The Devil Made Me Do It

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The Madam and I had another fantabulosa evening at the magnificent Crazy Coqs cabaret bar at Cafe Zedel last night - courtesy of Miss Hope Springs!

Perfectly capturing the archetypal not-so-much-a-has-been-but-a-never-was doyenne of a million cheap hotel and casino cabarets, the "recovering showgirl" is the brainchild of the uber-talented Ty Jeffries (son of Lionel), who not only camps it up, growling breathlessly beneath the towering wig and layers of spangles and sequins, but is also the writer of every song in Miss Springs' repertoire.

As this was a celebration of her Dix Ans au Crazy Coqs, indeed all her old "favourites" were there; excerpts from "her many (mostly unreleased) albums" such as Je m’appelle Hope, Miss Hope Springs Swings with Strings, Das ist Miss Hope Springs and her "1972 Memphis album recorded in High Wycombe" - including her "Eurovision number" Sing One Song, numerous perfect pastiches of genres from Cole Porter to Noel Coward, Bacharach and David to Jacques Brel, including Assets, What's Your Sign?, January Jones, A Seedy Little Nightclub in Pigalle, Carnival, (the very sad) She’s His World, and (of course) her signature tune The Devil Made Me Do It, interspersed with hilarious anecdotes about her life

These included her pool party romps with "Goldie Hawn" at Jack Jones's place with Sonny & Cher, Mama Cass ("eating a sandwich") and Shari Lewis and Lambchop (who came to a tragic end); her TV roles including playing a hooker, a corpse, and the tape outline of a corpse on Columbo; her songwriting career ("Nat King Cole, Peggy Lee, Blossom Dearie, I wrote songs for all of them. They never sang any of them, but I still wrote them"); and her ill-fated relationships, including her life with current husband Irving (and his boyfriend Carlos!) in a mobile home in Dungeness ("When my husband told me he was getting a little camper I thought – that isn’t possible").

It was superb. Miss Hope Springs is an icon!

Miss Hope Springs showreel and vox-pops

Miss Hope Springs at #WeAreFabuloso

Miss Hope Springs official website

[More Miss Hope Springs]

Ooh, something's coming over me

Wheeee!

Another three-day Bank Holiday looms, dear reader - it's May Day on Monday!

Typically, it's damn cold for the time of year - but there's always a sunny party atmosphere at the end of a week; especially when Miss Donna Summer's in the house...

Thank Disco It's (Beltane) Friday!

Donna Summer - Spring Affair

We're off to see Miss Hope Springs at the faboo Crazy Coqs again tonight (at the personal invitation of her alter-ego Ty Jeffries no less), so let the festivities commence...

Have a good weekend, folks!

Fancy a change?

Oh, the wild and wacky world of heterosexuals.

Multi-coloured and elastic

Perusing (as is my wont) the famous birthdays today, I note that it is the centenary of the birth of telly's least likely sex symbol Jack Klugman aka Quincy; other ill-matched celebrants include Sergei Prokofiev, Russell T Davies, Sheena Easton, Mary Wollstonecraft, Anouk Aimée, Cecil Day-Lewis, Dame Darcey Bussell, Sandy Dennis, Ulysses S. Grant, Judy Carne, Casey Kasem, Ann Peebles, Michael Fish, Marco Pirroni, Anna Chancellor, Lizzo, and...

...the ill-fated Wallace Carothers. Who? I hear you ask...

Mr Carothers was none other than the inventor of Nylon, which gives me the perfect excuse to play a fave choon of mine for many decades [that, to my chagrin, I have never featured on this blog before!].

Whop the poppers out, girls - it's Hi-NRG time!

Marsha Raven - I Like Plastic

I've seen 'Gone with the Wind',
I've read Jane Eyre.
And Haydn's 5th Symphony,
Didn't have it for me.

Well, I've been to Spain
where Picasso lit the flame,
Seen the Colosseum at night,
Oh! but it never turned on my light.

