Posted on October 2, 2026
Books I’ve Read And Books I’m Currently Enjoying
Hi everyone, welcome back to Big Blog Theory, I hope you’re all doing well. Today, I thought I would talk about some of the books I’ve read including the books I’m currently reading and enjoying. I’ve read a few good books here and there during the past few weeks and I thought it would be wonderful to share some of them with you.
So, a few days ago, I became re acquainted with the Dirk Bogarde memoirs, this time it’s his fourth autobiography called Back Cloth which came out in 1986 which was mostly about his reflections on his childhood, old friends and various characters he knew in his life, the war years and his time abroad which I found interesting and at certain parts very harrowing, the things he experienced and witnessed during that time and then the second part of the book is about when he ended up in Hollywood to make a film after not being present in Hollywood or the film industry for I think forty years. I really liked this one and it felt really nice to read his books again after so long, it felt like meeting up with an old friend after a very long time. I became re acquainted with his writing style and felt at ease and at home. In some moments I was laughing and then other times I felt like crying, I love his books so much, they make me very reflective every time I read them. I’m also currently reading Ever Dirk_ The Bogarde Letters which is a compendium of personal letters written to old friends, acquaintances, directors, family members and so on. It’s quite a lengthy book but I’m about 200 something pages in at the moment and I’m really loving this book so far. It makes me laugh at times and it’s the sort of book that is best read with a cup of tea, it feels like a warm hug, very cosy and it takes you away. It originally started off as a book to dip in and out of but I find I can’t put this book down, it’s so good.
I always think that reading famous people’s letters is a great way to judge their personality and what kind of person they are. He’ll just be going on rants sometimes and half of the time I don’t really know what he’s going on about but sometimes I do understand exactly where he’s coming from and the point he is trying to make and I think it’s so entertaining to read. It almost feels intrusive in a way but in a good way. I’m always happy to be reading a book by him at any time of day, whenever and wherever, it’s one of life’s blessings and I still can’t believe his birthday is two or three days after mine. Isn’t that wonderful? We are literally very alike in so many different ways. So when I’m reading his books, not only am I learning about him but I’m also learning about myself and I have a better understanding of who I am as a person. He seems like a very interesting person and he was known to be very private, a little shy and did his best to keep his private life and sexuality out of the media which I respect. Life is better with Dirk Bogarde’s books and I’ve always got a special place in my heart for him and his works. I understand he also wrote some novels but I haven’t really read them. I mostly have his whole auto biography selection and I am so excited to read those.
I’ve also been reading Simon And Garfunkel_ Together Alone which is the book about Simon And Garfunkel that I’ve been talking about on my blog. I finally read it and finished it about two days ago and I really liked it. I found it really interesting and I learnt so much about them, so many things I never knew and in my opinion, it just made me love them even more now that I know about what went on behind the scenes. They seem like two very interesting individuals and I think it’s kind of sad how they were slowly drifting apart from one another. I think they had so much in common with one another and they also didn’t, that’s kind of why they sort of clashed. There were a lot of egos involved. I also really liked the author who wrote this biography, his stories always made me chuckle and I think he told this story really well. It was well researched and I really liked it and now that I’ve finished it, I’m enjoying their music all over again and now with a different lens. Every time I hear a Simon And Garfunkel song, I know that I’m home and everything is familiar, everything is alright. Their music puts me at ease and I will always love their songs. I’m really glad I gave this book a read. I totally recommend any fans of Simon And Garfunkel to try and get their hands on this book if they can, I thought it was a very good and enjoyable read.
I’ve also recently started reading Bob Dylan’s autobiography Chronicles: Volume One and I’m really loving it at the moment, I really love the essence of it and the way he writes, I’m very curious to see where this is going to go. This book kind of feels like a Bob Dylan song, it’s very poetic and just gives off such a wonderful vibe. All the characters that are being introduced in these chapters just bounce off the page and I can just picture them in my mind. I just read the first chapter and I’m in love with this book so far. I’ve also got his exclusive interviews which I will get round to shortly
That’s really all. I have so many books that I’m enjoying and I’m treasuring them for all they’re worth and I’m just so happy to be reading them and sharing my thoughts with you guys.
