I'm not sure, but I think he luvs his baby

I'm back, from outta space... [Well, Portsmouth, actually - on "family duties" with Mother.]

With my birthday looming this Sunday (and it was my sister's last weekend), tomorrow is a "gathering of the clans" in Regent's Park - for the Grand Annual Picnic! And for once, the weather looks utterly perfect.

With all that in mind - despite my weary bones after the past couple of days and all that travel - it's time to party!

Can it really be thirty years this month since this absolute classic choon was firing up our dancefloors? How time flies. Thank Disco Ibiza House It's Friday!

The Original - I Luv U Baby

I smell dry ice...

Have a good weekend, dear reader!

Where did you come from, where did you go?

Still coming down to earth after laughing our tits off last night at the spectacuar panto Robin Hood starring Julian Clary and Jane McDonald at the London Palladium (more on that later, no doubt), the bitter cold air is still hanging over our poor, bedraggled garden and we've just been lolling-about in the house with the heating on.

To cheer ourselves up as we await the (forecast) thaw this week, let's take a little "mini-timeslip" moment, shall we?

This week thirty years ago in 1995, the Top 10 in our charts still had some Xmas "hangovers" from the likes of Boyzone and East 17, the Human League was having a little comeback, there were some soon-to-be-classic dance choons courtesy of N-Trance and Ini Kamoze, and also present and correct were Guns'n'Roses, Oasis and novelty kids' TV puppets Zig and Zag. However - thankfully keeping the godawful Slime Dion off the top, for the next few weeks at least - taking the #1 slot was this lot! Talk about "left-field"...

Rednex - Cotton Eye Joe

Try as we might to deny it, everyone still sings along to it!

We wake up, we go out, smoke a fag, put it out

Timeslip moment once more...

We've surfaced from Waterworld into the midst of 1995 again - the year of Princess Diana's "there were three people in this marriage" Panorama interview, the Bosnian War, Oasis vs Blur, Nick Leeson and the collapse of Barings Bank, GoldenEye, Windows 95, Steve Fossett, Jacques Chirac, the Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway, assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Gangsta's Paradise, the conviction of Rose West (and the suicide in prison of Fred West) for the murder of ten women and girls, Russian war in Chechnya, Leah Betts, Muriel's Wedding, Louis Farrakhan, the Schengen Agreement, The Madness of King George, Hugh Grant's arrest with a prostitute, Eduard Shevardnadze, Robbie Williams leaving Take That, Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City bombing, Clueless, OJ Simpson found not guilty of murder, "Mr Darcy", the docking of Space Shuttle Atlantis with the Russian Mir space station, and Pocahontas; the year Dua Lipa, Gigi Hadid, the World Trade Organization (WTO), Timothée Chalamet, Hollyoaks, Troye Sivan, Mumbai (formerly Bombay) and the Sony PlayStation were born; and Kenny Everett, Ginger Rogers, Lana Turner, Donald Pleasence, Peter Cook, Dean Martin, Elizabeth Montgomery, Paul Eddington, Harold Wilson, Sir Michael Hordern, Ida Lupino, Doug McClure, Gerald Durrell, Larry Grayson, James Herriot, Sir Robert Stephens, Burl Ives and Sir Kingsley Amis all died.

In the headlines in July twenty-five years hence: the Srebrenica massacre of of more than 8,000 Bosnian civilians by Serbian forces horrified the world, PM John Major's gamble with calling an election to face-down his critics paid off as he was re-elected leader of the Conservative Party, the world held its breath over the stand-off between the West and Saddam Hussein over Iraqi disarmament, and the massive Hindu temple in Neasden was formally opened; in the ascendant was Aung San Suu Kyi, who was freed from house arrest in Burma, but we bade a fond farewell to the dilettante poet Sir Stephen Spender. In our cinemas: First Knight; Batman Forever; Congo. On telly: Gaytime TV; Stars in Their Eyes; Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious Universe; and the ill-fated L!VE TV (with its "News Bunny", "Topless Darts and "Lunchbox Volleyball") was launched.

