Dean Whitbread

27/07/2024

Midscale Neutrino gives us his truth via meanings hidden until today. Suitable for small animals.

random occasional district provocation

29/06/2024

A tale of two insects..

a tale of two insects

27/06/2024

What's that Britney song? Oops!…I Did It Again

This day heralds a new Substack joint, dear friends, and like all good buses, there is another one coming right after this one. I got dragged into my past, had to edit it for a few weeks. All done, hope you enjoy it. In the end I wrote two, the second one too big for your email. Substack, eh? Here's the first.

the first of two

12/06/2024

Bloody marvellous by the "Coulsdon Peculiars" Unio and Petitio - a well special new album called Infinity Biscuits

9 track album

05/06/2024

My friend Deek wrote about how he collaborated with the late 1980s band Habit, and how good is the new version of one of their songs, Shotgun City (see below). Have a gander.

A track from the 1988 Habit debut album 'Medicine Man'

03/06/2024

A tad dated at 16 years old, but still, it's press:

Guardian Unlimited is to become the first media outlet outside traditional radio stations to join industry body the Radio Academy. By Ben Dowell

25/05/2024

This Jacob Collier chap is really rather good. His version of Bridge Over Troubled Water featuring John Legend and Tori Kelly is astonishing. Turn it up and prepare for fabulous harmonies from outer space.

For the first time ever, John and Tori joined Jacob on stage to perform a live rendition of ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ at The Greek Theatre on May 20th, 20...

17/05/2024

Shotgun City, a co-write of mine with the band Habit in the late 1980s, as delivered TODAY by Swedish band Pleasureland. A timely comment on their own appalling gang problems. Spread the word, turn it up. There's an album to hear on YT...

Provided to YouTube by Emubands LtdShotgun City · PleasurelandShotgun City℗ 2024 GlobalmusixReleased on: 2024-05-17Producer: Jarl WestergrenComposer: Dean Fr...

13/05/2024

I've been polishing my assets, he said, wiping the sweat from his brow. Domain names in particular. Took a top tip from the top digital clever Jamie Riddell and added context.

Here's one you definitely want: unsocialmedia.com - which comes with a muse on what media is these days.

https://artfulzone.uk/unsocialmedia/

UnsocialMedia.com – a domain whose time has now come estimated value £3,197.42 Contact Us   Social media is, without a doubt, a double-edged sword. Its impact has permeated every corner of modern life, offering both remarkable benefits and serious challenges. To some, it is a vibrant digital tow...

02/05/2024

Delving through ancient web, found this:

https://web.archive.org/web/20150221060159/http://riseandshine.tv/publishing-daily-song-ltd/

and I found Ruffle, a Chrome plugin which plays Flash (remember Flash?)

Daily Song Ltd is a publishing company, set up to develop and franchise the Rise and Shine show format and generate revenue from our growing catalogue of songs and videos. We think there is a future for our engaging brand of interactive entertainment.

02/04/2024

I pulled out an old Vimeo showcase. It's old but I still like what I was doing 20 years ago. I have to remind myself that I was good at it, and when I want to be, I still am :)

https://vimeo.com/showcase/2057331

06/03/2024

Today I wrote about working with two exceptional musicians and composers, Mike Turtle and Guy Sigsworth, and how we managed to raise significant funds for Ethiopia at a time of great need by writing a song, Survival Game. At some point I will retrieve the Ambient (Bern) Version and 'drop it' like a modernist DJ. This 'Radio Version' (link below) went platinum.

https://deanfrw.substack.com/p/my-big-hit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aO3Fu2OqPmk

08/02/2024

Back in the old writing new things game again, after a month off. Good, I like months off.

https://open.substack.com/pub/deanfrw/p/hover?r=2a4pdm&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

09/01/2024

Hello 2024. I hate war, always have.

This song from 1992 came from the heart as the massacres in Bosnia and so-called 'ethnic cleansing' (a disgusting term) were emerging on TV, Sarajevo being relentlessly shelled from its surrounding hills. The evil Srebrenica massacre. Then, Gaza 2009, cruel, demonic slaughter. Turned out it wasn't enough. 2023/24, even worse.

So Stop the Arms Trade, to begin with, then Stop War. That's what we must do.

