Snapshots #236: A Top Ten Songs Named After Characters From Disney Movies

What sort of Mickey Mouse quiz is this? Ten songs named after Disney Characters and no room for Grinderman!?

Well done if you worked this one out. If you dis'ney... don't feel too bad.

10. Flaming Space Invaders!

The Arcade Fire - Peter Pan

9. Open the doors to some Southern Comfort, Hal.

Matthews Southern Comfort.

Dave asked Hal to open the doors. (In 2001.)

Dave Matthews Band - Rapunzel 

8. You need to stop watching Monica and Chandler over and over.

You're watching Friends, again!?

Friends Again - Snow White

7. The King of Cool gets sauteed.

Dean Martin was The King of Cool. He was never a Fried Man.

Dean Friedman - Ariel

6. Gal in haircare lust.

Anagram!

Christina Aguilera - Genie In A Bottle

You'd think I actually liked that song, given that it's the second time it's appeared here. Not really.

5. Sack Mark E. Smith.

Fire (the) Fall.

Firefall - Cinderella

4. Suspect cleric.

(The Reverend) Al Green - Belle

3. Ugly, in one.

Anagram!

Neil Young - Pocahontas

2. How Alexander Graham was known to his mates.

Oy! Belly!

Belly - Gepetto

1. Holds back the river with his colonies.

A dam is used to hold back the river. Colonies of ants.

Phew.

Next week's link will be easier.

I promise.

Hot 100 #41

Sum 41 were the obvious choice to illustrate this week's entry in the countdown... I was always partial to getting a Fat Lip from them.

There was early agreement over this week's winner, although those of you who aren't big Boss fans were keen to offer worthy alternatives.

George was obviously going to try his best to steer me away from New Jersey, with a couple of fine suggestions...

Iron & Wine & Calexico - Prison on Route 41

Eddie Cochran - Somethin' Else

My car's out front and it's all mine 

Just a '41 Ford, not a '59

No, I don't think that was suggested for #59, George, but it should have been.

And what a riff on that song! Stolen - blatantly - by Liam Lynch... Whatever!

Our other resident non-Springsteen fan is C... although I have to say, I felt she was scraping the barrel a little with her offering...

The Dave Matthews Band - #41

Not sure what my final verdict is on Dave Matthews... but he's no Eddie Cochran. He's not even Hootie & The Blowfish.

Onto those of you who accepted the inevitable but offered alternatives for variety, starting with Martin (who only owns one Bruce Springsteen album, so I might have to send him some more in the post)...

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - US 41

Pretty good, Martin, but if we're going with Tom, I'm probably going to have to bend my own rules a little and offer this one...

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - American Girl

It was kind of cold that night 

She stood alone on her balcony 

She could the cars roll by 

Out on 441 

Like waves crashin' in the beach 

And for one desperate moment there 

He crept back in her memory 

God it's so painful 

Something that's so close 

And still so far out of reach

Actually, I was rather surprised that Martin didn't suggest this one...

Sleeper - Factor 41

I was equally surprised that Alyson didn't suggest this one...

The Bee Gees - New York Mining Disaster 1941

Or even this one, from the same year...

Harry Nilsson - 1941

Thanks, guys, leave the heavy lifting to me, that's fine.

Lynchie, meanwhile, offered an alternative which was a new one to me...

The Paul Butterfield Blues Band - Born In Chicago 

I was born in Chicago 1941

I was born in Chicago in 1941

Well, my father told me,

"Son, you'd better get a gun."

Sounds a bit like what my dad told me about Huddersfield. Lynchie adds...

"The song was written by the wonderfully named Nick Gravenites, who's worth checking out."

And from the sound of that, I concur.

Today's final suggestion was a lyrical one, from Rigid Digit...

The Allman Brothers - Ramblin' Man

My father was a gambler down in Georgia

He wound up on the wrong end of a gun

And I was born in the back seat of a Greyhound bus

Rollin' down Highway 41

All of which brings us to today's obvious choice, as identified by The Swede, Alyson, Lynchie and Martin. Inspired by the death of Amadou Diallo, an innocent young black man who was mistaken for a rape suspect by plain clothes police officers in 1999 and shot dead.



Life begins next week. We may be some time.

Hot 100 #67

There were a couple of 67 bands I found who might have been used to illustrate this week's edition of the Hot 100... but none of them looked as crazy as this old Vanilla Fudge album cover.

67 proved a much harder number to find songs for than our last two entries, but you still came through with some interesting suggestions...

The Swede kicked off by scouring an old hard drive (the lengths you will go to!) to dig up Habitat '67 by Eat Lights Become Lights, "a combo who were apparently once lauded by the NME for '...mixing Krautrock rhythms and celestial drones to heavenly effect...'". Or as I might have put it, "9 minutes of ambient nonsense". Thanks anyway, Swede.

Martin gave a second shout out to Chicago - Questions 67 & 68, which I must admit is really growing on me. One more question and they might have done it. He also offered Elton John - Old 67... which is not bad for 21st Century Elt. With those two suggestions, I wonder if we should start calling Martin MORtin?

Slightly less MOR was Martin's final suggestion - seconded by Rigid Digit: King's X - 67. Love the guitar on that, guys.

Lynchie suggested a classic bit of rocksteady... Melodians - Last Train To Expo '67... and a lyrical 67 from Steve Earle in Someday...

I got me a 67 Chevy, she's low and sleek and black
Someday I'll put her on that interstate and never look back...

Lynchie also offered Johnny Cash as a potential lyrical suggestion not just for this week but every week between 70 and 49. Tempting, because I love One Piece At A Time.

Finally C arrived, touting The Dave Matthews Band - Gravedigger. Never really got Dave Matthews, but I gave it a listen and it wasn't half bad.

Little Mikey Carson 67 to 75
He rode his
Bike like the devil until the day he died
When he grows up he wants to be Mr. Vertigo on the flying trapeze
Oh, 1940 to 1992

So what did I find in my own bag of tricks?

Lord Kitchener - '67

The Brian Jonestown Massacre featuring Tim Burgess - Fact 67

And then... this... which I only discovered last year when somebody recommended it for another Top Ten I wrote (might have been My Top Ten Taxi Songs). A very popular suggestion from you guys though - with Martin, C, Rigid Digit and Jim Dubai all voting for it. Yes, it's cheesy... but it's my kind of cheesy!



66 next? Too obvious? Any other suggestions gratefully received, but I think we all know the winner...