I actually lived in Douglas on the Isle of Man for a few months. It wasn't bad. Nice beach and plenty of good gyms. & from the top of the hill you could actually see all 4 Home Unions on a fine day, though I personally never quite got to see Ireland. I was there when Italy made their debut in the 6 Nations, too. But somewhat annoyingly my neighbor had been murdered the day before and the cops showed up just as the game was about to kick off, and their inquiry lasted precisely until the moment the game finished!! They were good enough to allow me to leave the set on with the sound down thoughrowan wrote:Meanwhile, I've been going through a bit of a Bee Gees phase lately, revisiting a band I thoroughly despised in my youth and whose immense talent and versatility I have only begun to appreciate now from a distance of decades. They've been compared to everyone from the Beatles to Stevie Wonder, but in fact most of what they did was entirely original and conversely inspired other artists in their work. Barry, the eldest, is ironically the only survivor, now 70, and he was undoubtedly the driving force in the group, as well as its lead singer for most of its post-pop era. Younger brother Robin, who died in his 60s of cancer, was the original lead vocalist, although the trio were best known for their harmonies, of course. Robin's twin Maurice was confined mostly to back-up vocals and either guitar or keyboard. He died at 53 from a twisted intestine. Youngest brother Andy, who was known mostly for his solo career (on the back of his older brothers' song-writing genius), only featured in the group during its latter years. He died from drug and alcohol related issues shortly after his 30th birthday. The Bee Gees were born on the Isle of Man - where their father played gigs - but the family emigrated to Brisbane when they were children.
I've also spent a wee bit of time in Brisbane and helped my uncle build a house on an island there back in the early 1990s.
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All too true! But I should point out that, while I caught the tail-end of the Beegees' career during my youth, I was only a kid when they were in disco mode - and Rondstadt was already in the twilight of her career. The girls and stuff came later... 