Tag: Robbie Williams

Happy Hogmanay and My End Of The Year Review

I’ve left this until the last minute, but like last year on this day, I wanted to share my favourite things of 2025 before we cross that imaginary line that takes us into “next year”.

Music

I really should start with music as this is supposedly a music blog, although it definitely veers into other territory most of the time. This is the first year that I’ve not shared my thoughts about the Brit Awards that took place back in March. This is when I find out about all those artists that may have slipped under my radar, and if I have heard of them, it means I can put a face to the name.

Charlie XCX and Sabrina Carpenter

As usual there were some stunning performances on the night, although not from this year’s big winner, Charli XCX, as she apparently wanted to enjoy the show rather than feel the pressure of having to perform. Personally I just don’t get her kind of music but I don’t think she’s really targeting my demographic. An artist who did perform on the night, Sabrina Carpenter, seems to target young girls which I find quite frightening. She looks like an ’80s Page 3 girl, always seeming to dress in her underwear, and her poppy hits are instantly forgettable. I did enjoy American, Teddy Swims, who sounded a bit like Rag ‘N’ Bone Man and also Ezra Collective who performed a collaboration with Jorja Smith. There’s always a party going on when Ezra are on stage and they won the award for Best British Group of the year. They certainly justified their win with their performance at Glastonbury, later in the year.


When it came to the award for Best International Artist, that statuette went to Chappell Roan, who was my favourite new discovery of the year. I’ve not yet done a deep dive into her material but this song, although heavily played on the radio, stuck with me. Pink Pony Club is a story song that was written in 2019 but became a hit in 2024-2025. Roan’s debut album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, released in 2023, was met with widespread acclaim and praised by music critics for its “bold and emotionally charged nature”. I think she’ll be around for some time.

Film

Right at the start of this year I wrote about the Robbie Williams biopic and said it could well turn out to be my favourite film of the year. 12 months on it turns out I was right. 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. If you haven’t seen it yet, give it a try, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.


My other favourite films of this year are as follows:

A Complete Unknown (the Bob Dylan biopic – written about here)
Conclave (life imitates art – a BAFTA winner about the machinations that surround the choosing of a new Pope)
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (the third film in the murder/mystery series – currently on Netflix)

Books

Since instigating “Reading Hour” in our house at the start of 2024, I’ve read more books than I usually would in a year (I would thoroughly recommend it if you can find that elusive hour). My favourites of 2025 are as follows:

Butter – Asako Yuzuki (set in Tokyo, you learn a lot about Japanese culture)

The Writing On The Wall – Jenny Eclair (a 16-year-old girl of today magically finds herself in her own bedroom, in her own house, but in 1976 – I was 16 in 1976 so I loved the descriptions of the differences between girls then and now)

Here One Moment – Liane Moriarty (set in Australia it flips back and forth in time telling the story of the protagonist’s life, solving a puzzle as we go)

Cher: The Memoir Part 1 – Cher and others (I got this one free on my Kindle and although at first it felt like a lot of Cher anecdotes rolled into one, I became fascinated by her life story – we’ve only got to 1980 when she returned to acting, so I eagerly await Part 2)

Television

As ever, especially since Covid, a lot of telly-watching has been done in the living room of WIAA Towers this year. We have our favourite sofa spots to watch telly from and I fear the day will come when we morph into Maris Pipers. My Top 10 dramas of the year are as follows (Top 5 in bold):

SAS Rogue Heroes; Miss Austen; Toxic Town; Adolescence; This City Is Ours; The Bombing Of Pan Am 103; Blue Lights; Riot Women; Trigger Point; Shetland.

I am fully aware there have been other exceptional dramas on streaming channels we don’t subscribe to, but hey, we can’t have them all. We’ll catch them at some point no doubt. The drama that caused the biggest furore this year was Adolescence which was a remarkable piece of television where each of its episodes was shot in one continuous take. The story centres on 13-year-old schoolboy, Jamie Miller played by Owen Cooper, who is arrested after the murder of a girl in his school. Investigations at Jamie’s school and interviews by a forensic psychologist uncover Jamie’s views towards women associated with the “manosphere”, and the mockery he has received via social media. His poor family have to cope with the backlash from the community and work together to cope with the situation. It certainly was an eye-opener into the world of contemporary teens and I ended up watching it three times.


