Timeslip moment again - and its quite scary how time flies...
We've beamed down in 1997 again, dear reader - a world mourning the death of Diana Princess of Wales; the year of Tony Blair, comet Halle-Bopp, Bill Clinton, Madeline Allbright, the Spice Girls,
Teletubbies, IBM's Deep Blue computer, Oasis, massacres in Algeria, Great Britain's last (to date) Eurovision win, the launch of Channel 5, Gianni Versace's murder, the handover of Hong Kong to China,
Titanic and Dolly the sheep.
In the news in November '97: 62 tourists were mown down by Islamic militants outside the Temple of Hatshepsut in Egypt, the BBC launched News 24 and its full-time online news service, attempts to extradite the Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs from Brazil were thwarted, and the new British Library opened; in the ascendant were Mary McAleese (elected President of Ireland in succession to Mary Robinson, the first time in the world that one woman succeeded another as elected head of state), Bobbi McCaughey (who gave birth to the world's first surviving septuplets) and HM the Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh (celebrating their Golden Wedding anniversary), but the world reeled when the gorgeous Michael Hutchence was found dead in his hotel room. In our cinemas:
Chasing Amy,
GI Jane,
Alien: Resurrection. On telly:
I'm Alan Partridge,
The Adventures of Paddington Bear, and the last ever series of
Give Us a Clue.
And in the charts this week in November two decades ago? The infectious
Barbie Girl had just been knocked off its perch. Also present and correct in the Top 10 were Natalie Imbruglia, All Saints, Lutricia McNeal
[me neither], the Prodigy, MegaBabs with Slime Dion, Aaron Carter, Louise and Stephen Houghton
[whooooo?]. However, there was one song that was to wipe the board with all of 'em, having just crashed into the top slot and summarily deposed the all-conquering Aqua - and lordy, it is a good one...
Featuring possibly the most amazing array of talent ever committed to one record - [in order of appearance] Lou Reed, Bono, Skye Edwards (from Morcheeba), David Bowie, Suzanne Vega, Elton John, conductor Andrew Davis and the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Boyzone, Lesley Garrett, Burning Spear, Thomas Allen, the Brodsky Quartet, Heather Small (from M People), Emmylou Harris, Tammy Wynette, Shane MacGowan (from The Pogues), tenor horn player Sheona White, Dr. John, Robert Cray, Huey Morgan (from Fun Lovin' Criminals), Ian Broudie (from The Lightning Seeds), Gabrielle, Evan Dando (from The Lemonheads), Courtney Pine, Brett Anderson (from Suede), Visual Ministry Choir, Joan Armatrading, Laurie Anderson and Tom Jones - it is, of course,
Perfect Day!
Can it really be
TWENTY YEARS since that slice of magnificence first hit our screens???
I feel old.
