Do do that voodoo that you do so well

Oh, here we go again - back to work...

Never mind, eh? It's a short week thanks to Easter, I'll be trawling the garden centres of Essex on the weekend, and I am off all next week, so that's something to look forward to!

We have another raft of birthday celebrants today, including Sir Michael Caine, Albert Einstein, Quincy Jones, Mrs (Isabella) Beeton, Eleanor Bron, Bill Owen (aka "Compo" from Last of the Summer Wine), Johann Strauss I, Billy Crystal, Diane Arbus, Casey Jones, Rita Tushingham, Les Brown, Jasper Carrott, Jona Lewie and the gorgeous Ansel Elgort...

...and it would also have been the birthday of (another) "King of Lounge Music", the creator of the sound fondly known as "exotica" Mr Les Baxter!

On This Tacky Music Monday, here's a perfect way to awake from our dreams...

Les Baxter - Voodoo Dream

Have a good week, dear reader.

Say what? C'est magnifique!

Hils, Crog, Madam Arcati and I are trolling off to the venerable environs of the Science Museum today for their new blockbuster exhibition Versailles: Science and Splendour, which promises - among myriad other exhibits - a rare view of such items as the world’s most famous watch, made for Marie Antoinette, Louis XV’s rhinoceros, and a royal portrait of a pineapple!

Just as well we're doing something indoors, for after all that glorious sunshine we have had for several weeks we had our first rain showers in ages overnight, and the prospect is for a spell of more "normal" weather for April [i.e. mizzle]...

To mark the occasion of viewing all that opulence, this!

Mel Brooks - Its Good To Be The King

Mais oui!

Over sleepy garden walls

I've been working like a Trojan in the extensive gardens here at Dolores Delargo Towers again today, dear reader. [Admittedly, not as frenetically as that queen above!]

The sunshine beckoned me out of bed well before noon - helped, inevitably, by the combined racket of granny and demon spawn next door trying to out do each other in a shouting contest, and the elephantine child upstairs doing what sounded like a Riverdance impression above my head. So, after my traditional coffee-and-fags breakfast, I embarked upon the major task of potting up not one but two clematis in their hopefully permanent positions (one against the fence/trells and the other up a drainpipe) in big tubs, and on tackling two vast pots of Salvia uglinosa I discovered that, despite first appearances, they had rotted away to so few living runners that I bunged them all in one pot (fingers crossed they'll grow).

All that, and a load of pottering, pruning and potting-on besides, and before I knew it the sun had gone over the yardarm, and it was cider time!

News has reached us today that yet another master of "easy listening" music, Mr Nino Tempo (whose duets with his sister Caroline (stage name April Stevens) were a staple of cosy television variety shows in the 1960s) has departed for the Cocktail Lounge in Fabulon - so let's pay him a fitting tribute with his/their greatest hit, shall we?

Nino Tempo & April Stevens - Deep Purple

Oh, that helped soothe my aching muscles!

Do-do-do, do-do-do-do-do

Another weekend beckons provocatively... It's predicted to be the hottest day of the year so far here in London, and the forecast's good for the next few days, too! Wow. Spring's really spoiling us.

Cue the party-planning - and to kick off the celebrations in a most appropriate manner, here's something very sunshiny indeed!

Milky - Just The Way You Are

Thank Disco(?) It's Friday!

Have a great one, dear reader!

The Diva from Doncaster

Heavens! Miss Lesley Garrett, the "Diva from Doncaster" - the first modern opera diva to do "the crossover", landing her own BBC television show in the late 80s in which she gave the audience a potted history of certain pieces of classical music, then sang them, alongside myriad special guests as diverse as Elaine Paige, Renee Fleming, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Marti Pellow, Michel Legrand, Alison Moyet, Michael Ball, Maxim Vengerov and Ian Bostridge - blows out 70 candles on her cake today!

