Spare £135 for a cuppa tea, mate

Paul McCartney once made me a cup of tea. He didn't get a minion to make it. He made it himself. In his studio in East Sussex, he boiled the kettle, dropped in the tea-bag and offered me milk and sugar. He also offered me a humous butty.

At first I was overawed but then I thought: "And well he might, after the all the money I've spent over the years on his music."

Last week, I did it again. No, not have a cuppa with Macca. I spent more money on his music. I shelled out a few pence short of £135 on the box set of the Beatles' remastered CDs.



The thing is this is the fourth time I've bought the Beatles' canon. When a teenager I couldn't afford to buy the LPs (as they then were) new so I would pay for second-hand copies from schoolfriends and others.

When I started work, I could afford to replace the well-worn second-hand copies with a brand new set of the same vinyl LPs.

In 1987, there was another chance to buy the same catalogue all over again when the Fab Four released all their UK albums on CD. (It wasn't long after this purchase that Paul made me my cup of tea.)

Now I've bought the whole lot again. Digitally remastered (as the 1987 re-issues were) the music sounds great as you'd expect. The 2009 remasters are better than those of 22 ears ago. The technology has moved on.

There is nothing new on these CDs. There are a few things that you hear better and the whole collection has more body and a more rounded sound. Some instruments come more to the forefront as the quality is improved. Listen carefully to all the CDs and you'll hear stuff that was always there but hardly audible because of the technology of the day. Great stuff.

Now what about another cup of tea, Sir Paul.

Magazines and their cover versions

Magazines and their cover versions

Well, September is upon us. I've spent most of the summer looking at magazines and talking to people in the industry. Not much of a holiday, I hear you cry. That's the height of it, I'm afraid.

I am currently engaged in writing a book variously entitled "Magazines" (see link to Amazon on the right-hand side of this blog) or Magazines - A Guide to Critical Practice. (There is a price in pounds sterling as well.) I'm not happy about either name but until I've finished writing the book, I don't suppose there is much point in making a fuss about it.

In my researches I have been looking at a wide variety of covers. But imagine my surprise when I discovered two women's magazines had virtually the same cover. Okay, I am being ironic when I mention "my surprise". But when both magazines come from the same publisher and have very similiar names, you can't help but take notice.

Have a look at these two covers from Woman and Woman's Own



It's like one of those 'Spot the Difference' quizzes in Weekend magazine. Ah, there's a name to remember.

Kent and Sussex Courier exposes Tunbridge Wells rip-off

Kent and Sussex Courier exposes Tunbridge Wells rip-off

Well done to the Kent and Sussex Courier and its reporter Richard Williams. What has he done? Last week Williams wrote the front page lead in the Tunbridge Wells edition in which he detailed how the local council has ripped off its own citizens to the tune of nearly three-quarters of a million pounds over three years. (If you want the exact figure it was £720,228.)

The overpayment goes into the council's coffers who freely admit they include in their annual accounts and rely upon it. But that's the same as a petty thief relying on what he steals from others to top up his income.

Parking in Tunbridge Wells is ticket machine-controlled. The machines charge by the hour - but they don't give change. So unless a motorist has the exact money, they are forced to overpay. Tunbridge Wells Borough Council told the Courier the reason for installing the parking machines was security. This word "security" is the most over-used in British society today. Every abuse of the citizen is excused by the use of the the word "security".

But assuming we accept the council's weak excuse, what is their reason for purchasing parking ticket machines that sell time only by the hour? Wandsworth Council, in south-west London, have the lowest Council Tax in the country but their parking machines sell time by the minute.

If you buy a parking ticket in Wandsworth borough, where parking is £2.50 per hour, with an odd amount e.g. £2.85 you will be given a ticket allowing you to park for one hour and about 14 minutes. No change is given. The machine is secure. There is no need for any local authority to use ticket machines that either (a) don't give change or (b) sell time by the minute.

Come on Tunbridge Wells Borough Council, stop ripping off motorists.

I have no idea of how many other councils and local authorities have ticket machines similar to those used in Tunbridge Wells but if there are 100 all ripping us off for £250,000 a year that £25m per annum that is being stolen from the public by greedy councils.

