Gene Pitney - something's gotten hold of his heart

Let's break the univeral blogger rule here: never write your blog after midnight, never blog after several drinks. So I've been out, come home again, and didn't feel like going to bed straight away. Logged on, and found that Gene Pitney has gone and died in Wales, of all places. I loved Gene Pitney. God knows why, but his distinctive American whine really did it for me. So imagine my distress, dear reader, when I discovered he had passed away in Cardiff, Wales, in the middle of some crumby-sounding UK tour. I paste the hilarious PA posting and let you make up your own minds, but do check out Gene's quote ("I love what I'm doing - to pick and choose where I want to go, and what I want to do") and the tour manager's comment ("it looks as if there was no pain whatsover, which is nice"). You couldn't make it up.

Gene Pitney dies on UK tour
By Anita Singh, PA
Published: 05 April 2006
Singer Gene Pitney has died in the middle of his UK tour, his agent said today.
The 65-year-old American star was found dead just after 10am today at the Hilton Hotel in Cardiff. His 40-year career included the hits Twenty-Four Hours From Tulsa and Something's Gotten Hold Of My Heart. A spokesman for South Wales Police said: "We've had a report of a death. It is not believed to be suspicious. We had the call just before 10.10am. The body, which has not been formally identified yet, was found at the Hilton Hotel in Cardiff." Pitney played St David's Hall in Cardiff last night and was due to perform in Bristol tonight. In an interview at Christmas he spoke of his excitement at taking his show around the UK on a 23-date tour which was due to end later this month. He denied it was a gruelling schedule, saying: "I take care of myself. I can finish up the tour no problem whatsoever. "I love doing what I'm doing - to pick and choose where I want to go and what I want to do." A spokesman for the Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust confirmed that a rapid response vehicle and an ambulance attended the Hilton in Cardiff this morning. The spokesman said: "We did not convey a patient to hospital. We were on the scene within two minutes." Pitney had been in good health and his death came as a shock to friends. Mark Howes, of Pitney's management company In Touch Music, told BBC Wales: " He did a good show last night at St David's Hall and it was wonderful. "I've seen him quite a few times on this tour and he was fit and well. He said it was the best tour he had done for quite a few years." Mr Howes said the singer was found dead in his bed by his tour manager.
Pitney's tour manager James Kelly said the singer was found dead in his hotel room this morning by long-term friend Geoff Clennell. "We don't have a cause of death at the moment but looks like it was a very peaceful passing," said Mr Kelly. "He was found fully clothed, on his back, as if he had gone for a lie down. "It looks as if there was no pain whatsoever, which is nice."
He added: "Last night was generally one of the happiest and most exuberant performances we've seen out of him. "He was absolutely on top of his game and was really happy with the show. "I got the news a couple of hours ago and I'm flabbergasted." Mr Howes said later that he last saw the singer on Sunday after his show at the Symphony Hall in Birmingham and that he looked well. "It's terrible news and I'm still shaking," he said.
"I just can't believe it. I wasn't at Cardiff but I understand the show went particularly well and he was in good form. "There was no indication anything was wrong. It's terribly sad." He added: "I last spoke to him on Sunday after the show at Symphony Hall in Birmingham. He was very well and was enjoying the tour. "He was talking about the next time he was coming over to Britain as he said this was the best tour he had done for a number of years. "It wasn't like a business relationship (with Gene) - he was a friend and that is why it has hit hard with everybody. "It was almost like he had a family going around with him. He was a really nice person." Pitney rose to fame in the Sixties and was introduced to a new generation of fans in 1989 when he duetted with Marc Almond on Something's Gotten Hold Of My Heart.
The single gave Pitney his first UK number one - 22 years after its first release.
He had 11 top 10 hits in this country including That Girl Belongs To Yesterday and Looking Thru The Eyes of Love. His songs have been recorded by some of the world's biggest stars - Hello Mary Lou was released by Ricky Nelson, Today's Teardrops by Roy Orbison, and Rubber Ball by US singer Bobby Vee and British artist Marty Wilde. He worked with the Rolling Stones and is credited with helping them find fame in the US. In 2002 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. A spokeswoman for Cardiff coroner Mary Hassell said she had been officially informed of the star's death. The spokeswoman said a post mortem examination will take place to establish whether an inquest will be necessary.