Gifted with a natural Yorkshire "down-to-earth" manner as well as a beautiful vocal tone, Miss Garrett is rightly regarded as a "national treasure", and lauded for her place in taking opera to the masses (a trend that has continued ever since with the likes of Katherine Jenkins and Russell Watson, and of course Classic FM today).

Here are some clips of the lady herself, firstly with two very special guests...

Lesley Garrett, Patricia Hodge and Lily Savage - Three Little Maids

Before she discovered grooming, here she holds her own alongside mezzo-soprano Ann Murray singing the traditional Rule Britannia at the Last Night of the Proms in 1990:

Lesley Garrett, Ann Murray - Rule, Britannia

And finally, her solo version of Handel's Tornami a Vagheggiar:

Lesley Garrett - Morgana's aria Tornami a vagheggiar (from Alcina by George Frideric Handel)

Happy Birthday, pet!

Lesley Garrett (born 10th April 1955)

Ooh, don’t mind if I do

All rides at UK Universal theme park to be Carry On themed

Every single ride at the UK’s Universal theme park will be based on bawdy films laced with tortuous double entendres, it has emerged.

Construction plans for Europe’s first Universal theme park have revealed that the site in Bedford will be predominantly dedicated to rides based on saucy comedy movies shown on ITV2 every Bank Holiday weekend.

A Universal spokesperson said: “This park will be a celebration of the best of British filmmaking. And it doesn’t get any better than Barbara Windsor’s bra pinging off with a silly sound effect.

“Visitors can look forward to drop towers that descend to the tune of a suggestive slide whistle, and bumper cars that go ‘Ooh, don’t mind if I do’ in Kenneth Williams’ camp, reedy voice when they slam into each other.

“To create a truly immersive experience, every ride will be staffed by frumpy matrons and saucy nurses, and mascots will patrol the grounds dressed as Sid James to meet and greet the crowds. It promises to be a magical, unforgettable day out.

“If it’s a success then there’s always scope to expand. We’re already thinking of opening resorts based on other British franchises like Gonks Go Beat and On The Buses.”

Tom Booker from Croydon said: “I was hoping for punishingly bleak attractions inspired by Threads or A Taste of Honey, but I suppose this’ll have to do.”

The Daily Mash

Of course.

[The "real" story.]

Of jewellery, confectionery, awards, whispering and one of the best drummers ever

Utterly divine...

Another snippets post today, dear reader:

• Diamonds are a gay's best friend news: The Cartier exhibition at the V&A opens this weekend - and, among loads of delicious sparklies, features Wallis Simpson's sapphire cabochon panther brooch (as pictured above)! We're now members of the prestigious museum, so can go along as many times as we like - I wonder if they'll let us try on any of the jewellery?
• Non-lethal snacks news: The Scottish-born delicacy Tunnock's teacakes has finally been exonerated by scientists after being banned by the RAF from cockpits for decades for fear that they could explode and cause a disaster!
• Iconic cameo roles news: The woman behind the whispered "Big boys don't cry" line in 10CC's classic I'm Not In Love tells all.
• Luvvies news: Congratulations to John Lithgow, Lesley Manville and Dame Imelda Staunton (among others), who all won "Best Actor/Actress" in their category at last night's Olivier Awards!
• More sickly confectionery news: Manufacturer Cadbury's has unveiled the world's largest - 3ft tall! - Creme Egg. The world asks "Why?!"

• And finally - RIP, a membranophonic maestro: Clem Burke, world-renowned drummer and founder-member of Blondie with Debbie Harry and Chris Stein, has died, aged 70. By way of a tribute, a double-bill of the man's finest moments:

Blondie - Call Me

Blondie - Dreaming

Class.

And the weather? Sunny, sunny, sunny! Hoorah!

Crunchy granola?

Bah! Monday again...

Never mind, eh?