Thank you so much for reading this post, I hope you all have a wonderful day, wherever you are right now. Love you all, stay tuned for more work here on Big Blog Theory.
Posted on September 21, 2026
Bob Dylan: Street Legal 1978 Album: My Take
Hello everyone, welcome back to Big Blog Theory. I hope you’re all doing well
Today I thought I would talk about an album that I have very recently listened to and that is Street Legal by Bob Dylan which is an album which came out in 1978. I remember in another post I have mentioned that it came out in the early eighties and that it was a single but it’s actually a full album and what a great one it is. I just listened to the whole album altogether consisting of about nine songs and I have fallen in love with this album. Every single song is electrifying, they grab you and whisk you away to another world, Bob Dylan’s world and it is just fantastic. Baby Stop Crying is one of my all time favourite songs that is featured on this album but I also love the rest of the album too. It’s an experience one has to have. I totally recommend you give it a listen. It’s probably one of his best albums, I don’t think it gets enough recognition.
Thank you so much for stopping by, I hope you all have a lovely day, love you all and stay tuned for more work here on Big Blog Theory
Posted on September 16, 2026
Johnny Marr’s Guitar Collection At Christie’s
Hi everybody, welcome back to Big Blog Theory. I hope you’re all doing well. A few days ago, me and my family went to go to see Johnny Marr’s guitar collection at Christie’s in Mayfair, it was an exhibition featuring all of his guitars from the early eighties, his Smiths era and beyond . I think it was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen and it was just one of the most fascinating and exciting experiences I have ever had. His guitars are so much bigger compared to how big I thought they were. It’s one thing seeing them from afar but it’s another thing altogether when you see them close up. It was absolutely astonishing
We just took our time, walking around, looking at all the various guitars and other music pieces. While we were doing this, they were playing The Smiths songs. I think they played Please, Please, Please which is one of my all time favourite songs of theirs and I just found myself getting a bit emotional and getting goosebumps over it, it was a strange feeling but like I said, you don’t get to experience and witness all these kinds of things very often. All these things tell their own story, I just loved it so much, we all had a wonderful time, it really was one of the highlights of our entire day, we were just so happy that we were there. I think Johnny Mar’s absolutely brilliant, I have always had immense respect for him but even more so now. He’s still making music and performing after all these years, what an absolute legend. I do understand that these guitars and things will be going up on auction on the 17th which is tomorrow. I’m so glad me and my family got to see all this, I’m very curious to see how the auction goes, we will most definitely be following it.
It was just so cool. The display was wonderfully and beautifully done and everything was quite easy to find. There was something amazing in every single room, we just didn’t know where to look and what to start off with first. We most definitely had a wonderful time and I hope some of you got to go there too.
That’s all for today, thanks for stopping by, I hope you all have a wonderful day. Love you all and stay tuned for more work here on Big Blog Theory
Posted on September 9, 2026
Richard O Sullivan: A Tribute
Hi everyone, welcome back to Big Blog Theory, I hope you’re all doing well. I’m sure some of you may know the sad news about Richard O Sullivan, I have and I just thought I would write a little tribute to him considering he was always one of my favourite British TV and film stars, I have always loved his work, especially his work in the seventies. I’m sure I’ve mentioned his name on my blog a couple times before, he was just wonderful. He just always managed to put a smile on my face and make me laugh whatever he did. Man About The House and Robins Nest are two of my absolute favourite shows that he was in, he was just so good on screen, he was just so funny and charismatic and it was always so fun to watch him on TV, you just didn’t really know what he was going to do next. We have lost an absolute icon but we will always remember him, I will always remember him. He was just an absolute star in my eyes. This guy just taught me to smile and laugh whenever it was just impossible to do so, he always had that charm about him and he was just so lovely.
I don’t really watch much TV but those two shows I absolutely love and I think I have watched every single episode of both shows on repeat, whenever any one of those two shows are on, I will just drop everything and watch them. Man About The House is my absolute favourite of the two, that show always puts a huge smile on my face and it is so cosy, funny and is just the best medicine you could ask for. I love his TV work but I also love some of the films that he was in especially when he was very young. He had one of those faces that you instantly recognise. I just love him so much, I can’t imagine a world where Richard O Sullivan didn’t exist or doesn’t exist. I will always remember that friendly cheeky smile and those eyes and all of the laughs he ever gave me and my family. He will be sorely missed. The world will be a darker place now that he’s gone but we still have the archives.
