Guilty Pleasures - Gerry Rafferty's 'City to City'

I'm not a massive fan of the concept of 'Guilty Pleasures'. Generally people should be free to embrace and enjoy the music they like without fear of censure and scorn from others (fans of Scouting for Girls, you are the exception to the rule). Nonetheless, I accept that a 29 year old male might not be expected to be a fan of 1970's soft rock acts with little commercial success since 1979's 'Night Owl' album. But, as with much of my taste, its origins lie in late 1980's childhood musical imprisonment while travelling on holiday in my parents' car. The Beach Boys, The Who, The Stones and other bands I continue to revere were staple selections, as was this 1978 album, which sold over five million copies and reached the top 5 in both the UK and US.

Whilst the album is primarily remembered for the incredibly radio-friendly 'Baker Street' (video below), the real beauty lies in records such as 'Island', which also employs the saxophone of Raphael 'Baker Street' Ravenscroft, and 'Whatever's Written in Your Heart', which offer simple tributes to love and longing. With not a bad track, it remains an effortlessly timeless and comforting record and heightens my sadness at learning that Rafferty is, at the time of writing, three months missing after checking out of a London hospital where he was being treated for liver problems. With much of his history since 1980 seemingly revolving around various drunken incidents - aside from producing the Proclaimers' glorious 'Letter from America' in 1987 - it would appear that this story is sadly not one destined to end with a glorious renaissance and a tour of 'City to City'. Retailing at around a fiver on the likes of Amazon though, it is a classic of its type and deserving of being recognised as such.

Genius - No2

Forget 'I Just Called To Say I Love You' or 'Ebony and Ivory'. There was a period when Stevie Wonder was untouchable. From 1972 to 1976 he was at his creative peak, releasing 'Innervisions', 'Fulfillingness' First Finale', 'Songs in the Key of Life' and my own personal favourite 'Talking Book'. This clip is taken from an appearance on Sesame Street playing the downright superb 'Superstition'. Enjoy..

y.

Genius - No1 in a short or not so short series...

The man who lifted two average sides; Napoli and Argentina, beyond their capabilities and delivered honours. The greatest player ever with the sort of skill that has inspired a generation of number 10s with a low centre of gravity and a love of dribble in his home country - Ortega, D'Alessandro, Gallardo, Aimar, Messi etc. As so often in life though, the original is the best, with only Messi able to breathe the same air in my humble opinion.

Ladies and Gents, Diego Armando Maradona.

5 from New York

Not particularly the best things to do, no 'must sees', just stuff that tickled my fancy whilst in NYC recently:

1. Zucco le French Diner - 188 Orchard Street (Houston Street), Lower East Side.
Having had this place recommended, we approached with a touch of trepidation after a decent walk in hot conditions. With the owner - Zucco - having apparently said himself the place holds "20 skinny people or 14 fat ones", nothing massive was expected, but only the most suicidal of cats would have allowed themselves to have been swung inside. Nonetheless it was only at maybe 75% capacity, so we entered, squeezed past the other customers and took one of the 2-3 tables. Zucco carried the air of a man who thinks he should be running a bigger bar in Paris, and is still not quite sure why it didn't happen. If this sounds like a criticism it's not, the slightly surliness was amusing and indicative only of the inherent old-worldliness of the French. Unsurprisingly this was also reflected in the menu, cooked in a tiny space behind the bar by the chef, which was predominately French classics with an occasional North African element. It was the North African element that appealed and we both selected the merguez sandwich with roasted red peppers and harissa and a side of frites. Washed down with a bottle of 1664 -no American rubbish here. Ordering in French went down well and the food, at roughly a fiver each was excellent. Off the beaten track but more than worth the trek to find it.

2. Resto - 111 E. 29th Street
www.restonyc.com
At the other end of the scale is this ultra modern, sleek Belgian bar and restaurant that was helpfully located two doors down from the hotel. Equally good for just drinking from their extensive Belgian beer menu or, as we did on the opening night, sampling their highly rated menu. The food was excellent, the little fried meatballs with a garlic-mustard mayonnaise and the mussels in leek and bacon being a particular highlight.


3. Shake Shack - Madison Avenue & 23rd Street
www.shakeshacknyc.com
Although no lover of the salty, flabby MacDonald's/Burger King monsters of rock, research had stated that the best burgers in the city were to be found at Shake Shack's attractive setting in Madison Square Park, and not wishing to be churlish we headed there for lunch. My main piece of advice would be to expect a wait, there was a huge queue when we arrived for an early lunch; thankfully we were entertained by a college student with a foghorn for a voice giving everyone chapter and verse on the latest on her and her friends' lives. Think Dawson's Creek, but without anything happening. We eventually ordered and the burgers, well dems was real tasty. The fries, although nice and cheesy, were obviously slightly drowned in salt, but the quality of the burger and my caramel milkshake allowed me to overlook it.

4. The New York City Police Museum - 100 Old Slip
www.nycpolicemuseum.org
Not one of the bigger museums in the city maybe, but it does give an excellent idea of the scale of the operation required to police such a massive geographical area. Although initially we wandered a little bit trying to find it, the presence of a number of vintage cars outside the building (the original home to the First Precinct between 1884 and 1973) was a helpful clue. Over three floors it details the history and events that have shaped the way that the city has been run from a law and order perspective. Highlights included a recreation of the cells, rooms with cars, bikes and uniforms used through the ages and the Hall of Heroes, containing the badge of every officer killed in the line of duty. While I understand there have been complaints in some quarters that the slightly seamier, murky events in the NYPD's history have been sanitised and ignored, I guess there is a certain inevitability that this will be the case and it shouldn't detract from what is a really interesting couple of hours' entertainment.

5. Buenos Aires - 513 East 6th Street
www.buenosairesnyc.com
I know, I know, food again. As I say, just the first five things that come to mind and for some reason food features in four... Determined at some point to enjoy a really good steak, we rejected the traditional steak house idea and elected instead to go South American. With an extensive meat menu, a bottle of Quilmes and then a cold bottle of white, a warm ambience and some non-descript game of Argentinian football on a mounted TV in the corner, I was a happy boy. The waiting staff were attentive and happy to explain the different cuts of meat. Chips were great and the black pudding I had for starter was plentiful and tasty. The steak was tender and, given the exchange rate, light on the pocket too. Recommended.

Greetings

One of the most negative aspects of the Internet is that allows all sort of interlopers and half-wits their moment in the sun - an opportunity to 'spill their brains' as The Day Today would have it. Hence this momentus day in blogging as I join those ranks. Reviews and opinions in the world of music, football and travel, amongst other stuff, will follow...... For now, I'll leave you with a beer of the day, one of the highlights of a recent trip to Brussels (more to come there). Enjoy a virtual Gouden Carolus and I'll return with the menu forthwith.