I always like to indulge in a Halloween themed top ten at this time of year... and this time, it has really big teeth! (Bob Seger gave you an extra clue yesterday, with his Silver Bullet Band.)
I used to be a werewolf, you know. But I'm alright no-ooooooooooow!
A lot of film fans rate Stanley Kubrick as the pre-eminent auteur director of the 20th Century. Some of those same cinephiles don't rate The Shining as highly as his other movies. Stephen King famously hated Kubrick's adaptation of his novel.
I can take or leave most Kubrick movies, especially 2001, which I just never got. Yet despite the fact that Stephen King is my favourite author, I love Kubrick's The Shining. It must have watched it more than just any movie apart from The Big Lebowski, Back To The Future and Die Hard. And following on from Shelley Duvall, Stanley Kubrick was an obvious contender for the Celebrity Jukebox.
Turns out he's an incredibly well-referenced fellow, particularly in the rap world where auteurs and visionaries are clearly admired. Frank Ocean drops his name more than once. Jay Z, Lupe Fiasco, A$AP Rocky... they all dig Stan. And who better to follow those cutting edge sophisticates than... Jimmy Buffet?
You've no idea how many songs I found that mentioned Stanley Kubrick. Some of them referencing 2001, others A Clockwork Orange or Full Metal Jacket, a surprising amount his final movie, Eyes Wide Shut. Some even seem to believe that old conspiracy theory that NASA hired Kubrick to fake the 1969 moon landing. Take Mansun, for example...
It was incredible how many of those references were from modern artists, proving how much of an influence his movies still have among the young people. It got to the point where I was just an old man wandering through a virtual record store and every shelf was filled with artists I'd never heard of and couldn't even begin to connect with. Although there were a few discoveries that matched my own oddball sensibilities. Here's a few titular mentions as brief evidence of how I spent my Christmas holiday...
In the end though, I had to admit defeat. There were literally thousands of musical references to Stanley Kubrick, and like a clockwork orange about to explode, the jukebox was on the verge of overload.
Then one song came to my rescue. It's by Scatman Crothers, an actor and singer who began his musical career in the 30s... and went on to be immortalised as The Overlook Hotel's head chef, Dick Hallorann. He's the man with "The Shining". And he knew Stanley Kubrick quite well. He even wrote a song about him, from first-hand experience...
There's a man living in London town, makes movies, he's world renown
Yes, he's really got the fame Stanley Kubrick is his name
Yes he does it all, I'm telling you all, Stanley does it all
He might work you days and days, you'll find out it really pays
He's a perfectionist you know, he's got to be right before you go
He does it all, he does it all, Stanley does it all
This week, JC, the Vinyl Villain, is back with another timely Top Ten. He wrote this one a few weeks back, but I still think it's relevant. Yes, they may be easing those lockdown restrictions, but most of us still feel like prisoners, maybe enjoying day release from time to time, but with the ever-present threat of going back into solitary confinement very soon. Anyway, it's another great list of songs from the Blogfather himself. Take it away, JC...
It really does feel that the lockdown and the various restrictions have been with us forever, but as I read on some wag's social media account the other day, we are still only around half the time that Bryan Adams had a terrible song at #1 back in 1991.
Here's ten songs whose titles kind of sum up my mood in recent weeks.
Surely there's nobody out there who will disagree? The way we go about earning a living, especially for those who spend their time in offices, has been transformed beyond recognition and an increasing move to more home-working, post COVID-19, does seem likely. The knock-on effects on the sustainability of town and city centres, which were already under threat from changing ways that we undertake retail therapy, will be significant.
OK, so some of the initial restrictions are being eased, but if the scientists are right with their predictions, then we will likely have to revert to the draconian state of affairs when the second wave of the pandemic comes swooping across the UK.
I wasn't paying too much attention to what was going on outside of my own city of Glasgow, but it was utterly surreal to go online and look at images of totally deserted streets which would normally be thronged with workers, shoppers and folk out socialising and having a good time. The picture that will long stick in my memory is that of a wild deer strolling care-free outside the entrance of our largest shopping centre.
No matter how frustrating it is to be stuck indoors for much of the time, especially during such an extended period of dry and hot weather, unable to have any real social interaction with family, friends and loved ones, the advice is there for the benefit of us all and reflects that a collective effort is required to get us through the worst of times. It does appear, for various, if understandable reasons (see #2 above) that more and more folk are breaking free. It's probably best that everyone follows the advice in the next song title...
Malcolm almost got two entries in this list. 'Blue Plastic Bags', written in 2008, has the chorus to end all choruses just now - 'Staying in is the new going out'.
OK, it's a tad obvious. Dedicated to the essential workers, and not just in the NHS and Care Homes. If you're a hedge fund manager or an investment banker, then don't you ever dare tell me again that what you do is important and without which our economy and society would collapse.
I took early retirement from my job on Friday 27 March, an event that had been long in the pipeline. All sorts of plans were in place to travel and do things I'd long dreamed of. Everything is on hold and I've found that there are only so many books to be read or re-read, television boxsets to be devoured and old albums dusted down to be listened to before frustration and angst settles in.
No apologies for finishing off with two songs together. The President has been an abject failure in his handling of the COVID-19 crisis which is now being exacerbated by his responses to the protests in the wake of the murder of George Floyd. Everyone is entitled to be angry, but it really is worth clinging to the words of hope in this, sadly still highly relevant, civil rights anthem from the 60s.
There've been times that I thought
I couldn't last for long
But now I'm able to carry on
It's been a long time coming
But I know
A change gonna come
Oh, yes it will
And on that day, there will be a collective rendition of Hallelujah.
JC
Thank you, JC. I don't think anyone could argue with any of your choices there. It's an honour to have you guest again... ...but now, the doors are open to everyone else. As it stands, I don't have any more guest posts lined up (not even Lynchie's Jerry Hall story), so the future of Guest Post Thursday is in your hands. Do you have a Top Ten, a story to tell, a Grumpy Old Man (or Woman) Song, a Positive Song For Negative Times or even a Mid-Life Crisis tune? Email me if you do. I'll try to remember to leave my email address in the comments section, but if I don't, shout at me really loudly.