Oh, but I like plastic
It's fantastic
Bend me
Shape me
I'm gymnastic
Lay some polyvinyl chloride on me now!

Oh I like plastic
I'm romantic
Multi-coloured and elastic
Lay some polyvinyl chloride on me now!

I wined on Chateau Margo and I passed on caviar
And the chef at the Savoy Grill;
He didn't give me a thrill.
Those hot summer nights when the Karma Sutra held sway
Oh we tried every page
But it had nothing to say, no no no.

Oh, but I like plastic
It's fantastic
Bend me
Shape me
I'm gymnastic
Lay some polyvinyl chloride on me now!

I tried the finest clothes
Pure silk down to my toes
But I've thrown it all away
They belong to yesterday

Oh, but I like plastic
It's fantastic
Bend me
Shape me
I'm gymnastic
Lay some polyvinyl chloride on me now!

J'aime le plastique
J'aime le plastique
I like plastic
Yes I like plastic.

An all-time classic. Love it!

Daddy's home

Twitter obsessives outraged by Elon Musk’s purchase of it wish there was some way they could quit the hellsite ruining their lives.

Millions of users who spend every waking moment providing free content for a company they hate have now been humiliated by the target of their mockery buying it, and them, and all their little Twitter friends.

Tom Booker, who has been tweeting continuously since 2012, said: “Oh my God, dog on fire saying ‘This is fine’ meme much? If only I could delete my account with no more than a few clicks and be free forever.

“But I can’t because I must be on Twitter to fight the Tories, the centrists, the anti-Semites, the terfs, the tankies, the NFT bros and the slavish followers of Elon Musk.

“You’ve seen how terrible the world’s got this last decade. Imagine how bad it’d be if I hadn’t been battling strangers online for every minute of it? Why, Twitter would be thought of as ‘that thing that got Trump elected’.

“If there were a way to quit it’d probably be in the settings and privacy menu. But that would eat into my precious doomscrolling and time I need to read six years of someone else’s tweets to catch them in a minor hypocrisy, so I’m not even going to bother looking.”

Tweeter Donna Sheridan agreed: “I hate Elon Musk, I hate everyone on Twitter, and I hate myself for being on Twitter. I just need a way to say that which will get me the thousands of likes and retweets I deserve.”

Elon Musk said: “A whole site of petty narcissistic twats endlessly pursuing pointless feuds to the detriment of the real world? You are my children, and Daddy’s home.”

The Daily Mash

Of course.

[The "real news" is more boring.]

Pressure and Parisi

Yep. It's that time again.

Pook! That weekend just flew by - now it's time for work once more...

As we gaze vacantly upon the prospect of another week of edifying delights, on this Tacky Music Monday there's always the bizarre world of good ol' Italian televsion "spectaculars" to get us fired up - inevitably featuring the adorably (ahem) talented Miss Heather Parisi and her safety gays!

Heather Parisi - Ti rockerò

Gobsmacking.

Have a good week, dear reader.

You've got to have a dream; if you don't have a dream, how you gonna have a dream come true ?

Tulip overload!

Another weekend spent pottering in the lovely sunshine in the extensive gardens here at Dolores Delargo Towers - "moving-on" the rapidly-growing baby fuchsias we brought back from Essex earlier this month, re-potting more of the bigger plants, and giving our houseplants and some of the outdoor pelargoniums a good water; all the time listening to the joys of BBC Radio 2.

Among the ill-assorted birthdays today - including MegaBabs, already featured over at the Dolores Delargo Towers Museum of Camp - there's the wonderful Shirley MacLaine, Jean-Paul Gaultier (his 70th), Paula Yates, Tony Visconti, Anthony Trollope, John Williams [the guitarist], Aidan Gillen, Clement Freud, Jill Ireland, Marshal (Phillipe) Pétain, Nigel Harrison, Brian Paddick, Kelly Clarkson, Tommy Docherty - ahem - "Lord Haw Haw" William Joyce...

...and Captain Sensible!

