Bank Holiday Blog

My week off work has finished with May Day bank holiday so I have a shortened week back at work. I feel much better for a week off, more relaxed, but two weeks would, of course, be better. What have I done in my week off? Virtually nothing! And that's part of the joy, no pressure to do anything, a total slob-out. And, continuing tradition in bank holiday weather, it persisted down today.

One of my resolutions that I fulfilled was not to wear shoes this week. I managed it despite the changing weather conditions. I like my feet to breathe rather than be encased in various smothering materials. It probably reaches back to my hippy summer of 1976 when I wandered round shoeless before discovering the woes of smashed beer bottles on the pavement. Sandals it is then.

Of course, I've learned a lot about Marc Bolan this week and heard a lot of T.Rex records and today I invested in more. I got the wonderful 'The T.Rex Wax Co. Singles - A's And B's 1972-1977', a double CD with all the T.Rex singles and 'b' sides, from 'Telegram Sam' to 'Celebrate Summer', Marc's last single (with the slightly ominous 'Ride My Wheels' 'b' side). The box set has all the singles but not always the versions that were released. It's nice having them all in one place and I don't have some of the 'b' sides so this is a good addition to the collection. There are some songs I've never heard before, such as the glorious boogie of 'Satisfaction Pony', 'Space Boss' and 'Chrome Sitar' with their wailing falsetto backing vocals.

I've also heard, courtesy of the Buffy wires, that there's to be a new Buffy Sainte-Marie album released in America on 12 June called 'Vanguard Visionaries'. It seems to be one of a series with the same title by different '60s Vanguard artists so I assume it'll be a new compilation. There's no track listing available yet so I'll wait patiently, but it's a little bit exciting anyway!

I've now got Beverley Knight's new album, 'Music City Soul'. It's very different to her last album, 'Affirmation', but it oozes soul and r&b and sounds like she had great fun making it. It's the work of a woman at the peak of her powers with confidence and talent to spare. If this doesn't make her global I don't know what will. Favourite tracks today are 'Every Time You See Me Smile', 'Black Butta' and 'Tell Me I'm Wrong'. It'll be different tomorrow, I think the whole album is outstanding

Chris, knowing my current fascination with Marc Bolan, let me borrow his Gloria Jones CD which includes the album Marc co-wrote and co-produced for her. I didn't even know it was available on CD.