Cliff Edge

British Gas here. They have a deal whereby any Electricity used between 11 am and 4 pm on a Sunday is effectively half price via a refund to the account. My wife now calls herself the Sunday washer woman as the washing machine and tumble dryer get a good workout, along with whatever is used to cook dinner. My practice sessions don’t use much if any power as I use a laptop and a Focusrite with IEM’s so guilt free. 

Sometimes it’s a recording of a live performance that changes your mind about a performer and performance. I took Neil Diamond a lot more seriously after listening to the Hot August Night album for the first time. Brother Loves Travelling Salvation Show made the hair on the back of my neck tingle. Possibly not to everyone’s taste these days but I still rate it. 
 

15 hours ago, ash said:

Dupytrens here too. I’ve had a couple of operations so far and both have failed. My fretting hand has a very poor span now and the scarring and nerve damage means I have little sensation in my hand at the side and top of my little finger. Also my little finger is at right angles and can’t straighten so I’m always getting it hooked in my pockets. It’s annoying and does prevent me playing double bass and some wider necked basses. I find it difficult to play as nimbly as I used to and also have difficulty on keyboards. Still looking at solutions both instrument and treatment wise. If I had a pound for every person who has said ‘just turn it upside down and play it the other way round’ I’d be buying a 1967 Fender Mustang! 🤣

If I were you I’d buy ‘67 Ford Mustang. 

My fingers are starting to look a bit Keith Richards, predicting the onset of arthritis . Fortunately no pain yet and no impact on my ability to play the bass. However I do have issues opening some screw bottle tops these days. I’m sure they are done up tighter in manufacturing than in the past. Probably part of the inevitable health and safety. Can’t have the kiddies drinking the bleach can we. 

1 hour ago, tauzero said:

 

While I won't deny Whitney Houston's vocal ability, ISTM that her version of IWALY is done more to showcase her melismatics than to convey the emotion of the lyrics (see also Alexandra Burke's "Hallelujah").

Whitney started a trend. Every wannabe diva trying to sing as many notes as possible over a single syllable.  Bloody infuriating. 

On 25/11/2023 at 11:41, snorkie635 said:

I suppose everyone on BC has their own story regarding why they first started playing bass. For some it might have been to emulate a 'hero'; others may have started simply to get into playing; perhaps it was to gain 'coolness', to attract someone, to make money, to become 'famous'? Perhaps your parents had a role? Could have been friends?
 

I began playing whilst in High School, when a bunch of 15-year olds decided to form a band. We had zero idea how to play, what to buy, how to rehearse, gig, or even to tune our instruments. It sounded like you might imagine, but somehow, I owe it to these guys from half a century ago. All but two of us stopped playing decades ago - some never made it to gigging, but they helped me enter a world, which although it cost me a fortune over the years, I would never have dreamed was out there.

 

So, c'mon, who/what gave you your inspiration? Give them a shout and we'll see commonality we all share.

Remarkably similar to you, schoolmates start a band need a bass player. Up to that point I was a dismal guitar player with I think 6 chords, might have been 5. Our school music teacher was helpful allowing us to practice in the school after hours. The original band went nowhere but one of the guitar players and I did go on to join up with a couple of older boys and do a few gigs until that folded. I carried on and have a great time, earning more than a few Bob in the process but what happened to the others I have no idea. One regret I have is that I never kept in touch with any of my schoolmates when I left school. Unlike my wife and my children who I’m pleased to say still support me in what is a consuming hobby. 

“Is being 'average' bad..?“

If it is then I’ve been bad the last 50 years. 

11 hours ago, dclaassen said:

Jackson Browne “The Load Out”…anthem for musicians everywhere.Makes me smile every time I hear it!

That falsetto by David Lindley in Stay always makes me smile. Saw them do that live a few times. Don’t forget Running on Empty on the same album. Another great song in my opinion. 

4 hours ago, Mykesbass said:

I had the pleasure of working very briefly with James Last. His management/legal team were also involved with Rieu. It looks like he has taken over that little niche. As with Last, he has a phenomenally

6 hours ago, casapete said:

The Andre Rieu thing is unbelievably popular, but every time I’ve had the misfortune to see a clip

of any of the shows on Sky Arts they all seem exactly the same, just a different setting. The 

massive audiences must mean he’s minted! Good luck to him, he seems to have found a massive

market 

His smile is creepy

3 hours ago, Chezz55 said:

Sky Arts??  

