French Albums Roundup

Can it really be 30 years since Laurent Voulzy’s legendary French hit "Rockollection"? This was a song incorporating some of Voulzy’s favourite old hits, and you could say it was a forerunner of the hugely popular early 80s "Stars On 45" hit medleys.

Laurent Voulzy has felt the need to celebrate this anniversary with a new album entitled "Recollection". This takes the "Rockollection" theme right across the album with some very interesting results. Voulzy has always been one of my favourite French singer-songwriters over the years and once again he’s collaborated with songwriting partner Alain Souchon on this mix of the old and the new.


Delighted to see the release of Star Academy 7 winner Quentin Mosimann’s debut CD "Duel" which has a very original format - one CD of his jazzy/swing-style interpretations, the other has some great dance remixes which I prefer. Sadly, his Peter Cincotti/David Guetta collaboration on "Love Is Gone" which was so brilliantly featured in Star Academy, is missing from this collection - but there are some very intriguing cover version choices - Talk Talk’s "Such a Shame" and French classics such as "Cargo de Nuit", "C’est La Ouate" and "Mise Au Point". I don’t know how well this CD will do in France, but congratulations to Quentin for doing something so brave and different with his first album.


Mathieu Edward has also released his debut CD: "Entre Toi et Moi" is in that very popular r’n’b style and this is surprisingly quite nice as I hadn’t really rated him before. It includes "Comme Avant" a duet with Sheryfa Luna, whom I also quite like. The album made the top 10 of the French album chart, which isn’t too bad for a Star Academy runner-up.


Matt Pokora’s third album, "MP3" has now completely dropped out of the French album chart, I could only attribute this to the French record-buying public not being too excited about their version of Justin Timberlake going and making an album in the English language. I still love "Dangerous" though - expect to see that doing well in my end-of-year chart.


Being "Mrs President" in France hasn’t stopped Carla Bruni from continuing her recording career: "Comme si de rien n'était" is her latest album and guess what, she’s gone all thrash metal on us!! Only kidding folks, Madame Sarkozy’s back with the same mix of introspective acoustic/jazzy tunes which made her debut "Quelqu’un m’a dit" such a big hit a few years ago. It’s not really my kind of music, but she seems to have cornered this market in France and her elevated status as France’s First Lady will ensure worldwide success - I even saw this CD in my local record shop last week!

I wasn’t really aware of Renan Luce but I understand he’s become very popular in France over the last couple of years. He’s yet another performer in that 'new French chanson' Benabar/Vincent Delerm style, and sometimes I think he sounds like Raphael. His album "Repenti" hit the charts 2 years ago and is still in the top 20. Again not my style, but it could be a lot worse.

I guess "Best of Sinclair" by Sinclair is only out to fulfil some kind of contractual obligation, as he's already had a similar compilation ("Comme Je Suis", once of my Christmas presents in 2004 from faithful travelling companion, no less!!) but this one is a bit of a mixed bag, including stuff from the "Mon Idole" soundtrack whilst leaving out the likes of "Un Jour" and "Sur Le Vif". Now can we have some new material (please please please??)

(album cover photos courtesy of www.amazon.fr)

The Square-Eyed Couch Potato: July-August 2008

Not too much to review this month, which is mainly a combination of turbulent personal circumstances and..well, just rotten telly.

I have never known TV to be so bad as it is now. And I’m not just being nostalgic, but the fact remains that the quality of television, no matter what channel, is going downhill faster than Usain Bolt on skis. I wonder if this is an irreversible trend?

Above: Boys from the Blackstuff - photo courtesy of www.bbc.co.uk)

One television show which brought that home to me was the first in BBC-4’s short "Liverpool On The Box" season to celebrate Liverpool’s year as European Capital of Culture. This programme took a frank and enjoyable look at how the city has been portrayed by television over the years. One of the most significant TV dramas of my lifetime was set in Liverpool. People of a certain age will remember the BBC’s "Boys From The Blackstuff", Alan Bleasdale’s extraordinary well-written and well-acted series about how unemployment affected a group of men’s lives in the early 1980s. "Blackstuff" did not pull any punches and still looks as powerful today as it was then. Seeing clips on this programme made me realise just how far British drama has fallen and failed over recent years, now taking the easy option of making dull police/forensic/medical/action series often built around a (questionably) bankable leading star. In the words of the character memorably portrayed by Julie Walters in "Blackstuff" - British TV drama needs to "fight back!"

Even "Brookside" in its heyday, before it too lost its way, tackled tough issues which other soaps were too scared to even consider. Now soaps are sensationalist for the sake of it, but ultimately empty and heartless, even though I watch them. They are going through the motions and, maybe, so am I.

(Above: House of Saddam - photo courtesy of http://www.bbc.co.uk/)

One decent drama just ended was "House of Saddam" (BBC-2, Wednesdays) which began with the rise of the Iraqi leader and ended with his execution in 2006. Very watchable, although some hilariously dodgy dialogue along the way: did evil son Uday really say "Hasta la vista, baby" whilst pointing a gun at someone???

I am very sad that this week will see the last episode of the rather wonderful "Six Degrees" (ITV, Wednesdays), one of those American series which, and I really can’t understand why, only got one series to prove itself. As it went on the series spun a very intriguing web, weaving all the characters together until each began working in different ways for the same big-boss-man. Just hope there’s a happy ending!

If you’ve got Sky TV, you’ll probably page-up and page-down through the EPG to find something to watch and bypass many of those strange little channels along the way, never pausing to watch what’s actually on them. I was intrigued to see "Mike Read’s Pop Quiz" on a channel called Red, which I’d never seen before. I thought this might be re-runs of his 1980s Saturday night show when various bands battled it out to show off their pop knowledge. Nope - it’s new, and it’s....dare I say it, ahem, ‘low budget’, in the extreme. With no big prizes on offer! (Come to think of it, no prizes at all). Teams of ordinary people being asked rather difficult pop quiz questions is ok by me though. It's due to finish soon - I wonder if there will be another series as this could become cult viewing!!!

On paper, "Diet on the Dancefloor" (Living, Tuesdays) must have sounded like a good idea, blending the glamour of "Strictly Come Dancing" with the ruthless competition of "The Biggest Loser" but sadly I found the end result rather cheap, low-budget and tacky. It didn’t help throwing in the now-too-familiar reality sob-stories and crying scenes either. Sorry but my well of sympathy has run dry...! I don’t know why previous Strictly winners Matthew Cutler and Karen Hardy got involved in this, and probably if they watched it back they’d be wondering too.

Goodbye to The Hits, hello to 4 Music. This new music channel has had plenty publicity, but if I see a music channel I actually want music videos, not "Shipwrecked" which if I’m right is some reality rubbish with beautiful people in bikinis and trunks, or "Big Brother" which is just some reality rubbish with...ugh. Anyway I will miss The Hits because along with The Box and Bubble Hits, it was the only channel actually showing new-ish pop stuff, rather than the hideous wall to wall identikit r’n’b infecting every other channel in the Sky music channel line-up. I can only hope that there’ll be something good in-between the non-music shows on 4 Music, at least they’re planning to show Channel 4 stuff like "Transmission" and "The Album Chart Show" which are never on at a suitable time for me to watch.

There are lots of cookery shows on TV, some I watch, some I don’t. I’ve got a lot of time for Dave and Si, the Hairy Bikers, as they are quite funny and take a lighthearted approach to cookery. Their shows are also good travelogues as well as a cookery lesson. Now they’re back - as "The Hairy Bakers" (BBC-2, Mondays) in their quest to get Britain baking. The result is a very entertaining way to pass half an hour and I’m looking forward to the rest of this series.

Swedish Idol on the way back...

Only 10 days, 18 hours and 32 minutes to go.

Till Swedish Idol returns on TV4....


...YAY!!!! Roll on 3 September!!!

Retro Saturday: Army of Lovers

Can't believe I haven't featured them till now!!

The mega-genius that is Alexander Bard first came to my attention with this unique musical combo, who were completely overlooked in the UK - apart from those of us who recognise real musical talent of course!

Why not have a bit of "Obsession": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QG0vIiwWGGo

Retro Saturday: London Boys

I'm in this late 80s vibe tonight. So let's have some London Boys then. This duo - Dennis and Edem - produced some anthemic hi-NRG disco hits, with a distinctive Europop vibe. Their biggest hits in the UK were "Requiem" and "London Nights". Their story had a very tragic ending as Dennis and Edem were killed in a car crash.

Their music lives on though: "Requiem": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oAZVG99s3o
and a TOTP performance of "London Nights" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbszjo99JAc

Retro Saturday: The Blessing

From 1991 here is "Highway 5", another song I remember from "The Chart Show". The singer wasn't the most appealing frontman, and the video is sooooo dated, but I always liked his voice and this song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7IryEZm5uM

Retro Saturday: Ellis Beggs and Howard

I have been wanting to feature this for ages and ages but had no luck finding it till tonight.

