Emergency Questions #6: Assassination Attempt

Bauhaus - The Sanity Assassin

Back to Richard Herring's Emergency Questions, and this week we're asking for your darkest confessions...

Have you ever had the opportunity to assassinate a public figure?

Now clearly there are a lot of people in this world right now who might want to assassinate a certain orange demagogue... although I'm sure most of us realise that doing so would only make a martyr of him, and that's the last thing anyone wants. Better to let such people die on their own swords, methinks.

Dixie Nightingales - Assassination

I also feel I should clarify that I don't condone murder, even the murder of complete tosspots, and I'm sure none of the good folk who waste precious minutes reading this guff once or twice a week condone it either. Still, there are, I'm sure, some people out there in the world who you definitely feel would be deserving of a good slap. So have you ever been in a position to administer such an admonishment... and had to hold yourself back?

The Builders - Daytime Assassins

I can think of two such occasions...

The first came back in the late 90s when I had the misfortune of going to see Oasis at Sheffield Arena. Now It's no secret that I am not, nor have I ever been, a fan of the Gallagher brothers and their brand of plodding, humourless, psuedo-Beatles Brit-rock. With that in mind, you may well wonder how I ended up at one of their gigs? All I can tell you is that this was during my radio days, the tickets were free, and my mate was a much bigger fan of the Brothers Dim, so I was persuaded that it might be a good ticket to have in my scrapbook. A couple of years earlier, when the lads were just starting out, that might well have been true. However, this was the Be Here Now tour, and all I can remember of that travesty was that they had a red phone booth on the stage. (A little research reveals that even Noel Gallagher now admits Be Here Now was a bag of shite. Whereas Liam says it's his favourite album. Make of that what you will.)

Sea Fruit - Assassin

The support act that day were Travis. Now I know what most of you think of Travis, but let me tell you this: They blew the Swaggerlers off the stage. I can't have been the only one in the audience who thought so. In fact, Liam Gallagher himself even came out to watch them... and herein lies my tale.

Jefferson Starship - Assassin

We had pretty good seats in the arena. Front row, just above the tunnel. There were no seats below us, that area was fenced off for the sound guys. And that's where Liam came to watch Travis. He walked out directly beneath us, stood by the sound desk for a few songs, then mooched back into the tunnel. And this would have been my moment. At the time, I confess (and it's not a particularly nice confession), I briefly considered spitting on his head. It's lucky I didn't have a brick at hand. I mean, imagine if I had... I might have denied the world that Beady Eye record. It doesn't bear thinking about...

Marc Almond - Come in Sweet Assassin

Comedy is a very subjective thing. What I might do a LOL at, you might roll your eyes and breathe a deep sigh. And vice versa. With that in mind, I take on board the idea that some of you might consider the comedian Michael McIntyre worthy of the space he takes up on this earth. I certainly do not.

Charlotte Gainsbourg - Time Of The Assassins

That aside, the one trait I find off-putting in celebrities and commoners alike is arrogance. Hence my disdain for Frank & Betty Gallagher, and the intense irritation I feel whenever I see Michael McIntyre's smug mug on the TV. Imagine then, coming across that detestable countenance in real life. The horror!

Rose of Avalanche - Assassin

Such a thing occurred the last time Louise and I visited That London. This might have been about 15 years ago. We were staying in the leafy borough of Hampstead, and one day were were mooching around the shops when we heard a loud, braying voice in the street behind us. A voice that chilled our blood.

James - Assassin

There he was, the so-called "funny" man himself, large as life, peacocking down the road with his mobile phone pressed to his ear, talking loudly to his agent (or some other amenable sycophant), loud enough so that everyone could hear, so that everyone would look, so that nobody could fail to notice that they were in the presence of "greatness".

Gold Frankincense & Disk Drive - Character Assassinator

I'm not a violent man. I've never thrown a punch in my life. But it's no exaggeration to say that Louise had to physically restrain me that day. McIntyre got off lightly.

Flaming Lips - Assassination Of The Sun

Thank God I've never been in the same room as Bono. I'd be serving ten to life right now. Either that, or somebody would have given me a medal. Maybe both.

Marillion - Assassing

Anyway, there were lots of songs about assassination... but this was today's obvious winner.

Have you ever had the opportunity to assassinate a public figure?

Snapshots #386: Family Snapshots!

