2024 - a bit of a whirlwind year, Dolores Delargo Towers style

We breathed a sigh of relief in 2022, the first year that our social events really resumed after the nightmare "coronavirus years". We ramped-up the ante in 2023, with quite a few theatre trips and holidays. 2024, however - this was a year when we went into overdrive! Just about every month brought something new to see and do, and heavens, we saw and did a lot...

The whole thing kicked off with a bang in January, with the Cinderella panto starring Craig Revel Horwood, closely followed by Madam Arcati and I at Menier Chocolate Factory for Sondheim's Pacific Overtures, and John-John and I in Heaven for (what would turn out to be our only visit to what used to be a monthly treat) Polari headlined by David McAlmont and HiFi Sean. February saw us make our annual pilgrimage to Benalmadena - en masse, as it was The Madam's 65th birthday - but before we went, we found the time to go to Wilton's Music Hall for a one-woman tribute to Gertrude Lawrence...

As Spring began, in March we two were off to the Cadogan Hall for the first of three choral concerts during 2024, Faure's Requiem. In April, the "clans" gathered for a [return, for me] visit to the V&A for its splendid DIVA exhibition. May began with a real treat, as we were off to the London Palladium for an unforgettable live show by "house band" Postmodern Jukebox, and the following weekend it was "The Gay World Cup", our Eurovision Song Contest party.

With barely time to recover from our hangovers, however, The Madam and I were off to Spain again - for our "Andalusian adventure", taking in the delights of Seville, Cadiz and Jerez, before another week of hedonism back in Benalmadena. June brought us more joys, with Jerry's Girls at the Menier, and by complete contrast, the magnificent Verdi Requiem at Cadogan Hall. Of course, the end of the month saw the event around which everything else just pivots, [our red-and-gold-themed] Gay Pride!

July saw us complete our "choral triptych" with another trip to Cadogan Hall for Walton's Belshazzar's Feast - and, as we are definitely not averse to "mixing-up the genres", John-John and I went to see [in its opening weekend] Deadpool and Wolverine.

Onward and upward, and August was hectic! We were back to the Palladium for Hello Dolly! starring Imelda Staunton, and A Chorus Line at Sadler's Wells a few days later - well, it was mine and my sister's birthday fortnight [ours are a week apart, although there's three years between us] - and then The Madam and I were once again at "The World's Leading Variety Theatre" for a once-in-a-lifetime experience: Bernadette Peters in Concert. With barely time to draw our breath after all those shows, we were off to our [second, after London] favourite city Amsterdam for the annual pilgrimage! To end the month, we took advantage of a rare bit of sunshine in what was an up-and-down "summer" (again) for our first outdoor "Grand Picnic" in two years.

After a relatively quiet September, we were off again in October [for our first ever visit] to Alexandra Palace Theatre for the revue Sondheim on Sondheim and then, in a matter of days, another once-in-a-lifetime event - Dame Joan Collins: One Night Only at the Adelphi Theatre! In a final flourish, we went to see the triumphal return of Rick Skye and Steven Brinberg's Barbra & Liza Live! at Charing Cross Theatre, and Sacha Regan's all-male Pirates of Penzance at Wilton's Music Hall in November. Oh, and Our Sal's 25th anniversary at the "Lady Shaston" Arms, of course. And then there was her birthday party in December, and our New Year's Eve Party as a fitting finale..!

Whew.

However, if this is to be a "review of the year" - was there any music that could in any way be considered in the running for a "song of the year"? Hmmm...

This one was fucking everywhere last "summer" - despite me describing it back in June as sounding "like something Kylie might have thrown out during her time with Roc Nation" - but, if social media wasn't around, would it really have been that big..? Maybe:

Sabrina Carpenter - Espresso

This one is a real "left-fielder" - we loved it, and I'm sure it was a club hit. Bizarrely it seemed to disappear from what laughingly passes for "the charts" without a trace:

Zerb and Sofiya Nzau - Mwaki

This sublime cover from November is a contender - just pure class, as one might expect - and it was indeed on heavy rotation for a long time on the Radio 2 playlist:

Pet Shop Boys - All The Young Dudes

However, it was this one that really was the "Discovery of the Year" [despite being released in 2023] - so it may as well be crowned the "Dolores Delargo Towers Song of the Year"!

Ashley McBryde, Caylee Hammack, Pillbox Patti - Brenda Put Your Bra On

Utterly brilliant!

Let's see what 2025 brings us, shall we..?

Songs of the Year 2017

I gave up my regular "new music round-up" blogs many moons ago - too much like hard work, for diminishing returns (I would often find myself looking forlornly as no-one read, let alone commented on, them after hours of research). However, just occasionally I am tempted to revive the concept...

There were actually, after all, a few songs [no rappers, no Ed Sheeran, no Bieber, no Coldplay and no Miss Swift, obviously!] that were released in 2017 which piqued my interest - such as this absolutely brilliant one by Beck [a particular fave of the fantabulosa Ana Matronic; as she admitted when she played it while sitting in for Jo Wiley on her show on Radio 2 last night]:

Beck - Dear Life

Speaking of "faves", this track by the-latest-"weirdo"-on-the-block Lorde has topped many a "sensible" music critic's list - and, even I have to admit, (with its defiant, angsty style reminiscent of Robyn Dancing On My Own) it is rather contagious:

Lorde - Green Light

This was inescapable all through the summer of '17:

Luis Fonsi ft. Daddy Yankee - Despacito

[The pre-Bieber version]

Speaking of inescapable - this one also dominated the year, and is likely destined to be a staple of every daytime radio station, advert and trendy boutique "mood music" playlist for ever more - unsurprising, really, since it is basically a bastard child of ABBA and Simple Minds...

Arcade Fire - Everything Now

But, then there's this! It became a huge "earworm" here at Dolores Delargo Towers when I first encountered it back in November [despite the fact it was already two years old at the time], and is likely to remain there for a good while yet. My "fave choon of the year", by a long chalk:

Handsome Dancer - Coincidance

So what were your songs of the year 2017, dear reader?

RIP, 2017

'Tis that time of year again, folks - as we open the "Book of the Dead" for 2017. It's been a year that has not, perhaps, seen so many world-famous and shock deaths as 2016 (Roger Moore, John Hurt, Mary Tyler-Moore, Jerry Lewis and David Cassidy aside), but nonetheless for me personally (and for many of our generation) this was a year when whole swathes of familiar and beloved faces from our childhoods went off to the great Rediffusion box in the sky: Brucie, Barry Norman, "Catweazle", "René", Noaksie, "Shelley", William G Stewart, "Clegg", Likely Lad "Bob", Cheggers, "Siegfried Farnon", "Benson", Brian Cant, "Oscar Goldstein", Heinz Wolff, "Batman" and all...

