Crashing down

W/C 2nd November 2026As is often the case, for the second week on the spin I have returned to the Dels for my episode-naming inspiration.Like many others I have had a little extra bounce in my step since Wednesday, but in reality it is was more of a dismantling than a ringing endorsement of a positive alternative, hence why this track feels appropriate.I still think there is a lot of kicking and screaming to go, but there is definitely a sense that this may well be the beginning of the end of this particularly ugly and divisive phase.Stay safe.Crashing Down - Del AmitriA Christmas Carol - Patrick Stewart

W/C 26th October 2026The obvious choice was to go with Blondie, it's better known and I could argue it even makes a little more sense in a "purely-physical-geography-look-at-the-height-of-the-water" kind of way. But I love this track, it's a lovely little song, a great example of what a good album track should be, and why Del Amitri are a belting band, and Justin Currie is a kick-ass songwriter.I come back to them on a regular basis and they never fail to disappoint. The Twisted album from 1995 is a particular highpoint, but honestly you can push off from anywhere in their catalogue and be rewarded for doing so.It's probably about time I went to see them again.Stay safeAs Soon As The Tice Comes In - Del Amitri

W/C 19th October 2026Way back at the beginning of all of this I had a couple of rules of thumb as far as the template for TFM was concerned.The first was that as far as possible it was to be a spontaneous reaction to what had made an impact on me in the last week or so. Unscripted, unedited and unique, to the point that had it been recorded a day, an hour or even a minute earlier it may well have been entirely different.The second was that it should be between 15 and 20 minutes long, because anything more than that and voice fatigue may well kick in, and you would (most likely) just turn me off.Nearly seven years later I think I am still winning with the first, but as today most definitely proves, I am slipping with the second. Apologies for that, but I do find you so easy to talk to.Stay safe.A Legacy - MarillionOn Brand With Clare PaxmanThe London BatmanTherapy For Me (or TFM as I now refer to it) is a bit of an audio curiosity. It started out as a mechanism for me to clear my head, with the hope that by saying stuff out loud it would act as a little bit of self-help. It's remains loose in style, fluid in terms of content and raw - it's a one take, press record and see what happens, affair.If you want to keep in touch with TFM and the other stuff I do then please follow me on Facebook, Insta, Twitter or Patreon. Thanks for getting this far.

W/C 12th October 2026When I am considering the episode titles for TFM, I often make quite tenuous links to odd bits drawn from that weeks chat in order to get something to fit.Quite a lot of them feel like a square peg in a round hole, and sometimes it's the longest part of the creative process of the podcast itself. it's actually the most stressful part of my Saturday morning.This week's was a breeze...and it's absolutely on the nose.Stay safe.I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For - U2The Trans-Penine Trail

W/C 5th October 2026The title choice this week isn't some form of play on words, or sentiment inspired by one of the topics I am talking about. It's far more literal than that.The song itself came out in 1995, which is significant because at that point I was living in the north east and just a few miles from the river in question.It's a great song, and it sums up perfectly both the place itself, and the strength of character of the people I met there. I still believe that any day that you get to see the Tyne bridge, or walk along that river, is a good day.Stay safe.Big River - Jimmy NailTherapy For Me (or TFM as I now refer to it) is a bit of an audio curiosity. It started out as a mechanism for me to clear my head, with the hope that by saying stuff out loud it would act as a little bit of self-help. It's remains loose in style, fluid in terms of content and raw - it's a one take, press record and see what happens, affair.If you want to keep in touch with TFM and the other stuff I do then please follow me on Facebook, Insta, Twitter or Patreon. Thanks for getting this far.