So*... that's why Peter Gabriel helped launch yesterday's quiz... and why he turned up again this morning with the answers. He knows a thing or two about a Family Snapshot...

Here are 15 songs about relatives...

(*More apologies to CC.) 

15. One third of Annabella's band had a typical tempo of 115–130 bpm.

Annabella Lwin was in Bow Wow Wow. A third of that is Bow. House music has a typical tempo of 115–130 bpm. Bow + House =

Bauhaus - Watch That Grandad Go

14. No echo.

While Echo & The Bunnymen were on a break, Ian and Will had another band...

Electrafixion - Sister Pain

13. Sounds like the plasticine used by our itinerant friend.

Ernie gets around a bit, doesn't he? I wonder if he always takes his Play-Doh with him?

Ernie K-Doe - Mother-In-Law

12. Without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.

A quote taken from early on in Genesis. This is later Genesis though... I figured you'd probably prefer them without their heads. Shoot me - I always liked this song.

Genesis - No Son Of Mine

11. Ronnie Barker's wireless breakfast show.

Porridge Radio - Nephews

10. Animal makes a fortune from high-waisted suits.

He played keyboards with The Animals for a while, presumably wearing his zoot suit.

Zoot Money - The Uncle Willie

9. Confusion over dark hall ban after 11pm. 

"Dark hall ban" was an anagram. After 11pm, it's midnight.

Hank Ballard & The Midnighters - Annie's Aunt Fanny

Uncle Willie and Aunt Fanny. Fnar.

8. Bo?

Clearly, I was thinking of Ms. Derek, first initial B...

Derek B - Bad Young Brother

He gets paid in pounds, not in dollars.

7. Emily Dickinson had a discerning palate. 

E.D. was a gourmet...

Eydie Gorme - Yes My Darling Daughter

6. Twice in one weekend? FFS!

He's here, and at this week's Number One. The extra F is how bloggers of a certain vintage refer to him... you'll know why if you fell victim to his anti-blog campaign back in the day.

That said, he made some great solo records after leaving the Undertones. And I'd completely forgotten this one... mustn't have heard it in 40 years, but it still sounds good.

Feargal Sharkey - Listen To Your Father

5. Prohibition criminals... or Prince's mates.

The Purple Gang - Granny Takes A Trip

4. The name of my first cat. (I realise that's a pretty niche clue, but think of your standard cat names and you might get it.)

My first cat was called Fluffy. We had another one at the same time called Frisky. Remember that in case I ever post a picture of a band with that name.

Fluffy - Husband

3. Switch off the bassist, he clashes with the rest of the band.

Paul Simonon was the bassist in the Clash. When he's not on, he's...

Paul Simon - Mother And Child Reunion

2. Metric bedsheets come untangled.

"Metric bedsheets" was an anagram...

The Decemberists - The Crane Wife

1. Found beneath Blackburn and Orlando. 

They can be found Under the two Tones...

The Undertones - My Perfect Cousin

Indisputably the greatest song about a family member, featuring one of the greatest rhyming couplets in the history of pop music...

His mother bought him a synthesiser
Got the Human League in to advise her

Special mention to those relatives who didn't get an invitation...

Billy Bragg & Wilco - Walt Whitman's Niece

Bo Diddley - The Great Grandfather

Eels - Things The Grandchildren Should Know

Six - Ex-Wives

Hopefully, it'll be relatively easy for you to find your way back here next Saturday to be part of the Snapshots family once again.

Snapshots Spillover: Even More Halloween Horror Film Songs

When I was a kid, I vividly remember the thrill of watching the old Universal horror movies late Saturday night on BBC2. You'd never see these classics on TV these days, and they're in danger of being airbrushed out of history for anyone other than ardent cinephiles... but we remember them today, starting with Victor (or Henry, as he was known in James Whales' film) Frankenstein and his monster, played by Boris Karloff...

The Edgar Winter Group - Frankenstein

That was the obvious tune, although curiously it only made it to Number 5 in My Top Ten Frankenstein Songs back in 2015...

Before you knew it, the Monster demanded a mate... in the form of Elsa Lanchester.

I couldn't immediately think of a song named after The Bride, but then I discovered New Zealand's Toy Love, who were on Flying Nun, so they had to be worth a listen. Here they are in 1980...

