Hot 100 #3

Yes, the Fun Boy Three had to be the band who represented 3 on our countdown.

Fun Boy Three - The Lunatics Have Taken Over The Asylum

Although we could also have gone with...

Alabama 3 - Too Sick To Pray

Juliana Hatfield Three - Spin The Bottle

Three Degrees - When Will I See You Again

The Dirty Three - The Restless Waves

Three Dog Night - Mama Told Me Not To Come

Spacemen 3 - Lord Can You Hear Me?

Mojave 3 - Love Songs On The Radio

3 Colours Red - Beautiful Day

Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus 3 - Adventure Rocketship

Steve Wynn & The Miracle 3 - Amphetamine

3 Doors Down - Kryptonite

The Three O'Clock - Jet Fighter

The Three Johns - Death of the European

Third Eye Blind - Semi-Charmed Life

Unique Three - The Theme

The Len Price 3 - Swing Like A Monkey

And probably a load more. I've reached the stage where I've accepted defeat when it comes to making these lists exhaustive.

Onto the songs, and Charity Chic opens the bidding this week...

The Commodores - Three Times a Lady

Going once, going twice...

Patsy Cline - Three Cigarettes in an Ashtray 

Eddie Cochran - Three Steps to Heaven -  or Showaddywaddy

I think we'll stick with Eddie, thanks.

Next up is Martin, who I had to edit for reasons that will become apparent below, though he did offer the following...

Ian Dury and The Blockheads - Reasons To Be Cheerful, Part 3

The Wedding Present - Three

And I even got artist and song title round the cut'n'paste-able way :)

Always appreciated. Thank you, Martin. Although I didn't expect you to miss this...

Martin Rossiter - Three Points On A Compass

Next up is C...

I'd go for...

The Selecter - Three Minute Hero

Also, if you'll let it count, how about a song that's very evocative for those of us of a certain age:

Pentangle - Nightflight (Theme to Take Three Girls)

"TV theme from the late 60s series about three 'swinging chicks' sharing a groovy pad in London."

I'm too young to remember that, but I bet it was groovy.

OK, deep breath everybody... here comes The Swede!

(I should add that I have edited The Swede's list this week, but only to remove the Christmas songs, because we're about as far away from Christmas as it is possible to get.)

Thin White Rope - The Three Song

Juniper Tar - Three Words

Trinity - Three Piece Suit and Thing

Double points for that one.

The (fake) Clash - Three Card Trick

I should probably ask why they're fake... I'm sure there's a story there.

The Faces - Three Button Hand Me Down

Okkervil River - Stand Ins, Three

More of an instrumental break, really, but I do love the album this comes from. I am not going to allow you The Stand Ins, Two & One over the next two weeks though.

The Good, The Bad & The Queen - Three Changes

The Ink Spots - We Three (My Echo, My Shadow & Me)

That's lovely.

Joanna Newsom - Three Little Babes

Sunset Rubdown - Three Colours

Sounds like a knocking shop, as my mum wouldn't say.

Possible Selves - Three Birds

Snailhouse - Three Nights

Simplicity People - KG's at Halfway Three

McCoy Tyner - Lee Plus Three

Emily Portman - Three Gold Hairs

Rachel Newton - Three Days

One Eleven Heavy - Three Poisons

Fire on Fire - Three Or More

Jake Xerxes Fussell - Three Ravens

White Hills - Three Quarters

Nick Drake - Three Hours

At last! One I actually own!

Wire - Three Girl Rumba

Followed by one that Elastica clearly own.

Amon Duul II - Three Eyed Overdrive

Followed by one I'm betting only The Swede owns.

Gary US Bonds - Quarter to Three

Dillinger - Three Piece Suit and Thing

Wonder if it was khaki?

Bill Anderson - Three AM

Grizzly Bear - Three Rings

Bob Marley - Three Little Birds

That was a serious contender. Can't believe nobody else suggested it.

Walter Bishop Jr - Three Loves

Bert Jansch - Three Dreamers

Orange Juice - Three Cheers For Our Side

Hip hip hooray!

Herbie Hancock - Three Wishes

Herbie Hancock - Three Bags Full

Tangerine Dream - Sunrise in the Third System

Two weeks in a row for Tangerine Dream.

BeBop Deluxe - Third Floor Heaven

Khruangbin - Evan Finds the Third Room

I could have done without watching that video.

Marc Bolan - The Third Degree

Terry - Third War

I put that into youtube and this is what came up.

Brian Eno - Third Uncle

No Age - Third Grade Rave

Michael Gibbs - And on the Third Day

Roj - Attaining the Third State

Wow. You really outdid yourself this week, Swede. Although I was surprised you missed this...

Bob Dylan - Three Angels

What do you say, Swiss Adam?

Fucking hell, Swede!

Well, there's no need to swear.

(But, quite.)

Arab Strap - Packs of Three

Still makes me laugh.

Jane's Addiction - Three Days

Television Personalities - Three Wishes

KLF - 3am Eternal

You might not expect it of me, but I always loved the KLF. While most other dance music in the late 80s / early 90s made me want to put my head in the oven, Bill Drummond always made me smile.

