Roky Erickson's 13th Floor Elevators were an obvious choice to illustrate this week's edition of the Hot 100, though I could have also gone with short-lived indie also-rans Thirteen Senses.
(And for completeness' sake, the albums 13 by Teenage Fanclub & 13 by Blur were also suggested.)
Before we dive into the unluckiest edition of this feature to date... which is worrying, because none of us need any more bad luck at the moment... I just wanted to put a call out to our old pal Douglas McLaren in Canada. Not heard from you in a few weeks, Douglas, so I do hope you're OK. I'm presuming you're not still on the picket line given what's going on in the world right now, but I hope you're staying safe and well.
The same sentiment goes out to all regular readers and contributors of this feature. Let's hope we all make it through to Number One, and that things are starting to get back to normal by the time we get there...
Let's kick off with C this week, who treats us to some excellent '60s fuzz beat in the form of Swedish band The Renegades' song 'Thirteen Women'. If you check out the youtube video of the band larking about in a factory full of women it's nicely daft, and the length of the singer's hair at the time must have been outrageous!
The Renegades - Thirteen Women
The weird thing is, I'd never heard of that song until C suggested it. But then, a couple of nights later, I heard this on the radio, from a few years earlier...
Ann Margret - Thirteen Men
The same song, with a gender swap. Further research was required, and Lynchie pointed us back to both the Ann Margret version and the year 1954 when the tune was originally recorded by...
Bill Haley & His Comets - Thirteen Women
Song facts says:
"This is a bizarre song which attempts to make light of the spectre of nuclear destruction. It appears to have been written in the wake of the explosion of the first hydrogen bomb, at Bikini Atoll on March 1, 1954, less than 10 years after the twin horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki."
Beat that, everyone!
Y'know, that could very well have been the winner, were I actually in my record collection (it will be soon) and were there not one other suggestion that trumps it this week. But we'll get to that shortly.
Lynchie had one other suggestion this week, and it was a fine one too...
Johnny Cash - Number Thirteen
Written by Heavy Metal Glenn Danzig of all people.
OK, what did Martin have for us this week?
Ash - 13th Floor
Elvis Costello - 13 Steps Lead Down
A worthy contender, seconded by Brian and Rigid Digit.
Garbage - 13 x Forever
Big Country - Broken Hearts (Thirteen Valleys)
Jim & Brian both seconded that.
Arctic Monkeys - 2013
J.J. Cale - Thirteen Days
Jerry Lee Lewis - Thirteen At The Table
Swiss Adam was up next, starting with a very popular suggestion...
Big Audio Dynamite - V Thirteen
Essential Mick Jones, one of his best.
Along with a couple from his late, lamented favourite...
Andrew Weatherall - Thirteenth Night
Timothy J. Fairplay - Thirteenth Night (remix of the above)
And while we're on a Weatherall kick, I might as well throw this in...
Primal Scream - 2013 (Andrew Weatherall remix)
Swiss Adam also offered this unabashed masterpiece...
Dexy's Midnight Runners - Kevin Rowland's 13th Time
Good old Kevin.
The Swede's so busy in his supermarket, he only had one for us this week... stay safe, Swede.
Colter Wall - Thirteen Silver Dollars
Along came Rigid Digit...
The Damned had an EP called Friday The 13th - no song with that title though.
But they did do this:
The Damned - 13th Floor Vendetta
After that, things got pretty LOUD...
Megadeth - Thirteen
Anthrax - 13
(Although, to be fair, that one is only 51 seconds.)
Black Flag - Room 13
Pixies - No 13 Baby
(Must resist the temptation to suggest U2 - 13 (There Is A Light). Oops)
Yes, you must. And you needn't think I'm linking to that either.
Late entry (slow brain)...
The Wonder Stuff - No For The 13th Time
Charity Chic, meanwhile, returned to a popular monthly feature that recently concluded on his own blog...
Julie London - The 13th Month
Apart from Big Country, Jim in Dubai only had one other suggestion this week...
The Lurkers - Just Thirteen
(A very creepy combination of artist name and song title if you ask me.)
Brian, meanwhile, agreed with a number of the suggestions above, but also threw in a couple more of his own...
I'll toss out On the Thirteenth Day by the Monochrome Set from the nearly perfect album Eligible Bachelors.
The Monochrome Set - On The Thirteenth Day
The comical July 13th 1985 by John Wesley Harding deserves a shout as well.
John Wesley Harding - July 13th 1985
Definitely worth a listen, that one.
All of which brings us to this week's leftovers from my own collection, starting with the gentleman who won last week. Imagine if Chuck Berry came from Essex...
Billy Bragg - A13 Trunk Road To The Sea
Redbone - Chant: 13th Hour
The Cure - The 13th
Half Man Half Biscuit - 13 Eurogoths Floating In The Dead Sea
Ian Brown - Longsight M13
Ooberman - 13
Wish I was still 13...
Forgotten how good that was!
Public Enemy - Bedlam 13:13
The Ataris - Song #13
The Scaremongers - 13 Men
That's the current Poet Laureate, Simon Armitage, with his ode to our local rugby team, The Huddersfield Giants.