Here's his classic solo hit - a perfect piece of "Sunday Music", you will agree:

Captain Sensible - Happy Talk

You read me Shakespeare on the rolling Thames

Better late than never...

Happy St George's Day to all my English chums!

Kate Bush - Oh England My Lionheart (live)

Oh, England, my lionheart
I'm in your garden fading fast in your arms
The soldiers soften, the war is over
The air raid shelters are blooming clover
Flapping umbrellas fill the lanes
My London Bridge in rain again

Oh, England, my lionheart
Peter Pan steals the kids in Kensington Park
You read me Shakespeare on the rolling Thames
That old river poet that never, ever ends
Our thumping hearts hold the ravens in
Keep the Tower from tumbling

Oh, England, my lionheart
Oh, England, my lionheart
Oh, England, my lionheart
I don't want to go

Oh, England, my lionheart
Dropped from my black spitfire to my funeral barge
Give me one kiss in apple blossom
Give me one wish and I'd be wassailing
In the orchard my English rose
Or with my shepherd who'll bring me home

Oh, England, my lionheart
Oh, England, my lionheart
Oh, England, my lionheart
Oh, England, my lionheart
Oh, England, my lionheart
I don't want to go

St George's Day on Wikipedia

A Public Service Announcement

You were warned.

Let´s find a place with celebrations and songs

As we greet the forthcoming weekend with a renewed energy after a tiresome week's drudgery, the forecast is still showing signs it will stay warm (if a bit more cloudy than it's been this week) - it's time to get our party clobber on!

Copious amounts of satin, flicked hair, unbuttoned shirts, beads and all - just like the boys and girl of Voyage! Amazingly, I have never featured this all-time dance classic from 1978 before...

...so Thank Disco It's Friday!

Voyage - Souvenirs

Have a great weekend, dear reader!

For to start the day, you see

Happy 96th bithday, Your Majesty!

As well as raising a toast to our beloved Queen, we British have something else that is intrinsic to our very being to celebrate - for it is National Tea Day!

So let's roll down the rug and get fruggin', you hep cats...

Binnie Hale - I Like a Nice Cup of Tea in the Morning

Some folks put much reliance
On politics and science
There's only one hero for me
His praise we should be roaring
The man who thought of pouring
The first boiling water onto tea

I like a nice cup o' tea in the morning
For to start the day, you see
And at 'alf past eleven
Well my idea of 'eaven is a nice cup o' tea

I like a nice cup o' tea with me dinner
And a nice cup o' tea with me tea
And when it's time for bed
There's a lot to be said for a nice cup o' tea

You can talk about your science
And your airships in the sky
I can do without the wireless
And you'll never see me fly
The public benefactor
Of the universe for me
Is the genius that thought of
Pouring water onto tea

I like a nice cup o' tea in the morning
For to start the day, you see
And when I set the breakfast things
Well, my idea of sin is a fourth or a fifth cup o' tea

I like a nice cup o' tea with me dinner
And a nice cup o' tea with me tea
And when it's time for bed
There's a lot to be said for a nice cup o' tea

They say it's not nutritious
But still it is delicious
And that's all that matters to me
It turns your meat to leather
But let's all die together
The one drink in Paradise is tea

I like a nice cup o' tea in the morning
For to start the day, you see
And at 'alf past eleven
Well my idea of 'eaven is a nice cup o' tea

I like a nice cup o' tea with me dinner
And a nice cup o' tea with me tea
And when it's time for bed
As I think I may 'ave said, I'd like a nice cup o' tea

You can talk about your liberties
They talk of women's rights
I don't want to make no speeches
'Cause the one that does is fired
And anyone can 'ave me toast
And chuck it in the sea
But golly, there'd be trouble
If they tried to touch me tea

I like a nice cup o' tea with me dinner
And a nice cup o' tea with me tea
And when it's getting late
Almost anything can wait for a nice cup o' tea

I'll be drinking it all day, sweetie.

What d'ya think about that?

