The final frontier

I am aching in places I didn't even know could ache, having spent several fruitful hours in the extensive gardens here at Dolores Delargo Towers. Two full bin-bags of crap - mainly sycamore seeds and prunings - later, and I have barely scraped the surface (literally) of about one-third of what needs to be done...

On a different subject altogether, we're apparently in the middle of World Space Week (who knew?), so let's have a selection of suitably-themed songs for your delectation, shall we?

First up, an old, old favourite that I and my sister used to dance to way back in the early '80s at Lazers nightclub (RIP) in Newport:

B-52s - Planet Claire

A classic that simply had to be here:

David Bowie - Starman

From the sublime to the ridiculous...

Donny & Marie Osmond Space Finale With Charo, Roy Clark, George Gobel, Osmond Brothers:

And three bizarre examples from the kitsch end of the genre...

The Droids - The Force

Rah Band - Clouds Across the Moon

...ending up with Miss Sara Brightman and Hot Gossip and their timeless - ahem - classic I Lost My Heart To A Starship Trooper:

Strange new worlds, indeed.

Flashing lights in hyper space

Be careful what you wish for, they say. A mere few hours after I posted yesterday's moan about the continuing stifling heat, the most dramatic storm arrived - crashing thunder and lightning all around us - and several inches of rain fell in a matter of hours. Just after we'd watered all the pots again. Hey ho, at least the air's slightly cooler...

My lovely fortnight's holiday is slipping away far too quickly for my liking, too. However, the fact that today is Miss Sarah Brightman's sixtieth birthday gives me a perfect excuse (as if I need one!) to dig out my slightly-too-tight-these-days silver bodysuit and thigh boots in honour of her crowning career moment - and Thank Disco It's Friday!

Sarah Brightman and Hot Gossip - I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper

Have a good weekend, dear reader.

Taste the forbidden fruit

At this time of year, it always feels like a race - to try and get as much sunshine whenever it appears, in the sure and certain knowledge that there won't be much of it in the months to come. True to form, all week while I've been stuck in the office, London has had some lovely warm sunshine. Today, and likely for the whole weekend, it is bucketing down. In the words of Father Jack: "Arse! Feck!"

Never mind, eh? A weekend is still a weekend, and we could always stick a few rhinestones onto our galoshes to cheer us us up. Alternatively, we could writhe around suggestively with some plastic chairs and a helluva lot of eyeshadow, just like the much missed Hot Gossip - and Thank Disco It's Friday!

Lord knows what dear old Quincy Jones made of this.

Hot Gossip - Quincy Jones - Stuff Like That

I knew I was captured
By the rhythm of the magic flute
Pulling and urging me
To taste the forbidden fruit

And though I felt naive
I did not want to leave, fever was in the air
And all of us sudden and I didn't care
And no reason why, I just had to testify

What makes you feel like doin' stuff like that?
What makes you feel like doin' stuff like that?
What makes you feel like doin' stuff like that?
What makes you feel like doin' stuff like that?
Do it, do it, do it, do it, do it, do it, do it, do it!

You know you want to...

Have a good weekend, dear reader!

What my body needs is Close Encounter three

It's almost the end of another grim week in work, dear reader (although I did have some good news, qualifications-wise, about having reached the next level of "skill" in the dry-as-dust subject that keeps me gainfully employed).

We have a superior substitute for a seasonal panto to look forward to tonight - Mrs Hudson's Christmas Corker at the exquisite Wilton's Music Hall - but in the meantime, let's get the party started by squeezing into some skintight silver Lurex outfits, and adding a healthy dollop of sleaze...

Entering the UK Top Ten this very week back in 1979, it's the self-proclaimed "diva" Miss Sara Brightman with Hot Gossip and their timeless kitsch classic I Lost My Heart To A Starship Trooper.

Thank Disco It's Friday!

Hot Gossip on Wikipedia

While you were out...

While the internet was down for the last four days here at Dolores Delargo Towers - courtesy of the inept gnomes at Virgin Media - there were inevitably a few things I missed blogging about, such as...

