Of Eric, Grace, Bonnie, Bobby and Alison

Morecambe & Wise and the tribute statue to Eric in his home town Morecambe, after which he took his stage name. [click any pic to embiggen]

It's another snippets post today, dear reader:

• National treasure news: It's the centenary today of one of Britain's most beloved comedians, Eric Morecambe, "the funny half" of the prime-time-TV staples Morecambe and Wise. He was a phenomenon, and their popularity led to an endless stream of top guests, including one soon-to-be-Dame:

Morecambe & Wise - Shirley Bassey:

• Where does time go? news: Over at the superb Bitterness Personified blog, Mr Graham Russell reminds us that we're all getting old - it is 45 years since Grace Jones' magnum opus the album Nightclubbing was released! Gulp.

Grace Jones - I've Seen That Face Before (Libertango)

• It's a Heartache news: The legendary Bonnie Tyler is "seriously ill but stable" after undergoing emergency surgery in Portugal, where she has a home. Get well soon, darling!

Bonnie Tyler - Holding Out For a Hero

• Ol' Mackie news: It's ninety years since the great swinger Walden Robert Cassotto, better known as Bobby Darin was born!

Bobby Darin - Mack the Knife

• And finally: The utterly faboo Miss Alison Goldfrapp was 60 years old yesterday! Another gulp.

Goldfrapp - Strict Machine

And the weather? Up and down like a whore's drawers again, dear reader - one minute brilliant sunshine, the next black skies, rain and even thunder. Britain, Britain, Britain.

Five'll get ya ten, old Macky's back in town

A mini-timeslip moment again...

We're way back in prehistory - well, 1959, actually - the year of the Cuban revolution led by Che Guevara that saw Fidel Castro become President, Living Doll, Harold Macmillan, House of Fraser takeover of Harrods, Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, Walt Disney's Sleeping Beauty, independence for Cyprus, the Mau Mau uprising, Hugh Gaitskell, Alec Issigonis and the Mini, the UK's first duty-free shops, Hawaii becoming the 50th State of the USA, David Jacobs and Juke Box Jury, and Christopher Cockerell's first hovercraft; and the year that Billie Holiday, Errol Flynn, Kay Kendall, Cecil B. DeMille, Lou Costello, Mario Lanza, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper all died.

Famous names born sixty years ago (many of whom I have featured on this very blog over the year) include Sade, Robert Smith, Pete Burns, Simon Cowell, Irene Cara, Paul Whitehouse, Julian Clary, Tracey Ullman, Motown Records, Hugh Laurie, Youssou N'Dour, Marie Osmond, Kirsty MacColl, Barbie, Brian Setzer, Dame Emma Thompson, John McEnroe, Susanna Hoffs, Sheena Easton, Rupert Everett, Bryan Adams, the Boeing 707, Renée Fleming, Pauline Quirke, Steve Strange, Sarah Ferguson, Gary Kemp, Marcella Detroit, Astérix the Gaul, Lorraine Kelly, the M1 motorway, Val Kilmer, Ben Elton and Morten Harket, as well as my own "other half" Madam Arcati...

...and, today - our friend John-John!

And at #1 in our charts on his birthday all those years ago..?

Bobby Darin - Mack the Knife

Cheers, dear boy! Looking forward to the party on Saturday.

PS Here's a little - ahem - something extra:

Björn Again - A Little Respect

Pull out the stopper, we'll have a whopper

Monday again? Oh, dear...

Despite the fact I am not heading for the office this morning, today and tomorrow are dedicated "study days" for the latest useless qualification I am supposed to get for work. So it's just as bad. Worse, in fact, because there is the permanent temptation of the garden to hand. At least I can smoke at my desk, however!

Plus, I have access to the best soundtracks for my studies - such as anything featuring birthday boy Mr Vic Damone [a great survivor; he blows out 89 candles today]! On this Tacky Music Monday, here is the man himself as part of a "crooner triumvirate" with Mr Andy Williams and Mr Bobby Darin, and their Broadway Medley:

Andy Williams, Vic Damone & Bobby Darin - Broadway Medley

Faboo.

Have a good week, y'all!

Vic Damone (born Vito Rocco Farinola, 12th June 1928)