Another Day #4: Toothache Day

Today is Toothache Day. I don't make these things up, you can google it if you don't believe me.

Here's an early classic from The Charlies...

The Charlatans - Toothache

Of a similar vintage, we find this...

Ned's Atomic Dustbin - Twenty Three Hour Toothache

Next, a fairy tale tune written by the wonderful Stephin Merritt of The Magnetic Fields... apparently it's from a movie soundtrack. The cast includes Blair Brown, Mia Maestro, Qian Yi, Mary Lou Rosato and 

Fiona Shaw... but the interweb doesn't appear to be able to tell me which of them are singing here.

Stephin Merritt - Auntie Toothache

Here's an atmospheric tune from Austin-based Americana band RF Shannon, led by songwriter Shane Renfro...

RF Shannon - Tooth Ache

Here's the wonderful Ezra Furman, always worth a listen...

Ezra Furman - My Teeth Hurt

And you can never go wrong with mid-90s Green Day either...

Green Day - Pulling Teeth 

Here's the weirdest thing you'll hear today. I picked this up in a charity shop. It wasn't a keeper, but I sold the CD on the bay of E for a tidy profit, so this band clearly has its fans...

Lard - Can God Fill Teeth?

(Nothing to do with Marc Riley, as far as I can tell.)

Possibly not about tooth ache, but I will take any excuse to play The Felice Brothers...

The Felice Brothers - Teeth In The Tabloids

Finally, here's a lovely little tune by LA singer-songwriter Sam Valdez...

Snapshots #304: A Top Ten Shirt Songs

OK, keep your shirt on - the answers are here!

Ten songs to get shirty about...

10. Any owl can get mixed up with a dying salesman.

"Any owl" is an anagram of Waylon. Willie Loman is the protagonist of Death Of A Salesman.

Waylon & Willie - If I Can Find a Clean Shirt

9. How Freddie Mercury got his mail delivered.

Quicksilver Messenger Company - Edward, The Mad Shirt Grinder

8. Rogue traders.

The Charlatans - White Shirt

7. Dispose of your oracle.

Chuck your prophet.

Chuck Prophet - Best Shirt On

6. Jocko Jeans.

Anagram!

Joe Jackson - The Band Wore Blue Shirts

5. Madonna's only just begun to feel W.O.L.D.

Mary was the Madonna. The Carpenters had Only Just Begun. Harry Chapin sang W.O.L.D.

Mary Chapin Carpenter - This Shirt 

4. Plane company I don't want to fly with.

Plummet Airlines - Silver Shirt

3. Sounds like what happens when the king's daughter gets involved with some old punk.

Elvis's daughter was Lisa Marie (this isn't her though).

Malcolm McLaren & The Bootzilla Orchestra featuring Lisa Marie - Something's Jumpin' in Your Shirt

2. Archer, Model, Soldier...

My Aim Is True. This Year's Model. Armed Forces.

Elvis Costello - Green Shirt

1. Bob, Buzz and Bowl + 97.

Three haircuts plus another 97 equals...

1. Haircut 100 - Favourite Shirts

Collar more Snapshots next Saturday...

Namesakes #4: The Charlatans

Last week, you had four Octopi to choose from, although the votes were divided almost equally between just two of them. In the end, the 90s Octopus just trumped the 60s version (possibly because they hailed from Shotts).

A far simpler choice this week... 

Let’s talk irony. Imagine you had a band in the 60s called The Charlatans. Then imagine that 20-odd years later, another band turned up and started using that name. You might wish to protest. But how would you do it?

“They can’t call themselves the Charlatans! We’re the Charlatans! They’re just a bunch of… oh. Well, I suppose technically they might be charlatans. Actually, they might be even more charlatans than we are since they’re falsely claiming to be us and that’s just what a charlatan does. How do you think that will stand up in court? Maybe we should say they had the name first and let them sue us for being charlatans?”

There’s a Monty Python sketch just waiting to be written… by someone far more gifted at comedy than I am.

THE CHARLATANS #1

The original Charlatans were leading lights in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco during the mid-60s, or the “Liverpool of the United States” as it was once dubbed by some idiot who'd never been to either Liverpool or San Francisco. 

Being a bunch of counter-culture hippies, these Charlatans found it pretty hard to get their bloody acts together (clearly, they needed a collective haircut), so when you read up on their recorded output you'll find words such as “failed” and “lacklustre” bandied about (and given that much of their initial sessions weren’t released until 1996, you can probably see why). Their debut single was a rather goofy cover of an old Lieber & Stoller tune, The Shadow Knows. They wanted to release a Buffy Sainte-Marie penned anti-drugs song called Codeine, but the record company blocked them, on the basis that it would likely be misconstrued... given the band’s reputation for dressing up as Victorian dandies and dropping acid before performing at the Red Dog Saloon in Nevada. Those live shows are the stuff of legend though, and if you ever find yourself transported back in time to 60s West Coast USA, be sure to grab yourself a ticket.

