Four recent deaths in the world of rock and pop

Mark Randall Volman (19 April, 1947 – September 5, 2025) was an American vocalist, guitarist and songwriter best known as a founding member of the 1960s rock band the Turtles, and, along with his bandmate and friend Howard Kaylan, a member of the 1970s rock duo Flo & Eddie, where he used the pseudonym Flo (The Phlorescent Leech). Volman also became a stand-out figure upon joining Frank Zappa's band, The Mothers of Invention. I knew of him through his work with T Rex.

 

Richard "Rick" Davies (22 July 1944 – September 6, 2025) was an English musician best known as founder, vocalist and keyboardist of the rock band Supertramp. Davies was the band's only constant member and wrote or co-wrote songs including "Goodbye Stranger", "My Kind of Lady", "Cannonball", and "I'm Beggin' You". He was known for his rhythmic blues piano solos, jazz-tinged progressive rock compositions and cynical lyrics. I was not abig Supertramp fan but Breakfast in America, Dreaming, Logical Song, etc, wormed their way into my psyche.

 

Nicholas "Nicky" Dominick Ryan (14 July 1946 – September 10 2025) was an Irish music producer, recording engineer and manager best known as the longtime business and recording partner for the singer, songwriter and musician Enya alongside his wife, poet and lyricist Roma Ryan. Born and raised in Dublin, Ryan gained initial recognition in the 1970s and 1980s for his work with several artists including Gary Moore, Planxty, Christy Moore and Clannad.

Bobby Hart (born Robert Luke Harshman; 18 February 1939 – September 10, 2025) and Sidney Thomas Boyce (1939 – 1994) were an American duo of singer-songwriters. In addition to three top-40 hits as artists, the duo is well known for its songwriting for the Monkees.

Day Off Week 37 2025

This week was a bit different as my wife, Eleri, has a new regime where she doesn't usually work on Tuesdays and so the first half of the day I was with her. We drove over to Highgate but were unable to park there at first and so we went to Kenwood House for a cuppa and them went to see the current art exhibition called double vision. Kenwood has a Vermeer, the Guitar Player. It turns out there is a copy of this in Philadelphia and they are currently showing the two together. Quite interesting. In Highgate later we had a little look at the shops and I left a pile of books at Oxfam, which I was also able to do last week in West Hampstead. The rest of the day was mopstly reading (a book on Landscapes, a short biography of James Brindley, a travelogue by Shackleton, a book on the Irish famine and a little book onanger byRichard Baxter) and TV and some episodes of the Likely Lads. Good day.

Brady's Coffee

 

My sister spotted this in Ireland and bought us some. I haven't tasted it yet. More here.

Lord's Day N Ireland August 15 2021

Arpingstone, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

 

Last Lord's Day was a little different as we were away from home and staying with others. We had also decided to fly back to the mainland from N Ireland that evening. In the end we joined the Portadown Elim congregation online in the morning with four others. This was not quite what we are used to, although Mount Pleasant the week before had prepared us. The sermon was from a member called Ken Henning, an MBE and former police chief, who preached helpfully from 1 Corinthians 13. We should have been better organised and set up to watch something in the evening but failed there and so I found myself buying my wife perfume not something I often do, especially on the Lord's Day! We flew from Belfast to Cardiff and then drove on to a holiday place near Aber. One sad aspect to the day was to know I was so near Richhill EPC and not be able to attend.

Wedding In N Ireland

 

It was a great joy the other Saturday for my wife and I to be in N Ireland for the wedding of my niece Dominique to Nick Williamson. Nick's parents very kindly looked after us while we were there and the wedding itself was a blessing. First time I'd been at a wedding in the open air. There was rain at certain points but not during the ceremony and we were treated very well. Great day. The wedding was in Ballyard's Castle, a Christian Conference Centre belonging to the charity Drop Inn. See here.

Ireland too strong for Wales

It is a rare thing when the Irish are beaten in Dublin. It was not to be today. 24-14.

N Ireland

Eleri and I made a short trip to N Ireland last week. It is only the second time I have travelled there. We bussed from Golders Green to Stansted then flew Ryanair to Belfast International. The bus was an hour late but the plane was late too so we didn't need to panic. We had hired a car and drove 20 minutes west to an airbnb near Randalstown which was just tight for us. We had a little wander around the next day seeing Antrim Castle Gardens and walking along the River Bann as far as the massive Lough Neagh (biggest fresh water lake in the British Isles).

