I sat down and watched 2 hours of Cranford. last night. What a wonderful series. Based in what I think is a fictional town in Cheshire - my wife hails from Wilmslow and neither she nor I have heard of Cranford - it is a story of a small town and how townsfolk did the neighbourly thing back in those days to help everyone survive.
In looking up Cranford on Google Maps, I do find that there seems to be a Cranford in Hyde, Cheshire - it appears to be a small hamlet. I do wonder if this is where this story is based. The doctor in the latest episode I watched did ride a horse into Central Manchester and back in one evening in order to find the right equipment to save the local carpenter's arm.
Judi Dench is always superb and Cranford allows her to play a subtle but mischievous role. I am so glad it was a popular series for our customers through our internet site and also our catalogue at Good Music.
However, this week it has been surpassed by the new drama title in our catalogue: Lark Rise To Candleford. I guess I have to get this DVD and settle in on a cool Spring evening - Turn up the fire, it's cold this May!
It is always sad to see a report of the passing of a Hollywood giant. Gone are the days of stars like Charlton Heston, who made his mark in such epics as Ben Hur, El Cid and the comedy It Happened One Night. I love all three of these and now I am going to go back and look at some of the other films he did - like Earthquake.
When I went to license his DVD programme and his presentation of The Bible, I hadn't realised what an impact he had had with The Ten Commandments. Hence, why he had such a devout following and why our release in the UK of The Bible, with Charlton Heston as a presenter, has been one of our perennial best sellers.
His love for history and The Bible is so apparent and convincing to so many. His acting will forever leave us spellbound as well!
I hope everyone had a Happy and rewarding and family-filled Easter holiday - or, if you are not Christian, enjoyed a few days off hopefully. As my family was gathered around the table having our traditional ham and potato dinner, the question arose as to Easter Music. Whereas Christmas music has been done by each and every artist from pop music to country music and Christmas Carols abound, there does not seem to be the same repertoire of music for the Easter holiday. We wondered why this is, especially as it is a more significant holiday in the Christian year.
Easter in the early Church relied heavily on Classical Music and to this day, most Church masses do include classical music at this time of year. But, even going through how the Christian music is emanating out of Nashville, Tennessee - there are not particular songs really aimed at Easter.
Any ideas of true Easter songs, either hymns or secular tunes, would be great. We were stumped, but I am sure my readers have some ideas! Now, back to work... Ed, The Music Man
Few people know this, but the political writer and thinker William F Buckley was my first boss - I was an associate editor at his magazine, National Review. Yesterday, WFB (as we called him in the office) passed away at his home at the age of 82.
Why write about WFB here? Because he introduced me to Ella Fitzgerald and the two great albums that she recorded "The Cole Porter Songbook" Each summer, he would bring his entire staff by bus to his home and we would have a good old fashioned barbeque by the water. He had Ella on the whole party and I asked him what collection it was - and he brought me to his stereo and we talked about Ella and Sassy Sarah Vaughan. It was just a great day - great music and wonderful company. And I always put an Ella track or two on any party mix I create now! Thanks WFB!
We have put together a very special Katherine Jenkins collection for our readers and customers at www.goodmusic.co.uk - it's every single album she has ever released since becoming a true diva. From her days travelling Wales with Church Music Societies, Katherine has always loved music and performing.
With the help of Mark Wilkinson and her record company Universal Music, we have gathered together everything they have ever recorded of the Welsh beauty!
Watching Wales defeat England at Twickenham was not easy, but knowing that Katherine was probably rubbing her hands in glee made up for our loss at the hands of the brave Welsh Rugby team. Here she is performing at last year's home match between England and Wales to rapturous applause and perhaps the biggest sing-along ever witnessed at The Millenium Stadium!
This month get every single CD she has ever recorded and two of her outstanding DVDs right on our site - they'll be out in 2 weeks' time in the catalogue but you can get them starting tomorrow on our site as a preorder! Enjoy!
Dear Music and Memories,
Last night - for the first time EVER, I put in my second order to you this year, and because of your secure website, I paid for it over my computer! Both the ordering and paying were a thing have never done before because I have always been very suspicious about giving out details of my debit card, - but not to you!
I trust in you completely, and that means a lot in this day and age.
I absolutely LOVE Music and Memories and though I have delt with you for quite a few years now, you have never let me down once. Praise indeed.
Your staff on the phones are always cheerful, friendly, and of enormous help - patient even when asked to check to see if something I missed is still available. They make shopping with you an easy and enjoyable experience. Thank you all, and Happy New Year to all at Music & Memories.
Thank you once again,
Your Delighted Customer
Joanne
Well, its a month since Christmas. Only 11 months to go! But here at Good Music we look back at how we performed regularly. I enjoy receiving letters like the above. Our staff in Cornwall works diligently every day to get you your orders on time. And we hold all our product in our warehouse, unlike our competitors who rely on distributors and manufacturers to ship your order. We only put products on the web that we have inventory available. If it's unavailable, we take it off the website over night.
Our last shipping date for Christmas was 19 December with the Royal Mail First Class service. We gave the Royal Mail an extra day of grace. Of the 78,000 or so units ordered from us in the last 3 weeks prior to that day, we only missed 1.5% of deliveries. I wonder how well our competitors did?
Thanks for being our customers - we look forward to serving you in the future!
I listened this morning to BBC Radio 5 and the family of Norman Wisdom, who had to take the decision to put Norman into a nursing home. The family have taken a great deal of criticism for this decision, but this documentary that will air showing the tough decisions they had to make is a tribute to Norman and shows the tough decisions families are faced with. The Secret Life Of Norman Wisdom will air on BBC2 TV tonight.
As we all grow older, we sometimes don't realise the burden we are on our younger family members. But, then again, we have the experience and the stories that make life worth living.
What I enjoyed most is that Norman moved into the residential home and found something he loved most: an audience. Although now, apparently, Norman has declined in both mind and body, he still plays for an audience. God love a national symbol, Norman Wisdom.
Happy New Year Everyone! I do hope you all enjoyed your Christmas and New Year holiday. During that week between Christmas and New Years we close the warehouse and do a stock and inventory check. In completing that process, we find literally hundreds of lines of music CD and DVD programmes that we have skipped over in our catalogues in the past year.
Well, guess what? They are all on SALE this month! So check in every 2 to 3 days at goodmusic.co.uk to find out what else we may have found as we go through the back shelves that we rarely walk through down here in Cornwall.
Among the hundreds of items we have marked down up to 80% OFF, the famous television programme "Out Of Town" is just one and I have never offered it as low as this! Jack Hargreaves takes you on his special tours for just £7.98 per DVD volume!
Our catalogue dropped into the postal system only today, but if you visit our website now we will be sure to be in stock on everything you see - no catalogue orders or phone orders hitting down here yet. So check out our SALE DAYS right now while stocks last!
