hello, I hope you are well. It's all a bit mental here, I've been up since 5am watching the referendum dramatically unfold and trying to understand what the future now holds. I've no idea what this means for Britain, I don't think anyone does and that worries me. I thought about not sending this weekly mailing out as people have a lot more to think about today, but then the £ fell to its lowest since 1985, which makes the #50pFriday now even cheaper if you are abroad. Also I get lots of emails saying this email is often the most cheerful thing they get at work on a Friday so I shall carry on.
So, if you fancy a little escapism may I suggest following the link to the #50pFriday page, as today is the final part of our Eastern adventure - and I've found a bizarro LP called Orienta by The Markko Polo Players. Musically it's like winning a gameshow trip to the middle East and Far East all at the same time - with whirling dervishes and mentions of Scheherazade rubbing shoulders with rickshaws and Rangoon. I also remembered Eastern Sounds, the classic, reflective and oddly moving album by Yusef Lateef (a #50p Friday classic and perfect for many people's mood today), and both can be found right here, along with a massive pile of other 50p treets to wallow in.
As usual I headed to Spitalfield yesterday and unusually bumped into Alan. Alan collects LPs and we got talking about jazz and Dudley Moore and swinging 60s stuff. Later in the day Alan sent me a great email all about the GPO Tower and an amazing film he'd found about it. Made by the GPO to explain the tower and its purpose and shown at cinemas, it can be seen right here and features a wack load of killer 60s electronic library by John Baker etc, as well as loads of old cars, old fashion, odd hair, funny talking and scenes that make my bum go all funny. A great trip to elsewhere for 30 minutes.
While remaining on the subject of Dudley (as usual) don't forget, you can get your copies of 1) Bedazzled and the all new 2) Britxotica Goes East LPs right now, and my apologies to anyone who ordered last week and are wondering where their copies might be. Well please blame a very large van that got lost in Europe and then got found again.
I am now off to an archive that's closing, the spoils of which will possibly be up for grabs next week. There are old LPs and CDs and stuff. I will also be doing something with the GPO Tower drawings but not sure what yet. Possibly eating them.
One final word, does anyone out there know lots about the British CB Radio scene circa 1980? If so, please send me an email.
Thanks, as always, for listening
Jonny