Snapshots Spillover: Even More Flowery Songs

There were far more flowery tunes that I could fit into yesterday's bouquet, so here's another bunch for Easter Monday...

The White Stripes - Blue Orchid

Everclear - Chrysanthemum

Roland Orzabal - Dandelion

Gaslight Anthem - Blue Dahlia

Queen - Lily Of The Valley

Loudon Wainwright III - Primrose Hill

Morrissey - Black-Eyed Susan

Soft Parade - When Violets Meet

Enjoy the remains of your Easter eggs.

2023: The Best Of The Rest

Before we get to the Top Ten, a brief round up of other noteworthy records I've been listening to this year that I couldn't shoehorn into previous posts.

Karine Polwart didn't have a new album out this year, otherwise she would have been in the Old Faithfuls category. She did, however, release an EP called Seek The Light, from which came one of my favourite tunes of 2023, Windblown. Folk Radio explains the song's background...

"...the story of the old Sabal bermudana palm that was the pride of Edinburgh’s Royal Botanic Garden (RBGE), the oldest specimen in its living collection. Sadly, the plant’s desire to seek the light sealed its own fate. Its towering growth threatened to push through the dome of the garden’s iconic Victorian tropical glasshouse."

Karine Polwart, Dave Milligan & Pippa Murphy - Wind Blown

Staying in Edinburgh, we find local lad (although he was born in London), Dan Wilson, who released his latest Withered Hand record this year. He's hardly what you'd call prolific - this is only his third release since 2009 - but he's always worth a listen.

Withered Hand - Waking Up

Our final Scottish offering comes from another perennial favourite, Daniel Meade, who describes his latest album, Your Madness Is My Medicine, as "a welcome return to the boogie woogie & rock n roll".

Daniel Meade - Your Madness Is My Medicine

Andrew Blackaby comes from London where he became a Born Again Christian at age 13, and then had to fight to extract himself from the grip of his church. His latest record, Comeback Innocence, deals with the extra dollop of teenage angst that ensued...

And we're doing our best, we're doing our best
I guess that much is true
But like Travis Driftwood on The Man Who
I'll drift away from you

Blackaby - Teenage Purity

Another Andrew, though far more Savage than the last, is the co-frontman of New York-via Texas band Parquet Courts. He also does his own thing, and I was rather taken by this single... not just because I like songs about Elvis. It reminds me of Stephen Malkmus.

A. Savage - Elvis In The Army

The Gaslight Anthem came back this year, bringing their old pal / idol Bruce Springsteen along for the ride. Bruce appears to be filling his spare time by guesting on other people's records these days - he's popped up on songs by Bleachers, John Mellencamp, Jesse Malin, Lucinda Williams and probably a load more I haven't come across just yet. Anyway, I've only just started giving serious time to the latest Gaslight Anthem album, but it does appear to be something of a return to form.

The Gaslight Anthem (ft. Bruce Springsteen) - History Books  

The Sleaford Mods are a band I can only take in small doses, because they look and sound like the kind of dodgy geezers you'd steer well clear of if you saw them walking down your local high street on a Saturday night. Still, when they drafted in Florence Shaw from Dry Cleaning to start swearing along with them in her usual deadpan style, they got a sizable amount of plays from me. Extra marks for re-using the title of the 1978 sequel to The Guns of Navarone...

Sleaford Mods feat. Florence Shaw - Force 10 From Navarone 

And while we're here, it's worth mentioning the Mods' "Christmas single", a cover of West End Girls by The Pet Shop Boys which sounds exactly like one of the blokes described above grabbing the mic on Karaoke Night and giving it his "best"... with everybody in the audience too scared to snatch the mic back. All profits going to Shelter though, so you can't knock 'em for it.

Sleaford Mods - West End Girls

Finally, the album that I would have placed at #11 in my Year End Countdown, if I could have been bothered to count past ten. Rare Birds: Hour of Song by ramshackle Welsh wonders The Bug Club is as good as most of my Top Ten, to be fair, but I was annoyed by all the spoken word between-song interludes... to the point that I edited them out to create a music more enjoyable record. A hugely enjoyable purchase, nevertheless...

The Bug Club - We Can't All Play Saxophones

The Bug Club - Short And Round

Hot 100 #28

Younger Younger 28's were a fine choice to illustrate this week's post. Imagine The Human League Meets Pulp Meets Shampoo. Thanks to Jim in Dubai for recalling them and suggesting their excellent b-side Karaoke Queen (linking to another blog for that one as I couldn't find it on youtube). I was always fond of We're Going Out as well. They should have been massive.

What about the 28 songs though?

Well, Jim's other suggestion was this...

Forever 28 by Stephen Malkmaus & The Jicks

That's what I call Pavement art.

As usual, Martin had a few fine suggestions...

"I'm On E by Blondie has the line:

I used to have a car of my own, 28 or 58.

I've a feeling you may have suggested that 30 posts ago too.

Meanwhile, last week we had Lloyd Cole fretting over getting ready to turn 30. Martin also reminded us of this, which could well pop up again in 5 posts' time...

Lloyd Cole & The Commotions - Grace

Once you were an angel

Jesse, honey, is it hard to take

Does it feel so bad to be 28?

He continues... "Reelin' and Rockin' by Chuck Berry has loads of times in, including...

Well, I looked at my watch, it was 10:28, 

I gotta get my kicks before it gets too late

"And my personal favourite (even if it is atypical), from the pen of Ray Davies, Low Budget by The Kinks, which has this:

Even my trousers are giving me pain,

They were reduced in a sale so I shouldn't complain.

They squeeze me so tight so I can't take no more,

They're size 28 but I take 34."

Do you know what? I'm not sure I've ever heard that before. And if you hadn't told me it was the Kinks, I might have thought it was AC/DC. It's great though!

The Swede found slim pickings in his own record collection this week. His only offering was a bit of a surprise too...

"'Never Be the Same Again' by Puressence features the lines '...you're feeling lots of pain again, December 28 again, your famous boxing day again...' December 28th? Boxing Day? What's that all about? Great song though."

Puressence!?! Blimey. It's been a while.

My immediate reaction to this was...

And then, along came Lynchie...

