Don Woods

The high streets are losing customers....shops are closing down....profits are down....all blaming it on online shopping........it's a sad situation but it's called progress and you have to work out a way of moving with the times...whatever that might be.....where the general public are concerned you can forget loyalty.....I was in Wetherspoons in Caernarfon last week....a pint of beer was £1.79....the same pint in a high street pub is £2.50 - £3....so where am I going to go?.....I appreciate small businesses have expenses and rates etc but that is the problem they need to solve....no point complaining as that's the way it is..........it's like the music business... reel to reel...cassettes etc vanished overnight along with film for cameras and square TVs etc....like it or not that is the way of the world and you have to move with the times. 2.Boris Johnson's comment on women in burkhas looking like post boxes is STILL under discussion....it was a joke....which most people get but OH NO the media have to kee

.While sifting through the rubbish we are subjected to on television I actually found a program I enjoyed....it was the story of Jimmy Perry and David Croft who created Dad's Army....it was about the struggle they had to get it off the ground...and the two actors who played them were really good and the chap who played Captain Mainwaring was spot on....it was a brilliant insight into problems of trying to convince TV boffins of the credibility of good comedy...boffins who can't see further than the end of their noses......the pair went on to write Hi-de-Hi which is also classic comedy........................and another interesting documentary was the story of Fawlty Towers...another classic...it was interesting to see how John Cleese stopped after the second series as he felt it had run its course...a wise decision....unlike "Benidorm" which started well but has now reached rock bottom....definitely well past its sell-by date.....sadly great comedy is a thing of the past. 2.I thought after his appearance on

.Wrestling is back on our TVs on Saturday afternoons....having been involved in it all (NOT the actual fighting) I do enjoy it....when I went over to the States to work on my wrestling album for my mate Adrian Street he got me involved as his "barrister" from London...Sir Cedric Everhard Hathaway...and I had to accompany him into the ring and make "legal" decisions on various wrestling matches....which of course were totally biassed...which used tp get the crowd very upset....however I lived to tell the tale....I met a lot of wrestlers over there and they were great guys....although it's all stage managed make no mistake these fellas are fit athletes and gymnasts.... 2,Paul McCartney has made a special appearance at The Cavern to promote his latest album....the press stating this was "where it all began"....well I suppose it was close to where it all began....they were interviewing those who were lucky enough to get a ticket....all very excited about standing inside the famous Cavern.....I notice no-one ment

The boat tragedy in Missouri has been on the news....it was terrible....and I have always said that lifejackets should be compulsory when on water...like crash helmets and safety belts on roads...had this been the case all those lives would possibly have been saved...you see people in Chester on the river in peddloes and rowing boats with no lifejackets....it only needs 3 feet of water to drown in....water has to be respected....and those who hire boats out etc should be more responsible for their customer's safety....or face legal consequences. 2.On the subject of the law strikes which effect hundreds of innocent members of the community should be made illegal....such as train strikes and airport strikes....I appreciate they want better conditions and/ or pay etc but to make the general public suffer is virtual blackmail....they are quick enough to pass stupid laws regarding racism and sexism but laws that involve the wellbeing of the general public seem to go under the radar......strike by all means but wh

.Here we go again.....a winter of solid rain and floods....a few weeks of sunshine and guess what....an upcoming possible hosepipe ban....the excuse is they can't treat the water fast enough to supply our needs....what a load of codswallop....they manage to get the water bills out O.K......how many staff do they have in the water industry...6?.....strange how they managed to direct water all over the country via a canal system a few hundred years ago yet they can't get it to our taps in the 21st century....wonderful. 2.I've given up on Brexit.....I lost the plot a while ago....now nobody knows what the hell is going on....we voted OUT by a majority didn't we?....but we forgot the fat cats might lose some of their obscene fortunes so those who LOST the vote are fighting back...which begs the question why bother voting in the first place....democracy? don't make me laugh....I voted out simply because I want to live in a country which makes its own laws instead of being told what we can and can't do by some dis

