TERPSICHORE'S FIRE
16. THE LAST DANCE
Earth angel, earth angel
Will you be mine?
My darling dear
Love you all the time
I'm just a fool
A fool in love with you
Earth angel, earth angel
The one I adore
Love you forever and ever more
I'm just a fool
A fool in love with you
I fell for you and I knew
The vision of your loveliness
I hoped and I pray that someday
I'll be the vision of your happiness
Earth angel, earth angel
Please be mine
My darling dear
Love you all the time
I'm just a fool
A fool in love with you
The Penguins
Here is the news for one last time. In July in an act of sheer despicableness the Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior was blown up by French secret service agents while moored in Auckland harbour, New Zealand. One of the eleven crew members on board was killed. He has been named as Portuguese photographer Fernando Pereira, 33. Two explosions, sixty seconds apart, ripped through the stern at 11:45p.m. local time, and the environmentalist campaigners' boat sank in four minutes. Captain Peter Willcox said he had no idea what caused the blast, but strongly suspected sabotage. The ship arrived in Auckland harbour on Sunday and was due to lead a flotilla of boats to Mururoa Atoll in the Pacific to protest against French nuclear tests there. New Zealand Prime Minister David Lange condemned the bombing as "a major criminal act" and employed all government resources to investigate it and punish those responsible. Two people were charged with arson and murder and further investigation revealed that both of the accused, Major Alain Mafart and Captain Dominique Prieur, were French secret service agents. The French government vainly tried to deny any involvement and staged an unconvincing cover up. In September they were forced to pay the New Zealand government and Greenpeace seven million dollars in compensation.
The scorching heat of July also saw the staging of Live Aid, the world's largest ever rock festival, at Wembley Stadium in London. Described as the Woodstock of the eighties, the concert was organised by Boomtown Rats lead singer Bob Geldof to raise money for famine relief in Africa. As the event drew to a close, Britain had contributed over \u00a31million to the global total of \u00a330million. The sixteen hour music marathon also took place at the John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia. Frequent appeals by Bob Geldof reminded viewers of the motive for the occasion; "Don't go to the pub tonight. Please stay in and give us your money. There are people dying right now." Several governments began a global relief operation but there were still problems of distribution in the worst hit areas, mainly Sudan and Ethiopia.
In August a Japan Airlines jumbo jet crashed on a remote mountainside seventy miles from Tokyo. There were no reports of any survivors. The Boeing 747 came down during a fifty minute flight from Tokyo to Osaka. After a lengthy investigation it was established that the principal cause was an incorrect fuselage repair carried out seven years earlier.
The month of September saw a massive earthquake hit Mexico. The epicentre was close to the capital, Mexico City, causing untold casualties and widespread destruction. Just one day later a massive aftershock, almost as severe as the main earthquake, struck the city. Lieutenant Manuel Sanchez, a local fireman, said: "A part of a mountain just slid away, falling on the peasants who were just getting up to go to work."
