The Wonderful World of Books

As well as collecting 45 rpm records, LP Records, Audio Cassettes, CD’s, Talking Books and Video Tapes & DVD’s I am also a fairly avid collector of books. This is borne out by the fact that at any time there are usually between twenty and thirty books waiting to be read!

Once again all the books are catalogued on my computer, by Title, Category, Type, Author, Publisher, Cost, Date Acquired, Location and ISBN Number. I have tried and better tried to reduce the pile of books waiting to be read, but whenever I enter a bookshop, charity shop or receive material from the book companies below I invariably find a book or books I want to purchase!

So how many books do I possess at the moment? - In the order of 1,200!

As I have previously mentioned, at least once a year I go through all my Records, Audio Cassettes, CD’s, Video Tapes, DVD’s and Books, and take all my “surplus to requirements goods” to a charity shop on the Isle of Arran, so there can be a fair turnover of goods each year! For instance this year I took three large cardboard boxes full of goods to ARCAS (ARran CAncer Support) on the Isle of Arran!

For some years I have ordered books from four different book companies. Each of these companies sells books at well below the current market prices, usually up to and above 50% off! This is because they stock end of print runs, or buy in vast quantities so that they can pass the savings on to their customers. None of these companies have a minimum buy policy, so if I only want to buy only one book a year that is no problem. Each provides a mail order set up and often the books arrive by return of post!

So who are these companies I use?

Selections.com has sections on their website for Books, Garden Products, Film & TV (DVD’s) and Music (CD’s). Their web site gives you the opportunity to search in all categories or in each individual category.

Postscript Books have a search facility and you can narrow your field of search if you can supply title, author, ISBN, Code, Publisher or a keyword. An alternative way of searching is via the categories the books are divided into:

Archaeology, Art, Biography, British Isles, Craft & Hobbies, Eastern Studies, History, Literature, Mind, Body & Spirit, Miscellaneous, Music, Natural History, PPE, Reference, Religion, Science & Maths, Scottish interest, Social Studies, Transport, Travel & Places, and War & Military History.

The Book People (this firm often comes round schools and places of work too) have a quite good selection of children’s books, and the first half of the small catalogues they send out is usually listing Children’s Books, whilst the second half lists adults books. Book Points are awarded against all purchases and these can be redeemed for free books from any of their advertised books.

The selection and range of books is more limited than the previous two companies, but searches can be made on their web site, either by title or under the following categories:

What’s New, Babies and Toddlers, Bestsellers, Children’s Fiction, Children’s Film & TV, Children’s Reference, Children’s Activities, Biographies, Crafts and Hobbies, Fiction, Film & TV, Food & Drink, Sport and Wellbeing, Home & Garden, Reference, Great Gifts, Book Ends, Christmas.

The last company I deal with is Bibliophile. Each month they produce a 40 page broadsheet size paper. Bibliophile contains by far the largest selection of books. On their website you can search by
Art & Architecture, Business, Cartoons, Computers, Children’s, Collectibles, Crime, Christmas Box, Early Learning, Entertainment, Fiction, Food & Drink, Gardening, Great Britain, Handicrafts, Health & Beauty, Historical, Biography, History, Hobbies, Home Entertainment (CD’s, DVD’s Talking Books), How To..., Humour, Last Chance, Literature, Bargain Basement, Miscellany, Modern Biography, Modern History, Music & Dance, Mythology, Nature, New Age & Occult, Pets, Psychology & Sociology, Religion & Philosophy, Science, Sci-Fi, Scottish Interest, Sport, Transport, Travel & Places, War & Militaria, War Memoirs, Words, Wordsworth Classics, Literature, Children's.

Not only does this company have the widest selection, it also has some fantastic savings on books. I recently bought a book which had a full price of £45.00 for £12.00. It also carries a large selection of real low priced bargains in both its Last Chance section and its Bargain Basement. The Last Chance section is usually where there are less than 20 copies of the book left, whilst the Bargain Basement is where the books have been further reduced (probably because of slow sales).

