A great band that I still enjoy today....

I have always enjoyed listening to the music of Gillan, a band which was formed by Deep Purple vocalist Ian Gillan in the late 1970's.  Comprising of Ian Gillan (vocals), Bernie Torme (guitar), Colin Towns (keyboards), John McCoy (bass guitar) and Mick Underwood (drums) the band enjoyed a great deal of commercial success between 1979 and 1983 with their "Mr Universe", "Glory Road", "Future Shock", "Double Trouble" and "Magic" albums.  However despite this success the band were dogged with legal wranglings over money which ultimately caused their demise.  I love their music and whilst the late radio DJ John Peel once described their live set as "efficiency and hokum" I have been a big fan since I first heard the track "Bite the Bullet" from  their  "Future Shock" album.  Towards the end of the band's life Bernie Torme left the band to be replaced by White Spirit's guitarist Janick Gers, who has been a key member of Iron Maiden since 1990.

The remaining surviving members have gone on to a number of different musical projects.  Ian Gillan returned to a reformed Deep Purple in 1984 and with the exception of a short spell away from the band between 1989 and 1992 he still fronts the band to this day.  Bernie Torme and John McCoy reunited to form the raucous and excellent GMT with Robin Guy and Colin Towns has branched out to classical/film composition.  One of his most recognisable compositions is the theme tune to ITV's long running hit series "Doc Martin" featuring Martin Clunes.   Mick Underwood now plays for local bands in and around the Twickenham/Richmond area after leaving his previous band Raw Glory. 

Today's video clip is taken from the DVD "Rock Goes to College" which features a performance by Gillan in 1981 at the former Oxford Polytechnic.  The track is "No Easy Way" a track that GMT still perform to this day.  I hope you enjoy their unique band of heavy rock and musical mayhem:-

The most tragic band of all time?

A few years ago I bought a bargain CD for £2.99 called "The Best of Badfinger".  I was really excited as I thought it was going to feature the classic recordings of the band.  Sadly it was re-recorded versions of their hits by former guitarist Joey Molland.  They were the first band signed to Apple (The Beatles recording label) and enjoyed commercial success with songs such as "No Matter What", "Day After Day" and the Paul McCartney penned "Come And Get It". 

The band formed out of the ashes of the Swansea based band "The Iveys" and the classic 1970's line up consisted of Peter Ham (Vocals/Guitar/Piano), Tommy Evans (Bass Guitar), Mike Gibbons (Drums) and Joey Molland (Guitar).  However they made a decision that proved fatal in more ways than one when they appointed American Stan Polley as their business manager.  Due to his "business dealings" the band often worked hard with little to show for their efforts.  Financially the band were effectively working for nothing and were left penniless.  The despair became too much for singer Peter Ham who took his life in 1975 and left a suicide note cursing Polley.  The band carried on until the early 1980's before disbanding.  Bassist Tommy Evans who had seen his friend Ham's body on the day he died remained troubled by this and felt he couldn't carry on in life without him.  Following an argument over the band's future direction with guitarist Joey Molland, Tommy Evans also took his own life in 1983.  The unnecessary deaths of Peter Ham and Tommy Evans highlight the tragedy of a band who could have had it all, but who ended up with very little.  It is a shame that the right people didn't get around Ham or Evans to stop them from ending their lives. 

I have included the below link to the track "No Matter What" to celebrate the band's legacy and to reflect on their immense musical talent:-

A short lived band, but a good one nonetheless...

When Deep Purple Mark IV imploded after a disasterous gig in Liverpool during 1976 each of the surviving members endured contrasting fortunes.  Singer David Coverdale went on to form Whitesnake who continue to enjoy worldwide success to this day.  Bassist Glenn Hughes recovered from years of drug addiction to overcome his habit and is now fronting one of my favourite current bands Black Country Communion.  Tragically guitarist Tommy Bolin succumbed to his heroin addiction and died on December 4th 1976. 

The two remaining members of Deep Purple, keyboardist Jon Lord and drummer Ian Paice decided to pursue a new musical direction in 1976 by forming Paice Ashton and Lord with their old friend vocalist/keyboardist Tony Ashton.  The band was augmented by former U.F.O and future Whitesnake guitarist Bernie Marsden and bassist Paul Martinez.  In the late 1990's shortly before his death Tony Ashton was interviewed as part of the excellent "Rock Family Trees" T.V. programme which focused on Deep Purple and the other spin off groups that followed such as Whitesnake, Gillan and Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow.  He recalled that he had misgivings about fronting the group as he was concerned that people would expect him to be of the same calibre as former Deep Purple vocalists Ian Gillan and David Coverdale.  By his own admission he was no frontman.  Jon Lord mentioned on the same programme that Ashton struggled with stage fright during live gigs.  To combat this Tony Ashton began to drink heavily to overcome his nerves because as Jon Lord says "he was nervous because he was drinking and he was drinking because he was nervous.  Then he stopped drinking and got even worse".  During their final gig together their fate was sealed after Tony Ashton fell off the stage and landed in the orchestra pit.  The band split up in March 1978 as the project didn't fulfil expectations even though they managed to record an album called "Malice In Wonderland" the previous year in 1977.  In 2001 the album was reissued on CD with previously unreleased live tracks and rough demos of the tracks that would have formed their second album if they had remained together long enough to finish recording it.

Please find below a clip of one of their live performances and I hope that you enjoy this video to the track "Ghost Story":-

Remembering a great singer/songwriter....

BBC4 are showing some great music programmes at the moment and last weekend there was a very special musical treat to enjoy.  In a similar vein to the excellent Nick Drake tribute concert, BBC4 screened another brilliant tribute concert which was dedicated to the late Gerry Rafferty (pictured left).  Featuring a variety of current artists and former musicians who worked with him, it was a fitting tribute to the Scotsman who died on 4 January 2011.