We then moved on to Magherafelt and a wander round there. We then called on our friends the Roks who settled last year in Magherafelt last year after being in the seminary for two years. Alexander has become pastor of the Reformed Baptist church in the town. It was lovely to enjoy their hospitality in their lovely new home.

That evening we went along to the attractive building the RBs have in town for the official induction. While without a pastor the church has been under the oversight of Maidenbower Baptist in Crawley. If that sounds a little remote one should bear in mind that in previous such situations over its 22 year in existence churches in America have taken that role and, anyway, Crawley is right next to Gatwick!

The service was led by one of the deacons and another gave the history of the call. The current lead pastor in Maidenbower, Jeremy Walker, preached and led in the laying on of hands. he was assisted in this by Robert Strivens (formerly elder with us and Principal at the seminary but now in Bradford on Avon), Austin Walker (now retired as pastor in Maidenbower) and myself. We prayed.

At the end of the meeting greetings were shared from churches in America and Wetzlar in Germany. A number of friends were present and it was good to have further fellowship over a lovely spread. I enjoyed talking to Reuben Saywell who had travelled as we had, Andrew Rycroft (Baptist pastor in Millisle), Ted Donnelly, John McDermott from the Baptist church, etc.
It was good to be there.The service can be found on Facebook here.

Cassettes for the Charity Shop

I took these three cassettes to the Charity Shop recently. The first is a souped up version of Frank Ifield's She taught me to yodel, an old favourite; then there's After the break by Planxty which I now have on itunes; the third is a bouzouki album I bought in Cyprus years ago. I think this is it here. Cassette technology - really missed said no-one.

10 Places on the island of Ireland also found in Wales

1. Larne, County Antrim; Laugharne, Carmarthenshire (Latharna, Talacharn)

2. Bangor, County Down; Bangor, Gwynedd and on Dee

3. Derry the city in Ulster; Deri the village near Caerphilly

4. Kerry the County; Kerry, Powys

5. Crumlin, Belfast, Crumlin, Dublin, etc; Crumlin, the village near Caerphilly (Cromghlinn, Crymlyn)

6. Holywell, near Swords, Dublin; Holywell, Flintshire

7. Newcastle, small places in Tipperary, Wicklow, etc; Newcastle Emlyn and two others

8. Newbridge, two places in Kildare and Galway; three places, including one on the Usk and one on the Wye

9. Newport, County Mayo; Newport, South Wales and Pembrokeshire

10. Newtown, loads everywhere in Ireland and a few in Ulster; Newtown, Powys.
(New Inn would be a similar example to these last)

10 St Patrick's Day Facts

Hallmark

1. Patrick was not born in Ireland (but in Britain)

2. Patrick was not born on March 17 (it is when he died)

3. Patrick's colour is blue not green

4. Patrick probably did not use a shamrock leaf to teach the Trinity

5. Patrick did not introduce Christianity to Ireland

6. Patrick did not get rid of snakes from Ireland

7. Patrick or Patricius was born Maewyn Succat

8. The first St Patrick's Day Parade in the USA was in the 18th Century. There was not one in Dublin until 1931.

9. St Patrick's Day has not always been a day for partying. Pubs used to close in Ireland on March 17 in the sixties.

10. Corned Beef and cabbage a traditional St Patrick's Day staple would not have been eaten in Ireland until relatively recently

(Patrick had nothing to do with leprechauns)

Ireland Champions

Scotland weren't up to much in the end against Ireland but France beat England well. The current table is as follows, though Wales will hopefully beat Italy and if they can beat France will end second. We are at home for both these final games.

Mixed Day rugby wise

The bad news, of course, is that Wales lost to Ireland (37-27) in Dublin.

At least England lost to Scotland (25-13) at Murrayfield.

Planxty After the break

I still have this box full of old cassette tapes, mostly classical, that needs sorting. (Remember cassettes anyone?). Among them is a copy of Irish group Planxty's fourth album from 1979 After the break. I have no idea when I bought it (obviously after 1979 and no doubt before 1990, probably in 1980 or 1981) but I remember playing it with enjoyment. It has been good to enjoy them again. There are eight tracks (two tracks recorded at the time were added to the CD). They are somewhere between Chieftains and Horslips I guess. I remember one of my sons enjoying the first album a while back and I have Follow me up to Carlow on my ipod. They are probably due a retro exploration some time soon.

