Oh Why;

    - You Don't Have to Tell Me *;

    - Number 4;

    - A Woman's Place;

    - No More;

    - It's so Easy to Be Sad;

    - My Father;

    - The Marriage Machine;

    - If You Ever;

    - The Thing Is (02:05 'But I've Got a Sister in Crewe');

    - Victor E;

    - I Wonder Would You Mind;

    - 15 Times;

    - Nothing to Do About Much;

    - Can't Get You to Love Me;

    - Always Somebody;

    - Happiness is Me and You;

    - Too Bad;

    - You Are You;

    - Tell Me Why;

    - That's a Fact;

    - Intro (Southpaw);

    - You Got Me Going;

    - No Telling Why;

    - Tomorrow Today;

    - The Best Fun I Ever Had;

    - I Remember;

    - Intro (Side Two);

    - I, of Course, Replied;

    - That's Where I Belong *;

    - My Love and I;

    - If I Can't Have You All to Myself;

    - Miss My Love Today;

    - I'll Believe it When I See It;

    - Just as You Are;

    - You Never Listen to Reason *;

    - Call on Me;

    - Doing What I Know;

    - To Each His Own;

    - Can't Get You out of My Mind *;

    - As Long as I Can;

    - Our Own Baby *;

    - What's In a Kiss **;

    - Hello It's Goodbye;

    - I'm Not Getting Any Younger

    - For What It's Worth;

    - The Niceness of It All;

    - Can't Get Enough of You;

    - Break It To Me Gently;

    - Or So They Say;

    - Bear With Me * (A Christmas song for me);

    - You Don't Own Me;

    - Wonder Why *;

    - Are You Happy?;

    - Not That it Bothers Me;

    - Sometimes **;

    - It's Easy to See When You're Blind (a Very Clever Title);

    - Having Said That;

    - Can't Think Straight;

    - The Best Love I Never Had;

    - Divorce Irish Style;

    - Came and Went;

    - I'm Not Too Young;

    - I Can Give You;

    - What a Way (to Show I Love You);

    - Overture (Every Song Has its Play);

    - Showbiz;

    - Dear Dream;

    - I Wish I Could Cry;

    - Nothing to Fear *;

    - Can't Find My Way Home;

    - You Don't Own Me / If I Know You *;

    - Nobody Wants to Know *;

    - Young at Heart (We'll Always Remain);

    - I've Never Been Short of a Smile *;

    - That's;

    - When to Today;

    - Shy;

    - That's Why I Love You *;

    - My Advice to You;

    - Hold on to What You Got;

    - Came to See Me Yesterday (in the Merry Month of);

    - Mr and Mrs. Regards;

    - It Ain't for Me;

    - I Don't Mind;

    - As a Rule;

    - My Front Door Is;

    - Because of You * (a Christmas Song for Me);

    - What You See is What You Get;

    - Heavens Above;

    - Please Don't Let My Weakness Show;

    - I'll Be the Lonely One;

    - Con-Lab-Lib;

    - Doesn't it Make You Sick *;

    - An End;

    - Have it;

    - Water Music; 

    - Say Goodbye;

    - Barking up the Wrong Tree (Such is Life);
    - Make My Day *;
    - God Forbid;
    - I Gave Mine to You;
    - A Love So;
    - You, Me, and the Garden Post;
    - Will I Do?;
    - World of Work *;
    - Don't Let it Get to You *;
    - Taking Sides;
    - I'm in Love with Love (Again);
    - Force of Habit *;
    - One Door Closes;
    - Let's Not Go There;
    - All They Wanted to Say;
    - Where Would We Be (Without Tea);
    - Down Down Here;
    - Private Eye;
    - Hitler Could Have Made it With You;
    - I Guess I'll Always Love You (Both Versions)*;
    - No Way (Both Versions) *;
    - If You Want Me To *;
    - At the End of the Day;
    - Where Did You Go To?
    - Dansette Dreams and 45's;
    - Blue Anchor Bay;
    - Let Bygones Be Bygones;
    - What Are You Waiting For?;
    - Let Me Know *;
    - You Can't Say I Didn't Try;
    - Hey Man;
    - Me Mum;

    - Taking a Chance On Love;

    -  Middle Age Dread;

    - Never Say Di;

    - New Song.

