As the celebrity jukebox has taught us, true immortality only exists in song... or if you have a band named after you.
This lot are unbearably loud, but they did in which every track was named after a movie Sam Neill appeared in. And it's worth noting that when they posted it on bandcamp back in 2012, "Any potential profit from the sale of this album will go to buying our bassist gear, as his amp and guitar were stolen." I hope they made enough. You may disagree.
When I began planning this series, I put together a pretty lengthy list of tunes to feature... but as time passed and enthusiasms waned, I realised it would become repetitive in many cases to go "here's another potentially racist / sexist / homophobic / transphobic tune, let's rehash the same arguments we had about the last one".
Still, I figured it might be worthwhile sharing the rest of my list with you. Most of these were found by doing google searches relating to "songs that are now considered politically incorrect" or similar. So I'm not the one pointing the finger, honest guv. Apart from maybe this one...
Here's the rest of the list. Here's what we could have talked about... and if anyone feels strongly about any of the songs below, and would like to pen a few words expressing their feelings for or against cancellation, I will happily run your thoughts in a bonus edition of the CCC at a future date.
That's Cheap Trick at the top of the page, because we're starting today with their 1979 US Top 30 hit Dream Police. Watch out for some pretty ropey acting at the start of the video from the members of the band who don't like doing that sort of thing...
"But this is Namesakes," you cry! "Surely there can't be more than one band named after that old Cheap Trick song?" You must be dreaming!
DREAM POLICE #1
Well, clearly these guys didn't steal their name from Cheap Trick, since they were plying their trade back when Rick Nielsen and co. were still in high school.
These are the Glaswegian Dream Police, formed in 1967, featuring Hamish Stewart who would later join the Average White Band, and Matt Irving who ended up playing bass in Manfred Mann's Earth Band. I'm going to resit a gag about how this song might have been a Scottish World Cup tune...
Some Norwegian hair metal next, from 1990. These guys openly admit to being named after the Cheap Trick tune. Guitarist Trond Holter previously played on Ole I Dole's 1985 album 'Blond Og Billig'
and would later change his name to 'Teeny' when he joined glam rock group Wig Wam in 2001.
Finally, some electro-bobbins from Barbâtre, France in 2020. The best I can say for this is that it's not even two and a half minutes long. But you're entitled to disagree.
