Resolutions

New Years resolutions for me were, lose weight, read more books, spend more time with the family and watch more films.

So I was straight back at the Happy Gym this week trying to work off the excesses of Christmas and our holiday. On the book front I read one on holiday which is my normal quota but aiming to read more. Autobiographies are my favourite although this one was about the 20 years of Talksport. When I’m not listening to Radio One Mallorca then Talksport is my go to for sports talk and coverage. It’s now for me taken over from 5Live as the premier sports radio channel. They’ve taken a lot of sports events from what you might call the establishment in the BBC but I’m all for it. Football, Cricket, Rugby have all been featured and I think they do a great job. 5Live have also been criticised lately after Mark Pougatch, Jonathon Overend and Cornelius Lysaght were removed from their duties. It’s the beebs way of trying to appeal to the under 35’s. In the World of Music they have Radio 1,2,3 and 4 so all ages are catered for. But in sport there’s mainly only one and it’s 5Live. It’s smacks of ageism to me but in a media where you can only hear what they’re saying surely their expertise and not what they look like matters more. Particularly Mark Pougatch, I can’t think of a better person than him to present Saturday afternoonsport followed by sports report. It’s funny how they’ve never changed that introductory music on Sports Report, it’s been going since 1948 and yet the guys that are totally suited to what they do are kicked out. Now the spend more time with family is actually linked into radio for me. Just before Christmas we sold the Radio Station. The last few years have been quite a ride with a lot to be proud of and we would all like to thank you whether you are a listener, advertiser or supporter of our charity events, its your help that has got us to where we are today – the islands number one English speaking music station. Our audiences continue to grow across our platforms – 93.8fm in Mallorca and 102fm in Calvià, online at www.radioonemallorca.com on mobile through our free App for iPhone & Android, The Tunein Radio App, iTunes, the Spanish TDT TV service and all smart speakers and we have lots of exciting plans for 2020.

To help us continue to grow and provide some of the very best music, news and entertainment, we decided to bring in some new faces and fresh ideas to the station. We are absolutely delighted to announce that the station was acquired in December 2019 by Tony Stanton and his business partner Neil Utley, who are both very experienced in media, music and broadcasting. This is brilliant news for the future of the station and we know that with their input of ideas, resources and contacts, the station will continue to thrive as the number one choice for English speakers on our amazing island and around the World. All of the team you know and love will still be with the station, providing the same great music, news, interviews, competitions and events.

Thank you for all of your support so far, and here’s to an awesome 2020 and bright future!

Whilst I will still be presenting the Breakfast show and my work at Pirates carries on unabated I’m hoping that this gives me a little more opportunity to enjoy my family life too.

Watching more films was a definite for me. After seeing the new Star Wars movie and finally seeing Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman. I was alerted to the fact that Oscar nominated and Golden Globe winner 1917 was on in Palma. It’s an amazing film and I urge you to go and see it.

At the height of the First World War, two young British soldiers, Schofield and Blake are given a seemingly impossible mission. In a race against time, they must cross enemy territory and deliver a message that will stop a deadly attack on hundreds of soldiers– Blake’s own brother among them.

It’s already had some great reviews.

Associated Press: Sam Mendes, has similarly taken top technology – and the best cinematography – to give us a different, equally compelling look at that cruel war, through the eyes of two ordinary soldiers asked to perform an extraordinary task.

Rolling Stone: In one of the best war films of all time, director Sam Mendes brilliantly delivers a story of two WWI soldiers on a mission that’s a stunning technical accomplishment that unfurls as one single take – and a deeply felt tale of heroism under fire.

Continuing on the film front, Frozen 2 has become the highest-grossing animated film ever after taking £1billion at the box office.

The Disney film, a sequel to the 2013 original, has proved to be a roaring success since its premiere on November 7th.

The figures mean Frozen 2 is the third biggest film of 2019 following two more Disney films: Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame (£2.12billion) and The Lion King (£1.26billion)

Billie Eilish has been confirmed as the artist to provide the theme song for 25thJames Bond movie No Time to Die.

The 18-year-old is the youngest artist to ever provide music for the epic 007 franchise.

The news was revealed on the 007 Twitter page on Tuesday and it was told that Billie worked on the music with her brother Finneas O’Connell.

The tweet read: “The #NoTimeToDie title song will be performed by @billieeilish . Billie has written the song with her brother @finneas and is the youngest artist in history to write and record a James Bond theme song.”

The announcement comes after Hans Zimmer has been confirmed as the new composer for the film.

The legendary composer has previously scored iconic films such as The Lion King, Gladiator, The Dark Knight Trilogy, Inception, Thelma and Louis, and Dunkirk….AND Going for Gold! One for the teenagers.

With no league games last weekend Real Mallorca made it through to the last 32 of the Copa Del Rey beating Zamora by 1-0. The next round they face a tricky visit to Real Zaragoza who currently lie in 3rd place in La Liga 123. One of the lowest ranked teams left in the competition is UD Ibiza. Founded in 2015, they play in Segunda B Group 1, the same as Atletico Baleares, playing their home matches at Estadi Municipal de Can Misses(I’d change the name)with a capacity of 5,000. They drew the small matter of Barcelona in the next round. An unbelievable opportunity and definitely the biggest game of football to take place in Ibiza ever. It’s a shame only 5,000 will get to see it. Personally I would have switched it back to the Nou Camp if it was possible but I’m told it’s not. Surely that’s more sensible, I know it spoils the romance but an opportunity for the players and fans to go there would for me be a better option.

Real Mallorca play Valencia at home at 12 midday on Sunday which in all honesty is a must win game. Atlético Baleares won last weekend and are joint top of Segunda B Group 1 with Atlético Madrid B. They are away this week in Gran Canaria playing Las Palmas Athletico. Sam Shashoua their former player who was on loan from Tottenham last season has returned to the club on loan from Tenerife where he was transferred to last summer. Hopefully he can help them gain promotion this season.

My two returned to action last weekend with a 7-0 victory for Jacobs team and a 1-1 draw for Judes team. They both playon Saturday afternoon this weekend so a bit of running around for Dad Taxi.

