Don Woods

.The song I have sent you this week is the original demo for a song I wrote for Penny Page and Googi the Liverpool Duck….I wrote several songs for her all of which she recorded…this one was a B side. You will appreciate it’s Liverpool appeal….it’s called “I’d Like To Be a Cowboy”…the words were changed to suit Googi…ie “Cowgirl”…but this demo is what they worked from on the record…..don’t say I don’t send you unique stuff. Now then…The Eurovision….I really don’t know why we bother….it wouldn’t matter what song we entered we would still be bottom of the pile. Can’t we see that other countries simply don’t like us?…what is annoying is we put in a lot of money (wonder where it comes from) hence our direct line into the final…the song wasn’t that bad…certainly 10 times better than 90% of the others…even better than the winner in my opinion….pure politics…..the bookies were offering 80 to 1 on us winning…I thought it might be worth a quid….it wasn’t. The only answer is to let them get on with it….then the resul

The song I’ve sent you this week is a demo from way back with an interesting tale….I originally wrote it for Cannon and Ball who I understood liked it but I didn’t like hanging about in those days waiting for people to make their minds up…so I dropped a cassette of the song off at one of our local theatres where The Krankies were performing….soon after I got a nice letter from them saying they would like to put the song in their act….so there I was watching the Royal Command on the Palladium and on they come and sing the song….they also did it on several TV shows….about 10 years later I was on the same show as them and made myself known and we became good friends and I have been writing songs for their pantomimes ever since….never heard from Cannon and Ball….I think they recorded “Wind Beneath My Wings” instead,,,which got nowhere…shame. .There are moves afoot to teach young learner drivers how to drive properly….as there have been so many accidents with newly qualified drivers……this has to be a good thing b

We are rehearsing for the upcoming show with James Burton….his son isn’t well by all accounts but hopefully he’ll be O.K. by July….the song this week isn’t one of mine (sadly) but it’s part of the live concert I did with James a few years back…it’s one of Ricky Nelson’s classics….listening to it brought back a lot of memories. I watched the VE Day Concert last weekend and was blown away….I thought it was sensational…the orchestra were top of the range as were most of the artists…the sound man should be knighted…it was brilliant and very moving….I felt the rendition of “You’ll never walk alone” at the end by Alfie Boe and Katherine Jenkins was a bit misplaced….the song was written in 1945 when the war was over…but maybe Alfie is promoting his latest CD?...apart from this I thought the show was outstanding. Then we have the mindless morons who always appear from under the nearest stone with the slightest excuse to have a stupid demonstration over the election result…part of which was to daub graffiti on the

The song I have sent you this week answers a simple question…”Who discovered America?”….you’re thinking Columbus…WRONG!!..it was Prince Madoc in 1170…300 years before Columbus….this song sung by my mate Paul Damian tells the story….after depressing you last week with Beddgelert this should give you a lift…the song is off the same album I composed and produced for Paul…I love this song…and there is no-one in the world could sing it better….the album is available from my website….www.donwoods.co.uk 2.Did you know that William and Kate have had a baby girl?...if you didn’t know you must have been asleep for the last week….sadly the only break from this on the news was the election run up…talk about no news….SURELY there must be something else going on in the world….suddenly all these “royal correspondents” come out of the woodwork grovelling away saying how wonderful it all is….oh we are so lucky to have such a royal family who care so much about their subjects….I don’t think. 3.It’s finally over and D

The song I have sent you this week is one I wrote for the Welsh album I composed for Paul Damian and tells the legend of Beddgelert. I’m sending this one because we have just spent a few days walking in the heart of Snowdonia and it doesn’t get any better….we also visited a Slate Museum in Llanberis which was incredible…it is built on the site of a Quarry and is mind blowing…and is FREE!!...it is a credit to the Land of Song. The news has been covering the terrible tragedy in Napal….and the journalists have been at there usual mindless interviews with families worried about there relatives caught up in it all…”how did you feel when you heard the news etc……”….how do these fools get employed?....it was good to see the response form rescue and aid workers….the power of nature brings everything into perspective….we moan about such trivial things…let’s hope everything that can be done is done. Michael Flatley is about to retire and has created a “painting”… by splashing paint on a canvas and rubbing his hands a

