December is a magical month......

Seasons Greetings: Did you like your Xmas card?

What a great year – though I’m glad I am at the end rather than the beginning of it. A period of consolidation is the best way to describe it. Others, like Johnny Wilkinson, had a better year but then again Saddam had a lot worse …

I’ve just returned from a shopping spree at the gourmet friendly Oxford covered market. This a weird and wonderful place populated by a strange variety of people – Oxford dons and local oiks, housemasters and housewives, the literate and alliterate, the intelligentsia and the traders, all serenaded by accapella groups singing jazz and church choirs singing carols. It’s all very His Dark Materials, very Hobbity. I love it, especially at Christmas time where everybody is falling over each other trying to get their festive orders in – the food is fantastic….

Big Thank You – Let’s Hear It For The Boys: I had a lot of support and assistance from some great guys this year –

Here’s the roll call:

Ceri Thomas and King Will Adjei of JetLabs – Masters of the Web. We finally managed to start pulling the website into shape, thanks mostly to their patience with me in my fumbling attempts to become a virtual reality.

Stephen – Superfan Extraordinaire. There is no way I could have ever got the website together without this wonderful man who despite being a Sandie Shaw fan is also an intelligent, witty and sharp journalist – yes, they DO exist.

Mark – my right and left hand man. How he puts up with me I will never know. When others duck and run he just laughs at me and asks if I want a cup of tea! He grows more Buddha-like every day…. (I am not revealing Mark’s second name, as I don’t want him to be head hunted)

Steve Davis – my man at EMI. It’s early days but he shows great promise!

Eric Nicoli – Big Daddy. Fancy that, a chairman of a UK international music company who actually loves music! Without Eric’s continual encouragement and faith in me I would have given up ages ago. I would also be a lot slimmer.  Of course it helps that he is mostly Italian.

Tris Penna – what can I say? I don’t know what I have done to deserve this man. (Probably something very naughty…) Through his enthusiasm, expertise and sheer professionalism he has made me proud of my work. He has treated it with such respect and care and demanded that others do the same. I’ve even begun to enjoy it – next year I plan to celebrate it!

See you next year…