Friday 31 March 2023

I don't know if I'm being foolish, don't know if I'm being wise

The weekend hoves into view, and - despite the torrential rain today - we need to get in the mood for a party!


He looks a little different these days [click to embiggen]

The fact that the formerly-gorgeous Paul Mercurio of tight-trousered Strictly Ballroom fame [see here] is (gulp!) sixty years old today gives me the perfect excuse to post a classic number that was used in the film (here performed in an updated version by its original 70s singer) - and Thank Disco It's Friday!

Have a good one, dear reader, whatever the weather!

Thursday 30 March 2023

Lifelong passion for repeats

A 34-year-old man has far more vivid recollections of the 1980s than his own formative decade the ‘noughties’.

Oliver O’Connor recalls bugger all about 2000 to 2010, despite these being his teen and college years, whereas the 1980s, which he experienced two years of as a baby, was easily the best decade of his life.

He said: “The Smiths, New Order, Prince, The Cure, The Human League, Simple Minds – what a decade for music. I wish I could go back to those days. I mean I was a foetus, but what a time to be a foetus.

“And the TV – Only Fools and Horses, The Young Ones, Minder. It was classic shows like that that gave me my lifelong passion for repeats.”


The noughties, in which he attained puberty, made new friends, passed his driving test and went to university, have left O’Connor with no recollection of pop culture or indeed anything much, except exams.

He added: “It’s all a bit of a blur to me. Actually, there was Blur, wasn’t there? No, they were the 90s. What else? Did anything happen? I’m racking my brains but I don’t think it did.

“Oh yeah, Two Pints of Lager And a Packet of Crisps. There were about 800 episodes of that. Didn’t watch any.”
The Daily Mash

Of course.


Speaking of 80s...

...many happy returns to some familiar faces who blow out 80 candles on their cake this week:


Eric Idle


Sir John Major


Christopher Walken

Many happy returns, all!

Wednesday 29 March 2023

Farewell, Our Lil

From Matt Cain's panegyric in The Guardian:

Lily Savage could be abrasive and her form of drag was anarchic and disruptive. As the punk rock of its day, it was the perfect fit for his rebellious political views. These weren’t just limited to queer culture – in 2010, he delivered a famous rant against Tory austerity. He had a passion for social justice, and from an early age was fired up by ignorance and prejudice.

First and foremost, though, he was a gay activist. And his work on this front began when increasing visibility was key.

Lily Savage was a pioneer for drag in the mainstream, way before RuPaul’s Drag Race. With a spot on The Big Breakfast and a hosting role on Blankety Blank, O’Grady may have cleaned up his language but he didn’t tone down his act.

This meant that when he retired Lily Savage and began presenting TV shows as himself, it had a huge impact. It showed the mainstream public that gay people could be just like them. And it showed gay people that it was possible to be embraced by society without having to sanitise certain of the less “respectable” elements of our culture. O’Grady may have been embraced as a national treasure, but the British public knew exactly who they were embracing.

From rebellious and sometimes law-breaking working-class boy (and father of a child while in his teens) to waiter at a brothel in Manila, social worker, dive bar drag act, BAFTA-winning chat show interviewer (in and out of drag), "inmate" in Prisoner Cell Block H: The Musical, prime-time-telly-show-host (Blankety Blank and Blind Date), pantomime dame, gay rights campaigner, "Miss Hannigan", close friend of Cilla Black, Barbara Windsor and even (reputedly) HM The Queen, renowned dog (and every other kind of animal) lover, genial and hilarious radio show presenter, national treasure - Paul O'Grady was loved by everyone, in whatever "role" he played.

For one man to receive tributes from the likes of Dame Elton John, Queen Consort Camilla, Russell T Davies, stalwart rights campaigners including Peter Tatchell, politicians, journalists, charitable bodies, numerous drag performers, and myriad names from the world of showbiz including Sandi Toksvig, Eddy Izzard, Ken Bruce, Carol Vorderman, Susan Boyle, Tom Hardy, Lorraine Kelly, John Barrowman, Vanessa Feltz, Joe Lycett, Zoe Ball, Jeremy Vine, Gaby Roslin, Amanda Holden, Rob Brydon, Les Dennis, Paddy McGuinness, and thousands more is quite an eye-opener.

