Sometimes I have an obvious idea for the Celebrity Jukebox and think, "this'll be a quick one, there won't be that many other songs". And then I learn my lesson.
Arthur Lee was born in Memphis in 1945. He first recorded with The LAGS when he was 18. He wrote the almost-hit My Diary for Rosa Lee Brooks, featuring a young Jimi Hendrix on guitar. Then he formed The American Four and wrote for Ronnie and the Pomona Casuals, a band who liked to make records about the dance craze known as The Jerk. And then he fell in Love, and everything changed... forever.
Here are some songs that mention Arthur, starting with Robyn Hitchcock...
The wreck of the Arthur Lee Will never return again The captain and all his men Went up and jumped overboard "Jesus is Lord" they cried Believe in love! Believe in Love And I'll believe in you
In 1996, Arthur Lee was sent to prison "for a crime he did not commit". He spent five and a half years before someone else confessed to the crime, the original prosecutor was found guilty of misconduct, and the charges against him were reversed on appeal. While he was inside, two of his former bandmates died, so a proposed Love reunion was never to be.
Arthur lying down dreaming a dream Woke up to realise life wasn't as it seems Four walls a bed and a wonderful view But he's feeling lonely without the rest of his crew The prison's going down
Walter Schreifels was the frontman of a bunch of New York bands starting in the mid-80s, including Rival Schools, Quicksand and Walking Concert. And here he is on his own...
"Tactics were one of the most celebrated acts on Australia's new wave scene," says their bandcamp page. But that also tells me they're from France, so what do I know?
And those were just the ones I could find links to. Plenty more where they came from... but let's pause to consider a few more well known names. Like Shack. Did you know that in the 90s, Shack were Arthur Lee's backing band? Well, you do now.
How can you shine so bright and still you shine for me? Travelling through the night a million miles with me Listening to Wild Mountain Thyme, The Byrds and Arthur Lee
David Bowie was Hunky Dory Aladdin quite insane Give the sound of Arthur Lee with Forever Changes, I'll remember And more again, don't leave me ever Buddy Holly said, "Baby, please be mine" All the time.
Beware of the man who only shows you the best bits Beware of the band who type out their set lists Sometimes instead of Arthur Lee I’d much prefer some Arthur Lowe And with you by my side I would aspire to ascend Such heights where we’d find Tears and laughter cease to matter And we’d be pleasantly surprised By our annual water bill
All of which brings us to the inevitable. Unarguably the greatest tune ever to name-drop the Love frontman, it's also a highlight of one of the greatest albums of the 80s...
Looking like a born again, living like a heretic Listening to Arthur Lee records, making all your friends feel so guilty About their cynicism and the rest of their generation Not even the government are gonna stop you now But are you ready to be heartbroken ? Are you ready to be heartbroken ?
Still stuck in the decade before I was born, when everybody swung one way or another, we come to
photographer David Bailey, who, as we discovered on Monday, made his career
from taking nice pictures of “the most beautiful girl in the world”. Therefore
David pops up in a few songs we’ve already listened to recently, including Seth
Swirsky’s Watercolour Day and France Gall’s Made In France.
However, I did find three other songs that mention Mr.
Bailey, and at least two of them are worth a listen.
Before we get onto those, let’s take a moment to remember
another David Bailey, an American singer songwriter of the Christian variety, who sadly died of cancer
back in 2010.
And now, the main event. Let’s start with Wivenhoe’s finest,
Martin Newell, and his prolific lo fi weirdoes The Cleaners From Venus. This is
their Swinging 60s tribute song named after David McCallum’s Man From Uncle
character, and featuring references to the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Harold Wilson,
David Hemmings and David Bailey, among others.
I did already add that to the Rita Tushingham jukebox, but
it’s worth another spin. Some question over whether the same applies to
Macca’s brothers band and their past-its-sell-by-date brand of cheeky scampery,
but as we’re here… we can a least listen to the theme tune to another former
jukebox star’s big 60s sitcom…
There’s sexy girls in Copenhagen
Nagasaki, Rome and Paris
None compare with Liverpool’s
Ask David Bailey or Richard Harris
Just don’t bother asking Brian Wilson.
Still in Liverpool, but with far more class, here’s Michael
Head, my sole reason for committing this post to the blogosphere…
When you wake up in the morning
And I’m still scratching my head and yawning
Just leave your hair for now
Fantasise, don’t realise
That the telephone is in your eyes
Could be the wrong number somehow
And David Bailey’s a million miles from you now
C said that Howard Jones looks better now... I actually think he sounds better now. I was never that fussed at the time, but now I find these decent enough pop songs.
5. Coo-lumbo, Sherlock Homing and Agent Coop-er remove a lady's rear.
I'm not the world's biggest fan of the Pigeon Detectives, but sometimes the clue is too good to avoid...
These are The Bens, a super-group comprising of Ben Folds, Ben Lee and Ben Kweller, artists who all did time in my record collection before joining together like the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers into a huge unstoppable indie robot of destruction. Or something.
Anyway, they seemed the perfect choice to illustrate our choice of Ben, Benjamin and Benny songs, although you guys were also kind enough to suggest...
And then there's my millennial hipster politico friend, Ben, who is way too young and cool to participate in blog-reading. He's of the podcast generation. Which, if you ask me, are just blogs for people too lazy to read. Anyway, Ben suggests...
Ben Gibbard of Death Cab For Cutie
Ben's choice of song is a b-side ("because, of course...") cover of a Freedy Johnston song...
