Voice of the Beehive

Yesterday was - according to the more sensational of the tabloids - "Blue Monday", apparently the most depressing day of the year.

Our little gang was anything but "blue" last night, however. For (thanks to Wayne) we (Paul, little Tony, Bryanne, Simon and two more of Wayne's chums) had tickets to see none other than The Neasden Queen of Soul herself, Miss Mari Wilson singing her own interpretations from the songbook of our most mourned Patron Saint of Soul, Miss Dusty Springfield!





I had never been to the Jazz Café at Pizza Express in Soho before, and it is everything one might expect of its name... Occupying an atmospheric dark basement space that must at one time have played host to some of the more - ahem - "colourful" characters who traditionally inhabited our city's entertainment heartland [although not for very much longer if the bullies and vandals of Westminster Council have their way!], the ambience is utterly suited to intimate cabaret shows. And it serves pizza, of course.

Thus, as we finished off our over-priced Italian street-food, the divine former beehive-wearer took to our stage and captivated us from the outset. Miss Wilson is so loveable, so utterly down-to-earth in the way she engages her audience in chit-chat and asides, it is always a jolt to the senses when she opens her mouth and those marvellously powerful-yet-smooth jazzy vocals take over.



Dusty's music really does suit Mari's voice (unsurprisingly in 2000, Mari was the obvious choice to portray our diva in the hugely successful nationwide tour of Dusty the Musical). All of our favourites were here - I Close My Eyes and Count to Ten, Son of a Preacher Man, The Look of Love, I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself, In Private, Son of a Preacher Man, Some Of Your Lovin', Am I The Same Girl?, Spooky and Brand New Me among them, and she did every one proud in the course of her two-hour set.

Among the highlights were her sublime, slow re-interpretation of I Only Want To Be With You, a truly spine-tingling rendition of Goin' Back, the most beautiful version of How Can I Be Sure?, and, best (and campest) of the lot - her melodramatic arrangement of Twenty-Four Hours from Tulsa, which gave her fab pianist an almost "Liszt-ian" moment, as with crescendo after piano crescendo, she twisted every emotion to its fullest ("I hate to do this to you; but I love somebody new. What can I do? And I can never, never, never...go home again..."). I was left utterly breathless. Sheer genius.

This was an unforgettably wonderful evening, and a bloody good way to start off the "Social Calendar" for 2014!

Here is Miss Wilson with just two of the numbers she sang for us last night:

Mari Wilson - How Can I Be Sure?

Mari Wilson - I Close My Eyes and Count to Ten

Mari Wilson official website

The great musical round-up 2011

OK, It's that time of year when all thoughts turn to trying to remember what music "rocked our boats" during the last twelve months.

To that end, here are (in no particular order) the Dolores Delargo Towers Top Twenty Songs of 2011!

Let us open with the very cool Eastman ft Neve - Greedy Eyes, from July:

Eastman featuring Neve - Greedy Eyes

Even cooler, Jessica 6 - White Horse, from March:

Jessica 6 - White Horse

Herr Styler - Snow in Paris was toast of the town here at the Towers in January:

Herr Styler - Snow In Paris

The beautiful Sound of Arrows - Nova, first featured here in April:

Sound of Arrows - Nova

A very welcome return for a gay pioneer, Darren Hayes - Black Out The Sun (here in its remixed form), from September:



Speaking of gay, gay, gay - the anthem that never was, Sir Ari Gold featuring LaBelle's Sarah Dash - Sparkle, featured here in September:

Sir Ari featuring Sarah Dash - Sparkle

Duran Duran - Girl Panic was a fantabulosa return to form for a long-standing favourite group in November:

Duran Duran - Girl Panic!

Continuing the theme of "welcome returns", Mari Wilson - O.I.C, released earlier in the year, was a discovery here in December:

Mari Wilson - O.I.C.

