Hot 100 #25

Blackpool's Section 25 give us our image this week, a post-punk band who have been in the go since the late 70s and are still going... having recently been sampled by Kanye West, of all people. Here's Looking From A Hilltop.

Before we begin with your suggestions for Number 25, a quick reminder of Ezekiel 25:17, for anyone who doesn't know their Bible verse (as rewritten by Quentin Tarantino).

Oh, and let's get the Christmas songs out of the way too, shall we?

Everything But The Girl - 25th of December

Roberta Flack - 25th of Last December

Desmond Reed - 25th of December

OK, what did you have for me this week? Lots to get through, and as is often the case, Martin starts the ball rolling...

The Dukes Of Stratosphear - 25 O'Clock

Zager & Evans - In The Year 2525 (double whammy!)

And Night Ranger - The Secret Of My Success (from the movie of the same name) has the lyric

The secret of my success is I'm living 25 hours a day

And, surely a contender, Mott The Hoople - All The Young Dudes (or Bowie, if you like) starts:

Well, Billy rapped all night about his suicide,

How he'd kick it in the head when he was 25.

Speed jive, don't want to stay alive

When you're 25

They were all contenders, actually, Martin. Always happy when someone cuts down my own list.

Next up was George, who's obviously got some spare time on his hands now that his American road trip is over.

Is Mungo Jerry's In The Summertime allowed? It does have a 25 in it, but its part of " a ton and 25" in your daddy's car.

That's always allowed, George. How could I disqualify those sideburns and the ultimate drinking & driving pop song? Although google informs me that the lyrics go like this...

If her daddy's rich take her out for a meal

If her daddy's poor just do what you feel

Speed along the lane

Do a turn or return the twenty-five

When the sun goes down

You can make it, make it good in the lay-by

Ann Peebles - 99 lbs 

25 lbs. of pure cane sugar

25 lbs. of tenderness in each and every touch

25 lbs. of understanding my man

24 lbs of something else that I can't even name

And it all adds up to 99 lbs

All put together in a fine white frame

I hope my boss is watching how George and I are embedding Maths into this post.

Chicago - 25 or 6 To 4

I'm so glad George suggested that one. I mean, that wasn't on my list at all. No, sir.

Those last two choices were both seconded by Lynchie who also added...

Johnny Cash - 25 Minutes To Go

I'm presuming you meant the Live at Folsom State Prison version, Lynchie.

But George wasn't done yet...

"And I think there's a Clash song too with a 25 in it..." he added.

Rigid Digit was straight on the case...

The Clash - Julie's Been Working For The Drug Squad

10 years for you, 19 for you

And you can get out in 25

That is if you’re still alive

The Swede was up next... and he's really been digging through the crates...

A few prog-ish bits and bobs scattered through my suggestions this week, some of which might meet with George's approval.

(No chance any of them winning then.)

Xhol - Love Potion 25

Faust - 25 Yellow Doors

The Dream Syndicate - 50 In A 25 Zone

(That one was actually on my list.)

Les 5 Gentlemen - LSD 25 Ou Les Metamorphoses De Margaret Steinway

If - Song for Elsa, Three Days Before Her 25th Birthday

Moving Gelatine Plates - X-25

Those three weren't. Although who can resist a band called Moving Gelatine Plates? (Me, apparently.)

The Swede did redeem himself in the end though...

Elvis Costello - Twenty-Five To Twelve

And I couldn't find that anywhere online, so I had to upload it myself!

The Swede concludes...

Lyrically, New Pleasure by Richard Hell & the Voidoids comes to mind, containing as it does the lyric...

You're in too deep 

You can't survive 

Or can't be you past twenty-five

Thanks, Swede. Over to Dubai next, where Jim has only two offerings this week...

The only tunes in my collection are:

Own Up If You're Over 25 by John Dummer and Helen April

Did you stand up for Otis Redding?

Did you cry at Elvis's wedding?

Own up if you're over 25

(You'd have to own up to considerably more years than 25 to answer those question in the affirmative these days!)

25 Years by The Catch

Couple of early 80's tunes.

They'll do for me, Jim. Though I'd never heard either of them before.

Oh, wait... Rigid Digit's back...

Saw Doctors - £25

And I know you're an admirer of the work of Simple Minds.

Do you mean "the Scottish U2"?

Simple Minds - Mandela Day

It was 25 years they take that man away

Now the freedom moves in closer every day

Wipe the tears down from your saddened eyes

They say Mandela's free so step outside

A fine sentiment, if only it wasn't done so blandly

I'm glad you said that, RD. Saved me the job.

B52s - Wig

Wigs on fire 

Wigs on fire 

Wigs on fire

It's 2525 and we've got the most wigs alive!

Now that's more like it!

Blimey. Are we not done yet? No, here comes Lynchie again...

I forgot to mention 3 Dimes Down by Drive-By Truckers which has the line:

Three dimes down and 25 cents shy 

Of a slice of the Double-mint twins

Come back baby

Rock and Roll never forgets

Always got time for the DBTs, Lynchie. Channelling the Stones on that one, I think.

Now here's C to bring all us old farts into the 21st Century...