William Christopher (US actor, "Father Mulcahy" in M*A*S*H)
Om Puri (Indian actor, East is East, Gandhi)
Peter Sarstedt (US singer-songwriter, Where Do You Go To, My Lovely?)
Buddy Bregman (US arranger, producer and composer, Verve Records)
Victor Lownes (US businessman, executive for Playboy Enterprises UK and originator of the idea of "Playboy bunnies")
Graham Taylor (British football pundit, former England manager)
Larry Steinbachek (British pop keyboardist, Bronski Beat)
Lord Snowdon, Anthony Armstrong-Jones (British photographer, ex-husband of Princess Margaret)
William Peter Blatty (US author and filmmaker, The Exorcist)
Buddy Greco (US swing singer and member of the "Rat Pack", The Lady is a Tramp)
Eugene Cernan (US astronaut, last man on the Moon)
Baroness Rachael Heyhoe Flint (British cricketer, former England women's team captain)
Gorden Kaye (British comedy actor, René in Allo, Allo!)
Mary Tyler Moore (US television actress, comedienne and entertainer)
Tam Dalyell (British (Scottish) former MP, famously a "thorn in Maggie Thatcher's side")
Alexander Chancellor (British journalist, former editor of The Spectator)
Emmanuelle Riva (French actress)
Barbara Hale (US actress, "Della Street" in Perry Mason)
Sir John Hurt (British actor, I Claudius, Naked Civil Servant, Alien)
Sir Christopher Bland (British businessman, former chair of the BBC board of governors and chairman of the Royal Shakespeare Company)
Desmond Carrington (British broadcaster, DJ and "national treasure", Radio 2)
Alec McCowen (British actor, Travels With My Aunt, Personal Services)
Tara Palmer-Tomkinson (British model, socialite and friend of Prince Charles)
Alan Simpson (British comedy writer, Hancock’s Half Hour, Steptoe and Son)
Nicolai Gedda (Swedish operatic tenor)
Richard Hatch (US actor, Battlestar Galactica)
Damian Davey (British Hi-NRG singer, The Timewarp)
Al Jarreau (US jazz-soul singer, theme from Moonlighting)
Peter Skellern (British singer-songwriter, You're A Lady)
Lord (David) Waddington (British politician, former Home Secretary)
Bill Paxton (US actor, Aliens)
Neil Fingleton (Britain’s Tallest Man and actor, Game of Thrones)
Sir Gerald Kaufman (British MP, longest-serving member ("Father of the House") of the Commons)
Ann Beach (British character actress, Fresh Fields, Notting Hill)
Joni Sledge (US singer, Sister Sledge)
Tony Haygarth (British character actor, Rosie, Emmerdale)
Chuck Berry (US rock'n'roll singer and guitarist: No Particular Place to Go, Roll Over Beethoven, My Ding-a-Ling)
Martin McGuinness (British (Northern Irish) politician, leader of the murderous IRA terrorist organisation during the 1970s and 80s)



Colin Dexter (British crime writer, creator of Inspector Morse)
David Storey (British author, This Sporting Life)
Clem Curtis (British soul singer and founder member of The Foundations, Baby Now That I've Found You)
Gilbert Baker (US artist, created the rainbow flag)
Cuba Gooding (US soul singer, The Main Ingredient)
Darcus Howe (British-Trinidadian controversial black rights activist)
Tim Pigott-Smith (British actor, Jewel in the Crown, The Chief)
Don Rickles (US comedian)
Brian Matthew (British broadcaster, BBC Radio 2)
David Parry-Jones (British (Welsh) BBC TV presenter, newsreader and rugby pundit)
Christopher Morahan (British director and producer, Jewel in the Crown, deputy director of the National Theatre)
John Geils Jr (US musician, founder of The J Geils Band, Centrefold)
Emma Morano (Italian supercentenarian, last surviving person born in the 1800s)
Clifton James (US actor, "Sheriff JW Pepper" in Live and Let Die and The Man with the Golden Gun)
Jane Freeman (British actress, "Ivy" in Last of the Summer Wine)
Michael Bogdanov (British theatre director, the controversial Romans In Britain)
Sylvia Moy (US songwriter for Motown: My Cherie Amour, It Takes Two, This Old Heart of Mine)
Erin Moran (US actress, "Joanie" in Happy Days)
Jonathan Demme (US film director: Silence of the Lambs, Philadelphia)
Leo Baxendale (British cartoonist, creator of "Minnie the Minx" and the "Bash Street Kids" in legendary kids' comic The Beano)
Daliah Lavi (Israeli actress, Casino Royale)
Robert Miles (Swiss-Italian trance music producer and DJ, Children)
Geoffrey Bayldon (British actor, Catweazle)
Michael Wearing (British TV producer and executive, Boys From The Blackstuff, Edge of Darkness)
Ian Brady (Britain's most notorious child murderer, the Moors Murders)
Rhodri Morgan (British (Welsh) politician, former first minister of the Welsh Assembly)
Powers Boothe (US actor and voiceover artist)
Sir Roger Moore (British actor, James Bond)
Dina Merrill (US heiress, socialite and actress)
Gregg Allman (US musician, Allman Brothers, former "Mr Cher")
John Noakes (British children's TV presenter and "national treasure")
General Manuel Noriega (Panamanian military dictator, convicted drug trafficker)
Roy Barraclough (British comedian and actor, Les Dawson Show, Coronation Street)
Peter Sallis (British comedy actor, Last of the Summer Wine, Wallace and Gromit)
Adnan Khashoggi (Saudi businessman, arms dealer and socialite)
Adam West (US actor, Batman)
Anita Pallenberg (German-Italian model, Rolling Stones groupie and socialite)



Countess Mountbatten of Burma (British aristocracy, cousin of Prince Philip, widow of Lord Louis Mountbatten)
Helmut Kohl (German statesman, Chancellor who presided over the unification of East and West)
Brian Cant (British children's TV presenter, Play School)
Michael Bond (British author, Paddington Bear)
Barry Norman (British broadcaster, presented the Film programme for 20 years on BBC)
Carla Fendi (Italian fashion tycoon)
Paul Hollingdale (British broadcaster, first DJ voice on BBC Radio 2)
George Romero (US-Canadian horror film director, Night of the Living Dead)
Elsa Martinelli (Italian actress)
Martin Landau (US actor, Mission Impossible, Space: 1999)
John Heard (US actor, Home Alone)
Chester Bennington (US rock vocalist, Linkin Park)
Kenneth Jay Lane (US costume jewellery creator)
Deborah Watling (British actress, "Victoria" - companion to the second Doctor Who)
Jeanne Moreau (French actress, Jules et Jim)
Sam Shepard (US actor and playwright)
Robert Hardy (British actor, All Creatures Great and Small)
Hywel Bennett (British (Welsh) actor, Shelley, Malice Aforethought)
Glenn Campbell (US singer, Wichita Linesman, Rhinestone Cowboy)
Barbara Cook (US Broadway singer, Glitter and Be Gay, Mostly Sondheim)
Bruce Forsyth (British entertainer and TV host, Generation Game, Strictly Come Dancing)
Jerry Lewis (US comedian, 10-year comedy partnership with Dean Martin)
Bea Wain (US Big Band era singer)
Richard Anderson (US actor, "Oscar Goldman" in The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman)
Walter Becker (US musician, co-founder of Steely Dan)
Holger Czukay (German experimental music pioneer, co-founder of Can)
Don Williams (US Country singer)
Sir Peter Hall (British theatre impresario, founder of the Royal Shakespeare Company, director of the National Theatre)
JP Donleavy (Irish author, The Ginger Man)
Harry Dean Stanton (US actor)
Jake LaMotta (US boxer, inspiration for the film Raging Bull)
Liliane Bettencourt (French heiress, L'Oreal mogul and World's Richest Woman)
Sir Teddy Taylor (British Tory MP, one of PM John Major's rebels whom he called "the bastards")
William G Stewart (British television producer and presenter, Fifteen to One)
Liz Dawn (British actress, "Vera Duckworth" in Coronation Street)
Tony Booth (British actor, Till Death Us Do Part; and Tony Blair's father-in-law)
Hugh Hefner (US multi-millionaire publisher, founder of Playboy)
Jack Good (British pop music pioneer and producer, Six-Five Special, Shindig, launched the careers of Cliff Richard and PJ Proby)
Benjamin Whitrow (British character actor, Pride & Prejudice, Chancer)
Tom Petty (US rock singer/songwriter)