Enjoy your weekend!

Richie presents the Radio One Mallorca Breakfast show Monday to Friday07.30-11.00am on 93.8fm in Mallorca and 102fm in Calvià, online atwww.radioonemallorca.com on mobile through their free App for IPhone & Android, The Tunein Radio App, iTunes, the Spanish TDT TV service and all smart speakers. If you can’t hear him on the radio then you’ll find him working at Pirates Adventure the islands number one night out and every now and again he may make an understudy appearance!

Follow him on Twitter @DadTaxi1 & Instagram @dad.taxi or feel free to email him at rprior@globobalear.com

Mexico

We’re lucky enough to have a holiday every year. However because of my work, my Wife’s work, the boys schooling and their football the only time we get to go away is over the Christmas and New Year period. Over the last 5 years we’ve visited, Orlando, Miami, The Florida Keys, a Caribbean Cruise and Mauritius. One place we hadn’t visited ever before was Mexico and a lot of our friends had recommended it to us. We usually use a company called Trailfinders. I know these days you can do it all yourself but you can call these guys tell them what you want and they’ll come back with 2 or 3 options. If you don’t like something they can then fine tune it to sort your needs. It’s all legally covered which after the demise of Thomas Cook shows it’s important to book through a reputable Agency. The other good thing is they accept Spanish credit cards which is something that quite a few UK companies don’t and they give you the option of paying over a period of time. Over the time we have used them everything has pretty much passed off without any dramas.

After my Mum’s 90th birthday bash we headed off to Gatwick to overnight at the Premier Inn. Say what you like about them but to get your head down for £40 for the 4 of us and a free breakfast for the kids, you can’t go wrong. Plus the fact you can walk across the road thoroughly rested and onto the plane. Airline entertainment has improved dramatically over the years, I gorged on documentaries, comedies, music and a couple of films I kept promising myself to watch. Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman were 2 music films I should have watched ages ago considering I’m in the game but just kept putting them off. This time I had no excuse and I wasn’t disappointed. Both were fantastic and featured two singers who had very troubled lives but whose talent shone through. Unlike the entertainment the food hasn’t improved. By the way I’m sat in cattle class so don’t know how much better it gets the further forward you go? I’m not sure why these airlines haven’t gone down the route of the no frills airlines and let you buy your own?

One thing I will say about the Mexicans is how friendly they are. Virtually every sentence begins with the word “family” as in family let me tell you about…and at the end they always say “un placer”(a pleasure). They couldn’t do enough for you. We were staying at Dreams Playa de las Mujeres, 10 miles north of Cancun. An all inclusive hotel with just over 500 rooms with pools, restaurants, entertainment and situated right on the beach.

The hotel was great, the only slight criticism of it was the food which I feel could have been better but certainly didn’t spoil our holiday. The boys had a great time and joined in most of the sporty things with the entertainments team who were also great. We therefore managed to get some much needed chill time.

We pre-booked a couple of excursions before we travelled a private yacht and a trip that we were recommended called Xplor.

Xplor or Xplor fuego is an adventure park that will have you flying across the sky on zip-lines, you go through paths of the jungle on amphibious vehicles and swim and float on rafts in underground rivers Earth created millions of years ago. We decided to go on Xplor Fuego which is the nighttime version. It was all fairly relaxed as we made it up to the first zip wire. We were shown a brief safety video and then kitted out with our harnesses. As we made our way to first wire it suddenly dawned on me how high these wires were. It was dusk so you were still able to see the view. Stunning it was, but to someone like me who isn’t keen on heights I suddenly realised this wasn’t going to be as fun as I thought. I decided to go first just to show I wasn’t scared. There are words I can’t write hear but let’s just say it was definitely squeaky bum time! My eldest came across and loved it and then nothing. The guide told us that my youngest didn’t want to do it and my wife was taking him back downstairs. So me and Jake ventured on. They also don’t warn you too much about the steps and climb to reach each zip wire. After the Christmas excesses believe me it wasn’t fun and I was knackered. The highest I think was number 7 out of 9. I don’t know if was the height(150ft), the wind because of the height, or I was so tired but I was all ready to quit. A little bit of encouragement from Jake and we got round. The last wire has you landing in water which is bit of a wake up. To be honest it was a relief to finish and if you asked me to do it again then I would probably decline. As me and Jake were soaked we moved onto all the water activities. Firstly a Swim across 400 meters of crystal-clear water in an underground river surrounded by stalactites and stalagmites, followed by paddling with your hands on board fun rafts across a 600 metre underwater river and then finally a splash wire into water on hammocks. At this point you should know that we had brought our swimming gear and special swimming shoes so we were adequately prepared for these. The final trip was on electronic amphibious vehicles that wind their way along 3 miles through the wilderness of the Mayan jungle. Great fun especially at night.

All in all a fun trip not quite what we expected but good value.

The Whole time away has been great but it’s always good to get back to the island and get stuck into work.

Real Mallorca lost away just after the New Year in Grenada by 1-0. So at the halfway point of 19 games they are now in the relegation places with 15 points. They’re split on goal difference from Celta in 17th. Last season Girona went down on 37 points and Celta finished in 17th on 41 points so that should be the aim. That’s a tough 26 points to find and they need to turn their away form around. 1 point is just not good enough and something needs to change. I have every confidence that the management and players can turn it around especially after seeing a documentary in Spanish of last seasons run in and play-off victory against Deportivo La Coruña.

The boys return to action this weekend after their Christmas break. So a busy Saturday for Dad Taxi!

Enjoy your weekend!

Richie presents the Radio One Mallorca Breakfast show Monday to Friday07.30-11.00am on 93.8fm in Mallorca and 102fm in Calvià, online at www.radioonemallorca.com on mobile through their free App for IPhone & Android, The Tunein Radio App, iTunes, the Spanish TDT TV service and all smart speakers. If you can’t hear him on the radio then you’ll find him working at Pirates Adventure the islands number one night out and every now and again he may make an understudy appearance!

