$tateside, London American and Pye International - the record labels that brought us great American music in the early '60s

I experience a warm glow at the very thought of those labels - far more than I do when I'm reminded of, say, Parlophone, EMI, Top Rank, Pye or Decca. That's because $tateside, London American and Pye International's main function was to release singles and EPs of American material which UK labels had licensed from  labels in the States. Not every record released via these subsidiaries was brilliant - but a fair proportion of the great singles released before the British Invasion - i.e between 1956 and 1963 - appeared on one of the three. Even after the British Invasion, the number of brilliant American tracks released here remained high: British beat combos were recording cover versions of formerly obscure American hits (primarily R&B) - and British companies realised they'd already licensed many of the originals. I'm going to switch to full train-spotter mode and take a look at what each label was offering the 'Oi'll geeve eet foive" generation, starting with $tateside...

My alternative list of the 100 greatest American films of all time revisited

Regular visitors may remember my list...

My 45 favourite conservative books - as shared with the users of Pinterest

I've been spending a lot of time recently on Pinterest. If you have no idea what that is, you can find out by moseying on over to my newly-created board, Classic Conservative Books, which I describe in the following terms:

Not a comprehensive list - just the books that have had the greatest influence on my right-of-centre political views. Several of the writers can't be described as politically conservative (Orwell, Popper and Haidt, for instance), but the central message of their books - at least the ones featured here - can. I realise one or two works on the list aren't (yet) considered classics - but they are in my house!

In case you're not in the mood for moseying, here's the list:

My alternative to the American Film Institute's list of the hundred greatest American films of all time

Robert Mitchum in Night of the Hunter

In 2007, the American Film Institute published its second list of the hundred greatest American films, chosen by a panel of 1500 industry worthies. They first performed the exercise in 1998, so I'm rather hoping that we'll be seeing an updated list sometime this year or next. Inevitably, I have some quibbles with their choices (the definition of "American" seems a trifle elastic, given it includes The Third Man and Lawrence of Arabia) and - inevitably - they're rather snooty when it comes to animated films, thrillers, spy movies and horror pictures. I'm not a big fan of Vertigo, Raging Bull, Schindler's List, Apocalypse Now, M*A*S*H, Do the Right Thing, Nashville,  Chinatown, Annie Hall, Unforgiven, Forrest Gump, Titanic, Platoon, A Streetcar Named Desire, Bonnie & Clyde, or Tootsie, and I'm bemused as to why Fargo should have dropped out of the top hundred.

The 2015 Grønmark Blog Top 20 "Absolute Blister" Awards for Services to Bum-Holery

1. Angela Merkel, whose open invitation to Muslim immigrants turned a temporary crisis into an epic disaster set to rumble on for decades - or until European civilisation has been sundered from its Judeo-Christian cultural roots and turned into one enormous theocratic Third World slum. Thanks, Ange.

2. Black Lives Matter, for spreading the lie that racist, trigger-happy cops represent the greatest threat to American blacks, when cops are responsible for 4% of gun-related black deaths, while 87% are caused by other blacks. Motes and beams, race-hustlers.

My 50 favourite 21st Century films - including no less than 14 animated movies

I watched a trailer for the new Pixar film, Inside Out, this afternoon. I'm really looking forward to seeing it, because no other film studio has given me as much pleasure since the release of Toy Story in 1995. I know several people whose taste I respect can't be bothered with animated films, but I've also noticed that they tend to be childless, and therefore haven't been forced to sit through any since they themselves were little, or, if they have, haven't been forced to see them through a child's eyes (ankle-biters tend to let you know if they're not enjoying what they're watching). I'm pretty sure I would have watched every Pixar film, whether or not I'd had a son as an excuse.

Driven to abstraction by modern art - 15 abstract paintings I can actually respond to

To a Summer's Day, Bridget Riley

Here's a list of ten more of my all-time favourite crime novels

Ten favourite crime novels simply weren't enough (see previous post) so here's another ten. I've tried not to repeat any of the writers from the first list (otherwise there would have been at least four more Chandlers and six more Highsmiths). I've only snuck in one short story collection - or else there's have been lots of Sherlock Holmes. 