I first began to discover His music through a former bandmate who let me borrow Rafferty's "Greatest Hits" album from him.  Up to that point I only knew two of his tracks namely his signature tune "Baker Street" and the track he recorded in Stealers Wheel called "Stuck In The Middle With You".  The latter track gained some notoriety when it was used in Quentin Tarantino's film "Reservoir Dogs".  For anyone who has seen this film they will remember the gruesome scene that accompanied this track.  Thankfully I have purposely avoided this film so that I can continue to enjoy this track without being mentally scarred!

I could go on and on but I will let Gerry Rafferty's music do the talking.  Please click on the below link to watch the video to his classic track "Baker Street".  The video also features current Steeleye Span drummer Liam Genockey who was working with Rafferty in the late 1970's:-

Proud to be a Bluebird.....

Now that the adrenalin and blood pressure has come back to earth, I must say that I am very proud of my beloved Cardiff City FC today. Whilst Liverpool may have won the Carling Cup trophy, our boys can be rightfully proud of how they matched their Premiership opponents.  Joe Mason (pictured left) fired the Bluebirds into a 20th minute lead and Cardiff led 1-0 at half time.  Liverpool equalised through Skrtel on 60 minutes and the game ended 1-1 after normal time. Kenny Miller missed a great chance for Cardiff three minutes from time, which I am sure will haunt him for a while. 

The score remained level after the first period of extra time before Dirk Kuyt fired Liverpool into a 2-1 lead midway through the second period of extra time.  With three minutes of extra time to spare Ben Turner scrambled the ball in for City to level the score at 2-2.  I went mental at this very moment (not literally) and my excitement levels went off the scale.  Think small child at Christmas and multiply by 100.  During the earlier rounds City had faced extra time and penalties against Oxford United, Huddersfield Town, Leicester City and Crystal Palace.  For a moment I thought it might be our day, but in the penalty shoot out missed penalties by Kenny Miller, Rudy Gestede and Anthony Gerrard meant that Liverpool won the shootout 3-2.  A disappointing end to a great cup run, but the City can take heart from a gutsy and determined performance.  Hopefully this will kickstart their league season and promotion can be achieved to the Premier League.  C'mon City, you've made this Bluebird proud!

The triple crown heads west!......

This weekend has been a mixed weekend of sporting achievement for Welsh teams.  On a smaller scale congratulations must be given to Newport County for coming from 2-0 down to win their F.A. Trophy quarter-final 3-2 away to Northwich Victoria. "The Ironsides" are now just one game away from the final which is a magnificent achievement for a side that went out of business in 1989.  I really hope they get to the final as their fans have experienced both the highs and lows of the beautiful game over the last 20 years.

However, this weekend was a time for celebration for the Welsh rugby team after they battled their way to a 19-12 win against England at Twickenham.  Following earlier victories over both Ireland and Scotland it meant that Wales secured the Triple Crown with victories over all of the home nations.  Only Italy and France stand in the way of Grand Slam glory and hopefully Wales can add another "slam" to the ones that they achieved in 2005 and 2008. 

A new internet hero.....

I expect during his long career, Russian baritone Eduard Khil would never have realised that he would have gone on to become an internet phenomenon.  Thanks to YouTube he has become recognised to many people as "Mr Trollolo" after a clip of his 1976 performance of "I am Glad I Am Finally Going Home" was adapted with slightly comic affect.  Wikipedia says of the video "The Trololo video first appeared on some sites beginning on 21 February 2010, the most prominent of those being the "Trololo" website that rocketed the meme into popular awareness, receiving more than 3,000,000 hits in its first month.[16][17] It gained prominence on 3 March during a segment on The Colbert Report.[18] It was also parodied by actor Christoph Waltz on Jimmy Kimmel Live![19] as well as Craig Reucassel on the Australian TV show "The Chaser".  The "Trololo" meme in turn re-ignited interest in Khil's singing career aside from his vocalised performance; for a time, the "Trololo" website included a petition for Khil to come out of retirement to perform on a world tour."

Please find below the video of him in action and I hope it cheers you up like it does every time I watch it.

The book that started it all....

When I was younger I didn't read a huge amount and this didn't change until after a visit to the Ynysfach Engine House museum in Merthyr Tydfil with my family.  It was a museum devoted to commemorating the industrial revolution and the rise and fall of the coal, steel, & iron industries and the railways that were built to transport the goods.  Merthyr Tydfil was once an important industrial hub in South Wales with goods produced and exported around the world.   Sadly the industries are all gone and whilst there is still a railway presence in the area in the form of the former Taff Vale Railway between Merthyr Tydfil and Cardiff, the network is a pale shadow of its former self. 

I remember the museum had an audio story playing over the sound system which was narrated by the Welsh actor Phillip Madoc.  He once starred in a TV programme called "The Life and Times of David Lloyd George" and there is a statue of the real David Lloyd George in Gorsedd Gardens near City Hall in Cardiff (pictured right).   I remember when I was a small child walking with my Mum through Gorsedd Gardens and she said to me "look, it's David Lloyd George" and I said "no, it's Phillip Madoc!"

To round off this post the "Merthyr Historian - Volume 1" was the book that kick started my reading habits way back in 1987.  An unlikely book, I will admit it, but it played a big part in developing my appreciation of the English language and works of literature.  I still have the book in my collection and it sits nicely between books by Bill Bryson, H.G.Wells and my various football and railway books.  I am trying to read more these days and I am enjoying reacquainting myself with books again.

A reward for excellence....

Even though the mood has been gloomier over recent days, I don't think any Cardiff City fan would be disappointed with tonight's announcement from CCS.  Manager Malky Mackay has been rewarded with a new three and a half year contract extension after the astonishing on the pitch turnaround that he has achieved in his seven months with the club. 

It is another boost for the club ahead of Sunday's Carling Cup Final appearance against Liverpool.  The financial rewards that the club has picked up during the cup run will have helped bring some much needed revenue into the club's coffers.  In all fairness our Malaysian investors continue to keep the club on an even keel and they must be applauded for the way they have publicly backed our new manager at this time.  Malky and the team were never going to win every single game, but even during the mini slump that the club is going through on the pitch they have maintained a united front.  Hopefully the City can make history on Sunday and become the first Welsh side to win the Carling Cup.  We're not going to Wembley to make up the numbers, but to win!