Al Stewart:

   - Denise at 16;

   - Clifton in the Rain;

   - In Brooklyn;

   - You Should Have Listened to Al;

   - Gethsemane Again;

   - Electric Los Angeles Sunset;

   - You Don't Even Know Me;

   - Amsterdam;

   - The News from Spain;

   - Old Admirals;

   - Warren Harding;

   - Soho (Needless to Say);

   - The Last Day of June 1934;

   - Post World War Two Blues *;

   - Roads to Moscow;

   - Nostradamus (Original and Live at the Roxy);

   - Carol;

   - Sirens of Titan;

   - Apple Cider Re-Constitution;

   - The Dark and the Rolling Sea *;

   - Modern Times **;

   - Lord Grenville;

   - On the Border;

   - Midas Shadow;

   - Sand in Your Shoes;

   - If it Doesn't Come Naturally;

   - Flying Sorcery;

   - Broadway Hotel;

   - Year of the Cat **;

   - Time Passages;

   - Life in Dark Water;

   - A Man for all Seasons *;

   - The Palace of Versailles;

   - Timeless Skies;

   - Song on the Radio;

   - End of the Day *;

   - Running Man;

   - Midnight Rocks *;

   - Merlin's Time;

   - Murmansk Run / Ellis Island;

   - Optical Illusion;

   - Here in Angola;

   - Indian Summer;

   - Delia's Gone;

   - Accident on 3rd Street;

   - The Gypsy and the Rose;

   - Josephine Baker;

   - Fields of France;

   - Antarctica;

   - Ghostly Horses of the Plain;

   - Don't Forget Me;

   - Peter on the White Sea;

   - Trains;

   - Charlotte Corday;

   - Night Rolls in;

   - In the Dark;

   - Blow Your Mansion Down;

   - Sampan *;

   - A League of Notions;

   - Between the Wars;

   - Laughing into 1939 *;

   - Tasting History;

   - Down in the Cellars;

   - Turning it into Water;

   - The Night the Band Got the Wine;

   - Franklin's Table;

   - Rain Barrel;

   - Somewhere in England;

   - Mona Lisa;

   - Lord Salisbury;

   - Hanno the Navigator;

   - Sleep Walking;

   - Like William McKinley.

 

Peter Allen:

   - Six Thirty Sunday Morning;

   - Tenterfield Saddler *;

   - More Than I Like You;

   - The Same Way I Came in;

   - Just Ask Me I've Been There;

   - Harbour;

   - The Other Side;

   - Everything Old is New Again;

   - The Natural Thing to Do;

   - I Honestly Love You;

   - Puttin' out Roots;

   - She Loves to Hear the Music;

   - Back Doors Crying;

   - I Go to Rio **;

   - Planes *;

   - This Time Around *;

   - The More I See You *;

   - Harbour *;

   - As Time Goes By (Live) *;

   - I Could Have Been a Sailor;

   - Don't Wish Too Hard;

   - Don't Cry out Loud *;

   - I'd Rather Leave While I'm in Love (Original and Live - 1980, The Don Lane Show 1:45-3:04) **;

   - Paris at 21;

   - One Step Over the Borderline;

   - Fly Away;

   - I Don't Go Shopping;

   - Not the Boy Next Door;

   - You and Me (We Wanted it All);

   - Once Before I Go *;

   - Love Don't Need a Reason *.

 

Christoper Cross:

   - Arthur's Theme (Peter Allen) *;