Bob Dylan - I Shall Be Free No. 10

I was shadow-boxing earlier in the day

I figured I was ready for Cassius Clay

I said "Fee, fie, fo, fum, Cassius Clay, here I come

26, 27, 28, 29, I'm gonna make your face look just like mine"

Talkin' blues. I love talkin' blues.

Now before we go any further, here's a really uncool suggestion from my own hard-drive...

Styx - A.D. 1928

I put that there just so nobody would think twice about Rigid Digit's first offering this week...

Mötley Crüe - Bad Boy Boogie

We're innocent in every way

Like apple pie and Chevrolet

Sweeter pies with different shapes

38-28-38

"Other than that," he adds, "I need to invoke the "50 Words For Snow" card again...

28: Robbers Veil

Yes, you can always rely on Kate Bush for redemption.

Meanwhile, Alyson was in an existential mood this week...

"Alicia Keys has a song called 28 Thousand Days which is apparently the average lifespan so we should pack as much in as we can. Scarily I've had nearly 22,000 days already so I'd better get a wiggle on."

Don't worry, Alyson, you don't look a day over 21,999.

Finally, here's C...

"'22 Grand Job' by the Rakes, love that song and it's pure energy, and before it comes up again in 6 weeks' time for obvious reasons it could get a little preview here for the line

But he's only 28, no more 22

Shorter post than usual this week because Douglas was on holiday. Let's scrape the bottom of my barrel before we get onto the serious contenders...

The Divine Comedy - The 28th of May

Little Jackie - 28 Butts

The Boomtown Rats - Nothing Happened Today

Tomorrow's Wednesday

Today was Tuesday

And this is the date

March 28th

Art Brut - DC Comics & Chocolate Milkshake

DC comics and chocolate milkshake

Some things will always be great

DC comics and chocolate milkshake

Even though I'm 28

DC comics and chocolate milkshake

I guess I'm just developing late

DC comics and chocolate milkshake

I never got over that amazing taste

Nice try, Eddie, but I was always a Marvel boy myself.

The Velvet Underground - Velvet Nursery Rhyme

Which is really just a live "meet the band" thing from the Velvets 1993 reunion - 28 years later.

OK. This week's runner-up then.

The Gaslight Anthem - Meet Me By The River's Edge

See, I've been here for 28 years

Poundin' sweat beneath these wheels

We tattooed lines beneath our skin

No surrender, my Bobby Jean

The one where they wear their Bruce influence on their sleeves. I felt sure that would be the winner...

Until C came up with this one. Genius! Well done, C.

I'm in love with modern moonlight, 

1.28 when it's dark outside

27? I think I know what Martin will choose. What about the rest of you?

Hot 100 #33

French metal band 6:33 welcome us all to #33 in our Hot 100 countdown. I understand their cover of Silver Lady by David Soul is especially worth seeking out.


33 (and a third) is the number of revolutions per minute made by a long-player / vinyl album. Young people will probably need to consult iffypedia about this, unless they're a hipster, in which case they probably know more about it than I do.

Since I think it's fair to say that hipsters do not read this blog, what do all you old non-hipsters recommend?


The Swede kicked us off this week with a veritable plethora. (Well, a "ple4a", anyway.)

The New Mastersounds - Thirty-Three

Smashing Pumpkins - Thirty-Three

Clyde McPhatter & The Drifters - Three Thirty Three

George Jones - Four-0-Thirty-Three

We could also have had It's A 10:33 (Let's Get Jesus On The Line) by the same fella.

Lynchie stayed out west with this one...

Waylon Jennings - The 33rd of August

It's the 33rd of August
And I'm finally touching down
Eight days from Sunday
Finds me Saturday bound.

I think he needs a new calendar.

And I'll chuck in this from my own country collection...

Kris Kristofferson - The Pilgrim Chapter 33

C popped up next with an offering that Charity Chic swiftly declared "the winner!" If only he was compiling these posts. (He's welcome to take over now that he's finished the already much-missed Double Letter Saturday feature. Save me the extra work as we get nearer to #1. Hint hint.)

How about when Grace Jones sounds a lot like Dusty Springfield in I've Done It Again from Nightclubbing?

I was there when Jenny Lind first sang
First to feel the cold Alaskan white man
First to take a trip on LSD
First to vote for Roosevelt back in '33

Next up was Rigid Digit with three solid suggestions...

Sinéad O'Connor - 33

Roger Waters - 4:33AM (Running Shoes)

The Jesus & Mary Chain - 33 1/3

To be honest. I'm surprised there weren't more songs with 33 1/3 in the title. The only other one I came up with was...

Public Enemy - War At 33 1/3

But wait! Martin had a couple more...

Michelle Shocked - 33RPM Soul

I can only find the lyrics of that on Michelle's website. The tune appears to be lost to the interweb.

Prince - Boom!

Run your fingers up and down the obelisk in the earth, 

Down to 33rpm where the primordial gives birth...

Ah, we do miss him. Although it is easier to find his songs on youtube now he's gone.

The Gaslight Anthem - Blue Jeans & White T-shirts

Still we sing with our heroes, 

33 rounds per minute...

Martin didn't limit to RPM-related suggestions though. He also offered...

Luke Haines - Christ

At the age of 33 and a third, the time that Christ spent on earth,
I decided to cut all ties with showbiz.
As the awards piled up in the bath, well I started to laugh
At all those who died in the name of light entertainment.

That came very close to winning this week, for obvious reasons.

Lou Reed - Sword of Damocles

Last night on 33rd street, 

I saw a kid get hit by a bus...

Cheery.

Manic Street Preachers - Nat West-Barclays-Midlands-Lloyds  

Barclays iron eagle, 

33 injection...

That's a belter.

Then came Deano, who explained this week's selection thus...

Before he became outlaw country music's resident eccentric that would do anything for a publicity stunt, his debut album was actually some really good blues material, including this song about a fragile prisoner that has just received some bad news.

David Allan Coe - Cell #33

Finally came Douglas, who decided to try playing the Canadian card again this week.

For starters, I wish there were recordings available of any of Gordon Lightfoot's renditions of "The 33rd of August" which he apparently undertook in studio in 1969 as an attempt to put together a final contractually obligated album of covers for UA, which sadly was aborted and the decision was made to deliver with a live album instead. The recordings are out there somewhere... anyway, for the record I prefer the original Mickey Newbury version of this song to others out there.

(See above.)

