Top 5 Disabled Musicians

The last few weeks have seen me pretty much glued to the telly as first the Olympics and then the Paralympics captivated most of the nation. The Paralympics in particular were, in my opinion, a far greater success than I could have imagined. I consider myself to be open minded and unencumbered by prejudice but having seen the Paralympics match the Olympics as a sporting event I think my attitudes to disabled people have been changed. I hope this have a long lasting affect on the nation as a whole, it really was an incredible summer.

Watching the Paralympic closing ceremony new Twitter friend UrsulaWJ posed the question "how come there aren't any disabled music megastars?". I came up with a few suggestions but not many from the last 20 years, and even fewer that might be considered megastars (perhaps Ray Charles & Stevie Wonder). A decent topic for a top five then ...

1. Ian Dury - Contracted polio at the age of seven but went on to become one of the great British lyricists. Released his first album as part of Kilburn & The High Roads in 1974, but went on to greater success in the late seventies with his debut solo LP "New Boots and Panties" and then alongside The Blockheads.

I remember being captivated by Ian's appearance on Top Of The Pops to play "Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick" in '78.

2. Ray Charles - Ray Charles never knew exactly why he went blind, but he remembered starting to lose his sight around 5, a few months after his younger brother had drowned. His mother sent him to a public school for the blind at 7 where he began to develop his musical talent.

His career spanned almost 60 years and reflected influences that included jazz, blues, rhythm and blues, gospel and country but his greatest song (and possibly one of my all time favourites) is the epic, piano led shuffle of "What'd I Say".

3. Django Reinhardt - Reinhardt was 18 when he was injured in a fire that left his right leg paralysed and the third and fourth fingers of his left hand badly burned. Doctors believed that he would never play guitar again and intended to amputate one of his legs but Reinhardt refused surgery and was able to walk within a year with the aid of a cane.

I honestly know nothing about great guitar playing, and even less about great Jazz guitar playing, but Reinhardt does have an amazing sound that seems all the more incredible when you realise his lack of fingers.

4. Vic Chesnutt - Left partially paralyzed by a car accident at 18, Vic Chestnutt was effectively quadriplegic from the neck down. Unable to walk he found that he was able to play simple chords on guitar. He released around 15 albums from his debut in 1990 but didn't really obtain widespread exposure until a 1996 record, in aid of musicians requiring health care, saw bands like REM, Garbage and Sparklehorse covering Vic's songs.

Sadly in December 2009, Chesnutt died from an overdose of muscle relaxants. In a interview on NPR radio in the US earlier that month he had discussed "Flirted with You All My Life", a song about suicide, and suggested it was a song about "breaking up with death" and that he was no longer in that frame of mind.

5. Rick Allen - When the Def Leppard drummer lost his left arm in a street-racing accident shortly after the release of their multi-million selling album "Pyromania" it seemed like he'd never be involved with music again. He worked with electronic drum manufacturer Simmons to create a new drum kit that enabled him to play parts with his feet and within two years of his accident was back playing live drums with Leppard at the 1986 "Monsters of Rock" festival.

The Leppard were from Sheffield but had a very American friendly sound that paid dividends for their global album sales. The first album they released after Rick's return sold twice as many as the previous one. I saw them live twice, both after the accident, and they were as good as any of the "hair metal" bands I was into at the time. Rick probably makes this top five less for the music he helped create and more for the inspiration he has provided in overcoming a seemingly insurmountable barrier to doing what he loved.

.

Guest Top 5 Death Discs by Tony The Gig Guy

I stumbled across Tony via the magic of Twitter. I can't remember now how, no-one else I know was following him so I think I was just randomly searching for something and noticed his twitter handle @TonyTheGigGuy. He had just written a post about seeing the Wurzles live and clearly shared my love of live music. Couldn't hurt then to ask if he fancied doing a top five. Not only did Tony oblige but he turned in a real corker. This is the sort of top five I'd love to be able to write. If you enjoy the top five you should definitely check out his blog at TonyTheGigGuy.com, he's just written a cracking post about growing up in London in th 70s and Public Image Limited.

Death Discs were huge in the early 60s. Aimed squarely at teenage girls, they generally dealt with the same theme. Boy meets girl. Boy falls in love with girl. Girl is horrid to boy. Boy takes stupid risk, usually based in car or on motorcycle. Boy dies in girl's arms. The finest example of this type of death disc leads the way in the countdown below, but there were plenty of variations on the theme later in pop music history.

