It’s time to partially close down the blog for the period over Christmas and New Year. This time around I’m going to put up a re-posting from times gone by, and I’ll try my best to have all of them feature musicians whose appearances have been infrequent.
This dates from 27 June 2014
GETTING AWAY FROM GRUMPY POSTINGS
The past two days of postings have been a tad grumpy what with being the underwhelming Salad being followed by the incredibly disappointing 13th single from James.
The solution therefore has to be a song that has the ability to make me smile no matter the mood I’m in whenever it pops up on the i-pod. It’s one that some readers may be surprised to find featured on t’blog as, let’s face it, it is a song that is ridiculously light and rather inconsequential when it comes down to it, rarely if ever to feature on any countdown of all time favourites for a particular month far less a lifetime, but I have professed my love for this tune on previous occasions over at the old place.
mp3 : Betty Boo – Let Me Take You There (12″ version)
It was back in August 1992 when this delectable piece of pop caught the summer feeling and climbed its way to #12 in the UK charts and two years on from when Betty Boo (whose real name is Alison Clarkson) had first come to the attention of the public when she had enjoyed two Top 10 singles and a very successful debut LP, Boomania which reached #4 and led to her being named Best Breakthrough Act at The BRITS.
The lead-off single from the new album was incredibly radio friendly, helped by its clever sampling of a Four Tops song, and relates the simple tale of wanting to escape from the daily grind and head down to the seaside for a day of fun and frolics. It’s not a song that would ever claim to change the world, but I fell for its charms big-time and still have a 12″ copy kicking around in the cupboard
This was the last time, however, that Betty Boo bothered the charts as a solo artist. The follow-up singles flopped badly, while the LP from which they were lifted sold miserably and reached just #66.
Alison Clarkson however, has managed to maintain a career in and around the music industry, chiefly as a songwriter for a number of disposable and largely forgettable acts.
2023 Update
After many years out of the limelight as a performer, Betty Boo returned with a new album, Boomerang, in October 2022. It reached #45 in the charts, but none of the five singles lifted from it proved to be hits.
Enjoy
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 
Betty Boo’s songs haven’t aged badly, but they haven’t aged particularly well either.
To honor this blog, which combines so many principles that I value (like creativity, productivity, democracy, civility), I put together this little virtual feel-good 1990/91 mix:
1. Bettie Boo – “Where are you Baby?”
2. Deee-Lite – “Groove is in the Heart”
3. Pizzicato Five – “Twiggy Twiggy”
4. Dream Warriors – “My Definition of a boombastic Jazz Style”
5. Definition of Sound – “Now is tomorrow”
6. Stereo MC’s – “Lost in Music”
7. De La Soul – “A Roller Skating Jam named Saturdays”
8. Monie Love (feat. True Image) – “It’s a Shame (My Sister)”
Have a great new year
[silly kisser]
The world is a better place with Betty Boo in it. Thanks, JC!
I have to admit that Betty Boo caught me by surprise with the first album campaign. I ended buying the album and all of its singles. I then bought “Grrr! It’s Betty Boo,” and sitting here 32 years later, can’t remember a thing from it! Maybe I had the first single as well, but that’s lost in the halls of time!