One of the best things about the late 80s was The Chart Show - unmissable viewing on ITV on Saturday mornings. Apart from the various charts it also featured a number of new releases, many of which failed to make the charts but inevitably found a place in my heart and, well, still do.

Be warned: being the 80s there is lots of big hair in the video for the fabulous "Bad Times" here at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSHLEVDY79o

The Beggs in Ellis, Beggs and Howard was none other than Kajagoogoo's Nick Beggs, but by that time his unique hairstyle from the "Too Shy" days was long gone, but he is, well, in need of a haircut....anyway, enjoy!

Retro Saturday: Deborah Sasson

OK so here we go with some more nostalgia.

"Passion and Pain" was a little 80s electro stomper from Deborah Sasson, whom I knew nothing about neither then nor now, but I liked the song anyway. A bit of delving revealed that Ms Sasson actually was an opera singer! "Passion and Pain" is at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmwoSM-x76o

Apologies...

...for the lack of posts, things still not really 'normal', been very hectic and what spare time I have these days is devoted to watching a certain big sporting event going on just now!

Should hopefully do some posts on Saturday/Sunday as I'm having some catch-up 'me time' this weekend.

Retro Saturday: McAlmont & Butler

David McAlmont is one of this country's most underrated singers and his collaboration with ex-Suede man Bernard Butler provided some great music in the 1990s - notably "Yes" which was one of my favourite songs of 1995 if I remember correctly. Here it is. A totally wonderful timeless song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJSaRw1vjxM

Also here is the later "Bring It Back" which was rather fab as well. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evy7wIzpYI4

Reasons to be Cheerful: Autumn 2008

Since 'Summer' effectively passed me by, I'm now looking forward to the latter half of 2008 and all the musical goodies that will/may bring:


Will Young - First single "Changes" from his new album. It's got a bit of the James Morrison about it, but that's not really too bad, although it's no "Leave Right Now" or "Your Game" either.


Fibes! Oh Fibes! - third album expected towards the end of 2008, should include the delightful catchy pop of "Love Child" which is currently over at their MySpace (www.myspace.com/fibesohfibes)


Sebastian Karlsson - over at his MySpace (www.myspace.com/sebastiankarlsson) he reports that the first single from his third album is due in a month's time. The new album has also been mixed so it shouldn't be too long till it's hitting record stores.


Måns Zelmerlöw - he's no longer appearing in the stage version of "Footloose" - replaced by none other than Brolle - and his second album is due towards the end of 2008.

Retro Saturday: Dubstar

Another band I was thinking about this week, from about 1996-97 if I remember rightly so they qualify for my little retro section....particularly fond memories of the excellent "No More Talk" which is just a lovely little electro-pop tune with sweet vocals from Sarah Blackwood: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TaWwoXCj4c

If you are looking for a completely classy pop song then "Stars" may just fit the bill: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjdrwMwGWR4

Retro Saturday: If?

"Saturday's Angels" was an absolute indie-dance-crossover classic from the early 90s - and sadly a forgotten treat which was ignored by radio outwith the usual night-time Radio 1 slot. In the absence of a video someone's put some images to the music so find out what you've been missing at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmDBu7KdoSQ and it still sounds absolutely fantastic all these years later.

Retro Saturday: Fuzzbox

AKA We've Got A Fuzzbox and We're Gonna Use It, much beloved of the John Peel show. Their version of "Bohemian Rhapsody" is indeed a joy, but in the absence of that on YouTube then here are their two biggest hit singles in the UK, by which time their image and musical sound had been polished beyond recognition:

The Thunderbirds-themed electropop of "International Rescue" : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afyyOsbFnCU

...and its follow-up "Pink Sunshine": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xp4tSsPU_8

Retro Saturday: The Bureau

The Bureau was formed by a few original members of Dexy's Midnight Runners, who split from the band after personality clashes with main man Kevin Rowland.

In 1981 they released the excellent "Only For Sheep" which I rushed out to my local record store to buy, and I'm happy to say I still own this single.

I recently read that The Bureau are the latest band to get on the comeback trail, so in preparation for that why not give your memory a welcome jog of "Only For Sheep" at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MW60Zp9ivdw

X Factor = Phixx???

Believe me, I tried.

Yes, I tried to give "The X Factor" another go. Series 5 (am I right??) started with the usual auditions and, well, it was just same-old, same-old:

Sob stories - check:
Gratuitous performance of "Fields of Gold" - check:
Editing of 'isn't this bonkers?' facial expressions by the judges: check.

I only watch "The X Factor" for the rubbish/deluded contestants so a great big YAY! for Ant and Seb, Wales' answer to Peter Andre. They did, indeed, rule.

The ritual humiliation of Nikk-don't-mention-that-I-was-in-Phixx-but-I-sing-in-working-mens-clubs-Mager, ex of the same "Popstars: The Rivals" which catapulted Cheryl-then-Tweedy to stardom, looked sooooo staged. Cue the first walk-off moment of the series, as Mrs Cole decided she couldn't judge him. I thought it was quite sad actually, as he wasn't the worst, but he was clearly set up to fail.

Can I just say one thing: I liked Phixx.

In case you aren't aware of this boyband, they were the "Popstars: The Rivals" contestants who didn't make it into One True Voice. In Liberty X style, they formed their own band and made some rather fab singles so what better reason than to feature them tonight!

"Hold On Me": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlhM05XNzhM
"Love Revolution":http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2QdzizP-Qc
"Strange Love": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abwYHMY7CyE

YouTube is back!

I've got YouTube working again, how I don't know as I never did anything to it!!

Yay!!!!

This coming week...

...I'm finally hoping to resume some kind of normal service on here - as things have been anything BUT normal in this blogger's life over recent weeks - but now (finally, fingers crossed) look to be picking up.

The main thing I need to do is get YouTube back in my life as I couldn't reinstall Flash player last weekend. Assuming this gets sorted, Retro Saturday should be back.

Planning to do a couple of charts updates and also take a look at some recent French album releases.

Who knows...maybe even a TV review and some Olympic stuff as well.

I'm hoping to be busy over at Planet Salem this week too, as the object of that blog's affection has a couple of gigs this weekend.

Roll on this weekend!!!!

UK Charts Update

There is something seriously rotten in the top 40, when the trashy, contrived, 'oh aren't I shocking?' "I Kissed A Girl" by Katy Perry gets to no.1 in the chart, (and knock Kid Rock off no. 1), whilst The Verve's great comeback single "Love Is Noise" can only get to no.5.

I suppose the only consolation is that this week's no.1 has got one-hit-wonder written all over it, but why are the charts all over Europe falling for this tedious publicity seeker?

Elsewhere, I'm happy to see that The Script have made top 5 with their second hit "The Man Who Can't Be Moved", but just who is buying that awful "5 Years Time" by Noah and the Whale? It reminds me of that "JCB Song" from a couple of years ago. Yes, that bad.

I do fear for the chart success of Gabriella Cilmi and Sam Sparro's follow-up singles to "Sweet About Me" and "Black and Gold" respectively, as these songs are still in the top 30 after all this time and "Save The Lies" and "21st Century Life" will probably be neglected as a result.

The top 40 chart has become ridiculously stagnant, with songs hanging around for several months at a time. I'm not suggesting we go back to the old days when a song went straight in at no.1 and then disappeared in a fortnight, but the UK chart is now very stale indeed and something needs to be done to put some life back into it. Any suggestions?

Can anyone tell me....

...when Star Academy 8 is due to start?

I've looked everywhere for this info, but so far it's been a fruitless search.

Aaarrrggghhh....

Am just about to scream!!

I still can't get access to YouTube because I need to download updated version of Flash player, but when I try to do this I'm getting thrown out.

Aaarrrggghhh!