C-C-C-Changes....

David Bowie once released a great song called "Changes" and I suppose it is applicable for my life at this time.  Today's picture is of David Bowie during his "Ziggy Stardust" years alongside his guitarist Mick Ronson from his backing band "The Spiders from Mars".  This picture combines two of my loves, rock music and trains!

This is a new year and I am excited about what it will bring.  In May I will be travelling overseas for only the second time and I hope to travel with my lovely lady to many different locations around the world in the future.  I am also learning the Malay language online and feebly attempting the more difficult Tamil language too! Over recent days I have been considering doing some night classes in order to bring my general education up to standard.  At G.C.S.E level I didn't cope with juggling the various subjects and failed in Maths, Science and French.  One of my ambitions has always been to have another crack at them one day.  These days my ability to retain facts has massively improved and as a general rule I am a lot more confident than I was during my school years.  I remember doing something similar when I completed some free NVQ computer courses with Weston College at Worle between 2002 and 2004.  During that time I managed to achieve NVQ levels 1 and 2 in MS Word, Excel & Access and this helped improve my I.T. skills massively.  I seem to have a new hunger to learn and I want to make the most of the time that I now have available to me.

Blur, getting the BRITS lifetime achievement award? Man, I feel old!...

I have been a big fan of Blur ever since they first burst onto the music scene in the early 1990's.  I still have their debut album "Leisure" on cassette which I must have almost played to death at the time.  My favourite tracks "There's No Another Way", "Bang" and "She's So High" are all on this album.  Whilst I didn't buy their follow up album "Modern Life Is Rubbish", the "Popscene" E.P. got me back into their music. 

In 1994 Blur enjoyed huge critical acclaim and commercial success with their "Parklife" album and the manufactured Blur v Oasis battle of the Britpop era.  The next few albums "The Great Escape" ,"Blur" and "13" followed in a similar vein before guitarist Graham Coxon left in acrimonious circumstances during the recording of their "Think Tank" album.  The band then went on a six year hiatus in 2003 after touring without Coxon, but thankfully they left all of their ill will behind them to reunite in 2009 and I can't wait to see them perform at the end of tonight's Brit Awards. I am in a video mood so please click on the below video screen and enjoy the song that started my lifelong love of the band, "There's No Other Way".

I love the Old Grey Whistle Test!.....

A few years ago my sister and brother-in-law bought me a brilliant DVD featuring classic clips from the 1970's BBC music programme called "The Old Grey Whistle Test".  For me the programme will always be synonymous with presenter "Whispering" Bob Harris (pictured left) who was parodied by comedian John Thompson in his "Jazz Club" presenter character from "The Fast Show".  Bob features quite heavily on the DVD and it includes a great clip of him laughing at the end of the New York Dolls' performance of "Jet Boy" which he ends up describing as "mock rock".  He made no attempt to hide his lack of approval for the music that he didn't like including a savage criticism directed towards experimental art rockers Roxy Music.

Perhaps somewhat predictably though my favourite clip which I have included for your viewing tonight features Dr Feelgood.  The band are seen here performing their classic track " Roxette" which is the song that first got me into their music and Wilko Johnson performed this track in the gig I recently went to.  This clip also features the original Feelgood line up of singer Lee Brilleaux, guitarist Wilko Johnson, bassist John B Sparkes and drummer John "The Big Figure" Martin.

Pie in the sky or a realistic dream?.....

I often wonder what messrs Lord Ernest Marples and Dr Richard Beeching would make of the congestion chaos that has followed on from decades of road building.  It would be very hypocritical of me as a motorist to completely criticise the creation of the modern motorway and road networks around the U.K.  It was revolutionary and I know travelling to my parents for example would take far longer if the M4 hadn't been built.  What I am getting at is the stubborn refusal of subsequent Government's who have refused to acknowledge any other form of transport apart from road travel.

Oxfordshire County Council have recently announced that they are looking at improving railways within the county over the next 10-20 years.  Since the Beeching closures a number of major Oxfordshire towns have been left without any rail link at all.  Abingdon, Witney, Chipping Norton, Carterton and Thame all lost their stations (although Thame & Haddenham Parkway was built in the late 1980's).  I was surprised that the possibility of reopening the long closed railway between Oxford and Carterton is being seriously considered due to the increased congestion on the A40.  A previous feasibility study in 1999 dismissed the idea as being too expensive due to the redevelopment of many of the station sites and removal of large sections of the original trackbed.  It is proposed that there would be stations at Yarnton, Eynsham, Witney and Carterton (original station pictured above).  If this project does indeed get off the ground it would see passenger trains return to these places for the first time since 1962.  Other Oxfordshire places earmarked for rail expansion are the East-West partnerships proposal to extend the Oxford to Bicester Town line as far as Cambridge and the possibility of a new rail link to link both stations in Bicester.  Maybe as the late Sir Jimmy Saville once said "this is the age of the train!"

Another rail revival (here I go again!).....

I have had many enjoyable conversations with my Dad over the years and I remembered one of them when I honeymooned in Swansea last year.  One subject that I remembered us discussing was the now closed Mumbles Railway.  I have to admit that I have heard and read many comments that have criticised Swansea Council's decision to axe the coastal railway in 1960 in favour of buses.  In a recent transport forum today's Swansea City Council put forward the idea of reopening the long closed line due to congestion on the roads around Mumbles.  My lovely lady and I walked along the esplanade pictured below but sadly the Pier was closed as part of a major refurbishment project over the next two years.  You can still work out the course of the original line which these days is a footpath/cycle track giving lovely views across Swansea Bay. 

I was amazed at how much Swansea has changed over the 20+ years since I had last visited there.  The only part of the city I refused to go to was The Liberty Stadium home of Cardiff City's arch rivals Swansea City, although we passed the site of their former ground The Vetch Field that was recently demolished.  Ironically the same demolition firm also flattened Cardiff City's former ground Ninian Park in 2010.  However I won't hold that against them as the place itself is rather nice.  We hope to explore the wider Mumbles area in the future and visit some of the spectacular beaches at Three Cliffs and Rhossili.  I enjoyed visiting Pembrokeshire further along the coast in the mid 1990's with some University friends and we visited some lovely beaches at Manorbier and Bosherton Sands.  South Wales has some really beautiful and scenic parts and I can't wait to see them all.