But for Canadian content, I am left suggesting Stars' song Personal, which is a very sad short story of a song told back and forth through his-and-hers personal columns responses which ends with the heartache of being stood up. It starts thus:

Stars - Personal

Wanted single F under 33

Must enjoy the sun, must enjoy the sea

Sought by single M, Mrs. Destiny

Send photo to address, is it you and me?

Reply to single M, my name is Caroline

Cell phone number here, call if you have the time

28 and bored, grieving over loss, sorry to be heavy

But heavy is the cost, heavy is the cost...

Now that might not have won this week, but only because it's not yet in my collection and the winner must always exist in my own library. That said, it's a bloody good tune, so thanks for introducing it to me, Douglas... and it will come in very well on the Top Ten Lonely Hearts Column Songs I've been trying to compile for months now. (Note to everybody: I need another three good ones.)

Speaking of songs from my own library, here's what it threw up this week (along with many of the ones above)...

Zager & Evans - Nell'Anno 2033

(That appears to be an Italian remake of In The Year 2525. No idea how I came across it, or why they changed the year.)

Joy Zipper = 33x

Bob Frank & John Murry - Boss Wetherford, 1933

All of which brings us to this week's winner, which was a real toss-up with Luke Haines, but in the end Frank edged it with an equally biting open line that sums up the state of the world at the moment... and offers good advice for anyone who ever thinks of interviewing He Who Has Fallen From Grace again...

"Stop asking musicians what they think"
He said softly as he poured himself a second drink
And outside, the world slipped over the brink

We all thought we had nothing to lose
That we could trust in crossed fingers and horseshoes
That everything would work out, no matter what we choose

The first time it was a tragedy
The second time is a farce
Outside it's 1933 so I'm hitting the bar

Don't go mistaking your house burning down for the dawn!

Next week: 32. Hit me!

Hot 100 #45

45s. For most of us, our entry into record collecting. Long gone now, except as collector's items and special editions. But there was something very special about the 45. If you were going to go to the effort to put one song on the turntable, then you were damn well going to give that song your attention. That's something today's youth has lost, and I'd argue the songs they cherish might never mean as much to them because of that loss.

Alyson was the only one of you brave enough to mention former Golden Earring member Jaap Eggermont's Stars On 45 by name...

...although Charity Chic went one worse by reminding us of Rotherham's answer to Stars On 45... Jive Bunny! Let's hope that's the last time they ever get mentioned on this blog.

A slightly more worthy suggestion came from The Swede, in honour of Jez...

Status Quo - Forty Five Hundred Times

The Swede then returned later with a couple more...

Gang of Four - 5.45

Bon Iver - ___ 45 ___

And then came Martin, who's obviously now using the same lyrics search engine I do, because he almost filled up the entire comment's box with this lot...

Gomez's "Bubble Gum Years" Whiskey bottle and a 45, my dear
Fountains of Wayne: "Number 45 Sunblock" (I'm not sure if Martin actually listened to that one - but it's not a real song.)
Neil Sedaka and "Our Last Song Together": Scratchy worn out 45's, an echo on the radio
The Hollies, "Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress": A pair of 45s made me open my eyes
Blondie's "Bermuda Triangle Blues" begins Flight 45, last seen alive on the runway
Elbow's "Jesus is a Rochdale Girl" has Jesus is a Rochdale girl, and 45 CDs
Meatloaf and "Rock and Roll Hero": Stacks of scratched up 45's and taught myself how to sing
Barry bleedin' Manilow (!) and "The Old Songs" includes if all those plans I made don't melt the lady's heart, I'll put on the old 45's (Oy! Less of the 'bleeding'!)
Saint Etienne's "Home": Life seems so good, they're like the 45's when I dream I'm dreaming of you" (Can't find that anywhere on youtube.)
Bill Haley (and many others) and "Peppermint Twist": Well, meet me baby down at 45th Street, where the Peppermint Twisters meet" (Couldn't find that anywhere either so I linked to the version by Joey Dee & The Starliters.)
Repeat offenders Saint Etienne with "Teenage Winter": They'll never buy a Gibb Brothers record again, their old 45s gathering dust (Possibly my favourite SE song, that.)
Aussie proggers The Church and "The Time Being" includes I use a .45 to give them some stick 

I'm going to stop there, I think. I'm getting obsessed.

That's one word for it.

Lynchie was up next, with these...

"Youth of Eglington" by Black Uhuru includes the line "The youth of Brixton they have their 45 Smith and Wesson pistol pistol"

Van Morrison - "Wild Children" opens with
"We were the War Children
Born 1945
When all the soldiers came marching home
Love looks in their eye..." 

and FINALLY! 

Mary Chapin Carpenter - "John Doe No. 24" (a beautiful song) starts with
"I was standing on this sidewalk
In 1945 in Jacksonville, Illinois
When asked what my name was there came no reply..." 

John Medd joined in the fun, offering...

Wreckless Eric - 33s & 45s

Then came Rigid Digit, linking us back to the band mentioned in our opening paragraph...

Sometimes the world is crying out for some 1970s Dutch Rock with slight Bob Dylan undertones (albeit very rarely) 

Golden Earring - Another 45 Miles

While Jim In Dubai returned us to Stars On 45... albeit more credible, tongue-in-cheek, references...

Blokes on 45 - Orange Juice 

Squabs on Forty Fab - Squeeze 

BAR's on 45 - BA Robertson (Couldn't find that one either.)

Rigid Digit added to this list with...

Chas & Dave - Stars Over 45 

Starturn on 45 (Pints) 

Ivor Biggun - Bras On 45

Jim also offered 900 Number by The 45 King - "Annoying dance tune from the late 80's", which I'm not even going to listen to given that description.

And to conclude your suggestions, back to Alyson...

45 R.P.M by The Poppy Fields otherwise known as the Alarm.

Now, you may have noticed I've missed out some of your suggestions there. That's because, two years ago, on the event of my 45th birthday, I actually compiled My Top Ten 45 Songs. And here they are...

10. Babybird - 45 & Fat

9.  Dallas Wayne - Old 45s

8. The Tall Boy - 45s & Books

7. Readers' Wives - I Love You More Than 45s

6. Todd Snider - Forty Five Miles

5. The All New Adventures Of Us - 45 Forever

4. The Gaslight Anthem - 45

3. Shrag - Forty Five 45s

2. Cornershop - Brimful Of Asha

1. Elvis Costello - 45

With that in mind, you might expect Elvis to be crowned this week's winner too.

