Very sad news came out on Monday from Cornwall. The actor Edward Woodward died at the age of 79. For a man who hasn't particularly been full-on in the public eye for quite some time, he's certainly never been off my screens for long.
This is due to the quality of his roles. Arguably his finest moment came in 1973 when he teamed up with Britt Ekland and Christopher Lee in the Wicker Man. The film is fantastic for many reasons. Without giving too much away, it's all about suspense, symbolism and eerieness. And the soundtrack's awesome.
It wasn't all big-screen adventures. Woodward was perhaps best known for playing Robert McCall in the 80s American crime drama The Equalizer. In the 90s, after the high octane rollercoaster of The Equalizer, came a very British drama. Common As Muck was a wonderful BBC comedy drama about the lives of northern binmen. Sounds odd, but Woodward was exemplary as the leader of the group, Nev. It ran for two series, but has stuck in my mind as a pleasant, down-to-earth and occasionally very funny piece of TV-friendly drama.
But, Woodward's last great role was as a busybody Neighbourhood Watch enforcer in the Simon Pegg/Nick Frost film, Hot Fuzz. I'm sure he was cast as a tribute to The Wicker Man. The plot of Hot Fuzz follows the Anthony Shaffer's cult classic somewhat, but is a brilliant film in its own right.
As I'm sure you'll have guessed, this week is all about songs to do with the great man, Woodward himself.
First up is a surprising one. It's Woodward singing.
He released an album or two in the 1970s and his swing-style voice is surprisingly good. Check out him singing a beautiful, relaxing version of The Way You Look Tonight.
Next is one from the soundtrack of the last film I mentioned, Hot Fuzz. It's quite easy to see why I chose this - it's got 'fuzz' in the title. This has been in my mind quite a bit this week, as I've thought about Woodward and Hot Fuzz, but Supergrass's Caught By the Fuzz doesn't quite nudge the next one off the top of my mind.
The reason why I've not included the original of this song is because I thought I'd included it in the Halloween blog. Turns out I didn't! Anyway, this is another unexpected track. There's not many (my guess is none) Madchester bands who released an album that included a cover of a Wicker Man song on it. However, in 1991, Mock Turtles released Turtle Soup. It contained their standout hit, Can You Dig It?, plus a final song called Wicker Man. But, the song of the week is their version of the track which featured in The Wicker Man as Britt Eckland stripped off and banged and wailed on the walls of the room next to Woodward's, Willow's Song.
RIP Edward Woodward.
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