Snapshots #393: Natural Disasters In Song

Call the National Guard - this week's Snapshots has been a disaster!

15. A fetching skyline.

Bring Me The Horizon - Avalanche

14. Definitely not The Numbers!

They're not numbers - they're free men!

The Prisoners - Hurricane

13. Frankie in a submarine.

Frankie Valli goes deep...

Deap Valley - Drought

12. Shades of sadness.

Bluetones - Mudslide

11. Their story's seldom told.

"I am just a poor boy, though my story's seldom told..." is the opening line of The Boxer.

Boxer - Blizzard

10. Imprisoned businesswoman found in lad's navel.

Martha Stewart ended up in the nick. "Lad's navel" was an anagram...

Martha Reeves & The Vandellas - Heatwave

9. Stargazing tools.

The Telescopes - Tornado

8. This fishtank's in a right state!

State, as in United States...

American Aquarium - Wildfire

7. Important component in both telecaster and stratocaster guitars.

TeleCASTer and stratoCASTer...

Cast - Sandstorm

6. Lancaster con man invests in Lou Reed libretto.

Burt Lancaster played the religious con man Elmer Gantry. Lou Reed was in the Velvet Underground. A libretto is the words from an opera.

Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera - Volcano

5. Luggage for a German Underground singer.

Still with the VU, that would be a Nico case...

Neko Case - Middle Cyclone 

4. Cook up some Manchester rat recipes.

"Manchester rat recipes" was an anagram...

Manic Street Preachers - Tsunami

3. How Travolta expressed his love for Cortinas.

John ❤︎ Ford.

John Hartford - California Earthquake

2. Bloodsuckers move across your eyeline.

Transvision Vamp - Landslide Of Love

1. Turn the terrible page...

"Terrible page" was an anagram...

Peter Gabriel - Here Comes The Flood

It'd be a disaster if you weren't back here next Saturday for more of this nonsense...

Namesakes #82: Cast

The problem with calling yourselves Cast is that you're immediately fighting it out with the Cast recordings of every Broadway show in history. Not to mention The Cast of Hollyoaks, The Cast of Casualty or The Cast Of Grange Hill (et al.) whenever they choose to release a record.

Remember kids - Just Say No!

Beyond that, Cast is a pretty dull name for a band. Will any of these acts rise above their mediocre monikers? You decide...

CAST #1

Mexican symphonic prog band who first got together in 1978... and were still going strong in 2021. I'm sure that many of you will be pleased to hear that they are "similar in style to early Genesis".

CAST #2

Sweetly synthy soul from Italy in 1980...

THE CAST #3

Canadian metal band from the early 90s. 

The lead singer has a very nice purple shirt.

CAST #4

In 1991, bassist John Power left The La's because he was sick of playing the same songs every night for 6 years while Lee Mavers tried to get them to sound the way they did in his head. Or something like that. Those with far more time than me can fill you in on the comical history of The La's, I'm sure. Anyway, Power went off with the drummer from Shack and a couple of other guys and formed a band which Noel Gallagher once described as a "religious experience". I think you can all make up your own punchlines to that.

I was a huge Britpop kid (well, as I was in 20s, but I still felt like a kid)... but I never got too excited about Cast. I mean, they were slightly more appealing than Oasis, but then so is dysentery.

Perhaps the best that can be said about them is that they were Alright...

CAST #5

This is the sound of Norwegian hip hop in 2005...

CAST #6

And here's some Romanian hip hop from a similar epoch. I would say it keeps them off the streets, but looking at the video, that's clearly not the case.

CAST #7

Something a little gentler on the ears to finish today. Ben and Jessica are from Vancouver, and this is how they sounded just last year...

Which Cast would you cast? And which Cast would you cast aside?

Saturday Snapshots #180 - A Top Ten Sand Songs

If you're stuck in the House again this Sunday morning, here's yesterday's Snapshot answers. Don't be Laurie if you didn't get them all...

