My brother's back at home with his Beatles and his Stones

Yeah, Baby. Mike and Paul Myers take over WNYC's Soundcheck for larks. It's hard to tell their speaking voices apart, but this is good fun.

That posh bird...

Unutterable excitement at the NFT last week as Edina Ronay's presence at the 50th anniversary showing of A Hard Day's Night enlivened an already ace evening. My friend Tony grabbed a photo with Ms. Ronay, who it must be said looks stunning at 69.

Graciously admitting her appearance was "only small", Susan Campey ("a well-known drag") has nevertheless seeped into Beatle legend...

And, of course, she was the envy of every 1964 teen (and many since), flirting with John in the earlier club scene...

Though I'd attended a similar event in 1999, in which Dick Lester was interviewed by fellow director Steven Soderbergh, it was a pleasure to have an unexpected take two 15 years on - although I shared host Mark Lewisohn's disappointment that he wasn't able to stay for the film itself.

A considerate prompt for the estimable and unassuming Lester, Mark's accompanying slideshow revealed a mass of 'new' photos and clippings, which bodes well for Book Two, whenever it appears. And the buffed-up film looked and sounded great, even if George's once famously ear-shredding crusty roll (well, it was on my mid-80s video) has now been reduced to a whisper.

(In hunting around for AHDN pics online I came across this amazingly detailed page, in which character actors and bit players have been forensically identified. But not, it seems Sheila Fearn, ex-George and Mildred, etc, who has a fairly prominent role as one of the studio make-up artists. And is that really Susan Hampshire? I'm sceptical. And Phil Collins? I don't recall him ever being officially identified before...Still, it's always tickled me that David Janson ended up as Hyacinth Bucket's postie...) 

Do I feel lucky?

A recent late-night bout of Youtube hopping led me to this deliciously meta clip - Kyle Eastwood playing bass with Lalo Schifrin on a suite of Dirty Harry orchestrations, from a 2007 performance in Paris.

It's not brilliant quality but I think I've added several dozen to its view tally already. Oh to have been there.

Marquee of the Provinces

As a native of one of Aylesbury's satellite towns and a serial hoarder of Zigzag mags for longer than I can remember, I felt it incumbent upon me to visit the exhibition commemorating the 45-year history of legendary 'local' club, Friars, currently running at Bucks County Museum.

During my first visit back in March, a film crew from BBC Oxford were on hand to record the memories of founder David Stopps, and a David Bowie fan lucky enough to have caught a bit of his shirt at a Friars gig in 1972 (taking centre-stage in a fascinating Bowie-centric corner of the exhibit). I mostly succeeded in hiding from the cameras.



This multimedia extravaganza is fantastic, concentrating on the club's golden era, spanning 1969 to the early '80s (but also taking in the resurrection of Friars for one-off gigs in recent years). Someone (presumably Stopps) appears to have kept everything - posters (sadly no reproductions for sale, there were plenty I could happily have ripped from the wall), membership cards, tickets, t-shirts, photos.

As you proceed around the exhibition wall panels helpfully list, in sickening detail, all the artists who appeared throughout the club's various phases... Pretty Things, Free, King Crimson, Quintessence, Blossom Toes, Atomic Rooster, Principal Edwards Magic Theatre, Caravan, Mott the Hoople, Renaissance, Liverpool Scene, Blodwyn Pig ... and that's just 1969. A who's-who of progressive rock, pop, folk and beyond (Rotgut and Gilbert Hampshire's Armpit Review may or may not have graduated beyond their Friars support slots...).

It's worth hanging around to watch the extremely thorough audio-visual history of the club which runs on a loop (I took the lot in on my 2nd visit a week or two back). Whilst reminiscences from artists who've played at Friars (Marillion, John Otway, Mike Rutherford amongst them) are candid and illuminating, its the tale of the indefatigable Stopps and his music-loving cohorts which proves to be the heart and soul of the story.

Everyone associated with the club, from those on the door, to the psychedelic lightshow guys to a cross-section of members - many of whom look frankly far too well-preserved to have been teenagers in the '70s - recall an inclusive, almost 'family' scene (borne out by the frequent images of fans queueing for gigs like their lives depended on it). I left pondering when the next 'Friars presents...' show might be (none on the horizon it would seem), just so I could join their hallowed number, albeit belatedly.

The Evolution of Friars 1969-2014 runs until July. More info here. 

2013