Listening Post #58: Rock n Roll is...

I'm trying to find time to write about the gig I went to on Sunday afternoon. 

There just aren't enough hours in the day.

So here's a song about the perils of the rock 'n' roll lifestyle instead...

And naturally, that reminds me of this...

Mid-Life Crisis Songs #137: QR Code

Weezer have a new album out, and frontman Rivers Cuomo is obviously feeling his age. Firstly, it's the pressure of being an ageing rock star having to feed the corporate machine...

Cranking out another nineties jam

Wish I could do something new

But nobody wants to hear that

They just want the classics

You can't blame 'em, really

There's something special about your early shit...

Then, more generally, the terrible irritations of modern life... 

Bought a toaster just to make some toast

First I had to scan a QR code

Where's the jerk who built this hamster wheel?

I'm gonna tell him exactly how I feel...

Namesakes #210: Player

That's Gary Player.

Was he a bit of a Player?

Who knows.

But he did sing... who knew that?

Gary Player - Gentle On My Mind

I'm actually wondering whether George will consider that the best thing he hears today. It's pretty slim pickings... I'd thought there would have been more Players out there...

PLAYER #1

Peter Beckett was from Liverpool. At age 16, he formed a band called The Thoughts and recorded a Ray Davies tune. Then he joined Winston G and the Wicked who soon changed their name to Whip. He auditioned for Badfinger, didn't get the job, so joined a prog band called Paladin. Somehow he ended up in LA where he joined the Skyband, before meeting up with the bunch of scallywags who became Player. 

And the rest is history...

Player - Baby Come Back

PLAYER #2

Kelly Groucutt was the bassist in ELO from 1974 - 1982. Unhappy with the money he was getting, he decided to sue Jeff Lynne, so while he made a few bob out of that, his days with the Orchestra were over. In 1986 he released a solo album which sounds very, very much like 80s ELO. Somewhere along the way, a track from that album was released as a single under the moniker Player. Or maybe I dreamt it...

Player - Am I A Dreamer?

 

THE PLAYER #3

Rapper from Michigan, via California, who's been writing his rhymes since he was 8 years old...

The Player - Tether

There were a few bands called The Players, but under George's Strict Rules, I can't include those. Besides, none of them were a patch on Gary Player.

Any worthy of a spin on your record player?

Snapshots Spillover: A Few More F Names

A few songs I had left over from this weekend's Snapshots, starting with the lady above...

Capital Cities - Farrah Fawcett Hair

And on we go...

ZZ Top - Francine

The Very Sexuals - Finn

Don McLean - Sister Fatima

Femme Fatale - Freya

Gary Walker & The Rain - Francis

Tina Peel - Fabian Lips

Fred Wedlock - Franklin

And we'll finish with these guys, who would definitely have featured had they not appeared on SS quite a bit over the years...

Snapshots #469: Songs For People Whose Name Begins With F

F---, me? As each of these people might have said, given that their names all begin with F. The people in the songs, that is, not the singers. 

Not my best introduction. Here are some tunes...

15. Gabriel, Simon, MacGregor.

Peter Gabriel, Paul Simon, Mary MacGregor.

Peter, Paul & Mary - Flora

14. Sounds like a big prize winning ticket.

A Golden Lottery ticket? Too good to be true...

Lotti Golden - Gonna Fay's

13. It's a bit of a squeeze for this guitarist.

He was the guitarist in Orange Juice, and the man who wrote one of their best songs...

James Kirk - Felicity

12. Initially German borders.

DE-lines.

The Delines - Left Hook Like Frazier

11. Not the kind of bloke you can rely on for a long-term commitment.

Keep away from him, ladies - he's a player.

Player - In Like Flynn

10. Divers do this.

Swim Deep - Francisco

9. Heard twice in a Flintstone cry.

Yabba dabba doo!

Abba - Fernando

8. Castle approved by the Valley Parent Teacher's Association.

Roy Castle goes to Harper Valley PTA...

Roy Harper - Francesca

7. Welsh hamster puts biscuit in his tea, adverbially.

Comedy TV Rat (and bane of my adolescence) Roland had a Welsh hamster sidekick called Errol. If he dunked with ly...

Erroll Dunkley - OK Fred

6. Aja 3rd.

Track 3 on Aja by Steely Dan... t's where they got their name.

Deacon Blue - Fergus Sings The Blues

5. Epitome, of virtue.

The Paragons - Florence

4. Hang on to this leading man.

Lead singer of the Hold Steady, though he's arguably even better as a solo act...

Craig Finn - Fletcher's

3. Percy's nun.

Percy Sledge, that is.

Sister Sledge - Hey Frankie

2. Moaning marijuanas!

The Grumbleweeds - Fiona McLaughlin

Every Friday night when I was a kid, we'd drive to my dad's work and do the cleaning. On the way back, we'd pick up fish and chips and listen to The Grumbleweeds on Radio 2.

1. This here logic game is all screwed up.

"Here logic game" was an anagram.

There's no F in Saturday Snapshots. But there will be next Saturday...