An Open Letter to a Personal Hero

Dear Dr. Wood,

We met briefly in the pub before your concert in St Albans last month. It was one of the best concerts I've seen you do. I don't know why, because it's exactly the same set I've been seeing live since 2008. But something about that particular show was better, even perhaps better than your performance at the O2 with Status Quo a few years back.

You might vaguely remember me. I came into the pub with my dad about ten minutes before the show was due to start, and was slightly gobsmacked at actually meeting you in person. It was just such a surreal experience. You - Roy Wood - were there. In a Wetherspoons, right in front of me.
My dad asked you to sign about a million copies of the painting hanging in our "music room" (anyone else would call it the dining room); The Songwriter by Debra Dee, from the collection of portraits she painted of you. They were on display at St Paul's Gallery in Birmingham in 2012. It's one of the more crazy things my dad has ever bought - I remember coming home from school one day, and he was just grinning like a fool. I didn't even have to ask why. I think my exact words were "which one did you buy?" Apparently that painting makes up a portion of my inheritance. My boyfriend is thrilled...

We took a few photos together, which astonished friends and family. There are hardly any photos of my dad in existence. Surprisingly, this isn't because he's a vampire; it's simply because he doesn't like photos. When I was growing up, the only picture of him on display in our house was meeting you at some obscure concert in some obscure year of the 80s. I think that speaks volumes for you.

Without needing to be asked, my dad told you that his favourite song of yours is "Mist on a Monday Morning". And he's right, the poetry of the words is amazing, and the orchestration is very clever. Dad asked you if you'd written it (he knew you had, but didn't want to get it wrong, I think), to which you said "Of course I did, you knob." That sent him reeling. Hours later he was still over the moon; "Roy Wood called me a knob!", he kept joyously repeating.
When asked, you said that your favourite song from your extensive catalogue is "Beautiful Daughter". I agree that it's a lovely song, and I'm sure it has much more meaning to you than it does to anyone else. That's just how these things are. But it got me thinking about which of the thousands is my favourite. I'm sure you probably don't want to know, but I'd like to tell you.

It took some consideration. Being born in the 90s means that I have very little concept of what was popular, or successful, or even sometimes exactly when things were released. I also get confused between The Move and early ELO sometimes, but I'm working on it.
There are the obvious favourite songs, such as "See My Baby Jive" and "Angel Fingers", but whilst brilliant, neither of those was ever really contenders for me. I love "Blackberry Way", especially the new edit on Music Book, but I never know whether to laugh or cry when I hear it. It's quite a painful song in a strange way.
I absolutely adore "Brontosaurus", although it's a little muddy-sounding, and I think that building it into the intro for "California Man" is genius. "California Man" is another amazing song, although my experience with real Californian men leaves something to be desired. And I have to point out, Dr. Wood, you're not actually from California. You're from Birmingham. Sorry to break it to you.
I also get some enjoyment from the mad, comedic songs you've produced, such as "Curly" and "When Gran'ma Plays The Banjo". Heaven knows why. "Jolly Cup Of Tea" is also on the list. Somewhere.

But in the end, Dr. Wood, I think my favourite song you've ever written is "Whisper In The Night". There's a recording, an old live recording, of you playing it without the choir, and that's one of my favourite recordings ever, I think. It starts with you saying "That was Jeff Lynne, of course. Of course... Of course..."  and then you go on to explain the song. It's beautiful and I don't really know why. That song also contains on of my favourite quotes of all time; "Though God gave the world // It's not mine to throw away." I don't know if you're religious or if it's just there for musicality, but it really strikes a chord with me. But I suppose you don't need telling how amazing your work is. It's right there, every Christmas, when the whole world is playing your song. (And a smaller portion of the world is playing your other song, "Sing Out The Old, Bring In The New". That's also great, by the way.)

But I've been talking for a while now, I'd better stop so you can get on. I guess what I'm trying to say, Dr. Wood, is thank you. Thanks for being a genius and writing a lot of my favourite songs; thank you for founding most of my favourite bands too. But thank you most of all for being a decent human being, and letting a starstruck young woman and her dad interrupt you in a pub. Having a hero who's also a stand up guy is a real blessing.

I'm going to another of your concerts this year, I've been incredibly lucky. A friend and I are going to Birmingham on the 20th December to see Rockmas, with you, Chas and Dave, and Andy Fairweather-Low and the Low Riders. We even got seats really close to the front. You won't be surprised to hear that I'm looking forward to it!

