Celebrity Jukebox #55: Julie Christie

Following on from Terence Stamp, it seemed logical to remain in the swinging sixties with his former partner in crime, Julie Christie. The ladies often do better than the gents in this feature, and Julie certainly racks up more mentions than Terry… although they do both feature in one of the best songs of the 60s, which I'd completely forgotten until Rigid Digit reminded me on Monday...

Terry meets Julie
Waterloo Station
Every Friday night
But I am so lazy, don't want to wander
I stay at home at night

After that, anything else will be an anti-climax. Still, there's some great tunes about Julie on her own. So let's crack on with them, shall we?

We begin with a song about Julie’s breakthrough role in Billy Liar, named after that movie’s star…

Yo La Tengo – Tom Courtenay

Julie Christie, the rumour are true
As the pages turn, my eyes are glued
To the movie star and his sordid life
Mr. X and his long-suffering wife

Next, Al Stewart. He's no stranger to this feature…

Al Stewart – Gina In The King’s Road

Now Gina in the King’s Road
In a raincoat shimmering white
Hands thrust in her pockets
Like Julie Christie might

Half-Japanese are an American art-punk band who have been going almost half a century. This was their debut single, released in 1975, in which Julie keeps company with a curious collection of ladies, most notable Yoko Ono, Shelley Duvall and Angela Bowie… it's an absolute racket.

Half Japanese – Calling All Girls

Another US punk band, this time from the 90s, and quite a bit more tuneful...

J Church – Anybody

She talks like Julie Christie
Implied sex and foreign intrigue
It’s the accent that really gets me
She laughs to make me smile

France Gall was the first singer Serge Gainsbourg ever wrote for. Here she takes a swing at the swinging 60s, trying to settle the old argument of which was the swingingest: England or France? (This one wasn't written by Serge. Clearly, he would know the answer.)

France Gall – Made In France

At which point we arrive at the songs named after Julie Christie. Of which, I think I found more titular mentions than for any other Celebrity Jukeboxer so far. We begin with Philadelphia’s Bill Ricchini…

Bill Ricchini – Julie Christie

You look just like Julie Christie
And I feel just like Terry Stamp

I like that one. Would have included it in my Terence Stamp Jukebox on Monday, but I guess I felt Bill was being a bit greedy, trying to feature here twice in one week.

Lorraine Bowen could well be described as a Billy Bragg protégé – Bill encouraged her to go solo following her time in two 80s bands, See You In Vegas and The Dinner Ladies. This is one of her most-loved tunes…

Lorraine Bowen – Julie Christie

Julie Christie
She makes me go misty
She makes me go “ah!”
Oh what a star

Slightly more erudite, we have the great Stephen Duffy, back in the days when he was still calling himself after a French comic strip character…

Stephen Tin Tin Duffy – Julie Christie

You remind me of
Julie Christie in 'Billy Liar'
You, your milky youth
Wide eyed devotion and pure desire

From a similar era, on Tea Time Records, here's my discovery of the week: The Driscolls…

The Driscolls – Julie Christie

And another couple of lost gems from the 80s that I can find very little info on… don't believe anyone who tells you that you can find out everything you want to know on the interweb.

Oxygen Pete – Julie Christie

Kennedy - Julie Christie

Following the break-up of All About Eve in the early 90s, lead singer Julianne Regan led another band called, less memorably, Mice. She doesn’t sing on track 7 of their debut album though: it’s an instrumental.

Mice – Julie Christie

Another instrumental, though different instruments were used, comes from French composer André Popp’s 1974 album, in which every track was dedicated to a different screen siren.

André Popp – To Julie Christie (The Wonderful World OfJulie)

This next lady got a write-up in No Depression… guaranteed to get Charity Chic to give it a listen at least!

Kristin Mooney – Julie Christie

My choice for today was obvious from the start. It may be from a band you know as well as any of the last few (though god knows I've featured them enough here over the years), but if that's the case, I highly recommend you acquaint yourself with the work of Shirley Lee and Spearmint as soon as possible. Here's one good reason to do so...

