Tuesday, 9 June 2026

Namesakes #192: Dawn


Welcome to a new day. But are any of these Dawns worth getting up for...?


DAWN #1


We start with this "East Coast" (I'm guessing New York, not Scarborough) act from the mid-60s, occasionally partnered with Billy, as seen above, although here she is on her own...



DAWN #2

Philadelphia radio station WIBG (known affectionately as Wibbage) published its own promo magazines featuring charts and articles about the artists they were playing. Here's a quote from the July 15, 1967 issue...

"Dawn, Hailing from South Philadelphia, is a 16 year-old St. Maria Goretti sophomore who has had several releases that didn't happen but is climbing local and nationals charts with 'I'm Afraid They're All Talking About Me.' Dawn recently ran 5th in the Wibbage favourite artist contest, placing with names like The Monkees, The Supremes, The Beatles and The Four Seasons. Because of the great popularity of 'I'm Afraid They're All Talking About Me.' Laurie Records is planning an album soon."

I'm afraid they stopped talking about her soon after.



DAWN #3


New York singer Tony Orlando had been releasing records throughout the 60s with limited success, becoming a music exec in the latter part of the decade. It was a this point that he came across the song Candida, which had been rejected by other artists, by Tony thought could be a hit. Due to a conflict of interest, he couldn't record the track under his own name, so he created the alias Frankie Spinelli, drafted in a backing group (including Brill Building songwriter Cynthia Weil and Jay Siegel from The Tokens) and released the track incognito. Following the success of Candida, Dawn went on to record an entire album - including Number One hit Knock Three Times - with the true identities of the performers remaining hidden.

Demand increased for the band to go on tour, at which point Orlando drafter in two former Motown/Stax vocalists, Telma Hopkins and Joyce Vincent Wilson, and finally revealed his true identity to the world. After this, the band became known as Dawn featuring Tony Orlando, and eventually Tony Orlando & Dawn... I think we can all work out what was going on there. When they Tied A Yellow Ribbon Round The Old Oak Tree in 1973, they had the best-selling single in the UK charts for that year.  

Fortunately, my favourite track by these guys is their earlier Number One, from when they were just called Dawn...


DAWN #4

Lovers' Rock, from 1981. It's possible they once swallowed a fly.



DAWNN #5

Funky thangs with an extra N from New York in 1984...



THE DAWN #6


Starting in 1987, and still kicking around last year, "The Dawn is considered the longest-lived and most prolific rock band in the Philippines" according to somebody on discogs with editing privileges. 



DAWN #7

Late 80s soul, possibly from Detroit, produced by Doris Dozier who might be related to Lamont, or might just be a Namesake. Still, former Maths teachers might appreciate the sentiment...



DAWN #8

Housey housey stuff from 1993. Better than most of its ilk, because I like the piano.

Other Housey Housey acts called Dawn were available... but I spared you.



DAWN #9


Swedish Death Metal band from the 90s. Fans still complain of migraines, 30 years later.

Other Death Metal bands called Dawn were available... but I spared you.



DAWN #10


And if that was too loud for you, try some symphonic prog from Switzerland in 1996.



THE DAWN #11


Dawn With A Smile On Their Face. British "heavy-psych band" from the late 90s. Sounding a bit like early The Verve, only with louder guitars.



THE DAWN #12

Danish pop-rock band from 1998, fortunately not covering the Black Lace song.



DAWN #13


Danish trance-producer "who began listening to electronic music at the age of 3." There ought to be a law. 



DAWN #14


Dawn to be wild. Japanese punk band from 2015.



DAWN #15


Aussie "Stoner Doom" from 2016. "From the murky depths of the abyss, heavy riffs and slow mesmeric hymns are celebrated." If I were stoned, I'd rather listen to Creedence.



DAWN #16


K-pop Dawn dude, big with da Tiktok crowd. Tiktok will melt your brain, by the way, and prevent you from being able to engage with anything longer than 30 seconds. I would tell you this, but if you regularly use TikTok, you gave up reading this post a long time ago.



DAWN #17


And finally, an LA rapper from last year...



Would you have been better off staying in bed?


Monday, 8 June 2026

Snapshots Spillover: More Hospital Songs

When I'm putting Snapshot together, I try to get a mix of bands that haven't featured often before, which means that some of the usual suspects and old favourites end up on the operating room floor...