 

Oh you mean the 'Andre Rieu Channel'.

I thought it was the Tales of The Unexpected channel. 

That 71 show might have been the one I was it, although the evening set. It was definitely around that time anyway. 

I saw James Brown live many moons ago. Quite an experience it was too. As I recall the band was quite exceptional but his antics tended to take the attention away from it. The Hardest Working Man in Showbusiness schtick was well over the top at the end of the show.  I can’t listen to his recordings for more than 5 minutes. 

I haven’t worked NYE for years, by choice. Fortunately the other guys in the bands were happy with the decision. Prefer to be with the family and friends. 

On 09/11/2023 at 14:32, cetera said:

Wondered if anyone has any experience/advice....

 

I have a full time job, company sorts tax etc so no self declaring...

I've potentially got an opportunity to take a month sabbatical (unpaid) from my work and to do a tour with a US artist in Europe. Money won't be huge but will be around the same that I'm missing from my full time job so what, if any, are the tax implications? Do I need to do anything? Tell anyone etc?

Cheers in advance!

 My advice for what it’s worth as a previous self employed self assessment person, phone HMRC and ask them. They are in my experience anyway, very helpful. But you should have all the details regarding payment methods etc to hand. 

40 minutes ago, Dan Dare said:

So it's country, then. Just not 50s style. 

 Not 50’s country and western, but there is a thin line between some modern country and 50’s rock and roll. 

Pretty much all modern country music is alternative to the accepted Nashville sound of 30/40 years ago. To me as a former member of several country bands, Alt = modern or country rock. 

6 hours ago, Greg Edwards69 said:

A couple of friends of mine had a similar thing. Both of them worked for the local council, with members of the public, and frequently vulnerable people. They used pseudonyms as they didn't want to be tracked down easily by members of the public, until Facebook changed the rules saying that fake names were no longer allowed.

They may not be allowed but my FB accounts all have fake names. A couple of them are fairly obvious too. At one time you weren’t allowed to have more than one account but I’m not sure that still applies. Although rather like your age, very difficult to police. 

1 hour ago, doomed said:

See your optician and ask if you can have one lens for distance and one for close up stuff, I've been wearing mine like that for a good few years now, worth a try.

I’ve used contacts for years, used to wear them all the time but as I got older I would use them less. These days I wear them when out and about mostly in the summer months so I can use decent sunglasses. Very occasionally on gigs. 
I have varifocal lenses in the specs as I’m short sighted from an early age, and I now need additional help with reading. 
My contacts are monthly Bausch & Lomb Purevision 2 multifocals for distance and reading.  Can’t recommend them enough. I can see the audience, the fretboard and the charts on the iPad. 

Surely Herbie Flowers deserves a mention here. 
And Guy Pratt has done some good work of a Jazz. 

KZ ZS10 Pro IEM’s. Bang for buck difficult to beat. 

Facebook threatened to take down one of my accounts years ago because they didn’t like my name. To be fair it was obviously not a real name and they gave me the opportunity to change it. So I did, to Mahatma Coat from Glasgow. They seemed happy with that and I continued to use it for several years until they again asked me to change it. 

On 05/11/2023 at 14:55, wintoid said:

 

Me too and many others.  https://support.google.com/accounts/thread/235285575

 

I've changed my passwords, removed the verification phone and switched to a TOTP code, but still the texts continue.

Slightly off topic but Google has/had a long standing issue with email/account names. If I set up an email account  cliff-edge at Google dot com, I can also use cliffedge as well and will receive email using either. But someone else can set up an account cliffedge at google dot com. So you can imagine how that works, or not.  Accounts my wife and I set up years ago using a hyphen to separate words have been affected by this. We both occasionally receive emails not meant for us. Luckily the email accounts are largely used as junk black holes these days. Passwords are changed fairly regularly. 

21 hours ago, alyctes said:

The Beagles

There was an excellent English Eagles tribute band by that name a few years ago. 

1 hour ago, asingardenof said:

 

Probably a bit too modern for Stowmarket...

I had a few good gigs in Stowmarket with a country rock band. Very enthusiastic audiences, although it must be said most were dressed  as Cowboys and Indians.  But hey, you take what you get. 

Tangerine Dream. I have been given a couple of tickets for Sunday 5th Nov. at The De La Warr Pavilion Bexhill on Sea. I know nothing about them even though I’m easily old enough to have seen or listened to them first time around. I should really give them a listen before hand, any suggestions for a good primer. Should be interesting.