It's all World Cup at the moment and with England actually winning couple of games... and scoring 6 goals in one of them....everyone is getting very excited....coming out with things like "we could win it !!"....how many ties have we been here before....which is why I put a bet on Germany....which I did on Friday afternoon....so you can imagine what I went through during their match that night....but as always they scored in the last second and won the game....it's all good value this time because we not only get football we also get wrestling in the penalty area....and comedy when a player gets tapped on the shoulder and falls down rolling in agony holding his leg.....but not MY boys....they just get on with the job and look after my bet.....and we also seem to be doing well in rugby and cricket...and even cycling....hard to take in. 2.I watched Cher on the Graham Norton Show which was a good show as they were not all talking at once for a change....she is in the new version of Mamma Mia which I hope is as

1.(a)The BBC news goes steadily worse....we have an American President meeting up with a Korean leader to try to stop a world war...and doing a good job...but that's not good enough for the BBC...they have to find every possible negative point....questioning the whole thing and over dramatising an important event. ...speaking of which we have blanket reporting on the anniversary of the Grenfell fire...which was a terrible disaster last year and I can't imagine what the residents are going through...but why display their grief all over the news....what good is that doing?...then it's on to the stabbings and muggings in various parts of the country....why do we need to see this on national news...what is the point?...is there nothing POSITIVE going on in the world???....they should try featuring those who can do something about the mayhem instead of glorifying it all. (b)Then we have the World Cup.....90 minutes of football spread over the whole night...with pundits boring us to death...either side of which w

1.I watched Tommy Steele on The One Show...he is 81 and looks fantastic...in fact he has hardly changed...and is still performing in big shows....he is starring in The Glenn Miller Story in the west end.....and performed a live excerpt at the end of The One Show...talk about sensational!!....the guy is a legend...and if anyone deserves a knighthood it's this fella....he was this country's FIRST pop star and wasn't an Elvis clone like the rest of them...and is still going strong.......we have Sir Cliff...Sir Ringo (not sure why)....and SIR Van Morrison (which is beyond me)....not to mention SIR Jimmy and SIR Rolph...yet Tommy only has an O.B.E......if we MUST give knighthoods to entertainers I say "ARISE SIR TOMMY" 2.There is a lovely young lady called Joann Randles who is making a documentary on the life of wrestler Adrian Street and asked me if I would be interviewed on camera to talk about his music which I composed and produced....we met up in Liverpool and did the interview with her boyfriend Chris doin

I watched a programme called "It was alright in the 70s" where various programmes were shown from that era which would be regarded as sexist or racist these days....y'know...now we are the Nanny State.........programmes like The Black and White Minstrels and Benny Hill type stuff....with so-called "celebs" looking totally shocked at what they were watching....foe goodness sake GET REAL!!!...the likes of that silly old sod Bill Oddie shaking his head in disbelief saying "They wouldn't get away with that now... as if he hasn't seen it all before....personally I object to being told what I can and can't watch....it was called ENTERTAINMENT which has sadly vanished these days. 2.Also we had to suffer one of those whinging feminists on the morning news programme prattling on about how badly women are treated....then a picture of the bloke who plays Poldark was displayed....with no shirt on... which had apparently delighted our female population...and she was asked about the reaction to male strippers at women's h

.We are experiencing 25 degrees each day which we are not geared up to....there are the standard thunderstorms and flash flooding in various parts of the country but mostly blazing sunshine....personally 15 to 20 degrees suits me....but it has worked well for various big events like the tall Ships which have been in Liverpool over the weekend and the Wirral Bikeathon with cyclists hurtling round Birkenhead Park and massive family events with brass bands and those wonderful young ladies marching around and spinning their sticks and throwing them in the air....so for once the weather has been kind. 2.I had to laugh (mainly in despair) when I heard that Stanstead Airport had been brought to a standstill because the unit which refills the planes with fuel had been struck by lightning and was out of action...thus all flights had to be cancelled...then we have the outcry...angry passengers who had been left stranded...and were going to miss their holiday...I'm not quite sure what the airport was supposed to do....