Toy Love - Bride of Frankenstein 

Todd Browning's Dracula was the first of many Universal films featuring the Lord of the Undead (and his family), although it's the only one to feature Bela Lugosi in the title role (unless you count his guest appearance in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein). Despite that, Lugosi is the actor most often associated with the Count, even long after his death...

Bauhaus - Bela Lugosi's Dead

Dracula can be found in quite a few songs in my hard drive, but only one is named solely after him, from this Aberdonian indie band...

The Little Kicks - Dracula

The direct sequel to Lugosi's Dracula featured Gloria Holden as Countess Marya Zaleska, aka Dracula's Daughter. Which leads us nicely to Colin Meloy and co....

The Decemberists - Dracula's Daughter

Soon after that, Boris Karloff returned, not with bolts through his neck this time, but wrapped in bandages...

Benji Hughes - The Mummy

More bandages were wrapped around Claude Rains in 1933... although when he took them off, he disappeared completely. There's loads of Invisible Man songs to choose from (see here), but this was the obvious choice, still one of Declan's finest album tracks...

Elvis Costello - The Invisible Man

And now for a few more Universal Monster movies turned into songs...

The Frantic Elevators - The Hunchback of Notre Dame

(featuring the immortal line, "I'm an ugly sod, but it's not my fault")

The Who - Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde

Dave Edmunds - The Creature From The Black Lagoon

Sarah Brightman & Steve Harley - The Phantom Of The Opera

(Yes, I went there.)

Round Robin - I'm The Wolfman

Ah yes, The Wolfman. I used to be a Wolfman, but I'm alright nooooooooooooooooowwwwww. Etc. 

But did you know that the first Werewolf-based horror movie to be produced by Universal was not 1941's The Wolfman? 

Oh no. 

Six years prior to that, they released this beauty, starring Henry Hull as the... erm... hairy handed gent who ran amok in Kent...

How else could we close this post?

Snapshots #284: A Top Ten Grandparent Songs

It's my birthday today, but now that I've passed the half century, we don't celebrate them anymore.

It's also Mother's Day though, and my mum's a great grandma... as well as a great-grandma. 

Here are ten songs about grandparents...

10. Easy access acorns.

Squirrel Nut Zippers - Good Enough For Grandad

9. Bernau, Dessau, Weimar artists.

Three cities where you would find the Bauhaus school of art.

Bauhaus - Watch That Grandad Go

8. Mr. Pageboy in a muddle.

"Mr. Pageboy" was an anagram.

Moby Grape - Hey Grandma

7. Musical Miles, in the Mile High City.

John Miles made Music.

The Mile High City is Denver.

John Denver - Grandma's Feather Bed

6. Strong odour on the tracks.

There's a grand funk on the railroad.

Grand Funk Railroad - Look At Granny Run Run

5. What Billy keeps waiting for.

Billy is waiting for The Great Leap Forward.

The Great Leap Forward - My Grandfather’s Cluck

4. Mr. Owen / Anderson is finished.

Clive Owen / Anderson is done.

Clive Dunn - Grandad

And no, I couldn't bring myself to include the St. Winifred's School Choir. I do have some standards.

3. Mine king gets a peerage.

King Solomon had some mines. Burke's has a peerage.

Solomon Burke - Be Bop Grandma

2. What's new... and what's shakin'?

What's new, pussyCAT... and Shakin' Stevens =

Cat Stevens - Granny

1. It's Brew Hill!

Anagram!

Bill Withers - Grandma's Hands

More of this nonsense next Saturday.

Celebrity Jukebox#46: Bela Lugosi

There are certain celebrities who are arguably more famous for the song they appear in than for their own career. I'm not sure Bette Davis is quite there yet, but all it'll take is Rhianna or Adele doing a cover of that Kim Carnes song and it'll be Whatever Happened To Bette D? Bela Lugosi, on the other hand, is surely known by more people now because of the Halloween favourite by Bauhaus than for any of his classic horror film performances.

The internet tells me "Bauhaus bass player David J wrote this song's lyric after bingeing on vampire movies that were showing on TV in England (this was before Netflix)", which is the kind of quote that makes me want to punch all Millennials in the face. Imagine true horror - "a world before Netflix"!

White on white translucent black capes

Back on the rack

Bela Lugosi's dead

The bats have left the bell tower

The victims have been bled

Red velvet lines the black box

Bela Lugosi's dead

Undead undead undead

The virginal brides file past his tomb

Strewn with time's dead flowers

Bereft in deathly bloom

Alone in a darkened room

The Count

Bela Logosi's dead

Undead undead undead

Bela Lugosi's Dead has been covered by a list of obvious suspects, including The Damned and Nine Inch Nails, but by far the best alternative version is this...

