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Mike Press

@mikepress.bsky.social
265 followers 216 following 251 posts

Writer - about music, about London, often both together. Sometimes about design. Edinburgh based. One half of the Walk on the Wild Side project. walkonthewildside.substack.com We write, take photos and organise walks.

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Reposted by Mike Press
Dave Ross @daveamitri.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
It’s Cymande night on @bbc 4 this Friday. 22:10 – Cymande at Glastonbury 2025 22:40 – Getting it Back: The Story of Cymande If you don't know Cymande I can't recommend it enough www.facebook.com/share/r/1C3r...
facebook.com
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Mike Press @mikepress.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Tricky to say whether this or A Hard Day's Night is the best music movie of all time. Go large on the nibbles.
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Reposted by Mike Press
Gayle Raaaargh-mage @mealygarage.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
#BookAnniversary Yes, it's 5 years today since I published my collection of dark, twisty, weird tales! For a limited time, you can get a digital copy direct from me for only £1! ko-fi.com/s/a05b37884c (Reposts appreciated) #BookSky #HorrorSky
The front cover of the short story collection, Vulnerable In Front of Fiction, surrounded by a few words of description about the type of stories inside.
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Mike Press @mikepress.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
This book is horribly funny. Buy it.
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Mike Press @mikepress.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Good advice. I did it last year, for the last time. I couldn't have done the skip, but the rest of this post echoes.
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Reposted by Mike Press
Pete Fraser @petefrasermusic.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
In the movie version of this, after Piddington runs out of food water and money as a result of leaving the UK, the residents apply for asylum and end up housed in a military base, with HILARIOUS consequences. www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
Piddington in Oxfordshire votes to leave UK over asylum plans
Piddington residents voted over proposals to house up to 1,256 male asylum seekers nearby
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Penny Kiley @pennykiley.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Copy-editor and former journo here (and regular Substacker), if anyone needs one.
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Mike Press @mikepress.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Excellent talk by @jonnelledge.bsky.social and Henry Scampi in Edinburgh this evening. Buy his book. It looks brilliant.
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Mike Press @mikepress.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
The Sound of Arrival tells the story of how migration made Britain's music in London's Soho.
walkonthewildside.substack.com
The Sound of Arrival
How Migration Made Britain’s Music in Soho
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Mike Press @mikepress.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Stellar parenting!
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Mike Press @mikepress.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
What a great thing to do!
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Mike Press @mikepress.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
400 turned up in Edinburgh last night for Yotam Ottolenghi's book launch. I reckon if you can throw in a few recipes using preserved lemons, then you can easily top that on Monday.
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Mike Press @mikepress.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Me too. You’ll totally nerd out with the podcast. I did.
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Mike Press @mikepress.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Producing the Beatles is one of the very few that tell you stuff you’ve never heard before. Goes into craft and process and how it got to sound the way it did.
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Mike Press @mikepress.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Been mulling this over… there’s also his desert island discs episode which is interesting but spectacularly fascinating is the Producing the Beatles podcast which doubtless you know about anyway.
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Mike Press @mikepress.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Definitely a BBC Arena, but also an ITV South Bank Show on the making of Sgt Pepper where he features heavily. Not a doc about him as such but great insights about his working methods.
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Mike Press @mikepress.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Edinburgh booked - coming with friends!
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Mike Press @mikepress.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Have you tried Argonaut in Leith?
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Mike Press @mikepress.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Excellent news!
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Mike Press @mikepress.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
It’s a great book to get your teeth into.
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THE NERVE @thenerve.news · 21/08/2026
“Jason was genuinely one of the kindest professors at the university” Jason Arday remembered by his former students at Durham, where he taught between 2019 and 2022. By @michaelamakusha.bsky.social www.thenerve.news/p/jason-arda...
Students remember Jason Arday, pictured smiling in a doctoral gown: ‘People would say how much they were looking forward to his classes’
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Mike Press @mikepress.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
This new book by @samiraahmeduk.bsky.social is an absolute treat - a brilliant, insightful and engaging read about The Beatles' first film. Her session here in Edinburgh at the book festival was equally engaging. Very much hoping she writes books on all their other films. No pressure.
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Mike Press @mikepress.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Saw this at the Edinburgh Fringe. An absolute delight. Wonderful. See it!
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Mike Press @mikepress.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Throw it as a fringe event!
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Mike Press @mikepress.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Funerals and birthdays are best kept separate if possible. In my experience the older you get the quieter birthdays become, unless they’re big ones.
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Mike Press @mikepress.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Missed this yesterday, but I trust you had a good one!
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Mike Press @mikepress.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
An exhibition at the Edinburgh Fringe of the worst record covers of all time. This wins my personal prize. Something very League of Gentlemen about it.
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Gayle Raaaargh-mage @mealygarage.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
If you're in #Edinburgh for the festival, and fancy a darkly comic vampire novel set in the city and a wee bit in the Scottish Borders, brace yourself and meet JOCKULA. Buy direct on Ko-fi: ko-fi.com/s/02d085b943 #Books #Vampires #Scotland #Humour
Black background, red Edinburgh skyline, at bottom of image. Above it is 'Jockula' in red font. The tagline above in white reads: "A Scottish vampire. A ridiculous task. A Chosen One who can't be arsed."
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Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 19/07/2026
#OtD 19 Jul 1984 the Dunnes Stores anti-apartheid strike began in Dublin, Ireland when Mary Manning was suspended for refusing to check out South African fruit. She and 11 others went on strike for three years until the govt banned SA goods stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9108...
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Open Culture @openculture.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
When David Bowie & Brian Eno Made a Twin Peaks-Inspired Album, Outside (1995)
openculture.com
When David Bowie & Brian Eno Made a Twin Peaks-Inspired Album, Outside (1995)
By any measure, David Bowie was a superstar. He first rose to fame in the nineteen-seventies, a process galvanized by his creation and assumption of the rocker-from-Mars persona Ziggy Stardust.
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Mike Press @mikepress.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
We're running two musical guided walks of Soho this September. Music & migration on the 19th and The Beatles in Soho on the 20th. Details here: tally.so/r/VLyaPg (migration) tally.so/r/ZjyX0A (Beatles)
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Mike Press @mikepress.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
Just heard about this. There's a record fair on at the same time which should be great and free. Short tube ride away. www.southbankcentre.co.uk/events/rough...
southbankcentre.co.uk
Rough Trade 50 | Southbank Centre
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Mike Press @mikepress.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
lightroom.uk/whats-on/dav... and of course this - just behind King’s Cross station. Worth every penny.
lightroom.uk
David Bowie: You're Not Alone
At Lightroom King's Cross until 10 January 2027. Be transported into the many worlds of David Bowie. Through iconic performances, rarely-seen interviews and never-before-exhibited material, discover t...
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Mike Press @mikepress.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
www.museumofyouthculture.com only just opened and not visited yet but sounds good and very close to where you are
museumofyouthculture.com
Museum of Youth Culture | Celebrating a Century of Teen Life
World's First Museum Dedicated to Teenage Life Opening in Camden, London in 2025.
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Mike Press @mikepress.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
In the British Library you can see at least two of the Beatles’ handwritten original lyrics
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Mike Press @mikepress.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
Me too. Swiss Cottage library speaking about the Russian Revolution. I was ten.
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Gayle Raaaargh-mage @mealygarage.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
You may know Dracula, Lestat, or Carmilla, but Edinburgh's very own vampire, Jack "Jockula" Rushton, is eager to make your acquaintance. Brace yourself... UK - amzn.co.uk/dp/B0H318J4PF US - amzn.com/dp/B0H318J4PF (more links in bio) #booklovers #readers #DarkComedy #vampires
The bathroom door opened and Rory walked in carrying a small pile of folded towels which he dropped when he saw me.

