Sunny Day Tunes

As we have had a surprisingly warm and sunny week in Scotland, I thought I would compile a Friday playlist of tunes for a sunny day. They are in no particular order, it's just a bit of fun.

• The Kinks - Sunny Afternoon One of the best bands of all time and one of their best tunes.
• The Beatles - Good Day Sunshine Paul radiates optimism in this classic from Revolver.
• Janis Joplin - Summertime I doubt that Gershwin envisaged Joplin's interpretation when he wrote this. She sounds as if living is far from easy.
• Bob Marley - Sun Is Shining What better way to enjoy a glorious sunny day than with some reggae and a cold one.
• The Stranglers - Always The Sun They had left their punk roots behind by the time they released this in 1987.
• Kevin McDermott Orchestra - She Comes From The Sun A great Scottish songwriter, he should have been a huge star. This is a song filled with positivity and joy.
• Van Morrison - Warm Love For an old curmudgeon, he has certainly written some beautiful tunes.
• The Ramones - Rockaway Beach It might not have been a very quiet beach but a sunny day with The Ramones would have been interesting.
• The Beach Boys - Good Vibrations You could not have a playlist like this without the Beach Boys. I could have chosen any number of songs but this is my favourite.
• Bill Withers - Lovely Day A great soul voice and a wonderful tune.

Here's to some more sunny days before winter takes hold.

I hope I've inspired you to think about your favourite songs for a glorious day.

The beating heart will never die

We came to Dunfermline from Newcastle and Manchester, Glasgow and around Fife. We came as friends united in our respect and admiration for one man.

The golden leaves were drifting down as part of the annual surrender to winter but the sun shone with summer heat and the sky was a clear, brilliant blue. It was appropriate as we commemorated the glorious summer of Stuart Adamson's life.

The unveiling of the beautiful bench that celebrates the life and work of William Stuart Adamson was a simple ceremony but one of genuine warmth and heartfelt gratitude for all that he meant to us.

Stuart was a man of integrity with a love for his fellow man that many would do well to replicate. He believed in the beauty of the human spirit regardless of how much money a person had or the social class they were born into. All of those qualities were reflected in his music, passionate songs with compassionate lyrics, he was a Scottish poet.

In my life music has been a constant companion. There are artists like Elvis, John Lennon and Jimi Hendrix whose music I particularly connected with. As I detailed in my previous blog, for me, Stuart stands in that category and possibly, as a Scot, even closer to my own life and experience. 

Yesterday we forgot about the troubles of his later life, instead we remembered the real man.

The man who as part of The Skids and Big Country, reached out through his music to touch our hearts. He was the man who wrote lyrics of hope and peace and a belief in social justice. He was a man who loved his nation and sang of its grandeur and its wonderful people. He was a fine Fifer and a great Scot.

Yesterday may not be my last memory of Big Country, but it did ensure that there will be a lasting memory of Stuart Adamson and all that he meant to the people he reached with his music. The beating heart of our memories will never die.

More photos here.

Dreams stay with you

I wondered what I would write about today but it seems that there has been a lot pushing me in this direction for a while.
It was 1983, Margaret Thatcher's dismantling of the industrial life of Scotland was well under way. I had just left school into a bleak jobs market where even 7 'O' Grades and 5 Highers couldn't get me a job. I suffered the embarrassment of walking to sign on every two weeks and after three months it began to depress me.
I searched for answers, I searched a way to lift me a way from my bleak feelings. Music was always a refuge for me but one song changed my attitude. One song which expressed a hope and belief that things could be better.
That song was "In A Big Country" by the Fife-based band, Big Country. The lyrics were powerful and reached into my soul and shook me out of my bleakness.

"So take that look out of here, it doesn't fit you

Because it's happened doesn't mean you've been discarded

Pull up your head off the floor, come up screaming

Cry out for everything you ever might have wanted

I thought that pain and truth were things that really mattered

But you can't stay here with every single hope you had shattered."


