Tuesday, 14 January 2025

Namesakes #120: The Crooks


Keep hold of your valuables this morning - there's a right load of crooks about!


THE CROOKS #1


Meeting on the beach at The Hague (I didn't know The Hague had a beach) in 1965, this band of Dutch folkies broke up a few years later (going off to form King's Galliard and the Ramshackle Stringband) before getting back together to make more music in the late 70s, 80s and 90s.


THE CROOKS #2


Part of the late 70s mod-revival scene in the UK, these guys got big enough to play the Marquee Club in 1980... and then went the way of all flesh.

As featured on the Modern Songs compilation I put together for Sam a year or so back.


THE CROOKS #3


Italian "punk 'n' roll" band sprouting from Milan in 1997...


CROOKS #4


Texan indie/roots band (old-style country, basically) formed in 2007, still propping up bar stools 6 years later...


THE CROOKES #5


The added E is because these guys came from a district of Sheffield called Crookes. For a millisecond in 2009, I thought they were the next big thing, mainly down to the fact that I was rather taken by their song Yes, Yes, We're Magicians. Then I blinked and suddenly they'd released 4 albums before splitting up, and I hadn't heard any of them and... where did the time go?

Their final single in 2016 was called The World Is Waiting. Sadly, it wasn't.


THE CROOKS #6


Also in 2009, these dudes were ploughing an acidy psychedelic furrow in Michigan...


CROOKS #7


Around the same time, these lads from Cheltenham were doing their best to produce "melodic hardcore" (singing tarmac?). Also known as Crooks UK, the track below has over a million views on the tube of you, so they must have been a moderately big thing...

Crooks - A Few Peaceful Days

CROOKS #8


We'll close today with a bit of laid-back Dutch rap from 2021. To quote one youtube comment: "Rauwe echte hiphop, big up Crooks!!" Big up is apparently a universal phrase now.


There were many more Crooks to be found on discogs, but their music had all been stolen, so that's your lot for today. Which Crooks would you walk a Crooked Mile for?



Monday, 13 January 2025

Listening Post #18: The Return of Dennis Hopper

A few years back, The Waterboys released one of their best songs in ages, a tribute to the legendary Dennis Hopper. 


This year, they're going one step further with an entire album dedicated to the actor known for his roles in Easy Rider, Blue Velvet, True Romance and Apocalypse Now. Waterboys frontman Mike Scott says, "It's the story of Dennis Hopper's life in songs - and the story of his and our times." Even better, Scott's invited some very special guests to help him wax lyrical about Hopper... including Steve Earle, Fiona Apple, Dawes singer Taylor Goldsmith... and one Bruce "I'll guest on anybody's record these days, saves me having to record anything new myself" Springsteen. 

I'm looking forward to it... especially after hearing the first single...



Sunday, 12 January 2025

Snapshots #378: A Top Ten Wizard of Oz Songs


This week's Snapshots take us on a journey somewhere over the rainbow...

Here are ten Wicked tunes...


10. Cathedral Saint moves to firm fortress.

St. Paul's becomes a Hard Castle.

Paul Hardcastle - The Wizard

9. Where the kids make pie.

Kids In America make American Pie...

America - Tin Man

8. Dylan.

Bob - Scarecrow

7. Cut me some slack!

Tight Fit - The Lion Sleeps Tonight

I wonder if he can still hit those high notes?

6. Mouse & Miles.

Mickey Mouse & Miles Jupp.

Mickey Jupp - No Place Like Home

5. They need a Kermit to perform.

Frog - Judy Garland

4. Make a sound like Kele's party.

When you make a sound, you emit noise. Kele's Party was on the Block.

Emit Bloch - Dorothy

3. Cut up, skin and blister.    

Skin & blister is Cockney rhyming slang for sister. Apparently.

Scissor Sisters - Return To Oz

2. It's a wonder if you know her...

It'd be a Wonder if gentlemen - and ladies! - of a certain age didn't recognise this Woman.

Lynda Carter - Toto (Don't It Feel Like Paradise)

1. HR twigged his real name.


"HR twigged" was an anagram of Reg Dwight...

Elton John - Goodbye, Yellow Brick Road


If you only had a brain, you'd join me back here next Saturday.

Saturday, 11 January 2025

Saturday Snapshots #378

Congratulations to Demi Moore on her Golden Globe award for The Substance - one of the best films I saw last year.

None of which has anything to do with the nonsense below. Just ten stars of popular music to identify... and one link connecting their songs.

But which one of you will walk away with the Golden Globe today...?


10. Cathedral Saint moves to firm fortress.

9. Where the kids make pie.

8. Dylan.

7. Cut me some slack!

6. Mouse & Miles.

5. They need a Kermit to perform.

4. Make a sound like Kele's party.

3. Cut up, skin and blister.    

2. It's a wonder if you know her...

1. HR twigged his real name.

Answers tomorrow.


Wednesday, 8 January 2025

What A Difference Five Days Makes...

Tuesday the 2nd of January, 2025...


Tuesday the 7th of January, 2025...

Hope you're all surviving the latest Arctic blast...


Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...