h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

We have much in common, although I don't like football and I'd add Dire Strait to 'bands'

Yeah - I like Dire Straits too, got a lot of their stuff. It's hard, I think, to put one thing down when listing musical favourites. I like most things from Classical to Country.

I've got a solo album of Knopfler too. My favourite album of theirs was 'Making Movies'. I bought it when it first came out, but I noticed in later versions they removed quite a few tracks and made a separate album out of them. But that original album was terrific value and maybe the record co. executives realised that too.

I loved tracks like "Down To The Waterline", "Walking In The Wild West End" - the first, because I grew up near Surrey Docks in London and that song fully captures the feel of a dock area; and the second, because as a teenager I used to spend all night sometimes, walking round Soho and the West End with friends. Again, very evocative.

"Romeo and Juliet" is also a terrific song. It's finely crafted without being pretentious, and again, it's real. I think you'd have to go a long way to find an 'early' album with so much quality on it.

Have you heard much Ry Cooder?


bye for now, stellar