If you are a book lover and enjoy reading, you will certainly find lots of bargains obtainable from the above mentioned companies. If you've not already experienced their books go on line and have a look at what is on offer. Like me, I am sure you will be tempted to buy!

The Past Year - A Retrospetive

The Blog has been a little neglected this week, due to the fact that I have been busy composing my Christmas Newsletter – there are two versions of this. One goes out to former colleagues, and the other goes out to family & friends.

The newsletter usually runs to five or six A4 sheets of paper, and is a sort of look back through the year, with photos.

It is always interesting to re visit events that have happened during the year. So for this blog I aim to do a sort of edited yearly review.

As has been mentioned in a previous blog, life gets pretty hectic in our household over the Christmas period. For what seems like time immemorial there have been the following events to celebrate/participate in:

Early in December (2008) there was an Advent Carol Service to prepare for and play the organ for, and there are usually two or three soloists to run through with too. Running throughout the early part of December there were the usual rehearsals for Nativity Plays and then later the performances at a local Primary School. The Christmas Toddlers Praise Services – there were two of them to cater for the different groups of children who meet on different days. There were rehearsals for my Male Voice choir, and three Christmas concerts to take part in. Last year I was appearing as Santa on the Pennine Boat Trips in Skipton, which entailed three Saturdays and most of the week preceding Christmas. I was also Santa for a local Primary School too! In addition to all the previous I had the usual Church Services – Christingle Service, Nativity Play, Festival of Lessons & Carols, Midnight Mass and Christmas Day Eucharist to rehearse for and play for. There were a couple of weddings around Christmas time too! I also gave talks to four groups on either “Christmas Traditions & Customs” or “A Canter through a Collection of Christmas Carols” My own birthday and that of my wife also falls in December too.

We managed to escape for a three days break at the Kings Head Hotel in Masham. We visited Hawes, Aysgarth, Leyburn, Bedale and Richmond, whilst we were there.

Market Square Masham

Warm and Welcoming at night

The King's Head Hotel Masham

So what of 2009?

For something like thirty five years all the family have visited Harrogate Theatre for their traditional pantomime. On Sunday 11th January we paid our annual visit to see the final performance of the pantomime Cinderella at the theatre. It lived up to expectations, and is a much loved event by all the family.

On March 17th, we went to the opening night of West Side Story at the Leeds Grand Theatre. This was the 50th Anniversary Tour and a superb production. It brought back happy memories, as many years ago I was rehearsal pianist for the first amateur production of West Side Story performed by Keighley Amateur Operatic & Dramatic Society. We were in the centre of row B so could see all that was going on in the orchestra pit, as well as what was on stage. Unfortunately about 15 minutes before the interval an alarm went off and the theatre had to be cleared! It took 10 minutes to get the theatre cleared and then another 10 minutes to get everyone back in their places, for the remainder of the performance.

On Saturday 18th April, all the family spent the weekend in Manchester at a relatives wedding. The wedding took place in Manchester Town Hall, followed by a reception at the Radisson Edwardian Hotel. We made a long weekend of it and stayed from Friday to Sunday, whilst the rest of the family joined us on Saturday.

In June our youngest daughter and her fiancée took a holiday in Jamaica at a place called Runaway Bay. They flew out from Manchester to Sangster International Airport Jamaica, and then drove on to Runaway Bay. They had a wonderful holiday and spent time sunbathing, swimming, snorkelling, etc

An International Festival of Food takes place in Ilkley early in August, and we visited this. Among the countries represented were France, Germany, Italy, Poland, China, Japan, and Mexico. There was an interesting stall selling all kinds of exotic meat – kangaroo, crocodile, ostrich, venison, springbok wild boar. I’m afraid we chickened out (no pun intended) and didn’t try any of the meats on offer!






