Tuesday 21 May 2024
Namesakes #86: New Order
Monday 20 May 2024
Neverending Top Ten #7.0: Off The Shelf
Sunday 19 May 2024
Snapshots #344: A Top Ten Songs For Tradespeople
A blob is a Splodge. The monster is from Loch Ness. Abounds means "in abundant supply".
Splodgenessabounds - I Fell in Love With a Female Plumber from Harlesden NW10
9. Tell her I love her before she changes direction suddenly.
Victims and blowhard intellectuals.
Tim Hardin - If I Were A Carpenter
Oh, and if you need help with any of that, try this guy...
We'll be building more memories next Saturday...
Saturday 18 May 2024
Saturday Snapshots #344
Whoopi! It's Saturday! Time for more Snapshots.
9. Tell her I love her before she changes direction suddenly.
Friday 17 May 2024
A Top Twenty Don't Worry Songs
It's been a particularly busy week and I've been worrying about the fact that I didn't have a post ready for today. I know that's ridiculous. It's really not worth worrying about...
20. David Knopfler - Papa, Don't You Worry
19. The Beloved - Don't You Worry
17. Barbara Stephens - I Don't Worry
16. Love As Laughter - Don't Worry
15. The Meteors - I Don't Worry About It
14. Buffalo Springfield - Neighbour, Don't You Worry
13. Grand Funk Railroad - Please Don't Worry
12. Close Lobsters - Don't Worry
11. Marty Robbins - Don't Worry
10. Morrissey - Do Your Best And Don't Worry
9. The Quotations - I Don't Have To Worry
8. Gorky's Zygotic Mynci - Don't You Worry
7. Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell - Baby Don't Cha Worry
6. Thrush Hermit - Darling, Don't Worry
4. Stevie Wonder - Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing
3. Bobby McFerrin - Don't Worry, Be Happy
2. The Beach Boys - Don't Worry, Baby
1. Bob Marley - Three Little Birds
Thursday 16 May 2024
Title Fight #11: Boredom Special!
As a follow-up to yesterday's post about the power of boredom, here are some song titles in similar vein. As we've got Barbra Streisand socking it to Ryan O'Neal above, in the 1979 movie The Main Event, I thought we'd let Babs kick off proceedings today...
Barbra Streisand - Love Is A Bore
That one was written by the songwriting team of Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen who also wrote a bunch of classic Frank Sinatra hits including High Hopes, Come Fly With Me and the majestic All The Way. Nothing boring about those guys.
Still, at least Babs only finds love boring. These guys are bored with pretty much everything...
The Real People - Life Is A Bore
Liverpool's The Real People were great mates with Oasis, but didn't share their success. No wonder they found life such a bore. Not to mention...
Morrissey - We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful
Still, there's no need to be rude, is there, Murray?
Murray Head & The Blue Monks - You Bore Me
Charming. Clearly a night in Bangkok is needed to get him excited. I'm sure he'll get his kicks above the waistline there.
OK, enough with the gentle warm-up... let's get onto some proper song titles!
I always admire a title that spills over onto the next line. The Front Bottoms are from New Jersey. Iffypedia explains their name, in case you can't work it out for yourself. They also quote singer Brian Sella: "This is our name. If you don't like it then you don't like it."
Next we have Jason Lytle, with a song he presumably wrote about The Supreme Leader of North Korea...
Grandaddy - Kim, You Bore Me To Death
No wonder he's so lonely.
Why are these musicians all so bored, you may well ask. Perhaps it's something to do with how they spent their spare time...
Jan & Dean - The Anaheim, Azusa And Cucamonga Sewing Circle, Book Review And Timing Association
(Bit of a step down from Surf City, that one. There's still two girls for every guy, but they're all over 85.)
Perhaps all these bored pop stars spend far too much time chronicling their life stories for a handful of sympathetic followers...
Momus - A Complete History of Sexual Jealousy (Parts 17-24)
Or maybe they've been a long time at sea, like Neil Finn...