5. “Leader Of the Pack” – The Shangri-Las
The most famous death disc of them all. From the spoken “Is she really going out with him?” over the mournful piano to the yearning outro “... now he’s gone” this tale of a lost love is pop perfection. Girls, motorcycles, death – it has the lot.



4. “Stan” – Eminem
Passing over the unfortunate consequences this record had in propelling the anodyne Dido (the ‘l’ is silent) into superstardom, just cast your mind back to when you first heard this record. It was widely anticipated as “that Eminem’s new single”, we were all used to the jokey brattish delivery and cusswords. So this slow, emotional tale of a super-fan who took it too far – told, in a genius twist, from the obsessee’s POV – absolutely stunned everybody. I may not remember where I was when I heard John Lennon was shot, but I do remember where I was when I heard “Stan” for the first time *.



3. "Emma" – Hot Chocolate
They’re mostly known for the classic party anthem “You Sexy Thing” which does SO contain contain the line “I believe in knockers”, and I’ll punch the man who says otherwise. But in the early days, Hot Chocolate specialised in sleazy, funky, psychedelic pop songs about Serious Stuff like race relations (“Brother Louie”) and .. well, teenage suicide (“Emma”). If you don’t at least fill up at the suicide note line “Darling I love you – but I just can’t go on living on broken dreams no more” then sir, or madam, you have no soul. None.



2. “Mary C Brown And The Hollywood Sign” – Dory Previn
Dory Previn died earlier this year. She was a constant presence in the back of my head since I discovered her records in West Norwood record library. This song is quintessential Previn – a jaunty little West Coast sounding tune with a sad, disturbing story with a horribly black comical punchline (“the second or third letter ‘O’ “, indeed!).



1. “Excerpt From A Teenage Opera” by Keith West
An insane piece of bubblegum from 1967 with its insanely jolly chorus which distracts your attention from the fact that its actually about a food delivery man who dies of a heart attack through overwork. Probably a fable for our times or something.



* I was driving along a road in Surrey. It isn’t interesting, but it IS true.

Top 5 Songs with Moon in the title - In tribute to Neil Armstrong

Neil Alden Armstrong, the first man on the Moon, passed away last Saturday and I really could not let his death go without marking the occasion. I was 1 year and 2 weeks old when Apollo 11 landed and Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Micheal Collins made history. I don't remember a thing about it but I know it made a huge impression on me as I grew up.

A huge hat tip to JHO at Station to Station who produced a top ten which you can check out here. Apologies for shamelessly stealing your idea!

1. Nick Drake "Pink Moon" - It took me a while to really "get" Nick Drake but once I did I feel in love with his music. The Pink Moon album is probably my favourite and this is a wonderful tune.



2. Television "Marquee Moon" - Television perhaps didn't achieve as much as they could have done but this is the high point of their career. The best track from their brilliant debut LP.



3. Neko Case "I Wish I Was The Moon Tonight" - Neko Case has a truly stunning voice that could make any song sound great. This is a delicate and beautiful tune from the album "Blacklisted".



4. Creedence Clearwater Revival "Bad Moon Rising" - Regular readers will know I've been trying to progress my (very basic) guitar skills by learning how to play this very song. I've not got very far since I last reported but that hasn't diminished my appreciation of this southern rocker.



5. Genesis "Dancing with the Moonlit Knight" - Opening track from "Selling England By The Pound" when Genesis where still good and Peter Gabriel was still on vocals. It's 8 minutes long and still only the 4th longest song on the album.



.

Guest Top 5 Bands that SHOULD only have ever made one album by Alun Westoll

The second part of Alun's top five double header, if you want to know anything about him read last weeks post. Over to Al.

It took Depeche Mode 7 attempts before they finally aced it with ‘Violator’. Even the legendary Beatles took 5 tries before Revolver (although every album after that was AWESOME!) On the other hand, here’s my Top 5 list of bands that nailed it at on first go and then probably should have stopped while they were ahead!

1. Stereophonics "Word Gets Around"

The Welsh indie/rock band released their first album in 1997, containing the single ‘Traffic’, one of my all time fav records. The Stereophonics have since gone on to become one of the UK’s biggest acts and although all the following 6 albums were good, none have been as good as the first. The bands original drummer recently died, apparently after finally realising that his curly perm had ceased to be fashionable around 30 years ago!

