The Sunday Reflection #5 - London is a City of 9 million people, where are they all?

I was quite shocked to learn that over 9 million people live in London. I did a quick google of the population and this came up

London - Historical Population Data
Year	Population	Growth Rate
2023	9,648,000	1.12%
2022	9,541,000	1.22%
2021	9,426,000	1.31%

My first thought was I wonder where they all are? According to TFL, there are 4 million tube journeys every day. My guess is that most of these are return journeys, so about 2 million of us get a tube, less than a quarter. About 200,000 of these are tourists. Then there are the buses. There are 5 million journeys a day on these. There are also a around half a million journeys on the London Overground. There are also millions commuting into London on the mainline railways, but most don't live in London. What is less clear is how many of the above journeys include multiple means of transport. If I need to get the tube, I have to take a bus to Burnt Oak. If you watch people leave Mill Hill's Thameslink station, probably half get a bus to complete their journey. Around two and a half thousand people use Mill Hill Broadway Station. According to the last census, 18,000 people live in Mill Hill, so around 12% of the population jump on a train every day. 

The London Cycling Camapign estmates that 155,000 cycle to work every day, which is roughly 2% of Londoners. As for walking, there are around six million journeys a day. Given that every bus, tube and train journey has a walking element, made me think. Does that mean that three and a half million Londoners never go out? What do they do?

Yesterday, I had a wonderfful day. I joined around 200 other revellers on a Ska Cruise on the River Thames. We do this quite regularly, as my company sponsors the London International Ska Festival.  I always find that travelling on the river makes me feel connected with London in a way nothing else quite does. We always spot landmarks and get excited as we pass pubs that we like on the river, such as The Gun at Greenwich and the Prospect of Whitby. We always have the same conversation about how we must do a 'river pub crawl' of them all. I also love seeing the various places I worked at that overlooked the river. I was privileged. I had river facing offices when I worked for BT at Baynard House, at Blackfriars, and also at tother companies, including Trinity Tower at St Katheryns Dock (a spectacular view of Tower Bridge), a wonderful view of St Pauls and The Shard at Red Lion Court on Park St, by London Bridge, and one of London's most famous landmarks at 60 Victoria Embankment, which is one of the building on the old Thames TV opening credits. 

It was the old City of London School. which is the building to the left of Big Ben on the credits. The front of Trinity Tower was used in the opening sequence for the cult comedy "The IT Crowd" and Uma Thurman was also spotted filming in the building next door, which was empty at the time, sadly I can't recall the film. When I worked at Trinity Tower, we'd often go for elevensies at a nice coffee shop in St Kaythryns Dock, and on one occasion we saw an episode of "Life on Mars" being filmed. It was before it came out, so we had no idea who Gene Hunt was. I mention this, because like me, you may be a tad surprised that it was possible to film in such a busy location, in the middle of the day. In truth though, much of London is not as busy as you think. The reason we chose the coffee bar for elevensies was because it was quiet.

Which brings me back to the point of this reflection. Where are all of the people. It appears that three million don't venture out at all. But for even those who do, where do they go and what do they do?

I was reading an old blog about the development of the National Institute for Medical Research Development earlier in the week. When Sadiq Khan passed this, he reduced the number of parking spaces. Given that the 240 bus was already overcrowded and the nearest tube station involves a mile long schlep up/down a massive hill, I wondered whether the new residents would live on Deliveroo deliveries (other delivery services are available) and work from home in a hermit like existence. I am now starting to wonder if 3.5 million Londoners are living such an existence? 

Which made me ask myself. "The reason to live in London is becaise there is so much going on. It is expensive and noisy, why would you live in London if you don't go out?". I walk up and down Mill Hill Broadway every day. I am inquisitive by nature, so I always check out how busy the restaurants are. I also often go to the local pubs. As mentioned above, there are 18,000 people living in Mill Hill, but on any given evening I doubt more than 5% of them are out and about in Mill Hill. I'd guestimate that if you took all the pubs, bars, restaurants in Mill Hill on a Saturday night, there would be less than 1,000 people out and about. Perhaps the busiest and best restaurant in Mill Hill is the Good Earth. It always appears to me that most of it's clientelle are from far and wide. Of course, many people will go out in Town, but even then, the Thameslink ridership figures indicate it is a small percentage of Mill Hill residents. I am using Mill Hill as an example, as I know this area. Is this repeated across the Capital.

Having said all of that, I regularly meet friends in town for drinks and to eat. I've been taken aback by how busy areas of Central London are on a Thursday night. A few weeks ago, I met a mate for abeer and curry in Farringdon and it was rammed. It seems that The Elizabeth Line has made it a go to destination. They all seemed to be in their 20's and 30's and going for it on the 'enjoying themselves' front. There were far fewer people of my sort of age out.  Is this a hangover from the pandemic? Did the 40+ generation get out of the habit of going out and doing things?  I've spoken to a few people who used to be most gregarious, who now say they dislike crowds?