James Burton is due over here in July and I have been asked to do an hour spot with him…so I am doing a Ricky Nelson set as he played all those great solos on those records….it’s a real pleasure to play with a legend…(but I think he’ll get over it)….therefore the song I have sent you this week is one I wrote last year called “Tribute to Ricky Nelson”…..I’ve always been a huge fan of Ricky and of course James. The election is now reaching an even bigger boring climax….it’s a bit like watching puppets….and even Wirral has had a mention…something to do with giving us a few free goes through the Mersey Tunnel or something…I don’t now where the money they make on the two tunnels goes….there is a constant flow of traffic through all the barriers with cars paying £1.70 a throw..and wagons much more…it’s a joke…we drive though several tunnels in Wales to get to Anglesey FREE OF CHARGE. There has been a terrible sad incident in Hoylake whereby a young 16 year old girl threw herself in front of a train at a level cr

The song I’ve sent you this week was another I wrote for David Alexander…which he recorded and put on his wedding album….it is called “Let’s Keep It Simple”.It was also recorded by Julie Bright and Sue Young back in the vinyl days…..it did well…in fact I might resurrect it. The election is now taking over the evening TV with all the parties (with some exceptions) slugging it out on the podium….what a load of boring tripe!....I thought UKIP were doing well and thought I might even vote for them….then they announced they were going to allow smoking in pubs…big error…whoever came up with that idea has blown their chances… The “scientists” are at it again…proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that you can actually get paid for nothing…….an American university (where else?) has studied peoples eating habits and have come up with the devastating conclusion that what you watch on TV determines how much junk food you eat….so if you are watching an exiting action film (if there is such a thing) you eat less than if y

The song I’ve sent you this week is called “When You’re The Other Woman”” which was written for and is performed by Pauline Daniels….I This was on the B side of the first record I made when I formed my company (you have already played the A side “You’re No Good To Me If You Can’t Boogie”)…whereas the A side was aimed at radio play this one was specifically for her act.She started out as a singer and sang stuff like “Send In The Clowns”…and “Pearl’s a Singer”…so this one fitted into her act…it is what it is like to actually BE the other woman…the one who gets the blame…..I had to craft it to her voice so she could get the big note at the end….I achieved this by having a key change in the middle which went DOWN a tone…the only one to do it I think….then there’s another key change which actually brings it back to the original key…clever eh? My publisher in the seventies was called Mingard Music and it is where I befriended Angie McCartney (Paul’s stepmum) and her daughter Ruth…when they went to the States the

The song I’ve sent you this week was a demo I did to pitch at David Alexander….hence the big finish.It’s called “I Love You”….David not only recorded the song but made it the title track on the album he made to celebrate his wedding when he married Penny Page…. I didn’t think it would be long before the publicity obtained from the discovery of Richard the Third spread further afield…yes they have now found the BED that belonged to Henry the Seventh !! WOW!!....I wonder if they will parade it through the streets so everyone can throw flowers at it?...It’s only a matter of time before they find the arrow with King Harold’s eye on the end of it. The bloke who designed the cover for the Sgt.Pepper album has been commissioned to paint one of the ferry boats…….apparently he got a one off payment of £200 for the album cover…he should have settled for a penny a copy…I suppose the tourists will like the boat….if you can get away with a yellow submarine you can get away with anything. The police have uncovered a sc

..I’ve just spent a few days in Wales…hence the song “The Magic Of Wales”….this was a sort of follow up to my Llanfair PG song….again sung by Paul….I put this on a single cassette…one song on one side and one on the other…same as Llanfair.. … got some good lines in it…The grey of Blaenau’s quarries with their crumbling hills of slate”…I was well pleased with this one. The news this week has been all about the terrible plane crash in The Alps….again the stupid news presenters are making wild guesses as to what happened…without any knowledge…which again achieves NOTHING…..one of the ridiculous questions was “Do you think there could be a possibility of terrorism?”….which only serves to get all the sheep who watch the news all worked up…for goodness sake WAIT AND SEE !!....This was followed by a woman whinging and moaning about how women are regarded in the workplace…they’re not problems … the families of the passengers on that plane have PROBLEMS. Speaking of sheep I was watching in disbelief as crowds of peo