2. Crowded House "Crowded House"

Although many believe ‘Woodface’ to be Crowded House’s defining moment, for me it will always be their self titled debut, released in 1986. The Aussie/NZ band split in 1996 after the death of their drummer (what is it about drummers – just like bass players in Spinal Tap!) but then my initial excitement at the news of them reforming in 2007 soon evaporated after hearing the next two albums. The original line up of Crowded House was quite possibly the best live band I have ever seen! Amazing tunes, great musicians and plenty of witty banter between songs. Fantastic.

3. Goldfrapp "Felt Mountain"

Alison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory are an electro pop duo from London who formed the band Goldfrapp in 1999 and released their brilliant Mercury Prize short-listed debut album, Felt Mountain, in 2000. Having loved the haunting ambient sounds I found it a bit of a shame when the band decided to reinvent themselves on subsequent albums, going on to release the dance album, the glam rock album, the folky album, etc, etc. I’m still hoping for another one like the first! Unlike many electronic acts, Goldfrapp are a fantastic live band, with Alison Goldfrapp a sight to be seen (& heard), singing away whist simultaneously simulating masturbation with a Theremin! You don’t see that every day!

4. Oasis "Definitely Maybe"

Yes, the next album was great too but it never got better than their debut, Definitely Maybe, released in 1994. Another album I played to death around the time. As we all know, seven albums later, in 2009 Oasis inevitably imploded with Liam then going on form the truly bloody awful Beady Eye whilst Noel proved he was the talent with the release of Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds.

5. Zero 7 "Simple Things"

Zero 7 released their first album, Simple Things, in 2001, which went on to win the coveted Mercury Music prize. The British duo of Henry Binns and Sam Hardaker were joined on the album by numerous guest vocalists, by far the best for me being the brilliant husky voiced Aussie Sia Furler. Her contributions to the record being the highlight of one of my all time favourite albums. The ambient, down tempo, trip hop band have since gone on to release 3 more albums but none reaching the heady heights of their debut, although Sia Furler’s 2004 solo album ‘Colour the Small One’ comes very close.

Two top fives & only 1 tiny mention of the Phantoms! www.thephantoms.biz Rock on!

Guest Top 5 Bands that only ever made one album by Alun Westoll

Hot on the heals of the Phantoms' singer Mark here's the first of two back to back top fives from drummer, vocalist and band driving force, Alun Westoll. Al is a huge Beatles fan and recently got the thrill of playing alongside the resident band at The Cavern Club. He's also a serial video taker and has caught me in drunk dance mode on more than one occasion.

Disclaimer: Apologies if the following is slightly more mainstream than usual. I’m aware that regular readers of Chops Top Fives will be used to a slightly more obscure musical view of the world!

Here’s my top 5 bands that only ever made one great album before either tragically splitting up or fading away into insignificance!

1. Longview "Mercury"

London based indie band formed in 2002 released the brilliant ‘Mercury’ in 2003 & have not been heard of since. I was lucky enough to see them supporting Elbow at the Cambridge Junction on 28th Sept 03 (with fellow Phantom Jon) which turned out to be one of my Top 5 gigs ever! Looking at the Longview website the band are still in existence so there’s still hope for a follow up yet. Not to be confused with the other Longview who are apparently an American Bluegrass Supergroup! Unfortunate.

2. The Seahorses "Do It Yourself"

The Seahorses were an English rock band formed in 1996 by guitarist John Squire after his exit from The Stone Roses. They released only the one great album, ‘Do It Yourself’ in 1997, and then split up due to ‘musical differences’ during recording sessions for the follow up in Jan 99. Shame!

3. Airhead "Boing!!"

In the words of Wikipedia, Airhead (formerly Jefferson Airhead) were a British indie pop band that achieved some success in the early 1990s, at the tail end of the Madchester music movement. Formed in 1991, released their first & last album in 92, split up in 93! This album was on constant play for me in the early nineties and still sounds great today.

4. Air Traffic "Fractured Life"

Air Traffic are (or should that be were?) a British alternative rock band from Bournemouth. Formed in 2003, they released their one & only album ‘Fractured Life’ in 2007, the same year being nominated for the Xfm New Music Award. In 2010 it was announced on the band's official website that they were ‘taking a break from being a band for a while to try other things’ & haven’t been heard of since. I saw Air Traffic play at ULU on 2nd July 07 with mates Stevie & Shrek & fondly recall Shrek refusing to go to the bar on behalf of an underage girl stating that ‘if my little sister were at a gig an’ sum big twat bought ‘er a drink I’d be reet pissed off!!’

