Slumping sweet booze Baileys is apparently to follow the conspicuous lack of success of “Baileys Glide” with two new variants, aiming to make Christmas drinking even more sickly. They are “Baileys With A Hint Of Mint” (could s[…]

The last half-dozen number ones I’ve covered, as seen by YouTube:
THE BEATLES – “The Ballad Of John And Yoko” (home videozzz)
TOMMY ROE – “Dizzy” (pink balloons!)
THE BEATLES – “Get Back” ([…]

Harry Potter pushes jellybean science TOO FAR.[…]

Nobody volunteered to write about this record, so it falls to yr humble pop editor. Which is a bit of a shame, because it turns out I don’t like it much. (more…)[…]

At the weekend we watched the Doctor Who story Full Circle. Now best known for introducing ill-fated (and ill-acted) boy companion Adric, this was a massive hit with me at the time (1980) because of its central plot twist. Which I’m about to sp[…]

I feel a duty to say something about Channel 5’s Battle Of The Popstars programme, a real-time tournament to find “the nation’s favourite pop star” AKA an attempt by Five to find the most lucrative possible format to separate […]

“Turn It Up” by Paris Hilton is a song I’ve been playing a lot this last week or so. It’s on the stereo now, actually. It has Paris telling us to turn the music – or the party, or the intensity, or something – up, […]

A work meeting today gave me the opportunity to investigate for free the rarefied world of PREMIUM CHOCOLATE. Green and Blacks? Bendicks? Strictly middlebrow. Try Michel Cluizel, whose 1er Premier Crus de Plantations bars go for £3.50 per 100g. Not […]

Just started reading Dominic Sandbrook’s White Heat – as with the previous volume (a third is planned on the 1970s, hurrah), the anecdotes and local colour are easily as interesting as the analysis.
– Mary Whitehouse: ‘she esp[…]

Another week, another new big idea from the drinks giants – Smirnoff Source is that holy grail of the alcopop sector, booze water. Or “alcoholic sparkling water” to give it its full title. Aside from the sparkling element yr reacti[…]