Nouvelle Vague - Bela Lugosi's Dead

David J returned to the track himself in 2013 for a completely different take...

David J featuring Jill Tracy - Bela Lugosi's Dead (Undead is Forever)

The song is considered the first Goth rock record (and my amazing powers of precognition tell me it'll be Number One in the No Badger Required "Goth! Show Me Magic" countdown which ends this morning). As such it gets its own references in the following tunes...

Falcon Heavy - Peter Murphy Says

Tried to sing Bela Lugosi's dead

But all the blood was rushing to my head

Powerman 5000 - Black Lipstick

You said life is a lie

As you laid down on the bed

Then you started to cry

And sang Bela Lugosi's dead

That's a song which warns of the dangers of taking a Goth home for a one night stand...

You left black lipstick

Black lipstick on my sheets

Don't say you weren't warned. For an alternative point of view, you might consider this...

Lee Christian - Goth Girls Do It Better

I'm Bela Lugosi baby, 

I'm your Vincent Price

Well, If I bite u once, girl, 

I've got to bite u twice

One more song that references the Bauhaus tune...

Voltaire - The Vampire Club

You'll have to listen to that one yourself if you want the reference because, "This artist does not want the lyrics to this song be posted on the internet."

And while this one doesn't mention Bauhaus directly, I reckon they had it on repeat in the studio...

Lesbian Bed Death - Béla Lugosi's Back

  

Onto more direct Bela Lugosi mentions. Let's start with Ray...

The Kinks - Celluloid Heroes

You can see all the stars as you walk down Hollywood Boulevard

Some that you recognize, some that you've hardly even heard of

People who worked and suffered and struggled for fame

Some who succeeded and some who suffered in vain

Rudolph Valentino looks very much alive

And he looks up ladies dresses as they sadly pass him by

Avoid stepping on Bela Lugosi

'Cause he's liable to turn and bite

But stand close by Bette Davis

Because hers was such a lonely life

Bela Lugosi's story is a tragic one, plagued by type casting, dwindling fame, alcoholism and drug addiction. If you've seen the movie Ed Wood, you'll remember Martin Landau's stand out performance as a latter day Lugosi. I can't help but think of that when I listen to the song above. Speaking of Ed Wood, Bela also makes a cameo appearance in this slice of glorious nonsense...

Mummula - Ed Woodn't (Oh No, No, No)

Where to go from there? How about Noddy...?

Slade - My Baby's Got It

Ohhhh I wanna be Bela Lugosi 

And the Marx Brothers rolled into one

Well baby baby baby believe me, 

I'm solid gone

Or you could imagine chatting up a Bela Lugosi lookalike in your local...

Squeeze - F-Hole

We watched each other closely

She looks like Bela Lugosi

She asked me for a ride home

I felt around for my comb

She lived down by the river

A flat the council give her

Wallpaper very scenic

Her outlook very beatnik

Here's Brian Wilson's mate, with some lyrics I can't quite make out (though I disagree with what the interweb thinks they are) although they do namedrop Bela alongside Bing Crosby and Mae West...

Van Dyke Parks - The Four Mills Brothers

While you try and decipher that, here's former High Jump Champion Amber Bollinger and her band... 

Broken Baby - Personality Party

I'm on my back like a beetle

Can't turn me on

It's an erotic kinda seething

This ain't a dance it's a full time Bela Lugosi

And if that wasn't scary enough, try some Curtiss Tigers...

Curtis Stigers - Sleeping With The Lights On

Bela Lugosi

And Boris Karloff too

Make such strange bedfellows

But how to they know you

How about some Spiders Dressed In Red? (If it's good enough for Peter Parker, it's good enough for me.)

Spiders Dressed In Red - Bela Lugosi

Or you might prefer some Drag-ula?

Sharon Needles - Dracula

Meanwhile, in Paisley, our old pal Momus is pondering biting the dust...

Momus - What Will Death Be Like?

Death will be unlike the charge of the Light Brigade 

Alfred Lord Tennyson rhymed

Death will be unlike the thin piece of paper 

That Reagan and Gorbachev sign

Death will be unlike the night thoughts of 'Late Call' 

When ministers stop being cosy

Death will be unlike 'The Pit and the Pendulum' 

Co-starring Bela Lugosi

I'll be honest: there were so many songs that referenced Bela Lugosi, I started to wonder what death would be like when faced with the prospect of listening to them all. So I gave up. But not before I'd discovered this glorious artefact from Malcolm Tucker and the Twelfth Doctor Who, Peter Capaldi, back when he was just a young lad in a post-punk band...

Celebrity Jukebox #37: Douglas Fairbanks

Here’s another one for George…

I have to confess, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a film starring either Douglas Fairbanks Sr. or Jr. I’m sure that’s a crime against cinema, and only goes to demonstrate my vast cultural ignorance… but at least I’m honest with you.

Fairbanks Sr. was a big name in the silent era, notably in swashbuckling roles such as Zorro and Robin Hood. He was known as “The King of Hollywood” during this era, but that title quickly passed to Clark Gable once sound arrived. His Queen was Mary Pickford (so he pops up in the Katie Melua song dedicated to her), although they divorced in 1936, three years before Fairbanks Sr. died of a heart attack. Apparently, his last words were, “I’ve never felt better”. But then, he hadn’t heard most of these tunes, so who knows how much better he might have felt?

To begin, folky Canadian Ian Bell gets out his fiddle for this instrumental namecheck…

Ian Bell – The Douglas Fairbanks Set

Moving onto songs with actual words, we kick off with some infamous Bela Lugosi fans…

All our dreams have melted down

We are hiding in the bushes

From dead men

Doing Douglas Fairbanks' stunts

All our stories burnt

Our films lost in the rushes

We can't paint any pictures

As the moon had all our brushes

Extracting wasps from stings in flight

Who killed Mr. Moonlight?

Bauhaus – Who Killed Mr. Moonlight?

I quite like that line about wasps, although surely it should be “Extracting stings from wasps in flight”? Unless they’re talking about pulling wasps out of Sting. Which I’m not exactly going to object to, as it sounds a rather uncomfortable procedure, and he definitely deserves it.

Going much further back in time, we arrive at US cabaret singer Bobby Short, taking his debut performance on this blog alongside a bunch of other silent movie stars, which should keep George happy...

Handsome Wallace Reid

Stepped out full of speed

And Theda Bara, Was a terror

She "vamped the little lady"

So did Alice Brady;

Douglas Fairbanks shimmied on one hand

Like an acrobat

Mary Pickford did a toe dance grand and

Charlie Chaplin with his feet

Stepped all over poor Blanche Sweet

Dancing at that moving picture ball

Bobby Short – At The Moving Picture Ball

Of a similar vintage, we have The Andrews Sisters, with a song title that I honestly thought was internet nonsense… until I did a bit of digging and discovered that Barney Google was a comic strip character created in 1919, whose adventures are still being serialised in some US newspapers, making it the third longest running syndicated comic strip in the world… 103 years and counting. I’ll let you google the two that beat it, although the thing I found most interesting was that Barney Google himself rarely appears in his own strip these days, having been largely usurped by his sidekick Snuffy Smith. I so wish I was making this up.

Who's the greatest lover that this country ever knew?

And who's the man that Valentino takes his hat off to?

No, it isn't Douglas Fairbanks that the ladies rave about.

When he arrives, who makes the wives chase all their husbands out?

Why, it's Barney Google, with the goo-goo-goo-ga-ly eyes.

Barney Google is the guy who never buys.

Women take him out to dine, then he steals the waiter's dime.

Barney Google, with the goo-goo-goo-ga-ly eyes. 

The Andrews Sisters – Barney Google

I somehow feel that the discovery of that song, and its incredible history, entirely justifies my entire blogging career to date. See, Louise, I’m not just wasting my time up here!

Slightly more up-to-date, and musically relevant to this blog, we have 80s US power-poppers Game Theory, who, by their own admission , specialised in “young-adult-hurt-feeling-athons”…

Swordfights on tables for way too long

Ended, I guess, in a draw

Now Douglas Fairbanks is one off the list

Singling la Leilani la Leilani la

Game Theory – Leilani

Clint Eastwood and Donovan also pop up in that song. In case you’re keeping notes.

