Vince Tracy's Podcasts

What did I say last week about making John Cleese Prime Minister?....would you believe he was on the morning news the next day saying he was leaving the country because he was sick of the corruption in the government and the press...they asked him if he was going to America and he burst out laughing ....... ..SO the BBC are bringing out a training manual to teach the reporters how to handle those involved.... .Social media seems to be the answer to all those who love to moan about everything yet do nothing....my answer when I have a problem with an item is to cease buying it or anything made by its manufacturer.... David Beckham has hit the headlines....he was caught doing 60mph in a 40 limit....and his "loophole" solicitor got him off because the summons was sent out late....creating headlines like "Bend the law like Beckham"....and he has announced "he was relieved".......... On the entertainment scene....I believe The Eagles are going on tour again...they must be running out of money...I have been a fan for many years but I now find them a bit samey.....I liked the line up with Don Henley...Glen Frey...joe Walsh...Tim Scmitt and Don Felder....however when they kicked Felder out I thought his replacement was good but NOT right.............I always prefer dramas with reasonably unknown faces....makes it more realistic.. I have just heard that Liverpool comedian Tom Pepper has sadly passed away....he was a nice guy and used to appear ...it is the song for this week in memory of my mate.

A new study by the Pew Research Center has found that 86% of Spaniards support welcoming refugees – the highest percentage of 18 nations surveyed, including 10 EU countries. According to the survey, only 13% of Spaniards said they would “oppose accepting refugees fleeing violence and war.”........The survey shows that Italy, Poland and Hungary were the least-welcoming countries for refugees in Europe. The SPECTATORS watched in horror during Barcelona’s annual La Mercè festival when a human tower or ‘castle’ collapsed. Performers attempted to create an enormous tower of bodies, a tradition of the festival, but as the final two climbers scaled the ‘human castle’ those at the foundation of the structure lost their balance. A THREE-YEAR-OLD girl has lost her fight for life after a freak incident led to her death following a car crash in Spain.The girl was safely strapped into a child seat in the back of a car that was being driven by her mother. A school bus in front of their car allegedly braked sharply to avoid a collision between two cars in front of it. However, the woman driver couldn’t react in time and she smashed into the back of the bus.Emergency services said the girl suffered severe head injuries after a tablet she was playing with struck her in the crash in Vilanova de Arousa (Pontevedra). A STUDENT has plunged to his death in Spain while allegedly practicing parkour on a construction site in Madrid. The 17-year-old boy fell eleven floors to his death according to a National Police investigation when he attempted risky jumps and ‘parkour’ with friends. Parkour participants aim to get from one point to another in a complex environment, without equipment and in the fastest and most efficient way possible. It includes running, climbing, swinging, vaulting, jumping, rolling, crawling and other movements as deemed most suitable for the situation ....... AN ADOLF HITLER T-shirt has been snapped in one of Mallorca’s busiest tourist spots causing outrage on the Spanish island. Spotted and photographed on Palma beach, Mallorca the controversial T-shirt has made waves on social media. Analysis by the Office for National Statistics, shows that after many years of Britons living longer, life expectancy has now either stalled or fallen in parts of the UK. Across the UK as a whole, life expectancy did not improve at all between 2015 and 2017 - standing at 79.2 years for men and 82.9 years for women. More than a million over-65s may suffer dangerous side-effects because they are taking herbal remedies and dietary supplements alongside drugs prescribed by their GP, a study has found. Some ‘hazardous’ combinations can increase the risk of bleeding, raise blood sugar levels or stop medications from working effectively, warned scientists. Twitter users suggested that the body of a woman killed by a train should be left on the tracks and services allowed to continue running......... so now we all have to wait hours to get a train.' A MAJOR airport in the UK has vowed to crack down after a baggage handler was filmed by a Ryanair passenger flying in from Spain as they tossed her suitcase into the air and onto the ground. Passenger Elizabeth Evans posted a video that went viral and has received more than 1.5m views of the baggage handler mishandling the luggage as it was offloaded from flight FR3233 from Malaga to Manchester. She took to Twitter to tell Manchester Airport‏: “Thank this member off staff for ruining my new case