Over to John Medd...

I'll go for anything off Squeeze's Packet of 3 EP, though 'Cat on a Wall' would be my lead track. Doesn't count, you say? Breaking some sort of code violation? Can't you invoke a Mornington Crescent style override? Go on, you know you want to!

With only two weeks (three if I can be bothered with a zero postscript - the jury's still out) left, I'm feeling charitable.

Squeeze - Cat On A Wall

Over to Rigid Digit for some fine suggestions...

Manic Street Preachers - 3 Ways To See Despair

Lightning Seeds / Baddiel & Skinner - Three Lions

(I might as well throw this in as a response: Los Campesinos! - Every Defeat A Divorce (Three Lions))

Van Halen - Sucker In A 3 Piece

From the gloriously named OU812.

Pink Floyd - Pigs (3 Different Ones)

This is the point at which Pink Floyd floats off into space as far as I'm concerned.

Lynyrd Skynyrd - Gimme Three Steps

Emerson Lake and Palmer - The Three Fates

I bet that one will go down well with certain correspondents.

Lily Allen - Three

The White Stripes - The Big Three Killed My Baby

and a special one to finish off with:

Dawn - Knock Three Times

That would definitely have been in my Top Ten.

By the way, if anyone wants to know what my hair looks like in Week 732 of Lockdown, I suggest you take a look at Tony Orlando in that video. I keep my chest hair under wraps though.

I also think that video was shot in Greenhead Park in Huddersfield.

Time for Jim in Dubai to step up to the mic...

Belle & Sebastian - The Power of 3

Jamie Wednesday - We Three Kings of Orient Aren't (Pre Carter USM)

The Royal We - Three is a Crowd

The Look - Three Steps Away

They Might Be Giants - Number 3

Always loved that one.

The Lambrettas - Another Day Another Girl (Page 3)

That's a historical artefact.

Ten Pole Tudor - 3 Bells in a Row

Arcade Fire - Neighborhood #3

All of which brings us to Douglas, who's still smarting that I compared one of his suggestions last time to his less than distinguished countrymen, Nickelback...

I will start by facetiously suggesting for your consideration a trinity of provocative suggestions that are designed to get revenge for your Nickelback allusion of last week, which on behalf of all Canadians I express offence taken at (but you knew that was coming because you were already ducking):

U2 - The Three Sunrises (who of course also have an album entitled "Three", don't they? Sure to get them extra points...)

Looked all over for that one, but couldn't find a link anywhere. It wasn't in my garbage disposal unit or the u-bend on my toilet, which seemed the most obvious places to look.

Sting - Three Steps To Heaven (or what of his critically acclaimed performance in the Threepenny Opera?)

That, on the other hand, I had to look for, just to confirm my worst fears. On the positive side, the clip I found was less than a minute long and sing sang for almost half that time.

(I should clarify at this point that I don't hate Sting in the same way as I hate Bonio and The Hedge. I liked many Police songs and even the occasional sing solo tune - I featured my favourite in this week's Saturday Snapshots. Despite that, he's too easy a target for mockery.)

Oh, and in case you were wondering, here's another clip that's less than a minute long...

Sting in The Threepenny Opera

Phil Collins - Three Brothers (from Disney's Brother Bear soundtrack, no less, though sadly Phil does not actually sing on this one)

I'm sure many people will take issue with your use of the word 'sadly' there, Douglas... but anyway, onto your proper suggestions. Now you've had your revenge...

Now that I have got that off my chest,with greater seriousness, I would offer you a few better selections from what my hard drive pulled up in the following:

Real Estate - Three Blocks

Fleet Foxes - Third of May/Odaigahara

Last leaves - Third Thoughts

For those who do not know this last band, but may be fans of the late Lucksmiths, check them out. They are three of the four original band in Marty Donald, Mark Monnone and Louis Richter but with Noah Symons newly added on the drums. They have a more lo-fi chaotic sound than the polished harmonies of the Lucksmiths, but much of the same sophisticated and wry lyrics. Interesting.

You all realise at this point that I need to invite Douglas to contribute a Guest Post Thursday sometime soon, don't you? (Not just to stop him adding to my workload on the Hot 100, because, let's face it, there's only a couple of weeks of that remaining.)

Then, of course, the Canadian in me, still smarting from the mention of Chad Kroeger, would like to represent our country a lot more palatably with the consideration of:

The Tragically Hip - Three Pistols

(And while I'm cross-promoting, you should have been here a couple of Saturdays ago, Douglas, when it took everyone a bloody long time to guess The Tragically Hip on Saturday Snapshots... even with my hilarious 'dem bones; clue.)

The Great Lake Swimmers - Three Days at Sea (Three Lost Years) (Bonus points again, surely?)

Absolutely. Anything else?

And if you insist on the labelling Canada with the alt-rock/alt-metal brush, we have a band called Three Days Grace you should check out. Perhaps the following, which has garnered 264 million views on Youtube, would adequately express your thoughts on the genre:

Three Days Grace - I Hate Everything About You

You know what, I quite liked that. Although a little bit of research revealed that their current lead singer was in another band previously who were discovered and signed by Chad Kroeger. Small world, eh?