A shout out too for Shetland which until recently, I thought only went out in Scotland. It’s been going for a long time now, and has had a change of personnel, but I still think it’s one of the best crime dramas on telly. The last series finished recently and release was limited to one episode per week (like the old days). I was kind of excited all day ahead of the final episode airing and it certainly didn’t disappoint.

I’ve never been to Shetland but my friend’s husband covers the Northern Isles as part of his job, so she’s gone up with him twice recently on the ferry from Aberdeen to visit all the locations featured in the show. The Police Station is apparently a Council building but Jimmy Perez’s old house (in the water) is easily identifiable.

Sport

A new category for the review, but there were some fantastic sporting achievements this year, which if you’re a fan, would have given you a real high.

I’ll work backwards, but if you watched the Scotland v Denmark football match that took us through to next year’s World Cup in North America, it would have had you jumping in the air with joy. It’s 28 years since we’ve been at the World Cup finals and a generation of young men and women will experience it for the first time. It was tense for a long time when the match could have gone either way, but with two goals scored right at the end in injury time, the win was decisive and the Tartan Army will be looking out their kilts in readiness. No Scotland, No Party!

Earlier in the year, the England Women’s Football Team won the Euros after a nail-biting penalty shoot-out. And, the England Women’s Rugby Team won the World Cup. They’re definitely both showing the boys how things should be done.

Finally in this section, I’ll have to mention that back in April, Rory McIlroy won the Masters golf tournament in Atlanta. We were actually having a reunion that weekend with my two ex-flatmates and their husbands, who both play golf, so after our dinner we had to retreat to the bar at the back of our hotel in Pitlochry to watch the final round live. Mr WIAA definitely doesn’t play golf, not do I, but of course we did know of Rory’s prowess on the fairway so enjoyed watching the drama unfold. Rory did win after a play-off, which really was a big deal, as it means he is: one of only six players to have won all four big tournaments; the only European; and the first person to do so since since Tiger Woods in 2000.

Theatre/Concerts

I wrote recently about my trip to London to see ABBA Voyage (link here) so I won’t go there again. I’ve not actually been to our local theatre that often this year which is unusual for me but I did really enjoy the NTL showing of Dr Strangelove starring Steve Coogan. I don’t know quite how he did it but he managed to play four characters. The play is based on the 1964 film of the same name by Stanley Kubrick, adapted for the stage by Armando Iannucci and Sean Foley. Well worth a watch.


So there we have it, my review of the year in terms of what I’ve watched, read and listened to. Hopefully I’ve given you some recommendations.

At the end of last year I wrote that I was sad to see it end, as it had been such a good one. To be honest, I kind of feel that way again which is a bit of a worry as I don’t know how long my luck will hold out. We have a new puppy in the family who is a joy, I still love volunteering at the charity shop, I’ve had lots of reunions with friends and family, and my garden has looked spectacular (my top hobby this last summer). We have lost my mum, but as anyone who has had a relative with Alzheimer’s knows, it can become a blessing when they pass. A horrible, horrible disease.

I’ve just managed to get this one finished before I have my Hogmanay drink. A cocktail made by Mr WIAA. Happy New Year when it comes!

Until next time…


Pink Pony Club Lyrics
(Song by Daniel Nigro/Kayleigh Rose Amstutz)

I know you wanted me to stay
But I can’t ignore the crazy visions of me in LA
And I heard that there’s a special place
Where boys and girls can all be queens every single day

I’m having wicked dreams of leaving Tennessee
Hear Santa Monica, I swear it’s calling me
Won’t make my mama proud, it’s gonna cause a scene
She sees her baby girl, I know she’s gonna scream

God, what have you done?
You’re a pink pony girl
And you dance at the club
Oh mama, I’m just having fun
On the stage in my heels
It’s where I belong down at the

