Can you fly this plane, and land it?
Surely you can't be serious.
I am serious... and don't call me Shirley.
Here are some songs sung by Pilots... but which ones would you fly with?
PILOT #1
We kick off today in the glorious year of 1972 with a Proggy
Pilot, formed in London, though the guitarist and lead singer were American and
the bassist was a Kiwi. The other two members were also in Rod Stewart’s
backing band.
PILOT #2
When former Bay City Rollers “substitutes” David Paton &
Billy Lyall got sick of sitting on the bench in 1973, they formed Pilot… flying
high for a couple of years before their plane encountered engine difficulties.
Lyall went solo, with Phil Collins on drums… and I guess he missed again.
Because it’s January, I’m going to have to choose the tune
below – sorry, George. I know it'll be the wrong one.
PILOT #3
Took me a while to track this one down. The songwriter here
is one J. Michael Nuccio, later known as Michael James, who also appeared to
have led the bands Omaha Pilot, Pilot and Pilot III. This, from 1971, is the
one that concerns us today…
Pilot
- For Your Children to See
PILOT #4
Dutch Pilot from 1974, rather obsessed with Buddy Holly. An
unfortunate choice of band name given what happened to Buddy.
PILOT #5
LA hard rock Pilot from 1980 – I couldn’t find a picture,
but I love the typewritten record sleeve. Reminds me of some of my first zines
back in the mid-80s.
PILOT #6
A one trip only collaboration from 1984, featuring co-pilots
Will Downing and soon-to-be-in-demand producer Shep Pettibone.
PILOT #7
Portland Oregon Pilot, struggling to take off in 1993…
PILOT #8
A Russian PilOt – with a Big O - founded by Ilya Knabengof
in 1997.
PILOT #9
Swedish electronic Euro-house pop band who switched on the
autopilot in 1998 and appear to have been racking up the air miles ever since.
Pilot
- You Better Get Used to It
PILOT #10
Although the tube of you confuses these guys with the
Russian Pilot above (not the Russian Pilot below), the Og of Discs informs me
that they’re actually from Kazakhstan in 2003. They look and sound very
different to the Russkies.
PILOT #11
Another Russian Pilot – presumably of a MiG-23 – DJ Сергей
Ткачев (Sergey Tkachev) was piloting the decks with this one in 2006…
PILOTE #12
Next we have a Pilot who takes an E… probably the last thing
you want from your Jet 2 Holiday. Stuart Cullen is from Somerset and spent most
of the 90s and 00s releasing “intelligent dance music” before shifting focus to
folk and bluegrass in the mid 2010s. Obviously I chose one of his latter
efforts.
PILOT #13
A Boston punk Pilot, touching down briefly in 2013…
PILOT #14
Which is your Top Gun... and which one do you want to drop?
I wouldn't vote for #2 regardless of the song. #1 is the one to beat
ReplyDeleteas if #6 wasn't bad enough along comes the total bobbins of #7
DeleteBloody hell that vocal-effect thing of #9 is beyond irritating, and even the whistling can't save #12 for being almost as bloody rubbish as #9
DeleteSorry to agree with George but #1 for me. I think are doing Martin Quittendon a disservice to describe him just as "a member of Rod Stewart's backing band". He co-wrote "Maggie May" and "You Wear It Well", and Rod had previously tried unsuccessfully to get him to join The Faces (he turned it down because he didn't like all that rock and roll lifestyle stuff).
ReplyDeleteI like #8's picture of the robot girl with a chainsaw.
I live to disservice to pop stars.
DeleteRobot girl with a chainsaw???
That's what shows on the video you linked to
DeleteAh. Of course.
DeleteJanuary, sick & tired you’ve been hanging on me…
ReplyDeletewww.johnmedd.com/2019/01/january-sick-and-tired-youve-been.html?m=1
Ernie is correct, it's #1
ReplyDeleteCan you two stop agreeing so much. It's taking all the fun out of this feature!
Delete