How I learned to listen to King Crimson

A huge compression of grinding guitar riffs and stupefying bass, only upstaged on occasion by drumming that reminds me of the time my pet frog was squashed by seven falling refrigerators. Paul Ferguson, Amazon Review of Thrak by King Crimson, February 2003  I hope Paul’s frog survived. In case you are wondering whether Paul liked the album, …

My Father, John Charles Holmes 1933 – 1994

John Charles Holmes 1933 - 2024

The festival of Christmas was central to my relationship with my Father who died thirty years ago, in April 1994. Every year, I used to listen to the Nine Lessons and Carols with him on Christmas Eve on BBC Radio 4. A week or so earlier, he would conduct his local church choir at St Werburgh's in …