Category: Television shows

Stranger Things, Heroes Of A Different Kind and A Return To The 1980s

Well, last time I celebrated publishing my 500th post and also this blog’s 10th birthday, but enough of all that back patting and time to crack on with post 501 and my 11th year of blogging. Thanks to everyone who dropped by to congratulate me though.

In the early days of the blog I was often surprised by how one post led onto another, as a connection I hadn’t hitherto noticed became apparent by the time I got to the end. This happened last time. In my very first post I had shared the song Life On Mars? with the video clip of David Bowie in his pale blue suit, as he had passed away the day before on the 10th of January 2016. For the blog’s 10th birthday and anniversary of his death I decided to share it again, with another Bowie song at the end of the post, Heroes, chosen mainly because again he was wearing a pale blue suit. He was after all voted The Best-Dressed Briton in History.

So, what’s this amazing connection I hear you ask? I had also compared pouring over the new UK Singles Chart back in the ’70s, when David Bowie was at his prime, with the UK Singles Chart of today which I have just started to follow again. Because we consume our music so differently nowadays with downloads and streaming rather than purely physical copies counting towards “sales”, it can look very different. Last year the UK Top 10 was awash with hits from the smash Netflix animated film Kpop Demon Hunters, and for the last two weeks the actor/singer/songwriter Joe Keery/Djo (the handsome Steve Harrington from Netflix’s Stranger Things) has secured the top spot in the Singles Chart with his song End of Beginning.


Last week I was more fixated on my blog’s anniversary to dive deeper into the effect Stranger Things has had on music charts, but now I have, and I will share it with you. For anyone who hasn’t watched Stranger things yet, why not? It’s a drama set in the 1980s, centred on a group of young people from the fictional small town of Hawkins, Indiana. A nearby secretive government research facility experiments on children, and after a young girl called Eleven with psychokinetic powers inadvertently creates a wormhole known as the Upside Down, it connects Earth to a hostile realm. It blends investigative drama with supernatural horror, and references the popular culture of the ’80s. The final episode, of the final season, aired on New Year’s Day here in the UK and after an emotional ending where this little gang of misfits saved the world, the song used for the end credits was David Bowie’s Heroes, suggested by Joe Keery himself.


Because of it’s inclusion in this top rated show, Heroes is now back in the UK Singles Chart along with other relevant songs like Diana Ross’s Upside Down. The soundtrack contains some of the biggest hits of the 1980s and they have been propelled back to fame, the biggest success story being the Kate Bush song Running Up That Hill used to great effect in Season 4 (written about here). After 37 years she finally reached the No. 1 spot in 2022. In Season 5, one of the characters is given a cassette tape with Tiffany’s I Think We’re Alone Now and yes, you’ve guessed it, it’s back in the UK Singles Chart.

I think We’re Alone Now by Tiffany:


Other songs used on the S5 soundtrack are as follows:

  • When Doves Cry by Prince
  • Purple Rain by Prince
  • Landslide by Fleetwood Mac
  • Here Comes Your Man by Pixies
  • The Trooper by Iron Maiden
  • Sweet Jane by Cowboy Junkies
  • Rockin’ Robin by Michael Jackson (The Jackson 5 version also featured)
  • Fernando by ABBA
  • Pretty in Pink by The Psychedelic Furs

I have just checked and eight songs are now back in the current Singles Chart because of Stranger Things, but although I said such lists look very different nowadays because of these popular Netflix shows, maybe it’s selective memory coming into play. I seem to remember in the summer of 1978 most of the songs in the charts were either from the film Saturday Night Fever or Grease (it was a John Travolta summer). Likewise, our Saturday evening cop shows often threw up a hit or two from the stars involved – I’m looking at you David Soul and also you Telly Savalas. Even our own home grown shows could generate successful top-selling artists once Mr Cowell got his hands on them – Robson & Jerome anyone? Maybe things haven’t changed all that much after all.

I Think We’re Alone Now was written and composed by Ritchie Cordell and first recorded by Tommy James and the Shondells. The song was originally written as a romantic ballad, but when James and Cordell recorded a quick demo, they made the song faster. Tommy James later wrote: “Ritchie originally wrote the song as a mid-tempo ballad. I said no way and started speeding it up. I put on a nasally, almost juvenile-sounding lead vocal, and without realizing it, we invented “bubblegum” music.” 


Until next time…

I Think We’re Alone Now Lyrics
(Song by Ritchie Cordell)

Children behave
That’s what they say when we’re together
And watch how you play
They don’t understand

And so we’re running just as fast as we can
Holdin’ on to one another’s hand
Tryin’ to get away into the night
And then you put your arms around me
And we tumble to the ground
And then you say

I think we’re alone now
There doesn’t seem to be anyone around
I think we’re alone now
The beating of our hearts is the only sound

Look at the way
We gotta hide what we’re doin’
‘Cause what would they say
If they ever knew?

And so we’re running just as fast as we can
Holdin’ on to one another’s hand
Tryin’ to get away into the night
And then you put your arms around me
And we tumble to the ground
And then you say

I think we’re alone now (alone now)
There doesn’t seem to be anyone around
I think we’re alone now (alone now)
The beating of our hearts is the only sound

I think we’re alone now (alone now)
There doesn’t seem to be anyone around
I think we’re alone now
The beating of our hearts is the only sound

10 Years of Blogging, 500 Posts and A David Bowie Anniversary

Well, I didn’t know if I could do it but I have timed things to perfection and this will be my 500th post, just ahead of this blog’s 10th birthday, which is tomorrow. 500 posts in 10 years won’t seem like a lot to some of the daily bloggers, but my efforts are usually quite long, require a fair bit of research, and at times I’ve been MIA (regular followers know why), so I’m quite chuffed with myself. Of course the fact I wrote 100 posts in my first 10 months of blogging shows that I’ve really slowed down over the years, but 50 posts per year seems like a good average to me. I hope to get an achievement badge from the WordPress people once I press the publish button on this one, and a birthday badge tomorrow!


I started this blog, by coincidence, the day we heard the news that David Bowie had died, so it was inevitable my first post would feature him. I had planned to write about “music and memories” – pick a song from my past and write about what life was like back then, with a few musical anecdotes thrown in. The decade I was most invested in chart music was the 1970s, as anyone born right at the start of the ’60s will probably agree. The songs you listen to then stay with you for life, and in a Pop Quiz, I am the expert on the Top 30 for those years.

And so it came to pass, on day one of the blog, I was writing a tribute for one of the few true icons (that word is used far too loosely nowadays) this country has ever produced. It didn’t take long for me to realise this would become a pattern as if I was getting older, my pop idols of the ’70s would be getting even older. David Bowie died of cancer, on this day in 2016 at the relatively young age of 69. We didn’t ever have to watch him get really old and infirm which is a bit of a blessing, and right up until his death he was still crowned the best-dressed Briton in history. I’m sure, however, his family would have liked to have had him around for a lot longer.


The very first song I shared around here was therefore Life On Mars? and I have pretty much shared a Bowie song every year since on this date. The film for Life On Mars? (we didn’t yet call them videos) still looks pretty avant-garde today, 53 years on. This leads me to believe I was born at just the right time for a life-long fascination with the theatre, frills and falderals of pop music. In the 1960s we watched our favourite pop stars in black and white, and in the main, especially on UK prime time telly, they were dressed fairly conservatively – men in suits and women in those evening dresses that looked a bit like nighties. It was starting to change at the tail end of the decade but once we started to watch them in colour at the start of the 1970s, glam rock had really taken hold in Britain, and boy were we in for a treat. David Bowie was definitely the most flamboyant but we also had T. Rex, Sweet, Slade and Roxy Music. What a great time to be entering our teenage years and I know many of my blogging pals still hold those years very dear indeed.

