Snapshots #461: Dance Records

Shall we dance?

15. Pretty Woman Ltd.

Julia (Roberts) and company.

Julia & Company - Breakin' Down (Sugar Samba)

14. I'm guessing it's a Time Out.

Chocolate Watchband - Uncle Morris

13. Cursed by their own trendiness.

The Tragically Hip - Flamenco

12. Carbon Copies.

CCs.

CCS - Tap Turns On The Water

11. Redding hates jazz - what a performance!

Otis Redding, Johnny Hates Jazz.

The Johnny Otis Show - Willie & The Hand Jive

10. Lead, Pot, Under...

Leadbelly, pot belly, underbelly...

Belly - White Belly

9. Building made out of trumpets.

Brass Construction - Ha Cha Cha (Funktion)

8. Mostly conducted via Tinder.

Modern Romance - Everybody Salsa

7. Gone for a Burton over his miniature mountain.

Richard Burton, his small mountain is a hill.

Richard Myhill - It Takes Two To Tango

6. Mark E. Smith wrote most of them, Man.

The Fall sang How I Wrote Elastic Man.

Elastica - Line Up

5. Athletic gear used by fish when working out.

Jim Gilstrap - Swing Your Daddy

4. Signing on.

UB40 - Don't Break My Heart

3. Devours golden skin... then puts a bloodsucker on a male sheep. 

Tan-eater. Ti(c)k - a ram.

Tanita Tikaram - Twist In My Sobriety

2. High, Hay, Hot...

Highwire, haywire, hotwire...

Wire - Three Girl Rhumba

1. Keeping up with the Coroner.

Keeping up with the Jones's... meets Quincy ME.

Quincy Jones - Soul Bossa Nova

Shall we dance again next Saturday?

Saturday Snapshots #461

Here are today's headlines...

Saturday Snapshots returns in a blaze of glory!

BONG!

The race is on to identify the people pictured below!

BONG!

Police try desperately to find a link between their crimes!

BONG!

I thought about holding off today's Snapshots until Nine O'Clock... but I couldn't have handled the uproar.

15. Pretty Woman Ltd.

14. I'm guessing it's a Time Out.

13. Cursed by their own trendiness.

12. Carbon Copies.

11. Redding hates jazz - what a performance!

10. Lead, Pot, Under...

9. Building made out of trumpets.

8. Mostly conducted via Tinder.

7. Gone for a Burton over his miniature mountain.

6. Mark E. Smith wrote most of them, Man.

5. Athletic gear used by fish when working out.

4. Signing on.

3. Devours golden skin... then puts a bloodsucker on a male sheep. 

2. High, Hay, Hot...

1. Keeping up with the Coroner.

Tune in tomorrow morning for all the hits and headlines.

One Track Summer #16: DMC

I'm reading a collection of true stories compiled by The Moth, a non-profit storytelling group from the US. Some of them are very good, some of them are rather annoying, some of them are full of self-aggrandizing bullshit... but I guess that's a pretty accurate representation of the human race.

One of the stand out stories for me came from Darryl McDaniels, aka the DMC of Run DMC. He tells how at the height of his fame, he found himself suffering from chronic depression, and the only thing that made him feel even slightly better was the music of Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan. He met her at a showbiz party and behaved like an embarrassed schoolkid, but she recognised him, knew his music, and that made him like her even more. After a while, he discovered the source of his depression, after learning that he was adopted and he had no idea where he really came from. That's when he had the idea of recording a song about how it feels to find out your parents aren't your birth parents, basing it on the old Harry Chapin tune Cat's In The Cradle... and what he really, really wanted was for Sarah McLachlan to sing the chorus. So he called her up and she agreed, inviting him out to her home to record it. And that's when she told him that she was an adopted child too.

DMC tells the story a lot better than that, obviously, but it was a really sweet tale, and the last thing I expected from one of the godfathers of hip hop.

The United Kingdom Of Song #46: Dudley

For our annual Boys' Only Holiday this year, Sam and I visited the West Midlands, spending a lot of time in Dudley, which had more to offer than just the brush fire that got us kicked out of our hotel.

Dudley Castle & Zoo was much more impressive than I'd expected - to be fair, I thought it would be a castle with a few animals outside, but actually the zoo offered a greater range of wildlife than anywhere this side of Chester - lions, tigers, giraffes, wolverines, monkeys... and Sam's favourite, the snow leopards.

I always visit zoos with a heavy heart. I understand the conservation and protection of endangered species, and I've no doubt that they do good work in that regard... but it always makes me sad to see wild animals caged, or away from their natural home.

