Track 8: The Lemonheads - Alison's Starting To Happen
Over at No
Badger Required, the esteemed gentleman known as SWC has been counting down
Rock’s Greatest artists beginning with the letter E. All his
blogging chums were asked to vote, and naturally a lot of my own choices fell
by the wayside (I didn’t expect the Eagles to make it into the Top 20, but I
was generally wounded by one voter's opinion that ELO were "the worst band in the world…
apart from Queen"). Still, such is the nature of democracy… which goes a long
way towards explaining why Donald Trump has been elected President of the USA
twice, while Bruce Springsteen hasn’t even been nominated. Whenever SWC asks
for my votes, I always feel unworthy of giving them, like I’m being invited to
play for the school football team only so that the jocks can have a good laugh
at my expense. But enough of my insecurities… what does all this have to do
with the Lemonheads?
Well, Mr. L-Head himself, Evan Dando, got enough votes to
make #12 on the list, though I doubt that was for his one solo album, Baby I’m
Bored, released in 2003… chances are it had far more to do with his band.
Sadly, his high ranking in the list arrived shortly after a sordid news report
revealed that Evan had been checked into a mental health hospital following
sexually inappropriate behaviour via video messaging. In light of that, SWC
took the decision to suspend any celebration of Mr. Dando’s work… and while I
understand that completely… for the benefit of this feature, art will
always be separate from artists. Which I’ll remind you all when the Manchester
Miserabilist makes an inevitable appearance at some point in the future.
Alison’s Starting To Happen was one of many stand-out tracks
on the Lemonheads’ breakthrough album, It’s A Shame About Ray, released in
1992. I played that CD till the paint wore off back in the day, and I’ll still
be playing it even if they never let Evan out of the nuthouse. (As someone who
works in the field of mental health, I feel qualified to use that term in
ironic fashion without any offence being intended.) If you’d asked me before
today, I’d have told you that Alison… was the lead single. Pff – shows what I
know. It was never released as a single. Well, it should have been.
Track 9: Lobo - Me & You & A Dog Named Boo
When evaluating these CDs, you must keep in mind that my aim was to engage a youngster. Although I’ve kept a spreadsheet (Alyson will be
proud) of the track-list of every CD I’ve created (to prevent repetition), it
doesn’t contain the date I brought them into the world. I’m guessing Sam would have
been about 8 or 9 when I made this one, so a song called Me & You
& A Dog Named Boo would surely appeal? I wonder if it coincided with us
getting our own dog, Bertie? Possibly not, CD87 probably came first.
Lobo’s real name was Roland Kent LaVoie and he started out
in a band called The Rumours, playing alongside Gram Parsons and Jim ‘Spiders
& Snakes’ Stafford. He also played in bands called US Male, The Uglies, and
the Other Guys… all of which I’ve added to my Namesakes to-do list. He enjoyed
a fair bit of success in the early 70s on both sides of the pond, and although
that faded as the 80s approached, he would later become inexplicably popular in
Asia, so I guess the bills were still paid.
Track 10: Dave Berry - Little Things
I’ve no idea why I included this one – it’s not really a
favourite, and pretty forgotten when it comes to 60s hits. It’s a jaunty enough
little number, raised above the average for me by the “You know…” refrain. But there are far better songs on CD 175, which I’m just putting the finishing
touches to. Maybe I’d heard it on the radio at the time or something.
Dave Berry came from Sheffield, and had a short run of hits
in the mid-60s, starting with a cover of Chuck Berry’s Memphis, Tennessee…
which was the only time that song ever made it into the UK charts. Frankly,
that’s scandalous because the Chuck Berry version should have been Number One
for a year.
Little Things was one of Dave’s three biggest hits – the other two being The Crying Game and Mama. They all reached #5. Bobby Goldsboro wrote and recorded the original Little Things, a Top 20 hit in the States the same year Dave took it into the UK Top Ten.
Dave was no relation to Chuck, Mike or Nick. Actually, his real name was David Holgate Grundy, but as far as I can tell he’s not related to Bill or Solomon either. Iffypedia tells me that whenever he appeared on TV, he attempted to perform with his face hidden, “to stay behind something and not come out" – his upturned collar and the microphone stand are mentioned as props used to achieve this unlikely end.
He also runs an antique shop. Or he did. He's 87 now, so hopefully taking it easy.
Track 11: The Kinks – Apeman
I don’t think the mix is particularly great on this CD –
after a solid run of 80s and 90s tunes, there’s a big chunk of older songs in
the middle. I normally prefer to jump between the eras a bit more… I wonder if
this particular CD was a little rushed, with not enough attention paid to
balance?
Anyway, you can’t go wrong with The Kinks, and Apeman is
bound to appeal to kids with its silly, singalong chorus. Like a lot of Ray
Davies’ more offbeat hits, it seems throwaway at first, but its message is more
profound than you expect… and just as relevant today as it was back then.
I think I'm so educated and I'm so civilized
'Cause I'm a strict vegetarian
But with the over-population and inflation and starvation
And the crazy politicians
I don't feel safe in this world no more
I don't want to die in a nuclear war
I want to sail away to a distant shore and make like an
apeman
Apeman was the follow-up single to Lola in 1970, and it
appeared on the 8th Kinks album, Lola Versus Powerman and the
Moneygoround, Part One, which is surely in the upper echelon of album titles.
In 2018, the Daily Torygraph apparently judged it the second
greatest Kinks song, with one proviso: “Although the reggae-infused piano on
the track is still delicious more than 40 years later, the combination of Ray
Davies's faux-Caribbean accent and his 'apeman' references are not exactly
politically correct these days.” Any thoughts on that from the Cancel Culture
Club Committee?
