Suits & Songs

Robert Palmer - Johnny & Mary

There are a lot of different types of artists around and, although I'm a big New Wave fan, I'm particularly fond of artists who look on stage as if they just came out of a meeting with the board of directors..... The style and passion some of these guys exhale, shows an affinity with music that is given to only a very few....

Robert Palmer's Johnny & Mary is more than just a great song. The deeper meaning of the lyrics make this song stand out well above the average hit of that period. You can almost see Johnny & Mary running around in your mind while listening, and relate to the way they both behave and feel in their everyday life..... Timeless...... Robert Palmer died in 2003, aged 54....

Leonard Cohen - First we Take Manhattan

To my great shame, I only discovered Leonard Cohen in the beginning of the '90s through his album I'm Your Man, and more precisely through the clip shown above. I literally went out to buy the album minutes after I saw the clip and subsequently bought his anterior albums a couple of days later. I (re)discovered classic songs like Susanne, Hallelujah, .... and funny enough Sisters of Mercy (I only discovered that Andrew Eldritch was a Cohen fan long afterwards).

Cohen is a musical cross between the classic "on screen" cool of Humphrey Bogart, the sex appeal of Mickey Rourke (in his prime) and Sean Connery's natural charm, both in his music stylings as in his appearance. Most men can only dream of possessing such a strong natural charisma....

Paolo Conte - Max

Paolo Conte's Max is (once again) one of those song I kept on repeat for days on end. I knew the melody for years, without knowing who wrote the song. One day it passed on the radio and I payed attention when they mentioned the interpreter. I took note and went out to buy Aquaplano.... It's almost impossible to believe the guy's actually a lawyer with a succesful practice, a poet and a painter. He began his carreer in the music business as writer of some of Adriano Celentano's hits, before going solo in the '70s. His subtle latin charm, Jazz like influences, incomparable voice and overall presence make this one of Europe's most admirable singer songwriters still active.

Choosing just one of Brian Ferry's or Roxy Music's songs proved to be a near impossible task. I narrowed it down to 2 off my all time fave's by the impersonation of British Cool: Sir Brian Ferry, probably the classiest man alive in showbizz ....

Roxy Music - More than This

Roxy Music - Avalon (Live)

Kiss......

Kiss - I was Made for Lovin' You

Put the words "Dancing" and "Thomas Vanderstappen" in one sentence and just listen how bad those two words sound together. Then imagine both in real life on a dancefloor and you're worst nightmare just came true......

I'm an awful dancer and tried to avoid it as much as possible when going out. But one of the rare songs that actually got me to dance was this Kiss song (to be honest, only after 24.00h and after more or less 20 beers .... but still, it happened once every month or so that I ventured onto the middle of the dance scene when I heard it). A classic during the years I went out from my 17th onwards. A rare opportunity for my friends to actually see me dance (they still talk about it)...... Those were the times..... The lyrics are so simple, but the message is so strong that in combination with the music it justs kicks ass....

I've got a lot of respect for Kiss. After all this time they're still out there, doing their thing. Songs like the one above and stuff like Rock'n Roll all Nite , I Love it Loud, ... are all rightfully part of Rock'n Roll history. Heck, I even liked Psycho Circus.

Below, a great live version of the song during an Australian concert.

Hiding the tears in my eyes........

The Cure- Boys Don't Cry

Well..... couldn't help myself and had to put up this video......

When I listen to the lyrics, I really feel like crap... Not only because it reminds me the song is from 1979 and that I'm not that young anymore, but mainly cause it reminds me of things I should've said a long time ago to people I really care about. Words were just never one of my talents. Never been able to express my regrets and feelings as I should have when it came to it...... Only seemed to make matters worse for that.....

It makes me feel like crap, but at the same time it makes me think about those who mean a lot to me.....

It's a wonderful and emotional song. I really hope the people it is intended for take some time to go through the lyrics...... This song more or less covers what I want to tell them.....

