Return Of The Ruff Necks

Yes, I Nicked That
I shall have to explicate a little, as not all of you are aware of The Chameleons and that track of theirs, "Return of the Roughnecks".  Here is a Youtube link that you may be ignorant no longer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZAmWwzBYEs

     "What ho, Conrad," I hear you query.  "What possible connection can there be between the two of them?"
     Edna Wunderhund, of course. 

To refresh your memory

 Wonder Wifey and Degsy returned from their time adrift on the briny deep, having suffered eleven days dog deprivation, and Conrad was there to collect them from the airport with a small whimpering dog in tow.
     Not literally in tow.  She was on the back seat, complaining the entire journey there at the Wicked Neglectful Human who devoted entirely too much attention to driving and not nearly enough to her.  Road safety, Edna, road safety.
     Both parties fell upon each other with much rejoicing, slobbering and face-licking (not all of which was Edna).
     Conrad got his just desserts, too.  Art?

A bounty of booze

     Of course your humble scribe cannot partake of any presents just yet.   Sober for October, remember?  Come Saturday 29th October, however, I shall surely be sampling this stuff to see just how ruff or rough it is.

You May Be Able To Help Here
As you should surely know by now, Conrad is fond of crosswords, although he's not had much chance to do any since there has been no travel on First Bus since 30th September (I've not missed them) and thus no Metro newspaper.
     So, it was with a touch of bemusement that he came across the "Empire" crossword in the most recent publication.  Art?

No Googling executed

     As the caption insists, I haven't resorted to teh Interwebz to solve any questions, yet please note that I've got all the grey-shaded squares.
     "Why does this matter?" I hear you quibble.  "There's still gaps in there!"
     Ah yes except not the important grey-shaded ones.  According to the non-visible blurb at the bottom of the page, those grey squares are an anagram of a film person - star, crew or character.

     "EKIMOELRT"

     It baffles me.  I tried with forenames "Tom", "Mike", "Kim", "Tim" and nothing obvious came up.  If you know the solution, post it as a Comment and we'll take it from there.

"The Abdelazar's Revenge"
You may not be entirely familiar with the title of this musical piece yet you will have, at some point, have heard it.  Benjamin Britten chose it for "A Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra", or it might have vanished into obscurity.  Here's a Youtube link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVivtti-n-w

     As performed on original instruments.  The harpsichord not brought up enough in the mix for me, but that's Conrad for you, a sucker for keyboards.  Actually the harpsichord in question was manufactured by Johannes - wait for it wait for it - Klinkhamer.  Which is deliciously ironic as the harpsichord makes it's unique sound by plucking strings, not striking them with hammers.
     After hearing this at Autumn Shades it haunted me, for no good reason.

Conrad, looking haunted.

     Actually there was a reason.  It's on the soundtrack to "Castle Keep", which I had been watching recently.  Am I cultured or wot?

Yes I am

     Sadly there is absolutely no information on the soundtrack that I can copy and add here to impress you with how cultured I is.
     Take it on trust.  That face above may be haunted but it's honest.

Erk - Pub Quiz Or No?
I know, I know, it's a matter of huge indifference to you out there if Conrad takes his intellect for a walk at the Halfway House or not, which I think shows up your snivelling disregard for human my aspirations more than it does my conceit.
     Anyway, last week I tiptoed away from Edna on Thursday evening - I had permission, don't you worry about that - down to the HH, which was a tumbleweed town indeed, with more people behind the bar than present for quiz.  So, no quiz.

The HH

     That week.  
     There were fliers out about a "Speedquiz" taking place on the following Wednesday, at 9 p.m.  For the uninformed, you need a smartphone with the Speedquiz app loaded, which allows you to hammer on the phone when you get the answer.
     There is one slight problem, which is that Rosie, 33% of our team, utterly detests these kinds of quiz.  So we gave it a miss.
     Now, the question is, where do we go tonight for a Pub Quiz?  I doubt The Summit, as they, too, run a Speedquiz that is incredibly noisy and boisterous. 

There's "summit" wrong with it.  Ha!  D'you see wh - O you do.

 I doubt the HH will be running another different quiz on the day following their new one launches.  There is The Pleasant, yet that might no longer be running as it's years since we attended.
     O the woe!

The Pleasant.  Which it is, inside.