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Thursday 16 July 2020

The Long Goodbye: Part 18

We are now two-thirds of the way through the Grand Tour and we find ourselves in Luxembourg, home of hedge funds, cut-price petrol and - when I was there - a mixed grill that consisted of five different bits of a pig and a small sauerkraut garnish. Delicious.

I have been to the capital a few times over the years for work, and its quite nice when you get away from the EU and business districts. But if I go back I would like to visit some of the smaller towns with mellifluous names like Differdange and Dudelange amd Liddle Lamzydivey.

On to the music. It was a bit of a struggle because there is not a huge amount of Luxembourgish music readily available, but with the help of the twin titans - Bandcamp and George - we got there in the end. 

I think my personal favourites are probably Nicool - the Queen of the Luxembourg hip hop scene - and the 14 minute freakout by The Choppy Bumpy Peaches. But if you have ever wondered what a Luxembourgish version of "Polk Salad Annie" sounds like we can help with that too. 


"M.I.A.U" - Singsong-Girl

"Quetschendrepp Nelly" - Buffalo C. Wayne

"The Moons of Uranus" - Benoit Martiny Band

"Gugu" - The Choppy Bumpy Peaches

Luxembourg hasn't participated in Eurovision since the mid 1990s, but when it did it had a lot of success. This was because they had a sort of Galacticos policy, buying in the likes of France Gall, Nana Mouskouri, Vicki Leandros, Baccara and - bizarrely - Plastic Bertrand. In fact, only 25% of their entrants were actually Luxembourgers. I had intended to feature only some of those plucky few in the videos, but have bent the rules slightly because it would be a crime to deny you Papa Pingouin,

3 comments:

  1. There's something very disturbing abou that playshool-esque Moniqu Melsen video. If she was, in fact, off her face on LSD she could be forgiven. I am glad that The Choppy Bumpy Peaches and Buffalo C Wayne songs were as good as their names promised.

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    1. You might be right, even the lone backing singer is keeping a safe distance. I'm quite taken by Modern Times - the woman's dancing and her commitment to wearing shades even on a thoroughly miserable day, the bit where the male singer dresses as a pilot, the drummer...

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