Except that Martin was decent enough to remind us all of this... and it just kind of fit my mood today.

Let me know, let me know, let me know

About all the old 45s

And the paperback rooms

And it's scattered all the photographs

Of summers and suns

Phew. I need I lie down after that. Can't even think about 44 now. I'll have to leave that up to you...

Hot 100 #59

Last week, I said there were two obvious contenders for #59 in our countdown, and fortunately you all seemed to agree with me... although I was also reminded of a third which I should have remembered off the top of my head, pre-research.


There were some other fine suggestions too... over to you guys for those.


Lynchie wanted to add to his list of maudlin country songs, with John Anderson - 1959...

And Baby I'm yours
I'll love you always
I'm gonna stand by you until the end of time
Remember all of the good things
That we shared together
Signed,

Love Betty,

1959

You can never have too many maudlin country songs!


Martin offered the following...

59 Times The Pain by Hüsker Dü

11:59 by Blondie

And, maybe best of all, Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress by The Hollies, for the lyric:

She was a long cool woman in a black dress

Just a 5'9" beautiful 'n' tall

Just one look I was a bad mess

'Cause that long cool woman had it all

I'm no really sure that last one qualifies as a 59 song, if only because feet and inches aren't decimal, but I'll let it pass.

The Swede, after reprising Lynchie's earlier suggestion of Johnny Cash - One Piece At A Time, which features every number from 49 to 70 (as well as number 1!), offered Sir Fab Macca's ditty entitled Summer of '59 tucked away on an old b-side. Hardly Bryan Adams though, is it?

Alternatively he also had the glorious Jaki Liebezeit tribal racket that is Smoke (E.F.S. No. 59) by Can. Can't link to that though as the record company appear to have blocked it on youtube. Can I hazard a guess and say it's hardly Bryan Adams though too?

All of which brings us to this week's Top 3, and first Rigid Digit supplies us with a song I'm ashamed to say I forgot, because it's a classic...

Pulp - 59 Lyndhurst Grove

As for the two I did remember, I've been torn over which one to choose because I love them both in different ways. And you guys were no help, as an equal number of you voted for each. In the end then, I went for the underdogs, meaning this became the runner-up...

Simon & Garfunkel - 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)

Paul and Art had many fine moments, of which that was just one. The Gaslight Anthem though... well, I don't think they've ever bettered this belter from 2008...

58 next week. Nothing quite so obvious. What do you reckon?

My Top Ten Bette Davis Songs

I've been very much enjoying the series Feud: Bette & Joan which ran on TV over Christmas. Great to see 60s America recreated so faithfully and the performances by Susan Sarandon, Jessica Lange and Alfred Molina were terrific. Stanley Tucci was hilarious as Jack Warner too. Of the two, Sarandon's Bette Davis probably comes out best, being shown as both the better actress and the more sympathetic human being (most of the time).

Not done an Actory Top Ten for awhile, so here's ten songs about Bette and her films...


10. Rod Stewart - Baby Jane

Well, we've got to start with this one, haven't we? As seen in Feud, Whatever Happened To Baby Jane? was the film that cemented the rivalry between Bette and Joan.

Some debate on t'internet as to whether Rod's song has anything to do with the movie... and quite a lot of old Rod The Mod fans bemoaning his 80s ouvre, of which this is seen as a particularly irksome entry. You can have the Belle & Sebastian version if you prefer. Or perhaps a completely different Baby Jane from Dr. Feelgood.

9. The Gaslight Anthem - Mae

There's an argument to be had that Brian Fallon hasn't had an original idea in his life, but everybody loves Noel Gallagher for the same crime, so cut The Gaslight Anthem a break...

Stay the same, don’t ever change
'Cause I’d miss your ways
With your Bette Davis eyes
And your mama's party dress

8. Al Stewart - Next Time

Not the first time Al has cropped up here name-dropping famous actresses. Probably won't be the last.

When you were just a kid you loved
To go to movies in the afternoon
And so you left the factory
And got a job in the projection-room
Bette Davis plays
Ran away with the passing days
You'll be a movie-star
Next time

7. Good Charlotte - Silver Screen Romance

Hit the chorus, lads...!

You're my Bette Davis I'm your Cary Grant
Let's make love all night don't get up at the prohibition
The big depression's over lets have a drink to them
We'll stay young forever living in our silver screen romance

(It's gonna be harder to do my Cary Grant Top Ten now.)

6. Marc Almond - My Love

Hilarious lyrics from Marc on this whole song... and just watch the way he performs the Bette Davis lines in the video: perfect!

My love
Likes tattoos in biro
Love bites and lager
And long menthol fags
My love
Smokes like Bette Davis
In short... 
Vicious... 
Drags.

5. Iggy Pop - Get Up & Get Out

Turns out Iggy was part of the whole #metoo movement almost 40 years before the rest of the world. This is from 1980!

I'm wondering fellas if you've heard the news
The chicks are sick and tired of being abused
Now I saw all this on the wide screen
You know that chick Bette Davis split right out of the scene

4. Dire Straits - Industrial Disease

Leave your Dire Straits prejudices at the door, please.

Sociologists invent words that mean 'Industrial Disease'
Doctor Parkinson declared 'I'm not surprised to see you here
You've got smokers cough from smoking, brewer's droop from drinking beer
I don't know how you came to get the Bette Davis knees
But worst of all young man you've got Industrial Disease

3. The Wedding Present - All About Eve

Nothing to do with the movie, more about the year Davd Gedge spent in South Africa as a child and his memories of Apartheid. Of course, All About Eve also gave its name to these guys. Bette's legacy lives on!

2. Bob Dylan - Desolation Row

Undeniably great. (Though I also like the My Chemical Romance version.)

Cinderella, she seems so easy 
"It takes one to know one," she smiles 
And puts her hands in her back pockets 
Bette Davis style 
And in comes Romeo, he's moaning, 
"You belong to Me I Believe" 
And someone says, "You're in the wrong place, my friend. You better leave" 
And the only sound that's left 
After the ambulances go 
Is Cinderella sweeping up 
On Desolation Row.

