The Sunday Reflection #85 - Fish fingers on toast and a cup of tea

 I feel lousy today. I've been fighting off a cold all week. The band had a gig on Friday night and my body made a pact that it would get me through it. It was brilliant! However every such deal has a downside. If it was an option, I'd stay in bed all day. I was feeling rotten for the cup final yesterday. It was a blessing that I couldn't get a ticket! I've been a gigging musician for 46 years now and never blown out a gig due to illness. I've dosed up with Lemsips, Immodium, and all manner of other remedies to get me through, but I've always somehow got there. I recall one gig in 1986, where I had food poisoning. I couldn't eat anything, I couldn't drink anything. I decided that if I ate/drank nothing all day, I'd not have an embarrassing accident on stage. Our then sax player asked why I wasn't having a pint. I explained. He suggested I have a spliff and said that would make me feel better. He kindly rolled me one up. I learned a life lesson then. When you have food poisoning, taking something that stimulates your apetite is a terrible idea. I can honestly say that the whole evening was one of the worst of my life. When you've not eaten all day, taking a mind altering substance is not clever when you have to concentrate. After the show was over, I went home and slept for 36 hours. The show was on Friday night. I woke on Sunday morning and felt awful. There was no food in the house and there were no shops open. I got the bus down to Burnt Oak and had a cup of tea and a fish finger sarnie at the Betta Cafe in Burnt Oak ( I wasn't eating meat at the time). I can honestly say that in all of my life, no meal ever tasted better. It was so good that it was almost an out of body experience.. 

My Brother Laurie trained to be a Roman Catholic Missionary in his youth. He left home at 13 and was in the Seminary until just before his ordination, I think he was 19 or so at the time. I believe he did it to get away from Challoner School at the sadistic headmaster at the time. He always says it was the best education. I recall telling him about my fish finger experience.  His reply fascinated me. He said "Have you ever heard the term Hedonist?". Of course I had, it is people who love to overindulge. He said "They are much misunderstood. What most people don't know is that when they had their hedonistic orgies, they would fast and abstain from sex for a couple of weeks before. That way, when they went over the top, it was so much more fun, everything seems so much better when you've been deprived of it for a while".

My riposte was that I'd make a lousy hedonist, as my idea of hedonistic orgy was a fish finger sarnie at The Better Cafe. But in truth, there is a part of me that enjoys such moments far more than swanky restaurants, glitzy parties and fancy cooking. For years, I wanted to write a guide to London's best greasy spoon cafes. Wherever I worked, I always found a proper cafe nearby. When I worked in IT, most people were flush with money and had a penchant for excess and expensive lunches. I like to fit in, so I had my share, but I always had a cafe, a refuge, where I could go and chill out, read the paper and have proper food at a reasonable price. When I worked in Windmill St, it was Lawtons on Goodge St, at Blackfriars, on Buckingham Palace Road, there was a brilliant Greek Cafe in Pimlico, there was a cafe opposite Baynard House, at 100  Lower Thames St there was one by Embankment Station, at BACS in Burnt Oak, it was back to The Betta Cafe, in Pall Mall, it was too posh and I only got 30 minutes, which meant I didn't like the job. I then went to Aldgate and found the wonderful Dino's cafe by Spitalfields Market and Sidolis on Leman St. I was spoiled. I then moved to St Katherines Dock and only Sids was in range. My last job took me to Victoria Embankment. Culture had changed and I struggled. I don't think any of the establishments I mentioned are still in existence. If I am in town, I always make an effort to go to The Little Portland Cafe on Little Portland St. One of the last proper cafes in Central London. Sadly the days of a bacon butty and a cuppa for under a quid are long gone. 