Something for St Patrick's Day

In honour of St Patrick's Day here are some Kerry Slides from the album Chieftains 5. The pictures include two slides in Tralee, County Kerry. Listen out for the singing. My great on one side was Irish or the son of an Irishman I guess, hence my surname.

Retro Album of the week 24 - Bonaparte's Retreat

Bonaparte's Retreat is the sixth album by the Irish band The Chieftains. It appeared in 1976 when I bought it on vinyl - a magnificent gatefold affair that I thoroughly enjoyed. I had to the harder stuff that the Chieftains represented by way of the softer Horslips output. I liked the fact that they were the most unfashionably dressed bunch you could imagine.

The Chieftains by this time consisted of Paddy Moloney - uillean pipes, tin whistle, bodhrán, Seán Potts - tin whistle and bodhrán, Martin Fay - fiddle, Michael Tubridy - flute, concertina and tin whistle, Derek Bell - harps, oboe and tiompán and Seán Keane - fiddle plus the shortly to be regular Kevin Conneff. The uilllean pipes and the bodhran were genuinely new instruments in my experience as was the tiompán. I remember seeing this line up in Aberystwyth at the Great Hall and thoroughly enjoying it.

This was the first album to feature singing, though not much of it. The singers were Paddy Moloney himself (on Round the house and mind the dresser) and Dolores Keane (mainly with her acapella version of The bonny bunch of roses in the ambitious title suite).

Retro Album of the week 11 - The Tain

The concept album The Tain by the Irish band Horslips came out in 1973 and has given me a great deal of pleasure ever since I first heard it. The band's second studio album it was recorded in Wales and is loosely based on the Táin Bó Cúailnge (The Cattle Raid of Cooley), one of the most infamous legends of Early Irish literature, dealing with the war between Ulster and Connacht over a prize bull. The songs tell the story from the points of view of Cúchulainn, Queen Maeve of Connacht and Ferdia, among others. Horslips continued their Celtic Rock style of fusing traditional Irish music and rock, using traditional jigs and reels and incorporating them into their songs. For example, Dearg Doom is based on O'Neill's March, while The March of the King of Laois forms part of More Than You Can Chew. Dearg Doom was arguably the most popular track on the album, along with Faster Than The Hound it was performed by the band on BBC's Old Grey Whistle Test.

The album is great fun but is presented in the most serious of tones. I avidly read all the sleeve notes, including the quotation "We Irish should keep these personages in our hearts, for they lived in the places where we ride and go marketing, and sometimes they have met one another on the hills that cast their shadows upon our doors at evening." W.B. Yeats. March 1902.

10 countries that end with the word land in English

1. England
2. Scotland
3. Ireland
4. Switzerland
5. Poland 
6. Finland
7. Iceland
8. Greenland
9. Swaziland
10. Thailand

GBA 2011 06

At 2.30 pm this afternoon we had a short and happy business meeting where 55 messengers from 34 different churches. Then at 5 pm we had an excellent news session.

Brian Ellis showed a slide presentation on the work in the Philippines. Crawford Gribbin said a little bit about the church he belongs to in Port Laois.

David Butler from EMF spoke about the encouraging work of Andrew and Vivian Birch in Majorca. The only discouraging factor here is the lack of conversions among the indigenous people. Daniel Webber retires soon to be succeeded by martin Leech. Iorg Muller will be coming from Germany to carry on Martin's work.

Walter Johnston is a regular at the Assembly and it was encouraging and challenging to hear him talk about the prison work that he and others from the church are involved in.

Adam Laughton reminded us of his imminent move south to be involved in the London Gateway church planting project which will now begin in West Gravesend.

Martin Grubb flagged up a forthcoming conference with Jim Renihan Roots that refresh.

Finally, a London pastor spoke of the beginning of opportunities in the local mosque in East London.

Obama bump

I'm feeling a little anarchic these days.

Happy St Pat's

St Patrick's means a good excuse to show a bit of Horslips. Not sure when this Beatles hommage took place. King of the faeries it is.