My main love is  live music, it is my passion. My band regularly plays gigs in places like Camden Town. We have a decent following for an unsigned band playing original music. We get ariound 100 or so people who regularly watch us at the Dublin Castle in Camden, where we have a residency. There are perhaps 200(???) grassroots music venues in London currently operating. If we are typical, then there are perhaps 20,000 people on a weekend night watching live grassroots music. In some ways this is great, as audiences are growing, but it is only 0.2 percent of London's population. If you think that when Blur played Wembley, four times that number turned out a night, it does make me wonder. It is quite a shame that the vast numbers that turn out for the mega gigs, don't turn out to support up and coming bands. 

I go to a lot of gigs. On Friday, I went to see the Mel Gaynor band (drummer from Simple Minds) at The Waterrats. He was great. Last night, after the Ska Cruise, we went to St Albans to watch a Rolling Stones tribute band at the Horn, which was packed and tonight, we'll see US rock and roll legend Sonny George at The Arts Club in West Hampstead ( a venue I've not been to before). I simply cannot understand how anyone would not want to go out and see great music. I know that not everyone has the same musical tastes as me, but there are so many options and things to choose from. 

When I started writing this series of blogs, I determined that I'd write long and at times rambling blogs, but ultimately each one would have a theme and hopefully raise a few points of interest. The theme I am most interested in here is whether there is a whole subsection of London society that is 40+ and has simply gone off going out at all? Is this the case? Did the pandemic make a bunch of us so risk averse that we'd rather stay in all the time? Is there another reason, such as 14 years of mismanagement have made us all skint and we can't afford £7 a pint? I don't know, but what I do know is that there is some great things going on. For me, the difficulty is trying to fit them all in.

Anyway, if reading this has inspired you and you fancy a nice night out, why not come and see my band, The False Dots, at The Beehive in Bow on Saturday March 23rd. We really are rather fun - get your ticket by clicking here

We are rather fun, here is an example of our work!

My opinion on the new names for TFL lines

 TFL has announced new names for London Overground Lines. Whilst I think this is a wonderful idea, on reflection, I think he's not got it right. Here are my views on the new names, line by line, with a mark out of 10

Lioness - 10/10 - I like this. It goes to Wembley and the Lionesses deserve the accolade. This is the one they got right. It makes sense

Mildmay - 0/10 - This has always been the North London Line. People know it. It doesn't need changing.

Windrush - 1/10 - Windrush is associated with the arrival of Carribean workers from the West Indies. They largely settled in areas in South and West London, such as Brixton and Notting Hill. If the line ran from Notting Hill/Harlesden/Willesden to Brixton, this would be a great name, but it is on totally the wrong axis of London. I gave it a 1, as the line does need a name. As the main area served is East London, the old name, The East London Line might have been OK. I'd have called it The Cablestreet line if I was going to change it

Weaver 2/10 - Another line that needed a name. The Weaver line says nothing that I can associate with. I'd have called it the Grassroots line, as it stops at Hackney Downs, the home of Grassroots football in London. Association Football is the sport of London and I doubt too many would argue. There are quite a few proper grass roots clubs of repute on the line, they should have bigged this up. I guess that our Mayor isn't interested in what ordinary Londoners are interested in

Suffragette - 0/10 - Again, Londoners know this as the Goblin Line as it goes from from Gospel Oak to Barking. To me, the Suffragettes were a national campaign, this implies it was a North London quirk. Totally inappropriate.

Liberty - 4/10 - I wasn't aware of this line, three stops from Romford to Upminster. As such it clearly needed some sort of rebrand, but why 'Liberty'. I know little about Romford (other than I dated a girl from there) and even less about Upminster. I did a little google and apparently the Speed of Sound was first calculated in Upminster. I'd call it the Sonic line, but let the locals decide.

In short, I get that it helps to have distinct name, but whoever the Mayor of London asked to do this, did an absolutely crap job. It stinks of change for the sake of it and displays a total lack of imagination. 
 

Empathy for Eddie Nestors car crash radio show on BBC Radio London

 Yesterday was Valentines day. The day when we spoil and treat our beloved partners. I day when we let out our inner Casanova to shmooz the special person in our lives. Sadly for one of my favourite radio presenters, even though he's always banning me from his show, the words that greeted him when he got home were not "How wonderful to see you!". They were more like "Idiot", "Don't you ever think", "Have you no respect".  If you weren't listening, you may be wondering why. Eddie started the show off by explaining he was in trouble. I assume, although he didn't explicity say so, he forget the obligatory card and chocolates, required to ensure a romantic evening. I felt his pain, I had also forgot. One of my staff is off, so I've been covering shifts. It's also been really busy and I've been getting home late. No excuse, I know, but there you go.

