It’s New Year’s Eve and at the moment the old year is going out quite brightly with a bit of wintery sunshine. Of course, that could all change within a matter of minutes, rather like our current government! Mind you, Sunak seems to have managed to remain in place for a good few weeks now.
His predecessor, Liz Truss, has just revealed her resignation honours list. I think she managed the country for about 50 days, for some of which time the whole place came to a stop because of the death of Queen Elizabeth II. In view of the rapid turnover of Prime Ministers over the last year or so, maybe there should be a law which you have to be in office for a minimum length of time before you can award resignation honours? Or maybe it”s a deliberate ploy on the part of the Conservatives, gradually filling the House of Lords with their supporters so that if or when Labour wins the next election, they can make life difficult for them whenever a bill goes for a further reading in the Lords!
Now, here’s a link to a curious article about how very considerate the Majors were, especially Mrs Major, when it began to look certain that they would have to leave Downing Street in 1997. John Major is one of those politicians who seems to have grown in stature as he has grown older and wiser(?). Or maybe he Just looks mild and reasonable in comparison with what we have now?
The other night Phil and I watched a documentary about singer/songwriter Neil Young. We must have recorded it years ago and neither of us could remember having seen it before. It traced his musical career from the start, playing music very reminiscent of The Shadows and gradually developing his own style. One thing that came out all through was his determination to play the music he wanted to play, changing his style according to where the music took him. He didn’t want to be manipulated by managers into doing the same thing over and over purely in the interests of making money.
I remember our going to see him in concert in Sheffield, many years ago. A friend of ours was so incensed by the fact that he played much more of his Crazy Horse music than his more lyrical ballads that when the concert was over she marched off furiously towards our car, ready to set off for home. Unfortunately this was the friend with no sense of direction and when we reached the car there was no sign of her. We had to wait until the carpark was almost empty before we were able to locate her. Our son was amazed, amused, disconcerted to find that although the friend and I both had mobile phones we did not have each other’s numbers and so were unable simply to call and say exactly where we were.
At that time it had perhaps become second nature for the young to contact each other quickly and regularly but for our generation it was not yet the case. My rather clunky mobile didn’t take photos and, truth to tell, I regarded it more as an emergency device in case I ever got stuck during my long commute to and from work. Those were the days!
Neil Young began by playing for school dances and the like in his part of Canada, before moving on to greater things. At every stage he seemed to have a good time. As we watched I wondered about young musicians starting their careers now. The small venues have, I am told, almost disappeared. So how do they make themselves known? Social media I suppose. But do they have as much fun? It’s a different world.
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
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