RIP 2019

I approached this post thinking, not too bad a year for deaths and then I remembered that it was a bad for classic soaps.

Ken Kercheval played one of my favourite characters in Dallas - Cliff Barnes. He used to always order chinese takeaway and instilled in me a desire to eat chinese food from those cute boxes.

Diahann Carroll was beautiful and played the fabulously named Dominique Deveraux in Dynasty.

Luke Perry was a kick in the stomach. Far too young. If you watched the episode of Riverdale where they dealt with his death and had Shannon Doherty guest star and didn't cry, well, you're a stronger person than me.

Then Judith Krantz died. Any kid coming of age in the 80s read Judith Krantz. Scruples, Princess Daisy, Mistral's Daughter. All classics of their time.

 Doris Day - Hollywood legend.

Valerie Harper was Rhoda. I wanted to be Rhoda.

And finally, Karl. Oh Karl. You batshit crazy lunatic of a genius.

Other people died too of course. As always, I post about the ones that especially saddened me.

RIP 2018

I was devastated to hear about Anthony Bourdain who was funny, fearless and deeply attractive. The world is a poorer place without him.

Burt Reynolds had good innings but it's always sad to lose a Hollywood institution.

Penny Marshall was married to Rob Reiner, directed A League of Their Own and Big and was a sitcom star. What a life. 

Aretha. Never forgotten.

Jim Bowen. No greater quiz show than Bullseye will ever exist.

Emma Chambers for that scene in Notting Hill where she follows Julia Roberts into the toilet.

I hope you all had a good year. I will try and do more posts in 2019! 

RIP 2017

Where has this year gone? While not as devastating as 2016 (nothing can be as bad as George Michael), 2017 has not been good either.

Here I remember the celebrities who left us this year who mean something to me.

Glen Campbell. For Wichita Lineman, thank you Glen.

Bruce Forsyth. Now, I am not a huge fan of Brucie but the original Generation Game is part of my childhood and for that, we remember.

Erin Moran. Too soon for Joanie.

Keith Chegwin. I once saw Keith on a school trip to watch a recording of Cheggars Plays Pop. Seriously. Yes, I know you're all jealous.

Roger Moore. He had good innings but even so, he seemed like such a gent.

Sam Shepard. I rewatched Baby Boom in his honour and then felt very sad at his death. He is very nice in it. In fact, that whole film is nowhere near as bad as you may think.

Harry Dean Stanton. I am meant to reference Alien. Instead I will just say Pretty in Pink.

Tom Petty. Sigh.

Again with this - Beverly Hills 90210 podcast

If this gif has you roaring with laughter then I have found the perfect podcast for you. The TV geeks among you may remember Television Without Pity, a simply brilliant site that reviewed TV shows in great detail and with a lot of snark.

It's no longer with us but we now have previously.tv (set up by the same people) which is equally amusing. There is a podcast where they talk about each episode of BH 90210 and it's hilarious. I'm talking, snorting with laughter on the train looking like a lunatic, hilarious. Each episode has visual aids (where this gif comes from) and it's all just wonderful.

Beverly Hills 90210 will always hold a special place in my heart. It's the very definition of bad TV we love. Revisiting the episodes with the very funny hosts is a delight for any fan of the show. Don't worry if you don't recall the details, it doesn't matter. They play clips from the show and it's so bad. Brandon is genuinely the worst person ever. If you want to go back to the 90s, remind yourself how terrible the fashion was and how bad some of the acting and writing was on this show, then I highly recommend that you check this out.  You will not regret it but I hold no responsibility for how much it will make you guffaw.

Fleetwood Mac

For over 30 years I have declared that I don't like Fleetwood Mac. I probably said it on this blog. I think my dislike was based on the album Tango In The Night and that bloody song, Everywhere. I still want to pull my eyelashes out if I hear it. Also Big Love, such an irritating song. Tweeness.

Anyway, I like to think I am big enough to admit when I am wrong. Sort of. I still dislike those two songs but something odd happened to me. I started thinking, I fancy listening to some Fleetwood Mac. And boom, about 40+ years after everyone else, I discovered Rumours. It's a bit embarrassing. A few months ago, a friend's 15 year old son sat me down and explained who Drake and Stormzy was as I blinked at him. And there's me now all like, yeah man I've discovered Fleetwood Mac.

God help me. Anyway, if you're interested, I am enjoying The Chain (a work of genius), Dreams (although thunder doesn't only happen when it's raining - annoying), Don't Stop, Go Your Own Way and I quite like Little Lies. As usual, nothing earth shattering here.

I still think Stevie Nicks is a pain in the arse.

Movie soundtracks part 2

How can it be February since I last posted? I don't know how that happened and I am sorry if you've missed me.

Reporting back from my previous post, I watched Gladiator again on the strength of the soundtrack and no, I still don't like it. So there's that.

Let's continue.

Daniel Day Lewis announced his retirement from acting recently. For me, his finest moment will always be Last of the Mohicans. This music is beautiful and as with all good soundtracks it makes you 'see' the film. This is my favourite:

Desperado.

Oh lord, how I love this and the soundtrack. All of it. And this opening is perfection.

Dances with Wolves.

This makes me cry. This is another film I shamelessly love.

John Barry at his finest in my opinion. 

In other news, I had my oven cleaned today by a company called Greased Lightning. Yes, I know.

Movie soundtracks I love, part 1

I was recently at a meeting in Rome where the partner wanted The Godfather theme played at every break. An interesting choice I think we can all agree. Anyway, it got me thinking about my favourite movie themes. By this, I mean soundtracks, not songs written for movies like The Time Of My Life or My Heart Will Go On.

