Snapshots #430: Underwear Songs!

Heidi Hi, campers! 

Welcome back to this week's Snapshots – songs about underwear! Ms. Klum is famous for walking about in her skivvies, though she did agree to keep her kit on for propriety’s sake. It was either her or Biggie Smalls…

15. Crazy, Hippy Lit.

Crazy Chick was a song by Charlotte Church. Hippychick by Soho. And Chick Lit by We Are Scientists.

The Chicks - Tights On My Boat

14. Tanya Donnelly. (Donelly. Donnelly. Donnelly.)

Tanya Donnelly was the lead singer of Belly. (Belly. Belly. Belly.)

Echobelly - Pantyhose and Roses

13. It’s not unusual to be a very patient man.

Tom Waits - Pasties And A G-String

12. Chinese troops in a skirmish.

“Chinese troops” was an anagram.

Stereophonics - More Life In A Tramp’s Vest

11. When it comes to not throwing stones, these guys are the rulers.

People in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones… but imagine you lived in a Crystal Castle?

Crystal Castles - Through The Hosiery

10. Sounds like a Yes Man to me.

His namesake is Jon Anderson from Yes.

John Anderson - Do You Have a Garter Belt?

Think this was originally a Tony Joe White tune, but Tony appears here regularly.

9. Show me to my seat.

Usher - Lingerie

8. Dado, shags Patti.

Da do Ron Ron… Sex with (Patti) Smith.

Ron Sexsmith - Late Bloomer

7. It takes a bright man to be captain of the England cricket team.  

Sarah Brightman and Michael Vaughan.

Sarah Vaughan – Shiny Stockings

6. Needs ironing out.

The Kinks - Mick Avory's Underpants

Yeah, OK, it’s only an instrumental – but you find a song with underpants in the title!

5. Most stories contain one - Add Me On Snapchat!

Most sTORIes. The Snapchat thing is an acronym that the young people use. Apparently.

Tori Amos - The Power of Orange Knickers

4. May, Kennedy and Wilson, like the cattle.

Three Bri/yans and Highland Cattle.

Bryan Hyland - Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini

Just be glad I didn’t choose the Timmy Mallett version.

3. Brown, South and Jackson get in the ring.

Three Joes, boxing.

JoBoxers - Boxerbeat

2. Frank takes a Scottish wife, in hashtags and angel eyes.

Frankenstein wanted a Bride, though he wasn’t fussed whether she was a Mc.

In hASHtags and angeLEYes.

Ashley McBryde, Caylee Hammack, Pillbox Patti - Brenda Put Your Bra On

And yes, Ashley has some help on that track… but how long do you want my clues to get?

1. REM's 11th album gets a mixed response.

REM’s 11th was the LP UP. Anagram!

Pulp - Underwear

 

Something less pants next Saturday.

Snapshots #370: A Top Ten Songs About Lost Cities

This weekend, we explored ten legendary cities, lost to the sands of time. I'm surprised we didn't bump into Indiana Jones while we were there...

10. He made three dollars.

The composer of the soundtracks for Sergio Leone's Dollars trilogy, starring Clint Eastwood. He also ventured to this lost city in Colorado...

Enio Morricone - Mesa Verde

9. Rabbit, something you bear, Jodie Foster movie.

Peter the Rabbit, you bear the brunt, Jodie Foster was in Nell. 

Peter Bruntnell - Camelot In Smithereens

8. Misspelled Mongol.

It's not Genghis Kahn, it's...

Dschinghis Khan - Machu Piccu

Apologies if you'd have preferred this...

The Strokes - Machu Piccu

7. From Grace.

No one wants a Fall from grace...

The Fall - Theme From Sparta FC

6. Wheeler's band - Fall Guy - Madonna, Miley, Mariah (initially) - monstrous wife.

Tim Wheeler's band is Ash. The Fall Guy was Lee Majors (not that Ryan fool). Madonna et al. are MCs. Frankenstein's monstrous wife was The Bride.

Ashley McBryde - El Dorado

5. Yellow, Turquoise, Juniper.

Three song title colours from...

Donovan - Atlantis

4. Once indoors, an unbelievable mix-up occurs.

"Once indoors, an..." was an anagram...

Sinéad O'Connor - Troy

3. Revolutionary prison.

Bastille - Pompeii

2. Don't get stuck in them. 

The Ruts - Babylon's Burning

1. No Joel? That'll cause a stir.

"No Joel" was an anagram of ELO and ONJ. 

Olivia Newton John & ELO - Xanadu

Rediscover Snapshots next Saturday.

Saturday Snapshots #149 - The Answers

Here they are...

