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...


Saturday, 1 February 2025

Saturday Snapshots #381

Let's be Frank - I don't make this quiz easy, do I?

In fact, I go out of my way to make it as tricky as I can... otherwise, you guys have worked out the answer in about 30 seconds flat.

Let's see how long it takes you this week to identify the assorted miscreants below and find a link between their songs... but be careful: I will only accept a precise answer this week. No wider generalisations!  


12. Soon became atheists.


11. Mates with David Hamilton.


10. Rodney: not a plonker.


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


8. Compasses point them out.


7. How Superman gets his calcium.


6. This land is yours, son.


5. Deliver them from evil.


4. Best to keep your Crown Jewels safe.


3. Chubby snorer gets shaken awake.


2. Irish light haulage driver.


1. Wonder Woman meets Friendly brother.


The answers will Zappa onto a screen near you this time tomorrow morning...




Friday, 31 January 2025

Bertie Fridays #1: Here's Looking At You, Kid

This is our dog, Bertie. He's put on his best outfit for you.

And now, we're going to party like it's 2017, the year this blog embraced Kenny Wednesdays and Randy Tuesdays... with a celebration of rock 'n' roll's greatest Herberts. 

Starting with the one and only...

1. Bertie Higgins.

Elbert Joseph Higgins hailed from Florida where he started his working life as a ventriloquist and a sponge diver.

In 1982 he hit the US Top Ten with his debut single Key Largo, which appealed to Bogart and Baccall fans everywhere (including Terry Wogan and yours truly). The song tells the story of a young couple suffering through a long winter together, their only entertainment watching old films on the Late Late Show. Another single from the same album continued the theme...

Bertie Higgins - Casablanca

...but none of Bertie's subsequent records made quite the same splash as his hit named after the movie Key Largo.

We had it all
Just like Bogie and Bacall
Starring in our old late, late show
Sailing away to Key Largo

Here's lookin' at you kid
Missing all the things we did
We can find it once again, I know
Just like they did in Key Largo

Bertie's still touring though, and he was inducted into the Florida Music Hall of Fame in 2017. 


Next week... he's got the mad hits!

Thursday, 30 January 2025

Sequel Songs #3: Wild Horses

Mick 'n' Keef wrote Wild Horses in 1969, recording a rough demo which they decided wasn't really worth taking any further. Mick denies popular speculation that the lyrics are about the end of his relationship with Marianne Faithful, while Keef reckons the song is about being sick of touring. 


The Stones gave a copy of the demo to their mate Gram Parsons who liked the song more than they did, recording it for the second Flying Burrito Brothers album, Burrito Deluxe, in 1970.

Hearing the Burrito version encouraged Mick 'n' Keef to give the song another chance, recording it properly for the album Sticky Fingers and releasing it as the follow-up single to Brown Sugar in the US.

Neither version made the UK charts, but in 2009 the song made our Top Ten thanks to a version recorded by Susan Boyle following her performance on America's Got Talent. Boyle chose the song because for her it reflected "a personal story about how achieving such massive success extremely quickly has affected her life". Before you pour scorn on Susan's version, you might be interested to read that Mick considered it a "ghostly version... much better than anything I had ever done".


Other memorable versions include...




None of these are sequels though - they're just covers. 

The sequel didn't arrive until 2022, thanks to this gorgeous story song by First Aid Kit from their album Palomino, in which two young lovers drive across America with Wild Horses on the car stereo... highlighting irreconcilable differences in their relationship.

We passed a canyon
We passed a fire brigade headed up the mountains
They said "The wood's ablazin'" and then we got hungry
Stopped at a diner
You flirted with the waitress and I didn't even care

Where do you go to when you look past me?
Do you see yourself miserable and free?
Such a strange notion, to see you clearly
When love's shadow stood up and left the room

We played Wild Horses on the car stereo
You prefer the Rolling Stones' and I like Gram's

No mention of Susan Boyle in this story. That really would have tested their relationship!



Wednesday, 29 January 2025

Mid-Life Crisis Songs #120: Pretty Women


My favourite song by Australian country singer Kasey Chambers is her Number 1 (Aussie chart) hit from 2002, Not Pretty Enough. Although Chambers was in her mid-20s when she wrote the song, it's the perfect insecure teenage lament...


This song came back to me when I heard its unofficial Mid-Life Crisis sequel from Linda Thompson.

As you may or may not be aware, due to a condition called spasmodic dysphonia, Linda is unable to sing anymore. That seems particularly cruel when you remember just how beautiful her voice used to be...