1. Kim Carnes - Bette Davis Eyes

The obvious #1, though I'm sure it'll be shunned as "too 80s" by many. You may prefer Jackie DeShannon's original... though it's a VERY different song. For a hipper "indie" version, try the Sexton Blake cover or this rather over-produced version by My Gold Mask. I'm sure it's been covered by a dozen other people, but those are the only ones to make it into my collection.

Kim Carnes is worth another post sometime though. Known to most people in the UK as a one hit wonder, her career actually stretches from the late 60s through to the present day, and her Best Of collection shows a lot of interesting work over that time. Try Gypsy Honeymoon as a taster, it might change your idea of her.



Think I can't follow that with a Joan Crawford Top Ten. Go on, dare me!

My Top Ten 45 Songs

Today I am 45.

"It's only a number."

Yes. But it is a number I have both dreaded and looked forward to. Dreaded for all the obvious reasons (I am drowning in mid-life crisis angst, but you don't want to know about that); looked forward to because I knew it would give me the chance to write this post. And also because, obviously, it's cool to have revolved around the sun as many times as a 7 inch single spins in a minute. Not that I own any 7 inch singles any more, nor a turntable to spin them on. Sigh...

A few years back, JC, The Vinyl Villain, one of my blogging heroes, marked his own 45th birthday with an epic selection of his 45 favourites 45s. I knew I couldn't compete with that. As should have become painfully obvious by now, I can only count to ten. And so, here are ten songs that focus on the number 45. Special thanks to John Medd for posting about the sleeve of the first Generation X single from 1977 (above). I'd never seen it before, but it was just the image I needed for this post.

Oh, and just for JC: here's Orange Juice with Blokes On 45 to start us off... (Sorry it didn't make the ten, JC - I love Edwyn, but this isn't one of his strongest efforts, despite the cool title.)


10. Babybird - 45 & Fat

Well, that's a nice way to start, isn't it? Thanks for the kind words on my birthday, Babybird.

Still, as this song appears to be Stephen Jones' love song to C-O-C-A C-O-L-A, maybe if he didn't drink so much of that, he wouldn't have to worry about his weight. I mean, come on, Stephen - sugar is the hidden killer for men our age...*

(*Says the man who consumed a whole bag of Bitsa Wipsa with his coffee yesterday.)

9.  Dallas Wayne - Old 45s

A word of warning to all you vinyl junkies out there...

"Old 45s will kill you - like a bullet to the brain!"

Because...

"It's just a piece of plastic
In a paper sleeve
But in each groove
Lives me and you
And the love that now is
History,.."

8. The Tall Boy - 45s & Books

Here's one that came from the blogosphere... I've no idea when or where, and google won't tell me anything else about the artist. Cool song though.

And while we're on the subject of 45s and books, I should drop a mention to Deacon Blue here... although they were only interested in paperbacks (with torn out pages). 

7. Readers' Wives - I Love You More Than 45s

Readers' Wives, on the other hand, are a band I do know something about. A few years back, at the height of my previous blog's popularity, the band sent me a copy of their album to review. I loved it and we got chatting. At the same time I was also writing a few comics so I sent them some copies of those. For a while, we talked about me writing a comic about their band. It never really got off the ground and the band have now split up, though lead singer Niall James Holohan is still recording and perfoming... I must check out what he's doing these days.

6. Todd Snider - Forty Five Miles

One of Americana's finest, this is from his 2000 album Happy To Be Here. Which seems like a pretty apt thought for today. I should take that on board.

And there's Another 45 Miles right here, from Golden Earring.

5. The All New Adventures Of Us - 45 Forever

Another one that was gifted to me by the blogosphere many moons ago... so I'm gifting it back. A lovely little tune by a band stuck on my wants list for far too long now. I must track down some more of their stuff.

I've got two boxes
Paved with rockets
Where all my best friends sit
When they smile, I take their jackets
And give them a spin...

4. The Gaslight Anthem - 45

"I'll see you on the flipside."

There's an expression you don't hear used very often these days.

3. Shrag - Forty Five 45s

Ah, Shrag. Whatever became of you?

Oh. You split up. Never mind. It was good while it lasted.

You want to hang out
Talk about music
You play that record
Over and over
Judging by my tastes
I would really like it
And you would lend it to me

Tell me you met them
Not in a fan way
Said they were nice guys
Not too pretentious
You knew them for ages
Before they were famous
And how they hadn't changed...

But I don't care what you say
I liked them first anyway...

2. Cornershop - Brimful Of Asha

Because everybody needs a bosom for a pillow.

1. Elvis Costello - 45

Written and recorded in 2001 when Elvis was going through the same terrible thing I'm going through now. It's his autobiography in 7". Brilliant.

I could quote the whole song, but here's a few selected highlights...

Every scratch, every click, every heartbeat
Every breath that I held for you
Forty five

Bass and treble heal every hurt
There's a rebel in a nylon shirt
But the words are a mystery, I've heard
'Til you turn it down to thirty three and a third
'Cause it helps with the elocution
Corporations turn revolutions
Forty five

Bells are chiming and tears are falling
It creeps up on you without a warning
Forty five

I heard something peculiar said:
"Perhaps he's got a shot and now he's dead"
Forty five

Sorry, can't stick around to chat. Have to go and "celebrate" encroaching middle age...

My Top Ten Lincoln Songs

Happy Easter. For no reason at all, here's ten songs about various different Lincolns... the President, the car, the county, the town... and the mall.


10. Tim McGraw & Kid Rock - Lincoln Continentals And Cadillacs

Let's start with a bit of shamelessly contemporary country pop. We'll get to the more authentic stuff later...
 
9. Tony Rice - John Wilkes Booth

...like right about now. Written by Mary Chapin Carpenter, Tony Rice's song digs deep into the tragic tale of the actor who assassinated Abraham Lincoln in protest against the president's abolition of slavery, "in the name of God and Dixie".

8. Donald Fagen - Maxine

The Nightfly is one of my favourite albums of the 80s, yet Maxine is probably my least favourite track on there. That's not to say it's a bad song - it fits the late night jazzy feel of the concept very well and tells a typically Fagen-esque tale of love and longing. There's a great sax solo too. But it's no New Frontier, I.G.Y. or Nightfly, is it?

