Family Video Archive… Annice – Voice of the Dales

In the mid 1980s, Yorkshire Television made a documentary about a lady called Annice Sidwells, a talented operatic singer with a beautiful and special contralto voice. Annice lived in Settle, North Yorkshire, but the documentary was based around the unlikely story of how a singer from a small-town amateur operatic society made it big in the early days of wireless radio, travelling down to London to perform live on national radio. The romantic angle was added to the story when her boyfriend of the time came to take her home, away from the smog, back to Settle, and marry her.

The man was Matt Haygarth, my grandfather, who died at the age of 50 and I never met. Annice, my grandmother was a wonderful and special lady with an unrivalled joy for life, and I feel very lucky to have this film about her life!

Other-worldly music animation

Quite the most delightful bit of animation that I think I’ve seen since Pixar’s ‘Robots’ – this appeals to me on so many levels; the epitome of how alive sequenced, electronic music can be if you just use your imagination. Wonderful… ten out of ten.

The ups and downs of a 5 year old

Poor old Lily – she went to school this morning for her special Reception Class assembly – parents could attend and the whole year proudly performed their assembly themed on ‘food’. Katie and I came home feeling typically proud, as would be expected.

Later on, she came home having fallen in the playground at lunchtime looking like this.

Lily Takes on John Bonham

Lily got a toy drum kit for Christmas, which is regularly put through its paces. This video makes me smile the most though, when I showed her my John Bonham performing one of those fashionable 70s drum solos on DVD. Those of you lucky to remember me drumming will recognise the tongue sticking out, and the inevitability that new drum skins will be needed shortly.

ZZ Top interview – circa 1987

Phil, my brother, and I used to watch this video COUNTLESS times after we recorded it from the Old Grey Whistle Test… I can’t believe that it’s 20 years ago! It’s worth waiting for the footage of them on a 1980 old grey whistle test recording of ‘Cheap Sunglasses’, to understand what an amazing three piece band ZZ Top were. Fantastic. Thank the good lord for Youtube.