April 27th - Day 9

"I'm not feeling very well," said Oliver on the morning of my first child-free music-hunting day since Thursday, "I don't think I should go to school."

He looked alright to me and I demanded proof, several small pieces of which he duely provided whilst bent over the toilet.

But all was not lost; I had already been audience to a musical performance before Oliver's unhelpful vomiting. Completely out of the blue, Daisy asked me if she could sing me a song. She sang me four in the end (Cheeky Monkeys, Baa Baa Black Sheep, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Once I Caught A Fish Alive). I had intended to use The Daisy Wild Card at some point - only to be used once of course - but not this early. However, the performance's complete spontaneity and its serendipitous timing persuaded me that the card had to be played now.

May 18th - Day 30

I went to Nunhead Library this morning to return an overdue dvd. My disgruntlement at being told that I owed Southwark Council three pounds was tempered by the realisation that a toddlers' group was in full swing in the children part of the library. I'd been to this group in the past (with my daughter), recalled that songs were a feature and spotted an opportunity to avoid a trip uptown this afternoon and with it give myself an extra couple of hours to write in the blog. As I waited, not wishing to appear sinister, I flicked through a book about London social history. Before long I heard the happy sound of a maraca. And then a tamberine and various other instruments to bash, shake or blow. "He's trying to escape," said a mum as she caught up with one little fellow who, in mid-flee, had bumped his head on the electronic swing gate. Perhaps he'd been given the tuba. The songs were a mixture of old and new - Head Shoulders Knees and Toes, Wheels on the Bus, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Baa Baa Black Sheep, Here We Go Round the Mulbury Bush, Ring a Ring a Roses. Three hundred and fifty years of song history (if one believes the Ring a Roses plague connection) peformed inside ten frantic musical minutes.

August 6th - Day 110

Today was one of those happy days that gifted me my music experience completely out of the blue. A school holiday trip to the park was delayed by news that there was a children's show about to start in the local library. The show turned out to be a music jamming session led by the Rock and Roll Pirates - Andi on Yamaha organ and Didntcatchhisname on vocals and drums. A vast array of child-friendly percussive and wind instruments were laid on the floor in front of them for their young audience to choose from. As the Pirates grooved through their Booker T/Chas and Dave-esque set (I particularly enjoyed their pub rock version of "Ten little pirates jumping on the bed - oi!!"), seven or eight children and a couple of adults bashed, shook and blew in accompaniment. By the time our hour with the personable duo was up, the kids had karaoked, taken part in a dance competition and had drumming lessons from Didntcatchhisname. It came as no surprise to learn that these two very accomplished musicians had rather more on their CVs than providing musical fun for the under twelves. Andi (also a composer), for instance, has played and/or recorded with Jeff Beck, Judie Tzuke, Toyah and David Bowie amongst many others. I didn't find out much about the other chap, who I shall now call Didntcatchhisnameanddidntfindoutmuchabouthim.

More about Andi (Clark) at myspace.com/467282281

Update - Through my involvement with The Ivy House, aka the Newlands Tavern, I discovered that Andi played there back in the 1970s with the band Upp. One of their album sleeves now adorns the musical wall of honour!

September 5th - Day 140

Some  people watching the Punch and Judy show at today's Peckham Village Fete may not have noticed the show's integral live music. I, however, now being an expert in squeezing live music experiences from non-musical stones, heard four songs in the show. Firstly there was the brief "clapping dance" with it's accompanying "clap-clap" song, followed by a dash of "Hokey-cokey" and then a pinch of Punch's slightly tense rendering of "Rock-a-bye-baby". The stand out though was Punch's ranting "That's the way to do it!" which became steadily more unhinged as the body count mounted (or should that be the hand count?)