Follow him on Twitter @DadTaxi1 & Instagram @dad.taxi or feel free to email him at rprior@globobalear.com

The Duchess…

Wishing you all a happy new year as we move into another decade. We are currently holidaying in Cancun, Mexico after spending the Christmas holidays with our families in the UK.

We managed to pack in lots of great things during our week. On arrival I dropped off my Wife and kids at the Bedford Swan Hotel, still managed by former Mallorca resident Malcolm Wyse. He’s done a great job updating the hotel which has a great location on the river Great Ouse and if you’re in the area it’s well worth a stay. I then drove down to Ware in Hertfordshire to have a night with my former football team mates. We all meet up at a pub called The High Oak managed by one of our former players and basically catch up on what we’ve all been up to. The banter never changes and as you can imagine gets worse as the alcohol flows. I keep in touch with some of the guys but every year others turn up that I haven’t seen in years. It’s a great night that’s become a regular date in the calendar with a possible Veterans mid-Summer game and Barbecue in planning.

An early start the next morning as we were off Christmas shopping in Milton Keynes. Two days before Christmas probably wasn’t the greatest idea but to be honest it wasn’t too bad and you can pretty much get everything you need with a great array of shops.

Christmas Eve was spent having lunch with my Mum at a pub called the Rusty Gun Pub near Hitchin. Always great to catch up with “The Duchess” as she’s affectionally known and i chose liver and bacon over bubble and squeak with a red wine Jus(gravy to you and I)I can’t remember the last time I had liver and to be honest bubble and squeak, but it was amazing and a pub I can highly recommend. More of “The Duchess” later.

Christmas Day was spent with my Wife’s family in Bedford and Boxing Day we all went off to Northamptonshire to see the rest of the family in a village called Brigstock. It’s a beautiful setting and very much full of the traditions of the countryside. Even though fox hunting has been banned in the Uk the village still has a meet and all the riders in their traditional red and black attire do a ride through going twice around the village. It’s a great spectacle and even better when the pub is open from 10am!

We spent a couple of days up there and took in the latest Star Wars movie “The Rise of Skywalker”. We were recommended to watch it in 4DX. No me neither to be honest. 4DX allows you to watch a film in 4D with environmental effects such as seat motion, wind, rain, lights, and scents along with the standard video and audio. It’s amazing especially in a film like that.

The day after I drove to Cambridgeshire to visit what I call my second family in a town called March. I met these guys in my Butlins days in the late 80’s and every winter I used to go and live and work for them. They looked after me like a Son and it was great to catch with them.

The day after my Sister and I had organised a surprise 90th birthday celebration for “The Duchess”. We invited just a few close family and friends and it was a lovely surprise for her. My Mum at 90 still as lively as ever and leads a very active life in her village, although she’s always moaning that the bus only comes twice a week! Great to see her so happy.

After the party we drove to Gatwick to start the second part of our adventure. Which I’ll tell you all about next week.

Enjoy your weekend!

Follow him on Twitter @DadTaxi1 & Instagram @dad.taxi or feel free to email him at rprior@globobalear.com

Thank You!

I wanted to give you an update on our Help a Mallorca Child And Age Concern Christmas campaigns. Rather than me tell you about it, I asked the people that work for the places we helped.

Jorge Vallejo de la Cueva wrote “From the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit of the Son Espases University Hospital, Mallorca, we would like to thank Radio One Mallorca for the numerous donations they have made to the “Intensive Humanisation” project, without which it would not have been possible to provide the parents of the children admitted to the hospital of lockers, furniture for the Parents Room which is being built at the moment, as well as their collaboration with decorating the boxes in the medical unit.

We would like to emphasise the effort and dedication of the station with regards to our services, fully aware that they are involved with other major and important social projects in other institutions.

We would especially like to thank Richie for his involvement in the project. He has always made himself available to answer any queries and dealt with our requests promptly.

Many thanks for your invaluable work and Happy Christmas from all the staff, parents and children in the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit of the Son Espases University Hospital.”

Jackie Codd wrote “Age Concern Mallorca are absolutely over the moon with the generosity this Christmas of Radio One’s listeners. Our beneficiaries receive food parcels all year round but this Christmas they will be extra special thanks to you all. Age Concern helps the over 50’s in many ways, without your support we would not be able to assist people on the island who become ill, fall upon hard times, or simply need help with paper work, visits to doctors etc. Help is just a phone call or email away. Happy Christmas to you all and many thanks.

Tel: 678-352040 or please email mallorca@ageconcern.org.es”

Major Alan Gonzalez wrote “On behalf of The Salvation Army I want to express our appreciation for your generosity in organising this year again a toys drive to support our service in Mallorca. Your commitment has been incredibly helpful and allowed us to reach our goal of distributing Christmas presents to 112 children from low-income families in our area.

Your assistance means so much to us but even more to those children, which joy is priceless. Please know how much you’ve helped and how much we all appreciate it. Thank you from all of us. Radio One is making a difference!”

Laura Sintes Llabres wrote “Dear Radio One listeners, on behalf of everybody at Fundació Nazaret we would like to convey our thanks and gratitude for the brilliant gifts you have offered to our children. Thank you again and we wish you all a Happy Christmas!”

We couldn’t do this without your amazing help and as you’ve seen from the above, together we’ve managed to put a lot of smiles on a lot of faces this Christmas. Thank you!

Mariah Carey‘s Christmas classic ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ has finally reached the Number One spot on the US Billboard chart, 25 years after its release.

Upon its original release back in 1994, the song only appeared on Mariah’s Christmas EP and not as a single, meaning it didn’t even chart on the Billboard Hot 100.

Over the last few years, the song has been creeping towards the top of the US charts each December, reaching #3 in both 2017 and 2018, and it’s finally gained the number one slot this year.

The new chart-topper becomes Carey’s 19th Billboard number one, putting her only one behind The Beatles‘ all-time record of 20.

What will be this year’s UK Christmas number 1? Well at the time of writing I don’t know but our Chart Show is on Sunday 5-7pm.

It’s a debate that divides households, particularly over the festive season: which is the best selection box chocolate?

