Last nights first watch #film was the preposterous #eighties #CreatureFeature Alligator (1980) Directed by Lewis Teague, written by John Sayles (!) starring the excellent Robert Forster and with a bizarre cameo from Dean Jagger. A fun watch on a cold June night. letterboxd.com/film/alligat...

Remembering the great Mikey Dread who was born on this day in 1954. Here's one of Mikey's earliest 7" releases which went on to become the opening track on his Dread At The Controls LP... youtu.be/fxJgwOASJxg?... #reggae #reggaesky #vinylsky #vinyl #musicsky #mikeydread

Some light sleeve wear…

"It's 16 for 1 And that's the score that it's always been You edged to slip on your debut Conditions cloudy and you're on your way Emilio Gay Is Brendan proud of little boy today? Ah-ha, that eight you scored It's never ever going to fade away" ENGvNZ

#NowPlaying (Dutch EMI Records 12 track #vinyl LP compilation 1976) #seventies #MoodMusic #groove #covers #EasyListening #70sMusic #GeoffLove

#NowPlaying Joe White, Leslie Butler – Jah Jah Dub / Ganja [ both 1975] (Doctor Bird 11 track #CD reissue 2026) #seventies #reggae #dub #roots #70smusic www.discogs.com/release/3712...

#NowPlaying (UK 13 track #vinyl LP 1963) #WishfulThinking #sixties #pop #vocal #60sMusic

#NowPlaying (UK Philips Records 2x #vinyl LP 1976) #MoodMusic #Latin #KneesUp #groove

Happy birthday to Suzi Quatro. Here’s your annual reminder about her unexpected version of The Normal’s Warm Leatherette youtu.be/do-aFMySFos

Last nights first watch #film was the curious Italian #horror The Laughing Woman (1969) Directed by Piero Schivazappa and starring Dagmar Lassander & Philippe Leroy. Enjoyable if distinctly odd. letterboxd.com/film/the-lau...

RIP Dexter Wansel youtu.be/VHpk9krUJBI

Freeview (UK) #film of the day : Django Unchained (2012 158 mins.) directed by Quentin Tarantino; starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jamie Foxx, Samuel L Jackson and Christoph Waltz. [Film 4 21.00 & +1] letterboxd.com/film/django-...

"Is your kid on cocaine? Is your kid smoking pot?... Or has she got a Bros poster in her room and is she driving you mad, listening to the Bros album every night? Which would you rather have?" Tom Hibbert, pre-empting AFTER THE SCREAMING STOPS in his Q profile of Bros in November 1989.

Black Uhuru performing Sinsemilla at Glastonbury in 1982. Watch the full song plus Sponji Reggae at 🇯🇲🔊▶️ youtu.be/hUASAWFsxIE

Freeview (UK) #film of the day : Shane Black's excellent crime comedy The Nice Guys (2016 111mins.) starring Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling. [BBC 1 22.30 & iPlayer for 30 days] letterboxd.com/film/the-nic...

UK 12 track #vinyl LP 1974 #medleys #instrumentals #piano #MoodMusic #OpportunityKnocks #sorting

Alan Bennett is 92. He would have been a fantastic English Columbo ‘Ooh, just one more thing…’

Rue dageuerre where Agnes Varda made one of her best films Daguerreotypes

Freeview (UK) #film of the day : Sergio Leone's terrific #western For a Few Dollars More (1965 126 mins.) with Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, Gian Maria Volonte, Josef Egger, Mara Krup and Klaus Kinski and starring Ennio Morricone's fantastic score. [5 Action 21.00] letterboxd.com/film/for-a-f...

A few words about the inspirational Steve Barrow, who truly did not waste a minute of a life in service to music, but perhaps remains best known as the driving force behind the Blood and Fire label.

#NowPlaying (Spanish Zafiro Records 12 track #vinyl LP 1970)

Freeview (UK) #film of the day : Love & Mercy (2014 116mins.) Biopic of the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson; starring John Cusack, Paul Dano, Paul Giamatti and Elizabeth Banks. [BBC2 12.55 AM Saturday & iPlayer for 30 days] letterboxd.com/film/love-me...