She looks like Julie Christie
And she's blotted out my past
She had it all laid out for me
I never stood a chance
We took the essence of Felt and Vic Godard
And we blasted into space
And then we showered down on everyone
The whole soppy human race

Celebrity Jukebox #3: Peter Lorre

"Wondering who else is going to pop up in this series now," said Alyson in last week's comments. "I know of one song where Peter Lorre is mentioned but surely there can't be many more. Maybe time to prove me wrong."

Well, I do like a challenge. And Casablanca was on TV this weekend... though Lorre has a better role in The Maltese Falcon, in my humble opinion. He and Bogie were mates, apparently. 

Let's see if I can find the song Alyson was referring to...

Could it be this?

Lou Reed & Metallica - Brandenburg Gate

I would cut my legs and tits off

When I think of Boris Karloff and Kinski

In the dark of the moon

It made me dream of Nosferatu

Trapped on the isle of Doctor Moreau

Oh wouldn't it be lovely

Hang on, Lou. It's Peter Lorre we're looking for, not those guys...

I was thinking Peter Lorre

When things got pretty gory as I

Crossed to the Brandenburg Gate

I was feeling snappy perhaps I'd been napping

As I just ate

A following heart can tear you apart

On a midnight to eight shift

A graveyard romance can only give one chance

As the tombstones weave and breathe

That'll do.

Do you know what? I've never heard that before. But I like it far more than I expected to.

This one, on the other hand, has actually featured on this blog before...

Kurtis Blow & Run DMC - 8 Million Stories

You wake up in the morning and you're feelin' blue

Because Vicki is gone and your money is too

She's more sinister than Peter Lorre

And this is just two of 8 million stories

Probably not the one Alyson was referring to though. Are there any songs actually named after Mr. Lorre? Turn out: yes... this one even has 80 views on youtube!

The World/Inferno Friendship Society - Peter Lorre

This one, however, actually comes from my own record collection...

Peter Lorre, Peter Lorre 

He's a brick, he's a brick

You can count on him in trouble 

Even if it's really thick

Any crisis, he'll be there 

Like a little squidgy bear

Peter Lorre, Peter Lorre 

He's a brick

Peter Lorre, Peter Lorre 

Runs a nightclub way downtown

Peter Lorre, Peter Lorre 

Always wears a evil frown

Don't spit on his shoes 

Or mess up his hair

Or he will shoot you dead 

And go back upstairs

A real gentleman

Never bad and never rude

Never mad and never crude

Just like Sydney Greenstreet

Just like Sydney... Green...street

In any crisis he'll be there

Like a little squidgy bear

That's Peter Lorre, not Sydney Greenstreet

You know I'm going to declare that today's winner, don't you? Even though it's not the song Alyson was referring to. Let's call that a worthy runner-up...

On a morning from a Bogart movie

In a country where they turn back time

You go strolling through the crowd like Peter Lorre

Contemplating a crime

Sorry, Alyson!

Hot 100 #34

34 is a band, straight out of Kansas City, Missouri, one of those metal bands whose singer is in desperate need of a packet of Fisherman's Friends. Hear them roar here.

The number 34 proved to be another tricky one on the countdown, but as always you did your best to furnish me with suggestions.

Lynchie kicked off this week with a good ol' boy...

Ray Wylie Hubbard - Up Against The Wall, Redneck Mother

And it's up against the wall, redneck mother
Mother who has raised her son so well
He's 34 and drinkin' in a honky tonk
Just kickin' hippies' asses and raisin' hell...

Those bloody hippies, eh?

YouTube tells me that was "made famous by J.J. Walker". I suppose that depends on your definition of the word "famous".

Next to arrive last week was Douglas, still perturbed that I hadn't chosen either Bruce or Billy last week (I know, it kills me too) who decides to go a little off the beaten track this week as a result. I'll let him explain...

Monsters of Folk were a sort of one-off supergroup of Americana folk-rock greats, made up of Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis of Bright Eyes, Jim James (My Morning Jacket) and M. Ward. They take turns songwriting and taking lead vocals, and though I love the album, it is as a result a little uneven...like they haven't fully learned each other's strengths and are in a bit of a tug of war for the reins. But there are some fantastic moments in there, including this song:

Monsters of Folk - Man Named Truth

Pain was hunting me down but I gave him the slip
then I fell in love with identical twins
They lived 34 summers between the two of them
I gave one my ego, I gave one my id
Yeah, I gotta get back to my pretty little twins
Don't ever buy nothin' from a man named truth
Don't ever buy nothin' from a man named truth
I'll tell you right now that it ain't no use
Don't ever buy nothin' from a man named truth.

