Front Row Dress Circle

Can you hear a Kookaburra in Down Under…?

admin — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 12:27:32 +0000

Personally I cannot for the life of me detect a single note of the old campfire song Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gumtree in the flute riff of the huge Aussie hit song Down Under by Men at Work.

But the Australian band may have to pay millions in royalties after a court ruled that they copied a well-known children’s campfire song for the flute melody in their 1980s hit Down Under. ‘Kookaburra Sits In the Old Gum Tree’ was written more than 70 years ago by Australian teacher Marion Sinclair for a Girl Guides competition and the song has been a favourite around camp fires from New Zealand to Canada. The teacher died in 1988 and publishing company Larrikin Music owns the copyright to her song about the native Australian bird. Larrikin filed the copyright action last year.

Down Under and the album Business As Usual topped the Australian, American and British charts in early 1983. The song remains an unofficial anthem for Australia, it was our official victory song when Australia won the 1983 America’s Cup yacht race, and was ranked fourth in a 2001 music industry survey of the best Australian songs.

Men At Work won the 1983 Grammy Award for Best New Artist but I remember when they appeared on television for the very first time. It was 1981 and Ian Meldrum introduced them on his show Countdown - he announced them as a ‘new group with a cute song…Who Can It Be Now’. The rest is history.

Trivia: When Men At Work performed their hit ‘Down Under’ at the 1983 Grammy Awards singer Colin Hay was so nervous he fluffed the start of the song singing a line of the chorus instead of the first line of the song.

Jedward are still here but anyone seen Joe lately…?

admin — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 12:08:40 +0000

Those Irish twins Jedward (John and Edward) are really going from strength to strength since their exit from the X Factor competition last year. Despite what members of the public thought and said about them they have not disappeared into obscurity, nor have they fallen flat on their faces. I think the public have taken these boys to their hearts and the reason they are still around while other more successful contestants such as…funny, no names spring immediately to mind!

Well Joe for instance, the winner of X Factor - anyone heard of him just lately? John and Edward have what the others do not possess - a gimmick. You need a very unique talent to not need a gimmick if you want to be noticed, John and Edward know this all too well and they are raking it in while…Olly (that’s his name!) will probably finish up singing at Butlins. And Olly was the better performer by far…

I have seen John and Edward on the television three times this week so far - as for the lovely, talented Joe McElderry…a successful gimmick can sometimes be more lucrative than natural talent. Sad but true.

Banned: the films they did not want you to see…

admin — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 19:46:12 +0000

Censorship - don’t you just love it? over the years censorship has played a part in either destroying the work of a film director or giving it the kind of publicity it never would have had. Today we have the rating system - back in the thirties and forties censorship played a major role in moviemaking with a long list of do’s and don’ts…some logical for the times, some utterly ridiculous when you look at them nowadays. If you ever watched the old ‘I Love Lucy‘ tv shows you will recall that Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball, despite the fact that they were married both in the show and real life, were only ever filmed lying in separate single beds in their bedroom scenes. In fact once upon a time it was a stipulation that bedrooms scenes had to be shot with single beds and both actor and actress had to have one foot placed on the floor!

Here is a list of films that were banned by the censors for one reason or another:

A Clockwork Orange (1971) - Adapted from Anthony Burgess’s best-selling novel, A Clockwork Orange tells the story of Alex and his gang of violent ‘droogs’ who kill tramps and rape women. Certain scenes are very hard to watch even if you think you’ve seen it all…

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) - Five friends go to visit their Grandfather’s grave after hearing it was vandalised, and pick up a hitchhiker on the way. After the hitch-hiker takes a knife and slashes himself and one of the boys, they promptly get rid of him but have to stop for gas at a small sinister looking place which unbeknown to them, is the home of the bloodthirsty killer ‘Leatherface’ - you need a certain kind of mind to enjoy this one…

The Exorcist (1973) - One of the most controversial horror films of all time tells the story of a 12 year-old girl possessed by a demonic force and the two priests who try and save her soul. In the new directors-cut version watch out for the chilling ’spider walk’ scene…

Life of Brian (1979) - Brian was born in a stable next to Jesus and as a result is deemed a messiah, but he can’t seem to convince his followers otherwise. Due to its heavy religious satire, the film was not well-received by many religious activists and also features full-frontal nudity by an actress who is now the Mayoress of a Welsh town. Hilarious but definitely not one for the purists.

Last Tango in Paris (1973) - A young Parisian woman (Maria Schneider) begins a sordid affair with a middle-aged American businessman (Marlon Brando) who wants their relationship to be based only on sex. The film became notorious for its butter-lubricated sex scene which star Schneider regrets filming to this day.