Among another cornucopia of fellow celebrants, that include William Wordsworth (his 255th, indeed), Billie Holiday, Sir David Frost, Janis Ian, Russell Crowe, Yves Rocher, Ravi Shankar, James Garner, Ian Richardson, Andrew Sachs, Gorden Kaye, Florian Schneider of Kraftwerk, Jackie Chan, Wayne "Trapper John" Rogers, John Oates of Hall & Oates, Gerry Cottle, Francis Ford Coppola, Duncan James of Blue and - erm - Ole Kirk Christiansen, founder of Lego, it would have been the birthday today of that ultimate master of easy-listening music, Mr Percy Faith!

Utterly perfect to cheer us up on this Tacky Music Monday, here's his orchestra's version of a choon originally written by Neil Diamond, with a most bizarrely-choreographed dance routine, to boot!

Percy Faith Orchestra - Crunchy Granola Suite

Have a good one, dear reader.

C'est la vie dans ce monde

A view up my back passage

Another busy weekend in the extensive gardens here at Dolores Delargo Towers comes to a close - yesterday I demolished two rusty sets of garden shelves and erected a new pair [that Madam Arcati had ordered] in their place, and pottered about pruning and prepping the myriad little pots that will sit on them. Today, while the Madam continued the arduous task of clearing winter clag from under and around plant stands and tidying the rest of the shelving, I almost completed the process of digging out and splitting up the biggest of our herbaceous pots - and the last of the phlox is done [just some pots of Salvias to go, but they're not so urgent]! Almost ready for summer...

Meanwhile, speaking of "sunshiny things", sad news reaches our ears that Amadou - one half of house favourites here, the blind Malian husband-and-wife due Amadou and Mariam [who ascended from their roots in Africa to become huge in France, they went on to support the likes of Scissor Sisters, Coldplay and U2 on tour, and appeared at Glastonbury Festival] - has departed for the "L'Afrique C'est Chic" stage in Fabulon.

Here's my ultimate fave from their back catalogue, by way of a tribute:

Amadou & Mariam - La réalité

Joyous!

In the Spring a young man's fancy turns to thoughts of...

Take me through the darkness to the break of the day

A Friday, in the middle of the most glorious Spring, with a sunny weekend forecast? Yayyyyyyy!

Tomorrow happens to be the 75th birthday of the lovely Agnetha Fältskog of ABBA, so what better way to get the party started than with one of the Swedish super-group's more "club-worthy" numbers [as also featured - in a very different version - last week]?

Thank Disco It's Friday!

Abba - Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)

Half past twelve
And I'm watching the late show in my flat all alone
How I hate to spend the evening on my own
Autumn winds
Blowing outside the window as I look around the room
And it makes me so depressed to see the gloom

There's not a soul out there
No one to hear my prayer

Gimme gimme gimme a man after midnight
Won't somebody help me chase the shadows away
Gimme gimme gimme a man after midnight
Take me through the darkness to the break of the day

Movie stars
Find the end of the rainbow, with a fortune to win
It's so different from the world I'm living in
Tired of T.V.
I open the window and I gaze into the night
But there's nothing there to see, no one in sight

There's not a soul out there
No one to hear my prayer

Gimme gimme gimme a man after midnight
Won't somebody help me chase the shadows away
Gimme gimme gimme a man after midnight
Take me through the darkness to the break of the day

Have a great weekend, dear reader - enjoy the sunshine!

Posing a visual hazard

A man who believes the spring weather gives him licence to wear a Hawaiian shirt has been sternly corrected.

Flamboyant dresser Tom Booker has been reprimanded by friends and passers-by for greeting relatively pleasant temperatures with a floral shirt more suited to the tropical climate of a Central Pacific archipelago.

Friend Stephen Malley said: “I’ve not shut Tom down because of his cultural insensitivity. He just looks like a massive dickhead.

“We’re only two days into April. The mercury is slowly inching up to 16 degrees. This is a time for T-shirts under denim jackets, maybe shorts if you’re one of those men and feeling adventurous.

