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.

Shhhhhhhhhhh!

From Dazed magazine:

“Over the years I’ve been asked a lot of questions about what makes Icelandic people so special. I used to talk a lot about things like elves and isolation, but as I get older I think, especially with what’s going on in the world today, I think perhaps what really makes us stand out is the lack of religion. Give me a few bottles of red wine and I could probably go into that one all night. It’s just amazing talking to friends, especially from the States, who will tell you that half of their teachers at school were religious fanatics. I never had any religion imposed on me, I went to church maybe twice as a child.

“I find that when a lot of foreign people go through problems, like messy divorces, they suddenly start going to church more. In Iceland you wouldn’t do that, you’d start going in to nature more. The difference is as you grow up you don’t expect anyone else to sort out your problems – a priest or a president or a god or any kind of authority to surrender to or seek punishment or guilt from. If you are in trouble, you have to sort it out yourself. There are plenty of things we’re not good at, though. We’re hopeless at teamwork because everybody is so independent.”

Happy - gulp - 60th birthday wishes to the eternally crazy Björk!

Here's my favourite of her choons - her inimitable cover of Betty Hutton's It's Oh So Quiet:

Björk - It's Oh So Quiet

Björk Guðmundsdóttir (born 21st November 1965)