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.
Friday 31st July
Ooooh, I can’t wait to see the new issue of Rock Candy magazine. I wrote the Deep Purple cover story and also the Mama’s Boys retrospective, along with my usual Step Back In Time which this time revisits Sep/Oct 1990.
Tuesday 28th July
Oh look, there soome 'helpers' in my office this morning. I had to throw them out after they knocked over a huge pile of CDs.
Monday 27th July
Well, I enjoyed several bottles of wine with the Hastings CPFC Crew as my beloved Palace limped over the line of the 2019/20 season, claiming a point at home to Tottenham to stem the tide of a run of losses. My only shred of pleasure: Harry The Hornet and Troy Deeney were relegated to the Championship. What a horrible club with jumped-up ideas of its own importance. I won't miss them.
Sunday 26th July
Oh how sad. Peter Green passed yesterday at 73. Incredible musician, enigmatic recluse, lost soul. I don't have any great stories about Peter, though we did meet when Gary Moore brought him to the Classic Rock Awards in 2008 to collect a gong for Classic Songwriter. I was handling the magazine's red carpet interviews. To Gary's great amusement, Peter didn't want to talk about music at all... only the sit-down meal.
"I wasn’t very hungry tonight. It’s an eating night, isn’t it? You can’t refuse the food, can you? It’s part of the night. My stomach’s funny and I’ve been coughing."
When I asked how it felt to be back in the limelight for an evening, he shrugged: "I’m not in the limelight at all. I make a point of standing away from it. I don’t feel comfortable on nights like this. They make me nervous."
Rest in peace, Peter. You were much loved.
Saturday 25th July
With Amanda up in Yorkshire with Ewan for a few days, spending time with him in hospital, my solo weekend is set to be full of cricket and football (including a meet with the Hastings CPFC mob to watch tomorrow's televised game versus Spuds). My bachelor-style shopping list begins:
Cat litter
Kitten milk
Cat food
D'oh!!!
Friday 24th July
With Mr Potty Mouth, AKA Eddie Ling, as one of the club's biggest fans, the results of this study don't really surprise me.
Thursday 23rd July
Fish has just released his new video for the song 'Garden Of Remembrance', a song about Alzheimer's, via the Louder website. I challenge you to watch it without, ahem, 'getting something in your eye'. Poignant brilliance from the big Scotsman.
Wednesday 22nd July
It's the final round of matches of the Championship season, with lots of issues to be settled. I'd love Brentford to go up automatically, but, frankly, so long as Clowntown Pathetic get relegated it will be a good night. As I type this at half time Alison Moyet is clearing her throat.
And what joy... a 4-0 thrashing at Leeds and unexpected wins for Barnsley and Luton caused the trap door to open. The Clowns danced a conga and sang "we'll never play you again" when they sent Palace down at the Valley from the Premier League in 2005. It could be time for a quick sweep of Charlton Life forum, methinks.
Tuesday 21st July
Last night's defeat to Wolves offered extremely bleak viewing and this morning there are anger and frustration a-plenty on the Palace bulletin board. Seven successive defeats. An aging team that's run out of steam and a talismanic player who wants to be elsewhere but is unlikely to be allowed to leave. The buck stops at the manager's door. Despite the miracles he has performed over the last three years, with big names failing to be replaced and almost zero cash spent, most fans now want Hodgson to retire. But who would replace him? Pochettino will never come to Selhurst. Though he would be the best fit, Dyche won't leave Burnley. Some bright spark has just proposed Mark H***es. Options are extremely limited - this sorry situation has been allowed to drag on for too long. The biggest crime of all is the apparent dearth of a succession plan for a 72-year-old. So let's award Roy a small transfer kitty to freshen up the squad and give him till Christmas. Benteke, Sakho, Wickham and Meyer must leave. If things fail to improve then we will surely know long before the decorations are due to go up. And in the meantime, WORK OUT A GODDAMNED PLAN B!!!
Monday 20th July
So the rumours are true: Farewell Q magazine after an existence of 34 years - an extremely important title in its heyday. Must confess it's been yonks since I last flicked through it at the newsstands, but I hate to see any fellow music writers, plus designers, subs and staff lose their jobs in such difficult times.
Thursday 16th July
Today, and for the next few days, I am busy writing about these guys. Those Marquee gigs for the 'Pride' album were amongst the best I ever saw at the fabled Wardour Street sweat-pit; right up there with the early UK visits from Twisted Sister, Y&T, The Rods and Anvil.
Given the wildly differing respective forms of both teams, tonight's home game with ManUre is of course a very big challenge indeed. I shall be watching from behind the sofa as the Eagles pursue the double over the wretched opposition, numbed by as much cider as possible. COYP.
[Edit: Football. I'm really starting to hate it.]
Tuesday 14th July
I've been catching up on a shitload of telly. Just watching the Lynyrd Skynyrd documentary If I Leave Here Tomorrow. Very cool. If you get the chance, check it out.
Monday 13th July
Rolling Stone is reporting that over the weekend Great White performed a gig in North Dakota. Flabbergasted on so many levels that this was allowed to happen: No social distancing in the crowd, no masks, some male fans stripped to the waist. "We are far from perfect," say the band in the RS story. You'll get no argument from me. None at all.
Sunday 12th July
My eldest lad Eddie is down in St Leonards for some cold ciders and CPFC's televised game vs Aston Vanilla. I've really looking forward to seeing my sports bud.
[Edit: Another disappointment on the pitch as the Eagles lose yet again, but it was great to spend time with Eddie. And Villa's three points give them a real chance of staying up... quite possibly at the expense of the loathed Twatford. So it isn't all bad news].
Saturday 11th July
It's a beautiful day down here on the South coast. Proving that men *can* multi task I shall be doing some album reviewing, painting of the back garden fence, having a park run, handling the laundry and staying on top of the cricket and footie.
Friday 10th July
Travelling to see Dad for the first time since March. Checklist:
Mask
Hand sanitiser
Reading material
Railcard
Okay, I think we are in business. Let’s go.
Wednesday 8th July
The Classic Rock website has just re-posted my recent interview with Andy Powell and Mark Abrahams of Wishbone Ash. Read it here.
Monday 6th July
Oh blimey. RIP to a true Southern rock legend - 83-year-old Charlie Daniels. His politics might be a bit on the dubious side, but I'm a sucker for the Charlie Daniels Band.
Saturday 4th July
Pubs are re-opening? No thanks, not for a while. If Worzel the so-called PM says that it's safe to use them again then you know instinctively it is untrue.
Thursday 2nd July
It's that day *again*. To celebrate another year of turning 32 my lovely other half Amanda has bought me a fab framed illustration of the Home Of Football. I'm very pleased with it! Of course, we are in lockdown so celebrations are likely be pretty muted. It's no biggie, I'm still off the ale anyway.
Wednesday 1st July
Awoken by kittens running loudly around the house at 4.42am. Not best pleased. This is something that I'm gonna have to get used to. They’re only tiny; how can it sound as though they are wearing hobnail boots? Confounded furballs.
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