Snapshots #392: A Colourful Bouquet of Songs About Flowers

Twenty floral songs to brighten up your Easter Sunday... though I'm sure we could have easily found another twenty...

20. His head's in a constant spin.

He wasn't only Dizzy...

Tommy Roe - Sweet Pea

19. Murder in the home of a long-dead Stone.

The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Anemone

18. Polar knitwear comes undone.

"Polar knitwear" was an anagram...

Karine Polwart - Azalea Flower

17. Heaven's Green Patio.

(Knock knock knockin' on....) Heaven's door. Green door. Patio doors.

The Doors - Hyacinth House

16. Chandler's finest.

Raymond Chandler's finest book (although he wrote a great many fine books) was...

The Big Sleep - Bluebell Wood

15. They will check your spelling.

English Teacher - Nearly Daffodils

14. By Willard Manus!

Willard Manus was the author of the book Mott The Hoople, from which these guys stole their name...

Mott The Hoople - Jerkin' Crocus

13. Essex man without forgotten secret agent. 

David Essex, sans (Jason) Bourne...

David Sanborn - Lotus Blossom

12. In a hurricane, pets get blown about.

"Hurricane, pets" was an anagram...

Patrice Rushen - Forget Me Nots

11. Stop the Tories from messaging you on social media. 

Block that party!

Bloc Party - Tulips

10. Shorter than an operetta, longer than Jim.

Etta is shorter than an operetta. James is longer than Jim.

Etta James - Wallflower

9. Bogart takes to sea with once-yearly books about boy detectives.

Humphrey Bogart, in the ocean, with a Hardy Boys annual. Obviously!

Tough one this. Give yourself extra marks if you remembered these guys. (They're very Stiff.)

Humphrey Ocean & The Hardy Annuals - Whoops A Daisy

8. Catch the Longdancing Tourist and add some sweet sax.

The Longdancers and The Tourists were two bands that Dave Stewart was in before he formed the Eurythmics. Candy Dulfer played some sweet sax.

Dave A Stewart featuring Candy Dulfer - Lily Was Here

7. Play it again, Sam... and again... and again...

Humphrey Bogart (again) didn't actually say "play it again, Sam". He said, "You Played it for her, you can play it for me". Anyway, when he said that, he was talking to Dooley Wilson...

The Dooleys - A Rose Has To Die

I got the Dooleys in here. I can probably retire now.

6. New York punks ooze everywhere.

The New York Dolls, full of Goo and more Goo.

Goo Goo Dolls - Iris

5. Happened later, for Nick Drake.

For Nick, it was Brighter Later...

Brighter - Poppy Day

4. Found in a closed window on a Eurostar railway carriage. 

Found in a closED WINdow on a EuroSTAR Railway carriage

Edwin Starr - Ruby Begonia

3. Oy, Bezos! Arrange for Hazlewood to play at my party, will you?

Jeff! Book Lee, will you?

Jeff Buckley - Lilac Wine

Lilac Wine has been recorded by everyone from Nina Simone to Elkie Brooks... but that's my favourite version.

2. Upper class ankle socks.

Bobby sox for the gentry.

Bobbie Gentry - Sweet Peony 

...or you could have had...

Bobbie Gentry - Marigolds & Tangerines

1. We pull Earl all over the place.

"We pull Earl" was an anagram.

Paul Weller - Sunflower

And for completeness-sake, I would also have allowed...

The Jam - Carnation

Enjoy the rest of your Easter. Snapshots will be back next Saturday.

Neverending Top Ten #6.4: Modern Songs

What are you doing at the party, Sam?

Karaoke.

Yeah? What are you going to sing?

Some of my favourite songs that are modern and you won't know.

Huh. You want modern songs? I'll give you modern songs, son. Look, I made you a CD!