5. Jellyfish "Bellybutton"

This is slightly cheating as Jellyfish released two albums before their demise but they were so good they had to get a mention in my Top 5! Plus I was struggling to think of another top band who have only ever made the one album. Jellyfish were a pop band from San Francisco, formed in 1989 & split up only 5 years later (due to ‘creative differences’), in-between releasing 2 albums, Bellybutton in 1990 & Spilt Milk in 1993. I was lucky enough to see them play at the Astoria in London sometime in 1993. Great tunes, amazing harmony & sound a bit like the Beatles. Loved it while it lasted!

.

Top 5 Animal Hybrids

I'm a big fan of the BBC teatime quiz show Pointless, not least because it is co-hosted by a Fulham fan Richard Osman. Recently they had a fine round in which contestants had to identify what two animals had combined to produce hybird offspring based on the name of that offspring. Frankly I had no idea there were so many animal hybrids in existence. Seems rude not to do a top five then.

1. Liger - Possibly the most obvious hybrid but for good reason. A Liger is a cross between a male lion and a tigress and, despite any reservations over why they may be bred, looks absolutely fabulous. The largest feline in existence, a male Liger has the shaggy mane of a Lion with the body stripes of a Tiger. You can surely not get a better big cat than that!

2. Zedonk - The offspring of a Zebra and a Donkey which, like the Liger, produces what appears to be a Donkey with funky stripes. Clearly I'm a fan of stripes on animals.

3. Grolar Bear - The result of a Polar Bear and a Grizzly Bear getting jiggy with it. They're very rare and usually come from captive animals but there have been reports of wild Grolars being identified in the Canadian Arctic.

4. Beefalo - Not, as may first appear, the offsping of a Bee and a Buffalo (Hat-tip to Mr Osman) but slightly less excitingly the fertile hybrid of domestic cattle and American bison. Actually it's a bit dull but I couldn't resist the Bee joke.

5. Killer Bee - The explanation straight out of Wikipedia is as follows;
"Africanized honey bees, known colloquially as "killer bees," are hybrid varieties of the Western honey bee species, produced originally by cross-breeding the African honey bee with various European honey bees. The hybrid bees are far more aggressive than any of the various European subspecies. Small swarms of Africanized bees are capable of taking over European honey bee hives by invading the hive and establishing their own queen after killing the European queen."
Yeah, whatever - KILLER BEES!!!!!!!

.

Guest Top 5 Science Fiction Films by Mark Gibson

I've been bugging my friend Mark to do a top five for ages and he finally caved in to the pressure and provided me this gem. It's a topic I've considered doing myself and may still come back to at some point, though I suspect my own version would not be massively different from Mark's own choices. Mark is lead singer with Feltham's premiere covers band The Phantoms and has been a long suffering Fulham season ticket holder with me for the best part of 15 years.

I have been meaning to write David some Top 5s for months now and have finally gotten round to it! My first Top 5 is Science Fiction Films. These are not necessarily the most stylish or ground breaking Sci-Fi movies of all time but they have a certain affection with me and have been included in this Top 5 because of that.

1. Star Wars – A New Hope (1977) Dir: George Lucas
It had to be, this film had a massive impact on me when I was 7 years old , I still remember how amazed I was. Unfortunately I have fallen out of love with the film over the years as it has been re-mastered and CGI versions have been released which have ruined the initial feel of the film , but I’m sure George Lucas knows what he is doing! Note: I have not included any of the other two classic movies in my list, and certainly not I-III!

2. Flash Gordon (1980) Dir: Mike Hodges
This is in at number 2 mainly for the sound track, which I love, I owned the 7inch theme tune (The B-side was Football Fight which is an amazing song especially in context with the film) . This film is also great because it’s a bit of a who’s who of British Actors. And I remember my Mum taking me to this one and she actually enjoyed it for the music too.

3. Battlestar Galatica (1978) Dir: Richard A. Colla
Now been remade into another popular TV series, but this was the Original movie made by Glen A Larson. I think this film was botched together from the TV series and released. Not much more to say about this except I think it was the fist time I went to the cinema on my own, with friends. We ended up hiding behind the seats and watching the film again, of all the films here I doubt I would take the trouble to watch it again.

4. E.T. (1982) Dir: Steven Spielberg
Went to see this with my mates from school, must have been about 15 or 16 and I had to hold back from crying at the end when E.T. got home, it was the plant pot bit that did it, still have a little tear in my eye even now, and I know it's only a lump of rubber!

5. Logan's Run (1976) Dir: Michael Anderson
This just beat Mad Max 2 (I saw Mad Max for the first time on Pirate video back in the 80’s) into 5th place. The reason Jenny Agutter.