Songs that make you go yeaaaahhhhh!!!....

When Blur released "Song 2" in 1997 it quickly became an international hit.  I have just enjoyed listening to a snippet of it on ITV1 as part of the trailers for this year's Brit Awards.  It also has a very quirky video where the band keep being blown into walls made of carpet due to the effects of the wind machines that were used.  It is one of my songs that make me go yeaaaahhhhhhh!!!

Also on the same list are Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit", "Rock'n'Roll" by Led Zeppelin, "Shoot To Thrill" by AC/DC. "Crash" by The Primitives, "Cup of Wonder" by Jethro Tull, "Long Lankin" by Steeleye Span, "Blister On The Moon" by Taste and "Black Night Crash" by Ride. 

Why do I wiffle on about music, trains, faith, guitars, football et al you may wonder?  Well, I suppose it is because of the evolving nature of this blog and the fact that I like trying to write about lots of different things.  I hope that you find them as interesting as I do and that you will continue to enjoy reading this blog.

That sinking feeling as the City slump to defeat....again!

A few weeks ago I was genuinely excited about Cardiff City's Carling Cup Final appearance against Premiership Liverpool next week.  However after watching the City slump 3-0 away to Ipswich Town yesterday and after reading about Liverpool's 6-1 thrashing of our Championship rivals Brighton & Hove Albion today I am now less optimistic.  The City will have to really step up their game and be at their best if they are to stand any chance of getting a respectable scoreline against the Reds.

One talking point from yesterday's defeat is of the above photo where Cardiff's Joe Mason has been poleaxed by Ipswich keeper Arran Lee-Barrett.  Under the rules of the game Barrett should have been sent off, but incredibly the referee decided it only warranted a yellow card! As they say a picture paints a thousand words and whilst games can be turned on these type of incidents, City were generally poor in their play and got what they deserved. Roll on Wembley, Liverpool - be gentle on us, eh?

Favourite haunts revisited!....

I don't know why I have been thinking a lot about my childhood years recently, but I suppose I have recently begun to think about some of the many great moments that I have spent with my family over the years.  I have a lot to be thankful for, which I have come to realise more and more over the years.  I love and admire my parents for how they have lived their lives and also for how they have taken care of me over the years. Thank you doesn't fully express what I really want to say to them sometimes.

One place that we used to go as a family was this lovely shingle beach near Barry Island called The Knap (or as we used to call it Cold Knap due to its exposed location).  It was a lovely location away from the hubbub of the holiday makers at the now closed Barry Island holiday resort.  Apart from giving great views of the Bristol Channel towards Clevedon, Weston-super-Mare and Minehead, it was also a great location to view the occasional plane coming into land at Cardiff Wales Airport (in nearby Rhoose).  I also passed this beach on a train a few years ago on the newly reopened passenger line between Barry and Bridgend.  Porthkerry viaduct gives some great views back towards The Knap and Barry.  This beach though remains one of my favourite quiet places along with nearby Penarth Pier and my former home village of Eynsham in Oxfordshire.

Surprising feats of my memory banks....

Many years ago I remember visiting my Nan's in the Penydarren area of Merthyr Tydfil.  The year would have been around 1986ish and for many years I have been racking my brains to remember what I had seen that day.  Today's picture has confirmed that a) I wasn't mad b) I remember my Dad saying "look, there's a train down there" and c) I wasn't dreaming!  This is a picture of the Ivor Works shunter that used to cross a local street in the Caeharris area of Dowlais in Merthyr Tydfil.  It's function was to transfer materials from the nearby Diesel terminal in Caeharris and then shunt them the short distance across the road to Dowlais Ivor steelworks.  Sadly the steelworks closed in 1987 and the railway disappeared shortly afterwards.  I remember passing the site on a number of occasions in the years that followed but I couldn't put my finger on where I had seen this little train before.

On the A4060 Dowlais to Merthyr road there used to be a bridge (pictured right) that reminded me of trips to see my other Nan in the Twyn-y-rodyn area of the town.  Unbeknown to myself the same Dowlais steelworks line used to traverse this stone viaduct on the way to Cwmbargoed before eventually rejoining the main Merthyr Tydfil to Cardiff railway line at Radyr.  One thing that always made us smile were the evangelistic slogans that had been painted in bright white paint on the side of the bridge supports.  Phrases such as "Jesus Saves" and "He Died For Your Sins" were visible as you passed under the archway and whenever I hear messages or read these words in the Bible or other Christian teaching it reminds me of this former local landmark.  I seem to recall that it has since been demolished as I don't remember seeing it the last time I went to Merthyr by car.  The hills surrounding the town have been extensively landscaped over the years to remove the iron, coal and steel spoil mounds that were leftover from the industrial era that brought growth and prosperity to the town.  The town could really do with a boost too and I hope that Merthyr Tydfil has a bright future ahead of it and not more gloom.

Tracing the evolution of heavy metal music....

Over recent weeks I have enjoyed watching some great music programmes and this week I caught a couple of episodes of a programme about heavy metal music called "Metal Evolution".  The series charts the origins of the heavy metal music genre up to the present day.  I especially enjoyed the episode that focused on thrash metal which included some excellent clips and new interviews with members of Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax and Testament (pictured). 

Whilst I may not be a huge fan of modern "extreme" metal bands I still like a lot of the classic metal from the 1980's and 1990's. Testament once released a great album called "New World Order", which included one of my all time favourite metal tracks "Trial By Fire".  I still like other thrash metal albums from this era such as Nuclear Assault's "Handle With Care", Metallica's "Master of Puppets" and Megadeth's "Rust In Peace".  I also like some of the Christian thrash metal from this era especially the "Perpetual Defiance" and "If But For One" albums by Detritus and Seventh Angel's classic albums "The Torment" and "Lament For The Weary".  One thing for sure is that heavy metal music is alive and kicking and is still massively popular.  It may not be embraced by mainstream audiences and remains an underground scene, but it has a massive and loyal hardcore following of fans.