So thank you Richard, thank you for all the laughs
Thank you for stopping by
Posted on September 9, 2026
Berbarian Sound Studio
Hi everyone, welcome back to Big Blog Theory, I hope you’re all doing well. I thought I would write another film post today considering it’s been a while since I’ve even talked about a film on here and I just thought it would be fun to discuss that with you guys. Today, I will be talking about a film I watched about a couple days ago called Berbarian Sound Studio which is a horror/ crime/ thriller film if you could call it that, that came out some point in 2012 and it stars Toby Jones which I think you might already know from the BBC television series called The Detectorists. The Detectorists is such a wonderful show, me and my family love it so much so obviously we are kind of very familiar with this guy’s work, he is such a good actor.
If you don’t know what this film is about, basically Toby Jones plays this Brit who specialises in making sounds on nature documentaries back in Britain but is suddenly called to Italy to work on a Giallo soundtrack and before you know it, he finds himself on unfamiliar territory with people he doesn’t know and a language he doesn’t speak and as he’s working on this soundtrack he just slowly goes insane. I think it’s one of the strangest most bizarre but exciting films I have ever watched. It just kind of grabbed me and it’s got a tension that I cannot for the life of me describe in simple terms. Hardly anything ever happens throughout the whole film but it’s just weirdly gripping and entertaining. This character he plays, this poor man, he tries to come to terms with what’s going on and at times he just feels so out of place and it’s just the general confusion of why he’s even there in the first place. Me and my dad absolutely loved this film and the version we have, it’s got a little short cool introduction made by Toby himself where he talks about the film, the character he plays and what the film means to him, I really loved that, I found it fascinating.
This film was an experience and honestly, I just really liked it. I understand that this kind of film is not everyone’s cup of tea but if you like stuff like this, I totally recommend you go and check this film out. It’s always good to watch something totally different every once in a while, something that takes you out of your comfort zone, film and art wise and it’s encouraged me to watch more Giallo films.
That’s all for today, I hope you all enjoyed my post, I hope you all have a wonderful day wherever you are right now. I love you all, stay tuned for more work here on Big Blog Theory.
Posted on August 27, 2026
Dolly Parton: A Tribute
Hi everyone, welcome back to Big Blog Theory. I hope you’re all doing well.
I’m sure some of you may know the sad news about Dolly Parton’s passing, it came out a day ago. I heard about it yesterday and I just couldn’t believe it. I understand she was ill for quite some time but so sad. Dolly was so wonderful, she was a beautiful human being inside and out, she was so talented, not to forget she was a really lovely, kind soul. Needless to say, I think the world will be a lot darker without her but saying that, we were just so lucky to have had her in the first place. Dolly was just that one friend you always want to be around and to have around. She had such a beautiful smile and she had such a beautiful singing voice and the minute you heard her sing, you immediately knew it was her. Somehow I don’t think we’ll ever see the likes of her again, she was truly a once in a lifetime talent. She touched so many people’s lives and hearts with her music and her work. She was my introduction to Country music and now I really like it, I listen to it sometimes. It’s such a shame that she’s gone but like I said, we were so lucky to have had her with us. I think we’ve been truly blessed. I can’t imagine a world where Dolly didn’t exist.
I have this book called Dolly Parton: Storyteller My Life In Lyrics. It’s basically a book where she talks about the inspirations behind her song lyrics and other things. I managed to get it second hand, I really love that book so much because as a young songwriter I love to read and hear about how other famous musicians and songwriters write their songs and I love to read about their writing routines and inspirations and stories behind their songs, just to see how they do it, I’m very fascinated about that sort of thing but now I’m going to cherish it even more. I like to dip into it from time to time, reading it just fills me with a sort of happiness, I’m so lucky to have it. It’s rather quite big and hefty and it kind of takes up half the space on my bookcase but I don’t mind at all, I love it. As you’re reading it, you can really feel the love of Dolly on every single page and it really shines through.