W/C 28th September 2026So it’s been a long while since I have been to the Hammersmith Apollo, and I am not sure I have ever sat upstairs before.I am finding it a little hard to imagine this place (in the way back) when it was a picture house, and what it must have been like to pitch up for a movie in the company of three and a half thousand other folks.i am also struggling to come to terms with the fact that this is the stage where Dire Straits played the gig(s) that would become the Alchemy album, or where Rhod Gilbert would perform the version of his lost luggage routine that I howled at laughter over, and showed to everybody I came into contact with for about a month.Amazing what you think about whilst you are waiting for the music to start.Stay safe.Ray of Light - MadonnaTherapy For Me (or TFM as I now refer to it) is a bit of an audio curiosity. It started out as a mechanism for me to clear my head, with the hope that by saying stuff out loud it would act as a little bit of self-help. It's remains loose in style, fluid in terms of content and raw - it's a one take, press record and see what happens, affair.If you want to keep in touch with TFM and the other stuff I do then please follow me on Facebook, Insta, Twitter or Patreon. Thanks for getting this far.

W/C 21st September 20262 quick things, because I am very late to meet a man for a German breakfast.No QC this morning, Mrs S. has been able to get some peace, so it might be an editing-car-crash. Let me know if there is stuff I need to fix.What is it with duvets in German hotels, like a postage stamp and the towels aren't much better.Stay safeTravelling Alone - Jason IsbellTherapy For Me (or TFM as I now refer to it) is a bit of an audio curiosity. It started out as a mechanism for me to clear my head, with the hope that by saying stuff out loud it would act as a little bit of self-help. It's remains loose in style, fluid in terms of content and raw - it's a one take, press record and see what happens, affair.If you want to keep in touch with TFM and the other stuff I do then please follow me on Facebook, Insta, Twitter or Patreon. Thanks for getting this far.

W/C 14th September 2026In the car on the way home from the cinema on Wednesday, Jack and I discussed three things about Raiders of the Lost ArkIt is genuinely quite a disturbing film, and deserving of its updated 12A rating. It isn't surprising that I was a little traumatised when I first saw it on the big screen at the age of ten.Is there anybody cooler than Harrison FordThe 2013 episode of Big Bang Theory (the Raiders Minimisation) is actually very much on point, arguing that for all of his efforts, Indiana Jones makes no appreciable difference to the outcome of the story.Stay safe.Perfect - The Lightning Seeds

W/C 7th September 2026This week's TFM is a little late, 44 minutes and counting.It's because of a bag of bolts and assorted fittings. A bag that is imperative if you want to transform these bits of wood, frame and perforated metal shelving into a shoe rack. And I would dearly love to do that.I won't bore you with the details, but it involves a nineteen year old, a second year student house and a lot of fractious conversation. We have invested a goodly amount of time into tracking down the specifications for the item in question, an item I was reassured we got from Argos.When this information was corrected earlier this morning, and we started looking in the right places for the intelligence we needed, I was able to approximate what was required from the tubs of assorted ironmongery I have in the garage.The result is that we now have something that looks like it should, and is packed in a car heading up the A1 to its new home.And I am running 53 minutes late...Stay safe.Billy Joel - New York State of MindTherapy For Me (or TFM as I now refer to it) is a bit of an audio curiosity. It started out as a mechanism for me to clear my head, with the hope that by saying stuff out loud it would act as a little bit of self-help. It's remains loose in style, fluid in terms of content and raw - it's a one take, press record and see what happens, affair.If you want to keep in touch with TFM and the other stuff I do then please follow me on Facebook, Insta, Twitter or Patreon. Thanks for getting this far.

W/C 31st August 2026I have always seen inbetween as one word, but it turns out it should always be written as two.So when I used it previously as an episode title, I employed it incorrectly. I thought about correcting it, but I have decided I am going to leave there as a 'note-to-self' to be better in the future.I can only apologise.Stay safe.In Between Days - the CureTherapy For Me (or TFM as I now refer to it) is a bit of an audio curiosity. It started out as a mechanism for me to clear my head, with the hope that by saying stuff out loud it would act as a little bit of self-help. It's remains loose in style, fluid in terms of content and raw - it's a one take, press record and see what happens, affair.If you want to keep in touch with TFM and the other stuff I do then please follow me on Facebook, Insta, Twitter or Patreon. Thanks for getting this far.