Pretty deep that. Shame I'm so shallow. Luckily, Douglas had that covered too with his second suggestion...

Weird Al Yankovic - Skipper Dan

...doin' 34 shows every day
And every time it's the same
Look at those hippos, they're wigglin' their ears
Just like they've done for the last 50 years.

Next through the doors was Martin, who offered a couple more lyrical suggestions that he wisely assessed would be in my own library...

The Fall - I'm Going To Spain

I've sold my car, thrown in my job,

I'm 34 years old...

...you better hurry up and get there before Brexit.

Reverend & The Makers - What The Milkman Saw

What's going on at number 34?

Kev says there's bodies buried underneath the floor...

Rigid Digit was left scratching his head again this week, resorting to that perennial standby...

Kate Bush - 50 Words For Snow

34 - Sorbetdeluge

Now, before we get onto this week's winner, here's the customary trawl through my hard-drive…

Elton John - The Ballad of Danny Bailey (1909 - 34)

Molina & Johnson - 34 Blues

Al Stewart - The Last Day of June 1934

In a week of slim pickings though, it was C who provided our salvation, with a classic Lieber/Stoller composition. C originally suggested the version by The Searchers, but then wisely directed us to the original by The Clovers. I'm rather partial to the version by The Coasters too.

I took my troubles down to Madame Ruth
You know that gypsy with the gold-capped tooth
She's got a pad down on Thirty-Fourth and Vine
Selling little bottles of Love Potion Number Nine

33 next week. Should be a little easier, given revolutions per minute. What have you got for me?

My Top Ten Submarine Songs

...but not that one, because I find it rather annoying.


10. The Supernaturals - Submarine Song

A Scottish submarine heads north...

9. Al Stewart - Life In Dark Water

The most literal submarine song on the list.

Oh come away from the day, here I stay

Living on the bottom of the sea

Down metal snake corridors steely grey

Engines hum for nobody but me

No sound comes from the sea above me

No messages crackles through the radio leads

They'll never know, never no never

How strange life in dark water can be

8. America - Submarine Ladies

On the other hand, I have no idea why this is called Submarine Ladies (I really don't think it's innuendo), but it's a cool song.

7. Black Grape - Submarine

No idea what this has got to do with submarines either, but Shaun Ryder is barking so that's all you need to know.

6. Ben Folds - Zak & Sara

Say what you like about Ben Folds, but dude can play the piano.

Zak called his dad about layaway plans

And Sara told the friendly salesman that:

"You'll all die in your cars,

And why's it gotta be dark?

And you're all working in a submarine."

5. Scott Walker - Plastic Palace People

Still missing him.

Over the rooftops burns Billy Balloon,

Sadly, the string descends

Searching its way down through blue submarine air

The polka dot underwear

To meet the trees, in morning square

Just hanging there, just hanging there

4. Hazel O'Connor - 8th Day

And on the 5th Day, God made the beasts and the submarines.

3. Fountains Of Ray - Sink To The Bottom

Doesn't actually mention a submarine, but does what submarines do.

2. The Lightning Seeds - Marvellous

Whereas this does exactly what it says on the tin. It's Marvellous!

You used to know but now you've forgotten

A submarine got stuck to the bottom

These are the days so wake up

Cause this is the time

And you know I'm right!

1. Billy Bragg - Sexuality

A nuclear submarine sinks off the coast of Sweden... but even if you're gay, Billy won't turn you away. Randy devil.


Those were my favourites, though I could have sunk another ten. Any submarines on your shelves?

My Top Ten Mona Lisa Songs

Just managing to keep the lights on at My Top Ten at the moment. Here are ten songs about the most famous / miserable painting in the world...

10. Wolf Alice - Moaning Lisa Smile

A song about feeling bad and having a good moan to get it out of your system.

A song about blogging, then?

9. Al Stewart - Mona Lisa Talking

Much underrated, Al Stewart...

