No news on Ariel’s camshaft today, but we did get a reminder for the MOT from the Portuguese authorities, so we have a month to get it found, fixed, and driven back here. It seems like a monumental task, but we have to keep on trying or hope that those who have been in touch about the part can really make this happen. The glimmer of hope is that a camshaft is easier than a cylinder head, but if it takes even half the time, we will have to assess the legality of driving across Europe without a valid MOT. I’m not sure we could get one in England because it’s a foreign car, left-hand drive, I imagine that having the steering wheel on the opposite side of the car isn’t considered safe. Why would ‘The Hoople’ (1974) be today’s album? Well, you might have to ask Ariel Bender.
I was up and in house cleaning/project analysis mode. I find it hard to work with a sink full of dishes or a carpet that is demanding to be hoovered. So I did that first, finishing in time to nip around the corner before the bakery closed to pick up a ‘kanelbulle’, essentially a Swedish baked good. When we first went there they had the spelling incorrect or should I say they were using the plural form ‘bullar’ instead of the singular form ‘bulle’ when they were referring to one item at €1.80. It reminded me of those signs in museums that someone has translated into English over the glass display cases where the grammar and the spelling is all wrong.
I dropped in at the second-hand furniture store but not before running into Vítor from the music store and his girlfriend who had just been perusing the furniture. I walked around and found a posh CD cabinet like it was made by a serious cabinet maker, I need to show it to Olivia. Across the road, there’s a shop that sells old turntables, amplifiers, and speakers. I dropped in because my turntable has an issue with how low the cartridge is. If a record has a ridge, it touches it, it’s not a problem when the record gets going but initially it makes a noise. I left my number or should I say Olivia’s number, I’d like to get the guy to come here as it’s so close rather than taking the turntable there, we’ll see.
Back at the ranch, I got my head deeply into NJ Brian’s Valley of Salt project, finalising all the things that needed to be addressed. It’s complex and has to be right and we will endeavour to make it as good as we possibly can. Next was the copy on the mysterious RSD album for next year – lots of errors to fix.
Music today has been Mott the Hoople’s The Hoople (1974), that reached No. 11 on the UK chart, No. 28 in the US. On this album, Ariel Bender aka Luther Grosvenor ex Spooky Tooth replaced Mick Ralphs who had left to form Bad Company with ex-Free members Paul Rodgers and Simon Kirke, and ex-King Crimson member Boz Burrell. I really like this album, and it even has hits, the classic Roll Away the Stone (No. 8 in the UK) and The Golden Age of Rock ‘n’ Roll (No. 16 in the UK). It was singer Ian Hunter’s last album with the band before he went solo. You may have recently read about Kari-Ann Muller/Moller, the model on the cover who was also the model on the first Roxy Music album (1972). She is Norwegian and lived for decades in the UK, but since Brexit, they challenged her right to stay, nice work peoples.