A TOP TEN SAND SONGS

10. Imaginary compilation album gets weighty.

As anyone who follows The Vinyl Villain will know, an Imaginary Compilation Album is an ICA. A heavy one would be a Metal-ICA.

Metallica - Enter Sandman

Still not a patch on this version...

9. USA, avenge NZ!

It was, of course, an anagram.

Suzanne Vega - Song of Sand

8. Fair lady leaves the Queen in the company of two killers. 

My Fair Lady was Eliza Doolittle.

The Queen is Elizabeth,

If Eliza left the Queen, all that would be left is Beth.

The two killers were Dennis Nilsen & Mark David Chapman.

Beth Nielsen Chapman - Sand & Water

7. Where to get a good kebab.

From the doner van, of course!

Donovan - Sand And Foam 

6. Done to spells, lines, eyes and shadows.

You cast spells, cast lines, cast your eyes and cast shadows.

Cast - Sandstorm

5. It's easier to get down on one knee when you're not so old.

It's easier to kneel when you're young.

Neil Young - Cowgirl In The Sand

4. Kick to restart - amazing!

A free kick, taken to restart a football game, could be a corner. An amazing one would be...

The Brilliant Corners - Delilah Sands

3. Sliced ballerina.

An anagram for the wonderful...

Belinda Carlisle - Circle In The Sand

2. Eponymously big.

Giant Sand - Sand

Or you could have had...

Giant Sand - Every Grain of Sand

1. Central arrears.

Core debts.

More Snapshots for you (and Hugh) next week...

Saturday Snapshots #75 - The Answers

"It's All Coming Back To Me Now," you'll be able to say to your grandchildren, many years from now... "the day that Saturday Snapshots finally jumped the shark. The day Rol had a picture of Celine Dion at the top of the page..."

Give me a break: you try finding two different pictures of pop stars holding cameras every week. It's not as easy as it looks, you know. (Although I do have a few more in the bag.) Perhaps the day I run out will be the day I finally call it quits. Until then... My Heart Will Go On.

A very closely fought game yesterday, between Lynchie, Chris, Alyson and C in particular. I think Lynchie just got the title. Well done to Charity Chic, Rigid Digit, George and Martin (Come Together... as one... like George Martin) for mopping up the hard ones.


10. Beautiful Persian queen makes Pilgrim's Progress via choo choo.

Vashti was a beautiful Persian queen.

John Bunyan wrote Pilgrim's Progress.

Vashti Bunyan - Train Song

9. Seabirds, get your guns - we must go now!

Guillemots are seabirds.

Annie, Get Your Gun.

Guillemots - Annie, Let's Not Wait

That's a top song, that is.

8. Only knobs allowed in this club... listening to Pleasant Valley Sunday.

Members Only?

The Members - Sound of the Suburbs

"Same old boring Sunday morning"? Oy!

7. Lexicon of French internet + giant killer.

A lexicon is full of words.

French websites end .fr.

David killed a giant.

FR David - Words

(That sounded a lot better in my head than it does in reality. How memory plays tricks on us...)

6. The French New Wave... kind of.

Nouvelle Vague - In A Manner Of Speaking

5. Improv theatre game for jazz geeks... if you've been playing this game a while, you should get this.

An improvised theatre game is known as a Harold.

Jazz is often on the Blue Note label.

"A Melvin" is another name for a geek or nerd.

I put this week's quiz together a few weeks back. It took me ages to work out the clues for this when it came to write out the answers.

Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes - If You Don't Know Me By Now

4. Start your new job with a sharp piercing stab.

Yes, that is Mick. With a comedy "Grizzly Adams" beard. A hipster long before there were hipsters.

Jagger - a sharp, piercing stab.

Mick Jagger - Let's Work

Video of the week ahoy! What were they thinking?

3. Players depart.

Cast - Walk Away

The reverse of #7. A lot better than I remember it being.

2. John Wayne's looking for hearts in the dustbin.

John Wayne was in The Searchers.

The Searchers - Don't Throw Your Love Away

1. What the Beach Boys read... with Julie Christie & Alan Bates.

The Beach Boys read Surfing Magazines.