RIP Steve Barrow. 🙏 Prior to the magnificent Blood and Fire label, Steve worked for Trojan. In the late 80s he dug deep into their archive and compiled dozens of LPs that contained many rare reggae and rocksteady gems. Here's just 9 of those incredible LPs... #reggae #reggaesky #vinyl #musicsky

Freeview (UK) #film of the day : Mulholland Dr. (2001 140 mins.) Drama, starring Naomi Watts, Justin Theroux, Laura Harring and Robert Forster. David Lynch firing on all surreal cylinders. [Sky Arts 21.00] letterboxd.com/film/mulholl...

Difficult to understate how important those Blood & Fire releases where in the 90s; repackaging reggae with the care and respect it deserved and making reggae albums and compilations look like beautiful desirable objects. I bought them for the sleeves and was awed and educated in the process.

This is terribly sad news.

Today we’re revisiting one of the earliest promotional music films created in Jamaica for an international audience, featuring Desmond Dekker & The Aces.

Moira Shearer between takes on the set of The Red Shoes (1948)

"Alexa, what's the forecast..?"

RIP Sonny Rollins. The end of an era ▶️ open.spotify.com/album/4IUPjc...

The Soul Vendors 1967 tour starred lead musicians Roland Alphonso, Johnny 'Dizzy' Moore and Jackie Mittoo along with vocalists Ken Boothe, Alton Ellis and Owen Gray. Here are the adverts for their 3 gigs at the Ram Jam club... #reggae #reggaesky #musicsky #rocksteady

And finally, here's Dennis Bovell playing bass behind Janet Kay in one of their #totp performances in 1979... youtu.be/4Yeflu3DuOo?... #reggae #reggaesky #musicsky #loversrock

Happy 73rd birthday to Dennis Bovell. Amongst many career highlights, Dennis wrote, produced and played on Silly Games. He had previously worked with Janet Kay and knew she would be perfect to hit those high notes... youtu.be/T6LjYAaHy7A?... #reggae #reggaesky #vinylsky #vinyl #musicsky

Happy Birthday to the original Dubmaster and King of Lovers Rock, Dennis Bovell 🥳!

Ah yes, no doubt from Rediffusion. I remember us doing the same. This got me wondering about the relative cost of a basic TV over the years. According to this piece a colour TV in the late 60s cost £304, the equivalent of £5.6k today - no wonder people rented! electronicworldtv.co.uk/blogs/news/t...

Many of us grew up watching him as either Ironside or Perry Mason but before all of that, Raymond Burr (1917-1993), was a classic #FilmNoir villain in classics such as Pitfall (1948),The Blue Gardenia (1953) and Crime of Passion (1957). #BornOnThisDay #BOTD

Happy 85th birthday to Ronald Isley, the last surviving original member of The Isley Brothers. Here's a playlist celebrating their incredible musical legacy ▶️ open.spotify.com/playlist/07T...

In 1951, Sight and Sound created a special 74-page supplement to accompany the Festival of Britain's film programme Seventy-five years later, it is now available to be read online in full for the first time Read here for free: www.bfi.org.uk/features/obj...

Happy 65th birthday to Nick Heyward. Photo taken when Haircut 100 played at Birmingham’s Locarno in 1982

Yesterday also marked 9 years since Frankie Paul died aged just 51. Here's his legendary cover version of Starship's US No.1 hit Sara. Frankie's version topped the UK reggae charts for months in the autumn of '87... youtu.be/XA4ZGfbKEYc?... #reggae #reggaesky #vinylsky #vinyl #musicsky

Happy birthday to Grace Jones

Happy birthday Wreckless Eric 🎂🌎🌍🌏

Three out of four. Clearly I was born in to a BBC family.

How every film should start:

Happy Birthday to the great Henry Fonda, born 121 years ago today

#WeekendSingles To celebrate Jonathan Richman's 75th birthday, here's Roadrunner (Thrice), a great live version of the song found on the b-side of The Morning of our Lives ▶️ youtu.be/GCkWNymcUCk

I am delighted to learn there is a band in the US called Fantastic Cat, whose three albums are called: The Very Best of Fantastic Cat (2022) Now That’s What I Call Fantastic Cat (2024) Cat Out of Hell (2026) They all wear cat masks, the silly bastards. PS. They are also excellent.

It’s Hard to Say Goodbye 🩵 I was sad to hear the news today that Claudine Longet has died. Roger Nichols and Paul Williams wrote this one for her. youtu.be/tCfRO45OvMQ?...

Freeview (UK) #film of the day : Imitation of Life (1959 119 mins.) Classic melodrama from genre master director Douglas Sirk; starring Lana Turner. [Film 4 15.25 & +1] letterboxd.com/film/imitati...