Musical and geographical offerings from GeoBlogs: a 365 blog project for 2026.
Of all the vocalists there are several whose tone stands out: Peter Gabriel is instantly recognisable; Kate Bush was unlike anyone else when she appeared on the scene; Aimee Mann of course.
I'm going to go for the voice of Paul Buchanan from 1989's album 'Hats' from The Blue Nile. I've mentioned them several times on the blog already - their name is geographical of course.
The song is called 'Headlights on the Parade'.
This is a legendary venue which attracted some really big names, despite its location. It lies between Sheringham and Cromer. I passed through West Runton in early January 2026 as it happens, and was back in the area last month. I need to go back to take a picture of the plaque.
It was near to the Village Inn, which has a plaque on the wall.
This Facebook page describes it as "gone but not forgotten". It has quite an active community, and the local newspapers have also written about its legacy.
The Facebook group has shared a whole range of memories, including the flyers and details of bands that played there.
This one has a good range of bands.
Haydn Brown provided the following detail:
For several years it was a starting point for many British tours by major artists, including The Damned; The Clash; The Commodores; Hot Chocolate; The Jam; Bad Manners; Motorhead; The Pretenders; Saxon and Iron Maiden. During the 1960's, 70's and early 80's, numerous pop groups took over the entertainment programme. Many bands preferred the venue for practicing, due to the exceptionally food acoustics. Although considered by some as perhaps ‘off the beaten track’, it proved an ideal location for groups trying out new material before making their UK tours. On August 19th 1976 the Sex Pistols performed here for about 30 people. Other bands included at different times, the Stranglers, the Jam, the Clash and the Four Tops.Julie Fielder has written a book about the pavilion and its history. There was apparently a bus that used to run from Wells to the venue for gigs which seems unlikely these days.
The plaque on the wall has attracted some controversy regarding its accuracy as to which bands actually played there.
Does anyone else have memories of this venue?
Again, this is hard to pick.
I've not attended many funerals.
The first one I ever went to ended with this song as the choice of the deceased, and there are few songs less geographical in theme...
Sara Cohen and Robert Kronenburg 2018, wrote Liverpool's Musical Landscapes.
Liverpool has gained a national and international reputation for popular music, most recently recognised in its designation as a UNESCO City of Music in 2015.
As this project showed, in Liverpool the architecture, history, social landscape and culture combined to shape an urban identity comprising four elements - which could be identified in other cities as well:
Cohen, S., and R. Kronenburg. 2018. Liverpool’s Musical Landscapes. Swindon: Historic England.
Pat Metheny has released an unexpected digital only single today... I'm seeing him in a few months' time on his latest Side Eye tour, having seen the previous two of these.
Coming towards the end of the 30 day challenge....
Couldn't really think of anything to go with this theme today...
So here's a track called 'Magnetic Love'.
Mike Oldfield released his album 'Discovery' on this day in 1984.
The cover is quite striking.
Following his touring in 1983, Oldfield relocated to Villars-sur-Ollon, Switzerland for tax purposes and started work on this album. He had also recorded another album in the area.The best track on the album, and one of the best that Mike Oldfield produced is called 'The Lake'.
It's a long instrumental piece, and this is the remixed '1984 Suite' version of the song. It builds wonderfully...
Whenever I listen to this song I am transported to Norway and it's 1984.
I first travelled to Norway with a friend from my student days. It was the summer before the final year of my geography degree and he had made a connection with a student called Yngvild. We ended up staying with the family and then heading off hitch-hiking for two or three weeks - heading north up towards Bergen and beyond...
Hopefully now that Rayburn Tours are offering trips to Norway I might get back there some day.
OK... so we have lost a great many wonderful musicians and each year brings more at my age.
I shall go here for a song by Joe Zawinul, from the 1985 album 'Sportin' Life'.
Joe Zawinul was the keyboard player and arranger of a lot of Weather Report's music.
This also features Wayne Shorter and Omar Hakim, both of whom I heard playing live.
Joe Zawinul – keyboardsThis song is Confians. I love how it builds...
