Friday, 18 July 2025

Neverending Top Ten #7.2: The Last Day of School


This is Sam's last day at Junior School. Over the past few weeks, since finishing his SATs, he's been taking part in sporting tournaments, excelling in the school play, and visiting the High School for a transition day. This time last year, the idea of moving up to the big school was starting to fill him with some trepidation, but recently we've seen that change... like he's ready for it now, like he's outgrown his Junior School and has begun to see it as too small for him, too young.


Of course, he's 11 going on 16, so it's becoming increasingly difficult to know how he really feels about anything. He doesn't wear his heart on his sleeve anymore, like little kids do. He's starting to keep his thoughts and emotions inside, and you need a crowbar to get them out.


How do I feel about all this? The predictable blend of joy and melancholy. My little boy is growing up, becoming more independent, moving on in his life... and I want to celebrate that with him. But I also want him to stay little forever. For all the obvious reasons.


I'm reminded of the poem Walking Away by Cecil Day Lewis (yes, Daniel's dad). And, as always at times like this, I'm reminded of Brad Paisley's best song...



Thursday, 17 July 2025

Snapshots Superman Songs Spillover (#3)

Before we start today, Charity Chic asks, "Will one [of your Superman songs] be Chris Mills' cover of The Flaming Lips?"

It wasn't going to be, CC... until I heard it...

Chris Mills - Waiting For Superman

Lovely.

Superman used to represent "Truth, Justice, and the American Way"... but many are questioning whether that's still relevant, and the press have put that point to the new movie's director, James Gunn, a man who has clashed with Donald Trump in the past.  

“I mean, Superman is the story of America,” Gunn says. “An immigrant that came from other places and populated the country, but for me it is mostly a story that says basic human kindness is a value and is something we have lost.”

Which made me think of this...

Gil Scott Heron & Brian Jackson - Ain't No Such Thing As Superman

Superman has also been called a "strange visitor from another planet", that planet being, of course, Krypton. I couldn't find any songs named after Kal El's home planet, but there were quite a few that mention its most famous (and deadly) mineral...

Squish - Kryptonite

Eminem seems particularly obsessed with Kryptonite, dropping it into a bunch of his lyrics.

Eminem - Rain Man

When Superman arrives on Earth as a baby, he crashlands in a small Kansas town...

Bazooka Joe - Smallville

And it's not until many years later that he arrives in the big City...

The Church - Metropolis

Sufjan Stevens - The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts

Going by James Gunn's logic though, it doesn't matter where Superman comes from, or where he lives now...

Suzi Quatro - Official Suburban Superman

It could be anywhere!

The Chats - Southport Superman

No: where he's from doesn't matter. At his best, Superman is an example to us all. To be better people. I'm not even a big Superman fan - I much prefer Spidey or Bats. But when he's done right, I still appreciate the moral to his story. 

Yellow Magic Orchestra - Be A Superman

Bon Jovi - Superman Tonight

Stumpy - Make Me A Superman



Wednesday, 16 July 2025

Snapshots Superman Songs Spillover (#2)

We closed Monday's collection of Superman songs with a track by Cinerama. Comic book fan David Gedge also used the name of the most bizarre Superman foe as the title of his other band's second album: Bizarro by The Wedding Present. Sadly, he never wrote a song about Bizarro... but these guys did... 

The Monochrome Set - Mr. Bizarro

And this isn't too far off...

Straw - Weird Superman

All of which brings us to another post of songs featuring the Man of Steel...

Meat Loaf - Man of Steel

...and his friends and foes. Starting with one for Brian!

Tullycraft - Superboy & Supergirl

Actually, Supergirl appears to be far more popular with songwriters than her young male counterpart... who'd have thought it?

Donovan - Superlungs, My Supergirl

Johnny Cougar - Supergirl

Reamonn - Supergirl

Kate Miller-Heidke - Supergirl

The Fugs - Supergirl

The Troggs - Supergirl 

(That cover's from the 90s, when mullets were big.)

When he's not being Superman, Kal El goes by another name, that of mild-mannered investigative reporter...

Klark Kent - Don't Care

That's not how he spells it. 

Klark Kent was an alias for Stewart Copeland of The Police, recording a song that Sting didn't want for the day job. John says, "Stewart Copeland’s debut album Klark Kent was a belter."

Clark Kent works for a newspaper called The Daily Planet. On Saturday we featured a song by the title by Arthur Lee & Love. Here's another one...

Mark Hollis - The Daily Planet

And that's where Superman met the love of his life...

The Flys - Lois Lane

Farrah - Lois Lane

Weird coincidence department: all the bands I could find who wrote a song about Lois Lane (along with Sunday's Franz Ferdinand) began with the letter F.