But it got worse for poor old Eddie. He then told a story about how his teenage son had been searched at the pound shop, suspected of shoplifting.  It appears that this was in error and Eddie was cross. He mentioned it in response to a comment from a caller. A few minutes later, he rather sullenly said "Now I'm really in trouble, Mrs Nestor is not happy, I hadn't told her about our son getting searched, but I told the whole of London first". I can jut see the situation as he walked in "What were you thinking?".

I have a degree of empathy for Eddie here. Of course he's a fool and an idiot, of course he shouldn't discuss the family business on air, but I do get exactly why he's found himself in this mess. I've done the same thing myself in this blog. I've had the cold shoulder and the "How dare you" when I've mentioned personal things. It  is no justification but when you are on a roll and saying something that is important to you, it is so easy to switch of fyour common sense filter. 

This morning, Eddie is not on his show. I am genuinely worried for him. He's a had a journey a bit like mine. He's a cancer survivor, he's had his challenges with his mental health, he likes to talk and he wears his heart on his sleeve. He is also careless in his personal relationships and doesn't always get his priorities in order. My missus will no doubt have a lot of empathy for Mrs Nestor. The fact that both of us are bad at using our common sense in these matters does not mean we don't put the family absolutely first. We just think in a way that means we get things wrong occasionally and that is part of the package.

Last year, when I was at my lowest point following my radical prostatectomy, Eddie reached out to me and offered support. He's a good man and when I heard he wasn't on the air, I felt for him. I get why he's in the doghouse, God knows, I've had enough lectures on the matter to appreciate why. All I can posibly say to Mrs Nestor, who I guess is totally fuming about this matter is that women are always telling men that they don't talk about their feelings enough. The thing is, when we do, we often shoot ourselves in the foot. We are rubbish at it. So I ask her to forgive Eddie, just as my long suffering Mrs has forgiven me for being a complete, indescrete, uncaring idiot on many occasion. 

Rock and Roll Stories #6 - What were you doing 45 years ago today....

Today is Valentines day. A very special day in the history of The False Dots. On this day in 1979, we had our first rehearsal - It is a proper Rock and Roll story in itself. 

It is a day that is burned into my memory for ever. Myself and Pete Conway had been working on getting a band together for the best part of a year. First we had to save up some money, as we had to procure guitars and amps, then we had to learn to play a few notes & chords. Then we had to write some songs and practice them. Then we had to find other members. On the 3rd February, we had a meeting where we met a prospective drummer and 2nd guitarist. We agreed that we'd have our first rehearsal in the disused caretakers cottage at Bunns Lane Works on Valentines day. 

This was a deliberate ploy by Pete and myself. The idea was we'd make it a party. We'd be so good that we'd automatically have an instant following and maybe some georgeous groupies. The cottage was the derelict former home of the yard caretaker. It had been empty for a couple of years, after the previous resident killed themselves. On of my brothers mates, a rather odd fellow called Donovan had moved in. On the first night, a ghost grabbed his bed and threw it down the stairs, with him in it. He moved straight out.  I was lucky that my Dad owned the site and said we could use the place as for rehearsals if we paid him £5 a week. We didn't have enough gear, so we hooked up with a couple of bands and did a deal on sharing gear and costs.  That was how Mill Hill Music Complex Studios originally came to be, asa  musicians collective, but that's another story.

The Cottage - Me with a cuppa to keep warm

Despite the ghost and the general state of delapidation (the plan had been to knock it down and put another workshop on the site), we were super excited. We were 16 years old and having a place to hang out and make music seemed super cool. We invited another band to come down and also have a rehearsal. The idea was that we'd watch each other, then have a little party. I recall buying six bottles of Strongbow and asking a few girls I rather liked from school. In my mind, I had a vision that we'd rock up, play the numbers we'd been strumming away on, and the girls would think we were better than the Clash and we'd be on our way to rock and roll heaven.

There were several flaws in our cunning plan. The first was that we'd never played with Dave the drummer and he'd never played with a band. He only knew two beats, Dave Beat 1 and Dave Beat 2. The second was that we'd promised a visit to our amazing new studio and it was a derelict house in an industrial esated. We'd nailed corrogated iron to the windows to secure it, as most of the window were broken. It was in the middle of winter and was absolutely freezing. The final and perhaps the worst part of all was we'd asked another band along to join us who could actually play. Seats for the audience? There were a couple of old, very smelly sofas in the place, hardly suitable for the amazonian Godesses we'd invited. We set up and we ran through a couple of songs before anyone turned up. The horrible truth struck. It was awful and we were rubbish. And the songs? A bunch of rants with screeching guitars thrashed wildly over the top.

