Latest news with #Bluebell
The National
10 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The National
‘The British media undermines anything Scottish and assimilates it'
One of the main reasons is the more recent work of Bobby Bluebell, one of the best-known and certainly best-connected songwriters and performers we have. Bluebell – real name Robert Hodgens – certainly knows what he's talking about when it comes to writing hits. For a start he co-wrote the solid gold classic Young At Heart, a staple of almost every 1980s collection on the market, which has proven as good for his reputation as for his bank balance. What is perhaps less widely known is the number of successful songs he has written, or helped to write, for artists including Texas, Shakespears Sister, Altered Images, Sinead O'Connor, B*witched, Brian Wilson and others. READ MORE: BBC Debate Night branded 'farce' as formal complaint made over 'bias' More recently, he has reimagined and recorded some of the best Scottish songs ever written with The Golden Tree, the band he formed with his mate, Hipsway singer Grahame Skinner. 'Me and Grahame were talking about how to make money from music these days,' Bluebell tells me during a break from recording The Bluebells' third and, he says, final album in Glasgow. 'One of the most successful records in the world was Rod Stewart's Great American Songbook series. I suggested we try and do a Scottish songbook because you won't believe how many great Scottish songs are out there. 'We decided to do it just ourselves, at the back end of Covid as I had a lot of time in my house. The first one I did was the Marmalade song, Reflections Of My Life, which I really love. I was singing and it was not bad, but I knew Grahame could sing it much better. He's a great singer and it was amazing. 'I spoke to the record company Last Night From Glasgow and asked if we could do the record. Originally, we wanted to call it Golden Hour after those old Golden Hour records [in the 1960s]. Then my daughter, who was in Japan at the time, said there was a golden tree there and I thought that was a good name. Later, I was playing golf at Pollok and there was a golden tree there. I took a picture of it and that became the cover of the album. 'We picked all these Scottish songs, and they just worked out really, really well.' Their two albums reworked some classic songs, some of which listeners might never have regarded as Scottish. It proved to be a real eye-opener. The songs on that first Golden Tree album range from the traditional Wild Mountain Thyme to pop classics such as I Should Have Known Better (Jim Diamond, 1985), Gallagher and Lyle's 1976 hit Breakaway and the Sutherland Brothers' Arms Of Mary (recorded with Quiver in 1975). It also includes early Simple Minds' Chelsea Girl and Talking Heads' beguiling hymn to boredom and ennui, Heaven. Most were stripped of their more expected instrumentations and presented in a more stripped-down form which allowed the strength of the songwriting itself to shine through. READ MORE: 'New low': SNP slam Labour over MP lobbying trip to Israel amid Gaza genocide The only one of the songs Bluebell had a hand in writing to appear on the first album was a very different performance of the Texas banger Black Eyed Boy. The second album extended the range to include the Bay City Rollers' Shang-A-Lang, Primal Scream's Movin' On Up and Coldplay's Yellow. Bluebell argues that many of the songs featured on the albums have always been under-appreciated, on two counts. First because some haven't even been recognised as being Scottish. Indeed, even a cursory glance at the track listings sent me scurrying to google to work out a Scottish connection. Coldplay? Yellow co-writer, bassist Guy Berryman, is Scottish. Second because many have been dismissed as insubstantial pop. 'I always thought that Young at Heart itself was underappreciated and put in the Agadoo section,' says Bluebell, referring to the cheesy Black Lace hit which spent 30 weeks in the British singles chart in 1984. 'Pop music stands for popular music, but a lot of artists dismiss popular appeal. They want to attract an elite crowd. 'I genuinely love pop music. The Beatles wanted to appeal to everyone. I've got a lot of respect for songs like Billy Don't Be a Hero [the Paper Lace 1974 hit], Black Lace, Marmalade, Pickettywitch [whose biggest hit was That Same Old Feeling in 1970] … songs that really become big hits. They're fucking hard to write. People who dismiss them are doing them a great injustice. People like Marc Bolan [of T. Rex] and John Lennon, people I really admired, wanted to have songs like these, that were hits.' Bluebell also believes the fact that some of the songs on the album are not known to be Scottish is no accident. 