Oh, and in case you were wondering...

While the world is sleeping
We meet at Lincoln Mall
Talk about life
The meaning of it all
Try to make sense of the suburban sprawl
Try to hang on, Maxine

7. Josh Turner - Loretta Lynn's Lincoln

Add a splash of wit to your country and you've got a guaranteed fan on this blog. Great song; always makes me smile.

6. The Gaslight Anthem - Old White Lincoln

If you're going to base your whole career on sounding like a tribute act... you can do much worse than choosing Bruce as your role model.

And I always dreamed of classic cars and movie screens
And tryin' to find some way to be redeemed
Bring a dollar with you, baby
In the cold, cold ground

Paddy McAloon would have something to say about that...

5. Dave Davies - Lincoln County

After the success of Death of a Clown and Susannah's Still Alive, Dave Davies' solo career (extracurricular to the Kinks) looked like it was taking off. Lincoln County sadly put an end to that when it failed to chart (except in Holland, where it made #15). A shame, because this also meant his proposed album, with the excellent title of  A Hole in the Sock (of Dave Davies), was also shelved.

Some debate on t'internet about whether the song is told from the perspective of Jesse James or Billy The Kid. I have no idea.

4. Mercury Rev - Lincoln's Eyes

What explodes like a fractal, pops like a light bulb
Looks really awful at four in the morning
Moves with a dead stare, coils around your ankles
Fangs long as neckties and strikes without warning?

Answers on a postcard.

All Is Dream was the album in which Mercury Rev came closest to disappearing up their own rabbit hole into wispy, dungeons and dragons fantasia. Lincoln's Eyes would be the prime suspect if it weren't so haunting and beautiful. Yet, despite being almost as impenetrable as Nick Kershaw's Riddle, it succeeds through a sly sense of humour in the last verse which makes it genuinely affecting.

What explodes like a fractal, pops like a light bulb
Strolls in like Joel Grey* at four in the morning
Armed with a big nose, fragile as a sea horse
Lives in your soul and loves you like I do?

                                                                                 *

3. Marvin Gaye - Abraham, Martin & John

I have no idea why Marvin's timeless tribute to Lincoln, King and the two Kennedies isn't on youtube, but I hardly need to link to it: you either know it like an old friend already or you need down purchase a copy immediately.

The original version, recorded by Dion, is pretty cool too. As is Smokey Robinson's cover.

2. Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen - Hot Rod Lincoln

Written and originally recorded by Charlie Ryan back in 1955 - who actually was a hot rod racer (google it) at the time - but I have a definite preference for the 1971 cover by Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen. Maybe it's the name, surely one of the greatest band names ever (not counting Kathleen Turner Overdrive). Question: can a cool name make you pre-disposed to like the band? I would have wanted to hear more of this band from their name alone... although my first exposure to them was through a late night radio play of this very song.

George Frayne IV, aka Commander Cody, did not always take lead vocals on his band's recordings. Indeed, on the album this track hails from (Lost In The Ozone), Billy C. Farlow is the lead vocalist on every track... except Hot Rod Lincoln. 

Thus ends my limited knowledge of Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen. 

1. Bruce Springsteen - Nebraska

I'm very much looking forward to seeing Bruce again this summer, revisiting The River with the E-Street Band (although it won't be the same without Clarence). But the dream would be to see him play Nebraska live the way it was recorded: just Bruce, his guitar, his harmonica and his cassette deck.

The title track starts out in Lincoln, Nebraska... before going full Badlands on us. One of the most powerful songs he ever recorded.

You want to know why 
I did what I did?
Sir, I guess there's just a meanness in this world... 


Which Lincoln gets your vote?

My Top Ten Jeans Songs

Surprisingly, despite making Number One in last week's Top Ten Jean Songs, Bruce doesn't make the Songs About Jeans chart at all... despite that iconic image above. (However, a band of his biggest fans do feature at #5.)

Here are ten songs about pulling your blue jeans on and getting that denim all dirty...

Special mentions to The Swinging Blue Jeans, Beth Jeans Houghton & The Hooves Of Destiny, Bob B. Soxx & The Blue Jeans, Mr. Little Jeans, Pissed Jeans, and Jack Jeans (I had to link to that one).



10. Gene Vincent - Blue Jean Bop

Be-Bop-A-Lula is one of the defining records of rock 'n' roll, but Gene Vincent was never really able to bottle that lightning again. This is about as close as he got, a "minor" follow-up "hit"... although this was back in the days when "minor" hits still sold a million copies even if they only made number 49 in the charts.

9. Little Man Tate - Hello Miss Lovely (So You Like My Jeans)

Unfairly labeled a poor man's Arctic Monkeys, Little Man Tate called it a day in 2009. Which is a shame, because they wrote witty, spiky guitar pop songs... the sort of thing the radio is sorely missing these days.

8. David Dundas - Jeans On

The 70s was obviously a great decade for songs about jeans (see below) and this is the one that famously doubled up as an advert for Brutus Jeans. It seems Dundas was a member of British nobility - his full name and title is Lord David Paul Nicholas Dundas - as his dad was Lawrence Aldred Mervyn Dundas, 3rd Marquess of Zetland (also a famous tennis player in the 40s).

Well, I never knew that.

Of course, iffypedia might have made it all up... you never know.

The song was also covered a few years back by Chungking... but sadly, I can't find their version on youtube.

7. The View - Same Jeans

Scruffy Scottish indie kids - they've had the same jeans on for four days now - with their only Top Ten hit from 2007. It's rare I say this... but it seems longer ago than that.

6. Jimmy Webb - Lady Fits Her Blue Jeans

As previously discussed on this site, Jimmy Webb is god. Although he's more famous as a songwriter than a performer, he's also released a succession of excellent solo albums over the last 40 years, five of which were recently reissued in an extremely affordable box set on the Rhino label. Considering how rare these albums were prior to the box set, it's pretty much an essential purchase for fans of quality songwriting. This is taken from the 4th album in the 5 disc set, 1974's Land's End. Gorgeous stuff.

5. The Gaslight Anthem - Blue Jeans & White T-Shirts

The Gaslight Anthem always wear their New Jersey roots on their sleeves and this one describes perfectly Bruce's famous 80s dress sense... while also throwing in a sly reference to early Tom Waits.

