Fred’s banter is hillarious.

http://t.co/r1J0PaB.

Courtesy of PigeonRow.
http://pigeonrow.com/frederick-squire-sings-shenandoah-and-other-popular-hits

Theme from Auf Wiedersehen Pet – That’s living alright – Joe Fagin


This was the theme tune for a tv show called auf wiedersehen pet about a bunch of builders from the UK who had to go and find work in Germany. I remember not being able to pronounce it back it 1983 when the show came out. Thats living alright was played over the closing credits and reached #3 in the charts

Theme from Boon – hi ho silver – Jim Diamond

Michael Elphick played Boon who drove around on a motorbike (BSA A65L Lightning 650, Wikipedia tells me) as a courier-minder-private investigator.

Next up the gold standard of theme tunes, Minder.

Minder Theme – I could be so good for you – Dennis Waterman.

Sir Dennis on Top of the Pops

This is currently the ring tone on my phone. Dennis Waterman took TV Theme tunes into orbit and so far has sung 4 theme tunes for shows he appeared in. He won’t appear in a show unless he can do it. The others are New Tricks, On the Up and Stay Lucky. Sadly YouTube force doesn’t come up with the goods for these.

The fact that these guys looked like they’d drink in your local pub adds to the appeal.

Alas there was an ugly side though to charting TV Theme tunes.

Eastenders Theme – Anyone can fall in love – Anita Dobson

The Eastenders theme was an instrumental for years before someone shoe horned in some lyrics and got Anita Dobson to sing them.

Heartbeat Theme – Heartbeat – Nick Berry

Great idea police drama set in the sixties in swinging London or lets get rid of the drama and move it to Yorkshire and have Bill Maynard steel some sheep each week. Genius.

Bah Nick Berry…The only reason Anita Dobson foghorned the Eastenders theme theme tune was because of this guy. Nick Berry was also in Eastenders and blackmailed the script writers into allowing him to sing “Every Looser Wins” for some contrived story line. This song went to number one for like eight years. Bastard.

I’m very excited about this. 19th April 2011.

Frederick Squire – Shenandoah

Frederick Squire and Kate Maki – Tropical Survival Guide

Frederick Squire and Kate Maki – The Future of Tradition

Frederick Squire’s album March 12 is stunning. Listen to You sing low and we’ll sing high and tell me you didn’t cry.

January
Basia Bulat – Heart of my own
Gold Rush


February
Gil Scott Heron – I’m new here (album)
On coming from a broken home

March
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists – The Brutalist Bricks (album)
The Mighty Sparrow

April
Hot Chip – I feel better (song)

May
Elektronische Musik: Experimental German Rock And Electronic Musik 1972-83 (album)
Cluster – Heisse Lippen

June
Tennessee Ernie Ford – Sixteen Tons (song)

July
Minks – Funeral Song (song)

August
Ola Belle Reed – Rising Sun Melodies

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003WP2LCU/

Forest City Lovers – Carriage
Tell me cancer

September
Frederick Squire – March 12 (album)
Future of Tradition

October
No Age – Everything in between
Fever Dreaming

November
Syl Johnson – The Complete Mythology

December
Mississippi John Hurt – Complete Studio Recordings
You got to walk that lonesome valley

Mojo have an obituary for Mick. Thanks for the music.

Japan – Quiet Life

Japan – I second that emotion.

Japan – Visions of China

Bikes and late 80′s sounding indie. What more do you want.

Their first album “By the hedge” is out on Jan 11th.

You undoubtedly know this but worth a look. Six Ways Leaders Can Fuel Excellence At Anything http://blogs.hbr.org/schwartz/2010/08/six-keys-to-being-excellent-at.html

The key points are:-

1. Ban words like “talented,” “gifted,” and “special” from your vocabulary. Well meaning as these words may be, they tend to give people credit for something they did nothing to earn, while also suggesting that others don’t have equal potential. Consider replacing these words with ones like “effective,” “determined,” “accomplished,” “skilled,” “persevering,” and “masterful,” all of which give due credit to effort.

2. Regularly, genuinely, and specifically acknowledge and appreciate people’s successes. Believe deeply in their potential, enthusiastically encourage their passions, and don’t be overly fazed by their failures. There may be nothing more motivating to the people you lead than to notice what they’re doing well, and to express your appreciation with detail and specificity. Likewise, there may be no single more powerful act than to handwrite and mail someone a personal note of appreciation.

3. Provide constant feedback. Annual or semi-annual reviews are vastly insufficient and often worthless. Most people don’t improve their skills over time, in large part because they don’t get consistent, specific feedback. That’s different than judgment or criticism. As often as possible, resist pointing out people’s deficits, and focus instead on where you can help them improve or take it to the next level in any given area.

4. Create and protect periods of uninterrupted focus. Don’t demand instant responses from your people all day long. Interruptions fracture their attention, and absorbed focus is a prerequisite to high quality work, especially on the most challenging tasks. Stop measuring your people by how many hours they work, and assess them instead based on the value they produce.

5. Encourage and model intermittent renewal throughout the day. Great performers, the research shows, work intensely for periods no longer than 90 minutes and then stop to recover and refuel. Create a “renewal room” so people have a place to truly chill out. Nothing better fuels productivity in the afternoons than a 20-30 minute nap between 12 and 2 p.m, and encouraging people to exercise at midday runs a close second.

6. Tie the pursuit of excellence to a larger mission. Excellence requires enormous effort. You need to give your people a compelling reason to push beyond their comfort zones. What most of us hunger for is evidence that what we’re doing truly matter and serves something beyond the bottom line. CEOs such as Alan Mullally at Ford, John Chambers at Cisco, and Steve Jobs at Apple have done a great job rallying their people around a higher mission. Start by defining what you truly stand for, share with others what gets you up in the morning as often as you can, and encourage people to go through the same exercise for themselves.

The article is worth reading. http://blogs.hbr.org/schwartz/2010/11/six-ways-leaders-can-fuel-exce.html

If you’re not able to say you’re doing these things. Figure out why and change it.