Life On Mars? by David Bowie:


Here is something I haven’t mentioned before – last summer I started following the Official UK Charts again, and I get an email every Friday at 6pm telling me what’s changed since the week before. As the months have gone by I’ve become familiar with the runners and riders, but because we consume our music so differently nowadays, via streaming mainly, the charts are nothing like the ones my friends and I used to follow with avid interest in our teens. In the weeks leading up to Christmas, the Top 10 was hogged by only three artists, Taylor Swift (with three songs from her The Life of a Showgirl album), Olivia Dean (with three songs from her The Art of Loving album) and three songs from the stars of the animated film, KPop Demon Hunters (the most watched film in Netflix history). The song Golden stayed at the top spot for weeks in the autumn of last year, performed by the fictional, animated, K-pop girl group Huntrix (the first time this had happened since the Archies achieved the same feat in 1969 with Sugar, Sugar).


I don’t think K-pop is really for my generation (you don’t say!) but for the youngsters of today, it seems all pervasive. During the month of December the Top 10 stayed pretty much the same with Wham!’s song at the top spot, Mariah Carey as runner-up and the usual suspects filling the other slots (all songs from 40-60 years ago). Now we are into the new year we’ve had a song that’s been sitting around the Top 10 for quite a while finally reach the top spot (Raye’s Where Is My Husband!), and yesterday I got an email telling me that it had been replaced by someone called Djo. Who the heck is that I thought, and blow me down, if it isn’t the musical moniker of Stranger Things actor Joe Keery, aka the handsome Steve Harrington. His song End of Beginning was originally released in 2022 and has hovered around the lower rungs of the chart since then, but with Season 5 just having ended his fan base have taken to streaming his song in big numbers. Another Netflix show that has influenced our UK Singles Chart. Here is Joe/Djo with his song.


Well I don’t know about you, but I think the Top 10 of my teenage years was far more innovative and interesting, with big change happening every week. In the interests of research however I will keep tabs on things and give all of you who would rather poke your eye out with a sharp stick than listen to the current Top 10, an update!

I didn’t really expect my 500th post to go this way but I often don’t know what I’m going to write about until I sit down at my computer. The really great thing that’s happened since I started this game 10 years ago, is that I’ve made an awful lot of new like-minded friends, both virtual and in the real world, which I certainly didn’t expect. There are regular features I join in with, like Rol’s Saturday Snapshots, John’s Photo Challenge and Ernie’s Pun Fun. We’ve had four quite big BlogCons in cities all over the UK and a fair few mini meetups with two or three bloggers. It’s not how we made new friends in the old days, but it’s how things happen nowadays, so maybe I shouldn’t be so dismissive of how the teens of today operate.

I’m definitely going to keep going, and if I’m spared I’ll aim for another 500 posts in 10 years. Whether blogging and WordPress will still be around at that point is anyone’s guess, but I hope it survives in some form.

To end, I really think I should share something else by David Bowie on this, the anniversary of his death. Here he is singing 1977’s Heroes [starts at 1:00] at Live Aid in 1985. There is no bright blue eye-shadow this time, but just like in the film above, his hair is tinged with red and he is sporting a well-cut pale blue suit – an homage I suspect. I still have my copy of Words magazine from when the song Heroes was released and back then they wrote, “Of all our current top rock stars, David Bowie is the one most likely to remain a major musical force decades hence… .” And they continue, “Listening to this [Heroes], you realise that Bowie’s strength and durability lies in the fact he refuses to fit neatly into any specific category. He will constantly surprise even his most dedicated followers, while maintaining an unvarying high quality of performance.” They weren’t wrong.

Heroes by David Bowie:


Until next time…

Heroes Lyrics
(Song by David Bowie/Brian Eno)

I, I will be king
And you, you will be queen
Though nothing, will drive them away
We can beat them, just for one day
We can be heroes, just for one day

And you, you can be mean
And I, I’ll drink all the time
‘Cause we’re lovers, and that is a fact
Yes, we’re lovers, and that is that

Though nothing, will keep us together
We could steal time, just for one day
We can be heroes, forever and ever
What’d you say?

I, I wish you could swim
Like the dolphins, like dolphins can swim
Though nothing, nothing will keep us together
We can beat them, forever and ever
Oh, we can be heroes, just for one day

I, I will be king
And you, you will be queen
Though nothing will drive them away
We can be heroes, just for one day
We can be us, just for one day

I, I can remember (I remember)
Standing, by the wall (by the wall)
And the guns, shot above our heads (over our heads)
And we kissed, as though nothing could fall (nothing could fall)
And the shame, was on the other side

Oh, we can beat them, forever and ever
Then we could be heroes, just for one day
We can be heroes
We can be heroes
We can be heroes
Just for one day

We can be heroes
We’re nothing, and nothing will help us
Maybe we’re lying, then you better not stay
But we could be safer, just for one day
Oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh

Postscript

I did get my achievement badge for publishing 500 posts so have edited it in above. Yeah me.

And now my birthday badge.

More Robert Redford Mem’ries and Hubbell Relationships

Last time I wrote about the death of Robert Redford and of how I had been a big fan during my late teenage years. I even shared an old photo of the large poster I had of him on my bedroom wall. The time before that, I wrote about having spent a lot of time this summer reconnecting with very old friends, and of how it had been such a joy reminiscing about those things that made us friends in the first place. This week I discovered the sequel series to one of my favourite ever shows on telly, Sex and the City, featuring Carrie Bradshaw and her pals, and all three subjects have somehow converged to create this post.


The day I heard Robert Redford had died I was due to visit a friend for the evening as her husband was away and she had the house to herself. A film, a few snacks and a couple of supermarket cocktails is how we usually roll (we’re cheap dates), but this time I made the special request to watch The Way We Were, my favourite Robert Redford weepie. It also starred Barbra Streisand and covered the period from when their characters, Hubbell Gardiner and Katie Morosky, first met at college right through to the years they lived together in a beach house in Malibu, him writing for the Hollywood film industry and her primarily a housewife, albeit one with very strong political views.

Barbra Streisand doesn’t sing in that one but she did record the theme song of the same name, The Way We Were, where the lyrics detail the troubled relationship her character had with with the aforementioned Hubbell Gardiner.

The Way We Were by Barbra Streisand:


The very final scene of the film, however, jumps forward many years to New York [spoiler alert: they are no longer together] where Katie and Hubbell meet by chance in front of the Plaza Hotel – Katie is campaigning to Ban the Bomb. It’s a difficult encounter (“Your girl is lovely, Hubbell.”) as they have so much history and still probably love each other, but they both have new lives and partners, and have to ultimately part with a tender, bittersweet farewell. This scene always makes me break down in tears but because of the meds I’ve been on since being ill, I have lost the ability to cry – I had to make do with just being really sad instead. Here is a clip of that scene:

That emotional final scene


Ironically I had never watched The Way We Were all the way through until it was referenced in an episode from the original series of Sex and the City. It became one of my favourite scenes when Carrie finally realises that her failed relationship with Big (the nickname her ex-boyfriend was given because he was supposed to be The Big One, the one she married) was down to the same reason that it didn’t work out for Robert Redford and Barbra Streisand in The Way We Were. The world is made up of “complicated girls” with wild curly hair (Carrie and Barbra) and “simple girls”, the ones with tame straight hair. Big and Hubbell chose the simple girls.