These Renaissance girls know what they're saying
There are whispers at night in the halls of paintings
You think you're the first one to come untethered
But we've been watching you forever

8. Panic! At The Disco - The Ballad of Mona Lisa

A former student used to tell me (every lesson) that I looked like the lead singer of P!ATD, to the point that he started calling me Brendon. I don't see it myself, but I've been called far worse things.

7. Grant Lee Phillips - Mona Lisa

This is really quite lovely, especially the "burgundy smile you wore yesterday".

6. Strangelove - Mona Lisa

Patrick Duff wants to kiss a girl with a disappearing smile.

5. Television Personalities - Sad Mona Lisa

She likes to go shopping on Saturdays

Especially to Kensington Market

For acid house records her mother hates

And posters of Morten Harket

Extra points for rhyming Kensington Market with Morton Harket, obviously.

4. Brad Paisley - The Mona Lisa

I feel, like the frame
That gets to hold the Mona Lisa
And I don't care
If that's all I'll ever be

Brad Paisley makes this love-song writing malarky look easy.

3. Nat King Cole - Mona Lisa

What a voice. She'd have to smile at Nat! Similar smiles for Willie Nelson, Marvin Gaye... and Deano.

2. Jens Lekman - A Man Walks Into A Bar

Jens practices his chat up lines...

How many lovers does it take
To put a light bulb into a socket?
Why did Mona Lisa smile?
I have the answer written down in my pocket.

But it's not as creepy as that might sound...

I know why Mona Lisa smiled
Da Vinci must have been a really funny guy
And laughter is the only way into my heart

1. Elton John - Mona Lisas & Mad Hatters

For all his latter-day sins, early Elton takes some beating...



I could probably have stretched to another ten. The Manics would have got in here had they not thrown acid all over the painting. Which one leaves an enigmatic smile on your face?

Saturday Snapshots #17 - The Answers

Sunday morning
Brings the dawn in...

...but also brings the answers to Saturday Snapshots.

Thanks, as always, for taking part.


10. All Bar 1 (or 50), a bit like fishing tackle, taking photos of a Soft Cell song.

All bar 1 would be Al (similar L = the Latin 50).

Fishing tackle would be a Rod, as in Stewart.

There's a cool little Soft Cell song called Bedsitter (Carter did a great cover of it too).

Al Stewart - Bedsitter Images

The Swede means business this week. First point of many.

9. Saucy dancers have a mirror in the bathroom.

Saucy dancers would be go-go girls.

Mirror In The Bathroom was a song by The Beat.

The Go-Gos - We Got The Beat

And that is why Belinda Carlisle will always be cool.

Half a point to The Swede, half a point to Alyson. (Rigid Digit got there too, but later in the day.)

8.  Good for cars, fires and burglars in Southern Australia.

Car alarm. Fire alarm. Burglar alarm. I make this too easy.

New South Wales is part of Southern Australia, though obviously they weren't really singing about that.

The Alarm - A New South Wales

Great to hear that one again. Always sends shivers down my spine.

Another point for The Swede.

7. Can a real boy's dad stomach this?

Pinocchio wanted to be a real boy. His "father" was Gepetto.

Stomach? Do I really have to...

Belly - Gepetto

Tanya Donnelly. Sigh.

Yet another one for The Swede.

6. Hang on twice to Dot's dog.

My favourite clue this week.

Dorothy's dog was Toto.

To x 2 (twice) = Toto.

Hang on...

Toto - Hold The Line

Half a point each for Alyson & George.

5. London prisoners turn to this in a power cut.

Holloway is a prison in London.

In a power cut, you might need a generator.

The Holloways - Generator

George tried his best, checking into all the London prisons he could think of... but old lag Martin had already done time with this bunch so he recognised their mugshots immediately.

4. Syd was pretty tough - and loaded!

Syd Barrett.

Tough = strong.

If you're loaded, you have "LOADSAMONEY!" (You had to be there. Yes, I bought that. Listen musos - William Orbit was involved in that, so it must have been cool. I was 16, OK? Give me a break.)

Sorry. Where were we?

Barrett Strong - Money (That's What I Want)

Despite an initial confusion with the footballer (!?!) Earl Barrett, George nabbed this one.

