When I listed the various people, mostly entertainers, who helped make the lockdown pass a bit more easily I missed a few people out. For example I forgot the always brilliant Jonathan Pie and his lockdown video diary. I also forgot Darren Maclaine and his little impressions of famous singers doing the thems to TV shows. It started with Elton John doing the theme to Only Fools and Horses and just carried on from there.

The biggest omission was Tim Burgess, but there is a good reason for that.Tim is the singer with The Charlatans, and has also released some solo LPs. He was also involved in the setting up of the Bands FC project which combines football, music and graphic design to mostly wonderful effect and more recently has been organising listening parties which have really been popular during the lockdown.

The listening parties involve lots of people listening to a designated LP at the same time, but separately, while live tweeting about it, often with input from people involved in making the LP. It is a brilliant but simple idea, it is free, and has a huge following.

I thoroughly approve of the whole thing, I just don’t indulge in it myself. I’m not really organised enough to get it together to start playing the album at the right time, or even to know what that time is or what the album is. I do see posts from other people with the listening party hashtag, usually well after the event. I can see it is bringing people together, even if only virtually, and is making a lot of people very happy.

The thing is I am the same with The Charlatans. I just never got into them. Nothing wrong with them, I was just into other things and only have a finite amount of attention. I probably should catch up one day.

I have, however, given Tim Burgess’s new solo album a listen and really liked it, so that’s something. I thin it will make me more likely to explore his back catalogue, both solo and with the band.

So I missed Tim out because he didn’t directly contribute to my personal lockdown survival, but I can see he is doing a very good thing that deserves recognition.