There was seemingly no end to his talents as a true humanitarian. It was, however, to his acid-queen alter-ego (despite the fact he retired her in 2007) "Our Lil" Lily Savage to whom we turn to pay due homage...

...and whoever knew she released a Hi-NRG song?!

RIP, Paul James O'Grady MBE.

There will never be another.

More Paul/Lily here and here.

There's a wonderful world we can share

And so, farewell, then Christopher Gunning.

Who? I hear you ask...

Mr Gunning, composer by profession, was tutored by Richard Rodney Bennett and began his career as a muical assistant to Dudley Moore, before progressing to the world of TV and film soundtracks (including Cold Lazarus by Dennis Potter and Piaf biopic La Vie en Rose), as well as music for advertising campaigns - winning several Ivor Novello awards and BAFTAs in the process.

Perhaps he might be best known for the following - for the first of which he was the arranger, and for the latter two he was the composer...

"Anytime, any place, anywhere, there's a wonderful world we can share..."

RIP, a most influential man.

Christopher Gunning offical website

Tuesday 28 March 2023

La de da de de, la de da de da

It's another timeslip moment, and another trip back twenty-five years to 1998 - the year Madam Arcati and I first got together...

In the news headlines in March that year: The Galileo probe found a frozen ocean on Jupiter's moon Europa, Titanic swept the Oscars, the "Free Deirdre" campaign became a media obsession after Coronation Street's leading lady was wrongfully jailed in the soap, the last working tin mine in Cornwall (South Crofty) closed down, there was a massacre in Algeria during its ongoing civil war, and that most British of cars the Rolls-Royce was bought-out by Germany's BMW; Daniel Massey, Lloyd Bridges, Judge Dread and Dr Benjamin Spock all died; and Viagra was born.

In UK cinemas: Jackie Brown; Gattaca; Good Will Hunting. On telly: the debut of South Park; Airline; The Pepsi Chart Show.

And in our charts this week a quarter of a century ago? Holding off all-comers for the top slot was the behemoth that was Run DMC vs Jason Nevins It's Like That, and still hanging around like a bad smell at #2 was that Titanic dirge from Slime Dion. Also present and correct in the Top Ten were Robbie Williams, Spice Girls, Destiny's Child, Queen Madge, M People, Savage Garden, (ahem) LL Cool J, and (one of my favourite records) Here's Where The Story Ends by Tin Tin Out Ft Shelley Nelson.

But lurking just outside at #11 [surprisingly its highest chart position] was this (re-)work of genius!

I. Love. It.

Monday 27 March 2023

When you pinch me try to pinch me where there's fat


The office beckons..

Oh, FFS. It's Monday again! How did that happen?

Never mind, eh? It's Fergie's birthday today [no, not that one - the one with the Black Eyed Peas], and, on this Tacky Music Monday, I think we deserve a boost of brilliant choreography featuring said lady to perk us up!

But there's more places to go with this, bien sûr...

...and, inevitably, the classic:

Have a good week, dear reader.

Sunday 26 March 2023

Then why am I wearing Walmart?

Having heard this one on - of all places - the BBC's classical station Radio 3, I realised I hadn't featured our fave glamourpuss close-harmony girl band, the Puppini Sisters for a while.

Let's redeem that, shall we?

Not merely content with finding a video for that faboo cover of a classic, on my travels I also found this [surprisingly, given the format we became so familiar with in 2020-21, pre-pandemic] little gem:

Faboo!

Perfect for a laid-back Sunday [I'm in catch-up mode after a long and busy day yesterday, visiting Mother in Portsmouth], methinks...

Saturday 25 March 2023

Friday 24 March 2023

I just can't be confined, oh, looking back in time


Calm down, dear!

Hoorah! The weekend's almost here.

My sister, History Boy and I are headed off tomorrow to visit The Mother in Portsmouth (bastard train strikes having prevented us from doing so last weekend for Mothers' Day, or indeed, her opportunity to come to London). The weather looks grim, but I'm certain we'll make the most of it.

We need a little boost to get us in the appropriate party mood - and who better to provide it than the Detroit Spinners? Get your best powder blue flared-and-huge-collared suits out of the back of the wardrobe, dear reader, practice those synchronised click-and-spin moves - and Thank Disco It's Friday!

Have a great weekend, folks!

Thursday 23 March 2023

Ain't nobody does it better

Gulp.

That powerhouse of talent, the incredible Miss Chaka Khan is 70 years old today!

Facts:

  • She was born Yvette Marie Stevens, but claims she was given her name "Chaka" when she was 13 by a West African mystic of her bohemian parents' acquaintance.
  • Not to be left out, her sister re-christened herself Taka Boom.
  • Her father's second wife joined the notorious Black Panthers.
  • In a career spanning seven decades, Miss Khan (either solo or with her band Rufus) has sold an estimated 70 million records worldwide.
  • She got her big break thanks to Tina Turner, who wanted Chaka to join her "Ikettes"; she turned down the offer, but the attention got her and Rufus noticed.
  • The Robert Palmer smash Addicted to Love was originally a duet with Miss Khan, but the producers removed her vocals.

How very dare they - when her vocals are as brilliant as this..?!

Many happy returns, Chaka Khan!

Wednesday 22 March 2023

Dance and drink and screw

It's the centenary today of the birth of Marcel Marceau, the 80th birthday of George Benson, the 75th of Lord Andrew Lloyd-Webber, the 60th [gulp!] of Susanne Sulley of the Human League [and of The Beatles debut album Please Please Me], and the 50th of soulstress Beverley Knight, as well as the birthdays of Stephen Sondheim, Roger Whittaker, Chico Marx, Reese Witherspoon, Wilfrid Brambell, Stephanie Mills, Foo Foo Lammar, Leslie Thomas, Fanny Ardant, Karl Malden and Nicholas Monsarrat...

...and that of William Shatner...

...and last but not least our own, our very own, Star Trek's Number One Fan, Inexplicable DeVice!


I just had to repost this "face swap" again...

Just because - let's celebrate with a brilliant montage video featuring everyone's favourite "Captain" and his unbeatable tribute to BritPop, shall we?

Happy Birthday, Mr IDV!

Tuesday 21 March 2023

Nobody had done any prep, nobody wanted to be there and it was close to being entirely unproductive

Attendees at a business meeting have confirmed all the actual decisions were made in the final fifteen seconds before everyone stood up to leave.

The meeting, titled ‘Q2 Budget Review’, began at 10am and the initial two hours were wasted getting drinks, watching an uninformative PowerPoint, and sharing gossip about anyone not in attendance.

Marketing head Carolyn Ryan said: “It was a traditional business meeting in that nobody had done any prep, nobody wanted to be there and it was close to being entirely unproductive.

“We lost fifteen minutes early on because we’d changed rooms and Nathan had missed the email, then Lindsey had to go and get two more chairs, then I needed coffee but there weren’t any mugs in the kitchen so I had to go down to the fifth floor.

“When I got back Richard was halfway through a story about his mum being ill so we couldn’t just move on to the actual topic of the meeting without being heartless bastards. Katie did a PowerPoint that had fuck all to do with anything, then we had biscuits.

“Suddenly it was lunchtime, there were people banging on the doors for their meeting, and so we agreed we’ll go for a 7.5 per cent budget increase weighted toward last year’s results and review in April in line with the strategy statement. Then got our mugs and left.

“It was so productive that Damien’s booked in a follow-up next week.”

The Daily Mash

Of course.

Now you have an insight, dear reader, into a typical day in my office...

Monday 20 March 2023

The obvious reason is because of the season


Monday again...

As another weekend fades [one of mixed fortunes - a lot of rain, but we still managed to get some plants pruned and some new acqusitions potted-on], there may be another week of dreariness to come in the office but at least from today on the days start getting longer - and on this Tacky Music Monday, our Patron Saint of Bugle Beads Mitzi Gaynor (and chums Wayne Rogers and Roy Clark) knows a song about that! [Although you will need to turn the volume up...]

Have a good week, dear reader.

Sunday 19 March 2023

Mama's Day!