10. Every day's the same - no wonder these rogues want to be let into hell!

Rakes at the gates of hell?

The Rakes - Work, Work, Work (Pub, Sleep, Club)

9. Is there a (half) man present?

Half Man Half Biscuit leads us to the Cookies.

The Cookies - I Want A Boy For My Birthday

Morrissey & Marr's debut home recording was a cover of this song.

8. Touching Paul Rodgers, with sugar.

Paul Rodgers was in Free.

Cream & sugar.

Cream - I Feel Free

7. Bedfordshire birds nest for the weekend, on Radiohead's desert island.

Leyton Buzzard is in Bedfordshire.

Radiohead sang about Fake Plastic Trees.

The Leyton Buzzards - Saturday Night (Beneath The Plastic Palm Trees)

6. I am not in either... look in the mirror, as the adverts used to say.

Take I from either and you're left with Ether.

If you really want to know, look in the Mirror, as the tabloid ads used to sing. When I were a lad.

Ether - If You Really Want To Know

5. No moon after B52 love missile.

The B52's shack... under attack... on a dark night.

Shakatak - Dark Is The Night

I hated Shakatak when I was a teenager too. Now though, I feel a curious nostalgia for the chart detritus of my youth.

4. Scottish wife found in crummy Georgian pub.

A Scottish wife would be a Mc-Bride.

Dahlonega is in Georgia. Of course!

Ashley McBryde - A Little Dive Bar In Dahlonega

3. Donald grew, Dan growled, Rod wangled. But George was all on his own.

The first three are all anagrams... but George on his own would be a Lonely Boy.

Andrew Gold - Lonely Boy

Can't believe it's take me 149 (+) weeks to feature that.

2. Seymour's kleptomania exposed.

Jane Seymour is addicted to stealing... but now she's been caught.

Jane's Addiction - Been Caught Stealing

Brian held the drummer's paint can. Now that's a claim to fame!

1. Gemuflect. Pork scratchings and a cuppa.

A diamond is a gem.

Genuflect means "to lower one's body briefly by bending one knee to the ground"... or kneel.

Pork scratchings are crackling.

Rosie Lee.

My Top Ten Country / Americana Songs of 2018

It's been a fine year for new music, so as well as my Top 18 countdown, I also wanted to shine a light on some of the tunes that didn't make my final list. Here's ten great country songs I discovered this year...


10. Courtney Marie Andrews - Took You Up

I'm still working on appreciating Courtney Marie Andrews as much as other people do, but there's some great lyrical detail here to draw me in.

Karaoke on a Monday night

Television when we want to hide

Frozen dinners when money's tight

Makin' love on a laundry pile

Ain't got much, but we got each other

Not much but love to offer

I took you up

9. Kacey Musgraves - Slow Burn

With splashes of pop and even disco on her most recent album, there's a sense that Kacey hankers after following Taylor Swift to the dark side. She can still write a great song though.

8. Dawes - Living In The Future

Couldn't get into the most recent Dawes album as much as I have their previous offerings, but this lead track certainly blew the dust off my speakers.

7. First Aid Kit - Ugly

Their latest album was pretty good, though I didn't love it half as much as their last one. This is from the follow-up EP, and suggests they're heading back to top form.

6. Eric Church - Hippie Radio

With his last couple of albums, Eric Church would have easily made it into my favourites of the year list. His latest record, Desperate Man, plays it a little safe and leaves the Waylon-esque outlaw stuff on the back-burner. Still some fine tunes on it though.

5. Mary Gauthier - Got Your Six

A soldier's life is not a happy one one Mary's outstanding new album. More here.

4. Dave Giles - Devil In A Green Dress

Dave Giles calls himself "an American artist from London", and to be fair, this was recorded in Nashville. Sounds more like Nick Lowe meets Frank Turner to me. Classic songwriting.

3. Midland - Drinkin' Problem

Like The Eagles crossed with Dr. Hook. If that sounds like your idea of hell... well, you and me comes from different places, I guess.

People say I got a drinkin' problem

But I got no problem drinkin' at all

They keep on talkin'

Drawing conclusions

They call it a problem, 

I call it a solution

2. The Nude Party - Chevrolet Van

They call it Americana, but The Nude Party owe as much to the Stones and 60s garage rock. Whatever label you hang on it, this is a smashing pop song destined to put a grin on your face. The rest of the album is similarly fun. More here.

1. Ashley McBride - A Little Dive Bar In Dahlonega

You know how some of the best indie music is written for outcasts and losers, those down on their look and living on lonely desperation? So is some of the best country music. This is one of my songs of the year - kinda like a country version of Drugstore's Say Hello.



Stay tuned for more great country and Americana music as I continue my 2018 countdown.