After some of the lengthier posts this feature has enjoyed recently, I find a certain satisfaction in identifying a celebrity who's only ever featured in one pop song, especially when it's a song so obscure that even the lyrical search engines don't suggest it.
Selina Scott was a TV journalist from Scarborough, famed for her Princess Diana smile, who rocketed to fame when she was chosen to co-anchor the BBC's fledgling Breakfast TV output. I never watch breakfast TV, but it seems odd to think that such a thing didn't even exist in the UK until 1987. She went on to cover Wogan and present The Clothes Show before flying across the channel for a lucrative role on US TV. She also once auditioned for the role of Miss Moneypenny in Timothy Dalton's James Bond. Scott has been a frank critic of sexism in the media (especially against her co-host, Frank Bough), and it's worth watching the Jimmy Saville documentary on Netflix to see her candidly discuss her uncomfortable onscreen encounters with the "Now then, now then" Monster.
In 1986, The Subway Organization signed 16 year old Rodney Allen and soon after released his first and last solo album, Happy Sad. There's an undeniable Billy Bragg influence to the songwriting, and anyone who loves early Bragg should definitely hear this record. Sadly, Allen's solo career failed to take off, and he soon after joined The Chesterfields, before becoming one of The Blue Aeroplanes in 1990.
As well as Billy Bragg, there's a huge debt to Paul Weller on the title track to Happy Sad. Better still, it immortalises Selina Scott in song. What's not to love?
Snap crackle pop and Selina Scott
Granny shoes, man - she's got the lot!
I knew Selina Scott when she worked for Grampian TV in Aberdeen and she bought me a drink once.
ReplyDeleteThere'll always be room here for more Tales of Lynchie's Wild Youth.
DeleteA keen salmon fisher I believe
ReplyDeleteAnything to get away from Frank Bough.
DeleteYes, I was going to mention the Aberdeen connection too but Lynchie beat me to it (he really needs to share some more of his stories).
ReplyDeleteNot heard of her in years but she used to be omnipresent so can understand how she appeared in those song lyrics.
I'm a big fan of The Blue Aeroplanes but had no idea that 16 year old Rodney started off as a solo artist! Good song, reminded me of Ed Ball/The Times.
ReplyDelete