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Post by fordcapri on Aug 14, 2022 13:00:41 GMT
Just a few of the tributes. I think she was on the front page of every national newspaper... but I wasn't going to buy all of them! Sorry Livvy! R.I.P.
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Post by fordcapri on Aug 12, 2022 6:23:42 GMT
I like to remember the story Terry Wogan used to tell against himself after Livvy came second in the Eurovision Song Contest. '' Well I'm sorry to say that's Olivia's career finished. After that she went to America, became a country star, then did 'Grease'. What do I know?''. He told it better. The really strange thing is that 'the gang' represented the UK for three years in a row. 1973: Cliff Richard. 1974: Olivia Newton-John. 1975: The Shadows. I think both John Farrar and Alan Tarney can be heard on all three. That MUST be worth some kind of mention in the official Eurovision book of Records! Two of Olivia's biggest 'country' hits were composed by former Shadow John Rostill - If You Love Me Let Me Know and Let Me Be There. The really sad thing is that Rostill never lived to see this success as he died in 1973. I see that Olivia will be having a State Funeral in Australia.
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Post by fordcapri on Aug 10, 2022 12:58:23 GMT
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Post by fordcapri on Aug 10, 2022 6:34:45 GMT
Olivia had several strands to her career, appealing to UK, Australian and north American fans who each could call her their own. One of my favourite songs of hers is 'A Little More Love', which seemed a very contemporary pop-rock song for its period (late-70s), amidst the 'Grease' songs which were everywhere. R.I.P. Olivia. Olivia started to re-brand / re-invent herself after Grease and took on the 'raunchy Sandy' look. Totally Hot is a great album and I remember A Little More Love being in the charts.
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Post by fordcapri on Aug 9, 2022 7:09:12 GMT
As I have said elsewhere, I think, I went to see Olivia singing at the Union Chapel in Islington early in 2017. She was touring with two other female singers as a trio. To be fair, although they were all good, everyone was really there to see Olivia. There was the biggest queue I have ever seen when I arrived (all the way down the street) and I'm thankful it wasn't raining! When I eventually got in I discovered that there had been £70 meet and greet tickets... but they'd inevitably all gone. I'm not a fan of these paid meet and greets, but would I have paid £70 to meet Olivia? Of course! It was a great venue - as seen in Who Dares Wins - and the highlight of the evening was when Livvy took centre stage and sang "I Honestly Love You". Needless to say, it got the biggest reaction of the night... the roof almost came off the place. There are videos of the gig on youtube. It was an unforgettable night and I'm so glad I went.
Goodnight Olivia. R.I.P.
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Post by fordcapri on Aug 8, 2022 19:28:04 GMT
Very, very sad to hear this terrible news.
Dame Olivia Newton-John (73) passed away peacefully at her Ranch in Southern California this morning, surrounded by family and friends. We ask that everyone please respect the family’s privacy during this very difficult time.
Olivia has been a symbol of triumphs and hope for over 30 years sharing her journey with breast cancer. Her healing inspiration and pioneering experience with plant medicine continues with the Olivia Newton-John Foundation Fund, dedicated to researching plant medicine and cancer. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that any donations be made in her memory to the Olivia Newton-John Foundation Fund (ONJFoundationFund.org).
Olivia is survived by her husband John Easterling; daughter Chloe Lattanzi; sister Sarah Newton-John; brother Toby Newton-John; nieces and nephews Tottie, Fiona and Brett Goldsmith; Emerson, Charlie, Zac, Jeremy, Randall, and Pierz Newton-John; Jude Newton-Stock, Layla Lee; Kira and Tasha Edelstein; and Brin and Valerie Hall.
- via John Easterling, husband, Olivia Newton-John
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Post by fordcapri on Aug 7, 2022 12:48:26 GMT
The first songs I remember hearing were Georgy Girl, The Carnival is Over and Morningtown Ride. Must have been mid-late '60s. Can't believe so much time has passed.
R.I.P.
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Post by fordcapri on Aug 1, 2022 7:11:05 GMT
R.I.P. Lt Uhura. Hailing frequencies closed.
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Post by fordcapri on Jul 28, 2022 8:53:03 GMT
R.I.P. the voice of the Wombles.
