Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon.
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I feel like this site's been making reference for centuries to Nicole and her Eurovision winner A Little Peace but, at last, it all pays off, as I can report that, this week in 1982, the teenaged Teutonic tunester hit Number One on the UK singles chart.
In doing so, she knocked Paul and Stevie off the top spot. An act for which some may or may not be grateful.
Not that Macca needed to care because he was still at Number One on the British album chart thanks to Tug of War which was successfully keeping Madness at bay.
Among the tracks I approve of on that week's singles chart are:
Ebony and Ivory - Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder.
Only You - Yazoo.
Island of Lost Souls - Blondie.
View from A Bridge - Kim Wilde.
The Look of Love - ABC.
Suspicious Minds - Candi Staton.
The Telephone Always Rings - The Fun Boy Three.
Urgent - Foreigner.
Not that Macca needed to care because he was still at Number One on the British album chart thanks to Tug of War which was successfully keeping Madness at bay.
Among the tracks I approve of on that week's singles chart are:
Ebony and Ivory - Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder.
Only You - Yazoo.
Island of Lost Souls - Blondie.
View from A Bridge - Kim Wilde.
The Look of Love - ABC.
Suspicious Minds - Candi Staton.
The Telephone Always Rings - The Fun Boy Three.
Urgent - Foreigner.
and
My Camera Never Lies - Bucks Fizz.
For those who wish to investigate the matter further, the said singles chart may be found by clicking here.
While that week's album chart resides right here.
Get ready for a shock because I actually have a cover for issue #12 of Scooby-Doo and his TV Friends!
Is that Pluto on the cover? If it is, he seems to have grown remarkably.
My Camera Never Lies - Bucks Fizz.
For those who wish to investigate the matter further, the said singles chart may be found by clicking here.
While that week's album chart resides right here.
And it's all thanks to Onboarder, otherwise known as Mark, who's supplied me with it and other images from the book. I think he can only be described as a true Keeper of the Flame.
And so it is that I know we can win a fancy-looking York radio cassette recorder by finding kites that have been hidden in an image. That recorder has so many knobs and dials on it that it's hard to imagine what they can all be for.
There's also a text adventure for Huckleberry Hound. And Scooby shows us how to do a card trick.
Then again, the Stranger seems to have shrunk by a comparable degree. Has everyone been messing about with one of Hank Pym's serums?
Assuming, of course, he is the Stranger and not that other character who looks virtually identical to him.
Elsewhere, we get an interview with Lou Ferrigno.
And there's still time for us to win a Hulk-Trike.
Sadly, I can impart no more information about the contents of this week's issue.
The only problem is that her idea of going straight is going straight to where the city's most valuable treasures are and stealing them. Mostly from the mob.
It all ends in tragedy when she chooses to drown, rather than become a reformed character.
Or does she?
Is it pure coincidence that the Black Cat and Elektra were both appearing in Marvel comics around the same time? Both morally compromised romantic foils for heroes with super-senses? Both inherently doomed?
Posts
47 comments:
IT's nice to see the Hulk on The Hulk!
I would have thunk that was the Executioner, not Pluto! Thanks for clarifying Steve?
Thanks to Steve, I re-read FF #116, 50 years after the last time I read it. I finally learned that The Stranger possessed all the power of the billions of souls of Gigantus! (Or at least some entity waaaay bigger than the Planet the Overmind consisted of populated by Eternals. But not THOSE Eternals. LOL.)
How in the heck could Hulk square off against someone that powerful??? Charlie is stumped!!!
On the other hand, if you combined billions of earthlings together... well I'm not sure what you'd get?
Charlie, it looks like the Hulk/Thing/Stranger tale is from Marvel Two-in-One Annual #5 - https://www.comics.org/issue/927138/ - in which case, I can confirm it is indeed Pluto on that cover.
Looking at those charts you linked to Steve, my top pop picks are:
'I'm a Wonderful Thing Baby' by everyone's favourite post-modern New Yorkers, Kid Creole and the Coconuts, a new entry in with a bullet at #75.