Bobby Knutt (British comedian and character actor, Benidorm)
Hervé Léger (French fashion designer)
Richard Smith (British gay journalist and blogger, Fagburn)
Sean Hughes (British-Irish stand-up comedian, actor and TV host, Never Mind The Buzzcocks)
Roy Dotrice (British veteran stage and screen actor)
Danielle Darrieux (French actress and centenarian)
Judith McGrath (Australian actress, "'Po-Face' Colleen Powell" in Prisoner Cell Block H)
Rosemary Leach (British actress, The Jewel in the Crown, Jackanory)
Sir Bert Massie (British disability rights campaigner)
Robert Guillaume (US comic actor, Soap, Benson)
Fats Domino (US musician, "founding father" of rock'n'roll)
Nancy Friday (US feminist, pioneering writer on women's sexuality and fantasies)
George Young (British (Scottish)-Australian musician and producer, Easybeats, AC/DC)
Antonio Carluccio (Italian-British TV chef and restaurateur)
John Hillerman (US actor, "Higgins" in Magnum, P.I.)
Dudley Simpson (Australian composer and conductor of TV show themes: The Tomorrow People, Blake's 7)
Keith Barron (British television actor, Duty Free, Telford’s Change)
Liz Smith (US gossip columnist and long-term friend of Elaine Stritch)
Malcolm Young (British (Scottish)-Australian rock guitarist and founder member of AC/DC)
Professor Roger Lockyer (British historian, writer and one half of the very first gay couple who became "civil partners")
Charles Manson (US notorious mass murderer)
Jana Novotna (Czech tennis player, Wimbledon champion 1998)
Rodney Bewes (British actor, The Likely Lads)
David Cassidy (US pop singer and teen idol)
Jim Nabors (US actor and singer)
Della Reese (US jazz, blues and Cha-Cha-Cha singer and actress)
King Michael of Romania
Shashi Kapoor (Indian Bollywood actor, Heat and Dust)
Christine Keeler (British model at the heart of the "Profumo Affair")
Johnny Hallyday (French singer, nicknamed "The French Elvis")
Toni Mascolo (British hairdresser and businessman, founded Toni & Guy)
Max Clifford (British former celebrity publicist, jailed for sex abuse)
Keith Chegwin (British [mainly children's] TV host, Cheggers Plays Pop, Multi-Coloured Swap Shop)
Professor Heinz Wolff (German scientist, inventor and TV presenter, The Great Egg Race)
Keely Smith (US singer, partnered Louis Prima, That Old Black Magic)
Juan Lladró (Spanish porcelain businessman, co-founder of Lladró)
Heather Menzies (British (Scottish)-Canadian actress, "Louisa" in The Sound of Music)
Bronwen, Lady Astor (British aristocrat, hostess at Clivedon, venue for the parties at the heart of the "Profumo Affair")

Farewell, one and all.

RIP, 2016

It's one hell of a list...

Natalie Cole (US singer)
Guru Josh (Paul Walden) (British club DJ and musician)
Stevie Wright (Australian singer, the Easybeats)
André Courrèges (French modernist/futurist fashion designer)
Robert Stigwood (Australian band manager: Cream, the Bee Gees; producer: Saturday Night Fever, Grease)
Pierre Boulez (French modernist composer and conductor)
Kitty Kallen (US singer and UK "one-hit wonder", Little Things Mean A Lot)
Ed 'Stewpot' Stewart (British radio DJ, Junior Choice)
David Bowie (British singer-songwriter and icon, an influence on everybody)
Sylvana Pampanini (Italian actress and singer)
Alan Rickman (British theatre and screen actor, Truly Madly Deeply)
Robert Banks Stewart (British television producer, Shoestring, Bergerac, Lovejoy)
Dan Haggerty (US actor, Grizzly Adams)
Dale Griffin (British rock drummer, Mott the Hoople)
Glenn Frey (US guitarist, co-founder of The Eagles)
Lord (George) Weidenfeld (Austrian-British book publisher and politician)
Sheila Sim (British actress, Lady (Richard) Attenborough)
Lord (Cecil) Parkinson (British politician and former cabinet minister)
Colin Vearncombe (British singer aka Black, Wonderful Life)
Sir Terry Wogan (Irish-British broadcaster and "national treasure", Radio 2, Eurovision)
Frank Finlay (British actor, Three Musketeers, Bouquet of Barbed Wire)
Maurice White (US singer and musician, co-founder of Earth Wind & Fire)
George Gaynes (US actor, Police Academy)
Boutros Boutros-Ghali (Egyptian statesman, former UN Secretary-General)
Harper Lee (US author, To Kill A Mockingbird)
Umberto Eco (Italian author, The Name of the Rose)
Vlasta Dalibor (Czech-British puppeteer, created "Pinky and Perky")
Frank Kelly (Irish actor and performer, "Father Jack" in Father Ted)
John Chilton (British Trad Jazz musician, George Melly's "Feetwarmers")
George Kennedy (US actor, Naked Gun )
Tony Warren (British screenwriter, creator of Coronation Street)
Nikolaus Harnoncourt (German orchestra conductor)
Nancy Reagan (US First Lady)
Ray Tomlinson (US computer scientist, inventor of email)
Sir George Martin (British record producer: The Beatles, Cilla Black)
Keith Emerson (British rock musician, Emerson Lake & Palmer)
Anita Brookner (British author and art historian)
Asa Briggs (British historian and co-founder of the Open University)