Pink Pony Club
I’m gonna keep on dancing at the
Pink Pony Club
I’m gonna keep on dancing down in
West Hollywood
I’m gonna keep on dancing at the
Pink Pony Club, Pink Pony Club

I’m up and jaws are on the floor
Lovers in the bathroom and a line outside the door
Blacklights and a mirrored disco ball
Every night’s another reason why I left it all

I thank my wicked dreams a year from Tennessee
Oh, Santa Monica, you’ve been too good to me
Won’t make my mama proud, it’s gonna cause a scene
She sees her baby girl, I know she’s gonna scream

God, what have you done?
You’re a pink pony girl
And you dance at the club
Oh mama, I’m just having fun
On the stage in my heels
It’s where I belong down at the

Pink Pony Club
I’m gonna keep on dancing at the
Pink Pony Club
I’m gonna keep on dancing down in
West Hollywood
I’m gonna keep on dancing at the
Pink Pony Club, Pink Pony Club

Don’t think I’ve left you all behind
Still love you and Tennessee
You’re always on my mind
And mama, every Saturday
I can hear your southern drawl a thousand miles away, saying

God, what have you done?
You’re a pink pony girl
And you dance at the club
Oh mama, I’m just having fun
On the stage in my heels
It’s where I belong down at the

Pink Pony Club
I’m gonna keep on dancing at the
Pink Pony Club
I’m gonna keep on dancing down in
West Hollywood
I’m gonna keep on dancing at the
Pink Pony Club, Pink Pony Club

I’m gonna keep on dancing
I’m gonna keep on dancing

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

Romantic Gestures, Robbie Williams and ‘She’s The One’

It’s a while since I posted something new around here, but life has been a tad busy of late. A big contract Mr WIAA had been working on for over a year finally came to a conclusion and last weekend we attended a fancy event where the fruits of his labours had a starring role. We’ve both been working really hard all summer so were looking forward to a bit of a break once we came back, but true to form, as soon as we started to relax, we got ill. Nothing more than a regular cold virus thankfully, and starting to feel better now, but just wanted to explain my absence.

I’ve often mentioned that I now know which subject matters are best avoided around here, and one of those is weddings. I make no apologies however for sharing this lovely snippet of news. Right in the middle of our fraught preparations for the big event last weekend we had an unexpected visit from DD’s other half. We were waiting for a camera crew to arrive to film the various pieces Mr WIAA had made, so when the doorbell rang, we thought it was them. But no, ahead of their own weekend away on the Isle of Skye, DD’s boyfriend had dropped by to ask our permission to ‘pop the question’. All very traditional and more than Mr WIAA did back in the day, but we were both very happy about this new development in their relationship and told him so. Needless to say, at this momentous juncture the camera crew did arrive, so a bit of confusion for a time, but in the end all went well with both the filming and the subsequent proposal, so it seems we are going to have a son-in law!

The Fairy Pools on the Isle of Skye – scene of many a romantic gesture

It occurred to me that this blog has inadvertently not only followed the journey my own life has taken over the past seven years, but also the life of DD, as she is mentioned often around here. There have been ups and downs, and two periods of returning to her old school bedroom, but this is a really happy time for her and the ring she is now wearing on her left hand is a real bobby dazzler. The wedding plans are not seriously in place yet, and won’t be for some time, but in the meantime I thought I’d share a song that was DD’s favourite when she was aged just three. He appeared on prime-time telly singing it the weekend of the big proposal, so it seems doubly appropriate – I give you Robbie Williams with She’s The One.

She’s The One by Robbie Williams:


The song came from the album I’ve Been Expecting You from 1998 and it was also one of the standout songs in the pantomime we went to see as a family that year. She’s The One was track number 10 on the CD, and the player we had at the time came with a remote control. It didn’t take her long, but DD soon worked out she had to press both a one and a zero to get her favourite song from the pantomime, and it was played many, many times over that Christmas period. She didn’t always get the singer’s name right however confusing him with another of the artists whose CD we had bought around that time – oh yes, ‘Robbie Michaels’ was an artist often mentioned in our house back then.


