I loved watching Mari Wilson perform tonight. She was at The Other Palace to promote her album ‘Pop Deluxe’, a tribute to the British female singers who she grew up listening to and loving: Dusty Springfield, Cilla Black, Petula Clark…

In between tracks Mari regaled us with wry & witty tales of her childhood in north London (“I’m the Soul Queen of Neasden…although to be fair, there’s not all that much competition”), supporting Bryan Ferry on his Avalon tour (“a nice man, but not blessed in the sense of humour department”) and what it was like playing the title role in ‘Dusty the Musical’, not to mention performing alongside Boy George in ‘Taboo’.

Best of all, after two triumphant encores Mari finished the evening with (confession time) one of the first singles I ever bought. Half of my FB followers are most likely too young to remember this, and the other half are very likely pretending that they don’t know what I’m talking about – but I don’t care. In fact:

“I’ve got a mink from Paris, a ring from Rome, a whole new wardrobe in my home…I’ve got just what I always wanted!”

*shuffles off, humming nostalgically*