The Hubbell Moment


Even before Redford’s death, I had already been thinking about Hubbell Relationships ahead of my recent trip to The Granite City, my old stomping ground. My trip was purely to meet up with as many old friends as I could and it was really successful – even after more than 45 years apart, the meet-ups I had with old school friends were joyous affairs, with so much to reminisce about.

One person I would have loved to meet up with is mentioned around here often as he is kind of “My Hubbell”. We shared a love for ’70s/’80s music so he pops up in my posts as the s/bf (school boyfriend), again as the s/bf (student boyfriend) and sometimes the BOTT (the boyfriend of the time), when we were in our 20s. Many of us have a Hubbell, and there is no-one from those days I would have more to reminisce about with, but it just isn’t possible. We didn’t particularly part on bad terms, but it became obvious, again like with Hubbell and Katie, that we weren’t “going to make it”. I’m not particularly complicated and certainly don’t have wild curly hair like Carrie Bradshaw but the situation at the end was quite complicated, so there has been very little communication in nearly 40 years. I know Mr WIAA would get on well with him, as they are very alike, but bar bumping into each other outside the New York Plaza, probably not going to happen.

Do you have a Hubbell or a Katie, someone you shared so much with but then never saw again, or did you stay “friends”? I would love to hear about it in the comments boxes.


There have been lots of film clips in this post and not much music, but just the way it’s turned out. I feel I have to add the lyrics to The Way We Were despite them being a tad oversentimental (you don’t say!). The song was written by Alan Bergman, Marilyn Bergman, and Marvin Hamlisch, and it won two Academy Awards. The single was also a commercial success becoming 1974’s most successful recording in the United States placed at number one on the Billboard Year-End Hot 100. In the UK we are probably all more familiar with the Gladys Knight & The Pips version, also from 1974, where she did a bit of a mash-up with the song Try To Remember.

Try To Remember/The Way We Were by Gladys Knight & The Pips


Until next time…

The Way We Were Lyrics
(Song by Alan Bergman, Marilyn Bergman/Marvin Hamlisch)

Mem’ries light the corners of my mind
Misty water-colored memories of the way we were
Scattered pictures of the smiles we left behind
Smiles we gave to one another for the way we were

Can it be that it was all so simple then
Or has time re-written every line?
If we had the chance to do it all again
Tell me, would we? Could we?

Mem’ries may be beautiful and yet
What’s too painful to remember
We simply choose to forget

So it’s the laughter we will remember
Whenever we remember the way we were
The way we were

2025: The Best So Far – Better Man, SAS Rogue Heroes and Sir Alex

Last time I wrote about my favourite things of 2024, concentrating mainly on what I’d heard, read and seen. Unbelievably, a week into the new year, I think I’ve already seen my favourite things of 2025. If I’m wrong, I’m going to be in for a treat this year. If I’m right, how weird that the year has peaked in week one.

Cinema

The day after New Year’s Day, I went out with a friend for lunch and a film. We thought we’d give the new Robbie Williams biopic a go and boy was I glad I did. I’m not generally a fan of biopics as we usually know the star’s life story already and why watch an actor sing and dance their way through the film when we can still watch plenty of footage of them via other means. Also, it’s often a highly edited version of the star’s life and only from the age of adulthood. All that was turned on its head in Better Man as Robbie was played by a CGI chimp. It sounds ridiculous but you get used to it incredibly quickly and the 8-year-old Robbie/chimp is very, very cute. The story takes us up to Robbie’s concert at the Royal Albert Hall around the time of his Swing While Your Winning album and despite the fact he has had to face his many demons along the way (the messy side of addition is not shied away from), at this point in his career he has made peace with himself and those closest to him.


My friend and I both loved the film and it seems the reviews have been very kind too. What comes across loud and clear is that Robbie was a born showman and from a very young age wanted to entertain people. He was stifled during his Take That years as their manager very much saw the band as being Gary Barlow plus friends, friends who did a bit of backing singing and a lot of dancing. Understandably this was not enough for Robbie and once he met up with his songwriting partner Guy Chambers he was on his way to a very successful solo career. The video clip for this song is a bit manic but the sentiment very appropriate. Let Me Entertain You was the fifth and final single from his debut solo album Life Thru a Lens. In March 1998, the track peaked at No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart.

Television Drama

The next thing I’ve been blown away by (no pun intended) in this first week of the new year is SAS Rogue Heroes, again about real people. I’m not usually a fan of action films and dramas but this one is quite exceptional. We watched the first season a couple of years ago and the second season started on the BBC on New Year’s Day. It had to be binge-watched. I am no fan of war, but 80 years ago one was being waged across the continent of Europe, and it can’t be underestimated how big an influence the small newly formed regiment called the Special Air Service played in bringing that war to an end. The main character in this season was Major Paddy Mayne, a poetry-loving, slightly mad (you had to be) solicitor from Northern Ireland. His regiment didn’t play by the normal rules of engagement and having read up about the real-life man, he was only in his mid-20s at the time. Paddy was played by the actor Jack O’Connell and although it looks as if he overacts much of the time, I have a feeling the real man was probably just as eccentric.


The drama was created by Steven Knight who also created Peaky Blinders. If you enjoyed it you will probably enjoy SAS Rogue Heroes. There is black and white footage of the time interspersed between scenes, and throughout it all, the soundtrack uses urgent punk rock music which perfectly suits the drama taking place. I’ve researched the tracks used and they are listed below with a link to a clip. I’ve also added a video clip of the Cult’s 1985 single She Sells Sanctuary which appeared in one of the episodes.

Television Documentary

This one could be peculiar to me amongst my blogging circle but I really, really enjoyed the BBC documentary Sir Alex this week. Most people probably know of Sir Alex Ferguson from his time as manager of Manchester United where he achieved everything there is to achieve in football, but he cut his teeth at Aberdeen FC, and it coincided with my happiest time living in that city. Every time there is a documentary about Aberdeen’s amazing win against Real Madrid in the European Cup Winner’s Cup final, I have to watch it, as all the memories of that time come flooding back and I remember exactly what I was doing and who with. Some of those I’m still in touch with but others I’m not, which is sad, but what a time for the city.


I thought the doc was very clever in that it bounced back and forth throughout the years of Fergie’s career and I did learn quite a lot I didn’t already know. What I do know was that my Aberdeen flatmate taught his sons during his 8-year tenure there and we often had their homework strewn across our kitchen table. I also remember that the oil company I worked for had a Christmas night out in 1985 in one of the city’s nicer restaurants. As was my wont I recited a festive poem for all my colleagues and then we exchanged the joke presents we had bought for each other. We were being a bit bawdy to be sure and poor Fergie and his wife were sitting next to us trying to have a quiet dinner together. I don’t think our party poppers landed in his soup, but they came close.

Willie Miller holding the European Cup Winners Cup in 1983

A lot of the Aberdeen players were interviewed for the documentary (as he ended up taking a lot of them with him when he moved to Manchester – grrr) and right at the end of part 2, the final word came from “King” Kenny Dalgleish – he said that despite all his success with Manchester United, Fergie’s biggest achievement was winning a European Cup with a provincial Scottish club. Whatever the final judgement, I know it contributed to making Aberdeen a wonderful place to live in the early ’80s. It’s probably going to be my favourite documentary of the year.

