Snapshots #376: The Snapshots Sale Is Now On!

Now that the Snapshots Sale has officially been started by Robin Zander, lead singer of Cheap Trick, you can all bag yourself a bargain - while stocks last! 

20. Tony Pollard is very confused.

Hard as it may be to believe, "Tony Pollard" is an anagram for a very young...

Dolly Parton - The Bargain Store

19. Don't tell your other half about these guys.

Keep that affair secret, whatever you do...

Secret Affair - I'm Not Free (But I'm Cheap)

18. Foibles.

The Kinks - Massive Reductions

17. Mr. Loverman (not Shabba).

He's the man from Love...

Arthur Lee - You Can Save Up To 50% But You're Still A Long Ways From Home

Short but sweet, that one.

16. Wayward Prince, initially Jesus, every one famous.

Prince Harry is rather wayward, the first letter of Jesus is J, but they're all stars...

Harry J. All Stars - Liquidator

15. Octopus Alfred wearing a hockey mask.

Alfred Molina played Dr. Octopus... Jason wore a hockey mask.

Jason Molina - It Costs You Nothing

14. Eastenders without a cause.

Cockney Rebel - Big Big Deal

13. The riddle of who's steering the ship.

Jimmy Riddle at the Helm...

Jimmy Helms - Gonna Make You An Offer You Can't Refuse

12. Four sub-par Stewarts fly high with mock King. 

They're a quartet of B-Rods in the Sky... with an Elvis who's not the King.

Elvis Costello & The Brodsky Quartet - This Offer Is Unrepeatable

11. Use your powers of deduction to describe Cilla's laughs.

You needed a lorra lorra logic to figure this one out...

Lora Logic - Wonderful Offer

10. Overweight and covered in spots.

Fats Domino - What A Price

9. Tired / Hippocampus.

Hippocampus is the Latin name for seahorses. If you're tired, you need a Sleeper.

Sleeper - Sale of the Century

Seahorses - Sale of the Century

8. Useful for chipping away at the igloo.

Cold Chisel - Cheap Wine

7. Better than Steve Mason and Gordon Anderson.

Steve Mason and Gordon Anderson were the Beta Band.

T-Bone Burnett, Steven Soles, and David Mansfield were...

The Alpha Band - Cheap Perfume

6. Senegal Intelligence Agency.

That would be the SIA...

Sia - Cheap Thrills

5. Crazy boys.

The Mad Lads - Don't Have To Shop Around

4. An insult to the Irish, and a Young man who talks to walls.

Faron Young sang Hello Walls, Mick is a derogatory term for the Irish...

Mick Farren - Half Price Drinks

3. Desperate / not depressive.

Desperate (Steely) Dan and the Manics (not depressives).

Manic Street Preachers - Everything Must Go

Steely Dan - Everything Must Go

2. What a Doctor and a Baker do at the bus stop.

Tom (Baker) Waits...

Step right up
Everyone's a winner!
Bargains galore!
That's right you too can be the proud owner of...
The quality goes in before the name goes on!

Tom Waits - Step Right Up

1. Get her out of the other way and you'll hear a crazy organ playing in your new build home. 

Remove "her" from "other way" and you get Otway. A crazy organ might be a wild willy... in a Barrett home.

John Otway & Wild Willy Barrett - Really Free

The Snapshots Sale Must End New Year's Day! Join us then for our final crazy reductions!

Celebrity Jukebox #97: Arthur Lee

Sometimes I have an obvious idea for the Celebrity Jukebox and think, "this'll be a quick one, there won't be that many other songs". And then I learn my lesson.

Arthur Lee was born in Memphis in 1945. He first recorded with The LAGS when he was 18. He wrote the almost-hit My Diary for Rosa Lee Brooks, featuring a young Jimi Hendrix on guitar. Then he formed The American Four and wrote for Ronnie and the Pomona Casuals, a band who liked to make records about the dance craze known as The Jerk. And then he fell in Love, and everything changed... forever.

Here are some songs that mention Arthur, starting with Robyn Hitchcock...