Most interesting discovery today (beyond Barney Google, obviously) is Gabriel Kahane, who iffypedia compare to both Sufjan Stevens and Rufus Wainwright. Certainly worthy of further investigation is his Craigslistlieder collection in which he gets serious classical musicians to perform the words of classified ads. Today’s track though comes from his 2014 album The Ambassador, wherein “he used ten addresses in L.A. to write songs from the perspectives of characters both real and imaginary”.

I am the night watchman

I stand by the door

Some fifteen thousand nights

I have stood here for

A saturnalia every Saturday

In the salad days long gone

Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford

Would be wrestling on the lawn

Gabriel Kahane - Ambassador Hotel (3400 Wilshire Blvd.)

I’d be lying if I didn’t confess something at this point. My immediately piqued interest in Mr. Kahane was dulled somewhat by the discovery that he’d collaborated with an old school “mate” of mine (who I didn’t get on with at all), a gentleman who now appears to be an O.B.E. Not that I’m bitter. Arrogance will get you a long way in this world. If only I’d been born with an ounce of it. (Some people might call it confidence or self-belief. My point still stands.) Still, I'll try not to let this colour my judgement of Mr. Kahane any further.

Let’s move onto safer territory, with the always welcome Ms. Kate Bush, and a song dedicated to her mother, from The Red Shoes album. This only got to number 26 in the charts, which is another crime again sanity, but such is life…

On a balcony in New York

It's just started to snow

He meets us at the lift

Like Douglas Fairbanks

Waving his walking stick

But he isn't well at all

The buildings of New York

Look just like mountains through the snow

Just being alive

It can really hurt

And these moments given

Are a gift from time

Just let us try

To give these moments back

To those we love

To those who will survive

That’s quite enough for today, but if you’re interested in the recorded history of the next generation in the Fairbanks clan... come back some other time.

Snapshots Spillover: More Actor Songs

Following on from this weekend's Snapshots, featuring songs named after famous actors, I had something of an overspill... so here are some of the runners up.

April March - Stay Away From Robert Mitchum

Keep your grubby hands off Mitchum
He's rugged and he's handsome
And spurns the likes to you
Touch him and you'll be through

Julian Cope - Robert Mitchum

The part in Ryan's daughter
Where you lose your wife
I've never seen a more dignified man
In my life

Robyn Hitchcock - Gene Hackman

Different to the Hoodoo Gurus song featured yesterday, but equally enjoyable...

He's got an evil grin

He's got curly hair

And every time he smiles

It means trouble somewhere

So don't talk to me about Gene Hackman

Neon Neon - Michael Douglas

'Cause you'll see my reflection (reflection, reflection)

In Michael Douglas's mirrored sunglasses

You'll see my perfection (perfection, perfection)

In Michael Douglas's mirrored sunglasses

The Rakes - When Tom Cruise Cries

TV's on, Tom Cruise crying on his father's bed,

Reminds me what that French guy said,

From news to movies all the crap with it,

Headlines keep you excited,

Like when Tom Cruise cries,

It's all lies

Bananarama - Robert DeNiro's Waiting

I would have included this on Saturday, but I felt it was a little too obvious, even for me.

The Thrills - Whatever Happened To Corey Haim?

Postal Service - Clark Gable

I kissed you in a style Clark Gable would have admired

I thought it classic

Deacon Blue - He Looks Like Spencer Tracy Now

He may have been a nationalist, a physicist or a pacifist

But he's just taking pictures and he'll do it anyhow

Well, I have seen that movie of Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde

And I know he looks like Spencer Tracy now

Bree Sharp - David Duchovny

Watching the sky for a sign
The FBI is on my mind
I'm waiting for the day
When my lucky stars align
In the form of...
David Duchovny floating above me
In the alien light of the spaceship of love

Deep Purple - Vincent Price

I want seven screaming virgins on a sacrificial altar
Hell and God, screeching doors, zombies, aaaaah!
It feels so good to be afraid
Vincent Price is back again

Bauhaus - Bela Lugosi's Dead

Bela Lugosi's dead

The bats have left the bell tower

The victims have been bled

Red velvet lines the black box

Elton John - Roy Rogers

Oh, the great sequin cowboy who sings of the plains

Of roundups and rustlers and home on the range

Turn on the TV, shut out the lights

Roy Rogers is riding tonight

And my personal favourite...

I want to be your hero,

Kurt Russell, Eastwood and me

There's no doubt plenty more where they came from, but that's enough actors for today. Drop me a comment if I've missed one of your favourites and I might do a follow up post... but remember, we're leaving the ladies for another day.