Throwback the Music: Suzy #throwbackthursday

On this day 19 years ago Mum lost her beloved angel cat Suzy (the fur daughter before me) so we are dedicating this Throwback The Music post to her.

If you remember a few months back I had an idea for a new regular feature on this blog and came up with Throwback The Music.

Copy this badge and link-up if you want to share your Throwback the Music story.

Music always evokes memories for you humans (and for us kitties too). It becomes the soundtrack of our lives.

So seeing as it's Throwback Thursday, why not do a post about a favourite song of yours that conjures up memories from your past? Or it can be a favourite album that takes you right back. Or a list of fave songs that remind you of a certain time in your life.

Then you answer a few questions to make it easier to write up your post. Or maybe don't answer questions (which can be of your own choosing) and just write about your memories that relate to your chosen track(s).

And if you wish, how about linking to us when you post? (Actually, it would be greatly appreciated if you would!)

I've asked Mum to tell us about music which reminds her of Suzy. Not specifically music that she was listening to when Suzy crossed the bridge, but music or any songs that reminded her of her precious girl. 

She's chosen a few tracks from YouTube which you can see below.

Suzy came into Mum's life as a young kitten.  She was adorable as you can see. Apologies for the poor quality of most of these photos but they were taken back in the very olden days of the 1980s and 90s.

The year was 1985, it was summer and it was the year of Live Aid. 
Mum's favourite bands of the time were Duran Duran and Spandau Ballet, and of course Wham/George Michael.

She liked a lot of other artists too but here's the end of the concert from Wembley before everyone switched over to watch the concert live from the United States.

Here is the Live Aid Finale from Wembley. So sad that some of the people we see on this stage are no longer with us too 😿

As the 80s drew to a close Mum got more interested in Rock music and began to look back to the 1960s for music inspiration. She's always loved sixties music and most of the bands from that era. The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, etc. But she also rediscovered The Doors after watching The Doors Movie by Oliver Stone. Jim Morrison soon began to inspire her poetry and other writing.


There are so many songs that remind Mum of the years she spent with Suzy, but that would make one very long post. So to keep it short, here are two songs that sadly will always remind Mum of the days she lost her sweet little girl 💚

Even though Mum isn't really a Robbie Williams fan she does love this song a lot.





And she isn't a Celine Dion fan but this song always reminds her of the loss of Suzy and makes her cry.

💜💚💖

Throwback the Music: George Michael #tbt

I had an idea for a new regular feature on this blog.

Music always evokes memories for you humans (and for us kitties too). It becomes the soundtrack of our lives.

So seeing as it's Throwback Thursday, why not do a post about a favourite song of yours that conjures up memories from your past? Or it can be a favourite album that takes you right back.

Then you answer a few questions to make it easier to write up your post.

And if you wish, how about linking to us when you post? (Actually, it would be greatly appreciated if you would!)

Copy this badge and link-up

I've asked Mum to tell us about a special album that she's been playing a lot lately.

She's chosen the George Michael album Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1*

Listen Without Prejudice Vol.1*

Mum says: "This has to be my all time fave George Michael album. In the 80s, I really loved Wham. I went to their gigs and was sad when they broke up in 1986. I was at the Final gig. It was amazing. Even though it was a really hot day, I enjoyed myself immensely. Unfortunately, on the way home, I twisted my ankle."
After Wham called it a day, Mum went on to follow George Michael's solo career and she loved the more mature sound of his second solo album Listen Without Prejudice and has been playing it a lot after George Michael tragically passed away on Christmas Day last year.

How old were you when this album was released, Mum? It was in 1990 and was 24. 

What were you doing? Working as a quality controller at a dress manufacturer and singing in a pop duo with another girl, hoping we'd be the next Pepsi and Shirlie.

Did you have a loving pet at this time? My beautiful black and white cat Suzy. She was my first soulmate cat. I loved her so much.