 Looking back on this, reading old diaries, and dredging up memories, I am struck by just how similar 1979 and 2024 are. The then government had long passed its sell by date and was in the process of falling apart (there was an election in May and they were booted out). There was a refugee crisis on the news (the Vietnamese boat people), we'd just had the "Winter of Discontent", with seemingly endless strikes. Inflation was rampant and the Bank of England was in crisis. The employment prospects for pur generation seemed bleak, and the country seemed to be falling apart. The one big difference was the amazing music of the period. 

Our friends were genuinely excited. Ny sister took some pictures of the band on her Kodak Instamatic Camera in my back garden, before we went to the rehearsal. And the members?   We realised we'd totally overpromised, when we said we were the future of punk rock. Dave was a few years older than us. He was a nice enough bloke and didn't seem phased by the fact he'd walked into a complete car crash. Dave brought his girlfriend Mandy, she brought her guitar and the plan was to get her in the band, but for the first rehearsal, she didn't know the songs.

Dave was a big fan of The Heartbreakers and Tubeway Army. He lived in Finchley. He had the makings of a good drummer as he was a good timekeeper, but hadn't mastered fills etc, so could only really keep simple beats. My view was that he was very like Mo Tucker of The Velvet Underground in style, minimalist and tight, so ideal.

Pete was the bassplayer. Pete was charismatic, charming and semi psychotic at at times. We'd been mates since we were four years old and he was a very bright guy. From an Irish Republican family, he was a hater of the Monarchy and The British Establishment, so fell right in with the Sex Pistols ethos. He was always careful to 'look right' and decorated his bass accordingly. We wrote amazing lyrics and songs together as we progressed, but at this time most of the songs were rubbish. Most were about the drugery of life such as "The Factory" - "Beating a track, to the factory, I'm not a person, I'm a packer you see". Some were about social injustice and some were about nihilism. None were much fun. We set a three chord limit on all songs in the early days. Some only had one or two, but as Lou Reed had said that all you need is one chord if you have the right attitude, we thought we'd be fine. At that stage, Pete took the monica of "The Cadillac Kid", which he soon abandoned, when someone asked where his Cadillac was.

Then there was me. For the first rehearsal, I borrowed my sisters Kimbara Les Paul copy Guitar. Kimbara guitars looked amazing but were almost unplayable and are impossible to tune properly, even if we'd known how.  I could just about manage to play A, D, E and C chords as well as a couple of barre chords. I'd happily bought into the party plan, but as we ran through a few numbers with Dave, I started to feel sick. I'd asked girls I'd met from my new school. I'd started at Orange Hill the previous September. I knew the word would go back that we were a joke and a shambles. All my credibility would be gone. There were several bands at the school, including the Polecats, who were brilliant and had a top ten hit shortly after. It hadn't occurred to me that they'd take a year or two to get the band sorted and could all play in the first place. 

To make matters worse, Mandy had asked her friends band, which included Liz and Wendy. Wendy was the girlfriend of Abbo, who was the singer in UK Decay, a reasonably well established punk band from St Albans. Wendy was used to hanging around with musicians who knew what they were doing and could play. When they sat down and set up, we were horrified. They knew what they were doing and knew how to tune guitars etc. I went outside with Pete to discuss what we could do. Pete said "We'll smash it, lets just go mad and see what happens". 

The other friends arrived, We passed around the cider. Liz and Wendy did their thing. It was all very nice. One of the songs was a humourous rework of "The Halls of Montezuma" (The US Marines hymn). I recall thinking "They are pretty good". The girls were very pretty and could sing. Everyone who came was enjoying themselves. They only new three or four songs, so then it was our turn. We turned up the volume to "ear splitting" and then announced that we'd do the rehreasal standing on chairs, with the lights off and candles. We played them all three times faster than we had earlier and Pete was screaming and behaving like a madman. 

We got to the end of what we'd been doing, with Pete shouting "Dave Beat 1" or "Dave Beat 2" so he'd know what to play and everyone looked absolutely shell shocked. To this day, I've no idea whether we were brilliant, rubbish or both. The girls we'd invited seemed to like it. Dave and Mandy left at 10pm, to get the bus back to Finchley. The rest of us stayed until the early hours. There was a brief moment, after we had played our songs, just sitting with the friends, in a freezing cold room (The cold didn't help, the headline of the Times that day was the snowstorms.), drinking cider, that I realised it was the first time in my life I'd ever been truly happy and new what I wanted to do. There were no shenanigans, we had hoped that maybe, we'd be able to persuade one or other of the girls to join us upstairs, but when we mentioned that there was a ghost, that put paid to that. It was just that, for the first time, I was doing what I wanted on my own terms. Rock and Roll really does set you free. 

We scheduled another rehearsal for the next week. We decided that we'd not ask people again until we could actually play the songs properly. Once we got it together, we started asking friends down again, but it was never quite as manic as the first gig. We all had a huge laugh. I'd always assumed that the girls we invited thought we were awful, but were being polite. I saw one at a school reunion a few years ago who told me that it was the most rock and roll night of her life and that she loved it. 

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The band are still going. Why not come down to see us at The Beehive in Bow. It's a great venue - CLiCK HERE FOR TICKETS

Our new single

Rock and Roll Stories #5 - It's all in the bands name

Lets start with a quiz for you, first correct answer wins you a pat on the back for yourself. Why are all of these bands famous

The Pendletones 

The Rattlesnakes

The Polka Tulk Blues Band

Seymour

Starfish

Sigma 6

Smile

Tom and Jerry

The N'Betweens

The Detours

Did you get it? They are all the orignal names of rather well known bands, you can find out the answers  (and some other rather interesting ones) here List_of_original_names_of_bands. I found this list when I was researching the subject. I didn't know any of these (although none of the bands are ones I am deeply attached to). I knew The Who had been called the High Numbers, but hadn't known they'd had another name before. So why are we looking at bandnames today? Well a week or so ago, my Band, The False Dots celebrated our 45th anniversary at the Dublin Castle. After the gig, at least five people asked me why we had the name. A couple asked if we'd always been called that.

Naming the band has been the most painful aspect of the entire career of The False Dots. When I was first putting the band together with Pete Conway, we decided that we wouldn't look for other members until we'd got a name and written a band manifesto (our principles). We decided that if we let other people join, we could end up with a name we didn't like and principles we didn't agree with. As we felt the principles should guide the songs we write, that was a key, but the name had to reflect the manifesto. Back when we were having this discussion in 1978, Rock Against Racism was at it's height. We wanted a name to reflect our dislike of politics of division and fascism. After two weeks, we'd come up with and disregarded names such as "Pineapple chunks" (too frivalous), Ultima Nox (Latin for "Last Night") too poncey and pretentious and Chaos (there were already three bands we knew called that). We were getting nowhere. I was watching a documentary about World War II with my Dad when a historian was talking about the use by the RAF of aluminium strips to confuse German radar in the second world war. He read a quote from Herman Goering, head of the German airforce, which said "these false dots on the radar will see the destruction of the Third Reich". I immediately knew this was the right name. 

I ran to the hall, dialled Pete Conway and excitedly said "I've got the name - The False Dots". Pete said "The Full Stops, that's a pretty cool name". I corrected him and explained it. Pete said that he didn't like it. I said "Ok, you've got a week to choose a better one". Try as he may, he couldn't find one. We wanted to start the band, so "The False Dots" was the choice. Little did I know that forty five years later, I'd still have people saying exactly what Pete said "The Full Stops". We then designed a logo. That was as important. The problem was that we were both rubbish at art. Here are a couple of the early designs. I kept them, but we never actually used them.

What we did do was argue for hours about what we didn't like. Then Pete came up with a cunning plan and decided to get his then girlfriend to draw something. "She's a really cool artist and she'll do something brilliant". Sadly, before she ever produced anything, they'd split up. 

We decided that the logo could wait. For the next 18 months, when Pete was in the band, we'd periodically end up in the pub and he'd say "I don't like the name". He'd come up with something else. They were all rubbish. One time, he announced that his new girlfriend had come up with a name and this time it was not up for debate. It was rubbish (I wish I'd recorded them all). Then in December 1980, Pete left for the last time and I thought the "Band Name" problem had gone away. 

All was good, the band was doing well, until mid 1984. Venessa Sagoe had joined the band and we were doing good gigs, had a great demo and all seemed happy. One day, out of the blue, she turned around and said to me "You know what bothers me most about this band?". I said "No". She said "If we all left tomorrow, you'd simply get a whole new load of members and The False Dots would continue as if nothing had happened". I genuinely had no answer to that. It was 100% true, but I wanted Venessa to feel welcome and wanted. I asked her what I could possibly do to allay her worries. She was brilliant and I really didn't want her to leave. 

