The day Princess Diana died

31 August 1997. It was the day that Princess Diana died. And it was the day that I saw The Full Monty in the cinema.

A strange day all told, and there was a sense of audible relief when the film turned out to be reasonably funny and thus a fair escape from the sad news that unfolded.

But the real delight was that halfway through that movie, they started playing this song by Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel. At that time, I had been carping on about what a great track it was, but my contemporaries had no clue who or what I was on about. And having heard their best of package, I can well see why the band had passed most people by, this being far and away their best track. In fact, I am sure I only like Mr. Soft because it was in a mint advert, but that’s by the by.

To a rather startled audience, I declared that ‘I love this song.’ And I still do. And what a great feeling when a song you love gets used in a film. Even if it is about men getting naked.