But a new survey of British chocolate fans claims to have settled the argument once and for all.

1. Maltesers Teaser, Celebrations

2. Golden Barrel, Roses

3. Galaxy Caramel, Heroes

4. Galaxy, Celebrations

5. Wispa, Heroes

6. Dairy Milk Chunk, Celebrations

7. Twirl, Heroes

8. Crunchie Bite, Heroes

9. Caramel, Roses

10. Twix, Celebrations

… and the favourite selection boxes

1. Celebrations

2. Heroes

3. Quality Street

4. Roses

I’m a Heroes man myself and the twirl would have to be my choice.

Real Mallorca finally got an away point last weekend away at Celta Vigo. It didn’t look good, losing 2-1 and reduced to 10 men you thought that was it for another week. But they somehow managed an equaliser from Budimir which keeps them out of the relegation places. Psychologically it’s huge and if they can get a win against Sevilla on Saturday, they will go into the New Year with hope that a relegation dog fight can be avoided. They also won 1-0 away against El Alamo in the Copa Del Rey in midweek to progress to the next round.

Good news on the TV front too. LaLigaTV has reached an agreement with Sky to broadcast as a standalone channel on the network in the UK from January 2020.

The news follows an announcement back in September that LaLigaTV will be shown in the UK and Ireland via Premier Sports, featuring live coverage of every single top-flight match, plus Spain’s second tier, highlights and daily magazine programmes.

Following an initial two-week free trial period, the channel will be available to SKY TV subscribers for just £5.99 per month (as a standalone HD channel) or £11.99 per month when purchased in a bundle alongside Premier Sports 1 and Premier Sports 2 HD channels.

Atlético Baleares won 2-0 last weekend to stay top of their Segunda B group by 1 point from Athletico Madrid B. But they lost 1-0 away to Unionistas CF in the Copa Del Rey. They play away at the weekend and their next home game is January 5th against Peña Deportivo from Ibiza.

My two had mixed results last weekend. Jude lost 4-1 away at second placed Ferriolense. They go to the Christmas break in 5th place and hope to push on in the New Year. Jakes team won 7-1 and have an away game on Saturday intriguingly against his old club Calvià. They also lie in 5th but could go third if they win and other results go their way. Both have had a good start to this year’s campaigns so let’s see what happens in the New Year.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and Enjoy your weekend!

Follow him on Twitter @DadTaxi1 & Instagram @dad.taxi or feel free to email him at rprior@globobalear.com

Barca!

Last weekend I surprised the boys with a trip to Barcelona to see them play Real Mallorca. They’d been on at me for ages about going to an away game and as luck would have it both their games fitted around the Barca fixture. My eldest Jude played Saturday morning winning 9-1 and on the way home I said to the boys that we were going out in the afternoon to watch another game. I got the usual why? What’s the point? But after crow barring them off the Play Station and into the shower off we went. They only really caught on when we turned onto the airport road and met the company picking up our car. They of course were really excited not just going to watch the game but suddenly realising we were also going to our favourite tapas bar Cervecería Catalana.

On arrival at the airport we checked into the hotel, picked up our tickets, dumped our bag and off we went. The tapas didn’t disappoint and off we went to the ground. I’d managed to get good seats through a friend(thank you Kieran) which meant we were on the lower tier behind the goal. All was good until I saw the line-ups and saw the Barcelona team and particularly the 3 midfielders and 3 attackers.

Rakitic, Busquets, De Jong.

Messi, Suarez, Griezmann.

We are going to struggle to keep up with them was my immediate thought and so it proved. We were behind the goal as they tore our defence apart. They move the ball around so quickly and no player touches the ball more than twice. Messi is on a different planet and in the week that he won the Balón D’or and questions were asked why Van Dijk didn’t. You couldn’t fault him. They eased off in the second half but you thought that if they needed to score another goal they would. We managed to draw the second half 1-1 partly because they relaxed but also because Manolo Reina in goal had a worldly.

5-2 was a gubbing but after all this was Barcelona in the Nou Camp and maybe we had to remember that just 2 years ago we were playing Badalona.

Still no win away since April and this Sunday they’re away again at Celta Vigo, the team just below them in the League. Win and they open up a 4 point gap, draw and they keep the gap at 1 point, lose and they drop into the relegation places. Not where you want to be just before Christmas and nearly halfway through the season. Their last home game of 2019 will be on Saturday December 21st at 13.00 against Sevilla.

It was a great trip that we did in 15 hours as Jake had a game on Sunday morning which he won 4-1. Busy Saturday for Dad Taxi this week as one kicks off at 10.00 and the other at 12.15.

Last week at the gym(yes I’m still going!) I saw an advert for Old Spice not realising you can still buy it. Apparently you can here in Carrefour and in the UK in Tesco and Sainsburys. So on the radio we asked our listeners to let us know about their old skool aftershave or perfume memories and whether they still existed or not. As always they didn’t disappoint.

Aftershave memories were, Hai Karate, Brut, Blue Stratos, Kouros, Denim and Aramis.

Perfume memories were, Tweed, Rive Gauche, Panache, Dolce Vita and Lily of The Valley.

I wonder if any of you will get one of these this Christmas?

I’ve found a few interesting Top 10’s this week.

Taylor Swift has topped Forbes‘ annual countdown of the world’s highest-paid musicians.

The singer made $185m (£148m) in pre-tax earnings from June 2018 to June 2019. The bulk of her earnings came thanks to a new record deal, an array of endorsements and the tail end of her recent ‘Reputation’ stadium tour, which is adjudged to be the highest-grossing tour in US history.

Forbes Top 10 Highest Paid Musicians 2019

1. Taylor Swift – $185 million

2. Kanye West – $150 million

3. Ed Sheeran – $110 million

4. The Eagles – $100 million

5. Elton John – $84 million

6. Jay-Z – $81 million (tie)

6. Beyoncé – $81 million (tie)

8. Drake – $75 million

9. Diddy – $70 million

10. Metallica – $68.5 million

The top 10 most watched TV of the decade has been revealed with sport dominating the list.