She may be gone but her music and her legacy will live on. If you’ve never listened to her music yet, then please, show some love and check her out. I thought it would be lovely to write a tribute to Dolly because I know how much she means to a lot of people including myself. She was just a shining light in a dark world and if only she knew how much she means to all of us.
I think I Will Always Love You is my absolute favourite song of hers, it’s such a beautiful song and it makes me cry every time I listen to it. To me every time I listen to it, it feels like I’ve just lost a friend and I feel all kinds of different emotions in one and then I’m kind of left with this deep sadness within me. Never has a song touched my heart so much than this one did. I was watching the performance of that song just the other day and I started getting emotional halfway through because at that moment she was singing about that one person she loves and that one important person in our lives but watching it now it just kind of feels like she’s talking to us, her fans and it just makes it even more powerful when you realise that she’s not with us anymore. That song is just a masterpiece and her voice singing was just so beautiful, I have no words.
It’s such a shame that we all have to get old, like why can’t we all just stay young? oh my goodness, that’s just life I guess, we can’t stay young forever and we can’t live forever even though I wish we could. I think it just makes life so much more beautiful knowing that we’re not going to be around forever. Dolly has left her mark on the world, her music and just being the wonderful person she was and she will always be remembered. When my time comes, I sure do hope I will leave my mark on the world too . I think we all should in our own little, special way.
We will always love you, Dolly!
That’s all for this post, thank you for stopping by. I hope you all have a wonderful day wherever you are, love you guys, stay tuned for more work here on Big Blog Theory.
Posted on August 26, 2026
Jackie De Shannon
Hi everyone, welcome back to Big Blog Theory. I hope you’re all doing well
Today, I thought it would be a good idea to write another music post. So, for today’s post I’ll be talking about Jackie De Shannon. If you’re not familiar with her or if you’ve never heard of her before, basically, she was an American singer/ songwriter from the sixties and onwards. ” What The World Needs Now{Is Love} is one of her most famous songs and it’s also one of my favourite songs of hers, I think it’s a very beautiful song and it couldn’t be more true. I think I discovered Jackie early or in the middle of this year and I’ve really been loving her music, especially all of her older songs. I would always tune in to her greatest hits and just have her music on, blaring from my radio whilst I do things. One thing about her is, she had such a great voice, it’s quite raspy at times and she had one of those distinct voices where you would hear the first two notes of the song and you would immediately know that it’s her. I’m just in awe, there are so many wonderful songs. She’s one of my comfort artists, like whenever things get a little bit heavy and a little too much I always listen to her music. I always find a lot of the music, especially American folk but also British pop and rock from that time are comforting to me. I have this whole range of bands, groups and artists that I always seem to go back to, they always seem to have this knack of finding you at the right time, when you need it the most. I am forever thankful for all of this music, to me they feel like my friends, it’s just wonderful. Listening to a new song that you have fallen in love with is like making a new friend but going back and finding all your old favourite songs that you’ve kind of forgotten about over the years is like catching up with old friends and it takes you back to a more simpler time, I think that’s the wonderful thing about it and I wasn’t even born around that time but it makes me feel so nostalgic and homesick for places I’ve never been. They feel like home
I always find it rather difficult when it comes to choosing and picking out my favourite songs considering they’re all wonderful in their own ways but I think if I had to, I would say that my favourite songs are What The World Needs Now{Is Love}, Heaven Is Being With You, You Won’t Forget Me, Needles And Pins, Til You Say You’ll be Mine, When You Walk In The Room, Hellos And Goodbyes, Don’t Turn Your Back On Me, Breakaway, Should I Cry, I Remember The Boy, Dream Boy, A Lifetime Of Loneliness, Come And Get Me, Windows And Doors, I Can Make It With You, Only Love Can Break Your Heart and Put A Little Love In Your Heart and I’m sure there are many more that I’m not thinking of but these are my absolute favourites. Many times I played these songs over and over again to the point where I know most of the lyrics of each song off by heart. This music is just wonderful and each song tells its own story and she just brings it to life with that wonderful singing voice of hers. I’m so glad that I discovered her when I did, she’s just marvellous, she’s definitely become one of my all time favourite female artists and I think she’s still around, doing her thing which is fantastic, I hope she’s doing well. If you haven’t listened to her music yet, I totally recommend that you do it because honestly you won’t be disappointed.