The changing faces of Bristol....

In the late 1990's I used to work for a direct marketing company called Brann who were based opposite Bristol Temple Meads railway station.  During that time I was a rail commuter between Weston-super-Mare and Bristol and I used to pass the above location daily.  However this photograph was taken in the 1980's and a few things have changed since then. 

The building on the far left has been demolished to make way for a larger car park alongside the original Isambard Kingdom Brunel designed Temple Meads station.  Due to increased demands on the railways there is talk that the disused platforms of the original Temple Meads station could be brought back into rail use by 2014.  This would be brilliant although new car parks would have to be built for the daily commuters. 

In the centre of the picture is the ugly Templegate House which still stands to this day.  For many years I saw what appeared to be the brick abutments of a former railway bridge.  As this picture shows my first impression was right as it shows the disused and now demolished Redcliffe Viaduct.  This was once part of the Bristol Harbour railway which was closed during the Dr Beeching era.  On the far right are the dilipidated Victoria and Grosvenor Hotels.  The Victoria may be restored whilst the Grosvenor may be demolished if developers get their way.  In much the way derelict landscapes are being transformed in Cardiff, Swansea and Newport, Bristol is finally trying to revamp its image too.

Rudy, Rudy, Rudy, Rudy!........

After last weekend's disappointing away defeat to Leicester City, it was important for Cardiff City to kick start their promotion campaign on Tuesday night against Peterborough United at CCS.  Thankfully they did and in style winning 3-1 courtesy of three goals in six minutes from Peter Whittingham, Rudy Gestede and Haris Vuckic (both pictured left).  Today sees the City taking on a tricky away trip to Ipswich Town who boast four former Bluebirds players in their ranks namely Michael Chopra, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, Mark Kennedy and Arron Lee-Barrett.  Chopra was a big fans favourite during three spells at the club and left in the summer shortly before Malky Mackay's arrival.  In the last meeting between the two sides at CCS Chopra scored against us and it wouldn't surprise me if it happens again today.

This season has seen a complete overhaul of the team and especially amongst our strikers.  This summer saw the arrivals of Kenny Miller, Robert Earnshaw, Joe Mason and French youngster Rudy Gestede.  Gestede was a triallist who impressed in pre season and he has weighed in with a few goals this season.  Whilst there are aspects of his game which need improvement he has enormous potential to develop into a decent player.  With a bit more composure he could have had a couple more goals on Tuesday and no doubt he will probably start alongside Kenny Miller today.

Recognising a great guitarist that you might not have heard of before...

In recent posts I have highlighted and paid my dues to some of the great musicians who have helped form my musical journey through life.  My favourite guitarists are from a variety of musical spectrums such as Ken Nicol and Michael Chapman from folk, Michael Schenker from the hard rock/heavy metal scene, blues guitarists such as Peter Green and Paul Kossoff and from the world of progressive rock Dave Bainbridge (pictured left) from the celtic rock band Iona.

In my early years of being a Christian I became a big fan of Iona's music.  Their first three albums remain amongst my favourites until today namely "Iona", "The Book of Kells" and "Beyond These Shores".  Whilst I also have "Journey Into The Morn", "Open Sky", "Heaven's Bright Sun" and "Woven Cord" by them, I haven't listened to these as much as the original three studio albums.  I have had the pleasure of seeing them play twice in Oxford and High Wycombe and they are an impressive live band too.  I saw them when their ranks included drummer Terl Bryant, multi instrumentalist Troy Donockley and bassist Tim Harries (formerly of Steeleye Span).  The current line up still features founder members Joanne Hogg and Dave Bainbridge who is an excellent guitarist.  He has been an influence on the more technical aspects of my playing as he combines classical and rock guitar with equal measure.  Unlike other guitarists of his musical genre his playing is subtle and perfectly fits each musical progression.  I think that is the mark of a truly great guitarist, as he doesn't play for the sake of playing or try to dominate a piece of music.  He adds to each piece of music in much the way that Michael Schenker does.  As Peter Green once said during his Fleetwood Mac days "less is more".

Folk's not dead, no! It is alive!

I love folk music and I suppose a lot of this is because of my passion for Steeleye Span, a British band who have incorporated traditional folk songs and reinvented them within a rock music setting.  However, I also like traditional folk as well and one artist I have recently discovered is the British artist, Seth Lakeman (pictured).  When I saw Jethro Tull perform at the Colston Hall in Bristol in 2008 during their 40th anniversary tour, Seth Lakeman was the special guest that evening.  His song "Kitty Jay" is a fantastic combination of just fiddle and vocals and is one of my favourite songs. After receiving an ITunes voucher for Christmas I enoyed spending it on a lot of his EP's and one of his albums.  I also enjoyed watching some of the emerging folk music talent on this year's BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards on BBC4 the other night.  Folk music is still in a very healthy position and just like rock music will remain popular even if it doesn't cross over into the mainstream.  In this era of digital downloads, the X Factor and many anonymous shortlived pop artists, I would sooner delve deep into musical scenes where real talent is present.  Seth Lakeman is one of those talents, who is well worth discovering in my opinion.

What a waste of talent, but roll on May!

The late Ian Dury (pictured left) once recorded a song with his backing band "The Blockheads" called "What A Waste".  I was reminded of this when I read about the death of Whitney Houston earlier today.  Whilst I wasn't a fan of her work it was very sad to see someoe who had such a great vocal talent, eventually lose her voice, career and ultimately her life through drug abuse.  It also reminded me of other musical talents that have been lost over the years to drugs and alcohol.  The list is like a who's who of pop and rock music that includes the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Janice Joplin, John Bonham, Bon Scott, Paul Kossoff, Tommy Bolin and many others.  All were incredibly gifted and talented, but their lifestyles ultimately destroyed them.