The BBC blanket coverage of the build up to the royal wedding was totally ridiculous ...it started a 6 a.m and connsisted of several presenters standing in various positions along the route trying to get us all exited by interviewing onlookers and showing the same piece of film of Harry shaking hands with members of the public over and over again....then it was "now here is the news headlines"...and off they go telling us that it was the day of the royal wedding...plus a bit about the cup final...then back into the street...not a mention of ANYTHING else going on in the world....mind you I have come to expect this third class reporting from the BBC. Then we had the wedding which you HAD to watch ... it was interesting to say the least....I thought the preacher guy was great...all that was missing was James Brown moonwalking on...."HAVE YOU SEEN THE LIGHT".....and you have to love Harry...what a great lad he is, 2.Still on the subject of the royals...I watched the spoof programme called The Windsors .. The R

I have recently had personal experience of the work of the NHS....my wife required care in The Liverpool Women's Hospital after an operation...I was totally humbled by the kindness and dedication of the staff...selfless first class care and they ask nothing in return...they are Earth Angels....I've always had the greatest of respect for our doctors and nurses but when you are actually involved you see them in a new light....and it was my pleasure to organise a donation to their mums and babies section of £2000 on behalf of The Cheshire Cats which is our weekly rock and roll fundraisers organisation...I cannot praise them enough...thank heaven for the NHS. 2.I watched The Eurovision which was three hours out of my life I won't get back....it was pretty bad and makes you wonder what sort of music gives these countries pleasure because it's beyond me.....and surprise surprise we came third from bottom...why do we bother?....when that idiot jumped up on the stage our girl should have smacked him in the teeth wit

.A few days of hot sunshine has taken us by surprise....hottest place in Europe we are told...it won't last but while it does it creates some strange male species....the females are fine ..they appear in their shorts and T shirts and are easy on the eye...but the men...hmm....out come the huge baggy shorts...the stripped T shirts over their generous guts plus huge trainers....not forgetting the baseball cap and sunglasses....these are middle aged men trying to look trendy...and failing...they even have this strange walk proving they have "still got it"...what puzzles me is what do they see when they look in the mirror?....and they are everywhere....but generally after a few days the weather breaks and it's back to normal. 2.When I formed my recording company I had a demo service whereby I would advertise for people to send me their rough tapes of their songs (some VERY rough) and I would knock them into shape for them to present to publishers etc....I did 200 of these which paid for my studio...I had to deal

I watched the final episode of last laugh In Vegas where a selection of aging celebs from this country were invited to Vegas to appear there....it was a pretty rough ride for some of them with all the rehearsing etc but the final show was really good....they all fulfilled their dream....and got the ultimate buzz....I had a similar experience when I was asked to do a Ricky Nelson tribute concert backed by the guy who played the solos on his records...James Burton...to sing Hello Mary Lou etc backed by the guy on the records was surreal.....I have always been a massive fan of James (who also backed Elvis) since the 50's and although I ended up doing 8 concerts with him it was the first one I will never forget. 2.The news in this country is obsessed with the royals.....headline news about Kate and William's latest addition with huge proportions of the news spent standing outside the hospital....then we have the up and coming royal wedding with everyone guessing what she might wear etc....THERE ARE OTHER THINGS

.Cliff Richard is quite rightly suing the BBC for their biassed coverage of his alleged sexual assault....for which he was never charged.....poor old Cliff had to watch on TV his house being searched by the police while he was away on holiday... with the BBC reporting from a circling helicopter.....he was found to be completely innocent but has said it wrecked his life and career....in this country the gutter media wade in without any proof thus anyone involved is tainted straight away....I despise these little revolting creeps who have achieved nothing in their sad lives and try and make a name for themselves off the back of those who have earned their fame. 2.Ant McPartlin...of Ant and Dec fame....has been found guilty of drink driving and has been fined 85 grand and band from driving for around 18 months after causing a three car crash....it's easy to call him an idiot but he has had a few problems in his life but there is no excuse for getting behind a wheel when you've had a few....he was lucky no-one w