3. German stone guy makes a Take That song even worse.

Stein is German for stone.

Take That did Bad For Good (possibly Gary Barlow's finest hour, though I prefer Robbie Williams' solo version: you have to stick with it past the first 50 seconds. I saw him do that live. Twice. One time, he rode a toilet round the stage while doing it. Don't tell me Robbie Williams isn't great. I won't believe you.)

In my humble opionion, Jim Steinman is one of the greatest songwriters ever to have set foot on this planet.

A rock star, he was not.

But Meat Loaf had a sore throat, so...

Jim Steinman - Bad For Good

(If you were shocked by the Robbie Williams, you'll probably be in a coma after that. Great song though, hilariously camp video notwithstanding.)

The Swede knew the answer, but wasn't willing to risk sacrificing his street cred.

Lynchie & Chris had no such qualms: they share a point between them.

RD adds, "not a terrible album, just not that brilliant either", which is the best I could have hoped for under the circumstances.

2. Little miss sunshine makes half-serious music in pursuit of her target.

KC had his sunshine band, so this must be Kacey.

Grave is serious, half of music is Mus.

Kacey Musgraves - Follow Your Arrow

Top work from C.

1. Voodoo creates an invisible woman.

Voodoo created zombies.

An invisible woman would not be there.

Really, I'm spoiling you.

The Zombies - She's Not There

And with that, The Swede takes this week's trophy.



More next... er... Saturday.

My Top Ten Bette Davis Songs

I've been very much enjoying the series Feud: Bette & Joan which ran on TV over Christmas. Great to see 60s America recreated so faithfully and the performances by Susan Sarandon, Jessica Lange and Alfred Molina were terrific. Stanley Tucci was hilarious as Jack Warner too. Of the two, Sarandon's Bette Davis probably comes out best, being shown as both the better actress and the more sympathetic human being (most of the time).

Not done an Actory Top Ten for awhile, so here's ten songs about Bette and her films...


10. Rod Stewart - Baby Jane

Well, we've got to start with this one, haven't we? As seen in Feud, Whatever Happened To Baby Jane? was the film that cemented the rivalry between Bette and Joan.

Some debate on t'internet as to whether Rod's song has anything to do with the movie... and quite a lot of old Rod The Mod fans bemoaning his 80s ouvre, of which this is seen as a particularly irksome entry. You can have the Belle & Sebastian version if you prefer. Or perhaps a completely different Baby Jane from Dr. Feelgood.

9. The Gaslight Anthem - Mae

There's an argument to be had that Brian Fallon hasn't had an original idea in his life, but everybody loves Noel Gallagher for the same crime, so cut The Gaslight Anthem a break...

Stay the same, don’t ever change
'Cause I’d miss your ways
With your Bette Davis eyes
And your mama's party dress

8. Al Stewart - Next Time

Not the first time Al has cropped up here name-dropping famous actresses. Probably won't be the last.

When you were just a kid you loved
To go to movies in the afternoon
And so you left the factory
And got a job in the projection-room
Bette Davis plays
Ran away with the passing days
You'll be a movie-star
Next time

7. Good Charlotte - Silver Screen Romance

Hit the chorus, lads...!

You're my Bette Davis I'm your Cary Grant
Let's make love all night don't get up at the prohibition
The big depression's over lets have a drink to them
We'll stay young forever living in our silver screen romance

(It's gonna be harder to do my Cary Grant Top Ten now.)

6. Marc Almond - My Love

Hilarious lyrics from Marc on this whole song... and just watch the way he performs the Bette Davis lines in the video: perfect!

My love
Likes tattoos in biro
Love bites and lager
And long menthol fags
My love
Smokes like Bette Davis
In short... 
Vicious... 
Drags.

5. Iggy Pop - Get Up & Get Out

Turns out Iggy was part of the whole #metoo movement almost 40 years before the rest of the world. This is from 1980!

I'm wondering fellas if you've heard the news
The chicks are sick and tired of being abused
Now I saw all this on the wide screen
You know that chick Bette Davis split right out of the scene

4. Dire Straits - Industrial Disease

Leave your Dire Straits prejudices at the door, please.

