Ladies and Gentlemen! Put your hands together for the UK HR Blogging Community! 1..2.. 1,2 3,4!

The casual visitor to the world of HR blogging could be excused for thinking that it was solely the domain of the guys and gals from the USA, so to celebrate Independence Day in a topsy-turvy fashion, today’s HR Case Studies item consists of a series of links to blog entries written by the cultural and geographical offspring of Bill Shakespeare.

The only entrance requirement to today's list is that you're living in the UK, and have something (preferably quirky) to say about the wild and wacky world of HR.

The idea behind this is hopefully start some form of wave. We don’t do things big in the UK, so it probably won’t be much of a Mexican Wave. More of a Macclesfield Wave. Or possibly a Melton Mowbray wave, accompanied by joyful flinging of pork pies. But if you’re in the UK and you’re a member of the HR blogging community, make yourself known and let’s make this a regular event. Hopefully something that happens more regularly than we win the World Cup.

Let’s introduce the members of the band and start to rock the joint (quietly of course – we don’t want to upset the neighbours, do we)
 
On lead vocals we have Charlie Duff (Editor of HR Zone) singing Your future office is Starbucks a tuneful little ditty exploring the innovative power of the UK workforce in the face of adversity and severed power cables. Think Hayley Williams. Think Paramore. But louder.
 
Put your hands together for Jon Ingham on lead guitar, adding some searing fret-melting pyrotechnics between the verses of Chasing Stars and Socialism (a song inspired by the abject failure of England to perform in the World Cup) When not dressed in torso-hugging red spandex jeans, Jon is the driving force behind Strategic Dynamics Consultancy Services Ltd.
 
Providing rock-solid support on Fender Precision Bass is Gareth Jones. His reliable-as-heartbeat playing on Stiff upper lip HR… adds the perfect accompaniment to his self-penned (and probably autobiographical) anthem concerning an HR professional, consultant, recruiter, marketer, techy and wannabe futurologist.
 
Submerged behind his array of keyboards, and dressed in a glittery cape that would be the envy of Rick Wakeman is Michael Carty. His concept album Delivering "HR with attitude" in 2010: UK HR's finest hour? has already been described by Rolling Stone Magazine as "the sort of musical epic that only someone who was XpertHR’s benchmarking editor could have written"
 
It's a little know fact, but wild-man Bez from the Happy Mondays actually learned all of his maraca-playing skills at the feet of the master himself: Andy Spence. Just listen to the persistent psychedelic groove on Why England Lose - Talent Management Insights from Football and you'll see why Andy is not only Glass Bead Consulting’s founder and Managing Director, but a much sought after performer at festivals and raves.
 
And who's this windmilling to the front of the stage with a lightning bolt tattoo zig-zagging across his face? It's none other than Courtenay HR's Gibson Les Paul wielding Mervyn Dinnen. His power chords at the beginning of  Generation Bowie – the original flexible workforce? seem likely to be the soundtrack to the summer of 2010.
 
If any members of the audience need further information on the new musical direction currently being taken by the UK HR blogging community, the musical directors of HR Case Study have produced a helpful guide entitled: 1,000 Places To Visit Before You Die. Number 1,001: HR Shire
 
Now: Dim the lights. Cue smoke. Cue Lasers. Amps up to Eleven.
 
Ladies and Gentlemen: Put your hands together for the ultimate Rock Band: The UK HR Blogging Community.