And, over in the album chart, 'Big Science' by Laurie Anderson. I'm listening to the title track right now, and it hasn't dated at all.
Can't offer much of an opinion on the Black Cat, as I don't think I've ever read a comic with her in it. Probably because I've never been much into Spidey (sorry dangermash).
Her legs are a bit on the long side on that cover, but it looks ok anyway. Pretty sure its another Steve Dillon one, so its nice to see him doing a better job than the last few.
Although his Hulk and Thing still aren't doing it for me. At all.
-sean
If you combine billions of human beings, I think the idea is you get the Metaverse, Charlie.
Someone needs to stop Zuckerberg, and soon.
-sean
The singles chart from this week in 1982 also includes 'Chariots Of Fire' by Vangelis which reached #1 in America but only #12 in Britain even though the tune is regarded as quintessentially British. Also on the chart is the rather lovely 'Castles In The Air' by Don McLean which was later included on a CD-single re-release of 'American Pie' in 1991 (which I bought). And 'Island Of Lost Souls' was Blondie's final UK hit until their comeback in 1999 with 'Maria'.
Has anyone seen the photo of the black hole at the centre of our Milky Way galaxy? It looks like a blurry orange doughnut but the black hole is obviously the bit in the middle.
Yazoo's 'Only You' remains brilliant to this day. Alison Moyet's jazz-trained vocal power perfectly complimenting Vince Clarke's myriad of impossibly catchy synth riffs. I defy anyone to listen to the opening bars without cracking a smile.
DW (Still an Essex boy at heart)
Colin
And ironically, composed by a Greek.
(Chariots of Fire, not the Milky Way - which was composed by Mars)
DW
The Black Cat was never one of my favorite additions to Spidey's mythos.
That was my comment.
I dunno. Maybe it's because in the late seventies I got a hold of a pile of golden age comics, and there was an issue of Black Cat in it. She was frolic, flirty, and funny while fighting baddies. Kinda like Felicia.
Then Felicia was a thief, just like Catwoman. Not exactly an original idea character.
KD, yes, I must confess I found The Black Cat more irritating than anything.
DW, and we shouldn't forget The Flying Pickets had a Number One with their a capella cover of it. I suppose it's the sign of a good tune if it can get to Number One even with all instrumentation removed.
Colin, I've seen the photo. It was clearly taken with the same camera that's used for photographing all UFOs.
Sean, Kid Creole used to live in Sheffield. I don't know if he still does. I've not seen him around anywhere but I may just not have been paying enough attention.
Good to see the classic World Cup song by Scotland so high at number 5 in the charts. Off course as is normal we come back at the first stage knocked out again on goal difference. The charts were full of some pretty good commercial tunes this year, I see Bardo in that list with One step further was that our Eurovision entry? My favourite on this chart was ABCs "Look of love"
Paul, Bardo's 'One Step Further' was indeed the UK's Eurovision entry but it stood no chance against the mighty Nicole. Amazingly, 40 years later 'A Little Peace' remains the final Eurovision winner to reach No.1 in the UK singles chart. In 1996 the UK's entry 'Ooh Ahh Just A Little Bit' by Gina G also reached #1 but it didn't win Eurovision.
I saw the black hole photo back in April 2019!
There was lots of discussion on Facebook about why it looks like it does. If it's surrounded by all this hot matter coming in from all directions, it should look like an orange blob rather than having a black bit in the middle. It's like half a scotch egg when I might have expected something looking like a whole scotch egg.
Some people said that there was an accretion disc of matter being eaten by the black hole and that we were just lucky to be in a position above one of the poles. I'm not having that. You'd think the accretion disc was in the same plane as the galactic disc, in which case we'd be viewing from the equator rather than one of the poles.