“They’re only acceptable on holiday, during a prolonged spell of sweltering weather or at an office Hawaiian day if you work in a twat’s office. Even then, shirts decorated with little pineapples? Leave them to their target demographic of the closeted and divorced.”

Eyewitness Emma Bradford said: “Tom’s posing a visual hazard. I had to step into oncoming traffic in order to go over and tell him to put a hoodie over that gaudy shit.

“Also, wearing a Hawaiian today is goading the British weather into turning grey, showery and fucking freezing for the next six weeks. Don’t taunt it, you know how it gets.”

The Daily Mash

Of course.

Of Batman, spies, censorship, earth-moving, god-botherers and a Dame

RIP, Val Kilmer, gorgeous star of "Top Gun" and "Batman Forever".

Another snippets post today, dear reader:

• Spy news: Compact spy cameras, microdots in a talcum powder tin, a briefcase abandoned by Soviet spy Guy Burgess as he fled the UK, and a desiccated 110-year-old lemon that played a pivotal role in WWI are all on show in a new exhibition MI5: Official Secrets at the National Archives, opening this weekend. I wonder if they have any of James Bond's gadgets on display?
• Philistines news: Paris may be scented by centuries of coffee and Gauloise aromas, but the Paris Metro has banned a poster advertising a new David Hockney exhibition because he happens to be holding a cigarette! "L'Etat nounou", vraiment! ["Nanny State", indeed! in English]

• Never complain about potholes again news: Britain's 'wonkiest road' that was so badly damaged by a landslip during "Storm Eunice" in 2022 it was being used as a makeshift skate park has finally reopened after £5million was spent on repairs.
• False miracles news: Zealots in a church in Indiana who thought red marks on a communion wafer were some kind of miracle have been told it was actually just bacteria from being handled by dirty hands. Hallelujah!
• And finally: Among a slew of birthdays that includes Sir Alec Guinness, Marvin Gaye, Emperor Charlemagne of the Franks, Michael Fassbender, Emmylou Harris, "Adrian Mole" creator Sue Townsend, Paul Gambaccini, Casanova, Buddy Ebsen, Hans Christian Andersen, Serge Gainsbourg, Émile Zola, Linford Christie (who is 65!), Keren Woodward of Bananarama, Pedro Pascal (50) and - erm - Dr. Demento...

  ...it is the 85th birthday today of darling Dame Penelope Keith, star of The Good Life, To the Manor Born, and so much more besides - including her guest appearances on the Morecambe and Wise Show! All hail...

And the weather? The glorious Spring sunshine continues (even if the wind's a little chilly at times)!

Got to be a joker, he just do what he please

Now you see it, now you don't...?

“It is with a heavy heart that we announce we announce that the Abbey Road crossing is set to be removed for the foreseeable future - a decision beyond our control. We remain hopeful it can be reversed and will return in the future.” So went the press release from Abbey Road Studios, announcing the removal of the Zebra crossing that featured in that iconic Beatles LP cover.

All is not as it seems, however. Yes - it's April Fool's Day again!

Here's a round-up of some of the bizarre lengths some PR people will go in an attempt to prank the public and, of course, gain their brand some publicity in the process...

Erm - a drinkable Subway meatball marinara sub roll, anyone?

...or how about Branston baked beans lip-gloss?

Personal stylists for your pets, courtesy of John Lewis department stores?

Birds Eye's "Potato Waffholes" - a new product containing the missing leftovers from the holes in their potato waffles?

...or how about a BabyBel waxed sleeping bag?

Did you get fooled by any of them?

No, me neither.

Se non mi baci non vivo più

Weekends fly by so quickly...

Still, the weather forecast looks fabulous for the whole of this week and the evenings are getting lighter now the clocks have gone forward, so there's some cheer in that, at least - despite being in work.

We at Dolores Delargo Towers are still enjoying the peerless Mina - see my tribute here - so what better way to start, on this Tacky Music Monday, than with another kooky number from her long back catalogue?!

