I have to get up at what time now?
Why can't they just leave the bloody clocks alone?
Monday, 31 March 2025
Sunday, 30 March 2025
Snapshots #389: The Snapshots Dessert Trolley
15. Non-White Raconteur.
The Raconteurs were a band featuring Jack White and...
Brendan Benson - Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
14. One bed flat for family of ten.
Crowded House - Chocolate Cake
13. Too busy singing.
I'm sure most of you easily spotted the Monkee-Mobile... but did you recall this awful school dinner substitute for rice pudding?
12. He was always wrong in French.
Mal Ryder (aka Paul Bradley Couling from Wales) didn't make much of a mark on the UK music scene in the 70s... but he was very big in Italy. I include him here today because I do like a good Roly Poly.
11. Stork joins hawk to create a weird hybrid.
"Stork joins hawk" was an anagram...
Horst Jankowich - A Walk In The Black Forest
Black Forest Gateaux is evil. But if you dined out in the 70s or 80s, it was seen as the height of sophistication.
10. The UK's chartered professional body for mathematicians puts on a bit of weight in their luxury abode.
"The UK's chartered professional body for mathematicians", as I'm sure George will know, are the IMA. So Fat + IMA in a Mansion...
Fatima Mansions - Angel's Delight
Another staple dessert from my childhood, but far preferable to Black Forest Gateaux. Especially Butterscotch flavour.
9. C disappears fast.
In the word Quick, if you make the C disappear, you are left with...
The Quik - Bert's Apple Crumble
8. Zeus gave nan a mixed message.
"Zeus gave nan" is an anagram...
7. Hedgehog children.
Sonic The Hedgehog, of course...
6. Goat, flippin'... the end of Christine.
Billy Goat + Flipping 'Eck + Stine...
5. Small horses, still kids, you've never seen them before... but they're joining up together!
Bit of a laborious clue, I admit...
New Young Pony Club - Ice Cream
4. Lights on a flying machine.
That'll be the LEDs on the Zeppelin...
3. Fake lists contain everything you need to know.
FaKE LISts...
2. I have a legal document stating that I can write this clue.
1. Proof Stu was a very confused man.
"Proof Stu" was an anagram...
Four Tops - I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)
More tasty treats for you next Saturday morning...
Saturday, 29 March 2025
Saturday Snapshots #389
We Need To Talk About Snapshots...
Below are 15 stars of popular music from days gone by.
You may wonder why the number of pictures has grown, or why it varies from week to week. It's simply because when I settle on a theme, I find there are too many songs that I don't want to leave out. Plus, one player's "Who the hell is that?" is another player's "Blimey - I remember them... didn't expect Rol to include them here!" Such is the diversity of musical knowledge of the wonderful people who visit this page on a Saturday morning.
Anyway, here are some pop stars. Who are they and what connects their songs?
15. Non-White Raconteur.
14. One bed flat for family of ten.
13. Too busy singing.
12. He was always wrong in French.
11. Stork joins hawk to create a weird hybrid.
10. The UK's chartered professional body for mathematicians puts on a bit of weight in their luxury abode.
9. C disappears fast.
8. Zeus gave nan a mixed message.
7. Hedgehog children.
6. Goat, flippin'... the end of Christine.
5. Small horses, still kids, you've never seen them before... but they're joining up together!
4. Lights on a flying machine.
3. Fake lists contain everything you need to know.
2. I have a legal document stating that I can write this clue.
1. Proof Stu was a very confused man.
You have Tilda clock strikes tomorrow morning, when all the answers will be revealed...
Thursday, 27 March 2025
Sequel Songs #9: Mrs. Avery
The original, of course, is a Shel Silverstein song made famous by Dr. Hook. To steal a chunk from my post on another famous Dr. Hook tune, which mentioned this in passing...
It turns out Sylvia's Mother is a true story too - Shel was in love with a woman called Sylvia Pandolfi, but she ran off with another man and ended up as a curator at the Museo de Arte Carrillo Gil in Mexico City. Shel tried desperately to rekindle that romance, but the only contact he had for Sylvia was her mum, and she wasn't having any of it. Nowadays, she'd probably report him as a stalker. I guess "Please, Mrs. Pandolfi" didn't quite scan, so Avery it was.
Yes, Mrs. Avery made quite the impression on us. So much so that she (or her Namesake... though surely there can be only one true Mrs. Avery) also shows up here...
Who are we to wonder, Mrs Avery
Who are we to wonder about Beverly
Evergreen girl
Beverly
Why did you leave me?
Why did you leave me in 1955?
And here...
Back home on the street
After 10 at night
Mrs. Avery walks her dog
Checks to see what's going on
She doesn't lock the door
She lives here in good health
You don't hear the horn
When Mrs. Avery walks her dog
And perhaps her final fate is revealed here...
You took me for a drive
And you said how Mrs. Avery died
The chilly golden sky
Seemed not to have been notified
David Rotheray, former songwriting partner of Paul Heaton in The Beautiful South, produced a whole album worth of "answer songs" back in 2013, including this...
...though I have to confess, I'm not sure if there's any connection to the original there. More appropriate is this...
Likewise, I can't make out any direct continuation of the story here...
