Naturalist in warning over Scots wildlife
TV naturalist Chris Packham has warned that tourism to Scotland will suffer if greater action is not taken to tackle wildlife crime.
The campaigner described Scotland as “the jewel in the UK’S crown” when it came to the diversity of its wildlife.
But he said there was greater awareness of incidents of wildlife crime due to social media, and predicted many bird and other animal lovers would react by staying away.
Packham, who was in Stirling yesterday as part of his UK Bioblitz campaign, said: “Scotland is the jewel in the UK’S crown, and
I’m saying this as someone from England. We have a few good things down there but do we have pine martens, wildcats or golden eagles? I could go on and on – Scotland is a Mecca when it comes to wildlife.
“Anything that damages the reputation of its care is disastrous for Scotland.”
Swedish supergroup Abba were propelled to global domination inspired by the Scots music- makers behind Chirpy Chirpy
Cheep Cheep.
The largely forgotten Middle Of The Road band remain best known for their big hit but singer Sally Carr has revealed how the Swedes were fans.
She has told a BBC documentary charting the Scottish music scene that Abba singer Agnetha Faltskog had recorded cover versions of their tunes in Swedish.
And, she claims, Abba songwriters Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson admit Middle Of The Road’s sound was an inspiration.
Launched in 1967 by Carr, drummer Ken Andrew, guitarist Ian Mccredie and his brother Eric Mccredie, the band had moved to Italy before scoring chart success Actor Pierce Brosnan has revealed his delight at returning to his role in Mamma Mia 2.
The first Abba-based movie broke records at the box office and became Britain’s biggest-selling DVD. Brosnan again stars in the sequel released later this month.
The actor, 65, whose “interesting” singing voice raised eyebrows and laughter in the 2008 film, has no illusions about his musical performances and was happy to rejoin the original cast inluding Meryl Streep, Julie Walters and Amanda Seyfried.
He said: “The first movie was a in 1970. Their other hits included Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum and Sacramento but they split up before Abba won the Eurovision So n g Co n t e s t in 1974 with Waterloo, the first hit in a worldconquering reign at the top.
Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep was No 1 for five weeks in 1971 but, appearing in the Rip It Up documentary, to be shown on Tuesday, Sally said: “We had hit singles all over the world, in Japan, South America, Singapore and 10 in Europe.
“In Br i t a i n we m a d e the Guinness Book of Records with Chirpy for being the longest single in the top 100. It was there for a year. We were on Top Of The Pops five times. It was Tony Blackburn who interviewed us the first time. He actually thought we were Italian. Ken turned round and said to him: ‘ Don’t be stupid, we’re Scottish’.”
“Agnetha covered two of our hits in Swedish, before she joined Abba. And the two boys Benny and Bjorn, on live television interview, said that they used our sound as a guide for their sound.
“Your grannies and your mums and dads, and your wee tots know Chirpy.
“They might not remember the name of the group, but by God do they remember the name of Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep.
“And I always laugh and say, ‘ Yeah, I’m chirpy, but I’m not cheap.’” mighty undertaking...sos?
That is a mighty warhorse of a song.
“And to give it to a man who is not equipped with, ahem, a technique of singing, well, it was quite an effort.
“One of my favourite reviews said: ‘Brosnan could not hold a note if it had the queen’s head on it.’ ”
The movie, again set in Greece, although filmed in Croatia, features the Swedish group’s hits and superstar singer Cher makes an appearance performing Fernando in a duet with Hollywood actor Andy Garcia.