I hadn’t realised until today that the song was not a Robbie Williams/Guy Chambers one. She’s The One was actually written by Karl Wallinger of World Party, a band he set up after leaving the Waterboys. Because the song only became a really big hit once released as a single by Robbie, poor Karl’s song-writing credits were for a time overlooked, and a fair bit of rancour developed between the pair. Hopefully all good now though.

Just to round things off nicely for this post, what with talk of engagements and weddings, it’s our own 30th wedding anniversary this weekend (Pearl apparently) and we’re heading off again, to celebrate and hopefully recharge the batteries. I remember writing about my Silver Wedding anniversary five years ago and it feels like only five minutes ago so that’s a bit of a worry. If I can pick up momentum again, I might even still be blogging for the 35th anniversary.

Until next time…

She’s The One Lyrics
(Song by Karl Wallinger)

I was her, she was me
We were one, we were free
And if there’s somebody calling me on
She’s the one
If there’s somebody calling me on
She’s the one

We were young, we were wrong
We were fine all along
If there’s somebody calling me on
She’s the one

When you get to where you wanna go
And you know the things you wanna know
You’re smiling
When you said what you wanna say
And you know the way you wanna play
You’ll be so high you’ll be flying

Though the sea will be strong
I know we’ll carry on
‘Cause if there’s somebody calling me on
She’s the one
If there’s somebody calling me on
She’s the one

When you get to where you wanna go
And you know the things you wanna know
You’re smiling
When you said what you wanna say
And you know the way you wanna say it
You’ll be so high you’ll be flying

I was her, she was me
We were one, we were free
If there’s somebody calling me on
She’s the one
If there’s somebody calling me on
She’s the one

If there’s somebody calling me on
She’s the one
Yeah she’s the one
If there’s somebody calling me on
She’s the one
She’s the one
If there’s somebody calling me on
She’s the one
She’s the one

If there’s somebody calling me on
She’s the one

She’s the one

The Winter Solstice, “Fly Me To The Moon” and A Very Merry Christmas

Since discovering that all full moons have a name (given to them by the Native Americans who kept track of the months by the lunar calendar), I have written about each one as they appear in our skies. To accompany the post I always include one of the numerous songs that have been written about the moon and its many foibles.

Well, it’s all coming together at just the same time! Today is Yule, the day of the winter solstice, that pivot point in the year after which the days will start to get longer again. Tomorrow is the day of the December full moon, very appropriately called both the Cold Moon, and the Long Nights Moon. Last but not least, we are also right in the middle of Christmastime, that annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, which seems to have become a cultural phenomenon celebrated around the world by billions of Christians and non-Christians alike.

But this is my Moon Series, so what song to feature this time? Unbelievably, I have yet to share a Frank Sinatra song in this series, which is bizarre, as the Chairman of the Board was known to record a fair few songs with the word moon in the title over the course of his career. I shared a version of Fly Me To The Moon by Julie London just before I started this series, but now that we’re into its second calendar year, time to revisit the song I think, and time for a bit of Francis Albert at Christmastime.

Fly Me To The Moon by Frank Sinatra:

Fly Me To The Moon was written in 1954 by Bart Howard, but originally had the title “In Other Words”. Kaye Ballard recorded it first, but since then it has become a jazz standard, often featured in popular culture. Frank Sinatra’s 1964 version was closely associated with the first Apollo missions to the moon.

A few great moon shots have again been captured by my friend with the all singing, all dancing camera over the last week. Here are a few of the best.

I’ve mentioned this often since starting the blog, but the year I seem to warm to most when revisiting the tracks of my years, is 1967. Lots of reasons for that, but the main one seems to be that it’s the year I was just starting to take an interest in the music I heard on the radio and on television – I was a kid, I was happy, loved and nothing bad had yet happened in my young life. For this reason I took to retuning one of the car’s digital radio stations recently to Absolute60s. I figured that whenever I tuned in, there would be a one in ten chance something from my favourite year would be playing, which would in turn take me to my “happy place” (if I was having a bit of a stressful day).

