The big six zero follows on from the wee one eight...

Playlist

Up at 6 again...

New music Friday...

Stupidly as ever, 19 new things added to the library, including the new one from Die Ärzte's Farin Urlaub...

Writing this tomorrow morning, I am still making my listening way towards it...

At 8, pressed "Go" on the new 15 song LP, "Broken", which I recorded ay back last November...

I now only have two things left ready for release...

It's been a lazy year musically but only because I did so much in 2025...

Good reception...

This, for example...

High praise indeed from a collector who has bought around 2,300 albums on Bandcamp so far in 2026...

Then, to working on my "gig idea" to present to the band, along with a potential setlist for our next session on Friday...

My Regular Gig Idea

Bi-monthly Sunday afternoon themed gigs in the back room at the Dockers...

Dates: Starting November 2026 and continuing in January 2027 then March, May, July, September etc...

Support: Original material Capital Models set - 1980 repertoire and/or new stuff we might write in the current quartet...

Main Set : Themed - a set of songs by a particular artist or to a theme...

Encore: A select few crowd pleasing covers we all like to play...

Show Time: 2pm - 4pm including between sets break...

Venue: Dockers because - good transport links, cheap drinks for audience, we are familiar with the set up, they’ll let us do what we want...

Income: We put a hat round during the break/ have a box at the door - we can choose a different charity for each gig and give anything above our hall hire expense to said charity

Advantages: No one will be dictating to us what we play - we do these entirely on our own terms.  We only need 20-30 people to fill the room.  A good replacement for a rehearsal...

Disadvantage: We have to generate audiences ourselves...

Timings

12-1:00 - Load in and set up

1:00 - Soundcheck

2:00 - Pre Show 5 mins

2:05 - Originals 25 mins

2:30 - Break 10 Mins

2:40 - Featured Artist/Theme 60 Mins

3:40 - Encore 15 Mins

3:55 - End

4:00 - chat and catch up

4:15 - Take Down

5:00 - Exit

...and, the more we do it, the quicker we'll be at set up/take down too...

Suggested Artists

(starting with ones we already have)

David Bowie

Lou Reed/Velvets

Bryan Ferry/Roxy

Brian Eno

Bob Dylan

...which could take us through to next summer...

Other Initial Suggestions

(artists with between 20 and 76 top-ten singles in the UK singles chart)

Elvis Presley

Madonna

Elton John

Taylor Swift

The Beatles

Queen

Pet Shop Boys

Rolling Stones

ABBA

...which would take us to January 2028...

And there would be nothing stopping us from playing other dates/venues between these...

Final thing - we could expand the playing time to 5pm and have an acoustuic slot between our sets for either someone playing songs by the chosen artist/re the chosen theme - or even make it an open mic session...

Anyway...

I was doing that while Anne was out at Zumba...

Did I mention it was Friday...

Finally out at 11:40, post doing the above and adding all the new music to the mobile player...

Down the hill and a bus into town...

A visit to Fopp then along to Haymarket, where these were found...

50p...

£2 (3CD set)...

A meet up today with Malcolm to celebrate his 60th tomorrow (we will be in Glasgow for nephew Craig's 40th)...

I don't recall being out with him for his birthday since his 18th, back in 1984, when Anne was with her mum in Königssee in the German Alps...

Me and Talcy ended up staying out all night...

We would not be re-enacting that today...

We are far too old for that now...

Or, at least, I am...

Drinks at the Scots Guards Club, where Malcolm presented me with the DVD of Michael Mann's Mohammed Ali biopic starring Will Smith - even though it was his birthday not mine...

Some man...

We were joined by Anne, post the barmaid having reckoned both Malcolm and I were 63...

Then, on to Mia's Italian Kitchen at 2:30, for the birthday lunch...

Bruschetta and Sea Bass (fish of the day) for the birthday boy...

Caprese salad/mussels and four seasons pizzas for his hosts...

...and drinks all round...

At 4:30, along to Ryrie's for more drinks...

Here is Patch, Malcolm's sponsored dog...

He has never met him...

Towards six, Anne and I left Talcy to the rest of his evening and headed home on a 26 from Haymarket...

The new CDs were ripped and added to the library and listened to as I dozed off...

Toast and banana on awakening and the a couple of "Scandal" before hitting the sack, the the mock up of The Capital Models' Bob Dylan Show in the cans...

Highlight of the Day: Talcy's birthday lunch...

Today's New Music: