Notebook Letters 12.

For Sam to say "You can't hold a download" isn't thinking straight. I download songs then burn them onto a CD from my cheap spindle. I'm now holding the downloaded songs. I don't necessarily agree with downloads but, with the few record shops left not really selling singles, there's not a lot of choice. Downloading is here to stay. Julian Peach

Heaviest music? Try Barbetomagus in Fush*tsusha. RP

The Void; Teletext page 827; 15th of December, 2007; 3/7.

Where do these £1.99 CD singles exist? I can't get any where I live. Neither HMV have stocked them in months, while Woolworths caters to Radio 1 and Kiss listeners. I have to buy them on Amazon, where Reuben's Deadly Lethal Ninja Assassin costs £3.99 plus P & P. Tyler Durden

Still cooking 27 years later, UB40's new dub album is wicked, and they have the best bassist around. Paul Lowe

The Void; Teletext page 827; 15th of December, 2007; 4/7.

Jimmy Page has already remastered all of Led Zeppelin's albums, and they're abject lessons in the art. They sound fantastic on CD, very close to the original vinyl. Garion

I never got into Led Zeppelin, with Hree's Alright Now my top rock classic. What a singer Paul Rodgers was. Born To Be Wild is another cracker that dave us the phrase "heavy metal" and I love Paranoid and Radar Love from the era. Andy McGarvey

The Void; Teletext page 827; 15th of December, 2007; 5/7.

Top 10 live songs of 2007

1) Purple Rain Prince
2) Someone Great LCD Soundgarden
3) Tunnels Arcade Fire
4) Good Morning, Captain Slint
5) Bittersweet Symphony The Verve
6) Hey, Joni Sonic Youth
7) The Man Don't Give A F*** SFA
Eight) Mr November The National
9) Knights of Cydonia Muse
10) Young Folks Peter, Bjorn & John
Tom McEvoy

The Void; Teletext page 827; 15th of December, 2007; 6/7.

Year in review Top 50 albums of 2007

20) BRIGHT EYES Cassadaga

Conor Oberst made his most country album, with Brakeman worthy of a Disney theme, but the ragged glory was intact as he showed regular songs couldn't dim his fire.

19) THE NATIONAL Boxer

Topping the sublime Alligator, here was a strange, sombre album to rival Automatic For The People for a stark, self-contained world. And the drumming is incredible.

1/5.

Top 50 albums of 2007

18) OF MONTREAL Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? Pop music so colourful and intense it makes Sparks look like Josst Stone. Kevin Barnes created over 20 songs of perma-shifting ideas that was inventive yet approachable to newcomers.

17) THE HOURS Narcissus

Rock that's lived in, the duo poured years of being nearly men into work that had a boxer's attitude while remaining an uplifting celebration.

2/5.

Top 50 singles of 2007

20) LONELY, DEAR I Am John

From his spirited Lonely, Noir album, Emil Svanangen created his most outright pop song to date. Only Sweden is capable of making music this cute without ending up twee.

19) HARD-FI Can't Get Along

The fuss over their album's (lack of) artwork was a distraction from Richard Archer writing more everyman anthems that, as here, were blessed with Northern Soul grooves.

3/5.

Top 50 singles of 2007

18) BLACK KIDS Wizard of Ahhhs

A taster of a band who mix Arcade Fire's passion with the dance euphoria of early '80s synth pioneers like Soft Cell. If they can keep this going over a whole LP, 2008 is theirs.

17) GROOVE ARMADA Song 4 Mutya

A decade in and the duo came up with their finest song, thrilling disco in which Mutya Buena dropped her formulaic R & B for the joy of Sugababes's finest pop.

4/5.

Teletext page 824; 17th of December, 2007; 4/5.

Top 10 singles of 2007

1) Australia The Shins
2) Song 4 Mutya Groove Armada
3) Alarm Clock The Rumble Strips
4) Your Love Alone Manics
5) Selfish Jean Travis
6) 1234 Feist
7) No More Conversations Freeform Five
Eight) Someone To Love Fountains of Wayne
9) Tambourine Eve
10) Signal Fire Snow Patrol
John Grant

The Void; Teletext page 827; 17th of December, 2007; 1/7.

Top 10 Irish songs

1) Dingle Girl Lush
2) Dundalk To Me About Love Altered Images
3) Portrush Hour Jane Wiedlin
4) Should I Stay Or Should Sligo The Clash
5) Armagh of Me Bjork
6) Galway's On My Mind Pet Shop Boys
7) Ballybunion Song Marvin Gaye
Eight) When You Gonna Larne? Jamiroquai
9) Athlone Again The D*mned
10) After The Waterford Carter USM
Sleepy Sealion

The Void; Teletext page 827; 17th of December, 2007; 2/7.

Top 10 albums of 2007

1) Boxer The National
2) One Day Son Fightstar
3) Eat Me Drink Me Marilyn Manson
4) The Heart of Within Temptation
6) A Strange Education The Cinematics
7) Minutes To Midnight Linkin Park
Eight) My Heart Has A Wish Aerogramme
9) Conviction Aiden
10) Dark Passion Play Nightwish
Max Lees

The Void; Teletext page 827; 17th of December, 2007; 3/7.

Top 10 live acts of 2007

1) Prince
2) Basement Jaxx
3) Muse
4) The Chemical Brothers
5) Madness
6) The National
7) Jens Lekman
Eight) CSS
9) Los Campesinos
10) Manic Street Preachers
Goranoia

The Void; Teletext page 827; 17th of December, 2007; 4/7.

Top 10 albums I want in 2008

1) Portishead
2) Coldplay
3) REM
4) Duffy
5) Metallica
6) Franz Ferdinand
7) The Wrens
Eight) Dr Dre
9) Adele
10) Zongamin
Pete Horton

The Void; Teletext page 827; 17th of December, 2007; 5/7.

Top 10 Christmas songs

1) Fairytale of New York The Pogues
2) The Power of Love Frankie GTH
3) Last Christmas Wham!
4) The Ghost of Christmas Manics
5) I Wish It Could Be Christmas... Wizzard
6) Merry Xmas Everybody Slade
7) Here Comes Santa Claus Billy Idol
Eight) Just Like Christmas Low
9) It Doesn't Often Snow Pet Shop Boys
10) Stop The Cavalry Jona Lewie
Kanye's Vest

The Void; Teletext page 827; 17th of December, 2007; 6/7.

Bring on the Fourth Kind

Can't wait for upcoming The Fourth Kind but what has happened to Descent 2? It seems to have disappeared off the radar. New subject: best movie death. Has to be Robocop: toxic waste, priceless. David, Barnsley

Vortex; Teletext page 817; 1st of November, 2009; 1/6.

King In New York a gem?

Hidden gems? Try Charlie Chaplin's A King In New York- a perfect satire on the American way of life at the time. Gavin, Norfolk

Hidden gem? Try Blood On Satan's Claw about the resurrection of Satan in 17th Century England. The attic sequence is terrifying. David, Sheffield

My first ever rentals were An American Werewolf In London and Invasion of The Blood Farmers. Iain, Mansfield

Vortex; Teletext page 817; 1st of November, 2009; 2/6.

Is Eraserhead just weird?

Charlene- the weirdest film I've ever seen is Eraserhead. I just didn't get it. H, Basingstoke

Just seen The Burning for the first time in 25 years. Very tame now and poorly acted, yet quite enjoyed it! Sniper, Sheffield

One rap music film which I rate but others might not is Boyz N The Hood. A very scary portrayal of life in the rap capital of the world. Paul, Hants

Vortex; Teletext page 817; 1st of November, 2009; 3/6.

Thirty Nine Steps still good

Saw the 1935 Thirty Nine Steps this morning and enjoyed it. Easy to ignore continuity errors, but why did the males have eyelid make up on? In a black and white movie it looked just like the actresses' make up. If they did a scene for scene remake like Psycho, I would want one thing: that the hero goes back and kicks the h*ll out of the farmer who beats his wife up. Phil, Leeds

Vortex; Teletext page 817; 1st of November, 2009; 3/6.

Why doesn't Ken get his dues?

Ken Russell's The Boyfriend is an underrated gem of camp. This director is generally unfairly neglected. Sean, Chorlton

Peter- You can never complete your collection, you can only add to it. I've got hundreds of films and always feel the need to add more to my collection. The weirdest movie that I've seen? I will go for The Machinist. Chris, Hamilton

Vortex; Teletext page 817; 1st of November, 2009; 4/6.

Fancy something unsettling?

Annie- Try The Innocents (Deborah Kerr), The Others and any Val Lewton/ Jacques Tourneur production. Deeply unsettling. Valeria, Bath

V Olliver- your review of This Is It is quite frankly unfair. Whilst I respect your opinion, the man is dead. Have some heart and realise that the film was never intended to make history or win Oscars. Instead it was a tribute for the fans. Gemma, Newcastle

Vortex; Teletext page 817; 1st of November, 2009; 6/6.

The return of Holly Johnson

By John Earls

"My solo albums weren't available for years. That wasn't very encouraging for making a new one."

A decade after his third solo album Soulstream, Holly Johnson is thinking of making a fourth, having spent the intervening years as an artist.

"When I turned 40, I thought, 'What if Frankie hadn't happened and I'd gone to art school as I'd planned?'," he says. "I studied fine art for three years."

After Frankie Goes To Hollywood split, Holly's first solo album Blast reached No 1 in 1989.

"For years, the media had denied my involvement in Frankie," he says. "It was 'It's nothing to do with them, it's all Trevor Horn and Paul Morley.'

"After I'd had that ringing in my ears, it was extremely satisfying to prove my songwriting had something to do with it! It was a fantastic time."

Sadly, after his second album Dreams That Money Can't Buy, Holly was diagnosed with HIV.

"It was impossible to do much work from 1991- 96," he explains. "Then, in '96, a new form of treatment called combination therapy was introduced.

"Soulstream took three years to make. I did most of it myself- paid for it, set up my own label. It exhausted me, and that's when I turned to painting."

How does Holly feel about his solo albums and Frankie's records now?

"I think they stand up really well," he enthuses. "But mainly I remember how hard I worked. I didn't have much of a life outside of music.

"It's interesting hearing them again with singers like La Roux. The singers in their early 20s now, they'll have grown up listening to the '80s records their parents own."

Holly turns 50 next year, a milestone he admits he didn't think he'd reach.

"It doesn't feel as big a deal as 40 did," he says. "I didn't think I'd make that, when I was diagnosed with HIV. Half a century? That's just incredible.

"I've not seen many Frankie mementoes. I only wrote one of the Frankie Say T-shirt slogans, Frankie Say Use A Condom. I've got a box of those from our last tour in '87 upstairs."

Having been one of the defining pop stars of the '80s, Holly admits his life is far quieter these days.

"My autobiographt, A Bone In My Flute, came out in '94," he recalls.

"I'd thought about doing a second volume, but a lot more water needs to go under the bridge. I need more exciting things to write about than sitting painting in my studio. I'll need to make another record first..."

Teletext page 824; 2nd of November, 2009.

This really is it

This Is It is great. I wish I could have seen the performance on stage but the cinema is better than not seeing it. I recommend it. Peter, Middles*x

I'm so pleased that Film4 is showing Tyrone Power movies. Jaz, Glasgow

Vortex; Teletext page 817; 2nd of November, 2009; 1/6.

Little gems

Jules Dassin's Naked City, Brute Force, Thieves' Highway, Night And The City and Rififi are all favourite gems of mine. All evocatively photographed with quirky, but likeable characters engaged in moral struggles within the milieu of crime and order, worth seeking out for fans of noir cinema. T. Rivers, Suss*x

Try Charlie Chaplin's A King In New York. A perfect satire on the American way of life at the time. Gavin, Norfolk

Vortex; Teletext page 817; 2nd of November, 2009; 2/6.

It was destiny

As I remember, the first two films I ever rented were The Thing (the John Carpenter version) and A Nightmare On Elm Street, to watch on a Friday night with friends. Great entertainment, and two films destined to become clsssics in their own right. Stuart, Hardy

Barrie, Wales- The film about a military plane crashing with the survivors disappearing is Sole Survivor and I think it starred William Shatner. John, Moray

Vortex; Teletext page 817; 2nd of November, 2009; 3/6.