Closing ceremony of the 2012 LondonOlympics, 24.5 million
Opening ceremony of the 2012 LondonOlympics, 24.2 million
World Cup 2018 semi-final England v Croatia, 20.7 million
Euros 2012 England v Italy, 20.4 million
X Factor Final 2010, 17.7 million
World Cup 2018 Quarter Final England v Sweden, 17.4 million
Men’s 100m Final at the London Olympics, 17.3 million
World Cup 2018 England v Colombia, 17.2 million
World Cup 2018 England v Tunisia, 16.9 million
Eastenders Live 2010, 16.4 million

The most searched terms on Google in the UK in 2019 were.

1. How to watch Champions League final?

2. How to watch Game of Thrones?

3. How to floss dance?

4. How to pronounce Psalm?

5. How to watch KSI vs Logan?

6. How to vote in European elections

7. How to eat pineapple?

8. How to register to vote?

9. How to tame a fox in Minecraft?

10. How to watch Chernobyl?

Some people do ask the strangest of things!

Ed Sheeran has been named Britain’s No 1 artist of the decade.

His ‘Official Chart Record Breaker’ award is for the most No 1 hits (12 in total) on the singles and albums charts from 2010 to 2019 and the most weeks at No 1 (79, which adds up to more than a year and a half at the top).

Sheeran’s hit Shape of You was named biggest song of the decade after spending 14 weeks at No 1 in 2017 with more than 4.5million sales, and two more of his songs – Thinking Out Loud and Perfect – are in the decade’s top five.

Sheeran said ‘Thank you to everyone who supported me over the past ten years, especially my amazing fans. Here’s to the next ten.’ I remember seeing him when he first started here on the island at Mallorca Rocks in 2012.

Enjoy your weekend!

Follow him on Twitter @DadTaxi1 & Instagram @dad.taxi or feel free to email him at rprior@globobalear.com

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

You have to say that the Christmas lights in Palma are once again this year spectacular, particularly the ones in the Paseo de Born. There’s a definite Christmassy feel about Palma and with all the great shops, restaurants and bars to visit for both us who live here and those that are coming for a City break. Good news this week from Palma that the owners of the iconic bar Abaco have had a change of heart. Rather than turn it into a hotel they’ve decided to keep it as a bar and will reopen in January 2020. I visited before it closed and to be honest it was looking a little tired and needed a revamp. Looking forward to seeing it in the New Year.

Spotify the digital music service that gives you access to millions of songs have revealed the most streamed songs of 2019 and the decade in the UK.

The most streamed songs of 2019 are;

Someone you Loved – Lewis Capaldi
Bad Guy – Billie Eilish
I Don’t Care – Ed Sheeran
Vossi Bop – Stormzy
7 Rings – Ariana Grande

Perhaps a little surprised to see Lewis Capaldi at number one although he has had a phenomenal year including his debut album, Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent, which topped the album charts.

The most streamed songs of the decade are;

Shape of you – Ed Sheeran
One Dance – Drake
Rockstar – Post Malone
Closer – The Chainsmokers
Thinking Out Loud – Ed Sheeran

Second placed Drakes One Dance was played 1.7 billion times, but that

was dwarfed by Ed Sheeran‘s Shape Of You, whose 2.4 billion streams, made it the decade’s most listened-to track.

The end-of-decade charts are presumably skewed towards more recent songs because of the growth in Spotify’s user-base. The service had 7 million users in 2009, but now boasts 248 million monthly active users, of which 113 million are paid subscribers.

Exciting news this week that Lionel Richiewill be coming to Palma with his World Hello! tour on July 29th 2020 at the Plaza de Toros in Palma. Tickets are on sale at www.eventopoli.com

The question is will you be saying Hello, Don’t stop the music, as we’re running with the night, while we’re dancing on the ceiling, all night long? Come on!

Real Mallorca were unlucky to lose 2-1 at home to Real Betis last weekend. After going 2-0 down in the first half it didn’t look good, but a penalty early in the second half set up a a grand stand last half hour. They were denied an equaliser though by a worldly display from Betis goalkeeper Joel Robles who was at Everton for 5 years but only played 42 Premier league games. Also by some sub standard finishing from Budimir and Lago Junior who both had good chances. 16,810 fans boosted by a good turnout from the Betis fans who brought the most travelling support so far from an away side this season. Mallorca have the small matter of Barcelona away on Saturday night. I keep saying it they need to start getting some sort of a result away from home so where better than the Camp Nou! I’ve organised a quick surprise trip for me and the boys to go and see the game. I’ve promised them an away game and it works out perfectly as Jude plays Saturday morning and Jake on Sunday lunchtime. So what better than a quick visit to Barcelona, giving us a chance to visit our favourite tapas bar in the World, Cervecería Catalana. A full report next week.

After spluttering for the last 3 games and taking just 2 points from a possible 9, Atlético Baleares got back to winning ways with a convincing 6-1 home win against Celta B. They are 3 points clear of Atlético Madrid B as they go into Sunday’s game away at UD Melilla.

No game for Jake last week but Judes team won 8-0 away at Patronato in Palma. In the last 3 games they’ve scored 24 goals and conceded none, so as the goalie he’s very happy. There’s a great scheme that’s been launched by the clubs here in Mallorca. Every game a parent from each club is delegated to represent the team in the stands making sure that nothing untoward happens. Now I have been known to get a little irate on the touch line every now and again, nothing serious but I’ve learned my lesson. I’ve decided it’s best if I have a problem to vent it in English as no one understands me.

Did we survive last week with my Wife away? Of course with a little help from Can Pedro but I did cook on Sunday night just so you know.

Enjoy your weekend!

Follow him on Twitter @DadTaxi1 & Instagram @dad.taxi or feel free to email him at rprior@globobalear.com

Maybe it’s because I’m a Londoner

This past week I’ve been back in the UK visiting clients of Pirates. In 4 days we’ve been to Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, Coventry and London. At the moment despite the fears of Brexit and the loss of Thomas Cook all the people we spoke to seem to be hopeful that 2020 will be a good year for tourism in Mallorca. Put it this way we visited clients that brought in over 750,000 people to the island this past year and are all looking to increase next year. You won’t be surprised to hear that the weather was cold, grey and wet. My test for realising Mallorca was a great choice to live is always to go on the tube in rush hour. Whilst it’s a great way to get around London rush hour is horrendous and I promise I’ll never moan about the traffic on the Via Cintura again. London, my home town was looking very christmassy and another must do is a beer in the Punch & Judy pub in Covent Garden watching the street entertainers. All in all a good few days but good to be home.