On a less sombre note my lovely lady and I have discovered a new blog written about Malaysia, which I will be reading up on over the next few months ahead of our trip to Kuala Lumpur.  Entitled "Malaysia by a Malaysian" it includes some excellent information about the country and is very informative.  If you want to check it out for yourself then please click on the following link:- http://www.audioguidemalaysia.com/blog/2010/05/22/welcome/

Mixed fortunes for my sporting teams.....

It's two wins out of two for Wales so far in this years RBS Six Nations tournament following a 27-13 win over Scotland at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff today.  Whilst Scotland's indiscipline cost them during key parts of the game, Wales were able to capitalise on this by racking up most of their points, whilst two Scotsmen were "sin binned".  Leigh Halfpenny (pictured left) showed a cool head and near perfect accuracy with his penalties and conversions.  Next up is the must win game against the "old enemy" England and hopefully the triple crown will be heading back to Wales next weekend.  Wales will then end the tournament with a match against Italy followed by the finale against France.

Fatigue, or lack of strength in depth are real causes for concern for Cardiff City at the moment after another defeat yesterday.  The City slipped to a 2-1 defeat away to big spending Leicester City and in the first half City spent the entire time defending.  September was the last time that City lost back to back league games and hopefully the team can regain some momentum against Peterborough United next Tuesday at CCS.  Some fans have questioned our lack of activity during the transfer window and whether this will hurt the team in the long run.  There are 16 games to go until the end of the season with City sitting in 4th position in the table.  It would be a huge shame if their form dipped off now when promotion is still a realistic ambition.

A railway bygone that is now part of a cycling network.....

Following on from my last post, I have always enjoyed walking along old railway lines over the years.  There are many great railway walks around Merthyr Tydfil which my family and I used to walk along when I was younger.  The section of old line from the former station at Pontsticill Junction to Pontsarn is lovely although the viaduct at Pontsarn now bears a "cross at your own risk" sign these days!  The lines in and around Merthyr closed before and after Dr Beeching and my parents remember when the lines were dismantled for good.

One former railway structure that always fascinated me when I was younger and which I could see from my Nan's house in the Twyn-y-rodyn area of Merthyr Tydfil was the magnificent stone viaduct at Cefn Coed.  It still stands proud as a relic of the former Merthyr to Brecon railway and I remember walking across it with my Dad about 20 years ago.  I had always wanted to walk across it and to get the perspective of the views across Merthyr that a train traveller would have once seen as the line curves back towards the town.  Today the viaduct has survived and has been incorporated into the "Taff Trail" cycle path which runs from Brecon and follows the River Taff all the way down to Cardiff Bay.  Whilst trains will never cross it again at least Cefn Coed viaduct has been preserved for future generations to experience and enjoy.

I once passed this on the Cardiff road....

Some of my favourite childhood memories are of summer holidays and Christmas present runs to see family and friends in both Merthyr Tydfil and Cardiff.  Over the years we were regular travellers on the main A470 road from Merthyr Tydfil to Cardiff passing the wonderfully named places "Fiddlers Elbow" near Quaker's Yard and also up on the hillside the magnificent Castell Coch.  For many years I passed this landmark (pictured left) and thought it was just a tower built for the Queen's Silver Jubilee in 1977.  Over recent days I have made an interesting discovery regarding this structures origin.  It was originally part of an old railway bridge called Walnut Tree Viaduct!

In Wikipedia it describes the viaduct as follows:- "Walnut Tree Viaduct was a railway viaduct located above the northern edge of the village of Radyr, in Cardiff, South Wales. Originally built to carry the Barry Railway across the River Taff, it was deconstructed in 1969, leaving only two of the support columns visible from the A470 road."  At one point there were many lattice girder railway bridges in South Wales such as those at Walnut Tree Junction, Llanbradach and Crumlin.  Sadly only small brick abutments or supporting columns are all that remain of these once magnificent structures.  I also found this excellent picture online of Walnut Tree Viaduct whilst trains were still running over it (pictured left).  I can imagine that the views were spectacular for the passengers on this line and it is a shame that this journey can never be made again.  It is ironic that some of the most scenic and beautiful railways in Britain were the least used by passengers and the first to close.  Thankfully these lines were either photographed or recorded on film so that we can remember the former industrial and railway heritage of South Wales.

The reinforcements are beginning to arrive!.....

Whilst Cardiff City may have missed out on the permanent signings of Marvin Sordell, Craig Noone and Matt Phillips during the permanent transfer window; things have already got off to a better start during the loan transfer window.  19 year old Slovenian under 21 international midfielder Haris Vuckic has today joined City on a one month loan from Premiership side Newcastle United.  His arrival has been met with a great deal of excitement from our fans and the feedback from Newcastle fans has been about an "exciting young prospect".   Hopefully he can make a positive impact during his time with us although he is sadly ineligible for the Carling Cup Final against Liverpool on Sunday 26th February.  Manager Malky Mackay has already hinted that he is trying to add further loan signings to the squad, which will hopefully add to the strength in depth needed to maintain out promotion push.  One messageboard contributor joked that after the recent arrival of Kadeem Harris, we appear to be signing players with the name Harris.  Hopefully Rolf and Keith won't be joining us shortly.

Moving onto Christmas DVD's!.......