There’s thirteen men standing in my way,
Thirteen men on the field of play,
There’s nothing but grass between me and them,
Nothing but grass and me and thirteen men,
And all I want is on the other side.
Thirteen men who wanna kick my hide.
I’ve got eighty minutes on red alert,
I won’t lie to you, THIS IS GONNA HURT
The Tears - Apollo 13
Thea Gilmore - Apparition #13
Jesse Malin feat. Lucinda Williams - Room 13
Ben Kweller - Thirteen
The Delgados - Thirteen Gilding Principles
All those out of the way, it's fair to say Charity Chic nailed this week's winner from the get-go...
Only one song required for next week, Rol.
You know what to do.
As a matter of fact, I did.
For the avoidance of doubt...
Big Star - Thirteen
No contest.
Couldn't agree more...
Let's leave those troubled teenage years behind next week and begin the return to innocence, starting with a good solid dozen...
Your 12 suggestions will be greatly appreciated...
'Twelve Twelve' - Soft Machine Legacy (double points?)
ReplyDelete'Twelve More Bars to Go' - Wayne Shorter
'Twenty Five to Twelve' - Elvis Costello & the Attractions
The Decemberists - 12 17 12
ReplyDeleteTchaikovsky - 1812 Overture (especially the bit with cannons!)
The Muppets and John Denver - “The Twelve Days of Christmas” (There's a sh*tload of versions of this song)
ReplyDeleteBob Dylan - “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35”
I forgot about Bob - !'ll never live that down.
DeleteNot on this blog, you won't! ;-)
Delete......hangs head in shame.
DeleteMy Life Story, 12 Reasons Why I Love Her
ReplyDeleteStrong contender.
ReplyDeleteNick Lowe - 12 Step Program
ReplyDeleteIn keeping with my usual noisy contributions, howsabout:
ReplyDeleteDonny Osmond - Twelfth Of Never
Nope, can't think of a thing! Any dozens out there?
ReplyDeleteThe Damned - Dozen Girls
DeleteThirty Dozen Roses - Bob Mould
No pint nominating Bob or Nick (although I advocate both) because it's already been done, so ...
ReplyDeleteModern English - Chapter 12
Scouting For Girls - Michaela Strachan You Broke My Heart (When I Was 12)
12:51 by The Strokes.
ReplyDelete12 Times Over - Colin and the Clarys
12 X U - Wire
8-3-12 - The AK Band
Quarter to Twelve - Little Walter
ReplyDeleteTwelve Gates to the City - Rev. Blind Gary Davis
12-Bar Original - The Beatles (from Anthology 2)
My head hurts. I put 12 in the search function of my iTunes library and got hundreds and hundreds of 12" versions of songs. It did lead me to My Beat is 125th Street by Eunice Davis... so well worth the dig but no help with this query. Quite a few repeats from above popped up, but I'll add 12 Bar Blues by NRBQ.
ReplyDeleteHello to one and all. I am in fact still around. Though I am technically still on strike, our rotating picket lines had us out every other week or so just up until March, when this new virus scare had our union kindly offer to step back the job action while the world figured what to do in the face of significantly greater problems. So that means we can probably look forward to a resumption of unpleasantness whenever this quarantine ends--a pleasant thought. In the meantime, a return to teaching has meant our entire school system has moved during these times to an online platform, as we figure out how to get teenagers to do work from home while they are stressed and concerned about what is going on in the world beyond their doors. And that has meant trying g to figure out how to upload video lectures, hold virtual office hours online, screencasting, web-textbooks, and a whole lot of other insanely time consuming nonsense for an old dinosaur of the classroom like me to learn. So, while I have been checking in to this blog and a few other favourites in the music sphere, it has usually been very late at night, and a few days late. So when it comes to leaving comments, all the obvious has long since been said, and so with a sigh, I am usually left to just be a consumer, and not a leaver behind of words.
ReplyDeleteBut I do, fortunately, have a suggestion for today! And it is Canadian, so it seems to have eluded the rest of the fine suggestions above, some of which I would have been happy to suggest as well. But nobody has put forth Great Big Sea, from Newfoundland on Canada's east coast, with their lyrical and folksy "Come And I Will Sing You (The Twelve Apostles)", which I think worth the listen.
Other than that, cheers to one and all, and rest assured that I am around even if sometimes too busy to get in a timely comment.
Glad you're still out there fighting the good fight, Douglas. And I sympathise with the horrors of online teaching. It's not natural and very stressful trying to achieve a work/home balance while the world falls apart around us.
DeleteIt certainly won't be your pick but The Twelfth of Never by Donny Osmond was one of my first singles. I also had a Donny pillowcase and a Donny Cap (not a euphemism for a form of contraception as I was only aged 12 - apt). RD beat me to that one but also have Twelve Steps to Love by Brian Poole and the Tremeloes and 12 Reasons Why I Love Her by My Life Story.
ReplyDeleteCan you believe we are now 88 posts into this series - Seems no time since we were discussing those red luftballons.
...And perhaps The Mamas and the Papas, "Twelve Thirty (Young Girls Are Coming To The Canyon)"?
ReplyDelete