Best explanation I heard was this. Imagine I'm looking at a spherical scotch egg and thinking about pushing a cocktail stick through it, the stick would go through more sausage if I point it so it's tangential to the egg than if I aim for the middle. So the orange matter in the photo is densest in a ring around the black hole and maybe someone has tinkered with the photo to make the orange only show up where it's densest.
I sat seven exam papers to get my masters' degree. I'm pretty sure it was only the blinder I played on the Newtonian And Relativistic Accretion paper that got me through. This should be home territory to me.
Dangermash, the 2019 photo was a black hole in a distant galaxy called M87 but the new photo is the black hole at the centre of our own galaxy the Milky Way (admittedly they both look the same).
Unfortunately detailed discussion of circumstellar discs is above my pay grade.
Although fwiw I thought it looked more like a bagel than a doughnut.
Steve, I was aware that Kid Creole lived in the north of England for a while, but not where exactly. Somehow it seems inevitable that it should be in Sheffield.
Say hello from me if you see him, or his coconuts.
-sean
Ah, that would make sense Colin.
TOP GUN SEQUEL - SPOILER WARNING
Dudes - my uncle got a bootleg copy. Unbelievable!
Apparently Goose did not die when he and Maverick ejected over the ocean!
There was a Russian sub that happened to be there and snagged Goose's body! The sub had a Ronco Clone-a-matic on board and cloned Goose in a few seconds. They then killed the clone, dressed it in Goose's flight suite and gave the dead clone to a totally disoriented Maverick!
Everyone thinks Goose is dead but he's NOT! The clone was buried 35 years ago!
The real Goose was put into suspended animation until the medical technology was developed to bring him back to life! He has been brain washed and is now functioning as a sniper in the USA!!!
OMG. This sequel is the BEST!
Dangermash - great commentary on black holes and discs.
It makes me dizzy though, to look up at the MILKY WAY at night, and realize I am potentially upside down in reference to the Galaxy!
B.t.w. I now run everywhere I go. I shift in my seat left and right. I am secure in the knowledge that the more I move the more slowly I age!
This holds true even if you see the Galaxy from an upside down vantage point!
Who's watching the Eurovisions? We don't get that here in the USA. Boo! Hiss!
How did Australia do? Is it possible they host next year?
How did the UK do? Btw... does UK participate in Eurovision like they do in World Cup and Euro Cup in that your composite states participate on their own or does the UK as a whole participate? And if so, why?
I mean, I get the historical stuff about England, Scotland, Wales competing in World Cup but what's the excuse then for Eurovision?
I don't know about you but I'd love to see Bavaria and Acquitaine compete too!
Charlie, Eurovision's not until Saturday. On Tuesday and Thursday, we had the semi-finals, and Australia have qualified for the final. The UK automatically qualifies, as it's one of the countries that most-heavily funds the European Broadcasting Union which organises the event.
The contest has its own YouTube channel. I assume it'll be live-streaming the final, as it live-streamed the semis. https://www.youtube.com/c/EurovisionSongContest/videos
Charlie: The UK enters as the UK for Eurovision and not the individual states\nations that make it up. The reason is that it's a "only" song contest .Football is made up of football association's of which the 4 UK nations have one each ( the first 4 football associations ever). Rugby is the same. The Olympics are UK as there is an overarching British athletics association that superseeds the 4 national one.
Royaume-Uni - nul points!
Charlie, my understanding is that Eurovision is organised by national broadcasters because it was originally set up by the European Broadcasting Union. I haven't a clue why the BBC are still in it after the referendum - don't they know that out means out?!? - but thats why the entry is for the whole of Britain.
Although presumably not the whole of the UK, as Dana won for Ireland in 1970 even though she's from the occupied north. At the time it was a big propaganda coup for the musical wing of the IRA.
-sean
Eurovision's golden age was the 15 years from 1967-82 which included all the classics like Puppet On A String, Boom Bang-A-Bang, Congratulations, All Kinds Of Everything, Waterloo, Save Your Kisses For Me, What's Another Year, Making Your Mind Up and A Little Peace. When was the last time Eurovision produced a genuine classic song?
