Tag: writing

Ed Sheeran, Macklemore and When Music Collides With Politics

They say that sport and politics don’t mix. Well, this past week it’s been the music industry and politics that have really kicked off.

At an Ed Sheeran concert in New Jersey, his support act, Macklemore, launched into a political rant about supporting Palestine. This upset both the promoters and the stadium owners, who basically said that if Macklemore carried on, the gigs would be cancelled.

Who you may ask is Macklemore? He is an independent American rapper and activist from Seattle, Washington. He is best known for his massive global hits in the 2010s alongside producer Ryan Lewis, operating as the duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. ‘Thrift Shop’ and ‘Can’t Hold Us’ were two of their biggest hits. Does being the support act give you the right to air your political views and therefore put the whole tour in jeopardy? In my opinion, no. The key word here is ‘support’, he wasn’t tbe lead artist. Feel free to air your views at your own gigs but this paying public had bought their tickets to see Ed Sheeran not to listen to your political views. 

It was a no-win situation for Sheeran, who, on the one hand, didn’t want to upset his fans, but also didn’t want to get involved in the political row that was brewing in the States and around the World. He therefore, reluctantly it seems, allowed Macklemore to be relieved of his supporting role.

This decision, however, caused more problems, as Irish singer-songwriter Aaron Rowe, Danish band Lukas Graham, American singer-songwriter Finneas, and Irish folk band Beoga all quit the tour too.

This then forced Sheeran to come out and speak about the situation at his next concert. Tearfully, he said:

“What happened in Israel at the music festival on October 7 was horrific and compounded centuries of Jewish pain. What is happening in Gaza is catastrophic and unjustifiable and disproportionate.

“My heart has been broken by the scale of devastation and loss of civilians’ lives, of children’s lives, and the systemic injustice we’re seeing unfold in the West Bank cannot be overlooked.”

It looks like this has devastated Sheeran, who is known as one of the nice guys on the music scene. My brother-in-law, who is a musician and has played with the likes of Sting, Eric Clapton and the Lighthouse Family, to name a few, says he is one of the most generous musicians out there.

In June 2011, Sheeran released his official debut commercial single, “The A Team”. Despite being a dark folk ballad about addiction, it became a massive mainstream success, debuting at Number 3 on the UK Singles Chart.

This momentum culminated in September 2011 with the release of his debut studio album, [+] (Plus), which topped the charts, went multi-platinum and earned him the British Breakthrough Act award at the 2012 BRIT Awards.

Fast-forward to June 5, 2012, here in Mallorca, and Ed Sheeran appeared on stage at Mallorca Rocks. For those not familiar with the brand, Mallorca Rocks was a popular open-air live music venue and hotel complex located where the Fergus Club Waterpark is today. It operated from 2010 to 2014.

I remember thinking at the time how talented he was as he just stood there with his guitar, belting out songs. There were 3,000 people at that gig, which was just over half full, but he captivated the intimate crowd using nothing but his raw talent. Critics noted that he “left everyone smiling” by completely owning the open-air poolside stage with only his acoustic guitar, a microphone and his signature custom loop pedal.

When he returned to the hotel on July 22, 2014, the stakes were completely different. It was the hotels fourth-birthday celebration and a massive milestone for the brand, but it also marked a bittersweet chapter for them as they announced they were going to close at the end of the season.

Sheeran had transformed himself from the rising indie-folk star of 2012 into a global juggernaut. He had just released his massive second studio album, [x] (Multiply), only a month earlier, in June 2014. Before heading out to the island, he noted in a press release how excited he was to “get back out there in the sun and play some of the new songs this summer”. The crowd got a live taste of freshly released mega-hits like “Sing” and “Don’t”.

In 2018, we went to Wembley Stadium in London to see him play live in front of 80,000 people. He was exactly the same as when I first saw him at Mallorca Rocks six years earlier, in front of 3,000 people. A man and his guitar, belting out hit after hit.

I, for one, hope Ed Sheeran can come through this, as he is without doubt one of the most talented and generous music performers of our generation.

Why I Can’t Stop Watching Celebrity Hunted

I’ll be honest and say I don’t watch too much TV these days. I’m either busy working or I’m being Dad Taxi, ferrying the boys around. But I started watching Celebrity Hunted on Channel 4 last week, and it’s so bad I’ve had to keep watching!

Firstly, let me say that it’s for charity, and a very important one at that: Cancer Research UK and their Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) campaign.

And I understand it’s just a TV show and I shouldn’t be getting so wound up about it, but it’s got beyond a joke now.

“Celebrity” pairs are given a head start and then have to remain “fugitives” for 14 days while a team of “Hunters” tries to locate and capture them. 