Mina - Renato

Dig those hepcats, baby!

Have a good week, dear reader.

Won't somebody help me chase these shadows away?

RIP, the lovely Richard Chamberlain (31st March 1934 - 29th March 2025)

We may have lost an hour in bed today - but British Summer Time is here! Yay!

I have made the most of the beautiful, warm sunshine today, and tackled another couple of huge pots - a phlox and a geranium [yes, we do have a lot of each], split up and repotted, all the while accompanied by the chilled-out sounds of Radio 2 - and trying to drown out the demon children next door who, to add insult to injury, now have a small, yappy dog to keep them hyped-up and screaming. I am going to thank their parents profusely next time I see them...

Speaking of "chilled-out", how about another faboo choon from our "house band" Postmodern Jukebox? That'll do nicely for "Sunday Music"!

Postmodern Jukebox ft. Lauren De Marco - Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) [ABBA Peggy Lee style cover]

Wonderful, as ever.

Yékéké nimo yé ké yé ké

Just got in after a faboo day with Mother, sister, brother-in-law, and Madam Acarti too.

To round off a jolly day, how about some jolly music?

Mr Mory Kante would have been 75 years old today, and his biggest hit (and another longtime fave of mine) fits the bill just nicely, methinks:

Mory Kanté - Yé ké yé ké

I love it!!

Boy, oh, boy, have I got news for you

The sun is shining, the blossom is blossoming, the birds are twatting tweeting in the trees, Mother's in town tomorrow for Mothers' Day [Mothering Sunday], and the clocks go forward on Sunday - a good weekend afoot, methinks!

Let's get in the mood for a proper party in the company of two very talented ladies, that bassline, and probably the classiest Disco song of them all...

A Taste Of Honey - Boogie Oogie Oogie

Thank Disco It's Friday, indeed!

Have a great weekend, folks...

Of totty, old luvvies, Bea Arthur, an egg thief and MOR

Many happy returns of the day to the very gorgeous Michael York! Any excuse just to gaze at this photo again.

Another snippets post today, dear reader...

• Marvel geek news: Dear old Serena McKellen and Patrick Stewart are among the cavalcade of stars announced to appear in the next MCU blockbuster Doomsday, scheduled for release next year! It took more than five hours of livestreaming to announce the whole cast - longer than the film itself, no doubt!
• Trump vs The Golden Girls news? A page on the US Department of Defence website dedicated to Bea Arthur's military career before she became famous was deleted as part of the fascist purge of DEI content! "No offence, pussy cat!" "None taken, you cancerous little prune!"
• Sickly confectionery crime news: A man who stole £220.50 worth of Cadbury Crème Eggs from a Peterborough petrol station has been banned from Cambridgeshire for three months. Lucky they didn't just make him eat them all. Then he'd be sorry!
• The gays in Spain stay mainly on the plain news: Apparently, there has been a marked rise in the numbers of gay people moving from the USA to Spain, to Madrid in particular. ¡Olé!
• Tariffs news: Threats to impose tariffs on imports of British cars to 'Merka? Ha! We only have one truly British car manufacturer left!
• Impending apocalypse news: There's a rogue planet on the loose in the universe! Apparently.
• And finally: Sharing a birthday with Mr York (above), as well as the saintly Sarah Vaughan, David Janssen, former PM Jim Callaghan, Quentin Tarantino, Fergie of Black Eyed Peas and - erm - Mirah-fucking-Carey, Miss Sally Carr is 80 today! Who? I hear you ask... Here she is, with her band's greatest hit:

Middle of the Road - Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep

As I said the first time I ever posted it: "They just don't make songs like this anymore!"

And the weather? Gorgeous Spring sunshine (and cherry blossoms and daffs everywhere)!

Thought for the Day

Meanwhile...

...you could lump together just about everyone in the current American government, in particular the thugs in that leaked online meeting, and still not get near even one of dear Oscar's brain cells.

