Departure lounge

They're dropping like flies at the moment! House favourite here at Dolores Delargo Towers, the marvellous multilingual singer, guitarist, star of 50s/60s variety shows alongside the likes of Dean Martin and Fred Astaire, and schlager legend in Germany, Miss Caterina Valente has departed for the glittering environs of Fabulon, aged 93...

Caterina Valente - Malagueña

Caterina Valente - Bongo Cha Cha Cha

...closely followed by the star of one of my favourite TV shows when I was a kid Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) - as well as Coronation Street, That Was the Week That Was and Carry On films - Kenneth Cope [above, top left]. Here's the fantabulosa theme tune:

And an old classic:

Kenneth Cope on "the twilight world of the heterosexual" [That Was the Week That Was, 1963]

RIP, both.

I think I'll travel on to Avalon

A more rewarding day spent in the garden today - the weather has been generally sunny, we've moved our new bench out of the "firing line" of the bloody wood-pigeons and their elderberry-fuelled purple shit, shifted some of the pots around, and generally pottered around dead-heading and feeding the plants. With everything in pots, getting things in order and watered is a bit of a task - but we'll need to make sure everything's in the best of health for when we're away.

In keeping with the "Sunday mood", here's some "Sunday music" - a delightful meeting of three great voices, in perfect harmony...

Perry Como, Caterina Valente, Ella Fitzgerald - Avalon

Perfection.

Mr Relaxation

"For the amount of talent I had - and I couldn't dance, act, or tell a joke - I enjoyed a tremendous career."

Today we have a centenary to celebrate - Mr Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como!

One of the most successful vocalists of the 20th century, Perry Como went from small-town band singer with the Freddy Carlone and Ted Weems Orchestras in the 30s to become a multi-million-selling worldwide solo superstar, with one of the top-ranking television shows in US TV history and chart-topping albums in six separate decades.

His myriad hits over the years included such gems as Catch a Falling Star, It's Impossible, And I Love You So, Papa Loves Mambo and For the Good Times, among many many more standards. However this must rank as his all-time classic - Magic Moments:

Perry Como - Magic Moments

Mr Como's comfy cardigans and sleepy crooning baritone voice were his signature style, and of course led to many lampooning impersonations over the years - my personal favourite is Perry Como - Still Alive from Canadian cult show SCTV, which takes a direct dig at Perry's ill-considered venture into the disco sound in the 70s:

SCTV - Perry Como - Still Alive

And here, for your delectation, is the genuine disco remix of his great 30s/40s hit Temptation:

Perry Como - Temptation (Disco version)

[Thank Disco It's Friday - again!]

Facts about Perry Como:

• He famously began his career as a barber. He was apparently so successful he had his own shop at age 14.
• His singing career almost ended before it had really begun, when in 1933 a studio executive wanted him removed from orchestra recordings as he sounded too much like Bing Crosby.
• Canonsburg, Como's home town, has a street named after him, and festivals in his memory have been held both there and in Paleno in Italy, where his parents originated. He also had an annual golf tournament in his name.
• He and his wife Roselle were married for 65 years until her death in 1998.
• His final television show was a Christmas special recorded in Ireland in 1994. He died peacefully in 2001.

Perry Como (18th May 1912 - 12th May 2001)