Our best hope for an official sequel to Sylvia's Mother comes from The Men They Couldn't Hang, on their 2009 album Devil On The Wind. Here, Mrs. Avery has to deal with the young man who kept pestering her over the phone in the original song. He's now camped out in her garden, bemoaning the disappearance of Sylvia, so Mrs. A has to call his dad to come sort him out... I'm not quite sure how she reacts when dad then puts the moves on her. But let's be charitable and hope for some kind of happy ending...
Wednesday, 26 March 2025
Listening Post #26: Alexa, What Is There To Know About Love?
Brian Bilston is a writer and poet, dubbed both "the Banksy of the poetry world" and "the Poet Laureate of Twitter". Neither title does him justice, if you ask me.
The Catenary Wires (who I always want to call The Catenary Wives) are a band made up of Amelia Fletcher and Rob Pursey, formerly / contemporaneously of Heavenly, Talulah Gosh, Marine Research, Tender Trap and Swansea Sound. Which you would imagine would keep them busy enough, except that Amelia was also awarded a CBE in 2014 for her work in consumer economics.
Anyway, Brian, Amelia and Rob have teamed up for a new album, Sounds Made By Humans, to be released in May. It features a number of Brian's poems set to music... with top notch titles including 31 Rules for Midlife Rebellion (I'm sure we'll get back to that one), As I Grow Old I Will March Not Shuffle, Customers Who Bought This Record Also Bought... and this.
Tuesday, 25 March 2025
Namesakes #130: Them
It's us and Them this week...
Let's kick off with a pronoun overload from Hollywood in 1956... two years after the giant insect invasion.
Them (featuring Him) - I'm Sorry Now
Finally, some orchestral metal monsters from Germany / USA, formed in 2008... still kicking over gravestones as we speak.
THEM #2
With lead singer Paul Simons (note the extra S... so not that one), our next Them came from Cincinnati in 1962, naming themselves after the movie at the top of the page. They were originally called The Toquays, but changed to Them before Van Morrison's lot got big... after which they went by "It's Them" and TTHHEEMM. They went their separate ways in '67.
Them - A Girl Like You (not the Troggs song!)
THEM #3
"Angry Young Them", formed in Belfast in 1963 by Van The Man and his mates... although Mr. Morrison left Them in 1966 to plough his solo path. Originally known as The Gamblers, though they too chose the name Them in homage to the 50s horror movie.
Them had only two big UK hits: Baby, Please Don't Go and Here Comes The Night... though arguably their most famous tune was the b-side Gloria which was later covered by the Doors, Patti Smith and Jimi Hendrix. As a live band they were famous for going jazz and improvving around their songs, stretching them out and taking them in different directions every night.
THEM #4
British beat band who accompanied lead singer Shorty for this release in 1964...
Shorty & Them - Pills Or Love's Labours Lost
THEM #5
South African psychedelia from 1965...
Them - I Want To Be Rich Again
THEM #6
Argentinian blues rockers active around 1970...
THEM #7
Chilean death/thrash metal band active since 1987... and amazingly, these guys were the first Them to register their name on discogs.
THEM #8
California hip hop dudes who released their first album as Them before later changing their name to Themselves...
Them - Directions To My Special Place
THEM #9
Monday, 24 March 2025
Mid-Life Crisis Songs #121: Bring on the sagging everything...
And now, here's a proper Mid-Life Crisis Song by Brooklyn's Shilpa Ray. At just 45, she's a bloody whipper-snapper, but still, she's obviously starting to feel the years...
Bring on the sagging everything
Bad back and elastic waist bands
I wanna age
So disgracefully
I don't think I hear you
My tinnitus from the last generation of cokeheads
They're still jeering, it's endearing
Sunday, 23 March 2025
Snapshots #388: Songs About Roads, Streets, Avenues etc.
This is Mike Skinner. Mike's looking rather sad because he's lost his camera. Still, he seemed like the ideal person to introduce today's answers... twelve songs about Streets... whatever we might call them.
Oh, and in case you were wondering why Clint Eastwood appeared here yesterday... well, he was The Man With No Name. And I'm sure you all remember what Bono told us?
12. Three merry old souls.
A rock n roll standard, originally recorded by...
11. Clint was always talking to them.
10. Furious & Cannon look for their other halves.
Fast & Furious + Cannon & Ball...
9. Don't look at that streaker! He's not Abel.
Ray Stevens advised "Don't look, Ethel!" Abel's brother was Cain.
8. May the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you.
That's a blessing, that is.
7. Pottery, embroidery, macrame.
Three examples of craftwork.
(All 23 minutes of it, just for George.)
6. Confused prats retested.
"Prats retested" was an anagram.
5. He say yes!
The Man from Delmonte - Drive Drive Drive
4. Fancy playing badminton, Osborn? Mixed doubles?
"Badminton, Osborn" was a mixed up anagram of...
Tom Robinson Band - 2-4-6-8 Motorway
3. Mariah Carey loves to break the rules... but she causes twice the commotion!
MC is a rebel, but gets in double the trouble.
Rebel MC & Double Trouble - Street Tuff
2. Hercules, Colorado, Stag.
Three types of beetle.
Other roads were available, including long and winding ones... but the Beatles were here for the lane today.
1. Dawn rises over the Yellow River.
Tony Orlando was in Dawn. Christie sang Yellow River.
Tony Christie - Avenues and Alleyways
The road leads back to Snapshots next Saturday...
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