I would say I'm sorry
If I thought that it would change your mind
But I know that this time
I have said too much
Been too unkind

I try to laugh about it
Cover it all up with lies
I try and laugh about it
Hiding the tears in my eyes

'Cause boys don't cry
Boys don't cry

I would break down at your feet
And beg forgiveness
Plead with you
But I know that it's too late
And now there's nothing I can do

So I try to laugh about it
Cover it all up with lies
I try to laugh about it
Hiding the tears in my eyes

'Cause boys don't cry
Boys don't cry

I would tell you
That I loved you
If I thought that you would stay
But I know that it's no use
That you've already
Gone away

Misjudged your limits
Pushed you too far
Took you for granted
I thought that you needed me more, more, more...

Now I would do most anything
To get you back by my side
But I just keep on laughing
Hiding the tears in my eyes

'Cause boys don't cry
Boys don't cry

Boys don't cry

The clip version isn't the original 1979 version, but it's the one I remember hearing first.

Didn't you love the part in "The Wedding Singger" when they play this song? Hope that what doesn't kill you just makes you stronger...... otherwise I'm really screwed......

While I'm at it, I'll add another one of my Cure fave's. Pictures of You is just one of those songs you can either totally relate to cause you know the feelings he's describing, or one of the songs which make you hate The Cure cause you don't understand a word he's saying..... I tend to like The Cure.......

The Cure - Pictures of You

Somewhere In Between........

The Cure - In Between Days

The Cure takes a special place in my music collection. As a kid, I couldn't get enough of Boys Don't Cry. I always thought that song was from around '86-'87, but a year or 2 ago I looked at the copyright and saw the year 1979 next to it..... Man, did I feel old that day....... Even talked about it to a couple of friends, and almost none of them wanted to believe that song was actually from the '70s...... The second song I recollect was A Lullaby (loved that video). I only came in contact with A Forrest, Lovesong, ...... much later on. I don't like everything they did, but they still rank high in my top 20 bands of the '80s.

First Cure song I ever bought was the maxi single from In Between Days. Loved the picture sleeve and hung it on my wall for a year or 2. I loved playing that vinyl....

Still think some of those 80's songs sound better on vinyl. Well..... I'm not arguing the sound was better on vinyl, it's the fact of putting the needle on the record, looking at the turntable at night, the grinding sounds on the background. Wonder if some artist didn't keep some of those things in mind while writing their music......

Fra Lippo Lippi - Shouldn't Have to be Like That

I guess almost everyone knows this song..... classic 80's nostalgia....... Just sit back and relax.....

Echoes.......

A friends is someone who's always there when he
needs you.

Echo and the Bunnymen - The Killing Moon

Can't remember how many times I've played this song in loop at night...... First time I realised who Ian McCulloch and Echo & The Bunnymen actually were, was during my "Doors" period.
In the beginning of my college years, I bought all of the Doors albums, by accident I recognised the song Strange Days while viewing "The Lost Boys" and noticed it wasn't Jim Morrison's version. I liked the guy's voice, looked up who covered it on the soundtrack and the rest is history......
The band eventually split up (or to be more accurate, Ian left the band) but actually reformed not too long ago. I hope to catch them at one of their upcoming shows pretty soon......

XTC - Making Plans For Nigel

XTC's Making plans for Nigel..... only thing you have to do is close your eyes and listen to the lyrics. You should be able to figure out the rest. Listening to it still remains a gripping experience for me.

Blue Lights II.......

Depeche Mode - Enjoy The Silence

Enjoy the Silence is one of the first vinyls I ever bought, still have it in my collection somewhere........ Aside from the fact that Depeche Mode is IMHO one of the great bands of the 80's, Anton Corbijn's black and white video's made them into classic 80's style icons.....

It shows the influence mood and atmosphere (and television) can have on the perception you have from a song. When it comes to Depeche Mode, I guess I first heard a lot of them through videoclips on television. Whenever I hear them on the radio or CD, I undoubtedly still link them to images from those vids.

Mood setting counts for a lot when you listen to music. Maybe it's just me, but when I listen to songs (especially Wave, Goth or even stuff like The Smiths, Cranberries, Leonard Cohen, ....) my favorite setting is the darkness of night with just the small blue Neon lights shining from the Equalizer or Winamp's metallic/blue dashboard on the computer.

When I bought my new computer, I made sure to choose one with blue neon's just for that reason.

I love the extra atmosphere it brings...... it makes me wander back in time, drift between memories, ....... but as I said, maybe that's just me.......

To end today's post, another one of those Smith's songs.....

This clip is probably the one I prefer, cause it's very close to the pictures on the album covers..... and that blond girl is intriguingly beautiful.......

The Smiths - How Soon is Now

Blue Lights.......

After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.
Aldous Huxley - Music at Night

The Sisters of Mercy - Walk Away

Never saw the clip of Walk Away until I discovered Youtube/Myspace. It's just amazing the stuff you can find there: Clips, TV fragments from series of the 50's to now, interviews, ..... it's just endless.

And the amazing part is that you can find almost anything you're looking for! I was searching for footage of several obscure New Wave bands and actually found it. From clips from the Virgin Prunes, over Grauzone (Eisbär) to The Fields of the Nephilim.... it's all there.

Guess this means there are other nutjobs like me who actually like this stuff and collect it.

The clip above reminds of those 70's clips with stroboscopes and laser tunnels (a bit like Bowie's Heroes video). Always great to see the Sisters singing in smoke with dampened blue lights, black clothes and sunglasses.....

Hitchhiker's .....

He felt that his whole life was some kind of dream and he sometimes wondered
whose it was and whether they were enjoying it.
Douglas Adams - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Jeff Buckley - Grace

Grace...... just thinking about that song does something to me.......

I was 21 or 22 when I discovered Jeff Buckley, more or less around the time he died actually. A couple of friends had seen him live some time before and told me I really had to listen to his music, I remembered his name when I was looking in the CD boxes of a second hand shop and grabbed it more or less by hazard, since I just wanted something new to listen to. It was just incredible...... not a single weak song on the entire album. From Grace to Hallelujah over Mojo Pin...... I probably bought the CD 7 or 8 times since, giving my copy away to friends who've never heard of him, such as to make them discover his music.

Another one of those artists who died way before his time and became part of music legend..... I can still kick myself for not having gone to his live performance in Belgium.....

If you don't know Buckley's music, just look at the clip, listen to the lyrics and the sound and remember he drawned a couple of years after he wrote this song.....

The Sundays - Here's Where The Story Ends

Another one of those end-of-the-'80s tunes. Most people will know the song, but don't ask them who'se singing it.

The Sundays actually had a couple of hits, and the album (Carved in Sand) is pretty decent. But this song really stands out.

Great voice, great lyrics and hypnotising music.... The Cranberries avant-là-lettre if you want....

Covers......

Billy Joel - Goodnight Saigon

We met as soul mates
On parris island
We left as inmates
From an asylum
And we were sharp
As sharp as knives
And we were so gung ho
To lay down our lives
We came in spastic
Like tameless horses
We left in plastic
As numbered corpses
And we learned fast
To travel light
Our arms were heavy
But our bellies were tight
We had no home front
We had no soft soap
They sent us playboy
They gave us bob hope
We dug in deep
And shot on sight
And prayed to jesus christ
With all our might
We had no cameras
To shoot the landscape
We passed the hash pipe
And played our doors tapes
And it was dark
So dark at night
And we held on to each other
Like brother to brother
We promised our mothers wed write
And we would all go down together
We said wed all go down together
Yes we would all go down together
Remember charlie
Remember baker
They left their childhood
On every acre
And who was wrong?
And who was right?
It didnt matter in the thick of the fight
We held the day
In the palm
Of our hand
They ruled the night
And the night
Seemed to last as long as six weeks
On parris island
We held the coastline
They held the highlands
And they were sharp
As sharp as knives
They heard the hum of our motors
They counted the rotors
And waited for us to arrive
And we would all go down together
We said wed all go down together
Yes we would all go down together

The Stranglers - Strange Little Girl

The Stranglers.... you can probably get high by simply listening to some of their songs. I'm not going to talk about the lyrics of Golden Brown or try to explain the influence of "mind broadening substances" on music.... Suffice it to say The Stranglers made the most of their personal experimentations and were able to put part of their experiences into music.

First time I heard Strange Little Girl, it gave me shivers (a bit like the first time that I read Jeanie's lyrics (Falco) or when I started to figure out what Emma was all about). It's a wonderful song, full of emotions and feelings which are hard to describe, but which we all recognise....

First time you hear songs like this, thoughts that go through you're head: "That song really reflects how I feel", "Nothing gets me like this song does" and a whole bunch of similar stuff...... Thing is, there are actually quite a few songs that seem to have the same effect on the same individual, whilst being totally uncomparable. For me, The Girl with the Far Away Eyes (The Rolling Stones), Max (Paolo Conte), Johnny & Mary (Robert Palmer), Dear God (XTC), We've Only Just Begun (The Carpenters), Against All Odds (Phil Collins), Halo (Texas) .... and dozens of others literally make me plunge back in nostalgia and melancholy.

Since the end of the '80s, a lot of contemporary artists have covered a lot of those songs, with mitigated succes. More often than not, the cover versions tend to emphasize on the nostalgia aspect (the fact that people recognise some of the tunes and are automatically attracted to them, thus boosting sales), but without creating the same effect on our other senses. There are of course many exceptions (The Sisters of Mercy their version of Emma is just wonderful, Eloïse by The Damned, Everything's Gone Green by Razed in Black, ....), but the majority remains very pale, often even shameful versions of the originals.

Tori Amos - Strange Little Girl

I was rather amazed that Tori Amos (whose music I like a lot) made a remake of this classic Stranglers' song. Don't know why she did it, but a gut feeling says she probably had very strong emotions about the original version. I'm still not sure whether I really like it or not, but it's definitely something special.....

Division

Sisters Of Mercy - No Time To Cry


It's just a feeling
I get sometimes
A feeling
Sometimes
And I get frightened
Just like you
I get frightened too
but it's...
(no no no) No time for heartache
(no no no) No time to run and hide
(no no no) No time for breaking down
(no no no) No time to cry
Sometimes in the world as is you've
Got to shake the hand that feeds you
It's just like Adam says
It's not so hard to understand
It's just like always coming down on
Just like Jesus never came and
What did you expect to find
It's just like always here again it's...
(no no no) No time for heartache
(no no no) No time to run and hide
(no no no) No time for breaking down
(no no no) No time to cry
Everything will be alright
Everything will turn out fine
Some nights I still can't sleep
And the voices pass with time
And I keep
[repeat]
No time for tears
No time to run and hide
No time to be afraid of fear
I keep no time to cry
(no no no) No time for heartache
(no no no) No time to run and hide
(no no no) No time for breaking down
(no no no) No time to cry

Joy Division - Love will tear us apart

Not all of us might have a future, but we all have a past...... That's one of the few certainties in life.

I have a tendancy to live in my past, to think about times gone by over and over again..... Not always a good thing to be honest, cause I remember sad moments very vividly, whereas the good moments in life often loose a lot of their importance over time. There are, however, a few exceptions to this rule. I guess in my case, the defining moment of joy in my life has become the birth of my son, Alexander. Compared to him, everything else, including myself, has become meaningless........

That doesn't mean I stopped living or that there aren't any other memories and persons that matter a lot to me, it just means that I would do anything I can .... anything... to make him happy...... He is the most important thing in my life. He is my past, present and future.....

Joy Division....

Love will Tear us Apart is just an incredible song...

It becomes even more gripping when you know that Ian Curtis' wife (Deborah) used the title as an inscription on Ian's grave after he committed suicide at age 23.....

I don't know the facts behind his suicide, but his epilepsy attacks, depressions and impending divorce probably played a major part in it. Those things probably also shaped his music.....

By dying the way he did, he joined a cast of others whom would probably never have reached cult status if they were still alive today, which is a tragedy in itself.

1979

It was fun for a while
There was no way of knowing
Like dream in the night
Who can say where we´re going
No care in the world
Maybe i´m learning
Why the sea on the tide
Has no way of turning

Roxy Music - More than this

Tubeway Army - Are Friends Electric

1979..... The year The Cure released Boys don't Cry...... The year Apocalypse Now was showing in theatres.....

Has it been that long, was I so young at the time.......?

Gary Numan / Tubeway Army's Are Friends Electric is an anthem for that period. When you look at both clips, I just wish I had been 19 in 1979...... Those images, that style, the atmosphere,.... I was too young to realise it, but it was the beginning of an era when everything that still matters to me, was shaped and imagined. Sounds and musical/lyrical combinations that were never heard off. The upcoming of New Wave and the demise of Punk Rock, the availability of home computers like the Commodore 64 and the Amiga 500. Atari's uprise and the popularity of Arcade games. The creation of Apple/Microsoft/.....

Things that seem prehistoric nowadays where top of the line back then. One thing remains though: the music they created then is still withstanding the test of time and a lot of these songs are still being covered at this time. Whenever I hear any of Numan's classics, they seem to withstand the test of time. I don't know how he feels about his music, but his songs are more "art" than music if you ask me. He kind of opened the way for many other styles and groups like Kraftwerk and an entire Goth/Wave/Synthesizer scene discovered new paths to explore.

There are a lot of Tubeway Army / Gary Numan songs I like: We are Glass, Dark, ... but Cars and Are Friends Electric remain the ones I like the most and which I relisten to quite frequently.

Gary Numan - Cars

There is a light .....

This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end
It hurts to set you free
But youll never follow me
The end of laughter and soft lies
The end of nights we tried to die
This is the end

The Doors - The End

The Smiths - There is a Light that Never Goes Out

The mood I was in in between my 17th and 21th probably shaped my taste for music, and the Smiths' sound definitely was one I could totally relate to. Nostalgic, moody, tragic, complex...... some would call it depressing..... I don't. The combination of Johnny Marr's and Morrissey's talents resulted in one of alternative rock's greatest musical collaborations. Rarely heard any guitar sound that could rival Marr's talents and Morrissey's lyrics are just out of this world......

When looking at the picture sleeves of their albums, you could immediately notice there was something different about them.

Picking a favorite Smiths song is an almost impossible task. It depends on the moment, the mood, the place you're at,...... I defintely always have How Soon is Now, The Boy with the Thorn in his Side, Cemetry Gates, Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now and What Difference Does it Make? at the top of my list. But There is a Light that Never Goes Out is just one of those songs that got it all for me.

I only recently learned that Suffer Little Children was actually based on the Moors Murders. The song created a lot of uproar in the UK when the grandfather of one of the victims heard it on the radio. The fact that Morrissey subsequently talked in person to the families and convinced them of his sincerity (he even became friends with some of the family members) is, once again, one of those stories that just increases the special atmosphere surrounding The Smiths' frontman http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suffer_Little_Children

The Smiths were only together for a year or 5, so it's really incredible they were able to put such a mark on the music scene. I'm not going to expand on the group, what happenend between Marr and Morrissey, the trial which opposed Joyce against Marr/Morrissey. Just have a look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Smiths if you want a quick tour.

I stil can't believe Marr joined Oasis though..... And I'm convinced Morrissey would like to reunite with Marr if he ever got the opportunity......

Morrissey - Every Day Is Like Sunday

When Morrisey went solo, a lot of the "magic" created through his collaboration with Marr disappeared. But even solo, the guy's got incredible talent. Don't know if a lot of the things being said about him (and stuff he claims himself (eg. his asexuality)) are true, but who cares. If someone can make music the way he does, I couldn't care less about his view on society, politics and culture. The guy is a genius, nuff' said......

Commotions.......

It was a cold and dark December night
When I opened up the bedroom door
To find her lying still and cold upon the bed
A love letter lying on the bedroom floor

It read:
Darling, I love you
But I just can't keep on living on dreams no more
I tried so very hard not to leave you alone
I just can't keep on tryin' no more

Hot Chocolate - Emma Emily

The Cars - Drive

One of my all time favorite video-clips.......
The combination of the music, words and the clip makes this one of my all time favorite songs. I probably saw it for the first time when I was about 13 years old, and it just doesn't get out of fashion. The distress in the girl's eyes, the melancholic atmosphere, the great Black & White video.

I can't really understand how someone can't be touched by this vid.

Lloyd Cole & The Commotions - Rattlesnakes

Probably one of his best known songs, Rattlesnakes was released somewhere in the first half of the '80s. But I didn't get to know this song until beginning of the '90s. I was in a second hand shop and saw his album "Don't get weird on me, Babe":

I bought the CD because of this cover and subsequently bought his other albums a couple of weeks later. Have you ever seen a guy looking any cooler? A style icon and a great singer at that. You can't go wrong with Lloyd......
Have a look at his site and weblog: http://www.lloydcole.com/lobby.html

Pictures, Words & Sounds

I wont believe in heaven and hell. No saints, no sinners, No devil as
well. No pearly gates, no thorny crown. You're always letting us humans down.
The wars you bring, the babes you drown.Those lost at sea and never found, And
its the same the whole world round.
The hurt I see helps to compound, That
the father, son and holy ghost, Is just somebodys unholy hoax, And if youre up
there you'll perceive, That my hearts here upon my sleeve. If theres one thing I
dont believe in...
Its you........ Dear God.
XTC - Dear God

Pictures, Words & Sounds .... that probably sums up my main interests.....

As a kid, I loved looking at pictures, be it television, magazines, comics, paintings,.......
Once I got to reading, I got especially fond of comics. Reading them became a passion that lasts to this day. The medum is unique in the way that an artist is capable of creating an imaginary world, using nothing more than pen & ink on a blank sheet of paper. No special effects, no famous actors, ... just a guy sitting at a desk and drawing......

When I was around 16-17 (which was pretty late) I began according a lot of importance to the lyrics of songs. That's more or less when I started listening to The Doors, The Smiths, ...... Before that, I guess I was only interested in the rhytmic of the songs.

I could go on and on talking about songs, paintings, music, ...... Instead, I'll try to make at least one post a day, more often than not a very short one, where I'll include a link to a clip of at least one song I like. I probably could keep that up a couple of years ):
Occasionnally I'll try to describe what I like abount an artist/painting, a comic, a picture, a movie, a television series, ......

You'll find that my music preferences are quite eclectic: from The Sisters of Mercy (and New Wave in general), The Pixies, The Smiths, Paolo Conté, Billy Idol (can't help liking his music), Norah Jones, Serge Gainsbourg, The Stranglers, Jeff Buckley, Pearl Jam, Gary Numan, Indochine, Joy Division, The Killing Joke, The Ramones, Ennio Morricone, Simon & Garfunkel, Iggy Pop ..... to one hit wonders from the '70s and '80s like Stan Ridgeway, Andreas Johnson, The Korgis, The Sundays, Visage, ... and a myriad of others.