Until next time…

Let Me Entertain You Lyrics
(Song by Robbie Williams/Guy Chambers)

Hell is gone and heaven’s here
There’s nothing left for you to fear
Shake your ass, come over here, now scream
I’m a burning effigy of everything I used to be
You’re my rock of empathy, my dear

So come on, let me entertain you
Let me entertain you

Life’s too short for you to die
So grab yourself an alibi
Heaven knows your mother lied, mon cher
Separate your right from wrongs
Come and sing a different song
The kettle’s on, so don’t be long, mon cher

So come on, let me entertain you
Let me entertain you

Look me up in the yellow pages
And I will be your rock of ages
You see through fads and your crazy phrases, yeah
Little Bo Peep has lost his sheep
He popped a pill and fell asleep
The dew is wet, but the grass is sweet, my dear

Your mind gets burned with the habits you’ve learned
But we’re the generation that’s got to be heard
You’re tired of your teachers and your school’s a drag
You’re not going to end up like your mum and dad

So come on, let me entertain you
Let me entertain you
Let me entertain you

He may be good, he may be out of sight
But he can’t be here, so come around tonight
Here is the place where the feeling grows
You gotta get high before you taste the lows
Come on

Let me entertain you
Let me entertain you (let me entertain you)
So come on, let me entertain you (let me entertain you)
Let me entertain you (let me entertain you)

Come on, come on, come on, come on
Come on, come on, come on, come on

Let me entertain you
Let me entertain you

More Great Telly – Guilt, Daisy Jones & The Six and “Dancing Barefoot” by Patti Smith

As this place seems to act as my web diary nowadays I no longer keep a paper diary. I did get a small one from a neighbour at Christmastime however (think it was surplus to requirements) and I’ve been using it to record the films and TV dramas I’ve watched this year, plus the books I’ve read. Time to share some of my favourites here I think.

I’ll start with the telly – I last did a roundup of what I’d been watching 10 months into the pandemic, and although it was a well-received post, I did feel a tad guilty about having had so much free time for boxset binging, especially when many of us were really struggling at the time, what with home-schooling kids and remote working. Hopefully this time, the divide between the time-rich and time-poor who visit this place will be less pronounced. Also, I’ll not admit to all of it, just the ones that have really made an impact.

Well, we didn’t dilly dally with this one and have finished it already, but if you haven’t yet watched BBC Scotland’s dark comedy-drama, Guilt, I would thoroughly recommend it. Think Better Call Saul relocated to Edinburgh, or Fargo on the Firth of Forth. Here is the trailer.


You really need to watch the first two series before embarking on the latest (and final) series, but only four episodes in each so very doable. I have always liked Scottish actor Mark Bonnar who seems to pop up on our screens regularly, but in Guilt he really is the lead actor and gets a chance to shine in the role of Max, a Leith boy done good, but a Leith boy whose charm and lawyer shenanigans don’t always get him out of a fix. I won’t offer up any spoilers but I would urge you to watch it. For the music bloggers who visit here, Max’s brother Jake runs a record shop very much like the one in the film High Fidelity, so lots of musical anecdotes interspersed throughout the show. Catch it on the BBC iPlayer.

But this is a music blog, so next up we have the Amazon Prime show Daisy Jones & The Six. Regulars who visit this place will already know I have a real fondness for the music that came out of Laurel Canyon in the late ’60s/early ’70s, so it was a no-brainer that I would watch this drama set in that very place. It charts the rise and fall of a fictional rock band made up of an amalgam of real-life characters from that time (we spotted Fleetwood Mac, Ringo and George, plus many more).


One of the lead actors, who played the titular Daisy Jones, was Riley Keough who interestingly is Elvis’s granddaughter. Both she and British actor Sam Claflin, who played Billy Dunne in the band, provided the vocals and if this is indeed the case they both did really well. Again I don’t want to give away any spoilers but the format they used, with documentary style footage included of their future selves, worked really well I thought. Oh, and Daisy’s extensive wardrobe of hot pants and diaphanous garments felt right for the times. There is a soundtrack album, and a couple of the songs from it have been released as singles. Here is a clip of Look At Us Now (Honeycomb). Wonder what Elvis would have thought. He would have been a proud grandfather no doubt, but that was never going to be.


Looking at my little diary, here are the other dramas I’ve really enjoyed so far this year: Happy Valley final series (BBC iPlayer), The Gold (BBC iPlayer), Dead To Me (Netflix), You (Netflix) and Blue Lights (BBC iPlayer). The common factor amongst really memorable telly is the writing, and there can’t be many people in the UK who didn’t watch the final series of Sally Wainwright’s Happy Valley. It was going to be tough coming up with an ending that tied up all the loose ends and left viewers satisfied, but I think she managed it. What a fine young man Ryan had turned into too. As for Neil Forsyth, the Scottish writer who gave us Guilt, it seems he also wrote the screenplay for The Gold, the mini-series centred on the Brink’s-Mat robbery of 1983. It makes sense now that I enjoyed both so much and it was good to see the talented actor (with a wonderful voice), Emun Elliot, pop up in both. Blue Lights, set in Belfast, follows the trials and tribulations of three probationary police officers and it was so well-received a second series has already been commissioned. More synchronicity here in that one of the police officers is played by the same actor who played Max’s wife in Guilt.


From across the pond came the black comedy, Dead To Me, very much centred around the bond of friendship between two women (in amongst all the death!). It reminded me of the days before I met Mr WIAA when I was lucky enough to have a series of very close female friends, the kind you do everything with and can depend on entirely. These kind of friendships are by their nature short-lived, especially once a boyfriend or partner comes along, but I have fond memories of those days and this drama reminded me of how important it can be to have such a friend. My last pick, You, was also from across the pond, although in the final season the action moved to London. It’s a psychological thriller and although I thought it lost its way a bit in the second season we persevered with it and enjoyed the twists and turns along the way.

I will finish with the song that was used as the opening theme to Daisy Jones & The Six, one that formed an earworm when we were watching the show. Dancing Barefoot by Patti Smith was recorded for her second album Wave in 1979 but was the perfect fit for this new drama released in 2023. Something timeless about it I think and the lyrics really did work for the character of Daisy.

Dancing Barefoot by Patti Smith:


So, a lot of telly there but not as much as I admitted to during the long periods of lockdown. What have you been watching of late? If you have anything you think I might like, please do share. I’d love to hear from you and as you know by now, I always reply.

Until next time…


Dancing Barefoot Lyrics
(Song by Patti Smith/Ivan Kral)

She is benediction
She is addicted to thee
She is the root connection
She is connecting with he

Here I go and I don’t know why
I fell so ceaselessly
Could it be he’s taking over me…

I’m dancing barefoot
Heading for a spin
Some strange music draws me in
Makes me come on like some heroine

She is sublimation
She is the essence of thee
She is concentrating on
He, who is chosen by she

Here I go and I don’t know why
I spin so ceaselessly,
Could it be he’s taking over me…

She is re-creation
She, intoxicated by thee
She has the slow sensation that
He is levitating with she …

Here I go and I don’t know why,
I spin so ceaselessly,
’til I lose my sense of gravity…

(oh god I fell for you …)

The plot of our life sweats in the dark like a face
The mystery of childbirth, of childhood itself
Grave visitations
What is it that calls to us?
Why must we pray screaming?
Why must not death be redefined?
We shut our eyes we stretch out our arms
And whirl on a pane of glass
An afixiation a fix on anything the line of life the limb of a tree
The hands of he and the promise that she is blessed among women.

