PLEASE PLEASE ME

There’s no pleasing people these days: on the one hand there are those who say that they don’t make music like they used to and on the other hand there are those who say that ’90s rock is crap ’cos they keep on making music like they used to. And then, of course, there are Counting Crows fans.

Krzysztof Kieslowski retired; Ayrton Senna retyred; Courtney Love ran up phone bills; Man United won the double; I’m (still) single . . .

But, hey, it’s Christmas. And besides, at least 25 singers and bands went to so much effort just to cheer me up with their fantastic albums; what’s more, Aimee Mann, Martin Stephenson, The Revenants, Buffalo Tom, Jonathan Richman, Iris DeMent, Elvis Costello, Richard Thompson (especially) etc. etc. all played astonishing gigs; not to mention Pulp Fiction, Shorts Cuts, My Favourite Season and The Patriots which were all . . . astonishing films; the Boys in Green beat The Boys In Blue (I’m talking, of course, about Plymouth Argyle reserves trouncing Bournemouth ‘B’ 4-0 last February), Barcelona took courage from this great result and did the same to United and Red House Painters are currently working on a new album (to be called Red House Painters?!).

So rock ’n’ roll on ’95, as that Partridge fella would say.

Nicholas G. Kelly