Timeslip moment again...

...and we're hurtling back in time three decades once more - to 1992: HM The Queen's annus horribilis, after the official separation of Prince Charles and Princess Diana, the separation of the Duke and Duchess of York, the Princess Royal divorcing Capt Mark Phillips (and subsequently marrying Tim Lawrence) and the devastating fire at her favourite residence Windsor Castle; it was also the year of the Maastricht Treaty, Ab Fab, Nigel Mansell, President Bill Clinton, Ebeneezer Goode, Stella Rimington, the continued bloody break-up of Yugoslavia and the war in Bosnia, Slobodan Milošević, Madonna's Erotica, "Black Wednesday", Eldorado, Alan Shearer, "You Know When You've Been Tango'd", Andrew Morton, Boutros Boutros-Ghali, The Big Breakfast , John Smith, Rachel Nickell, Damien Hirst's "shark", Sister Act, Nagorno-Karabakh, Jeffrey Dahmer, Wayne's World, David Mellor, BCCI, For The Boys, Steffi Graf, Yitzhak Rabin, polytechnics transformed into new universities, The Camomile Lawn, the Barcelona Olympics, Pope John Paul II, Boris Yeltsin and Strictly Ballroom; the year that Miley Cyrus, EuroDisney, the Republic of Mauritius, the AIDS Memorial Quilt, the Ford Mondeo, Sam Smith, the Commodore Amiga 1200 computer, Classic FM, Nick Jonas, Slovakia, Windows 3.1, Cara Delevingne, The Oldie magazine, Selena Gomez and Wagamama were all born; and the year Marlene Dietrich, Nancy Walker, Anthony Perkins, Sandy Dennis, Peter Allen, Robert Morley, José Ferrer, Ástor Piazzolla, Lawrence Welk, Menachem Begin, Denholm Elliott, Isaac Asimov, Thames Television, TVS, TSW and TV-am died.

In the news headlines in April '92? The UK elected Margaret Thatcher's successor John Major as Prime Minister in the biggest landslide vote in history, there was civil war in Afghanistan, the declaration of independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Serbian siege of Sarajevo, an IRA bomb destroyed the Baltic Exchange in the City of London, the massive Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert for AIDS Awareness (featuring Queen and an array of heavy rock bands, as well as Dame Elton John, Dame Elizabeth Taylor, David Bowie, George Michael, Seal, Paul Young, Annie Lennox, Lisa Stansfield and Liza Minnelli) took place at Wembley Stadium, Betty Boothroyd became the first female Speaker of the House of Commons, the Lost Gardens of Heligan in Cornwall first opened to the public, and the acquittal of four police officers in the Rodney King beating criminal trial triggered massive rioting in Los Angeles; we also waved a sad goodbye to "national treasures" Frankie Howerd and Benny Hill on consecutive days. In our cinemas: My Own Private Idaho; Hook; The Hand That Rocks the Cradle. On telly: Jeeves and Wooster; Take Your Pick! with Des O'Connor; the debut of Heartbeat.

And what of our charts this week thirty years ago? All present and correct in the Top Ten were the fabulous Shakespear's Sister, Iron Maiden, Vanessa Williams, Curtis Stigers, Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine, Marc Almond's Days of Pearly Spencer, SL2 On a Ragga Tip, one-hit-wonders Ten Sharp with You, and some dirge by an act called "Mr Big" [I'll be the judge of that! - Ed.].

However, finally - after their magnum opus I'm Too Sexy was thwarted by the seventeen-week-chart-topping behemoth that was Bryan Adams' (Everything I Do) I Do It for You in '91, and their second hit Don't Talk Just Kiss was beaten by the Xmas re-release of Bohemian Rhapsody following Freddie's death - it was the turn of the very lovely Right Said Fred to take the top slot - with this one!

Right Said Fred - Deeply Dippy

Love it - but not as much as this (unsurprisingly)...

