When I'm putting Snapshot together, I try to get a mix of bands that haven't featured often before, which means that some of the usual suspects and old favourites end up on the operating room floor...
Ben sent me the above cartoon from The Grauniad shortly after last week's post about the AI Armageddon. It says a lot about the dangers of online rabbit holes and the propensity in human nature to allow ourselves to be willingly sucked down them.
I've been reading a lot more books lately. When Sam was younger and I was still working in The Bad Place, my reading-for-pleasure had significantly reduced, to the point where I was only managing a page or two a night (if that) and averaging under ten books completed in a year. I've got a much healthier reading regime going at the moment, at least two a month, more if they're shorter. I've taken to listing my latest reads on Goodreads... but then I find myself needing to add a review... and well, it's a slippery slope, isn't it?
You may recall that last week's anti-AI rant was spurred by a training session at work... one in which I felt rather like Chief Brody on the beach in Jaws, telling people to get out of the water on July 4th, while everyone told me it was fine and I should come in for a swim. Afterwards, we were given the task of going away and experimenting with AI to see how it could help us at work. That evening, I also received the traditional training feedback survey. So I asked AI to "write a response to this question: "What did you find most useful?" based on a presentation about the use of AI in education". As a result, I was able to submit the following reply...
What I found most useful was the clear explanation of how AI can genuinely enhance learning rather than replace it. The presentation highlighted practical examples—like personalised learning pathways, instant feedback tools, and automated administrative tasks—that showed how AI can save time for educators while giving students more tailored support.
I also found it especially valuable to see real classroom applications rather than just theoretical ideas. Understanding how AI can help differentiate instruction, identify learning gaps early, and support students with varying needs made the potential impact much more concrete.
Overall, the session made the benefits of AI in education feel both accessible and realistic, and it gave me a clearer picture of how these tools can be responsibly and effectively integrated into everyday teaching.
I admitted that the response was AI-generated, and hoped I'd made my point. There's a huge Great White Shark out there and I'd rather not be floating around on a lilo, thank you very much.
Khayem also replied to last week's post about the threat of Artificial Intelligence changing our lives forever.
...the rate that it’s sweeping through my workplace as a default tool is scary. I can see the attraction: regularly working overtime (unpaid) with an impossibly long to do list, AI prepping a document or report for you in seconds gives you back an hour or so to stress about the other stuff you haven’t done.
I’ve not gone done that route, but I also know that some tasks do take longer than they should because I’m tired/over loaded. However, I like my brain and I want to keep exercising it.
Having just done a round of recruitment for a fairly senior position, it was depressing at the shortlisting stage to see how many personal statements were clearly AI generated.
I admire your fortitude in standing up for the Resistance, K. The recruitment thing is telling though - I've also heard that AI is regularly being used to sift through and shortlist applications in many jobs, so even if you do go to the effort of sculpting your own CV, chances are it might be rejected by the machine for not sounding enough like a machine. According to a recent feature on BBC News...
...AI screening looks for certain keywords in an applicant's CV. As a result, the bigger picture, which might reveal whether the applicant is actually a good fit is lost.
Surely if you want to give somebody a job, you want to meet them and talk to them first? In my current role, I know for a fact that when I reached the interview stage, I was up against people with far better qualifications on paper... but in the interview itself, I was able to come out on top. Now though (according to that same article on the Beeb), some companies are even using AI for telephone and online interviews... with only a select few making it through to sitting in front of an actual human being.
We might not be able to blame employers for this though, since a tough job market and artificial assistance have increased the number of applications many jobs receive, tenfold.
There are bots that can apply to 1,000 jobs on your behalf while you sleep, tailoring your CV for each of them. This means that the fewer jobs that are on the market are getting more applicants than ever, not just because there are more candidates, but because these candidates are applying to more roles than ever.
This just creates a really dire state where the only way that recruiters and companies can possibly sift through these is by using AI to filter them, so a lot of people are just getting automatically rejected or ghosted from roles. That is less to do with their actual skills, because no human has seen their CV.
Where does this all end? I figured I might ask our AI Overlords...
It can feel like you’re shouting into a void when an algorithm is the one "reading" your life’s work. In 2026, AI screening has moved beyond simple word matching; it now looks for context, depth, and human authenticity. If you feel like you're being "rejected by the bot," it's likely due to one of three things: formatting that confuses the scanner, a lack of specific "signal" words, or—ironically—sounding too much like an AI yourself.
So will AI start rejecting AI-written applications in favour of ones written by actual human beings? Maybe... if you use the correct "signal" words. Whatever they might be.
Ironically, this tallies with something another teacher told me last week about the latest bout of AI-written essays being handed in to schools across the country. After getting the AI to do their homework for them, the smarter students then add one further level of modification...
I was sad to hear of the death of the lead singer and songwriter of one of my favourite 90s bands late last week.
