I’ve had the busiest of summers, the busiest since starting this blog but as of now I have four straight weeks at home until the next big adventure. Looking forward to it as I do like my usual routine and it has been supremely compromised of late, in a good way of course.
Last time I wrote about my first trip to a music festival, held on a farm. This week I went to the biggest arts festival in the world, held right in the centre of our capital city, Edinburgh. We’ve now done this three years in a row – headed down early in the morning, met our friends, had a nice lunch, taken in two shows and a few street performances, then headed home in the evening. To stay over in Edinburgh during the festival is nigh impossible nowadays due to the high cost of accommodation and the fact it’s booked up years in advance. Shame for all the performers as they are now being priced out of coming, and have to bunk up with many others or worse still camp, but Edinburgh is often where they start out and a good run there could lead to great things down the line. The Edinburgh Fringe Festival has given many stars their big break, including Alan Rickman, Richard Gadd, Steve Coogan (debuting Alan Partridge), Phoebe Waller Bridge (Fleabag) and Lee Mack.
The first show we went to see was called CSI: Crime Scene Improvisation where the cast have to make everything up on the spot based on suggestions from the audience. They have to be quick-thinking indeed, and we do eventually end up with a killer, but every show is different so it must be fairly exhausting to perform. The second show was by a satirical comedian called, Michael Spicer. I hadn’t heard of him before although he seems to have won many awards for his video series, The Room Next Door. Very funny indeed and of all the shows we’ve seen over the last three years I decided his was the one I enjoyed the most.
As for the castle I visited this week, it was the one that starred in the first season of the hit television drama Outlander, which I’ve written about here several times (there is even a category for it on my sidebar). I go for a walk every Friday with my lovely friend Eve, and every summer we have a bit of a jolly and do something touristy in our own back yard. Castle Leod is only about 15 miles from home and not often open to the public, so this week we grabbed the chance to visit, when it did just that.
Although the castle was the setting for the Outlander scenes featuring the Clan MacKenzie, for logistical purposes it seems the filming took place elsewhere, but if you’ve watched the series you’ll know how it all fits in to the drama. You’ll also know that the theme song makes use of the music to the Skye Boat Song, which was given a 21st century makeover by Bear McCreary. The lyrics, taken from the Robert Louis Stevenson poem, Sing Me a Song of a Lad That Is Gone, were adapted to fit the storyline and are performed by Raya Yarbrough. Outlander has developed a cult following and no doubt many visitors to the castle are fans. It’s an unusual wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey, historical-romance drama where the female lead, an Irishwoman, plays a very convincing Englishwoman and the male lead, a Scotsman, plays a very unconvincing Scotsman (sorry Sam, but it seems your natural Scottish accent was just a bit too soft and formal for playing an 18th century Jacobite).
As ever I get side-tracked by what I’ve been up to since last week, but I do have a very music-centred topic I want to discuss this time. If you follow this blog you will know that I’ve started following the UK Singles Chart again after many years of abstinence, as I had lost track of who all the runners and riders were. I’m now much more informed about the current crop of successful artists (in terms of sales/downloads/streams) so this year I promised to update you all on who was at the No. 1 spot whenever it changed, as I know few people of my vintage follow such things nowadays.
Little did I know back in January that 2026 would prove to be a most unusual year with the song currently at the No. 1 spot having now been there for a record-breaking 21 weeks. First it broke the 15 week record set by Wet, Wet, Wet back in 1994, then the 16 week record set by Bryan Adams in 1991 and finally the 18 week record set by Frankie Laine way back in 1953, when the chart was still in its infancy. I’m talking of course about Rein Me In, the song by Sam Fender, recorded as a collaboration with Olivia Dean last year. I’ve shared it around here before but I probably need to share it again, in case you don’t know it.
I read an interesting article this week about how it would have been inconceivable back in the days of Top Of The Pops, that so many people in the UK seem not to have ever heard this record-breaking song (see the comments on the YouTube version of the clip). The “Monoculture”, defined as the concept of a shared cultural experience among the masses, through listening to the same songs on the radio, watching the same films or television channels, seems to have ended in the early 21st century, due to the rise of streaming media and the fracturing of popular culture. I know we were all talking about Debbie Harry the next day at school after seeing her on TOTP in 1978, and then there was the whole frenzy over who shot JR, on Dallas in 1980.
I think that’s why I like writing this blog, as by revisiting the tracks of my years (predominantly songs from the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s), I know there are a lot of people out there of my age who will have very similar memories of those times. When I still went to work every day, I enjoyed comparing notes with people about what they’d watched on telly the night before, but latterly it was really hard to find someone who had watched the same thing at the same time. Nowadays, DD rarely even goes into the office, choosing to work from home instead so even less opportunity for that shared experience. Yes, we have so much more choice nowadays and so many songs instantly at our disposal but I do miss the days of less choice and a more unifying experience.