I was very fortunate this Christmas to receive a lot of excellent music on both CD and DVD.  This week I have finally got around to watching Julien Temple's excellent documentary about 1970's pub rock legends Dr Feelgood (pictured left).  Entitled "Oil City Confidential" it charts the rise of the band from their humble beginnings growing up in Canvey Island in Essex (which is also home to a number of large oil refineries) all the way to chart success in the mid to late 70's.  It focuses purely on the original line up of the band and is largely from the perspective of former guitarist Wilko Johnson.  The film also sees the three surviving original members reunited with Wilko being joined by John B Sparkes (nicknamed "Sparko" on bass guitar) and John Martin (drums - also known as "The Big Figure").  There are also archive interviews with lead singer Lee Brilleaux who sadly passed away from Lymphoma in 1994 and lots of great live clips of the band from various gigs.  Most of the best gig footage is from the "Going Back Home - Live At The Kursaal" DVD, which I bought a few years ago when I first got into the band's music.  There is also a great clip of the three surviving members playing together at the annual Lee Brilleaux memorial festival at Canvey Island too.  It is a shame that the acrimony between Lee Brilleaux and Wilko Johnson, which caused Wilko to leave the band in 1977 was never resolved.  The band did seem to lose momentum after he left and despite enjoying chart success with "Milk and Alcohol" with new guitarist John "Gypie" Mayo the band didn't achieve the success of their early years.  "Sparko" and "The Big Figure" both left in 1981 after years of long tours leaving Lee Brilleaux to front various different line ups of the band until his death in 1994.  His dying wish was for the band to continue and Dr Feelgood are still touring, but with none of the original members involved.  They do a great job of playing the Feelgood material but I still prefer the original "classic" line up.  Wilko Johnson still tours and plays the Feelgood material that he wrote so at least one original member is keeping their early sound alive.

Catching up with my Christmas CD's......

It seems crazy that I have got as far as February without having listened to the CD's that I received as Christmas gifts in their entirety.  As my lovely lady is away in London this week I am trying to find many different ways of occupying my time so that I am not solely focusing on how much I am missing her.  I am looking forward to calling her in the next few moments and catching up with her today.

Tonight's musical treat has been Rory Gallagher's posthumous new album "Notes From San Francisco" (pictured left).  The album was recorded as long ago as 1978, as I mentioned in a previous blog post, but was finally released in the latter part of 2011.  I had forgotten how many of the songs I already knew as I remember "Guitar Techniques" running a series of tutorials called "the A to Z of great riffs", which just happened to feature some of the tracks on this album.  To this day I can still remember how to play the riffs from "Mississippi Sheiks" and "B Girl" (later renamed "Public Enemy Number One" when it appeared on his 1979 album "Top Priority").  I have enjoyed discovering more of his music over the last few years and I would like to collect more of his albums at some point.  This album has been well worth releasing and if you love blues based rock music then this album will be right up your street.  "Rue The Day" is a great opening track and I may have a go playing along to it later.  Since I stopped playing live in November I have not played regularly over the last two months or so.  I am trying to discipline myself into a daily practice routine now so that I don't get rusty fingers, or lose the skills that I have worked hard to develop.  I have a Gibson Les Paul Standard and a Marshall AVT275X amplifier ready and waiting to be used so to quote Marti De Bergi in the film "This Is Spinal Tap",  "Hey, enough of my yakking.  What do you say? Let's boogie!"

I am a fickle rugby fan....

There are very few things in life that I am fickle about, but unfortunately Welsh rugby is one of them.  I suppose it is because I watched too many games in the late 80's and 1990's when Wales were usually hammered and humiliated by the likes of England, France and Western Samoa.  I also remember the team losing 71-8 to New South Wales in 1991 and by 96 points to South Africa.  I used to be an avid viewer on international days, but over the years I lost interest as I watched numerous poor performances that bordered on the embarassing.  Then in 2005 after nearly 25 years of underachievement, Warren Gatland led the team to its first Grand Slam since the heyday of Welsh rugby in the 1970's.  The next couple of seasons weren't much to write home about until Wales won a second Grand Slam in 2008. 

Following the recent heroics of the 2011 Rugby World Cup, expectations were higher this season.  Today saw Wales win a thriller away to Ireland by 23 points to 21 thanks to a last gasp penalty by Leigh Halfpenny.  It was a great start to the Six Nations for Wales and hopefully they can continue this with a win against Scotland in Cardiff next Sunday.  It certainly helped pick me up because due to illness I had missed church in the morning, so I had stayed home to rest and recover.  Hopefully the City can also get back to winning ways next weekend even though they are facing a difficult away trip to Leicester City.  Manager Malky Mackay has bemoaned the poor defending against Blackpool yesterday and hopefully the team will work hard to improve on this ahead of next Saturday's big game.

Another railway comeback.....

Following on from an earlier post where I praised the Welsh government's pro-rail stance, I have to admit that I was excited to read about the work that is going on to reopen Goodwick station in West Wales.  The station closed as part of the Beeching cuts in the mid 1960's, but due to the local population growth and a successful campaign it has brought about the reinstatement of rail services to this community.  At present the inhabitants of Fishguard can only travel by rail to and from Fishguard Harbour.  Goodwick station (formerly known as Fishguard & Goodwick) is closer to the town of Fishguard and therefore it makes more sense for the station to reopen.  Today's picture shows the work that is going on at present and thankfully the original platform is still in a reasonable condition for reuse. 

Dismal City!.....

I will not criticise Malky Mackay because he has been a breath of fresh air at Cardiff City this season.  I am sure that he is as angry and disappointed as the majority of City fans are today following a dismal 3-1 home defeat to Blackpool at CCS this afternoon.  Some fans including myself are putting today's defeat down to a bad day at the office and on the previous occasion the City lost at home (3-2 to Middlesbrough in early December) the team has gone on an excellent run of results.  Perhaps today has shown that the team needs strengthening so that we can maintain our excellent start to the season.  It would be a massive shame if the City hit a dip in form especially with big games coming up against Ipswich Town, Birmingham City and Leicester City.  The team has a great team work ethic, which was strangely lacking today and hopefully it was just a one off. 

Could trains be about to return to Portishead?

After the recent dismay that followed North Somerset Council's failed bid to secure Government funding towards reopening the Bristol to Portishead railway, it was nice to hear some positive news about the reopening campaign.  The Bristol Evening Post included a story this week featuring news that the Portishead line and a new station at Henbury looks likely to be included in the franchise agreement for the train operating company First Great Western.  Thanks to campaign groups such as Friends of Bristol Surburban Railways (FOSBR), The Portishead Railway Group and other groups rail is very much back on the agenda at local government level.  Our local authorities in Bath & Bristol have also begun feasibility studies towards reopening the stations at Saltford (near Bath), and both Ashley Hill & Horfield stations in Bristol.

