Donald - I wonder if you are actually remembering the US invasion of Panma, when General Noriega was holed up in the Vatican embassy and the US Army played loud US 'rawk' at him for days on end. I know that most of it was of the Heavy Metal variety, but there was a bit of The Doors thrown in as well.

Actually McCartney has two singles out at the moment - one is not bad, the other entitled 'Freedom' about Sept 11th is appalling. At Waco the FBI, played These Boots Are Made for Walking (think of the line '...gonna walk right over you....' and a song that had fire and house in the lyric, but I can't remember the the title of the tune. Frightening stuff. As for the Icicle Works... I can't say I'm a fan. He always seemed a bit pompous to me.

hello you lot going away for a few days os take easy over the weekend i am suffering with the worst hangover i have ever had in years so talk to you when i get back bye

Steve - both cd's excellent. Played them for weeks but now onto 7 cd's Espen sent of Fatboy Slim in various guises and bootlegs. Can't keep up with the volume he sends. If you fancy meeting up for Strummer let me know. I must get tickets soon. For some reason I can't stop playing Billy Idol - Dancing With Myself a classic - at the moment. Bet that will create some comments.

Lee - I prefer the Billy Idol stuff in his Generation X period. Their first album is a punk/pop classic in my view. Liked some of his solo stuff, particularly Catch My Fall, All Summer Single, and Don't Need A Gun. dancing With Myself was a Generation X song off their last album. Saw Billy Idol live in 1990 and he was great and had a giant fist over the stage that at the end flipped over and gave the audience the finger - very funny.

And, spookily, 'Flesh for fantasy' is apparently one of those songs that the US Army played to drive General Noriega from his bolthole in the Vatican Embassy in Panama!

Wilke, were ye out last dressed up? Deborah, our Louise and I were dressed up as tables!!It's getting madder every year.......

Is that the new Cracker or 'Kerosene Hat' I remember playing it in me car it had 99 tracks on it and the CD player went bananans I had to pull over before I realised it was a *joke*. Have you hear the Billy Idol cover of 'Dont you forget about me'

What gets madder every year Vinny? Dressing up as tables?? What strange Halloween customs you Irish have! Do you have mischievous night before bonfire night too? I remember tying peoples door handles together with string, knocking on both then hiding at a safe distance!

Lindsay, people are now saying Halloween night in Derry is the biggest in Europe. It's mazing, the whole city is dressed up in an openair carnival. You feel quite strange if you're not dressed up.I heard that last night there was something like 45,000 on the streets of Derry. By the way, your tape will be posted tomorrow, I've just finished it.

Soft Cell was a sell-out months ago, long before I found out about it. I have to confess I quite fancied young William - anyone know what he's doing these days?

Thanks Vinny. Sounds a brilliant night - can you persuade the boys to play a gig next year so we can all put our best tables on and join in.

Have a wee look at www.derryjournal.com tomorrow and there's probably gonna be loads of pics of last night

OOps I've missed a lot. Venturing into the south of England does my head in. P2-watch Steve Mack in the video for Big Decision and you'll see what I'm on about-its all in the hand action!!!!

Leeds is a bit far for me to go for a night out so no I didnt see Soft Cell Donald

At work tonight, the PA system was playing the largely inaudible CityBeat (the Beat for Belfast apparently) when I suddenly became aware that My Perfect Cousin was playing. I went nearer to a speaker and was astounded to hear that Feargal Sharkey was being interviewed prior to some sort of lecture, he was giving at Queens University on behalf of the Radio Authority. He covered a lot of the ground that I'd seen in Vinny's film and said that he enjoyed his solo career more, I think because it was more successful. I left work early and was gonna rush down to Queens to see him but half way down the road I suddenly realised that I couldn't really have been arsed. He was and is a great singer and frontman but during the interview what came across to me was that Feargal seems to always put the business end of the music business before the music. Fair enough but not worth travelling twenty minutes out of your way for.

In New York at the moment. I am knackered. Got up 18 hours ago to get the inaugaral flight by Go between Newcastle and Stansted. My boss who will probably make me redundant for certain was on the same plane. Since I checked in first I asked that we be kept apart. On the flight from Heathrow to New York I had my economy ticket upgraded to Business Class thanks to them double booking my seat. The other lad was in a group and so wanted to be kept together. He is running the marathon on Sunday. I am only spectating.

Atleast the clock is showing me the right time. It is 7 minutes past 7 new York time.

Come well prepared clothes wise. 4 Undertones T-Shirts and a Sunderland football top. Now to spread the word!