I should take this opportunity to point out I have a Ben Gibbard live solo track in my hard drive (plus all the obvious Death Cab stuff) and it too is a cover...
Anyway, more from my millennial hipster politico friend, Ben later.
At this point, I feel I should remind you all of the rules to this game. We're not after artists with the name Ben (although I'm happy to give them a mention if they're of the calibre of the Bens above)... but songs that feature them.
The Bad: in We Didn't Start The Fire, Billy Joel (not Benny Joel) lists:
Buddy Holly, Ben-Hur
Space Monkey, Mafia
Hula Hoops, Castro
Edsel is a no-go
It runs to 4 verses before he realises that he's only got to 1963, so compresses the next 30 years into a single verse.
Now even if you didn't know (which you do) that Billy is one of my favourite artists, RD... well, I never understood the hate that's always thrown at this track. It's almost become cool to hate on it. But even though it's not Billy's finest hour, I will defend it to my dying day. It's a great pop song.
The bleedin' awful (although some may like it): that song by Wacko Jacko about a rat.
Yes, we'll get to that in a moment.
First though, here are the scrapings from my hard-drive...
As for Ben songs, I don't have much. Will there ever be a time when it's ok to enjoy MJ songs in a guilt-free manner? I always loved the rat song so hope it does end up in there but would understand why it might not.
What about my millennial hipster politico friend, Ben? If anyone can advise us on such a PC-minefield, surely it's him? Except... turns out it's a little more complicated than that.
I'm named after the Ben that Michael Jackson sang about in the 80s.
Ouch. So you're named after a rat?
No, that sick kid who died in the hospital in the 80s.
Now I have to admit that I have no recollection of this myself, but my millennial hipster politico friend Ben claims that MJ sang the song as a tribute to a sick child back in the decade he was only born right at the end of. I did question what he knew of the 80s based on his tender years, to which he replied:
I use Boys From The Black Stuff and Robert Palmer as the two extremes, then just make assumptions about what goes in between.
(This is the kind of reply that makes me feel like Ben and I should do our own middle-aged loser vs. hipster politico podcast... however, the likelihood of me ever having the time to indulge in such fripperies seems zero.)
Anyway, the point is, I never really got an answer on whether it's OK to listen to Michael Jackson songs these days. So I'll play this instead...
While The Soul Of A Collector offers a favourite of mine from years gone by...
If we are allowed to include clocks in the figurin', then I am guessing there are a number of songs alluding to London's famous timepiece, the best of which I can come up with is:
Ah, Ben/Benjamin, my first love was called Ben, and I have fond memories of holding hands with him on a Summer afternoon. I was only six (and so was he, I hasten to add!)
As for songs - I brought Mr SDS (who is not called Ben) in on this one and he came up with a slice of '60s garage pop called 'Ben Franklin's Almanac' by the Cryan' Shames. None from me, I'm afraid.
This one was suggested by my millennial hipster politico friend Ben, who always insists he isn't a Benjamin himself.
I should point out that when I asked him to contribute to this post, I did tell him that the choice of name for this week was in no way down to him. Subconsciously, however, it probably was, since our ongoing text chats about music, film, comics and the occasional bit of politics (which I only pretend to understand) over the past few months have been one of the only things that have kept me sane. I should thank him for that. But I probably won't because neither of us do sincerity very well.
British born rapper who wears a Doctor Doom mask to perform and the song features the line:
Getting Benjamins like Nettenyahu
...speaking to the absolute corruption of Nettenyahu as the leader of the Israeli state whilst putting a spin on the traditional rap conceit of hustling, suggesting it's not always a good thing.
Don't worry, I didn't understand that either. But I do like that he wears a Dr. Doom mask.
Oh, look, it's that Ben Folds guy again. I don't feel too bad about featuring him twice (as I've long been a huge fan) because Alyson emphatically stated:
Ben Folds for the artist.
And Martin added:
Plus anything by the always-excellent Ben Folds Five.
This isn't actually by the Five, but it does owe more than a little debt to this...
(As does Ben's whole career, come to think of it.)
I'll start with the obvious one, said Charity Chic, and indeed it was, so a few of you also suggested it. It's a great live performance, lyrically satirising the music industry of the 70s, with more than just a passing nod to Ziggy Stardust, I reckon, care of Bernie Taupin.
And if you don't like that, perhaps you'll prefer the Beastie Boys... ahem... "sloppy version"...
Top of Brian's list and almost at the top of mine. Brilliant stuff.
He's saving up for a new Ben Sherman He says he'd like to fuck Uma Thurman I don't think that he'll get too far With either those dreams He's got his eyes on a pair of Pumas He says I should cut my hair like Uma's If he thinks I'd go along with His sordid fancies
1. Shack - Streets Of Kenny
I've got to give this week's win to John Medd though. It's only a lyrical nod (in a song already featured in Kenny Wednesdays, way back when)... but what a song!
Looking for the boys again
Can't find Joe or Benny
NEXT WEEK: OUR TOP TEN BARBARA / BARBRA / BARBIE (!?) SONGS
Once again, there will be an obvious Number One. But what else can you find to fill out the 10...?
Nowhere in the rules does it state Kenny Wednesdays always have to involve a person called Kenny. Today, it's an area of Liverpool (L6) where the Quarrymen made their first recording.
Famous sons of "Kenny" include Ian McNabb; David Morrissey; Joe, Mark and Paul McGann; and the Head brothers, John and Michael, otherwise known as The Pale Fountains... and Shack. Which brings us to this little love letter to the Heads' hometown, from Shack's 1999 masterpiece, HMS Fable...