During the summer holidays, we regularly take the grandchildren up to a stream in Austwick. Ruby (and the grandchildren) delighted in playing in the stream. We usually either stop off at the Naked Man Café in Settle, or have a picnic before we arrive, and finish off with a meal at the Gamecock Inn in Austwick.

Heading for the Naked Man Cafe in Settle

The stream and clapper bridge



The last week in September and the first week in October we took our usual break The first week we stayed at Lamlash on Arran, and the second week at Waren Mill, 2 miles north of Bamburgh in Northumberland. We stayed at the same self catering Cottages we used last year, and were fortunate enough to have twelve and a half days of crisp bright sunshine out of the fourteen days we were away!

Whilst on Arran we visited all the coastal villages (Brodick, Corrie, Sannox, Lochranze, Pirnmill, Machrie, Blackwaterfoot, Kildonan, Whiting Bay and Lamlash) as well as some of the attractions – Brodick Castle and Gardens, Lochranza Castle, Duchess Court Shopping Centre, where we saw Arran cheese being made, and purchased cheese from the factory and perfumes etc from Arran Aromatics, as well as Arran Beer from the Arran Brewery.

The view from our Studio flat of Holy Isle in Lamlash Bay

Duchess Court Shopping Centre




We then moved on to Waren Mill, two miles north of Bamburgh, and from here we visited many of the coastal villages – Seahouses, Embleton, Beadnell, Low Newton by the Sea, Craster, and Warkworth, as well as Holy Island and Berwick upon Tweed. We also met up with a fellow blogger (Judith O’Reilly – Wife in the North, who was the inspiration for me starting this blog) and had a lovely afternoon with her, meeting her family, husband and mother, as well as visiting the Maltings Theatre in Berwick to see a performance of “A Winter’s Tale”, and meeting up with Ferdinand Kingsley (son of Ben Kingsley the film actor) and spending some time chatting with him in the theatre bar after the performance. We also managed a trip to Kelso and Melrose (in the Scottish Borders)

The Ship Inn at Low Newton by the Sea



Judith's book "Wife in the North"










Ferdinand Kingsley in A Winters Tale

Talking Books

Yet another category of recorded sound items I have collected over recent years is that which is termed “Speaking Books.” (Strange, I’ve never yet come across a book that can speak!), but I’m sure you know what it means – stories recorded on to Cassette or CD so that you don’t have to read them. My collection grew rapidly when I purchased (at different times) 3 different vastly reduced collections of talking books on CD. These were a 44 CD collection of Classics, a 26 CD collection of Ronald Dahl children’s stories, and a 35 CD set of James Bond Thrillers.

The vast bulk of my talking books are fiction, with the exception of around twelve recordings which are autobiographies, which is somewhat unusual, as I tend to read lots more none fiction books than fiction!

Looking down the categories listed under talking books you will find:

Mystery, Horror, Crime, Suspense, Classics, Children’s Stories, Autobiography, Ghost Stories, Nature, Poetry.

Among the list of titles I see that quite a number of them have been made into films.

Talking Books which fall into this category include:

The Invisible Man [H G Wells], Dracula [Bram Stoker], The Lost World [Sir Arthur Conan Doyle] , The Silence of the Lambs [Thomas Harris], Psycho [Robert Bloch] , The Thirty Nine Steps [John Buchanan], David Copperfield [Charles Dickens], A Christmas Carol [Charles Dickens] , The Hound of the Baskervilles [Sir Arthur Conan Doyle], Rebecca [Daphne Du Maurier] , The Birds [Daphne Du Maurier] , The Day of the Jackal [Frederick Forsyth] , The Third Man [Graham Greene] , The Hunchback of Notre Dame [Victor Hugo], Ring of Bright Water [Gavin Maxwell], Dr Zhivago [Boris Pasternak], The Phantom of the Opera [Gaston Leroux] On the Beach [ Nevil Shute], Frankenstein [Mary Shelley] , Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde Robert Louis Stevenson] , Billy Liar [Keith Waterhouse] , The Day of the Triffids [John Wyndham] , A Study in Scarlet [Sir Arthur Conan Doyle] , Porterhouse Blue [Tom Sharpe] , Tarka the Otter [Henry Williamson], Oliver Twist [Charles Dickens], Tom Jones [Henry Fielding], War of the Worlds [H G Wells], The Maltese Falcon [Dashiell Hammett, Rob Roy [Sir Walter Scott], Treasure Island [Robert Louis Stevenson], Great Expectations [Charles Dickens], The Big Friendly Giant [Roald Dahl], All the James Bond Stories [Ian Fleming].


