For thirty days you're on your back

It's the end of another stressful week in work - but at least I have an office Xmas booze-fest to look forward to tonight! [For a change (hopefully) one that doesn't involve having to smile unconvincingly at bosses in festive jumpers, and involves people who know how to have a laugh...]

In the meantime, let's be daring, sling on a skin-tight powder blue outfit, and practice our spinning - in the company of the arch-funksters Tavares with their incredible performing trousers...

...and Thank Disco It's Friday [the Thirteenth - oo-er!]!

Tavares - It Only Takes A Minute

RIP, Arthur Paul "Pooch" Tavares

What's an hour of the day?
We throw at least one away
And walk the streets for half the year
Tryin' to find a new career

If you get a flu attack
For thirty days you're on your back
Doing not a single dance
Baby, give me half a chance

It only takes a minute, girl
To fall in love, to fall in love
It only takes a minute, girl
To fall in love, fall in love

How philosophical.

Have a good one!

Missin' several angels

Go, girl! *

It's the final, final countdown - not merely the end of a week, but the end of a year!

Having depressed everyone yesterday by opening the "Book of the Dead 2021", it's time to (sort of) make amends - with a party. We shan't be hosting a real one again this year, more's the pity, thanks to fucking Omicron ["our gang" will be gathering via Zoom/Teams/wotever instead] - but let's get some dance choons lined up for a (solitary) boogie nonetheless!

Every track on this playlist is from someone who has departed for the ever-growing dancefloors of Fabulon this year - so let's raise a glass to the memory of each and every one of 'em, and Thank Disco It's New Year's Eve Friday!!

Tavares - Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel

The Supremes - You're My Drivin' Wheel

Patrick Juvet - I Love America

Kool & The Gang - Celebration

The Gap Band - Oops Upside Your Head

Eartha Kitt & Bronski Beat - Cha Cha Heels

Baccara - Yes Sir, I Can Boogie [Starparade 02.06.1977]

Raffaella Carrà - Do It, Do It Again [Top of the Pops 27-04-1978]

Have a faboo New Year, dear reader! Clink, clink. It can only be better. Can't it?

[* Scary fact: the boy in that classic "meme-y thing" is now 39 and living in Boston]

I need a drink and a quick decision

He's done THAT manoeuvre before! I can tell.

Oh. Thank. Heavens.

Another tortuous week in work is almost over - one where suddenly everyone appears to have looked at the calendar, realised they've done fuck all for months and now Xmas is looming, expect me to sort everything out "because it's urgent!" Not to me, it's not.

Me, I'm clocking off as normal - and planning to party like the apocalypse is looming! [And if Professor Chris Whitty is to be believed, this Omicron lark might well piss us all off again...]

I am actually trolling off to the West End tomorrow (by bus, because like clockwork during the Festering Season, the shiftless bastards of the Tube drivers' unions will be on strike!) for Our Sal's Dynasty-themed birthday party at her pub The Shaston Arms, so there is some genuine excitement afoot. To help us get off to a flying start, let's have a bit of a twirl while wearing - ahem - outrageously snug-fitting, and bizarrely-patterned, outfits... just like Tavares!

Thank Disco It's Friday!

Tavares - She's Gone

Tavares - Too Late

They were rather brilliant, weren't they?

RIP, Ralph Edward Vierra Tavares (10th December 1941 – 8th December 2021).

It's a bedside mystery

Oh what a relief! Another weekend is hoving into view - and not a moment too soon...

To get ourselves into the mood, let's slip into a blush pink jumpsuit made entirely of man-made fibres, check that it bulges in all the right places, and twirl!!

...just like the faboo Tavares (whose founder member "Chubby" celebrates his birthday today) - Thank Disco It's Friday!

Tavares - Whodunit (1977)

Whodunit
Who stole my baby
Whodunit
Everyone in the room looks shady
Whodunit
Who stole my girl from me (Yeah)
Whodunit
Who took my honey
Whodunit
I know the motive was not funny
Whodunit
It's a bedside mystery (Yeah, yeah)

Hey, where's the phone to call Sherlock Holmes
[Somebody took my baby]
I've been framed by what's his name
And he's gettin' away Charlie Chan, see if you can
Help me find those two, won't you
Where were you on the night of the 12th
[I was by myself]
She went dancin' in the dark,
Somebody stole her heart Ellery Queen if you're so keen
Won't you help me find my sweet thing (Yeah, yeah)

Whodunit
Who stole my baby
Whodunit
Everyone in the room looks shady
Whodunit
Who stole my girl from me (Yeah)
Whodunit
(Whodunit)
Who took my honey
Whodunit
I know the motive was not funny
Whodunit
(Whodunit)
It's a bedside mystery

They don't write lyrics like that any more... [Or maybe they do? I cannot deny I have no idea what anyone in "the charts" is on about.]

Have a great weekend, dear reader.

More than a woman

Thank Disco it's, um, Saturday...

As we gather our best sparkly outfits and get ready to boogie-on-down at Sally's mega-Disco 50th birthday party tonight, I think we need a little time in the company of Pooch, Chubby, Butch, Tiny and, errr... Ralph [whose 75th birthday it is today] - aka Tavares - and (appropriately enough for Our Sal) their mega-hit More Than A Woman!

Tavares - More Than a Woman

I'm twirling as we speak!

What's an hour of the day?

Whew. At the end of another gruelling week, it's time to start letting our hair down.

Tonight our gang is off to the Panto at Wilton's Music Hall (Oh yes we are!), and tomorrow we're at a "mass charity-shopping event" on the South Bank. In the meantime, let's be daring, sling on a skin-tight powder blue outfit, and practice our spinning - in the company of the arch-funksters Tavares...

Thank Disco It's Friday!

Tavares - It Only Takes A Minute

What's an hour of the day?
We throw at least one away
And walk the streets for half the year
Tryin' to find a new career

If you get a flu attack
For thirty days you're on your back
Doing not a single dance
Baby, give me half a chance

It only takes a minute, girl
To fall in love, to fall in love
It only takes a minute, girl
To fall in love, fall in love

How philosophical.

Have a good one!

It's the only thing I've got

Whew! No sooner do we stagger towards another weekend with relief in or hearts, but the chores start again.

If I'm going to get all the appliqué rhinestone detailing onto this sexy bolero jacket and these skintight flares, I reckon I'm going to be up all night...

How else am I going took as cool as Tavares, singing their classic Don't Take Away The Music? Thank Disco It's Friday!

Tavares - Don't Take Away The Music

Have a great weekend, peeps!

There's a rainbow over my shoulder (Oooh ooh)

The weekend has finally arrived. Hoorah!

In folklore, this week was officially the most depressing of the year. I am only glad it is over, and we can all have a much-deserved rest...

Alternatively, we can grab our embroidered bolero jackets, flares and Cuban heels, and dance our tits off like Tavares - dig that fancy footwork! Thank Disco It's Friday...

Tavares - Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel