December 2025
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“Going to see the lights.” Not to see the ceremonial switching-on of Glasgow’s Christmas illuminations, but just to witness the multicoloured glare of George Square; we were easily astounded in the monochrome 1960s. But for my parents, survivors of a blacked-out wartime childhood, the profligate use of electricity to turn Scotland’s winter darkness into a…
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Last Beatcroft before Christmas, and from Glasgow I wish everyone a happy and satisfying Christmas, especially when it comes to sustenance. Moderation in all things other than turkey. This song was inspired by a recent photograph of one of Shetland’s weel-kent politicians. Like many on the celebrity circuit, this individual appears to have lost a…
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This is one of the essays I wrote to accompany Stewart Cunningham’s pictures in our wee book Big Rhythm: 1980s pop snapshots from Scotland. Too late to get a copy I think now before Christmas, though I have one or two with me on the south side of Glasgow and I think Stewart has a…
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On the 18th of April 1975, I was part of the reverent mass of mostly males in the Apollo, Glasgow. Steve Howe played The Clap. Jon Anderson sang in that twee angelic monotone. I really didn’t understand the complications of the near-songless music, possessing none of Yes’s albums. But the band were huge, somehow I’d…
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Signed copies available now for £9.99 plus postage ONLY from https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/TheBeatcroftShop Big Rhythm was going to be called Caught Up In This Big Rhythm, but as that’s a line from a Blue Nile song, Tinsel Town In the Rain, legal discretion was the better part of copyright valour. Now, as you’ll realise, there’s no connection…