On this Mothering Sunday, I thought nothing less than a triple-bill of tributes would do!

Of course, here at Dolores Delargo Towers, we do like our tributes to come with a twist...

Have a great day, all you mothers out there!

Saturday 18 March 2023

Tell me now, how does it feel?

Happy 40th Birthday! New Order's Blue Monday first arrived in the charts on this weekend in March 1983:

  • It reached #12 on 23rd April.
  • Having not left the Top 100 all year, it re-entered the Top 40 on 17th September.
  • It hit its highest chart position - #9 - on 15th October.
  • However, it was actually a remix by none other than Quincy Jones that gave the song its highest chart place (#3) five years later, in May 1988.

An all-time classic, way back in 2009 I decided to post a "recipe" of the "ingredients" that contributed to its composition, based upon a Sky Arts documentary at the time - and lo and behold, Alex Petridis in The Guardian has done the same. Some of the ingredients he used were the same as mine, but there are some interesting differences...

Both he and I acknowledged that this slice of Italo disco brilliance (which Bernard Sumner has always cited as one of his favourite songs) was a key element:

It's undeniable that Giorgio Moroder's groundbreaking collaboration with Donna Summer was a big influence on the band, but I chose the obvious number...

...whereas Mr Petridis suggested this album track:

It's undeniable that this one had to be in the mix, and our lists coincided again:

Although, inevitably, a soupçon of Kraftwerk had to be there, the "flavours" diverged - as Alex chose this:

Whereas I specified one that was a tad more familiar:

There was one more piece in the Guardian article that came as a bit of a "left-fielder", however. Apparently Peter Hook claimed the sparse riffs of Blue Monday were inspired by the twanging lead guitar in Ennio Morricone's score for For a Few Dollars More!

Whatever the ingredients, the resulting "dish" is delicious, indeed:

New Order official website


STOP PRESS:

The official lyric video...

Friday 17 March 2023

We're bumpin' booties, havin' us a ball, y'all

Yay! The weekend's almost upon us, and for that we are truly grateful. Bloody Tube and train strikes have kept me at home (just like the Pandemic Years) for two days, and I'll be glad to get out and about (and even more glad when it's time to knock off again at 4!)

To get ourselves in the right sort of party mood, how about another of Mr Bill McClintock's most marvellous mash-ups? Thank Disco It's Friday!

Have a great weekend, dear reader!

Thursday 16 March 2023

You sound loike Enya, you do


Wouldn't mind supping on his stout...

It's "Paddy's Day Eve", dear reader [and yet again; with the long history of this blog, which recently celebrated sixteen years(!) in business, it's understandable, here's a little bit of recycling] - time to wear green and drink stout, I believe.

Just as on previous celebrations, I turn to the marvellous French & Saunders for the most appropriate tribute to all things "Oirish" on this day.

Here's their brilliant "Raspberries"...

...and here's the real thing - The Cranberries:

Sláinte ma Cara!

Indeed.

[We still miss Dolores]

Wednesday 15 March 2023

Poundshop Kate Myddleton

Going to the races and want to look fancy when your normal attire is trackie bottoms and trainers? Here’s how to dress for Cheltenham on a budget.

For women
A look that’s in is a kind of ‘fake posh horsey person’, with a trilby, tweed jacket and knee-high boots. Don’t worry, you can get cheapo versions of all of these from Primark. The overall look should be ‘poundshop Kate Middleton’ and if you’re still worried about the cost it can be repurposed as an Indiana Jones costume for Halloween.

Alternatively there’s the glamorous look, especially on Ladies’ Day. Instead of wearing clothes appropriate for the fact that it’s March and therefore freezing and likely to piss with rain, you have to wear a small, frilly dress and heels. On top of all this you have to wear the stupidest fucking hat you can find, or you’ll be turned away at the gate.

Buy some cheap tat online from Boohoo or Missguided, because you’ll just vomit on it in the taxi home after you’ve necked too much of the cheap rosé and vodka you stashed in your handbag.

For men
If you already think that dressing up as Tommy Shelby is the height of fashion, you’re in luck because this year Cheltenham looks like a particularly extra-packed episode of Peaky Blinders, though without the potential for violent death, unless you’re a horse.