Split Enz - Six Months In A Leaky Boat
Blimey. What a bunch of bores. Still, as the aforementioned Manchester miserablist turned dubiously-opinionated bore once had it...
What really lies
Beyond the constraints of my mind?
Could it be the sea
With fate mooning back at me?
No, it's just more lock-jawed pop-stars
Thicker than pig-shit
Nothing to convey
They're so scared to show intelligence
It might smear their lovely career
Wednesday 15 May 2024
Self-Help For Cynics #33: Boredom, Boredom, B'dum, B'dum
Imagine you’re standing in line in a coffee shop, waiting to be served. It’s a long line and all the people in front of you are ordering those silly drinks that involve whipped cream, caramel syrup and heart attacks. What might you do to entertain yourself?
Now imagine you’re sitting at a bus stop and the bus is
late. These days, lots of city centre bus stops have those little clocks fitted
which tell you how long you have to wait till the next bus arrives. Only
instead of counting down, that number just seems to be stuck… or even getting
bigger. How might you pass the time?
The Soundtrack Of Our Lives - Wheels Of Boredom
Finally, imagine you’ve arranged to meet friends in the pub,
at the cinema, or somewhere in the centre of town. Only they’re running late
and you’ve got nothing to do but wait. Or… is there something else you could be
doing?
If your answer to any of those questions involves checking
your phone, then you’re suffering one of the major symptoms of the modern
malaise. And hey, maybe you’re not going on Tiktok or Snapchat or the book of
faces… maybe you’re doing some online banking, trying to crack today’s Wordle
or reading a fascinating blog post about how many different bands there are
called The Jerks (quite a few, in case you’re wondering: I’m sure I’ll get to
them in due course). Whatever it is, I can pretty much guarantee you’re not
doing what you would have done in this same situation 30 or 40 years ago.
You’re not allowing yourself to be bored.
And your brain is suffering because of that.
We’ve talked a fair bit about the mental health dangers of internet and social media addiction during this series. Part of the problem is ease of access. When the internet arrived on the scene about 30 years ago, you had to sit down at a computer, dial it up (which could take up to 5 minutes in my house) and then crawl around a clunky, always crashing cyberspace with limited options and plenty of built-in frustration.
Bis - Dial Up Internet Is The Purest Internet
Remember
watching slowly while every image on the page downloaded like one of those
novelty pens you turn upside down to watch the lady slowly lose her clothing?
(I don’t know why that particular simile popped into my mind. It’s not as
though anybody ever used the internet to look at naked pictures.)
The Divine Comedy - Anthem for Bored Youth
That’s all changed. Today, we carry the internet with us
wherever we go, so every possible distraction is available instantly, any time
we want it. Queueing up in a coffee shop, waiting for the bus, killing time in response to ever-delayed friends… we need never be bored again! You see it everywhere you look.
Whenever people are alone with nothing to do, out comes their phone. They don’t
even have to be standing or sitting still. They’re even using it as a
distraction from the interminable emptiness of walking down the street (watch
out for that lamp post!).
And our brains are suffering because of this.
Paul Armfield - Why Should It Be That a Man Gets Bored?
In a 2018 article in the Grauniad, Psychotherapist Hilda Burke explains...
“It’s good to be bored sometimes, to have that dead time. That’s when ideas come. If we’re on our phone checking Facebook, we lose some precious time that previously we used for daydreaming: gazing out of the window and having ideas blossom.”
Manic Street Preachers - Happy Bored Alone
In his article, Roose explains how he went about a full digital detox...
If I was going to repair my brain, I needed to practice doing nothing. So during my morning walk to the office, I looked up at the buildings around me, spotting architectural details I’d never noticed before. On the subway, I kept my phone in my pocket and people-watched — noticing the nattily dressed man in the yellow hat, the teens eating hot tacos and laughing, the kid with Velcro shoes. When a friend ran late for our lunch, I sat still and stared out the window instead of checking Twitter.