Manic Street Preachers - Roses In The Hospital

Goldfrapp - A&E

Art Brut - Maternity Ward 

Art Brut - Hospital!

Frightened Rabbit - State Hospital

Morrissey - The Operation

The Fall - Mr. Pharmacist

And then there are those less obvious contenders who I'm forced to leave out for no other reason than I doubt anybody would ever identify them.

Fuzztones - Ward 81

The Amatones - Plastic Surgeon

The Veils - Night Thoughts Of A Tired Surgeon

Engineers - Emergency Room

Jad Fair & Yo La Tengo - X-Ray Reveals Doctor Left Wristwatch Inside Patient

But there were loads of leftovers this week. I guess everybody just loves singing about hospitals...

UFO - Doctor Doctor

Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros - X-Ray Style

St. Vincent - Surgeon

Wire - Surgeon's Girl

Cold War Kids - Hospital Beds

Robyn Hitchcock - Surgery

Trashcan Sinatras - The Therapist

Silver Sun - Patients

Neil Ray - The Medic 

That's the b-side of a song called Big Fanny. I don't know why I'm telling you that.

Jimmy Hughes - The Loving Physician

John Manning - Free Clinic Song

But we'll close today with an old favourite. I'm a big fan of the Robert Palmer version, but here's the original by the wonderful Moon Martin...



Sunday, 7 June 2026

Snapshots #451: Hospital Songs


Nobody wants to spend their Sunday morning in hospital, so let's get you through this procedure as quickly and painlessly as possible - stat!


15. Batman.

Well, he has been known to chew on them.

Ozzy Osborne - Patient No. 9

14. And the nonchemical reef will leave you perplexed.

"And the nonchemical reef" was an anagram for Florence (Welch) And The Machine (aka Isabella Summers).

Florence & The Machine - Hospital Beds

13. Film director with a singular vision meets a bloke known for his twitchy eyeballs.

An Auteur and a bloke from R.E.M.

Luke Haines & Peter Buck - Rock 'n' Roll Ambulance

12. Turned out nice again.

Sunny - Doctor's Orders

11. Continental cops.

Interpol - Specialist

10. Plonker finds murder in bloody place.

Rodney was a plonker with a crow* in 'ell. (*From a murder of crows.)

Rodney Crowell - Triage

9. You think that you're strong, Rocky Balboa? You're wrong.

Lyrics from a Robbie Williams song, with added Sly Stallone.

Sly & Robbie - Night Nurse

8. The French had a good winter.

"Bon hiver" means good winter in French.

Bon Iver - Blood Bank

7. Opaline or Spangle?

Two types of budgerigar.

Budgie - Crash Course in Brain Surgery

6. Superman's pal goes to work for Charlie.

Superman's Pal is Jimmy Olsen. Charlie employed Angels.

Angel Olsen - Sister

...or you could have...

Angel Olsen - Intern

5. He's not been the same since Dolby died.

"Dolby died" was an anagram.

Bo Diddley - Pills

Call for the Rock 'n' Roll nurse!

4. This klew cud realy youse these guyz.

Editors - Smokers Outside The Hospital Doors

3. Clive Powell doesn't have quite the same ring.

Clive Powell is the real name of...

Georgie Fame - St. James Infirmary

2. Orton.

    Houghton.

Beth Orton.

Beth Jean Houghton.

Ditto!

Beth Ditto - Open Heart Surgery

1. Hard rock Scott, found in banjo-violin combo.


Bon Scott + banjo-violin.

Bon Jovi - Bad Medicine


Hopefully you'll all make a full recovery and be discharged in time for next week's Snapshots.

Saturday, 6 June 2026

Saturday Snapshots #451


We are detective!
We are select!
We are detective!
Come to connect!

Welcome, fellow detectives, to the quiz that asks you to select the correct identity of the people below... then work out the connection between their songs. Simples, as that annoying meerkat says.

