singers while you are winning

Aloha

today's blog comes to you direct from Sunny Singapore.

Well, I had almost recovered from my encounter with the slippery stair case before I had to leave. It's kind of annoying when you get older and aches and pains seem to be more debilitating but I guess there is a pay off for all that experience!

Anyhow, I had to leave the homestead to continue on my journey through life and today has brought me to the centre of Asia.

I must confess I love Singapore. It's a first world island in the third world. The things these guys have done over the past 20 years is amazing. There are new buildings all over and the hotels are first rate. Not to mention the nightlife which is - despite the tales of draconian legislation - brilliant.

I flew in - 13 hours not including the farce that is the British public transport system - 5 hours to go 80 miles no less - on the night flight and as is always the case I ended up with the stiffest neck in the history of stiff necks. It happens all the time because the airlines insist that 17c is a reasonable temperature for human beings. It is if you are an eskimo but for us normal mortals its just plain freezing. This is one of the downsides of globalisation that never gets mentioned in the other blogs.

So having added my bit to global warming I rocked up at the hotel in one of the ubiquitous Toyota Crown cabs that are all racked up and ready at Changi airport. I always use the same hotel - just off Orchard Road - and crashed out for a few hours before going out to see what Singers is like at present.

Well, the aching neck was no better so after a fine feast of gargantuan proportions I made my way to the Orchard Towers where I knew there would be a masseur available.

For those of you who don't know the Towers it is locally known as "10 floors of whores" but they are interspersed with some really useful things like a supermarket, tailors and massage dens - not dodgy for the most part.

Anyway, the lady who gave me a massage was about 45 and had hands that were as strong as a bricklayer. She damn near broke my neck before moving on to the spine - which has not been twisted and shaken so much since Buddy Holly and the Big Bopper were all the rage. Let me tell you it wrecked! But somehow I feel better for it. (Thanks for asking.)

Now none of this has anything to do with music does it?

No, but there is one interesting musical diversion that i have already noticed in my 12 hours in the tropics. That is that Pink Floyd are still HUGE!

The cab driver - who looked like an extra from apocalpse now - was playing Wish you were here on the way from the airport; a 3 piece band of American ner-do-wells was bashing out a terrible version of Money and as I lay on a table with a small asian lady turning me into a human pretzel the strains of Dark side of the Moon wafted over the aromatherapy couches.

It all seemed a bit weird - especially considering the fact that on my everlasting train journey to Heathrow there was a Polish family on the train taking pictures of Battersea power station and chattering about Dave Gilmour. What is happening in the world these days? Have we returned to 1975?

In my bag I have a demo from a US band called Band of Thieves. The weird thing is that they are so retro its incredible. The sound, the look, the hair - everything screams 1975. Question is - should I sign them and if so for what territories? Poland and Asia look pretty good right now.

I'll let you know.

yours

Aching stevens