One of the big legacies of that Fish Finger Sarnie at the Betta Cafe was that for me, a fish finger butty is what I always have when I am feeling ill, down and despondent. My missus loves fancy big fish fingers, I prefer the smaller, cheaper versions. The sarnie I had in 1986 was white bread, margarine, birds eye fish fingers and a bit of ketchup. Sadly, I have gentrified it. My sarnie this morning was Waitrose fish fingers, on toasted sourdough, with salad, gherkins, cherry tomatoes and M&S garlic mayo. It was delicious and Mrs T loved hers. Delicious as it was, as the fish fingers were frying, I couldn't help reflecting on that sarnie in the Betta Cafe. My band, The False Dots released a new version of our Burnt Oak Boogie video, which is semi animated. A mate asked me in the week if I ever actually ate in the Betta Cafe. Maybe they felt that being from Mill Hill, I was too posh! But I went to Orange Hill School in Burnt Oak and we'd nip down for a cuppa and a slice of toast several times a week. Myself, Boz and Tim from the Polecats and a couple of other Herberts, would sit doing the NME crossword, discussing the latest punk rock releases and gigs. I think that was where I got my love of cafe's from.By the time I was sixteen, Mill Hill had no proper cafe. The nearest thing was The Wimpy. Much as I loved it, it always felt a bit too posh for me.

Whenever I've been abroad, I've always tried to find a proper greasy spoon. Much to my then girlfriends horror, I found one in Stockholm. It was in St Ericsplan, a poorer district. In New York, there was one opposite the police station. I learned not to go in at shift changeover. The cops would go in for breakfast, and discuss the grisly details of the nights shootings. Not conducive to a pleasant scoff. Of course, Yanks can't really do a proper breakfast. They don't have decent bacon, and they put sugary sauce on it. They don't have proper sausages. They have stuff called 'grits' that is like tapioca pudding. Disgusting. Just have the eggs on toast!

The point I am making is that food is to be enjoyed. It can make the world seem a better place. But it is best if it is savoured in an environment where you can feel comfortable. For me, that is a greasy spoon!

Friday Fun and The Friday Gig Roundup!

Today is a terrible day for the hard core porn industry. It has just been revelaed that one of their top stars has been elected as councillor for the Reform party. It is a dark day for the industry, to discover that one of the leading porn stars has such a secret life. Can you imagine if you are having a nice quiet night in with a bottle of brown ale and your laptop and you are just getting in the mood, when "knock knock knock" and the person you've been fantasising over on your laptop is on your doorstep asking you to sign up to support Nigel Farage? I wonder how many times he knocked on a door and someone said "I didn't recognise you with your clothes on!". I do hope that this isn't a trend that catches on. I must say that there are very few politicians of any party who I'd fancy seeing in their birthday suit. But hey, ho, it takes all sorts.

And on to this weeks local music news. The big news is that two of Barnets top bands, The Silencerz and The False Dots are appearing at Nambucca on The Holloway Road (Nearest tube Archway) tonight. There are still a few tickets left

Nambucca is a great venue and it should be a really great night! If a bit of Ska, Reggae, Soul and pop is your thing, this will be right up your street. The Silencrz feature Madness Sax player Lee Thompson and his son Daley is on vocals! What is not to like

OTHER BARNET GIGS

Friday 15th
Butchers Arms 9pm – 11.30pm The Flying Foxes (Covers 60s – present)
Barrington Bar 8.30 pm - midnight Karaoke with Neil
East Barnet RB Legion 8.30pm – 12pm 80s Disco
Maddens 9pm – late The Drivers

Saturday 16th
Butchers Arms 9pm – 11.30pm Rockit Science (Rock covers)
Olde Monken Holt 9.30pm – 11.30pm James Or (Acoustic covers)
Lord Kitchener 8.30 pm - late Karaoke with Johnno
The Arkley Club 8.30pm – 11pm £5 cash on door Tommy (ska and reggae)
Toolans 9pm –11.30pm X-Pressions Malt and Hops 8.30pm – midnight New Colours (Soul funk/disco) 
Maddens 9.30pm –midnight The Looters 60s/70s covers)
Cavalier 8pm – late DJ Sammie Vee

Sunday 17th
Barnet Spires Car Park Classic car show 11am – 3pm Boxty
Ye Olde Monken Holt 7pm - 9pm EL-RY BLUE (Americana)
Ye Olde Mitre Inn, High Street 8pm – 11pm Home Cookin (Jazz) (3rd Sunday)
Butchers 8.30 – 11.30pm Butchers Arms Jam Electric/Blues/Rock (Full backline available
Toolans 8.30pm – 11pm Cross Keys

Monday 18th
Ye Olde Mitre Inn, High Street 8pm – 11pm (stables room) Barnet Acoustics Session

Tuesday 19th
The Bull Theatre £5 Acapella & Accoustic Speakeasy 14+ (3rd Tuesday)

Wednesday 20th
Toolans 5pm – 8pm The Duets
Ye Olde Monken Holt 8.30 – 11pm Open Mic Night

Thursday 21st
Malt & Hops 7.30pm Open Mic Night (3rd Thursday of month)

Friday 22nd
Butchers Arms 9pm – 11.30pm The Bear Pit Band (Rock Pop covers)
Lord Kitchener 9pm – 11.30 The Tailfeathers (70s soul, funk and disco
Barrington Bar 8.30 pm - midnight Karaoke with Neil 

Careful what you wish for.......

