Snapshots #455: Self-Improvement Songs

Yesterday it was Sting, today it's Gwyneth: two celebrities who love to bang on about personal development and self-improvement, yada yada yada.

Here are some songs that instruct us how to become better people...

15. What Zoolander plays in the pub.

Derek Zoolander likes to play dominos.

Derek & The Dominoes - Tell The Truth

14. Scottish Bob meets Arnold's brother.

Whutcha talkin' about, Robert the Bruce?

Bruce Willis - Respect Yourself

13. It appears they need tying up.

Loose Ends - Don't Be A Fool

12. Japanese plod collective.

Tokyo Police Club - Be Good

11. The Pogues' favourite cars.

The Fiestas - Think Smart

10. Long DJ meets Ragtime King.

Janice Long meets Scott Joplin.

Janis Joplin - Try (Just a Little Bit Harder)

9. Petrified Peter.

Frightened Rabbit - Be Less Rude

8. Dolls.

Pussycat - Smile

7. Often heard to crow, "your hair is beautiful"... but only when he's with his mates. 

"Your hair is beautiful," is from Atomic. Roosters crow. This guy was the guitarist with Atomic Rooster, but he also had a solo hit with the tune below...

John Du Cann - Don't Be A Dummy

6. What made Bret Anderson snap? 

The Suede Crocodiles - Paint Yourself A Rainbow

5. Clearly sir Toby was confused.

"Clearly sir Toby" was an anagram.

Bay City Rollers - Give A Little Love

4. Backwards German remake of English composer Ralph.

Ralph Vaughan Williams, backwards, with DE in the middle...

William DeVaughn - Be Thankful For What You Got

3. Jefferson, Jackson, Johnson...

They were all...

Presidents of the United States of America - Love Everybody

2. The fashion of an estranged prince.

Prince Harry Styles!

Harry Styles - Treat People With Kindness

Whatever you might think of Harry Styles, that's a great pop song.

1. Warning: in a Fury, he could break a man's arm.

Billy Fury gets in a fight with a swan.

Hopefully, you now know how to live a better life, just like Sting and Gwyneth.

More nonsense next Saturday.

Saturday Snapshots #455

Seven Days is a long time to wait between Snapshots, I agree. I thought about doing Snapshots more frequently, but I Was Brought To My Senses. 

Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot and guide you through the clues below. Who are they and how are their songs connected?

15. What Zoolander plays in the pub.

14. Scottish Bob meets Arnold's brother.

13. It appears they need tying up.

12. Japanese plod collective.

11. The Pogues' favourite cars.

10. Long DJ meets Ragtime King.

9. Petrified Peter.

8. Dolls.

7. Often heard to crow, "your hair is beautiful"... but only when he's with his mates. 

6. What made Bret Anderson snap? 

5. Clearly sir Toby was confused.

4. Backwards German remake of English composer Ralph.

3. Jefferson, Jackson, Johnson...

2. The fashion of an estranged prince.

1. Warning: in a Fury, he could break a man's arm.

If You Love Somebody, Set Them Free from wondering about the answers. Send them back here tomorrow morning and all will be revealed.

One Track Summer #4: Wile E. Coyote

If I had to pick a favourite cartoon character, it would probably be Overconfidenti Vulgaris, aka Famishius Famishus, aka Nemesis Ridiculii, aka Wile E. Coyote.

Not only is he a grandiose metaphor for the futility of existence and a glorious anthropomorphism of the persistence of the human spirit, but he is also the inspiration for one of the best comics I ever read.

I don't know if Wild Billy Childish ever read that comic, but he's definitely a fan of the Coyote. He first recorded a tribute back in the 80s with one of his many bands, Thee Mighty Caesars. 

Recently, he revisited the track with his latest band CTMF (I don't know what it stands for, and frankly I'm afraid to ask). It's the perfect encapsulation of the Wile E. Coyote spirit...

One Track Summer #3: Promenade

Today I'm going to stick to the rules of this new feature - just one song.

Another excuse to play a track from the Poet Laureate, Simon Armitage, and his mates in LYR. Simon's greatest achievement in poetry is the way he effortlessly weaves the Northern vernacular into his work - like I keep telling the kids, it's poetry that doesn't sound like it was written by the Oxbridge elite, yet it's just as (if not even more) affecting.

Here Simon imagines himself (remembers?) being a young man stranded in a Barnsley nightclub, hoping he might meet a girl. But he was never any good at "hook a duck".

I've no idea why a lad from Marsden would spend his nights out in Barnsley... unless he was too embarrassed to go on the pull in Huddersfield.

Celebrity Jukebox #79: Penelope Keith

Farewell then, Penelope Keith.

I hope it was a Good Life.