She replied "Change the name of the band". She said "That way, we will all be a part of it". I was horrified but I felt that she was our best chance of success, so I reluctantly agreed. We had a band meeting and, perhaps unsurprisingly, the majority agreed with her. We had a few gigs booked up and I said "look, lets get these out of the way and any ones we book in future, will have the new name". She then announced that she wanted us to write some new songs, that she had more input into. Until then, it was all songs I'd written. I agreed, I always wanted the rest of the band to be as engaged as possible. She started working on some material with Chris Potts, who was our keyboard player and a brilliant musician. I have some tapes of their stuff. I was surprised and disappointed with it, when I heard it. Whilst it was definitely more 'musical', to me it lacked the energy that always made the False Dots different. I am sure that this is as much down to my taste in music as anything wrong with the tracks. I was sharing a flat with Venessa and sadly that drove a wedge between the band. I was not a great flatmate, I am still not easy! As a result, the band split up before "Man Silent" the new name was adopted. I took the name as a bit of a dig at the way I ran the band, but I'm sure it wasn't. 

I was so devastated by the break up of the band, that I didn't play for nine months. When I did, The False Dots were back. I determined that in future, that was a non negotiable. Allen Ashley joined in 1985 and we were back on track. Then at the end of the year, we parted company. Allen was training to be a teacher and wasn't prepared to commit to tour with the band. We discussed this recently and he says I got the wrong end of the stick, but he left. What happened next was perhaps my least favourite period of the band. We put together a nine piece line up, with three saxophones, keyboards etc. I wanted to try and cross the False Dots sound with The Stax soul sound. We auditioned singers, settling on one, who became known as Mark The Fascist. The fact he didn't object to the name probably says it all. First the name went, the band became Urban Dance. Then he decided we had to sack our drummer Graham Ramsey, who is a great friend of mine. Then he insisted we did covers so we could earn money. By this time, I wasn't enjoying it. I didn't keep a record of the gigs with him. I felt it wasn't my band and didn't like the music.

The band limped on for a couple of years after, doing our last gig in 1990. I had had enough. The False Dots had died!

In 1998, we'd established the recording studio. I asked our old bass player Paul Hircombe, if he'd be interested in recording a few of the old numbers. I'd not played for eight years. I had no intention of doing gigs. Paul agreed, we recruited Fil Ross and Tony Caveye and started rehearsing sporadically and doing a few recordings. In 2001, My studio business partner, Ernie Ferebee passed away from Pancreatic Cancer. We decided to play a fundraising gig in his memory at The Red Lion in Colindale in 2002. I insisted it was a one off. A big turn out of friends and a great night meant that I had the bug again. It felt good having a band. The band went through numerous personel changes. 

We've sort of ended up back where we wanted to be when we started. No covers, playing Ska punk. I sort of feel that so long as we are The False Dots and we stick to our principles, we'll be all alright. My daughter, a talented artist, designed us a logo, that I think is pretty cool!

Although The Who, Simon and Garfunkel, Coldplay and Black Sabbath have all benefitted from a name change, I have become very superstitious of changing the name and it works for us. After 45 years, it gives us a bit of something most bands lost a long time ago!

Why not come down to see us at The Beehive in Bow. It's a great venue - CLCK HERE FOR TICKETS

Our new single

Doctors vs Morons (like me)

I was looking at some old papers. Exactly four years ago today, a pandemic in China first caught my attention. I decided to do some research. What I found out horrified me. Five days later, I published the first blog about the subject. I hoped one or two people may take it seriously. I had no idea what would follow. I had hoped that the one thing good that the Pandemic may do, would be to persuade the government to properly value Doctors and Nurses. Why does this matter to me. 

Ok, lets figure this out rationally from base 1. When we are at school, the very cleverest people, who get the best grades aspire to do medicine. They have to work really hard and get A* in sciences. They then have to do long University courses. They then work ungodly hours in hospitals for years on end. Thanks to their efforts and dedication, ignorant, lazy, good for nothing twats like me who did bugger all at school apart from turn up, can have operations like the one I had in August, which will stop me dying of cancer. Now personally, I was taught enough good manners by my Mum and Dad, both who received brilliant care for all manner of life threatening illnesses for years on end, to actually think they are undervalued and deserve to be well paid and treated with respect. 

When anyone says we can't afford it, we could certainly afford to bale out the banks, we can afford tax breaks for billionaires, we can afford to let Google and Starbucks pay bugger all tax, whilst their UK staff benefit from the NHS (their low tax compatriots in the USA have no such care). 

So who's side am I on Rishi Sunak, Victoria Aitken and Jeremy C. Hunt or the Doctors? 

I may be a thick, uneducated moron, but I think I figured that one out. 

And you know what? When I am being sedated, to have bits chopped off me, in the hope that it will save my life, I want that person to be the cleverest person I will meet that week. I don't want them to be tired, stressed and overworked. I am quite happy to pay more tax to ensure that happens. When you look at it like that, I can only assume that anyone who disagrees with me is an even bigger moron than I am.

Back in lockdown, I recorded a reworking of a False Dots song, especially dedicated to the NHS workers and Doctors and Nurses everywhere (including my Sister Val who is a Nurse and her husband Tim who is an A&E Doctor). They were at the coalface during the pandemic. How quickly did the Government forget? How quickly did we forget? We stood there and clapped on our doorsteps, but I simply do not understand why there are not millions marching in support of a pay rise for junior Doctors.