It remains a defiant, strident lyric of hope. A lyric that young people need to hear once again as our politicians and business leaders fail miserably to provide the leadership we need.
These are my very personal feelings regarding this song which comes from one of the best and most overlooked albums of the 1980's. If you would like to understand a little bit more about the band, the album and the music you should read this amazing blog by Anis Waizi who has written an analysis more erudite and poetic than I could ever achieve. Flowers In The Desert
On Saturday in Dunfermline, the lead singer, guitarist and soul of Big Country, Stuart Adamson, will be commemorated in his home town. A memorial bench will be unveiled decorated with some of Stuart's lyrics. I only know this because two weeks ago I responded to a tweet which contained a picture of Stuart. From there I was contacted by Gwenda Matthews who was the driving force behind the fund-raising to see this memorial erected. It seems that fate was trying to ensure that I would be there to pay my own small tribute to a man that I never had the chance to thank. I am only sorry that his own words could not light his dark place the way they did for me.
In a Big Country, Dreams stay with you.

The Jack Reacher Series

I've just finished Lee Child's Killing Floor. I had read a couple of the later Jack Reacher novels, so I thought would go back to the start and read the uncompromising hero's first adventure.
My first surprise was that it was written from the first person perspective. The two books I had read previously were both written in the third person and it got me to thinking if I had ever come across that before in a series of novels. I couldn't think of a single instance.
I wondered why Lee had changed the style. I know from my own experience that seeing the story from your protagonist's point of view can restrict what you write. You need to let other characters tell parts of the story rather than let your reader see it first hand. It also places some constraints on the timeline of the story, it tends to unfold in chronological order as the character moves through the book. Did he change due to those restrictions or was it the reaction of his reader's that made him alter the style?
Regardless of the style, Jack is the kind of hero who walks a moral high wire. He is James Bond for the 21st century with a bit of the Littlest Hobo thrown in. He wanders through the towns of America righting wrongs, normally by shooting, strangling, stabbing and blowing things up, before packing his bag and heading off into the sunset.
The 'Killing Floor' is typical of Jack as he destroys a counterfeiting ring, killing every bad guy in sight and freeing the town from the adverse influence of the villain. His actions in this book are motivated by a very personal tragedy and that is maybe the key to the character in his subsequent thrillers.
Like Bond at his best, Jack's investigations are exactly the kind of escapism that results in the male readers wishing they were him and the women wishing they could bed him. Great fun and I will definitely be catching up with the rest of Mr Reacher's adventures.
I'd be interested in hearing from anyone who has seen a change of perspective from one book to another in a series or alternatively what style do you prefer in the Jack Reacher series?

Guest post - Boab the joiner

Today's blog is a little different. Boab the joiner offers his thoughts on the state of the world.

Awright people, ah hope ye're aw hale and hearty.


Ah see there's been another wan o' they rogue traders. Whit is it wi' these guys? Money pouring' oot o' every orifice an' it's still no' enough. Gie them a hammer an' they widnae know whit way tae haud it but they can certainly play the fiddle. 
Whit gets me is they keep daein' it. If you wur a fermer and a fox stole yir chickens, ye think ye wid build a better fence. No these bankers, naw they let the thieves steal even mair money. Ah suppose it's no their cash, so whit dae they care. They'll be roon' wi a beggin' bowl again before long anyway.


Ah see the chancellor's wantin' tae help they poor people that huv tae pay the 50% tax rate. It must be hard fur the poor wee souls tae huv tae decide if they kin afford tae go tae Aspen fur Christmas or slum it in St Moritz. Must be hellish.


Well if he lets me back ah'll mibbee huv mair wisdom fur ye soon.

Boab exists only in my head and the pages of The Reluctant Detective. I hope you enjoy his occasional rants.

Great crime films

Today I thought I would write a short list of crime movies that I love.

