Yesterday we headed westward to Carmarthen for TheMadster's graduation ceremony. The weather was, as it has been for the past couple of weeks, most un-British - baking hot and sunny. We came out of the univarsity's theatre dripping with sweat, but proud. TheMadster is the first of both mine and MrsRobster's immediate families to graduate. Well, apart from my brother who last year successfully completed an Open University degree in Engineering, but he was 44 then and has been doing the job for 20 years! Not that that undermines his achievement in any way - far from it. But TheMadster is the first to do it straight after leaving 6th form, you know what I mean. She attained a 2:1 in Sport and Exercise Science (Personal Training) and can now put BSc (Hons) after her name. Not only that, she's only gone and got herself a job as well. In a gym, no less.
The heatwave is set to continue for the next couple weeks, just in time for the school holidays when it will inevitably piss down for the next month! So while it's here, let's enjoy it with some good tunes. Firstly, a song you cannot ever get enough of, whatever the weather. Sadly, the video has vanished from You Tube so here's a Top Of The Pops performance instead in which Harriet sings live:
This one has long been a favourite of mine and MrsRobster. Great live band, too.
And here's one for TheMadster from one of her favourite bands.
How's about a series in which I give you two related cover versions every Saturday throughout the Autumn? Sound like a decent idea? Well I do, and it should provide me with plenty of articles without having to scrape too many barrels!
To kick things off, I've picked two songs written by the late Amy Winehouse which featured on her sadly final album 'Back To Black'. I first saw Amy on Jools Holland's show. I wasn't quite sure what to make of her. There was definitely something unique about her, and that is what made an impression on me. I wasn't sure if I liked either her or her music, but the fact she was different was enough.
To this day, I still haven't decided on either point. What I do know though is that she was a real, genuine talent and a sad casualty of success and excess. She died tragically and far too young, but there's no doubt she'll be remembered for a very long time in spite of her short career.
These two songs, both written entirely by Amy, are performed by two quintessentially English bands - Saint Etienne and Arctic Monkeys. I personally cannot say a bad word about the former, and the Arctics have more than earned their place in my esteemed collection with some terrific tunes of their own.