'The British media undermines anything Scottish – and Welsh and Irish – and assimilates it,' he says. 'I was trying to make the point that you don't know these songs are Scottish because you're not told they're Scottish. But you are told constantly that Andy Murray is British. Chris Hoy is British. England won the war in Argentina.' When Bluebell was growing up he began to notice that being involved with music gave you a particular status with your peers, and particularly with girls. You didn't even have to play music. He noticed it when he started a fanzine called The Ten Commandments with writer Kirsty McNeil and photographer Robert Scott. 'When I left school I'd got off with one girl in the whole time. I was the goofy guy in spectacles. I was the sort of guy who liked Deep Purple. But the minute I said I played in a band, or that I had a fanzine … all of a sudden you had a status.' He gravitated to making his own music when he started inventing bands to write about in the fanzine and felt he needed to show they actually existed. The Ten Commandments was steeped in the Scottish post-punk indie scene. Bluebell became part of a community that included Orange Juice and Postcard Records, Lloyd Cole, Simple Minds, Hipsway, Clare Grogan and Altered Images. He would go on to play in his own bands, including the Oxfam Warriors and later – and more successfully – with The Bluebells, formed in 1981 after he met brothers David and Ken McCluskey. They notched up three top 40 singles – all of which Bluebell wrote or had a hand in writing. 'Oxfam Warriors ended when Alan Horne [founder of Postcard Records] told me the band were dead neddy and I should sack them,' Bluebell recalls. 'But he said the songs were pretty good. 'The Bluebells garnered a lot of interest quite quickly. 'Glasgow was such a hotbed and we looked cool enough. We were coming along at the right time for the zeitgeist. We learned very quickly to say yes to everything. 'Once you say no you are out of the game.' Before the band, Bluebell's lack of success with girls and his annual trips to Italy, his mother's home country, hadn't done much for his self-confidence. That was to change. 'I wouldn't say I was ugly, but I'd go to Italy every year and go to the beach … with my glasses on. All the Italian guys would look amazing and I'd feel like a geek. 'I later learned that guys considered some girls too beautiful to be asked out. I asked one beautiful girl why she was going out with her boyfriend and she replied 'because he asked me'. That realisation made my head explode. I've had a lot of gorgeous girlfriends since then.' It was while he was living in London with one of those girlfriends – Siobhan Fahey of Bananarama – that they collaborated on writing Young At Heart. It was an infectious, feel-good celebration of a song but with a sadness at its heart when they both realised how much they were missing their parents. The song first appeared on Bananarama's debut album in 1983 and the Bluebells released their own, very different, version the following year. Young at Heart became the band's biggest hit when it was used in a Volkswagen TV advert in 1993, and it has since come to be regarded as one of the defining hits of the 1980s and 90s. The band originally split up in 1986 but has since regularly reformed for a number of performances. Bluebell has established a reputation as a songwriter and collaborator on hit songs for a wide range of other artists. The wider public might not know about his contribution to those hits, but he seems unworried. 'It's still exciting,' he says 'It should be about the artist. It's their thing. They contribute a lot to it; I'm just a bit of it. 'I can get involved in different ways. For example, I wrote a song about abuse for a film and I asked Sinead O'Connor to sing it, which she did and it was great. She loved the song and didn't want it in the film but wanted to put it on her album. I went to the film company and offered them the money back. 'Songwriting is a very personal thing and that song was very personal to me. But I was happy she took it on and she made it into a fantastic song. We're collaborators ... that's what we do. It's normal.' He's frank when he's asked how he feels about giving the power of how the song is performed to the artist. 'I just want to make money and have an outlet.' However, he's not keen when writing music for others becomes too much like hard work. 