No Retro Saturday this week :(

Having a few technical problems, need to upgrade some software which is stubbornly refusing to co-operate tonight ("Internet Explorer has encountered a problem and needs to close..." so it looks like an early night for your humble blogger. Will try again to sort this tomorrow. Fingers crossed :)

This week's playlist: there's only one me in the galaxy

The World Should Revolve Around Me - Little Jackie: hit hit hit written all over it. What a great pop tune! I think I like this because the backing track also reminds me of Snook's "Kommer Ifrån" which can only be a good thing.
They Said I Said - SugaRush Beat Company: extremely catchy soul-pop. Lead vocals from Ida Corr, (of "Let Me Think About It" fame) who we've featured on here before.
Smilin' - Bryn Christopher: I'm very excited about this new British soul talent if this is anything to go by. This boy is channelling Terence Trent D'Arby here, and again (for those of us of a certain age) that can only be a good thing.
Last Goodbye - Avenue: it took me a while to get into this, but I eventually decided I like it. Modern boyband style. Did Swedes/Norwegians write this? Sounds like it, (that's a compliment by the way).
Save The Lies - Gabriella Cilmi: dare I say I like this even more than "Sweet About Me"? Anastacia-esque. Ridiculously young Aussie supertalent.
Beggin' - Madcon: I still like this, and hope that all those plays on 'The Box' will bring it to people's attention and result in a top 40 placing.
All Summer Long - Kid Rock: OK I'll admit it - I love this! Great use of the "Werewolves of London" sample, and the result is an effortless summer song. I wish there were more of them around.
When You Touch Me - Freemasons: its UK chart stay was inexplicably brief, but I'm still greatly enjoying this track.
Love Is Noise - The Verve: I'm also still enjoying this, many are annoyed by the repetitive whoo-hoos in the background but I happen to like them!

Not long now till the Olympics start.

OK, I'll get this out of the way first: I didn't understand it at the time it was announced, and all these years later I still don't understand why the IOC awarded the 2008 Olympic Games to Beijing.

But they did, and there's not much we can do about it now. The knives are already out, with some critics branding it a flop before it's even started. Time will tell if they were right.

I've always loved the Olympic Games since I was a child - Munich 1972 was the first one I remember, (sadly for all the wrong reasons) and each four-yearly event after that has its own special memories for me, with only the Atlanta 1996 Games being the most forgettable for me. Maybe it's my age, I don't know, but two of the most special Games for me were Moscow 1980 and Los Angeles 1984, despite both hit by retaliating boycotts, they still managed to produce some amazing sporting memories.

I said at the time that it would take a lot to top Sydney 2000, which (IMHO) put on the best opening and closing ceremonies I've ever seen, so Beijing's got a lot to live up to.

I'm not patriotic in any way, but it would be quite nice if Team GB could pick up the odd medal or two. I'll be cheering them on in the cycling and athletics anyway, although I'm not so keen on those equestrian and shooting things! It's been an incredibly low-key build up over here, with more media attention being focused on the political aspects of the Games, and the health hazards of the smog than how many medals we'll win. A far cry from the golden age of the 1980s and early 1990s when British athletes were never far from the medals podium. (My favourite event back then was the 400m individual and relay races, and that probably had everything to do with Roger Black...!)

Anyway - good luck to all the athletes from all the competing nations big and small, and hope that it will be a Games to remember. Over to you, Beijing...

She's finally home.

Mum is now out of hospital after her (unexpected) midweek operation.

I'm soooooo happy to have her back!! And she's happy to be home too, although still in a lot of pain and this op has also had a considerable (temporary) impact on her mobility. Still, you can't keep her down for long :))

Making a spectacle of myself.

They are new, and they are mine all mine.

I'm normally rather understated and reserved in my tastes, but if I'm due some kind of midlife crisis then it should begin with buying great big Posh-type sunglasses for all my adventures abroad :)))

Allsång review? OK, let's not bother and just have some BWO screencaps instead.

These are from last Tuesday's show in which Martin, Marina and Alexander performed "The Bells of Freedom". Martin looked rather yummy in that red shirt :)))

Head on over to www.svt.se and follow the link to the show on SVT Play, where you can find BWO about 4 minutes into the show.

Swedish Charts Update

I'm not too excited by the Swedish Topplistan this week. "Pick Me Up" by Emilia De Poret - who I know nothing about apart from the fact that she had a blog on Aftonbladet's website - is no.1 but I'd describe this as a rather unspectacular slice of r'n'b pop, a genre which (IMHO) frankly is beyond boring at the moment. This track knocked Takida's excellent "Curly Sue" off the top spot. Now, that song has been around for ever (OK then, 34 weeks in the Topplistan) and its staying power may just go on and on.

Sebastian Krantz who was on "Talang" is at no. 3 with "Du Och Jag". Again this doesn't really do anything for me.

After all the football songs in the charts, make way for the official Swedish Olympics song - "Raise The Banner" by The Poodles, well, this is very Poodle-esque and isn't any kind of departure from their normal style. It could be worse though - it could be "Supergirl" by Ellinor, who I reckon they are trying to market as a new Amy Diamond. As if one isn't enough!!

"Hot Summer Night" by Sir Duke is yet more of that effortless conveyer-belt pop which the Swedes can produce in their sleep. After her "Allsang" appearance the eccentric Miss Li has enjoyed chart success with "Oh Boy" but this is now slipping down the chart.

Retro Saturday: Bocca Juniors

And finally, tonight, 'legendary' doesn't even begin to describe "Raise". Anyone with a remote interest in that 1990 crossover indie-dance sound will probably know and love this. Produced by Heller, Farley and Weatherall, if that means anything to you. But even if it doesn't, it's never too late to join the party:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgDUnHR29Ik

Retro Saturday: KLF

I could have chosen any KLF track tonight - they are all unspeakably wonderful but for some reason I chose to ignore the obvious hits and bring you the slightly more obscure "Kylie Said To Jason" which manages to combine a very commercial Stock-Aitken-Waterman parody with nonsensical rap and some rave influences in there too. What I would give for something as good as this in the top 40 today!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSaZKgAq8J0

Retro Saturday: Way of the West

After 1981's "Don't Say That's Just For White Boys" and "See You Shake" came "Drum" from 1982, which again got lots of 'night-time Radio 1' airplay but was overlooked everywhere else. Thankfully there is the fairy godmother that is YouTube to revive long-lost forgotten tracks such as this at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4l6JVmxmVo

Retro Saturday: Stefan Raab

OK I'm just having a little fun now .... where would we be on this blog without a little ESC nonsense from time to time. I had the iPod on shuffle this week and this song came up a couple of times which made me think, "hey, I should put this on Retro Saturday one of these weeks". Classic parody which works and then some. "I am so curious/I just wanna know what you there have". Admitting you like this probably means you have no credibility, but hey, credibility was overrated anyway. Find Stefan and the gang rocking Globen in 2000 at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0v7_hJpbPgo

Retro Saturday: The Beloved

Can it really be 18 years since "Hello"??? anyway the chorus is basically a list of various famous/cult people/objects and is either a lyrical delight or just....a list of various famous people etc....anyway you can make your own mind up at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbXVQ2MrVME

Also have a listen to "The Sun Rising" - a dance classic from 1989 at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2hzlEdXsg0.

Retro Saturday: Blur

A bit unfortunate that people have forgotten Blur's relatively early work and only really think of "Parklife" and the whole Blur vs Oasis thing.

So tonight I'd like to focus on three Blur songs which I like.

1. "For Tomorrow": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yvw1R1Ykk5Y

2. "Bang": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qr7bJuGLbLQ

3. "Popscene": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlY6rmQfNt4

(Oh and by the way, by the time of the Blur vs Oasis media-fabricated 'war' I was firmly in the Oasis camp, although I still rate the "Parklife" album and latterly "Coffee and TV" and "Out of Time" are also rather wonderful as well).

Yet another setback...!

Mum is back in hospital - another hospital even further from home than the last one - for a slightly prolonged stay. But she will be home soon, and there is very positive news on the horizon once this 'complication' is sorted out.

That's all I will say just now: I won't be posting too much on here over the next week (although might do the odd post over at Planet Salem) and I can't really say when 'normal service' will resume on this blog: recent weeks have been a bit turbulent to say the least, and the coming weeks are also going to be quite busy (oh, and the Olympics will be starting next week too....) anyway I really need to get my time management in order, pronto!!

I'll be back on here at the weekend with some retro goodies as usual and possibly a review of this week's Allsång.

Now though....I need to get some sleep!!!

Allsång 2008: what's gone wrong?

According to this week's Swedish press, "Allsång på Skansen" is going through a crisis, and this week's show had the lowest viewing figures since 1996.

Why? Well, IMHO, this summer's series started quite well but over the last couple of weeks the line-up has been below-par to say the least, and if Balkan party band Andra Generationen of "Kebabpizza" fame was the best they could get to headline the show this week, then the mighty have indeed fallen.

Don't even start me on that Harrysson bloke or Vocal Six, who have already committed a crime in my book for singing acappella which I can’t stand anyway, and I thought their Tom Jones medley was unspeakably bad.

Of course if truth be told I only watch Allsång for the current/recent pop stuff anyway, and therefore I was very keen to see Adam Tensta. He did "My Cool" which at least woke up the crowd after a first twenty minutes which quite frankly would have sent anyone to sleep.

