Thursday, 6 February 2025

Sequel Songs #4: Cathy's New Clown

Cathy's Clown was the biggest hit of the Everly Brothers' career, spending five weeks at Number One in the US, seven weeks at Number One in the UK, and selling over 8 million copies worldwide. 


Phil and Don argued over who wrote it, though the tune was allegedly nicked from a section of The Grand Canyon Suite by American composer Ferde GrofĂ©. I had a listen and couldn't hear any similarity myself. The Everly's close harmony singing style was particularly influential on The Beatles (who iffypedia says "once toyed with the idea of calling themselves The Foreverly Brothers", but I'm not sure I believe that). There's certainly a similarity between Cathy's Clown and The Beatles' debut single...

The Beatles - Please Please Me

The song also gets mentioned in the opening lines of one of Elliot Smith's biggest hits...

First the mic, then a half cigarette
Singing, "Cathy's Clown"
That's the man she's married to now
That's the girl that he takes around town

Elliot Smith - Waltz #2 (XO)

It also inspired these guys to name their band when they wanted to record a cover of a Gil Scott Heron song...

Jay And Cathy's Clowns - The Bottle

All of which brings us to a man who also named himself after a song: John Wesley Hardin. Here he is in 1990 with his own sequel to the Everly Brothers' smash...



Wednesday, 5 February 2025

Listening Post #22: Billy, You're My Friend

Sometimes I hear a song and wonder how I've never heard it before. 

For example - how have I lived this long without hearing this epic Gene Pitney tune? 

Second question - how was this not a colossal hit? It got to #92 in the US and #38 in Australia, but didn't even chart in the UK.  

Billy, You're My Friend was written by Edward Louis Goldman... who doesn't appear to have written much else of note. Yet this song could well be the missing link between Jimmy Webb and Jim Steinman. 



Tuesday, 4 February 2025

Namesakes #123: The Vibrators


That's a picture of an earth vibrator.

It took me a while to find that picture. Google kept trying to show me other kinds of devices.

This week, we're shakin' all over... because "I'm picking up good Vibrators"...


THE VIBRATORS #1

We start with some swinging instrumental Vibrators from the US in 1958...

The Vibrators - Mad Man Shuffle 

THE VIBRATORS #2

In 1960, the man who would many years later win a Noel Edmunds Gotcha award chose this group of Vibrators as an early backing band...

Joe Tex & The Vibrators - I'll Never Break Your Heart

Presumably he did finally break her heart when he refused to bump no more with no big fat woman in 1977. 

THE VIBRATORS #3

From Jamaica in 1965 came the ska Vibrators. Here they are on their own, although they went on to support a number of other top ska acts, including Bobby Aitken, The Heptones and The Skatalites. 

The Vibrators - Dreams

THE VIBRATORS #4

Also from Jamaica, not sure when, these Vibrators were the backing band for one Abe Roy Rodway.

Abe & The Vibrators - Build it Up

THE VIBRATORS #5

And a third Jamaican lot... from 1968... discogs tells me they're a different group from the other two, though that's no guarantee. Here they are supporting songwriter Linval Martin.

Al and The Vibrators - I'm Gonna Burn Them

THE VIBRATORS #6

Still in 1968, over in Kentucky, Stevie Justice and Fonso Fields were also vibrating...

The Vibrators - Bad Girl

THE VIBRATORS #7

Make up your own jokes.

That's enough.

This lot hailed from Pennsylvania in 1976. I imagine they're all in prison now, but here's some of the blurb from the back of their album cover...

"In the beginnings of their career, many groups are victimized by restricting labels that inhibit their growth as musicians. Tags such as 'acid-rock' and 'soul' can retard ascent of a group's quest for new musical horizons. Not so with The Vibrators - they refuse to be limited by name-calling."

"The Vibrators - mellow, rugged and exciting. Listen!"

The Vibrators - My Little Girl 

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why I'm still doing this feature after two and a half years.

THE VIBRATORS #8

And finally... London-based punks with a very long history - they formed in 1976 and only called it a day in 2022. They're only the band that gave The Stiff Little Fingers their name, which is reason enough to cherish them. As is their biggest hit from 1978...

The Vibrators - Automatic Lover

Which Vibrators make the earth move for you? And which ones would you leave in the bedside table?


Monday, 3 February 2025

Celebrity Jukebox #132: Marianne Faithfull


The first song that popped into my head when I heard about the sad departure of Marianne Faithfull was this...


I don't know why: it's not even about her, is it? 

Ironically, on the day Marianne died, I featured Wild Horses, a song many people believe Mick Jagger wrote about her... though Mick denies it.


Before we get onto the songs most people will remember Marianne for, here are a few more lyrical nods...

And I don't mind the nights and the low light
We spin 'round like records in the apartment
You still remind me of Marianne Faithfull
Lookin' like a picture taken outta the sixties


Her first breath
Is drawn through a cigarette
Her first drink
Last night's scotch
Just to wet her cracked lips
She looks at the man beside her
Lying in the bed
She doesn't know his name
She only hopes he's not dead
She feels like
Marianne Faithfull
Marianne Faithfull
She hopes at the end of the day
Someone remembers her name


And, of course, you know you're a legend when you end up in a Half Man Half Biscuit song...

I saw a young professional couple playing Poohsticks on a Cotswold bridge
I watched them walk along the banks of the Windrush eating jasmine ice cream
Before heading north to Warwick Arts Centre and Marianne Faithfull
Splendid


Anyhow. The song that most of the obituaries want us to remember by is her timeless Stones cover...


There's no denying she made that song her own. 

For me though, it doesn't get any better than her performance of this Shel Silverstein classic. This is the one I'll remember her by.
 

So long, Marianne.

Sunday, 2 February 2025

Snapshots #381: A Top Twelve Songs About String Instruments


Viola and welcome to twelve songs with strings attached. Thank you for demonstrating your usual pluck and determination...


12. Soon became atheists.


Once they'd finished Losing Their Religion.


11. Mates with David Hamilton.


He was known for hanging out with Diddy men.


10. Rodney: not a plonker.


Nick Rodney Drake... definitely not a plonker.


9. Frank & Jesse. (One song from each.)


Taken from the movie The Last Days of Frank and Jesse James, starring Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson.


(Or, if you stretch the criteria a little as I wanted to... Daddy Sang Bass.)


8. Compasses point them out.


Compasses point towards magnetic fields...


7. How Superman gets his calcium.


Christopher Reeve used to like his milk.


6. This land is yours, son.


Woody Guthrie famously sang This Land Is Your Land. This son is his son...


5. Deliver them from evil.


Extra clue here: they were both wearing name badges. Don't say I don't help you out!

Anyway, these are the guys who famously performed the track below in the movie Deliverance.


4. Best to keep your Crown Jewels safe.



3. Chubby snorer gets shaken awake.


"Chubby snorer" was an anagram... of Bruce Hornsby.


2. Irish light haulage driver.


That'll be Don O'Van.


1. Wonder Woman meets Friendly brother.


Wonder Woman's name is Diana. Ross was the only brother in Friends.

Diana Ross - My Old Piano

And yes, before anyone starts, a piano is a stringed instrument.


I'll be back to string you along with more of this nonsense next Saturday...


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