And in our charts a quarter of a century ago (gulp)? Outhere Brothers were at #1 with Boom Boom Boom, and also present and correct were a clutch of - ahem - less-than-inspiring artists including Diana King, Robson & Jerome, Reeves & Mortimer and Shaggy, as well as boyband MN8, Techno combo Clock and the legendary Edwyn Collins...

...and this one!

Supergrass - Alright

We are young
We run green
Keep our teeth nice and clean
See our friends, see the sights
Feel alright

We wake up, we go out
Smoke a fag, put it out
See our friends, see the sights
Feel alright

Are we like you?
I can't be sure
Of the scene as she turns
We are strange in our worlds

But we are young, we get by
Can't go mad, ain't got time
Sleep around if we like
But we're alright

Got some cash
Bought some wheels
Took it out
'Cross the fields
Lost control, hit a wall
But we're alright

Are we like you?
I can't be sure
Of the scene, as she turns
We are strange in our worlds

But we are young
We run green
Keep our teeth nice and clean
See our friends, see the sights
Feel alright

Twenty-five years? Where did they go?

The devil cuts loose

We've bailed out of Apollo 13 into a distant-yet-familiar world again - 1995: the year of John Major's "put up or shut up" re-election as Tory leader, the Srebrenica massacre, Jacques Chirac, Nick Leeson, Eduard Shevardnadze, Bosnian ceasefire, Robbie Williams leaving Take That, the Neasden Hindu temple, Steve Fossett, Jeanne Calment, Eric Cantona, Frank Bruno, The Usual Suspects, Jonathan Aitken MP and "the simple sword of truth and the trusty shield of British fair play" (his ironic quote just months before his imprisonment for perjury), wars in Chechnya and Sri Lanka, POGs, Comet Hale–Bopp, Interview with the Vampire, the UK's first gay magazine programme Gaytime TV, Timothy McVeigh and the truck-bomb in Oklahoma, Oasis vs Blur "Battle of Britpop", the murder of head teacher Philip Lawrence, The Madness of King George, Thierry Mugler, Daewoo, Colin Firth as "Mr Darcy", Young British Artists (YBAs), the trial of Rose West (and Fred West's suicide), Aung San Suu Kyi, Giulio Andreotti, Louis Farrakhan, Space Shuttle Atlantis docking with the Russian Mir space station, O.J. Simpson found not guilty, and the departure of "Bet Lynch" from Coronation Street; the births of Dua Lipa, the World Trade Organisation, Troye Sivan, the Sony PlayStation, Timothée Chalamet, America Online (AOL), L!VE TV, The Diary of Bridget Jones, Gigi Hadid, and Windows 95; and the year that Ginger Rogers, Elizabeth Montgomery, Dean Martin, Harold Wilson, Larry Grayson, Ida Lupino, Peter Cook, Lana Turner, Sir Michael Hordern, Doug McClure, Geoffrey Dickens MP, Gerald Durrell, Paul Eddington, Donald Pleasence, Kenny Everett, Kingsley Amis, Fred Perry, James Herriott and Barings Bank all died.

In the news headlines in November 1995: Rose West found guilty of murdering ten women and children, the death of teenager Leah Betts after taking ecstacy, the Queen Mother's hip replacement operation, the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, the indictment of Radovan Karadžić and Ratko Mladić for Bosnian war crimes, and Bill Clinton's visit to Northern Ireland. In our cinemas: To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar; GoldenEye; Crimson Tide. On telly: Princess Diana's "tell-all" interview with Martin Bashir on Panorama, The Thin Blue Line and Hollyoaks.

And in our charts this week twenty-four years ago? The top slot was held by the Soldier Soldier actors-turned-sentimental-crooners Robson and Jerome, and the rapper-turned-celebrity-chef Coolio was still holding onto the #2 slot. Also present and correct were Everything But The Girl, Oasis, Blur, Queen Madge, Enya and Boyzone. Crashing into the Top Ten with a vengeance, however, was a song that was destined to hover around the upper echelons (and, incessantly, in our heads) from now until well into the new year - from our favourite "crazy lady" (whose birthday it is tomorrow) Björk!