(oh god I fell for you …)

The Brits, Feeling Under the Cosh and 50 Year Retrospectives – Houston, We Have A Problem

Something that we music bloggers never want to happen is for our blogging output to become a bit of a chore, yet…, we can get ourselves into a cycle of writing about things we kind of have to write about as opposed to what we want to write about, and that’s not a good position to find yourself in.

I don’t know about everyone else but this blog is starting to feel like an obituary column, but all down to that old chestnut age – if we are getting older then our musical heroes are getting even older, and we are starting to lose them at an alarming rate. The option not to write about Burt Bacharach was never there for me, as this blog’s name came from the opening line to one of his songs, but going forward I think I’m going to have to limit the number I write.

What’s It All About, Alfie?

Then there’s the series. Over the years I’ve really enjoyed some of the ones I’ve published (the Full Moon Calendar In Song being my favourite) but some of the others have petered out early on, especially if they’ve been particularly epic like my American Odyssey in Song (it was all Delaware’s fault). At the moment I have a series about songs relating to months of the year, but I always seem to be up against a deadline, just managing to fit the latest edition in before we move into the next month – it’s not turned out to be as much fun as I thought.

Perry, it was all your fault!

As for my 50 year retrospective series, where I intended to revisit my folder of pop star pinups from 1973, that has hit a bump in the road. Some of the artists that populated the Top Ten back then, and the pages of magazines aimed at 12-14 year old girls, were later found to have been predators of the worst kind, and it now makes for uncomfortable reading. No, Mr Paul Gadd, I never did want to “touch you, there, where, there”, but the editors of our mags obviously thought differently and his hairy chest and grinning face appeared in every copy in 1973. I do think teenage girls are a good judge of character but back then we were often let down by adults who should have known better, but who inexplicably missed all the signals. Different times indeed.

Last but not least, I always watch the Brit Awards and usually write about them afterwards (or as Jez said in the comments boxes last year, “Alyson, she watches the Brits so we don’t have to”). So far, despite the show airing a week ago now, I’ve not yet come up with anything for this year’s extravaganza. There always used to be a standout performance, or shocking moment, but the main takeaway for me this year is that music has become very corporate indeed with the artists sitting at tables surrounded by “their team” – the money men, the label bosses, the songwriters – all looking very smug. It’s nigh impossible to become really successful by just plugging away at your craft as per the old days, and the big winner of the night, Harry Styles, was someone who started out in a boy band put together by Simon Cowell for a prime time television show. It seems that Sam Smith’s demonic performance with Kim Petras did however ruffle a few feathers and, wait for it, Ofcom received the grand total of 109 complaints about it. Considering the show was aired live on ITV on Saturday night and was watched by 4 million people, if they had set out to cause outrage, they failed miserably.

Harry Styles, the big winner of the night

One big bonus for me this year is that I now understand why so much fuss has been made about Isle of Wight band Wet Leg. They have been mentioned often amongst the other “cooler” blogs, whose hosts have their finger on the pulse, and it seems those bloggers were on the button as they came away with two big awards, one for being Best Newcomer and the other for Best Group. Straight to the top in their first year so a bit of a stratospheric rise considering their debut album only came out last year. Here is their performance of debut single Chaise Longue which is delivered in deadpan style by lead singer Rhian Teasdale. She apparently wrote the song in only a day whilst sitting on bandmate Hester’s grandfather’s chaise longue. The lyric, “Is your muffin buttered?/Would you like us to assign someone to butter your muffin?” is supposedly a direct quote from the 2004 teen comedy Mean Girls. Having watched that film with DD many years ago, I can believe that, but yet again I’m probably being naïve.

It was all happening on the Wet Leg stage – Morris dancers, pastoral scenes, bonnets and cows.

So, “What’s It All About?” – I hate feeling under the cosh around here and with four time sensitive posts to be written this month (more if anyone else passes away), it’s all got a bit too much. I really need to get back to what I do best – simply picking a timely song from the tracks of my years, finding out so much more about it than was ever possible back in the day, and sharing a few memories. Maybe next month.

In the meantime, and before I sign off for today, here’s an idea. Instead of a 50 year retrospective where I concentrate on those artists who featured in the Smash Hits equivalent of the day and who made it to the Top Ten of the UK Singles Chart, how about I revisit those songs which only made it to the lower reaches of the charts but which have since become classics. Billy Paul recorded Me and Mrs. Jones in Philadelphia in 1972 but it peaked on our British charts in the February of 1973. It’s such a lush song, and one I have always loved, although at the age of 12 I probably wouldn’t have picked up on quite how heart-breaking the lyrics are. Glad I’ve never found myself in such a position as the subterfuge would cripple me. I would crack early on and tell Mr WIAA exactly what I’d been up to at 6.30pm every day (if indeed it is pm and not am). A beautiful song though.

Me and Mrs. Jones by Billy Paul:

A strange one this but I still managed to touch on the Brits and revisit a favourite song from 50 years ago. Quite something considering I sat down today to say I wasn’t going to do any of those things!

Until next time, to our our elder statesmen of rock and pop, please keep well until next month, as at the moment I can’t keep up.

Me and Mrs. Jones Lyrics
(Song by Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff, Cary Gilbert)

Me and Mrs Jones
We got a thing going on
We both know that it’s wrong
But it’s much too strong
To let it go now

We meet every day at the same cafe
6:30
I know, I know she’ll be there
Holding hands, making all kinds of plans
While the jukebox plays our favorite song

Me and Mrs, Mrs. Jones
Mrs. Jones, Mrs. Jones, Mrs. Jones
We got a thing going on
We both know that it’s wrong
But it’s much too strong
To let it go now

We gotta be extra careful
That we don’t build our hopes up too high
Cause she’s got her own obligations
And so, and so do I

Me and Mrs, Mrs. Jones
Mrs. Jones, Mrs. Jones, Mrs. Jones
We got a thing going on
We both know that it’s wrong
But it’s much too strong
To let it go now

Well, it’s time for us to be leaving
It hurts so much, it hurts so much inside
Now she’ll go her way
And I’ll go mine
But tomorrow we’ll meet the same place
The same time

Me and Mrs, Mrs. Jones
Mrs. Jones, Mrs. Jones, Mrs. Jones
We got a thing going on

We gotta be extra careful
We can’t afford to build our hopes up too high
I wanna meet and talk to you
At the same place, the same cafe, the same time
And we’re gonna hold hands like we used to
We gonna talk it over, talk it over
We know, they know
And you know and I know it was wrong
But I’m thinking strong
We gotta let ’em know now
That we got a thing going on, a thing going on

Thoughts of the Week, The Dark Island and Highland Cathedral

I have been music blogging long enough by now to know which subject matters are best avoided – generally football, weddings and the Royal Family. I can’t however ignore the momentous news that our monarch of 70 years died last Thursday at her beloved home in Aberdeenshire, a place very close to my own heart. It came as a bit of a shock in the end, as only two days earlier she had carried out a very important piece of constitutional business, inviting the new leader of the Conservative Party to form a government. That has almost been forgotten about now.