..We have had some bad storms here but nowhere near as bad as the States.....I was once in Florida during one of the annual hurricanes and they were appealing for the public to donate money to help those in the south who had lost their homes etc.....I brought this up the next day by the swimming pool and enquired as to why they are asking the public for donations when they are spending millions 100 miles up the coast sending rockets into space....some of which don't leave the ground....could the Kennedy Space Centre not solve the problem instantly?....well...I nearly cause an international incident.....they didn't see i that way.... This Brexit nonsense just goes to prove what a nation of followers we are....we have voted out and now we are getting cold feet because we'll have to go it alone....they should teach kids in school the art of independence and belief in yourself.....personally I have never automatically accepted newspaper headlines or ANYTHING politicians say... What a lot of folk seem to lack is imagination....take the music business for example.... I left school and formed a beat group....but there were so many at the time that it wasn't easy getting decent gigs so I looked for a gap in the market and that was strict tempo......so I learnt all the standard quicksteps and waltzes etc and combined it with sixties ..thus we could entertain across the board and as a 4 piece we were cheaper than a dance band 7 piece..................the point being we were not BETTER than everyone else we were different because we filled a gap...............it's called imagination. There have been many band anecdotes over the years ... most of which are unrepeatable...but one which stands out and explains the mentality of the audience you are playing to happened at a Masonic function we were doing....some bloke came up to me in the break and asked if we played Hotel California....to which I explained wasn't part of our repertoire....so then comes the "Can't you have a go?".....so realising his limited knowledge of music I changed the subject and informed him that I had seen The Eagles live in Huddersfield.....then he comes out with "I was there.........bit suspect though aren't the?".....I had to know so I said "Why's that?"....wait for it....."Because they had a row of different guitars on the stage...which means they can't play in different keys"....I said to my bass player "NOW I have heard everything"..........The Eagles are up there playing the finest top of the range instruments to get the required sounds assuming the audience will be well impressed.....but what they are ACTUALLY thinking is they can't play in different keys......priceless. And talking about finding the gap in the market....I used to write songs for my Welsh mate Paul Damian who was a professional cabaret artist......we used to meet up on a Monday and discuss our weekend gigs over a cup of coffee.....he asked me if I could write a novelty song for him.....I casually said we could teach the world to say that long village name in Anglesey....I then stopped sipping my coffee and realised what I had said.....I made him recite the word over and over again....kissed him on top of his head and said "THAT'S IT!!!....GENIUS"...within a week I had written and recorded the song with Paul teaching the world....sent a copy to Lady Di at the Palace to help her with her Welsh which made headlines in The Daily Star....got it on local radio which led it to be played on the World Service....it even got a Radio 1 play....I then organised an outlet in the village to sell it to the tourists which took off....it is now on YouTube approaching 2 million its.....like I say ... it's all about imagination...and here it is.

In 2017, Spain received a record-breaking number of tourists with 82 million people visiting the country. Of this figure, more than half – 42 million – came from Spain’s biggest tourist markets: the United Kingdom, Germany and France. BARCELONA footballer player Gerard Pique could face up to six months in jail after he was caught driving without a valid licence. According to reports from radio station Cadena Ser he was pulled over on Friday for a routine check and asked to show his documents. Police officers found he had zero points left on his licence so he should not have been driving. A MAN who was refused ranquilisers threatened to kill and repeatedly insulted his doctor in Velez-Malaga. MAGALUF’s mayor has called for stronger action to be taken to stop the craze of balconing that has seen several people killed or seriously hurt. Police in Benidorm have smashed a British drugs gang accused of running its operations from a campsite. Investigators said the organisation had grown so big it had set up a drugs route between Spain and the UK as well as selling to British holidaymakers on the campsite and other Costa Blanca towns outside Benidorm. Nearly 100 police officers have slept with prostitutes, groped members of the public, and been called 'sex pests' by colleagues- but have been allowed to keep their job....... The drama 'Bodyguard' aired this week with even more violent scenes, leaving viewers shocked. ...........yet another steamy sex session.She had crept up on in him while he was sleeping when he suddenly threw her to the floor and grabbed her by the throat as she begged him to stop................ Jeremy Corbyn has been summoned by the head of MI5 for a 'facts of life' briefing on the real threats facing Britain. The head of the security services wants to get through to the Labour leader the real risks to Britain from terrorism, foreign spies and Russian interference.

