Friday, 6 November 2026

Annoying People At Gigs #4: There's Always Someone Cooler Than You


Here's another blast from the past - from February, 2011, when you could still get gig tickets for £25! Let's see what happened when I went to see Ben Folds back then...

So on Saturday night, me and Dave spent £25 each on a pair of tickets to see Craig talk to his girlfriend, live at the Sheffield Academy. Craig's a particularly talented young performance artist, able to hold a pint of beer in each hand while telling hilarious stories about all the amazing things that have happened to him on Facebook (Yes... On. Facebook.)

On Saturday though, Craig found himself having to compete with a fucking musician - Ben Folds, you might have heard of him, some American piano playing geek - and his band, who'd taken it upon themselves to pitch up at the same venue and start playing songs on the stage while Craig was telling his hilarious Facebook stories. As a result, Craig had to shout to be heard over the top of this inconsiderate yank and many of Craig's audience didn't catch the subtle nuances of his drunken ramble profound storytelling.

Dave and I were lucky though, we'd found the best place in the house - Craig and his insipid girlfriend were standing right behind us! That's like front row seats - and we didn't have to pay any extra! Unfortunately, as the show progressed, Dave decided he'd rather listen to Ben Folds sing his witty, heartfelt songs than to hear Craig go on and on about how he refused to accept Trevor's Friend Request... so we had to move away from the performance area and closer to the stage where Folds was giving it his all, Jerry Lee Lewising the piano for all his worth, making up songs on the spot from lyrics given to him by members of the audience, covering The Divine Comedy and Kansas (though not, sadly, playing Belinda or Doc Pomus) and generally being one of the most energetic, passionate and creative live acts you'll ever see...

...but still not a patch on Facebook Craig.


If you have a story about an annoying person you encountered at a gig, please send it to me via the electronic mail. Otherwise, I'll keep digging in the archives...

Thursday, 5 November 2026

The Best Medicine #5: The Comedy Ending


When Jewish American songwriter Shalom Giskan changed his name to Kenny Young, he snagged a job working in the Brill Building in the early 60s. He wrote and co-wrote a bunch of hits, most notably Under The Boardwalk and The Captain Of Your Ship...



In the late 60s, he moved to London and continued writing songs, as well as forming the band Fox with singer Noosha Fox...


A little later in the 70s, he returned to the charts as part of Yellow Dog, a band who were true One Hit Wonders with the song below.


Now I've been listening to this song quite a lot lately. Don't ask me why. OK, then, go on, you can ask me.

Because it makes me smile. And smiles are a pretty rare commodity round these parts.

Now I'm fully prepared to admit that One More Night might be considered a very annoying song. Having worked in radio, I know there will have been some DJs who will have faded it out before the comedy ending. But actually, I quite like a good comedy ending on a pop song. You certainly don't get those any more. I've been trying to think of some other examples, but I'm coming up blank. Can anyone suggest any?

 

Wednesday, 4 November 2026

Snapshots Spillover: More Vampire Songs

Here are some of the songs I couldn't fit into this week's Halloween Snapshots. Look at what you could have won...

Arctic Monkeys - Perhaps Vampires Is A Bit Strong But…

Mazzy Star - Taste Of Blood

The Meteors - My Daddy Is A Vampire

Archie King - He's A Vampire

And from the album "Vampires Stole My Lunch Money"...

Mick Farren - Bela Lugosi 

Yes, yes, there was the Bauhaus song, but that really would have been too much of a giveaway. As would Release The Bats.

Tame Impala - Dracula

Eddie And The Hot Rods - We Sing The Cross

Julie Grant - Count On Me

John Frusciante -Blood On My Neck From Success 

Loudon Wainwright III - Vampire Blues

The Dears - Ticket To Immortality

Blanche - The World's Largest Crucifix

Olivia Rodrigo - Vampire

Pretty sure Alyson would have got the link too easily from that lady.

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit - If We Were Vampires

Marilyn Manson - No Reflection

I'm not really a Kasabian fan, but I do like this video...


And then, of course, there's these guys... who I can't get enough of.


Plenty more where they came from.

Tuesday, 3 November 2026

Namesakes #213: The Snapshots


I was rather proud of this limerick I featured on Saturday Snapshots a week or so back...

There was a young lass from North Scotland
Who decided to form a Snap-Shots band
She got C on guitar
CC on sitar
But Ernie on drums, George could not stand.

Anyway, it got me thinking about bands named after this blog's only other successful feature.

And here they are...


THE SNAPSHOTS #1


We'll start with these guys because there's no date on the record, but they only had black and white cameras, clearly. From The Keg & Quarter, wherever that is / was. Philadelphia, probably, and maybe early 60s according to a rather rambling write up on the Tube of You.

The Snapshots - A Whole Album Of Lounge Jazz Joy

That'll keep George busy for a while.


THE SNAPSHOTS #2

Soulful Snapshots next, from West Coast USA in 1963.

The Snapshots - I Need You


THE SNAPSHOTS #3


Norwegian Snapshots, also from 1963. Be careful on that ladder.

The Snapshots - Tatervise Ved Bålet


THE SNAPSHOTS #4

US Doo wop Snapshots from 1965, with a song written by Don Robertson, The Happy Whistler. 

The Snapshots - Condemned Without Trial


THE SNAP SHOTS #5

Belgian "Psych Freakbeat" from 1968. Look, if this isn't George's favourite this week, I'll eat Ernie's hat.

The Snapshots - Hip Hip Hurray


THE SNAPSHOTS #6


Frank Corbo, John Winhimmer, Robert Bunnyman Rocco, Robert Mag and Vinny Perrone make up the New York Snapshots from 1980... some pretty Noo Yoik names in there.

The Snapshots - No Jane


THE SNAPSHOTS #7

And finally today...

Discogs is trying to convince me these guys are from Italy, but I'm not buying that. I'm betting on the USA, in 1983 (?) Anyway, they're giving a helping hand to Andy J. Forest, whose "harmonica work is 100% explosive hot" according to the Tube of You.

Andy J. Forest & Snapshots - Midnight Plans


Which are your Saturday Snapshots?


Monday, 2 November 2026

Celebrity Jukebox #88: Sir Patrick Stewart


In 2012, when I completed my teacher training degree, Sir Patrick Stewart was a Chancellor of the University of Huddersfield. He led my graduation parade. I'm not saying I met him, but I came pretty close to Captain Jean-Luc Picard and Professor Charles Xavier that day. In many ways, that was the highlight of my graduation.

In tribute to his old friend, Sir Ian McKellen made much of Sir Patrick's Yorkshire pride, something which I never really get myself, and find it all a bit of a cliché, but maybe I struggle with any kind of positive sentiment that might be misinterpreted as negative. That said, I was rather chuffed to read, "the proudest achievement of the most respected and beloved actor of his generation on either side of the Atlantic, was his appointment as Chancellor of Huddersfield University in Yorkshire." Maybe that's as close to Yorkshire pride as I can understand.

There weren't any obvious songs available to pay tribute to Mirfield's finest son... but I did discover this space oddity...


A Magnetic Fields song about Professor X...


And a Rick Wakeman musical narrated by Patrick Stewart himself...


Someone needs to write a proper musical tribute to this great actor. Make it so!

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