As luck would have it, the first song played on this new retuned station was Somethin’ Stupid by Frank & Nancy Sinatra from, yes you’ve guessed it, 1967. This of course reminded me that in 2001, Robbie Williams & Nicole Kidman recorded a great cover version of the song which became the Christmas No. 1 hit that year. Both artists were at the top of their game in terms of their respective careers, and the video for the song, although obviously staged, still makes me feel all Christmassy. If I had to choose one year other than 1967 to take me to my happy place, it would be 2001, a time when DD herself was just a kid and starting to take an interest in music. She was old enough to enjoy all the wonderment of this time of year without yet being taken in by the commercialisation of it all.

Somethin’ Stupid by Frank & Nancy Sinatra:

So, “What’s It All About?” – I suspect I won’t return with anything new now before the big day, so to everyone who visits here, have a wonderful Christmas. Remember to look out for the full moon that should appear in our skies on Saturday night, and look forward to the fact the days are now lengthening again.

Just one more thing. Last night, Mr WIAA and myself headed into town to take part in an awareness raising event for a local charity. The high rate of suicide amongst young men in the Highlands means that many families have lost a son or brother in recent years. Mikeysline has been set up to offer support to people who suffer from depression and chronic loneliness. Yes, it may well be “the most wonderful time of the year” for some, but keep a close eye on those who could well be feeling even lonelier than usual.

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We lit up the bridges for Mikeysline

An added bonus to last night, was that we managed to take a few pictures whilst walking through the town centre, and of course, our almost full moon made it’s way into the shot.

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The moon peeping over the top of our Townhouse

Merry Christmas from all of us at WIAA. Hope you have a good one.

Fly Me To The Moon Lyrics
(Song by Bart Howard)

Fly me to the moon
Let me play among the stars
Let me see what spring is like
On a-Jupiter and Mars

In other words: hold my hand
In other words: baby, kiss me

Fill my heart with song
And let me sing for ever more
You are all I long for
All I worship and adore

In other words: please, be true
In other words: I love you

Fill my heart with song
Let me sing for ever more
You are all I long for
All I worship and adore

In other words: please, be true
In other words, in other words: I love you

Robbie Williams, Formula One and “Supreme”

I seem to have all but abandoned the idea of writing randomly as each song I write about seems to lead straight onto another one – Just the way the brain works I suppose. Inevitably therefore, after mentioning Robbie Williams last time, I would end up thinking about all those other great songs and videos he made at the end of the ’90s/early 2000s. For the video to accompany Millennium he played the role of James Bond but for the video to accompany the year 2000 song Supreme he played “Bob Williams”, a fictitious rival to Jackie Stewart at the height of his Formula One career. The video was edited using the split screen technique often seen in films from the ’60s and they cleverly wove together new footage of Bob Williams with the original 35mm celluloid footage of Jackie Stewart.

As I have said before, there was a real worry in the early ’80s that video would kill the aural-only music experience (as per the lyrics to Radio Ga Ga) but that never really came to pass. I must admit however that I did enjoy Robbie’s videos at this time immensely and they definitely added to the appeal of the songs. He seemed to be having the time of his life and who could blame him – Cocktails with Nicole Kidman and horse-riding with Daryl Hannah for goodness sake.

I am conscious of the fact that since starting this blog I have hardly written about any songs from the 2000s (only Tears Dry On Their Own) and this one just creeps into that decade and no more. When you are a working parent of a 5 to 15 year old as I was throughout that decade, you have very little time for yourself and the music I ended up consuming was my daughter’s choice of pure pop, Disney soundtracks, the songs from television shows (yes we were fans of Pop Idol and The X-Factor in the early days) and older stuff caught on the radio. If we ever visited friends who didn’t have children, the CDs lying around were all by Nora Jones and the sophisticated bands of the day whereas in our house it was S Club 7, Busted and Avril Lavigne. I might be exaggerating a little here but it is kind of true – The importance of what is No. 1 in the charts is not really an issue when you perhaps have a poorly child and a work deadline to meet. There are those lovely moments however when something comes on the car radio and your small child gives you a big smile and lets you know that your favourite song by “Robbie Michaels” has just come on!