Perception-based incremental upshifts

A woman given a new role and job title is unsure whether she is being recognised for her outstanding work or treated like a prize twat.

Senior assistant accounts executive Joanna Kramer was advised on Friday that she was now accounts executive sub-team leader and spent the weekend celebrating by drinking the same amount of alcohol she usually would.

She said: “I assumed it was a promotion. It kind of had a promotion vibe, though looking back that may just have been the exhilaration of it being Friday afternoon.

“However, now I’m here, I’m at a different desk doing the same work with the same people for a package of what I now see are ‘comparative pay and bonuses’. Leaving me feeling uncomfortably like I’m the dickhead.

“I asked my boss if I’m just doing exactly the same job with a new name and she replied that my role now begins with account executive rather than ending with it, and perception-based incremental upshifts are very in right now.

“So either I’m climbing the corporate ladder rung-by-rung or I’m an easily placated knobhead stuck in a dead-end job. I don’t know whether to be elated or fucking livid.

“Either way I’m doing piss all work while I try to work it out.”

The Daily Mash

Of course.

[Oh, yes! Yet another "restructure/consultation" is hovering over all our heads in work. Deep joy. Again.]

Glamour has to come from you

Dame Mary Berry is 90 today! *

Oh, how these weekends taunt us! The weather was glorious towards the end of last week, then descended to grey and murky all weekend. Now - as I head off for another sublimely fulfilling (ahem!) week in work - the forecast is for another upturn in temperatures. Sigh.

Hey, ho. Speaking of birthdays...

... today is also the 85th of that OTT creative genius Mr Bob Mackie, designer of choice for decades of ladies beloved of men-who-are-light-in-their-loafers including Mitzi Gaynor, Diana Ross, Bette Midler, Carol Burnett, Ann-Margret, and of course Cher!

"Glamour has to come from you and it has to come from confidence."

So what better way to kick off the week (in sparkling fashion as is our wont) on this Tacky Music Monday, than with Cher, Bette and Dame Elton John (and Flip Wilson), together, dressed in the most outrageous of Mr Mackie's creations?!

Elton John, Cher, Bette Midler, Flip Wilson - Cher Show final medley: Mockingbird, Ain't No Mountain High Enough, Never Can Say Goodbye and Proud Mary

And here is a musical compendium of some of his famous costumes:

Bob Mackie highlights

Robert Gordon "Bob" Mackie (born 24th March 1940)

[* and no, I don't think Dame Mary's ever worn a Bob Mackie creation!]

I got somethin' you need, oh yeah

[Thanks Mitchell, for the image]

After another day pottering in the extensive gardens here at Dolores Delargo Towers yesterday - another hardy geranium ("Rozanne") split into chunks and repotted individually in preparation for filling a big trough with them, and another bin bag filled with old wormy compost, prunings and clag - today's a lot cooler and there's a threat of rain. I'm going to brave the elements and try and move on a few smaller plants that are straining out of their pots, and that'll be it, methinks.

Therapeutic stuff for a Sunday - and here's another little something from our "house band" that I feel suitable to accompany my efforts. Van Halen as you never heard them before!

Postmodern Jukebox ft. Veronica Swift - Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love [Van Halen '60s Girl Group style cover]

Superb. All hail Postmodern Jukebox!

Dyck? That's an interesting name...

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Yeah, a sneaky little bitch

The weekend is on the horizon and, despite the fact the weather's nowhere near as lovely as it was yesterday, we need to plan our party celebrations...

...and what better way to begin than with this old fave.? Definitely one of the most addictive songs ever - Thank Disco(?) It's Friday!

AronChupa - I'm an Albatraoz

Ram pampalam
Bambalam palam balam

Apparently.

Have a great weekend, folks!

How do I look?

Spring!!

It's been a beautiful, warm day - as it should be, today of all days! Such a shame work got in the way...