The song I’ve sent you this week is totally un PC but it was one I wrote for comedian Tom Pepper back in the day. He recorded it and got a lot of mileage out of it…he used to do a double act with Pauline Daniels and he’d sing this to her…she would sing the women’s reply.t….. ...The “scientists” have been at it again….on the national news…they have been in London Zoo finding out why penguins waddle….AND the scientists came over from America…how interesting….not.we have just had a partial solar eclipse….It was blanket news coverage….the moon passed between us and the sun….so everyone is out buying the special overpriced sunglasses and getting really exited … SO WHAT !!... I watched Comic Relief last week and found little to deserve the description on “comic”….I often wonder what happened to comedy…Jasper Carrot is making a comeback with his mate Bev Bevan (ELO’s drummer) … ...Television has reached an all time low in this country….there are nights when there is absolutely nothing worth watching….unless y

As I am now big in Kazakhstan this weeks song has to be my minor classic…….a copy to Lady Di…and more recently to Wills and Kate got me a couple of nice replies from the Palace…it got a play on Radio 1 and the World Service……and now it has recently been featured in a concert in the new opera house in Astana in Kazakhstan … .Still on a musical note….I have been watching “The Voice” and have been somewhat disappointed..males and females sing in different keys (hence you will generally get a subtle key change in male and female duets….for example “Islands in the stream” with Kenny Rogers and Dolly)… .Birkenhead Park has been under the local spotlight…to survive it may need voluntary help as the council needs to make cuts…y’kow to help pay towards the 15 billion underground in LONDON!! The tragedy of the two helicopters colliding during a reality show overseas has been on the news…three Olympic athletes losing their lives…this is so wrong…we’ve got a new reality survival show here featuring Bear Grylls……it on

The ditty I have sent you this week is called Mersey Man and is taken from a DVD I made a while back about the River&.I filmed the Mersey from start to finish........ Last sunday I compared a show at the Floral Pavilion in New Brighton ....it featured big band music performed by The RAF Swing Wing...they had a good front man and some great female vocalists doing all the old stuff.............The news has been featuring the two men who got arrested in some foreign clime whilst plane spotting....they have been thrown in jail and as usual we only get one side of the story............... The muttering actors in TV dramas has reared it's ugly head again this week.............my beef is with the producers of programmes like Strictly Come Dancing where Mr. Ego on the desk is flitting from one angle to another...missing most of the actual dancing....IT'S THE FEET WE WANNA SEE MATE !!..........PLUS MUCH MORE!

Don's song this week is another classic….”Geriatric Scout”....He told me..."I wrote this way back for the local gang show as I recall….when I listen to this stuff I honestly don’t know where the lyrics come from…….”my ging gang goolies goin’ out of tune”…they don’t write ‘em like that anymore. The obvious shortage of news means we have been told about the three teenage girls who have left the country to join ..…and while we are at it we could all pop over to New Zealand and help them save the beached wales seeing as that was national news. The “scientists” have been at it again….too much sleep can cause a stroke … they THINK….it’s not definite but it’s possible…...and…wait for it….to prevent us having peanut allergies it is suggested we feed our 4 month old babies peanut butter….again they THINK this will help in later life…WHAT IF THEY ARE WRONG??.... To reinforce my theory that most of us have yet to evolve….people are scrambling for a one way ticket to Mars….yes they are out there….perhaps we should

Got a call from a guy who works on The One Show asking if they could use a small section of my YouTube song about Una Stubbs….as she was a guest on the show…I naturally agreed and they used a small section of the chorus when she was introduced….was somewhat hidden by the applause for her but hey nice one eh? I wrote this song many years ago and actually got a record deal from a major record company….which didn’t materialise so I recently re-recorded it and put it on YouTube and on one of my quirky albums…I also sent her a copy and she phoned me up and thanked me…a national treasure indeed… I have been watching repeats of the original Hi-De-Hi series and can’t believe how good it was…it’s hilarious….the wonderful cast and classic scripts…absolutely brilliant…unlike “Benidorm” which has totally lost it’s way…thank goodness it’s finished…a 5 year old could write a better script…and by co-incidence Ruth Madoc was in the last episode…talk about one extreme to the other…let’s hope that’s the last we see of it…to

