Bloggers have all sorts of strange reasons for coining he title of their own wee corner of t’internet. In a sense, it’s a bit like trying to come up with a decent name for a band or superhero….

Back in 2006, I came up with the idea of ‘The Vinyl Villain’ as an identity to hide behind as the idea of posting and sharing mp3s may well have been a technical breach of the law but the scale I was intending to operate on was miniscule. It was only some time afterwards that a friend pointed out TVV was very close to name of a second-hand record shop in Edinburgh (Vinyl Villains) – a shop I had totally forgotten about – but by then I was too comfortable to switch back to one of the other names I had been considering. I did however, use one of the other names – The Ghost of Troubled Joe – as a non de plume for a few joke pieces on the old blog.

All of which leads me to today’s friend electric. His name is George and the blog has the tremendous title of Jim McLean’s Rabbit for the reason that “My father helped Jim McLean rescue his pet rabbit ca. 1972. Jim very kindly gave him an autograph book of the Dundee United squad of that era. I hope my brother still has it…….”

It helps to know a little bit about the history of Scottish Football to understand the reference to Jim McLean. Click here for help………

George doesn’t keep an archive on the blog, so heading back to find old posts isn’t the easiest. Like so many of us, he has some regular features interspersed with random ramblings about life all accompanied by the most eclectic of music collections. He’s also got a great habit of throwing in a track every day to commemorate someone’s birthday…..

He’s no longer living in Scotland having, just over a year ago he took leave of his job in teaching, thought about alternatives and ended up moving with his other half  (Jo) to Portugal. There isn’t a day goes by that I don’t admire what he’s done and there’s plenty of times, especially in the winter, when I wish I had the courage to do something similar. But deep down (actually not all that deeply buried) I know that a failure to speak anything other than English and the addiction of wanting to go and watch bands in small venues in Glasgow will keep me here for many years to come.

Here’s a posting from Jim McLean’s Rabbit that will hopefully make you smile:-

(Almost)Friend of the (Almost) Famous

 

7 March 2014

In my first teaching job, as well as teaching the son of a founder member of Wizzard (and how good is that???) I also taught the daughter of the man who………………INVENTED THE CURLY WURLY!!!

For those of you not familiar with the Curly Wurly, well, it was a chocolate-covered toffee sweet, which when I was about 12 years old, seemed to be about a foot long (30cm), but in reality I suspect it was considerably shorter. But what a belting sweetie. Chewy, very sweet, great tasting. I have no idea if they are still available. But remember, I TAUGHT THE DAUGHTER OF THE MAN WHO INVENTED THE CURLY-WURLY!

And whilst I’m on about Claims-to-Fame, today we have some music made by the brother of Jo’s friend in town. Two, yes two, tangential claims to fame today. And I’ll throw in a third one. Not tangential at all, though. I met the Queen of Great Britain in 2002.

So here’s some Portuguese accordion music by Carlos Luz (brother of Jo’s friend Carmen).

mp3 : Carlos Luz – Perico do Segovie

I suppose someone will ask me what it means. I do not know what it means.

And here are two more tracks from that great Portuguese rock and roll compilation I featured here a few weeks ago. From the cracking album Rockin’ Around Portugal

are tracks by the Rhythm All Stars and by a band with a great name, the Texabilly Rockets. The album has 22 rock and roll/rockabilly songs. Get it.

mp3 : Rhythm All Stars – My mountain

mp3 : Texabilly Rockets – The leaves keep a fallin

The Ryhthm All Stars might also be known as Carl and The Rhythm All Stars, and have been together for 12 years. The Texabilly Rockets have been on the go since 1993. I am trying to find out if either or both are playing anywhere near here soon. Or anytime.

And finally….

on this day in 1952 Ernest “Ernie” Isley was born, And yes he was one of the Isley Brothers, and he co-wrote this splendid song:

mp3 : Isley Brothers – Who’s that lady

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More Friends Electric tomorrow