Last time I was in Brighton (many, many years ago) I was walking around with some mates when one of them said “Oh look, it’s the alley where Phil Daniels shagged Leslie Ash!” and there it was, the scene of Jimmy’s quick knee-trembler with Steph in Quadrophenia. We wandered down to take a look but, as there were no girls to hand, didn’t try to reenact the scene.
Apparently it’s quite the famous spot. There should be a plaque on the wall or something.
“Also Sprach Zarathustra (2001)” is one of those oddities in my mother’s record collection, maybe not quite as off-the-wall a choice for her as the Status Quo single or Rugby Songs album she had but trippy jazz-fusion instrumentals weren’t usually her bag either. I can see why she liked it though, it’s cool and elegant and groovily cosmic without being too far out there — if they had the expression back then it would have been called “chill out” music.
This was a big hit for Brazilian ivory-tinkler (and future Kool & The Gang producer) Eumir Deodato in 1972 and, of course, is a cover of the Richard Strauss tune used in 2001: A Space Odyssey which had blown everyone’s minds a couple of years before. Oddly enough, even though my mother usually hated science fiction films (she thought they were “unrealistic” which, I know, is kind of the point of them) she actually liked 2001 which is about the most difficult and hardcore mainstream SF film there is, even more light years away from being her usual cup of tea than this record is. But we watched it on television together once and though I imagined she’d think it was like watching paint dry when it was over she said to me “that was good, wasn’t it?” Maybe she was secretly doing drugs and had been tripping out on the couch during the “Beyond The Infinite” sequence without me noticing.
Like my parents did to me we’ve managed to indoctrinate introduce my daughter to the delights of old Hollywood musicals. Her favourite is Singin’ In The Rain (starring “Kene Gelly” as she pronounces it. Bless) which might well be the greatest movie musical ever made and has many, many pleasures to offer — not the least of which is the legs of Cyd Charisse. Lord, even her name was sexy.
The sentimental musings of an ageing expat in words, music, and pictures. Mp3 files are up for a limited time so drink them while they're hot.
Contact me: lee at londonlee dot com
