The writings of Max Robinson: Turn the record player on.

Hi there.......

Welcome to SUPER Saturday 20th January in this happy, fun year of 2018.

This is the third edition of my new style blog, now working under the name of Radio Love International. It will soon develop to support OurRebekah as it moves to a higher level. As well as working with Ronald McDonald House Beck's smile will become central to Radio Love International as we seek to use music as a way to make this a happier world.

Yesterday our listeners/readers slipped a bit to one hundred and twenty nine yesterday but that brings the total who have tuned in to Radio Love International to 288. IN JUST TWO DAYS ! Onward and upwards, let's turn the record player on and begin the day. Let's put the first disc on the turntable and play our inspirational theme for Saturday.

Here is FOOT TAPPER so tap your feet all day long. Never forget that Life is a DISCO so DANCE.

Rock your jaw with today's music on Radio Love International

I learned something yesterday. I realised it is wrong to try to put music into a single specific category. Putting together The Geriatric DJ's hour of Music from the 1960's was easy enough. (BTW - I even tried to put Lonnie Donnegan and My Old Man's A Dustman into the classical genre - LOL Catherine Rose)

But working on my second collection was not so easy.

I am now half way through building up the content. I have included The Washington Post by Souza. Is that classical music ? I am not sure. I will be adding Barcelona by Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballé. That was recorded in 1988, hardly classical but it is a classic and performed as a classic. Let's play it now.

Isn't that beautiful ?

I went to visit my Mum and Dad yesterday. Dad will be 92 years old next month and Mum was 90 last October. In September they will celebrate 70 years of marriage.

Just down the road from where they live is the finest fish and chip shop in all of England. Visits to Mum and Dad usually include something from Dothill Fish and Chips. Yesterday was no exception.

I think the owner of this shop thought I was undernourished. Look at how many chips he gave me to eat with my chicken and mushroom pie. The pie is there somewhere buried under the chips !

I want to award Dosthill Fish and Chip Shop a Radio Love International smile.

See how I have taken the smile logo from OurRebekah to use here on Radio Love International. Very soon I plan to bring the two orgaanisations together as we seek through music to make people smile and make others smile.

Time to play something as a dedication for my Mum and Dad. I have chosen I Got You Babe with Sonny and Cher. This dates back to 1964. My Mum did not approve of my listening to this, she thought they were far to scruffy for my teenage ears.

Sony went to to become a politician. He was killed in a skiing accident at South Lake Tahoe. Cher is a renowned actress and holds the record for being the oldest singer to have a number one hit.

My Dad served in the Royal Air Force and was stationed for a year in Cairo, Egypt. I got him to talk about his time in The Land Of The Pharoes and have used some of the material in my book The Bridge House. I remember Dad used to have this record on an old fashioned 78. It's a nonsensical song if you ask me but it is part of my Dad's time in Cairo. I am going to play it now for one of my former students, for Sam who is Headmaster of The International School in Cairo. Sam, probably like me you think this a daft song but here it is.

Sam, I am so proud to have you as one of my Leonite friends. I never stop boasting of your achievement. I have been to the bazaar in Cairo, it scared me ! It was so vast, I got hopelessly lost and could not find my way out.

Another Leonite friend popped this on Facebook yesterday. It did make me giggle, THANK YOU Maggie.

I am going to play a dedication for Maggie and keep with the theme of silly music.

Actually this is not silly, it is utterly DAFT.

Maggie I hope it makes you smile as much as your Facebook posting made me smile.

THANKS.................

Cheers !

Returning to my saying you can not put music into one category. Returning home from Mum and Dad yesterday I had a John Denver CD playing. I was planning to include this in The Geriatric DJ's 1970's collection. I am going to play it now as a dedication for Leonite Nigel Sholl.

Nigel is a fan of country music. While I love music of all kinds and genre I do not peoperly understand country music, I love it but I do not understand it in the same way as I do retro pop, classic, opera and ballet. Nigel do you consider this to be country ?

What about this ?

It did spend FIVE weeks at number one in the US charts.

I have a vast collection of vinyl records. Leonite friend Paul gave me so many, many Country LP's. I must have one of the biggest collections in the country. That song I found on one of the LP's Paul gave me.

Eventually I want to move Radio Love International on from a daily music page like this to playing music into social media.

On Monday I am going to experiment a bit. I plan to be working at the laptop, building up another Geriatric DJ hour long music collection. While I have the headphones on and the laptop keys rattling my vinyl record player will be sending music into Facebook.

I have a number of LP's ready and plan to start with Jesus Christ Superstar. This is my favourite track.

To listen to my music choice on Monday you need to be a friend on my Facebook. Send me a friend request and I will add you in.

CLICK HERE

Spring is coming, honestly it is

I have in my diary a very special meeting, a very, very special meeting. At the end of the month. At 11am on Tuesday 30th January Ronald McDonald Birmingham's House manager, Libby, and I will be sitting down to chat about OurRebekah's support over the next few

months for the work The Mansion of Love does for families with a child sick in hospital. We will talk about The Bridge House, we will talk about a major event in Stowe National Trust Gardens, we will talk about Eggs For The Children and we will talk about Radio Love International.

I plan to persuade Libby to let Radio Love International run a party one evening in the house. I have an idea for a MUSIC TOMBOLA. I bet you have never heard of one of those before !

All will be revealed on Wednesday 31st January.

So let me play something now for all families in all Ronald McDonald Houses the world over. As Gerry And The Pacemakers sing he words they reflect everything Ronald McDonald Houses do. You will NEVER walk alone.

To make that happen Radio Love International will be launching a recruiting campaign. This unique radio station needs people to come with me to Birmingham and run the Music Tombola in The Mansion of Love.