.

Top 5 Ernest Borgnine Films

Ah crap. Just as I thought I'd sorted out the next few weeks top fives someone I really liked goes and dies and I feel I need to mark this appropriately. Ernest Borgnine was 95 and had a long and productive live but I still feel sad at his passing. He was a staple component of all the best films I saw growing up and seemed indestructible. Born in Connecticut to Italian parents he joined the Navy at 18 and served for ten years. Leaving the service and the end of World War II and keen to avoid factory employment, he landed his first stage role in 1947 and got his break in films, playing the sadistic Sergeant "Fatso" Judson, in the 1953 version of From Here To Eternity.

In 1955 he won the Best Actor Oscar for Marty. He seemed to pretty much always play himself, he was a likeable regular bloke, even when it turned out he was the bad guy. His film and TV career spanned six decades and researching this topic made me realise how many of his films I've not seen, so apologies for any glaring omissions. Andrew Collins has written a far better tribute than I could ever manage which you can read here.

1. The Poseidon Adventure (1972) Dir: Ronald Neame - Hell upside down! The ultimate 70s disaster movie in which Borgnine plays Detective Lieutenant Mike Rogo who ultimately leads the few survivors to safety.

2. The Dirty Dozen (1967) Dir: Robert Aldrich - Playing commanding officer Major General Worden who eventually gives permission for the "Dirty Dozen" to go into combat. A role he reprised for two less successful sequels.

3. Ice Station Zebra (1968) Dir: John Sturges - A film that led me into an obsession with Alistair MacClean novels and Scottish nuclear submarine bases (on a family holiday to Inverness we made a detour to see Loch Long which is mentioned in the book and attempted to get a tour round the Naval Base at Faslane entirely due to my infatuation with the film). Borgnine plays the seemingly amiable Russian defector Boris Vaslov.

4. Escape from New York (1981) Dir: John Carpenter - A cult classic in which the island of Manhattan has been converted into a maximum security prison. Kurt Russell as "Snake" Plissken is given 24 hours to rescue the President who has been taken hostage after his plane crashes onto the island. Borgnine plays Cabbie one of the inmates who becomes Snake's ally and dies in the final dramatic escape over 69th Street Bridge.

5. The Wild Bunch (1969) Dir: Sam Peckinpah - "If they move, kill 'em!" Borgnine is Dutch Engstrom one of an aging gang of outlaws in the dying embers of the American wild west.

I was determined to try and shoehorn in a mention of Disney's post Star Wars turkey "The Black Hole" (Dir: Gary Nelson - 1979) a film I loved mainly due to the little flying robots who prove to be the heroes. Ernest played journalist Harry Booth who, if memory serves, eventually realises what's going on but dies an unfortunate death. It's a film I'll always love cannot honestly claim it's better than any of the five that made the list.

Guest Top 5 70s Choppers (Chop Will Eat Itself) by Dan Whaley

It's been a while since I last published a guest top five so what better way to kick of a run of new ones that with the return of my very first guest contributer Dan Whaley. Dan is a multi-instrumentalist who has played in a myriad of bands, including The Charles Napiers, The McDeath Trio and most recently The DC3. He previously provided this gem about his top five dutch artists and responded to my persistent badgering with a topic that could not be more appropriate and which I'm at a loss to explain why I'd never considered doing myself.

1) The Raleigh Chopper

For anyone who was a kiddy growing up in the 70s, this was the bike to aspire to. This despite the fact that it was a hog to ride – heavy as you like, with a very real risk of impaling your knackers on the low down gear lever, especially if you were giving a mate a “backie”. About 10 years ago Raleigh launched a new “safer” version, which like pretty much all remakes (e.g. BMW’s Mini, Stallone’s Get Carter, etc) was a bag of shite compared to the original.

2) Ron “Chopper” Harris

The reason why anyone with the surname Harris is called Chopper. Back when I gave a monkey’s about football, Chelsea was the team I supported. For me, he summons up a time when football was about genuine blokes playing proper sport, not the dog and pony show it has descended into today. But maybe I’m just an old git.

3) Bell Jet Ranger Helicopter

It seems that this make and model of chopper featured in just about every film and TV programme in the 70s. If I think of a helicopter, this is exactly the model that comes to mind. Not that I spend much time thinking about helicopters, mind...