So it looks like the gun has been fired on a new leadership race for the Labour Party and by default the Leadership of the country. I have never felt comfortable with situations like this. It does not seem right that the country can choose a PM and a couple of hundred MP's can get rid of them and replace them with someone more to their taste, once they've done the hard work of winning an election. I am no fan of Sir Keir Starmer and I feel he is tarnished by the Peter Mandelson affair. His judgement has clearly been shown to be appalling. The Labour party has not had the air of a party in control of the country or even its own destiny much of the time. We've had all manner of U-Turns and polciy changes. After two years of Labour, no one seems any the wiser what 'Starmerism' is. That is because there is no such thing. It has been forgotten by just about everyone that Starmer became Leader on the back of a Boris Johnson landslide. Most sane commentators thought that following the Corbyn era, Labour would be out of power for a decade. Starmers job was to rebuild trust and convince people Labour could become electable again. 

I doubt that even Keir Starmer thought he'd win a landslide himself at the next election. The truth is that this would never have happened if he wasn't politically very lucky. Boris Johnson's clown like antics during covid shot them in the foot, then they elected Liz the Lettuce Truss and shot themselves in the other foot. Needing to reassure the markets to prevent wholescale economic collapse, they appointed Rishi Sunak, a boring and dull man, who had an air of competence about him. Sunak may have reassurred the Bond markets, but he never convinced the British people that he had what it took. In Short, Keir Starmer was presented with an open goal at the election and even he couldn't miss. I suspect that half of the problems we are having is that Starmer has never really known what he wanted politically. 

I find some of the comments on Twitter from those at the edges of politcs hilarious. They would have you believe that Starmer was personally responsible for Rape Gangs, Jimmy Saville and selling out the UK over the Chagos Islands. Anyone with half a brain should know that the DPP does not make law, they simply make sure it is enforced according to what the law actually is. Anyone with half a brain should know that the Chagos Islands deal was being drawn up for years during the Tory era. Starmer is a lawyer. Sadly the job of lawyers is not to do what is right, but to ensure that the law is interpreted according to the best interests of their clients. Lawyers working in Public service jobs, interpret law on hbehalf of the UK government. They do not set the priorities. When Starmer was DPP and he was presented with the Jimmy Savile case, he was not told "Savile is a wrong 'un, can we hang him?". He was given legal briefing papers that you would need to have studied law to fully understand. He wouldn't have made the rules up on the hoof.

Starmer is a trained advocate. He is not an ideas man. He is at his best when he is destroying the work of someone else. When he has to set the agenda, he is useless. However, we live in a very difficult and dangerous world. Much as I dislike Starmer and the concept that Lawyers run the country, we have Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin on the world stage. Having someone who believes nothing and can talk their way out of anything is actually a good thing for the UK right now. Starmer was right to stay out of the Iran war. Starmer was right to try and cut deals with Trump. Starmer was right to try and bring Europe together in the face of Russian aggression. Who will we replace him with? It looks like one of Angela Rayner, Wes Streeting or Andy Burnham. I am not altogether sure that any of them look as if they'd have the measure of Trump or Putin. It would take them months to build the contacts and trust with our allies that Starmer has. What appalls me is that I can see no one in UK politics who I think would be an improvement on Starmer at this moment. Look at the party leaders. Badenoch, Davey, Pollinsky, Farage. If you would trust them to do a better job with Trump & Putin, the EU, China, etc than Starmer. you are a braver than me. You may well say "They can't be any worse". Look at Truss, who thought that it would take a month for her to tank the economy? 

