Saturday 9: London Town (1978)

Saturday 9: London Town (1978)
On Saturdays I take a break from the heavy stuff and have some fun… 

 Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

 

1) Have you ever visited London?
No, but I have been to New London does that count?

2) In this song, Paul sings of encountering a London street musician playing the flute. Are there street musicians in your town?
No, but… In Provincetown MA on Cape Cod there was a street musician, Ellie Castillo who sang in front of the town hall, she sang mostly Frank Sinatra songs with a portable mic setup.

3) It's raining as he wanders around London. How is the weather where you are today?
Well they say mostly sunny, but they got me fooled!

Ooh... Ooh... the sun is peaking through the clouds since I wrote thing!

4) "London Town" is one of a handful of songs credited to Paul McCartney and Denny Laine, his bandmate in Wings from 1971 to 1981. They became fast friends in the mid-60s when Denny was with The Moody Blues, the band who opened for The Beatles on their final UK concert tour. Paul has acknowledged Denny's outstanding vocals and guitar playing, as well as his humor and generosity. Share the good qualities of one of your close friends.
I won’t share the good qualities of one friend, but I’ll share the good qualities of all my friends… empathy. They care about others!

5) Wings broke up in 1981 when Paul decided he was weary of touring. His kids were in school, his Beatle bandmate John Lennon had been murdered, and he simply felt more comfortable staying put and working in the studio, rather than performing live. Denny believed this would mean his role, and his financial compensation, would diminish so he quit Wings. Tell us about why you left one of your jobs.
Well I’ll tell you about why I left all my jobs.
Job #1, Went bankrupt. (From that I learned that the employees are way down the list of creditors).
Job #2, Got bought out, I saw the hand writing on the wall and bailed with some other engineers to...
Job #3, For 28 years, many of which were with my old engineers from the previous job (Sadly, I just learned the other two just passed away.). They closed the factory and moved it South Korea and I took early retirement.

6) Linda McCartney also wrote and performed with Wings. In addition to music, she is known for her photography and cookbooks. Of these three – music, photography and cooking – which do you enjoy most?
Oh! Oh! What a choice “photography and cooking” I claim both! Because each you do separately. (Well I guess some can argue that you can photography your food.) 

7) Paul's first car was a 1964 Aston Martin DB5. He selected it himself before The Beatles went off on their first world tour and it was waiting for him when he got home to London. He drove it when he shouldn't have, as he didn't get his license until spring of 1965. When did you get your driver's license?
When I was 17.
Oh and do I have a good story for my driving test!
So we show up at the motor vehicle department and it is snowing!
We sit down waiting for me to be called, so I take the vision test, the written test, and then came the dreaded driving test!
I look out the window and the snow is coming down horizontally! We go out to my mother’s car, I get in start it up and turn on the defroster, and get out! Clean the whole cars off and by then the car is toasty.
I drive out to the main road, wipers beating out that one long song, I drive a block, the inspector says do a “K” turn. And we drive back. So my driving test was less than a ¼ mile long in a blinding blizzard! Best of all my mother let me drive home with my new license (I always thought that it was because she didn’t like to drive in snow.).

8) Speaking of driver's licenses ... Last year someone bought one of Paul's expired driver's licenses at auction for $20,000. When you get a new license, passport, or state issued ID, what do you do with the old one?
All but the passport gets shredded. My old passport I kept because under this administration I cannot get a new one because my names don’t match. Also if the SAVE Act passes I will not be able to vote just like millions of women who names do not match their name on their birth certificate, welcome to the club of not being able to vote.

9) Random question – Which do you have more of: dirty dishes in the sink or dirty clothes in the hamper?
Well today’s Saturday!
So the dishes went from the sink to the dish washer to be washed over night.
And it is laundry day! (At least I don’t have to check to make sure snow is not blocking the dryer vent.)

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As many of you know I like to see what an AI can do, so I asked ChatGPT...

Your mission, should you choose to accept it… One of the labors of an avid reader—or listener—is deciding what to read next, or in my case, what to listen to.

The books I enjoy include works by David Weber, Elizabeth Moon’s Vatta’s Peace series, and the Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold for hard sci-fi. For fantasy, I like Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Moon’s The Deed of Paksenarrion series.

So your mission is to find me new authors—especially those whose audiobooks are available on Hoopla.

*******

Mission accepted 😄 — and you’ve got excellent taste. Based on your mix of military sci-fi, character-driven space opera, and classic fantasy, here are some strong author picks—especially ones that often show up on Hoopla audiobooks.

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🚀 If you like David Weber & Bujold (military / character-driven sci-fi)

🔹 John Scalzi

• Try: Old Man’s War series

• Why: Military sci-fi with humor, fast pacing, and strong characters

• Hoopla odds: High (very common in audio catalogs)

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🔹 Marko Kloos

• Try: Frontlines series

• Why: Gritty military sci-fi, similar boots-on-the-ground feel as Weber

• Hoopla odds: Moderate–High

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🔹 Tanya Huff

• Try: Confederation series

• Why: Space marines + strong character work (very Moon/Bujold adjacent)

• Hoopla odds: Moderate

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🔹 Jack Campbell

• Try: The Lost Fleet series

• Why: Tactical fleet combat + leadership themes (very Weber-like)

• Hoopla odds: High

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🔹 Becky Chambers

• Try: Wayfarers series

• Why: More character-driven and optimistic (like the softer side of Bujold)

• Hoopla odds: Moderate

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🐉 If you like McCaffrey & Paksenarrion (classic fantasy)

🔹 Mercedes Lackey

• Try: Valdemar series

• Why: Strong character arcs, magic systems, and classic fantasy feel

• Hoopla odds: High

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🔹 Raymond E. Feist

• Try: Riftwar Saga

• Why: Epic scope, accessible storytelling, old-school fantasy vibes

• Hoopla odds: Moderate–High

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🔹 Tamora Pierce

• Try: Protector of the Small

• Why: If you loved Paksenarrion’s growth and training arc, this hits similar notes

• Hoopla odds: Moderate

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🔹 Kristen Britain

• Try: Green Rider series

• Why: Classic fantasy adventure with strong female lead

• Hoopla odds: Moderate

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🔹 David Eddings

• Try: Belgariad

• Why: Comfort fantasy, very classic and character-focused

• Hoopla odds: High

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🎧 A quick Hoopla tip

Hoopla availability varies by library system, but:

• Big-name authors (Scalzi, Campbell, Lackey) are very likely

• Older/classic fantasy is often surprisingly well stocked

• Series availability can be partial—worth checking before you commit

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👉 If you want a sharper mission

I can narrow this down further if you tell me:

• More military sci-fi or more fantasy?

• Prefer serious tone or okay with humor (like Scalzi)?

• Want long series or tighter trilogies?

Or I can go even deeper and build you a “start here on Hoopla right now” list.