Therapy For Me

W/C 12th August 2024 I can’t remember ever going over 30 minutes for a TFM before, though now I have said it out loud, it is probably not that unusual. Of course it’s an achievement that cuts two ways. For me, it means I have decluttered my brain and let go of some stuff that probably wasn't going to do me much good, especially if I continued to dwell on it. And it has also given me the chance to...

W/C 5th August 2024 It seems a little counter-intuitive to have selected this particular episode title, given some of the stuff that has been going on this week, but as you will hear I have had cause to smile at number of things through the week. Also this is a song that 'I knew' for years before I actually tell you who it was, and even when it had been released. And do you know what, it's a song...

W/C 29th July 2024 A tough week this week. Not because of anything going on in my immediate orbit, just the unrelenting clamour of everything that is going on in the wider universe. I am not convinced we are making a particularly good job of it at the moment, but in reality that is just because of what has risen to the surface over the last few days. What was important last week, last month, last...

W/C 22nd July 2024 Why not start the weekend with a bit of old-school goth rock I hear you say, well even though you never actually asked for it out loud, I am going to bring it to you anyway. The inspiration is St Leonards Tower in Newton Abbot, a hugely impressive building that I saw for the first time this week. Originally part of a gothic-style church (see what I did there) built in the thirte...

W/C 15th July 2024 This song comes from an album called The Bridge which was released in 1986. By the time it came out I had become a bit of a devotee of Mr Joel, having borrowed most of his back catalogue from the Denman Library in Retford and recorded them onto TDK C90s. The Bridge was the first album of new material I took any interest in, and the tour for the album was the first time I got to...

W/C 8th July 2024 Of the random things I have done this week I put together a 'kind-of-britpop' mixtape on Spotify, mainly for Josh actually, and I have been enjoying some guitar-drenched nineties bangers as I have been sat behind my screen. Totally independently of that I mentioned Thea Gilmore on this week's Corona Diaries podcast and when I realised I had put Cast on my playlist, I happened to...

W/C 1st July 2024 Generally speaking it doesn't happen very often. The transition of power in the UK, from one political party to another, has occurred four times in the last 45 years - 1979, 1997, 2010 and now 2024. So any way you look at this, whichever point of view, yesterday was an historic day. And what better way to celebrate than with a lovely punchy, punky little number from The Alarm. Th...

W/C 24th June 2024 I wonder if I should change the logo for TFM. I have looked at it a couple of times, and even had somebody mock me up some alternatives but never settled on anything I like. The existing one is supposed to be a typewrite style font on some serious grade writing paper, and if you look at it closely it does look like that. It's simple and it's clean. it just doesn't really talk to...

W/C 17th June 2024 So here we are, the longest day. I always find this a bit of a strange one if I am being honest, because technically we are now on the downward slope as far as the light is concerned but I never feel at this point that 'summer' has even got out of first gear. The same can be said of the 21st December, because although that is the point when we see the days start to pull out, we...

W/C 10th June 2024 So the best laid plans and all that. I was up bright and early to record this, because I had to head off to a junior football tournament that we were organising, in fact I may have mentioned it. Anyway I left Mrs. S doing the QC listen and I was hoping to publish it from pitch side. Well that was 8 hours ago, and as you will have worked out I am just getting around to it now. IN...

W/C 3rd June 2024 I got into Bryan Adams before the Reckless album came out. So before Summer of 69, and before Run To You. I had a friend called Steve Nicholson way back in the day, and we used to hang out and listen to music, and one day he put on the cassette of Cuts Like A Knife. Mind blown. Of course the only reason I have thought back to that moment at 06:43 on a Saturday morning, is because...

W/C 27th May 2024 Whilst I am not a particular fan of Boris Johnson (I know, comes as a shock doesn't it...) I have considerably more time for his brother Jo. Not only did he see through the nonsense of Brexit, he also manages to perfectly articulate why tossing out nonsense like 'National Service' and 'Mickey Mouse degrees' is such a backwards step. I caught this clip on twitter and it is one of...

W/C 20th May 2023 Like it or not, some weeks the episode titles do pick themselves. I am trying not to think about the parallels with 1997 too much, but it is getting hard not to at least to believe that if nothing else the outcome will be the same. And if that is going to be the case can we not get there as soon as possible. If you aren't into the political side of TFM then this would definitely...