   - Say You'll Be Mine;
   - I Really Don't Know Anymore;
   - Spinning;
   - Never Be the Same;
   - Poor Shirley *;
   - Ride Like the Wind;
   - The Light is On;
   - Sailing *;
   - Minstrel Gigolo;
   - No Time for Talk;
   - Baby Says No;
   - Think of Laura *;
   - All Right;
   - Talking in My Sleep;
   - Nature of the Game;
   - Words of Wisdom *;
   - Someday;
   - Every Turn of the World;
   - Love is Love
   - Swing Street
   - Open Your Heart;
   - Never Stop Believing
   - Swept Away;
   - I Will (Take You Forever);
   - Back of My Mind;
   - I'll Be Alright;
   - Just One Look;
   - Rendezvous;
   - Deputy Dan;
   - Night Across the World;
   - In the Blink of an Eye;
   - Is There Something?
   - Isn't it Love;
   - Driftin' Away;
   - A Fisherman's Tale *;
   - Wild Wild West;
   - Open up My Window;
   - Walking in Avalon;
   - When She Smiles;
   - Dreams Too Loud;
   - I Know You Well *;
   - Hey Kid;
   - Dreamers;

   - Prayin';
   - Leave it to Me;
   - Haila;
   - Take Me as I Am;
   - River of Tears *;
   - Alvah (in Memory of Rob Meurer) *.

  

Chris de Burgh:

   - Spanish Train;
   - Lonely Sky;
   - Patricia the Stripper;
   - A Spaceman Came Travelling;
   - The Traveller;
   - Ship to Shore;
   - Borderline;
   - Where Peaceful Waters Flow *;
   - The Head and the Heart *;
   - The Lady in Red;
   - Fatal Hesitation (Read a Little Shakespeare) *;
   - Sailing Away;
   - Carry Me (Like a Fire in Your Heart)*;
   - Tender Hands;
   - A Night on the River *;
   - Here is Your Paradise *;
   - The Snows of New York;
   - Nothing Ever Happens Around Here *;
   - A Woman's Heart.

 Dave Nachmanoff:

   - That Guy;

   - Never Enough;

   - Spinoza's Dream *;

   - The Painter;

   - All Good;

   - Long Night;

   - Cerulean Sky;

   - Screens;

   - The River Never Ends.

 

Don Mclean:

   - American Pie;

   - Vincent *;

   - Castles in the Air.

 

Harry Nillson: 

   - Everybody's Talkin';

   - Without You *.

 

The Cat Empire:

   - Rhyme and Reason;

   - How to Explain?;

   - Days Like These;

   - The Lost Song;

   - The Chariot;

   - One, Four, Five;

   - The Rhythm;

   - The Wine Song;

   - Nothing;

   - The Crowd *;

   - Manifesto;

   - All That Talking;

   - Sly;

   - In My Pocket *;

   - Lullaby;

   - Two Shoes;

   - Miserere **;

   - Sol y Sombra;

   - Protons, Neutrons, Electrons;

   - Saltwater;

   - The Night That Never End;

   - Cities;

   - Siente;

   - Motion;

   - Song for the Day;

   - Know Your Name *;

   - Song for Elias;

   - Side to Side;

   - Waltz;

   - Luck Song;

   - Anymore *;

   - Miss Soul;

   - So Many Nights;

   - Panama;

   - Fishies;

   - No Longer There;

   - Lonely Moon;

   - Sunny Moon;

   - So Long;

   - No Mountain * (this song is purple);

   - 'Til the Ocean Takes Us All;

   - Wanted to Write a Love Song;

   - Dumb Things (Paul Kelly);

   - Falling;

   - Shoulders;

   - The Heart is a Cannibal *;

   - Reasonably Fine;

   - Call Me Home;

   - On My Way;

   - Beyond All;

   - Steal the Light;

   - Still Young;

   - Go;

   - Sleep Won't Sleep;

   - Don't Throw Your Hands Up;

   - All Night Loud;

   - Bulls;

   - Midnight (Live);

   - Blasting Away;

   - You Are My Song;

   - Eagle;

   - Bataclan;

   - Daggers Drawn;

   - Qué Será Ahore;

   - Creature;

   - Lover Lover Lover (Leonard Cohen);

   - Flags;

   - Oscar Wilde;

   - Bow Down to Love;

   - Anybody;

   - Echoes;

   - Adelphia;

   - Saturday Night;

   - Into the Night;

   - Be with You Again (in memory of Max Riebl whom I saw at the Royal Albert Hall singing Miserere and who was a superb tenor);

   - Coming Back Again (again); 

   - Oh Mercy.

