A very mild, pseudo-Spring-like weekend is upon us, despite the fact that the sun barely rises over the houses over the back from the extensive gardens here at Dolores Delargo Towers at this time of year. We may be tempted outside to tackle some of the inevitable tasks that need to be done (in the quest to "banish death" from the garden in preparation for new growth to come)! [I did make a start yesterday, chopping back the old flowering stems of the Verbena bonariensis and Salvia ulignosa - both of which throw out over 5 to 6ft of growth every year, but once the flowers are dead, look ugly. Browned fern fronds are next on my radar.]

Meanwhile, how about another selection of some of the "newer" music that has caught my ear of late..?

Let's open with a number that's not new at all - in fact it was released in 1967! - but it appeared on the lovely Rylan's show on Radio 2, as he was in conversation with two of the stars of Strictly Come Dancing [where it has apparently been a regular dance choice; I dunno, I never watched the show in my life]. Having never (knowingly) heard it before, here it is! A slice of irrestistibly catchy cha-cha-cha:

Back to the present...

Our Glorious Leader Queen Madge has - out of the blue - released a cover of the song that made Patty Pravo [see here and here] a massive star in Italy (in support of a marketing campaign for D&G, it appears). Quite a departure for her, but beautifully done!

I only very recently stumbled across this one - and I rather like it!

A jolly enough number, from an ex-girlband member (Little Mix), with a rather odd video - what more do we need?

Yay! Another new choon from our favourite eccentrics du jour! Pain? What pain?

And finally, saving the best to last, it's another cracker from the eternally-sexy Mika!

Hello!

As ever, dear reader, let me know your thoughts...

There's a huge cornucopia of birthdays today, including the remarkable and beloved Betty White, Our Patron Saint of purring Eartha Kitt, and (Lord) David Lloyd George, Muhammad Ali, Vidal Sassoon, Jim Carrey, Paul Young, Calvin Harris, Shari Lewis, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Neville Shute, Andy Kaufman, Susanna Hoffs, Mack Sennett, Chris Montez, Benjamin Franklin, James Earl Jones, Michelle Obama, Tiësto, (Lord) Keith Joseph, (Sir) Compton Mackenzie, Al Capone, Shabba Ranks, Richard Hawley and Sheree North, and today marks the centenary of the birth of Moira Shearer...

...but it is to our most regularly-featured Patron Saint (of Hair-Swishing?), stalwart employer of every safety gay in France, and (another) "birthday girl" Dalida to whom we turn for respite today, dear reader! Enjoy...

Dalida était l’une des plus grandes de toutes les divas!

Another very odd week crawls to its inevitable demise. I have found myself feeling a bit like a prisoner, working from home [a thing I hate, and never did before the pandemic arrived in 2020]. Today I feel so "stir-crazy" I am finally going to venture into the office (now the rain and murk has stopped, for a while at least). Woo-hoo.

Just one day more, and it'll be time to breathe again...

To prepare ourselves for the weekend ahead, we need to get into more of a party mode - so let's apply the "super-gloss" hair gel, dig out our best padded shoulder floral print jackets (with clashing shirts, of course) and a little touch of diamanté, and boogie on down with Midnight Star [whatever happened to them?]. Thank Disco It's Friday!

Have a good weekend, dear reader!

And so, farewell then, Sheila Bernette.

An obscure name even over here in the UK nowadays - but to anyone of a generation that remembers 1970s British telly, she was everywhere!

A naturally gifted and very funny woman, she appeared in The Dick Emery Show, Coronation Street, Butterflies and with Morecambe and Wise, Larry Grayson, Leslie Crowther and Jimmy Tarbuck, was Tommy Cooper's "magician's assistant", regularly sang and performed on The Good Old Days, and was probably best-remembered as one of the pranksters (often as a "little old lady") on Candid Camera.

And then there was this - her famous advert for Extra Strong Mints:

Simply faboo! 

Another little piece of the fabric of my childhood, gone. RIP.

It's another snippets post, dear reader:

• Preposterous delusions of grandeur news: The tatty, backward, uncultured city of Plymouth, birthplace of Madam Arcati (and the city where we met) has announced it has placed its bid to become the UK's next "City of Culture"! Both of us were convulsed with laughter at the very thought of it...
• Pointless rebranding news: Whatever next? The iconic London Underground Tube signs on the Bakerloo Line have "temporarily" been taken over by a promotional advert for Heineken Zero, and people - particularly disability access campaigners on behalf of people with learning difficulties - are really unhappy about it. I am not surprised! More of our "beloved" Mayor Sadiq Khan's attention-seeking, money-making shit. Of course.
• Vinyl's not dead! news: Iconic London indie record shop Rough Trade is marking its fiftieth anniversary in 2026, with a year-long series of events and special edition vinyl record releases. Keep the faith!

RIP, Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert.

• Human zoo news: Staff at a zoo in Japan have been dressing up as pandas, and encouraging the public to "feed them", because their last real pandas have gone back to China. It really is another world...
• Pompeii in Port Talbot? news: A vast Roman villa has been discovered under the largely-undisturbed Margam Park in South West Wales. Why the fuck they chose to settle in the godforesaken Port Talbot, of all places, is a mystery.
• God news: David Bowie's childhood home in Bromley, South London is being restored and is set to re-open as a museum/cultural centre in 2027. "Fame (fame), what you need you have to borrow..."
• And finally: Happy 70th birthday wishes today to the coolest French singer you never heard of, Étienne Daho. Oh! Les années 80!

And the weather? Rain, mizzle, rain, ad infinitum...

A man who has sworn off drinking this month has clarified that it only counts as drinking if it is in the pub, for God’s sake.

Wayne Hayes has proudly told everyone he is laying off the booze for the month but was flabbergasted to learn they expected that meant at home as well.

He said: “You can’t not drink at all, can you? In January? I’m not superhuman.

“I will keep my promise not to set foot in the pub all month, even on quiz nights. Not a pint of Guinness will pass my lips. If you don’t think that’s an accomplishment you don’t know me.

“But at home? That’s my own business. You can’t stop me and you’ll never even know I’ve been drinking unless you see through the kitchen window where I don’t have a blind because it caught fire.

“It’s still one hell of an achievement. Drinking without the camaraderie, the warm haze of shared intoxication, the fruit machine. I tell you, I’ll be bloody glad when John’s pouring me a pint again. Don’t tell me that’s not hardship.”

He added: “Actually, I’m getting to quite like drinking alone at home now. You can start earlier.”

The Daily Mash

Of course.

Groo!

I'm sort-of back to work today - basically checking emails and with an agreement that I can log off intermittently to rest my leg (it needs to be raised to heal properly and I can't do that without dispensing with the laptop from the corner of the desk where it sits while I am working from home).

To help ease the burden of dealing with the same old, same old shite - on this Tacky Music Monday, how about a little something from today's birthday girl (and staunchly out lesbian) Miss Patsy Kelly (and chum)?

...and here's an old fave, to boot. She knows exactly what she's selling...

Have a good week, dear reader.