What was your greatest wish at this time? I dreamed of being a successful singer and escaping my dreary job. I loved singing and it always made me feel good. It was an escape from the problems at home. I really longed to be on stage singing and I needed to be famous. Looking back, it seems so egotistical now, but I wanted it so bad. Maybe it was due to the fact that I was really bullied at school. Maybe it's because I craved attention. I always felt my parents didn't love me enough. Fame isn't important to me now, of course. But I wouldn't mind a bit of success for once and not have to resign to the fact that I'll be the struggling artist forever 😞

After George Michael passed away, I began listening once again to his beautiful music. I will always love his earlier music. It's true that I wasn't much of a fan later (I was more into rock and metal during the 90s). 

Listen Without Prejudice floods my mind with so many memories. I become that young woman again - bursting with hope and dreaming of better future. But always prone to depression. That's something that doesn't seem to change.

This is one of my favourite tracks. Hearing it now, two decades later, it makes me feel so good. 


FREEDOM 90 from Listen Without Prejudice Vol 1

💜💚💖

Thanks for telling me about your younger days, Mum. Apparently, today is also National Cat Lady Day (or was it yesterday?) Anyway, here is a photo of my cat lady Mum and me...

And how about a photo of Mum back in the day with her beloved Suzy. Look at Mum's 80s hairdo!!! 😻

Christmas Throwback the Music for Throwback Thursday and Flashback Friday

Nostalgia with Athena and Marie 

First, here is a photo throwback to July 2013

My, what a big paw I have 😸

And now for a special Throwback the Music post. We haven't done one of these for quite a while!

Now, many of you who have been reading our blog for a long time know that Mum struggles with depression and anxiety. She is also an introvert. But burning deep within her is a creative spirit who won't settle which makes her even more depressed. She worries about getting on as she is in her early 50s now and is crazily worried that none of her dreams have come true. Her anxiety has restricted her for so many years.

Being a cat mum is her proudest achievement and she would love to do that forever. But she tells me that to live in the human materialistic world she has to do things other humans find so easy to do.

Talking is not her thing. Especially participating in small talk. That's why she became a writer. It's so much easier for her to communicate her thoughts that way. She does find it hard to talk to people and has gotten worse over the last few years. She is like a cat really as it takes her a while to trust people. 

What I'm leading up to is this:

I believe inside my mother is an extrovert trying to get out. There is nothing wrong with her being an introvert. In fact, it's a gift because it's what makes her HER.

So, to CHALLENGE herself she has made the choice to take the next step up from blogging to become a VLOGGER.

Don't worry. She is not giving up blogging, but she wants to try to build up her YouTube Channel (which she has had for years).

She will also try to build mine up too, but for now, she is concentrating on my Instagram, which is where I seem to be the most popular. I'm popular here in the blogoshere too, which is all thanks to you great guys 💚 We both love Instagram and I have so many more followers than Mum, which she is cool with and says she wouldn't have it any other way. We've started TikTok too, but she's a little confused with that one. It seems to be more for the younger generation.

Have you guys heard of REACTION videos? They are so popular on YouTube it seems.

Mum has become addicted to watching them (mainly reactions to music videos). The vocal coach ones are the best as you gain super tips if you are interested in singing.

Anyway, Mum sings (she says she will record more singing videos) though for the moment she has decided to react to music and we might do reaction to some cats too. You must watch because I'm in some of her reaction videos.

Here I am in two CHRISTMAS ones.

We are reacting to two Christmas songs from 1984. A year that was truly one of Mum's favourites from her teens. She says she went to a lot of concerts that year and most of her favourite musicians from that weird hairstyle decade are in the Band Aid video.

WHAM! LAST CHRISTMAS REACTION 

Click to view on YouTube

MY CAT AND I REACT TO BAND AID'S "DO THEY KNOW IT'S CHRISTMAS" 1984

Click here to view on YouTube

🎄🎅🤶

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 We are also participating in tomorrow's Feline Friday, hosted by Comedy Plus

Throwback The Music: The Day Diana Died

Music always evokes memories for you humans (and for us kitties too). It becomes the soundtrack of our lives. So, a while back I had an idea for a new regular feature on this blog.

