Tag: Vicky Jeffries

I remember Vicky as a very good performer and I think she made a decent fist of directing too. I wonder what became of her?

Postscript

On looking for Vicky again while recalling one of her best performances, I found her under her correct name –Victoria Jeffrey – doing rather well it looks – click here.

I think I might have been pushing my luck a bit pointing out that I recommended her, but there we go. I think it worked, though, as my material at that time was going through a bit of a Z/Yen start-up lull, but quite a lot of this stuff (the better pieces) did get used.

Usual caveats about Amipro tables losing their formats for Ogblog blah blah.

Vicky Jeffries
News Revue

LIST OF SONGS SUBMITTED AND TAPE TRACK LISTING
JANUARY-FEBRUARY 1995 RUN

Dear Vicky

Its good to learn that you are back. I hope Harriet has told you that I suggested your name for directing this run. So think of me as you wade through all the material you must be receiving!!

This starter pack consists mainly of brand new songs, with one or two rewrites of previously unperformed ones. If you want me to work on a rewrite of an old chestnut of mine that you might have uncovered in the archive, just let me know.

Call me and let me know if you are short of any subjects or styles and I shall try to oblige. Also, if any of these need a bit of rewrite then I am happy to change them on request.

Good luck and I very much look forward to seeing you again soon.

Song Title / Original Title/ Artist on Tape

Aprox. No. of Performances 7+ 4-6 1-3 New

Side 1

privatise / bright eyes/art garfunkle – New

the peanut farmer / the peanut vendor/alvin “snake eyes” tyler – New

tory rebel (co-written with d a barham) / rebel rebel/david bowie – New

intel / inchworm/danny kaye – New

gillian shepherd / jennifer eccles/hollies – New

veal meat again / we’ll meet again/vera lynn – New

newt gingrich / moon river/danny williams – New

virginia / cecilia/simon & garfunkle – New

i’ll never find another job / i’ll never find another you/seekers – New

qe2 (co-wrttten & sent in by d a barham) / sos/abba – New

Side 2

jeffrey archer medley / we’re in the money/goldiggers
i say a little prayer/aretha franklin – New

The papers were full of the story of actress Yasmine Gibson swanning off to the Costa del Sol, leaving her daughter Gemma home alone.

This link term – click here – finds what little can still be found on-line on the news story. Click here for an interesting take on the story, by Lynn Barber, which suggests that the tabloid press intervention might have done more harm than good. Even 25 years ago this stuff about press freedom and intrusion was debated.

As I write 25 years later, I recalled my lyric and the performance of it far more vividly than the news story itself. Victoria Jeffrey was the actress who performed it in NewsRevue and I remember her slovenly-looking, sangria-swilling, belting performance, as the mother, vividly. It went down a storm.

Here’s the lyric. Strong lyric, but weak ending – perhaps the cast improved on that.

I DON’T CARE ‘BOUT MY BABY

(To the Tune of “Take Good Care Of My Baby”)

 

INTRO – YASMINE

My tears are falling cos the papers cause me pain,

But tho’ they’ve really hurt me so, I’m glad I’m here boozing in Spain.

 

CHORUS 1 – STILL YASMINE

I don’t care ’bout my baby, I’m not as kind as mums should be;

The tabloids say I fail her, some loony may impale her,

While I’m out quaffing G&T.

 

CHORUS 2 – LITTLE JEMMA

I don’t care if my mummy, will ever reappear from Spain;

Newspapers all tell fibs on, the state of Jemma Gibson,

While mum is knocking back Champagne.

 

MIDDLE BIT 1 – STILL LITTLE JEMMA

Once up a time, my freedom wasn’t crime,

Now mum has flown, the papers say I’m home alone, so

 

CHORUS 3 – YET MORE LITTLE JEMMA

I’m in care since my mummy, has left me in the house for weeks;

I entertained all my friends, held parties on the weekends,

That’s stopped now we’ve been shopped by tabloid sneaks.

 

CHORUS 4 – BACK TO YASMINE

I don’t care ’bout my baby, I like to go out for some fun;

I know I’m not a has-been, you’ve now all heard of Yasmine,

Front page of Mirror, Star and Sun.

 

MIDDLE BIT 2 – STILL YASMINE AGAIN

My good name’s been stained, since little Jemma claimed,

Reckless abandon, and I don’t have a leg to stand on, cos

 

CHORUS 5 – YASMINE CONCLUDES

I don’t care ’bout my baby, but she’s a cow to grass on me;

I’ll keep her in the kitchen, one day I’ll do that bitch in,

And eat my baby up whole for tea.

Here’s a charming video of Bobby Vee singing “Take Good Care Of My Baby” with a gratuitous crowd of young women in short skirts clapping out of sync with each other and even more out of sync with the beat of the tune. Honestly my dad’s home vids back then (c1961) were better quality cinematography than this:

Also, here is a link to Carole King’s charming lyrics to Take Good Care Of My Baby.

I wrote a Version 2 of this lyric in August 1993 for a chorus of slovenly holiday-making mothers:

WE DON’T CARE ‘BOUT OUR BABIES

(To the Tune of “Take Good Care Of My Baby”)
 
INTRO – NEGLIGENT MOTHERS
 
Our tears are falling cos the papers cause us pain,
But tho’ they’ve really hurt us so, we’re glad we’re here boozing in Spain.
 
VERSE 1 – NEGLIGENT MOTHERS
 
We don’t care ’bout our babies, we’re not as kind as mums should be;
The tabloids say we fail ’em, some loony may impale ’em,
While we’re out quaffing G&T.
 
VERSE 2 – SPROGS
 
We don’t care if our mummies, will ever reappear from Spain;
We don’t think they are sinful, we too shall have a skin full,
While they’re out knocking back Champagne.
 
Once up a time, our freedom wasn’t crime,
Now they have flown, the papers say we’re home alone, so
 
We’re in care since our mummies, have left us in the house for weeks;
We entertained all our friends, held parties on the weekends,
That’s stopped now we’ve been shopped by tabloid sneaks.
 
VERSE 3 – BACK TO THE EVIL MUMS
 
We don’t care ’bout our babies, we like to get away for fun;
Newspapers all are stalking, the evil mums of Dorking,
Front page of Mirror, Star and Sun.
 
Our good names are stained, since Britain’s papers claimed,
Reckless abandon, and we don’t have a leg to stand on, cos
 
We don’t care ’bout our babies, but we’re not as bad as all that,
Those kids had us arrested, ‘tho’ they were not molested,
Once we get out again we’ll kill those brats.