The song on top of this post is The Sisters of Mercy's 1959. Love that song, always have, always will. It gives my girlfirend the creeps, but it reminds me of so many moments of my youth. Not necessarily only happy ones, but it makes me me think back to how I felt when I was just an adolescent kid, it reminds me of people I cared for, moments long gone by, ..... There are a lot of great Sisters songs, but this one is the most gripping for me. I'll come back on The Sisters later on in my blog.

When it comes to music, I really, really like the Pop & Wave moment from the '80s. The two examples below are classics in their genre.

I'm sure everyone will know the Safety Dance (Men Without Hats), but Wishful Thinking (China Crisis) is one of those songs a lot of people remember, without realising they knew it or who sung it.

The Men Without Hats have had a couple of other really great songs (Jenny Wore Black, Hey Men, ...) but I remeber the first time I saw the clip of The Safety Dance on MTV and it always stuck with me...... When I was 17, I tried to find the single or CD but it took me 2 years (it was way before the Net) to finally find an '80s compilation with this song. I think I played it 30 times in a row...... They're Canadian and realeased their last album in 2003.

Wishful thinking is one of those songs which can be listened to in all occasions. Whether you're happy or sad, you can listen to this song and dream away..... Don't know a lot about the band, but this song is a classic.

Diva's

Fate
Up against your will
Through the thick and thin
He will wait until
You give yourself to him
Echo & The Bunnymen - The Killing Moon

A girl I hold dearly, once told me I live with my head in the past way too often..... I agree. For a nostalgia driven guy, the past is a beautiful place to wander around, a place of mystery, romance and beauty...... sometimes anyway.....

When I talk about Vivien Leigh, Ava Gardner, Greta Garbo, ...... people to whom these names sound familiar, are fairly uncommon in my generation, especially in Europe. The love stories of Humprey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, Ava Gardner and Frank Sinatra, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier, ...... seemed to rule the world press up to a few decades ago. Their appearances attracted masses unseen in these times, audiences in movie theatres that would be unheard off now.
Do women like that still exist? Can any woman have that kind of attraction on a world audience as some of them did? Not in the same manner as then I guess. I don't think you can compare a Julia Roberts or an Angelina Jolie with a Greta Garbo or Elizabeth Taylor, but maybe that's just me.......
A lot of those beautiful moments and personalities of the past are being forgotten as we speak. Times were different then, people were different.........


Vivien Leigh

One of my all time favorite Hollywood Stars remains Vivien Leigh.

I'll never forget her in "Gone With the Wind". It may sound corny, but to me, that movie still is one of the all time classics, a prime example of the magical Hollywood era. A beautiful story of love, passion, tragedy....... with a wonderfull performance by this unique English actress. Vivien Leigh is Margaret Mitchell's Scarlett O'Hara. Her on screen perfomance with Clark Gable and Olivia de Havilland remains one of those major movie events you never forget after you've seen it.

Not to take anything away from her later performance in "A Streetcar Named Desire" or any of her other roles, which were probably critically more acclaimed, but "Gone With the Wind" will always remain in my all time top ten.
Those incredibly expressive eyes, the character in her face. She truly was one off the greatest actresses of the '40's and 50's.


In our time, she would probably have been a tabloid goddess: from her affair (and marriage) with Lawrence Olivier, her episodes of manic-depressions to her tragic death, she left a legacy of artistic performances, most of them now forgotten, but by a few......






Rita Hayworth

Known in her time as "The Great American Love Goddess", one of her most famous phrases was: "All the men I knew fell in love with Gilda, but woke up with Rita", referring to her classic role in the film noire "Gilda" starring her and Glenn Ford.

Her line-up of on screen partners was as impressive as the one in her private life. She played with all time greats like Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire, Orson Welles, Robert Mitchum and Frank Sinatra. She was married five times, most notably with Orson Welles and the son of the Aga Kan. She died of Alzheimer's disease in the '80s. You only have to look at her picture, to imagine what a natural beauty she must have been......

Greta Garbo

Undoubtedly one of the most glamourous and popular stars of the 1920's and '30's, Swedish born Greta Garbo's versions of Anna Karenina and Ninotchka remain vivid memories of what black and white movies mean to me.