Once again it needn’t break the bank as you can buy the appropriate garb at Topman, then safely wear it to 'Spoons the next week without being accused of being a poof for wearing a tie.

The alternative is something utterly mental, such as an entire outfit in a cheque pattern, including shirt and trousers. Ostentatious clothes like this cost a fortune, because they’re for posh people who are weirdos due to being inbred. If you actually think it looks good you deserve to get rinsed by an outfitter who’s secretly having a good laugh at his customers.
The Daily Mash

Of course.

[Cheltenham Festival 2023]

Tuesday 14 March 2023

Sixties? Or Nineties?

Among a raft of birthdays today, including Albert Einstein, Mrs Beeton, Eleanor Bron, King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy, Les Brown, Casey Jones, lesbian bookseller and patron of James Joyce Sylvia Beach, Diane Arbus, Johann Strauss Sr., Bill Owen, Jona Lewie, Rita Tushingham, Les Baxter, Billy Crystal, Jasper Carrott, Prince Albert of Monaco, and - erm - Rick Dees of Disco Duck fame, we have not one, but two milestones to celebrate today, dear reader...

...and both with a link to Swinging 60s London [so here's a little something I made earlier (slightly tweaked)]:

Maurice Micklewhite - aka Sir Michael Caine - is a stalwart of British cinema, and he blows out 90 candles on his cake today! He rose to fame as the super-cool "Harry Palmer" [a working-class equivalent of James Bond] in The Ipcress File, as the eponymous "Jack-the-Lad" Alfie, and (of course) as Cockney wide-boy "Charlie Croker" in that archetypal British 60s classic The Italian Job...

...the latter blockbuster [always on telly here, particularly over the Xmas-New Year break] featured a score written by another towering figure with whom Sir Michael shares not merely a birthday, but a birth-date - Mr Quincy Jones, composer, producer, orchestrator and a man who has worked with just about everybody (from the Dorsey brothers to Michael Jackson; from Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald to Patti Austin and Chaka Khan)...

...then in the 1990s, a "tribute" to the Swinging 60s became a massive cinematic success, and Quincy's addictive Soul Bossa Nova was resurrected for the occasion:


[...and Sir Michael appeared in the second sequel...]

Yeah, Baby, Yeah!

Sir Michael Caine, CBE (born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite Jr., 14th March 1933)

Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born 14th March 1933)


FOOTNOTE:

A tribute:

Monday 13 March 2023

Nana's on the piano again!


RIP, the satirical cartoonist Bill Tidy

After a pleasant weekend (the weather was a helluva lot milder than forecast, and Madam Arcati had a Sunday off for change so we were able to spend yesterday at the garden centre and have a Wetherspoons lunch together), it's all over too soon - so it's back to the grind again.

For some bizarre reason known only to my inner psyche, this song was a bit of an earworm over the weekend [I didn't hear it on the radio, nor in a pub; there's no particular identifiable reason for it] - so, on this Tacky Music Monday, from 52 years ago, here's a one-hit-wonder that I adored as a child...

1971 was definitely a very different world, indeed.

Have a good week, dear reader...

Sunday 12 March 2023

Gather around...

...it's our darling Patron Saint of Pizazz Liza Minnelli's birthday!

Gather around, I've got a story to tell
About a Manhattan lady that I knew very well
She lives at five Riverside, her name is Shirley Devore
And she travelled 'round the world to meet the guy next door

Well, there was trouble inside apartment 29E
'Cause Shirley's mother and dad were as upset as can be
They said we hate to complain, dear
And we don't like to grouse
But you're nearly 32, you should get out of the house

You gotta ring them bells, you gotta ring them bells
You gotta make 'em sing and really ring them bells
It's such a happy thing to hear 'em ting-a-ling
You gotta ring them bells

Well, Shirley was 31, which she was loathe to admit
And she had never been loved, which didn't thrill her a bit
And so she sat and she thought, she thought for hours on end
And said I'll go to Chase, Manhattan where I got me a friend

And so she borrowed a thou' and called TWA
And told her mother and dad that she was up and away
I'm gonna travel the continent, a month, maybe, two
And haul me home a hus' if it's the last thing I do

