Hypno-tiz-ed

Few among my beloved audience noticed my last selection, it would appear, but undaunted as I am - here is another random assortment of "newer" choons that have caught my ear of late!

First up, Our Princess Kylie's latest, a rather faboo track from her Disco: Guest List Edition [which, incidentally, landed her the accolade of being the first female artist to have a number one album in five consecutive decades]:

Kylie Minogue - Miss a Thing

Next up - this "summer anthem" [well, it was actually released last November, but the band's performance at Glastonbury got them noticed] has been clogging-up the airwaves lately here in the long, hot summer in the UK! Understandably...

Confidence Man - Holiday

Heavens, this "80s-style" mix is so much better than the original! They eununciated things far better in those days, of course - poor Ms Lipa evidently cannot pronounce any consonants:

Dua Lipa - New Rules (Initial Talk Remix)

Here's an irresistable oddity - not new at all [it was actually released in 2017, and apparently featured in an advert for an Apple iPhone], but new to me - courtesy of Paddy O'Connell, sitting in for Liza Tarbuck on BBC Radio 2 today:

Cosmo Sheldrake - Come Along

By way of a complete contrast, as part of his own celebration of 25 years in the business [cf Geri and the Spice Girls, as featured yesterday] the lovely Robbie Williams is back with a new single:

Robbie Williams - Lost

And, saving the best for last - a "national treasure", with a most remarkable earworm...

Sophie Ellis‐Bextor and Wuh Oh - Hypnotized

As ever, let me know your thoughts, dear reader...

I'm a drama queen if that's your thing, baby

[click to embiggen]

You know you're getting old when...

...you discover that "Ginger Spice" Geri Halliwell is 50 years old!

It seems like only yesterday that we first encountered the "musical-hen-party" that was the Spice Girls, leaping all over the place and picking fights with Noel Gallagher! I was never a huge fan of them as an ensemble, but they certainly were a phenomenon - and Geri always took centre stage, with her campery and chutzpah.

When she finally departed the group, it was this track that converted me to the lady's talents - I adored it back in 1999, and still adore it today:

Geri Halliwell - Look At Me

She had a prodigious run of hits, including this...

Geri Halliwell - Lift Me Up

...and this one (another fave):

Geri Halliwell - Bag It Up

We even queued for hours to see her live on stage at G.A.Y. at the sadly-missed Astoria! She was superb.

Of course, despite marriage, motherhood and a stint as a UN goodwill ambassador, the lure of a Spice Girls reunion was rather inevitable, culminating in a blockbuster sell-out tour in 2019 - and as the hoo-ha builds over their 25th anniversary, there are rumours they'll be on the road again.

Geri, you're an icon!

Many happy returns, Geraldine Estelle "Geri" Horner, née Halliwell (born 6th August 1972)

In the Bush

As another gruelling week draws mercifully to its close, so it;'s time for me to muster up the mood for a party...

...with a little help from an old, old favourite - and the not-aware-of-the-camera-at-all Soul Train dancers! As I said @adecadeago: "I can almost smell the acrylic and hairspray from here!"

Musique - Push, Push, In The Bush

Thank Disco It's Friday!

Have a good one, dear reader!

The Hooded Man

[click to embiggen]

Recession. Ukraine. China. The Tory leadership contest. Strikes. The news headlines make for depressing reading. And work continues to be a bastard...

...let's have a bit of a relaxing music interlude (and an ogle at the lovely Michael Praed at his youthful, tight-leggings-clad, floppy-haired prime) to take our minds off it, shall we? - courtesy of birthday girl Moya Brennan (70 today) and her family band Clannad:

Clannad - Robin (The Hooded Man)

The whole of the UK (myself included) was madly in love (lust) with "Robin" way back in 1984 - and who would blame us?

Felicitations!

It's my dear sister's birthday today...

...Happy Birthday, Hils!! 💋💋💋💋

Until September!

[click to embiggen, if you dare]

The school summer holidays have begun, ruining these locations for the next six weeks. Stay the fuck away.

Parks
Like a stroll through the park at lunchtime? Not until September you won’t. Lone office workers eating chicken tikka wraps will be glared at by mums as if they’re child predators, frisbees will whack you in the side of the head, and if your dog dares chase a ball the consternation will travel miles. It’s their park now.

Libraries
You pop in to pick up the second volume of whatever bollocks fantasy trilogy you’re reading that you wouldn’t pay for, and there’s fucking kids everywhere. Colouring, singing, being told stories by some luckless prick. None actually reading, you notice. Presumably just being in proximity to books means it’s ‘educational’.

Any historic building
Cathedral, abbey or the former home of angler Isaak Walton: you’re visiting because you have some genuine interest. The kids are there because they started hitting each other with Xbox controllers at home, entrance is free and it’s raining. Good luck appreciating the rood screens in their company.

Art galleries
Whether a provincial gallery showing the unheard-of watercolours of John Sell Cotman or Tate Modern, it’ll be packed with children who could not give a shit. And whether packed into an activity room full of broken crayons or racing around crayoning the walls, they’ll make contemplating a painting entirely impossible.

Starbucks
You fancy a sit-down and a latte. But, selfishly, you’re not a family. So you’re treated as an interloper for taking a whole chair to yourself, bratty kids ask if you’re a hermit and when you’re going because mum wants the table, and you’re forced to overhear conversations about Olivia only biting other children because they provoke her. Get the latte to go.

Your own home
Got kids? Your own home is no longer a place of refuge. Homeworking is now impossible. It’s a climbing frame, an obstacle course and a behavioural experiment for feral children jonesing for their next sugar high. And it’ll be that way until fucking September.

The Daily Mash

Of course.

I used to walk in the shade, with those blues on parade

Yes. Back to work again, dammit!

Another weekend gone too soon... Never mind, eh? Here (in the estimable company of Mr Nat King Cole) on this Tacky Music Monday is the faboo Tony Martin (who departed for Fabulon @adecadeago today) to cheer things up very nicely indeed!

Nat King Cole and Tony Martin - On The Sunny Side Of The Street [Ed Sullivan Show, 1956]

Have a good week, peeps.