Silver Sun mixed chunky power pop guitars with Beach Boys harmonies and fun lyrics - they also had some excellent 50s B-movie inspired record sleeves. And, as I've previously written about here, they were responsible for the loudest gig I ever saw.
James Broad died last week of cancer. Rest in peace, fella. Thanks for the tunes... ten of which, I dug out to play today.
Their biggest hit, a cover of the Johnny Mathis & Denice Williams song from the 70s... made #20 on the singles chart in 1998. We played it to death (and all their other singles) on the Sunday night indie show I produced back then.
I see there's a new Jason Statham movie coming out today called The Meg featuring a giant prehistoric shark. I'm not a great fan of Jason 'The Plank' Statham, but I do like a good shark movie. And ten good shark songs...
Special mention to that terrifying predator that preyed on innocent bloggers a few years back... Feargal Sharkey.
I will be the first to admit that this is not a classic. The video, however, is a wonder to behold. Sharks. Goats. Witch doctors. Guns. Ghosts. Unicorns. Snakes. Dragons. A giant dove. A shooting star... or is it a shooting shark? Plus that moustache. Utterly, utterly bonkers.
I love the lyrics to this, in which Kristin Hersh picks up an absolute loser of a bloke on the docks and tries to convince herself he's not that bad really.
This afternoon Your bite's not so bad Your bark's not too scary I could kiss you For remembering my address
Because you can never have enough Jimmy Buffett. (Well, you probably can. But I can't.) Bearing in mind that most of Jimmy's songs involve lazing about on a boat, it shouldn't surprise us that he occasionally gets scared of sharks. Turns out the sharks in this song are of the two legged variety though...
She came down from Cincinnati, It took her three days on the train. Lookin' for some peace and quiet, Hoped to see the sun again.
But now she lives down by the ocean She's takin' care to look for sharks. They hang out in the local bars, And they feed right after dark.
Can't you feel 'em circlin', honey? Can't you feel 'em swimmin' around? You got fins to the left, fins to the right, And you're the only bait in town.
Like a horror film in two and a half minutes - this starts out with sharks preying on bleeding hearts, but the twist soon shows us a much greater threat: "Hey! Watch out for those kids! They'll tear you apart!"
Wednesday the 21st of October, 1998, I went down to a
regular gig haunt of mine back in the day, to check out one of my favourite
bands of the post-Britpop era: Silver Sun. (The way I see it, OK Computer
marked the end of Britpop in '97, This Is Hardcore was the wake in '98.
Everything that came after was post-Britpop. OK?) I went with Dave - one of the
two Daves who accompanied me (though rarely at the same time) on 80% of my
gig-going life, most of the remaining 20% being gigs I attended solo. When we got
there though, we were surprised to discover that there was another band booked
in the main room. The Cockpit wasn't the biggest of venues anyway; it had an
arched corrigated iron ceiling like an aircraft hanger, but you'd have
struggled to squeeze more than a couple of Airfix Spitfires in there. I can't remember who the other band
were, nobody I'd heard of or wanted to see, certainly. But I do remember that
we ended up in the Other Room, which was basically a bar and a couple of
upturned buckets for a stage. Iffypedia tells me that the second room at The
Cockpit had a capacity of 250 people: if so, so does my bathroom. Anyway, the
point is... it was crowded. So crowded, I spent much of my time stood in the
corridor that led to the sick-bucket toilets: partly through claustrophobia, partly
to give my ears some release.
I described Silver Sun as post-Britpop to differentiate them
from the obvious guitar band suspects of that era, though in truth their sound
wasn't Britpop at all, it was pure power pop. They made a hell of a racket, but
a very tuneful one, full of hooks the size of sideboards and glorious harmonies
nicked from the Beach Boys and the Byrds. I saw them live more than once, at
bigger venues or festivals, but this was the smallest room I think I ever saw
any band perform in... and cramming all that noise into such a tiny space took
some doing.
My hearing isn't the best. Being hard of hearing runs in the
family: both my parents have hearing aids, as does my older brother. I'm just
counting the days (and trying to save up). But I reckon there's a little more to my deafness than just
the hereditary: all those loud gigs I attended in the 90s must have had a little to
do with it. So when I do need to get myself fitted for an ear trumpet... I'll
be sending the bill to Silver Sun.
Always start with the obvious one. Bobby Darin is seen as the safe side of rock 'n' roll, and most of his tracks do have all the rough edges filed off. But if you're a fan of the era (as I am), it's still fun to give songs like this a spin every now and then.
Ah, the arrogance of youth, perfectly expressed by Doc Watson, covering an old Merle Travis song from the 40s with his son, also called Merle.
I'm three times seven and I do as I doggone pleaseThere ain't no woman this side of heaven gonna get me on my kneesI'm three times seven, gals, and that makes twenty oneLord, I just won't tame, I'm gonna be the same 'till I'm three times twenty one
Mr. Hudson & The Library were guilty of that aggravating mix of beats and guitars I tired of very soon in the decade they will forever refer to as The Noughties (even though there was very little naughtiness involved). They redeemed themselves through evocative lyrics: 2x2 is a fine example of this. I understand Mr. Hudson himself is still in the go, but sadly the Library closed down. Sign of the times...