Sylvia Anderson (British producer and co-creator of the "Supermarionation" children's TV programmes, voice of "Lady Penelope")
Cliff Michelmore (British broadcaster and presenter, the Moon landings, Tonight programme)
Sir Ken Adam (British film production designer, James Bond films, created the car in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang)
Frank Sinatra Junior (US singer)
Adrienne Corri (British actress, A Clockwork Orange, had a famous on-air spat with Dorothy Squires)
Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (British composer, former Master of the Queen's Music)
Paul Daniels (British magician and TV host)
Rob Ford (Canadian politician, controversial mayor of Toronto)
Johan Cruyff (Dutch footballer)
Garry Shandling (US comedian)
Paolo Poli (Italian actor and drag queen)
Patty Duke (US actress, The Miracle Worker, Valley of the Dolls)
Ronnie Corbett (British comedian and "national treasure", The Two Ronnies)
Andy "Thunderclap" Newman (British pop pianist, Something In The Air)
Ernestine Anderson (US jazz singer)
Zaha Hadid (Iraqi-British modernist architect)
Denise Robertson (British writer and television broadcaster)
Leon Haywood (US soul singer, Don't Push It Don't Force It)
Merle Haggard (US Country & Western singer)
Linda Woodward (British (Welsh) wife of Sir Tom Jones for 59 years)
David Gest (US producer and entertainer, notoriously former Mr Liza Minnelli)
Gareth Thomas (British (Welsh) actor, star of Blake's 7)
David Swift (British actor, Drop the Dead Donkey)
Guy Hamilton (British film director, Goldfinger, Diamonds Are Forever)
Emile Ford (US singer, What Do You Want To Make Those Eyes At Me For?)
Victoria Wood (British comedienne, actress, writer and legend)
Prince (US singer, musician and superstar)
Billy Paul (US singer, Me & Mrs Jones)
Philip Townsend (British celebrity photographer of the 1960s)
Barry Howard (British actor, Hi-De-Hi)
Valerie Lush (British character actress, And Mother Makes Three)
Corry Brokken (Dutch singer, Eurovision Song Contest)
Marisol (French-Venezuelan "Pop Art" sculptor, friend of Warhol)
Reg Grundy (Australian TV producer, Neighbours)
Gareth Gwenlan (British (Welsh) TV producer, Reginald Perrin, Only Fools and Horses)
Barry Kent (British singer, The Good Old Days)
Burt Kwouk (British-Chinese actor, "Cato" in the Pink Panther films)
Carla Lane (British TV scriptwriter, The Liver Birds, Bread, Butterflies)
Muhammad Ali (US boxer and civil rights spokesman)



Peter Shaffer (British playwright/screenwriter, Amadeus, Equus)
Janet Waldo (US voice-over artist, "Penelope Pitstop" in Wacky Races)
Jo Cox (British MP, murdered)
Patrick Mayhew, Lord Mayhew of Twysden (British politician, senior negotiator in Northern Ireland peace talks in the 1990s)
Ronnie Claire Edwards (US actress, "Corabeth" in The Waltons)
Scotty Moore (US rock'n'roll guitarist, Elvis's accompanist)
Gordon Murray (British animator and puppeteer, Trumpton, Camberwick Green)
Caroline Aherne (British comedienne and scriptwriter, Mrs Merton, The Royle Family)
James Gilgert (British TV executive and commissioner, The Two Ronnies, Last of the Summer Wine)
Frank Dickens (British satirical cartoon strip creator, Bristow)
Garry Marshall (US director and producer, creator of Happy Days and Pretty Woman)
Marni Nixon (US singer, dubbed for Deborah Kerr, Natalie Wood and Audrey Hepburn in movies)
Vivean Gray (Australian actress, "Mrs Mangel" in Neighbours)
Sylvia Peters (British broadcaster, BBC continuity announcer for HM The Queen's coronation)
Gloria de Haven (US musical film actress and singer)
Queen Anne of Romania
Ruby Winters (US soul singer, I Will)
Duke of Westminster (Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor, Britain's third richest man)
Kenny Baker (British actor, "R2-D2" in Star Wars)
Arthur Hiller (US film director, Love Story, The Out-of-Towners)
Lord Brian Rix (British actor and campaigner, pioneer of the charity Mencap)
Antony Jay (British writer and producer, Yes, Minister)
Toots Thielemans (Belgian jazz harmonica player, theme from Midnight Cowboy)
Sonia Rykiel (French fashion designer)
Gene Wilder (US comic actor, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, The Producers)
David Jenkins (British clergyman, controversial former Bishop of Durham)
Prince Buster (Jamaican Ska musician)
Alexis Arquette (US transgender actress)
Edward Albee (US playwright, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?)
Charmian Carr (US actress, "Liesl" in The Sound of Music)
Arnold Palmer (US champion golfer)
Shimon Peres (Israeli statesman, Nobel Peace Prize winner and president)
Ann Emery (British actress)
Sir Neville Marriner (British conductor and violinist)
Rod Temperton (British songwriter, Michael Jackson's Off The Wall and Thriller, Heatwave)
King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand
Dario Fo (Italian playwright)
Jean Alexander (British actress, "Hilda Ogden" in Coronation Street)



Countess Raine Spencer (step-mother of Princess Diana, daughter of Barbara Cartland)
Jimmy Perry (British TV comedy writer, Dad’s Army, Hi-de-Hi!, It Ain’t Half Hot Mum)
Bobby Vee (US singer, Rubber Ball, The Night Has a Thousand Eyes)
Pete Burns (British singer and style pioneer, Dead or Alive)
Tammy Grimes (US actress and singer)
Janet Reno (first female US attorney general)
Kay Starr (US singer, The Rock And Roll Waltz, Wheel of Fortune)
Sir Jimmy Young (British radio broadcaster and legend)
Leonard Cohen (Canadian singer-songwriter)
Robert Vaughn (US actor, The Man From UNCLE)
Mose Allison (US jazz pianist, singer and composer)
David Mancuso (US DJ and pioneer of the New York Disco scene)
Florence Henderson (US actress, The Brady Bunch)
Fidel Castro (Cuban former president and revolutionary)
Margaret Rhodes (British nobility, HM The Queen's first cousin)
"Leonard of Mayfair" (British celebrity hairdresser: Twiggy, The Beatles)
Colonel Abrams (US dance music singer, Trapped)
Andrew Sachs (British actor, "Manuel" in Fawlty Towers)
Bernard Gallagher (British actor, "Ewart Plimmer" in Casualty)
Peter Vaughan (British actor, Citizen Smith, Porridge)
Greg Lake (British rock musician and singer, Emerson Lake & Palmer, King Crimson)
John Glenn (US astronaut)
AA Gill (British journalist, restaurant critic and social commentator)
Ian McCaskill (British TV weather forecaster and national treasure)
Lord (Jim) Prior (British former MP and cabinet minister)
Mike Nicholson (British television reporter and broadcaster, ITN)
Bernard Fox (British actor, Bewitched)
Henry Heimlich (US doctor, invented the "Heimlich manouevre")
Zsa Zsa Gabor (Hungarian-American actress and socialite)
Rabbi Lionel Blue (British cleric and broadcaster, first out-gay Rabbi in the UK)
Jean Dawnay (British model of the 1950s, later Princess George Galitzine)
Michèle Morgan (French actress)
Coral Atkins (British television actress, A Family At War)
Rick Parfitt (British rock musician, Status Quo)
George Michael (British singer and songwriter, Wham!)
Liz Smith (British character actress and "national treasure", "Nana" in The Royle Family)
Richard Adams (British author, Watership Down)
Carrie Fisher (US actress, Star Wars)
Debbie Reynolds (US film star, singer and dancer)
China Machado (Chinese-Portuguese fashion model)

Rest in peace, one and all.

