It’s been a bumper week for me, musically. I recorded a ‘history of Fleetwood Mac’ and have been watching. It’s a different one. Not new but different to the previous 10 ‘histories of Fleetwood Mac’ I’ve watched. This one going right back to the Peter Green days of ‘Albatross’ and ‘oh well’. Following the tragic death of Christine McVie the other week, tv goes into ‘obit-mode’ and that’s just fine with me. Any old footage of Stevie Nicks is good footage. And the music is just as good today when sober and drug-free as it was in 1979 when none of that applied. In-juuurring, innit.

But in last Sundays paper was a feature about another favourite. In fact, the only musical favourite I have born this side of 1979. Taylor Swift. And I love her too. Not in ‘that way’… ok, a bit in ‘that way’ because, if I wasn’t such a post-me-too, super-woke, non-objectifying egalitarian icon!, I’d be prepared to woolf whistle.

Yet its not about that. It’s about the music and more, it’s about the woman.

The songs pretty much speak for themselves. And every 66 year-old British man with grandchildren can easily relate and empathise with how difficult it is to grow up as a teen girl in Mississippi. The boys, the clothes, the angst, it all resonates. Period pains in the shadow of burning crosses whilst dressed full cheerleader mode; we’ve all been there.

But those lyrics are simply brilliant. And she writes them all. That, however, is the easy bit. The hard part is keeping control of your songs, your music, your life, when you’re a one-person industry and everyone wants a piece of you. A big piece. Yet little Taylor not only fights the musical giants (Sony, Spotify, Alexa) on her own behalf, she insists on better deals for those less fortunate, who don’t get 4 million downloads a week. The strugglers, the unknowns, the grass roots of the music biz. And she wins. Then she engages her fans. Previews new songs and albums to them, privately, meets them, has them over for girly nights (we’re all girls, Taylor’s fans, its just a matter of how you identify) and actually listens to them. Which keeps her ‘in touch’ and off the pedestals that other ‘grounded’ stars seem to hoist themselves onto.

Ok, and she’s a total babe.

I think I’m ready for some more football in my life now. It’s been almost a week and its taking its toll.

Happy Thursday

A xxxx