The song I have found this week was the first record on my label back in 1980…BIG DEE RECORDS….this was BD 001….It’s called “You’re No Good To Me If You Can’t Boogie” and was sung by my good friend Pauline Daniels who went on to big things …it was on a 45 vinyl and I used a drum box alongside the actual drums….to my knowledge I was the first to do this?....happy days….watch the false break doesn’t catch you out…….it caught a few of the local DJs out at the time. 2.What have I been saying for the past two years…”There’s too much time devoted to news on the tele”….therefore most of it is padded out to fill in the 24 hours…..two half hour bulletins would do….NOW this is being discussed,,,,saying that there is not enough news to report…well well there’s a surprise. At the moment all we are getting is the NHS problems and all the illnesses 50% of us are likely to get….when you finish watching the news you feel like hanging yourself. We recently had 20 minutes on a girl who got some disease after having tattoos r

The song I have sent you this week is another from one of my local DVDs….Seasons…it is dubbed over film which matches the words…sunshine,snow..the lot.….it says it all…I write about the place I love which is why I live here…which brings me to my next point. .I watched Cilla Black and John Bishop on a chat programme in the week…I have to laugh at the way they both layer the accent on really thick and go on about how wonderful Liverpool is…says Cilla who lives in Surrey and J.B. who lives out in Cheshire….even The Beatles moved out as quick as they could and Ringo wont even talk about it. No matter what anyone says The Beatles put Liverpool on the map and the City certainly capitalises on it which seems to be the only reason people are so “proud” to apparently come from there so they can be indirectly linked to the fab four….lorra lorra laughs… I watched the Australian Open last Sunday….Andy was beaten by Novak who is the better player…full stop….WHY do we have to listen to commentators who think they are

The song this week was one that came so close...it was inspired by a TV advert where two young girls asked their uncle Stan to roll his cap across his chest then round the back of his neck...I came up with this song which Norman Thomas played every day on Radio City...I sent it to The Grumbleweeds who said they would do it if the advert went national...sadly it didn't because the despite the ad being so popular no-one knew what it was advertising...which was British Beef...close but no cigar. Katie Price has been taking some stick in the news regarding her receiving benefits from the Government to pay for taxis to take her disabled son to school...despite her being worth 45 million. In my opinion she's earned her money and pays her taxes.......I admire anyone who makes their fortune...and it's always the scroungers who seem to complain . I watched The Voice last week and to my delight one of the contestants was the singer from Black Lace...he didn't get selected but I was a big fan of the group...BUT it was

Massive world changing news this week…..”experts” have stated that they now know that more women than men believe in God…..yep we had ten minutes on this incredible information, ALSO there has been a change in the exercise situation….we don’t have to run…we can walk…and 10 minutes a day will do…so there you are…isn’t that worth the licence fee….and…wait for it….it’s TRUE... that carrots help you see in the dark….there’s something in them that improved your eyesight….Buggs Bunny will be delighted with this national news. The latest nonsense is the intention to pass a law requiring cigarettes to be sold only in plain packets….this will put people off buying them…the rotting tar covered lung on the packet apparently isn’t doing the trick. I watched some of the TV awards with the highly talented Ant and Dec getting their annual trophy. This was during a week where it was impossible to find ANYTHING worth watching….Stars In Their Eyes…or should I say The Harry Hill Show…I’ve always quite liked Harry Hill…

The song I’ve sent you this week was the first one I presented wrestler Adrian Street with (in 1980) ……this was to result in me writing and recording 22 songs for him on two L.P. s and going over to the States and doing TV etc….the songs have recently come back to haunt me- as an independent record company want to re-release the stuff on coloured vinyl… Not that I watch big Brother…it’s about as bad as television gets…but the news has featured one of the celebs being removed because he made racist comments……which left me wondering what happened to free speech?....I think a large percentage of the population need to get over themselves… Our wonderful Government has announced that more schools are required because of the increase in the young population…and it will cost…wait for it….12 billion pounds….. to put it into perspective the population of the world is 7 billion….so if there is a spare 12 billion why not give the whole world a couple of quid each?... There is such a shortage of news the BBC are bom