Saturday Snapshots #149 - The Answers

Here they are...

10. Every day's the same - no wonder these rogues want to be let into hell!

Rakes at the gates of hell?

The Rakes - Work, Work, Work (Pub, Sleep, Club)

9. Is there a (half) man present?

Half Man Half Biscuit leads us to the Cookies.

The Cookies - I Want A Boy For My Birthday

Morrissey & Marr's debut home recording was a cover of this song.

8. Touching Paul Rodgers, with sugar.

Paul Rodgers was in Free.

Cream & sugar.

Cream - I Feel Free

7. Bedfordshire birds nest for the weekend, on Radiohead's desert island.

Leyton Buzzard is in Bedfordshire.

Radiohead sang about Fake Plastic Trees.

The Leyton Buzzards - Saturday Night (Beneath The Plastic Palm Trees)

6. I am not in either... look in the mirror, as the adverts used to say.

Take I from either and you're left with Ether.

If you really want to know, look in the Mirror, as the tabloid ads used to sing. When I were a lad.

Ether - If You Really Want To Know

5. No moon after B52 love missile.

The B52's shack... under attack... on a dark night.

Shakatak - Dark Is The Night

I hated Shakatak when I was a teenager too. Now though, I feel a curious nostalgia for the chart detritus of my youth.

4. Scottish wife found in crummy Georgian pub.

A Scottish wife would be a Mc-Bride.

Dahlonega is in Georgia. Of course!

Ashley McBryde - A Little Dive Bar In Dahlonega

3. Donald grew, Dan growled, Rod wangled. But George was all on his own.

The first three are all anagrams... but George on his own would be a Lonely Boy.

Andrew Gold - Lonely Boy

Can't believe it's take me 149 (+) weeks to feature that.

2. Seymour's kleptomania exposed.

Jane Seymour is addicted to stealing... but now she's been caught.

Jane's Addiction - Been Caught Stealing

Brian held the drummer's paint can. Now that's a claim to fame!

1. Gemuflect. Pork scratchings and a cuppa.

A diamond is a gem.

Genuflect means "to lower one's body briefly by bending one knee to the ground"... or kneel.

Pork scratchings are crackling.

Rosie Lee.

My Top Ten Roadworks Songs

These days, there are roadworks everywhere. It sometimes feels like some evil despot has traced a map of my journey to work and strategically placed mobile traffic lights at key places along every possible route. And why do they have to dig a hole and then leave it for a week, doing nothing in the meantime, before filling it in again? Why, oh why, oh why... Grumpy Old Man is moaning again.

Anyway, when I sat down to do a Top Ten songs about roadworks, I expected it to be a bit easier than it turned out to be. I may have missed some obvious ones... you'll tell me if I have, I'm sure.

Special mention to Men At Work...


10. Ether - Roadworks

The only song I can find with roadworks in the title - a forgotten speedbump on the rocky road of Britpop.

9. Bruce Hornsby - The Changes

I do like a good ivory-tickler, and Bruce is one of the best. With added smooth jazz here too!

The owner says he thinks we need some work
"Got a place for you, we got some roadwork -
Laying asphalt on the interstate."
Nobody cares, and why should they?

8. Nizlopi - JCB Song

You know when you get stuck behind a JCB on your way to work and you're cursing it? Remember - it might be Nizlopi's dad driving it.

7. Cosmo Jarvis - Road Closed

Another day, another road closure.

It seems Cosmo has closed the road on his music career lately, preferring to concentrate on acting. I hope he returns to the tunes soon.

6. Randy Newman - Potholes

God bless the potholes down on memory lane... Randy at his witty best.

5. Tom Waits - In The Neighbourhood

It appears Tom feels a similar frustration to the one I vented at the top of this post...

And there's always construction work bothering you
In the neighbourhood

And the jackhammer's diggin' up the sidewalks again
In the neighbourhood

But Tom Waits for NO roadworks!

4. Billy Bragg - From A Vauxhall Velux

Best use of the word "contraflow" in a pop song ever?

Mark E. Smith fans may choose to disagree.

3. The Beatles - A Day In The Life

You think your road is bad? Just be glad you don't live in Blackburn, Lancashire.

2. Bruce Springsteen - Working On The Highway

Take pity on the men who have to dig up our roads, particularly the ones who have no choice in the matter...

I work for the county out on 95
All day I hold a red flag and watch the traffic pass me by
In my head I keep a picture of a pretty little miss
Someday, mister, I'm gonna lead a better life than this

1. Sam Cooke - Chain Gang

Speaking of the guys working on the chain gang... here's the greatest song ever devoted to digging up roads.

All day long they work so hard
Till the sun is goin' down
Working on the highways and byways
And wearing, wearing a frown
You hear them moanin' their lives away
Then you hear somebody sa-ay

That's the sound of the men working on the chain gang

Although I could also have gone with...

The Pretenders - Back On The Chain Gang

The Raveonettes - Chain Gang Of Love

Johnny Cash - I'm Free From The Chain Gang Now


Which song hold you up on your way to work?