For Throwback Thursday, why not do a post about your favourite song (or songs) that conjures up memories from your past? Or it can be a favourite album that takes you right back.Then you write a short piece about that particular time (if you want to). And if you wish, how about linking to us when you post? (Actually, it would be greatly appreciated if you could!)

The Day Princess Diana Died

On this day, 20 years ago, Princess Diana tragically died in a car crash in Paris so Mum wanted to write a post in honour of this remarkable lady. 

Mum says she isn't a supporter of the monarchy, but she did like and admire Diana because she was different and was so in touch with the common people and wasn't afraid to show her emotions. It's just really sad that the princess was only 36 when her life ended. So incredibly sad that she never got the chance to see her beloved boys grow up. William and Harry had a wonderful mother and she would have been the most amazing grandmother. 

 [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

On the night Diana died, Mum was with her other soulmate kitty Suzy at her flat (apartment). Suzy actually still lived at home with Mum's mother and brother, but that weekend she was staying with Mum because Granny was having some work carried out at the house.

At the time, Mum was living the life of a vampire, sleeping all day and staying awake all night, (though please note, she wasn't actually a vampire and she never lusted after blood!)  

Just after midnight, the movie mum was watching on TV was interrupted by a news flash that the princess had been involved in a car accident. 

Mum's first thought was how unlucky Diana was as over the past few months the princess seemed (according to the press) to have found happiness at last. Mum hoped Diana would be alright and the injuries she'd sustained weren't going to be serious.

A few hours later the dreadful news that Diana had passed away was to shock the whole world. 

A week later Mum actually joined millions of others at the funeral in London. I'll let her tell you about it below.

" I wasn't going to attend the funeral but a friend at the time wanted to go so I went and, looking back, I'm glad I did. As I'm a bit of a history buff, I feel honoured to have been a part of history. 

Even now, 20 years on, I can still remember the surreal quietness and stillness of it all. It was a crisp early autumn day, slightly misty morning and my late dad drove us there early as he used to work in London. After we had breakfast at a cafe he dropped us off at Hyde Park. We made our way along the Serpentine towards Kensington Palace and then Kensington High Street and found a space to stand in the crowd and wait for the procession. 

At just after 9am the funeral procession began and we waited in stunned silence for the cortege to pass. I heard the horses' hooves clicking on the ground in the distance. Cries of "Diana" from a few grieving women pierced the eerie silence. 

The clicking of hooves got nearer and nearer and I was lucky to be at the front of the crowd and could see it all so clear. I immediately caught sight of the flowers with the "Mummy" card on it. It was heart wrenching. At this point, as it was at the beginning of the almost 2 hours procession from Kensington Palace to Westminster Abbey, there were no royals walking along behind the coffin. They would join the cortege later, so I didn't get to see the two young princes. Not that I wanted to. I think it was unfair that they had to endure the torture of walking behind their mother's coffin, with the eyes of the crowd and the world watching. I don't know how they did it. I wouldn't have been able to. But I'm not here to judge. They were very brave.

After the cortege went past, we started walking and made our way to Hyde Park and found a space on the ground to sit and watch the live broadcast of the funeral on two giant screens.

We watched the entire funeral there, and though I felt immense sadness I couldn't cry, though others around me did. When Diana's brother Earl Spencer had said those words about the royals and everyone around me rose to their feet and clapped, I did too. I'm glad I was part of that. 

It's a moment in time that will live on in my memory forever, something to tell my kids and grandkids (though I don't see myself having any), but I'm happy to share with my furkid instead!"

💜💚💖

Here are a few tracks that remind Mum of the summer of 1997

 

Where were you when you heard that Princess Diana had died?

Music Monday: Mummy's Blues

On Saturday night Mum watched the Eric Clapton documentary Life in 12 Bars which was shown on BBC 2 here, which was really good. It brought back memories.

Mum was and is a great fan of Clapton's music. She got into him during the late 80s when her brother, my Uncle John (a brilliant guitarist too), started listening to him. They were both young then and were bored with the pop music around at the time and they had a passion to make it in the music business themselves. Actually, Mum did, as a singer, but my Uncle didn't much care to be famous, though he is a great musician.

Anyway, Mum loves guitars (though she can't play herself) and she has a long list of favourite guitarists but there is something about Clapton's guitar playing that touches her. Deeply. When she hears him play those amazing solos, it's as if he is bleeding out her own pain. It was like that then, and now, after many years of not listening to him, she's started to again. And you know what? It's still the same. Her pain is always there. Yeah, Mum is a bit of a tortured soul. Always has been as you all know by now. Yeah, Mummy's got the blues...

So here are a few Clapton tracks she loves and the solos are amazing. Picture Mum doing some air guitar now. Yeah, funny 😻

We are joining our friend Stunning Keisha and others for Music Moves Me blog hop and also our own ThrowBack the Music.

Music Monday Throwback Christmas Special

Some of the best memories for Mum music-wise are from the year 1984. Well, she was 18, ambitious and full of hope for the future, and totally music-mad. It was before she got into rock and metal so she was into the top pop acts of the day. 

Music was great in those days. I particularly enjoy listening to George Michael and Wham with Mum when gets nostalgic. Mum also loved Spandau Ballet, Duran Duran and Paul Young at the time too. 

So today we're sharing some of Mum's music memories from Christmas 1984.

In December of that year, Mum went to 3 live concerts. Spandau Ballet (twice!) earlier in the month and Wham! on Boxing Day. She couldn't get tickets for their Christmas Eve gig, unfortunately. In the previous year, she'd seen Duran Duran at the same venue - Wembley Arena. That was her first ever concert! She tells me the screaming girls ruined it for her because for Mum it's always been about the music. She was never a crazy fangirl, screaming at her idols. No. She wanted to join them on stage, be part of the gang because she dreamed of being a singer.

So here are some songs from December 1984. We hope you enjoy the memories (if you're old enough!)



  Last Christmas by Wham!





Do They Know It's Christmas? by Band Aid 




Round and Round by Spandau Ballet 




Everything She Wants by Wham! (Mum's fave Wham song) 




Love of the Common People by Paul Young (Top of the Pops Christmas Special 1984)




The Reflex by Duran Duran (Top of the Pops Christmas Special1984)


 

JOIN CURIOUS AS A CATHY for more CHRISTMAS TUNES! 

Mewsic Moves Me

I suggested to Mum that since she loves music so much and I quite love it too (when it's not loud and heavy) we should participate in the Monday Mewsic Moves Me blog hop, which is hosted by Curious as a Cathy

We have already done so a couple of times but maybe we should try to make it a regular thing.

Tentative is the theme today, and so here are 4 songs that popped into Mum's head this morning she feels relate to being uncertain.

Is There Something I Should Know by Duran Duran

This is a blast from Mum's teenage years.





If I Can Dream by Elvis Presley 
The first singer that Mum ever heard because my granddad was a fan. This one has always moved her and made her cry. Just hearing the intro makes her teary.

 


Dead Boy's Poem by Nightwish 
This is Mum's favourite band. Nightwish is a Finnish symphonic metal band and she has been a fan since 2007. She discovered them on YouTube and every track of theirs moves her in some way. This one certainly does. When feeling uncertain, worried, or sad, she finds it a very cathartic song.

 


Faith by George Michael 

I love George Michael and Mum does too.
His voice is so velvety smooth and warm and always calms this kitty down!

His slower ballady songs are the ones I enjoy the most, but Mum has picked this one because if you are being tentative, and unsure of things - in Mum's case, she really fears the future. Well, Mum, please, in the words of George, you "Gotta Have Faith!"

