I worked in record retail for 25 years. I loved discovering music from all over. Apart from running a mobile disco for a few years, that was the absolute extent of any musical ‘ability’ I have. I mentioned elsewhere about my sister’s home surgery she applied to my eardrum, well this, I am sad to say, rendered my nascent singing career dead in its tracks. The worlds loss.

So, while I may have zero talent in this regard, I am in awe of those people who are blessed in this way. There have been talents right across time. And we are lucky enough to live in an age where all of this talent is available at the press of a button…

Oddly, since I left music retail, I have spent a lot of time investigating bands that I didn’t have a lot of time for back then or had forgotten. My knowledge of Jethro Tull is much increased as is my refinding a band called Family. I’ll put some bits up for them later…

The purpose of this post is to sing (Ha!) the praises of two very talented individuals. The first is Mika. Here is his YouTube channel: MIKA He’s been going for a little while but he is so very talented it’s scary. This is a link to one of his playlists that contain many of the songs from his first album “Life in Cartoon Motion” MIKA, Now in HD If you like the Scissor Sisters, you will likely enjoy this.

The second is a remarkable young man that I learned about in a piecemeal way.

Please enjoy Ren

I came across this artist via my supporting Brighton & Hove Albion. As Ren is now living in Brighton, people often posted video’s of him and his friends busking and I don’t think any of them were less than amazing. His story is quite a tale of overcoming misdiagnosed illnesses and the impact on his health. He is an advocate for Mental Health and his songs reflect his struggles. He is also a spokesman for Lyme Disease. The breadth of his songs, styles, and everything really is just incredible. In some of his songs, his anger and delivery are almost visceral.

I can’t liken him to anyone else I have heard, he can do any style of music and his covers are really good, he doesn’t do ‘straight’ covers, he makes them his own. Seriously, do yourselves a massive favour…