Balmoral Castle in Aberdeenshire

Whatever your thoughts on the place of the monarchy in our national life, someone who was probably the most famous and recognised person in the world has left us, and news channels around the world are covering every step of what happens in the aftermath of such an event.

I seem to be alone in my little corner of the blogosphere, but I have been deeply affected by this massive change in the status quo. Prime Ministers come and go, recessions come and go, wars come and go, but throughout my lifetime the Queen has always been there, on the stamps, the money, giving Christmas broadcasts… . It’s a lot to take in that she is gone for good.

As someone who is a bit of a ‘quitter’ when the going gets tough, who found it hard to juggle work and motherhood, and who has not always kept her own counsel when it would have been wise to do so, I have always admired the many qualities the Queen had in spades. To have suddenly found herself thrust into the ‘big job’ at the tender age of 25 must have been frightening, especially as she was a mother to two young children at the time, but few can question her dedication and work ethic over the 70 years of her reign. There will never be another like her and I suspect things will change quite significantly, both at home and around the Commonwealth, now that she has gone.

The Queen’s coffin leaves Balmoral

Another reason why Mr WIAA and myself have been quite deeply affected by the Queen’s passing, is because we both also lost a parent quite suddenly, and have been reliving the raw emotion that came with it. My mother-in-law was abroad on holiday when she died, and my own dad went into hospital for a routine operation but didn’t ever wake up. They were both 25 years younger than the Queen was when they died – far too young. As for my own mum who now lives in a local care home, but who no longer recognises me, she is of the same generation as the Queen and all through the decades looked just like her. Because of the fashions of the day many of us probably say that about our mothers, but no, my mum always looked just like her. Not many of that wartime generation left now.

Because we have been reliving sad moments over the last few days, I am going to share the two pieces of music used at our own parents’ funerals. The first is called The Dark Island and it was the theme tune to a 1962 television series of the same name set in the Outer Hebrides. Mr WIAA’s parents were from different corners of England but they met whilst on holiday on the Isle of Skye in the 1950s and after watching this TV drama, once married with children, they decided to move to the Highlands of Scotland permanently. The second piece of music is called Highland Cathedral and is often heard at Scottish cultural events. We used it for my dad’s funeral but I hadn’t reckoned on choking up every time I now hear it, which is often.

The Dark Island by Leigh Garden:

Highland Cathedral:


So, ‘What’s It All About?’ – I don’t quite know why everyone has chosen to make no mention of the fact the Queen has died, and I might be committing ‘sidebar suicide’ by doing so, but this place is also my web-diary so it would be weird for me not to.

My place of birth has been showcased in all its glory over the last few days, and I hope others will appreciate why the Aberdeenshire countryside held such a special place in the Queen’s affections. Likewise, Scotland’s capital city, where we had a wonderful Blogger’s Summit earlier in the year, has never looked better. After today the focus will turn to London and all that that entails, but if it was her time, I think the Queen would have been content that she ended her days quietly in Scotland, the only Queen Elizabeth we ever had.


Until next time…


The Dark Island Lyrics
(Song by David Silver/Iain McLachlan)

Away to the westward, I’m longing to be
Where the beauties of heaven unfold by the sea
Where the sweet purple heather blooms fragrant and free
On a hill-top, high above the Dark Island

Oh Isle of my childhood I’m dreaming of thee
As the steamer leaves Oban, and passes Tiree
Soon I’ll capture the magic, that lingers for me
When I’m back, once more upon, the Dark Island

So gentle the sea breeze that ripples the bay
Where the stream joins the ocean, and young children play
On a strand of pure silver, I’ll welcome each day
And I’ll roam forever more, the Dark Island

True gem of the Hebrides, bathed in the light
Like a midsummer dawning, that follows the night
How I long for the cry, of the seagulls in flight
As they circle high above the Dark Island

Stranger Things and Kate Bush, ‘Running Up That Hill’

Now that I no longer take any heed of what is going on in the music charts, I get most of my inspiration for this blog from the music that pops into my life from other sources, one of those being the soundtracks to films and television dramas. It seems many others are the same and that’s why the charts of today, based on the volume of downloads/streams in the last week (I can’t pretend to understand it all), can sometimes be infiltrated with songs from the distant past.


Many of us who have just watched the first batch of episodes from the latest season of Stranger Things, seem to have been afflicted by an earworm, and it’s driven us to seek out this song in it’s entirety. Running Up That Hill by Kate Bush was first a hit for her in 1985, but because of it’s association with the popular science-fiction/horror drama set in ’80s Indiana, it’s right up there at the top of the UK Singles Chart again in 2022.

Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) by Kate Bush


I’m sure Ms Bush is quite bemused by all this sudden attention her song is receiving, especially as she now lives a fairly quiet life in an English village. Watching the clip for the song, she is just as I remember her – flowing hair, a leotard and an interpretive dance performance. She has appeared around here before and when I looked into her career back then I was shocked to find out how young she was when she wrote some of her most successful songs. A bit of a child prodigy that’s for sure.

As for Stranger Things, it seems to be the biggest thing on Netflix at the moment and like many other series affected by the pandemic (Ozark, Better Call Saul…), the season has been broken into two halves, as filming took much longer than usual. Only got a few weeks to wait until the final episodes air however and thankfully there seems to be a fifth season in the pipeline as most of the quality dramas have now ended for good (bar Saul, whose final few episodes, ever, will air soon).

The kids from Stranger Things
The kids from Buffy (plus Giles)

I can’t help compare Stranger Things to Buffy the Vampire Slayer which we became heavily invested in as a family 20 years ago. A bunch of small town kids from very different social groups come together to fight evil, the grown-ups and figures of authority seemingly unaware of, or unable to process, what is going on. The difference this time is that it’s a period drama and although to me, the ’80s doesn’t even feel that long ago, for most viewers it will seem like ancient history. If you lived through that time you will spot where they have got the period details, like the clothes and the hair, just right. Sometimes in the first season it was a bit off, but in season four the perms and shoulder pads are spot on. In case of giving away spoilers I won’t include a clip of the scene where Kate’s song is used (to great effect), but if you’ve already seen it, here is the link – not for the faint-hearted. It was apparently chosen because, ‘it’s deep chords connected with (the character) Max’s emotional struggles’. Gives us one of the best musical moments in television history.

Max levitates

I usually include a music clip in my posts but I get nervous about sharing something that is so current as you can fall foul of the ‘internet police’ and get a take down notice. Instead, as a treat for new fans of Kate Bush I will include one of her other songs, one to which I have a personal story attached, but perhaps for another day. Cloudbusting was also a big hit for her in 1985 and the video for it stars Donald Sutherland as an inventor/father trying to get his cloudbusting machine to work (inspired by Peter Reich’s 1973 Book of Dreams).

Cloudbusting by Kate Bush:


I’ve already mentioned around here that I seem to have become a bit of a telly addict since Lockdown 1, but I don’t suppose I’m alone. We as a family didn’t even have access to Netflix or the like when I started this blog so there were far fewer distractions of an evening and the quality of these distractions seem to be getting better year on year. What can I say, I’m a weak, weak woman – BUT, as a lover of music from decades past who is ‘revisiting the tracks of her years’, there is often something on a television soundtrack to enjoy, and I certainly don’t seem to have been alone in enjoying the unexpected musical star of Stranger Things Season 4. Way to go Kate – you have a new legion of young fans who are adept in the ways of the world wide web. Expect to be at the top of the charts for quite some time.