Likewise Veronica Maggio (pictured above, photo courtesy of Aftonbladet) was also a welcome sight, and performed "Måndagsbarn" very well even if at times she looked a little uncomfortable and out of place in this particular environment.

At the end of the day Allsång is a variety show, but I've felt on occasions during this series that the 'modern' element - the current/recent pop hits, haven't always fitted in well with the more old-fashioned parts of the show - the uniquely Swedish cosy little singalongs and comedy interludes.. Host Anders Lundin is still very good though, and it's not his fault if he's stuck with a substandard line-up of guests.

When it’s on form, Allsång is great: but last week and this week's shows were very poor. Hopefully the show will redeem itself in its final two weeks, and at least we have BWO to look forward to on Tuesday.

Retro Saturday: Voice of the Beehive

The excellent Mine For Life (http://mineforlife.blogspot.com) is focusing on the 1990s this month - and why not? - and recently mentioned Voice of the Beehive's "Perfect Place". I may have previously mentioned on here that 1992 was rather a special year for me musically: lots of good tunes which bring back very fond memories. I always remember "Perfect Place" from early that year, which for some reason I always remember it being out around the same time as Take That's "Once You've Tasted Love" (!)
Anyway here is "Perfect Place":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCMZdqanyjA

Retro Saturday: Fredericks Goldman Jones

I'm really on a French vibe tonight: maybe it's because it's only 7 weeks till I'm back in Nice...!

If you ever go to France on holiday and take the radio with you, you are guaranteed to hear "A Nos Actes Manques" by Fredericks Goldman Jones. This was a 'supergroup' formed by Jean-Jacques Goldman, Michael Jones and the late Carole Fredericks. This catchy Afro-themed song has become legendary in France!

"Né En 17 À Leidenstadt" was the first FGJ song I heard back in 1991; a great and (if you have any understanding of French) a really meaningful song which had a great effect on me at the time. Back in those days UK radio station Radio 5 (now Five Live) had a weekly French chart show - yes! - and it introduced me to the likes of JJ Goldman and Mylene Farmer. Does anyone out there remember "Le Top" with (let me get this right) Marc et la Meche??? Here is
"Né En 17 À Leidenstadt":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PULi2cGGD48&feature=related

Retro Saturday: Liane Foly

What is it about France that they produce such great female singers? A few years ago I discovered Liane Foly who has such a rich, warm, jazzy voice. If I was able to sing, I would want to sing like her. I hadn't listened to her for a while but tonight just decided that I wanted to check her music out again. Here is "La Vie Ne M'apprend Rien":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYtHI8FA1iE

"On A Tous Le Droit" is also one of my favourite songs of hers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSfmY7TDhJA&feature=related

I would also urge you to check out her version of Daniel Balavoine's "Vivre ou Survivre"; sadly I couldn't find anything on YouTube, but if you have a look around the web you should be able to find it somewhere. (!)

Retro Saturday: Eg and Alice

Any Teletext fans out there? Channel 4 TV in the UK has a marvellous set of music pages called Planet Sound, updated daily, including a mailbox called The Void. Was reading it today and someone happened to mention Eg and Alice, from the early 1990s and I immediately thought it was time to do a post about them. I don't know too much about them, but I liked their music back in the day - well two songs anyway, "Indian" and this one, "Doesn't Mean That Much To Me":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZwPRbaI9BI

This clip is from The Chart Show, a long lost treat from Saturday morning television....!

I don't really know what happened to them, apart from reading somewhere that Eg had become an in-demand songwriter and most notably had written Will Young's brilliant "Leave Right Now". He's also been involved with Will's new album, which will be released soon.

So I did a little Wikipedia search and found out that he was also involved in co-writing several other rather good songs too over recent years; particularly interested in reading he had co-written Sam Sparro's "Hot Mess" and Jack McManus' "You Think I Don't Care", both big favourites on this blog over the past year. A very talented and underrated songwriter you will agree...

Retro Saturday: Boz Scaggs

I was just listening to "Up On The Hill" by Fun Lovin' Criminals which gives a nice little lyrical nod to 1970s bluesy-jazzy American singer-songwriter Boz Scaggs. So what better reason than to feature him tonight?

Arguably his best known song and biggest hit in this country was "Lido Shuffle" but my favourite song of his is "What Can I Say". As ever, YouTube consistently delivers! Here's an amazingly speeded-up and extremely funky live version from a 1976 TV appearance:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32VWNapDFX8

Recovery.

My mum was finally discharged from hospital two days ago, and she's now back home recovering, catching up with the "Coronation Street" backlog and - wait for it - eating real, proper food!! Even my cooking is better than hospital food :))))

As I've got rather a lot of catching up to do at the moment - just minor stuff which doesn't matter in the bigger picture, but time-consuming nonetheless - it's left little time to blog so I won't really be around here much over the next week or so. Expect a few posts on Saturday night - goes without saying! - and normal service should resume around the beginning of August when a couple of other things are resolved (can't go into details, but fingers and everything else crossed).

In the meantime, happy blogging :)))

Retro Saturday: Loz Netto

A real early 80s New Romantic era obscurity, but one that I still love today. I don't know who Loz Netto is/was, but I taped "Fade Away" off the radio and played it for years. Thanks to good old YouTube, it's wonderful to know that there is someone else out there who remembers him. Here's "Fade Away" - enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Kx31AonYjA

Retro Saturday: Bauhaus

Before there was goth, there was Bauhaus. Peter Murphy may have became more famous because of a Maxell advert and also a cover version of "Ziggy Stardust" but this is the definitive Bauhaus song - "Bela Lugosi's Dead" and they began and ended for me with this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq2RXSboWMs

But I'm also partial to "Kick In The Eye" now that you mention it :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oe1ljgJ2eA

Retro Saturday: Original Mirrors

Apologies folks but I am really reliving my youth this evening!!!

1981 again, and this time it's the Original Mirrors whose line-up features a certain Mr Ian Broudie of Lightning Seeds fame. I always liked the drum-driven singalong of "Dancing With The Rebels" - don't you think it sounds just a little bit like the Skids?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zho8xr7_XAM

Retro Saturday: The Ruts

The Ruts were an amazing band from the late 70s who blended punk with occasional dub and reggae influences. "Human Punk" always reminds me of many a happy night spent with faithful travelling companion over the years :)))

My favourite song of The Ruts is "West One (Shine On Me)" but I couldn't find any video of this so here is the excellent "Something That I Said" with vocals from the late great Malcolm Owen, yet another young talent lost to heroin many years ago....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PQd7qOEBMo

Retro Saturday: The Scars

For no reason whatsoever, I was thinking about this band the other day. I bought their debut album "Author! Author!" back in 1981 and played it to death. "All About You" was probably their best known song, and here is a performance from the Old Grey Whistle Test. Being the impressionable teenager I was back then, I was madly in love with lead singer Bobby King and his big hair :))))

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_9V_l6FIsY

The Square-Eyed Couch Potato: June-July 2008

It's almost a year since I started watching "Hollyoaks" (Channel 4/E4, Monday to Friday) and during that time it has never let up - too many dramatic (and award winning) storylines to mention. The drama has continued to flow over recent weeks, as Max married Steph and was killed on his wedding day, run over by evil McQueen-son Niall. Now we have the rather unpleasant storyline of Jack faking his death to address his debts, but the body in the car park was none other than Kris' father! Quite a topical storyline too, as we have a high-profile faked-death court case in the news at the moment here in the UK...

Today I purchased a pair of this season's must-have (but increasingly hard to find) 'gladiator sandals', for the sum of 20 quid. I was therefore cheered to see an almost matching pair on "Gok's Fashion Fix" (Channel 4, Thursdays - repeated Saturdays) for the sum of £425.00. Gok made his name on being an endearingly-camp stylist whose mission was to make women feel good about themselves; now he's trying every week to prove what we already know - that the high street can rival the overpriced designer tat anyday. Mr Wan became famous for his eyewear, so appropriately he's now endorsing glasses in Specsavers, which coincidentally will be my next port of call in the coming weeks for a long-overdue eye test, and a good excuse for some new glasses which I've already chosen. Which, ironically, are overpriced designer tat!!

"Private Practice" (Living TV, Tuesdays) is the long-awaited "Grey's Anatomy" spin-off featuring Addison who has now located to sunnier climes. The first episode played it safe - but there are encouraging signs of a lighter touch than "Grey's" and the most bizarre thing about it all is that Agent Kellerman from "Prison Break" is there, playing a very different character. I'll keep watching, if only for the fact that Addison is a more appealing character than the tedious Meredith....

I shouldn't really be discussing "Who Dares Sings" (ITV, Saturdays) as I've missed it over the last couple of weeks due to much-documented personal stuff, but all I'll say is that there is a good karaoke game show waiting to be made, but this is not it. You can tell it's "summer" in TV land, even if the weather outside suggests otherwise.