My childhood seems to get further away with every passing day.
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Post by fordcapri on Jun 24, 2022 14:53:02 GMT
I must watch Scars of Dracula again this summer (probably the week before Talking Pictures shows it!)... an underrated Hammer Drac film that I've always liked.
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Post by fordcapri on Jun 19, 2022 7:27:30 GMT
I'll admit that I had Slippery When Wet... and it was a pretty good album. Alex took the wise decision to jump ship while they were still at their peak and, by all accounts, spent the rest of his life doing whatever he wanted and indulging in his various interests and hobbies.
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Post by fordcapri on Jun 14, 2022 19:23:45 GMT
Totally agree fc. I could bore for hours on these 2 solos. Vandenberg's solo ends on a half step bend, the radio mix is a full step bend, and I think that's the issue and/or difference. The last note of a solo is usually a big one and half step bends just don't nail it as well as a full bend I'd argue. For me Vandenberg's solo is great BUT the radio mix solo, despite being more simplistic to play, totally nails key notes on chords. There's the difference. Vandenberg's run is top notch though, superb bit of commercial shred but the Huff solo is just musically better, which shows entirely the difference between melody over technique. The whole remix just has a better feel to it for me, that chugging G power chord is brilliant stuff. That whole remix is all about using slightly different chord tones over what is essentially just G, D, C. The remix takes a great song and just makes it better and I'd wish Whitesnake would do a live version of this. If I were ever to cover this song, it would have to be this remix version. Do I remember an interview with Coverdale where he said he was ready to sue over it at some point? (I have vague memories of an interview with him on this) I don't know about that Coverdale interview. He was 100% onboard for the radio version - not a remix as such, but a completely new recording. As it is (if you forget about the original from '82) there are TWO entirely different versions of Here I Go Again. 1) Coverdale, Sykes, Murray, Dunbar and solo by Vandenberg 2) Coverdale, Huff, Mark Anders, Denny Carmassi. The keyboards are by Don Airey and Bill Cuomo. There's also backing vocals here and there; Sykes on the original 1987 version and someone else on the radio version. Carmassi, of course, DID eventually join Whitesnake for a couple of years in the mid 90s. The rest of the guys on the radio version were never part of the band. The only legal action I know of, was that Sykes had to take legal action to get his name (and those of Murray and Dunbar) on the 1987 album and also, apparently, had to sue to get his royalties. Of course, if you were to raise that with Coverdale, he would flatly deny it!
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Post by fordcapri on Jun 14, 2022 8:04:35 GMT
Yeah... I love that non-Whitesnake (apart from Old Cov) radio mix. Dan Huff on guitar, plus assorted session men. That's the one I bought on 12" single back in '87. To my ears, Vandenberg always ends awkwardly on his version, just sounds like a 'wrong' note to me. All the other guitars are Sykes. A shame his solo was 'lost'.
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Post by fordcapri on May 21, 2022 8:02:28 GMT
Started watching 'Fiddler on the Hoof' last night, courtesy of the ITV Hub. It seemed like a pretty good episode... but then the Virgin Media connection went and that was the end of that. A shame. I'm sure I'll get to see it again and there are quite a few others still available until the middle of June. The Virgin service often seems to go down late at night - I don't mean the TV/internet, I mean the additional functions on the TV service - which has p1ssed me off more than once. Generally I prefer to record things and watch them later rather than rely on catch up... the BBC iPLayer was even worse!
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Post by fordcapri on May 17, 2022 20:26:10 GMT
I'll have to check out some of those Minder and Sweeney episodes on the ITV Hub, seeing as I didn't know they were on until now.
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Post by fordcapri on May 9, 2022 8:39:44 GMT
Pleased (so to speak) to see that Dennis is featured prominently on the front pages of every national newspaper this morning.
Watched The Sweeney episode 'Jigsaw' again last night. This series never gets old. George trying to cut the grass, whilst being harangued by his nagging wife, is actually one of the many highlights of this episode. When George finally snaps, and forcefully defends Regan, it is indeed one of his finest moments.
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Post by fordcapri on May 8, 2022 15:31:35 GMT
I'm gutted.