Right Said Fred - I'm Too Sexy

I'm too sexy for my love
Too sexy for my love
Love's going to leave me

I'm too sexy for my shirt
Too sexy for my shirt
So sexy it hurts

And I'm too sexy for Milan
Too sexy for Milan,
New York and Japan

And I'm too sexy for your party
Too sexy for your party
No way I'm disco dancing

I'm a model, you know what I mean
And I do my little turn on the catwalk
Yeah, on the catwalk, on the catwalk, yeah
I do my little turn on the catwalk

I'm too sexy for my car
Too sexy for my car
Too sexy by far

And I'm too sexy for my hat
Too sexy for my hat
What d'ya think about that?

I'm a model, you know what I mean
And I do my little turn on the catwalk
Yeah, on the catwalk, on the catwalk, yeah
I shake my little tush on the catwalk

I'm too sexy for my
Too sexy for my
Too sexy for my

'Cause I'm a model, you know what I mean
And I do my little turn on the catwalk
Yeah, on the catwalk, yeah, on the catwalk, yeah
I shake my little tush on the catwalk

I'm too sexy for my cat
Too sexy for my cat
Poor pussy
Poor pussy cat

I'm too sexy for my love
Too sexy for my love
Love's going to leave me

And I'm too sexy for this song!

Yay!

But... THIRTY YEARS?! Lordy, We're old...

Karate Kids!

As ever, coming back to work after a lovely break is horrible. To ease the rising blood pressure, here's another faboo treat from the geniuses at Soft Tempo Lounge - and the Japanese Charlie's Angels!

Soft Tempo Lounge - Our Girls in Tokyo

Oh. That's better.

[Music: Frank Perez - 70s Cop Show Intro Theme (Soft Tempo Lounge 2022 mix]

What the fuck - let's do like Donald Duck

I'm aching after all the (enjoyable) pottering in the extensive gardens here at Dolores Delargo Towers. However, I haven't forgotten that is is still a Tacky Music (Bank Holiday) Monday - and I have a genuine treat in store!

With the continuing spell of lovely weather, I think we should all "go commando", with Günther and his crew...

Enjoy the evening - it's back to work tomorrow. Sigh.

You know, you come from nothing - you're going back to nothing. What have you lost? Nothing!

Totty of the Day: "Spiderman - No Way Home" was indeed a joy, for many reasons...

Another glorious Spring day spent in the garden, and it's all coming together nicely. Here's a suitable song for an Easter Sunday:

Always Look on the Bright Side of Life (Monty Python's Life of Brian)

Stay happy, folks!

Spins a web, any size; catches thieves just like flies

Phlox subulata “Fabulous Rose” is a big show-off at them moment in the extensive gardens here at Dolores Delargo Towers
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Another gloriously sunny day - yesterday hit 23C in London! - and I'm off for another Marvel-film-fest at our friend John-John's [although I have no doubt there'll be plenty of breaks in the proceedings to bask in the sunshine].

Among the treats on offer is the latest Spiderman: No Way Home, so I thought this might be a most appropriate choon for the day...

Michael Bublé - Spiderman

Don't get sunburnt, kiddywinkies!

More Spiderman here and here.

No, no, please don't

OK, I know it's a Bank Holiday and a long weekend [yay!], but there is still a party atmosphere in the air at the end of any week.

So, of course, we need to get our satinette leggings and knee-boots on to greet our forthcoming (hopefully) sunny long weekend - with a most peculiar Europop number...

...and Thank Disco It's (Good) Friday!

Emly Starr - No, no, Sheriff

What the fuck was that all about? No idea.

Have a fantabulosa Easter weekend, dear reader!

It's inevitable....

...at this time of year, that we should sustain our tradition here at Dolores Delargo Towers - with a beloved canticle:

Tiger Lillies [with the Thirteen Jesuses] - Banging in the Nails

Happy Easter.

Superior

A young couple are striving to shed their working-class roots and bring a brand new, middle-class awfulness into their lives.