Plots of some of my favourite Talking Books:


The Shepherd by Frederick Forsyth

This is a short story which tells of a wartime pilot who becomes disorientated due to fog, but is guided in by another plane to land safely on a runway of what turns out to be an abandoned aerodrome. The guiding pilot had flown from here previously and had been killed…..




The Monkey’s Paw by W W Jacobs


The story involves Mr. and Mrs. White and their grown-up son, Herbert. Sergeant-Major Morris, a friend of the Whites who has been part of the British Armed Forces in India, leaves them with the monkey's paw, telling of its mysterious powers to grant three wishes, and of its journey from an old fakir to his comrade, who uses his third and final wish to wish for death.
Mr. White wishes for 200 pounds. Their son is killed by machinery at his company, and they get compensation of 200 pounds.
Ten days after they bury Herbert, Mrs. White, almost mad with grief, asks her husband to wish Herbert back to life with the paw. He is very reluctant, but does so. After a delay there are knocking sounds on their door. Mrs. White fumbles at the locks in an attempt to open the door. Mr. White knows however, that he cannot allow their son in; as he was mutilated by the accident (Mr. White had been required to witness and identify the body), and had been dead and buried for more than a week. He wishes his third wish; that Herbert be "...dead again, and at peace". The knocking stops. Mrs. White opens the door to find no one there.

The last page of the classic horror story "The Monkey's Paw"

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

A shy ladies' companion, staying in Monte Carlo with her stuffy employer, meets the wealthy Maxim de Winter. She and Max fall in love, marry and return to Manderlay, his large country estate in Cornwall. Max is still troubled by the death of his first wife, Rebecca, in a boating accident the year before. The second Mrs. de Winter clashes with the housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers, and discovers that Rebecca still has a strange hold on everyone at Manderlay.

Early Edition of "The Hound of the Baskervilles"

The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

When Sir Charles Baskerville dies unexpectedly, his nephew and heir Sir Henry returns from South Africa. Dr. Mortimer. the local doctor, is concerned about Sir Henry's safety as he is convinced that Sir Charles was literally frightened to death. He consults Sherlock Holmes and recounts the tale of one Sir Hugo Baskerville who, several generations previously, had been killed by a huge hound and which now is believed by some to be a curse on the family. Holmes agrees to take on the case and it almost immediately becomes apparent that Sir Henry's life is in danger. Holmes doesn't believe in the legend of the Baskervilles or the supposed curse place upon them and sets out to find a more practical solution.

Some Unusual (but much liked) CD's

OK! Let’s move on to CD’s. I possess one thousand and twenty seven music CD’s in my collection at the moment, and these are catalogued on my computer in the same way as my audio cassettes.

One of the reasons I have so many CD’s is that I subscribe to Classic FM Magazine, and each month you are sent a “Free CD” with the magazine. These soon build up into a very good classical music CD library. The CD’s are usually tracks from current releases, and often you find that a particular track is very much to your liking, so you are tempted to purchase the full CD! A very cunning way of exploiting the CD buying public and persuading them to part with their hard earned cash.

Another reason I have so many Classical CD’s is I subscribed to a 48 set CD collection called “In Classical Mood”, which provided a CD in a slip case which was in the form of a small book, which gave lots of information about the pieces on the CD, the composers, and current events at the time the music was written. The music on these CD’s was themed, so for example, titles included “Tranquillity”, “The Magic of Italy”, “Piano Favourites” etc.

