Here's a report on her and Bronksi Beat's single Cha Cha Heels on BBC Breakfast in 1989. There's also some footage from Top of the Pops.
And the video. It looks like a few Berlin gay bars I've been to... I expect to see it performed at Halfway II Heaven any Sunday now.
In my quest to get over to London permanently, I have begun reading Daily Dialogues: Conversational "King's English" by Montcalm Carr (Why aren't there more people with names like this nowadays?) and W. Dadley-Potter. It's a helpful guide for the clueless German traveller to 1940s London. I say, it's jolly good you know. Cricket and the like.
1
BY AIR-LINER TO LONDON
A
Ronald Long and his wife Isabel are in their Berlin flat having breakfast on a fine, sunny morning. Ronald looks at the clock, and is reassured to find that it is only 6 a.m., so that he has time for another cup of tea and a pipe before taking a taxi to Tempelhof Flying Field.
Ronald Long: It will be a glorious experience flying through the air on a day like this.
Mrs. Long: I'm much looking forward to it. It reminds me of when I was quite a little girl, and my father took me for my first motor-ride.
R.L.: I think it'll be more thrilling than a mere motor-ride. I've read so many vivid descriptions of flights that I shall not be satisfied till I've actually made a trip myself. By the way, we're not allowed much luggage, so that our heavy bags will have to follow separately.
Mrs. L: I've got all we need for the trip in this suit-case. By the way, I DO hope you haven't forgotten your camera.
R.L.: I haven't done that, don't worry. I hope to take some interesting snaps from the plane. I know that clouds are surprisingly beautiful when seen from the air. So sorry Benson isn't coming with us. He told me yesterday he was going via the Hook.
Mrs. L.: I'm sorry, too. He's very charming, so is his wife. (Looking out the window, she sees the taxi waiting, and in a few minutes they are speeding to the Flying Field at Tempelhof. Their luggage is stored separately, Mr. Long taking with him his document-case, containing a few sandwiches and a thermos flask.)
R.L.: These seats are quite comfortable, aren't they ?
Mrs. L.: Yes, we've got good places at the back of the cabin. Our view is not spoiled by the wings. The sun is shining brightly. I'm sure we shall have a magnificent trip.
R.L.: I'm certain we shall. I've never been so keen about an experience before. I wonder if I can smoke in here ?
An American Passenger: No, the smoking compartment is at the front. I'm afraid all the seats are taken. I wanted to sit there myself. Now I shall have to wait to smoke till we get to Amsterdam. The pilot set the engines in motion, so we shall be starting soon.
Mrs. L.: What a deafening noise ! Good gracious, we're off already. I never even noticed we'd left the ground.
American Passenger: One never does.
B
Mrs. L.: How fascinatingly interesting it all is! And don't the people down below look small, silly and stupid ! They all appear as if they had walked out of a toy-shop with their toy-motor cars, toy-houses and -farms, toy-fields, toy-horses and everything. It's too absurd !
R.L.: I'm enjoying this thoroughly. I've never seen anything quite so humorous. Everything looks so uncommonly funny. I'd no idea men and things could look so very ridiculous when seen from a height.
Mrs. L.: How tiny the ships appear so far below ! It's hard to realise there are sailors on board.
R.L.: Yes, and the ships must be fairly big too. That looks like a dreadnought.
American: It is, and that tiny speck is probably a fishing-smack. Now we're flying over some white clouds.
Mrs. L. (enthusiastically): Oh, I've never seen anything so lovely in all my life. Look at those strange shapes, for all the world like fairy castles or palaces, with turrets, windows, minarets and roofs all complete. They might be the abode of magicians, sorcerers and fairy-queens.
R.L.: Perhaps they are ! Just see that vast, smooth patch of clouds over there. What a fine skating-rink for millions of fairies of every kind and hue, flitting and pirouetting over its surface.
Mrs. L.: I'd no idea you were so poetical.
R.L.: Nor I either, but I've never seen anything so strikingly beautiful, so awe-inspiring and uplifting in all my life. I shall certainly return by air.
American: It's a pity there's not more cloud scenery. Sometimes we're over clouds the whole flight. The best is the night plane from London, for then you sometimes enjoy sunset on the way, with all its crimson,, golden glory, and when you reach Berlin after darkness has fallen, you come into a fairyland of many coloured lights. Now we're over Father Thames, we shall be in London before you can say Jack Robinson.
It's a miracle that Germans of a certain age are able to speak English at all. How many hyphens can you cram into a sentence? So many questions left unanswered: What happened to their layover in Amsterdam? Will Mr Long and the American flit and pirouette arm and arm through the fairy-lit London streets? Find out in the next exciting chapter when the Longs go through customs.
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