Alright, that’s all for today’s post, I hope you all liked it. I hope you all have a wonderful day wherever you are. Love you all and please stay tuned for more work here on Big Blog Theory.
Posted on August 13, 2026
Liner
Hi everyone, welcome back to Big Blog Theory, I hope you’re all doing well. Today, I thought I would talk a little more about the various music groups/ musicians and artists who are a big part of my listening habits and the music I love to listen to in my day to day life. Today this post is going to be about a group called Liner. If you don’t know who they are or if you haven’t heard of them before, basically they were a late seventies UK rock group, a late seventies studio project.
This group’s music is just so good, it’s one of my absolute favourites. Their 1979 album You And Me is just wonderful, it’s one of my favourite albums ever, Goodness knows how many times I’ve played it. The first time I heard it I just completely fell in love with it, it’s such amazing music, me and my dad absolutely love this album. It’s just one of those albums that whenever you play it or listen to it, it just instantly lifts you up and makes you really happy, it elevates you and it takes you back to the seventies, back to a totally different time.
I always remember this album because me and my dad used to joke with one another saying that the lead singer of the group looks like the character Luther from the 1979 film The Warriors and we were like ” Are you sure that’s not him, just in disguise as a lead singer in a rock group” We love the film The Warriors, it’s one of our favourite films. It’s that guy who sits on a car and clinks the glass bottles and starts screaming ”Warriors, come out to play!!” you can’t tell me that’s not him. Also, to be precise, the album came out the same year as the film, which makes the joke even funnier somehow. If you’ve seen the film, you’ll know the reference, that is always one of our little inside jokes. The funny thing about this one album is that the music sounds so American, very New York but they are a British band. I think that’s because it was recorded at Atlantic records. When they first appeared on the music programme Top Of The Pops with their song You And Me, that was the first time we ever discovered or even heard of this group and we stumbled upon the 1979 album and just fell deeply in love, we would just play it over and over again.
This whole album is a work of art but I think if I had to pick my favourite songs, I would have to choose Keep Reaching Out For Love, Ship On The Ocean, Night Train, Strange Fascination, So Much In Love Again, You And Me and Run To The Night but still, like I said I can’t really choose a favourite because the whole album is wonderful in it’s own right and every single song on the album is special in it’s own way. The melodies are beautiful, the instruments that are featured in the songs are wonderful, a lot of the songs are very catchy and also the lyrics are pretty great. It’s kind of sad because this is one of those albums that kind of just fell through, it’s one of those really rare albums and not a lot of people know about this album or talk about it that much these days, it needs more love and recognition. So, if you haven’t listened to their music yet, I suggest you go and check them out because they were just wonderful.
I was listening to this album again only the other day and I just fell in love with it all over again. If I could take any record or piece of music with me to a desert island this is definitely one of them. It’s a gem and it’s one of those albums where no matter how many times you’ve listened to it, you never get tired of it, I certainly don’t. How can you? it’s such a brilliant album, it brings me so much joy and happiness, you just want to get up and dance
That’s all for this post, I hope you all have a wonderful day wherever you are right now. Love you guys, stay tuned for more work here on Big Blog Theory
Posted on August 4, 2026
The Ballad Of A.J Webberman
Hi everyone, welcome back to Big Blog Theory, I hope you’re all doing well. Today, I thought I would like to talk about this really interesting documentary that I watched last night. It was this documentary which was called The Ballad Of A.J Webberman which was about this guy called A.J who was known to have been tangled up with Bob Dylan in the early seventies and onwards. He was rather obsessed with him and there were times when he used to stalk the guy and rummage through his recycling bins/ trash can, steal his material and he used to just drive him crazy. It was just such an odd documentary. The part where he taped one of their phone calls was absolutely hilarious it was like something out of a film. They were both insane, I think they were both nuts, they were both as bad as each other. He drove Bob Dylan out of his mind. Bob Dylan was like ” I’m just driving to live my life out here, man, please”
It was mostly set in New York and you get to hear about this guy’s bizarre correspondence with Bob Dylan but also you get to meet his circle of mad, oddball friends. I don’t know, me and my dad watched it together and we both found it rather amusing, odd and pretty demented. They showed this documentary once late on a Friday night and we were like ” What on earth is this?” we could just hear those two popping off at one another and Bob Dylan shouting down the phone it was hilarious. To be honest with you, I never knew this documentary even existed, it’s so profoundly strange.