I was totally underwhelmed by the little I saw of "Last Choir Standing" (BBC-1, Saturdays) because they've gone down the old sob-story route and it hasn't followed the 'hometown star' format of its Swedish version "Körslaget" which managed to drag the show out of the ordinary. And Myleene Klass is on it...how many shows is she presenting now?

"Greek" (BBC-3, Sundays) still fascinates and puzzles me in equal measures. Yet it's a remarkably pleasant way to spend 45 minutes each week in the company of these endearing fraternity brothers and sorority sisters.

"Tour de France" (ITV-4, daily) is still the best highlights coverage to be found anywhere. Phil Liggett, Paul Sherwen, Ned Boulting and Chris Boardman always put together quality commentary and analysis, and constantly interesting background features. Essential viewing which also does not shy away from the controversial issues which overshadow the sport of cycling.

Day 10.

Just popped in for a quick post before I head off once again on my marathon hospital visiting journey.

Well, here's the good news. Mum doesn't have any heart disease and even though she had a mild heart attack, there was no damage done and she's feeling good.

So why is she still in hospital? Well, I won't bore you with the details, but there was some unfinished business which may take longer to finish than first thought. There are two choices: she is well enough to come home and attend to this at a later date as an outpatient: the alternative is at least two to three more weeks in hospital, with all the starvation and psychological distress that a prolonged stay will bring. (Yes, they finally remembered that she'd had an operation before the heart attack, she'll have to recover from that before the other procedure gets done...get the idea?)

I think you can guess her choice.

There have been several mess-ups and mistakes during the last ten days - some amusing, but others which were so frightening and life-threatening that I really wouldn't want her spending another day in there.

EDIT: We'll have to wait till Monday till this is resolved!

Three new albums due out soon in France: better start saving up those Euros

Checked the forthcoming French releases on www.fnac.com today and discovered that the end of August will see the release of three albums I'm very interested in hearing. All of them just in time for my trip to Nice in September so there is a strong possibility I'll end up buying all three, well, if they're good enough of course!

A Mylene Farmer album is always an event, to say the least, and it's been three years since the (IMHO) disappointing - by her exceptional standards - "Avant Que L'Ombre" which has been gathering dust in my CD rack as I haven't played it for a while. The first single from the new album, "Dégénération" hasn't really excited me in the way that a lot of her past material has, but maybe it just needs time to grow on me.

Star Academy 7 winner Quentin Mosimann finally gets around to releasing his debut - double! - album on 18.08.08 and he also has his own official blog at http://quentin.over-blog.com/ Is it just me or does he look a tiny little bit like Pete Wentz from Fall Out Boy in some of his new photos?

Finally, I've been a big fan of Sofia Essaïdi since her debut album "Mon Cabaret". She now has the leading role in Kamel Ouali's musical "Cleopâtre" and should at last get the recognition she deserves in France. The soundtrack album is due out at the end of August and fingers crossed it'll be as good as the "Le Roi Soleil" soundtrack which I bought in Nice three years ago and which I couldn't stop playing for months, you'd have thought it was glued inside my CD player.

Stir Crazy.

Day six of my mum's prolonged stay in hospital, and the novelty of life in the cardiology ward is beginning to wear off. Mind-numbing boredom, obsessive blood-testing, daily attempts at so called "food" (but not as we know it) and excessive sleep disturbances are making her and her fellow patients extremely stir crazy. Still, it's another day towards her returning home...hopefully sooner rather than later, once all those necessary tests are completed and resolved, and at least she'll get some decent food here!

Automatic pilot.

Another day gone by in a blur. At work all day, then briefly back home for dinner, then the hospital run to visit mum - 3 hours 45 minutes tonight, including visiting hour. The patient is still in good form, and in no pain, but certain tests etc need to be followed through so she may remain in the cardiology ward for a little while yet. All being well, she should be home by the weekend.

Despite limited leisure time I'm still blogging because I enjoy it, even if the news isn't always good these days. I'm also excited about the return of two of my favourite bloggers -Poster Girl (http://poppostergirl.blogspot.com/) and Acer Ben's Pop Unlimited (http://popunlimited.blogspot.com/), both wonderful, great to have you both back in blog-land! Also a big welcome back to Mick a.k.a Tracklister (http://tracklister.blogspot.com) - missed you lots.

This week's playlist: You should know that I am head over heels for you

Jennie Let Me Love You - E.M.D: if Swedish press stories are to believed, their days might be numbered - blame Danny's growing international solo success - so enjoy them while you can.

Make It Mine/I'm Yours/The Dynamo of Volition - Jason Mraz: someone I've missed out on and wasn't really aware of till "I'm Yours" totally charmed me. Got his new album, very good. Makes mental note to check out back catalogue.

Love Is Noise - The Verve: a long-awaited comeback, but for once, this is one well worth shouting about. Modern and lively, and even if it's not "Bitter Sweet Symphony" standard, it's still better than most stuff at the moment.

Sanningen - Linda Bengtzing: when i first heard this, I didn't even realise it was her. Strong pop music which those Swedes do so well.

Beggin' - Madcon: This is old news by now of course (typical Britain, last to discover anything) but this may finally go big here as it's getting lots of airplay on "The Box".

42/Cemeteries of London/Viva La Vida - Coldplay: yep. Still here, and still loving them.

A difficult weekend...

Firstly, as you know I tend to stay away from really personal stuff on here. I'm a very private person (although I'm well aware of the contradiction between that and the need to blog to the world!) and I'd rather keep the blog lightweight and fun.

However, I need to say that this has been a very surreal and shocking weekend for me. My mum was admitted to hospital on Thursday for a minor operation on Friday, which she seemed to come through successfully. Yesterday she was told that during the operation, she had suffered a mild heart attack, and had now to be transferred to the cardiology ward for tests, monitoring and treatment.

The patient herself is in reasonably high spirits and still boasting her unique sense of humour which is getting her through the endless boredom of day to day hospital life, although she is becoming frustrated with the hospital's obsession with the numerous daily blood tests and other procedures which need to be carried out before she can return home. Her emotional strength is completely inspirational.

The hospital is a two hour round trip from home by public transport (I don't drive) even though our local hospital is only five minutes away, the usual red tape and politics mean that she has to remain there until the tests and treatment is complete. It doesn't matter though: every second of the journey is worth it just to see her again. I just want her home, but I'm sensible enough to realise that she is in the right place at the moment.

At visiting time she told me to go home and do 'normality', so that's what I'm doing. Even the most boring housework is good therapy at the moment. I thought it would also be a good time to go back to the blog, although normal service won't really be resumed for a while here.

As ever, I've had my trusty iPod with me on these long journeys to and from hospital, so I've managed to get this week's playlist together and that's coming next.

Back soon....

Just popped in to say that I won't be posting anything on here for the next few days due to some personal stuff, which means that life's going to get a bit hectic between now and Saturday. All being well I should be back on here on Saturday night.

See you then.

Måns and Linda on tour

Summer in Sweden means various "folkpark" tours in which various artists get together and tour the country during July and August. One of the best-known is Lasse Holm's "Diggiloo" which is described as a mix of humour, rock, schlager and pop. This year's line-up includes Nanne Grönvall, Lasse Holm, Lotta Engberg, Molly Sandén, Linda Bengtzing and ....big fanfare....Måns Zelmerlöw! The tour has kicked off and will run until 17.08.08.

This might be quite a wise move for Måns as this tour plays to big audiences and last year's tour was described as the most popular of all the summer tours. Maybe he'll do a solo tour after the release of his next album, due for release before the end of this year.

Linda Bengtzing (pictured above, photo courtesy of Aftonbladet) has certainly had a drastic image change over the last few months - firstly cutting her hair and now she's dyed it blonde! She should also do very well on the Diggiloo tour - she's certainly a lively performer. Her new single "Sanningen" is very good and is getting lots of airplay on Rix FM at the moment.

The Square-Eyed Couch Potato: June 2008 (Part 2)

I have just realised that there were a few shows I missed out of the May-June roundup, so here they are.

"Alexei Sayle’s Liverpool" (BBC-2, Fridays) was a three week personal journey by the Liverpudlian comedian around various aspects of his home city, past and present. It was a warm and fascinating series, I only wish it had gone on for longer than three weeks. The only problem is that, like many other showbiz-Scousers, he left his home city behind to seek fame - but he dropped a few hints during the final show that he might just return home someday.

"Jonathan Dimbleby’s Russia" (BBC-2, Sundays) was another too-short series: given the size of the country he was exploring, he could have gone on for months and I’d still have enjoyed every minute of it. Excellent stuff, I love this kind of documentary-travelogue and it’s the type of thing the BBC should be doing more of.

