Saturday Snapshots #36 - Answers

War, war is stupid and people are stupid... but not you guys, because you solve Saturday Snapshots every week! (Well, as I type this there are two still oustanding... but I'm hoping someone will solve them overnight). I may be a man without conviction, but I appreciate you playing along every weekend... and I think we can all agree that C is this week's undisputed Karma Chameleon. Well done, C!


10.  Tomorrows' last page.

The placement of the possessive apostrophe is important as it indicates more than one Sunday.

The last page is where the story ends.

The Sundays - Here's Where The Story Ends

9. Talking is wonderful with sweet Lauryn.

Lauryn Hill is sweet like sugar.

The Sugarhill Gang - Rapper's Delight

8. Elvis licks your salty cheeks.

Elvis was the King. But you knew that.

King - The Taste Of Your Tears

7. Finding your award in the W.C. - between a rock and a hard place.

That would be an Emmy award found in the loo, you see.

Apologies to the people of Birmingham.

Emmylou Harris - From Boulder To Birmingham

6. Anyone know where I can find my lady? She's a little timid around low calorie dishes.

You don't really need me to explain this one, do you?

The Chi-Lites - Have You Seen Her?

5. Captured reindeer would like to boogie.

Blitzen was a reindeer, captured in a trap.

Better name for a band than Rudolph Trapper, I think.

Blitzen Trapper - Dance With Me

4. Like Billy Joel said, I'm All For a good scratch. Not 13.

Billy Joel sang All For Leyna.

If you like a good scratch then you love an itch.

13 is not usually a lucky number.

Lene Lovich - Lucky Number

3. How I feel yesterday: warm and radiant.

I feel is present tense, so yesterday I felt.

Right now, there are a couple of people kicking themselves.

Felt - Sunlight Bathed The Golden Glow

2. Baby scallywags give positive affection.

Young Rascals - Good Lovin'

1. Fake medicine for Mrs. Reagan's son.

Fake medicine is a placebo.

Mrs. Reagan's son would be Nancy's Boy... which always reminds me of an old Spitting Image sketch about Larry Speakes, of which the title of this song is the punchline. But I can't find it on youtube, sadly.

Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?

No?

Then make sure you come back again next week.

My Top Ten Na Na Na Songs

Whenever I write these lists, I end up talking a lot about lyrics. I've always been a lyrics man, ever since I was a lonely teenager sat with his headphones on studying the Steinbeckian stories of Bruce Springsteen, trying to puzzle out the puns of vintage Elvis Costello or wondering (in my 20s, sadly, as I came to him late) how Morrissey could write so incisively about my life when he'd never even met me.

But... there is an alternative. Those jubilant singalongs where the lyrics don't matter - all you need is a good nananana! Don't even start me on the sha-la-las, lalalas, shooby doos or woo-hoos...


Be warned, this Top Ten starts off scary... and then goes places you really won't want to believe.


10. Bananarama - Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye

Originally by Steam, who had an unfortunate habit of being photographed like this...

...hence why I went with the Bananarama version. Well, that and they have nana in their name.

9. Opus - Live Is Life

Na-na na na-na.

"Formed in 1973, Opus remain active today."

Just you try to sleep tonight with that little factoid pinging around in your cranium.

8. Blur - Charmless Man

Nana nana naa na-naa-aa...

I bet Damon Albarn knows his claret from his Beaujolais. 

7. King - Alone Without You

Na-na. Na n-na. Nana na na na n-na.

Ah, the 80s. So much to answer for. What do you get when you cross a quiff and a mullet? A quillet or a muiff? Surely you must be paulking!

6. blink-182 - All The Small Things

 Nana nana nana na nana naa. Nana nana nana na nana naa.

Always loved the video to this, where the pop punk rascals pretend to be NSYNCH.

5. The Beatles - Hey Jude

Little-remembered beat combo from the 60s. Apparently the lead singer went on to form Wings. Don't know what happened to the rest of them.

4. My Chemical Romance - Na Na Na

Before they imploded and Gerard Way converted to pseudo-Britpop solo albums (!) and comic book writing, MCR became one of the more interesting pop bands of the 21st Century. Emo? What's emo?

3. Wilson Pickett - Land Of 1000 Dances

Na. Nana na naa. Nana na naa nana na nana na. Nana na naaa.

Already featured (in far more detail!) in My Top Ten Mashed Potato Songs, but too good to miss out.

2. Pink - So What

Nana nana na na naa, nana nana na na.

I love Pink. And I don't care who knows it.

She does scare the bejeebus out of me though.

1. J Geils Band - Centrefold

John Warren Geils Jr (pictured above) died earlier this week at the age of '71. He was the lead guitarist of the band that took his name, although lead singer Peter Wolf co-wrote a lot of the bands biggest hits along with keyboardist Seth Justman. In the UK, they're really only known for one song... but what a song!

Na na nana na na. Na na na nana na na na.

Their harmonica player was called Magic Dick.That will be all.




This was a re-post (edited somewhat to act as a tribute to the late J. Geils) from my old blog (December 2010). The scary thing is, the original post was a Top 20. So be warned... I have a volume 2 on standby if you say anything too hurtful in the comments section...

My Top Ten Alone... Songs

There are hundreds of great songs about being alone. So I had to narrow down the running.