Still, I preferred the Ugly Kid Joe song.

Oh, wait, Douglas ain't done yet...

...And just to let you know that you are doing a good service to promote great music, a couple of weeks ago, Brian suggested the song "7 Compton Street" by a group I confess to never having heard of before, Me and Dean Martin. Your comment that they sounded a lot like the Smiths intrigued me and I gave the link a listen, and rather liked the track a goodly bit, leading me to check out whatever other selections were on Youtube, and eventually ordering a copy of the album "Let's Romanticise Our Youth". The shiny piece of vinyl arrived in the mail today, and it is turning on the table as I write. Very enjoyable. So in honour of the service you are doing, I propose that the band gets a second chance at stardom, from the same LP:

Me And Dean Martin - Life And Death Issues In Three Minutes

And they still sound like The Smiths. But thanks again to Brian. Speaking of whom...

Thanks for taking the time to type that, Douglas. This makes my day. Some stellar threes on this list. I especially wish I had been the first to suggest Wire, Orange Juice, Ian Dury and the Selecter. My winner, as suggested by Adam, would be Television Personalities with Three Wishes. Here are a few more I like...

The June Brides - Three Days

(That's actually a solo effort by frontman Phil Wilson. The June Brides have performed it though.)

fIREHOSE - Disciples of the 3-Way

Very nice, but they lose points for their sins against typography.

The Elvis Brothers - Count to Three

Ooh! a contender for Elvis Fridays!

(Maybe it occurred to me that as this series will be over soon, I should signpost people to a few of the other series on this blog.)

The Very Most - Dodged Ev'ry Bullet Pt. 3

Very nice, but they lose points for their sins against grammar. You can't intensify a superlative.

The Servants - Faithful to 3 Lovers

Nice bit of Lloyd Cole guitar on that.

The Decemberists - Crane Wife 3

A strong contender.

Friends Again - Moon 3

Northern Picture Library - Untitled No. 3

Paul and Linda McCartney - 3 Legs

Heavenly - Three Star Compartment

Dolly Mixture - Three O'Clock Rhapsody

Nope, couldn't find that one anywhere.

Are ordinal numbers a rule breaker? (If they were, a third of the songs on this list would be gone.) If not, Ramones should take this thing with 53rd and 3rd.

Sadly though, that does fall foul of The Tom Robinson Rule, which we've done pretty well to avoid breaking this far this week.

OK, that's almost it for your suggestions this week. Here's a selection from my own hard-drive not mentioned above. We'll start with a very strong contender...

The Browns - The Three Bells

And then there was this...

Frank Sinatra - Three Coins In The Fountain

Or, if you prefer the British version...

Alan Klein - Three Coins In The Sewer

Lovely.

Here's a load more...

Carly Simon - Three Days

The Charlatans - Opportunity Three

Drive-By Truckers - The Three Great Alabama Icons

Worth a listen if you want to find out more about why Lynyrd Skynrd wrote Sweet Home Alabama, and what Neil Young thought of it.

Fats Domino - Three Nights A Week

Patti Smith - We Three

Jimmy Buffet - Door Number 3

Magnolia Electric Company - The Last 3 Human Words

Miaow - Three Quarters of the Way To Paradise

Red House Painters - Three Legged Cat

The Cure - Three Imaginary Boys

High Llamas - Three Point Scrabble

The Wallflowers - Three Marlenas

Craig Finn - Three Drinks

Eric Church - Three Year Old

(That one will choke up any dads reading this.)

JJ72 - Half Three

Richmond Fontaine - Three Brothers Roll Into Town

Rilo Kiley - Three Hopeful Thoughts

Sinead O'Connor - Three Babies

Chumbawamba - Morality Play in 3 Acts

Interpol - No I In Threesome

Jack White - Three Women

Jenny Lewis - Aloha & the Three Johns

Lucinda Williams - Those Three Days

The Courteeners - Three Months

The Divine Comedy - Threesome

The Divine Comedy - Three Sisters

The Faces - Three Button Hand Me Down

The Lemonheads - Rule of Three

The Proclaimers - Three More Days

The Superman Revenge Squad Band - Paulie in Rocky Three

William Bell - The Three Of Me

Jesse Malin - The Three Martini Lunch

The Breeders - Only In 3s

Eels - 3 Speed

Finally, I'd just like to point of that the Tom Robinson Rule has prevented this from taking the trophy both this week and next. Damn that Tom Robinson Rule!

Meat Loaf - Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad

Which brings us to this week's winner.

Or winners.

And for that, we have to go back to Martin, who began his suggestions this week thus:

I like how you teased De La Soul in your closing line, Rol, but that's just called "The Magic Number", isn't it, so I can't pitch that one.



What Martin appears to have forgotten, however, is this...



Which is a more direct cover of the original song (that De La Soul adapted), by Bob Dorough (also suggested by The Swede), which was originally written for an educational TV show called Schoolhouse Rock...


And so this week, we have not one winner... but three. Which seems rather appropriate.

Will there be two winners next week?

You tell me...