‘it put a big smile on my face.’ Tom Robinson, BBC6 Music
‘A treat – witty, wistful, wonderful.‘ Gyles Brandreth
‘Marriage Song #1 is a quiet masterpiece.’ Sunday Times
‘ Sharp satirical thinking put into song… You’re going to love it. ’ Folkwords
‘ A delight in every way…. precise and with compassion – a rare delicacy to be able to combine expert satire with the longing of humanity.’ Liverpool Sound and Vision
‘Like dry Jake Thackray and American Tom Lehrer, Blacker has the ability to look at the ordinary everyday that nobody writes about and turn out gems of social observation…This is knowing writing with the laughs masking depths and intelligence.’ Northern Sky Magazine
‘ Hilariously entertaining. ‘ Mary Dickinson, Everyman Folk Club
Here's an odd one. Until a few years ago, I thought I couldn't stand the song I have now chosen as my Friday Song. I found it schmaltzy, melodically uninteresting - the worst kind of middle-of-the-road crowd-pleaser. I defy anyone to listen to the Judy Garland version or the song, or Dean Martin and Bing Crosby, without their mouse-finger involuntarily twitching for the next track. Then one day, listening to a compilation record, I heard an early version of it by Rudy Vallee. It was a revelation. Still a Tin Pan Alley song to its core, its tune was written...
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