The wreck of the Arthur Lee
Will never return again
The captain and all his men
Went up and jumped overboard
"Jesus is Lord" they cried
Believe in love!
Believe in Love
And I'll believe in you

Robyn Hitchcock - The Wreck of the Arthur Lee

In 1996, Arthur Lee was sent to prison "for a crime he did not commit". He spent five and a half years before someone else confessed to the crime, the original prosecutor was found guilty of misconduct, and the charges against him were reversed on appeal. While he was inside, two of his former bandmates died, so a proposed Love reunion was never to be.

Arthur lying down dreaming a dream
Woke up to realise life wasn't as it seems
Four walls a bed and a wonderful view
But he's feeling lonely without the rest of his crew
The prison's going down

Hugh Cornwell - The Prison's Going Down

The man responsible for firing the handgun that Arthur was convicted of was a visiting fan. At the time, he denied all involvement. 

The Soundtrack Of Our Lives - The Fan Who Wasn't There

Think you lie before decieving
All the people that believe in me
Somewhere Arthur Lee is bleeding
Somewhere Arthur Lee is bleeding

The Format - Dear Boy

Walter Schreifels was the frontman of a bunch of New York bands starting in the mid-80s, including Rival Schools, Quicksand and Walking Concert. And here he is on his own...

Walter Schreifels  - Arthur Lee's Lullaby

"Tactics were one of the most celebrated acts on Australia's new wave scene," says their bandcamp page. But that also tells me they're from France, so what do I know?

Tactics - Arthur Lee At Houston Airport

Of all the celebrities I've featured here, very few have as many songs named after them as Arthur Lee. Don't believe me?

Try these...

The Woggles - Arthur Lee

Honeyburst - Arthur Lee

Marlon Cherry - Arthur Lee

The Bordellos - Arthur Lee

Make-Up - Free Arthur Lee

The Dackel 5 - Arthur Lee, Belmondo, Du & Ich

Mark McDowell & Friends -  De facto (Ode To Arthur Lee)

The Pillbugs - Make Like Arthur Lee

And those were just the ones I could find links to. Plenty more where they came from... but let's pause to consider a few more well known names. Like Shack. Did you know that in the 90s, Shack were Arthur Lee's backing band? Well, you do now.

How can you shine so bright and still you shine for me?
Travelling through the night a million miles with me
Listening to Wild Mountain Thyme, The Byrds and Arthur Lee

Shack - Byrds Turn To Stone

And what about this famous group of solicitors?

David Bowie was Hunky Dory
Aladdin quite insane
Give the sound of Arthur Lee with
Forever Changes, I'll remember
And more again, don't leave me ever
Buddy Holly said, "Baby, please be mine"
All the time.

Barclay James Harvest - A Tale Of Two Sixties

Meanwhile, it appears Fleet Foxes are joining us in a Mid-Life Crisis...

I could dress as Arthur Lee
Scrape my shoes the right way
Maybe read Ulysses
But it's a young man's game

Fleet Foxes - Young Man's Game

Speaking of grumpy old men...

Beware of the man who only shows you the best bits
Beware of the band who type out their set lists
Sometimes instead of Arthur Lee
I’d much prefer some Arthur Lowe
And with you by my side
I would aspire to ascend
Such heights where we’d find
Tears and laughter cease to matter
And we’d be pleasantly surprised
By our annual water bill

Half Man Half Biscuit - Mate Of The Bloke

The young uns though, they do still dream of being like Arthur...

What do we?
Want to be?
Arthur Lee?
In a party motel on 5th street

Eeeks - Party Motel

All of which brings us to the inevitable. Unarguably the greatest tune ever to name-drop the Love frontman, it's also a highlight of one of the greatest albums of the 80s... 

Looking like a born again, living like a heretic
Listening to Arthur Lee records, making all your friends feel so guilty
About their cynicism and the rest of their generation
Not even the government are gonna stop you now
But are you ready to be heartbroken ?
Are you ready to be heartbroken ?