The Jam - The Modern World

The News - Modern Toys

Boomtown Rats - She's So Modern

The Strokes - The Modern Age

Crashland - Modern Animal

Meat Loaf - Modern Girl

Idlewild - A Modern Way Of Letting Go

Neil Diamond -A Modern Day Version Of Love

Ben Kyle & Romantica - How to Live in a Modern World

Art Brut - Modern Art

Terry, Blair & Anouchka - Ultra Modern Nursery Rhyme

Sleeper - The Modern Age

The Crooks - Modern Boys

Be Bop Deluxe - Modern Music

Jesse Malin - In The Modern World

Sondre Lerche - Modern Nature

Generation X - Modern Boys

Daryl Hall & John Oates - Method of Modern Love

Charm School – Excerpts from the Modern Song

The Humdrum Express - The Curse Of The Modern Musician

Belle and Sebastian - This Is Just A Modern Rock Song

David Bowie - Modern Love

Beck - Modern Guilt

The Mekons - Ancient & Modern

Lou Reed - Modern Dance

Jefferson Starship - Modern Times

The Courteeners - Modern Love

Billy Joel - Modern Woman

Bloc Party - This Modern Love

Actually, wait, seriously... here's a song that was only released last week. You don't get more modern than that, do you?

Bleachers are from New Jersey. They're the brainchild of guitarist and producer Jack Antanoff, who used to be in Fun. They have featured here before, but this is their latest single, and it's pretty damned good for a modern pop song... even though it does harken back to the 70s and 80s, like most of their stuff.

Snapshots #297: A Top Ten Hunting Songs

The hunt is over! Hopefully you tracked down all your quarries... now it's time to release them back into the wild.

Ten songs about hunting...

10. Just... purple eyes.

Just William. Irises are purple flowers... or part of your eye.

Iris Williams - He Was Beautiful (Cavatina - Theme From The Deer Hunter)

9. Where should I put the charge, guv'nor?

The guv'nor in The Sweeney was Regan. What should he put the fee on?

Fionn Regan - Hunter's Map

8. A Gibb and a Giggs.

Barry Gibb & Ryan Giggs =

Barry Ryan - The Hunt

7. A campaign to promote Irish families.

An ad for the clans.

Clannad - The Hunter

6. You'll get no sleep in your neighbourhood tonight, with this racket going on.

Bloc Party - Hunting For Witches

5. 5. Not much hope of a Spector becoming Superman's girlfriend.

Ronnie Spector + Lois Lane... it's a slim chance.

Ronnie Lane & Slim Chance - The Poacher

4. Short saint's conquest.

The Saint was Christopher, shortened to Chris in the Norman Conquest.

Chris Norman - Hunters of the Night

3. Lego fodder.

Anagram!

Dr Feelgood - Hunting, Shooting, Fishing

2. Always found in a handy pocket size.

Always found in a handy pocket size.

A-ha - Hunting High & Low

1. Spider-Man fangirls encounter a much older comic hero.

The Spider-Man fangirls might describe themselves as Marvelettes...

Marvelettes - The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game

The older comic book hero would be...

...who also had a stab at this Smokey Robinson-composed tune...

Blondie - The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game

Hunt down more Snapshots next Saturday.

Saturday Snapshots #123 - The Answers

It seems appropriate to re-use this image today as clue #3 caused a hell of a lot of head-scratching yesterday. As I type this at 7.55pm on Saturday night, nobody has yet got the song... but I'm confident you will have done by the time this post goes live. Same for #1. Whether anybody got #6 is another matter.

*Update - Alyson finally cracked the clue, just before 8.*

51 comments as I post this. That may well be a record. I didn't go out of my way to make it harder this week... some weeks I do, but this wasn't one of them!



10. I taught I taw a Puddy Cat - I did! It wasn't made up!

Sylvester - You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)

9. Curly German gets baptised.

Curly, in German, is Krauss.

People often get baptised in a river. And that involves praying.

Alison Krauss - Down To The River To Pray

8. Chopper found at neighbourhood gathering.

Bloc Party - Helicopter

7. Salt, pepper, vinegar and mustard, at the bottom of the hill, late on.

Salt, pepper, vinegar and mustard are 4 seasonings.

At the bottom of a hill is a valley.

Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons - The Night

What a bassline.

6. Cheers shrink choir - bog standard!

The Cheers shrink was Frasier.

Bog standard is typical.

Frazier Chorus - Typical!

5. Don't embrace the past. Cash goes boom.

Johnny Cash Thunders.

Johnny Thunders - You Can't Put Your Arms Around A Memory

4. Friend of Tom Frost, repairs wagons. No need to swear.

Hello, hello there, is this Martha?
This is old Tom Frost
And I am calling long distance
Don't worry 'bout the cost

A wainwright fixed wagons.

Martha Wainwright - Bloody Mother-Fucking Asshole

A sweet, heartfelt ode to her dad. Aww. I'm sure he loves it.

3. King Louis on the best fairground rides, watching a very dull film.

Elvis was the King. Louis was Costello. Fairground rides are attractions.

A very dull film would have no action. (And by that I didn't necessarily mean car chases - although they always help - just something happening.)

Elvis Costello & The Attractions - No Action

2. A long way inside a Pet Shop Boy, the clock stops ticking.

When the clock stops ticking, you're out of time.

Chris Lowe is a Pet Shop Boy.

A long way is far. Put that in the middle and you get...

Chris Farlowe - Out Of Time

1. An old one, Cher, tomorrow.

"An old one, Cher" is an anagram.

Tomorrow is the future. And it always will be.

You overthought that one.



Easier clues next week... possibly.

The United Kingdom of Song #2: Newport Pagnell

Today we visit a small Buckinghamshire town on the opposite side of the M1 from Milton Keynes, probably most famous for its service station. I've been to the service station; I haven't been to the town. Iffypedia tells me that the town's most famous musical son is the bassist from Bloc Party.

But we know different. We know that Newport Pagnell's greatest claim to fame is this...

It's the place where Morrissey lost his bag.



375 miles north next week, all the way up the M6 and beyond...

My Top Ten Prayer Songs

As it's Sunday, I thought we'd give praise via the medium of song...


10. Bloc Party - The Prayer

I'm sure Bloc Party fans will be most put out to see this at 10, especially considering some of the songs below. What can I say? I never claimed to know what I was talking about.

9. Duran Duran - Save A Prayer

Oh, give me a break, you'd only have moaned if I left it out.

Don't watch the video though, it'll only annoy you.

8. Billy Joel - Travelling Prayer

Not listened to this in years. It's bloody excellent.

7. Otis Redding - My Lover's Prayer

Now that's what I call a voice.

6. Cousteau - She Don't Hear Your Prayer

Cousteau: should have been massive.

5. Danny Wilson - Mary's Prayer

Scottish band Danny Wilson were originally called Spencer Tracy. Sadly, Tracy's estate objected, so they instead nicked their name from a character in an old Frank Sinatra movie. This was their biggest hit: the video has some serious quiff action going on, though not from lead singer Gary Clark.

4. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Idiot Prayer

This prayer is for you, my love
Sent on the wings of a dove
An idiot prayer of empty words
Love, dear, is strictly for the birds

Happy Valentine's to you too, Nick.

3. Madonna - Like A Prayer

I only ever fancied Madonna when she had dark hair, pretty much for the duration of this, her best album (in my humble opinion). Of course, the fact that I was 17 at the time might also have had something to do with it. A couple of years later, she took all her clothes off... and I lost all interest.

2. Bon Jovi - Living On A Prayer

Tommy used to work on the docks...

When I came up with the idea for this Top Ten, I was pretty certain this would be Number One. Confound anyone who thinks I try too hard to be cool and indie when I compile these things. (I don't, I just pick the songs I love.) And I so wanted to give it to the Jove... but damn it, then I remembered...

1. Aretha Franklin - I Say A Little Prayer

Burt 'n' Hal. 'Nuff said.

See also the Gene cover version. Do not also see the Glee version or the one by Bomb The Bass featuring Maureen. (Yes, Maureen.)


 


Those were my favourite prayers. Which one makes you get down on your knees?