This track's a bit of a rarity, from the 2008 EP Señor and the Queen, but it stands up as well as some of their better known songs.

4. The Donnas - Dirty Denim

Classic spunky & punky girl-pop from the California foursome led by the female Brett Anderson. In the Suede versus Denim battle, it's hard to call a winner. The other Brett never wrote anything as bitchy as this...

You look like you've only slept for an hour
You smell like you haven't taken a shower
And your hair is so dirty
It makes you look like you're thirty

Your pants are slung way too low
I see stuff I don't wanna know
I wonder why you're so moody?
Is it 'cause you've got no booty?

3. Lana Del Rey - Blue Jeans

That second Lana Del Rey album - the one with Video Games on, the one that made her a star - is still an amazing piece of work, even if she's failed to live up to its potential since. The cognoscenti may have tried to expose her as a phoney or a poseur... but what do the cognoscenti know? She has a new album out this week - fingers crossed it's a return to form.

2. Denim - Back In Denim

Lawrence (he has no second name... except he does, and it's Hayward) started life in fondly remembered 80s indie band Felt. Then sometime in the early 90s, he folded up the Felt and embraced Denim - with added glam stomp. Since then, he's gone ultra lo-fi with Go Kart Mozart... but if you ask me, Denim will always be his finest hour.

1. Neil Diamond - Forever In Blue Jeans

Listen - money talks, all right? Even if it don't sing or dance or walk...

There is a popular mondgreen associated with this tune, that Neil's actually singing "Reverend Blue Jeans". Which would be wonderful... if it were true.

What can I say, if you don't appreciate a bit of classic Neil... there's something missing in your life.




Next week (if I have time) - the final part of the trilogy. My Top Ten Gene Songs.

Meanwhile, don't put your jeans back in the wardrobe just yet. Which is your Nick Kamen?

My Top Ten Father & Son Songs... That Do Mention Fathers and Sons In The Title

Coming up on week three and this is proving the hardest (albeit most rewarding) thing I've ever done in my life. Fortunately, I'm still taking lessons in fatherhood from my record collection...


10. Chicory Tip - Son of my Father

While I have a lot of time for a great deal of 70s chart guff... this hasn't aged particularly well. Yes, kids, there was a time when all pop stars dressed like Chicory Tip...

9. Joshua Kadison - My Father's Son

A fool thinks he ain't bought and sold
Cause every man sells a bit of his soul
To bring his family home some gold
Before he knows he's gotten old

Starting a new teaching year at the same time you become a parent isn't something I'd recommend to anyone... this reminds me why I'm doing it.

8. Hank Williams - My Son Calls Another Man Daddy

Let's not bring the milkman into this, Hank...

7. Gorkys Zygotic Mynci - Sometimes the Father Is the Son

 Gorgeous song from the Welsh weirdos. Reminiscent in many ways of this next gentleman...

6. Brian Wilson - The Child Is Father Of The Man

An off-cut from the legendary SMiLE sessions, finally released in 2004, made even more special by the fact that it serves here as an intro to Surf's Up, one of the greatest Brian Wilson / Van Dyke Parks songs ever.

5. The Gaslight Anthem - Our Father's Son

Remember b-sides? Remember when b-sides used to be as strong as some a-sides?

4. Queen - Father To Son

From the days when Queen were serious Led Zep fans.

3. Peter Gabriel - Father, Son

Heartbreaking.

Can you recall
How you took me to school
We couldn't talk much at all
It's been so many years
And now these tears
Guess I'm still your child
Out on the moors
We take a pause
See how far we have come
You're moving quite slow
How far can we go
Father and son

2. Father John Misty - Only Son of the Ladiesman

Maybe a little bit of a cheat but there's both a Father and a Son in the link above and this is just gorgeous. Not that my boy will ever have to worry about his old man being described in these terms...

Couldn't see his used up body at the funeral
By virtue of the flailing of his conquests
They tied down his casket with the garter belt
Each troubled heart was beating in a sequin dress
Someone must console these lonesome daughters
No written word or ballad will appease them

1. Johnny Cash - Father and Son

Written by Cat Stevens, ruined by Boyzone... resurrected and immortalised by JC (with a little help from Fiona Apple). I love the original, but this version just floors me...





"Daddy... why do you keep making Top Tens?"

So people will leave a comment, son.

My Top Ten Fairground Ride Songs

Although I was a fan of the Ghost Train, I was generally too chicken to go on any of the scarier fairground rides.


Special mentions to Chairlift, Fairground Attraction (again) and Rhubarb's Ill-Maintained Fairground Contraption.Oh, and if you must have a song about the dodgems... try this.


10. Siouxsie & The Banshees - Carousel

There's a gorgeous Thea Gilmore track called Carousel Queen which would have beaten Siouxsie onto this list if I could have found it anywhere. 

See also carousel songs by Blink 182 and The Hollies. 

9. Gaslight Anthem -  The Patient Ferris Wheel

"Maybe I should call me an ambulance" is an excellent chorus line... though I'm never entirely sure what makes this Ferris Wheel so patient.

See also Big Wheel by Laura Cantrell.

8. Elvis Costello - Ghost Train

There were a number of Ghost Train songs, including those by Madness, The Stranglers, Gorillaz, Counting Crows and Marc Cohn. But only one was about characters called Maureen and Stan... 

7. Steppenwolf - Magic Carpet Ride

Seriously psychedelic.

6. Morrissey - Speedway

Morrissey + chainsaw = magic. Seriously, though, imagine how much better Texas Chainsaw Massacre would be if Morrissey was Leatherface. It'd bring a whole new meaning to 'I would go out tonight, but I haven't got a stitch to wear'.

And when you try
To break my spirit
It won't work
Because there's nothing left to break
Anymore

I seem to remember the Speedway was even scarier than the waltzer. I've been on a waltzer once in my life and I thought I was going to die. Hence, I've never been on a speedway.

The only waltzer song I could find was by Jethro Tull. It's not one of their best.

5. The Beatles - Helter Skelter

One of the Beatles' more interesting records (it must be a good one if I place it higher than Moz), many serious musos claim it as a stepping stone towards the creation of heavy metal, though it latterly became more infamous as the inspiration for Charles Manson's insanity. 

