Friday, 18 July 2025
Neverending Top Ten #7.2: The Last Day of School
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...
Eminem seems particularly obsessed with Kryptonite, dropping it into a bunch of his lyrics.
When Superman arrives on Earth as a baby, he crashlands in a small Kansas town...
And it's not until many years later that he arrives in the big City...
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
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...
All of which brings us to another post of songs featuring the 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
Kate Miller-Heidke - 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...
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...
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...
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...
And let's not forget the badguy who killed Superman back in 1992...
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?
Tuesday, 15 July 2025
Namesakes #146: The Wombats
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...
...to the ridiculous...
...or maybe that should have been the other way round?
Here's another one which would have been a giveaway...
Not to be confused with this, a little later in the day...
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...
Les Variations - Superman Superman
So good they said it twice!
Attempted Moustache - Superman
I wish I could have found a picture of Attempted Moustache - they would definitely have made it into Snapshots this weekend.
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.
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...
Sunday, 13 July 2025
Snapshots #404: Superman Songs
There's a new Superman film out this weekend... and although I haven't seen it yet, I can confidently predict it will be better than the last few, because Zack Snyder isn't involved. Maybe not quite up to Christopher Reeve's standards, but miracles don't happen that often.
Anyway, here are some Super Songs to celebrate...
15. UN diary reveals they're all a bunch of squares.
"UN diary" was an anagram.
Ian Dury and The Blockheads - Sueperman's Big Sister
14. Kafka in Rio.
Franz Kafka meets Rio Ferdinand.
13. Bond villain found by Ash.
Ash did a song called Goldfinger, after Auric...
12. Blue eyes gets a shiner.
Frank Sinatra was old blue eyes... a shiner turns them black.
11. Protective, instrumental, elementary.
A Johnny is protective, a guitar is an instrument, Watson was... my dear.
Johnny Guitar Watson - Superman Lover
10. Taking an E helped John Wayne and Prince Edward get really, really high.
XTC, under their alias...
Dukes Of Stratosphere - Braniac's Daughter
Sadly, I couldn't find any songs about Lex Luthor. So Braniac will have to do.
Although I would also have allowed...
XTC - That's Really Super, Supergirl
9. Close knit friends who won't let you join in.
You may be more familiar with this cover version...
8. Melatives?
What Mel Gibson calls his brothers...
The Gibson Brothers - Metropolis
7. Posh erections can be bewildering.
"Posh erections" was an anagram.
6. Alastair Campbell, Charlie Whelan.
They were both...
Spin Doctors - Jimmy Olsen's Blues
5. Hair straighteners required.
The Kinks - (Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman
4. Neighbours, but not immediate.
3. She enables pens to write her name.
"Enables pens" was an anagram...
Ann Peebles - He's My Superman
2. Most pop songs are about them.
1. Goes hand in hand with Bloody Cheek!
Saturday, 12 July 2025
Saturday Snapshots #404
Another edition of Saturday Snapshots, you say?
Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.
Oh well, you can't please everyone. Here's another bunch of assorted miscreants to identify... but how might there songs be connected?
15. UN diary reveals they're all a bunch of squares.
14. Kafka in Rio.
13. Bond villain found by Ash.
12. Blue eyes gets a shiner.
11. Protective, instrumental, elementary.
10. Taking an E helped John Wayne and Prince Edward get really, really high.
9. Close knit friends who won't let you join in.
8. Melatives?
7. Posh erections can be bewildering.
6. Alastair Campbell, Charlie Whelan.
5. Hair straighteners required.
4. Neighbours, but not immediate.
3. She enables pens to write her name.
2. Most pop songs are about them.
1. Goes hand in hand with Bloody Cheek!