Month: September 1989

Mad Mullah, Comedy Lyric, cSeptember 1989

This is the first of the comedy lyrics on my log, roughly dated as September 1989. Actually I suspect that an early incarnation of The Ultimate Love Song probably preceded it, but no matter.

Mad Mullah lacks the subtlety and/or humour of some of my later work, but it is not bad for an early effort and has some multi-layering to it.

MAD MULLAH (A Song to the tune of "Moonshadow" by Cat Stevens)

CHORUS

I’m being followed by a mad Mullah, mad Mullah, mad Mullah,
Ducking and hiding from a mad Mullah, mad Mullah, mad Mullah.

VERSE ONE

And if I went out of my tree,
Who would mourn Salman Rushdie?
And if they ever shoot my mouth,
Awayayayayayayayay, I won’t have to speak no more.
And if I went out of my mind,
Apologies then would be signed.
And if they ever blow my pen,
Awayayayayayayayay, I won’t have to write no more.
Yes, I’m being followed by a mad Mullah, mad Mullah, mad Mullah,
Ducking and hiding from a mad Mullah, mad Mullah, mad Mullah.

VERSE TWO

And if I ever lose my ken,
Would it be on “News at Ten”?
And if they ever blast my eyes,
Awayayayayayayayay, I won’t have to see no more.
And if I ever lose my sense,
Would they cease to take offence?
And if they ever beat my brains,
Awayayayayayayayay, I won’t have to think…. [no more].
Yes, I’m being followed by a mad Mullah, mad Mullah, mad Mullah,
Ducking and hiding from a mad Mullah, mad Mullah, mad Mullah.

VERSE THREE (MODULATION – DRAMATIC BIT)

“Did it take long to find me?”, I asked as the doorbell rang.
“Did it take long to find me, and am I to garotte or hang?”.

FINAL CHORUS

I’ve been followed by a mad Mullah, mad Mullah, mad Mullah,
Blasted to silence by a mad Mullah, mad Mullah, mad Mullah.
Mad Mullah, mad Mullah,
Mad Mullah, mad Mullah.

The video below has Cat Stevens singing Moonshadow with the lyrics on the screen:

The Wonder: A Woman Keeps A Secret, Susanna Centlivre, The Gate, 16 September 1989

I don’t recall much about this one and the diary is a mess for it. I suspect that the mention of Bobbie on the Friday and The Wonder on the Saturday ended up being one and the same evening. So I’m guessing that I saw this production with Bobbie on one of those evenings.

There’s the diary page for that week. If any of my friends can help me to unpick all of that, may I just thank you profoundly in advance.

The Wonder. To the extent that I remember it, I think the production and acting was very good but that we didn’t much like the play.

An interesting but now rarely performed playwright from the late Restoration/early Hanoverian period, I’m not sure that Susanna Centilivre‘s plays have dated well. But that’s not her fault. I don’t suppose she even faintly imagined The Wonder being revived in 1989 when she dedicated it to the new king, George I, in 1714.

The Wonder was a huge hit in its day. Here is a link to an on-line preview of the play book.

The Escapade Theatre Company (confusingly not the company that now bears that name) was a group dedicated to reviving plays written by or mostly about women.

Anna Mazzotti played the female lead role Isabella, with great poise and confidence I recall. I managed to track her down in 2019 as someone who did/does many Italian language programmes for the BBC and theatre in Rome -still listing The Wonder on her theatrical cv. Strangely (as she only lists two), she also lists Dealing With Clair at the Orange Tree, which Janie and I saw when the Orange Tree revived it (recently at the time of writing):

Dealing With Clair by Martin Crimp, Orange Tree Theatre, 24 November 2018

The male lead, Don Felix, was played by a young Christopher Eccleston – possibly only his second professional gig. His cv is no longer talking about this one, but it does still mention, amongst many other things, Dr Who.

Any further intelligence on this one will need to come from others, e.g. Bobbie!…

…or Michael Billington! Good old Billy – he reviewed the production in The Guardian:

Billington on The WonderBillington on The Wonder Sat, Sep 2, 1989 – 20 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com