Where shoe-gazing meets power-pop. Ride split in the late 90s but reformed recently to ride (punintended) the seemingly bottomless wave of nostalgia tours catering to middle-aged men desperate to recapture their misspent youth for at least one night a week... of which I would surely be a part if I had the time or the money.
Cake's cover of the George Jones / Melba Montgomery country song was renamed to include 'Subtract One Love' in the title, so feasibly I could have included it in last week's chart. I stuck with the original name so we don't confuse our budding musical mathematicians.
Hard to believe Cake have been baking up tracks like this for over 20 years now, and they're still going... though there hasn't been a new album since 2011.
Definitely one to irk the musos due to its sheer ubiquity. I don't listen to Steve Wright's Sunday Love Songs, but I'd be disappointed if I turned him on and he wasn't playing this. However, as monumental über-ballads go, this one is in a class of its own and Lionel Ritchie is a legend.
If it's still too soppy for you, you might try the Cobra Starship version... but that only really works if you appreciate the original.
James Broad's Silver Sun were one of my favourite bands of the Britpop era - although they weren't Britpop at all. Pure power-pop mixed with Beach Boys harmonies and James's angelic lead vocals; guitars so chunky they give Yorkies a run for their money. 17 Times is a b-side but it doesn't deviate from the template one jot. Like the Ramones, most Silver Sun songs sound exactly the same... but it's such a great song, who cares?
The 7x ingredients for Coca-Cola were a closely guarded secret, although the formula was allegedly revealed a few years ago.
Only David Gedge could use the Coca-Cola formula as a metaphor for a mysterious lady who won't talk to him anymore...
"It's 7X," and that's all that they'll say about Coke And you're just as circumspect and I didn't mean that as a joke Because I know everybody's got a secret deep inside But you, oh you must be quite unique, the things you hide
Schoolhouse Rock was a series of educational songs that ran in and amongst Saturday morning kids shows on American TV in the 70s. These included a song for each of the times tables up to 12, the most famous of which was Bob Dorough's Three Is A Magic Number. This has been covered by a variety of pop and rock acts over the years, most notably Blind Melon, Jeff Buckley and Embrace. They're all fine versions (I'm particularly fond of the Embrace one), but they all stick very closely to Dorough's original. De La Soul, on the other hand, took the basic track and made it their own.
Back to my tour of the USA. There are hundreds of songs with "America" in the title, so I needed to narrow the focus. Here's ten about American music, some by American bands... others decidedly not.
Some Brits get sniffy about American music, citing the Beatles (yawn, among others) as a reason to keep it homegrown. Me, I've always had one foot on either side of the Atlantic when it comes to my listening habits.
From the album American Demo, still one of my favourite records of the 21st Century... so far.
How many British bands made the lyrics below their mission statement... no matter the consequences?
When they pin me to the wall I'll say:
I'm with America
With godless America, I'll stand and I'll fall
Though it cuts me to my soul that
It must be America
It must be America
Or nothing at all.
Could well have been Number #1, but I like to be unpredictable.
Best thing about American Pie? All the insane, crackpot interpretations that read hidden meanings into every single line. If you've got a spare year, google them for a laugh.
And now we reach the more celebratory part of our countdown. The Cougar's tribute to 60s American rock. Never fails to make me happy.
There was Frankie Lyman-Bobby Fuller-Mitch Ryder (They were Rockin')
Jackie Wilson-Shangra-las-Young Rascals (They were Rockin')
Spotlight on Martha Reeves
Let's don't forget James Brown
Quite possibly the maddest "song" (spoken word narrative) in my record collection. Jim Steinman at his most insane. He doesn't even have Meat Loaf to temper / translate his craziness here. It's just pure Steinman loony-genius. With the best punchline in the history of rock.
Or something.
On the original, ill-fated Steinman solo album (originally supposed to be Meat's follow-up to Bat Out Of Hell, but Meat had a sore throat so Captain Barking decided to record it himself), this leads straight into the classic Stark Raving Love, the melody of which JS would later disembowel to create Holding Out For A Hero for Bonnie Tyler. Just in case you're one of the two people reading this blog who looks at more than just the artist and song title.
1. Grand Funk Railroad - We're An American Band
Does exactly what it says on the tin.
We're coming to your town We'll help you party it down We're an American band
So, these are the rules - it has to be a song about America and about music. Which is top of your Billboard Hot One Hundred?
Another band I miss terribly. The chunky guitar riffs and sweet harmonies in Cheerleading recall Mercury & May at their tightest. Silver Sun should have been massive.
And representing England / Ireland in the International Ouija Board Olympics... Stephen from Stretford. With a little help from Joan Sims and Kathy Burke.