Until next time…

Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) Lyrics
(Song by Kate Bush)

It doesn’t hurt me
Do you want to feel how it feels?
Do you want to know that it doesn’t hurt me?
Do you want to hear about the deal that I’m making?
You, it’s you and me

And if I only could
I’d make a deal with God
And I’d get him to swap our places
Be running up that road
Be running up that hill
Be running up that building
See if I only could, oh

You don’t want to hurt me
But see how deep the bullet lies
Unaware I’m tearing you asunder
Ooh, there is thunder in our hearts

Is there so much hate for the ones we love?
Tell me, we both matter, don’t we?
You, it’s you and me
It’s you and me won’t be unhappy

And if I only could
I’d make a deal with God
And I’d get him to swap our places
Be running up that road
Be running up that hill
Be running up that building
Say, if I only could, oh

You
It’s you and me
It’s you and me won’t be unhappy

C’mon, baby, c’mon darling
Let me steal this moment from you now
C’mon, angel, c’mon, c’mon, darling
Let’s exchange the experience, oh

And if I only could
I’d make a deal with God
And I’d get him to swap our places
Be running up that road
Be running up that hill
With no problems

So if I only could
I’d make a deal with God
And I’d get him to swap our places
Be running up that road
Be running up that hill
With no problems

So if I only could
I’d make a deal with God
And I’d get him to swap our places
Be running up that road
Be running up that hill
With no problems

So if I only could
Be running up that hill
With no problems

(If I only could, I’d be running up that hill)
(If I only could, I’d be running up that hill)

Key Largo, Kokomo and Yet Another Outrageous Musical Sub-Genre

I’ve not been a very productive blogger of late – only six posts over the last three months which is my lowest publication rate since setting up this place over six years ago. I’d like to say it’s purely because I’ve been so busy, which I have, but in reality I think I’ve become a bit of a telly addict and come evening Mr WIAA and I are drawn to the many delights offered up on the small screen. That said, even when I sat down to write this afternoon, the words just wouldn’t come – Mr WIAA suggested I try some blogging prunes, but before I avail myself of these delicacies (I think we all need them from time to time), I’ll try and make use of this draft, put together straight after revisiting the song Ride Like the Wind by Christopher Cross. It’s been sitting as a draft because I decided it might be a bridge too far, even for this place, but in the absence of anything new coming to mind, I’ll try again.

It’s actually all Rol’s fault, but ever since this chap popped up on his regular Saturday Snapshots quiz feature, I’ve been wondering how to shoehorn his one-hit wonder into the blog. I very recently shared a song by Christopher Cross, whose music, back in the ’80s, fell into a sub-genre called Yacht Rock. Aha I thought, as a follow-up post I can finally share that spectacular example of yacht rock from 1982, Key Largo by Bertie Higgins. When I looked into it a bit more however, it turns out that Bertie’s song was attributed to yet another sub-genre called Tropical Rock, one I had never heard of before. Is there truly no end to the number of labels we attach to the three minute pop song.

Key Largo by Bertie Higgins:


The premise of Bertie’s song is that a romance is compared to the one between Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, who famously fell in love and married after starring opposite each other in ‘To Have and Have Not’, when she was 19 and he was 44. The Hollywood couple went on to make many more films together, one of which being Key Largo set in the upper Florida Keys. Bertie himself was from Florida so it’s not a stretch to see how the inspiration for his song came about. Watching the video for the song now, in terms of style it just screams Miami Vice with all the boxes ticked: white clothes, jacket sleeves rolled up, gold medallion, patterned shirt with upturned collar, Barry Gibb hair and beard, a tropical breeze, speedboats, sunsets and cigarettes. The romance portrayed in the video also mirrors the Bogie/Bacall romance in that the age difference between Bertie and his co-star is obviously sizeable (20 years to be exact) but somehow this bit of tropical glamour from the early ’80s has not stood the test of time, and it ends up looking a bit comedic in 2022.

An on-screen couple who still look pretty cool today are the original stars of Key Largo, Bogie and ‘Betty’ (as he used to call her – her real name). I loved watching these old black and white movies when they popped up on telly when I was growing up and I had a pretty good knowledge of all the Hollywood greats and the films they starred in at a very young age. These oldies don’t crop up very often on our viewing schedules nowadays but if you ever seek them out on some of the streaming services, they are still well worth a watch. It’s a really difficult thing to define but if you want to know what ‘cool’ looks like on screen, watch some of Bogie’s films. He has that elusive quality in spades, Sam Spades (an in-joke). Bertie, not so much.


But what else can be attributed to this newfound sub-genre called Tropical Rock? According to the well-known online encyclopaedia, its main focus was on ‘escapism’ – a laid back lifestyle, tropical places, boating and having fun. (Well, that tallies with Bertie’s video). It is also usually associated with southern Florida and the Gulf Coast of the US.

The Beach Boys in 1988

Another perfect example of tropical rock must be that Beach Boys (minus Brian) song Kokomo then, I thought to myself, except it turns out Kokomo is not even an actual place but a fictional island off the Florida Keys. Whatever, the song about it featured in the 1988 film Cocktail starring a young Tom Cruise. I think I even went to see that film at the cinema when it came out, but yet again it perhaps hasn’t stood the test of time, because it was so very much ‘of its time’.


An awful lot of clips in this one already but my current addiction to telly means this scene came to mind when I thought of the song Kokomo. If you haven’t yet watched the American comedy drama Space Force, created by and starring Steve Carell, I would thoroughly recommend it. Whenever poor old General Naird is under severe pressure and is fast approaching a meltdown, the solution is to launch into a version of Kokomo and here we see the main cast all joining him in the final ever scene (not too much of a spoiler there).


So, ‘What’s it all about? – I seem to have managed to unblock the blockage without resorting to blogging prunes. I also seem to have found out about another sub-genre of music I had never encountered before. Despite being a supposed music blogger (although I never actually call myself that) barely a post goes by without me making some reference to a film, or television show, as that’s pretty much where I get all my inspiration from. I know a lot of you out there do probably sit in a darkened room, just listening to music, but nowadays I like mine to come with moving pictures too.

I always feel bad if I’ve been a bit dismissive about someone I’ve written about as that’s not what this place is about. It’s not lost on me either that an awful lot of the music made by George Michael, of whom I was and still am a great fan, could probably have come under the umbrella Tropical Rock – The Careless Whisper video was shot in Miami (where the humidity caused real problems for George’s naturally very curly hair) and the Club Tropicana video looks as if it’s a scene straight out of the film Cocktail. No indeed, if Bertie ever drops by to see what I’ve written about him, I can only congratulate him on having had his time in the sun (both literally and figuratively) and if I’m not mistaken he’s still going strong today, so good for him.

Any more outrageous musical sub-genres I should write about? There are certainly plenty of them out there so this one could run and run.