Finally, a fond farewell to "The Apprentice" (BBC-1, Wednesdays) even if, as usual, Sir Alan got it wrong yet again by finally choosing...Lee McQueen (pictured above), the man with the gift of the gab, and not even being ever so slightly economical with the truth in his CV at the interview phase could stop him. Claire - or "Badger Part 2" - should have got it. Maybe Sir A is just scared of strong women. I couldn’t understand why ice-queen Helene and relentless "I’m 24!" Alex made it as far as the final either. Only Lucinda - "too zany" for Sir A - had the kind of honesty and independent spirit lacking in most of this year’s wannabe apprentices. But who would really want the job anyway. The more I watch this programme, which I still love by the way, the more I realise that it’s the fame, not the job, that is the end goal.

Retro Saturday: Dead or Alive

How about a Dead or Alive song that isn't "You Spin Me Round"?

OK then: how about "In Too Deep" which I really liked, and still do, I guess. Feast your eyes on the one and only Mr Pete Burns, complete with eyepatch, at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suV-HqCUrjo&feature=related. Is there no end to the wonders of YouTube?

Retro Saturday: David Bisbal

OK, it's not really retro (2002) but I had this urge tonight to feature David Bisbal back in the day when he had that lovely curly hair (you know by now what I'm like when it comes to curly-haired men!!!!) and I always go a bit wobbly at the sight of David singing that song on the beach. Well it is summer (!) even if the weather outside my home suggests otherwise....anyway I thought it would be appropriate for a summer evening!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aW_ZH0rDrI0

Retro Saturday: Shop Assistants

Back in 1986 - when many of you hadn't even been born - your humble blogger sustained a back injury which developed into a serious illness which resulted in me being confined to the sick bed for virtually the first half of that year, with nothing to do but listen to the radio and not much else. I don't remember 1986 as a vintage year for music - Pet Shop Boys and A-ha aside - but I do fondly remember the Shop Assistants from John Peel's show. Once again YouTube delivers: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wU9fZkXHqns) this underrated band who really should have been massive!

Retro Saturday: Primal Scream

Just what is it that you want to do?

"Loaded" was the definitive music of its time: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aB6gH_vqs4w and still sounds good today. Same goes for "Rocks" from 1994 which I have fond memories of, for many reasons. Where did those 14 years go??? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGJKkBmpMZA

Retro Saturday: Sisters of Mercy

Bit of old goth stuff to start with tonight. I wasn't really a fan till "This Corrosion" (see it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boinZ5BIlkw) which I always saw as a companion piece to "Dominion" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWvOHT0zfXY) and after that, I lost interest again.

Patricia Morrison was part of the band at that time: I always saw her as one of those cool goth-girls (ditto Toni Halliday) whom I wanted to look like, but didn't quite get there.

Album Review: "Tur Kaut Kam Ir Jabut" - Prata Vetra

OK, so it's several weeks since I was in Riga and bought this...but finally, here's the review.

From the crude cover art to the eccentric musical arrangements, everything about the latest album by Latvia’s top pop/rock band screams ‘experimental’. "Cela Dziesma" opens the album and starts slowly, and builds like a fairground ride. The 2nd single, "Ja Tikai Uz Manu Tu Paskakitos" took a while to grow on me but is now more instant, although has a kind of art-rock vibe about it.

"Bronza" has a bit of a motor racing theme (am I right?) and again takes a few listens to get into. It’s one of my favourite tracks although it does go off on a tangent and dare I say Renars’ vocals sound a bit weird.

"Atliek Nosargat" - which I’ve read somewhere is to be the third single - starts off sounding like a tougher "Maybe" but Renars’ falsetto is sounding like a cross between Prince and Thom Yorke. I couldn’t really get into this one though, for one reason only - it lacks a hook.

"Siama" is a rambling Eastern-style instrumental, whilst "Es Jau Naku" has an almost folk-song feel. The next track, "Ai Nu Lai" is the Latvian-language version of "And I Lie" which was the first single released from the album, although - and this is weird - that version is not on this album. Nevertheless the Latvian version is still appealing, although it was a bit of a shock in the beginning as it’s so different from their usual style.

"Par Podu" is a kind of psychedelic nursery rhyme singalong, and then we have the title track - lyrical, experimental, offbeat and even has a rap by producer Gustavo - and this time the experiment works.

Renars’ vocals are commanding over the (off-) beats on "Laikam" - sometimes this works but sometimes it doesn’t. "Vakardienas Trakums" has a little glimmer of the old Prata Vetra, before they went...weird. Again I quite like this track, which kicks off with a tango-style rhythm.

"Bedz" is back to the warped electro beats which personify the new Prata Vetra. This might become a live favourite though. I wish some of the tracks were stripped of the bleeps and studio trickery and I might have liked the album more.

The album ends with "Pamodini Mani" which has Renars singing quietly rather than in his usual excitable falsetto. This is quite a charming end to the album.
The verdict: It’s not a bad album, but the main problem with "Tur Kaut...." is that it’s different, but it’s so different that it isn’t the Prata Vetra we know and love anymore.

It's Danny for Sweden at Eurovision...

...but if all you Saucedo fans out there will be expecting him to sing then you'll be disappointed. That's because he'll be... dancing.

Yes, Danny and Jeanette Carlsson will be representing Sweden at the second Eurovision Dance Contest which takes place in Glasgow on 6th September.

Allsång på Skansen: week 2 - 01.07.08

Week 2 of this year's singalong. If the young female quota in the audience had drastically risen this week then there was a very good reason for this....E.M.D. !!

Yes, Sweden's hottest new boy band, made up of former Idol contestants Danny and the other two, Erik and Matthias, (who look so alike I still can't tell them apart!), were at Skansen to perform "Jennie Let Me Love You". They certainly looked the part, dressed all in black with contrasting white braces. Following this they led the crowd in a highly topical football themed singalong to "Viva Espana" and kicked footballs into the audience.

This week's headliner was Magnus Uggla, Swedish rock/pop legend. There's not much you can say about Mr Uggla - you always know what you're going to get from him, anthemic crowd-pleasing songs so needless to say this was a very appropriate setting. He performed his latest hit "Parlor åt Svin".

Otherwise, the usual mixed bag including Peter Joback and Eva Dahlgren duetting - Peter, you were (and probably still is) a good-looking boy but what have you done to yourself with those glasses and that facial hair?

The "people's favourite" Sanna Nielsen gave us an acoustic "Empty Room" which remains a very popular song.

A new name to us was Anton Zetterholm, who looks like becoming a big star in musical theatre if his performance of "Everything That I Am" (written by Phil Collins) was anything to go by.

Quite a good show on Tuesday - but next week's should be even better as guests include Brolle, Amanda Jenssen and Maria Haukaas Storeng.

It's July!!

OK so we are into a new month, the calendar says July 2008, this means:

1. Parking myself in front of the TV from Saturday onwards to watch the Tour de France and hope it doesn't disgrace itself any further, if that's possible.

2. Dodging even more rain than we've been having for the last few weeks.

3. Now that I'm over that recent scary chronic fatigue thing I'm now attempting to get fit/lose weight for forthcoming trip to Nice. This includes re-acquainting myself with the step machine and making sure I don't exercise to Scooter or "Something Kinda Oooh", both of which I once made the mistake of playing on the iPod whilst walking up that great big hill to work in the morning. No offence to Scooter or Girls Aloud, both firm favourites at EuropeCrazy HQ but it's really not a good idea folks.

This fitness kick also means early nights during the week, so no after-midnight blogging for me (except on Saturdays).

4. Continuing my so-called gardening, but so far this week, 'rain stopped play' Wimbledon-style.

5. Avoiding Wimbledon (now I know what it must have been like for the footie-haters during Euro 2008)

Anyway I'm off to bed now.

I should be back soon with a review of this week's "Allsång på Skansen" and will also finally publish my Prāta Vētra CD review, it's only about 5 or 6 weeks late, you know me, mañana mañana :)))

Ole, ole ole ole

It's all over now, so I suppose it's back to trying to remember what I did with my evenings before Euro 2008 started!

Well done Spain - truly deserved winners of what has been a rather cracking football tournament. Right from the start, Spain were knocking in the goals, but Spain being Spain, i still felt that no matter how good they were, they wouldn't last beyond the second round, even though I wanted them to go further in the tournament.

Thankfully it was out with the old Spain, and in with the new: consistently exciting attacking skilful play, with that added ingredient which had been missing over the years - self-belief. Even the loss of David Villa didn't stop them, and fittingly it was their other star striker Fernando Torres who scored the winner in last night's final against a shellshocked, inferior Germany who (IMHO) didn't deserve to reach the final, so justice was done. Congratulations to Spain, worthy winners of Euro 2008, a tournament which was a victory for good, positive attacking football.