I also subscribed to a series of 62 CD’s called “Classic Composers” which took you through the various periods of music - Baroque, Classical, Early Romantic, Late Romantic, and Modern. These CD’s also came in the form of a small book, which gave lots of information about the pieces on the CD, the composers, and current events at the time the music was written. They also gave a good selection of classical music through the ages!

The vast bulk of the CD’s are of classical music, but there are other categories too. For example, you will find:

Barbershop, Ballet, Classical Baroque, Christmas Carols, Christmas Songs, Christmas Music, Organ, Piano Music, Choral – Religious, Vocal, Light Vocal, Male Voice Choir, Scottish, Light Classical (Orchestral & Piano), Classics with a Beat, Synthesisers, Comedy, Country, Folk, Male Vocal, Female Vocal, Groups, Traditional Jazz, Popular Instrumental/Vocal, Film Music, Soundtracks, and Brass Bands.

I have always delighted in tracking down musical curiosities and oddities, so for example you will find a selection of CD’s with the music of Leroy Anderson on them. I’m sure you will have heard of his piece “The Typewriter”, which uses a typewriter as a percussion instrument.

The Jacques Loussier trio became well known for their interpretations of the music of J S Bach, (Remember the Hamlet Cigar Advert music?) whilst the Swingle Singers performed scat versions of music by Bach, Mozart and many other classical composers.

Mannheim Steamroller (yes they really are called that!) is a synthesiser group who originally specialised in arrangements of Christmas songs and carols before branching out into the wider fields of classical music. Mannheim Steamroller actually began as an alias for record producer/composer Chip Davis. Before the fame of Steamroller, Davis had been best known for creating the country music character “C.W. McCall” (of “Convoy” fame) for his friend Bill Fries. And even before Davis “made” McCall a star, he produced an unusual album of classical music performed entirely by Davis and musical collaborator Jackson Berkey, using electric bass and synthesizers. Since no major label would handle its distribution, Davis founded his own music label, American Gramaphone (a play on the classical record label Deutsche Grammophon), to release the album. The result, Fresh Aire, was released in 1975 under the pseudonym Mannheim Steamroller, in the hopes of the album being a best seller. Fresh Aire II was subsequently released in 1977 and Fresh Aire III was released in 1979.Mannheim Steamroller quickly grew into a full band, with Davis on drums, Berkey on keyboards, and Eric Hansen on bass and lute. Berkey’s wife Almeda joined them onstage as another keyboardist. The London Symphony Orchestra appears on Fresh Aire V, Fresh Aire VI, and Fresh Aire 8.Later, Davis collaborated with guitarist/composer Mason Williams for a remake of the 1968 instrumental “Classical Gas”, which used the original arrangement.

Chip Davis - of Mannheim Steamroller

Isao Tomita is a Japanese musician and another synthesiser performer who plays classical music.

Claude Bolling is a Jazz musician who often plays with well known classical musicians. He has written music for (and performed with) Yo Yo Ma [cello], Jean-Pierre Rampal [flute], and Maurice Andre [trumpet].

One of my favourite folk singers is the Scottish born, Australian based Eric Bogle (Yes it really is his real surname!). I first discovered his music via a song of his on an LP of Mike Harding’s (the Lancashire Comedian and Folk Singer), and then some years later whilst we were on holiday on the Isle of Arran I purchased a cassette of his songs. Even much later when we were touring the West Coast of Scotland I came across a shop in Ullapool, where the proprietor was an Eric Bogle fan and stocked all his English releases. Needless to say I made quite a few purchases at the shop!!!!

Eric Bogle

If you like your music to be entertaining and tuneful, you can do no better than purchase a CD of Leroy Anderson's music. His music is light, bright and tuneful.

Should you feel that the original classical music is a bit heavy for your taste , try the likes of Jacques Loussier, Mannheim Stemaroller or Isao Tomita.

