I had a birthday last week, which was nice. I also had another trip to the skin clinic, which wasn’t so nice. Yes, my fair Scottish skin has yet again let me down and whilst many people (other than fair-skinned Scots) have been enjoying the current heatwave, I’ve been told in no uncertain terms that a life in the sun is not for me. It’s a sobering thought, as come summer so much of what we do is outdoors, but from now on I’ll be the person in trousers, long sleeves and a hat – probably sitting under a canopy. I blame those boys from Wham! as my younger self ignored all the sage advice, and I suffered for those suntans which went well with my white clothes and bleached blonde hair. ‘Twas the times.
Club Tropicana was a bit of a departure from Wham!’s previous singles, but it was never meant to be taken seriously. It was seen as a swipe at the hedonistic Club 18-30 package holidays which had become really popular with young people in the early ’80s. I didn’t ever go on one of those holidays, and wouldn’t have wanted to, but as soon as you hear the opening 30 seconds, what with the cicadas, the car door, the footsteps and the funky club sounds, you are immediately transported to warmer Mediterranean climes.
This clip has been doing the rounds of late, so I’m sure many of you will have seen it already, but another fair skinned Scot who should never have been exposed to the Mediterranean sun (hope you had your Factor 50 on Lewis Capaldi) decided to remake the Club Tropicana video to accompany his song Forget Me. I was mighty impressed at how they managed to recreate each scene so perfectly, and got the timings spot on (a compare and contrast below). No, he’s not averse to poking fun at himself is Lewis, but I do hope he is lucky in love soon as his songs are all just so heartsick.
But back to the birthday, by the time you to get to my age (I’ve stopped counting) they really are no big deal and I had almost forgotten all about it until a few days before. I did get a surprising amount of cards for someone so ancient however and my social media pages were full of good wishes which was nice. DD was on holiday (yes, on the Mediterranean) but a lovely bouquet of flowers arrived via a local florist which again was nice. Mr WIAA and I don’t do big presents any more as we best know what we want ourselves, but a little outing was definitely on the cards. In view of my inability to be outdoors in the sun, it was decided a trip to the cinema was in order. Thankfully a film I had wanted to watch on the big screen – rather than on the small screen down the line – was still showing at our local multiplex. And so it came to pass that we spent my birthday afternoon sitting alone in a very cold cinema (the air conditioning was working just a little too well) watching the latest offering from those intrepid Guardians of the Galaxy.
No-one was more surprised than I at how much I enjoyed the first GOTG film when DD introduced us to it back in 2015, just after it came out. I’m not usually a fan of superhero movies but this bunch are just a little bit different, and special I think. The scripts are genuinely funny, local girl Karen Gillan (we used to watch her in school shows) plays blue-skinned Nebula, and best of all, the music used for the soundtrack is right up my alley. I have a whole category on my sidebar (link here) dedicated to songs from the series which up until now were generally lesser-known, soft rock songs from the 1970s. The lead character’s old Walkman, a link to his dead mother and home in Missouri, was one of the stars of the first two movies but it sadly bit the dust at the end of GOTG2 and has now been replaced by a new digital device. The songs this time were from bands like Radiohead and Florence and the Machine but some old favourites from the previous outings still put in an appearance, such as this song from American band Redbone. Come And Get Your Love was originally a hit for them back in 1974, but whenever I hear it now I will always think of Peter Quill, Rocket, Nebula, Drax and the rest of the GOTG gang.
So, “What’s It All About?” – I am well aware this blog needs a little reinvention but as you might suspect I’ve been somewhat distracted of late. All being well I’ll get onto that over the summer (as let’s face it I’m going to be spending a lot of time indoors). Thank goodness for birthdays though, as however old you get they do make for a bit of a special day. The cards and flowers were unexpected, as was the last minute trip to the cinema. As we seem to have caught up with all our telly series at the moment I may well seek out those earlier GOTG films, just to remind myself what drew me to them in the first place. My shiny new Netflix account (yes, we fell foul of password sharing with DD) will hopefully provide them.
Until next time…
Club Tropicana Lyrics
(Song by George Michael/Andrew Ridgeley)
Let me take you to the place
Where membership’s a smiling face,
Brush shoulders with the stars.
Where strangers take you by the hand,
And welcome you to wonderland –
From beneath their panamas…
Club Tropicana, drinks are free,
Fun and sunshine – there’s enough for everyone.
All that’s missing is the sea,
But don’t worry, you can suntan!
Castaways and Lovers meet,
Then kiss in Tropicana’s heat,
Watch the waves break on the bay.
Soft white sands, a blue lagoon,
Cocktail time, a summer’s tune,
A whole night’s holiday!
Pack your bags,
And leave tonight.
Don’t take your time,
Gotta move your feet, don’t you miss the flight!