.The BBC have dropped their intention to appeal against the Cliff Richard saga....one of the boffins was interviewed on "Newswatch" and asked if anyone had been disciplined or resigned...and guess what he could see no real wrong in what they did...."Newswatch" is a joke really...it is there for viewers to criticise the BBC....but it's ON the BBC...it should be on ITV with Piers Morgan...that would be far more interesting... The news has been showing clips of Teresa May "dancing" to music on one of her political travels...she was merely joining in and being friendly...so why try to ridicule her?...............and before you can get on the Queen's honours list you have to have your tax situation in order... Out of interest I watched 10 minutes of the X Factor....or should i say The Simon Cowell Show......IT IS AWFUL!!!....what these youngsters don't realise is it is show BUSINESS.....10% show and 90% business if you want to survive.... Something that has upset the music biz is the upsurge of musicians playing for nothing in their bands which doesn't help those who do it for a living.....some actually pay to play so there is no hope..... The song this week is from one of my DVDs and one of my albums featuring my favourite river....the wonderful River Mersey...and as I was born on its shores it is a part of me so writing songs about it is a pleasure....

Vince the Prince runs the Sunday Cool Music Club from #coolfm downtown #Benidorm on the #costablanca in Spain. In the first part of the show Vince looks at the personalities and the stories behind the hits of this day down the years. Join the podcast and learn about the hits down the years.The rest of the show includes a featured chart of the American hits and special guests.....it can be found on Vince's website at www.vincetracy.com

French and British fishermen have clashed in the English Channel over a hoard of scallops - the latest flare-up in a years-long war over the prized shellfish. SPANISH police are trying to round up the 116 sub-Saharan migrants who stormed a border crossing using force and return them to Morocco. The migrants allegedly threw quicklime and battery acid at border officers as they stormed into the Spanish territory of Ceuta. The Spanish government of Socialist Party (PSOE) Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is being pressured to take a stand in the ongoing row over pro-independence symbols in Catalonia. The conservative Popular Party (PP) and center-right Ciudadanos have called on the government to ban the yellow ribbons, an emblem of support for jailed pro-independence leaders, from all public spaces. Two-thirds of people in the Valencian region have problems with their weight, with 90,000 classified as morbidly obese and another 5,000 super obese. FLIGHT times from the UK are on average 35 minutes longer than a decade ago, despite improvements in aircraft technology a Which? Travel report claims. PINEAPPLES stuffed with 67 kilos of cocaine have been seized in a police raid on a wholesale market in Spain. The fruits, believed to have a street value of almost €275,000 are believed to have been shipped from Costa Rica to Portugal by boat and then overland to the Spanish capital. POLICE have stopped a drunk woman driver who was eight times over the legal drink drive limit in Spain. THE British government has told its taxpayers, including those living abroad, that they must declare their earnings on overseas assets by September 30 or face penalties. The amount of money wrongly paid in benefits as a result of fraud and error soared to £3.8billion last year. This was up £200million on the previous year and came despite a Tory pledge to bring it down. It means more than £70million is lost to fraud and error every week. Police should dramatically increase the use of stop and search to combat spiralling gang violence, former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith demands today. A ‘toxic cycle of serious violence’ fuelled by drug dealers who operate ‘with impunity’ is spreading around the country, a major report by the Conservative MP’s think-tank warns. Michael Palin has slammed the BBC's culture of political correctness after one of it s comedy bosses said Monty Python were too 'white and Oxbridge' for modern TV