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Post by fordcapri on Apr 11, 2022 19:13:38 GMT
I was waiting for the Slade comment. Yeah, but that was like half a century ago and I think that all came about because Noddy didn't want a song called 'I love You'... have to admit that when you see it written down, that looks soppy, but 'Coz I Luv You' looks a bit cooler. They must have been fairly young then, in their 20s, and it became their 'thing'. In 2022, at aged 62 (Joe Elliott), it just looks a bit tragic...
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Post by fordcapri on Apr 11, 2022 7:42:33 GMT
I don't know if it's a ballad or not, and I'll probably never find out!, but I notice that the forthcoming new album by Def Leppard contains a song called U Rok Mi. Just find it somewhat incredible that a bunch of guys in their late 50s/early 60s actually think that calling a song U Rok Mi makes them look cool and young and with it and happening.
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Post by fordcapri on Apr 5, 2022 16:19:37 GMT
...Yeah, when I said 'everything since Hysteria' I was really including that album in my net. It's all overproduced and girly. I admit that I used to think it was OK... then I came to my senses. They wimped out big time from Hysteria onward. I liked the Retroactive album, but that was mostly old stuff.
I'll admit to liking Silent Lucidity. I saw G 'N' R on their Use Your Illusion tour, so I have a sort of soft spot for November Rain... it wasn't November... but it was raining! John Sykes made those Whitesnake ballads bearable (and there's more than one on 1987), but Vai and Vandenberg just couldn't.
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Post by fordcapri on Apr 4, 2022 8:34:01 GMT
I had to vote for all the Bon Jovi songs, naturally. Plus the excruciating Scorps song. And finally The Deeper the Love, by the Snake. This is bad mainly 'cos it's a blatant rip off of Is This Love and nothing else. Actually, Is This Love ain't a bad song and was originally written with Tina Turner in mind. However... it should have been a one off and every album since has had an Is This Love rip-off. I can see WHY... but no. Just stop!
P.S. Not sure how I managed to stop myself from voting for some/most of the others. Not enough votes allowed! The Leppard songs are bad too. But everything they've done since Hysteria has been bad. Mostly.
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Post by fordcapri on Mar 27, 2022 13:07:07 GMT
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Post by fordcapri on Mar 26, 2022 8:47:26 GMT
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Post by fordcapri on Mar 17, 2022 12:16:51 GMT
Great actor. Yes, he appeared in just about everything of note. The first episode of Survivors is, in my opinion, possibly the best opening episode of any TV series. It's still as powerful today as it was then and Bowles' ultimate fate provides the biggest shock of the entire episode. And he was brilliant as Baylor in End of Eternity. One of the greats. RIP.
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Post by fordcapri on Feb 25, 2022 17:34:03 GMT
I watched this yesterday on ITV4.
Not one of the best; it turned into a sort of comedy runaround. Bits were OK, but it's not one I'd rush to watch again. Mind you, we did get to see the Shadows about half an hour in and the house was amazing. I'd be interested in buying that house if it's on the market... but I may be a few pounds short.
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Post by fordcapri on Feb 4, 2022 13:18:40 GMT
I've had to go for Sexy Lexi (for obvious reasons), Bullet Baxter and Mr Hopwood. Bullet was a tough but fair geezer and Hopwood reminded me of my English teacher at the time. They all came across as believable. I think, however, the best teacher was probably Mr Mitchell from the first two series... the sort of teacher you all wished you could have; easy-going, a bit square, a decent bloke at heart who cared about the job and treated the kids fairly.
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Post by fordcapri on Jan 27, 2022 18:23:28 GMT
One of the great comedy writers. And brilliant raconteur. RIP.
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Post by fordcapri on Dec 24, 2021 11:36:48 GMT
A great way to get all the classic Decca albums on CD... plus a BBC live performance and various single edits and b-sides and a booklet. He was an incredibly talented guy and could literally write, sing and play anything. The mixture of styles is incredible. It's impossible not to be impressed.
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Post by fordcapri on Dec 22, 2021 16:27:30 GMT
Just bought this 5 album box set...
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Post by fordcapri on Dec 20, 2021 18:26:12 GMT
Ah yes, the 'Grand Prix' girl from Why Don't You? A legend. Always envied Zammo. The " Grand Prix " girl was Susan Tully , Grange Hill & then Eastenders . 1:31
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