Sugar have released their third new single after the two they released ahead of their recent UK concerts.
It's a characteristic, guitar-driven short punky blast of less than three minutes...
So that would mean a Rush song.
As I said on January the 7th, the passing of Neil Peart meant the end of Rush. It's likely that they would have finished anyway as Neil was fed up of touring, but after a few years break he may have been tempted back for a final tour. I'm going to add the final song from their final album: a concept album called 'Clockwork Angels'.
The song is called 'The Garden'.
Here's the studio version.
And here's the live version of the song, with strings...
Glastonbury is big. Sixteen years ago today, I was there... in the heat, working with the Geography Collective in the Green Kids Zone. I've blogged about it before - search the blog for 'Glastonbury'.
This map shows you how big, although from my experience it felt quite a lot larger than it is shown here. I think there are other areas still beyond what is shown here - whether car parking or additional camping and the security zone.
It's made by Geoffrey Prytherch.
Here's Ely compared to the site.
And here's one of my images from up near the letters... at night, it looks pretty awesome too. This was sunset on the 24th of June.
At some point in their life, everyone should sit down and drop the stylus onto a vinyl copy of 'Tubular Bells'.
OK, so we are heading to West Yorkshire next to the city of Leeds: home to the football team I have supported for over 50 years - which has not always been easy...
Leeds has given rise to some popular bands and musicians.
They include:
Kaiser Chiefs
Soft Cell
Alt-J (who feature an Old Elean - a former pupil of the school where I teach - in their line-up).
The Wedding Present - who had a moment
This Leeds music website has a great list. The Visit Leeds site also makes much of the current music scene in the city.
Leeds had some well-known venues, including the Brudenell Social Club (follow them on Spotify), and the old Duchess of York pub. It still attracts a good cohort of musicians to play there. Bob Mould stopped by the Leeds Irish Centre on the recent Sugar tour that I blogged about a few weeks ago.
There is a short history of music in Leeds here.
One venue I've been to for larger events is Roundhay Park, which has a good sloped amphitheatre like area.
I saw Genesis there in 1987 on a wet day on the Invisible Touch tour - the year later Michael Jackson played there on the 'Bad' tour. Both of those were to over 80 000 people. In 1992, they both came back: Genesis on the 'I can't dance' tour, and Michael Jackson doing the 'Dangerous' tour. Madonna also played there around that time.
A VHS transfer here to YouTube... can't find much better video...
Looking back at the news media around the Genesis concert, it mentioned that Runrig were the support band. I don't remember that at all.
Leeds and Reading festivals still attract very large audiences.
What does that even mean?
A song that provides motivation perhaps and that you would have on your compilation if you were into running and needed to push through the final kilometre to home...
Perhaps a song that you would put on when starting a task that you didn't want to do.
When my children were younger, this one would motivate us to clean up the house... and tidy stuff away...
Today is World Music Day.
World music day or ‘Fête de la Musique’, as it was first known, has its origins in France.Lots of potential songs to choose from here....
A few that spring to mind are 'Valerie' from Steve Winwood, 'Rosanna' from Toto etc.
I'll probably go for a track from Goldfrapp's album 'Tales of Us'
And I'd choose the opening track 'Jo':
One of the best guitar riffs, from Randy Rhoads.
This was Ozzy Osbourne's first solo single.
The lyrics deal with the subject of the Cold War and the fear of annihilation that existed during that periodWhat are your favourite guitar riffs?
Tell me below and I'll do a separate post in the future...
If you are after images of invasive species, the SISI Flickr page has plenty for you to use.
They cover a few plant species, and also some work to control mink and other animals as well.
It is likely that the impact of invasive species on a range of environments will form part of the investigative work of the new specification as it is an example of where humans and nature overlap.
Invasive species can often cause problems for ecosystems, competing with local species or even damaging properties in the case of Japanese knotweed or out competing the natural residents e.g. red squirrels.
Here's perhaps one of the most famous pieces of music about invasive species.
A classic from early Genesis, with Peter Gabriel on vocals.