Chris Difford - On My Own, I'm Never Bored
Since starting my new job, I finally find myself in a privileged position of being able to do nothing at certain times of the day. I mostly teach students 1:1 or in small groups, and in English that will often involve setting a lengthy task (creative writing is best) and then letting students get on with it. In my old job, I would have used that time to circulate the room, answer questions, help people who were stuck... and if time permitted, maybe catch up on a bit of marking or paperwork. In my current job, I get to stare out the window. How wonderful is that? I realise, I'm very fortunate. Most teachers would kill for the same opportunity. I wish I could give them all the gift of boredom... the profession would be in a much healthier state if it was full of bored teachers rather than teachers on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
Although, to be honest, I'm not really sure boredom is what we're talking about here. If you asked me if I was ever bored, my first response would probably be: never. I always have a million and one things I want to do... or think about. The only time I do feel bored is when I'm stuck doing something I don't want to... like a lengthy meeting or an interminable online training session about something I already know. When I talk about giving the gift of boredom, that's not what I want to offer. What I really want is to give you all the chance to get busy... doing nothing.
Bing Crosby - Busy Doing Nothing
Richard M. Sherman - Busy Doing Nothing
Allowing our minds to wander can be hugely beneficial to our wellbeing, our imagination and our creativity. Surely this is great news for everyone - doing nothing is good for us!
Tuesday 14 May 2024
Namesakes #85: The Others
Some bands connect with their audience in a huge way. They create music which speaks to our hearts, or minds, our dancing feet, our souls. Some bands do all that and more.
And then there are The Others.
One thing I've learnt while doing this feature is that if you pick a band name that starts with The followed by a common noun, and you find one that doesn't immediately spring an obvious chart act to mind... chances are you'll be spoilt for choice when it comes to Namesakes.
Here are a bunch of bands called The Others. Other bands called The Others did exist, but I couldn't find them on the tube of you.
THE OTHERS #1
The year is 1963 when our first group of Others got together, releasing one single the following year (a cover of a Bo Diddley song that would later be recorded by the Shadows of Knight). After that, the young band members came under increased pressure from their parents to quit mucking about with guitars and go back to school to finish their A Levels. Much to the disappointment of one of their schoolmates, one Brian Harold May, who said they were, “very much in the same class as the Yardbirds”.
THE OTHERS #2
Our next Others came from Rhode Island, USA, in 1964 and were heavily influenced by the British Invasion. They hung around for a couple of years then called it a day.
THE OTHERS #3
These Others came from Lancaster in 1966... Lancaster, California, not the one just down from Morecambe.
Pretty standard 60s fare, but I like the guitar sound.
THE OTHERS #4
From the other side of the world, these Aussie Others started out with the single below in 1966... but also appear to have been active in the 80s, 90s, and early 21st Century. That's commitment!
THE OTHERS #5
Meanwhile, in Ulefoss, Norway, 1967 brought us The Others' cover of a song by The Pretty Things. I originally thought this was an instrumental until I listened more closely. They've got the lead singer pretty low in the mix.
THE OTHERS #6
Annoyingly catchy French mod/psych 1968. I'm surprised this wasn't a hit. That's not necessarily a compliment.
THE OTHERS #7
Cheery Irish pop band who came together in the late 60s and managed to stick it out through most of the next decade. The tube of you informs me that this track "is a cover of a 1968 single by a band called Sky which also didn't chart". Sky will no doubt feature on a future edition of Namesakes...
THE OTHERS #8
I'm guessing these guys were British and they definitely released this in 1975. Beyond that, make up your own stories.
THE OTHERS #9
The sound of Hartlepool punks circa 1978... or Birmingham Reggae, if you prefer.
THE OTHERS #10
Washington State rockers with their sole release from 1983.
THE OTHERS #11
Also in 1983... Joel Agnew was a Reverend at The First Church Of Rock And Roll, a legal Universal Life Church in Fremont, California. I guess this is how he greeted his parishioners on a Sunday morning...
THE OTHERS #12
Italy. 1993. Pfff.