For tuneful Jazz, cleverly composed and performed you can do no better than the Claude Bolling Trio.

Folk songs which are full of meaning are the trademark of Eric Bogle. He doesn't shy away from some of the more "Difficult" subjects. He does have an excellent sense of melody, and some very poignant lyrics.

Do try to hear some of his songs - I assure you that you will not be disappointed.

Happy Listening!

Some Favourite Cassettes

Having had a very brief look through a few of the LP’s I have, I now turn my attention to the audio cassettes. It’s amazing, over the years just how many I have collected.

To date there are 891 cassettes listed on my catalogue. Over the years I know that I have disposed of over 200 cassettes that I have got tired of, so at some point in time I had over 1,000 cassettes. To be able to track down a particular cassette, or even a particular song or piece of music, I have these catalogued on my computer.

The cassettes are catalogued under Title, Category, Location, Featured Artist, Playing Time, Composer, Label, and individual track titles. Usually well within a minute I can track down any particular song or piece of music and exactly where the cassette is located.

I remember when I first got a computer, the man who built it for me asked me what I would be using it for, and one of the things I said was to catalogue all my LP’s, Cassettes, CD’s DVD’s, and Video Tapes. He offered me a piece of advice, which was, the more detail you log on to your catalogue, the easier it for you to find what you are looking for.

Initially I found logging all these details something of a bind, but his advice has paid off a thousand times over! Just imagine if I was trying to locate a certain song, and had 891 individual cassettes to search through manually…………

I have applied the same detailed technique when logging on a video film or DVD film. These are listed under Title, Category, Sub Category, Year Released, Rating, Halliwell Star Rating, DVD Number, Programme Length, Comments, Star 1, Star 2, Star 3, Star 4, Producer, Director, Screenplay by, and Music by. Once again, in less than a minute I can find a DVD or Video Tape, and at present I have 1,079 films on either VHS Tape or DVD!

But back to the Audio Cassettes-

Looking down the categories I see that I have Film Soundtrack, Musical, Rock Classics, Traditional Jazz, Light Instrumental Solo Instruments, Light Instrumental Orchestral, Barbershop, Male Voice Choir, Kings Singers, Moog Synthesiser, Classics with a Beat, Country, Folk, Female Vocal, Male Vocal, Group, Scottish, Religious – Sacred, Classical Choral, Christmas Carols, Classical (Individual Artists), Classical, Baroque, Brass Band, Northumberland, Comedy, Organ, Opera, and Ballet.

You’ll see from the above categories that I have quite a wide taste in music, so let’s take a more detailed look at just a few of my favourites:

Under Traditional Jazz my favourites are:

Kenny Ball, (Midnight in Moscow, Hello Dolly, When the Saints go Marching In, So Do I, Acapulco 1922, Sukiyaki and Rondo),

Chris Barber (Petite Fleur, Bill Bailey Won’t you Please come Home)

Acker Bilk (South Rampart Street Parade, What a Wonderful World

Light Instrumental: James Last (American Patrol, Tico Tico, La Paloma, Delicado, Cherry Pink & Apple Blossom, La Bamba, Mexican at Dance)

Bert Kaempfert (Red Roses for a Blue Lady, Three o’Clock in the Morning, A Swingin’ Safari, Danke Schoen)

Bert Kaempfert




Religious – Scared
John Rutter (Gloria, A Gaelic Blessing, The Lord Bless You and Keep You)

John Rutter

'Tis the Season to be Jolly........

Being a musician, and involved with choral singing at church, with a male voice choir, and in a Junior school, is a little bit like being a shopkeeper or window dresser. One has to be at least a season ahead of the present time!

So it should come as no surprise to readers of this blog, that I have already started rehearsing the Christmas Carols and Christmas Music.
From a church point of view, I have an Advent Carol Service, two Christmas Toddlers Praise Services, a Christingle Service, a Nativity Play, Carol Singing (at the local hotel), a Festival of Lessons and Carols, a Midnight Mass, and a Christmas Day Eucharist Service to play for.