Want a new PM? Careful what you wish for. What we need is someone who actually understands the UK economy and can rebuild it. Without financial strength, we are doomed as a nation. As a nation,, we've been surviving on borrowed money foy decades now. We are reaching the point where the UK is starting to look like it's on borrowed time. Whoever the next PM is, will be coming in at the most difficult and dangerous time for the UK since WW2. Want a new PM? Careful what you wish for. 

Rock and Roll Stories #65 - The joy of writing a new song

I once heard an interview with Paul McCartney where he said he didn't write songs, they always existed in the ether and he just tuned into the vibrations and wrote them down. He also said that the best songs are ones that it only took him five minutes to write. He said when he had to agonise over them, they always ended up as album tracks, B sides or just discarded. Another interesting thing about the Beatles is that when McCartney and Lennon first got together as The Quarrymen, they wrote and performed dozens of songs, none of which made it into the Beatles reportoire. I'm not  Beatles fan, but I recognise McCartney as possibly the greatest pop songwriter of all. There are plenty of other great songwriters who could take the crown, Burt Bacharach, Don Black and Ailee Willis would make a good shout, but for me, McCartney has such a range and body of material that he would take the crown.

Whenever I advise a young artist on how to write and structure songs and melodies, I start with the work of McCartney. The man wrote Helter Skelter, Live and Let Die, Hey Jude and Let it Be. You can probably learn everything you need to know about writing modern pop songs from those four. That doesn't mean I think they are the greatest song ever written. Depending on my mood that would be 5446 is my number by Toots and The Maytells, Wichita Lineman by Glen Campbell (written by Jimmy Webb), London Caalling by The Clash or I'm stuck in a pagoda with Trisha Toyota by The Dickies. But Macca has such a body of work that you can't argue with him. His songs are covered by all manner of artists, who often bring a whole new slant to the songs, which to me, is the sign of a good song. 

Now I can only aspire to write a song that would be compared to the list above. Whilst I think McCartney is the best, I would say that my favourite is Ian Dury. Dury is a huge influence on my music, it is no secret. Unlike the work of McCartney, the work of Ian Dury is hard to cover, as it is so personalised. Dury writes about the world around him and the experiences he's seen. He is naughty, vulgar and rude at times, in a way no one else can really get away with. But he is also sweet tender and funny. I met the great man, once, in a cafe in  Camden in 1977-8 ( I don't  recall the date). He was spikey and difficult when I approached him for some advice on getting a band together. Just as I was about to leave, with a flea in my ear, he relented and was kind and gave me some sound advice. He said "If you can sing like Marvin Gaye, you can do anything you like. If you sing like me, you have to be the biggest version of yourself you can be and not worry about it".

I didn't understand what Ian meant when I started writing songs. I wrote songs that were highly political, written by someone with no life experience. When that didn't work, I wrote songs that I tried to make dark and meaningful.. That didn't work either. Then the penny dropped. When I wrote songs that documented what I saw in the streets, pubs, football stadiums and at family gatherings, it clicked. When I started presenting songs to the band and they all smiled, laughed and fed off the energy, I realised that this was what was needed. Over the years, my musical ability, understanding of melody and structure has improved and i can do more technically intersting things than I could when we started. In 1985, I did a songwriting course, that was priceless, it still took a while for the penny to fully drop but, the quality of my writing has continually improvred ever since. 

So how do I write songs? When I started, I'd find a chord structure that worked and come up with a load of lyrics to fit over the top. We'd then thrash it out at rehearsal. We got a few songs that were Ok and a couple that were pretty good, but that was about it. Now, I do it in a completely different way. I often do this walking to work. I come up with an idea, a catchy phrase, and just dictate these into my mobile phone. I then whistle the melody, trumpet line, and any other relevent info is captured. When I have a free minute, I listen and play around with the ideas. I then try and get a chord structure that fits the song and reflects the lyrics. This tends to mean that the music style fits the lyrics far better than trying to bolt lyrics onto a riff. I then present the basic idea to the band.

My latest song was written last week. It is called Naughty Naughty and is very much in the Ian Dury line of songwriting. It has a quirky chord structure, a catchy trumpet line and a chorus that is extremely catchy. AS often happens, when the songs is first presented, it gets radically changed when the band get involved. I had intended myself to sing it, but it actually worked better with me singing the verses, Tom singing the choruses and all of us joining in for the last line of the chorus. 