THE OTHERS #13
"Italian 60's garage beat psych band from Rome, active in 1989-2002." I take this to mean that they were a 90s band who decided to pretend they were living in the 60s. They did a pretty good job of it, listening to this...
THE OTHERS #14
US Emo types who emerged from their bedrooms in the late 90s and crept back in to put their heads under their pillows once the millennium was out of the way.
THE OTHERS #15
Arriving on the scene in 2002, the heyday of Landfill Indie... were these guys any different to the others filed in that genre? The NME said yes, giving them 8/10. Q said no, calling their debut record, "the worst album of the year".
THE OTHERS #16
Discogs tells me, "22 Pistepirkko is a Finnish popular music band formed in 1980. The name "22 Pistepirkko" means a 22-spot ladybird." In 2006, the band released an album of covers, calling themselves The Others.
I did check, and there were no other bands named after a 22 spot ladybird.
THE OTHERS #17
London Dubstep producer Alex Crawford called himself The Others from 2007 onwards, even though there's only one of him. Discogs informs me he "used to be a duo" though.
Monday 13 May 2024
Mid-Life Crisis Songs #110: The End of Enthusiasm
This isn’t a post about TV, it’s another post about the passing of time and all its sickening crimes… perhaps the one lyric I come back to more than any other on this blog, with the possible exception of “Someday we’ll look back in this and it will all seem funny”. Or “Irk the purists”.
I watched the final episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm last week. You may or may not be familiar with the show in which Seinfeld co-creator Larry David plays himself as a miserable old misanthrope constantly butting heads with societal niggles. Like most comedy shows, you’ll either connect with it immediately or wonder what all the fuss is about. Being a miserable old misanthrope myself, I have found Larry a wonderful companion for the show’s duration, and while I don’t always agree with his grievances, I do understand why he gets so worked up about them.
But this isn’t a post about Curb Your Enthusiasm. I wouldn’t argue with anyone who said the show was long past its best and wasn’t as funny or as incisive as it once was. After 12 seasons, Curb had definitely become comfortable, but there’s a lot to be said for comfort TV, and I did so enjoy being invited to share in the ups and downs of Larry’s life… especially when you never knew which celebrity guest star was going to pop up to be offended by him next. Bruce Springsteen appeared three times in the final series… that in itself made my day.
Del Shannon - Hats Off To Larry
12 series though… I’ve watched this show for quite some time. And I knew that wasn’t a series a year, because Larry took regular breaks, especially during the pandemic. Still, I was shocked when I looked back and discovered the first series ran 24 years ago! Hang on a minute… I’ve been watching this show for 24 years?
And suddenly, I was taken back to the year 2000. Where I was. Who I was. A completely different person. There’s a popular misconception that all the cells in the human body renew themselves every 7 years, and while that’s not 100% true, there is something in it. I was 28 years old when I started watching Curb. I lived in a different house, worked in a different job, had an entirely different social circle. Liked slightly different records, felt different emotions, saw the future… and the past… in an entirely different way. Somewhat ironically, when the show launched in 2000, Larry David was 52. The same age I am now. I’m not sure why I related to him so much as a 28 year old. In the final episode, he proudly announced that he was 76 year olds… and had never learned a lesson in his life. It made me wonder how many I’ve learned… and how 76 year old me will feel in another 24 years. 2000 doesn’t seem that long ago, and time gets faster every year. 2048 is just around the corner…
Sunday 12 May 2024
Snapshots #343: A Top Ten Songs With French Titles
French actress Catherine Deneuve welcomes you to ten songs with French titles. She will provide the translations, since I gave up French in the Third Year...
10. Lucky x 4.
A quarter is 25%. If you're committed, you are sectioned.
Section 25 - Je Veux Ton Amour
"I want your love", but not your money, honey.
6. I'd like a picture of the Empire State Building on my T-shirt, please.
Les instantanés seront de retour Samedi prochain...
Saturday 11 May 2024
Saturday Snapshots #343
10. Lucky x 4.