Julie Christie & Alan Bates were in the movie adaptation of LP Hartley's novel The Go Between.

Because You Loved Me... Saturday Snapshots will be back next week.

My Top Ten Walking Away Songs

Don't you just hate those people who introduce you to their record collections saying, "yes, I have a very eclectic taste in music"? Well, I'm gonna do just that this week. Sometimes these top tens come together with such a delightful blend of genres... I feel quietly proud of myself. And you should hear some of the songs I left out! Come on, allow me a little hubris for once... don't walk away just yet.

Special mention to Juliana Hatfield for her instructional album, How To Walk way.


10. Cast - Walkaway

I have a bit of a downer on Cast. Britpop-by-numbers, my abiding memory of the band is seeing them play live at a festival back in their fifteen minutes; the onstage electric went out and John Power piped up, comedy Scouse, "'Ey - 'ave we not paid the 'leccy meter?"

But this is a lovely little song despite my prejudices. And I still prefer them to Oasis.

9. The Zac Brown Band featuring Alan Jackson - As She's Walking Away

A song about falling in love with a girl at first sight and doing absolutely nothing about it. Because, as Elton once sang, it's easier to walk away.

Pretty much sums up my teenage years and most of my 20s. Sadly, I never had Alan Jackson to give me his neat-moustached advice.

8. Black Sabbath - Walk Away

And this is why they call it Classic Rock.

7. Franz Ferdinand - Walk Away

I love the sound of you walking away... 

...is a great kiss off, and there's more to come as Alex Kapranos nicks Morrissey's poison pen...

And as you walk away
My headstone crumbles down
As you walk away
The Hollywood winds will howl
As you walk away
The Kremlin's falling
As you walk away
Radio Four is static

One reason why FF are a fantastic foursome.

(And yeah, I almost went a week without mentioning the M word. Sorry.)

6. Sisters of Mercy - Walk Away

To appreciate this fully, you have to watch the video. Andrew Eldritch: sunglasses, hair, glittery dance... and a voice like Satan serenading sea lions.

5. The King Blues - Walking Away

I miss The King Blues since they split. I know Johnny Itch is still doing his own thing, but this band burned very brightly while they were around. Like Billy Bragg, they had two sides: the angry young men & women (angrier, at times, than Billy ever got) and the sweet-hearted romantics. This is firmly in the latter camp, a gorgeous little bus stop romance. Goes nicely as an accompaniment to my number #2 song this week.  

4. Tom Waits - Walk Away

From the soundtrack to the Sean Penn / Susan Sarandon film Dead Man Walking, it's time for Tom to walk away and start all over again. Nice and jaunty. (There's a word I'm not sure I ever typed before. It looks weird on the screen.)

3. ELO - Don't Walk Away

Classic Jeff Lynne orchestral melodrama, sounding more like the Bee Gees than the Beatles on this one.

2. Billy Bragg - Walk Away, Renee (version)

A version, but not a cover, though Billy does get Johnny Marr to strum the tune from our number one song while narrating a tender, touching and beautifully funny tale of first love left behind. So many great lines, I never tire of listening to this.

But all love is strange
And you have to learn to take the crunchy with the smooth, I suppose

She began going out with Mr. Potato Head
It was when I saw her in the car park
With his coat around her shoulders that I realised
I went home and thought about the two of them together
Until the bathwater went cold around me
I thought about her eyes and the curve of her breasts
And about the point where their bodies met
I confronted her about it
I said, "I'm the most illegible bachelor in town!" and she said "Yeah that's why I
could never understand any of those silly letters you sent me"

And then one day it happened
She cut her hair and I stopped loving her.

1. The Four Tops - Walk Away, Renee

The original version of this song, by The Left Banke, is a very fine record indeed. But it doesn't quite stop my heart in the same way Levi Stubbs' vocal does. This is heartbreak at its finest, pure and simple. One of Motown's greatest recordings... which makes it one of the best pop singles ever. No hyperbole.




Before you walk away... leave a comment, won't you?