Equally, if not more impressive - and without the added layer of guilt - was the Black Country Living Museum next door, a real "step back in time" kind of place...

...well, you get the idea. Definitely worth a visit if you're ever in the area.

The Jesus Lizard - Then Comes Dudley

Dave Dudley - Six Days On The Road

One Track Summer #15: Breakfast On The Train

Sam and I visited Dudley a week or so ago. Our Premier Inn was evacuated on the penultimate day of our stay due to a brush fire on land behind the hotel. Fortunately, the fire brigade got the blaze under control and we were able to return to our room at night. 

Next week, the whole family is away in Pickering, one of our favourite holiday destinations, though I'm unsure whether we'll get to see the steam trains. Last time we visited, there were only diesel locomotives running due to the danger of sparks causing fires on the train line.

Considering the wildfire situation in Europe at the moment, missing the sound of the steam train firing up seems a small price to pay. Still, The Orange Idiot assures us that global warming is a "con job", so nothing to worry about there.

Former Go-Between Robert Forster's solo output is a continuing joy to me, even if some people get frustrated he won't revisit his old glories anymore...

My agent used to tell me 

You give people the shits

Why can't you be like everyone else? 

Play the hits!

That's a good question and it's a mystery to me

But I've come to see it positively as my destiny

Robert Forster - Such A Shame

That track is taken from last year's album Strawberries, an excellent collection of songs, my favourite of which is Breakfast On The Train, an 8 minute story song written during a train journey from London to Glasgow.

There was a family in the room next door

They were woken by the banging and the roar

They phoned Reception to complain

Reception said, "Over the volume of love we have no claim"

Namesakes #201: The GTOs

Naming your band after a car? That'll never catch on. 

Here are some bands named after the car above. Gee. Tee. Oh!

THE GTOs #1

More famously known as The Rocking Ramrods, this Boston beat group released one single in 1965 as The GTOs. And here it is... if only the Cancel Culture Club were still around!

The GTOs - Don't Fool With Fu Manchu

THE GTOs #2

Originally known as Joey & The Continentals, this Cleveland, Ohio band were active throughout the 60s. Here they are in '66...

The GTOs - Missing Out On The Fun

THE GTOs #3

Seven young women who started out as groupies but ended up with Frank Zappa producing their records in 1969. And for once, the GTO actually stands for something... Girls Together Outrageously!

The GTOs - Circular Circulation

THE GTOs #4

Although not credited on the label, discogs informs me that the Henry Moore* song below features Larry Johnson & The GTOs on backing duties. Worth a listen even if discogs are lying just to Payola this song into this blog.

(I'm presuming he's not the sculptor*.)

Henry Moore, with Larry Johnson & The GTOs - Sock It To Me Time

THE GTOs #5

Festive backing band for Hotpants Hank Carbo back in 1972... yes, I know you're listening to this in August, but it'll be here soon enough.

Hank Carbo & The GTOs - White Christmas

GTO #6

Italian "folk'n'roll band" formed in 1993. They're the ones who keep nicking the shopping trolleys.

GTO - Onde

GTO #7

Techo/rave act who first stepped foot outside their bedrooms in 1985, when they were known as Greater Than One. Changed their name to GTO in 1990 "because it was easier to spell".

GTO - Love Is Everywhere

GTO #8

Of a similar ilk, here's George T. O'Brian, with his mate Doug, in 1999...

Doug Gray & GTO - Always There 

GTO #9

Also in 1999, this Aussie rock band were featuring a GTO in their video, just to hammer the name across. They used to be called WTO... 

World Trade Organisation?

GTO - Superstars of Modern Love

GTO #10

Dutch GTO with a curious link back to our third GTOs above. Firstly, the band apparently used the same initialism - Girls Together Outrageously. Secondly, they covered a track written by Zappa acolyte Steven Siro Vai.

GTO - I'll Be Around

G.T.O. #11

"G.T.O. are a 5 piece Alternative Rock band from Regional NSW bent on exploring sound and energy, heavy riffs, intertwined with swirling guitar ambience to create a progressive wall of sound inspired

by artists such as QOTSA, Karnivool and A Perfect Circle. "

So now you know.

G.T.O. - This Ghost

THE GTOs #12

What if the Ramones had come from Spain in the 21st Century and been obsessed with 50s sci-fi comics?

The GTOs - Problemas de Ciencia Ficción

Which ones are Greater Than Others? And which ones are Gobshites That Orate?