Everyone is up in arms about the cost of Princess Eugenie's wedding....somewhere in the region of £2 million....with comments pointing out that she does nothing and doesn't even have job....she is the daughter of Prince Andrew who I don't have a lot of time for and Sarah Ferguson who I actually like very much.... Speaking of television there seems to be a bit of a panic on about loss of viewers ....they don't seem to see the obvious problem....there is very little worth watching....and yet they are paying out ridiculous salaries to the likes of Chris Evans and Gary Linacre.... Robbie Williams will be a judge on the X Factor...he must be short of cash......he is a good entertainer but I remember how obnoxious he was back in the day.........I'm happy for them but do I care? Finally I think the transgender celebrations in Manchester are somewhat over the top...I have absolutely nothing against gay people......it's as if they are trying to prove a point which no longer needs proving....you are what you are and I appreciate that in the past gays were treated badly but maybe it's time to move on?.....or am I over simplifying it all? Last week you played my song Beatle City which I produced for the Merseyside Council back in the 80's ...the song this week is the B side of that disc which pays a tribute to some of the bands who gave it to the world......so here are some "Merseybeat Memories".

The second crisis of the NGO-run vessel Aquarius has come to an end with the 141 migrants on board now safely in Malta, from where they will then be sent to five European countries, with 60 to be taken in by Spain. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has praised the agreement but .......... .POLICE have shot a man, armed with a knife, after he allegedly attacked officers at a police station in Spain on Monday. PASSENGERS were left in tears after their flight to the Spanish holiday island of Mallorca was cancelled because the ‘crew was too tired’. .AN easyJet flight from Manchester Airport to Gibraltar diverted to Portugal last Sunday due to a 'disruptive' passenger onboard. AN IRISH father who was travelling from Spain with his five-year-old daughter claims he was told he would be arrested by police for theft upon arrival at East Midlands airport after refusing to pay for a pot of Pringles. .......... Working with teams of international fraud specialists, including in Madrid and Alicante, the Department for Work and Pensions has recovered a record total of £1.1billion in overpaid benefits in relation to both UK and international fraud. In the UK The families of Hillsborough victims have slammed a decision to drop charges against former police chief Sir Norman Bettison over alleged lies he told following the disaster. More people with criminal records should be made magistrates to increase diversity among the judiciary, the chairman of Magistrates Association said last night.......... A radical new steam treatment could offer hope to millions of middle-aged men who suffer with an enlarged prostate. The five-minute procedure to shrink the gland cuts the need for surgery and comes with minimal side effects. Kay Longstaff claimed she had fallen from the Norwegian Star off the coast of Croatia over the weekend .. But the 83-year-old mother of Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) president has since suggested she must have jumped off the vessel - and said the incident had cost the firm $600,000. 'She didn't fall off. She jumped,' she told the Daily Telegraph. 'This has cost Norwegian Cruise Line $600,000. ........she couldn't have fallen. You would have to take steps to climb over the railings. It comes as Ms Longstaff's father revealed she had been going through a 'hard time' in her personal life and ...... A woman three times the drink drive limit who was arrested after hitting a parked motorbike and quad bike while swigging from a can of lager has been spared jail. ...... she admitted to dangerous driving and driving while under the influence of alco hol. ....Mitigating, Ricky Holland, argued that she had been drinking as she struggled to cope with her father's terminal illness. A drunken policewoman who attacked two fellow officers in her home while screaming and assaulted her boyfriend before making false abuse claims against him has avoided jail. .........was sentenced to a 12-month community order, which includes a 60-day alcohol treatment requirement and a 15-day rehabilitation requirement. She must also pay £300 costs and an £85 victim surcharge and was made subject to an indefinite restraining order prohibiting contact..