 

Gloria Estefan:

   - Can't Stay Away From You;

   - 1-2-3;

   - Anything for You *;

   - Ay, Ay, I;

   - Here we Are *;

   - Don't Wanna Lose You;

   - Cuts Both Ways *;

   - Coming out of the Dark;

   - Words Get in the Way;

   - Christmas Through Your Eyes;

   - Always Tomorrow **.

 

Steve Cameron:

   - Prelude;

   - Haarland and Wolff;

   - Café Parisien;

   - Piano Lounge;

   - Listen to the Stars *;

   - Sirens *.

 

Billy Joel:

   - Piano Man;

   - Scenes from an Italian Restaurant;

   - Uptown Girl;

   - Just the Way You Are;

   - She's Always a Woman;

   - Vienna.

 

Elvis Costello:

   - Alison;

   - (I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea;

   - Oliver's Army;

   - Good Year for the Roses.

   - She (Charles Aznavour) *.

 

Gorillaz:

   - 19-2000;

   - Tomorrow Comes Today;

   - Slow Country;

   - Feel Good Inc.*;

   - Silent Running;

   - The Valley of the Pagans;

   - On Melancholy Hill*;

 

 

Avril Lavigne (The best voice of the times):

   - Complicated;

   - Breakaway*;

   - Sk8ter Boi;

   - I'm with You*;

   - Tomorrow;

   - Anything but Ordinary;

   - Things I'll Never Say*;

   - My World*;

   - Nobody's Fool*;

   - Sippin' on Sunshine;

   - You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet;

   - Hush Hush;

   - Warrior;

   - Avalanche (onsh);

   - He Wasn't; 

   - How Does it Feel;

   - Fall to Pieces*;

   - Girlfriend;

   - Runaway; 

   - When You're Gone;

   - Innocence;

   - Keep Holding On;

   - I Will Be;

   - Black Star;

   - What the Hell;

   - Push;

   - Wish You Were Here*;

   - Goodbye*;

   - Head Above Water;

   - I'm a Mess;

 

 

Bic Runga:

   - Drive;

   - Sway;

   - Get Some Sleep;

   - Something Good;

   - Listening for the Weather;

   - Gravity.          

 

  Michael Jackson:

   - Got to be There;

   - Ben;

   - Music and Me;

   - Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough;

   - Rock with You;

   - Off the Wall ;

   - Girlfriend;

   - She's Out of My Life;

   - Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'

   - Baby Be Mine;

   - The Girl is Mine;

   - Thriller;

   - Beat It;

   - Billie Jean;

   - Human Nature *;

   - P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing);

   - The Lady in My Life;

   - For All Time *;

   - The Way You Make Me Feel;

   - Liberian Girl;

   - Just Good Friends;

   - Another Part of Me;

   - Man in the Mirror **;

   - I Just Can't Stop Loving You;

   - Smooth Criminal;

   - Leave Me Alone;

   - Heal the World;

   - Black or White;

   - Stranger in Moscow;

   - Earth Song;

   - You Are Not Alone;

   - History;

   - Speechless;

   - Don't Walk Away;

   - This is It;

   - Love Never Felt So Good (Original Version).

 

Felix Riebl:

   - Wide Open Rivers *;

   - Worries I've Had;

   - I Won't Know You Anymore;

   - My Shore;

   - Everyday Amen;

 

Barry Manilow:

   - Could it Be Magic;

   - Mandy;

   - It's a Miracle;

   - Sandra;

   - Tryin' to Get the Feeling Again;

   - I Write the Songs;

   - This One's for You;

   - Daybreak;

   - Weekend in New England;

   - Copacabana;

   - Somewhere in the Night;

   - Can't Smile Without You;

   - Even Now;

   - One Voice;

   - Ships;

   - When I Wanted You;

   - Bermuda Triangle;

   - I Made it Through the Rain;

   - The Old Songs;

   - Memory (Andrew Lloyd Webber);

   - Some Kind of Friend;

   - My Moonlight Memories of You;

   - Moonlight Serenade (Glenn Miller);

   - Weekend in New England;

   - Ready to Take a Chance Again;

   - Somewhere Down the Road;

   - This One's for You;

   - Daybreak;

   - Read 'Em and Weep;

 

 John Denver:

   - Annie's Song;

   - Leaving on a Jet Plane;

   - Country Roads.