My band, The False Dots will be performing at The Beehive in Bow on Saturday 23rd March. It would be lovely if you came down - Tickets: bit.ly/42qVHCN

The Saturday List #420 - Ten top grassroots music venues in London that you really should visit #SaveLondonMusic Special!

A couple of weeks ago, we had Independent Venues week. I was going to post this list then, but was just a tad too busy to finish it! Anyway, here it is suitably updated with a new speel!

One of the great things about playing in a band, is that I get to visit music venues that I probably wouldn't visit otherwise. I am quite excited that my band, The False Dots will be playing a brand new venue (for us) on Saturday 23rd March. We will be appearing at The Beehive in Bromley by Bow! It should be a great night and I always love the buzz of playing a new venue. I've heard great things about The Beehive, so it should be great, come along if you can. It is actually pretty easy to get to from The Borough of Barnet, just one change onto the the Hammersmith and City line. I'm also seeing friends play at a few gigs coming up at other great small venues. Tonight, we see Whelligan at The Slaughtered Lamb in Farringdon and tomorrow, we are at the Dublib Castle in Camden for The Pogue Traders.

1. The Dublin Castle in Camden Town. Perhaps the best and most iconic pub venue in London. Superstars such as Madness and Amy Winehouse started their career at the pub and it is one of the very best venues to play at. I love it. Even if you are not watching a band, nip in for a pint and a shufti at the music memorabilia. I even wrote a song celebrating it!

2. The Slaughered Lamb in Farringdon. This is a wonderful, intimate venue, as mentioned above, we are off to see Whelligan there later (a great band who performed a wonderful set at The Mill Hill Music Festival in June). The venue is downstairs, the food upstairs is great value, the fish and chips was pretty damn good. We saw a brilliant set from Sunny War their last year.

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3. The Fiddlers Elbow at Chalk Farm. This is another wonderful venue. The False Dots have played there a good few times and our mate Alan Galaxy has just started promoting gigs at the venue. Alan is part of the Spizz band and has great connections.  Keep an eye on his Facebook page, there are some great shows coming up (I particularly like the look of legendary Fay Fife of the Rezillos and  guitarist John Ellis of Peter Gabriel, The Vibrators and The Stranglers fame). One of my favourite False Dots gigs was when Connie Abbe was singing with us and we played there in 2010

4. Ronnie Scotts. Is there a better Jazz venue in the world? As the Dots don't play jazz, I doubt I'll ever get to walk on that esteemed stage, but hey ho, you never know. Do yourself a favour and go and see Ben Sidran there on the 11th June. If you are not really a jazzer, I'd recommend the likes of  Ray Gelato or the Jive Aces for an introduction to the venue. I rather like the Sunday Lunch gigs.

5. The 100 Club, Oxford St. Another one of London's stellar venues. I've seen so many amazing gigs at the venue over the years and it is usually the first venue I visit every year, as they stage the Resolution Punk Festival at the start of the year. This year was no exception, we saw 999. The beer is only £3.95 for a Becks, so you can have a cheap night on the booze, if that's your idea of a good night ouit

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6. The Water Rats, Farringdon Road. Another venue I've played a few times. The False Dots first played there in in the early 1980's, when it was still The Pindar of Wakefield. I'll be going down on the 16th February to see the rather wonderful Mel Gaynor, who was the Drummer of Simple Minds and also plays with Lee John of Imagination and  Light of The World. It is a nice venue and easy to get to from Kings Cross.

7. The George in Shadwell. A venue I've not played, but one which has some amazing music. I made a film for the #SaveLondonMusic campaign about the venue a couple of years ago. They were facing a threat from a large property development. I am pleased to say it is still going and I hope my efforts helped.

8. The West Hampstead Arts Club.  One of the easiest venues to get to for me! Just ten minutes away by Thameslink from Mill Hill. A really nice little venue with some great gigs coming up. I am really looking forward to Sonny George with Boz Boorer on Sunday 18th February. The venue only fits 100 people, so it is very intimate. 

9. The Hope and Anchor, Islington. I've been going to the Hope and Anchor since the 1970's. I was there when Crass infamously played and riot police shut the gig down. Fortunately, things are far more civilised these days. It is on my bucket list to play, as it's one of the few grassroots venues in London that I love and haven't played. Keep an eye on the Facebook page, there are some great shows coming up (I particularly like the look of legendary Fay Fife of the Rezillos and  guitarist John Ellis of Peter Gabriel, The Vibrators and The Stranglers fame)

10. The Boogaloo Bar. Highgate. If you've not done a 'Gospel Lunch' at the Boogaloo, then you simply haven't lived. I am really looking forward to seeing Pama International there. The Boogaloo is one of the most fun music bars in London. 