Never mind, eh? Let us wallow again in the lives of impossibly glamorous people (in this case, Monica Vitti) cavorting in exotic locations, courtesy of the ever-wondrous Soft Tempo Lounge, shall we..?

Soft Tempo Lounge - Our Girl Monica

[Music: Teddy Randazzo - The Girl from UNCLE]

In case the music in particular seems all-too familiar, it was indeed reused [and mashed-up with Patricia Neal in Breakfast at Tiffany's] in one of our favourite choons here at Dolores Delargo Towers:

Dimitri From Paris - Une Very Stylish Fille

Enjoy the season in all its glory, dear reader!

---

PS

It's five years since the UK went into its very first lockdown, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. What a time that was...

Of Monty, Dame Julie, Chic, that fez, and Klaus Nomi

Another snippets post today, dear reader:

• Spring season news: Gardeners World is back on BBC2! More Monty Don, Ned, Adam Frost, Frances Tophill, Carol Klein, Sue Kent and all that floral loveliness, just in time for the Spring equnox! All's well with the world... We're in heaven.
• It's been on telly every Xmas ever since news: It is remarkably 60 years this month since that all-time classic film The Sound of Music had its premieres in the US and the UK. We know every word of dialogue, every song, and we'll still settle down afer too much sherry and watch it all over again! And, of course, cheer that line...
• A "fusion food too far"?: A pie with a filling made of spicy doner kebab meat has has been named Supreme Champion at the British Pie Awards 2025. It looks disgusting! [But, secretly, we all want to try one. Just once.]
• Genius appraisal news: Nile Rodgers’ 20 greatest tracks - ranked, according to Alex Petridis in The Guardian. Agree with the rankings or not, everything here is a classic...
• Premature condolences news: A football team in Bulgaria held a minute's silence for one of their former players before a match - but the poor sod was actually still alive! Oops.

• "Just Like That!" news: One of the revered comedy magician Tommy Cooper's trademark fezzes has sold for £7,000 - twice its sale estimate - at an auction of memorabilia of the late "national treasure".
• RIPs news: Over the last week, we've bid sad farewells to drag royalty Maisie Trollette, to that stalwart of fave "Twisted Christmas" songs Bob Rivers, to the last surviving pilot from the Battle of Britain John "Paddy" Hemingway (aged 105), and to singer Andrea Neuenhofen aka "AnNa R.". Who? I hear you ask...

  ...well, by sheer coincidence while researching the wild'n'wacky world of Nina Hagen for yesterday's birthday tribute post, I came across a collaboration between the great lady and fellow German band Rosenstolz, of which AnNa R. [whose death, coincidentally, was announced on the same day I discovered her/them] was lead singer. I didn't feature it, but I discovered that the band also did an even more magnificent team-up [which was released at the same time, as a double-A-side single] that I just had to play! Klaus Nomi would be pleased...

Rosenstolz feat. Marc Almond - Total Eclipse

And the weather? It's been chilly this week, but from tomorrow the outlook is much more Spring-like. Which is appropriate.

Wunderbar!

Only a week late [and somewhat shame-facedly, after all that build-up of "more to come" that I gave her a few weeks ago!]...

...I feel we really need to celebrate the fact that Our Patron Saint of Crazy, Fraulein Nina Hagen blew out 70 candles on her cake last week! (Gulp!)

Our Nina is a remarkable woman of many talents, and since she first emerged into the limelight - across of the ruins of the Berlin Wall that had once divided her birthplace in the East from the rest of the world - she has certainly embraced a whole range of genres. All in her inimitible and unique style, of course!

Here she is in her full-on Goth-Punk heyday in 1982:

Nina Hagen - Smack Jack

...here, covering a Glam Rock classic originally by Sweet:

Nina Hagen - Ballroom Blitz [live in Rio]

...from Glam to glamorous, here's her tribute to wartime star Zarah Leander:

Nina Hagen - Wunderbar

...and she also had a rather brilliant foray into House music:

Adamski Featuring Nina Hagen - Get Your Body

...but whoever thought she would turn a Doris Day number into a dance track? She did, obviously!