It is a shame that the UK Government has diverted yet more expenditure towards road building schemes instead of looking at alternative transportation, which the Scottish and Welsh assemblies to their credit have already done with great success.  It is almost as if the UK Government have the same mindset as messrs Lord Ernest Marples and Dr Richard Beeching did in the 1960's.  Whilst I acknowledge loss making rail services perhaps inevitably closed back then , history has now proven perhaps that many of these lines could have now alievated our gridlocked roads.  Portishead, Tavistock, Witney and Abingdon are all towns that could all benefit from rail services, but in the case of the latter two it is sadly too late to reinstate them as the trackbeds have been redeveloped.

Winter finally arrives....

I am quite glad that I decided to look out of the window at around 2pm as we had originally intended to go out much later than we eventually did.  What started as a few small flakes developed into heavier snowfall as the afternoon went on so we decided to brave the mass hordes of people panic buying at Tesco's.  In much the way that people become both aggressive and irrational in the shops in the build up to Christmas, the same kind of behaviour was evident today.  I think it also shows how we as Brits struggle to cope with snow unlike our European neighbours, or how the USA and Canada manage with this weather.  It is very much a fact of life in these countries, whereas it seems to catch most of us by surprise here!  I have many Polish friends who find it laughable when Britain grinds to a halt, as their snow drifts are usually far greater and they just get on with life.

Thanks to my lovely lady's suggestion I have started to use a novel way of getting around having to scrape ice off my car windscreens each morning.  Old duvet covers are a great solution to the usual de-icer and ice scraper routine.  As you can see they can easily fit over the side mirrors, front and rear windscreens leaving only a small amount of scraping to be done on the side windows.  The best solution is a car cover which I am hoping to find and one of our neighbours has recommended one that they found on the internet.  Until then whilst the cold weather is here I will make the most of what I already have and hopefully it will enable "Zippy" to have a warm night's sleep! 

More progress at Helston...

Over recent weeks I have gabbled on a lot about some of my favourite preserved railways.  I am especially excited about the Helston Railway and their current progress.  Their tracklaying is continuing towards the former halt at Truthall and thanks to the local council they have gained planning permission to rebuild an exact replica of the former GWR station.  Recent excavations at the site have unearthed the foundations of the original station and they are remarkably well intact.

The Gloucestershire & Warwickshire Railway are also making progress at Broadway Station where platform rebuilding continues at an excellent pace.  Tracklaying from Laverton to Broadway is planned this year too although a lot of work is required first. Work on bridges, signalling, trackbed clearance, tracklaying, ballasting and the rebuilding of station buildings and the signal box at Broadway all need to occur before regular trains can return to the station.  Before that the embankment repairs at Chicken Curve need to be completed so that the existing line between Laverton and Cheltenham Racecourse station can reopen in its entirety.

I also watched a great programme on BBC IPlayer last night about the once great rail network in Wales.  Sadly most of the network either disappeared in the late 1950's due to dwindling passenger numbers, or in the early to mid 1960's due to Dr Beeching.  The programme focused on the stories of surviving railwaymen from the steam days who were responsible for the high volume of freight that was moved by rail during this time.  I especially enjoyed the archive footage of the marshalling yards at Pontypool Road, the sight of trains crossing the long gone Crumlin and Quakers Yard high level viaducts and a rare piece of footage showing trains pulling into the long closed stations at Dowlais Top in Merthyr Tydfil and Cardiff Riverside Station.  There was also an excellent feature on the preserved Llangollen Railway and the many steam engines that survived being scrapped after they were stored at the renowned Woodham's yard in Barry Island.  Rail preservation owes a lot to Dai Woodham and a large proportion of preserved steam engines all came from there.  Thankfully there are many great engines around for us to enjoy today and long may that continue.

The dream team....

There were many things I enjoyed about Cardiff City's recent Carling Cup Semi-Final victory over Crystal Palace.  With a final against the mighty Liverpool on Sunday February 26th coming up there are many reasons to be cheerful right now.  The team are currently in 3rd position in the Championship just three points behind the league leaders and title favourites West Ham United.  West Ham are due to play City at CCS in early March and with a tough month coming up for the team hopefully it will be a month where we see the best of manager Malky Mackay's team. 

Today's picture shows our Malaysian owners, Vincent Tan (right) and Dato Tien Ghee (pictured left) alongside Malky.  They must be thanked for the way they saved the club from collapse and through their significant investment into the club they have helped the club achieve new heights.  This season already has exceeded expectations and with a key home game against Blackpool tomorrow hopefully we will be three points closer to promotion.  Apparently it's the start of the Six Nations this weekend and whilst I may watch the Wales game, I am far more passionate about football.  Watching the City at both Ninian Park and Cardiff City Stadium has brought me much enjoyment and disappointment over the years. Would I swap any of that?  Not a chance, c'mon City!

A cinematic gem.....

It is rare for me to watch a critically acclaimed film and actually agree with the hype or plaudits that accompanied its release.  Films such as "Titanic", "Pearl Harbour" (give me the historically and factually accurate "Tora! Tora! Tora!" anyday!) and "The English Patient" are three such films that are good, but are not quite worthy of the hype that they generated during their release. 

However, tonight I have just watched an excellent and heartwarming film called "Australia" featuring Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman and the star of the film Jamal Bednarz-Metallah.  Set in the Northern Territories of Australia during the Second World War years it combines the visual beauty of the Australian outback, with a respectful portrayal of the indigenous Aboriginal communities and the racism they encountered from their rich white oppressors.  The story is told through the eyes of a small indigenous child called Nullah and an excellent summary of the plot can be found on wikipedia here:- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia_(2008_film) .  I can honestly say that this film is arguably one of the best films that I have ever seen and I don't bandy that phrase around a lot.  I have favourite films such as "Still Crazy", "Hot Fuzz", "A Night To Remember", "School for Scoundrels" and "Clockwise", which I can watch time and again.  However, there are very few films that have that "wow" factor and make you realise that you are watching something great. This film is one of them and if you haven't seen it yet make sure you book out two and half hours to watch this cinematic gem.