It is (remarkably) the 20th anniversary on Tuesday of the album that launched a (doomed) legend upon an unsuspecting world - Back to Black by Amy Winehouse!
Everyone knows the songs - but in case you need a "refresher", here's Mr Scott Bradlee of our "house band" Postmodern Jukebox fame, with this medley:
However, not many people realise that one of her most famous songs was a cover*:
Ha, ha!
[*not really]
Happy 90th birthday [gulp] today to Mr William George Perks - better known, of course as Bill Wyman, long-serving member of the Rolling Stones.
Apparently when Brian Jones, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were trying to recruit a bassist, they decided on Bill mainly because he had a spare guitar amplifier and always had cigarettes, as well as owning a bass guitar that he had built himself... Still, he stayed with them for the next 31 years, so something clicked!
Of course, Bill always had side-projects with other blues players, but briefly struck out on his own - and this cult hit from 1981 was the result:
Love it or hate it, once it's in your head, it's a difficult one to shift..!
Another weekend slithers its way into view - and it's time to plan the party...
It was Mr George Mcrae's birthday earlier this week, so it would be remiss of me not to revisit this favourite slice of madness - as "the Founding Father of Disco" struggles manfully against the background of coked-up dancers ("camel toes", "moose knuckles", the lot) to bring us his most famous hit...
...Thank Disco It's Friday!
Have a great weekend, dear reader! Please try and dodge the torrential rains of Storm Austen, if you can...
It's another snippets post, dear reader:
And the weather? It absolutely pissed it down all day here. Yuk.
The French have a lower retirement age and free universities because they’re not afraid to set a shop on fire. They would riot over any one of these British shit-sandwiches:Southern Rail
The disgrace of Southern Rail’s late-running, extortionate service is so monumental that Britain simply cannot confront it. A Frenchman experiencing its knackered rolling stock would head straight to Whitehall with a can of petrol. Thankfully they’ve been deterred from visiting and witnessing our national disgrace by centuries of simmering hostility.Meal deals
If you’re confused as to why the paprika crisps shelved right next to the sandwiches aren’t included in your lunchtime meal deal, think of our continental neighbours. If they were told the items in their hands were not part of the deal, the till would be through the window in moments and Boots awash with tear gas before ten minutes had passed.Porn age-verification checks
Erotic imagery is every Frenchman’s God-given right. Every trip to the boulangerie, patisserie or tabac is enlivened by seeing at least five tits. The thought of scanning your face to gaze upon a fanny? Their reflex for writing angry signs would kick in. They’d sooner surrender to the Nazis again than give up easy access to female nudity.Axing the triple lock
Thanks to organised violence, the French people have kept their retirement age down to 64. And that’s after a lifetime of toiling through four-day weeks with two-hour lunches. Threatening the triple lock would be good for at least one head-of-state decapitation and a fortnight of looting, if our shite high streets had anything they’d want to steal.Oat milk
Our calling the crap we cook ‘food’ has enraged our Gallic neighbours for decades, but at least it came from solid animal-cruel sources. To make milk, milk which masquerades as being from the cow, from oats? Paris would be in flames before the furiously-discarded disposable coffee cup had hit the cobbles.Comparative lack of riots
Traditionally, the UK holds riots during the summer. This alone would have French people taking to the street to overturn bins. ‘No riots?’ they would cry, ‘But then how can this be called a functioning democracy? We riot… for the riots!’ Not that you’ll understand, because your entire knowledge of French is ‘Hello, my name is John, thank you.’
Of course.
Sigh. Here we go again...
The skies may have cleared this morning, but everything in the garden's looking rather sodden after last night's downpours.
Hey ho - it is a Tacky Music Monday, after all. And, sharing a birthday today (as she does) with another odd assortment including Divine, John le Carré, George McCrae, Sir Michael Gambon, Auguste Lumière, Jennifer Holliday, Simon Ward, Philip Pullman, Gloria Jones, John Lithgow, Peter Tosh, Mavis Nicholson, Bernard Hepton and Sinitta, is one of our fave camp divas to bring some much-needed cheer into our lives!
"Ella vive de amores prohibidos
Porque dice son más divertidos"
Which translates as:
"She lives on forbidden loves
Because she says they are more fun"
Indeed!
Have a good week, dear reader.