You gotta ring them bells, you gotta ring them bells
You gotta make 'em sing and really ring them bells
It's such a happy thing to hear 'em ting-a-ling
You gotta ring them bells

She met a Londoner first but they did not hit it off
'Cause everything she approached, he got bronchial cough
And so she went to Madrid and met a handsome senior
But he like to throw the bull and he was no matador
She also bombed out in Brussels, in Mallorca and Rome
'Till someone said, "Try Dubrovnik, dear, before you go home"
'Cause it's the kind of a town where you'll be likely to fall
And all the toni cognoscenti find the Balkans a ball

You gotta ring them bells, you gotta ring them bells
You gotta make them sing and really ring them bells
It's such a happy thing to hear 'em ting-a-ling
You gotta ring them bells

And so she went to Dubrovnik and the very first day
She met a guy on the beach who took her reason away
Yes, it was love at first sight and quite a beautiful scene
She said, "My name is Shirl Devore"
She said, "I'm Norm Saperstein"

She said, "Are you from New York?"
He said, "That can't be denied"
"I've got a swell junior three at number five, Riverside"
"Five?"
"Five, Riverside Drive in New York, that's where you live?"
"That's where I lived, Five, are you sure?"
As if that wasn't enough for Shirley thought she'd gone deaf
When he told her his apartment there was 29F

Yes, she was "E", he was "F" and they had not even met
Until she travelled the world to Yugoslavia yet
He'd always been right next door and she would never have known
If she hadn't tried Dubrovnik, she might still be alone

Well, there's a moral to learn from little Shirley Devore
Who had to borrow a thou' to find a lover next door
You girls who live in apartments, don't just stare at the wall
Open up the door and hurry out in the hall

And, oh, ring them bells, come on, come on, ring them bells
Make 'em sing, you'd better ring the bells
It's such a happy thing to hear 'em ting-a-ling
You gotta ring swing them, ring them, swing them, right them bells!

Many happy returns, Liza!

Liza May Minnelli (born 12th March 1946)

Saturday 11 March 2023

Thought for the Day

Amen.

Friday 10 March 2023

I wrote a song; I feel much better now

Yay! It is almost the weekend and, once again, for that we are extremely grateful.

It is, however (disappointingly) continuing to piss down out there, and it doesn't look like there's much relief in sight....

...never mind, eh? Here's Sheila and her lovely safety gays, in loads of tinfoil and lycra, to take our minds off it - and to Thank Disco It's Friday!

Have a great weekend (sleet or no sleet), dear reader!


PS

The UK has just announced its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest in May this year - and it is a bit of an earworm, I must admit:

Let me know your thoughts on that one.

Thursday 9 March 2023

Crystal Balls

Mystic Meg, legendary showbiz astrologer and fortune-teller, is dead.

She never saw that one coming, did she?

Here's an appropriate number...

Wednesday 8 March 2023

All the fives


Elaine Paige was 75 on Sunday

Elaine Paige OBE (born Elaine Jill Bickerstaff, 5th March 1948)


Gary Numan is 65 today

Gary Numan (born Gary Anthony James Webb, 8th March 1958)

Patsy Kensit was 55 last Saturday

Patsy Kensit (born Patricia Jude Kensit, 4th March 1968)

Proof, indeed (if any were needed) that we have the most eclectic musical tastes here at Dolores Delargo Towers...

Many happy returns, one and all!

Tuesday 7 March 2023

I can give it all to you, baby


Story of my life

Two weeks away from the Spring equinox, and the weather shows no sign of improving. It's grey and mizzly and showery out there at the mo, and there are dire warnings that more frost and snow are on the way by Thursday. Sigh.

We can always rely in such circumstances on the faboo Postmodern Jukebox to bring a smile to our face...

Love them!

Monday 6 March 2023

Eat them up, yum

Yes indeed, it is time once more to wake up screaming, as a lovely weekend has fizzled away to be replaced by another joyous week of bollocks. Sigh.

Never mind, eh? News of the sad death of Robert Haimer [who? I hear you ask] gives me yet another excuse (as if any were needed) on this Tacky Music Monday to play one of his finest works, by way of a wake-up call!

