Benjamin Bassoon

I caught the rockumentary 'Fanny: The Right to Rock' on Sky Arts a year or so ago and being married to a Filipina (bragging) it really captured our attention. They were really good, and as well as Bowie, Joe Elliott of Def Leppard was a big fan. Jean Millington on bass was a decent player and singer (at the same time). They did a new album, Fanny Walked The Earth in 2018 (thanks Google) and were planning a tour but June Millington (guitar) had a really bad health scare and I think it was shelved. As others have said, a great early 70's vibe. They deserved greater success than they achieved.

Thanks for the heads-up Owen. I was in the market for a couple of straps and when I saw your post I was gutted as it was the early hours of today, and therefore too late. However, after seeing that they are US based, and thus some hours behind us, I realised that I could take advantage of the promo. Two x 4 inch wide dark brown straps ordered. They get great reviews so I'm excited to try them.

And then there's depreciation written off the value each year...

Exactly. Unless the seller is VAT registered, and as it's a private sale, they won't be, they are selling a second hand item for a figure greater than the new price would be. This is why it winds me up. The original purchaser should take the hit of the full amount of VAT. Hypothetically, I could say that I'm a self-employed musician, register myself for VAT, buy loads of equipment, use it for a while (or not), de-register for VAT and then sell the equipment on. I could make a tidy profit.

What winds me up is people, not necessarily on here but on alternative pre-used websites, wanting more for a pre-loved item than it costs for a brand new one as they forget the VAT is included in a retail sale. For example: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/355731951217?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160811114145%26meid%3D16ed477541de4398b1fe1a8e23c94cf8%26pid%3D100667%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D2%26sd%3D355731951217%26itm%3D355731951217%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2351460%26brand%3DIbanez&_trksid=p2351460.c100667.m2042&LH_Auction=1 This seller wants £560.00 without VAT, but for a brand new model they are £639.00 including VAT - so £532.50 without it. The same happens with cars.

Around the turn of the millennium, I was in a 70's disco themed band. We were successful weekend warriors doing 2 to 3 gigs a month and had build up a good reputation locally. We were a 7 piece outfit with one male and two female singers. The male lead singer wanted to bring his girlfriend in on backing vocals and the band just said No - so he left. We then replaced him with a far better male vocalist who took us up by several levels. He started getting us a few more gigs - but further afield. We were doing gigs alongside fully pro show bands, and putting on better shows than them. He kept telling us that we could be fully pro and eventually it came to a band vote on whether to pursue this option. I had a good, well paid job, mortgage, kids etc and although I wanted to go for it in my heart, my head (and wife) said No. The keyboard player also had to leave. It was a real shame as we were the longest serving members of the band. It had been pointed out to us at the band meeting that we would all have to have our equipment, stage clothes etc in the backs of our cars in case we got a call saying we had a gig that night in any given part of the country. The rest of the band did try but it didn't work out. The drummer who was only in his mid 20's ended up having a nervous breakdown. He would sometimes get home at 4,00 am and be expected at his day job at 6.00 am. People seem to overlook the gap between performing one, maybe two gigs a week, and getting up to five a week, regularly. You need to maintain the day job whilst building up the reputation and demand. The band broke up shortly afterwards, and I still feel a gap as no subsequent band that I've been in has given me the buzz that this one did. Looking back, not going pro was one of the best decisions that I made.

I've just booked tickets to see Judie Tzuke later in the year. I used to be a huge fan of her early stuff. I've just flicked through her latest album on Spotify, and it's a bit sh*t to be honest, so hopefully she'll focus her early material. This is why I feel that a good tribute act is better than the original, as they play the more popular songs.

Talking of Silk Sonic, they did a pretty good version of this, originally recorded by ConFunkShun.

This popped up on a YouTube feed and it's terrific. Woods Empire released just one album in 1981, Universal Love being the standout track. I think that Paul Jackson Jr. (Herbie Hancock) had the bass duties. It's a wonderful piece of funky soul music. If Silk Sonic do a second album they should cover this.

Apart from doing gigs where name musicians were also playing, I do have a couple of tenuous claims. Many years ago, when The Bill was on TV I was on a training course at a hotel in Crawley. At the same time they were filming scenes from the Bill in the same hotel. During a break in the training I popped to the toilets, and as I was going in, a couple of actors were coming out of the stalls. One was the one that went on to do The Walking Dead and the other was the more heavily built fella. Later on in my career, Vicky McClure was my point of contact at a company before she decided to go full time into acting. It was around the time between This is England 1 and 2. She had an aura about her at the time and was a lovely person to deal with. She even gave my company a signed letter of recommendation, sadly long lost. Funny thing is that I actually don't rate her as an actor. Always seems wooden to me. She should have stayed in the world of business!! I'm sure that she regrets the career move.

I became aware of him a year or so ago. He's a real talent. Very good soul / jazz music. Jazz FM was playing this one a few times.

I would have liked the Chuckle Brothers to have done a cover of Joe Cocker's You Are So Beautiful to Me (to you, to me, to you, to me, to you).

@WonkyOne his home address in Leicester is in the public domain, just read previous posts on how to find it, just in case you didn't want to wait until his next show.

Gaaahhhh!!! I have posted on the other thread about Mr Mason and his address but it still seems that people are unable to put 2 and 2 together. I don't want to type out his home address as it may be against the rules of the site - and I do not wish to compromise the moderators. However, for those wishing to track down this convicted fraudster, Mick Mason (and all of his other aliases), please follow the next two links, which do reveal his home address. https://www.companysearchesmadesimple.com/company/uk/14022329/uk-tribute-shows-ltd/#summary https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/local-news/single-mum-pensioners-ingoldmells-caravan-3743529 I have led the horse to water. It's up to you people who have been scammed by him, to make it drink.