Music I Love on David Marsden

Live at the Counter Eurovision '79

Sat, 16 May 2026 23:42:41 +0100

“without the knowledge of your history you cannot determine your destiny”

Forty-seven years ago, Misty In Roots played at the Counter Eurovision rock festival in Brussels, in response to the Eurovision song contest being held that year in Jerusalem, and in solidarity with the Palestinian people.

Less than a month later, Blair Peach was murdered by the British police on the streets of Southall while defending the town from the National Front.

Ealing Council allowed the march of the fascists to go ahead despite a 10,000-strong petition from local people opposing it.

Clarence Baker, Misty In Roots' manager, was violently assaulted by police that day and left in a coma for five months.

Organist Vernon Hunt was jailed for six months on trumped up charges. He was so broken by this experience of state oppression that he never rejoined the band.

Today the British government allowed another fascist march in London on the anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba.

Today I dragged my 11 year old down to the Dominion Centre and Library in Southall to meet Misty In Roots in the entrance foyer and learn a little history.

The Dominion Centre is the site of the former Dominion Theatre where Blair Peach’s lifeless body lay “in state” for six weeks while thousands visited to pay their last respects.

This iconic photo of Misty In Roots outside the entrance now hangs in the National Portrait Gallery.

We came home with a signed limited edition red vinyl copy of arguably the best live album ever recorded. We spoke to some very nice people. And we bumped into my friend Happy.

And we met Poko, Kazi and Tunga from the band.

“if you’re not conscious of the present you’re like a cabbage in this society”

Fri, 25 Jul 2025 07:51:44 +0100

Speaking of going on…. One of my favourite songs by The Damned - “Life Goes On”.

“We go on—not upward, not forward, but just on…”

— Anon

Nick https://thisness.one/2025/07/25/we-go-onnot-upward-not.html

Wed, 14 May 2025 22:53:25 +0100

Little Simz crackin' it.

Sun, 23 Mar 2025 17:25:00 +0100

🍿 A Complete Unknown (2024) - ★★★★☆

I really enjoyed this take on Bob Dylan’s electrifying personal highway to rock ‘n’ roll superstardom hell amidst the increasingly furious shaking heads and would-be axe-wielding cable choppers of the folk establishment and elder guitar heroes.

Probably helps if you’re a Dylan fan. If you’re not, or you’re easily bothered by historical/factual inaccuracies in a “it’s the truth even if it didn’t happen” style movie then you should probably give it a miss.

Superb cast with highlights being Timothée Chalamet’s perfect portrayal of the obsessively creative introverted asshole Dylan and Monica Barbaro’s sensitive counterpoint as the already-a-superstar, slightly uptight but all-too-forgiving and exploited Joan Baez.

Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:13:00 +0100

Bloody hell! Porridge Radio are calling it a day.

Sun, 02 Feb 2025 17:01:00 +0100

Last weekend I was discovering the joy of listening to Leeds-based band English Teacher, whose singer Lily Fontaine hails from Colne, near Pendle, in Lancashire.

This weekend I’ve been rediscovering the joy of listening to Leeds-based band Chumbawamba, whose singer Alice Nutter hails from Burnley, near Pendle, in Lancashire.

One of English Teacher’s songs “The World’s Biggest Paving Slab” references the Pendle Witch Trials.

Alice Nutter, of course, was the name of one of the Pendle witches, and Chumbawamba’s Alice Nutter went on to write a play about the Witch Trials.

Sat, 01 Feb 2025 01:53:00 +0100

It’s been a Chumbawamba sort of a day. Anarchy, A Singsong and a Scrap, and A Night of Punk Nostalgia.

Mon, 30 Dec 2024 14:53:00 +0100

Some personal listening highlights of the year.

Dua Lipa's Tiny Desk concerts

Sun, 24 Nov 2024 15:10:00 +0100

Dua Lipa’s Tiny Desk concert at home in between covid lockdowns in 2020 is the most watched Tiny Desk concert ever.

Which doesn’t surprise me at all as we must have watched it literally hundreds, if not thousands, of times.

My little boy absolutely loved it, and even me and big kid secretly liked it, too.

Love Again is my favourite.

She’s just performed a new concert at Tiny Desk HQ, and it’s also very watchable and listenable, with These Walls the standout track.

Jon Batiste's Tiny Desk concert

Sat, 23 Nov 2024 17:29:00 +0100

Jon Batiste, like Alicia Keys, is a supremely talented musician and performer. This is another must watch Tiny Desk concert from 2019.

This is another video my little kid enjoyed watching, singing along to (before he could talk), and dancing to with his big brother (before falling asleep).

Don’t it make your soul shake?

Thu, 23 Mar 2023 19:30:00 +0100

Big kid’s current favourite song.

Thu, 23 Mar 2023 19:25:00 +0100

My little lad’s current favourite song.