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But back to Robbie and Supreme, I think I especially loved the video for that song because I have a fondness for all those old films about the world of motor-racing. As I said last time, I particularly love the Sean Connery Bond era (the garish colour, the glamorous locations, the beautiful clothes) and another ’60s film that covered all those bases was Grand Prix starring, amongst others, James Garner and Eva Marie Saint. Like with Robbie’s video, the use of footage from the real world of Formula One was incorporated and even our own Graham Hill had a cameo role as one of the drivers. It must be something about the long Scottish winters but when colour came to our television screens in the early ’70s and we were able to watch these films properly for the first time, we couldn’t get enough of them. I do blame my mother however for not pointing out until I was around ten, that Grand Prix was not pronounced phonetically (embarrassed myself a few times with that one I think).

As well as the film Grand Prix there was also the excellent film Le Mans starring Steve McQueen, and more recently Rush starring Chris Hemsworth which was about the ’70s rivalry between James Hunt and Niki Lauda. I remember that era well and used to love watching interviews with Hunt, a firm favourite on television chat shows. The film recreated it all really well.

Robbie Williams has continued to have an amazing career and even rejoined Take That for one album and a tour (didn’t ever expect that to happen but glad he and Gary made up in the end). Something that does bother me however is that he has had long bouts of depression over the years. He is the consummate entertainer and can sing, dance and play the fool on stage, but like so many before him the pressure of keeping us entertained has taken its toll. I have written before about the flamboyant artists who are incredibly shy in private and create a stage character or alter-ego. Robbie isn’t shy but he finds it hard to be serious, always resorting to the funny one-liner or comedy moment (even at the end of the video for Supreme). There have been numerous studies on the link between creativity and mental illness and sadly there does seem to be one – The phenomenon of the sad clown. I hope now that he has a family, he can rid himself of the black dog.

Before I finish I’d like to mention that Robbie’s career started with a stint playing the Artful Dodger in Oliver! (exclamation mark part of that musical’s title, not shock on my part). I have already written about Davy Jones of The Monkees who also shot to stardom after a similar stint on Broadway and it is part of pop folklore that Phil Collins also started out that way. There are no doubt many others out there I don’t know about but it makes me wonder – If your son is currently treading the boards in that role, it could be the first step on the ladder to global stardom. Just saying……

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Supreme Lyrics
(Song by Robbie Williams/Guy Chambers)

Oh it seemed forever stopped today
All the lonely hearts in London
Caught a plane and flew away
And all the best women are married
All the handsome men are gay
You feel deprived

Yeah are you questioning your size?
Is there a tumour in your humour,
Are there bags under your eyes?
Do you leave dents where you sit,
Are you getting on a bit?
Will you survive
You must survive

When there’s no love in town
This new century keeps bringing you down
All the places you have been
Trying to find a love supreme
A love supreme

Oh what are you really looking for?
Another partner in your life to
abuse and to adore?
Is it lovey dovey stuff,
Do you need a bit of rough?
Get on your knees

Yeah turn down the love songs that you hear
‘Cause you can’t avoid the sentiment
That echoes in your ear
Saying love will stop the pain
Saying love will kill the fear
Do you believe
You must believe

I spy with my little eye
Something beginning with (ah)
Got my back up
And now she’s screaming
So I’ve got to turn the track up
Sit back and watch the royalties stack up
I know this girl she likes to switch teams
And I’m a fiend but I’m living for a love supreme

Come and live a love supreme
Don’t let it get you down
Everybody lives for love

Bond Themes, Nancy Sinatra and “You Only Live Twice”

Yesterday I wrote about Rise Like a Pheonix, the song that won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2014, and how it was very much in the style of a James Bond theme song. Led me to think about all those great (and some not so great) themes from over 50 years of Bond films and I have put together my own list, ranked by personal preference. There are many such lists out there and it seems there is mixed opinion on which is the best theme song ever but at the moment, for me, it is You Only Live Twice by Nancy Sinatra from the 1967 film of the same name.

