It's the centenary of the wonderful Agnes Owens' birth today, so here's the longread I wrote on her life/work. It has interviews with her son; her 1st publisher, @peterkravitz.bsky.social; @sorchadallas.bsky.social; some of those who wrote introductions to the new edition & @damianbarr.bsky.social.

85 candles today youtu.be/rxIJnZQmTt4?...

A million young people are not in education, employment or training. This week, a former Blair cabinet minister blamed smartphones, a former headteacher blamed schools, Sunak blamed the minimum wage, Farage offered a tax break on overtime, and GB News asked if we had created a generation of wimps.

Last word to George from his foreward in Fifty Years Adrift "I like Derek because he's funny, clever and honest. He'll say things that are true... Ringo does that too" #LongLongRoad

I don't hear nostalgia in Long Long Road, just an acknowledgement that if you're lucky you can be on this planet for quite a while #LongLongRoad

She's Gone is lovely. And it kind of reminds me of Me and Magdalena, which is also lovely #LongLongRoad

'The movement you need is on your shoulders' is a total Ringoism. He didn't write it, but it's a total Ringoism #HotTake #LongLongRoad

T Bone has said of Ringo that he talks in song titles, and I get it. If something is encapsulated for you in 5 words, say it in 5 words #LongLongRoad

I think I prefer this version of Choose Love. The line "The long and winding road is more than a song" really makes me laugh, because it's true #LongLongRoad

There's not a whole lot going on in My Baby Don't Want Nothing, but there's something about the atmosphere of it that pulls me in. I guess there's something to be said for its simplicity #LongLongRoad

You And I (Wave of Love) is a bit bland, but Ringo and Molly singing together is nice #LongLongRoad

The band are so tight on Why. Were they all in the studio together when recording this? Was it only Ringo that recorded his parts elsewhere? #LongLongRoad

It's Been Too Long is what happens when you mix Ain't She Sweet, The Monkees Tear Drop City and Soho's Hippy Chick, marinade it in country pop and top it with a Ringo vocal or something #LongLongRoad

I Don't See Me In Your Eyes Anymore is a classic. A song for your uncle to sing at family parties. It also reminds me a bit of Lonesome Tears In My Eyes #LongLongRoad

Such a good arrangement on Baby Don't Go. The music is so brooding and menacing #LongLongRoad

"I dont know where I am but I'm glad to be here" is just another brilliant opening line #LongLongRoad

Returning Without Tears is a great opener. The harmony with Molly Tuttle is beautiful. 85 years to find a voice that blends so well with yours is pretty wild #LongLongRoad

"Tell me a story and I don't care if it's true" is such a great opening line #LongLongRoad

Inspired to watch 'Antonio Lopez 1970: Sex, Fashion & Disco' after seeing this at a visit to Dovecot Studios. I would've liked a bigger focus on his drawings, but it undeniably illustrates that an artist's sensuality cannot be replicated by tech & AI

My picks for #5DebutAlbums9599 1. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill 2. Travis - Good Feeling 3. D'Angelo - Brown Sugar 4. Belle and Sebastian - Tigermilk 5. Nuyorican Soul

🎶🎶 LISTENING PARTY 🎶🎶 Join us this Saturday at 9pm BST as we assess Ringo Starr’s new album. All welcome,reposts appreciated. See you there. It’ll be great! #longlongroad

It’s Agnes Owens’s centenary on Sunday. I was thrilled to be able to write about her life and her bitterly funny books for @theobserveruk.bsky.social, talking to her family, her first readers (“What the fuck is this?!”), her first publisher, and fans like Douglas Stuart:

The last sentence in this article is most crucial "They also need to recognise that some people might not be able to work". What we're likely to see with this change is an increase in sanctions. Fit notes are already increasingly not being accepted by DWP leading to sanctions. I honestly despair.

Beowulf was addressing the issue as delicately as he could

"Once that space is removed, it simply does not reappear... It migrates to platforms Scotland does not own, curated by algorithms it cannot interrogate, in service of revenues that leave the country entirely. The small label, the new writer, the Scots voice, the difficult record...They get silence"

I just learned that Earljean Reavis passed away on May 7, 2026. Her voice was the low, smooth sound of the Cookies - in the bridge of Chains: “Now believe me when I tell you / I think you’re fine...” Earljean was a kind woman with a beautiful soul. My love and condolences go out to her family. 💔

If you see this post a tree

This isn’t ’progressive’, it’s the same old rhetoric you’d find in any right-wing paper’s opinion section. And it gives an impression that the DWP are a soft touch rather than a bureaucracy capable of stunning cruelty and opacity.

#CurrentlyReading #VirginiaNicholson #HowWasItForYou #WomenSexLoveAndPowerInThe1960s

Ace @mojomagazine.bsky.social this month. Grayson Haver Currin's feature is beautifully written, great Tom Doyle piece on Spencer Davis Group & fab Lloyd Bradley extract on Soul Train. And having just heard Man With An Open Heart & thought "Ooh, more of that, please", a perfectly timed Beats article

Celebrating Jackie Shane on her birthday. An amazing live album! #NowPlaying #JackieShane #Live

#NowPlaying #JoniMitchell #Clouds

"What he’s describing is not the restlessness of youth but creativity as an ongoing, lifelong process.... Legacy is not static; it is ever changing. And it belongs to no one if not the artists themselves.... Time gives everything a different temperament"

#NowPlaying #MaryWells #DearLover

I've been listening to Sammy Ward today youtu.be/n1KT0qKUUn0?...

I was the first to see never

Overwhelmed by end of term marking, I almost missed #WorldCollageDay. But here, at the 11th hour, is an untitled work by Pauline Boty from 1960 to mark the occasion. But wait there's more: +

Bizarre, psychedelic advertising for Levi's: The Stranger (1971), dir. John Urie, Snazelle Films

Not yet.

Released on Bandcamp yesterday #NowPlaying #CarlaJEaston #IThinkThatIMightLoveYou carlajeaston.bandcamp.com/album/i-thin...

A fantastic first episode! From gag classfied ads to "this then is" in-jokes to Birthday theories, it has the kind of exquisite detail only @marklewisohn.bsky.social & @chrisshaweditor.bsky.social can provide. The accompanying Mersey Beat Popularity Poll playlist is excellent too!

Watching Fringe youtu.be/WfgPEh2J9aI?...

#NowPlaying #JoanBaez #ComeFromTheShadows

Another Machynlleth painting from last year. I’m playing this year on Sunday at Mach Comedy Festival, with this painting, and playing a set on Sunday. @machcomedyfest

Happy 87th birthday to the incomparable Judy Collins. Lucky to still have her with us. youtu.be/n8lV5LHwIuk