We watched this documentary on You tube. It’s pretty old I think it came out in 2006. I totally recommend you check this one out, if you’re into weird stuff and if you know a little bit about Bob Dylan or if you’re a fan of him, you will absolutely love this. I really enjoyed it, I found it odd, interesting, zany, I loved the way it was created and put together. It’s definitely a late night watch. You’ll watch it and then when it’s over, you’ll probably think ” What on earth did I just watch?” ” What was that?” it was pretty great. There were times where me and my dad were just laughing so much, at times this documentary was just pure insanity. I totally recommend you check it out if you can
That’s all for this post, I hope you all liked it. I hope you all have a wonderful day wherever you are right now. Love you guys and stay tuned for more work here on Big Blog Theory.
Posted on July 30, 2026
The Long Awaited Herb Alpert And The Tijuana Brass Record Deal Story
Hi everyone, welcome back to Big Blog Theory, I hope you’re all doing well. Today for this post I am going to be talking about the Herb Alpert record deal story that my Dad has told me about. I personally think it’s one of the coolest stories ever, it’s totally one of my favourite stories that my Dad has ever told me, especially since I’ve always really admired Herb Alpert and his group The Tijuana Brass and I’ve been brought up listening to their music when I was little as their music was always constantly being played in my house growing up, their music has always brought us including myself so much joy and happiness so it’s really cool to hear something like this from the horse’s mouth, so to speak or in other words from my Dad. I’m really excited to share this story with you guys and I really hope you guys find it somewhat amusing. So without further ado, let’s get into it. Before I begin, I would like to remind you that I’ll be writing this from my Dad’s perspective as I’m telling the story, so when I say We I mean my Dad and his friends at the time. Okay, here it is, enjoy
Okay so, a guy came up to us and said he had just got a deal with a record label in the West End. After looking around for three months, he asked us to record a track for him in Camden studios. Then we got called up to sign a contract in Soho, we had the address, we just didn’t know who it was.
That day, it wasn’t until we walked in through those doors that we realised that this was no small thing, this was a big deal. As we walked in, we started seeing pictures of Herb Alpert and Herb Alpert records displayed on the walls. The guy we spoke to was a much older person but he was so enthusiastic, that day. At that point, we still didn’t know who we were speaking to. It just hadn’t crossed our minds, it was just one of those things.
The gentleman, after speaking to us for about half an hour, produced a cheque book. Then, he wrote a cheque for 150.000 pounds. He explained to us that our track was going to be on a compilation with some big American names, so we were so happy about that.
Still, we had no idea who we were talking to. After that, we went away and finished the track, then we had another appointment to deliver the tape.
It was then, he explained who he was and who his partner was. We couldn’t believe our ears
Unfortunately, in the end, the project fell through because the Americans wouldn’t deliver their track in time, but when we went to see him, he just said ” You keep the money” which was really nice, we were so happy about that. So we assumed that from what he had heard of the track, he liked it which was cool.
So, that was that, that’s the end of the story. I’m still mind blown, I think it’s one of the coolest stories I’ve ever heard and my Dad has got some crazy stories from back in the day. He says it was a cool experience, I agree. It’s not every day you experience something like that, that’s for sure. It’s a funny old world sometimes. My Dad told me this story a couple of times and I was like ” Oh my goodness, I have to write about this” especially because I’ve been writing about Herb Alpert in various music posts in recent weeks, I thought it was rather fitting and just a fun little story to share with anyone who is a fan or admirer of his work or just someone who’s being introduced to his work a little later than others, I think it’s a fantastic introduction and I still smile every time I think about it.
That’s all for this post, I hope you all liked it. I had a blast writing this post, it’s one of my favourite stories, it’s an absolute pleasure to share this story with you guys. I hope you all have a wonderful day wherever you are right now, love you all, stay tuned for more work here on Big Blog Theory.