• The Godfather Trilogy I know it's a bit of a cheat to have three grouped together but they are really one long film. I had seen the original a long time ago but had avoided the sequel in the naive belief that it couldn't be as good as the first film. How wrong was I? Pacino's finest hour, the second part of the trilogy is my personal favourite. Brando's iconic performance in the first, the classic dialogue that crackles all through the three movies and the set piece violence that defines the story of gangland America make the trilogy one of the finest achievements in the history of cinema. Although many will say that the third is weaker than the first two parts, taken on its own merits, it's still a fine film.
• The Big Sleep Regular readers won't be surprised to see this appear on my list. It's got Bogart and Bacall, it's got a complicated story, Chandler's dialogue and evokes the era so beautifully. The violence and sexual blackmail must have seemed quite shocking when the film was released but will seem tame to modern audiences. I love it.
• Double Indemnity Billy Wilder's classic tale of lust, adultery and pre-meditated murder is one of the best films nominated by the academy not to win an Oscar. The screenplay was adapted by Wilder and Raymond Chandler from a short story by James M. Cain. The 'femme fatale' played by Barbara Stanwyck persuades her lover, Fred MacMurray, to kill her husband to make a claim on an insurance policy. The plan fails thanks to the investigator, Edward G Robinson but the plot was thought to be shocking and one critic even called it the recipe for the perfect murder. One of the very best in the 'Film Noir' genre.
• The Italian Job One of the best British films of the sixties, this tale of a gang of bank robbers is filled with quotable dialogue. It features one of the classic car chases of all time as the very British minis are pursued through the streets of Turin. The film is one of Michael Caine's best in a career packed with great performances. Least said about the dreadful Americanised version from 2003, the better.
• The Ladykillers Another British bank robber caper, The Ladykillers is a different style of crime film. The robbers, including Alec Guinness, Peter Sellers and Herbert Lom, hole up in a boarding house. Mrs Wilberforce, the owner, believes them to be a group of musicians. The gang believe that she has seen too much and decide to kill her. The incompetent criminals only succeed in killing each other leaving their landlady with the proceeds of their crime. A charming movie with a dark edge, it's the kind of film we used to do so brilliantly in Britain. It's another British classic that got a Hollywood reworking in 2004. The Coen brothers directed it, with Tom Hanks in the Guinness role and it is a good movie, even if not quite up to the standard of the original.

I'm sure I have missed some that deserve a place on the list but I'm hoping you'll help me out.

Remembering 9/11

September 11th is my birthday. Obviously it's always been a date I remember, little did I think it would become a date I would remember for a very different reason.
On my birthday ten years ago I attended hospital to be told there was nothing they could do for a post-operative problem. I was feeling less than happy but when I returned to the car, switched on the radio and discovered that the first plane had hit, all my problems were put into perspective.
That evil act changed our world and the effects are still being felt. The 2,977 innocent people who lost their lives in those vile attacks have been joined by hundreds of thousands of others across the world.
I hope that somewhere, somehow we can all find leaders of compassion and tolerance, no matter colour or creed. I wish that understanding and dialogue would replace the bomb and the gun but I won't be holding my breath. Those who preach hate based on their religion, no matter which creed they claim to represent, should maybe read their holy books more closely and find the true message that lies at the heart of every major religion, love.
My thoughts are with those who lost a loved one that day.

Peace be with us all.

Are we British having a laugh?

As we celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the first showing of 'Only Fools and Horses', I wondered what makes you laugh today. Is there a British show launched in the past couple of years that we will look back on with the same degree of fondness as Del Boy and the gang?
Two shows that I have discovered recently are 'Not Going Out' and 'Miranda'. Lee Mack who stars in and writes 'Not Going Out' has spoken about his desire to write an American-style comedy where the jokes come quick fire and not at the end of some elaborate set up. I certainly feel that the American shows have an edgier feel than most of the British output and I can see why Lee would want to follow their lead.
Miranda Hart has gone in another direction, finding her influence in the classic British comedy of yesteryear. In 'Miranda' she wears her comedic heart on her sleeve. She is an admirer of Morecambe & Wise, the Two Ronnies and judging by the end titles, Perry & Croft who penned Dad's Army. She's populated the series with eccentric and engaging characters, laugh out loud gags and ridiculous situations.
So folks what tickles your funny bone? I'd love to know if there's a great new comedy that I've missed.

