The Enigma of CD87: Part 3

Continuing the trawl through another of the randomly selected (by Martin) in-car CDs I created to ensure my song had a decent knowledge of popular music before he got too old to listen to his Dad's crap...

Track 8: The Lemonheads - Alison's Starting To Happen

Over at No Badger Required, the esteemed gentleman known as SWC has been counting down Rock’s Greatest artists beginning with the letter E. All his blogging chums were asked to vote, and naturally a lot of my own choices fell by the wayside (I didn’t expect the Eagles to make it into the Top 20, but I was generally wounded by one voter's opinion that ELO were "the worst band in the world… apart from Queen"). Still, such is the nature of democracy… which goes a long way towards explaining why Donald Trump has been elected President of the USA twice, while Bruce Springsteen hasn’t even been nominated. Whenever SWC asks for my votes, I always feel unworthy of giving them, like I’m being invited to play for the school football team only so that the jocks can have a good laugh at my expense. But enough of my insecurities… what does all this have to do with the Lemonheads?

Well, Mr. L-Head himself, Evan Dando, got enough votes to make #12 on the list, though I doubt that was for his one solo album, Baby I’m Bored, released in 2003… chances are it had far more to do with his band. Sadly, his high ranking in the list arrived shortly after a sordid news report revealed that Evan had been checked into a mental health hospital following sexually inappropriate behaviour via video messaging. In light of that, SWC took the decision to suspend any celebration of Mr. Dando’s work… and while I understand that completely… for the benefit of this feature, art will always be separate from artists. Which I’ll remind you all when the Manchester Miserabilist makes an inevitable appearance at some point in the future.

Alison’s Starting To Happen was one of many stand-out tracks on the Lemonheads’ breakthrough album, It’s A Shame About Ray, released in 1992. I played that CD till the paint wore off back in the day, and I’ll still be playing it even if they never let Evan out of the nuthouse. (As someone who works in the field of mental health, I feel qualified to use that term in ironic fashion without any offence being intended.) If you’d asked me before today, I’d have told you that Alison… was the lead single. Pff – shows what I know. It was never released as a single. Well, it should have been.

 

Track 9: Lobo - Me & You & A Dog Named Boo

When evaluating these CDs, you must keep in mind that my aim was to engage a youngster. Although I’ve kept a spreadsheet (Alyson will be proud) of the track-list of every CD I’ve created (to prevent repetition), it doesn’t contain the date I brought them into the world. I’m guessing Sam would have been about 8 or 9 when I made this one, so a song called Me & You & A Dog Named Boo would surely appeal? I wonder if it coincided with us getting our own dog, Bertie? Possibly not, CD87 probably came first.

Lobo’s real name was Roland Kent LaVoie and he started out in a band called The Rumours, playing alongside Gram Parsons and Jim ‘Spiders & Snakes’ Stafford. He also played in bands called US Male, The Uglies, and the Other Guys… all of which I’ve added to my Namesakes to-do list. He enjoyed a fair bit of success in the early 70s on both sides of the pond, and although that faded as the 80s approached, he would later become inexplicably popular in Asia, so I guess the bills were still paid.

 

Track 10: Dave Berry - Little Things

I’ve no idea why I included this one – it’s not really a favourite, and pretty forgotten when it comes to 60s hits. It’s a jaunty enough little number, raised above the average for me by the “You know…” refrain. But there are far better songs on CD 175, which I’m just putting the finishing touches to. Maybe I’d heard it on the radio at the time or something.

Dave Berry came from Sheffield, and had a short run of hits in the mid-60s, starting with a cover of Chuck Berry’s Memphis, Tennessee… which was the only time that song ever made it into the UK charts. Frankly, that’s scandalous because the Chuck Berry version should have been Number One for a year.

Little Things was one of Dave’s three biggest hits – the other two being The Crying Game and Mama. They all reached #5. Bobby Goldsboro wrote and recorded the original Little Things, a Top 20 hit in the States the same year Dave took it into the UK Top Ten.

Dave was no relation to Chuck, Mike or Nick. Actually, his real name was David Holgate Grundy, but as far as I can tell he’s not related to Bill or Solomon either. Iffypedia tells me that whenever he appeared on TV, he attempted to perform with his face hidden, “to stay behind something and not come out" – his upturned collar and the microphone stand are mentioned as props used to achieve this unlikely end. 

He also runs an antique shop. Or he did. He's 87 now, so hopefully taking it easy.

Track 11: The Kinks – Apeman

I don’t think the mix is particularly great on this CD – after a solid run of 80s and 90s tunes, there’s a big chunk of older songs in the middle. I normally prefer to jump between the eras a bit more… I wonder if this particular CD was a little rushed, with not enough attention paid to balance?

Anyway, you can’t go wrong with The Kinks, and Apeman is bound to appeal to kids with its silly, singalong chorus. Like a lot of Ray Davies’ more offbeat hits, it seems throwaway at first, but its message is more profound than you expect… and just as relevant today as it was back then.

I think I'm so educated and I'm so civilized
'Cause I'm a strict vegetarian
But with the over-population and inflation and starvation
And the crazy politicians
I don't feel safe in this world no more
I don't want to die in a nuclear war
I want to sail away to a distant shore and make like an apeman

Apeman was the follow-up single to Lola in 1970, and it appeared on the 8^th Kinks album, Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One, which is surely in the upper echelon of album titles.

In 2018, the Daily Torygraph apparently judged it the second greatest Kinks song, with one proviso: “Although the reggae-infused piano on the track is still delicious more than 40 years later, the combination of Ray Davies's faux-Caribbean accent and his 'apeman' references are not exactly politically correct these days.” Any thoughts on that from the Cancel Culture Club Committee?

Not sure how the fur coats from the video would be received these days either...