Retro Saturday: Mathilde Santing

It's a strange word-association but for some reason whenever I think of Julia Fordham I think of Mathilde Santing, a very talented Dutch singer from the late 80s so that's a good enough reason to feature her tonight. My favourite song of hers is "I'm Not Mending Broken Hearts": find it as ever at good old YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-slLpMd1_iM

Retro Saturday: Julia Fordham

Watching the Nelson Mandela 90th birthday concert on ITV last night (what did he do to deserve Philip Schofield???) anyway it got me thinking about 1988 - a very very special summer for me, for various reasons - which reminded me of Julia Fordham, who I quite liked at the time. "Happy Ever After" was a big hit for her that year - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9qGur8eTUg&feature=related and also "Love Moves In Mysterious Ways" which (I think) came a bit later on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQsvNucjM6s. Enjoy.

Retro Saturday: The Maisonettes

"Heartache Avenue" - what a tune!!

From 1983, they were one of the ultimate "one hit wonders" and it still sounds great today. This song was sampled by Roll Deep a couple of years ago on "The Avenue". Retro, retro, retro!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgmUwhfoSZs

Retro Saturday: Jakie Quartz

I mentioned this song on here back in August 2007 but thought it deserved another mention. "A La Vie A L'Amour" is a classic slice of 1987 Eurodisco which really should be revived - are you listening Kate Ryan???

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOuwSPfmV-w

Jakie's other best-known song is "Mise au Point" from 1983, which is a French-language classic of its time.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mabU531wwDo&feature=related

Retro Saturday: The Auteurs

Was just thinking about this the other day....in late 1993 I was temping in the 'big city' and would listen to Radio 1 on the way to work every day and inevitably, some time between 8.00 am and 8.30 am the breakfast DJ of that era would always play this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gruPFrbP0MA

I don't know anything about them, but what I do know is I always liked this song.

Retro Saturday: Saint Etienne with Etienne Daho

Perfect pop as delivered by one of my early-90s favourites, this time an adaptation of Etienne Daho's classic "Weekend à Rome" with Mr Daho himself delivering some mid-song words: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJTiXmFDhcQ

Saturday Night....

Tonight it was Boyzone night on Sky One, which meant a (very telling) documentary about the boy band reforming, followed by a live gig from their current tour.

Take That it was not.

Because, unlike the mighty Take That (the BEST-BOYBAND-EVER in this blogger's humble opinion), Boyzone only looked as if they were going through the motions. I mean...a Michael Jackson medley? "Melting Pot"? Oh come on, you can do better than that. Or maybe not. Enough already!

Prior to the Boyzone-fest on Sky One, ITV gave us "Who Dares Sings" - a new karaoke gameshow. Be afraid, be very afraid, it's a new vehicle for Ben ("Mr (no) personality") Shephard and Denise ("what am I gonna do now "I'd Do Anything" is finished?) Van Outen. And some karaoke singers. OK so it wasn't quite as teeth-pullingly-bad as Sky One's "Don't Forget The Lyrics", and it had its moments (that rendition of "I Believe I Can Fly" was TV gold) - in fact it might be so bad that it requires another viewing next week to remind us just how bad it is.

Next Saturday on BBC-1 sees the arrival of the British version of "Körslaget" retitled "Last Choir Standing", which i was looking forward to until they said that Myleene Klass would be presenting this - who said overexposed? (although we do like Nick Knowles) anyway there is a nice clip on the website of a choir doing a Maroon 5 medley and Mmmbop. This show will either be fantastic or extremely bad. Answers next Saturday.

Forget your old lawn, come over to mine (Part 1)

Never was that Salem Al Fakir lyric more appropriate!!

OK I'm going off-topic now, but I have to report that the gardening exploits of your humble blogger have gone onto a new level and my latest mad idea is to plant a lawn on a part of my sprawling back garden. After putting down soil midweek, I then put down the grass seed today and fingers crossed, seven days from now, there will be a lawn where the "no man's land" used to be!!

Fingers crossed that the local ASBO-bird population don't feed on the seeds between now and next weekend.....

Viva España!!

Well done to Spain for an emphatic victory over a strangely under-par Russia tonight. Now you know what you have to do - get out there and win this tournament, and shed that 'underachievers' tag for ever!

Türkiye....

...you were robbed tonight. And I'm not happy :(((

Nothing personal against Germany, but tonight they were all luck and no skill, and a shadow of their once mighty selves.

Tomorrow: semi-final 2 - Russia vs Spain. Should be a cracker, hopefully: may the best team win - and whatever team that is, that will be the one that I will be supporting in the Euro 2008 final on Sunday.

Allsång på Skansen - Week 1, 24.06.08

"Stockholm i mitt hjärta....." The annual Swedish weekly singalong returned to SVT last night and was the usual mix of the good (Håkan Hellström) the bad (those singing kids) and the just plain weird (Miss Li). Christer Sjögren was there with his dancing girls and sang - what else but - "I Love Yoo-Rup", whilst Arja Saijonmaa was, let's just say, not to my musical taste. Still the good thing about Allsång is that it really does have something for everyone, every week of its summer run. Last night's show also broke viewing figures records for the series, with 2.3 million viewers in Sweden tuning in.


Above: Håkan Hellström wows the Skansen crowd (photos courtesy of Aftonbladet)

This week, for me, Hellström was superb, the show's standout performer and he set the standard for the rest of the series. I've never been been a fan of the Gothenburg singer but I had to acknowledge that he really put on a great show last night.

The real star of Allsång is of course Skansen and Stockholm itself, as the skyline provides a superb backdrop to the show. It's great to have it back again, if only to prove that summer is here - even if, where I live, we have been freezing in unseasonably low temperatures and wonder if it will ever stop raining!!

Next week: Magnus Uggla, Sanna Nielsen, and ....E.M.D. !!!!

New Fibes, Oh Fibes! stuff

Fans of Swedish pop/soul will find much to love in Fibes, Oh Fibes! I've mentioned this band on here before, but I thought it was time to mention them again - because there's a couple of new songs to listen to. Check out www.myspace.com/fibesohfibes for a couple of cracking new demo songs "Silly Lover" and "Love Child" which are very promising indeed - especially the latter, I'd love to see this released as a single. A new album should be on the way: no release date yet, but hopefully we shouldn't have to wait too long.

German charts update

The latest DSDS winner, Thomas Godoj, has been at no.1 with "Love Is You". He has quite a rocky edge to his voice, which is a nice change for a winner of this type of show, and this is quite a decent song too. It's quite a credible rock ballad, which is change from the usual winner's song formula.

If I thought the Swedish chart had been taken over by football songs, then that was nothing compared to Germany. "Helden 2008" by Revolverheld is at no.3 and will probably climb higher as the Germans progress towards the final of Euro 2008...

Another footie song "Bringt Ihn Heim" by Oliver Pocher is also a top 10 hit. My favourite is "Supa Deutschland" by Mickie Krause, a good old fashioned footie singalong medley which includes the Eurovision theme!

Not to be outdone, the Austrian world cup song "Fieber" by Christina Stürmer is also doing very well in the German charts.

There are about 10 other football songs further down in the lower reaches of the chart, including World Cup 2006 songs from Sportfreunde Stiller and Herbert Grönemeyer.

Monrose are back with "Strike The Match", the chorus of which reminds me of that "Pop The Music" song that was out in France a couple of years ago.

Lastly, one of this blog's big favourites Vincent is at no.42 with "Miss Blue". What only no.42? He should be no.1! Maybe he should have recorded a football song....

Star Academy: whatever happened to...Gael Garcia ?

During the lead-up to the next series of Star Academy I'll be taking an occasional look back at some of the contestants from past years and find out what they're up to now.

I'll start with an old favourite from two years ago. Gael Garcia was the Star Academy 6 student who brought flamenco to the chateau. He also memorably walked off the show that year!

Gael released his debut CD "Barrio Caliente" earlier this year and I've also found a clip on YouTube of him bringing his own flamenco style to "Le Monde est Stone":




I don't have a start date yet for Star Academy 8 - hopefully it will be back to its usual time (beginning of September) and then I can watch it on TF1 whilst I'm in Nice. Auditions are currently in progress. No details have been revealed as to who will replace the profs who won't be returning this year.

As for Quentin Mosimann, his official site reports that his first single, the very jazzy "Cherchez le Garçon" will be released this week.

Nice: building site no more!!

Back in September 2005, during my last summer holiday in Nice, they were tearing up the town and building a tramway. The main shopping street (Avenue Jean Medecin) and the normally lovely Place Massena had turned into a building site - here's my photographic evidence!