Nina Hagen - Pillow Talk

...and she even fronted her very own Big Band:

Nina Hagen & Leipzig Big Band - Let's Call The Whole Thing Off

To finish - and to top it all - here is one of my favourite clips of the lady, surprisingly duetting with none other than that beloved purveyor of multilingual smoothness Miss Nana Mouskouri! When worlds collide, indeed...

Nina Hagen and Nana Mouskouri - Lili Marlene

There is no-one quite like Catharina "Nina" Hagen (born 11th March 1955).

All hail!

Sláinte!

Happy Paddy's Day to all our Irish chums!

It is, however, also return-to-work day, so none of "the black stuff" nor "the amber nectar" for us, more's the pity...

Ah, well - on this Tacky Music Monday, I have a perfect antidote to all that gloom. Ireland's finest "crazy chicken twins" Jedward!

Jedward - Lipstick

[Yes, I would. Both at the same time.]

Have a good week, dear reader - and:

“May your glass be ever full. May the roof over your head be always strong. And may you be in heaven half an hour before the devil knows you’re dead.”

You look like you're lots of fun

Our Cymbidium orchid is putting on another stunning show this year!

I've had another busy weekend in the garden, despite the chilly wind - two overgrown pots of pink phlox dug out, split up and the remaining bits planted up into one big pot, and a similar job done on the Salvia × jamensis "Nachtvlinder" (this time, one pot split between two new ones), plus a bit more pottering and pruning besides. Much more yet to do, but I think that'll suffice for one weekend!

Meanwhile - you know when you're getting old when you realise...

... that this faboo choon was actually Number One in our charts 40 years ago this week! Gulp.

Dead or Alive - You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)

And, to think - just last week we were stood in awe before one of the frock coats he wore around the time of this video...

Beware...

...The Idas of March!

[L-r: Ida Barr, Ida Lupino, Ida Clough]

Carry On Cleo

"Infamy! Infamy! They've all got it in for me!"

Ides of March on Wikipedia

[In case you have a feeling of deja vu, dear reader, this has become a bit of a tradition - see here and here. Too good not to repeat, methinks...]

Sometimes I feel like throwing my hands up in the air

A long, grey, chilly week shivers to its conclusion - and it's time to celebrate!

In fact, let's make it a double celebration, for yesterday was the 85th birthday of the simply faboo Miss Candi Staton, one of the last presiding "Queens of Disco" -

Candi Staton - Young Hearts Run Free

- and, indeed, of House!

Source ft. Candi Staton - You Got The Love

Thank Disco Candi It's Friday - and have a great weekend, dear reader!

Foiled!

'Sorry, do you mean al-you-min-ee-um?' Britain asks US

The UK has admitted it has never heard of the ‘Aloo-min-um’ the US is supposedly imposing a 25 per cent tariff on.

The unknown substance has been grouped together with steel, suggesting that it is a metal of some kind, but extensive searches have not found anything answering to the unusual name.

Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds said: “A loo is a toilet. So perhaps they’re referring to some kind of ‘loo minimum’.

“But we don’t even export toilets to the US, because they require reinforcing with titanium to accommodate their weightier citizens. Does Donald Trump want a loo? We can send him a loo. I’d imagine he’s already got one.

“Aloo-min-um. It sounds almost musical, like a cross between ‘allelujah’, ‘luminous’ and ’minim’. Perhaps it’s some form of orchestral supply item? Maybe the New York Philharmonic is gasping for it so they can perform a Gershwin season.

“Either way we’ve no clue what it is, so we’ll have to hope the tariff lasts longer than 48 hours then see if we can spot it on the export documents. Aloo-min-um. It’s fun to say!”

He added: “Aluminium? Can’t be that. The spelling’s completely different.”

The Daily Mash

Of course.