I said to my son on the way home while listening to a song on the radio 'oh this song is the Christmas number one' to which a reply came 'what's that?'.

What is the Christmas Number One?? Oh my word.....this used to be the pinnacle of my Christmas, listening to the radio and catch the charts on a Sunday night to find out what was the best selling single on the last week the year. It's not like it used to be, no wonder kids are not that bothered. 

The highlight of Christmas Day was to see the Christmas number one performed on Top of the Pops and if the artist wasn't there live then you were so disappointed. We wanted to see our icons with a Santa hat on or wearing a Christmas jumper and I'm glad to see Ed Sheeran didn't let us down. I can't actually believe they still have Christmas Top of the Pops but I watched it today.

I was a bit worried that I may not know anybody on there or any of the songs in the hit parade but I did. It was quite good although did kind of turn into the Ed Sheeran Show. Yes he topped the charts with his lovely song 'Perfect' which is kind of perfect too. it's a nice little number you can get close to someone special and have a slow dance with and feel warm and  fuzzy inside. He doubled up with Beyonce for a version and also the great Andrea Bocelli for an alternative rendition too which I loved. A big well done, you can't help but like Ed, he's a good all round artist and a good bloke.

Will he hold the number one slot for the new year too? we'll have to wait and see but as an artist it must feel a bit special. This is actually my last Music Monday for 2017 so I thank you all for joining me throughout the year and hope that you will come back in 2018. 

For now though thank you again and please join me tomorrow for the last Teapot Tuesday of 2017.

A very Merry Christmas to you all xx

I am a little late tonight writing my post, this is because we decided at the last minute to give in to the new Star Wars film. Me and my boys are big fans of Star Wars and always have a trip out to the cinema together when a new episode comes out.

The first thing I look forward to when seeing Star Wars is the music accompanying the opening credits. It's a classic orchestral delight and I get goosebumps every time, complete with a little jump as I never seem to expect the boom of the first few bars. Everyone knows the music to Star Wars, if you don't they you must have been on a different planet for the past forty odd years. 

The man responsible for this music is John Williams and he is now 85 years old and still belting out numerous scores for many movies. So many movies in the past such as Jaws, ET, Jurassic Park, and the Harry Potter films, just amazing I am so in awe of this man and so envious. It must be fantastic to play in an orchestra conducted by John Williams, it's quite an emotional experience just listening let alone performing too.

There is music for every moment throughout and it's playing most of the time in this new episode entitled 'The Last Jedi'. A piece for a sad moment, a funny scene and complete dramatic moments as lightsabers are lit and spaceships jump to light speed. It's obvious that with a film like this it takes not only great acting to create an atmosphere but also a creative musical score.

John Williams has won 23 Grammy's, 7 British Academy Film Awards, 5 Academy Awards and 4 Golden Globes so I suppose you could say he's pretty good and knows his stuff. He's gained a lot of experience over the years too. I hope he carries on because I can't imagine the film industry and music industry without him, apparently he is already looking at the music for the next Star Wars film. Love it!!

So when you go to see a film take note of who has composed the music and just absorb that music moment as well as the actual film itself. I literally nearly burst with excitement tonight, this music is timeless spanning over all these decades and being listened to by ongoing generations of people. I also love that my boys think his music is cool too and that's rare sometimes for teenagers. See ya can't beat a bit of classical music.

I can recommend the film so go on, lightsabers at the ready and 'May The Force Be With You' .........ALWAYS.

Thanks for reading tonight, should be back to my usual time of 7pm tomorrow so join me then for Teapot Tuesday, for now though......

Take care.

Yes today is actually International Mountain Day and this is the image I get when thinking about mountains. Julie Andrews running over those hills and the mountains in the background, singing 'the hills are alive with the sound of music'. Wonderful.

The tv series The Waltons always makes me think of mountains too as they all lived on one, named after the family too, you can't get better than that for mountain trivia. I remember being on a family holiday in Scotland and getting quite excited at the prospect of seeing Ben Nevis only for it to be under a massive raincloud so I didn't see it. Come to think of it, I still don't think I have.