We waved goodbye to Mistress MJ's soul mother, Miss Sylvia Kristel, esteemed star of many an "art-house" movie such as Emmanuelle, Private Lessons and Lady Chatterley's Lover. She had considerable talents...



...and she sang, too!

Eddy De Clercq Quartet featuring Sylvia Kristel - Changes (2009 Bossa remix)

The fact that it was the 40th birthday on Wednesday of the gorgeous Turkish singer (and house favourite) and oh-so-not-gay-at-all Tarkan affords me the opportunity to post a "Totty of the Day" photo, even if a little late:



Kiss, Kiss, indeed.

Tarkan - Kiss Kiss

Speaking of birthdays, one of our fave Tacky Music Monday exotic divas Veronica Castro ("Mexico's answer to Joan Collins", apparently) celebrated her 60th birthday on Friday. Any excuse to celebrate the glittering flair of this lady!

Veronica Castro - La Movida

The hilarious news that Miss Sarah Brightman is apparently intending to be the first professional "musician" in space left an entire nation hoping it was a one-way ticket. In any instance, what on earth will happen to all that dreadful plastic filler she's had injected into her face when they take off?



[And as I have also missed one of my traditional "Thank Disco It's Friday" slots, this will do nicely...]

Finally, that fashion goddess 91-year-old Miss Iris Apfel was featured on the cover of trendy yoof-orientated "style magazine" Dazed and Confused - but you need to check out the Dolores Delargo Towers Museum of Camp for that one...

It's good to be back.

All done in the best possible taste!

The BBC has announced that a new drama based upon the life of the marvellous late, great Kenny Everett (star DJ and TV personality) will be shown on BBC4 later this year.



Is the world, ready, I wonder, for the return of Cupid Stunt, Sid Snot, Gizzard Puke, Marcel Wave, Captain Kremmen and the rest of "Cuddly Ken"'s characters to our screens? Not to mention the chesty Cleo Rocas and the scandalous gyrations of Hot Gossip?

I am!

It is difficult to adequately explain to the uninitiated just how popular Kenny's television shows (first on ITV, and later the BBC) really were - he was at the top of the tree of Saturday night viewing in the late 70s/early 80s, and attracted megastars galore accordingly. Cliff Richard (a regular!), David Bowie, Roxy Music, Boomtown Rats, Dire Straits, The Shadows, Dusty Springfield(!), David Essex, Chas'n'Dave, Freddie Mercury, Lionel Blair, Suzi Quattro, Rod Stewart, Hot Chocolate, The Pretenders, Elvis Costello, and many, many more queued up to appear on his shows - often with the sole purpose of having the piss taken out of them.

On his death (despite the tabloid slavering over his homosexuality and the fact that it was AIDS that took him from us), there was a genuine outpouring of grief from the world of showbiz and the listening/viewing public alike.

There will never be the like of Kenny Everett again. Here are just a few clips of his genius:

A Big Chunk Of The Kenny Everett Video Show #23 (guest appearance from Elvis Costello)

A Big Chunk Of The Kenny Everett Video Show #17 (guest appearances from Suzi Quatro and David Bowie)

A Big Chunk Of The Kenny Everett Video Show #18 (guest appearance from Roxy Music)

And, of course, here's the fabulous theme music from his show - Supernature by French electro-disco pioneer Cerrone (with lyrics added by none other than Lene Lovich, and gyrations and hip-thrusting courtesy of the salacious Hot Gossip):

Hot Gossip - Cerrone - Supernature

We miss him.

More compilations from The Kenny Everett Video Show

Kenny Everett biography on ScreenOnline

Tough is the leather that's strapped to my skin

How time flies.

With a weekend that has been eaten up by a funeral and by Mothers' Day, it is suddenly Monday once more, and our shoulders heave with a collective sigh...

Still, on this Tacky Music Monday, at least we can console ourselves in fact that our lives can never be quite so bad as the gob-smacking combination of Arlene Phillips' choreography, Hot Gossip's faux sexual gyrations, and one of Spandau Ballet's most pretentious musical concoctions. This is sure to cheer you up - enjoy!

Hot Gossip - Musclebound

Indeed.