Renaissance : Opening Out [ purchase ] It’s been a while since I’ve reached into my prog-rock bag, so let’s talk about Renaissance. I...

Late to the game as ever, here I am banging on about closing the honky-tonks, just as some sectors are begging for them to be opened up agai...

purchase [ Little Criminals - R Newman ] purchase [ Hearts and Bones - P Simon ] No, there was not even the slightest premonition...

Dropkick Murphys : The Warrior’s Code [ purchase ] I suspect that many of you who read this blog also attend live music performan...

It's funny, I had never really quite appreciated this song to have actually been about a battle or, indeed, warfare at all. It had alway...

purchase [ Willy and the Poor Boys ] War is raw. Peace maybe a little less so - unless maybe you are trying to wage it - [see Kent St...

(I've Never Known) Peace on Earth I'm struggling with this as a theme, not for want of material on the subject, there being as...

Alexander “Skip” Spence : War In Peace [ purchase ] I know that many people—and not only people in the 50+ demographic—think that the ...

purchase [ sound track version from Top Gun ] If no one wants to record for your film, does that put you in the Danger Zone? Is it dan...

Trying for a double whammy, associating both the song and the performer with the theme, doncha know! Well, no, not as it turns out. And, any...

I was going to go off on one again, lambasting and/or lampooning the various bouffant topped orange faced men leading the free(!) world, but...

Joni Mitchell : Help Me [ purchase ] If you believe Wikipedia , the use of the word “Mayday” as a distress signal began in 1921, when ...

Wreck of the Carlos Rey Mayday always seems to me the cipher for maritime disasters, despite it being anything but exclusive thereto. B...

This is becoming topical, as the thoughts of our leaders turn to whether we, the great unwashed, albeit with very clean hands, can or should...

R.E.M. : What’s The Frequency, Kenneth? [ purchase ] I know that my chosen song for this piece asks a question, but the answer to t...

purchase [ White Album] If we are talking about questions, I suppose the question word <why> is at the fore of this theme. What ...

If you are a fan of the Moody Blues, frankly, I would, in the words of their best song, (which they didn't even write) , Go Now , my...

Thin Lizzy : The Boys Are Back In Town [ purchase ] Like many of the themes that we use on Star Maker Machine, this one came to me w...