Tuesday, 20 May 2025
Namesakes #138: The Vibes
Sunday, 18 May 2025
Snapshots #396: Songs With Rhyming Titles
Jack Black stacks a slack sack pack on his back, and has a pet yak in his shack, with a nick knack, paddy-whack for smack, crack and quack.
Here are some songs that rhyme... but not quite as much as that.
15. Rock on... Are you ready for him?
Rock on, Tommy... Cannon. Are you ready for Freddy?
Freddy Cannon - Tallahassee Lassie
14. I'm the same boy I used to be, just like a peanut farmer.
Jimmy Carter was the Peanut Farmer.
"I'm the same boy I used to be," is a lyric from Valerie by Steve Winwood, which was allegedly written about...
13. Just like the guy whose feet are too big for his bed...
Lyrics from "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head"...
12. Died in 1966?
Or is that just an urban legend?
Paul McCartney - Temporary Secretary
11. Rita Tushingham's kitchen sink.
Rita Tushingham was in the kitchen sink drama, A Taste Of Honey...
A Taste Of Honey - Boogie Oogie Oogie
10. Motivational presentation, not for Old Men.
A motivational presentation could be a TED Talk.
9. Those McCartney Oiks will spoil everything.
"McCartney Oiks" was an anagram...
Arctic Monkeys - Fluorescent Adolescent
8. Hats off to Bell and Orbit.
Hats off to Larry. Bell and Orbit are both Williams.
7. Useful for painting in Michigan.
Bay City is in Michigan. You use a roller for painting.
I'm sure at least one of you recognised those legs...
Bay City Rollers - Money Honey
6. Bluebell is lost in the middle, and don't call me...
Bluebell is lost in the middle. And don't call me Shirley!
Rol!
Rol, Rol bo-bo-bol
Bo-na-na, fanna fo-fol!
Fee-fi-mo-mol!
Rol!
5. The stone at the heart of the flesh.
Peach Pit - Alrighty Aphrodite
4. 'Cause, I gotta have... Benny.
"'Cause, I gotta have... Faith." And Benny Hill.
3. Keeping up with The Joneses.
Or you could have had...
The Smiths - Frankly, Mr Shankly
I didn't realise you wrote such bloody awful poetry.
2. A Snapshots essential!
Your snapshots won't be any good without Focus.
1. Inverted woes.
That was an anagram!
Stevie Wonder - Master Blaster
Castaway Potshots returns next week...
Saturday, 17 May 2025
Saturday Snapshots #396
Was Liam Neeson ever that young?
Were any of us?
Sorry, that's irrelevant to the business of the day.
Fifteen musical acts to identify... then consider how their songs might be linked.
15. Rock on... Are you ready for him?
14. I'm the same boy I used to be, just like a peanut farmer.
13. Just like the guy whose feet are too big for his bed...
12. Died in 1966?
11. Rita Tushingham's kitchen sink.
10. Motivational presentation, not for Old Men.
9. Those McCartney Oiks will spoil everything.
8. Hats off to Bell and Orbit.
7. Useful for painting in Michigan.
6. Bluebell is lost in the middle, and don't call me...
5. The stone at the heart of the flesh.
4. 'Cause, I gotta have... Benny.
3. Keeping up with The Joneses.
2. A Snapshots essential!
1. Inverted woes.
Friday, 16 May 2025
Emergency Questions #4: Throwing In The Towel
Another query to help start conversation, courtesy of Richard Herring's essential book, Emergency Questions...
Do you have a favourite towel? What is your best story about it?
While I'm not sure that I have any stories about towels, I do have very definite opinions about what makes a good towel... and it's not a new, fluffy one.
I'm firmly with Larry David when it comes to towels...
"Towels are better when they're washed over and over again, like a pair of jeans, they dry you a lot better."
Never has a truer word been spoken in jest.
Here are some songs about towels...
I bet they're nice, rough towels that dry you properly.
SLAVES - This Is You Throwing In The Towel
Mom Jeans - I Left My Towel At My Friend's House And Then They Moved, Pt. 1
Thursday, 15 May 2025
Listening Post #30: Dear Stephen
“The song is about many things and it’s multi-layered. It’s about me critically looking at my own reliance on the past – about why those years were so scorched onto me. It goes for a lot of people, to be honest, but being between 12 and 18, I don’t think I’ve ever shaken them off for the imprint they’ve had on my aesthetic appreciation of music, literature and film. It’s an investigation of that.“The idea that I had this postcard off Morrissey as well that said, ‘Get well soon’ and I kept it, it was quite a worthless thing that I imbue with so much meaning. It’s about so many different things but mainly about not being able to get out of that, and the amazing comfort and joy it brings. It’s a love letter to my former self as much as it is everything else.”