'I did a lot of films and TV and I gave up on it. The money was OK but every minute of the fucking day you'd get a guy wanting to make some changes to it. It was quite laborious and hard work. I got into this to avoid hard work so I made a call to stop.' He's now entered the company of artists who can make good money from their back catalogue and he's very aware that the industry focuses on a plethora of heritage acts can now make it harder for younger acts to make money in the early stage of their career. 'Record companies won't sign bands any more. No-one pays six wages. They'll just sign single artists. It's all about economies. Artists like Paul McCartney are still huge. 'Primal Scream … bigger than ever. Texas … bigger than ever. People who love Deacon Blue and Texas are teaching their children about them in the same way as happened with The Beatles and the Stones. The economics that made the Beatles and the Stones and Texas big aren't there anymore. Or at least, they are there for them but a young band coming up will find it hard to get a company to support them, to promote them. 'When is the last time you went to a concert and everyone in the place was 13? Alice Cooper for me. Now they are all 50 and 60. I'm not knocking it but 13 and 16-year-old kids don't go to gigs any more. They can't get in. 'Young people listen to these acts but don't know the context. I heard my daughter playing The Doors the other day and I told her I had visited his grave in Paris. She said 'What … he's dead?'' When Bluebell was young there was no internet to feed him a diet of music, old or otherwise, so he concentrated on the music he heard in Scotland. 'It wasn't until I went to London that I realised there were very few Scottish bands that make it. When I was at school I had a jotter and I'd write down every Scottish band that was in the charts. I wanted to feel part of something. 'My mum and dad taught us to be independent, not dependent. Independent is the opposite of dependent. I don't understand why anyone would want to be dependent. 'To be mocked for that is really irritating. 'Scotland is a strange country. We've been trained – like the Irish – that some people are superior to us. They're better than us because they're upper class. But we're better than some others. We've been taught our place. 'Our parents, who worked in heavy industry, were striving to get their children into the middle class. Your Thatchers and your Starmers exploit that aspiration to be middle class, but they hate any aspiration to go from the middle class into their class, the ruling class. That's where you become a fucking problem. You can be middle class, but don't you dare assume that you're going to be their equal. The minute you do that is when you are considered a communist, nationalist, socialist … disruptive. 'I am very pro-independence but I'm not particularly into any political party. People should be licensed to be politicians. It's amazing that we give power to these people who are not at all qualified in any way. Imagine if Celtic and Rangers just picked a random person to be manager. It's not going to work, is it? Why don't we just pick the person who is best qualified to run a country? And that's not going to be Trump, Keir Starmer or Putin is it?' On that last point at least it's fair to say we can expect the country to provide a chorus of approval …
Daily Mail
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Meet Moley - Queen Camilla's new rescue puppy: Royal shows off cute adopted dog after the death of her last canine Beth
Queen Camilla has showed off her adorable new puppy, a mischievous Jack Russell mix, following the heartbreaking loss of her beloved last canine Beth. In a heartwarming moment sure to delight royal fans, Queen Camilla has unveiled an adorable new addition to the royal household – a cheeky little pup named Moley, adopted from Battersea Dogs and Cats Home. The Queen, 77, who has long been known for her devotion to dogs, especially the spirited Jack Russell Terrier, shared a charming photograph of the tiny pooch perched confidently on her lap. With her oversized ears standing to attention, Moley looks every inch the pampered royal pet. Described as a 'mischievous' and 'much-loved canine companion', Moley is believed to be part Jack Russell – a breed close to the Queen's heart. Her previous four-legged friends, Beth and Bluebell, both rescued from Battersea, famously featured as embroidered designs on Her Majesty's coronation gown. This latest addition comes after a deeply sad chapter for the Queen, following the death of her cherished dog Beth in November 2024. Buckingham Palace confirmed the news with an emotional statement, calling Beth a 'much-loved companion' who brought 