SOTD...

It's Friday (thank heavens) and time for a rather fabulous song.

"Fade To Grey" by Visage was released in 1980 and became a Top 10 hit in the UK and a #1 single in Germany. The band released three albums before calling it quits in the mid-80s.



They are, however, back! A new album, Hearts and Knives, will be released next month and a single called "Shameless Fashion" is already making the rounds.



I don't think they will ever top the utter fabulousness of "Fade To Grey" though...



Oh, and then there's this!

Statement...

There have been many reports regarding Madonna’s recent visit to Malawi. Some of these reports include inaccurate information and accusations by the Malawian Government on Madonna’s character and the work of her foundation Raising Malawi. Despite the accusations, Madonna and her organization Raising Malawi remains committed to the health and education of the children of Malawi.

Madonna has released a statement to address the accusations:

I was very happy to visit with the children of Malawi earlier this month and to see with my own eyes the ten new primary schools in Kasungu province that Raising Malawi and buildOn completed this past year. These schools are now educating more than 4,800 children with girls attending in equal numbers. These children who were formerly learning outside on the ground, in unsafe buildings or not at all, now get to attend classes on a daily basis. My children and I were overjoyed to visit these schools and see what amazing progress has been made. I will continue to follow through on my commitment to help educate the children of Malawi. I’m saddened that Malawi’s President Joyce Banda has chosen to release lies about what we’ve accomplished, my intentions, how I personally conducted myself while visiting Malawi and other untruths. I have no intentions of being distracted by these ridiculous allegations. I came to Malawi seven years ago with honorable intentions. I returned earlier this month to view the new schools we built. I did not ever ask or demand special treatment at the airport or elsewhere during my visit. I will not be distracted or discouraged by other people’s political agendas. I made a promise to the children of Malawi and I am keeping that promise.

Madonna originally planned on building a Girls Academy in the impoverished country but realized that a more sustainable model would be to build smaller schools in villages around the country with buildOn who have had 20 years of success building schools in Africa. The original team that Raising Malawi first put in place included Anjimile Oponyo, the sister of Malawi’s current President Joyce Banda. Due to major organizational problems that occurred during that time, the original team was disbanded. President Banda has since appointed her sister to a senior post within the Ministry of Education. Madonna’s decision to change course on her education projects has subsequently been met by deep resistance from Oponyo, the President, and the Ministry of Education. But Madonna is not letting politics stand in the way of her deep commitment to help build schools there and educate as many children as possible.

In addition to the school projects, Raising Malawi has spent millions of dollars in Malawi to support orphans and vulnerable children through multiple community-based organizations. This includes Home of Hope which supported 595 beneficiaries including orphans, vulnerable children and their caregivers in 2012 alone. Raising Malawi also supports Dr. Eric Borgstein, one of three pediatric surgeons in Malawi. Dr. Borgstein performed more than 500 surgeries in 2012 alone and he sees thousands of children each year.

SOTD...

Another week, more work, more studies, more tests. So, all in all a perfect excuse for a very camp visit from the late and great Eartha Kitt.

"I Don't Care" was released as a single in 1986, complete with a very over the top music video. Aaaaaaah, the 80s...

 

Saved!...

HMV has been rescued by the restructuring expert Hilco, saving more than 2,500 high street jobs and 141 stores.

Hilco, which already owns HMV Canada, said the deal for the CD and DVD retailer included 25 stores that had been slated for closure, although 80 sites will remain shuttered. All nine branches of its Fopp music chain will also be saved.

HMV, founded in 1921 and famous for its Nipper the dog trademark, collapsed into administration in January after struggling to compete against cut-price supermarket offers and internet downloads. It is understood the chain was sold for £50m, but Hilco and HMV's administrators Deloitte declined to comment on the sale price.

Paul McGowan, the chief executive of Hilco, said: "We hope to replicate some of the success we have had in the Canadian market with the HMV Canada business which we acquired almost two years ago and which is now trading strongly. The structural differences in the markets and the higher level of competition in the UK will prove additional challenges for the UK business but we believe it has a successful future ahead of it."

HMV UK will be run by a Hilco team working alongside existing management. It will be led by Ian Topping, formerly chief executive of the South African retail group Steinhoff. McGowan will become HMV's chairman.

Topping said it was an "exciting investment" and believes the nation's outpouring of grief when HMV collapsed "shows a strong desire for the business to continue to trade and we hope to play a constructive part in delivering that".

Topping plans to take HMV back to its traditional musical roots by reversing an earlier decision to sell tablets in store in order to "reclaim the space for an enhanced music and visual range".

HMV called in administrators from Deloitte in January but hopes of a rescue deal were raised just days later when Hilco bought HMV's £176m of debt for a reported £40m. It was announced in February that 66 of HMV's 220 shops would close over two months, at the cost of nearly 1,000 jobs. Another 37 store closures were announced later that month.

