She's so young

Yvonne sings "I'm so Young"

1968's SMASHING TIME has long been a cult favourite of mine (see labels) and has that hilariously satirical sequence where the dim Yvonne (scene-stealing Lynn Redgrave) becomes a pop star, manipulated by her scheming manager and her awful song "I'm so Young" becomes a smash hit .... is history now repeating itself as our latest pop sensation here in the UK, Tulisa has released her new single called "Young" .... is this tongue in cheek or do they really think this is clever or original or even fun ? 

Tulisa sings "Young"

Tulisa (right) is now famous as judge on talent show THE X-FACTOR (they could not make that up back in 1968...) but also records with her band N-Dubz. But just maybe one of her managers caught SMASHING TIME and thought "hey, that would be a terrific new song for Tulisa - the kids will lap it up".  Well, who knows ... but seeing the video of this "brain-withering generic slab of Ibiza trance-pop" (with its lines like " forgive me for what I have done, 'cause I'm young") makes one wonder .... it takes the whole pop cynicism of these talent shows to a whole new level.(Tulisa by the way has had a sex tape released on the internet, so no doubt those apologetic lyrics are also a damage limitation exercise...)

SMASHING TIME ("Two girls go stark mod!") was written by the great and witty George Melly and directed by Desmond Davis who also directed my English 60s favourites like I WAS HAPPY HERE and THE GIRL WITH GREEN EYES, and its the funniest Swinging London film with not only Lynn and Rita (re-teamed from  THE GIRL WITH GREEN EYES) but also with Michael York as a fashion photographer, naturally, and great turns from comics like Irene Handl, Anna Quayle, Murray Melvin (at the Too Much Boutique) and Ian Carmichael, as well as Arthur Mullard and some camp queens at the pie restaurant, and of course at the Post Office Tower.