W/C 13th May 2024 It turns out that I have used Complicated before as an episode title, normally when I realise that I try and find something different - but bearing in mind there are two tie-ins this week, I decided to bend my self-imposed rules slightly. If you are going to fully immerse yourself in my week, then you are going to need to start by navigating to the root cause of the problem which...

W/C 6th May 2024 I love this song, and it is worth the slightly disjointed crowbarring to be able to share it with you this week. TBH I am becoming quite a Tears For Fears fan, they are seriously under-appreciated in the way that say Aha are. Maybe it is something to do with the early pop success that both had, but in both cases there is some serious creative stuff going on. Anyway have a listen a...

W/C 29th April 2024 If you are a regular listener to TFM you will be familiar with my Saturday morning routine, which invariably involves getting out for a run. For the last six months or so my route on a Saturday takes me the six miles to Coffee Boy, a vibrant little spot just on the outskirts of Huddersfield, located in an old Mini showroom. The run takes me about an hour, in which time Mrs S ha...

W/C 22nd April 2024 For what it is worth I think Labour are onto a winner with their policy to bring the trains back under Government control. I appreciate that they will never say it is 're-nationalisation' because somehow that word is considered too politically toxic, but the fact is that many people will look at this as a positive. Whilst I have been a firm advocate of Labour not saying too muc...

W/C 15th April 2024 This one of those songs that I can hear in my head, but no matter how much searching I do I can't find 'the' version that I remember from my youth. I think I had it on a compilation album, actually now that I think about it, it could have been one of the Blues Brother, Soul Sister releases. In fact give me a moment and I will check. (short interlude) Ok so I have checked, and...

W/C 8th April 2024 This is one of those songs where I don't actually know the original. I was introduced it by me by Jimmy Nail(not personally, obvs) as he covered it on his album Tadpoles in a Jar in 1999. It turns out it was written in 1972 by a band called Family, and I am listening to it for the first time as I write this. I have always loved the JN version, because it's a perfect little thing...

W/C 1st April 2024 The New Statesman email has started landing in my inbox and I am not sure why. I can only assume it is something to do with signing up for the Ian Dunt blog that I told you about, but whatever the reason I am quite enjoying it. It seems to be a bit sporadic in terms of its cadence, and I would be lying if I didn't tell you that was triggering my OCD tendencies a little, but gene...

W/C 25th March 2024 It is hard to believe that this song was released when I was 18, and that I first saw Mr Big at Rock City two years later in 1991. I was a bit of a devotee for the first few albums and I still have a huge soft spot for the song Green Tinted Sixties Mind, because it is a perfect slice of hair pop rock. As it turns out they are currently on the road for their Big Finish tour, pla...

W/C 18th March 2024 Why do I leave my podcast notes until Saturday morning, when I know it is going to cause me stress. I like to be out for a run by 07:30, but it’s 07:08 and I still have to drink my tea, get a shower and get dressed. For some reason, even when TFM is in the can in plenty of time, I still put the notes off. And it isn’t like they are ground breaking in terms of content, or indee...

W/C 11th March 2024 Actually I will be running, in about 24 minutes if all goes to plan, when I have finished these notes and got my sh*t together. The reason for the title is that I am stumped for a content-relevant song this week and as I talked about Blair Dunlop last week, and as I talked to Blair Dunlop this week, I thought I would include take his most recent single as my inspiration for epi...

W/C 4th March 2024 We have three Spiderman masks in the house, compared with none this time last week. And these are actual fabric, full head, pull-over kind of masks not the held-on-by-a-piece-of-elastic variety that you recall from your childhood. The reason for this of course is World Book Day and the fact that Jack had a yin to go as the Miles Morales version of Spiderman. And to be fair he lo...

W/C 26th February 2024 After all the kerfuffle involved in getting it actually finished, I think we may frame the London Underground jigsaw with the 200+ white pieces. I appreciate that in the scheme of things we haven't actually shifted the dial in terms of human progress. The methodical placing of multiple pieces until you find one that fits snugly (btw if you could bottle that feeling you would...