.Is it me or has modern pop music totally lost its way?....I know I come from a different age and perhaps I am indeed past it....but most modern music has no point....there is no content to listen to....my problem is when listening to records I know how it is all done and understand all the technology....bit like watching a conjuror when you know how he does his tricks....but to me there has to be a point to a song....instead of the repetitive lyrics we seem to get these days....come back rock and roll...all is forgiven. 2.Are we not all sick of adverts telling us how much these banks and insurance companies care about us?....telling us they will get us compensation for any accident we have ...or sort out PPI etc etc....with the no win no fee statement....what they don't tell you is how much THEY will make.....banks are not your friend their aim is to squeeze as much money out of you as they can....it's like the friendly car salesman who is a great guy until you tell him you don't want the car....when he tur

The song this week is from a musical play I wrote back in the day and it's called "School Without A Teacher" and was performed by several schools around the area....it looked at what would happen if computers replaced teachers (ahead of my time or what)...seems like an ideal situation for pupils but as the play demonstrates this is not necessarily the case. Went to the local panto in New Brighton....Peter Pan...took the 3 year old grandson which was his first panto...I was hoping he would have a long enough attention span....no need to worry...he was transfixed....it was so loud but really well done...they had "stars" from Coronation Street and the kid's TV channel ...neither of which I had heard of with Tinkerbell on roller skates....the little fella said "Grandad...I like Tinkerbell"...to which I replied "Yeah...so do I"....but for very different reasons. Another brave protector of the realm has been knighted...SIR Ringo Star....I suppose he must have done something other than being a passenger on the Bea

The song this week is from and album I produced a while back called Stars Over 45...with original tracks...this one is called The Ballad of John Wayne and is a tongue in cheek look at this "hero"....for a guy who never did his national service he sure won a lot of wars and made sure the west was won etc etc...even the Yanks regard him as some sort of hero...which says it all. I can't stand Morrisey or his terrible songs which sound like he's making them up as he's going along BUT....his latest record goes on about not watching the news for various reasons...I couldn't agree more BUT I still can't stand him !!!....I watched Tina Turner on the Jonathan Ross Show...now SHE is the real deal...I am a massive fan...she is fantastic with a voice to match...she has retired but is over here to promote the musical based on her life...the lady ROCKS !! On the subject of the rubbish news we have been bombarded with sexual harassment claims both in Hollywood and Parliament...who cares??...this is NOT national news...som

The song this week is called Subway Songman and a tribute to the musicians who brave the weather to entertain hundreds of passers by...I wrote it a while back and I thought I'd send it because they had a programme on the TV whereby would be buskers had to audition to be allowed a speck in the city....to be honest some of the buskers in Liverpool are better than you see in the charts....and I salute them all.Talking of which I watched Gregory Porter on the Graham Norton show singing live with Jeff Goldblum backing him on piano...Gregory sang Mona Lisa but I'm not sure what Mr.Goldblum was playing...I appreciate jazz piano allows a variation on a theme...but not THAT much....it was pretty bad proving that some "stars" should stick to what they do...and that goes for TV presenters,footballers etc.....when the England football team make a record it's no wonder we lose the world cup.We have had the tail end of hurricane Ophelia which presented us with a strange red sun due to the sand from The Sahara blo

Googi The Liverpool Duck was a song I wrote for a local girl called Penny Page who had a ventriloquist act and it has a strange history....I wrote it in the 70's purely for her act and a few years later she recorded it as a single 45 on her husband's (David Alexander) record label....at the time it sold in droves and she performed it on the Palladium and other TV appearances....it went on to be used in a TV drama which became a film....this week it has made the local charts ; on radio Merseyside where people vote for the worst novelty records ever....in at number 6...rock on 40 years later. Wirral has also been in the charts...there has been a national survey as to the happiest place to live in Britain and Wirral came third !!!...which is close...it is actually the BEST place to live but it's best if we keep it to ourselves....we don't want to be invaded by strangers. There is a move afoot to increase the penalties for death by dangerous driving....it is suggested a life sentence be invoked...which I am all