Nikki Hollis and her partner Thom believe they are at a stage when they are ready and can afford to feel insufferably superior to people they now consider to be more common than they are.

Hollis said: “We’ve worked hard to cultivate a lovely home for middle-class toxicity to thrive. We’ve got a Smeg fridge and a labradoodle, and my Insta stories are stuffed with humblebrags about how happy I’d be if only we could afford an Aga but we’ve given the money to Ukraine instead.

“We’ve also worked hard on ourselves. I now only use profanity for emphasis, not punctuation, and we’ve added a superfluous ‘h’ to Thom’s name so he sounds like he runs a small architecture studio in a converted woollen mill rather than working in a call centre.

“It’s not always easy, and I do sometimes lie awake in my organic cotton bed sheets and wonder if deliberately turning ourselves into wankers is a terrible mistake.

“But it does seem to be going well. Thom thinks our friends and family already consider us to be massive twats who were nicer as we were. One can only hope.”

The Daily Mash

Of course.

---

And finally [geddit?!]...

...as it's the last day in the office before the long Easter weekend - here's another faboo mash-up, courtesy of the genius that is Bill McClintock:

Cece Peniston vs Within Temptation - Finally Faster [Bill McClintock mash-up]

Enjoy!

A word from our sponsors - seasonal special

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If I kiss you in the garden, in the moonlight

Back to the office today...

Another day, another raft of ill-matched set of birthdays, including the incomparable Ann Miller, Montserrat Caballé, David Cassidy, Herbie Hancock, Bobby Moore, Hardy Krüger, Lily Pons, Oliver Postgate, David Letterman, Helen Forrest, Alan Ayckbourn, Elspet Gray, Andy Garcia, Jacob Zuma, Sarah Cracknell, Jeremy Beadle...

...and Tiny Tim, who would have been 90 years old today!

It could only be one song, really...

Tiny Tim - Tiptoe Through the Tulips

Hope you were all singing along, folks!

And you got me wanting you

Oh no...!

The reverie is over, dear reader. Back to work time has arrived...

Hey ho. As long as we have Mama Cass, Dudley Moore and Lulu on a Tacky Music Monday, there's still hope left for this world!

Cass Elliot, Lulu & Dudley Moore - Sugar Sugar [It's Lulu, 25th July 1970]

At least it's a short week, thanks to Easter. Have a good one, folks.

Comes a rainstorm, put your rubbers on your feet

I rounded off a fabulous week-and-a-bit off [The Madam and I enjoyed a party with "the gang", a great visit to Essex with the Boys, and a trip with John-John yesterday to the impressive Gardening Club in Crews Hill] pottering in the extensive gardens here at Dolores Delargo Towers - I planted-up a few wall-pots; with a pair of fuchsias from our recent haul - as well as some of the annuals we purchased yesterday - and generally pruned-back and re-potted a load of our existing plant collection to greet the Spring. And, at last, it was beautiful sunny weather all day, so that made it all the more enjoyable.

Friday would have marked the 102nd anniversary of the birth of the fantabulosa Carmen McRae...

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...and who better than the great lady herself to provide some appropriate "Sunday Music"?

Carmen McRae - That Old Devil Called Love

Carmen McRae - Comes Love

Sublime.

THIS is how to make an entrance!

Next time I go to a sauna, I'm taking bungee ropes and feathers...

Go, go-go

On this last Friday of my annual leave, it's hardly a major celebration [although Madam Arcati and I are intending to embark on our first visit to Kew Gardens today since the pandemic lockdowns began. We have a man in to replace our draughty back door, so it's best be out of the way]*.

However, it's always a thrill when one discovers two iconic "regular features" at this very blog that overlap - namely Soft Tempo Lounge, here screaming to the rooftops in the cheesiest way possible: "Thank Disco It's Friday!"

Soft Tempo Lounge - Go-Go Dancer '77

[Music: Berry Lipman and Orchestra - Let's Dance Together]

Have a great weekend, folks!