You Only Live Twice by Nancy Sinatra:

The song has a really beautiful intro which Robbie Williams cleverly used for his recording of Millennium in 1998. In the video for Millennium, Robbie, dressed in a tuxedo parodies James Bond and references many of the early Sean Connery films. Turned out to be a great way to get back on top after his departure from Take That.

But back to my list – Nancy up there at the top at the moment but like any list it changes all the time, especially with oft-heard songs such as these. There seems to be a tipping point at which a song has just been listened to just once too often and it goes from being a joy, to something you have become a bit tired and weary of hearing. I hate when that happens and rush to turn off the radio if one of my all-time favourites comes on as I just don’t want to reach that point any sooner than need be.

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All Bond Theme Songs – Personal Ranking (feel free to disagree)

1. You Only Live Twice – 1967 – Nancy Sinatra
2. Live and Let Die – 1973 – Paul McCartney & Wings
3. For Your Eyes Only – 1981 – Sheena Easton
4.Nobody Does It Better – 1977 – Carly Simon
5. The Living Daylights – 1987 – A-ha
6. The World Is Not Enough – 1999 – Garbage
7. From Russia with Love – 1963 – Matt Monro
8. Goldfinger – 1964 – Shirley Bassey
9. Skyfall – 2012 – Adele
10.We Have All the Time in the World – 1969 – Louis Armstrong
11.Diamonds Are Forever – 1971 – Shirley Bassey
12.All Time High – 1983 – Rita Coolidge
13.Licence to Kill – 1989 – Gladys Knight
14.A View to a Kill – 1985 – Duran Duran
15.Thunderball – 1965 – Tom Jones
16.GoldenEye – 1995 – Tina Turner
17.Tomorrow Never Dies – 1997 – Sheryl Crow
18.Writing’s on the Wall – 2015 – Sam Smith
19.Die Another Day – 2002 – Madonna
20.The Man with the Golden Gun – 1974 – Lulu
21.Another Way To Die – 2008 – Jack White & Alicia Keys
22.You Know My Name – 2006 – Chris Cornell
23.Moonraker – 1979 – Shirley Bassey

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I still think the Golden Age of Bond movies was the Sean Connery era or perhaps it is just that I am reminded of watching them on television as a child. By the early ’70s they were a staple on high days and holidays and because the world was a much bigger place then, with foreign travel something very few of us experienced, it was worth watching them for the glamorous locations alone. Although the age of feminism and bra-burning had well and truly started by then, it really didn’t filter through to Bond movies until the Timothy Dalton era and for many of us, that was a low point in the franchise. To try and make Bond politically correct was a stretch but with the latest batch of movies starring Daniel Craig as Bond, they seem to have found the right balance.

And if you want to compare intros, here is a clip of Robbie playing Mr Bond – Don’t think he’ll ever get the main gig but it was great fun watching him in those videos from his album “I’ve Been Expecting You”. A wonderful homage to those glamorous films of the ’60s.

Millennium by Robbie Williams:

You Only Live Twice Lyrics
(Song by Leslie Bricusse/John Barry)

You only live twice or so it seems
One life for yourself and one for your dreams
You drift through the years and life seems tame
Till one dream appears and love is it’s name

And love is a stranger who’ll beckon you on
Don’t think of the danger or the stranger is gone

This dream is for you, so pay the price
Make one dream come true, you only live twice

Postscript:

Just in case anyone else has “anorak tendencies” like myself, yes there have been 24 Bond movies to date (and two by other production companies) but the first one, Dr No in 1962, did not have a title song. Monty Norman did however compose the now infamous James Bond theme for it which has been used in all the films since.

For the 1969 film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service starring one-time Bond George Lazenby, John Barry was the composer of the opening theme of the same name but Louis Armstrong’s song We Have All The Time In The World was a secondary theme, played at the end of the film. The only other exception to the rule was that Matt Monro’s vocal version of From Russia With Love was not played for the opening titles to that film but used for the closing credits.