Less than a month to Christmas and we’ve begun to play festive tunes on the radio. Every year around this time we always seem to get a warning about a brussell sprout shortage. Sure enough The British Growers Association say they could be off the Christmas lunch menu this year due to a shortage of the vegetable grown in the UK.

Wet weather is being blamed as it’s making the harvesting of crops ‘very difficult’ and cauliflowers and cabbages are also being effected.

If the wet weather continues and the vegetables, part of the brassica family, cannot be saved, they may have to be shipped in from overseas. So no shortage then really.

A non-league match has got a spot-kick in history, for equalling English footy’s longest penalty shoot-out. Taunton Town and Truro City needed 34 kicks to settle their Southern League Challenge Cup tie.

After finishing normal time at 2-2 and extra-time at 3-3, the shoot-out ended 12-11 to Taunton with midfielder Jack Rice netting the winner.

The Somerset club’s chairman and groundsman Kevin Sturmey said: “It was mad, 34 minutes, 34 penalties and then I had to rebuild the penalty spot afterwards.

“We had two opportunities to win it on penalties 32 and 33 and missed both chances, one would have been signalled a wide at cricket.”

The shoot-out at Taunton’s Cygnet Health Care Stadium equals the English record set in 2016 when Chelsea’s under-23s beat Oxford United 13-12 after 34 kicks in the EFL Trophy.

But it falls well short of the world record for a penalty shoot-out.

That was set in 2005 when KK Palace beat Civics 17-16 after 48 penalties in the Namibian Cup.

Atlético Baleares lost only their second game of the season with a 1-0 reverse against Getafe B. A slight wobble after their amazing start and the gap between them and second placed Atlético Madrid B has narrowed a little to just 3 points. Hopefully they’ll get back to winning ways this weekend as they entertain Celta B at the Estadio Balear. You can buy tickets on their website.

No game last week for my youngest Jude but Jacobs team were up against the top of the league Es Raval from Santa Catalina. After winning their opening 8 games and scoring 88 goals we weren’t sure how we were going to do. But only losing 1 in 8 the boys were confident they could give them a game. After going 1-0 down in the first 5 minutes it wasn’t looking good. But slowly we started to get into the game and we were unlucky not to equalise on at least 2 occasions before half time. The confidence was high going into the second half and it was obvious that we were the first team to give them a game this season. We continued to put them under pressure and all we lacked was a goal. All that enthusiasm vanished when our defence decided to gift then a second goal. This new rule of a player being able to take the ball from the goalkeeper inside the area has caused lots of team’s problems this season, even my team Arsenal can’t seem to manage it. So our centre half got the ball and under pressure from the centre forward lost it and he scored. Two-nil down there was no way back, the boys heads went down and they went on to lose 4-0. So it wasn’t a gubbing like they’ve done to every other team but disappointing that we gifted them the game after being in it for so long. A week off for Jake this week, with Jude back in action on Saturday.

We’re then off to watch Real Mallorca who play Betis on Saturday evening. So bad is their away form they need to keep up their good home form. My Wife is away for the weekend so a trip to our favourite Can Pedro after the game could well be on the cards. Saves on the washing up!

Enjoy your weekend!

Follow him on Twitter @DadTaxi1 & Instagram @dad.taxi or feel free to email him at rprior@globobalear.com

Ian Wright, Wright, Wright

When an international break is announced in football I’m always looking for something to do at the weekends. With Real Mallorca not playing, me and the boys decided to go and watch Atlético Baleares play Real Madrid Castilla. They are doing very well in their league having only lost 1 game and we were looking forward to seeing what young players Real Madrid had.

I bought the tickets online for only 15€ and I was impressed with the website, in English and easy to navigate. They said the tickets would be emailed to me which was fine. Only they didn’t get emailed to me. I rang the club three times and each time they told me not to worry as there was a glitch in the system and they were sorting it. Worse case they said I could pick them up from the office at their other stadium which is by IKEA. I left it to Saturday morning as Jude had a game near there but when I got to their office it was closed saying they only open Monday to Friday. This I thought was strange as surely I wasn’t the only one with the problem? I tweeted them in Spanish but didn’t get a reply so decided to turn up on Sunday with the print out from my credit card statement.

Estadio Balear where they now play let’s say is working progress. The main stand on the playing side is finished but behind it still needs some work. The other three sides are completely open with lots of building work going on. So you walk into what is pretty much a building site but that’s not really a problem. We found the ticket office and they gave me my tickets so no drama. They have built a temporary stand behind the goal which is where we were. Real Madrid Castilla are managed by one of their former legendary players Raul. He spent the lion’s share of his career playing for Real Madrid and is the club’s second all-time top goalscorer with 323 goals in the 741 appearances. He is also the most capped player in the history of the club.

His supremacy can be estimated by the fact that he was recognised as the symbol of Real Madrid. Raúl won 6 La Liga titles, 3 UEFA Champions League titles, 4 Supercopa de Espana, 1 UEFA Super Cup and 2 International Cups. In 2003, he was appointed captain of the team and retained that position until his departure from the club in 2010.

The club are basically Real Madrid’s reserve team but in reality they are all youngsters trying to break into the first team squad. With Baleares top of the league we were looking forward to a good game as it seemed were the other 3,300 fans which as far as I’m aware was their biggest crowd of the season. Unfortunately it was a little disappointing with neither team playing that well and it ended 1-1.

It was good to have a look at Reading loanee Jordan Holsgrove who’s following the trend of young UK footballers coming abroad to play. He’s a Scottish U-21 international midfielder who looks to have settled into the team. Not sure how good his Spanish is but I’m going to try and interview him soon to find out more.