Until next time…

Key Largo Lyrics
(Song by Bertie Higgins/Sonny Limbo)

Wrapped around each other
Trying so hard to stay warm
That first cold winter together
Lying in each other’s arms

Watching those old movies
Falling in love so desperately
Honey, I was your hero
And you were my leading lady

We had it all
Just like Bogie and Bacall
Starring in our own late, late show
Sailing away to Key Largo

Here’s lookin’ at you kid
Missing all the things we did
We can find it once again, I know
Just like they did in Key Largo

Honey, can’t you remember
We played all the parts
That sweet scene of surrender
When you gave me your heart

Please say you will
Play it again
Cause I love you still
Baby this can’t be the end

We had it all (we had it all)
Just like Bogie and Bacall
Starring in our old late, late show
Sailing away to Key Largo

Here’s lookin’ at you kid (here’s lookin’ at you kid)
Missing all the things we did
We can find it once again, I know
Just like they did in Key Largo

We had it all (we had it all)
Just like Bogie and Bacall

Back to Business As Usual at the BRITS, Adele, Ed and Little Simz

It’s going to be a really busy few months for me, so I might not be posting quite as regularly. My college course has not been what I’d hoped for, mostly down to the pandemic. I’ve not been inside our local college for nearly two years and it seems they are more than happy to keep things that way. I’m therefore going to try and complete this semester’s module as best I can from home, and then pick up the resulting qualification, but an awful lot of research/reading/writing to be done before then. I’ve enjoyed all the modules so far but this one, quite rightly, is a highly academic one, so a bit more graft involved.

As we are now in the month of February, we are well and truly into Awards Season. I was pleased to see that the film Belfast, written about last time, is up for many BAFTAs and Academy Awards. Hope it does well although I have a sneaking suspicion it might hog the runner-up spot in most categories. We’ll have to wait and see. This week (here in the UK) we had the BRIT Awards back on telly in all their former glory. Unlike last year, the word ‘pandemic’ wasn’t even mentioned, and not a mask or a socially distanced performance graced our screens. After the last couple of years where such shows have had to be either cancelled altogether or held in a limited capacity in open spaces such as Railway Stations (93rd Academy Awards), it was the biggest sign that life is hopefully going to return to a semblance of normality this year.

Unlike Mr WIAA, who is not a fan of award shows, I have always watched the BRITs as that’s when I find out about some of the new artists/bands who would otherwise never have crossed my radar. This blog is very much a retrospective one, where I revisit songs from my youth, but important not to get totally stuck in the past and over the last few years I’ve been blown away by some of the live performances on the show – Stormzy in 2018 and Dave in 2020. As a middle-aged female living in the North of Scotland I know nothing of what life must be like for young, black, urban males but when you watch these guys in action, they definitely help you understand.

This year, the performance that stood out for me most was by Little Simz – She won the award for Best New Artist (although she has been around for a while it seems). The actress Emma Corrin also appeared on stage with her in a very spectacular hat. Together they gave us Introvert and Woman.

Introvert and Woman by Little Simz:


The big change this year was that the awards were gender neutral with no Best Male or Best Female categories at all. This made room for some new categories which included Best Dance Act (Becky Hill), Best Rock/Alternative Artist (Sam Fender), Best Hip Hop/Grime/Rap Act (Dave) and Best Pop/R&B Act (Dua Lipa). I’m afraid when it comes to genres such as these I come a bit unstuck and would probably fail spectacularly if it came to categorising songs in such a way myself, but the winners of these new awards certainly were pleased, some deliriously so (Becky Hill?), so in turn I was pleased for them.

Another big change this year was that I managed to persuade Mr WIAA to watch the show with me. “There’s always a really big memorable moment,” I told him. “From Jarvis Cocker’s very justified storming of MJ’s stage, to Madonna in her cape falling down those steps, to Geri’s Union Jack dress, to Freddie’s last appearance…”. Yes, lots of memorable moments over the years, but as luck would have it, not this year, so I had to eat my words.

The really big winner was Adele, so a lot of the industry ‘suits’ as she called them at a previous BRITs would have been happy, but all a bit safe and predictable. She lives in LA now, stages big shows in Las Vegas (although that’s a whole other story) and looks nothing like the Adele we first saw on the show back in 2008. Was all a bit disappointing and samey, in my humble opinion.

The girl’s come a long way, but I miss the old Brit School Adele:

Although I totally agreed with the move to gender neutral awards (needs to happen in the world of film too I think), one key difference between the vast majority of men and women at the BRITs was the footwear they chose to wear on the night. I couldn’t help but notice that many of the women were sporting shoes that were detrimental to their health. Adele’s spikey heels got caught up in her long dress when climbing the steps to pick up her first award and poor Anne-Marie fell down some steps in her platform boots whilst performing Kiss My (Uh-Oh). Not quite as spectacular as Madonna’s tumble a few year’s back but she still took a tumble, and landed on her Uh-Oh. She was a trooper however and carried on as if nothing had happened. We’re still a long way off from equality in footwear it seems, which is a shame, as at my age I regret many of my younger self’s footwear choices. My younger self would of course have ignored my older self’s advice, and there lies the rub.

Poor Anne-Marie took a tumble

Like Adele, he’s been around a long time now, and he’s not for everyone, but I do still have a soft spot for Ed Sheeran. He too looks a bit more polished than the lad who first rolled up at the BRITs back in 2012, but whatever you think of his music there’s no denying he knows how to write a successful pop song. He didn’t win big on Tuesday night like Adele, but he did win the award for Songwriter of the Year and I enjoyed his performance of The Joker and the Queen. Many a metaphor/pun can be found in a pack of cards it seems. I was trying to work out what it reminded me of, and of course it’s music from a classic film score, which is what was intended.

The Joker and the Queen by Ed Sheeran:

I really should be doing college work today but procrastination came along in the form of this blog post. Exactly what used to happen first time around, although there weren’t blogs back then, or an internet, or Netflix, just lots and lots of fellow students to be distracted by. Changed days. I’ve just heard back from my course tutor who tells me I can keep going with the course one module at a time – I really thought there was a time-limit on it but they don’t want to lose any students it seems, even ancient ones like myself. Decisions to be made.

I enjoyed the BRITs this year, for the many performances, but also because it felt as if things are truly getting back to normal again. Lord knows we all need that.

Until next time…

The Joker and the Queen Lyrics
(Song by Ed Sheeran/Johnny McDaid/Samuel Elliot Roman/Fred Gibson)

How was I to know?
It’s a crazy thing
I showed you my hand
And you still let me win

And who was I to say
That this was meant to be?
The road that was broken
Brought us together

And I know you could fall for a thousand kings
And hearts that would give you a diamond ring
When I fold, you see the best in me
The joker and the queen

I was upside down
From the outside in
You came to the table
And you went all in

With a single word
And a gentle touch
You turned a moment
Into forever

And I know you could fall for a thousand kings
And hearts that could give you a diamond ring
When I fold, you see the best in me
The joker and the queen

And I know you could fall for a thousand kings
And hearts that would give you a diamond ring
When I folded, you saw the best in me
The joker and the queen
The joker and queen

Postscript:

Before I started writing this one I looked back over the years to my previous BRIT Awards posts. It seems I wrote something about all of them except the 2019 show. Remiss of me but perhaps also a bit of an unremarkable one that passed without incident.

What I do remember about that show however was that Scottish DJ Calvin Harris (along with Dua Lipa) won the award for British Single of the Year. He appeared on the night and it occurred to me that had he not, I wouldn’t have known what the world’s highest paid DJ, a Scot, looked like. Remarkable how anonymous DJs can be. The standout collaboration that year was when Calvin manned the decks whilst Dua, Sam Smith and Rag’n’Bone Man sang. Only three years too late but I give you a medley of Giant, Promises and One Kiss.

One Kiss by Calvin Harris and Dua Lipa: