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The Guardian
12 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘It was an I Will Survive for the 1990s': how McAlmont & Butler made Yes
I'd just left Suede and was living in a basement flat in Highgate, London, making music in my tiny box room. It was a lonely time, but a lovely summer and I decided to do something uplifting and joyous. There were a bunch of records I loved listening to on a sunny day – Dusty Springfield's I Only Want to Be With You, The First Picture of You by the Lotus Eaters, You on My Mind by Swing Out Sister, which has Bacharach key changes and strings. I wanted to make a piece of music that gave me the buzz those songs did. I didn't want to worry about an album or sleeve artwork or how the video was going to go. I just wanted people to hear the song and feel like the sun had come out. I needed strings for the demo and found a fellow who was advertising samples in Loot magazine – this was 1994, before you could get anything you needed on your laptop. I remember going round to his flat and waiting for hours while he copied them on to a floppy disc. There was never a plan to sing the song myself. I'd been writing with Julianne Regan, who was in All About Eve, so she was the first person to have a crack at writing a melody and lyrics. After she went her own way, Geoff Travis at Rough Trade played the demo to Morrissey, who asked for a meeting – we ended up playing pinball. A week later, I got a letter from him that just said: 'Dear Bernard, I'm sorry, I can't.' Then I spent an afternoon with Kirsty MacColl, who really loved what I'd done but still wanted to change everything. Someone suggested I go and see David McAlmont playing at the Jazz Cafe. During his first song, the drummer Makoto Sakamoto came on and started smashing the shit out of his drums – it was the greatest sound I'd ever heard. Then David started singing and I was like, 'Well, there it is.' I knew I needed both of them. I gave David a tape of the instrumental and two days later he came round to my flat with what he'd written. He only had words for one verse. I said: 'Just sing it twice. We'll worry about that later.' But we never got around to it and people don't seem to notice. I love the message of the lyric: it's a big 'fuck you', but delivered in the most positive way. We recorded the strings then spent a couple of days in producer Mike Hedges' chateau in Normandy. We set the drums up in the old stone cellar – Mako didn't speak English but I directed him with my arms and remember the room shaking as he produced that eruption you hear at the start of the record. David recorded his vocals in the ballroom – he seemed to find the key-change leap effortless. I was standing 10ft away thinking: 'This is going to be great.' Yes is my favourite out of all the records I've ever made. To make a song that people put on to feel good is just magic. Years after it came out, I was at a fireworks display with my kids. They always finished the night with a banger. That year, they closed with Yes. That just blew my mind. Knowing three artists before me had been given the option to do something with this great piece of music was very motivating. Bernard had evoked Motown, Burt Bacharach and Dusty Springfield, but he'd added a rocky thing. I wanted to try something simple. Initially, I came up with something quite T Rex but my flatmate said: 'It's a bit one dimensional, dear.' I remember sticking my finger into my vinyl pile, touching the soundtrack to Judy Garland's version of A Star Is Born, and thinking: 'What would Judy do?' Lyrically, it was such a punt. I'd been dating somebody who I really liked, but he'd just kind of ghosted me. I was thinking: 'What would I say to him if I became famous?' I just started singing: 'So you want to know me now?' It was delusional, really. Before Yes came out, a friend asked me: 'What kind of a song is it?' I said: 'It's an I Will Survive for the 90s.' I remember getting to the climactic point after the second chorus where the song builds and builds and I sing: 'I'm better, better, Ye-e-e-e-es!' I was thinking I was done, but then Bernard said: 'We need something for the end, a kind of refrain.' I thought: 'Smokey Robinson!' And I used my falsetto to repeat: 'I feel well enough to tell you what you can do with what you got.' The recording actually uses varispeed to pitch that part a semitone out of my comfort zone, so I was much happier performing the song with a live band on Later With Jools Holland than I was singing along to the backing track on Top of the Pops. Over the years, I've met women who have told me they left abusive relationships thanks to Yes. After our second Top of the Pops appearance, the sister of the show's producer came over to say she'd been unable to walk and the song had helped her to get up. It has a power I can't account for. After it had reached the Top 10, I went to see Jimmy Somerville live – and the guy who inspired the lyric was there. He said: 'Oh my god, David, you're doing so well!' I was standing there biting my lip, thinking: 'You have no idea.' Butler, Blake & Grant play Cambridge Junction on 6 June before touring the UK. Hifi Sean & David McAlmont's album Twilight is out now.
Newsweek
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Newsweek
Former AEW Women's Champion Mariah May Leaving for WWE: Report
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. An iconic champion is leaving All Elite Wrestling. According to a report from Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select, former Women's World Champion Mariah May has been removed from the AEW roster page, meaning her time with the company has come to an end. Mariah May has been removed from the AEW roster page. She is expected to go to WWE imminently. Details coming to @FightfulSelect — Sean Ross Sapp of (@SeanRossSapp) May 30, 2025 According to Sapp's sources, May is expected to join WWE as soon as her two-year contract with AEW has expired. Aug. 25, 2024 – Mariah May holds the AEW Women's World Championship high after defeating Toni Storm at AEW All In London 2024. Aug. 25, 2024 – Mariah May holds the AEW Women's World Championship high after defeating Toni Storm at AEW All In London 2024. Lee South/AEW May is most well-known for her feud with "Timeless" Toni Storm, which echoed similar plot points to the classic film 'All About Eve.' Eventually, May defeated Storm for the AEW Women's World Title at AEW All In London 2024. She would go on to hold the championship for 174 days before it was won back by Storm at Grand Slam Australia on Feb. 15, 2025. More Pro Wrestling: AEW Superstar Is Leaving The Company For more AEW, WWE, and professional wrestling news, head on over to Newsweek Sports. This story is currently being updated...
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
How Sirens Upends The Classic Tale of an Assistant's Revenge
The stories differ, but there are two non-negotiables for films and series about bosses and assistants: killer dialogue and juicy plot twists. (Depending on your employment history, you might also count on PTSD.) From All About Eve to The Devil Wears Prada, the fraught relationship between employer and employee—with its potential for betrayal and triumph, vicious one-liners and personal growth—has been catnip for Hollywood. And Netflix limited series Sirens nestles comfortably in that rich tradition. Adapted from her own play by Molly Smith Metzler (Maid), Sirens follows rough-around-the-edges Devon (Meghann Fahy), who shows up at her sister Simone's (Milly Alcock) workplace to confront her—except she finds Simone under the thrall of her boss, the wealthy, enigmatic Michaela (Julianne Moore), a bird-wielding socialite who seems to be one sheath dress away from becoming a cult leader. Sirens riffs on everything from mythology to the socio-economics of marriage, but nowhere is it smarter or more incisive than when Metzler is exploring the vagaries of the personal assistant dynamic between Michaela and Simone. Their unsettling, co-dependent relationship (Michaela snuggles into bed with Simone after an anxious night; they go on runs together every day) is akin to watching a workplace version of Single White Female. 'There's a wonderful tradition of making those relationships really scary,' Metzler says. 'Let's be honest, they are scary because there's economics involved. Michaela and Simone present themselves as the dearest of friends, but when economics enters a relationship, it threads the whole thing with dread, but also with a little bit of fear. Someone has all the power, and it's akin to buying a friend.' And while most films and shows slowly tease out one character's true intentions, Sirens continually upends its narrative with a series of reversals and revelations. Devon, Simone, and Michaela are never quite certain where they stand in relation to one another, and their relationships shift and evolve in unexpected ways over the course of five episodes. Much of the show's success hinges on the ways in which it plays with our expectations. We've seen this story before, or so we think. This is Damages with a dash of Mad Men. But Metzler is precise with how she weaponizes our familiarity against us. 'I'm very drawn to subjects that are not what they seem,' she says. 'When you have a fast judgment about a character and then end up wrong, I love that. And the relationship between Michaela and Simone looks like one thing, but it turns out to be something very different. At the end, I think people will be like, 'Oh wait, it was there the whole time, but I didn't see it.'' Part of that slow tease of the truth is the ways in which Metzler shies away from the usual tropes of female rivalry. Unlike All About Eve, Sirens is not concerned with the idea of youth versus maturity. Nor is Metzler interested in the sexual competition of Working Girl. Instead, Sirens smartly places money at the center of its story. 'All the women in the show have a socioeconomic relationship with each other and with the men,' Metzler says. 'And that's a little bit what I'm making a social commentary about too, that there's a lot of buying in the show.' Sirens also plays with ideas about class and trauma, allowing Simone the luxury of thinking that she can pretend her past never happened. Here again, Metzler is playing on our familiarity with stories revolving around reinvention via the workplace—but in Sirens, that has a much darker edge. 'Desperation is a dangerous currency,' Metzler says. 'Even if you end up in a fortuitous economic position, like working for someone like Michaela, who you are and who you've left behind is still there. You can't select all and delete your past. It's very much about class and trauma and how those things dance together, whether you like it or not.' You Might Also Like 12 Weekend Getaway Spas For Every Type of Occasion 13 Beauty Tools to Up Your At-Home Facial Game
Economic Times
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Economic Times
Nawazuddin Siddiqui backs stars dancing at weddings, says actors are no different from jesters
Agencies The 'Sacred Games' star recently supported actors who danced at weddings for pay. Renowned actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui recently offered a refreshingly frank perspective on the way actors are viewed by society, especially in the context of performing at private events. In an interview on the All About Eve YouTube channel, the Sacred Games star made it clear that he holds no issue with actors dancing at weddings or exclusive parties in exchange for large payments. In fact, he openly admitted that he would gladly accept such an offer if it came his way. When the interviewer asked if he would be comfortable dancing at a wedding for a fee, Nawaz responded with complete sincerity: 'Absolutely, why wouldn't I? What's the big deal? It's a part of what we do for a living. People often criticize actors for dancing at weddings, but I don't see the harm. At the end of the day, we are performers — entertainers. Historically, entertainers or 'bhands' were looked down upon. They weren't accepted in mainstream social circles. In those days, they were seen as immoral or lacking principles, as bad influences. Villages would make them stay outside in tents. They were only allowed in to perform and then immediately sent away.' He then reflected on how the entertainment industry has transformed over time. Nawazuddin acknowledged that today's actors wear designer clothes and earn much more than earlier generations of performers. Still, despite the newfound glamor and financial success, he pointed out that the essence of the profession remains the same. He admitted that actors no longer like being called 'bh**nds,' but that term once defined their place in society, even though the work itself hasn't changed all that after the interview clip was posted on Reddit, it sparked a wave of online reactions. Social media users quickly joined the conversation, expressing a range of opinions. One person wrote, 'They view themselves as entertainers, and that's perfectly valid. I don't get why people make such a fuss about it — to each their own.' Another added, 'He makes a fair point. People in the past had a very limited and judgmental view of things.' One commenter, however, playfully questioned his reach, saying, 'No shade to Nawaz, bro, but I doubt he'd actually be invited to perform at elite weddings, let alone get paid that kind of money. So no, you're not a 'bh**nd' and probably won't become one either, lol.'On the professional front, Nawazuddin was last seen in Costao, a biographical crime thriller. He portrayed Coatao Fernandes, a brave customs officer from Goa who risked his life to bust a gold smuggling racket. Directed by Sejal Shah, the film also stars Priya Bapat, Kishore, and Hussain Dalal, and is currently available for streaming on ZEE5.
Time of India
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Nawazuddin Siddiqui backs stars dancing at weddings, says actors are no different from jesters
Renowned actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui recently offered a refreshingly frank perspective on the way actors are viewed by society, especially in the context of performing at private events. In an interview on the All About Eve YouTube channel, the Sacred Games star made it clear that he holds no issue with actors dancing at weddings or exclusive parties in exchange for large payments. In fact, he openly admitted that he would gladly accept such an offer if it came his way. When the interviewer asked if he would be comfortable dancing at a wedding for a fee, Nawaz responded with complete sincerity: 'Absolutely, why wouldn't I? What's the big deal? It's a part of what we do for a living. People often criticize actors for dancing at weddings, but I don't see the harm. At the end of the day, we are performers — entertainers. Historically, entertainers or 'bhands' were looked down upon. They weren't accepted in mainstream social circles. In those days, they were seen as immoral or lacking principles, as bad influences. Villages would make them stay outside in tents. They were only allowed in to perform and then immediately sent away.' He then reflected on how the entertainment industry has transformed over time. Nawazuddin acknowledged that today's actors wear designer clothes and earn much more than earlier generations of performers. Still, despite the newfound glamor and financial success, he pointed out that the essence of the profession remains the same. He admitted that actors no longer like being called 'bh**nds,' but that term once defined their place in society, even though the work itself hasn't changed all that much. Soon after the interview clip was posted on Reddit, it sparked a wave of online reactions. Social media users quickly joined the conversation, expressing a range of opinions. One person wrote, 'They view themselves as entertainers, and that's perfectly valid. I don't get why people make such a fuss about it — to each their own.' Another added, 'He makes a fair point. People in the past had a very limited and judgmental view of things.' One commenter, however, playfully questioned his reach, saying, 'No shade to Nawaz, bro, but I doubt he'd actually be invited to perform at elite weddings, let alone get paid that kind of money. So no, you're not a 'bh**nd' and probably won't become one either, lol.' On the professional front, Nawazuddin was last seen in Costao, a biographical crime thriller. He portrayed Coatao Fernandes, a brave customs officer from Goa who risked his life to bust a gold smuggling racket. Directed by Sejal Shah, the film also stars Priya Bapat, Kishore, and Hussain Dalal, and is currently available for streaming on ZEE5.