Not something I am proud of, but I still love Selena Gomez - Love You Like A Love Song, from September:

Selena Gomez & The Scene - Love You Like A Love Song

The sleaze-tastic Traci Lords - Last Drag, from November:

Traci Lords - Last Drag

A song that was shockingly ignored by everyone, Beth Ditto - I Wrote the Book, from February:

Beth Ditto - I Wrote the Book

For once my taste and that of the great unwashed collided, as Example - Changed the Way You Kiss Me became the big chart-topper of the summer, featured here first in March:

Example - Changed the Way You Kiss Me

A chart could not really be a chart without at least one from the UK's "great white hope": Adele - Rolling in the Deep, as featured here way back in January:

Adele - Rolling in the Deep

One of my fave discoveries of the year, The Young Professionals ft Uriel Yekutiel - D.I.S.C.O, from July:

The Young Professionals - D.I.S.C.O

The magnificent Will Young - Jealousy, returned to our arms in style in August:

Will Young - Jealousy

A song (and an artist) that is indeed very popular round here, Eric Saade - Popular, who wuz robbed at Eurovision in May:

Eric Saade - Popular

Speaking of "we wuz robbed", our own Euro-contender Blue - I Can, was first revealed here in March:

Blue - I Can

A close contender, and thus in the Top Three, is Martin Solveig ft Dragonette - Hello, featured here in January:

Martin Solveig and Dragonette - Hello

Snapping at the heels of the top slot is the anthem of our last holiday in Spain: Luciana - I'm Still Hot, which I first played on our return in February but seems to have been around for the whole year (including the infamous Betty White version):

Luciana - I'm Still Hot

And finally, there has to be a winner, and so at Number 1 is (of course) the irresistible Sak Noel - Loca People, which first featured here in September, and has been buzzing round our eardrums ever since:

Sak Noel - Loca People

There will be plenty of omissions, and songs that have completely slipped the memory no doubt, but that is the nature of any Top Twenty.

However, as always, enjoy!!

Pop-a-matic

Time once more for some of the newer songs I have discovered recently, that have grabbed my attention...

The BBC has just released the long-list of its annual "Sounds of..." series (a selection of new artists that their "panel of tastemakers" - whatever that may mean - has selected as tipped for success). Of the motley crew of fifteen chosen for 2012, no less than four are rappers and two are "dubstep", which loads the selection in a rather depressing direction. I shan't examine the list in detail as much of it is unlistenable, and I need to hear more of the likes of Lianne La Havas ("soul music" apparently) and Ren Harvieu before I can get into them.

However, of the tracks I have been able to listen to without screaming at the PC, the best of the bunch is by the moody Swedish band Niki and the Dove. The track the Beeb is pushing is over a year old, but rather fab (especially remixed, as here):

Niki and the Dove - DJ Ease My Mind (Drevkollektivet remix)

Following on from a prospective "Sound of 2012", here's the return of an artist who won the self-same BBC contest back in 2009 - it's the lovely Little Boots:

Little Boots - Shake

Speaking of very welcome returns, here with a new single (released earlier in 2011 admittedly) is an old favourite of ours at Dolores Delargo Towers, Miss Mari Wilson!

Miss Wilson just so happens to be a recent new exhibit in the Dolores Delargo Towers Museum of Camp - and, sans beehive, our lady's comeback is ably produced it seems by the rather fab BoiSoundsMusic, whose collaborations with the artist known as Him and the inimitable Dusty O I have previously featured (click the links). The resulting first single O.I.C. is really quite fantabulosa!

Mari Wilson - O.I.C.

Suitably prepared for winter, here's the rather lovely Charlotta Perers aka Big Fox and her new single - anything but boring, I'd say...

Big Fox - Boring Ones

And finally, I know I featured the new single from Miss Traci Lords in a recent "Pick of the Pops" post, but that was merely a teaser and is now gone from YouTube - now the splendidly sleazy video for Last Drag has finally been released!

"I kicked that habit, when I kicked your ass out the door!" Indeed...

Traci Lords - Last Drag

As always, enjoy!

Voice of the beehive

Many happy returns today to the Soul Queen of Neasden, the beehive-quiffed Mari Wilson!

Way back in the early 80s, when dressing-up was the norm, Miss Wilson's retro 1960s style and sound cornered a niche market in slightly-twisted nostalgia. Sharing a love of Northern Soul with her contemporary Marc Almond (Mari famously guest starred in Soft Cell's What! video), she had a string of huge soul-inspired hits, and still commands a loyal audience on the cabaret circuit today.

Happy birthday to a shining professional, and style icon!

Mari Wilson - Just What I Always Wanted

Mari Wilson official website