Sunday, March 13, 2022

How old?


An early kick off and a late winning goal for my team (which may not be a team at all for much longer) resulted in an impromptu visit to a second pub of the day for an extra pint by way of celebration this afternoon. This particular pub should be more accurately described as a micro pub and has been very successful in these here parts in the last few years. Hats off to the landlady. The modus operandi of the “micro pub” is, simply, good beer and a convivial atmosphere with no distractions (i.e. no screens or piped music, and mobile phones not often seen). Conversation with total strangers is positively encouraged. It turned out there was a slight distraction in the pub today as there was a spontaneous mini quiz. A customer got up and asked us to guess the age (a year either way was allowed) of various people who were celebrating their birthday today (or yesterday). A free pint to the person who got the most right . I won!

It did not come to mind until after I had left the pub that I could have added another person to the questionnaire's list – Candi Staton (82 today, Happy Birthday Candi!). This of course means it is also Feel It's birthday today (16 years old, even though it has to be said it has been all but inactive for the last year or so). Still, at least I remembered the auspicious day this year, unlike last year when it completely passed me by. I am getting rusty at this blogging game, but maybe there is a glimmer of hope!

Years ago I used to feature a Candi Staton track to mark this occasion, but takedown requests stopped that. So I have just grabbed something from the pile that is sat next to me on the table.

I recently put together a mix that had to fit a prescribed list of themes, one of which was a track from a famous writing duo. Hayes and Porter was my choice and the track was, I am guessing, a lesser known one of theirs – Check Yourself by Debbie Taylor. A stunning slab of soul, and I had previously overlooked the B side which is mighty fine too.

Debbie Taylor - Check Yourself  1968

Debbie Taylor – Wait Until I'm Gone 1968