The six “celebrity” pairs are:

• Amy Dowden & Carlos Gu — Strictly Come Dancing dancers

• Brian Conley & Lucy Conley — comedian and his actress daughter

• Chris Taylor & Toby Aromolaran — Love Island contestants

• JJ Chalmers & Sophie Morgan — a TV presenter, former Royal Marine and Invictus Games medalist, and a prominent TV presenter and disability advocate

• Scarlette & Stuart Douglas — brother and sister, known for their work as property experts, television presenters and developers

• Jen Brister & Laura Smyth — comedians

The so-called “Hunters” are apparently former and current police, military and intelligence personnel, plus cyber and OSINT specialists.

I do worry that if these guys were, or still are, in charge of the police, military and intelligence services, the country would be in a real mess. Some might say it already is, but if you put these guys in charge of catching real criminals, we wouldn’t have a prison overcrowding problem because they’d never catch anyone!

In the two episodes I’ve seen so far, we are four days in and nobody has been caught yet.

Now, we’re not dealing with serious criminal minds here. These guys haven’t got too much on the intelligence front (no offence!), but so far they are managing to avoid detection. And when they are identified, it’s like watching the Keystone Cops  – now there’s an old analogy!

Put it this way: you get the distinct impression that a well-trained Border Collie could have had all twelve of them rounded up before the first ad break.

I won’t give too much away because, to be honest, there isn’t much to give away and you can see that the production company are trying desperately to fill eight episodes.

I’ll keep shouting mindlessly at the TV, but I also want to remind you that here in Mallorca we have an amazing cancer support network.

Cancer Support Group Mallorca (CSG) is a registered association supporting the international community in Mallorca. Their mission is to help patients, carers and anyone affected by cancer by:

• Reducing stress

• Empowering people with a sense of control

• Enhancing self-esteem

• Combating loneliness through connection

• Providing practical assistance

Rebecca, Bronwen and their team of volunteers do an outstanding job supporting people affected by cancer on the island.

If you or a loved one is facing cancer, please reach out — they’re here to help.

For more information, please visit https://www.cancersupportmallorca.com or call 0034 659 887 455.

Tony Hadley’s Musical Journey: A Night at Port Adriano

On Friday morning, I had the pleasure of interviewing Tony Hadley on my radio show on Wave Mallorca. Having grown up listening to Spandau Ballet, it was a bit surreal to be talking to the man whose songs were such a big part of my youth and whose voice has, without doubt, stood the test of time.

On Saturday night, he performed at the Port Adriano Music Festival in a beautiful setting right next to the marina.

Tony Hadley can turn his hand to any song. He learned his trade by singing in his school choir and entering singing contests at Butlins and Pontins. His swing and operatic influences come from his mum and dad, who used to play Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett and Mario Lanza while preparing the family’s Sunday lunch.

You naturally associate Spandau Ballet with True and Gold, two anthems in their own right. Tony mentioned that those are the two songs he is always asked to perform, but interestingly, when the band played Live Aid at Wembley in 1985, Gold wasn’t on the set list.

Last night’s set was, of course, heavily Spandau-based, but it also included a few of Tony’s own songs. The band were tight, as were the harmonies, and it was great to see and hear live percussion and, of course, the iconic saxophone. After the first few songs, I turned to my wife and said, “Spandau have such a great catalogue of songs, and we haven’t even reached the biggest hits yet.”

Interestingly, he opened with To Cut a Long Story Short, the band’s very first single, released in 1980. A remarkable 46 years ago!

Tony also mentioned that Through the Barricades is his favourite Spandau Ballet song, which he performed with a subtle swing feel, helped along by a glass of Jack Daniel’s to keep the vocal cords lubricated!

The finale was exactly as it had to be: True, followed by Gold, and he left the stage to a standing ovation.

He probably won’t thank me for mentioning that he’s now 66 years old, but in my mind—and, I’m sure, in the minds of many of you reading this—Spandau Ballet simply isn’t Spandau Ballet without Tony Hadley.

From memory, here was last night’s set list:

● To Cut a Long Story Short

● Highly Strung

● Only When You Leave

● Alibi

● Walk of Shame

● Round and Round

● Soul Boy

● I’ll Fly for You

● Through the Barricades

● Somebody to Love

● Lifeline

● Chant No. 1 (I Don’t Need This Pressure On)

● True

● Gold

Tony is back on the road in November and December with his Big Band Tour, performing all over the UK. For tickets and more information, please visit https://tonyhadley.com.

Debate on Playground Football Restrictions: A Parent’s Perspective

Looking back, going to school was one of the fun times in my life. I say “fun” because, to be honest, studying wasn’t my strong point. I go back to the days when your whole school year depended on an end-of-year exam — and there was my problem.

My daily schoolwork, whilst not amazing, was passable, but if I had to revise for something, I was dead in the water. I couldn’t sit still in a room and study. I was too busy wanting to go and play football. That could have been outside in the street, at school in the playground, or for the school team. In the evenings, I was playing for my youth football team and training with my town team too.

I made my debut for my town team at just 15 years old in the then Isthmian League, playing in front of a few hundred people — and that was a pretty good standard at that time.