.Sad to hear about the passing of Aretha Franklin....she was world class and such a massive talent...her range and phrasing were as good as it gets....but she will live on through the music she has given us all........there are some amazing female voices who I admire....Dionne Warwick singing Heartbreaker is a masterpiece and couldn't be sung any better.... Talking of masterpieces the Tate Gallery in Liverpool has had a makeover.....now when I look at some of the modern art on display I'm afraid I just don't get it....for example a black square on a green background entitled "black on green" is NOT art and anyone over the age of 2 could produce this.....but no doubt some "experts" will see so much in this nonsense.....we have discussed this before but I think Tracy Emin deserves a mention with her "unmade bed"....she should have got in it and stayed there..... Because it has become impossible to find anything on television I have found a series on Netflix called "Designated Survivor" starring and produced by Kiefer Sutherland who should have been a ventriloquist.... The hot weather here has created some interesting new fashions....especially in the shorts area......this coupled with the shaved head with sunglasses perched on the top....the earring...and of course tattoos.... The song this week has a story behind it....when I first met you when you were working for Radio Merseyside I had written a song about the area which you played on your programme....I eventually released the song on vinyl with a girl singer performing it...I placed them in the tourist shops in Liverpool and it was picked up by a chap called Ron Jones who was the boss of Merseyside Council Tourism....he got in touch and asked me if I would write a song about Liverpool and The Beatles....I didn't want to capitalise on the fab four as everyone else was doing so....so I composed "Beatle City" utilising the titles of their songs....I supplied the council with a large amount and they sold the lot...and here it is....my tribute to Scouseland.

Each week on the #coolfm #benidorm music club Vince the Prince looks at a hit year from America. How much of the influences came from UK? See which of the great USA successes feature in this podcast.Great music from both sides of the pond. Full show always found at www.vincetracy.com

AN ENORMOUS span of a road bridge in Genoa, Italy has collapsed killing scores of motorists and trapping many more in the rubble... . Dozens of vehicles burned in Sweden's four major cities - Stockholm, Malmo, Gothenburg and Uppsala - on Monday evening and in the early hours of Tuesday after gangs of youths launched a series of attacks across the country.............. An Afghan asylum-seeker has been arrested after injuring four people in a drunken and frenzied knife attack in a sleepy French town. .............. The municipal spokesperson for the conservative Popular Party (PP) in Vigo, Elena Muñoz, sent out a tweet on August 8 that now appears to have been premonitory. “This is the week of the O Marisquiño [festival], but the place where it will be held is not in a good condition. ....... Six countries from the European Union have reached an agreement to take in the 141 migrants that are currently on board the Aquarius NGO rescue ship, as well as a further 100 that have also been picked up in the Mediterranean, Spanish government sources have announced. Under the deal, Spain will take in a total of 60 people............. For now, it appears to be the perfect crime. The thieves who last week robbed the Puerto Rican singer Daddy Yankee, in a hotel in Valencia, didn’t use guns or violence. .......... AIRPORT police in Spain have arrested a man who tried to outsmart sniffer dogs and officers by using curry paste to conceal drugs. ............ POLICE in Spain are hunting a 'savage' man after he impaled a dog on a spiked fence while throwing it into an animal shelter to abandon it......... In the UK The Westminster terror suspect who ploughed into 15 cyclists and pedestrians was known to police and travelled to London from his Midlands home in a Ford Fiesta bought just two months ago. ......... Meanwhile, The Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn defied calls from his own MPs, Jewish leaders and even the Israeli Prime Minister for being at the 2014 ceremony honouring extremists. .....................

The high streets are losing customers....shops are closing down....profits are down....all blaming it on online shopping........it's a sad situation but it's called progress and you have to work out a way of moving with the times... Boris Johnson's comment on women in burkhas looking like post boxes is STILL under discussion....it was a joke....which most people get but OH NO the media have to keep it all going......we all know that humour died a long time ago but some nationalities need to get over themselves....it was a JOKE....and they do look like post boxes..........if you don't like our laws the answer is simple. Our national parks have been on the news regarding the bringing in of parking charges to help pay for their maintenance..... due to government cutbacks.......which is fair enough but it seems our government and our local councils seem to be able to find money for other things so why target country parks which are enjoyed by so many people?....we are told we MUST get out and exercise because we are all obese...then they charge us for it.... .I have a kayak and like to take it to Chester occasionally and have a peaceful paddle up the River Dee....utilising the free car park and slipway....and as only motorised craft require a licence there is no cost there...however last time I was there a notice had been put up regarding "changes in parking restrictions" which were soon coming into force.....and another which seemed to mention hourly charges....as I was somewhat confused .....As you know I love where I live and feel privileged to be able to enjoy what it has to offer....the Wirral Peninsula has it all and the song this week is one I wrote a while back for one of my DVDs of the area.....