Singer-songwriter Mike Wilhelm became a member of the Flaming Groovies, while drummer Dan Hicks had some success with His Hot Licks. The Charlatans reformed a few times over the years, though both Hicks and Wilhelm left for the great stage in the sky for a few years back.  

I chose this Hicks-written tune to represent the original Charlatans today because I love the title. Surely an influence on the great If You Can’t Live Without Me Then Why Aren’t You Dead Yet? by My Life Story.

THE CHARLATANS #2

The second Charlatans will need little introduction to most of you, but when has that ever stopped me These Charlatans have been around for almost my entire record buying life, although they’d probably been in the go for at least five years before I paid them much attention. Their biggest success came during the Britpop era, when they were lumped in with that lot for no other reason that that they played guitars. I’ve seen them live once or twice, usually at festivals, and they have enough strong tunes to put on a strong show. I’m not sure Tim Burgess has much to say for himself lyrically though, which is why they don't quite make it into the upper echelon of my record collection. Points for getting Spider-Man into their biggest hit, One To Another, and for Weirdo, which has a nice outsider vibe they never developed any further.

Most of the time you are happy
You’re a weirdo
And before the introduction ends
There is someone feeling sorry for themselves
 
Look at your ugly shame
What are you talking for?
Look at your ugly shame
There’s too much for me to know about

Despite a tragedy-laced history (one member was killed in a car accident, another died of a brain tumour), this bunch of Charlatans have enjoyed remarkable longevity, probably due to a large, loyal fanbase. Does that include the readers of this blog? We shall see.

Now it’s time to vote. Who are The Charlatans, and who are just charlatans? Let’s settle that debate right now…

Snapshots #252: A Top Twelve Signs Of The Zodiac Songs

The Zodiac is all about reading the stars in the sky... so here's David Starsky...

Look, I couldn't find a picture of Mystic Meg with a camera, all right?

Well done if you predicted the ten artists below... 

12. Roman Empire, Berlin Wall, House of Usher.

The Fall of...

The Fall - Two Librans

11. Inside the house, Charles still gets a tan, somehow.

Inside the house, Charles still gets a tan, somehow.

The Charlatans - Taurus Moaner

10. Heroic Bum. 

Supertramp - Aries

9. Perception minus commodities.

Sense less things.

Senseless Things - Leo

8. Muddled, in a moron's RV.

"In a moron's RV", muddled up, gives you...

Van Morrison - Virgo Clowns

7. Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen and Barry Allen feel all pent up.

Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen is the current world chess champion.

Barry Allen is The Flash. (Look it up.)

If you feel all pent up, you're angry. Pent also means five, as in pentagram.

Grandmaster Flash & The Furious 5 - Scorpio

With Metal Mickey on guest vocals.

6. Bloody emus!

Anagram!

Moody Blues - Gemini Dream

5. Rubber Duck.

See Convoy.

Kris Kristofferson - Jesus Was A Capricorn

4. Instigator of Temptation.

One of the founding members of the Temptations.

Eddie Kendricks - Son of Sagittarius

3. Gregorian Horse.

Anagram!

George Harrison - Pisces Fish

2. Colin Firth hates them.

Regular readers will get the reference.

Eels - Cancer For The Cure

1. Height, width, depth, time...

Height, width, depth, time... are the first four dimensions. As I'm not a physicist, I'm not going to try to explain the 5th.

The Fifth Dimension - Age of Aquarius

The stars tell me there will be more of this nonsense next week. 

Snapshots #224: A Top Ten Impossible Songs!

Did I set you a Mission: Impossible... or did you Cruise easily to the answers?

Time to check your results...

10. Burn down Carlisle, Dublin, Dundee and Humberside.

"Burn down the disco," sand Morrissey, in Panic.

Panic At The Disco - Impossible Year

A student used to tell me I looked like the lead singer of PATD. I don't.

9. They shall see God, but it'll cause them much agony.

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."

According to Bible Study... or Indiana Jones.

The Pains of Being Pure At Heart - Impossible

8. Joker captures sidekick in can.

The Joker fought Batman. Batman's sidekick was Robin. If Robin was in a can, he would be a...

Tina Robin - Nothing Is Impossible

7. Mountebanks.

I doubt I'll ever run out of synonyms for these guys.

The Charlatans - Impossible

6. A bison goes with a hawk.

A bison is a buffalo. Tom goes with a hawk to make Tomahawk.

Buffalo Tom - Impossible

5. Two Georges need a Minder to help them go through the undeveloped photos.

Lloyd George + George Cole develop The Negatives.

Lloyd Cole & The Negatives - Impossible Girl

4. Sheila Grant? Must be the clouds in my eyes.

Sheila Grant was played by Sue Johnston.

"Must be the clouds in my eyes," is a line from Daniel.

Daniel Johnston - Impossible Love

Or you could have had...

Daniel Johnston - It's Impossible

3. Mason, with half a bad haircut that won't disguise his bald patch.

Perry Mason with a Com(b)Over.

Perry Como - It's Impossible

2. Peanut farmer gets the last letter of his home wrong.

Jimmy Carter was the peanut farmer, but he was President of the USA, not the USM.

