Granny 69

Now this is not a joke and it’s not rude. It’s something to do with France, so anything goes - particularly when it comes to culture and in particular, music based culture.

France is not well known for its singing stars. When Johnny Hallyday and Carla Bruni are feted as France’s finest, you know they are struggling to come up with anything or anybody remotely talented. So, the latest party circuit ‘princess’ to wow the night clubs and festivals of France with her DJ skills is a bit of a surprise, especially when you find out it’s a British granny who took a shine to the decks after going to a birthday disco for her grandson a few years ago.

Clad in her leopard-skin outfit and dark sunglasses, 69-year-old Ruth Flowers has conquered French clubland from the Cannes Film Festival to the top Paris nightspots with a mix of old-school hits, electrobeat and bling-bling style – whatever the latter two music genres might be.

"It started really when my grandson had a birthday party ... they always have a little disco, don't they, after the party," Flowers told Reuters, lounging on a white sofa in a Paris hotel in a green satin bomber jacket and trademark shades contrasting with her white hair.

While Flowers, a trained singer, was more used to church songs, she was so taken by the party that she decided there and then to become a disc jockey. "I had no idea at the time what electro music was," she said.

However, as someone with interests ranging from history to theatre and fashion, she was willing to learn. A friend put her in touch with French producer Aurelien Simon who taught her how to spin records and helped her to develop a style, sprinkling her techno sets with tunes from Abba, Queen and the Rolling Stones.

As I said, any country who has a tone deaf dinosaur, and a tuneless, guitar strumming chanteuse who is also the first lady who just happens to look good, as their national music treasures, then anything goes and usually does!

PS – where the 69 comes from, I have no idea, unless she’s 69 years old – yuck!

PPS - yup she's 69 years old and you can book her here for your very own party:

http://www.mamyrock.com/home.htm