2014: a Gay Year?

It's been quite a year in "gaydom"!

In 2014 we experienced some of the most virulent public homophobia of recent times – legislation denying gays our right to exist, persecution, abuse and physical violence - in a variety of countries across the world (notably, once again, in nasty regimes such as Uganda, Gambia and Nigeria), and yet we also saw some very positive moves indeed in many places; a contrast in attitudes between East and West, between “developed” and “third world” countries reflecting a precarious global political situation that made the headlines for other reasons.

Not least of these was, of course, the seemingly unstoppable rise of that most medieval pseudo-religious (but ultimately power-hungry and politically-motivated) movement, Islamic fundamentalism. With swathes of the Middle East falling to the rabid psychopaths of ISIS/ISIL or whatever they call themselves (and some grotesque public shows of "strength" by beheading innocent aid workers; how brave of them), and the outrages committed in Nigeria and Pakistan by the madmen of Boko Haram and the Taliban against unarmed schoolchildren, needless to say gay people were simply another “easy” target of their anti-Western ideology and violence.

In a reaction to this "fundamentalist" wave, countries across the Islamic world formerly considered "moderate" issued crack-downs and threats against us. Authorities in Cairo launched a televised raid on a gay bath-house; British tourist Ray Cole was jailed in Marrakech, then released thanks to political pressure for the "crime" of being gay (no word on the fate of his boyfriend, however); the world's richest man The Sultan of Brunei had a "Damascene conversion" to Sharia law with capital punishment for "sodomy" being introduced under his dictat; and Qatar, currently engaged in buying-up London and soon-to-be host of the World Cup, was exposed as a regime that issues barbaric punishments upon gay people.

However the mad bigotry of Islamic fundamentalism is almost expected in such turbulent times. More worrying for the West - mainly because of the political and military strife that hit Ukraine in 2014 on the border of Western Europe, with Russia becoming the "wolf at the door" yet again - was the wave of hatred that emerged from the regime of Vladimir Putin in Moscow. Hosting the Winter Olympics at Sochi while at the same time espousing the re-criminalisation of homosexuality, pseudo-religious anti-liberalism and expansionism, the political backlash was massive. Thanks to petitioning by activists (I signed!), a raft of Olympic sponsors publicly denounced the anti-gay laws (including AT&T and Coca-Cola), UK Prime Minister Cameron, French President Hollande and US President Obama and other world leaders refused to attend in person (the US delegation included three out-gay athletes to represent the country instead) and, too late for the Games themselves, the Olympic committee finally voted to include 'sexual orientation' in its charter, explicitly granting protection to all lesbian, gay and bisexual athletes in the future.

Our very own city of Glasgow hosted the “less controversial” Commonwealth Games later in the year. However, this just served to expose the fact that 42 of the members of that august institution who took part still have anti-gay discriminatory laws in force. Thank heavens for Scottish-born John Barrowman, whose very public kiss with one of the hunky kilted dancers at the event's opening ceremony hit all the headlines in an effort to expose this inequality.



There was good news across much of the Western world, nonetheless. Equal marriage – considered by some to be a bastion of gay rights [personally I sometimes despair at the “hoo-ha” that surrounds this single issue when there is still so much bullying and harassment yet to be tackled, but I digress] - became legal in the UK in March, and there was a rush to “take the plunge”, with Islington Council opening its registry office overnight in order to get the first “I do” at midnight. So very trendy. When the law was extended in December to allow couples to “convert” a civil partnership into a marriage, first in was retail consultant and broadcaster Mary Portas; and Dame Elton and David Furnish were not long after. London’s Southbank Centre went loopy for it, with their "Festival of Love" - a two-month celebration of the Same Sex Couple Act. "The Big Wedding Weekend" featured seventy couples, gay and straight, young and old, marrying or renewing their vows on the stage of the Royal Festival Hall, including our friends Emma and Toby – a grand day out it was, too!

In America, state by state, slowly but surely the remnants of anti-gay legislation are being repealed - same-sex marriage is now recognised in at least 35 states (and Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico), although the legislative process is tedious and there are a number of appeals and counter-appeals pending. Gay-friendly legislation also came into force in such diverse countries as Finland, Malta, Estonia, Northern Cyprus, Luxembourg, Mexico and Croatia, and Latvia's foreign minister Edgars Rinkēvičs made the decision to publicly “come out” during a press conference.

Despite efforts by the new Pope to force a debate on gay issues amongst his clergy, the Catholic Church (arguably the most powerful religious organisation in the world) remains stubbornly priggish about any moves towards liberalisation. Slowly, slowly, can it change? Our hero Peter Tatchell, a long-time critic of Papal bull(shit), continued to keep up the pressure on all religious leaders in his “annual state of the (gay) nation” address in November, pointedly-titled Organised religion is the greatest global threat to human rights.

Speaking of idol worship, in September five of the UK's top footballers - from one of the highest-ranking clubs in the UK, Arsenal - lent their public support to this year's anti-homophobia in sport campaign, Rainbow Laces. Add to this the “comings-out” this year (shamefully, this only makes four “out” players, with Robbie Rogers of LA Galaxy and Anton Hysen in Sweden) of German international footie star Thomas Hitzlsperger and the lovely Liam Davis of minor league Gainsborough Trinity Football Club, Britain’s traditional home of macho culture seems slowly but surely to be approaching “tolerance”. It’s just the fans to convince, now…

Other notable coming-out declarations during the year included X-Men actress Ellen Page, singers Sam Smith (one of the top-selling artists of the year) and Lee Ryan (of boy band Blue), American football star Michael Sam, Olympic swimmer Ian Thorpe and, possibly most influential of all, the chief executive of Apple Tim Cook.

And what of OUR gay year? [Isn’t every year gay for us?, I hear you say…]

It begins with LGBT History Month throughout February, of course. Events we enjoyed included:

• Ilsa Colsell and Matt Cook in conversation about her book on Joe Orton and Kenneth Halliwell Malicious Damage, in celebration of the recent acquisition of a new Halliwell collage for Islington Museum;
• The jam-packed evening of academia and sex that was Defining Desire: labels and sex in ancient and modern worlds - with Fern Riddell talking about historic sex manuals, and John J. Johnson (of the Petrie Museum) on the gay life of Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum, the ancient Egyptian "Overseers of the Manicurists of the Palace of the King";
• Terry Sanderson (president of the National Secular Society) and his magnificent tribute to the legend that was Marlene Dietrich;
• In the splendid surroundings of The British Museum, the documentary film T'Ain't Nobody's Bizness: Queer Blues Divas of the 1920s; and
• The unveiling of a "People's Plaque" to fashionista Alexander McQueen at his former home, sponsored by Islington Council.

