I certainly wouldn't argue with that. Based on Bach, it's a piece of music that Is dear to my heart from my time at grammar school where our wonderful music teacher Bernard Burrell once asked why the singer sang with an American accent. I don't think Gary Brooker did that intentionally as he came from Hackney.
But how did we come to have the song at our wedding? Well we wanted something slightly different as our exit music and I loved the track. I also had the sheet music which we passed onto the guy who was playing the organ. We did this a week in advance so he could practice it.
He had never heard the song and obviously didn't listen to it as what he played was unrecognisable and I never got the sheet music back.
Does anyone remember Noel Edmonds' Sunday morning radio shows on Radio One - one of my favourite shows of all time?
He had a segment where people had to write in with famous song titles twisted up and weave a story around them.
I remember someone told the story of Local Hereem and the Lighter Spade of Shale. Another was about a US president's laziness and wish to show everyone how to play golf. This one was Idle Ike To teach the World to swing which was obviously based on the New Seekers Song "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing." The US president was obviously Eisenhower. Those kind of word plays always fascinated me and I remember them so vividly decades on.
Which takes me nicely to the talk I attended on Thursday at Wymondham Central Hall which was on the subject of old copies of the Radio Times.
John Osborne painted a lovely picture of his time with his dear grandfather who lived in Stockton on Tees. When he died the grandfather left numerous copies of the Radio Times. John travelled north from his home in Norwich and became fascinated by the hoard of magazines from the 1980s onwards. His grandfather had ringed the programmes he intended watching.
John took us through his close relationship he had with his grandfather, along with a host of memories from the magazines.
Unfortunately the programmes he mentioned weren't from the dim and distant past. I would have loved a similar talk about the 1950s and 1960s the pioneering years of television. Nevertheless it was an entertaining hour and John never looked back in anger once ( that's a reference for the stage and drama fans amongst us - or perhaps the Oasis fans).
Still on the subject of history, I must give a mention to a new project being put together in Hethersett by Colin Wilson who lives just around the corner from me.
Colin is a hugely talented artist whose work is on annual display in quite an unusual way. For Colin is one of a team of three that produces the wonderful and very colourful backdrops for the village pantomime which has just finished it's 2024 run and which I may have mentioned once or twice.
Colin got together years ago with Duncan Pigg to produce a presentation and slide show on old Hethersett. They did this to raise funds for the parish church and the village youth club.
Duncan died a few years ago but Colin has found a way of making the presentations available to a new audience by launching a podcast on YouTube Tube. I'm not quite sure whether podcast is the correct term as this is a slide presentation with Colin's commentary. Aren't these called vlogs or something like that as in video blogs?
The first one is up and running. To find it just put into a Google search and it will appear. I believe Colin is planning on a series of six that last around 12 minutes each.
I will be seeking Colin out to do an article for my coming publications.
I was messing around with You Tube stuff and came across an intriguing site called The Time Traveller. This guy has put together videos of British cities through time. It's difficult to explain. A modern photograph of a specific place such as Norwich Castle metamorphosis into a photograph from 50 years ago or a drawing from 200 years ago. Check it out as there's probably one of a city near where you live. There's something intriguing about every place and sometimes you don't have to search too hard to find it.
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Now I know I'm officially an OF (old fart). I know this because I've started to talk to people about the weather.
Those who know me will know the two subjects I don't want to be engaged in are illness and the weather. Talking about illness is such a negative thing to discuss and talking about the weather is such a dull subject.
Yesterday was a strange day weather-wise.
One minute it was warm and the sun was out. The next it clouded up, the wind took off and it turned cold.
Hang on just a cotton picking minute. I'm not only talking about the weather, now I'm writing about it.
And a morning visit to the gym underlined it when the manager said:
"At least the weather has picked up."
"Yeah but it's just clouded over and the wind has got up, " I replied.
His look said it all. I could read his thoughts: "Silly old fool. Just mentioned the weather and he went off on one."
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There has been plenty of discussion over my top 20 favourite artists of all time, not the least of which has been with my correspondent Tommy Titt who pointed out quite forcibly that my top 20 actually had 21 artists. I tried to explain that there were two tied for 20th place, but he was having none of it and I believe used the word cop out. Then on a walk I suddenly thought "I've omitted the Divine Comedy, Al Stewart and Focus."
Where will this all end I ask myself?
"Probably with a top 50," came a subconscious answer.