Until next time…
Rein Me In Lyrics
(Song by Sam Fender)
I let go of everythin’ I ever had
‘Cause I couldn’t give the love you deserved
By The Gunner, you shouted, “Oh, my God”
It seemed churlish, but it’s what I was owed, I suppose
Every flagstone of this town bears our prints
And all the bars ’round here serve my ghosts and carcasses
I wish I knew these things when I was young
‘Cause now I’ve just gone so numb
We take whatever we can to get the reason back
So, please, don’t rein me in
Don’t rein me in
Please, don’t rein me in
I’m workin’ myself up to a nice, warm bliss
All my memories of you ring like tinnitus
If I stop, it’s just pain
Please, don’t rein me in
There’s nothin’ brave in walkin’ alone
Love in exile has nowhere to go, so come on home
Mm-mm, don’t run away from my tenderness
You’re so afraid of that heart inside of your chest
We were doin’ so well, but you were scared to be held
Took the easiest way out
I see the tears of a man too proud to reach for a hand
Oh, let my love keep you safe now
So, please don’t
Don’t rein me in
Please, don’t rein me in
Now I’m working myself up to a nice, warm bliss
All my memories of you ring like tinnitus
If I stop, it’s just pain
Please, don’t rein me in
And I’m, I’m stood here chewin’ everyone’s lugs off
Telling everybody how much I – it up
Telling everybody how much I – it up
Telling everybody but you, how much I – it up
Slow down (don’t rein me in)
Slow down (don’t rein me in)
Don’t
And I’m workin’ myself up to a nice, warm bliss
All my memories of you ring like tinnitus
If I stop, it’s just pain
Please, don’t rein me in
Now I’m workin’ myself up to a nice, warm bliss (workin’ myself)
All my memories of you ring like tinnitus (my memories of you)
If I stop, it’s just pain
Please, don’t rein me in
Sounds like you need four weeks at home to recover from your recent frenzy of activity.
As it happens I was discussing the old monoculture with a friend in the pub last night. Like you in some respects I miss what you call the more unifying experiences, but not when it comes to music, art, books etc.
I’m not sure there was actually less choice back in the old days but there was definitely less opportunity to be exposed to something different. Over the years I have discovered loads of great music from my youth from all over the world that I was never aware even existed at the time because the relatively small number of radio stations and TV programmes didn’t play it. My own tastes have expanded exponentially since music became more accessible in the Internet era, and I’m all for it.
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Yes Ernie, not being an International Man of Mystery, I’m not used to as much galivanting so will enjoy the next few weeks of respite. All been great fun though.
It’s a difficult one isn’t it – I miss not discussing the telly programmes we used to watch during the week with my walking friend on a Friday, as we now watch different things at different times. And, it’s quite remarkable that so many people haven’t heard Sam and Olivia’s song after its 21 week run at the top spot. But, without the internet I wouldn’t have been able to reminisce about those days on this blog, nor find the songs/back stories to the songs/artists I write about. Jackie magazine was good, but it wasn’t that good at informing us.
Glad you’ve been able to find the music of your youth and are enjoying finding new things.
No more water cooler moments, but few people seem to go in to the office nowadays anyway so those days have definitely passed.
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You express the dilemma very well. If it wasn’t for the internet I would never have had the pleasure of meeting you, Mr WIAA and our little blog gang. Maybe we should think of it as having a lots of smaller communities and unifying experiences rather than the big ones we used to have. For example, I take part in a very enjoyable unifying experience at 8.30am every Saturday morning (even though it only lasted 7 minutes last Saturday due to a certain smartypants).
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You are right – the days of the monoculture may be over but with the wonders of technology we now have smaller communities that unify us. The Saturday morning unifying experience certainly is something I look forward to. Sometimes 7 minutes, but other mornings an hour and a half!
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And then of course there’s also Saturday Snapshots!
(I’m sorry, I just couldn’t resist…)
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Ha ha – you went there! We tiptoed round about.
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Alyson, what a great out-and-about Summer you’ve been having – truly living! – so good for the soul! Great to read about it all and be an armchair traveller in this case. I was interested to see Michael Spicer’s name and face here too, I hadn’t investigated much of his but a little while back someone showed me this video and it’s so spot on, love it…
Re. unifying experiences, I hope that the way things often go round in cycles may mean there will be more of a return to some of those too in time. It would be great if we could have the best of both! The generations who grew up never having had those moments will come up with the idea of it and think it novel, whilst we, if we’re still here, will enjoy it as another comeback thing. Talking of which – I read recently that CDs are having another resurgence. Some who have only experienced streaming quality have been happily surprised at how good they sound, and some who eschewed them for vinyl only are appreciating how much less space they take up and their durability. It’s Tomorrow’s World all over again!
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Yes, since my significant birthday this year, I’ve decided I can’t put things off any longer. I’m not generally one for being away from home so often but I’ve discovered I can pack a bag really quickly now as I’m doing it so regularly. My September adventure is one I’m looking forward to and I’ll probably write about it here but after that it’s home for quite a while – phew.
If you click on my link to Michael Spicer’s videos you’ll see that one is in amongst them – very funny. I love his In The Room Next Door series though – you can just imagine a bunch of advisors doing exactly that at the moment such is the nature of popularity politics. His show was excellent so hope we see him on telly a bit more.
You are right it would be great to have the best of both worlds – I would like there to be less choice on telly and radio, but like Ernie, I also love having the internet which means I can have this hobby. Gen Z are definitely discovering not only vinyl but also cassettes and CDs.
DD has her turntable now and quite a collection of vinyl with a little shelf above it with the signage “now playing” – there’s been more Neil Sedaka (?!) and the pair of them have been discovering Old’ Blue Eyes, Nat King Cole and even Olivia Newton John!! She recently bought (second-hand) copies of Wham’s Greatest Hits and an album of the Bond Theme tunes, both of which I have so I could have loaned them to her, but never mind. I still have a few of my best mixtapes if she moves onto cassettes. You couldn’t make it up.
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