 

Flight of the Conchords:

   - If You're into it;

   - Think About It;

   - Leggy Blonde;

   - The Most Beautiful Girl in the Room;

   - Pencils in the Wind;

   - Bowie;

   - You Don't Have to Be a Prostitute;

   - Carol Brown;

   - Father and Son.

 

 

 

 Nat King Cole:

   - Smile;

   - There May Be Trouble Ahead;

 

B.J. Thomas:

   - Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head;

   - Half a Heart;

   - Don't Leave Love (Out There All Alone);

   - Midnight Minute;

   - One Last One More Time;

   - As Long as We Got Each Other (with Dusty Springfield).

 

Rick Astley:

   - Never Gonna Give You Up;

   - Whenever You Need Somebody;

   - Together Forever;

   - It Would Take a Strong Strong Man;

   - My Arms Keep Missing You;

   - She Wants to Dance with Me;

   - Take Me to Your Arms;

   - I Don't Want to Lose Her;

   - Hold Me in Your Arms;

   - Cry for Help;

   - Hopelessly *;

   - Lights Out.

 

Take That:

   - Back for Good;

   - Never Forget;

   - Patience;

   - Shine;

   - Rule the World;

   - The Garden;

   - Greatest Day;

   - Said it All;

   - Hold up a Light.

 

David Gray:

   - Please Forgive Me *;

   - Babylon;

   - My Oh My;

   - This Year's Love;

   - Sail Away;

   - Say Hello, Wave Goobye (Soft Cell);

   - Be Mine;

   - The One I Love;

   - Slow Motion.

 

Gabrielle:

   - Dreams;

   - Out of Reach;

   - Fallen Angel.

 

Keane:

   - Somewhere Only We Know;

   - Bend & Break;

   - Everybody's Changing;

   - Your Eyes Open;

   - Can't Stop Now;

   - Sunshine;

   - This is the Last Time;

   - Bedshaped;

   - Snowed Under;

   - Atlantic;

   - Is it Any Wonder;

   - Nothing in My Way;

   - Hamburg Song;

   - The Iron Sea;

   - Crystal Ball;

   - The Frog Prince;

   - Spiralling;

   - The Lovers are Losing;

   - Better Than This;

   - You Haven't Told Me Anything;

   - You Don't See Me;

   - Black Burning Heart;

   - Love is the End;

   - You Are Young;

   - Silenced by the Night;

   - Disconnected;

   - Sovereign Light Café;

   - The Starting Line;

   - Neon River;

   - You're Not Home;

   - The Way I Feel *;

   - Stupid Things;

   - I'm Not Leaving;

   - Closer Now;

   - Fly to Me;

   - Something in Me Was Dying;

   - He Used to Be a Lovely Boy;

   - Time to Go (the woe of drink);

   - Difficult Child;

   - Russian Farmer's Song.

 

Wet, Wet, Wet:

   - Angel Eyes (Home and Away) *;

   - Sweet Little Mystery;

   - Sweet Surrender.

   - Goodnight Girl;

   - Love is All Around;

 

Impeccable Albums:

   - Year of the Cat, by Al Stewart;

   - Christopher Cross, by Christopher Cross;

   - ...But Seriously, by Phil Collins;

   - The Cat Empire, by The Cat Empire;

   - Twelve Stops and Home, by The Feeling;

 

Excellent Albums:

   - Selling England by the Pound, by Genesis;

   - Sketches of Satie, by Steve Hackett and John Hackett;

   - Two Shoes, by The Cat Empire;

   - Laundry Service, by Shakira;

   - Back to Bedlam, by James Blunt;

   - The Cafe Carlyle Sessions, by Christopher Cross;

   - Take Me As I Am, by Christopher Cross;

 

Miscellaneous:

Alright, by Supergrass;

From a Distance, by Bette Midler;

Creel Commission:

    - Cigarette;

    - Dig in (And Find Yer Blues).

Big Train:

    - Drops of Jupiter.

Dido:

   - Here with Me;

   - White Flag;

   - Life for Rent;

   - Sand in My Shoes.