Here's ten that begin with the word 'Alone'... do play by the rules now.



10. The Strokes - Alone, Together

The Strokes are OK. I still kinda prefer their dad. (See last week's Top Ten.)

9. The Morning After Girls - Alone

One of the reasons I do this blog is because it forces me to listen to songs that exist in my record collection that I've never listened to before. This was ripped from one of those free magazine CDs a few years back... and it's pretty cool.

8. The Bee Gees - Alone

Because we don't get enough Bee Gees round these parts.

7. Spearmint - Alone In A Town

According to google, this song does not exist. Which is a crying shame because it's a tragic story of Shirley Lee's loneliest student Christmas. Track it down and share his misery.

6. King - Alone Without You

Do not watch the video. Remember this song without sullying your eyeballs with the worst excesses of 80s pop nonsense. No wonder Paul King ended up working for MTV.

Na-na Na nana 
Nana Naa Na na nana!

5. The Beautiful South - Alone

Half an hour is seven hours
One day is several months... alone.

Heato at his most heartbreaking.

He knows 'hello' in 18 languages
'I love you' in only one
By the time he's got his phrasebook
His chance is usually gone

4. The Broken Family Band - Alone In The Make-Out Room

A song about being feeling terribly alone in a "happy" relationship... gone very bad.

I wanna watch you drown in a lake
Or get stamped by a bull or bit by a snake
And there is not a single doctor who will come and help you

I want you to move to Australia
With me a success and you facing failure
And all of the friends you had ignoring your calls

3. Heart - Alone

All I need is to hear the opening line and suddenly I'm 15 again and no one will ever love me...

2. Gilbert O'Sullivan - Alone Again, Naturally

First Gilbert gets dumped at the altar, then his mum and dad pop their clogs. No wonder he wants to top himself...

In a little while from now,
If I'm not feeling any less sour
I promised myself to treat myself
And visit a nearby tower,
And climbing to the top,
Will throw myself off
In an effort to make it clear to who
Ever what it's like when your shattered
Left standing in the lurch, at a church
where people 're saying,
"My God that's tough, she stood him up!
No point in us remaining.
We may as well go home."
As I did on my own,
Alone again, naturally

Pure suicide anthem joy. No wonder Morrissey was a fan.

1. Love - Alone Again, Or

One of the greatest songs of the sixties, just mesmerising. Love that Spanish guitar.

Pretty damned fine 80s cover by The Damned too. (Although the video features possibly the worst moustache ever seen in show business.)




Please don't leave me all alone without a comment...

My Top Ten Pride Songs (Seven Deadly Sins #7)

I'm proud to say this concludes our jaunt through the deadliest of sins...


10. Bonnie Raitt - Love Has No Pride

If you were looking for that U2 song... here's one reason why you won't find it here. (The other reason: it's by U2.)

Also memorably covered by this bloke...

9. Billy Bragg - Swallow My Pride

From Billy's excellent new album Tooth & Nail... yep, he's still got it.

Oh how can a man be strong?
He can't even lift up telephone and say he's wrong 

If I want you back again
Then I know what I must do
Got to swallow my pride and get back home to you.

8. The Donnas - Have You No Pride?

 The Donnas offer advice to a hopeless romantic.

Shoegazers in blazers
Introduce you to razors, so that
The Wilson twins, they can see you
In all your glory, in all your glory

7. King - Love & Pride

Weren't the 80s brilliant?

If you're in any doubt, check out the video in which Paul King wanders round an old quarry with a can of spray paint wearing a green suit, red boots and a raven on his head before teaching a bunch of kids how to breakdance. It cost 50p to film and they still had change for a bag of chips.

6. James Brown -  Say It Loud (I'm Black and I'm Proud)

 Could the Godfather of Soul ever say anything quietly?

5. Beautiful South - Mother's Pride

He's presentable, well looked after
He's domestically disastrous
He's adorable - Mother's Pride

Maternal versus paternal influence... and it does seem Paul Heaton thinks you're better off taking after your mum.

He'll always roam the yard looking for a fight
He'll pick on all the kids who're twice his height
He's the reason dinner ladies toss and turn at night
Teacher's Blight - Father's Pride 

See also Mother's Pride by George Michael, which has aged far, far better than you'd imagine it would. 

4. Dexys Midnight Runners - My National Pride

Kevin Rowland reclaims the notion of national pride from the fascists and the politicians in a deeply touching ode from the woefully under-appreciated Don't Stand Me Down album.

I've denied my beautiful heritage
Gone away from my roots and come back home again
I gave away my individuality
And listened to the "now" generation
When really I'm not one of those
But love has brought me closer to the truth and right now
I couldn't be any closer
To love your father is a fulfilling thing
My national pride is a personal pride

3. Robert Palmer - Pride

Batley Bob goes reggae with an amusing tale about a guy who loses his woman to the gym.

You want her attention
Well, you’ll have to wait
She’s in the gymnasium
Reducing weight
In shorts of a leotard
Despite her age
The girl’s gonna exercise
Your life away

2. Creedence Clearwater Revival - Proud Mary

A song about quitting your job in the city and going off to work on a riverboat... also famously recorded by Ike & Tina Turner and Solomon Burke.

1. The Temptations - Ain't Too Proud To Beg

Genius. 





Which would you be proud to call your Number One?