Although she'll be mostly remembered by critics for her depiction of Mata Hari and Camille, I remember seeing the other 2 movies as a kid, so they mean more to me personally.

She probably only made 30 movies or so, but her style and influence has been felt throughout te decades.
Even when looking at her pictures now, you can feel the presence she had, a stylistic glamour which even surpasses Marlene Dietrich's.......

2 of her most better known quotes:

- "Life would be so wonderful if we only knew what to do with it."
- "There is no one who would have me—I can't cook."

Truly a great lady...............

Marlene Dietrich

Although I only saw one or 2 of her movies, she mostly means something to me due to all of the photo's I saw of her during my youth. The charisma coming from them is simply astounding.
She gained world stardom with her unforgettable role in "Der Blaue Engel" in 1930 and singlehandedly made cheekbones, lip gloss and smoking sexy.

Bettie Page

Bettie Page was Playboy Magazine's Miss January of 1955. This girl from Nashville has become one of America's most enigmatic models.
Nice and naughty, shy and daring, simple and exotic, Bettie shone with a freshness never before seen in the modeling industry. Bondage model, Jungle Girl, .... who hasn't seen a picture of this well curved American icon.
"Bettie's undeniable influence is present still today in fashion, films, and magazines just to name a few. The dark-haired girl from Nashville has become a living legend, a modern icon, a symbol of beauty and femininity that transcends ordinary standards. In the heart of her adoring fans, Bettie will forever remain the queen of pinup." - Quoted from the Bettie Page official Homepage.











Ava Gardner

First time I ever saw her play (or remember it distinctely), was in "The Barefoot Contessa". That movie meant a lot to me: it was my first encounter with Ava Gardner and Humprey Bogart....... Add to that a wonderful story and you got a classic movie on your hands.
Her career spanned over 40 years, and contained some wonderful movie moments like "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" , "From here to Eternity" or "Mogambo".
Her marriage with Mickey Rooney, love affair with Howard Hughes, second marriage with Artie Shaw and the third one with Frank Sinatra made her a press favorite.
After her divorce with Sinatra, she moved to Spain to spend time with her friend, Ernest Hemingway. It was in his company that she was thrown from a horse, causing the right side of her face to be permanently injured. Se never was the same in front of the camera's again.


Grace Kelly

Grace Kelly was an "Hitchcock Girl". She played in three of his classics: "Dial M for Murder" , "Rear Window" and "To Catch a Thief". Her slim waste, beautiful neckline, classic appearance...... she really had it all.........
Personally, I always had trouble differentiating her from Tippi Hedren though.

She only made a dozen or so movies, with one of her more memorable roles alongside Ava Gardner in "Mogambo", but she became the "people's princess" after her fairy tale wedding with Rainier of Monaco. One of the most glamorous and anticipated media events of the past century, their marriage and the attention it generated for the principality, contributed to making it a home for the jet-set, the rich, famous and powerful. Grace Kelly made Monaco the home of the stars......
Her tragic death in '82 was only the beginning of a seemingless unending atmosphere of scandals/tragedies surrounding the royal family.


Brigitte Bardot & Catherine Deneuve

I wasn't especially a big fan of Bardot in my youth. I mainly got interested in her due to the fact that I loved Serge Gainsbourg's music and because she played a mayor part in his life. It's only afterwards that I discovered the beautiful black & white pictures, her naïve expression and seeming innocence. She probably was one of the first European Supermodels.

The fact that I also mention Catherine Deneuve, doesn't have anything to do with her singing a duet with Gainsbourg as well. IMHO, Deneuve is probably the most attractive woman in European movie history. With her first movie in the fifties, I can honestly say that during over 30 years, I think she's been one of the most beautiful appearances on the white screen. I can't explain why, but she really is "a woman" and not just a pretty face, as there are so many around nowadays.........