 

For more Throwback the Music posts on our blog click HERE

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Mewsic Monday Songs That Tell a Story

Most songs tell stories but here are some that really do sound like they could be made into short stories or novels.

THE DOORS - Riders on the Storm

ELVIS PRESLEY - In the Ghetto

NIGHTWISH - The Poet and The Pendulum

BLACK SABBATH - War Pigs

Rescue Cats Rock!

From Ozzy Osbourne to this Ozzy, who is still waiting for a forever home. He's been waiting a long time and we don't understand why.



 


"Ozzy has been looking for an adult-only home for the last year. When he’s not playing with his toys he will be searching for that little spot of sunshine to relax and unwind, even in the cold winter months. Ozzy can be unpredictable in his behaviour until he has formed a bond with you, but once he has, he is a very affectionate boy who will jump on your lap for cuddles and fuss. He needs the right home environment with a patient and understanding owner who is happy to work alongside our behavioural team to give him the space he needs whilst he builds trust. He can potentially go with other pets, if we feel they are the right fit for him" - Wood Green, The Animals Charity

Throwback the Music 

We are  joining Curious as a Cathy for Monday's Mewsic Moves Me

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Music and Cats Tote available from our store WiseKitty

Also joining Comedy Plus for Aww... Mondays.

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Mewsic Monday - Music from Four Decades

Happy Monday

It's our own music choice today but Mum has, in fact, come up with a theme of throwback music videos from 4 decades. These are all favourite songs of Mum's. She was born in 1966, so here are the Beatles first from that year.

THE BEATLES -  Eleanor Rigby

Such a haunting song...




Next, the 1970s.

JOHN MILES - Music

 


From 1986 - the 80s were her decade she says

SPANDAU BALLET - Through The Barricades 

And the 90s weren't that great for her Mum says but there were some good tunes around like this one. Mum says she remembers dancing to this during her clubbing days (though she can't remember much from that time MOL)

KULA SHAKER - Hey Dude 

 


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Joining Curious as a Cathy for Monday's Music Moves Me 

Also joining Comedy Plus for Awww... Mondays

Bands Beginning With The Letter S #MewsicMonday

Happy Mewsic Monday 🎵

There sure are a lot of S music artists out there. Many with huge talent and great songs.

But here we have some throwback tunes that Mum likes and remembers well. 

We begin with one of Mum's fave Eighties bands and 3 songs from them. Mum loved this band and she got to see them live as a teenager. 

SPANDAU BALLET - To Cut a Long Story Short

SPANDAU BALLET - True

SPANDAU BALLET - CHANT NO 1

And now two bands beginning with S with cat songs

THE STRAY CATS - Stray Cat Strut

SQUEEZE - Cool For Cats

And the rest

THE STRANGLERS - Golden Brown

SOFT CELL - Tainted Love

SIOUXSIE AND THE BANSHEES - Happy House

SOUNDGARDEN - Outshined

SIMON AND GARFUNKEL - Scarborough Fair

🎶

We are also joining Comedy Plus for

Monday's Music Monday
hosted by
Curious as a Cathy

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MUSIC AND CATS QUOTE MUG

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Throwback Thursday: Chris Cornell

It's a sad day for music once again. Chris Cornell, another musician from my Mum's younger days, has passed away quite young. Mum tells me that back in the 1990s she was really into the grunge scene. Her favourite bands from that scene were Pearl Jam and Soundgarden. For those of you that don't know, Chris Cornell was the singer of Soundgarden. Here is one of their songs.



He also sang one of the best James Bond themes ever:




Rest in Peace, Chris Cornell 💔

Throwback Thursday: Myself as a Kitten

This is me on my first day at my new home (21 July 2011)

This is me a few days later

Here is a video of my tiny self attacking the TV screen. It's a bit noisy due to my mum's editing but she hopes to add some music to it to make it more watchable.