Saturday Snapshots #14 - The Answers

Almost a clean sweep for Brian and Mrs. Brian this week... staying up late on a Friday night to get first dibs.


10. Looks like she will be Jeff, but that could be an untruth.

Jeff would be Jeff Lynne, so... She'll Be Lynne.

Shelby Lynne - Your Lies

Well done to Lynchie, picking up Brian & Mrs. Brian's scraps.


9. Pulp frillies as the Transit Authority get booed off stage.

My favourite clue this week.

Pulp is paper. Lace is frilly.

The Chicago Transit Authority was the original name for the band Chicago. If they got booed off stage, they would have "died", so...

Paper Lace - The Night Chicago Died

Great live version.

Top Ten bands with (lead) singing drummers, anyone?


8. Open people's minds (with poppies), at the angelic skatepark.

OPM stands for "open people's minds", apparently... or "other people's money". It has nothing at all to do with opium.

A half-pipe, as you will all know, is that curved thing skateboarders and bmx-kids do stunts on. It has nothing at all to do with drugs, despite what I thought when this record originally came out.

OPM - Heaven Is A Half Pipe (If I Die)

(Kudos to Mrs. Brian for remembering the parenthesis.)


7. DJ dies on tape: Horny!

Too easy. (The Buggles was prety much Trevor Horn... like you didn't know that.)

The Buggles - Video Killed The Radio Star

I would listen to anyone who wanted to argue that this is one of the greatest pop songs ever recorded.


6. Greedy simian sings a song for a King... a Freeman... or one of you.

A greedy simian would be a monkey that swallowed the universe.

Martin Luther King. Martin Freeman. Martin.

Monkey Swallows The Universe - Martin

True to his name, Martin turned up just in time to nab this one.


5. Russian dreamer who hears people swearing at a river.

Apparently, Nina means 'dreamer' in Russian.

Simone, the female version of Simon, means "one who hears" in Hebrew.

You obviously need to work on your etymology of names if you're going to play this game for real.

Swearing at a river is a bit more obvious.

Well done to Lynchie & Alyson.

Nina Simone - Mississippi Goddam


4. Golfing saint gets wicked at a tough soiree.

St. Andrews is where the golf takes place.

Wicked is abbreviated to WK in the alcoholic beverage.

A tough soiree would be a hard party.

Andrew WK - Party Hard

This is POWER pop taken to its ridiculous extreme.

Sam likes this song because it features in the movie The Secret Life Of Pets (or Pets At Home as we call it), one of the better kids films I've seen in recent years.


3. Drunks in the smelly shop say bye.

Drunks are lushes.

Lush is also a shop that sells smelly things. (Do they have that shop in America, Brian?)

Lush (featuring Jarvis Cocker) - Ciao!

Best Jarvis duet ever.


2. J.R. piles on the pounds but can still move fast.

Larry Hagman was J.R. Ewing.

If he piled on the pounds, he would be Fat Larry.

If he went fast, he would zoom.

The Swede made a welcome return to deny owning this record. (A signed copy? By the whole band? Really?)

Fat Larry's Band - Zoom

Although "Fat" Larry James was a singing drummer, sadly he doesn't sing lead vocal on this track.


1. A solid yet piercing noise. I always did like him in M*A*S*H*.

Solid gold.

Earrings are piercings (and go through your ears: which register noise: d'uh).

This is Gary Bergoff: Radar in M*A*S*H*...

This is one of Holland's greatest hits...


Thanks for playing. Get up earlier next week, George.

My Top Ten Party Songs

To celebrate our new arrival, we're having a party at Top Ten Towers... and you're invited. My son Sam is 4 weeks old today and 1 calendar month on Wednesday. This is his party.

There are, of course, thousands of "party" songs. To narrow that down, the first rule is that the song has to have "party" in the title. There are, however, lots of songs that mention parties in the title but are actually anything but party songs (Party Fears Two, It's My Party And I'll Cry If I Want To). Those will get their own Top Ten one day. Basically, to get in here... you've gotta make me want to hit the dancefloor. (And that takes some doing.)

So... let's party!


10. The Blackout - Start The Party

Welsh rockers The Blackout swap Merthyr Tydfil for Ibiza in the title track from their latest album. Loses points for the cry of "Wuzzzaaaaaappp?" right at the end of the video. Does anybody really still say "Wuzzzaaaaaappp?" in 2013? Or am I just out of touch?

9. Gretchen Wilson - Here For The Party

Nobody parties like a redneck queen...

Well, I'm an eight ball shooting, double fisted drinking son of a gun
I wear my jeans a little tight
Just to watch the little boys come undone
I'm here for the beer and the ball busting band
Gonna get a little crazy just because I can
I'm here for the party

8. Queen - Party / Kashoggi's Ship

The opening tracks to Queen's late 80s album The Miracle segue together for a party full of excess... just like Freddie's life.

No one stops my party!

7. Southside Johnny & The Asbury Dukes - We're Having A Party

Written and originally recorded by Sam Cooke, but Johnny's version is more likely to fill the dance floor.

6. Pulp - Party Hard

The darkest song on this list, dealing with the death of the Britpop party (as the whole This Is Hardcore album portrayed in exquisite detail), yet it still rocks. Plus - Jarvis plays dominoes with a squadron of cheerleaders. The man is a god.

I was having a whale of a time until your uncle...
Your uncle Psychosis arrived.
Why do we have to half kill ourselves just to prove we're alive?
I'm here whenever you need me
and whenever you need me
I won't be here.
And have you ever stopped to ask yourself?
If you didn't come to party, then why did you come here?

5. Pink - Get The Party Started

As we've already established, I'm a huge Pink fan. This is the kind of dancey pop racket that, were it recorded by anyone else, I might not give much time to. But I do like Pink... and this tune does exactly what it says on the tin.

4. The Divine Comedy - I've Been To A Marvellous Party

Neil Hannon covers the Noel Coward classic. It begins as a crackly old gramophone recording before going all techno-Prodigy in the middle. That really shouldn't work. But, by jove, it does.

On Wednesday night, I went to a marvellous party
With Nunu and Nada and Nell
It was in the fresh air and we went as we were and we stayed as we were which was hell
Poor Grace started singing at midnight and she didn't stop singing til four
We knew the excitement was bound to begin when Laura got blind on Dubonet and Gin
And scratched her veneer with a Cartier pin - I couldn't have liked it more!

3. Elvis Presley - Let's Have A Party

Back in high school, I played Little John in our Sixth Form Robin Hood pantomime. At the beginning of the second half, the Merry Men had a party... and I performed this song with as much Elvis swagger as I could manage. (It was mimed, sadly, but I gave it my all.) Hearing it always reminds me of my moment in the spotlight. 

2. The Beastie Boys - (You've Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party)

Thank god for those brackets - I couldn't have left this one out.

Top video - "I hope no bad people show up!"

1. Andrew W.K. - Party Hard

I don't know what to make of Andrew W.K. You can read all kinds of wild conspiracy theories about him over on iffypedia and I don't think any of his other records have stayed on my radar for more than five minutes. But if you're going to go down in history as a crazy one-hit wonder... you can do much worse than this belter.





Which one makes you want to party like it's 1999?