'such joy'. The statement read: 'A sad farewell to Beth, The Queen's much-loved companion from Battersea Dogs and Cats Home who brought such joy, whether on walkies, helping on official duties, or curled up by the fire.' She adopted the then 12-week-old pup in August 2011 after falling in love with her picture in an email sent to her by Battersea Dogs and Cats Home. Camilla, who became patron of the charity in 2016, told the Mail at the time: 'I couldn't resist her. She is gorgeous. It is so exciting. I can't wait for her to meet the family.' When the King attended the Royal Variety Performance weeks after the death, he told TV presenter Amanda Holden - who is an ambassador for the world-famous animal rescue centre in London - that they planned to get a new dog. The Queen revealed the happy news as she affectionately stroked a guide dog while meeting a partially-sighted museum group in the Beaney House of Art & Knowledge located in the centre of Canterbury's bustling high street. A Battersea spokesperson said, 'We're pleased to confirm that Battersea has recently rehomed an 8-week-old Jack Russell Terrier cross female puppy, called Moley, to our Patron, Her Majesty The Queen. The Queen has long been a supporter of Battersea's work and has previously rehomed two rescue dogs from our charity.' While the photograph marks the first official image of Queen Camilla with Moley, the spirited little pup has already made a quiet debut. Eagle-eyed fans may recognise her from a recent snap released ahead of the Queen's visit to the Chelsea Flower Show. The snap showed the tiny pup standing on a wooden chair while sporting an adorable red and blue collar, with her oversized ears poking into the air. It's understood that Moley is female and was born on Boxing Day and her mother is half Jack Russell, half unknown - while her father's breed is also unknown. Queen Camilla meets meets a dog while chatting with well-wishers as she arrives to visit the cottage in Thornton where the Bronte children were born during a visit to Bradford to celebrate the city's year as UK City of Culture on May 15, 2025 It's thought the new pet will live at Rat Hill, Queen Camilla's private Wiltshire residence, although it's expected she'll accompany the royal couple when they stay at official royal residences. The news that the Queen has found a new pet is likely to prove cheering to royal fans; the Queen had a very close bond with Beth, who she described as a 'very special dog' - much like the late Queen Elizabeth II, who was famed for her love of corgis. Over the years, Camilla paid tribute to her pets by having them embroidered on her Coronation gown, gave them her pearl necklaces for a magazine cover, and was joined by Beth in a picture posted by the royal family for her 75th birthday in 2022. Meanwhile, an unearthed clip from the BBC One royal documentary Charles III: The Coronation Year released in December 2023 highlighted Camilla's sweet bond with her dog. In the documentary, which followed Charles's first year as King, the royal couple went for a casual dog walk with Camilla dressed in jeans and a jacket and Charles in a tweed jacket and tie.
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
175 Groovy Hippie Baby Names You'll Be Sure To Dig
Whether you're looking for a name that feels connected to nature, radiates peace or channels the free-spirited energy of the '60s and '70s, hippie names offer something beautifully groovy names are often rooted in the earth, inspired by music or touched by a bit of celestial magic—perfect for parents seeking something meaningful, whimsical and a little unconventional. From flower-powered classics to rare, psychedelic picks, here are 175 hippie baby names for boys and girls that celebrate individuality and These free-spirited names work for anyone and carry that signature "flower child" energy. River Sage Indigo Sky Ocean Phoenix Rain Cypress Meadow Zephyr Ash Echo Forest Peace Journey Zion Nova Moon Sol Dream Shiloh Sparrow Onyx Freedom True Related: Soft, nature-inspired and full of poetic charm. Willow Daisy Luna Marigold Aurora Clover Harmony Autumn Star Iris Fern Opal Saffron Gaia Coral Wren Magnolia Lark Topaz Blossom Petal Seraphina Sunflower Juniper Bluebell Related: Strong yet mellow, these names feel grounded and ethereal all at once. Orion Bodhi Cedar Everest Leaf Atlas Horizon Cosmo Wolf Jupiter Canyon Zen Flint Rowan Indigo Ember Arrow Fox Prairie Quest Arlo Rainier Stone Phoenix Talon Related: Unexpected, rare and perfect for standing out in the drum circle. Echo Sonnet Arrowyn Zephyra Tansy Nirvana Lumi Azura Dusk Cloud Halcyon Sequoia Indigoa Bramble Oona Lyric Eira Sparrowyn Moonstone Rainie Fable Kismet Tula Velvet Thistle Related: These names are a little cosmic, a little surreal - and straight from another dimension. Galaxy Saturn Psyche Lyserra Astral Cosmica Nova-Ray Lumière Quartz Vega Kaleido Solaris Omari Daydream Rhapsody Vortex Mirage Ether Rainbow Trance Astraea Flux Moonchild Haze Glimmer Earthy, rooted... and as peaceful as a barefoot walk in the woods. Birch Thyme Moss Dandelion Rosewood Sagebrush Lavender Sorrel Bay Cedarlyn Hawthorn Aloe Ivy Laurel Poppy Fernweh Aster Nettle Briar Honeysuckle Solstice Maple Lotus Forrest Breeze Dune Basil Cove Aspen Lily All about harmony, connection and inner light. 