Carter USM - The Impossible Dream

Many different versions of that song, but that is my favourite.

1. Fish in collar.

Anagram!

(The only one this week. Sorry, Lynchie!)

Lalo Schifrin - Mission Impossible

Great live version below with some top ivory tickling from Lalo...

Impossible to beat that? I'll try again next Saturday...

Saturday Snapshots #175 - A Top Ten Country Songs (Not By Country Singers)

Shirley you must have worked out the answers to yesterday's quiz by now?

Yes, it was...

A Top Ten Country Songs (Not By Country Singers)

10. Indistinct.

Blur - Country House

9. Bloodthirsty wenches.

Violent Femmes - Country Death Song

8. Russia or China, perhaps?

Big Country - In A Big Country

7. Smokey Trojans gets mixed up with runners.

"Smokey Trojans" mixed up is James Yorkston.

James Yorkston & The Athletes - Moving Up Country

6. Dark room. Small hole. Magic?

Camera Obscura - Let's Get Out Of This Country

5. Cultural ouroboros.

This is a ouroboros...

Pop Will Eat Itself - Black Country Chainsaw Massacre

4. Darkness falls.

Where the land falls away, you get a cliff.

Darkness is found in shadows.

Cliff & The Shadows - In The Country

3. Frauds.

Charlatans - North Country Boy

2. Like a small rapper.

The small rapper would be Li'l Bow Wow.

Bow Wow Wow - Go Wild In The Country

1. Fake laughing at Pacino & DeNiro.

Pacino & DeNiro faced off in Heat.

Fake laughter is canned.

Shirley you'll be back for more next Saturday?

Hot 100 #51

Being an old X-Files junkie (I even have Fox Mulder's "I Want To Believe" poster on the wall in my office), I've always had a fascination with the "secret" air force base in the Nevada desert where strange things happen involving crashed alien spaceships, experimental aircraft using salvaged alien technology and autopsies of alien corpses. [Redacted by the U.S. government.)

Let's start this week with a couple of tunes that escaped from Area 51. Curiously, both are instrumentals. Perhaps their lyrics were redacted too?

The Chartlatans - Area 51

The Typhoons - Area 51

Oh, and one more that appears to fit the same pattern...

Tangerine Dream - Landing On 51

Back in the real world, and onto your suggestions, the most obvious of which this week was suggested - not by The Swede - but by Martin...

Highway 51 Blues, by Bob Dylan which, in its guitar motif at least, seems to owe a debt to the Everly Brothers.

Not a Dylan original that, it was written by Curtis Jones. Personally, I always get it mixed up with Highway 61 Revisited... too many numbered highways in the Dylan canon.

Martin also offered the following, helpfully including links to make my life easier...

51-7 by Camper van Beethoven is pretty fair.

The atypical I Move On by Cowboy Junkies contains the line "51 years, a child upon the Earth, trying to find the answers without digging in the dirt..."

12:51 by The Strokes sounds exactly how you'd expect (no bad thing).

...and one more...

Koka Kola by The Clash starts with the line "In the gleaming corridors of the 51st floor..."

Lynchie, meanwhile, claims to have been eagerly awaiting number 51 in this countdown so that he could suggest this...

Vern Gosdin (Vern The Voice) - "Set 'Em Up Joe"

They got a vintage Victrola 1951
Full of my favorite records that I grew up on
They got ole Hank and Lefty and there's B24
Set 'em up Joe and play "Walking The Floor"
Set 'em up Joe and play "Walking The Floor"

I'll definitely save that for when I do my second volume of jukebox songs.

Rigid Digit went trippy this week...

Pink Floyd re-recorded Careful With That Axe, Eugene for the film Zabriskie Point and gave it the new title of:

Come In Number 51, Your Time Is Up

Which is all very well, but Careful With That Axe, Eugene is a far better title.

Forgoing Dylan this week, The Swede offered these two...

Super Furry Animals - Hit & Run

'Will the dinosaurs come back and haunt us? I've a bet down fifty-to-one...'

Steve Gunn & the Black Twig Pickers - Cardinal 51

Black Twig Pickers gets an extra point.

Then Swiss Adam suggested one of the ones from my own shortlist...

The Jimi Hendrix Experience - 51st Anniversary ("Purple Haze B-side no less.")

Now, before we get onto this week's winner, here are a few more from my own archives...

The Descendents - Orgo 51

Pelle Carlberg - 51, 3

And this week's runner-up...

Aimee Mann - High On Sunday 51

But it seemed clear we had to deal with Little Britain this week, or the 51st State of the United States as we've often cruelly been dubbed due to the "special relationship" which isn't really that special anymore. A number of songwriters have commented on this, including...

New Model Army - 51st State (as suggested by Charity Chic & Alyson)

The Enemy - 51st State

And, of course, these guys, this week's unanimous winners thanks to block-voting, hanging chads and Russian facebook interference from Charity Chic, C (obviously!), Lynchie and others...


Next week: we're halfway there! Numero cinquanta! Your suggestions are welcome as always. No need to be coy, Roy...