Charlie, here are the seven Eurovision winners that reached No.1 in the UK singles chart:
1967 Puppet On A String - Sandie Shaw (UK)
1970 All Kinds Of Everything - Dana (Ireland)
1974 Waterloo - ABBA (Sweden)
1976 Save Your Kisses For Me - Brotherhood Of Man (UK)
1980 What's Another Year - Johnny Logan (Ireland)
1981 Making Your Mind Up - Bucks Fizz (UK)
1982 Ein Bisschen Frieden/ A Little Peace - Nicole (Germany)
Steve, I learned a Sheffield word this week - "cob" meaning throw, is that right? Radio 4's Book Of The Week was "Good Pop, Bad Pop" by Sheffield boy Jarvis Cocker who was deciding whether to keep or cob various things stored in his attic.
Colin, cob can indeed mean throw. It can also mean sulk, as in, "He's got a cob on." It can also mean breadcake.
I'd say Eurovision's last great winner was Conchita's Rise Like a Phoenix which is the best Bond theme that isn't actually a Bond theme.
I always thought 'mardy' was Northern for sulking, Steve.
Er, not that I'm trying to tell you how to speak your own language. Obviously you can have other words for it too, and for all I know you might have lots, like with Eskimos and the varieties of 'snow'.
-sean
Sean, mardy is an adjective. Cob is a noun.
Thanks for the clarification Steve.
-sean
"Cob" also means spider, sort of.
It's my understanding (limited as that is) that it comes from some old pre-Norman English word, "attorcoppe" or "poison head"
When I was a kid, I was always on the lookout for spiders (they scare me, a little) and I was very confused by what I thought was the difference between "spiderweb" and "cobweb".
I assumed that they were two different things. Otherwise, why do they have two different names?
Such is the logic of a child. I guess I figured "cobwebs" were something made out of dust, like dust-bunnies.
I think the modern consensus is that a cobweb is a spiderweb that is vacant, its' owner having died or left for greener pastures, so to speak.
M.P.
Wonder if there are various versions of Stonehenge on other planets that cause black holes.
Something to ponder.
Those other planets should watch out in case Boris Johnson actually does set up a Space Command kd. The British have form when it comes to other peoples' stone circles.
-sean
Sean
By occupied North I presume you mean Derry rather than Islington?
I just watched Britain's 2022 entry and he's pretty Ed-tastic in a Sheeran-nominal way. I guess if you can't get the original...
Btw. I also just watched last year's winner. Wow. How bad were the rest of the songs?
I still think Britain missed trick in the early 90s when they could have used Right Said Fred.
DW
Holy moly captain marvel! I sit down to watch English Premier league soccer this morning and there is not a game to be seen! I can only assume it is because the United Kingdom is fixated watching Eurovision 2022 and the English Premier league doesn’t want to compete with that?
It's FA Cup Final Day, Charlie.
There are no Premier League games played on FA Cup Final Day.
Chelsea and Liverpool are currently drawing 0-0 in the final, and half-time is fast approaching.
I'm assuming it's Charlie who posted that comment. I could, though, be completely wrong.
Thank you Steve! Yes it is Charlie. For some reason when I use my smart phone now it drops my name!
Hello gentlemen, Charlie is dying to know who won Eurovision 2022. It is 6 o’clock in Chicago which means it is one in the morning in central Europe. Surely a winner has been selected by now? However googling reveals nothing as if it is a state secret.
Ukraine won Charlie
And the UK came second. It's our best result in over 20 years.
And the UK came 2nd which ruins my theory that we perform so badly at Eurovision nowadays due to Brexit.
Sean, are you suggesting Boris Johnson could somehow accidently start an interplanetary war?
...well, maybe he could, now that I think about it.
M.P.
Fortunately an interplanetary one is a bit beyond him M.P., but he does seem quite keen on pushing for a start to world war three.
-sean
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