One of the brilliant things about living in this day and age is the social media side of things. Yes it has its bad points like rumours, trolls who hide behind keyboards and slander people but there are far more positives (in my opinion) than negatives.

I often speak or write about what it was like to be a film or tv fan when I was growing up in the 80s, 70s or whatever. Where the only way to learn about the behind the scenes stuff, was through a published magazine article or a broadcast press kit thing shown for 15 minutes at teatime on a Saturday. There were no 4 hour making of documentaries or DVD commentaries and there certainly wasn’t any ‘access’ to speak to the people we saw on our screens.

I remember when I was about 12yrs old (circa 1983-ish) I met Kevn Whately (Auf Wiedersehen Pet, Lewis, Inspector Morse) He was opening some sort of fete in my hometown. That memory has stuck with me because I think he was the first ‘famous’ person I ever spoke to or met.  Meeting celebrities just didnt happen very often when I was growing up.

Nowadays with the likes of Twitter, email, and various other social networking sites you are more likely to be able to chat with someone you see on screen or hear on your headphones. But does it make it any less exciting to so do? For me..Not at all. I still get a massive ‘WOW’ whenever I am lucky enough to swap messages with someone that I admire or someone that I never thought I would swap messages with.

I never expect a reply message.  I never write to people expecting them to take the time to reply,but when they do. Its wonderful.

I also like to hear what people are up to nowadays, especially if they are someone that I remember from a TV show or a film that I have seen. I dont mean the gossip side of things. I mean, I like to hear or read where their career has taken them since the moment(s) I saw them on screen.

One example would be. Michael Ironside. Huge fan of his since I first saw him in the film Scanners. That led me to be overjoyed when he appeared in the TV series ‘V’ as Ham Tyler.  But that was nearly 30 years ago (crikey!) and he has moved on to do various other things including video game voice overs for the Splinter Cell series.

But hey, this isnt an article about Michael Ironside.

This is an article about someone else. That someone else is the wonderful Jane Badler.

Im hoping a lot of you instantly know the name Jane Badler. I know I did when I saw her on Twitter talking to Sarah Douglas (Ursa from Superman 2, Pamela from ‘V’)  I sent Jane a message and she wonderfully and kindly sent me a thank you tweet.

So for those who arent 100% familiar with the name of Jane Badler.

For me Jane will always be known the most as Diana, from ‘V’ She was easily THE most recognizable character in that show.  Running in the same summer as the 1984 Olympics and then returning as a 45 minute per episode series in 1985. Jane Badler was the main villain (from Earths point of view) in that show.

I loved that show. Its one of the few TV shows that I have seen more than once and also have the whole thing in DVD. Anyone who lived in the 80s will surely have seen or at least be aware of ‘V’

But without digressing into a full page about that show. Lets get back to chatting about Jane Badler. So. Yes. Jane sent me a thank you message so as you do. I clicked on her website link http://www.janebadler.com and discovered that Jane is a busy lady indeed (I had no doubt of course. I didnt think she had been sitting around since the 80s) But was wonderfully surprised to see that Jane Badler released her debut album in 2008 entitled ‘The Devil has My Double’

2011 saw the arrival of another album by Jane and her concentration nowadays isnt on shows of the 80s (although she did appear in the V updated show a couple of years ago), her concentration is on her singing career and its doing brilliantly. I will confess that up until a couple of weeks ago I didnt know Jane Badler created awesome music. But my role isnt in music, mine of course is more film based. So if Jane reads this, dont feel bad Jane that I hadnt realised you had created 2 albums. Focus on the fact that now I know you have done 2 albums. they are wonderful by the way.

Now anyone reading this. Are they thinking. What sort of music does Jane Badler make?

You have 2 choices. 1. Do as I did and head over to Itunes and purchase one of the albums.  or 2. Head over to Janes YouTube Channel/Website and check out one of the tracks of your choosing (I also did that)

http://www.youtube.com/user/officialjanebadler

I am not going to pick a favourite track but I will pick one for you to listen to. One that I definitely enjoyed, and one that I hope you also enjoy.

So, I say a huge thank you to Jane Badler. I also say a huge thank you to the world of the internet for letting me know that Jane is happy, well and a brilliant beautiful singer. Heres to more music from you Jane. Keep up the awesome work.