We’ve achieved another year of growth in 2025 here at Vintage Leisure and I’m grateful for everybody that has showed up here to read an article and to support my efforts to illuminate the music, the movies, the books and the personalities that should not be forgotten. I’m happy with my position as curator of this collection of reminiscences – it’s a job I take seriously and one I’m happy to carry on with. I believe in looking back honestly and discussing the culture of the middle of the last century and the way entertainment was as it continues to drastically change as the years go by. There was good, bad and ugly back in the day and it all deserves to be remembered and appraised – and not by using modern yardsticks. It wasn’t all great, it wasn’t all right but it was what it was and many of us – for better or for worse – wish we were heading into 1966 as opposed to 2026. But just like the good old days weren’t always good, the current age is not without shining lights so take heart. And take a seat here at SoulRide for the coming year. Follow the site to never miss a post.

There were over 40 of them in 2025 and views and visitors were up over last year by about 25%. Elvis World: The Truth About Priscilla was once again the most-read, being voraciously consumed even more than it was last year; no article here as been read more. I was pleased though to see late in the year a surge of views of Golden: The Story of Andy Williams and this one actually bested Priscilla in the final weeks of the year. I noticed that, if you Googled “Andy Williams”, the SoulRide article appeared as the third result after Wikipedia and IMDb. Usual suspects like Edie Sedgwick, Marty Robbins and Debra Paget also featured in the Top Ten and they were joined by this year’s The Sincerity of Intent: Tom Laughlin and the Ballad of Billy Jack. This pleases me as this article began many years ago when I furiously made some notes about Laughlin’s intent when he assumed the mantle of advocate for marginalized people. This is confirmation that Billy Jack – character and films – still resonates with many out there. Another of this year’s pieces that ranked high was AI v. DJ: The Rise of Synthetic Sounds, an article that explored the new and prolific world of AI-generated music.

Presley was once again well represented here with two book reviews, two film reviews and an album review. I was happy to finally issue thoughts on my number one favourite movie of all-time, Blue Hawaii, and I am determined to continue to work on the Scene By Scene review that will follow someday.

I was pleased to provide Another Guide to Winter Movies that featured a great graphic and went over well and to submit two more episodes of Once Upon a Time, this year highlighting the European films of Americans Mark Damon and Charles Bronson. Another article years in the making was the story of Bryan Adams and his pivot from Canadian roadhouse rocker to international love ballad crooner and I knew that Your Guide to Autumn Movies was some day going to appear as it did this fall.

As in past years, there were some deeper dives, some more penetrating looks at various topics. These included an overview of the legendary career of Wayne Newton and To Bury the Light, the cleverly titled first-timer’s look at Pink Floyd’s The Wall album and movie. Then I finally discussed one of my favourite television shows of all-time, Moonlighting, in a lengthy discourse issued in the spring. A chance listen to a Nancy Sinatra anthology lead to a thorough discussion of her music career alongside Lee Hazlewood I called Lightning’s Girl. This is a perfect example of the organic way that topics occur to me, later to make their appearance at Vintage Leisure.

And then there were some of the quicker chats. Sadly, we had another legend leave us and this prompted a quick look at what made Connie Francis so cool, I shared some brief Music Notes and discussed the cast of Almost Summer, a movie I didn’t really like but one that I thought warranted discussion. Another long overdue piece was a review of one of my deepest cut favourite films, 1983’s Purple Haze and late in the year I spotlighted the Sinatra boys.

Another episode of Suggesting Sinatra featured Frank’s autumnal opus September of My Years and I dusted off another “trunk article” to highlight Frank, Jr’s one great record, Spice. Here’s another good example of what thrills me about sharing these articles. This one may not have reached a mass audience but it did impact one of my faithful readers and good Facebook friend. Discussing Junior resonated with Hannah and we had some back and forth regarding him and his album. This sometimes can make it all worth it; someone reaching out to confirm that what you have written mattered.

I’m proud to have maintained relationships with two long-time collaborators. Koop Kooper at Cocktail Nation has been a valued promoter of my site and my work now for many years. In 2026, I will be continuing my monthly appearances on his podcast but with a change in content. I will still be discussing books with Words With Wellsy but I will also be highlighting some of the other things we talk about here at SoulRide. So be listening in the new year for The Retro Zone, an audio companion to the essays you’re regularly treated to here. I’m really looking forward to it and here’s the unveiling of my Rod Serling-inspired featured pic for the segment.

2025 was yet another great year of discussions with my man George Fairbrother on his DEC4 Podcast. This year we dished on a revered Beach Boys doc and More American Graffiti but the highlight was certainly having David Leaf reach out to us. Mr. Leaf is an author and filmmaker who looms large in the world of the Beach Boys. This year, he issued a new book on the group’s unfinished classic album SMiLE and he offered to sit down and talk to us about it. It was a thrill to have David captive and to hear him offer his singular insight into Brian Wilson and his unearthing of the SMiLE album for release and live performances in 2005. He gave us a “Wow” and a “you guys know what you’re talking about” so that was gratifying. To hear this episode and others, head to DEC4Podcast.com or search DEC4 on YouTube. DEC4 was Vintage Leisure‘s top referrer in 2025 followed by caftanwoman.com; a site that still features a link to every new article of mine despite the death of it’s proprietor several years ago and for this I am grateful. Rounding out those who have pointed the way to these pages is a good friend who has recently breathed new life back into his Mystery Train blog. Please check out Ty’s unique takes on Elvis Presley at themysterytrainblog.com.

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Finally, a word about my audience. As usual, most readers are based in the United States with countries like the UK, Canada, Australia and Germany also well represented. But what really caught my eye this year was the prolific and consistent readership coming from Ashburn, Virginia. This city of some 50,000 people in northern Virginia near the Maryland border accounts for well more than twice the readers that the number two city does. Following Ashburn are metropolises like New York City, Los Angeles, London and Toronto but they cannot compete with this once-rural city that has become a hub for internet traffic due to its many data centers. Ashburn is home to Wikimedia, Wikipedia’s parent company. Does this internet connection somehow account for the many hits from this town? If so, that is certainly less romantic than the idea of a burgeoning legion of Vintage Leisure addicts springing up there. If anyone reading this can shed any light – if you are my Ashburn homie who spends much of the day scanning the aisles here – then reach out to me and let me know what gives. And you know what this all means, of course; I can confidently say that I am “big in Ashburn”.

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Join me for this new year as we party like it’s 1976!

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This Year’s Top Discussions

• The Sincerity of Intent: Tom Laughlin and the Ballad of Billy Jack
• AI vs DJ: The Rise of Synthetic Sounds
• Another Guide to Winter Movies
• The Fleeting Glory of Moonlighting
• King Reader: Child Bride

The Top Ten of 2025

• Elvis World: The Truth About Priscilla
• Golden: The Story of Andy Williams
• Check This Out: Edie Sedgwick
• The Reputations of Marty Robbins
• Once Upon a Time: Debra Paget
• A Leisurely Look @ Jack Lord
• The Truth About Jan and Dean
• The Top Ten Elvis Presley Songs You’ve Never Heard
• The Sincerity of Intent: Tom Laughlin and the Ballad of Billy Jack
• The Ping Girl: The Story of Carole Landis