Bob's Chat

RIP Bonnie Tyler

As English is my wife's second language we sometimes have some confusion and misunderstanding. 

A prime example happened a couple of mornings ago when we had the Australian ABC News on the TV. I was busy, walking in and out the room, preoccupied with something and not paying attention to the news. However a few minutes later my wife came and informed me that "Bondie" had just died from a heart attack.

Mention the name "Bondie" to anyone of my vintage from Western Australia and they'll immediately think of Alan "Bondie" Bond, the Australian entrepreneur who achieved international fame in 1983 winning the America's Cup. I actually thought "Bondie" had already died (in fact he passed away in 2015) but I wasn't certain. But more to the point I was startled that my Thai wife had even heard of "Bondie", and asked her how come she knew who "Bondie" was. She replied that she liked "Bondie" and enjoyed her songs.

"Wait a minute", I said. "Do you mean Blondie? Is Blondie dead?" To which she replied yes, it was "Blondie" the female singer who had just died.

This news saddened me as I have always been a fan of Debbie Harry, she's recorded some terrific songs and I admired her sexy rebellious image.

So I had a look online, Googled Debbie Harry, expecting to find a flood of obituaries and reports of her sudden death, only to discover that Debbie was still very much alive and well.

Perplexed, I then sat down to watch the ABC News and finally learned that it was in fact the Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler who had just passed away. 

So it was good that we eventually got that misunderstanding sorted out, from "Bondie" to "Blondie" to "Bonnie".

Anyway, Bonnie Tyler, who also recorded some terrific songs, and who was also a lovely singer I admired. RIP.