In addition I usually find myself rehearsing the Christmas music/songs/ Carols at the Primary School I play the piano for.

If I don’t get my act together I would find that by the beginning of the third week in December life would be chaotic, carols would have not been rehearsed, and time would be rapidly running out.

I have a broad and varied selection of carols and Christmas songs to rehearse. There are the usual traditional Christmas Carols one expects to find at a Festival of Lessons and Carols – Once in Royal David’s City, O Little Town of Bethlehem, Away in a Manger, While Shepherds Watched, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, O Come all ye Faithful etc, My Male Voice Choir are working on Love Came Down at Christmas, Christmas Bells [a three part round], Let There be Peace on Earth, Mary Had a Baby, De Virgin Mary, The Star Carol, Son of the Virgin, Still, Still, Still, Little Drummer Boy and Joy to the World [a fantastic arrangement by Alan Simmons incorporating music from about eight different classical pieces, including Handel’s Halleujah Chorus, Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, Strauss’ Radetsky March and Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony!] whilst for the school children there is a completely different mix of Christmas music and songs,


I also give talks in a series I call “My Kind of Music” and have two Christmas programmes, one on the traditional carols but performed in a different style or manner – it might be handbells playing a carol, or a brass band, or a swing group like The Swingle Singers. My other talk takes in music tied in with the Christmas Customs and Traditions – so there is music about Holly, Ivy, Mistletoe, Christmas Trees, Santa Claus, snow etc.

Usually before the end of the Christmas Holidays I am heartily sick of the sound of Carols, but it never fails to surprise me how fresh and new they sound when I start rehearsing them.

A Nostaligic Look at an LP, and My Claim to Fame

Yesterday I was taking a look through the LP Collection I have, and to my great delight, I discovered that I still possess the very first classical LP I bought. (In a previous blog I mentioned this LP and thought that I no longer had it!)

So what does it contain, you may well ask.

It is a recording of the Tchaikovsky 1812 Overture on one side and Smetana’s Vltava - from Ma Vlast on the other side. It is recorded on a 10” Fontana Label LP. The Orchestra playing are the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and the conductor is Karel Ancerl.

Karel Ancerl

The 1812 Overture was recorded at Musikverein Grosser Saal, Vienna, in Dec 1958, and Vltava was recorded at the same location between 08 – 10 February 1958. Just to add to the nostalgia, the recording is glorious single dimension Monophonic!

Most of my classical music collection has now moved over, firstly on to audio cassette, and finally on to CD, but I still have a few treasured recordings on LP.

Wrose Junior School Choir Conducted by Denise Warren, Accompanist Malcolm Bentley

On a more personal note, I made a recording with the choir of Wrose Junior School on the occasion before the school became a First School under the (then) new three tier system of Education in Bradford. The Deputy Head of the School at the time (who was the lady who conducted the Baildon Ladies Choir at the joint concert my Male Voice choir performed with) conducted on the recording, and I was the accompanist.

I recall that I recorded all the items we performed on my own professional Phillips N4408 Open Reel Recorder (which now lies forlorn and neglected in the loft) and a company called X-L Sound Recordings produced the LP’s, which were sold to the parents and friends of the children who had taken part.

Some years ago I was browsing through a second hand record stall in Shipley Market and I came across one of the LP’s. As I hadn’t purchased an LP when they were first produced (because I had the original master recordings on open reel tape) I bought the LP!

Some of the tracks on the LP are: Steal Away, Eriskay Love Lilt, Non Nobis Domine, Brahm’s Lullaby, Goin’ Home [Slow Movement theme from the Dvorak New World Symphony] and With Catlike Tread [from the Pirates of Penzance].

I wonder how many 10 year olds would be capable of singing these today.