Best movie deaths

I'd say that the best movie death is Ripley's at the end of Alien 3- her cruciform cradling of a newborn alien queen whilst descending into fire is really rather good. Matth, Wakefield

Best movie death- the evil Russian from No Retreat, No Surrender 2. A picture of Stalin, wrapped in a Russian flag, then dragged to his own crocodile pit. 1980s cold war American jingoism at its most unsubtle. John, Darlington

Vortex; Teletext page 817; 2nd of November, 2009; 4/6.

A scary story

A British film, Ghost Story (1974), scared the heck out of me at the time! It's a little known classic, anyone seen it? Not sure if it's out on DVD. Michael, Manchester

The best films I've seen recently are all foreign ones. Let The Right One In, [Rec], Tell No One, Amelie, Downfall- how come they do it so much better? Can anyone recommend any others of this quality, please? Richard, Hornchurch

Vortex; Teletext page 817; 2nd of November, 2009; 5/6.

Extra time

One of the joys of updating videos to DVD is discovering the extras. On Run Lola Run there's an extra which is a video of Frankie Potente performing the song that runs through the movie soundtrack. Great stuff. This week I've ordered The Wonder Boys and Pleasantville. Mondo, Cornwall

A long mistreated '80s VHS classic- Buckaroo Banzai's Adventures Across The 8th Dimension. A great cast and best theme tune ever. Ken, Hyton

Vortex; Teletext page 817; 2nd of November, 2009; 6/6.

The no-hit wonders

By John Earls

For every Muse there's a Maybes?, for evey Coldplay there's a Captain Black. Some bands just fall down the cracks, too small even for cult status.

Probably the biggest frustration for PS has been championing amazing singles that have failed to give their makers enough of an audience to live on.

Here, then, are the singles that somehow failed to be stellar during the time PS has been on air.

10) PARIS MOTEL 071

Decadent cabaret, too sophisticated to be vampish, too sensual to go anywhere near empty Rat Pack revivalism. Amy May has one of the mose seductive voices around, and knows how to write a luxurious song worthy of it.

9) LUXEMBOURG Sick of DIY

Fabulous gutter glam merchants in the Suede vein, with elegant hedonistic songs aplenty. Now sadly split, their offshoot bands are worth a look.

Eight) TREVA WHATEVA Singalong

A mate of Mr Scruff, he may hopefully pop up again one day. Whateva, this incredible floorfiller was based on a fiendishly addictive doo-wop sample. Just when it threatened to drive you insane, a stunning horn break kicked in, ripe for a hip hop makeover.

7) SURREAL MADRID

One from Stephen Eastwood's time as PS boss, like Singalong this was daft, simple dance at its most celebratory.

6) THE BLOOD ARM Suspicious Character

They're still going but, as none of their songs carry this much funk, it's unlikely they'll repeat this gem. As sleazily s*xy as exile-era Stones, and carrying a groove worthy of the Chems.

5) CAPTAIN BLACK Come On Up To Our House

We don't know anyone who's heard this one who hasn't gibbered afterwards: a whirlwind of chaos The Pogues used to knock up every 10 minutes, and with a similarly erudite lyric to back it up.

4) JONNY LIVES Tabloid Nation

New York singer Jonny Dubowsky is a well-connected friend of Sean Lennon, yet even that failed to make his EP's two lead songs thrive. Simple, strutting hollers that pre-date Kings of Leon and are even better to boot.

3) GENELAB Anorak Lou

Ten years on, its creators are so obscure even we're not sure they exist. Their whereabouts aren't as mysterious as this whispered, eerie menace.

2) THE MAYBES? Olympia

Raved about by any Liverpool musician you can name, they're still going so hopefully their time will yet come. 50% rock, 50% roll, 100% enthusiastic, giddy mayhem.

1) JOHNNY BOY You Are The Generation

OK, it hides sardonic lyrics. But this Spector-esque explosion is so romantic, it'd be a steal to end any type of movie. Produced by James Dean Bradfield- he should produce others more often.

Teletext page 824; 3rd of November, 2009.