Off the back of the CWA shortlist, here's ten of my favourite crime novels

The Crime Writers Association (CWA) is in the process of choosing the best crime novel of all time (here). A few days ago it came up with its short list of the ten best, accoring to its 600 members. And a fine list it is, too. I’ve read eight of them, and I’ve no argument with any of the octet: in fact, at least three of them  - The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Big Sleep and The Moonstone – would definitely be in my Top Ten. Here's the complete list:

I've made a YouTube video of my favourite song openings - enjoy!

Buzzfeed's "31 truly unfortunate food product names"

Scrub my last music post – 1972 was almost as good as 1971 for albums, even better for singles!

Okay, I’ve got my excuses ready. The reason I was so wrong about 1972 is… the cat ate my homework! Will that do? Oh, the hell with it – I just got so over-excited by becoming re-acquainted with the glories of 1971, that I began dissing its younger brother without doing proper research. Truth is, ’72 – bless it! – was only a gnat’s behind ’71 in terms of albums, and actually ahead when it comes to singles.  The singles list alone is actually awe-inspiring – and I thought the early ’70s was meant to be the era of the long-player.

1971 - the best year ever for great albums and singles

Barry Norman’s list of top British films revisited: here’s my second fifty

Following Barry Norman’s perfectly acceptable list of Top 50 British films, I recently published my own version (here). Here’s the second fifty, in alphabetical order. Some of these are probably American, in terms of financing – but I can’t be bothered researching this aspect: they feel British to me, and that’s that. This time, I’ve excluded individual TV dramas, because there were simply too many – I’ll save them for another post.

Never mind Barry Norman’s Top 50 British films – here's the list the world's been waiting for!

I've never been a big fan of former television film critic Barry Norman. For a start, I once had to change seats at a pre-release screening because he thought my head was blocking his view (I wouldn't have minded if he'd asked nicely, but he chose to sigh and tut for several minutes until I got the message and asked him if there was a problem). Also, he once sailed past me looking ineffably smug into a screening of 1984 I was unsuccessfully trying to blag my way into with my then-girlfriend. Not his fault, of course, but I could have happily knocked his toupée off. But I have to admit that his list of Top 50 British films isn't quite as annoying as I'd expected it to be.

My favourite "London" movies: extremely violent, deeply creepy and very funny

I don’t know if it says more about me or the city I’ve lived in for most of the past 54 years, but the films which for me seem best to capture the essence of London are either extremely violent, deeply creepy or very funny - or a mixture of all three. If I lived in Paris, say, it would be easy to choose one movie that sums up the spirit of the city – Les Enfants du Paradis. But with London, it’s not so simple: for a start, two of my favourites are largely set in other parts of Britain. But I'll give it a go: here, in no particular order, is a selection that seems to collectively capture the city's essence.

My favourite parody songs: the Bonzos, National Lampoon, NTNON, Chris Morris and Tony Ferrino

Books I'd rather suffer a sleepless night than read

I don't suppose I've gone to sleep without reading something before switching the light off more than 20 times in my life, usually after drunken parties in my younger days. Now, it would be an impossibility. My idea of hell would be to find oneself alone late at night in a foreign hotel room without even a Gideon Bible for solace. In those circumstances, I'd read almost any book ever published rather than not read anything at all. But there are exceptions to that rule - i.e. books I wouldn't read even if it meant a sleepless night. Here are a few of them:

Nice to see that the noble tradition of truly dreadful book covers is being kept alive in the digital age

That old "Boy, Girl, Bear" love triangle

My son's Christmas present has left me pondering my all-time favourite Stratocaster tracks

My son has an electric guitar - well, to be accurate, he has the electric guitar, the Fender Stratocaster. And a nifty, versatile little amplifier, the Roland Micro Cube, which positively bristles with effects - delay, reverb, chorus etc. - and a whole range of "tones" from acoustic to Marshall Stack. Even emits an "A" note to help you tune your guitar. Things have moved on quite a bit in the twenty years since I bought my Telecaster and Fender practice amp!