Facts:

  • Mr Haimer's "partner-in-crime" in Barnes & Barnes was none other than ickle "Will Robinson" in Lost in Space, Billy Mumy.
  • The Fish Heads video was produced by (and stars) the late Bill Paxton, of Aliens, Apollo 13 and Twister fame.
  • The song was inevitably championed by the cult hero Dr Demento from its debut in 1978, and as of 2019, it remained the most-requested song of all time on his radio show; the good Doctor appeared as a wino in the video.

RIP, Robert Haimer (2nd March 1954 – 4th March 2023). I do hope they play this at your send-off.

Have a good week, dear reader.

Sunday 5 March 2023

Have a Banana!

We had such a (much-needed) laugh last night at one of our fave venues Wilton's Music Hall! Mr Tom Carradine (for it is he) is a master of the old-time knees-up round the piano, and indeed we went to one of his Cockney Sing-a-longs at Wilton's in 2019.

This time, he (in collaboration with that musical genius and our longtime friend Marcus Reeves, who we bumped into after the show) has come up with a new show format - the Great British Comedy Songbook. Featuring not just Music Hall numbers, but also a range of funny and often bizarre numbers across the decades; everything from George Formby and Gracie Fields, Noel Coward and Flanders and Swann, through ditties made famous by Tommy Steele, Bernard Cribbins and Victoria Wood. There were sequences featuring comedy songs about bananas, animals and pastiche versions of other famous songs from the shows.

We sang till our throats were hoarse, laughed till our ribs hurt, and generally had a whale of a time!

The show we saw was the first of its format so no footage online for that yet, but here's a sampler of Mr Carradine at Wilton's, to give you an idea of the atmosphere:

...and here, two songs he did do last night (both great favourites here at Dolores Delargo Towers):

Superb!

Tom Carradine's official website

Saturday 4 March 2023

I'm the trouble starter, punkin' instigator

We have a centenary to celebrate today - that of one of Britain's greatest eccentrics, the late, great "national treasure" and proud monocle-wearer Sir Patrick Moore!

To that end, here's a little revisit to my post on the occasion of his death eleven years ago:

Sir Patrick wrote more than 60 books on astronomy, and from April 1957 he presented all bar one of the monthly Sky at Night programmes, which have run ever since. For this feat he earned a place in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest serving television presenter in the world.

He was on air before Sputnik, before Yuri Gagarin and long before the Moon landings - he was involved in the lunar mapping before the NASA Apollo missions.

Among his notable moments in those early days of live TV, he once swallowed a fly live on air and, on another occasion, he had to think on his feet when a Russian guest turned out not to speak any English; the interview went ahead in pidgin French.

In 1976, he was involved in one of the all-time classic April Fools on BBC Radio 2, when Sir Patrick solemnly announced that at 9.47am, a once-in-a-lifetime astronomical event was going to occur that meant that if listeners could jump at the exact same moment they would experience a temporary floating sensation. The BBC received many telephone calls from listeners alleging that they actually experienced the sensation...

A self-taught musician and talented composer, at the Royal Variety Performance In 1981 he performed a solo xylophone rendition of the Sex Pistols' Anarchy in the UK! Here (in someone's bad recording from the TV) is his classic xylophone duet with his impersonator John Culshaw, on Firestarter by The Prodigy:

Sir Patrick Moore, CBE, FRS, FRAS (4th March 1923 – 9th December 2012)

Friday 3 March 2023

La la la la la la

This week has dragged...

However, the weekend looms - a busy one, as well; I am going to see Ant Man: Quantumania tonight, then tomorrow our gang's heading to Wilton's Music Hall for a rip-roaring Great British Comedy Songbook piano singalong - so it's time to get the party started!

What better than the combination of one of the era's campest girl groups, a samba classic, and a troupe of truly crazy dancers to sing and dance along with it while wearing ridiculous outfits? Get your feathers flying - and Thank Disco It's Friday!

Have a great weekend, dear reader!

Thursday 2 March 2023

It's just an illusion

That's your Thursday mindfuck, sorted.

[click to embiggen]