We always pay homage to the International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHo) in May, even if only by wearing the symbolic orange ribbon – and, even though I am no longer chair of the Islington LGBT Forum, all offices across the council had them on display for staff and visitors to take; I was thrilled to see so many people wearing them.

Of course, the GREAT DAY of the Season is the one thing we always plan for every year. It’s our “Gay Xmas”… Gay Pride in London! This year, our chosen theme was Shocking Pink. I think we were rather pink...



I think we shocked!

All things being somewhat "circular", the year's specifically gay events concluded with the final "director's cut" of the promo video - in which I was a participant - for LGBT History Month 2015. And here (once again) it is:

All this, and one of the biggest box-office smashes of the year was the film Pride - and Conchita Wurst became Queen of Fuckin' Everything!

A gay year, indeed.

Roll on 2015...

Read my other blogs looking back at 2014:

• A Year in Music
• A Year in Culture
• RIP, 2014

A year in culture, Dolores Delargo Towers style

As you might tell, I am in a retrospective mood, dear reader. Any summary of any year is bound to be somewhat subjective - so you will forgive, of course, my indulgence in what we experienced of 2014 rather than any wider picture.

In a year when we lost so many of our cultural icons (more of that later, no doubt, in my annual "roll-call" of those who died this year), sport and Strictly Come Dancing were considered serious topics of conversation even in the broadsheets, and the so-called "Culture Minister" Ed Vaizey remarked that he preferred Classic FM to Radio 3, what constitutes a "cultural highlight"? In our world, anything that doesn't involve pop music or politics, I suppose...

Those of you paying attention to my previous "review of the year" will note that references to "music" did not include the "classical" end of that extensive artform. Yet we did have some excellent moments of that kind. The aforementioned Pet Shop Boys Prom was indeed a fully featured part of the prestigious BBC Proms Season - and Vince'n'Neil's A Man From the Future was a masterful symphonic work, worthy of many a composer beloved of the regular denizens of The Royal Albert Hall during that three-month extravaganza. It was sublimely realised, in conjunction with the BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by Dominic Wheeler and the elegant narration of Miss Juliet Stephenson, and a ground-breaking event that I truly appreciated. It was also the only "true Prom" I attended.

The Proms season ends, as it does every year, with the triumphal flag-waving finale encompassing Land of Hope and Glory, Jerusalem and Rule, Britannia! And this year (as every year for along time), we made it to our usual great vantage point in Hyde Park to watch it beamed in on the live screens - and to take part in all its flag-waving adrenalin-pumping grandeur. This year, the "Britannia" part was sung with the fine voice of Roderick Williams, and on stage at Proms in the Park we were also treated to some beautiful operatic singing by Pumeza Matshikiza and Vittorio Grigolo.



I concluded the year with two more classical events: Bach and Wagner at St John's Smith Square and the BBC recording of their tribute to Ron Goodwin - which made for quite a mix in the classical canon.

And what of the theatre? 2014 turned out to be another fine year, with both major and minor productions that we thoroughly enjoyed. Of the latter, there was the thought-provoking and utterly fab Rachael's Café and the masterful one-man performance of Didn't You Used To Be Derek Jacobi?. Simon Callow's Being Shakespeare was magnificent, as was our recent adult panto-substitute Mrs Hudson's Christmas Corker.

Of our major theatrical events during the year, the new - and awe-inspiring - Menier Chocolate Factory production of Stephen Sondheim's Assassins was an absolute highlight. However the big event of the entire year was most definitely our pilgrimage to pay a deferential tribute at the feet of the great Dame Angela Lansbury in Blithe Spirit. A once-in-a-lifetime experience, never, ever to be forgotten!

Speaking of iconic figures in our cultural landscape, John Waters' This Filthy World, Vol 2: Filthier and Dirtier one-man show wasn't half-bad, either. In complete contrast, we were honoured to see and listen to the venerable Dame Joan Plowright in conversation.

We managed to get a bit of art'n'history-type culture (with a capital "K") in, too. Of course.

Not least of such events were our visit to see the sumptuous Cheapside Hoard, our "Night at the Museum" at the Fin de Siècle Fantasy Egypt open evening in the Petrie Museum of Egyptology, the preview of the British Museum's massive Vikings: life and legend exhibition, or any of the events associated with the cultural milestone that is LGBT History Month.

Every month (well, almost) our literary desires have been sated once again by the wonders of Paul Burston's Polari - "London's peerless gay literary salon". With headliners and guest stars as diverse this year as Christopher Fowler, Maureen Duffy, Ali Smith, Neil Bartlett, Paul Bailey, Mari Hannah, James Maker, Karen McLeod, Sarah Westwood, Alex Marwood, (Sophie Ellis-Bextor's mum) Janet Ellis, Tiffany Murray, VG Lee, Helen Smith, Matt Cain, Diriye Osman, Susie Boyt and Will Davis (and many more) on the bill, it is an utter feast for the brain.



As a personal high point, 2014 was also the year that I was thrilled to get my first ever book review in print in a national publication - that of the wonderful Rupert Smith's Interlude (in Beige gay magazine)!

At the "lower end" of the cultural scale, we are not massive cinema-goers. If we deign to go at all, this usually involves something from vintage Hollywood at the British Film Institute or the like. But there was one "must-see" that drew me and some of our gang out this year - the spectacular cinematic triumph that is The Grand Budapest Hotel. Simply marvellous, daahlings! I also went on my own to see the documentary film of the V&A's ground-breaking David Bowie Is exhibition, but that - including films on telly, of which we catch very few - was about it.

So what about television? Very selective, dear. We don't watch Sherlock, Game of Thrones, Dr Who, soaps or police/crime dramas, for instance. "Reality TV" shows and so-called "talent" competitions are anathema to us. The closest we get to being "hooked" on a serial is - in common with the rest of the world - Downton Abbey, and, for sheer camp entertainment value, Benidorm. Other than that, anything by Sir David Attenborough or Andrew Marr, documentary series fronted by the likes of Michael Portillo, Dr Lucy Worsley, Dr Janina Ramirez, Neil Oliver, Professor Mary Beard, Andrew Graham-Dixon or any of that triumvirate of "factual-programme-totty" presenters Simon Reeve, Dr James Fox or Alastair Sooke, quiz shows such as QI and Only Connect, and Gardeners' World and Antiques Roadshow will do nicely, thank you.

Two TV programmes that we did watch stood out from the rest. In the centenary year of Wales' "Number 1 Son" Dylan Thomas, the magnificently-cast ensemble reading of Under Milk Wood was an absolute joy from beginning to end, and possibly the best tribute the man could have received.

The televisual event of the year, however, must have been the accurate-to-the-last-mannerism portrayal by Sheridan Smith of that [pause for over-used cliché] "National Treasure", Cilla Black! If Miss Smith doesn't win an award for this, then there is no justice.

Sheridan Smith - Anyone Who Had a Heart [Cilla]

There's probably loads more I could cover (radio, for instance), but as with all such summaries, one has to stop somewhere.

However, there are more 2014 recollections to come - stay tuned!