All Quiet On The Western Front (1930) - The film follows a group of young German soldiers who come to understand the tragedy of war and misconceptions of their enemies when they fight in World War One. Due to its anti-war and perceived anti-German messages, Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party banned the film from Germany until the end of World War Two. Still packs a powerful punch even today and the closing sequence featuring a butterfly will move you immensely. The 1980’s remake does not come close to this original silent version. Lew Ayres as the young soldier was remarkable.

Caligula (1979) - The story of Roman Emperor Caligula who used violent means to get to the throne, his shocking actions during his tyrannical reign and his subsequent descent into insanity. The film was considered controversial not only for its depiction of violence, but also for the gratuitous nudity and Caligula’s sexual passion for his sister. Watch out for a younger Helen Mirren…what would Her Majesty say!

The Last House On The Left (1972) - A pair of teenage girls go to a rock concert to celebrate one of their birthdays and afterwards try to get some marijuana in the city. They are then kidnapped by a gang of psychopaths who have just escaped from prison. What follows for the two girls is unrelenting horror, scenes which are hard to watch even today - and then the killers unknowingly make a stop at the house of one of the girls parents - the tables are turned…

Freaks (1932) - A beautiful trapeze artist agrees to marry the leader of the circus performers who is also a dwarf, but his friends discover she is only marrying him for his inheritance. Director Tod Browning took the exceptional step of casting real people with deformities, rather than using costumes and make-up. His choice shocked audiences of the time and despite the film having since achieved cult classic status, its release resulted in Browning struggling to find work. This film will stay in your mind once you see it - it is both morbidly fascinating and creepy…the final scenes will make you feel revolted. You’ve been warned…

The Evil Dead (1983) - Five friends take a trip to a cabin in the woods where they find the Book Of The Dead, which awakens a demonic force turning them into zombies. The Evil Dead was one of the first films deemed a ‘Video Nasty’ - the term for films criticized for their violent content by various religious organizations.

The last CBB ever looks to be a cracker!

admin — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 20:01:41 +0000

As the list of dubious celebrities get set to enter the CBB house fans are left wondering exactly who will reside in the house themed for this year as ‘Dante’s Inferno’. Katie Price’s ‘boyfriend’ Alex Reid has been offered £150,000 to enter the house dressed as his alter-ego Roxanne however Reid is said to have ditched the character following some expected teasing from his cage-fighting colleagues.

However, with so much cash at stake don’t be too surprised if Reid hangs onto Roxie just for a while longer…

Other housemates rumoured to be taking part are Katie Price’s former lover Dane Bowers who seems to pop up on most reality tv shows these days with his last appearance being on Celebrity Come Dine With Me. With two of Katie’s former men in the house it should be interesting if they decide to get together and compare notes…

Others also expected are: Pamela Anderson (she will be interesting to see first thing in the morning sans makeup…), the Russian bimbo who ran off with Ronnie Woods ( Ekater…something-or-other), actor Stephen Baldwin, butt-ugly Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss, M C Hammer and someone called Nicola T ( your guess is as good as mine…)

This show was rather boring last year and I still wonder at how Ulrika Jonsson managed to win seeing as she basically sat around scowling at all the men - but at least it paid for all her recent plastic surgery.

Death of Brittany Murphy at age 32

admin — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 23:11:55 +0000

American actress Brittany Murphy has died today from a reported heart attack at the age of 32. According to reports, her mother Sharon Murphy discovered her daughter unconscious in the shower. Paramedics determined that Brittany was in full cardiac arrest and administered CPR. They continued mouth-to-mouth as they sped to Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre but Brittany was pronounced dead on arrival at 10.04 a.m.

Speculation immediately began surrounding the cause of Brittany’s sudden death from cardiac arrest which is the same cause of Michael Jackson’s death in June. Police are still investigating the singer’s apparent dependency on prescription drugs. Today, Murphy’s friends said they feared that she died in a similar way to Jackson and Hollywood insiders said she had a long running problem with prescription drugs.

One source said: “We have been very worried that something like this was about to happen. Brittany has been living life on the edge. She definitely had a drug problem and we have all begged her to seek help. Sadly our words fell on deaf ears.”…

Another added that Murphy, who just over a month ago celebrated her 32nd birthday, had struggled to beat a prescription drug problem since becoming hooked on painkillers after undergoing a series of plastic surgery procedures. It was also claimed that the drugs she was using included Vicodin - a painkiller Michael Jackson was also known to abuse.

Brittany is also said to have suffered from eating disorders in the past which can cause weakness in the heart muscle and heart attack is a common cause of death for anorexics i.e Karen Carpenter in the 80’s.

Whatever the cause of this young woman’s death it is a tragedy for her family and admirers - she was too young for such a fate.