One of the things I learned from Ian Dury's is that you have to make even the most irredeemable characters sympathetic and human. It is interesting because when I wrote the song initially, I realised that I hadn't done this. I thought about the character and realised that there was an aspect that I hadn't fully appreciated, and that became a constituent of the chorus. The song is largely about inappropriate behaviour, but I've learned over the last few years that many people see huge changes in their personality as a result of prescription drugs. A friend of mine had a parent locked up for their own good, after they had a sudden, inexplicable personality change about fifteen years ago. I knew the person and it was shocking and difficult. Last year, I read that some prescription drugs can cause such behaviour, in people who had previously been pillars of the parish. I think it is important to use any platform we have to get such messages out, but it has to be done subtly in a non preachy way.

To me, writing a song is like baking a cake. You take many ingredients, but they have to be in balance. All of the songs I've mentioned above have all the ingredients. Good lyrics, great structure, strong melodies, catchy hook lines and they all take you somewhere else. If I listen to Wichita Lineman, I am up a telegraph pole on the plains of the USA, daydreaming of cute lady with pale blue eyes. If I hear London Calling, I am having a bacon sarnie in a dodgy cafe in Hammersmith in 1979 in the pouring rain.  Will Naughty Naughty do that when we record it? Will it transport the listener back to 1976 and doing a paper round in the rain? Only time will tell. It is probably the most controversial song I've written, but as it's a boppy ska song, that may be missed. We shall see. All I can say at the moment is that I am delighted with it and I look forward to performing it on Friday at Nambucca, Please come along. Tickets can be procured here - https://www.skiddle.com/whats-on/London/Nambucca/The-Silencerz-vs-The-False-Dots--DJ-Rebska/42323301

I won an election last week!

 A few people asked me why I didn't run for Barnet Council at the recent council elections. The reason was very simple and I did mention it briefly. In October, I became Chairman of the Mill Hill Services Club, when the former Chairman stood down. The club has elections for such positions every May, but if a Chairman steps down in the intervening period, the vice chairman assumes the position. As the Vice Chairman also stood down, the committee elected me as acting Chairman. I made the decision to seek another term, as there is plenty to do and I felt I had much to offer. The club has over 650 members and each has a vote. Often, in the past, Chairmen have not been opposed, but another member chose to also put their name forward. I was delighted that I won. The result was announced on Sunday. I was pleased to get a large majority. I was also pleased that the members of the committee who stood again for election also were re-elected. They are all good guys and deserved to get another term.

I did want to share with you how pleased I am to be elected. It is an important achievement for me. But that is not the main reason I am posting this. For me, there is a far more important point to be made. The post of Chairman of the club is an unpaid role. I am also the chair of a local educational charity, which is a very different beast. Both are very different roles but each is important in their own way. But the point is that if people do not step up and join committees and take responsibility for local community organisations, they will cease to exist. World events such as covid and the increase in fuel costs mean huge challenges for many organisations. You can be doing a great job and then find that there is a major world event and the balance sheet shifts and there is nothing you can do about it in the short term. 

You need good people, who are calm and rational and can make sound decisions based on the facts as best they can be ascertained. Being able to read and understand a balance sheet helps. Keeping calm when people gets cross is another asset. Committee meetings for community organisations can get surprisingly heated, as people often have vastly different ideas of what needs to be done. I always take the view that people should be listened to and their comments respected, even if you disagree. You should be able to explain why you disagree to them clearly and concisely, whilst being polite. 

If you think you can do all of those things, then I would strongly urge you to give your time and talents to local organisations. I've been a member of the Mill Hill Music Festival organising commiteee for over 20 years. It can be fraught, but the good it brings to our local community is something I will always be proud of. We have had some wonderful artists performing and I am proud to be associated with the Festival. I've been a committee member at the Services Club for about five years and Chairman for just over six months. We have done some great things and had some wonderful events, which help the finances. But most of all, the club opens its doors every day and gives the members who live in Mill Hill somewhere to go and meet friends, play Snooker/Pool/Darts, have a drink in a comfortable and peaceful environment at a price lower than local pubs, and as all members are co-owners, feel part of something. The club is part of the CIU, which is the Cooperative movement, which is one of the biggest drivers of social good in the UK. Such things are worth preserving. So just a little request, if there is a community organisation that is doing good works and you have a bit of free time, why not get involved and help them out. One thing I've learned is that the most important people in any organisation are not the executives or the chair's. It is the ordinary people who do all of the heavy lifting, usually for little or no thanks. One thing I've always tried to do, is show some appreciation to such folks.