Sociologists invent words that mean 'Industrial Disease'
Doctor Parkinson declared 'I'm not surprised to see you here
You've got smokers cough from smoking, brewer's droop from drinking beer
I don't know how you came to get the Bette Davis knees
But worst of all young man you've got Industrial Disease

3. The Wedding Present - All About Eve

Nothing to do with the movie, more about the year Davd Gedge spent in South Africa as a child and his memories of Apartheid. Of course, All About Eve also gave its name to these guys. Bette's legacy lives on!

2. Bob Dylan - Desolation Row

Undeniably great. (Though I also like the My Chemical Romance version.)

Cinderella, she seems so easy 
"It takes one to know one," she smiles 
And puts her hands in her back pockets 
Bette Davis style 
And in comes Romeo, he's moaning, 
"You belong to Me I Believe" 
And someone says, "You're in the wrong place, my friend. You better leave" 
And the only sound that's left 
After the ambulances go 
Is Cinderella sweeping up 
On Desolation Row.

1. Kim Carnes - Bette Davis Eyes

The obvious #1, though I'm sure it'll be shunned as "too 80s" by many. You may prefer Jackie DeShannon's original... though it's a VERY different song. For a hipper "indie" version, try the Sexton Blake cover or this rather over-produced version by My Gold Mask. I'm sure it's been covered by a dozen other people, but those are the only ones to make it into my collection.

Kim Carnes is worth another post sometime though. Known to most people in the UK as a one hit wonder, her career actually stretches from the late 60s through to the present day, and her Best Of collection shows a lot of interesting work over that time. Try Gypsy Honeymoon as a taster, it might change your idea of her.



Think I can't follow that with a Joan Crawford Top Ten. Go on, dare me!

My Top Ten Humphrey Bogart Songs

Another new feature. I pick a famous actor or actress, then find ten songs which link to them one way or another... and try to explain the link in as few words as possible.

We're starting with Humphrey Bogart because he is a legend. Not the greatest actor ever, but certainly one of the greatest movie stars. This guy had charisma, attitude, presence by the bucketload. He was a tough guy, sure, but he knew how to take a beating too. And while the kids of today probably wouldn't even know his name, the songwriters of yesterday couldn't stop writing about him. I could probably have made this a Top 20, just from songs that mention him by name (I won't be as direct with every star I choose), and I didn't even have to go to Nik Kershaw.


10. Peter Hammill - No More (The Submariner)

Get ready to have you brain fed through a Van der Graaf Generator. Prog off!

Oh! To be King John or Douglas Bader,
Humphrey Bogart or Victor Mature!
Which one is false and easy?
Which one harder?

9. Hall & Oates - Heavy Rain

Anyone who doesn't dig Hall & Oates, well... when you're slapped, you'll take it and like it.

We've seen a million faces
All staring at you and me
But just like Humphrey Bogart said
Before he passed out on his bed
Here's looking at you kid
And the rocky road ahead

8. Melissa Etheridge - Watching You

Probably one I should haved saved for volume 2 of My Top Ten Stalker Songs...

Sure I'm alright
No I'm not very cold
Every now and then I can feel the subway heat
So go on inside
I'll leave you alone
Anyway Bogart's on in the window down the street
And I gotta do something

7. Roxy Music - 2HB

2HB? To Humphrey Bogart. Thanks, Bryan.

Here's looking at you kid
Hard to forget
Here's looking at you kid
At least not yet
Your memory stays
It lingers ever
Will fade away never

6. The Good Rats - Tough Guys

Lots of famous tough guys from the golden age of Hollywood pop up in this Good Rats song, but Bogie takes centre stage...

Bogie, I've always dug your crowd
The fat man and Peter
And Claude and the rest

Play it again, Sam
These falcons have gone
To their nest
Oh, yes

5. The Beautiful South - I May Be Ugly

I pulled this one out for My Top Ten John Hurt Songs, but it's too good to ignore here...

He dreamt of those old-fashioned movies
Where Bogart gets the dame
But a lorry load of Lorre
Is still the score of pain

"A lorry load of Lorre"... that's some top alliterative punning right there.

4. Suzanne Vega - Freeze Tag

Two kids mucking around in a playground as winter draws in...

