Thursday, 18 April 2024

Title Fight #10: Lesbian Seagull

Engelbert Humperdinck vs. Muhammad Ali... who would your money be on? Well, in the Title Fight, Cassius Clay may well float like a butterfly and sting like a bee, but Arnold George Dorsey has a Lesbian Seagull in his corner.

Lesbian Seagull was written by songwriter and gay rights activist Tom Wilson Weinberg in 1979 in response to a university study of long term monogamous lesbian behaviour in seagulls on Santa Barbara Island, USA. Engelbert's version later featured in the movie Beavis And Butt-Head Do America and was released as a double A side single with The Red Hot Chilli Peppers version of Love Rollercoaster.

"Beat that!" I hear you cry. I'll be Damned if I can't...

Captain Sensible -  The 4 Marys Go Go Dance All Night at the Groovy Cellar

That was the Captain's 1984 b-side of There's More Snakes Than Ladders (as almost featured in this week's Saturday Snapshots). They should both have been hits, if you ask me.

Here's one that Ben suggested. He describes Alpha Male Tea Party as a Maths/Post Rock band. Make of that what you will. I'd be more impressed if they could afford a singer. Still, this one did make me think of George...

Alpha Male Tea Party - You Eat Houmous, Of Course You Listen To Genesis

Speaking of George, here's some Julie Andrews-influenced prog...

Atomic Rooster - A Spoonful Of Bromide (Helps The Pulse Rate Go Down)

And how could I follow that but with a classy slice of soul from 1980? No sniggering on the back row, please... 

Joyce Lawson - Stop Dogging Me

Almost at the end. Just time to squeeze in a 1987 song celebrating the joy of taping your favourite songs off the wireless...

This Poison! - Poised Over The Pause Button

We started today with a Lesbian Seagull. I was going to close with a Canadian Woodpigeon... that just can't get out of bed.

Woodpigeon - In The Battle of Sun vs. Curtains, Sun Loses and We All Sleep Until Noon

However, then I heard this... from gay country star Orville Peck - you know, the guy who wears a mask and loves rattling cages and challenging redneck prejudices. And guess what? He's only roped Willie Nelson to help chuck his latest brickbat... and it's a doozy. Willie, of course, has never been one to shy away from ruffling a few feathers... and at 90, I guess he's long past worrying about upsetting the more conservative members of his fanbase. (UPDATE: Ernie kindly informed me this is a cover version, previously done by Willie, but originally recorded by Ned Sublette back in 1981... when I'm guessing it would have been a lot more controversial.)

Orville Peck & Willie Nelson - Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond Of Each Other  

7 comments:

  1. Willie wasn't worried about upsetting people either nearly 20 years ago when he first recorded the song and took it into the charts. More details than you probably need here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cowboys_Are_Frequently,_Secretly_Fond_of_Each_Other

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ah... clearly I should have researched that one better. Thank you.

      Delete
  2. Toptastic prog from Atomic Rooster, great choice Rol. And I'd like to say it's hummus on toast for breakfast today for me, but it's marmite on toast

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. After 35 seconds of marmite on toast?

      Delete
    2. you missed a treat (either Atomic Rooster or marmite on toast, or both!). That Woodpigeon album costs about £4.50 on bandcamp

      Delete
    3. I already have it. Not listened to it as much as it possibly deserves.

      Delete