Before I was so rudely interrupted, and before my old machine went loco, I was halfway through writing about the lovely Jacqui Abbott. It was also before I'd been to see Living, the new Bill Nighy film. I'll try and pick up where I left off...
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It was Jacqui Abbott's birthday on Thursday. A belated Happy Birthday, Jacqui, from all at Medd Towers.
I was watching the recent Word in Your Ear podcast earlier and in it Jacqui talks really movingly and affectionately about how she met Paul Heaton and ultimately joined the Beautiful South; as well as the huge part her family played - and continue to play - in her musical life. Fast forward to 19:55 and see just how nervous her dad was before her first 'warm up' gig in Middlesborough in 1993. You can see in this interview with Mark Ellen & David Hepworth how grounded this northern lass is and is so not a diva.
Paul Heaton is a consummate songwriter. His barbed lyrics come wrapped in a tune and a melody so at odds, often, with the words that he's able to sing about stuff you wouldn't normally hear on national daytime radio. Don't Marry Her (Fuck Me) being one that springs to mind. It's not very often, therefore, that you see him tackle someone else's songs. Especially not a middle of the road, lighters aloft, soft rock anthem. That said, Heaton and Abbott play this particular Russ Ballard penned power ballad in a rather gentler fashion and, no, Ritchie Blackmore does not come out from behind the curtain to play the solo.
Paul Heaton & Jacqui Abbott - Since You've Been Gone (2022)
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I went to Nottingham's Broadway Cinema last Sunday and saw a film that should clean up at any and indeed all upcoming awards. Best film, best screenplay, best actor, best support: Living, Kazuo Ishiguro, Bill Nighy, Aimee Lou Wood. There, I've called it. Lemme know what you think.
Living (2022)
That's a great cover version. Always loved that track anyway, but they did it proud.
ReplyDeleteIt's alright, isn't it? I heartily recommend the interview with Hepworth & Ellen.
DeleteI enjoyed Living. The Banshees of Inisherin on the other hand ...
ReplyDeletePaul and Jacqui's voices just blend perfectly. Watching them live, it all looks so effortless too.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, Jacqui Abbott isn't someone I knew an awful lot about, but Hepworth & Ellen's interview with her was really lovely, as is this unusual choice of cover.
ReplyDeleteBill Nighy? Last seen taking his seat at The Palladium when Bob Dylan was in town a few weeks ago.
I'd like to think I'm not the only person who thinks she should do a duet with Elvis Costello...
DeleteNighy at a Dylan gig; doesn't surprise me. Were you within grabbing an autograph distance or did you play it cool? I'd have leapt over six rows of seats just to shake the great man's hand (Nighy not Dylan).
The thing about Dylan's London gigs at smaller venues over the years is that a celeb feels never very far away. Did I ever tell you about the night during Bob's 1991 Hammersmith Odeon residency when I found myself sitting between David Gilmour and Elvis Costello?
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