DAVE'S DIARY
This journal of the comings'n'goings and musings'n'enthusings of Dave Ling
will be updated daily - except after days of stress and nights of excess.
Thursday 30th April
How cute is this, folks? Our new cat Purdy has had her kittens. We had no idea that she was preggers when we rehoused her. Mother and four furry sausages are doing just fine. Something tells me that the ginger one is gonna be a right ol' handful.
Wednesday 29th April
This news update is pretty interesting and till now doesn't seem to have been discussed too widely. I've been talking for weeks about 'the confidence factor'. Should lockdown be relaxed and live music return in the autumn as many experts hope/predict, will the audiences jump straight back in? On the evidence presented here, I suspect not...
And sport? As much as I love Crystal Palace I won't be returning to Selhurst till I know it's completely safe. Until then footie's gotta be behind closed doors and conducted without risk to the players, officials, fans and matchday facilitators (police, medics, stewards). I really don't see it happening for quite a while yet.
Sunday 26th April
Here's one of my favourites of these 'stuck indoors'-style videos that seem to be taking the web by storm. Kip Winger never disappoints. Here The Kip-meister is joined by a cast that includes Jeff Scott Soto, Alice Cooper, Klaus Meine, Danny Vaughn, Richie Kotzen, Alan Parsons, Tony Harnell, Fiona Flanagan and many others! Enjoy!!!
Friday 24th April
When the mental pressure starts to build one of my favourite releases is to close the office door (can't distract Amanda who is working), turn up the volume and have a bloody good, footie terrace-style sing-song. Here's today's fuel, a latest Amazon purchase. My double-vinyl gatefold was getting a bit worn out! #SomethingForTheWeekend
Is anyone else enjoying Brockmire, the Fox comedy series about a maverick, washed up baseball commentator? I stumbled upon it by complete accident, but it’s recommended for fellow detoxing sports addicts.
Thursday 23 April
Throwback Thursday: Fondly remembering the days when Arnie Ling weighed so little, Jay Jay French and Mark 'The Animal' Mendoza scooped him up in the air with ease. This was taken at the Rock & Blues Custom Show in Derbyshire in 2011. One of my favourite weekends ever!
Saturday 18th April
Today would have been Record Store Day (now held over till June 20). Though my albums and CDs remain packed away following the house move, I'm celebrating by reactivating my precious turntable. I’ve been working through the recently received arrivals. First up, pressed on 'special red and yellow stained glass vinyl' - 'Live At The Ryman', a good old-fashioned double-gatefold LP from the Brothers Osborne. Country rock with an intoxicating Southern tinge, I love that the Side Four is devoted to a single track, the 16-minute 'It Ain't My Fault'. Just like the gool ole days.
Friday 17th April
Here’s another treat from the postman. Yes, of course I wanna get rocked, but until I can do so in the flesh once again this triple-disc beaut of a show at the O2 Arena will do just fine.
Wednesday 15th April
I bought myself a special lockdown cheer-me-up pressie from Amazon. One of the greatest rock voices backed by the members of Journey, what's not to love? I’ve never owned it on CD before. It was ’bout time.
Tuesday 14th April
Forty years ago this beast of a record was released. To say that it changed my life would be an understatement of Biblical proportions. Here's a poster I nicked from the wall of the Marquee Club after seeing its creators there on 2.4.80. I must get it framed!
Speaking of which, here's an Iron Maiden debut album story wot I writ for the new issue of Metal Hammer.
Monday 13th April
I’m having a bit of a UFO day on the office stereo in honour of Paul Raymond, one year gone. That flew by!
Saturday 11th April
Taking a trip back to Oct/Nov 1985 for the pages of Rock Candy magazine, I chortled loudly when Dave Dickson awarded a mere one-and-a-quarter Ks (out of five) to ‘The Last Command’ by W.A.S.P., dismissing its creators as “a cartoon band writing cartoon songs for, I suspect, cartoon listeners.” Say what you mean, why doncha?
Thursday 9th April
I’ve just been watching a live stream of Kelv Hellrazer's funeral. He would have loved that the officiator just said: "We are going to play some of Kelvin's favourite songs. Some of them are quite obscure." I just hope they've got something by Ruby Slippers. Respect and sadness, rest in peace.
Wednesday 8th April
What a superb breakfast time interview with Fish. Decided against Skyping because we were both still in our dressing gowns!
Here's a wonderful flashback moment for my fellow Crystal Palace fans. In my humble opinion the 1990 FA Cup semi-final vs the Mickey Mousers was the greatest game of football of all time. Still trying to get my head around the fact that this was 30 years ago...
**And breathe...** That's a wrap. Phoner with Dr Brian May completed. We were chatting about the impact of the Coronavirus upon the music scene. Brian was in his back garden and, just like Fish, said some fabulous things. A very nice man (they both are!)... This has been a good day.
Tuesday 7th April
Just what the doctor ordered (I don’t think): A day spent writing obituaries. No less than 15 of the buggers, including one for my old friend Kelv Hellrazer. This is one part of my job that I really dislike.
Sunday 5th April
People still ask: Do you regret moving away from London? Hmmm. Let me think about that for a moment. #FillThoseLungs
Saturday 4th April
I'm trying to remember the last time a month passed for me without the supping of a single alcoholic beverage. And then I worked out that my most recent football game was at Selhurst four Saturdays ago today... CPFC 1 Twatford 0. What a coincidence! Gotta say, I'm really not missing the ale. At all. No, I'm not even lying.
Friday 3rd April
Something for my fellow former regulars that still miss the fabled Marquee Club, a nice little documentary about the Wardour Street venue.
Thursday 2nd April
I'm very sad to learn that Adam Schlesinger, co-founder of the US power-poppers Fountains Of Wayne, is the latest victim of coronavirus. Of course, just a couple of days ago we lost Alan Merrill, singer of the Arrows, who wrote the classic ‘I Love Rock 'N' Roll’. Schlesinger was only 52 years old. I interviewed him twice for Classic Rock, and Merrill just the once. Both are big losses. FOW were such a wonderful band. They will forever be known as the band responsible for 'Stacy's Mom', with the comical adolescent video featuring Rachel Hunter, but their albums were superb. I saw ‘em at the Astoria in 2004 and ’07.
The new Playlist is up.
Wednesday 1st April
What a feeling of accomplishment. That nervous yet fulfilling moment when you've spent 11 months of intermittent work on a very exciting top secret project, and *finally* you are able to press 'send'. #FingersCrossed
With time indoors on my hands over the next few months I thought I'd buy a few books from Amazon for the personal library. Just a few quid apiece, all second hand. Old school VFM. No kindle for me.
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