Impending mortality not getting you down? Well, Sledgehammer is 40 years old today. You're welcome.

Mad fact... 42% of Labour Prime Ministers have had to fire Peter Mandelson.

😂

I’ve missed Cast - what have they done?

Agreed

It’s the ones you don’t think are bad-uns are the ones it’s harder to reconcile

With Joseph Arthur I think it was hard because I’d loved so much of his stuff for 20 years and only realised his views were so different to mine when I saw him sharing a bill with Right Said Fred

It’s weird how some I can kind of give a pass too (Van Morrison being an arse was already baked in) whereas others felt like a real let down (Morrissey, despite everything in his history, felt like a real 😞 when he finally went off the deep end)

Joseph - Without You (Jools' Annual Hootenanny) YouTube video by BBC Music

I would have said Joseph Arthur until a few years ago but he’s gone a bit anti-vax post-covid so I find it hard to listen to his stuff in quite the same way

But staying on the Joseph theme, I think this is a cracking song by a band I thought were going to be much bigger

youtu.be/Ge1jmV1bn9E?...

Going bald in you early twenties is a cheat code for looking timeless however

When you’ve always looked old the damage of the accumulating years isn’t as obvious

Christopher Reeve was the best Clark & Superman because of this wonderful scene where his change of posture, gestures & tone of voice are all perfectly calibrated within a beautifully composed shot.
No CGI required to show his transformation.
He & Margot Kidder are much missed.
#SupermanDay

Randomly flicking through the channels and came across an old episode of Later… with a very young me (with hair!) watching Morcheeba

I think I’ve still got that red shirt somewhere

See I thought the opposite

I liked the slow build up of the first half and thought it became a far less nuanced film after the big musical number in the middle (which was the highlight of the film either way)

It appears I have little say in the matter

That was #1 on my list too 😂

Feels like a good Friday Five topic

Great songs that aren’t featured on albums

Why did I chose today to look up how old Channing Tatum is and discover we’re the same age

One of us is wearing 45 better than the other

A ★★★★ review of Roofman (2025) This was super enjoyable and fun Only knock against it was how much the score sounded like Up

boxd.it/e0V55h

This was a great Friday night movie

45 today

An age that only used to happen to other people

I love Mike Mills backing on it

My mates at school were in a band called Thunderbug who fancied themselves as the next Bends-era Radiohead

You can imagine their delight when this bunch appeared

Waitin for a Superman - Flaming Lips
Tonight We Fly - The Divine Comedy
Lippy Kids - Elbow
In The Lost And Found - Elliott Smith
Fall On Me - REM

#fridayfive

A ★★★★½ review of Badlands (1973) Never particularly liked Mallick but this one really worked for me  Maybe it’s because the underlying story is so simple that there’s just not the space to disappear up itself

boxd.it/e0bAdf

By far the most I’ve ever enjoyed a Mallick

Have watched this 5 times this morning

Wrestling done right is just the best

I have Honey To The Bee on a loop in my head now

Not complaining

A ★★★ review of Catherine Called Birdy (2022) Not as good as I remembered but still a pretty unique watch

boxd.it/dZvpGL

The film is ok

But the soundtrack for this is just fantastic

Dave Clark One
Dave Clark Two
Dave Clark Three
Dave Clark Four
Dave Clark Five

Gone down wrong🤦‍♂️

Whereas rugby in Wales does penetrate across a broader section of society (or at least it used to. Will accept I’ve been the wrong side of the bridge a long time now) and it seems like madness to repeatedly pull up the ladders that turn that broad base and support into elite players

And that was really limiting as they all played rugby multiple times a week at school whereas his state school played it once in a blue moon

Inevitably he was exposed to less rugby and eventually gave it up aged 13 in favour of trampolining (that old front row to gymnastics pipeline…)

I truly hope Wales don’t follow the English model of hitching their wagons to the private schools

Growing up in Wales in the 80’s/90’s, the players were from a wide variety of backgrounds

My son played in Barnet in the 2010’s and was pretty much the only one not in a private school