It got me thinking though with all this mountain talk, what songs are there out there which feature 'mountain' in the title? Well here is just five I have chosen:

Foot of the Mountain - Aha
Rocky Mountain High - John Denver
Ain't No Mountain High Enough - Marvin Gaye
River Deep Mountain High - Tina Turner
Love On A Mountain Top - Robert Knight

All classics but I was listening to 'Love on a Mountain Top' recently and it made me giggle when it mentions making love on a mountain top, I mean you wouldn't surely? When hills become mountains that means you are really really high up and it's gonna be chilly up there, you do not want frost bite on your private bits. I bet Julie Andrews wouldn't think like that. She would just make love on a mountain top and sing a song about it afterwards in a dress made from her curtains and no coat. 

I think all of those songs are ones I think of when mentioning the word 'mountain' but I have to add the recent 'Holy Mountain' by Noel Gallagher, that is a great song and I also have a soft spot for Rainbow's 'Man On The Silver Mountain' a great rock classic.

They are my favourite tunes about mountains, have you got any favourites too? What memories of any do you have of these songs? I bet you didn't even know that mountains had their own special day did you? Well there you go! Every day is a school day. If you are a mountaineer, take care when climbing and I think we ought to thank the Mountain Rescue Teams who are there if anyone should get into any trouble, true heroes! I wonder if they have a favourite mountain tune? The mind boggles.

I was originally going to write about a Rock Choir performance but we were snowed off yesterday so I never thought for a minute I'd be writing about mountain tunes. It just goes to show your day can take a completely different turn. Thank goodness for International Mountain Day and everyone who has written songs about them.

Thanks for reading today, please join me tomorrow for Teapot Tuesday but for now stay warm and.......

Take care

That must be one of the best titles for my blogs so far. I love the name Knickerbocker Glorious and it is a great way to describe this event which takes place in Derby every month. Now Derby is taking a bit of a battering at the moment regarding it's image and how it compares to other cities in the UK. Well one thing it does very well at is celebrate the Arts and promote talent within the city. 

On selected Saturdays between 11am and 3pm just by the waterfall on the Market Place in Derby you will see a mixture of music, poetry, comedy and performing arts all available for you and your family to enjoy. Just like a Knickerbocker Glory you get to enjoy all these talented people layered up just for you, so stop, take a break from the shopping and take it all in. 

I was there on Saturday with Derby and Nottinghamshire Rock Choir and we had a great time singing in our santa hats, it looked and sounded very festive. We performed 'Let it Snow', 'Mary's Prayer' and 'Halo' and it was good to blow all the chilly winter blues away. I really enjoy this event, it gets me really set up for Christmas and I get so much from performing with the choir, it's my happy place.

What made me giggle is that there were so many of us and we had to move from the Market Place for another performance just up the road at St Peters Quarter. Well I was towards the back and it just put a massive smile on my face when I saw a sea of Rock Choir Members walking up in their Santa hats, a great sight. I suppose you could say we took over Derby on Saturday. See, there is more to Derby than a disappointed overprotected Christmas tree!

Our second performance was just as enjoyable if not more as those new songs got let loose on the public. We performed 'Don't Stop Believin', 'Hallelujah', 'The First Noel/Silent Night' and 'Let it Snow'. So good to have learnt and practised those newbies and have got to performed them, an emotional moment mainly as they are really nice emotional songs.

I walked away happy and very proud to be a Rockie. Thanks to everyone who came out to watch us, all those who organise this great event and of course Jennie and Sue who keep us in order (well as much as possible).

Please continue to support Knickerbocker Glorious, if you need any information go to www.derbycathedralquarter.co.uk/CQGlorious and Furthest From the Sea who organise the event have a Facebook page so you can keep updated on future dates too at:
www.facebook.com/fftsevents/

Thanks for reading today, please join me tomorrow for Teapot Tuesday but for now take care.