12. Legendary, according to Brad Pitt and Anthony Hopkins.
Brad Pitt and Anthony Hopkins starred together in a film called Legends of the Fall. Sadly Brad did not play Mark E. Smith. And neither did Sir Anthony.
It's been a while since I last wrote about how the radio station I used to work in was haunted. If you can suspend your disbelief, here are the first three posts...
When last we spoke, I'd decided to move from MCR, where I used to answer calls for the Late Night Phone-In, to the adjacent Studio C. MCR had become too cold, uncomfortable and weird... and it was too close to the Racks Room where scary things kept happening and nobody ever wanted to go.
I'd been in Studio C for a few weeks when the worst thing happened. On the surface, it probably doesn't seem as frightening as seeing a white figure walking towards me then disappear in front of my eyes... but it had a much more profound effect. Writing it down now, it doesn't seem like much at all... but at the time, it scared the hell out of me.
One night, after eleven. The Phone-In had started, I was taking calls in Studio C, calling people back, lining them up, passing on info to the DJ via talkback. (This would probably be done via computer these days, but this is so long ago that there weren't any computers in the radio studios back then!) The same thing I did night after night. Nothing special. I certainly wasn't thinking about the ghost as things had been quiet on that front lately.
And then it breathed on me.
From right behind me.
A heavy sigh: I felt its breath on the back of my neck and heard the exhalation.
You have to remember that radio studios are soundproofed and even the ventilation is silent (plus I wasn't sitting under the air vents). But something was there, right behind me, and it sighed.
I ran. Through two heavy pairs of soundproofed studio doors (each studio has an internal and external door to aid soundproofing), straight into the on-air studio, in a blind panic. I slammed that door behind me with my back up against it. And the presenter looked at me like I was insane.
I didn't sleep that night. For the rest of the week, I had to keep the lights on at home. Writing about it now, 20 years later, it sounds like nothing. But at the time it was terrifying.
And I wasn't the only person to experience this ghostly breath.
He's also considered one of the fastest guitar players in the world... and he's made some pretty cool solo records. This one is rather sweet...
There are six billion people on this planet But I'll only ever fall in love with two One is a black and white photo of Grace Kelly And the other you might like to know is you
Grace Kelly to Garbo Clawed their way to the stars I think they knew No I don't care who you are Just sign the line and away you fly Take a chance and join the dance And you can make the sound Take a chance and join the dance And we can go to ground Go to ground And I don't care who you are Just sign the line and away you fly
The former Stray Cat frontman was born in 1959 and everything he loves comes from that year...
Well the prince said, "Hey, Grace Kelly Would you be my wife?" And Bobby Darin sang Mack The Knife They took Eddie Cochran, what could we do? Once he was gone we knew that rock and roll was through. We had technicolor at the scene of the crime Coupe Devilles rolling off of the line.
If this song doesn't make you crack a smile, then I think we're going to need a chisel...
Royalty, lord it looked good on me Buried in silk in the royal boudoir or going nuclear free Or playing Crokinole with the Princess of Monaco Telling my jokes to the OPEC leaders, getting it all on video
You're either going to dig this or you're not. Probably not, since most of you aren't even Queen fans, and this is just a wannabe-Freddie. As wannabe Freddies go though, it's pretty great. Pity Mika couldn't follow it with anything even half as amazing.
I try to be like Grace Kelly But all her looks were too sad So I try a little Freddie I've gone identity mad!
One of those songs that will no doubt divide the readership of this blog... with me on one side and everyone else on the other. But who wants to be popular? Yes, it does owe a lot to It's The End Of The World As We Know It (But I Feel Fine) by REM... but it's still a monster. And the video's brilliant.
Get used to it, anyway... it could well pop up again whenever I need it...
Einstein, James Dean, Brooklyn's got a winning team
Davy Crockett, Peter Pan, Elvis Presley, Disneyland
The kind of brilliant "keep smiling even when you don't feel like it" song which E specialises in.
The actress gave up all her old dreams
And traded up now she is a queen
Royal families don't have time for that shit
Your crystal ball, you keep it hid
1. Lloyd Cole - Four Flights Up
Lyrical genius ahoy! You don't just get Grace Kelly in this song, but Truman Capote too. And a diamante crocodile! Nobody does it like Lloyd...
You came driving back to town In a beat up Grace Kelly car Looking like a friend of Truman Capote Looking exactly like you are Yes, I know that's your charm
