What I want in '24

[Lord Reith]

What I would most like in '24 is for all my heroes to stop dying. Every week it seems that someone who I took for granted is no longer with us. Not just musicians but actors, writers, comedians, artists. It is profoundly upsetting. In parallel with this I see people becoming famous for... well, nothing really. I worry that by the time I leave this world, there will be nothing left but influencers and algorithms.

[MarkRJones1970]

I was thinking that the other day. Almost everyone I've admired, made me laugh or who's music I've liked since I was little, is dead now. There's only Paul and Ringo left, oh, and David Attenborough.

Arthur Lee, Syd Barrett, Rik Mayall, Kenny Everett, John, George, Paul Ruebens, Morecambe & Wise, Bruce Forsyth, Dermot Morgan, Caroline Aherne, John Candy, Tony Hart, Roy Castle, 3 quarters of The Monkees - just a small selection of people who have had a positive impact on me, all gone.

I guess that happens as you get older, then there comes a point where 99% of people who are on TV or perform music or are in films, you don't even know who they are.

Then, as long as you get to old age, it's your turn to pop off!

P.S. It's also happening with people I've known personally. I was talking about this the other day with my other half, I said, half joking, maybe it'd be good to have a collage in a frame up on the wall in the house somewhere, of photos of me taken with now dead people. I'm amassing quite a collection having had people I've personally known recently dying. The next door neighbour died just before Christmas of cancer, then a few days later my old best mate's mum died of cancer on Christmas EVE just gone(of all days!) I was always round their house around 1986-1988 and his mum and dad (who passed a few years back) were always very kind to me:(, an old mate hit his head a while back while drunk, got a head injury and died. There's Andy Remic, an author who also made retro gaming documentary's and filmed me for his last (unfinished & probably won't be) film in my garden (when he turned up at mine to film me I didn't recognise him - his cancer had slimmed him down so much!) and 2 people who made a magazine I bought when I was a teenager (called 'Crash') and then became real life friends with in 2011 (writer Roger Kean and artist Oliver Frey) both died within months of each other not that long ago, Oli with throat cancer and Roger with MND. Roger was diagnosed 1st and it was while Oli was looking after him his throat cancer was discovered. Even worse was it was Oli who went first. Luckily, I got to see Roger about 3 weeks before he passed, I didn't make it down to theirs to see Oli before his passing. It was the hardest thing to get up and LEAVE Roger that day, knowing that was going to be the last time I'd ever see him. I spent about 3 hours with him but what the MND had done to his body was heart breaking, he could barely speak or lift his head up. I still said "See you again!" though as I left. I felt so dumb but what else was I supposed to say? I just didn't know what was appropriate to say when you leave someone and you know that's the very last time you'll ever see them.

[Lord Reith]

I was thinking that the other day. Almost everyone I've admired, made me laugh or who's music I've liked since I was little, is dead now. There's only Paul and Ringo left, oh, and David Attenborough.
P.S. It's also happening with people I've known personally.

Yeah, the terrible thing is that as you get into late middle age you kind of forget that people won't be around forever. You forget to catch up with someone, and then one day boom you hear they're dead and it's too late. It's the saddest thing to watch the generation before you go because they are the ones you looked up to and depended on, whether you knew them or not. I mean, just as an example, I was really upset when Neil Innes died. I didn't know the guy personally and he wasn't mega famous or anything but to me he was the funny music guy in Python and I just liked having him in the world.

I guess this is why I enjoyed the whole Now And Then thing so much. It's a great comfort to me that Paul and Ringo are still out there making music, playing to people and just carrying on spreading a peaceful message. Okay, the music may not be that great anymore but that doesn't matter. They are living legends. And while all this is going on, you've still got these idiots carrying on as if it was 500BC, killing and maiming each other. I don't care who is right and who is wrong, I just wish the human race would grow up.

[20YearsAgo]

I can't describe what I "want" other than to say it'll be something totally out of the blue. We've been blessed these last few years with a few tapes we never thought existed. Like the EMI House tape. Or like Stowe. Who would've thunk we'd ever get to hear an hour-long Beatles show from 1963? So come on, 2024-- surprise us with another goodie or two!

[Lord Reith]

Yeah I'm up for surprises (good ones that is!)

Bournmouth 63 would be a good start.

[MarkRJones1970]

I was thinking that the other day. Almost everyone I've admired, made me laugh or who's music I've liked since I was little, is dead now. There's only Paul and Ringo left, oh, and David Attenborough.
P.S. It's also happening with people I've known personally.

I mean, just as an example, I was really upset when Neil Innes died. I didn't know the guy personally and he wasn't mega famous or anything but to me he was the funny music guy in Python and I just liked having him in the world.

Yeah, he was another that made me sad. I used to think "Well, at least the 'John' out of 'The Rutles' is still alive". Then Neil went off to the same place as Beatle John

[Lord Reith]

I was thinking that the other day. Almost everyone I've admired, made me laugh or who's music I've liked since I was little, is dead now. There's only Paul and Ringo left, oh, and David Attenborough.
P.S. It's also happening with people I've known personally.

I mean, just as an example, I was really upset when Neil Innes died. I didn't know the guy personally and he wasn't mega famous or anything but to me he was the funny music guy in Python and I just liked having him in the world.

Yeah, he was another that made me sad. I used to think "Well, at least the 'John' out of 'The Rutles' is still alive". Then Neil went off to the same place as Beatle John

Mark Lewisohn made a touching tribute to Neil in one of his podcasts. He says he still bought all of Neil's recent releases, even the ones that sold only five copies!

[Nowhere Man9091]

Y. With apologies to Meat Loaf..you took the words right out of my mouth.
It was bad enough losing our idols to drugs,plane crashes and unspeakable crimes. But now we lose them to old age. I guess we’re getting older too.

[fabwill]

Having just finished Womack's Mal Evans book yesterday, I'd also like to add the Mal and Neil early 1970s recordings that were apparently made for 'Scrapbook', an early audio version of what became Neil's Long and Winding Road and ultimately Anthology to my 2024 wish list.

If they are still in existence, they'd make excellent additions to an updated Anthology.

[IFeelFine]

For stuff that I believe actually exists, I's like Bournemouth 63, Hong Kong 64, Essen 66 soundboard and I believe there's a US 66 tour soundboard.
For stuff that almost certainly doesn't exist, but I can hope, I'd like Big Night Out July 1964 video, NME 1963, NME 1966, a full Autumn 1964 UK tour recording and a full December 1965 UK tour recording.