• See also: A year in music, Dolores Delargo Towers style

A year in music, Dolores Delargo Towers style

It's in the "bit in-between" - the pause for breath as the shops start to dispense with the tinsel and Shakin' Stevens and you start to wonder what to do with that mound of leftovers at the bottom of the fridge - that our thoughts turn to "reviews of the year that was".

Let's start with music.

I can't deny that 2014 was a bit underwhelming. Maybe it was just me (what with the distractions of the two of us at different times being "at risk of redundancy", and moving house in the middle of it), not keeping up with the newest releases - and certainly with all that was going on, I felt I rarely had the time or the inclination to listen to it all. However, there were some highlights...

Keeping up our long tradition here at Dolores Delargo Towers of live events, I did manage to tick off some significant musical "firsts", beginning with a marvellous evening with Miss Mari Wilson in Soho in January, and ending with Mr Adam Ant in November. We were humbled by the presence of the marvellous Chrissie Hynde with the Pet Shop Boys at the Prom for Alan Turing in July, and overwhelmed with glitter by Earth Wind and Fire at Proms in the Park in September.



On a much smaller scale, we had a fab evening of salsa courtesy of Jesus Cutino Y Son de Cuba at the sparkling Hippodrome, the effervescent Al Pillay saved the day at the end-of-LGBT-History-Month Ball, there was the fun of West End Live with Daniel Boys and Jodie Prenger, the "Evening with Noel Coward" courtesy of Stefan Bednarczyk, and Eve Ferret provided a showcase for the lovely Andy Bell. We missed: Prince in Camden, Kylie in Shoreditch, Dolly at Glastonbury, and of course the hyped-up musical event of the year - Kate Bush in Hammersmith. Hey ho.

But what of the musical world "out there"? Forty years on from the birth of Blondie and of Abba winning Eurovision? In a year where the charts were dominated by dross like Taylor Swift, Sam Smith, Ariana Grande and Ed Sheeran, a year when U2 mis-fired an album launch, Take That became a trio, Sinitta, Band-Aid and S-Club 7(!) made comebacks, and a Disney song (Let it Go) became an "anthem", was there any sign of salvation?



Well, several of "our kind of Divas" - albeit very different in style - had new albums to promote, not least Amanda Lear's tribute to Elvis, Marianne Faithfull's tribute to London, Dame Shirley Bassey's tribute to the songs no-one ever let her sing till she was old, and Kylie Minogue's tribute to... pop! To my chagrin, 99.999999% of all shopping this year has been focussed on improving our domestic surroundings here at Dolores Delargo Towers #3, and nary a CD nor a DVD has been purchased all year. In fact, since moving in we haven't even connected the DVD or stereo together. Most of our musical entertainment of late has been via the wonders of the interweb, and (despite the fact I was very, very lackadaisical about posting my usual "Pick of the Pops" musical round-up blogs during 2014) here are just a few things that piqued our interest...

We always love those sassy divas who can actually sing (as opposed to that dreadful wibbly stuff that Christina or Beyoncé or any X-Factor-wannabee does, or that hideous pseudo-"street-cred" rubbish that comes from the charts), and providing us with a well-needed dose of just that (as I featured in April) was Miss Kimberly Davis (with a significant degree of assistance from "musical producer of the year" Dave Audé):

Kimberly Davis - With You (Dave Audé radio version)

...and another diva (with whom I have had a love-hate relationship over the years) with a classy set of pipes, Miss Mary J Blige really caught my ear with F For You:

Disclosure feat Mary J Blige - F For You

Speaking of Dave Audé, his Aftermath (Here We Go) for the aforementioned Andy Bell was an absolute joy:

Dave Audé feat Andy Bell - Aftermath (Here We Go)

Possibly the weirdest - and most infectious - of this year's clutch of choons had to be I'm an Albatraoz by AronChupa (featured here in November):

AronChupa - I'm an Albatraoz

Providing a harmonic novelty as well as delightful amounts of young male flesh, from July came the boys of Out of the Blue and their Shakira cover:

Out of the Blue - Hips Don't Lie

Speaking of totty, the ever-lovely Mika returned this year with a lavish video for Boum Boum Boum - and in French, no less...

Mika - Boum Boum Boum

Dear old Auntie Beeb pulled out all the stops (and all the stars!) for their ensemble version of God Only Knows:

BBC Music - God Only Knows

Dance act success story of the year had to be the unpronounceable Kiesza, who seems to have captured the hearts and minds of critics and the buying public alike (most unusual these days) - here from March is her marvellous Hideaway:

Kiesza - Hideaway

Miss Róisín Murphy delighted us with her return early in the year, and she chose a magnificent tribute EP to some of our fave Italian crooners with which to do it:



On our return from Spain in February, we just had to delight our audiences with the simply filthy Sebastian Castro and his Bubble:

Sebastian Castro - Bubble

Unfortunately not as massive a success as we may have hoped, Princess Kylie's utterly wonderful Into The Blue needless to say remained a very welcome "ear-worm" for most of 2014:

Kylie Minogue - Into the Blue

Mr Jimmy Somerville's rediscovery of Disco with Travesty - as featured here last month - was not just one of 2014's most incredibly uplifting moments, but had the most brilliant video of the year, too:

Jimmy Somerville - Travesty

There is, however, absolutely NO CONTEST when it comes to the "Song of the Year".





In 2014, when we gayers experienced some of the most virulent homophobia we had heard in a long time - not just from the usual selection of fucking horrible African dictators, American evangelists and Islamic psychopaths, but thanks to a coldly cynical state-sponsored effort by the most reprehensible world leader since the dark days of the mid-20th century, Vladimir Putin - it fell upon the sequinned shoulders of a remarkable bearded drag queen from, of all places, Austria to provide us with the most rousing song of defiance of the lot. Bigger than Eurovision, bigger than the combined forces of GaGa, Queen Madge, Cher and Dame Elton put together - 2014 was the year of Conchita Wurst!

Conchita Wurst - Rise Like a Phoenix

Let's hope the musical world can come up with another eclectic selection in 2015 (and that I can concentrate harder on musical discoveries of the newer kind to share with you, dear reader...).

More cogitations on the year 2014 to come - stay tuned!

The dreams that you dare to dream really do come true

Speaking of "gay years", and before the misty water-coloured mem-o-ries of 2013 completely escape us, I feel it is worth reflecting on the memorable moments in "Gay-dom" that occurred during the last twelve months...

Highlights in our own ever-growing social calendar included (of course) our sparkling Art Deco ensemble at Gay Pride, all the LGBT History Month events - here, here, here, here and here - Dr Matt Cook's lecture on gay rights in history for IDaHo, the anti-Putin protest, the Secular Europe march, and of course the Stonewall Awards and Peter Tatchell on consecutive nights. But what of the rest of the world?