4.  Richard & Linda Thompson - Wall of Death

You're going nowhere when you ride on the carousel
And maybe you're strong
But what's the good of ringing a bell?
The switchback will make you crazy
Beware of the bearded lady
Oh let me take my chances on the wall of death

REM did a cracking cover of this too.

3. Dire Straits - Tunnel Of Love

There are three great Tunnel Of Love songs... and one by Westlife.

Knopfler's is the longest, and on many other lists it may even have taken top spot. Competition was fierce in this particular fairground though...

2. Bruce Springsteen - Tunnel Of Love

Fat man sitting on a little stool
Takes the money from my hand
While his eyes take a walk all over you
Hands me the ticket
Smiles and whispers 'good luck'
Well, cuddle up angel
Cuddle up, my little dove
And we'll ride down, baby
Into this tunnel of love...

'Nuff said?

1. The Fun Boy Three - Tunnel Of Love

Tunnel of Love is one of my favourite Springsteen albums and I adore the title track beyond blueberry ice cream... yet as much as Bruce will always be Number One for me, I have a special affection for FB3's Tunnel of Love: one of Terry Hall's finest kitchen sink dramas.

You gave up your friends for a new way of life
And both ended up as ex husband and wife
There were 22 catches when you struck your matches
And threw away your life in the tunnel of love

Which one would you buy a ticket for?

My Top Ten Songs About Bruce Springsteen

This year is the 40th anniversary of Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J., the debut album by the one artist whose music has meant more to me throughout my life than any other (sorry, Moz). While I still don't feel able to compile a Top Ten Springsteen Songs... maybe I never will... here's the closest I can get to a tribute. Ten songs that mention The Boss...


10. Ezio - Bruce Springsteen

Only just discovered Ezio in the course of compiling this Top Ten. They're from Cambridge. You wouldn't know it...

I'll never be the boss just lower management I guess
I've never had a Thunderbird
A beat up Volvo is less absurd
I'd do anything to impress you
I'd do anything to caress you
I grew up in a town called Whittlesey
I've never been to New Jersey
I don't know too much about you
But your friend said you like Bruce Springsteen

9. Rick Springfield - Bruce

Jessie's Girl coveter Rick Springfield finds himself confused for his more famous (half-)namesake. A witty song about not being as famous as that other guy.

8. Titus Andronicus - A More Perfect Union 

Fellow New Jersey-ites Titus Andronicus mix Bruce with Billy Bragg on this, one of their best songs, when they declare...

No, I never wanted to change the world
But I'm looking for a new New Jersey
Because tramps like us
Baby, we were born to die

7. The Gaslight Anthem - Meet Me By the River's Edge

Another New Jersey act, unkindly dubbed by some critics a "Springsteen tribute band", and tracks like this, baby, they were born to back up that argument. "No surrender, my Bobby Jean" the GA sing, amid lyrics that sound like Bruce's songbook chopped up and reassembled Bowie-style. But, as I've said before, if you're gonna wear your influences on your sleeve... these cufflinks are 24 carat gold.

6. Nosferatu D2 - Springsteen

Ben Parker released one album as Nosferatu D2 (with his brother Jamie) prior to taking on the solo mantle of Superman Revenge Squad. This song, a tirade against Ben's hometown of Croydon, was written around a loop of the guitar from Springsteen's 'My Hometown' before Ben ditched that in favour of a somewhat more aggressive backing track.

Throw away your autographs
Of people you don't care about
Andy Peters, Andy Crane
They're all the same, they're all the same

5. Lana Del Rey - American

It was obvious the second I first heard Video Games that Lana was a Springsteen groupie. And like Titus Andronicus before her, she too is Born To Die.

Play house, put my favorite record on
Get down, get your crystal method on
You were, like, dark tan driving round the city
Flirting with the girls like you're so pretty
"Springsteen is the king, don't you think?"
 I was, like, "hell, yeah, that guy can sing."

4. Frank Turner - Redemption

 There are few bigger Bruce fans than Frank Turner. Frank just gets it...

I was walking home to my house through the snow from the station 
When Springsteen came clear in my headphones with a pertinent question
Oh, is love really real and can any of us hope for redemption?
Or are we all merely biding our time down to lonely conclusions?

3. Bran Van 3000 - Speed

In which the Bran Vanners pay tribute with a Born To Run rap. God, that really shouldn't work. And yet...

Sliup - Ummm - Crack
Goes the backscreen door
She wanted to go for coffee
But I sleep an hour more
See Mary dancing across the porch
She put her rolled up Ziggys in her rock and roll jersey
Jersey, she was born to run
She was the spirit of midnight
She was blinded by the light
She was holed up in jungleland
Straight up
The rock and roll big boss
Turnpike down by the river of desire
Just off Thunder Road
Where you catch her in the Tenth Avenue
Freeze out
She was lost in a flood
Mary, Queen of Arkansas
Dreaming of a Cadillac ranch with a hungry heart
But most of all she was born in the USA
Asbury Park, New Jersey
Inner state babe
To be exact she was her own rock and roll video
Rolls Royce, low riding
Speed climbing, driving by the sea
Making mad love on other people's private property
While being on the run from the local law for unpaid parking tickets!

...it bloody does.

2. Prefab Sprout - Cars & Girls

There's tremendous irony at work here: Paddy McAloon (of all people!) having a sly, if affectionate, dig at Bruce for being a lyrical romantic.

Brucie dreams life's a highway, too many roads bypass my way
Or they never begin. 
Innocence coming to grief
At the hands of life's stinking car thief, 
That's my concept of sin.
Does heaven wait all heavenly over the next horizon?
But look at us now, quit driving, 
Some things hurt more much more than cars and girls.

That said, Paddy can't help but conclude:

Brucie's thoughts - Pretty streamers
Guess this world needs its dreamers 
May they never wake up.

And the same goes for you, Paddy. 
  
1. Eric Church - Springsteen

One of my favourite songs of last year. It's not so much a tribute to Bruce as a tribute to the kind of golden sunset nostalgia he used to reflect on songs like Glory Days and Bobby Jean. Good times...

When I think about you, I think about 17.
I think about my old Jeep.
I think about the stars in the sky.
Funny how a melody, sounds like a memory.
Like a soundtrack to a July, Saturday night....

I don't expect anybody else will have much of an opinion about this Top Ten... but it's my blog and I've got to keep my number one fan happy!