2017 - July 25 - Angels

Does anyone really think there is a coincidence that the movie Boss Baby is released on DVD/BluRay on my sister's birthday? I certainly don't. The effect of the arrival of a younger sibling is explored well in that movie, although my sister certainly was slightly less conniving... I think I have talked about her somewhat lacking taste in music before (ok, that was below the belt, but I am allowed to do that to my sister) - but I don't think I really have talked about her massive affinity for mass produced British pop. When I grew up, Stock, Aitken, and Waterman was pretty much a curse word for me (well, technically a phrase, but the trio was mass producing so much crap that I still consider it one word) - and yet, that music could frequently be heard from my sister's bedroom.

However, even blind men can find gold, and she started finding some really good music in there as well. She started having a thing for British singers (well, technically, British men in general, right Will?), and there was one British gentleman whose career in many ways reminds me of Justin Timberlake's - although for some reason, he never made it quite as big in the US. He also started in a boy band (and no, Elin, I am not talking about Holly Johnson here - he was better with Frankie Goes To Hollywood than on his own) - Take That was pretty darn huge at least in Europe in the early to mid 90s (their probably best known song was Back For Good, which peaked at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the British charts) - before he broke on his own and really went his own way. His debut album, Life Thru A Lens, was released in 1997, and the fourth single was the song I chose for today. It only spent 218 weeks on the British charts (!) - and listening to it again now, I can easily see why. I wasn't listening to this kind of music much at the time, but I do appreciate good pop music when I hear it - and this is good pop.

I also appreciate a good sister when I see one, and I have really lucked out. I couldn't have asked for a better partner in crime growing up - and I miss her and love her very much. The song Angels by Robbie Williams is the least I can play for her birthday! Happy birthday, Elin!