156. Love157. Bliss158. Zenon159. Halo160. Amity161. Shanti162. Grace163. Pax164. Joy165. Harmony166. Serene167. Tranquil168. Devotion169. Dharma170. Mercy171. Hope172. Peaceful173. Liberty174. Solace175. Song Up Next:
BreakingNews.ie
08-05-2025
- Business
- BreakingNews.ie
Planning application submitted for over 380 apartments in south Dublin
A planning application has been submitted for over 380 apartments in Bluebell in Dublin. Dublin City Council and the Land Development Agency are looking to build beside the Grand Canal. They say it comes after more than a year of extensive consultation with the local community. 150 of the units will be social homes, with the rest going to the cost-rental scheme. The site is located on Bluebell Avenue and Bluebell Road, Bluebell, Dublin 12. The proposed development will consist of: Advertisement Demolition of existing above-ground structures on site, including the existing 36 no. 2 bed maisonettes and the existing community facility known as the Bungalow (which is being relocated within the site), and the construction of a residential development set out in 5 no. blocks, ranging in height from 5 to 9 storeys to accommodate 383 no. apartments, 3 no. community / cultural units and a crèche; The site will accommodate 141 no. car parking spaces, 945 no. bicycle parking spaces, storage, services and plant areas. Landscaping will include a new central public plaza, residential courtyards, and a western linear parkland which includes relocated allotments; The 5 no. residential buildings range in height from 5 storeys to 9 storeys accommodating 383 no. apartments comprising 22 studios, 131 no. 1 bed units, 192 no. 2 bed units (30 no. 2 bed- 3 person and 162 no. 2 bed- 4 person) and 38 no. 3 bed units. The residential buildings are arranged centrally on the site and around residential courtyards at podium and ground level. Balconies and terraces to be provided on all elevations at all levels for each block. The breakdown of residential accommodation is as follows: Block 1 is a 7 to 8 storey building accommodating 80 no. units comprising 1 no. studio, 28 no. 1 bed units, 43 no. 2 bed units, 8 no. 3 bed units. Block 2 is a 6 to 9 storey building accommodating 86 no. units comprising 23 no. 1 bed units, 50 no. 2 bed units, 13 no. 3 bed units. Block 3A/3B is a 6 storey building accommodating 83 no. units comprising 10 no. studios, 43 no. 1 bed units, 30 no. 2 bed units. Block 4A/4B is a 5 to 6 storey building, accommodating 70 no. units comprising 1 no. studio, 22 no. 1 bed units, 34 no. 2 bed units, 13 no. 3 bed units. Block 5 is a 5 to 7 storey building accommodating 64 no. units comprising 10 no. studios, 15 no. 1 bed units, 35 no. 2 bed units, 4 no. 3 bed units They said any person within four weeks from the date of publication of this notice, apply to An Bord Pleanála for a screening determination as to whether the development would be likely to have significant effects on the environment. Dublin City Council said they are now open to submissions or observations in relation to the proposed development, dealing with the proper planning and sustainable development of the area in which the development would be situated, may be made on their website before 23:59pm on June 19th, 2025. You can make a submission about the development here .
BBC News
20-04-2025
- General
- BBC News
Plymouth charity plea to give chocolates not pets for Easter
A charity is urging people to give chocolates rather than rabbits for Easter after one was found abandoned on Animal Welfare Trust said the rabbit was recently found by a dog walker on the said the animal, named Bluebell, was being cared for at its animal sanctuary in Devon where she was doing well despite her "traumatic experience".Assistant supervisor Claire Newcombe said rabbits could live up to 10 to 12 years and "before anyone considers getting a rabbit, they need to do their research and consider what is involved in caring for them". 'Careful checks'