At its peak, HMV had more than 400 shops around the world, more than half of them in the UK. It had a 35% share of Britain's CD market in 2012.

These HMV stores in the UK will therefore remain open (including the flagship at Oxford). HURRAH!


1. Aberdeen

2. Ayr

3. Banbury

4. Bangor (Wales)

5. Basingstoke

6. Basildon

7. Bath

8. Belfast Donegall Arcade

9. Birmingham Bullring

10. Blackpool

11. Bluewater

12. Bournemouth

13. Bradford

14. Brighton

15. Bristol Broadmead

16. Bristol Cribbs Causeway

17. Bromley

18. Bury

19. Bury St Edmunds

20. Cambridge

21. Canary Wharf

22. Canterbury

23. Cardiff

24. Carlisle

25. Chelmsford

26. Cheltenham

27. Chester

28. Chichester

29. Colchester

30. Coventry

31. Crawley

32. Cwmbran

33. Darlington

34. Derby

35. Doncaster

36. Dudley Merry Hill Centre

37. Dundee

38. Eastbourne

39. East Kilbride

40. Edinburgh Fort

41. Edinburgh Ocean Terminal

42. Edinburgh Princes Street

43. Exeter

44. Gateshead

45. Glasgow Argyle Street

46. Glasgow Buchanan Street

47. Glasgow Fort

48. Gloucester

49. Grimsby

50. Guernsey (St.Peter Port)

51. Guildford

52. Hanley (Stoke-on-Trent)

53. Harlow

54. Harrogate

55. Hastings

56. Hatfield

57. Hereford

58. High Wycombe

59. Horsham

60. Hull

61. Inverness

62. Ipswich

63. Islington

64. Isle of Man (Douglas)

65. Isle of Wight (Newport)

66. Jersey (St.Helier)

67. Kettering

68. King's Lynn

69. Kingston-Upon-Thames

70. Leamington Spa

71. Leeds Headrow

72. Leeds White Rose

73. Leicester

74. Lincoln

75. Liverpool LiverpoolOne

76. Livingston

77. Llandudno

78. Maidstone

79. Manchester 90 Market Street

80. Manchester Trafford Centre

81. Mansfield

82. Middlesbrough

83. Milton Keynes

84. Newcastle

85. Newport (Wales)

86. Northampton

87. Norwich Chapelfield

88. Norwich Gentlemen's Walk

89. Nottingham Victoria Centre

90. Nuneaton

91. Oxford

92. Oxford Circus 150 Oxford Street, London W1

93. Peterborough

94. Poole

95. Portsmouth Commercial Road

96. Portsmouth Gun Wharf

97. Preston

98. Plymouth

99. Reading Oracle Centre

100. Romford

101. Selfridges Oxford Street, London W1

102. Sheffield High Street

103. Sheffield Meadowhall

104. Shrewsbury

105. Solihull

106. Southampton

107. Southend

108. Southport

109. Speke Park (Liverpool)

110. Staines

111. Stevenage

112. Stirling

113. Stockport

114. Stratford-Upon-Avon

115. Sunderland

116. Sutton

117. Swansea

118. Taunton

119. Thanet

120. Thurrock

121. Truro

122. Tunbridge Wells

123. Uxbridge

124. Westfield London Stratford City

125. Westfield London W12

126. Wimbledon (hmvcurzon)

127. Winchester

128. Wolverhampton

129. Worcester

130. Worthing

131. Yeovil

132. York

Fopp Stores

1. Bristol

2. Cambridge

3. Edinburgh

4. Glasgow, Byres Road

5. Glasgow, Union Street

6. London - Covent Garden

7. London - Gower Street

8. Manchester

9. Nottingham

SOTD...

The weekend is thankfully almost here! And we have Toto Coelo to ring it in!

Known mostly for their 1982 hit "I Eat Cannibals", this British girl group released the equally wacky "Dracula's Tango (Sucker For Your Love") the same year. The song failed to repeat the success of their debut single, stalling at #54 in the UK. The girls released just one album before calling it quits.

But anyways: lets do the tango and celebrate the weekend!

 

SOTD...

It's my boyfriend's birthday today! So, clearly the SOTD should be a Kylie song, yes?

"Where Is The Feeling" was released as a single in the summer of 1995. Taken from her selftitled (and much underrated 1994 album), the single remains one of her least successful releases, charting at #16 in the UK and #31 in Australia. Apparently it was originally supposed to be the second single from the album (after "Confide In Me") but was bumped down for "Put Yourself In My Place".

The song was completely revamped for the single release with a fantastic new single (and extended) versions. It may not be considered one of her classics, but I have always loved that song (especially the single version). And so has my Kylie-obsessed boyfriend who celebrates his 35th today. Happy birthday darling!!!

Sun...

Belinda Carlisle has released a video for her new single, "Sun". The song is taken from her new Icon compilation, which was released a couple of weeks ago in the US. The collection will be released in the UK this summer.