The heat wave which hit Spain last Wednesday has claimed eight lives, according to the latest figures released on Tuesday afternoon. .......Spain’s national weather service Aemet on Monday announced the end of the heat wave and forecast a gradual drop in temperatures. Italy’s interior minister, Matteo Salvini, has accused Spain of “encouraging out-of- control immigration.” The remarks come after Spain’s foreign minister, Josep Borrell, gave an interview to the German daily Handelsblatt in which he accused Italy of implementing an immigration policy that harms other EU member states. SPAIN’S National Police force has arrested seven people suspected of large-scale migrant smuggling. The organised crime gang would smuggle the migrants from French-speaking African countries to Northern Spain, and from there on to France. The investigation into a master’s degree obtained in 2009 by Pablo Casado, the new leader of Spain’s Popular Party (PP), is on its way to the Supreme Court. The crimes that Casado would face if the case prospers are cohecho impropio – accepting a gift that is offered because of one’s public position – and prevaricación administrativa – for abetting unlawful decisions by civil servants. A court in Seville has ordered Ángel Boza, one of the members of the notorious “La Manada” gang who were convicted for sexually abusing an 18-year-old at the 2016 Running of the Bulls fiestas in Pamplona, to be sent to prison without bail for robbery with violence after he was caught shoplifting and assaulting two security guards on Wednesday. In the UK a group of travellers evicted from a leafy Surrey common four days ago have invaded a village just six miles away. Locals living in well-heeled Thames Ditton - where homes are valued at £1million - say that they are at their wits' end after a mob of 200 travellers moved to their recreation ground from nearby Cobham. A Sudanese asylum seeker who raped a student and then tried to rape a mother in the same cemetery has been jailed for 16 years after admitting the crimes saying: 'Guilty. Yes - why not?'. ...........In his Daily Telegraph article Mr Johnson said that he felt 'fully entitled' to expect women who wear face coverings to take them off when talking to him at his MP surgery. He also said schools and universities are entitled to take the same approach if a pupil comes in 'looking like a bank robber'. .... England cricketer, Ben Stokes, 27 was accused of 'trying to provoke two gay men' by a bouncer who claimed he was sworn at in an 'angry and spiteful tone' after he refused him entry to a nightclub. ...... Lewis Hamilton, the four-time Formula One world champion, shared a clip of him litter picking on a beach on the Greek island of Mykonos on Instagram and Twitter. In the clips, a topless Hamilton is seen wearing gloves as he picks up debris. ..

.While sifting through the rubbish we are subjected to on television I actually found a program I enjoyed....it was the story of Jimmy Perry and David Croft who created Dad's Army.......it was a brilliant insight into problems of trying to convince TV boffins of the credibility of good comedy.....................and another interesting documentary was the story of Fawlty Towers...another classic...it was interesting to see how John Cleese stopped after the second series as he felt it had run its course... I thought after his appearance on Strictly Come Dancing Ed Balls would vanish off the scene....how wrong I was....he features in a new documentary called Travels in Trumpland with Ed Balls....where he travels around the southern states of the U.S.A. meeting Donald Trump supporters.... Rick Astley ....is going back on tour to promote his latest album......I built a recording studio in my attic back in the day as I failed to see what difference Abbey Road would make to my records.... It is nice to see my pals The Krankies on the Marigold Hotel programme...........also Donald Campbell's Bluebird has been restored and put back on the water....I actually have a connection to this....back in 1958 I saw a skiffle group called The Atlantics on our local cinema which was the first time I heard an electric guitar on stage....the leader of the group was called John Lomax and he went on to make a cine film of Cambell's last tragic attempt at the world water speed record in the Lake District....as a small tribute I wrote a song for him called "The Story of Skiffle" which we recorded and got quite a bit of airplay.