Over bridge of sighs/To rest my eyes in shades of green

So, synchronicity what’s that all about then? In my last blog entry I told you all about my exciting outing to HMV where I randomly (no such thing) picked up the Small Faces’ Ultimate Collection. Then yesterday my copy of Classic Rock magazine vomitted through the letterbox and who was in the RIP section, Don Arden! Don (born Harry Levy, 4 January 1926, Manchester, England - died 21 July 2007, Los Angeles) was the Small Faces first manager, also known for overseeing the careers of Electric Light Orchestra and Black Sabbath, and being the father of Sharon Osbourne. Spooky!

Hope you got your things together/Hope you are quite prepared to die.

Yes, yes, my ears are burning; I know that I haven’t been blogging. It’s the silly season you see, everyone is on holiday. Hazzard County weren’t playing at the Mucky Duck last weekend and the other York venues looked a bit short on talent. Still I can natter on about stuff if you’re interested...

On Saturday I plundered the HMV 2 for £10 Sale and rescued a couple of CDs worth mentioning. Real blasts from the past these were. The Small Faces Ultimate Collection is a double CD with 25 tracks on each, that’s 50 tracks in total and a massive chunk of late sixties, early seventies nostalgia, absolutely brilliant. Even better than that is Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Chronicle. 20 tracks including a few covers: I Put A Spell On You, Bad Moon Rising, Down On The Corner, Travelin' Band, Up Around The Bend, I Heard It Through The Grapevine, etc. Basically a tenner well spent.

Whilst browsing in Waterstoats I stumbled across Peter Robinson’s seventeenth, and latest, crime thriller in the Inspector Banks series, Friend of the Devil. OK it was in hardback but it was half price, so the same price as it will be in paperback. Quite why Inspector Banks has never been made into a TV series is beyond me. The story lines are up there with Morse and Lewis. The Banks stories are set in a fictitious town in North Yorkshire with plenty of music and Yorkshire references, especially York and Leeds. I think that’s why I like them so much. Robinson is only five years older than me so we have pretty much the same taste in music. I’m so sad that I have the whole series at home. Throughly recommended. I’m not on commission you know!