*[STOP PRESS: That never happened - the man had finished installing the door by the time I hauled my carcass out of bed, so we didn't bother with Kew after all...]

While you were away...

Halstead Antiques Centre [click any pic to embiggen]

We had a splendid time staying with "our nieces" Baby Steve and Houseboy Alex in Braintree over the past few days - they did us proud!

We travelled up to Essex with them the day after our faboo Film Club/"New Year's Eve" party - at which we all got the heebie-jeebies for Cruella...

...and managed to "fill our boots" with a haul from the garden centres in the locality - a new blue Phlox, and another twelve new Fuchsia varieties (plus a couple of duplicates of ones we already had) to add to our collection (from our favourite specialist growers B & HM Baker at Bourne Brook Nursery) - and spent a day browsing through various antiques/junk shop emporia [I came away with an original film programme from the premiere of the film Cabaret in London in 1972, complete with ticket stub - for the grand sum of £2!].

But what did we miss while we were away?

Of course, the biggest (and saddest) news was the death of the lovely "national treasure" June Brown, a classical actress with the Royal Shakespeare Company who played Hedda Gabler and Lady Macbeth on stage, was an unforgettable "Nanny Slagg" in Gormenghast, and even played a nipple-tassel-twirling strippper in a sketch on the Lily Savage Show, but will forever be remembered as the fantabulosa "Dot Cotton" in Eastenders:

During our time away, the world also bade a sad farewell to Punk icon "Jordan", and to the 50s "Teen Idol" Bobby Rydell. Aside from the centenary of the saintly Miss Doris Day, other significant birthdays while we were away included the centenary of film composer Elmer Bernstein, what would have been the 90th of the lovely Anthony Perkins, the 80th(s) of film director Peter Greenaway, The Hollies founder and lead singer Allan Clarke and "Goodbye Girl" Marsha Mason (and also the birthdays of our Patron Saints Bette Davis, Abba icon Agnetha Fältskog and camp Disco legend Patrick Hernandez).

The news headlines were still aghast at the horrifying scenes from Ukraine, and other news included endless speculation about "Dishy" Rishi Sunak (our Chancellor)'s wife and her business deals in Russia; a mass walk-out of LGBT groups from a government conference on equality over the ongoing row about banning conversion therapy (the new Bill will criminalise it on the basis of sexuality, but not gender dysphoria); bedlam at airports as EasyJet blamed COVID-related staff shortages for flight cancellations and Manchester Airport's CEO resigned; the teeny-tiny republic of San Marino elected the world's first out-gay head of state; and, meanwhile in Montana, an owl poked its beak into a live traffic monitoring camera...

Unsurprisingly, our musical accompaniment during our stay was mainly a diet of Kylie, Steps, Erasure, Pet Shop Boys, 80s synth-pop and 90s dance choons - such as this one!

Jinny - Keep Warm

Highly appropriate, given the mixed bag of sunshine, hail, high winds and torrential rain we've had in turn, over just a few days...

Born brilliant, born bad, and a little bit mad

“Don’t worry, we’re just getting started. There’s lots more bad things coming, I promise.”

As we depart for Essex for a few days, dear reader, let me leave you with the merest soupçon of the film that was the unavowed highlight of "our gang"'s Film Club gathering yesterday...

Cruella official trailer #1

Cruella official trailer #2

Sumptuous. My new favourite film!

"Normal" service should resume here midweek...

Shopping...

I don't even know what I'm thinking, and I'm not even drinking

Yay! Weekend is looming - and, yes, I know I am actually on leave, but...

...with a "replacement for the cancelled New Year's Eve Party" gathering-of-the-clans tomorrow to look forward to, followed by a little mini-break in Braintree with The Boys (which will be a chilly one, no doubt, given the turn in the weather), there's definitely a "party mood" in the air! Let's celebrate with a true "Clash of the Disco Titans" - and Thank Disco It's Friday!!

Kylie Minogue and Gloria Gaynor - Can't Stop Writing Songs About You

Have a great weekend, dear reader!