You stand
With your hand
In your pocket
And lean against the wall
You will be Bogart
And I will be
Bacall

3. The Donnas - Pass It Around

But there's always someone who's gotta spoil it for the rest of the gang
You're such a little Bogart and I'm sorry but you just can't hang

Why don't you pass it around
Don't bring the party down
If you don't pass it around
We'll run you right outta this town

I had to Urban Dictionary this one...

"To keep something all for oneself, thus depriving anyone else of having any. A slang term derived from the last name of famous actor Humphrey Bogart because he often kept a cigarette in the corner of his mouth, seemingly never actually drawing on it or smoking it."

See also Little Feat - Don't Bogart That Joint.

2. Al Stewart - Year of the Cat

On a morning from a Bogart movie
In a country where they turn back time
You go strolling through the crowd like Peter Lorre
Contemplating a crime
She comes out of the sun in a silk dress running
Like a watercolor in the rain
Don't bother asking for explanations
She'll just tell you that she came
In the year of the cat

Definitely Al's finest moment. (I wonder if I could have managed a Peter Lorre Top Ten?)

1. Bertie Higgins - Key Largo / Casablanca

Two for the price of one. Another couple I owe to Wogan, I suspect. No idea how else I'd remember these songs. The interweb informs me that "Bertie Higgins is one of China's most requested American entertainers". Good for him.

We had it all
Just like Bogie and Bacall
Starring in our old late, late show
Sailing away to Key Largo...

If you think I've missed any obvious ones out... they might crop up in volume two of this series... so you might be able to guess who's coming next.

Feel free to leave a comment, but remember: people lose teeth talking like that. If you want to hang around, you'll be polite.

My Top Ten Brooklyn Songs

Loads of ideas for Top Ten lists... not enough time to write them. Here's another entry into my musical tour of the USA, stopping off in one of the five boroughs of New York City... because if I start trying to tackle the city as a whole, I'll be here till the end of time.

10. Al Stewart - In Brooklyn

Admittedly, this 10th spot would have gone to John Peel favourites Bob with their 1989 single 'Esmerelda Brooklyn'... if only I'd been able to find it anywhere online. Al Stewart gets a pass instead, a well-deserving runner-up.

9. Fun Lovin' Criminals - Swashbucklin' In Brooklyn

Gets in on the title alone.

8. Barton Carroll - Brooklyn Girl, You're Gonna Be My Bride

Seattle's Barton Carroll has a nicely cynical Nick Lowe-ish edge to his songwriting.

I'm not a dandy or the sharpest knife in the drawer
and I've always had to work with my hands,
But I use what I was given and I work for a living
and that's more than you can say for your man.

7. Woodkid - Brooklyn

Every now and then, in the course of compiling these charts, I come across a song I've never heard before by an artist I've never heard before, that's really quite lovely. I was taken with this one, until Louise came in and asked, "What are you listening to - it sounds like Kermit." Too late, I'd already downloaded it from Amazon. On her account (accidentally) - that''ll teach her to leave it signed on!

6. Steely Dan - Brooklyn (Owes The Charmer Under Me)

As with most Steely Dan song, I've no idea what this is about. But it still sounds damned good.

5. The Black Keys - Brooklyn Bound

Could have been recorded any time in the last 50 years. I think that makes it timeless.

4. Jesse Malin - Brooklyn

Ten years ago, Jesse Malin released an album, The Fine Art of Self-Destruction, which still remains his career best. This song goes a long way towards explaining why.

3. Brooklyn Bridge - The Worst That Could Happen

Yes, I'm breaking one of my main rules here, but I couldn't resist. This one's a classic, written by the great Jimmy Webb, sung like his life depended on it by the late Johnny Maestro and his band... Brooklyn Bridge.

2. The Avett Brothers - I And Love And You

Someone on youtube describes them as "the American Mumford & Sons", which isn't a bad comparison. This is the most beautiful song they've yet recorded. Oh, and Brooklyn features heavily, even if it doesn't appear in the title.

1. The Beastie Boys - No Sleep Till Brooklyn

Inevitably. 

Were the Beastie Boys ever really this young? Were any of us...?




They were Brooklyn's best... unless you know different. As always, let me know your favourites - or any I left out...