I wrote this as the massacres in Bosnia, the siege of Sarajevo played out on television screens across the so-called developed world. It sickened me at the time, as the Russian invasion of Ukraine and

01/11/2023

Celebrating International Limerick Writing Month - InLiWriMo

Why pick on November? The month when in the north the skies darken, chill winds howl, frosts harden the ground underfoot, car windscreens are wearily scraped, the days grow shorter and heating bills grow ever larger. In the teeth of this most testing time, with no break in sight for two months, Christmas is a distant island across a sea of expensive shops, disrupted travel and family psychodrama. November, let’s face it, is a challenging month.

https://deanfrw.substack.com/p/why-pick-on-november

17/10/2023

I wrote 'Tips for Speakers' in 2010, completely forgot it and just found it on web.archive.org. I republished it without changing much at all. It was fun to go through my Flickr photo archive and re-visit some of the speaking I took part in, hosted, events I helped to produce. etc. Do pass it on, it's actually useful!

https://deanfrw.substack.com/p/tips-for-speakers

06/10/2023

Angels of Ashes by Scott Walker. Still one of my all-time favourite songs. As well as his fabulous voice, his writing was superb, the lyrics poetry.

The Angels of Ashes
Will give back your passions
Again and again

Their light shafts
Will reach through the darkness
And touch you my friend

They'll fly in a mind dance
And blind you with wings
Wrapped in flame

If you're down to an echo
They just might remember
Your name

In the unbroken darkness
Where emptiness empties
Alone

There's no starting or stopping
Where there is no right or
No wrong

Well that's all right for some
Who can hang the absurd
On their wall

If your blind hands can't grope
Through these measureless waters
You'll fall

You've been following patterns
And fleeting sensations
Too long

And the fullness that fills up
The pulse of durations
Is gone

Let the great constellation
Of flickering ashes
Be heard

Let them burn with a fire
All it takes to confess
Is a word, just a word

I can recommend angels
I've watched as they've made a man strong
Oh so strong

If your humbleness shows
Then I'm sure that they'll take you
Along

You can tell them who sent you
It might help to get you
Above

You can say that he laughed
And he walked like St. Francis
With love

Provided to YouTube by Universal Music GroupAngels Of Ashes · Scott WalkerScott 4℗ 1969 Mercury Records LimitedReleased on: 2013-01-01Associated Performer, ...

30/09/2023

Still writing! Whatever next? This is about how I met and got to know a great poet, Ivor Cutler. Enjoy :)

https://deanfrw.substack.com/p/ivor-cutler

23/09/2023

I wrote about a poem I found in the churchyard opposite where I lived. Enjoy 🙂

https://deanfrw.substack.com/p/divest-of-clothes

23/08/2023

🎶Lou, Lou, skip to my Lou ♬ or how a bad relationship taught me how to skip the impossible.

https://deanfrw.substack.com/p/skip-to-my-lou

15/07/2023

An Anagram of Vole, leading us all into the delights and terrors of L.O.V.E. Have a read, and send the link to someone else :)

https://deanfrw.substack.com/p/an-anagram-of-vole

01/07/2023

This weekend's Substack is short but sweet - Supermarket Tattoo, a true story, told as a tale. Look out for the link ..

https://deanfrw.substack.com/p/supermarket-tattoo

24/06/2023

A new Substack about a dream which came true in an unexpected way. Read, enjoy, share.

https://deanfrw.substack.com/p/you-only-live-twice-twice

14/06/2023

New on Substack: Bed - in which I revisit the mysteries of pre-duvet times.

https://deanfrw.substack.com/p/bed

04/06/2023

Blargy Knows - but who/what has he found?

Ep. 2 of Blargy the Dog is available for your enjoyment.

28/05/2023

Whatever next? Dog fiction.

https://open.substack.com/pub/deanfrw/p/blargy-the-dog?r=2a4pdm&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

23/05/2023

https://open.substack.com/pub/deanfrw/p/the-subliminal-ballad?r=2smwv&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

"Cut Me and I Bleed" - a true story, a new Substack - The Subliminal Ballad

Cut me and I bleed

16/05/2023

Today's Substack is about Music, Performance and Recording. It's part 1 of a 2 part muse, tell Mum and Dad.

https://open.substack.com/pub/deanfrw/p/music-performance-and-recording?r=2a4pdm&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

13/05/2023

https://deanfrw.substack.com/p/mauled-by-puffins?sd=pf

Mauled by Puffins

dents on the mind

09/05/2023

'The Wood Green Ouija Board' is a 100% true story about a chilling journey into the world of the dead. If you were at poly or uni in the 1980s, hold on to something silver as you read it.

https://deanfrw.substack.com/p/the-wood-green-ouija-board