Snapshots #421: Songs About Frauds, Hoaxes, Cons & Liars

Don't believe a word any of them say...

15. What happens when you dunk. 

You get a...

Limp Bizkit - Counterfeit

14. Princess found in dish of bacteria.

Princess Grace in a petri dish...

Grace Petrie - Nobody Knows That I'm A Fraud

13. Ten delays, but not in a row. 

"Ten delays" was an anagram.

Steely Dan - The Royal Scam

12. Royal drummer caught speeding.

The drummer in Queen is Roger Taylor.

Taylor Swift - Hoax

11. Back then: monotonous noises. Nowadays: spies in the sky.

The Drones - Lookalikes

10. What’s the price of a greeting?

What's the cost...'ello?

Elvis Costello – The Imposter

9. A mixtape of memories.

The Soundtrack Of Our Lives - 21st Century Rip Off

8. Hit snooze!

The Alarm - The Deceiver

7. I deny the accusation that I was ever part of this group.

Rol-in-Band? Never!

Rollins Band - Liar

6. A Great King, and Ryan.

Alexander The Great meets Ryan O'Neal.

Alexander O’Neal – Fake

5. Found in a chocolate ganache, and salsa ravioli.  

Chocolate ganache, and salsa ravioli.  

Tegan & Sara – The Con

4. Found in Essex, and in an arsenal.

Sex Pistols -  The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle

3. Used to transport Bones to the Enterprise.

Get the Van for Dr. McCoy.

Van McCoy & The Soul City Symphony - The Hustle

2. Achy Breaky Dino.

Achy Breaky Heart was Billy Ray Cyrus. Dean Martin was Dino.

Billie Ray Martin – Imitation Of Life 

1. Mr. Ferry, I deduce. But I’m probably mixed up.

"Mr. Ferry, I deduce" was an angram.

Freddie Mercury - The Great Pretender

Trust me when I say that Snapshots will be back next Saturday.

Snapshots #361: A Top Ten Existential Question Songs

Above are a series of self-portraits taken by Austrian philosopher and photographer (although he gave them both up to become a shepherd in later life), Ludwig Wittgenstein. On pondering the great unanswerable philosophical questions, Wittgenstein came up with the best answer I've ever heard when he said, "I don't know why we are here, but I'm pretty sure that it is not in order to enjoy ourselves."

And with that in mind, here are some more big questions to ponder...

10. Pee Wee zeroes in on the answer.

Pee Wee zeroes...

Weezer - Why Bother?

9. When the still sea conspires an armour, and her sullen and aborted currents breed tiny monsters, true sailing is dead!

Those are the 6th Form Poetry opening lyrics of Horse Latitudes by The Doors. But I'm sure you all knew that...

Horse Latitudes - What Is More Than Life? 

8. They're new, but they've been around long enough to be considered outstanding.

Classix Nouveau - Is It A Dream?

7. More than half of Genesis were pretty good.

The first half in particular...

Gene - Why Was I Born?

6. A dreamer, in the Caribbean.  

Freddie was one of the Dreamers. Montserrat is an island in the Caribbean.

Freddie Mercury & Montserrat Caballé - How Can I Go On?

5. We're all going together, on the bus.

Coach Party - What's The Point In Life?

4. What connects Christopher Cross, Utopia, Octopus and Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine? 

Each one contains a TOP. Add them together and you have...

Four Tops - What Is A Man?

3. Furtive canine inquiry. 

Snoop Doggy Dogg - Who Am I?

2. Oz, Raleigh, Pidgeon.

One Frank (Oz) and two Walters...

The Frank & Walters - How Can I Exist?

1. By...! What Cat's In The Cradle is about.

By George! Cats In The Cradle was about Harry's son.

George Harrison - What Is Life?

Thanks for playing. I'll be back with more existential questions for you to ponder tomorrow. 'Will Snapshots return next Saturday?' won't be one of them...

Snapshots #334: A Top Ten Mr. Men Songs

Mr. Happy, Mr. Tickle, Mr. Silly, Mr. Topsy-Turvy... when Roger Hargreaves created this Mr. Men, I think these might be some of the characters he rejected...

10. Coldly, Leo gets disorientated.

"Coldly, Leo" is an anagram.

Lloyd Cole - Mr. Malcontent

9. Marks' partner forms a band with Miles.

Marks & Spencer meets Miles Davis...

The Spencer Davis Group - Mr. Second Class

8. Ernie's pal will meet you at the chapel.

Ernie knocked around with Eric (not our Ernie... although, who knows?) in a Church.

Eric Church - Mr. Misunderstood

7. Freeloader who raises the temperature.

Freddie Freeloader - yes, it's Miles Davis Day here at My Top Ten - makes the Mercury rise...

Freddie Mercury - Mr. Bad Guy

6. I doubt he's sharper than a serpent's tooth...

A doubting Thomas, and a quote from King Lear... hey, I'm an English teacher - sue me!

Thomas Leer - Mr. Nobody

5. Second rate Gremlins.

After the success of Gremlins, everyone wanted a little scary monster movie. This was one of the unfortunate results...

The Critters - Mr. Dieingly Sad

4. Swapping chainmail for denim.

A Knight in Jeans? I'd stick with the armour...

Jean Knight - Mr. Big Stuff

3. Bass and treble? Seaweed and pebble?

Could one of those be Cockney Rhyming Slang for Rebel?

Cockney Rebel - Mr. Soft

At a push, I would also have allowed...

Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel - Mr. Raffles

2. Rear appendage or fast bird?

Tail... or swift?

Taylor Swift - Mr. Perfectly Fine

(And if that looks like an Odd Song Out... it isn't!)

1. Tired dingos are easily befuddled.

"Tired dingos" was an anagram...

Otis Redding - Mr. Pitiful

Mr. Loverman (Shabba!) says there will be more Snapshots next Saturday...

Snapshots #210: A Top Ten Courtroom Songs

Who's afraid of Saturday Snapshots? Not you guys, jumping around like a cat on a hot tin roof, solving even the trickiest clues.

Here's a round-up of this week's answers...

10. Scouse pounds.

Mersey... beats!

The Merseybeats - I Stand Accused

(Yes, I was more familiar with the Elvis Costello version, but he features here often enough.)

9. Fruity Hindu god.

Rama is a Hindu god. (An avatar of Vishnu, to be precise.)

Bananarama - Love In The First Degree

8. They sang songs for the lost and the lonely.

Pearl's a singer. She sings songs for the lost and the lonely.

The Pearls - Guilty

7. A Jock's newborn.

Anagram!

Jackson Browne - Lawyers In Love

6. London, Paris, Washington D.C.

Capital Cities - Kangaroo Court

5. Cowboy kid and Ethan's brother.

Billy the Kid and Joel Coen of the Coen Brothers makes former boxer...

Billy Joel - An Innocent Man

4. Measuring oxymoron.

Shorty Long - Here Comes The Judge

3. Cooke meets Godfather.

Sam Cooke meets James Brown... by way of Marvin Gaye.

Sam Brown - Can I Get A Witness?

2. Red furry dice me!

Anagram!

Freddie Mercury - In My Defence

1. Top of the charts, in (cod) German.

Zee v...one!

Warren Zevon - Lawyers, Guns & Money

More Snapshots, Taylor-made for you, next Saturday.