Anyway, it was a pleasure meeting you. I look forward to seeing you again.
Best wishes,
Emma

CONGRATULATIONS II !!!!!!!!

So, I'm back with the rest of that list, starting with 2013 and bringing us up to date :)
Here we go:

• The entire of this - 3rd January 2013
• I'd like to apologise for the accidental pun on the title of my previous blog post. It was not meant to be in any way funny and (to be honest) it isn't. - 7th February 2013
• when the revolution finally comes, I'll be close behind Miss MacNeill in the line for the Tory Fox Hunt. - 17th April 2013
•  it means that we should've all been relearning what we've already learnt before we've even learnt it since about February, because otherwise WE WILL ALL FAIL AND NOBODY WILL EVER LOVE US EVER AGAIN!!!!! - 2nd May 2013
• Or maybe none of this is really a possibility and I'm just panicking because at my school we're all expected to be able to recite Pi to several thousand digits by the end of year seven. - 2nd May 2013
• "Jumbo Jumble" sounds like a kids' game, in which you have to untangle elephants - 4th May 2013
• Maybe that's why I like Radio 4 all of a sudden... - 17th June 2013
• *The Pink Hair Brigade is in no way affiliated with or similar to the Tolmers Pink Triangle, or any other Pink Triangle for that matter. - 17th June 2013
• Any other band that I'm ever in, no matter how mind-numbingly boring and tedious, will never quite be as fun without being fun, if you know what I mean. Which you probably don't. - 10th July 2013
• Hello, today I have been painting a shed - 14th July 2013
•  I stumbled across half a documentary (well, a documentary which was halfway through when I found it) about Meat Loaf. The singer, not the food - how sad do you think I am? - 11th August 2013
• Frogs apart, Margaret is the funniest thing to have happened in my time working at PhatPocket. - 29th August 2013
• the other benefits of this new job are excellent, but more about them another time... ;) - 29th August 2013
• There's Graham, who works for "the agency" (dun dun duuuun) - 9th September 2013
• My bedroom is orange. Very orange. Special orange. It's so orange that it's like living inside an orange. Or Ginger Chris, one of the two. - 22nd September 2013
• my towels are coral, although I don't think I'll ever understand why that is the case. - 22nd September 2013
• it's by a group of girls called Law Revue, who appear to be highly feminist to the extreme. And American. But that is irrelevant. - 30th September 2013
• So I have come up with a solution. Many of you will think it childish, but to you I say "Ner ner ner ner ner!!!" - 3rd October 2013
• I am still waiting for him to realise just quite how crazy I am, but (mercifully) that time has not yet come. - 14th November 2013
• like a parent who has missed their child's school play, I am now going to ravish you with extra attention and new and more interesting posts to make up for it - 24th January 2014
• Please ignore these people. They're just actors posing as my friends. - 24th January 2014
• I have a lot of friends who bat for the Owen's team, who like to exfoliate and whose favourite film is Moulin Rouge. Is this getting the point across at all? Basically, I've been nicknamed the Fairy Gaymother - 1st February 2014

Parthenon Huxley

Hopefully, this post might actually work this time...

As many of you who have me as a friend on the beautifully renamed Facepoke will know, I recently posted a picture of a tiny poster I made for the Rewind Henley festival which Liz and I attended at the weekend, which said "I <3 and="" confused.="" explain="" feel="" generally="" hux.="" i="" p.="" p="" should="" the="" this="" to="" u="" undereducated="">
Parthenon Huxley is the guitarist for the Orchestra, which is what's left of ELO (the Electric Light Orchestra) now that there's no Jeff Lynne or Bev Bevan in the line-up. Apart from having one of the best names in the world, Huxley's key claim to fame (in our household at least) is his excellent album "Homemade Spaceship", on which he sings (and has arranged) several covers of ELO hits, my favourite of which is probably "Don't Bring Me Down." (Not, as Ella claims "The day my toaster killed your grandmother with a cat".)

Unfortunately, P. Hux's work is virtually unknown in the UK. This means that it is nigh on impossible to find anything by him online, but here is what I could find in the YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Glsawak-ceA -  (10538 Overture, another excellent cover.)

[SIDEBAR:] Yes, I am aware that P. Hux can be read, deliberately or not, as "phux", but I am not that immature (usually) and I ask that you aren't either (except when I am). Yes, Dad, I know you think it's hilarious and that's why it's like it on iTunes...

Anyway, this man is amazing. If you ever want to see me fangirl with the best of them, take me to see the Orchestra with P. Hux in concert; I will be the only one there excited about this guy, but it's so worth it :)