Coming Soon - to the music site with a difference ... Chet Atkins, Pete Cummins, Bess Atwell, Mazzy Star, Dollar, Vulfpeck, Bothy Band, John Farnham, Peter Case, Joe Pass, Lucy Kaplansky, Living Colour ... "That's (not) all Folks" www.toppermost.co.uk

The Kirsty MacColl Toppermost from @mikepress.bsky.social www.toppermost.co.uk/maccoll-kirs...

This week's Book Choice on the site. @mikepress.bsky.social reviews “The Story Of The Christmas No.1” - the new book by Marc Burrows "a joyful, affectionate exploration of a uniquely British cultural institution: the annual scramble for the Christmas chart top spot" www.toppermost.co.uk

For several years @katiedd.bsky.social from @indexoncensorship.org has been covering books bans and librarian censorship, and it's here in the UK www.indexoncensorship.org/2024/08/bann... She's going to be at my conference After Section 28 talking censorship 🎟️ www.tickettailor.com/events/after...

That’s why I’m organising: After Section 28: LGBTQIA+ Rights in an Age of Censorship and Backlash This rollback isn’t neat or legalistic. It’s fragmented, networked, and people-driven. www.tickettailor.com/events/after...

Should anyone suggest that typography is not political, point them in the direction of this - ideology now trumping accessibility.

There's a Beatles festival in Ireland at the end of January. Excellent speakers. Very tempting.

DESIGNER: “So, what did you have in mind for this … peace prize?” FIFA: “We were thinking maybe zombies emerging from the soil, grabbing at a Christmas pudding.? Oh, and a cheap nameplate left over from that Maplins fire sale”. DESIGNER: “Got ya …”

We're exploring the meaning of Christmas songs on the streets of Soho - Saturday 13 December.

I hope someone draws this wonderful story about Tom Stoppard's Arcadia and the power of the arts to help us see things differently, to the attention of our Education Secretary. Do read it, it will lift your spirits.

Recent post: The Sandy Denny toppermost from @mikepress.bsky.social www.toppermost.co.uk/denny-sandy/

This cause is close to my heart - please sign: www.megaphone.org.uk/petitions/ch...

Our story of a most remarkable woman.

c.org/zjfHHVNJC5 #Leith #Edinburgh #SupportIndependantShops

Who’s up for a two hour walk around Soho where we discover the story of Christmas songs? Our Substack project takes to the streets - a fundraiser for Centrepoint Homeless Charity.

Join us on 13 December for a guided walk through Soho. From wassailing to Wham!, Georgian masked balls to Fairytale of New York, we’ll explore how Soho shaped the xmas soundtrack. Free to join — donations invited for Centrepoint Charity. Wrap up warm & join us for two hours of festive conviviality.

Please read, listen, and share widely. www.theguardian.com/music/2025/n...

#punk #punkrock #womenofpunk #newwave #history #punkrockhistory #fashionhistory #fashion

#punk #punkrock #womenofpunk #newwave #history #punkrockhistory #fashionhistory #fashion

What does her look mean to you? Soo Catwoman was “the female face of punk”. She passed away this September. As part of our stories about music in Soho we are writing about her. I’m interested in what her iconic look meant to people, whether they were punks or not. Please share your thoughts. Thanks.

Something else that begins the last week of January (now with corrected dates)...

The Beatles Anthology is not meant to be a primer or even an encyclopedic final word on the foursome. It’s a vehicle for those who may want insight – from the sources, for better or worse – into events that have shaped and will continue to shape generations to come.

A seasonal walk around London's most musical neighbourhood.

Buckle up - because this now amounts to a direct and deliberate attack on our country and its cultural sovereignty. Which side our politicians take - Trump's or the BBC's - over the coming days and weeks will speak volumes about their patriotism.

The Bert Jansch Toppermost from @pangurdubh3.bsky.social www.toppermost.co.uk/jansch-bert/

The new album by Squeeze goes back to the future.

I'm doing some walking tours of Seven Dials with @stanfordstravel.bsky.social on Saturday Nov 15. Come for coffee, cheese, & overpriced street food, stay for overexcited historian, whistle stop tour of the Dials, & sideways look at 1920s and 1930s London. www.stanfords.co.uk/event-songs-...

Gary Lineker: "This is the mistake the BBC makes. The BBC tries to appease the people that hate the BBC, rather than worrying about the people that love the BBC."