A question of morality

I won't often write about subjects that have a political aspect to them but today I have to make an exception.
The British government is trying to get a bill passed in parliament that will begin the dismantling of the NHS in this country. The NHS has served the people of the United Kingdom since 1949 and offers universal healthcare to people no matter the size of their bank balance. It's not perfect but nothing is. What is proposed will see private companies running our hospitals and more. Private companies care about one thing, profit. Profit has no place in healthcare.
As many of my readers know I lost my son to meningitis four years ago. In the three days that Calum was in hospital he was attended constantly by a specialist nurse, paediatricians, neurologists and a host of other medical staff. He was hooked up to expensive medical machines and was administered expensive drugs. All of the incredible care he received was not enough to save him. That same level of care had to be given for a full day after we knew that there was nothing more to be done for him as we had agreed to allow his organs to be used for transplant.
I would hate to think what would have happened if we lived with a private healthcare system. Would my family have had a bill dropping through our door immediately after we had buried our son? Would that bill have meant we had to sell our house if we did not have enough insurance to cover it? Would we have had to say no to the transplant of Calum's organs to save money, which would have meant five other people dying as a result? It doesn't bear thinking about.
Is it morally right for people to profit from other people's illness and tragedy? I have to say no and hope that human decency wins out over ideological dogma. The death of a loved one brings enough pain and heartache without private companies adding to it.

Musical accompaniment

I love listening to music almost as much as I love reading. A family member commented on how there is always music playing when they visit our house.

Music accompanies me in every activity I do, well there's one exception but we won't go into that. It is no surprise that my musical taste finds its way into my writing. There is a great tradition of Scottish writers bringing popular music into their work to add texture and atmosphere. Ian Rankin has a page on his website dedicated to the music that appears in his books, Val McDermid thanked the artists she was listening to while writing Beneath The Bleeding and Iain Banks drips in musical references throughout his fiction.

Unlike some of my peers, I don't believe that there has been no good music since 1989. I love to find something different, a new artist who can produce exciting music, good melodies with genuine emotions behind them. Believe me when I say that there is a lot of great music out there and you don't have to settle for the mass produced tripe that Cowell and his cohorts foist upon us.

I thought I would share some of the albums that I have enjoyed so far this year.

I'll start with The Vaccines. The Londoners debut, What Did You Expect From The Vaccines, is full of vitality from the Ramones influenced first track 'Wreckin Bar (Ra Ra Ra). I dare you to listen and not smile.

Next up is Canadian band Rural Alberta Advantage. I first heard them a couple of years ago and their second album, Departing is full of gorgeous melodies. I personally love the singer's voice but it might not be to everyone's taste.

Elbow have followed up 2008's Seldom Seen Kid with the sublime build a rocket boys. I didn't think they would be able to top SSK but the new album is as good if not better.

Noah and The Whale's debut album, Last Night On Earth is filled with great pop tunes delivered in a laconic vocal style that reminds me of They Might Be Giants.

Scottish band Kassidy have produced an album with strong seventies influence. Hope St. is populated with tunes to lift your spirits.

Finally, Jon Fratelli's  solo debut is Psycho Jukebox. Jon, with the rest of The Fratellis, was a hero of my son and was an enormously generous in our fund-raising efforts in the wake of Calum's death. Apart from being a superb human being, he is an accomplished tunesmith with an ability to write new songs that sound like old friends.

I'll write some more about my musical choices in future blogs. If you've found something new that's worth a listen, I'd love to know.