Barnet Council Election Result - Every Party got what they really deserved in the end

 So Barnet Council is now a hung council. The Tories and Labour are tied on 31 seats each and one Green councillor holds the balance of power. I foresaw Labour losing control, but not in the way they have! I thought the Tories would win, but I also felt that no party deserved victory. All parties clearly thought Mill Hill Ward was as done deal for the Tories and none bothered to do any work. I have no idea what it was like in marginal wards. The truth is that we had 20 years of Tory misrule in Barnet, followed by four years of incompetence from Labour. Neither party has given a stuff about residents. I hav e my reservations about The Green Party, but at least they have a clear position on many issues and are not afraid to upset people, which is actually something politicians should be prepared to do. In many parts of Barnet, their stance on Israel and Palestine is deeply unpopular with the Jewish community. That doesn't mean that the Greens should not make their case. I believe that what they have to say is legal and just because it upsets people doesn't mean they shouldn't say it. I feel the same way about much of what Reform says about immigration. If you disagree with a party, work to defeat them and use rational argument rather than bans. 

The Greens did work in their target wards and their share of the vote in Barnet was far more than 1 out of 63 councillors. That is the trouble with our voting system and our council system. It has contrived to deliver a result where the most powerful single councillor is from a party with one seat but maybe 15% of the vote. Lib Dem and Reform voters have no representation at all. Tories and Labour have around 49% of the councillors with around 25-30% of the vote. It is utterly ridiculous that we have 62 nodding dog councillors towing the party line. and one who can call all the shots. I hate Reforms policies but it is not democratic to deny their voters representation due to an outdated and arcane system.

As far as I am concerned, every party got what they deserved in the end. Labour lost control, for four rotten years and a lousy campaign. The Tories didn't get back in after 20 years of misrule. The Greens got a seat because they had a strategy for their target seats and it worked. Reform had no strategy and nothing to offer Barnet so they got nothing. My party, The Lib Dems hardly bothered to do anything and got nothing. I didn't stand this time, as I am chairman of The Mill Hill Services Club and felt it was a conflict of interest. I didn't support the Mill Hill Residents Association candidates for the same reason. The Association is not political. If they'd have won, they would have potentially held the balance of power and deciced whether Mill Hill had a Tory or Labour adminstration and you can't get any more political than that. 

Have a nice weekend. I'm done with local politics for a while now. 

Friday Fun and local music round up 8th May 2026

 As is the tradition in Barnet Blogs (well this one at least), we start with a Friday Joke. I suspect a few of us will need cheering up today. This time four years ago, I was recovering from staying up all night at the election count. This time I didn't stand. As it became clear that the Tories had lost by a landslide, I saw one of their councillors at the tea stall. He looked dejected, having just found out he'd lost. He's a nice bloke, so I got him a cup of tea and had a chat. 

As we chatted, he said "I genuinely didn't expect Labour to win, in fact I was so confident that I promised my wife we'd go on three week cruise around the Bahamas if I didn't get in".

I commisserated and said "Well at least you've got something to look forward to now, a few weeks in the Sun to chill out, it'll be great".

He looked at me with a forlorn look "You don't understand, I hate boats I only have to look at one and I get sea sick, I only said it because I thought it wouldn't happen, now I'm lumbered. It'll cost a fortune and I'll hate it".

I never did ask how it all went.

And on to the round up of local music. First of all some news! The False Dots have re-released their 2022 mini hit "The Burnt Oak Boogie" video, rebuilt with AI to transform Burnt Oak into the world of 60's cartoon series Top Cat.

And even better, The band will be appearing at Nambucca in Islington next Friday 15th May from around 8pm. Click image for full details

Founded by Lee Thompson of Madness, The Silencerz deliver their unique brand of reggae-ska-pop to an ever-growing and loyal fan base. Their live shows blend crowd-pleasing covers with much-loved originals, drawing from influences like Ian Dury, Madness, and Prince Buster. The band have had headline shows at the famous 100 Club, Camden’s Dublin Castle and most recently at the Madness House of Fun weekender in Minehead. follow them on Facebook atwww.facebook.com/TheSilencerz

DJ Rebska - North West London's top Ska DJ, long time collaborator with Lee Thompson of Madness, festival favourite and purveyor of the finest Ska tunes, with the odd smattering of Northern Soul thrown in for good measure. Sure to get you on your feet!

