Friday 25 December 2009

Merry Christmas!


Warmest wishes to anyone who takes a glance at this blog on this special day!

The answer to yesterday’s quiz question was indeed Ian Brown, formerly of the Stone Roses. It was through getting to know Ian that I decided to feature the Stone Roses’ 'I Wanna Be Adored' in the eighth and most recent Harry Devlin mystery, Waterloo Sunset, at a moment when Harry is rescued from a very tight spot.

Waterloo Sunset takes its name, of course, from a wonderful song by Ray Davies, who also first made his name as part of a group – the Kinks – but is now widely acknowledged as one of the finest of all British songwriters. There was a very good programme about him in the excellent ‘Songbook’ series on Christmas Eve, which featured the great man talking about the composition of ‘Waterloo Sunset’, as well as performing it splendidly in the studio. If you like Sixties music and you get the chance to see this programme, I can recommend it unreservedly. The insight Ray Davies gives into his craft is, despite his self-deprecating manner, utterly fascinating.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for that interesting information, Martin! I've always liked Ray Davies, actually, so it was interesting to raed this background about him : ). Hope you are enjoying the holiday.

Elizabeth Spann Craig said...

Merry Christmas to you!

It'll be Christmas here in a few hours. Thanks for the well-wishes! And for the quiz answer! He sounds like an interesting neighbor to have.

All the best for a merry Christmas...

Elizabeth

pattinase (abbott) said...

Merry Christmas, Martin!

David Cranmer said...

Merry Christmas!

Mary or Eric said...

Merry Christmas.

It's always interesting to read about Ray Davies' doings. My all-time favorite songwriter/performer and he's still adding to his great body of work.

Dorte H said...

Merry Christmas to you, and thank you for sharing your seasonal pictures :D

After having grumbled for days, our daughter finally got some of the snow she coveted so much so the countryside here is also cold, white and very pretty.

Martin Edwards said...

Warmest greetings to all of you from chilly Lymm!