Björk - It's Oh So Quiet

It's. Oh. So quiet
It's. Oh. So still
You're all alone
And so peaceful until...

You fall in love
Zing! boom!
The sky up above
Zing! boom!
Is caving in
Wow! bam!
You've never been so nuts about a guy
You wanna laugh you wanna cry
You cross your heart and hope to die

'Til it's over and then
It's nice and quiet
But soon again
Starts another big riot

You blow a fuse
Zing! boom!
The devil cuts loose
Zing! boom!
So what's the use
Wow! bam!
Of falling in love?

It's. Oh. So quiet
It's. Oh. So still
You're all alone
And so peaceful until...

You ring the bell
Bim! bam!
You shout and you yell
Hi ho ho!
You broke the spell
Gee! This is swell; you almost have a fit
This guy is "gorge" and I got hit
There's no mistake - this is it!

'Til it's over and then
It's nice and quiet
But soon again
Starts another big riot

You blow a fuse
Zing! boom!
The devil cuts loose
Zing! boom!
So what's the use
Wow! bam!
Of falling in love

The sky caves in
The devil cuts loose
You blow blow blow blow blow your fuse!
When you've fallen in love

Ssshhhhhh...

Ah, yes.

But where does the time go..?

Björk is on tour at the moment to promote her new album Cornucopia - see her website for details.

Look out bro, here it come

Timeslip moment again...

Plonked down in this week twenty years ago in 1995, our TARDIS has placed us in a world where OJ Simpson, war in Bosnia, the introduction of metric weights and measures in the UK and the launch of the Vauxhall Vectra were occupying the headlines, Bet Lynch (Julie Goodyear) left Coronation Street, and To Die For, Hackers and To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar were on our screens.

In a chart that included such unlikely bedfellows as Suggs, The Rembrandts, Kylie and Nick Cave, Pulp, Jacksons Michael and Janet, Def Leppard, Wet Wet Wet, Michael Bolton, Green Day, hideous wibblers (Ms Dion and Ms Carey), Blur, Oasis, Adiemus and Simply Red, hanging in there were some cracking dance choons - including this one!

Here's the Candy Girls (with Sweet Pussy Pauline, and whatever happened to her?)!

Candy Girls feat Sweet Pussy Pauline - Fee Fi Fo Fum

You better walk girls, walk girls, walk girls
Walk girls, walk girls (damn damn damn damn)
Now it was time for me to walk
Ow! Ow!

Boom a-shack-a-lack-a boom boom
Boom a-shack-a-lack-a boom boom
Boom a-shack-a-lack boom a-shack-a-lack
Boom a-shack-a-lack-a boom boom

(Come on baby, come on babe) (4x)
Ow! (Come on baby, come on babe)
Ow! (Come on baby, come on babe)
Ow! (Come on baby, come on babe)
Ow! (Come on babe) Ow! (Come on babe) Ow! (Come on babe) Ow! (Come on babe)
Ow!

Fee Fi Fo Fum, Fee Fi Fo Fum
Fee Fi Fo Fum, look out bro, here it come
(Ow!) Fee Fi Fo Fum, Fee Fi Fo Fum
Fee Fi Fo Fum, look out bro, here it come
Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh!
Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh!

Positively Shakespearian.

My mouth can't hide what's deep down inside

Timeslip moment again...

Our DeLorean has crashed to earth this week twenty years ago to 1995 - when excitement was mounting about the imminent release of Windows 95, Croatia was celebrating its victory in the war of independence from the former Yugoslavia, ill-fated cable channel L!VE TV (with its infamous "News Bunny", "Topless Darts" and "Lunchbox Volleyball") was launched, the tabloids went crazy over the supposed "battle of the bands" between Oasis and Blur with their competing singles released on the same day, Babe, Waterworld and Mortal Kombat were on our cinema screens, and this faboo dance number was the highest new entry in the UK charts!

Wouldn't it be lovely to be in '90s Ibiza (or any Spanish resort, at any time, given our miserable summer this year) with this one playing?

The Original - I Luv U Baby

I smell dry ice...