Rock and Roll Stories #64 - I don't get why some musicans are such miserable gits!

 Throughout the entire 47 years history of The False Dots, there has been one constant. We have had an absolute blast. It has been fun. Since our earliest gigs, we broke rules, did silly things and got up to shenanigans. We've done so many silly things, that I've probably forgotten half of them. It hasn't stopped. Recently we distributed footballs at a gig, during Saturday, pir football song, at The Dublin Castle, we distrbuted football to the audience, with disasterous consequences. Balls kicked, beers flying. Glass everywhere. It was hilarious, but our residency nearly came to an end! Luckily we've been forgiven. It's not just at gigs. Rehearsals, recording sessions and even trips to the cafe and pub have been a blast.

It has always been important for me for us to be a band. More than a bunch of musicians who just play together. The band is like a symbiotic organism, with all of the members at any time being important and having a role to play. But one question has always troubled me. Why are so many other bands such miserable gits. So many seem to hate each other, have rivalries and disputes. They turn up for gigs and are back out the door almost when the gig finishes. We always hang around, talk to fans, watch other bands, and have a blast. We are as serious as anyone about our music, but it is done in a context of fun. 

I think so many bands miss a trick. One of the secrets of our success is that we've always built alliances and made friends. Our next gig at Nambucca is on Friday week (15th May). Click here for tickets. It is with our mates The Silencerz. We love playing gigs with mates. Come down it will be fun

Anyway, we've found a new way to have a laugh. We used AI to generate a video which transformed our 2022 hut video, The Burnt Oak Boogie into an episode of Top Cat, set in Burnt Oak, with references from the old video for comparisson. We think its a hoot! CHeck it out

Barnet Council Election - Final Analysis before polls

Tomorrow the people of Barnet go to the polls to elect a new council. Just a little history recap. Between 1994 and 2002, Barnet was governed by a Labour/Lib Dem coalition. In 2002, the Conservatives got in and held power until 2022. Labour have governed since 2022. Apart from 2010, council elections have not taken place at the same time as general elections. This is interesting to me, because what we see is that people have used the council elections to punish unpopular national governments. When the Lab/Lib Dem coalition got in in 1994, the Tories thought Barnet was blue through and through. However John Major's government was at a low point and Barnet fell. In 1997, Labour won and the Blair government were still in a honeymoon period in 1998. Labour got in. In 2002, Labour were unpopular and the Tories got in. Labour were even more unpolular in 2006 and 2010. In 2014, Labour were in chaos, as they were in 2018. Barnet being an area with a large Jewish community did poorly, during the Momentum era locally. By 2022, The Tories had shown themselves nationally to be useless, they were in Freefall and got hammered. 

And on to 2026. Tomorrow. If we followed the normal convention, Labour are hugely unpopular. History dictates that the Tories should romp home. But, no one had forgiven them for their incompetence. Barnet has always been a key indicator council. However, this time, it is an outlier. Nationally the rise of Reform has been a massive factor. They will make huge gains. As have the Green party. However Barnet is a strongly Remain area. Furthermore, the local Jewish population is very unimpressed with the Greens and their stance on anti semitism and support for the Jewish community.

So my prediction is that despite everything, the Tories will be back in. I think that if the Lib Dems had run a serious campaign, they may have taken some wards, but as I think the Greens and Reform may find out, a lack of trust in the Jewish community makes it very hard to win in Barnet.

I jist re-read the blog I posted before the last elections. I was a candidate, so I felt constrained as to what I could say. One interesting statement though was this - "I vowed that in future, I'd give my support to the party I had the best chance of delivering what I wanted to see a government or council do. Someone asked me if this meant I could ever support the Conservative Party. I thought long and hard and I realised that yes, in some circumstances I might. If it was a choice between them and the BNP I would. I hope I never have to make such a choice, but many people in France, who would never support a figure like Macron in normal times did just that. It is a grown up and sensible decision."