Baleares are away this weekend to Getafe B.

Real Mallorca having had a weekend off were back in action last night against Levante and despite playing probably their best away game so far this season they still lost 2-1. So that’s 6 away games in La Liga without a win and they’ve now not won away since April. Next Saturday they’re at home to Real Betis.

Last weekend saw a record crowd for a Women’s game in the UK as Tottenham hosted Arsenal in the North London derby. 38,262 turned up which surpassed the 31,213 that watched the Manchester derby at Etihad Stadium in September and was more than seven times higher than the record of 5,265 which stood prior to this season. A bit of a way to go to beat the Spanish women’s league, where 60,739 turned out to see Athletico Madrid v Barcelona earlier this year. Good to see after the success of the World Cup.

I’ve been lucky enough to meet 3 of the 12 Celebs in I’m a Celebrity get me out of here. Jacqueline Jossa and Andy Whyment have been to Pirates and I was lucky enough to meet Ian Wright at an Arsenal game. He obviously would be my pick to win and also my boys who have a personally signed shirt hanging in their bedroom.

I think you’d have got very long odds on Mauricio Pochettino being sacked after taking Spurs to the Champions League Final just 6 months ago. But it happened and Jose Mourinho is now in charge. As a bit of disillusioned Arsenal fan right now I’d have Pochettino tomorrow if we could.

Now his departure from Tottenham on Tuesday may have seemed a shock, but evidence suggests it was inevitable.

The Argentinian’s sacking merely means that the Ajax Curse has now run its full effect, now accounting for six managers in less than a year.

Every club the Dutch side faced in reaching the Champions League semi-final last season has now replaced their coach.

Group stage opponents AEK Athens, Benfica and Bayern Munich all have new men in charge, while knock-out rivals Real Madrid, Juventus and eventual conquerors Tottenham are all now under new stewardship. It’s a funny old game.

Good wins for my two last week Jude winning 7-0 and Jake winning 8-0. No game for Jude this week but Jakes team play the top of the league. Es Raval of Santa Catalina have played 8 games and won 8, they’ve scored 88 goals and conceded just 2! So are we in for a gubbing? Well as I said above strange things happen in football and I for one have every confidence in the boys who themselves are in a good run of form.

Dad Taxi on half wages this week.

Follow him on Twitter @DadTaxi1 & Instagram @dad.taxi or feel free to email him at rprior@globobalear.com

Persona Non Grata

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Not quite sure how this works so let me explain. I have lived in Mallorca since 1990, it’s what I know as home. I’m a proud Englishman but I’m registered as a resident here and I pay all my dues to the relevant authorities. Having lived here all this time, according to UK law I am ineligible to vote in an election there, fair enough you might say. However because I am just a resident here and not a Spanish passport holder I can’t vote in a Spanish general election either.

So because I’ve lived outside of my country of birth for more than 15 years and because I refuse to give up my passport I am basically persona non grata. Well that’s what it seems like to be honest.

Biggest sporting event of last weekend? Some might say the Liverpool v Manchester City game but a total curve ball was the KSI v Logan Paul boxing Match over in LA. Who? I hear you say. Talk to anybody under the age of 30 and they will tell you they’re probably two of the biggest You Tubers in the World. KSI currently has over 20 million subscribers to his channel. He came to Pirates a couple of years ago and my kids were beside themselves that I hadn’t told them. Logan Paul is his American equivalent. In August 2018 they fought in a white collar boxing event which as you’d expect was massive on You Tube. It ended in a draw but the hype and interest it created was huge. So much so that they managed to persuade the boxing promoter Eddie Hearn to take on their rematch which he did on the proviso that they got a boxing license, turned professional and trained properly. Both my sons follow these guys and as I’ve said before have also taken an interest in boxing, so this was something they were really looking forward to. Now being in LA it wasn’t supposed to start until the early hours of Sunday morning. In fact I actually woke up and watched it after totally dissing it all week with my Sons. There was quite a lot of “windmilling” going on but it was genuinely quite exciting. KSI eventually won a split judges decision. Eddie Hearn said it was the biggest pay per view boxing match of the year, even beating the Ruiz Jnr v Joshua heavyweight fight earlier in June. Watch this space to which celebrity is next.

It’s just 39 sleeps to Christmas and at this time of the year the roles are being handed out to budding Marys, Josephs and Gabriels across the land as schools organise their school nativity plays. New research shows the part we played or our children will play can say quite a lot about where we’ve ended up or where they will end up in life and starring isn’t always the best bet.

Mary – £39k salary, most likely to work in retail, strong social circle, extrovert, does yoga
Joseph – £38k salary, most likely to work in finance/ banking, enjoys shopping, has a good social life, has a good sense of humour
Gabriel – £40k salary, most likely to work in marketing and communications, likes to exercise, reads more than three books a month
Inn Keeper – £37k salary, most likely to work in manual labour industry (ie plumbing), plays chess, enjoys puzzles
Angel – £25k salary, most likely to work in healthcare, optimistic, likes puzzles and going to the cinema
Shepherd – £29k salary, most likely to work in IT, enjoys going to the cinema, likes to exercise
One of the Three Kings/Wise men – £26k salary, most likely to work in construction, repair and maintenance, enjoys gaming, most likely to enjoy birdwatching
Ox – £43k salary, most likely to work in advertising, likes to be the center of attention, does amateur dramatics, most likely to be a pessimist
Lamb – £20k salary, most likely to work in healthcare, enjoys yoga, most likely to be introverted
Donkey – £25k salary, most likely to work in IT, likes to garden, has a good social life, enjoys doing puzzles
Narrator – £24k salary, most likely to work in education, likes horse-riding and enjoys shopping

So as you can you should have been an Ox! Not quite sure who did this research, as as far as I can remember I was the Narrator and I don’t work in education and I’m not keen on horse riding or shopping.

Special mention this week to Moto Gp’s Jorge Lorenzo who’s just announced his retirement. Born here in Mallorca, he was World Moto GP Champion 3 times and brought a lot of joy to motorcycling fans around the World.