A seasonal walk around London's most musical neighbourhood.

Our guided walk on 13 December will explore how Soho shaped the sound of Christmas. From wassailing to Wham!, the puritans to The Pogues, the streets of Soho tell a story of how Christmas songs have celebrated, offended, satirised and glorified in equal measure. Join us!

NEW post: In 2001, ‘Penguin Eggs’ by Nic Jones was voted into 2nd place "Best Folk Album of all Time" on the Mike Harding show on BBC Radio 2 (just behind Fairport's ‘Liege & Lief’) @pangurdubh3.bsky.social picks 10 tracks from the albums of #NicJones www.toppermost.co.uk/jones-nic/

Our guided walk on 13 December will explore how Soho shaped the sound of Christmas. From wassailing to Wham!, the puritans to The Pogues, the streets of Soho tell a story of how Christmas songs have celebrated, offended, satirised and glorified in equal measure. Join us!

Recents: Sandy Denny, Penny & Sparrow, Marcus Miller, Leo Kottke, Rain Parade, Stray Cats, Billy Mackenzie, Death Cab, East River Pipe @rusky.bsky.social @paulwonvinyl.bsky.social @marcfagel.bsky.social @dlew919.bsky.social @pangurdubh3.bsky.social @mikepress.bsky.social www.toppermost.co.uk

NEW post: "Listen, Listen (from 1972's 'Sandy') - something timeless about its stately rhythm and lyrical restraint, it could just as easily be a 17th-century lament as a 1970s ballad." @mikepress.bsky.social picks 10 from the ‘solo’ records of #SandyDenny www.toppermost.co.uk/denny-sandy/

NEW post: "Late November (from 1971’s 'The North Star Grassman and the Ravens') is perhaps her most cinematic song - full of streams, temples and phosphorous sands." @mikepress.bsky.social picks his 10 best songs from the ‘solo’ records of #SandyDenny www.toppermost.co.uk/denny-sandy/

NEW post:  Sandy Denny ... "Her voice and vision still resonate: a reminder that the most profound melancholy can also be luminous, alive and simply beautiful." @mikepress.bsky.social picks 10 from the ‘solo’ records of #SandyDenny (photo Keith 'Keef' MacMillan) www.toppermost.co.uk/denny-sandy/

The Hammersmith-born singer-songwriter phone hacks herself, resulting in an album of unvarnished rawness with more in common with Kirsty MacColl or Squeeze than any of her pop contemporaries #LilyAllen - West End Girl buff.ly/N6Kt2kQ

Radio Caroline, the Pirate Radio Ship That Rocked the British Music World (1965)

Join us on Saturday 13 December for a festive guided walk through London’s Soho. From Georgian masquerade balls to Fairytale of New York, we’ll trace how Soho shaped the soundtrack of Christmas. From wassailing to Wham!, it’s a walk that will make you hear Christmas — and Soho — in a whole new way.

Coffee, teenagers, Soho and pop before The Beatles.

NEW post: Leo Kottke – “the richness of his work means that this selection can only represent the tip of the iceberg” @pangurdubh3.bsky.social picks his #LeoKottke top 10 www.toppermost.co.uk/kottke-leo/

So, I wrote a book. It's out in February but there's an offer on this week if you pre-order it from Waterstones. www.waterstones.com/book/atypica...

The new David Bowie Centre at V&A East Storehouse is a remarkable experience, and a unique archive.

The David Bowie Centre at V&A East Storehouse is rather remarkable. The Storehouse itself is awesome.

Our guided walk of the musical history of London's Soho this Saturday - 11 Oct - takes in Bowie, Beatles, punk, jazz, Pulp and much else. Free to attend, but donations invited for Centrepoint homeless charity.

Find out my Top Ten Badly Drawn Boy tracks here. Or don't. Or do.

Coming Soon - to the Music Site with a difference ... Rain Parade, Vulfpeck, Leo Kottke, Penny & Sparrow, Marcus Miller, Hot Chocolate, Sandy Denny, Nic Jones, Tuck & Patti, Cathal Coughlan, Chet Atkins, Betty Davis, Lush, Popguns ... "That's (not) all Folks" www.toppermost.co.uk

There’s another way of looking at AI

🎉Exactly four years ago I published my short story collection which is quite fitting for the hallowe'en season. Once I've published my vampire novel next year, I'll be writing another collection. Obligatory link for any curious folk. books2read.com/b/VIFOF1