Tracie and the sometime band

Just stumbled on a minor eighties classic on YouTube, with Weller protégé Tracie Young performing a rather spiffing live version of her big 1983 hit The House That Jack Built backed by the Modfather himself on bass, Mick Talbot on keyboards and what looks like a pair of fourteen-year-olds with guitars.



Mildly Interesting Pop Fact(s): Winner of the Most Fanciable Female Award in the 1983 Smash Hits Readers' Poll, Tracie is now a local radio DJ on Chelmsford Radio 107.7 in Essex, where she presents in the 10-am-2pm Monday - Saturday slot. (Whatever happened to weekday DJs getting the weekend off, by the way? Or does that just apply to the big-time charlies on national stations?)

Tracie still dabbles in music as well - playing it I mean, rather than, umm, playing it! - (behold her MySpace page), and made a one-off appearance supporting erstwhile Faith Brothers frontman Billy Franks in a double bill to savour for the discerning eighties pop fan, at the Shepherd's Bush Empire last year. (Surely it can only be a matter of time before that place is rebranded the Vodaphone Empire or the Iceland Shepherd's Pie Empire or something equally unedifying, by the way).

Cherry Red have recently released Tracie's 1984 debut album, Far From The Hurting Kind on CD, complete with ten bonus tracks (including The House That Jack Built), which you can order direct from their website.