Real Mallorca recorded a great win last Sunday at a rainy Son Moix with a convincing 3-1 win over Villareal. Playing without veteran Salva Sevilla in midfield they seemed more mobile with all three of Baba,Febas and Rodriguez all outstanding. Japanese winger Kubo on loan from Real Madrid probably had his best game of the season culminating in a great third goal to seal the victory. No game this weekend because of the international break but they return on Friday 22nd away against Levante. Atlético Baleares drew 0-0 away at Athletico Madrid B halting their run of wins but still sees them maintaining a 5 point lead at the top of Segunda B Group 1. This weekend they are at home to Real Madrid Castilla, Madrid’s B team which is mainly their youngsters looking to break into the first team squad. The former Spanish and Real Madrid Legend Raul is their Manager. You can buy tickets for 15€ online and their website has an English option. Me and the boys are going along with Mallorca not having a game.

Both my boys had great wins last weekend, Jake won 6-0 & scored his first of the season & Jude won 9-0 and his first clean sheet of the season.

Dad Taxi off Saturday morning with Jude, Saturday afternoon with Jake and we’re all together Sunday to watch Baleares.

Enjoy your weekend!

Richie presents the Radio One Mallorca Breakfast show Monday to Friday 07.30-11.00am on 93.8fm in Mallorca and 102fm in Calvià, online at www.radioonemallorca.com on mobile through their free App for IPhone & Android, The Tunein Radio App, iTunes, the Spanish TDT TV service and all smart speakers. . If you can’t hear him on the radio then you’ll find him working at Pirates Adventure the islands number one night out and every now and again he may make an understudy appearance!

Feel free to email him at rprior@globobalear.com

Oh Santi Cazorla!

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I had a nightmare of my own on Halloween night. After leaving the house at 6.30am for my breakfast show, I went straight to the Pirates office for the final preparations for the shows. Both The Reloaded Mash up and Gringos were really busy and it was a great way to finish the season. I’d decided not to drive as I thought I’d have a couple of drinks but knew I had to be back up again Friday morning for the Breakfast show. I left the theatre at 1am and waited to hail down a taxi. After 5 minutes of nothing I decided to start walking as I thought I’d pass one on the way. I live quite near Nova Santa Ponsa so thought I’m bound to see one. I had tried calling them too but it’s well known it’s hard enough to get hold of them daytime let alone at 1 in the morning. I walked and walked and walked and not one cab went by. So I actually ended up walking the whole way. I took pictures as I thought no one will believe me and when eventually I got to bed around 2.30am the Wife said, “why didn’t you call me?” Probably as I already knew the answer came my reply!

Fat Man Walking i called it and it was good exercise as I’m on another keep fit push leading up to Christmas. I can’t believe I’ve never thought of this before but I’ve joined a gym near where my boys train in Palma. Jacob trains Mon, Weds, Friday and Jude trains Tues, Weds, Thursday so I’m normally sat in the cafe or in the cold watching and it can get a little boring. So I’m now at the gym killing time and listening to podcasts. To be honest it’s far more enjoyable and it’s keeping me away from the crisps.

This week I made a flying visit to Scotland on business. Trying to find flights wasn’t easy and I can now understand the problems people from north of the border have in trying to get to us in Mallorca. You won’t be surprised to know it was cold but Glasgow and Edinburgh are great cities to visit. I managed to fit in a morning radio breakfast show with my good friend Gus on Pulse Community Radio, Scotland’s number 1 Community Radio Station. Doing a regular traffic and travel update was unusual and I was pleasantly surprised at the number of people who had been to Mallorca and had visited Pirates.

You may remember a few weeks ago I was banging on about bands going on tour and not including Spain in their itinerary. Queen, Simply Red and Simple Minds had all announced tours but had not included Barcelona or Madrid. Well finally I’ve found a band that has included us and funnily enough I saw them in Barcelona 2 years ago. The Stereophonics have announced a 2020 Tour and will be taking in both Cities. I thoroughly recommend you go, as you forget that they’ve been around for more than 25 years. Songs such as “Dakota”, “Have a Nice Day”, “Handbags & Gladrags” “The bartender & the thief” and “Maybe Tomorrow” and many more will be played. They play Palacio Vistalegre, Madrid on Friday January 24th and Razzmatazz, Barcelona on Saturday January 25th. Tickets are on sale on their website.

Real Mallorca disappointed again at the weekend with a 3-0 defeat away in Valladolid. I don’t know what it is but unless they can reverse this trend of not winning away then they are a banker to go down. Last season they won away only 4 times and their last away victory was on April 27th at Malaga. It was their home form that got them into the playoffs and after losing both away legs in the playoffs they still got promoted. They are at home this Sunday against 8th placed Villareal and me and the boys are looking forward to seeing former Arsenal legend Santi Cazorla. Jude had a photo taken with him and his shirt in the dressing room when we got invited behind the scenes at Arsenal.

Atlético Baleares are looking imperious at the top of Segunda B Group 1, another victory on Sunday meant they’ve won 10 of their 11 games so far and have a 5 point lead at the top. This weekend they go away to play Athletico Madrid’s B team who are the team behind them in second place. So a huge game which could already determine the season.

Differing fortunes for my two. Judes team narrowly lost 3-2 and were unlucky not to get a point. Jakes team drew 1-1 against a team just above them, which means they’re now 5 games unbeaten. Jake’s playing away in Inca on Saturday and Judes team have an away game in Palma Friday night.

Thanks for all your birthday messages last Monday and as I’ve had a busy week we’ll be celebrating as a family on Saturday.

Enjoy your weekend!

Richie presents the Radio One Mallorca Breakfast show Monday to Friday 07.30-11.00am on 93.8fm in Mallorca and 102fm in Calvià, online at www.radioonemallorca.com on mobile through their free App for IPhone & Android, The Tunein Radio App, iTunes, the Spanish TDT TV service and all smart speakers. . If you can’t hear him on the radio then you’ll find him working at Pirates Adventure the islands number one night out and every now and again he may make an understudy appearance!

Feel free to email him at rprior@globobalear.com

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