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Goodbye to Mike Freer, the man who laid waste to Barnet Council service

Finchley MP and former leader of Barnet Council, Mike Freer announced last week that he will not be standing for election again. In a personal statement, he cites his worries about death threats, an arson attack on his office and the repercussions of only avoiding being stabbed by the maniac who stabbed Southend MP DavidAmess, as he was out of the office when the murderer visited.

Statement from Mike Freer MP pic.twitter.com/SIAP0EpCkN

— F&GGConservatives (@Finchleytories) January 31, 2024

I don't think any fair minded, decent person can be anything other than horrified that an MP has been forced out in such circumstances. This blog has never been a fan of Mike Freer. We believe he has a huge responsibility, which he has spent a decade side stepping, for the mess that became the One Barnet outosourcing project. There are many times when we have crossed swords with him, however we have never wished any personal harm on him. Death threats and arson attacks are totally abhorrant. I refrained from commenting last week on the matter, as I felt, given the circumstances, I had nothing to add. However I had an interesting conversation with a Conservative councillor, who wishes not to be identified, who said the following, and agreed that I could say this.

"What Mike has had to go through has been appalling. We really have to look at the way we protect people in public office, be it MP's, Councillors or other high profile community leaders. The idea that an MP can be forced out is a very unfortunate signal to send. Of course Mike is quite right to speak honestly about what has been going on, but there is a risk that it will encourage those who seek to undermine democracy"

We then had a discussion as to what could be done. If we are to have openly accountable MP's, councillors and other public fears, there will always be a threat and a determined assailant is hard to stop. However, it is rare that those who indulge in such behaviour come out of nowhere. They generally have a long history of such behaviour, that generally ramps up. We discussed the point at which general criticism becomes something more sinister. He told me that he didn't feel comfortable with the principle that MP's and councillors are required to publish their addresses, as an example. I told him I was not sure this was really a problem, as someone serious about harming a public figure will find out soon enough if they are serious. He replied that it's not nice for the family to see threatening, anonymous notes and dog poo through the door. These are all things which have happened to people he knows in public office. I agree that no one should have to put up with such things.

However, when it comes down to it, being an elected MP is a privilege. They vote to send our armed forces to war and die, to defend our democracy. No one asks you to become an MP, you put your head above the parapet and part of the deal is that you stand up for democracy. You shouldn't have to face threats, but when you do, I do not believe that you should give those making them the encouragement which resigning and saying they hounded you out gives. I personally feel that Freer has let democracy down. Of course his fears need to be addressed and his statement has put the issue of MP safety in the spotlight, but given that whathappened to David Amess, surely this should already be a priority. I am starting to fear for democracy in the UK.

I am disappointed that Mike Freer is standing down before the election. Freer has implied the only reason he is going is the threats. I have no idea whether the thought that it would be a massive shock if he didn't lose was another element.  One of the most unfortunate effects of Freer's decision is that there has been no proper scrutiny of his career in politics in the Borough of Barnet. No one has discussed this, but it is perfectly fair to ask what the legacy of Freer is in the Borough. 

His record has been appalling. He laid waste to Barnet Council's services. This blog was started as a result of a cocked up outsourcing contract, that lead to my Mothers meals on Wheels food deliveries becoming inedible and systematically late. He also abolished warden assisted living, causing mayhem in the Barnet care sector. He initiated the One Barnet program, which lead to a disasterous outsourcing contract with Capita. He oversaw the Aerodrome Bridge development, which overspent by £10 million pounds. He was responsible for dodgy investments in Icelandic banks, that nearly lost Barnet Council huge sums in reserves. He also was in charge when the Catalyst scandal hit, with a contractor successfully suing Barnet Council, when they didn't make enough profit on a contract to manage care homes. Those same care homes later were found to have Legionella in their systems.

 As a pro remain MP, he took a job in Boris Johnsons team, helping to push through a policy that he knew was a disaster. He only backed away from Johnson, when dozens of other ministers had also resigned. As to being a good constituency MP? He never gave any support at all to The North Finchley Festival in his own constituency. Even Theresa Villiers from Barnet bothered to turn up. He didn't stand up for the parents of children with disabilities, when Barnet Council threatened to remove their after school respite sessions. He never spoke out about Capita, when it was clear the council was being taken to the cleaners. 

Sadly, this tale of woe is not what he'll be remembered for. He will be the MP forced out of office by threats. I wish Mike Freer well in his new life. We have to look forward and it's a win/win. It sounds like it will be better for the Borough of Barnet and better for his health and wellbeing. That is as magnanmous as I can be.