Much as I love Nice, I declared back then that I wouldn't return to the city until the tramway was completed.

Well... ta-daah! It's been up and running since the end of last year and looks rather fab. I found this picture on the internet and it shows what Place Massena looks like now, with a very modern tram running through it.

There are a few videos of the tram system on YouTube, and from what I can see it runs all the way up to Place Garibaldi at the top of the old town, where you can find socca. Socca is a chickpea pancake which seems to divide people: some love it, some don't. I happen to love it so much that I took a picture of it during my last holiday:

12 weeks to go till the next one...!

Swedish Charts Update

Euro2008 mania is running riot in the Sverige Topplistan this week: firstly, the reggae-flavoured "Fotbollsfest" by Elias feat Frans who previously gave us that Zlatan song. It is a well known fact that 99.9% of football songs are tripe, and quite frankly I haven’t found that 0.01% this time. "Football Is Our Religion" by Rednex (yes, that Rednex) sounds like a German football song and is just a bit more memorable than the Elias-Frans effort. Ingen sommar utan Markoolio of course: his "Sverige Det Bästa På Vår Jord", is, strictly speaking, incorrect as they are now out of the tournament. Rather catchy song though. Finally, "Heja Sverige" by Camp Sweden featuring Chris Lindh (is that the Barbados guy?) Is the lowest placed of the Euro 2008 songs but it’s a decent enough bit of dansband-schlager.

Great to see "I’m Yours" by Jason Mraz at the top of the singles chart: why is this not massive in the UK? Also, good to see "Feelgood" by Ola climbing the chart too.

Anyway I'm off to bed now but before I go here is (IMHO) the best Swedish football song ever, from 1994, "När Vi Gräver Guld i USA" by (Anders) Glenmark, (Thomas-Orup) Ericsson & (Niklas) Strömstedt which I loved from the first time I heard it, and still love it today. And it obviously had the desired effect, as it spurred them on to a semi-final place at that year's World Cup.

Retro Saturday: Cocteau Twins

The Cocteau Twins' music figured prominently among the music I listened to between 1983 and 1986: then we probably went our separate ways I guess. Here is a video of one of their very rare UK TV appearances, on "The Tube", from 1983, in which Elizabeth Fraser shows off her totally unique, fantastic and incomprehensible vocal style on "Musette and Drums". Incredible, you will agree: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2z-TC4DHv30

Retro Saturday: Pale Saints

Bit of shoegazing, anyone...? At the beginning of the 90s the critics hated this kind of music but I couldn't get enough of it so I thought it was about time we had yet another example on Retro Saturday. "Throwing Back The Apple" was the only Pale Saints song I remember, but I loved it at the time and listening again I think it's still rather fab. Typical shoegazing-style video of its time at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8L4s00Fa2Hg

Retro Saturday: Dream Academy

When you mention the Dream Academy, most people of a certain age will remember "Life In A Northern Town" (which I always thought was a bit, well, wet) and I thought "The Love Parade", from 1986, was infinitely better. And it's still a lovely little pop song today too. If you don't believe me, check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApRLkycJ3ik&feature=related

Retro Saturday: White and Torch

An obscure 80s treat tonight: I'd mentioned them on the playlist before but thought the big widescreen drama of their music deserved its own little Retro Saturday slot. So enjoy the brilliant "Bury My Heart" along with "Don't Be Shot" at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-SCpga6WN8

This week's playlist: that was when I ruled the world

Viva La Vida/42/Cemeteries of London - Coldplay: My most-played album of the year so far, and three of my most played tracks from it. I know it's not the done thing to say you like Coldplay, but this has single-handedly restored my faith in British music. Rant over.
Jennie Let Me Love You - E.M.D.: You know you're listening to too much Rix FM when.....
Ready To Fly - Anders Johansson: You know you're listening to too much Rix FM when...
Feelgood - Ola: You know you're listening to too much Rix FM when...
Tired of Being Sorry - Enrique Iglesias & Nadiya: French chart-topper which still floats my boat.
Shameless/Stragglers Moon - The Fratellis: more consolidation than fantastic leap forward, but the new Fratellis album is well worth a listen.
Curly Sue - Takida: the song that won't go away in Sweden, and one which I still think will eventually go big internationally.
Standing Next To Me - The Last Shadow Puppets: More retro-flavoured fun from (still) an unlikely favourite album from this year.
Cry For You - September: still hammered to death on the radio, but indisputably one of the year's enduring dance tunes. And Swedish too!!

The Square-Eyed Couch Potato: May-June 2008

Thank goodness for Euro 2008: as there has been little else on the box to inspire me over the last four weeks.

And something very strange to start with: why have I inexplicably abandoned two of the series which were once the highlights of my viewing week? I didn’t go back to "Heroes" (BBC-2, Thursdays) after the first episode. Maybe I’ll catch the repeats though.

I still think it may be a series too far for "Doctor Who" (BBC-1, Saturdays). There’s nothing wrong with David Tennant as the Doctor, and I’m sure Catherine Tate will make a feisty and fun assistant, but there’s just something missing.

Two of my new favourite programmes this month are American imports.
"Greek" (BBC-3, Sundays) is a college-based comedy drama about a brother and sister and their respective fraternity/sorority adventures. It’s extremely warm and likeable, and you’ll be rooting for almost everyone...well, except evil Rebecca and cheating Evan!

"Six Degrees" (ITV, Wednesdays) is one of the most engaging and involving new dramas I’ve seen in a long time. It’s not about police/lawyers/doctors/forensic scientists...it’s just about six people, living their lives in New York, and how they are all linked in one way or another. It’s well-acted and watchable - so why was it cancelled after one series?

The recent series of "ER" (More 4, Thursdays) ended with an explosion - why couldn’t there have been a happy ending for once? New, young characters are promised for the next (and final) series: maybe it’s just as well that it’s ending, as it has gone as far as it can go.

I may not always watch it every week, but I still make sure "Gladiators" (Sky One, Sundays) figures in my viewing schedule. Even if the new version isn’t quite hitting the classic heights and lacking the sparkle and personality of the original, it’s still worth watching.

Euro 2008: smells like team spirit

Two weeks into the tournament and Euro 2008 is teaching us one thing: it's all about teamwork, rather than the 'star players'.

The quarter-final stage began tonight. I have always been a big fan of the Portuguese national team, but this time round they were just lacking the "oomph" needed to drive them on in this competition. The problem may have been that it was less Portugal, more "Team Ronaldo" if the TV commentators were anything to go by. Ronaldo is an extremely gifted and talented player, but in this tournament he left me cold. This time his lacklustre performance - well out of proportion to his ego - coupled with "Big Phil" Scolari's ill-timed 'bye bye Portugal, see ya, I'm off to Chelsea' announcement, may ultimately have hastened their demise.

There are some certainties in life: price rises, disappointing second albums and ...Germany will always make the last 8. At least. Again they don't quite play exciting enough football to thrill me, but I get the feeling that we have yet to see the best from them.


I'm ashamed to say this, but I haven't seen Croatia play yet - that will change tomorrow when I give their potentially exciting clash with Turkey my full attention. Turkey are a battling, spirited, never-say-die team and after their performance against the Czechs, we might just expect a further shock result.

No offence to reigning champions Greece, but I'm glad they're gone as they bored me. Ditto Austria, Switzerland, Poland. France...were just shocking. And Sweden...I love your country but this time round, I couldn't say the same for the lifeless performances by the national team. (Apart from the mighty Henrik Larsson, a true legend).

Quite appropriate that the tournament is taking place in (Austria and) Switzerland, as I'm feeling a major sense of neutrality now and can't decide whether to support Holland or Spain, both of whom have played great attacking football. That's what I really wanted from Euro 2008 and it has (mainly) delivered. I'm particularly impressed by Holland, who are playing a delightful passing game, as indeed are Russia - no surprise as they're managed by Guus Hiddink - it's a pity that both will meet as early as Saturday's quarter-final as I'd liked to have seen that tie at a later stage. I've got that feeling that Holland might just do it this year and repeat their triumph of 1988!

Esbjörn Svensson

The Swedish jazz musician Esbjörn Svensson died last Saturday, following a scuba diving accident in Sweden. He was 44 years old.

His band, the Esbjörn Svensson Trio (or E.S.T.), were responsible for bringing jazz to a new audience with their own particular blend of jazz with classical influences and a unique Scandinavian flavour. Esbjörn Svensson came to my attention in 2004 when he featured on Tomas Ledin’s jazz-flavoured album "Med Vidoppna Fonster", marked by his distinctive piano playing style.

Svensson was an innovative performer who will be sadly missed.