I must put in a good word for young Liverpool lad Louis Berry and his cracking song 25 Reasons. It's only a couple of years old but has that 60's R'n'B thing going on, with a pinch of Dr Feelgood too. Go for it!

Louis Berry - 25 Reasons

Blimey. He bears further investigation. Didn't think the young uns made 'em like that anymore. Cheers, C.

Hang on, we're not done yet, here's The Swede with this week's Dylan suggestion...

Bob Dylan - Sitting On A Barbed Wire Fence

Yes, this woman I've got, 

She's killing me alive, 

She's makin' me into an old man and man, 

I'm not even twenty-five...

Imagine that. A time when the Bobster wasn't even 25! That has featured here before. So I'm sure I must have done the "If he's sitting on a barbed wire fence, that'll explain why his voice sounds like it does" gag. If not, you can have it for free.

One more from The Swede... even though I'm starting to feel like Jez must have done in the most ridiculous excesses of The Chain (coming back soon, apparently).

Robyn Hitchcock - Happy The Golden Prince 

Twenty-five hours of love in the life of 

Happy the Golden Prince Rides Again!

That is bizarre. Good though.

Surely we must be done by now?

Oh no, here's Douglas...

Dang! I blame the time zone difference here in Canada, but when I awoke at 6:00 a.m. to get an early bid in for Dukes of Stratosphear's 25 O'Clock and Zager and Evans' In The Year 2525, I found I was a few hours behind Martin. No problem, I think to myself, I'll give it some more thought, and get the rest of my bids in during my lunch hour. Would't you know it, when I go to check at lunch there are fifteen comments now, and Rigid Digit has taken another of my sure-fire guesses in Mandela Day.

So I'll start instead with a couple clever covers. How about They Might Be Giants' cover of The Dukes of Stratosphear's 25 O'Clock? I know TMBGs get a lot of love around here, so let's go with that, for the steal...

They Might Be Giants - 25 O'Clock

Or if that is not a winner, how about Visage's cover of In The Year 2525? Kind of gives an appropriately "futuristic" take on the original...

Visage - In The Year 2525

One of three covers of that song in my collection, Douglas. For completeness' sake, here's the other two...

The Feeling - In The Year 2525

Ian Brown - In The Year 2525

That Ian Brown cover is my favourite. But back to Douglas...

Strangely (?), I could find no one who took on a cover of Simple Mind's Mandela Day, let alone offering any kind of hope for "improvement" on the original.

You can't improve on perfection, Douglas. Apparently.

So that leaves me with one original, and not for the first time, I find myself offering from among the oeuvre of one Paul Heaton that deal with his take on aging. How about "Prettiest Eyes" by the Beautiful South, which contain the following seasonally appropriate reference to Christmas:

Let's take a look at these crows feet, just look

Sitting on the prettiest eyes

Sixty 25th of Decembers

Fifty-nine 4th of Julys

Not through the age or the failure, children

Not through the hate or despise

Take a good look at these crows feet

Sitting on the prettiest eyes

Luckily, I have a few more years before I have to worry about any of that myself.

The Beautiful South - Prettiest Eyes

That is one of my favourites from Mr. Heaton, Douglas, so you did come close again this week.

Right, what's left in the bottom of my own hard-drive?

Kris Kristofferson - The Year 2000 Minus 25

(Some time prior to Zager & Evans.)

The Black Crowes - P.25 London

Eminem - 25 To Life

Same title, very different song...

The Stray Birds - 25 To Life

The Big Dish - 25 Years

John Mellencamp - Another Sunny Day 12/25

Patti Smith - 25th Floor

Tom Williams & The Boat - 25

Jefferson Airplane - D.C.B.A. 25

Paul McCartney & Elvis Costello - 25 Fingers

Bomb The Music Industry - 25!

Johnny Marr - 25 Hours

(Surprised Martin missed that one.)

The Earlies - 25 Easy Pieces

Edwin Starr - 25 Miles

Oh, and let's not forget Buck Rogers In The 25th Century... which leads us to this old favourite...

Feeder - Buck Rogers

And finally...

ZZ Top - I Gotsta Get Paid

Lots of 25s in that one!

In the end, while it could have been Zager & Evans... or Chicago... Johnny, Mott or The Beautiful South... this week's winner's trophy actually goes to George.

Yes, George.

Who's have thought it?

But his final suggestion trumped all other contenders...

Tramp by Otis Redding and Carla Thomas. Just before the things with the Cadillacs there's a 25 cent lyric...

That's right, you haven't even got a fat bankroll in your pocket...

You probably haven't even got twenty-five cents

Greatest duet ever recorded? Could be.

I can buy you minks, rats, frogs, squirrels, rabbits, anything you want, woman!

Thank you all for your help. But if you think 25 was a big post... wait till we get to next week! Try not to get too carried away. I might just go with the really obvious one. (Or the really obvious one to me.)

Oh, one final thing. Unless they're amazing suggestions, I'm going to stop allowing lyrical 24s (and so on) as we get nearer number one. Let's face it, there are way too many. So you'll have to be really persuasive if you want to sell me on a lyrical reference from now on. Sorry.