Although "coming out" is indeed largely a very personal choice, it is always both heartening and inspirational to others who are struggling with their own sexuality to have some notable public figures join the fold. There were many of them, of course; too many to itemise in full (especially the big American names as, if truth be told, I have never heard of most of the ones on the list compiled by that fab blogger Mr Towleroad) However, we were particularly proud of the "I'm gay (or bi, or whatever)" announcements by

• actors Ben Whishaw, Wentworth Miller and Jodie Foster;
• footballer Robbie Rogers, basketball's Jason Collins, and Olympic ice skater (US "ambassador" at Sochi, and star of that song from South Park) Brian Boitano;
• and, of course, our very own heartthrob Tom Daley, who made the headlines - largely in a very positive way - and gave us yet another reason to drool over him. Lucky Dustin!

Even more important than public declarations of sexuality are probably those public statements of support by notable public figures, who are not themselves gay:

• As much as I disparage the undemocratic figurehead of the largely discriminatory Catholic Church, the new Pope Francis at least made a tentative step in the right direction with his comment: “If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?”. Better than we could ever have expected from his predecessors.
• Another titular head of an archaic belief system, the new Archbishop of Canterbury said: “It is absolutely right for the state to define the rights and status of people cohabiting in different forms of relationships, including civil partnerships. We must have no truck with any form of homophobia in any part of the church.”
• Our own oleaginous Prime Minister David Cameron is at least staunch in his support of equal marriage, and on steering the Bill through Parliament said that allowing gay people to marry would "make our society stronger".
• President Obama made history when he mentioned both the Stonewall uprising and gay and lesbian people being treated "like anyone else under the law" during his second inauguration speech.
• Of course, it was our greatest political ally on the international stage Archbishop Desmond Tutu who made the strongest statement of the lot: "I would refuse to go to a homophobic heaven. No, I would say sorry, I mean I would much rather go to the other place. I would not worship a God who is homophobic and that is how deeply I feel about this. I am as passionate about this campaign as I ever was about apartheid. For me, it is at the same level." Wow.

Speaking of politics, it would appear that there is a distinct "split" between the countries of the West and those in the East and the developing world. First, the good:

• In the UK, we had good reason to celebrate. Although we are already streets ahead of many countries in terms of pro-gay legislation, after many years of campaigning the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill, legalising same-sex marriage for couples in England and Wales, passed 400–175 in the Second Reading in the House of Commons. A significant (if flawed - as pointed out by Peter Tatchell) milestone!
• The whoops were much louder (naturally) in America on the momentous occasion when the US Supreme Court struck down a key portion of the Defense of Marriage Act which denied federal benefits to gay couples who are legally married in their states (and at the same time invalidated Proposition 8, restoring same-sex marriage in California). State-by-state, the walls are tumbling down it seems...
• In France, and in the face of mass protests by god-botherers, the National Assembly approved a same-sex marriage bill.
• Same-sex marriage became legal in Uruguay, making it one of the most liberal states in South America. Brazil followed suit when it too legalized same-sex marriage after a sweeping Federal Court ruling.
• With the election of its gay Prime Minister and deputy, Luxembourg became the third nation to have an LGBT head of government after Belgium and Iceland.
• Not quite such good news in Australia, as first the Capital Territory of Canberra legalised same-sex weddings then the country's federal high court made them illegal again...
• The UK government also steered a Royal pardon for Alan Turing.

Now the bad:

• To massive worldwide disapprobation and protests, a Russian law banning "gay propaganda" sparked anti-gay violence and persecution in that increasingly fascist country this summer. The controversy about Russia's hosting of the Winter Olympics continues to rumble - it opens in four weeks' time (without much in the way of an official boycott, apart from the fact that several Western heads of state will not attend the Sochi event, which is somewhat significant)...
• His disapproval of gay rights was just one of the anti-Western "arguments" used by the Ukrainian president when he invoked massive protests across the country over the decision not to proceed with closer ties with the European Union.
• Two-thirds of Croatians backed a referendum to ban same-sex marriage in that country's constitution.
• India's Supreme Court re-criminalized homosexuality by reinstating a 19th-century colonial era law. The Indian government has filed a petition in the Supreme Court asking it to review its decision.
• Uganda passed its long-vilified law with life in prison for "aggravated homosexuality".
• The Nigerian parliament passed a law banning same-sex marriage.
• God-botherers were out in force in Kenya, as their leading Archbishop criticised President Obama's anti-homophobia message to African nations.
• The decision by The Gambia to leave the Commonwealth was said to have also been sparked by their president's open homophobia.
• The Commonwealth itself came under attack from Mr Tatchell for harbouring a quarter of the countries in the world in which varying degrees of homophobic oppressive legislation are still in place.

On TV, in movies and across the arts in general, gay characters and gay themes continued to proliferate in 2013:

• UK telly got its first entirely gay sitcom with ITV's Vicious (although the BBC's Gimme Gimme Gimme from 1999 was certainly gayer-than-gay) with the classic combination of Serena McKellen, Derek Jacobi and Frances de la Tour - it was vilified by critics and po-faced integrationist gays alike, but we thoroughly enjoyed it.
• Speaking of vilification, Tom Daley's celeb diving show Splash, despite its almost universal slagging-off has just been recommissioned for a second series - no doubt in part to the newly-out Tom's personal charms (and the sight of D-list "stars" in their skimpies) rather than the show's format.
• There were recurring gay characters in all the top soaps - Coronation Street, Hollyoaks, Emmerdale, and even Aussie soap Neighbours - as well as ratings-topping shows such as Downton Abbey, Benidorm and Dr Who. Real-life gay presenters such as Craig Revel Horwood of Strictly Come Dancing, Graham Norton, Sue Perkins, Alan Carr, Stephen Fry, Clare Balding and Paul O'Grady are considered "national treasures". As for the newest gay character (of many) in Eastenders, whose coming-out attracted homophobic tweets, his on-screen "Dad", the very straight Danny Dyer came up with a rather fab response - read more!
• On the West End stage - by its very nature, the home of Camp with a capital "C" - gay play The Pride starring Matt Horne won brilliant reviews and held its own gay rights protest against Russian discriminatory legislation (led by actress Hayley Atwell) on its opening night.
• A movie we have yet to see, Behind the Candelabra (the Liberace biography) caused a flurry of protests when the American distributors pushed it on TV instead of as a cinematic release, thus ensuring it was ineligible for an Oscar nomination.
• Speaking of gays in movies - and there were loads in 2013, from the niche "art house" type with explicit sex scenes (Blue is the Warmest Colour, Stranger by the Lake, Interior. Leather Bar) to the flamboyant (such as Javier Bardem's character in Skyfall) - a speech by Sony Pictures Entertainment Co-Chairman Amy Pascal on her perception of "gay stereotyping" prompted this brilliant response from journalist Brad Bell.

And finally, Opera singer Joyce DiDonato - who sang (beautifully) the finale of the Last Night of the Proms - dedicated her rendition of Over the Rainbow at the Royal Albert Hall to the LGBT community “whose voices are being silenced,” particularly in Russia. And here she is to sing it for us:

Joyce DiDonato - Over the Rainbow

Let's see what 2014 brings.

Photos of the year

Reuters has posted its selection of photos of the year, and they are fab!







See the whole selection