Niet elke dag is er zonneschijn *

Still coming down to earth from our fab trip to Amsterdam, and today the weather has been "up and down like a whore's drawers" again, so although I managed to do a bit of pottering in the extensive gardens here at Dolores Delargo Towers, it now looks like a real storm is coming in, so that's that.

Time for a little selection of "newer" music that has caught my ear, methinks...

Let's open with something from an old fave group [who have sadly announced that they are calling it quits after 35 years together] - with a rather (ahem) appealing video:

Saint Etienne - Take Me To The Pilot

Speaking of "old faves", here's a man who knows what he wants!

Bright Light Bright Light - Boys Etc.

Another video that rather caught my eye... [Song's not bad, either.]

GIO X - KISS

Now for something completely different - it's one of our [recently featured] Dutch Patron Saints, with a completely new face!

Gerard Joling - Twee Motten

Another jolly one we "collected" on holiday in Amsterdam - with what else but a video dedicated to pizza(?):

Thomas Julian - Tutto Bene

From the ridiculous... to the utterly bonkers! I love this [somewhat reminiscent of Cyndi Lauper, which is no bad thing in my book]:

Haute & Freddy - Shy Girl

And, saving the best to last - this!

Confidence Man & JADE - Gossip

As ever, let me know your thoughts, dear reader...

[* Niet elke dag is er zonneschijn = "Not every day there is sunshine"; part of the lyrics to "Tutto Bene" above]

I wanna take you to a Dutch bar, Dutch bar

RIP, Terence Stamp. We loved you.

And, so, the countdown to our trip to Amsterdam starts in earnest - only two days to go, and we'll be off!

No such countdown would be complete, of course, without an appearance by that triumph of art over nature Gerard Joling, stalwart of the most Dutch of "cultural instititions" De Toppers - and here, on this Tacky Music Monday, is a classic sing-along [well, it is if you speak Dutch] number that we've always loved. We've spent much time in Dutch bars that are just like this...

Gerard Joling – Ik hou d'r zo van

Oh, I can't wait!

Make it so

Our new bench, in the "jungle"

Such beautiful weather yesterday - and today, more's the pity, as we enter week 17 of working from the living-room - the garden is really taking off!

To try and alleviate the sad fact that I do indeed have to work for a living, so my time in the paradise we have created is curtailed again, on this Tacky Music Monday we have a double-bill of celebrations to cheer us up.

Firstly, that delightful old fruit Sir Patrick Stewart celebrates his 80th birthday today! Despite his six-decade career as a classical actor, including sixteen years with the Royal Shakespeare Company [indeed I saw him in Antony and Cleopatra way back in 1978 in Stratford-upon-Avon, opposite Glenda Jackson and Alan Howard in the titular roles], it is forever for his role as Captain Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation that he will be remembered. I don't actually recall this particular musical scene, but it certainly woke me up:

Captain Picard Dancing and Singing on the Bridge

The other bit of exciting news is that we have booked our flights for our annual pilgrimage to Amsterdam next month! We and the Essex Boys had paid deposits for our rooms, and the hotel confirmed it was indeed open for business and expecting us, so we thought "what the hell"? So, on that note, here's a typically understated little number from one of our fave Dutch queens [whose own milestone birthday - he turned 60 in April - we missed completely], Mr "De Toppers" himself, Gerard Joling!

Gerard Joling - Shangri La

I need to borrow that coat to wear as I alight down the steps of the EasyJet plane at Schiphol!

Have a good week, dear reader...

A Monday sing-song

Ho hum. Time to get up for work. Again...

To assist with the slow process, on this Tacky Music Monday it is to today's birthday boy René Froger (the - ahem - "less attractive one" of these three "beauties") and his chums Gerard Joling and Gordon we turn for a bit of a pick-me-up.

And what a fluorescent pink, sequinned, gloriously crowd-pleasing pick-me-up it is, too - take it away, De Toppers!

De Toppers - Inhaken En Meedeinen Medley

Our "house band" here at Dolores Delargo Towers.

Gelukkige verjaardag, René Froger (5th November 1960)!

He's my gigolo and my Romeo

As we slide slowly towards the weekend, and keep our fingers crossed it stays as warm and sunny as it has all week (some chance!), so we also have not one, not two, but three birthday celebrants to get us in the mood for a party!

First up, our Patron Saint of Schlock, Mr Harris Glenn Milstead aka Divine (19th October 1945 – 7th March 1988) - here in a mad - and completely brilliant - Disco mash-up with the BeeGees:

Bee Gees vs Divine - Shoot Your Shot vs Jive Talking (Matt Pop remix)

...also celebrating (and still very much with us), the original Disco Stud, Mr George McCrae (born 19th October 1944) - in a bizarre duet on his greatest hit with none other than Holland's "real" Queen, Gerard Joling(!):

Gerard Joling & George McCrae - Rock Your Baby

And, finally - Sinitta (who is either 50 today, or 55 - Wikipedia says "born 19th October 1963 or 19th October 1968")!

Sinitta - Toy Boy

Thank Disco It's Friday!

Have a good weekend, dear chums...

I love it so much

Just four-and-a-bit days to go before we jet off again [on Thursday] for our jaunt with Baby Steve and Alex to the joys of the 'Dam!

The weather today has been utterly horrid - high winds and endless dampness, leaving our huge Dahlia and our six-foot Salvias somewhat battered in the process, and causing our Ficus benjamina [houseplants - outside for their summer airing] to crash to the ground - but prospects are getting better as the week goes on, so we keep our fingers crossed it will be at least temperate when we are there for Amsterdam Gay Pride!

To help us build up the party atmosphere in our continuing countdown to the big weekend, here's our eternal fave, the uber-camp Gerard Joling, barmaid extraordinaire...

Gerard Joling – Ik hou d'r zo van

Lekker!

["Ik hou d'r zo van" = "I love it so much" in English.]

This is me

On this day in..
1678 – France and the Dutch Republic signed the first Treaty of Nijmegen, ending war between the two countries - and in celebration, Marc-Antoine Charpentier wrote his Te Deum, the prelude of which is better known as the Eurovision Song Contest theme:

Eurovision Song Contest theme

1787 - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart completed his chamber piece Eine kleine Nachtmusik:

Mozart - Eine kleine Nachtmusik

1897 - Jack Haley, the "Tin Man" in The Wizard of Oz was born:

We're off to see the Wizard

1923 - The birth of Rhonda Fleming:

Rhonda Fleming - I'm in Love With a Wonderful Guy

1950 - The premiere of Sunset Boulevard starring William Holden and Gloria Swanson took place in New York:

Gloria Swanson - I'm Ready for My Close-up

1963 - I was born.

Oh, and...

1970 - Jim Morrison went on trial for “lewd & lascivious behaviour” in public by exposing his private parts and by simulating masturbation and oral copulation.

How appropriate.

As is this, dear reader!

Gerard Joling - This is My Life

Funny how a lonely day can make a person say:
What good is my life?
Funny how a breaking heart can make me start to say:
What good is my life?
Funny how I often seem, to think I'll never find a dream
In my life
Till I look around and see, this great big world is part of me
And my life

This is my life
Today, tomorrow, love will come and find me
But that's the way that I was born to be
This is me
This is me

This is my life
And I don't give a damn for lost emotions
I've such a lot of love I've got to give
Let me live
Let me live

Sometime when I feel afraid, I think of what a mess I've made
Of my life
Crying over my mistakes, forgetting all the breaks I've had
In my life
I was put on earth to be, a part of this great world is me
And my life
Guess I'll just add up the score, and count the things I'm grateful for
In my life

This is my life
Today, tomorrow, love will come and find me
But that's the way that I was born to be
This is me
This is me

This is my life
And I don't give a damn for lost emotions
I've such a lot of love I've got to give
Let me live
Let me live

This is my life
This is my life
This is my life

Roll on Amsterdam!

Not over? It's not even started...

I am officially on holiday, and the countdown to this weekend's fantabulosa trip to Amsterdam for Gay Pride, with all the street parties and the grand parade on the canal, has begun.

It also happens to be a Tacky Music Monday - and the Dutch have a long-standing tradition of music that fits that particular bill!

Not least the most unashamedly flamboyant Queen of Dutch Pop, our fave Mr Gerard Joling, here in a suitably - ahem - understated stage appearance:

Gerard Joling - Het Is Nog Niet Voorbij

[It translates as "It's not over yet", apparently]

Oh, I can't wait...

I wanna take you to a Dutch bar, Dutch bar

One simply cannot let any countdown to our trip to Amsterdam go by without an appearance by that triumph of art over nature, Gerard Joling!

Here's his classic sing-along number (well, it is if you speak Dutch - which I don't), Ik hou d'r zo van!

Gerard Joling – Ik hou d'r zo van

Ah, now I am getting excited - quite a few of the bars we gravitate towards on our trips to the "Venice of the North" are actually just like this...

Several Queens and a King

It is a momentous day for our dear chums in Holland, as their Old Queen Beatrix steps down in favour of her son Willem-Alexander, who becomes the first King of the Netherlands since 1890.

We recently booked a well-overdue long weekend in Amsterdam - probably my 36th visit to my most beloved city - for my 50th (oo-er) birthday in August, and a whole host of friends will be coming over to join me to toast this auspicious occasion!

To mark this very Dutch day, here is another favourite old Dutch queen (whose own birthday it was yesterday), Gerard Joling - of "De Toppers" fame notoriety - duetting with the obviously straight (ha ha) Jan Smit, on a typically cheerful number that wouldn't sound out of place in the Eurovision Song Contest, Echte Vrienden [Real Friends].

Gerard Joling and Jan Smit - Echte Vrienden

Love it.

Read more about the inauguration of King Willem-Alexander

God red de Koning!

Amsterdam is Gezellig

For no other reason than today I am feeling a bit reflective, and missing the city of Amsterdam so much (our current impecunious situation has meant we haven't been abroad since February last year!), to cheer myself up a bit my thoughts have turned to Holland's most spectacularly camp "super-group" De Toppers...

I have of course featured the superb entertainers Gerard Joling, René Froger and Gordon Heuckeroth several times before - here, here and here.

Here they are again performing to a packed stadium (in 2007), in suitably understated costumes as always, with their trademark traditional Hollandse Medley:

De Toppers - Hollandse Medley 'Och Was Ik Maar'

Their concerts on 17th, 18th and 19th May 2012 have already sold out the Amsterdam Arena. Oh, how I wish I were going...

De Toppers

Article on the Dutch word "gezellig"

Zilveren regeringsjubileum van de koningin

This year, one of our favourite tacky artists Gerard Joling [founder member of the fab supergroup De Toppers - read my blog last year about them - and back with the group in 2010] celebrates 25 years in showbiz!

This fills me with great excitement as it gives me an excuse to celebrate too, on this first Tacky Music Monday of the year, with a selection of fabulousness by the true Queen of the Netherlands...

Gerard Joling - Shangri-la

Gerard Joling - Willie & Willeke Alberti Medley

Gerard Joling - Ik hou d'r zo van

...and, of course, our favourite!

Gerard Joling - This is My Life (Toppers Live, 2005)

Gerard Joling website (in Dutch)

We like a Dutch Topper

I cannot let a week focussing on Dutch music pass by without mentioning the incredible phenomenon that is De Toppers. Formed in 2005 by established "national treasures" the singers René Froger, Gordon Heuckeroth and Gerard Joling, this three-man extravaganza sold out a series of concerts in the gigantic 70,000-seater Amsterdam Arena stadium (home of AFC Ajax) for four years on the trot.

It's probably equivalent to a teaming of say, Paul Nicholas, Julian Clary and Bruce Forsyth selling out the O2!



With its irresistibly uber-camp combination of outrageous costumes, fireworks, glitter, dancing boys (and girls), and medleys of popular Dutch and English songs (inevitably of the cheesy variety), the Toppers Live! show is certainly nothing if not spectacular.



We always said we would love to go to one of their shows, but our personal favourite Gerard left the "band" last year just before they unsuccessfully entered this year's Eurovision Song Contest, and (despite his being replaced by Jeroen van der Boom) we're not sure whether the magic will be quite the same without his magnificent cape...

Gerard Joling - This is My Life (Toppers Live 2005)

Toppers - Hollandse medley

Toppers and Engelbert Humperdinck - Engelbert Humperdinck medley

De Toppers