Neil Merrett

Wordsmith/hack. Passing through, maybe Learning. Editor with @HVN_Plus +@RACMagazine. Co-founder at @Squareblind. Once with @govcomputing & @IndependentMV

[Neil Merrett @Neil_Merrett]

Death Stranding five years on: ‘Keep on, keeping on’

https://t.co/nj8l3asSu2

[Samira Ahmed @SamiraAhmedUK]

The Way We Watched. Top show. Brilliant guests.📺🎬

[David Bowie Official @DavidBowieReal]

THIS IS NOT AMERICA SINGLE IS 40 TODAY

“So bloody red, Tomorrow’s plans...”

This Is Not America by David Bowie and the Pat Metheny Group was released as a single forty years ago today.

Co-written by Bowie and Metheny, the song was recorded for the soundtrack to the 1985 John Schlesinger film, The Falcon and the Snowman, starring Timothy Hutton and Sean Penn.

It was released as a single in the UK on 28th January 1985, reaching #14 there and #32 in the US. It faired better in many other territories, reaching the top 5 of several charts and #1 in the Netherlands.

An official video was released, but Bowie wasn’t in it as it was compiled from footage from the film. However, you can watch a live performance of it from his 2000 BBC show here: https://t.co/aGFVxsyZx2

The first image here is a crop from a poster which came with initial copies of the UK 12".

One of the recording studio shots is a great illustration of Bowie's laid-back approach to laying down a vocal. 😉

We'll leave you with a lovely piece that Pat Metheny posted following David's passing in 2016.

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DAVID BOWIE R.I.P. (from Pat)

Working with David Bowie on “This Is Not America” was an incredible experience. I had written the song as the main theme for the score for “The Falcon and the Snowman”. After traveling to Mexico City where the filming was taking place and watching Sean Penn and Timothy Hutton do a few scenes, I went back to my room and the whole piece came very quickly.

Later while in London recording the score, John Schlesinger, the director of the film, suggested a collaboration with David Bowie for a version of the song to go over the final credits. David came to a screening of the film and I sat near him as he saw the picture for the first time. He had a yellow legal pad on his lap and was writing constantly. At the end of the film, he had a list of maybe 30 (brilliant) song titles that he had thought of while watching. One of them was “This Is Not America”, a line from the film.

David took the music with him and a month later the core of my band and I traveled to Montreux, Switzerland to join him in his studio to record the single. In the meantime, David had taken my original demo, added an additional drum machine part and while keeping the form and big chunks of the original melody, added an additional vocal line on top of the “A” section to which he had written those haunting and evocative lyrics. To me his words make “This is Not America” one of the greatest protest songs ever.

Watching him do his vocal was something I will never forget. I can only say that it was masterful - kind of like the feeling I have had whenever I have had the chance to be around a great jazz musician who carried a one-of-a-kind type presence that filled every note that came out of them. He was really fast. He asked if any of us could sing (we couldn’t/can’t!), so he did all the background vocals himself, kind of transforming into what seemed to be two or three different people as he did each part.

Throughout the whole experience, he was kind, generous and contrary to so many aspects of his various public personas, very normal and straight-ahead. My main impression was that he was extremely professional about everything that he did, that he really wanted to do a great job with the tune and to get a great singing performance and track down as quickly and spontaneously as possible.

And it doesn’t surprise me at all that his last recording includes some of the best contemporary players in New York, especially the fantastic Donny McCaslin. During our time together he expressed a real appreciation and knowledge of this music and saxophone players in particular. He carried the kind of broad view of music and art that was inspiring to me as a collaborator and a fan. I feel very lucky to have had the chance to be around him.

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#Bowie1985 #BowieThisIsNotAmerica #BowiePatMetheny

[National Literacy Trust @Literacy_Trust]

Just 1 in 3 children enjoyed reading in 2024, the lowest level since 2005! Is it better or worse in 2025?

Find out what your pupils think and be part of a national conversation by taking part in our Annual Literacy Survey, now open!

Find out more ⤵️ https://t.co/cCIwZYH3iQ

[Neil Merrett @Neil_Merrett]

The most a poem, other than one read by Judi Dench, has spoken to whatever constitutes a soul in my fleshy innards.

[Classic Alternative @altclassicmusic]

A list of banned bands in the Soviet Union 1985.

[Neil Merrett @Neil_Merrett]

"Don't Stop, it will soon be here."

[squareblind.co.uk @squareblind]

Don’t stop – The Sony PlayStation hits a 30-year landmark

https://t.co/ErE7D84DZ6

[Neil Merrett @Neil_Merrett]

@HVNewsAwards future, past, present

[H&VNewsAwards @HVNewsAwards]

Everyone has taken their seats and H&V News editor @Neil_Merrett is now welcoming guests to the H&V News Awards 2024.

[H&V News @HVN_Plus]

World Ventil8 Day 2024 seeks to enable and 'empower' public action on better air quality

https://t.co/tNMq6oOeey

[Mihir Bose @mihirbose]

If only Galatasaray would make a mistake in their penalty box and Tottenham to profit from it.

[emap @emapPublishing]

Our team recently held the RAC Cooling Awards 2024, the biggest and most prestigious event in the industry, recognising innovation, best practice and business excellence ❄️

Huge congrats to our fantastic team for putting together yet another breathtaking event 👏

[Ruwa Romman @ruwaromman]

Billionaires should never have been allowed to buy newspapers, and we need a serious effort to bolster local journalism.

[Keiran Goddard @keirangoddard1]

Places like Center Parcs are wild

You walk around and think:

“hmm,quite nice to have amenities”

…then you realise Britain has made visiting a miniature place with functional civic infrastructure a holiday destination

We pay to live like a Danish person for a week, basically

[Gerard Lyons @DrGerardLyons]

A strange decision. Soft power matters globally & BBC world service & its flagship current affairs programme epitomise that.

I was honoured to be interviewed on @BBCHARDtalk by @stephensackur & the feedback I received highlighted to me the programme’s global reach. A sad loss.

[no context memes @nocontextmemes]

I never thought of it that way

[Grandzaddy Bri 👽 Smartistabeauty @BriHallOfficial]

I think the audience is guilty of exactly what Joker 2 is critiquing. We showed up wanting him to PERFORM, blow things up, and be powerful.

When he showed up mentally ill, disassociating into his imagination, and human we looked away in disgust… symbolic of real life

[Neil Merrett @Neil_Merrett]

"I hate every ape I see....."

[Empire @empiremagazine]

Robbie Williams biopic #BetterMan tells the provocative pop star's story – with a CGI ape in the role of Robbie Williams.

Watch the wild first trailer here: https://t.co/WeEPZOY9L6

[Richard McNeil-Willson @mcneilwillson]

Even as a politics lecturer in a Middle East department, I am lost.

Israel has a right to self defence, but Lebanon does not?

Israelis have the right to be safe, but Palestinians do not?

Iran can’t launch missiles into civilian areas, but Israel can?

None of this is coherent.