 

Recent Books of Worth:

Oxford University Press:

   - The Oxford Dictionary of English Proverbs.

Ernest Hemingway:

   - The Old Man and the Sea **.

George Orwell:

   - Down and Out in Paris and London;

   - Animal Farm;

   - 1984;

Mervyn Peake:

   - Titus Groan;

   - Gormenghast;

   - Titus Alone;

   - Boy in Darkness.

George MacDonald Fraser:

   - The Flashman Papers (Excluding the Duffers):

Flashman;

Royal Flash;

Flash for Freedom!;

Flashman at the Charge;

Flashman in the Great Game;

Flashman's Lady;

Flashman and the Redskins;

Flashman and the Dragon;

Flashman and the Mountain of Light;

Flashman on the March.

   - Quartered Safe Out Here;

   - The Light's on at Signpost.

Robert Heinlein:

   - Stranger in a Strange Land.

   - Time Enough for Love.

Hunter S. Thomson:

   - Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (as an amusing account of how not to think and behave, yet full of insight and eloquence).

Mike Rutherford:

   - The Living Years.

Nigel Farage:

   - The Purple Revolution.

 

The Best Radio Programmes:

   - Round the Horne ('We Don't Need Words');

   - Rowan Atkinson Live; 

   - Why Bother? (Peter Cooke and Chris Morris);

   - The Mighty Boosh;

   - The Flight of the Conchords

 

The Best Comedy Television Programmes:

(Seek old versions, beware the Ministry of Information. I would rather laugh than shout, nor can I conceive of a more calamitous augury for a nation than that it should lose its sense of humour):

   - Dad's Army;

   - It Ain't Half Hot Mum **;

   - Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em; 

   - 'Allo 'Allo;

   - Hi-de-Hi!;

   - You Rang, M'Lord?;

   - Oh, Doctor Beeching!;

   - The Galton and Simpson Playhouse ('Car Along the Pass');

   - Potter (with Arthur Lowe);

   - The End of Civilisation as We Know it (with John Cleese and Arthur Lowe);

   - Fawlty Towers;

   - The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin;

   - Ripping Yarns;

   - Blackadder;

   - Only Fools and Horses *;

   - Yes, Minister;

   - The New Statesman ('How dare you insult the mother of the Empire?');

   - Mr. Bean;

   - The Day Today;

   - Brass Eye;

   - Father Ted;

   - The Mighty Boosh;

   - Flight of the Conchords;

   - Little Britain;

   - The IT Crowd; 

   - The Inbetweeners; 

   - Come Fly with Me;

 

Films:

   - The Private Life of Henry VIII (Laughton);

   - The 39 Steps (Donat);

   - Jamaica Inn (Laughton);

   - Mutiny on the Bounty (Laughton);

   - The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Laughton);

   - Spartacus;

   - Henry V (Olivier);

   - Hamlet (Olivier);

   - Wuthering Heights (Olivier);

   - Rebecca (Olivier);

   - Mario Lanza Films;

   - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest;
   - 12 Angry Men;
   - A Man for All Seasons (1966);
   - Witness for the Prosecution (Laughton);

   - The End of the Game (by David Graham Scott);

   - Withnail and I.

   - Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

   - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone;

   - Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets;

   - Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl;

   - Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.

 

The Greatest Video-Games.

1. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask.

2. Final Fantasy VII.

3. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

4. Final Fantasy VI.

5. Kingdom Hearts.

6. Kingdom Hearts II.

7. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.

8. The Last Guardian.

9. Super Mario Sunshine.

10. Metal Gear Solid.

11. Grim Fandango.

12. Final Fantasy X.

13. Nier Replicant.

14. Half-Life 2.

15. Sonic Adventure 2.

16. Journey.

17. The Secret of Monkey Island.

18. Super Mario Galaxy.

19. Metal Gear Solid 3.

20. Super Mario Odyssey.

21. Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge.

22. Super Mario 64

23. Uncharted 4.

24. Uncharted 2.

25. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.

26. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD.

27. Metal Gear Solid 4.

28. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.

29. Metal Gear Solid 2.

30. Dear Esther.