Hi Mic

I heard it was Independence Day this week over there in Israel so Happy Independence Day to you & yours. How did you celebrate it?

I've just been watching the movie of Jesus Christ Superstar with my kids - they were really riveted. I think they were fascinated seeing Jesus realised on screen. They go to a local Catholic school so stuff about Jesus surrounds them most days but this was something they could connect with. Also they were struck by the hippy dimension of the movie - it's framed by the story of a bunch of hippies arriving in the desert on a bus to act out the last days of Jesus.

I don't know if you know it at all - it was shot on location in Israel (that of course was the thought-train above) by Norman Jewison (Thomas Crown Affair, Fiddler on the Roof, Rollerball). The Big Man is played by Ted Neeley who has a bit of a high, weedy voice so not my favourite Christ. That award goes to the alcoholic Preraphaelite Jeffrey Hunter in Nicholas Ray's 1961 'King of Kings'. Jeffrey also played the first captain of the Starship Enterprise (Captain Pike) in the classic double episode entitled Menagerie which i think kicked off the series.

Jesus Christ Superstar was one of the very first records I ever had (the London stage version, not the movie soundtrack) and i listened to it over and over while colouring pictures on our dining room table. What were your first albums and singles?

Hope the exams went well and look forward to hearing your news.