Anyway, Linda hasn't let this stop her putting out a new record, late last year. She just got friends and family to do the singing. Fortunately, she has some very talented friends and family, including son Teddy, daughter Kami, ex-husband Richard... plus the Wainwrights (Rufus and Martha), the Proclaimers and the Unthanks. In a stroke of genius, she even got John Grant to sing a song all about... John Grant. That really shouldn't work, but it does.


The stand out track though is the one sung by Manchester's Ren Harvieu. It could be heard as a woman lamenting the loss of her youthful beauty... but I'm guessing it's more a metaphor for the loss of that beautiful voice we heard earlier...


The album's called Proxy Music, which explains the reason Linda's chosen to dress and pose the way she has on the cover.


Tuesday, 28 January 2025

Namesakes #122: Steps


Eddie Cochran would have us believe that there are only Three Steps To Heaven. 

Well, I've got news for you, Eddie...!


THE STEPS #1

We'll start the climb with some Singapore Steps who enjoyed a long career from the late 60s to the 80s, both as their own group (mixing local tunes with a wide range of Western covers) and as a support act for a variety of female singers, including Ellya M. Haris, Sandra Sanger, Marini and Ivo Nilakreshna. 

The Steps - Sri Langkat

THE STEPS #2

Step two: from the Netherlands in 1969, some psychedelic pop from Chris van Putten, Henny Sluijs, Kees Sluijs, Joop Kortland and Herman van Eck. Van eck!

The Steps - You Are The Sun To Me

STEPS #3

If the words "Jazz Fusion" make you break out in a cold sweat, don't worry. Help is available from the Brecker brothers and their ever-changing roster of musicians who made a name for themselves in the New York jazz scene of the 70s and 80s, first as Steps... and then as Steps Ahead. 

Be warned though... treatment does take some time. Up to 11 minutes on the track below...

Steps - Uncle Bob

STEPPS #4

And if that wasn't enough... wait till you meet these Aussie jazz rock/fusion/progressive rock dudes with two Ps in their name, formerly known as Snakes Alive. Very popular in Sidney in the late 70s, apparently, "they used to pack the Royal George Hotel every Friday night." Only 50 copies of their album Waltz For Tiger Joe were printed... but youtube has the whole thing, if you're interested.

Stepps - Kolour Kode

STEPS #5


Another jazz band, this one hailing from the exotic climes of Bristol in 1977, with less fusion this time.


THE STEPPES #6


Being Geographically ignorant, I always thought the Eastern European Steppes were a mountain range... when actually, they're the complete opposite: a large area of flat grassland. 

I almost neglected to research bands with this particular spelling, which would have been a shame, wouldn't it? Our first group of Steppes come from London in 1979...


THE STEPS #7


Perfectly serviceable Wisconsin power pop from 1982. These guys also recorded under the name Bacchus Lotus, which is where I got the picture.


STEPS #8

Step up to some funky AOR from North Carolina in 1982. Beyond that, I know nothing, but I was pleased to find this one uploaded on the tube of you...

 Steps- Sugar

THE STEPS #9

Swiss Steps from the early 80s with a nice line in moustaches (except the guy second from the left who was probably called Frank Moustache). I don't know if this was their biggest "hit", but it was the one with the most views on tubular youbular... a massive 177 when I played it. I'm sure that will go up after today.

The Steps - Friend

THE STEPS #10

Southern Californian punk band from 1982, led by songwriter Paul Almanza who went on to form Chainsaw Pop, Million Six, Battery Life and The Curbhounds. Well, it kept him off the streets.

The Steps - It's Only Life

THE STEPPES #11


More Steppes, this time of the half Irish, half American variety, and formerly known as The Blue Macs. Here they are in 1985...

The Steppes - History Hates No Man

THE STEPS #12

French synth-pop from 1986. Could this be today's winner? Don't be a fool...

The Steps - Don't Be A Fool

STEPS #13

H, Clair, Faye... the other two. Together, they sold 5 million albums and almost as many singles. They formed in 1997 in that London, split up in 2001, then got back together ten years later for a reunion which appears to be still ongoing. I'm sure you're all aware that they chose their name to go along with their dance routines - the steps of which were included on the CD insert with every song. Who needs a lyric sheet when you've got dance steps?

Steps - Stomp

(I picked that video just because I enjoyed the idea of George having to sit through all 3 minutes 38 of it).

STEPPES #14


And finally, a third group of Steppes, from Michigan in 2017. Their page on the camp of bands tells us, "Combining honest lyrics with a real sense of fun and optimism... intricate, melodic guitars mesh with pop structures that make each track memorable and singible.” 

That's not how I'd spell singable. Decent tune though.

Steppes - Marceline The Vampire

Which Steps make you want to Step Up... and which ones do you want to push down the stairs?


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