So I didn’t have time for Maths, Biology, and French exams. It was football or nothing for me. I remember my French teacher writing in my school report, “When will Richard realise that a laugh and a joke won’t get him through life?”

One of the things I loved at school was the lunchtime break. We used to congregate in the playground, pick two teams, and off we went. Now, I was a goalkeeper, just like my youngest son Jude is now, but there was no way I was playing in goal in the playground. I was running around trying to show my mates how good an outfield player I was.

It was very competitive, of course, and nobody wanted to go back into a double chemistry lesson having been on the losing team. Competitive also meant that every now and again it would get feisty and disagreements would occur. I went to an all-boys school, so the testosterone was flying around, as you can imagine, but it would soon cool down and on we went. Writing this now brings back great memories and, for me, it was all part of growing up.

So imagine my surprise when I read on the front page of one of the Spanish papers here in Mallorca that schools are going to limit the playing of football in the playground due to the conflicts it generates. Are we serious??

I posted this on my Facebook page and it got a huge reaction — most finding it a stupid decision and a few supporting it. In fact, some parents have said that in some schools already kids can only play on certain days. One parent from the UK said it happens at his son’s school. Another parent here says his son comments excitedly every Thursday that it’s his day to play football. Another said her son had said that arguments in the playground happen anyway, not just because of football.

I saw the paper that had written the story had posted it on their Facebook page, and the pile-on from the Spanish was unbelievable. I couldn’t find one person who supported it.

In an official statement issued last Thursday evening, the FFIB (the Balearic Football Federation) expressed its regret that initiatives are being promoted that could limit children’s participation in sports, and pointed out that football is the most popular sport in the Balearic Islands, with a long history and social impact that makes it a key tool for education, coexistence, and the comprehensive development of children and young people.

The Federation emphasised that youth football goes far beyond mere competition. It is, they explain, a learning environment in which values such as respect, teamwork, discipline, equality, effort, and solidarity are transmitted — all of which are essential elements in the personal and social growth of young people. Through clubs and sports schools, thousands of schoolchildren learn to live together, manage their emotions, and face challenges in a regulated and supervised environment.

I couldn’t have put it better myself.

Charity Highlights: Our 2025 Christmas Contributions

I trust you all had a good Christmas and enjoyed time with family and friends. At the time of writing, we are between Christmas and New Year, which is always the time of year when you lose all track of days and dates. Why is that? We are preparing to leave for the UK for a quick visit, with my youngest son having to return early for football training.

I wanted to update you on a couple of charity events that we’ve been involved with. A few weeks ago, I interviewed Charlie Quirke, the son of actress Pauline Quirke, who was walking 140 km in five days for Alzheimer’s Research UK. He completed the walk and, to date, has raised an amazing £273,147.00!

The charity wrote:

“From the bottom of our hearts, thank you so much to everyone who sent Charlie a message, shared on social media and donated. He couldn’t have done it without you all. We will be going into 2026 full of hope for the future and hope for a cure.”

One of the main reasons for my return to the radio with Wave Mallorca was to restart our push to help charities on the island and beyond. All the way through the year, we help promote charity events on air, and in June we held our own Radiothon. Another important time of year to help people is at Christmas.

We’d like to thank everyone who helped us along the way.

Everyone who donated money, with special mention to Helen at Martial Arts Mallorca, Mark Millward, and Hooties Golf Society.

All the people who helped us with our raffle — whether you sold or bought tickets or donated a prize.

The three auction prize donors and the people who won them.

Nice Price and Eroski Bendinat, who allowed us to carry out food collections outside their shops. Nick from Yachting Gives Back for organising it, and the volunteers who gave up their time to help us.

We managed to fill a van and a car full of food for the homeless.

Quentin Theander from Mallorca Christmas Trees donated two Christmas trees to Llar Kurt and Llar Inge, who look after homeless people. 

The three charities that we helped in different ways were Yachting Gives Back, Fundación Nazaret, and SOS Animal Mallorca.

Nick from Yachting Gives Back said:

“Many thanks from all of us at YGB to all the team at Wave Mallorca and all your generous listeners and sponsors for your great support. The money raised will fund several of the monthly shopping trips we do for our chosen local charities.

Merry Christmas!”

Guillem from Fundación Nazaret said:

“Very good morning, and thousands of thanks to all the listeners for the vouchers for all the children and young people of Nazaret, but especially super thanks for remembering them. That makes them feel that they are important to someone, despite not being able to enjoy Christmas with their families. For all this, thank you very much and happy holidays!”

Maxi from SOS Animal Mallorca said:

“Thank you so much for your initiative to help the animals of SOS Animal, and also to your listeners. With the food donation, our cats and dogs will also have a Christmas and a Happy New Year. Thanks a lot to all of you, and Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.”

Thanks again to everyone who helped us. We look forward to 2026 with even more enthusiasm to help more people both here and beyond.