Cool, cool, cool, cool
Cool, cool, cool, cool
Postscript:
Why the Redbone song is so important to the whole series – it was played during the closing credits of the latest film but was also the song that featured during the opening credits of the very first film. I give you… the Star-Lord dance (song kicks in at 0:30).
What's It All About? 
Happy birthday! And don’t forget to apply sun block lotion when you go outdoors.
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Thanks Neil. Yes, it’s a given nowadays, but sadly when we were children it just didn’t exist and that’s when the damage happened. I’m going to mend my ways now.
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28 already? Where does the time go? Belated happy returns.
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Thanks Ernie. I remember 28 well but sadly a long time ago now. I had a birthday barbeque that year as it was a sunny day. Sigh…
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A belated Happy Birthday to you Alyson.
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Thanks very much Lynchie.
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As we’ve been in touch aside from on here I won’t repeat myself but thinking of you in this heatwave especially and sending love and best wishes to you. I look forward to seeing your hat/s too – have noticed more and more people wearing them at the moment and Mr SDS went out in his for the first time yesterday – looking rather cool if I may say so in Trilby, shades and a leopard-spot shirt! – he also told me that there were more people in hats than without them, this sun is just too intense for us fair-skinned English too. We are so much more aware of it now than when we were young and voluntarily frying ourselves in oil… argh.
You know, I never knew that track was a Redbone number, I only knew Redbone for ‘The Witch Queen of New Orleans’ so it was a surprise to realise that the song I have heard so often on the latest Premier Inn (!) advert was in fact them. I just adore how they look too, have much respect and admiration and interest in the culture and history of First Nation people.
That Lewis Capaldi video made me smile. Love his sense of humour.
And finally – I have yet to see any Guardians of the Galaxy! I feel I may be in a minority. The music choices for the latest film sound great.
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Yes, you’re being bombarded from all angles, sorry, but thanks for dropping by.
I’m liking the sound of Mr SDS’s hat and his very stylish look. I’m afraid mine are very practical and not stylish at all but if it’s remotely windy anything fancier blows off, so got to stick with them for now. I’m going to have to revise my summer wardrobe. I love those brilliant white dishdashes the Arabs wear along with their headgear – they always look so cool and protected in them but not really suitable for us in Scotland.
As ever you know more about the band, Redbone, than I do, and it hadn’t clicked that it’s used for an advert too (very pertinent advert as it turns out). They do look great though don’t they and their heritage is very much reflected in their music and performances. They are still going too so well done Redbone – the GOTG films will have helped with that. As for the films, I’m not sure if they would be your thing C, but then again I didn’t think they would be my thing so you just never know!
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Happy belated birthday, Alyson. Sorry to hear about your woes; I’m sure they’ll be short lived. Here’s to York in a couple of weeks…
JM
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Thanks John. As for woes, not really, just disappointed that these hot summers are proving a challenge (other than the climate change worries). Very selfishly, I’m hoping York won’t be so hot!
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Belated birthday greetings Alyson.
I’m reminded of Billy Connolly’s description of Scots in the sun.We go from blue to white to red!
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Thanks CC. Definitely stopped counting though.
I remembered that Billy Connolly story and thought it apt that Karen Gillan is a red-haired, fair skinned Scot from two streets away, and she got the role of the blue-skinned Nebula in GOTG. Perfect casting!
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Happy belated birthday. Mine was last week as well (the 7th) so we’re both Geminis. It’s possible this subject has come up in previous years but, if so, I can’t recall…so I’m just excited to celebrate the same birthday week with you. I also share my actual birthday with my niece, who just celebrated her Sweet 16, while I didn’t get a party for my “Fabulous Fifty-Seven” (haha). As for GOTG, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked the first film, as I’m not big on the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and I also liked the second film, so I’ll check out the new one whenever it shows up on something I can watch at home (where I can control the air conditioning).
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Belated birthday to you too Rich – you were the day after me it seems. I always think a June birthday is a fine thing, as right at the start of the summer and 6 months after that other time when there are lots of cards and presents! This however has been one of the hottest birthdays temperature wise I’ve ever had so the air conditioning in the cinema was actually quite nice. No, don’t think you get a Sweet 57 party but hope you did celebrate in other ways.
It seems the GOTG films have wider appeal so even if you’re not a Marvel Universe fan as such, you warm to the characters and the storylines – of course one of the stars of the first two films was that Walkman or rather the songs that came from it. Made the films really special for me. Thanks for dropping by.
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Happy birthday, Alyson. I hope you enjoyed GOTG 3 as much as I did. I feared they might end with some big sacrifice, so glad it didn’t go that way… poor Rocket though!
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Thanks, although definitely stopped counting. You had a bit of a crisis at 50 but mine was at the +10 version (can’t even bring myself to say the number).
I suspected you would have seen it and it had to be on the big screen. This latest one didn’t make the same impact as the first two for me, and the music not as good for me, but I did enjoy it. As you say, poor Rocket – the Racoon!
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