Saturday Snapshots #165 - The Answers

Hey - how YOU doing?

Here's this week's answers, my Friends...

10. Squashed pals may reach nirvana.

The Flatmates - I Could Be In Heaven

9. Sidekick is a bit of a knob, but is he a man of his word?

Batman's sidekick was Robin.

Cock Robin - The Promise You Made

You may not realise that you remember that.

8. Afternoon scones with lots of strawberry, raspberry or blueberry turns me into a dead man walking.

That sounds like a jammy tea.

Jamie T - Zombie

Great video.

7. Wild Bill Hicoke, Butch Hash-heady & Annie Tokely meet Mardi Dawn.

They must be the Cowboy Junkies!

Mardi is Tuesday.

Cowboy Junkies - Sun Comes Up, It's Tuesday Morning

6. Tardis, beseeching.

The Tardis is a timebox.

Timebox - Beggin'

5. Kerb crawler and his envious pick-up are confident they know the way back to their house.

A John is slang for a man who uses prostitutes. (Apologies to all the Johns I know, particularly John Medd.)

A green-eyed pick up would be a jealous van... or a van jealous.

Jon & Vangelis - I'll Find My Way Home

I love Jon Anderson's voice.

4. Mrs. Jackie joins the X-Men, perhaps?

Mrs. Jackie is an anagram.

The X-Men were super freaks.

Rick James - Super Freak

You can't touch that!

3. Hymn for other people.

Gloria is a hymn. Other people are them.

Them - Gloria

That bloke in the middle isn't wearing a mask.

2. Animal whistler & chavs.

Animal Whistler is an anagram.

Support here is given by Ben Folds on the left and Joe Jackson on the right. The bloke in the middle though is...

William Shatner - Common People

Not as good as the original, but not far off. Although Bill clearly has no idea what "chip stain grease" is.

1. Terrible pinkie, regardless.

I'll be there for you again next Saturday...

46 Years Ago Today...

...this was Number One in the hit parade. It's a wonderfully melodramatic performance of a hugely emotive song, written by Pete Ham and Tom Evans of Badfinger and originally released on their 1970 album, No Dice. Their version's pretty low-key compared to Harry Nilsson's "shatter the wine glasses" remake... only Mariah Carey managed to ever take the song one step further into undiluted histrionics... though most rational people understand deep down in their heart of hearts that her version is utter pants, and an insult to Nilsson's memory. She also managed to turn the track into a perennial X-Factor stalwart... for which there can be no forgiveness.

Harry Nilsson was a hugely talented singer-songwriter in his own right, so it's somewhat disappointing that the song he's most remembered for isn't one of his own. He certainly wrote and recorded far better songs... but none quite so popular and all-encompassing. That's not to say I don't like Without You, and I certainly believe his to be the definitive performance.

Despite winning the Ivor Novello award for Without You, the song led only to tragedy for its writers. After Badfinger's business manager ran off with all their money in 1975, lead singer Pete Ham hung himself. He was almost 28, and about to become a father. Eight years later, still mourning his former bandmate, Without You's co-writer Tom Evans also hung himself over a dispute over the royalties.

Harry Nilsson struggled to match the single's success, despite critical glories for subsequent releases. (I've got every Nilsson album - and there's some great material in there.) He went on to work on an album with his old friend John Lennon, but ruptured a vocal chord during the recording.

Nilsson also owned a flat in Mayfair, London, where two tragic rock 'n' roll deaths occurred. Mama Cass died in her sleep while staying there in 1974 (she did not choke on a ham sandwich: that's a cruel urban legend). Four years later, The Who's Keith Moon took an overdose there. Nilsson wasn't present for either death, but he sold the flat soon after (to Pete Townshend, of all people!), believing it cursed.

Conspiracy theorists might well argue the same about this song...

(Nilsson quit the music industry in 1980 following John Lennon's death. He died of a heart attack in 1994... while recording his "comeback" album.)



Without You was Number One on the day I was born.

Today, I'm working a 12 hour shift, starting with my worst class of the week.

"I've come to wish you an unhappy birthday," as some infamous northern miserablist once sang...