Everyday is Like Sunday, Except for Blue Monday and Ruby Tuesday, and...Well, Friday I'm in Love: Weekly Mix #43

What constitutes celebrity? I suppose fame is the main element because there are plenty of famous people who didn't do anything noteworthy or particularly unique, but still managed to enter the world's consciousness. It seems that as long as lots of other people have an interest in what you do or wear on a daily basis, you're a celebrity.

I had always been aware of those celebrity tabloid magazines like Star, US, etc. because my mom bought them occasionally, and then I saw them all the time when I started working at a bookstore. It got to the point where I was physically revolted by them and hated the piles of them accumulating in the staff room. I haven't looked at one, let alone opened one, for several years because I'm just completely uninterested and I can't possibly treat it as harmless junk food for the mind anymore. The same goes for entertainment news shows - 99% of the stories they report are NOT news. I have a limited capacity for brain space, so I don't intend to fill it with scraps of useless information about vapid people that have overstayed their fifteen minutes by several years. That goes for all those horrible shows which, predicated on schadenfreude, bring back celebrities that everybody forgot about a long time ago.

Rant over. This mix features celebrities of several types: musicians, politicians, artists, actors/actresses, television presenters, photographers, and even one magician. My favourite track of them all is the tongue-in-cheek Andrew Ridgeley by Black Box Recorder, an ode to the ill-fated half of Wham who is pretty much famous for not being famous. The fact Andrew Ridgeley is then connected to the collapse of the Tories is a rather brilliant layer to the song. Also, just to clarify, I'm including The Smiths' William, It Was Really Nothing on the basis that one rumour dictates it may have been about Billy Mackenzie of The Associates. (TRIVIA: The Cure's Cut Here is about Mackenzie's suicide.) This mix is called Andy Warhol Grossly Underestimated.

Buddy Holly - Weezer

Paul Simon - The Russian Futurists

Bowie Eyes - The Very Sexuals

Prince Harry - Soho Dolls

Down With Prince - Hot Chip

Michael Douglas - Neon Neon

Richard Nixon Died Today - Negativland

Johnny Cash - Sons & Daughters

Elvis - These New Puritans

Man Ray - The Futureheads

When Tom Cruise Cries - The Rakes

Lighten Up, Morrissey - Sparks

Kevin Carter - Manic Street Preachers

Andrew Ridgeley - Black Box Recorder

Molly Ringwald - Strawberry Story

William, It Was Really Nothing - The Smiths

Where's Bill Grundy Now? - Television Personalities

Whatever Happened to Corey Haim? - The Thrills

Andy Warhol - David Bowie

Levi Stubbs' Tears - Billy Bragg

Clint Eastwood - Gorillaz

Dietrich/Fondyke (A Brief History of Movie Music) - Jobriath

Houdini - Kate Bush

2HB - Roxy Music