“We’re going where the sun shines brightlyWe’re going where the sea is blue” So sung Cliff Richard in the film “Summer Holiday” as he drove his No.9 London bus from London to the South of France via Dover and Paris. With the lifting of restrictions on non-essential travel to certain overseas destinations we can all …
Author Archives: M&M
Perth is a culture shock
Maybe not so much today, but back in the 1970s it might have felt that way. Along with Honolulu, Perth is one of the remotest cities in the world. “Perth is a culture shock” by the Perth based “The Victims” who were a punk band active from 1977 to 1979. The actual track was not …
Where are we now?
This week we are in Berlin. In 2013 having not released any new material for 10 years David Bowie released his 24th album “The Next Day” on his 66th birthday. The first single to be released from that album was “Where are we now?” and reached no 6 in the UK charts and no 2 …
What’s new, Buenos Aires?!
So goes the first line of the “Buenos Aires” from the musical “Evita” by Andrew Lloyd-Webber and and Tim Rice. Buenos Aires can be literally translated as “fair winds” or “good airs”, but it is the former that gave this alternative long haul winter destination it’s name. Being in the southern hemisphere their summer is …
Oh Vienna
Voted the most popular song to peak at Number 2 in the charts. Vienna by Ultravox takes us of to the historic city of the same name. Written by Midge Ure about a brief love affair in this is often forgotten romantic city. Initially drawn to Vienna by the “Best Ever British Film” The Third …
I’m going to Barbados
“Welcoming you aboard Coconut Airways Flight three-seven-two to Bridgetown, Barbados”. The song “Barbados” topped the charts in August 1975. Written by two Welsh engineers who had not been bus drivers and not lived in Brixton. If fact the inspiration came from a recent trip to Jamaica by one of the band’s members. This small Caribbean …
Love in Hong Kong
No lyrics to this musical track by Bei Bei and Shawn Lee but the haunting sound of the beautiful 21 stringed guzheng draws you to the east. The video was filmed in London where American Guitarist Shawn Lee now lives, in Los Angeles where we can see Bei Bei playing the guzheng and finally in …
“I’m going to Graceland, Graceland
Memphis, Tennessee. I’m going to Graceland“. The lyrics of the song by Paul Simon are based on his own road trip to the Graceland mansion, the home of Elvis. Simon himself drove from Louisiana to Memphis, Tennessee along Route 61 to help him deal with the heartbreak after the collapse of his marriage to the …
Sometimes
“Sometimes” is the last track from the excellent BBC series “Normal People” based on the book by Sally Rooney is a reminder that we don’t always have to travel halfway round the world to have a wonderful short break or a super holiday. Sometimes we don’t have far to go. Just a short flight or …
Viva Las Vegas
And how I wish that there were moreThan twenty-four hours in the day.But even if there were forty more,I wouldn’t sleep a minute away.Oh, there’s blackjack and poker and a roulette wheel.A fortune won and lost on every deal.All you need’s a strong heart and a nerve of steel. “Viva Las Vegas” was the title …