Captain's Blog Star Date April 4

Do you ever feel like you've stepped into a time warp? Or boldly ventured into a galaxy far-beyond the realms of your birth planet? When I moved to France I was prepared for culture shock, though having spent three years working in a couple of fast-paced ad agencies in Paris, I felt I was pretty much down with all things chic and French capital city-like. What I wasn't prepared for were the odd things that frankly still shock me today. Like (whisper it) pissing in public (men, I mean - I've not seen too many crouching females in my time here). Like dog poo - oh, everywhere. Like the very unnatural, aubergine-purple hair dye beloved of French women of a Certain Age. And like parents who sit in a playground, surrounded by broken glass, watching their offspring play. This was Saturday morning. I took a small child (my own) to said playground. No swings, natch. Lots of broken glass, though. And several parents, smoking for France (puffing on a fag is, let's face it, the French National Passtime), sitting on their arses. How odd. I crouched down and picked up huge, jagged shards of green beer bottle and then stalked over to the nearby rubbish bin. I did it again. And again. And then two other parents got up and followed my lead. I wanted to kiss them. Instead, I smiled and nodded. They nodded back.

So I suppose all is well that ends well. My time here is done. Beam me up, Scottie.

Swings and roundabouts

Can anyone tell me why there are so few swings in France? I've been pondering this one since moving here four years ago. In any self-respecting park in the UK there are children's swings, but frankly I've seen more clean public toilets (no, make that just public toilets) in France than I have kiddies swings. And don't even get me started about the lack of public loos, or the hideousness of what are coyly called Turkish toilets. Believe me, you don't want to go there (literally). But you know what? I'm going to bang on about it. When I was emerging from my second (ahem) confinement, I took my 3 month old baby to Montpellier's American Library www.bibliotheque-americaine.com - a fine facility, housed within a super-modern building that houses (I think) the Law Faculty libary (or something speccy and serious, along those lines). I figured that this ultra-clean, swishy looking architectural marvel would have clean(ish) toilets and maybe even baby-changing facilities. And I didn't even think about access with a buggy - surely there would be lifts everywhere? Yeah, right. The lifts go to all floors except (wait for it) the basement, which is where the toilets are. You get to the loos by walking down a steep flight of stairs. Brilliant. So once you've got a sulky student to help you haul the buggy-and-babe down the stairs, you find... Turkish toilets. Seriously dirty ones. Yuk. And not a clean, flat surface in sight. Sigh. There I was getting so excited about their fabulous collection of English language books and periodicals, and then I find that the toilets suck, big time. A classic case of swings and roundabouts if ever I saw one.

A Languedoc breeder writes...

My Significant Other (MSO) tells me about an interesting article on the BBC site, all about how cheap it is to raise a family in France (we have two children and no intention of having any more, thank you very much). Which I suppose it is, but it's hardly a reason for upping sticks and moving to a whole new country, is it? It's a benefit, sure, but not exactly a prime motivator. French governments both Left and Right put la famille high on the agenda, and at the last Conference on the Family, prime minister Dominique de Villepin (who is a prime example of a sexy, silvery grey posh Frenchman - what a lush combination that is, but that's neither here nor there) outlined new incentives to encourage two-child families to move on to a third. Well, anyone who decides to have more children because it's cheap/subsidised/encouraged by the French goverment strikes me as profoundly odd. If you want to read the BBC piece in full, go to http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4856992.stm

Ladies who blog

It was only a matter of time. First I moved to to the Languedoc, then I became a Pig Lady (by joining a Parents and Infants Group). And now I've joined the bloggeratti. Following in the footsteps of two sisters who have been doing it for themselves (hello Sarah and Helen), I am now A Lady Who Blogs. Our Lady of the Languedoc Blog, if you will. A 40-something luddite who only sent her first texto last year, I have finally taken the plunge. Hell, everyone else seems to be doing it. So, repeat after me: je blog, tu blogs, il/elle blog, nous bloggons...