I have come to the conclusion that Reform are as bad as the BNP, given Nigel Farages statement about opening up concentration camps in Green voting areas. 

If you vote Reform you will not have an illegal migrant deportation facility in your area.

We will hold migrants awaiting deportation in constituencies that vote Green instead.

You get what you vote for. pic.twitter.com/voDsRi6uh8

— Nigel Farage MP (@Nigel_Farage) May 4, 2026

I read this and thought to myself, what will they do with the concentration camps, designed to "process illegal immigrants" when they've all been sent home? Rather handy that they are in areas that don't like Farage. I was reminded of this

First They Came by Pastor Martin Niemöller

First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me

Please think very carefully before you cast your vote

When the world goes mad, there is still music to keep you sane!

 I can't pretend that 2026 has been an easy year so far. I am, by nature, a positive person and an optimist. I have always believed that reasoned argument, politeness and calmness were the secret of success. Over the last few months, this has been severely tested. I always beleive in playing the long game. Of course there are times when you need short term, tactical fixes, but overall, if you are doing something worthwhile, then I believe that you develop a plan and a strategy. Where needed you take advice. You get your ducks in line, so that most reasonable scenarios are catered for. It is a principle that has served me well in life and in business. Until now. How can anyone make any plans for anything at the moment? My business? Who knows what our energy costs will be in six months time? This feeds into everything. The costs of the musical instruments that we sell have, in some cases, increase by 50% in two years. This means that if things have been knocking around the shop for a while, we sell them and if we replace them, the replacement costs at trade what we sold the old item at retail. That is not how a business can run. There is no aspect of business that is easy at the moment. My task this week was to plan a rate rise for the studios. But to quote Donald Rumsvelt, there are too many unknown unknowns. It is a large amount of work. Our largest supplier is closing down. There are great bargains to be had, but we are too nervous about the trading environment to take full advantage of the situation. I am not cautious by nature, but I am not reckless either. 

What concerns me most though, is not my situation. It is the fact that just about every business I know is feeling squeezed. No one feels secure investing. No one is taking risks. We see tech billionaires making zillions, but none of this money seems to feed back into the economy. In fact most of it is not even real money. When we hear that a Zillionaire is the richest man, it is usually on the back of stock options in a  company that in many case does not have a tangible worth that can be measured. A company like BP or Shell has assets, and you can see where it's money comes from. There are people who work for the company in garages etc, who are ordinary working people. I had a look at the value of Twitter/X.com.

 It is now worth $44 billion. Last year it was worth $10 Billion. It hasn't got 4.4 x the number of users it had. TBH I lost interest in it. They banned me, then emailed to say I wasn't banned, but I'm still banned! I've appealed three times, been told my account is restored, but it hasn't been.

There was a time when this would have infuriated me. Now I just can't be bothered with Mr Musk and his rather unpleasant platform. I have come to the conclusion that I don't miss it. 

Most of the people who posted interesting content I know have left. There are still a few who I follow who post great stuff, but there is so much nonsense and bile on the site that it is not missed. Much of the content is AI generated slop and click bait. The same is true of Facebook, where I never seem to see what my friends post, but I get all manner of slop. It seems that there is an obsession with followers, but no obsession with quality of content. I sense that many are getting bored with the whole social media concept, of banality and AI slop.

I suspect that I'd have gone insane if it wasn't for my love of music. I have spent the week listening to my favourite albums, as I struggle to cope with the insanity that prevails. As we speak, I am listening to Prehistoric Sounds by Aussie Punks The Saints. The track on is "Save Me", an Aretha Franklin cover. No AI slop, just great musicians making great records. I am lucky, I am a musician. I can make my own music, with other musician. I go and see live music all the time. It keeps me sane. I'm assuming that if you are reading this, it is because you don't want AI regurgitated slop. 

Of course AI image generators are a new fad. People like being able to get a picture depicting their least favourite politician in an embarrassing way, with a loud and often ill informed slogan. The first half dozen you see are funny, but the human brain soon tires of it. AI is a tool and once we all get bored with it, it will return to being a tool on social media. Until that happens, my advice is to shut out the slop with some proper noise. Put on the music, shut your eyes and enjoy it. 

And why not get out and see some live music. Such as The False Dots at Nambucca on Friday 15th May, with the Silencerz. It will be a great night! Tickets available here.

 

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