He froze, unable to comprehend the sight of someone hanging out of a mirror.

"OhmyGodwhat?" he said in a garbled shout.

"I can explain!" I said hurriedly, then paused and looked down at myself. "Actually, mate, I cannae."
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Lisa Holdsworth @lisaholdsworth.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Well, Google can get to fuck.
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Toppermost @toppermost.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
The Ewan MacColl Toppermost - from @pangurdubh3.bsky.social www.toppermost.co.uk/maccoll-ewan/
toppermost.co.uk
Ewan MacColl - Toppermost
Ewan MacColl’s songs were not so much a backdrop to our lives growing up but were instead part of the air that we breathed. Later in my life, it would have been hard to find a pub singsong in Ireland ...
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Mike Press @mikepress.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
Today is #GlobalBeatlesDay - a fine excuse to celebrate the band’s best record cover design, rich in semiotic messaging, with a fascinating backstory.
open.substack.com
Twist and Shout
How Fiona Adams captured a different Britain on a London bomb site
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Reposted by Mike Press
XTC Listening Party @xtclisteningparty.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
Next listening party (for Mummer) this Wednesday from 9pm (BST)! Feel free to repost! #XTCmusic
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Mike Press @mikepress.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
I spilled half a pint of lager and lime over Phil Collins’ foot in 1974.
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Gayle Raaaargh-mage @mealygarage.bsky.social · 13/06/2026
It's #IndependentBookshopWeek! Celebrate indie bookshops here in the UK and Ireland, and snap up a book on @bookshop_org_uk. Not only will you get a lovely new read, you could also win a £250 gift card! #Books #indiebookshop uk.bookshop.org/a/16832/9798... (affiliate link)
Purple promo graphic. With text that reads: Bookshop.org. Win a £250 Gift Card. Buy A Book 13-20 June to enter. Independent Bookshop Week. 13-20 June. Avoid Amazon. Shop small.
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Reposted by Mike Press
Toppermost @toppermost.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
The Kraftwerk Toppermost - from @durutti74.bsky.social www.toppermost.co.uk/kraftwerk/
toppermost.co.uk
Kraftwerk - Toppermost
The roots of Kraftwerk go back to the late 60s when Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider met as students in Dusseldorf, first forming an experimental rock band, Organisation, who issued one album...
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Mike Press @mikepress.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
Vampires in Edinburgh. What’s not to like?
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Sarah Drummond @rufflemuffin.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
This pride month I'd love you to go beyond rainbow flags and sign our petition for a public inquiry into Section 28 and the impact on LGBTQ+ people Since releasing this video, it's had over 20k views and led to a 1000 signatures Please support to get to 10k petition.parliament.uk/petitions/76...
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Mike Press @mikepress.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
Solidarity will get us through this.
theguardian.com
‘Bigger and better than ever’: how Durham Pride beat Reform’s funding axe with help from the miners
Solidarity between LGBTQ+ people and unions has saved an event denied ‘a single penny’ of council money
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Gayle Raaaargh-mage @mealygarage.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
A thread in which I'll occasionally post random trivia, as and when, about #Jockula, my new darkly comic vampire novel. Feel free to mute if it's not your thing!
static.klipy.com
Bob Mortimer's Enthusiastic Thumbs Up
Alt: Bob Mortimer's Enthusiastic Thumbs Up
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Mike Press @mikepress.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
The first of a two part story on London's Jewish community changed the sound of Britain.
open.substack.com
The Jewish Sound of Soho - Part One
From Yiddisher Jazz to British Pop: How Jewish London changed the sound of Britain
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