The only recourse the good people of Tunbridge Wells have is to ensure they always have the correct change and for local traders to let it be known they are happy to give change to those who have not got the correct money.

Well done Richard Williams and the Kent and Sussex Courier. That's what local newspaper journalism is about. We are blessed in this country with an array of local newspapers that, while not always being the most exciting, serve their community and keep their readers well-informed.

Michael Jackson: The man in the Mirror...and other publications

Michael Jackson: The man in the Mirror...and other publications

It was inevitable that so many magazines would feature Michael Jackson on their covers. It all sell copies...they hope. Even Private Eye put him on their latest cover. But pity the poor editor and publishers of Q. Their cover story of Jackson was to mark his tour of the UK. The accompanying copy is now sadly out of date. Such are the vagaries of magazine publishing.

Ray in the rain

Ray in the rain

Forty-two years I have waited to hear and see Ray Davies play Waterloo Sunset live. Tonight I achieved that ambition. I stood in the pouring rain (it was too wet to sit) at Kenwood House, North London waiting to hear the opening words “Dirty old river won’t you keep rolling...” And I wasn’t disappointed. There is something so special about that song to me. I remember sitting on the garage roof at the family in the summer of 1967 listening to the song over and over again. The only thing that took me away from The Kinks’ single was Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

But when I die, I want Waterloo Sunset played at my funeral and also when my ashes are tipped into the Thames...maybe even off Waterloo Bridge.

This Song has nothing tricky about it

On Monday, Let it Roll: Songs by George Harrison was released. Featuring 19 great remastered songs from the late Beatle's solo career, the album is obviously going to have some important tracks missing.

My missing favourite is This Song, the tune George wrote following his defeat in a copyright case in 1976.

Girl group The Chiffons' 1963 hit He's So Fine was written by Ronald Mack, who assigned the rights to Bright Tunes Corporation. In April 1963 the song was a No 1 hit in the USA for The Chiffons. It reached No 16 in the UK in May 1963, ironically, as it turned out, The Beatles were No 1 at the same time in the UK with From Me to You.

On 11 February 1964 The Beatles played their first live American concert. Before The Beatles came on, there were three other opening acts, including The Chiffons who performed He’s So Fine.

On 15 January 1971, George Harrison released his first solo single after the break-up of The Beatles, My Sweet Lord. Within a month, Bright Tunes Corporation started legal proceeding claiming that My Sweet Lord plagiarised He's So Fine.

In February 1976 a judge ruled that George Harrison was guilty of "subconscious" plagiarism. It took a further five years to determine what level of damages George had to pay Bright Tunes. Harrison ended up buying Bright Tunes Music Corporation for $587,000. But the case didn't end there and dragged on for a further ten or more years.

There is an excellent summary of the case on the UCLA website.

As a result of this episode in his life George Harrison wrote This Song, a satirical look at the He's So Fine case in 1976 and included it as a track on his album Thirty-Three and a Third as well as releasing it as a single..

This Song video

The purpose of this story is to illustrate how long and drawn out copyright cases can be. Also, how expensive they can be. Breaches of copyright are something I cover in depth in my media law courses.

One person who might have gained from my media law training is author J K Rowling, who is currently accused of plagiarism by the family of writer Adrian Jacobs. The Jacobs family allege that Rowling's Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was plagiarised from Jacobs' book, The Adventures Of Willy The Wizard No 1: Livid Land.

I shall be watching this case closely and using in my media law courses.

Yesterday I received a book in the post. Nothing unusual in that except that this was simply called Fergus Martin. It is the first book by my brother, artist Fergus Martin. He's younger and lighter than me. He ain't heavy, he's my brother. The book is a collection of his work going back to 1996. I am very proud of his book and his work over the past 30 years.

Am I jealous? No. But I am peeved that his book came out before mine! Only joking. Anyway, you can buy Fergus Martin from the Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin. The ISBN is 1-901702-29-3.

My book? It's not finished yet but it's due in May 2010 and is called Magazines: A Practical and Critical Guide. So watch out for that.

You order the book direct from the Hugh Lane Gallery's bookshop by following this easy link