Another Day #14: National Beverage Day

I'm not telling my students this, but today is No Homework Day.

Johnnie Taylor - Take Care Of Your Homework

Actually, in my current job, I don't give homework. So every day is No Homework Day. 

Today is also World Carnivorous Plant Day, which gives us all an excuse to watch this again...

That's Levi Stubbs from The Four Tops as the voice of Audrey II, in case you didn't know.

And it's Tourist Appreciation Day too. Which might make you appreciate these guys a little more...

The Tourists - So Good to Be Back Home Again 

Lonely Tourist - Four Phone Calls

Furthermore, it's also National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. In the words of Terry Hall... try wearing a cap!

The Specials - Too Much Too Young

Instead of any of that funny business, I'd advise teenagers to enjoy a nice Crepe Suzette today. Because, yes, hard as it may be to believe, it's also National Crepe Suzette Day.

The Descendents - Crepe Suzette

I was shocked by how many songs there were featuring Crepe Suzettes in the title... including offerings from Danny Kaye, Kenneth Williams and Cyril Watters with The New Century Orchestra. Thank God for The Descendents.

You may choose to wash your crepe suzette down with a nice beverage. Which is good because it's also National Beverage Day. The word "beverage" always reminds me of The Dude...

And what is The Dude's Beverage of choice, that he really doesn't want to spill?

A White Russian, of course... that's vodka, kahlúa and double cream (milk powder will apparently suffice if you don't have any cream) over ice.

Marillion - White Russian

Sad Lovers & Giants - White Russians

Please drink your White Russians responsibly. You can do what you like with your crepe suzettes.

Namesakes #187: Bread

Man cannot live on Bread alone, and that's a very good thing as there were far fewer bands named after our daily sandwich maker than you might expect... or, perhaps this is just what you'd expect.

I used to get upset when I could only find a couple of options for this feature... nowadays, I appreciate the breather. And I'm sure you do too.

Not much choice in the bread aisle then... there must be a shortage. I blame the Orange Crybaby.

BREAD #1

We start with some Swedish bread from 1967, using their loaf to mimic the Motown sound. The video features an extremely unimpressed Swedish pensioner in the audience for their impromptu street performance.

Bread - Motortown Beat

BREAD #2

The thing I like most about doing this feature is that I learn something new every time. And today was the day I discovered that David Gates and Bread hailed from Tulsa, Memphis and LA... not Birkenhead, Birmingham and the Home Counties. I don't know why I always thought Bread were a British band - perhaps I was confusing them with Nigel Blackwell's least favourite 80s sitcom.

Apparently, the band chose the name Bread because a bread truck drove past the window just as they were scratching their heads wondering what to call themselves. They say they could just have easily have been called Bus or Telephone Pole.

Bread - Guitar Man

BREAD #3

And finally, live from California, via Bandcamp. And... no. Just no.

Bread - Prayin'

 

There were some other Breads listed on discogs, including a rapper with a song called How Could I Die, which I was looking forward to featuring alongside a "brown bread" gag, but when I typed the title into the tube of you, I got redirected to The Samaritans again. And there was another hip hop Bread who would have won this week's best song title - "I Watched The Spy Kids Trilogy And Now I No Longer Fear Death" - but I couldn't find their tune anywhere. There were also way too many bands called Bread & Butter. And one called Breadbelly. But that's - mercifully - your lot this for week.

Snapshots Spillover: More Horse Songs

There were lots of horsey songs I couldn't fit into this weekend's Snapshots, from the obvious stallions...

Rolling Stones - Wild Horses

Echo & The Bunnymen - Bring on the Dancing Horses

The Osmonds - Crazy Horses

To the old reliable carthorses...

Racing Cars - They Shoot Horses, Don't They?

Jacky - White Horses

KT Tunstall - Black Horse And The Cherry Tree

Siouxsie & The Banshees - Swimming Horses

And some that were rarer than unicorn droppings...

