Christmas Number One Rankings: ’10s

Singing competitions' reign at the top was over, and they'd only get three of the top tens here. The others were a mix of novelty songs, charity records and a few straightforward pop singles. So, kinda like it was in the '80s. #10. I Love Sausage Rolls- LadBaby ('19) #9. We Built This City- LadBaby …

Christmas Number One Rankings: ’00s

The '00s was the era of the singing competition Christmas number one, and half of the list is made up of these (four X Factor winners and one Popstars: The Rivals). The other half is a total mixed bag. #10. When You Believe- Leon Jackson ('07) The X Factor format was locked in at this …

Christmas Number One Rankings: ’90s

The nineties Christmas number ones are a real mixed bag. #10. Mr. Blobby- Mr. Blobby ('93) A godawful novelty song by the inexplicably popular and utterly terrifying Mr Blobby. It's irritatingly catchy (and ripped off in Lily Allen's "Alfie"), mindless crap. And every year leaves it more of a mystery as to why "Blobbymania" ran …

Christmas Number One Rankings: ’80s

Figured I'd do a few blogs where I rank all the Christmas number ones for every decade from the '80s until now. The eighties are a mix of random pop songs and deliberately "Christmassy" tracks. The quality varies greatly so let's get to it. #10: There's No One Quite Like Grandma- St Winifred's School Choir …

Film Review: Bohemian Rhapsody

By the end of this film I had tears streaming down my cheeks, and when the climactic sequence, a recreation of Queen's iconic Live Aid performance, ended I almost joined in with the onscreen applause. Basically, I loved this movie, as did WoM, who also got pretty emotional during the viewing, but as she cries …

Book Review: What Does This Button Do? By Bruce Dickinson

Iron Maiden frontman and Bruce Dickinson, would be an interesting bloke based purely on his rock god status. But this book reveals a man for whom music is just one of many interests. These include flying, machines, history and fencing. All of these side interests add depth to a man who could just have stuck …

Book Review: Riff-Raff, Rebels and Rock Gods by Garry Bushell

I knew of Garry Bushell before as a slightly laddish TV critic, but with this book covering his time as a rock journalist during the late 70s and early 80s I decided to check it out as it featured some bands I like. I also like tales of old time rock and roll stars who …

Gig Review: Iron Maiden at the Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff

You know you're going to get one hell of a show when Maiden are in town, and they did not disappoint last night. After a short video intro, Bruce Dickinson appeared, hunched over a smoking cauldron, a hooded robe around him. The showmanship, almost panto-like in it's playfulness at times adds to it but driving …

One Man’s Treasure

I worked in a pawn shop for a couple of months. It was grim. My boss was an utter wanker, the days were long and tedious, and there was a constant stream of depressed looking "customers". The boss would buy stuff off people who were in desperate need of some cash, and if they didn't …

Disney Classics #3: Fantasia

As MWF and I sat down to watch this the other day my heart sunk. I remembered it opening with the orchestra arriving, but not that there was so much talking. The dry intro from Deems Taylor is a bit dull and I was worried I'd mentally edited the film as I remembered loving the …