4) Ron Jeremy

As 70s grumbleflick actors go, he’s perhaps not as well known as John Holmes, but Ron always seemed to approach his work with more humour, gusto and enthusiasm than JH. Plus he’s still alive and still going strong. And why is he in a list of 70s choppers? Because a) he wields a not unimpressive 9¾ inch long hog’s leg and b), his party trick involves rolling himself up into a ball and giving himself a 34-and-a-halfer. Chop will indeed eat itself...

5) The Guillotine

Last used in France as late as the 1977, unbelievably. The final victim of the guillotine was a chap by the name of Hamida Djandoubi. Actually, he sounded like an absolute bounder, so probably deserved it.

Top 5 versions of The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy

Well, it's been a while but you know how it is. The glorious summer. The exciting football tournament. The massive Fulham article that you just didn't get round to writing until it was a week overdue. I'll try and get back on track with regular updates, you'll no doubt be excited to hear I have a stack of guest top fives to publish so you won't need to wade through too much of my waffle.

This week I had the thrill of going to see a Live performance of The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy Radio Shows at the New Victoria Theatre in Woking. Hitchhiker's had as big an impact on my teenage years as Star Wars, the combination of humour and social commentary striking a chord at an impressionable time.

1. The Books (1979-92) - The second version of Hitchhiker's I obtained having enjoyed the TV series and being desperate to find out more. The original book remains one of my favourite books of all time and for a while I re-read it every year. "The Restaurant At The End Of The Universe" is not so much a sequel as the second half of the same story (elements from both made it into the TV show) and was just as hilarious as the first. My A-level English teacher almost had kittens when I included them in my list of "favourite" novels. Not suitable material for literary consideration she explained. I still think she was wrong, whilst they may not be the most challenging read, hardly a word is wasted that does not in some way lead to smartly observed humour. I found them hilarious and, most important of all, they made me want to read more often. Douglas Adams eventually produced five books in the "trilogy" and became the first author I'd purchase the day any new material came out.

2. The TV Show (1981) - My introduction to Hitchhiker's was thanks to the BBC television adaption of the Radio Show. A mere six half-hour episodes were made but these visual treats seemed light years away from anything else I'd ever seen. In particular the apparently computer generated sequences of section from the Guide itself provided a brilliant way to pull the story together and were actually pain-stakingly produced by hand using traditional cell animation techniques.

3. The Radio Series (1978-79) - The Radio Shows were the original format of the story enabled Adams' to really go to town with the story and of course set him up for years of production hell trying to get a film version off the ground. Many of the cast from the radio show went on to appear in the TV Series as well. Simon Jones as Arthur Dent, Mark Wing-Davey as Zaphod, Stephen Moore as the voice of Marvin and most distinctive of all, the wonderful Peter Jones as the voice of The Guide. Though this is really where Hitchhiker's began, I did not get hold of the recordings until several years later. At first hearing Ford Prefect & Trillian voiced by different actors to the ones I knew from TV seemed odd, but both Geoffrey McGiven & Susan Sheridan were well chosen for the parts and soon won me over.

4. The Live Show (2012) - It's over 10 years since Douglas passed away but his Hitchhiker's legacy lives on. In 2009 Eoin Colfer wrote "And Another Thing… " a very passable sixth installment of the novels and from 2003 to 2004 Dirk Maggs produced further radio adaptions of Adams' later books. It was Dirk Maggs who then came up with the idea to take the original radio cast on the road with a live tour which provided me the opportunity to laugh uncontrollably at jokes I'd heard a billion times before. It was a real pleasure to see Simon Jones, Mark Wing-Davey, Geoffrey McGivern and Susan Sheridan reunited and clearly enjoying the opportunity to perform the show in a live environment. They still have shows to play and I recommend anyone who enjoyed Hitchhiker's in any of it's formats to go and see them.

5. The Audio Books (1981) - Narrated by Stephen Moore who was a founder member of the radio series cast. Best known as Marvin the paranoid android (not only on radio but on TV and the Live show) but also the provider of voices for many other parts including the Whale that appears suddenly several miles above the planet of Magrethea, and comes to an unfortunate, but unavoidable, ending. Stephen recorded audio versions of the first four books for EMI in the early 80s. Whilst these don't have the variety and interchange of the radio shows there is something magical about Stephen's voice that I have never forgotten.

A quick postscript to mention the Film version that did eventually get made in 2005. Had I not recently seen the Live show this could happily have made my top five, it's very different from the TV version of course, but then one of the joys of the alternative versions of Hitchhiker's is that they don't always follow the exact same script and in many cases completely contradict each other.