Hello everyone, I’m back with a normal(ish) post, you know the type, a birthday and some ‘onthisdays’. Long time no post I know but I’ve been a bit busy. But right now I have a bit of time so here goes!
Catwoman has posted another excellent blog including some music, now I wonder where that bit came from! But seriously if you’re looking for a great VA (that’s Virtual Assistant if you didn’t know) then get in touch with her. Click on Virtual Assistant to visit her Kaleidoscope Business Services site and click on Virtual Assistant again to read that excellent blog. The brighter ones among you may have figured that Catwoman is not her real name, it’s…….. her secret identity!
Catwoman, probably not the best seamstress in the world judging by this outfit!
Today the 29th April 2009 is the 30th birthday of Jo O’Meara off of S Club 7, or to give her full name, Joanne Velda O’Meara. Jo was joined in S Club 7 by Tina Barrett, Paul Cattermole, Bradley McIntosh, Hannah Spearritt, Rachel Stevens and Jon Lee. The group was put together by Simon Fuller one time manager of the Spice Girls. Wait a minute so the Spice Girls and S Club 7 are manufactured bands? Surely not! 😉 Apparently Rachel Stevens was the only member who didn’t have to audition, I wonder if she was the only member who could sing too? What do you think? The group scored 11 UK top 5 hits from 1999 to 2003 including 4 number ones. I still play “Reach” quite often at my mobile DJ gigs and I have to grudgingly admit that it is a good party song, very grudgingly though of course! Here are the ‘Club (it doesn’t have the same ring as the ‘Dead does it?) with “S Club Party“. Jo was embroiled in the racial bullying row on Celebrity Big Brother in 2007 along with Jade Goody for their alleged racial comments to Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty. To me the whole concept of a show like Big Brother (celebrity or otherwise) is bloody awful. Anyway Jo is planning to release a new solo album later this year, somehow I can’t see that one being added to my Christmas list! But if it was it would certainly be just ahead of anything by Robbie W or Westlife! (oh come on I haven’t had a dig at Robbie for ages, give me a break!)
Jo meets the newest member of S Club (that's Jo on the left by the way!)
On this day in 1976 after playing a gig in Memphis Bruce Springsteen took a cab to Gracelands, Elvis’ home and climbed over the wall. A guard stopped him assuming that he was just another crank fan. Wait a minute he tried to climb the wall into Elvis Presley’s home, that surely makes him a crank fan! I wonder if Mr Presley was at home that night?
Bruce sits on the edge of Elvis' bathtub, well it was during the King's Fat Elvis period!
On this day in 1981 Sir Elton John paid £14,000 for 232 Goon Show BBC Radio scripts at Christies Auction House in London. The Goons was also a favourite of Prince Charles, which goes to prove that Charles does at least have some taste!
for someone so generous Elton looks as tight as a ducks arse here!
And finally on this day in 1993 the supremely talented Mick Ronson died of liver cancer aged just 46. In my opinion he remains the best guitarist ever to work with David Bowie, and there have been some excellent players since. There is a great quote from Def Leppard’s Joe Elliot at the time of Ronson’s death. “If there’s a god up there why does he do this? It can only be because he’s trying to put together the ultimate band” Mick came from Hull in Yorkshire which is not too far from where I live now! He first played guitar with Bowie on a John Peel session on 5th February 1970 after John Cambridge another Bowie musician persuaded him to leave his job with the Hull Parks Department. He went on to play on four of Bowie’s albums; ‘The Man Who Sold The World’, ‘Hunky Dory’, ‘Ziggy Stardust’ ‘Pin Ups’ and ‘Alladin Sane’ I wonder if Bowie’s 80’s output would have been as crap if Ronson had been involved? What do you think? Mick also produced and did the string arrangements for Bowie and the pair famously produced Lou Reed’s ‘Transformer’ with Mick also playing guitar on the album (and also piano on “Perfect Day”) After the Ziggy years Ronson went on to work with many other excellent bands and musicians. He appeared on Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue in the mid 70s. It is said that it was Ronson who persuaded Dylan to wear make-up on that tour, which seems a little surprising as Mick was apparently dead against the make-up and stage clothes for the Ziggy tour at first. He also produced the Rich Kids, Slaughter And The Dogs, Suede and Morrissey among others. He also famously became a member of Mott The Hoople for a short period in 1975, he was a long time friend of Ian Hunter. Click here to visit the official Mick Ronson website and sign the on line petition to have Mick inducted into the Rock N Roll Hall Of Fame. Let’s get him in there guys, I know I can count on you! It’s a great website too. Click here to watch Mick perform an excellent live version of “Slaughter On Tenth Avenue” from his first solo album
Mick Ronson - gone but never forgotten
With Just A Hint Of Mayhem 