15. Batman.

14. And the nonchemical reef will leave you perplexed.

13. Film director with a singular vision meets a bloke known for his twitchy eyeballs.

12. Turned out nice again.

11. Continental cops.

10. Plonker finds murder in bloody place.

9. You think that you're strong, Rocky Balboa? You're wrong.

8. The French had a good winter.

7. Opaline or Spangle?

6. Superman's pal goes to work for Charlie.

5. He's not been the same since Dolby died.

4. This klew cudrealy youse these guyz.

3. Clive Powell doesn't have quite the same ring.

2. Orton.

    Houghton.

1. Hard rock Scott, found in banjo-violin combo.


Answers tomorrow morning.


Friday, 5 June 2026

Guest Post Friday: A Top Ten Dairy Songs


It's been a hectic week here at Top Ten Towers - not much time for blogging.

Fortunately, George was ready to step in...

A few days ago, in the must-listen-to-every-song-all-the-way-through Namesakes series, Rol wrote that despite the title of his blog he does not actually write a Top Ten piece any more. (I'm glad to see George is finally calling that series by its proper name.) I emailed him to say that I had started several but never got to ten songs. Well, now I have. So here it is. A “Top Ten Dairy Songs”. A teacher of English would know: is it ironic that a top ten dairy list is compiled by a vegan? (Yes.)

The songs below are not in any order of preference.

1. Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band - Ice Cream for Crow

The title track of his last album, and a rollicking great, almost rockabilly, song.


How insanely catchy is that riff? Maybe this is the best song in the list.

2. Hot Butter - Popcorn

Readers older than Rol might remember this hit from 1972.


In parts it sounds a game of pong gone mad. I’ve done a Rol here in stretching/ignoring the rule that the song itself must pertain to the title, but I can’t see any objection coming from either Rol or regular reader Ernie.

I object on the basis that I do remember it and wish I didn't. Ernie?

3. Billy Bragg - The Milkman of Human Kindness

One of my favourite “sing-along-with-Billy-Bragg” songs.


Am I the only one who started to lose interest in his music after the first two albums?

Hopefully.

4. Led Zeppelin - Custard Pie

It never occurred to me before writing this piece that this song might not actually be about the stuff you pour on your apple pie or rhubarb crumble.


Anyway, components of custard are dairy, so it’s in the list. That funky bit in the song is made by a clavinet. I think.

5. Larry Williams - Peaches and Cream

Not one of his better known songs, but a fine 2 minute blast of rock and roll. And given it’s a 1950s rock and roll song, I suppose the peaches and cream of the song are not actually a fruit and a dairy product.


6. Tarnation - Little Black Egg

Bending the rules again*, but  I’ve always lumped eggs in with dairy, probably from years of saying “vegetarian and no eggs no dairy”. Sung by one of my Top Ten favourite female singers. Mr CC has written (here) about our attempts to see Tarnation in Sheffield, he got the train from Glasgow, me  driving up from Birmingham. Indeed he is very lucky never to have seen them twice!


*I'd have been crucified if I'd tried that.

7. Quim Barreiros - Omelette

And from the absolutely fantastic Quim Barreiros, from the first album of his that I purchased, “A cabritinha” (I’m 99% confident he is not referencing little female goats)  and here you can see the great man in action, musically that is:


And I actually think this is a song about making an omelette. Of course, my knowledge is Portuguese entendres / sexual slang is almost zero. (I do know not to go to Mrs Woman in the veg shop and ask for tomatoes, though, only for tomato.*)

*The mind boggles.

8. The Handsome Family - The Sad Milkman

Another milkman song, by the Handsome Family:


That's my favourite - and a great relief, since I was worrying George might include Ernie's Namesake.

9. The B52s - Quiche Lorraine

And as I am including eggs, here’s the obvious one:


10. Wynonie Harris - Keep On Churning ('Til The Butter Comes)

Possibly my favourite of this list, and I am 100% confident that this song is using a sexual metaphor. 


Somehow this song wasn’t banned. If anyone is thinking of doing a My Top Ten Sweetie songs, can I suggest Lollipop Mama by Wynonie Harries, a song that is of course about, according to wikipedia,  a type of sugar candy usually consisting of hard candy mounted on a stick and intended for sucking or licking".

So there you are, a Top Ten Dairy Songs list, that probably only has one song about a dairy product.

And if he posts this, thanks go to Rol. Enjoy the music.

Thank you, George, for bringing the tone of this blog down several notches. Always good to see.


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