But Lois wasn't Clark's first love though. That title would go to...

Rouge Pompier - Lana Lang

And he even had a fling with a mermaid once. Her name? Lori Lemaris. Can you spot a pattern here?

Not everybody with the initials LL loves Superman though. Let's not forget his arch enemy, Lex Luthor, a man who's jealousy of Superman might yet be explained that nobody has ever written a decent pop song in his honour...

Elvis Costello - Dr. Luther's Assistant

That was the best I could come up with, with the wrong spelling... and he's not even a doctor! No wonder he's such a bitter, twisted sociopath...

Luthor isn't Superman's only foe. We mentioned Bizarro earlier, and Braniac earlier in the week. Then there's the Kryptonian supervillain memorably played by Terence Stamp in Superman 2, General Zod...

Billy Talent - Kingdom Of Zod

And let's not forget the badguy who killed Superman back in 1992...

The Shirelles - Doomsday

Evelyn Thomas - Doomsday

Final question for today... what do you get if you put all of Superman's worst foes together in the same room?

The Superman Revenge Squad?

That'd be a good name for a band, don't you think?


Are we done with this now?

Not quite yet...

Tuesday, 15 July 2025

Namesakes #146: The Wombats


Some cute, cuddly little marsupials for you to pet this week. But which Wombats will make you go "Awww" and which will make you go "Arrrghhh!"?


THE WOMBATS #1

We start this week with some forgettable Wombats from Huntsville Alabama, 1965...


THE WOMBATS #2

George might object to this one from 196? as they're only Gary's backing band... but I'm guessing when he listens to the actual tune, it'll be this week's winner. Who can resist a song called "Squidgy Bod"?


THE WOMBATS #3


Vaguely psychedelic Chicago Wombats from 1967...


THE WOMBATS #4

American garage band from the 60s found on an old acetate with no label. The people who profiteered by shoving it on a compilation made up the name Wombats to have something to call them. Who knows what they were really called? (Maybe Ernie does.)


THE WOMBATS #5


U.S. punk Wombats from the early 80s...


THE WOMBATS #6

Took me a while to track down some audio for these guys, but I'm sure you'll agree that my persistence paid off. Chicago Wombats from 1996... brothers Kevin and Kegham Giragosian still play music today, as 60s tribute act The Neverly Brothers.


THE WOMBATS #7


Liverpudlian indie band formed during the Landfill Era (2003) yet still kicking around today, presumably delivering nostalgia to the Millennials. Most famous for their bouncy song about Joy Division (which I'm sure all true Joy Division fans hate), though I tend to be more fond of their slightly misanthropic later work...


THE WOMBATS #8

German hip hoppers from 2007...


THE WOMBATS #9

And finally today, some Russian pop-punk band from 2016...



Nine Wombats for your aural enjoyment. But which ones drive you Wombatty?


Monday, 14 July 2025

Snapshots Superman Songs Spillover (#1)

I saw the new Superman film.

I loved it.

But who cares what I think. Here are some more tunes!

When it came to compiling a post about Superman songs, there were hundreds to choose from, so a Spillover seemed inevitable. Starting with a couple which would have made this weekend's link far too obvious. From the sublime...

Laurie Anderson - O Superman

...to the ridiculous...

Black Lace - Superman

...or maybe that should have been the other way round?

Here's another one which would have been a giveaway... 

Donovan - Sunshine Superman

Not to be confused with this, a little later in the day...

Dio - Sunset Superman

And then there was this, not actually a song about Clark Kent... but another, real life Superman...

Johnny Wakelin - Black Superman (Muhammad Ali)

It's amazing how many songs there are with "Superman" as their sole title. We featured quite a few yesterday, but here's a load more...

Alison McCallum - Superman

Eminem - Superman

Dan Bern - Superman

The Ides Of March - Superman

Richard Caiton - Superman

Barton Carroll - Superman

Les Variations - Superman Superman

So good they said it twice!

Excelsior - Superman

Robyn Hitchcock - Superman

Scouting For Girls - Superman

Attempted Moustache - Superman

I wish I could have found a picture of Attempted Moustache - they would definitely have made it into Snapshots this weekend.

Lazlo Bane - Superman

That one was the theme tune to the sitcom Scrubs, if you remember that. 

If not, maybe you remember the time Babs wore a Superman shirt.

Barbra Streisand - Superman

And she's not the only Babs with a thing for the Man of Steel...

Raw Soul featuring Barbara Stant - Superman

One final offering today, from confirmed comic book fan David Gedge...


...but we're not done yet. There will be more Superman Songs later in the week.

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