The Irish Rovers - The Unicorn Song

The Newcomers - Pin The Tail On The Donkey

Dee Clark - Ride A Wild Horse

Disco Tex & The Sex-O-Lettes - Ride A Wild Horse

Any Trouble - Rocking Horse

That Petrol Emotion - Dance Your Ass Off

The Black Crowes - Appaloosa

Len Marten - Champion Red Rum

The Raglan Four - Shergar Song

Wild Flag - Racehorse

Here's one I've been listening to a lot lately, from a masked man on horseback...

Snapshots #446 - Equine Songs

A horse is a horse, of course, of course, and no one can talk to a horse, of course... unless that horse is a singer-songwriter horse...

Here are some more horsey songs...

15. A Jug with a Stone on it.

A Toby Jug with added Keef.

Willie Nelson also appears on this tune, but you all know what he looks like.

Toby Keith & Willie Nelson - Beer For My Horses

14. Electric can opener?

Bowie: the Wilderness Years.

Tin Machine - Goodbye, Mr. Ed

13. Emergency response team. 

First Aid Kit - Palomino

12. Bloke on the Steps takes a number of high jumps on his skateboard.

The bloke from Steps was H. Skateboard jumps are known as Ollies. Put them together and what have you got...?

The Hollies - On A Carousel

Originally I had America, Horse With No Name, in this spot. But you guys are far too smart for that.

11. Came through extremely difficult circumstances - without a Mark on him.

He was in Dire Straits. But he's not Mark.

David Knopfler - Rocking Horse Love

10. ICE out! No border patrol needed here.

Calexico is a border town where the SS do a lot of work.

Calexico - Trigger

9. Harold! That's a nice nose, did you...?

Harold Wilson? Did you pick it yourself?

Wilson Pickett - Mustang Sally

8. Armless Adrian can still get in an altercation.

"Armless Adrian" was an anagram.

Marissa Nadler - Stallions

7. Get up, everybody, and sing!

Lyrics from We Are Family.

Family - No Mule's Fool

6. Gave up on his PhD.

He was in PhD... then he let them down and went solo. They should have known better.

Jim Diamond - Hi Ho Silver

5. Arctic Alex, on the back of a bike.

Ike Turner - Black Beauty

You may see that billed as Ike & Tina Turner, but I can't find much evidence of Tina on there... unless she's playing the cowbell. 

4. I'd be lucky to afford a deck chair. 

Beach House - Zebra

3. Clearly they're not a Sisterhood.

The Allman Brothers - Pegasus

2. When a day that you happen to know is Wednesday starts off by sounding like Sunday, there is something seriously wrong somewhere.

That is the open line of John Wyndham's Day of the Triffids.

The Triffids - Red Pony

1. Who's going to pay Cinderella's bail after this mix-up?

"Cinderella's bail" was an anagram.

Belinda Carlisle - Runaway Horses

Those are your runners and riders - congratulations if you made it past the post.

More next week.

Saturday Snapshots #446

Before you start grimacing at the picture of Ed Sheeran above, we should all try to be nice and polite to him. It's not his fault. Also, he's made so much money over the past 20 years or so, he really doesn't care what you think.

Instead of dwelling on the negative then, let's concentrate on the people below. Who are they and how are their songs connected?

15. A Jug with a Stone on it.

14. Electric can opener?

13. Emergency response team. 

12. Bloke on the Steps takes a number of high jumps on his skateboard.

11. Came through extremely difficult circumstances - without a Mark on him.

10. ICE out! No border patrol needed here.

9. Harold! That's a nice nose, did you...?

8. Armless Adrian can still get in an altercation.

7. Get up, everybody, and sing!

6. Gave up on his PhD.

5. Arctic Alex, on the back of a bike.

4. I'd be lucky to afford a deck chair. 

3. Clearly they're not a Sisterhood.

2. When a day that you happen to know is Wednesday starts off by sounding like Sunday, there is something seriously wrong somewhere.

1. Who's going to pay Cinderella's bail after this mix-up?

All will be revealed tomorrow morning.