Talk of the Town: News album is hit with Roller Alan

Now a plumber, bass player Alan Longmuir was able to relive his moment of fame when we marked the 45th anniversary of the Beatle’s Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album with our own version of the front cover featuring a selection of famous Edinburgh faces.

Alan was so chuffed to be included alongside his bandmates that he’s asked for a copy of the striking Edinburgh version of the album sleeve. It’s winging its way to him right now.

All together now . . . B-A-Y, B-A-Y, B-A-Y, C-I-T-Y, With an R-O-double-L, E-R-S, Bay City Rollers are the best!

It’s never too early to start the celebrations

IT may be Friday the 13th – but it’s your lucky day.

That’s because it’s time to look out the pointy party hat, crack open the 12-year-old Macallan and yell Happy New Year!

OK, not quite, but it’s certainly time to get in the mood as tickets for Edinburgh’s Hogmanay 2013 go up for grabs today.

With New Year just a short seven and a half months away, the city is looking a bit bare – shouldn’t the Christmas tree be up by now?

Prints among men

WITH the Titanic undoubtedly the talk of just about every town going, the Capital is playing its part with theatre company Snow Angels getting involved.

Its drama, Fit to Print, takes to the stage at The Fiddler’s Elbow in Picardy Place tomorrow night.

Set in the offices of the New York Times, it tells how the paper struggled to keep up with the constantly developing story.

Which gives us an excuse to tell the old story of the UK newspaper, putting its readership first, that headlined the sinking of the Titanic: “Local man lost at sea”.

Frightening fact

OURS is a city steeped in grisly history – of body-snatchers, ghost tours and an underground network of condemned streets.

So it is little wonder then that Edinburgh has been named runner-up in a ranking of most superstitious towns.

A Friday the 13th poll from pchprizes.co.uk suggests Capital-dwellers still live in fear of traditional myths, such as believing that breaking a mirror will bring seven years bad luck.

Making you wonder who took the step when tram workers cracked that first pavement.