Let's hit it! Hans Zimmer is a genius and I absolutely adore his score for Thelma and Louise. Listening to this makes me think of the desert. I love it when it plays at the beginning of the film and the camera pans over the famous road to Monument Valley. I also love it at the end when they drive into the godamned Grand Canyon!

I am not a big fan of Gladiator. However, when we weren't playing The Godfather theme at the aforementioned meeting, we were playing this. Look, we were in Rome, ok? And I had forgotten how good it is. So good, it made me wonder if I should rewatch the film. Maybe I'd like it better now. That's the power of a great soundtrack.

I have always adored the South American Getaway music from Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid. All the music in this is wonderful because of Burt Bacharach but this is a masterpiece.

I make no apologies for my Titanic love. I bought the soundtrack at the time and still listen to it. I will never forget going to the cinema to see this and this music played and I thought, "I am going to love this film." How right I was.  I love the heart of this film and the music plays a massive part of that. It's very moving. This is one of my favourite pieces. RIP James Horner.

There is no 80s kid alive who doesn't love ET and the soundtrack when they fly on the bikes. I well up just thinking about it. It makes me think nothing bad can happen. John Williams is derivative but who cares when it's this good?

At this point, others would include Star Wars. Regular readers will know I am not a Star Wars nerd. I like it well enough but I don't lose my mind about it. Yes, the soundtrack is good but this is my list so go create your own and include Star Wars. OK?

Moving on to Gone With The Wind. The whole soundtrack is a work of utter genius. You can listen to it all on YouTube and I just spent 20 minutes listening to my favourite scenes and grinning like a fool. I have to include the opening credits here. Listening to them makes me want to watch the whole film. Good work Max Steiner.

OK, that's enough for now. I'll be back with part two. Let me know in the comments what soundtracks you love.

This Is Us

Let's move on from people dying shall we? Here is a lovely new TV series that I highly recommend. If you liked Parenthood (and if you didn't, why? you weirdo!) then I think you'll like This Is Us. It stars Jess from Gilmore Girls (yay!) and Mandy Moore. Both of whom are excellent. It's about triplets and their lives and it's wonderful. It's brilliantly written and acted, it's delightfully touching and perfect viewing to balm a worried soul.

The world needs TV like this right now and it's perfect for cold January nights. Snuggle down and watch it and shut the door on the Trump world happening for 40 minutes. It will be there waiting for you when you're done.

RIP Carrie Fisher

I have no words left. I certainly can't add any new words to the zillions the internet has written about Carrie's demise. I promise I am not going to talk about the damn gold bikini.

I am not a Star Wars fanatic. I like the first one (and I mean the first one made, I can't care enough to get into naming conventions) well enough. But anyone with a passing interest in the Star Wars films can see that Princess Leia is what makes it zing. Carrie's performance is punchy and fun and she has proper chemistry with the gorgeous Harrison Ford (and now we know why, eh Carrie?)

The thing about Carrie Fisher is she made everything better. When Harry Met Sally would still have been a great film regardless but Carrie makes it wonderful. When she is on the screen, you don't watch anyone else. She was so funny, she was a feminist, she will be missed deeply by anyone who appreciates honest and hilarious women. My heart is heavy.

Then in news that they couldn't make up, Debbie Reynolds followed her up to showbiz heaven two days later.

At 84, she was going to go sooner rather than later but really? REALLY 2016? I've only seen Debbie in one film but what a film it is. Singin' In The Rain is the blueprint of all Hollywood musicals and never fails to cheer me up. Debbie is a ray of sunshine in it.

Farewell to two dames we'll never see the likes of again. Bye bye 2016, don't let the door hit you on your way out you bastard.

George Michael

Well, I went too early with my RIP post didn't I? Readers, I am ok. I appreciate the tweets, the texts, the emails and the general concern for my welfare regarding George's death. This one hurt more than any others this year and there has been an outpouring of grief at Teen Towers.

George sang like the god he is and wrote effortless pop and soul. I always hoped he could overcome his monumental writers block and stage a massive comeback but alas, it wasn't to be. He leaves us with songs that I will never not listen to. Songs that soundtrack my life and make me happy.

He didn't make many albums but whittling down my top 10 George songs has been quite the task let me tell you. To do this, I have listened to Wham and George non-stop for 24 hours. It's a tough job but someone has to do it.

In reverse order:

I'm Your Man
I didn't love this when it came out but I now appreciate it for the pure pop it is.

Jesus To A Child
This is simply beautiful. You can hear the pain in his voice.

Fast Love
I loved this from the moment I heard it and I still do.

Wake Me Up Before You Go Go
You make the sun shine brighter than Doris Day. Nobody else wrote pop like this. A video of sheer joy.

Wham Rap
Fantastic. Enjoy what you do.

Club Tropicana
This song and video sums up the 80s.

Father Figure
I still maintain this is a bit breathy but it showcases George's voice. It's the song that made me cry on Boxing Day when it came on the radio.

Last Christmas
Come on. A list without Last Christmas is unthinkable.

Everything She Wants
The finest single ever released was the double A side of Last Christmas/Everything She Wants. George did lovelorn lyrics with such heart.

Young Guns
I want this played at my funeral and I want the entire congregation to join in the rap. Don't bother turning up if you're not prepared to do this. I shall be watching.

Leaving out Freedom 90 (cleverest lyrics he wrote) and Careless Whisper (another video that sums up the 80s) is a wrench. I am not counting the duets because that's all just too difficult and I am feeling fragile.

He may have been quiet lately, his best songs may have been behind him but the world is a much dimmer place for me with no George. I am somewhat comforted by the amount of coverage his death received. It's nice to know others loved him as much as me.  I really do mean it when I say RIP George and thank you for the magic.