The record label for Stainer's Crucifixion performed by the choir of Christ Church Windhill Organist Mr G E S Bentley, Conductor Mr M S Bentley

I also made a recording with the Choir of Christ Church Windhill, Shipley, when I used to be the organist and choirmaster there in the late 1960’s. This was of Sir John Stainer’s oratorio The Crucifixion. The soloists were from within the choir, and my late father played the organ.

Nostalgia from the 45's!

About three blogs back I started discussing my collection of 45’s and LP’s under the title 45’s, LP’s and Record Players. I mentioned the development of records from breakable shellac material to the new 7” 45’s and commented on one of my teenage “heroes” – Lonnie Donegan.

So I thought I’d continue and take a nostalgic trip through some of the 45’s and LP’s.

I wonder how many of you can recall the Tornadoes (their hit was Telstar – I think it got this title because somewhere around this time the Americans had launched a satellite into orbit, and named it Telstar.)






How about Dawn [featuring Tony Orlando] (their hit – Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree),

or the Australian group The Seekers (Morningtown Ride, A World of our own, I Know I’ll Never Find Another You etc)

More recently, do you remember Bonnie Tyler – the Welsh Lassie with a gravel voice and her hit Total Eclipse of the Heart.

What about Joe Brown & the Bruvvers (That’s What Love will Do)

or Billy J Kramer and the Dakotas (Little Children),

Wink Martindale (Deck of Cards),

Ricky Nelson (Hello Marylou, Goodbye Heart),

Cliff Richard (Bachelor Boy – from the film Summer Holiday),

Rod Stewart (Sailing),

Ralph McTell (Streets of London)

or B Bumble & the Stingers (Nut Rocker – very loosely based on the Overture from the Nutcracker Suite!)

I could go on, but that’s more than enough nostalgia for one day!!!

Christmas is Coming.....

It’s only 53 days to Christmas!

I don’t know about you, but the period leading up to Christmas has always been a bit chaotic in our household. You see there are the usual Christmas celebrations, all the Christmas Services I have to play for at church, (an Advent Carol Service on December 5th, a Christingle Service, a Nativity Play, Two Toddlers Praise Christmas Services, Carol Singing at the local hotel, and a Festival of Lessons and Carols plus a Midnight Service on December 24th, followed by a Christmas Eucharist on the morning of December 25th) and two birthdays to celebrate as well – mine on December 22nd and my wife’s on December 31st.

Add to this the fact that five years ago I got asked to be the Santa on the local Pennine Boat Trips, which usually entails three Saturdays before Christmas, and often weekdays as well, and I often get a last minute request to play the jolly white bearded and red coated gentleman at one or other of the Nursery classes in our local Primary Schools. Reluctantly because of all the extra commitments (see below) I have had to hand in my whiskers red coat this year!

Just for fun throw in a Male Voice Choir Practice on a Monday evening, two singing sessions with the children in a local Primary School during the day on Tuesdays, a full day at a Tourist Information Centre on a Wednesday, and a Church choir practice on a Thursday, and I am sure you will appreciate that my timetable is beginning to get a little full!

This year, in addition to all this I find that I have three weddings booked to play for in December (11th, 22nd and 28th) and three talks to give on Dec 2nd, 7th and 10th, and three Christmas concerts with my Male Voice choir on Saturday 5th, 12th and Monday 14th.

I have already decided what I want for Christmas – an early Christmas present of 36 hours a day!!!

Teaching Colleagues from the Past

It was a bit like a trip down Memory Lane yesterday. Let me explain….

For some while I had had a concert arranged with my Male Voice Choir. We had been invited to do a combined concert with a local Ladies Choir. The conductor of the Ladies Choir used to be the Deputy Head Teacher at the third school I taught in, and I hadn’t seen her for about thirty years.

We arrived at the concert, and during the interval I was greeted by another colleague from the Middle School I was Head of Music at.

At the end of the concert, the accompanist of the ladies choir came across and introduced herself to me. She had been the music teacher at an adjoining Middle School to the school I last taught in!

A little while later one of the staff from my last school introduced herself to me too!