Celebrity Jukebox #54 (Redux): Terence Stamp

When I began the Celebrity Jukebox, it wasn't just for celebs who had passed away. Living legends were also featured. Nowadays though, it's just a place to celebrate those who have left us. Sadly, this means I now have to revisit this edition from 2022. Rest in peace, General...

“Kneel before Zod!”

For most of my generation, our first encounter with Terence Stamp was as the evil General Zod in Superman II. The Grauniad called him “the master of the brooding silence”, and he certainly sent shivers down my spine. Gene Hackman’s Lex Luthor was a pussycat in comparison.

I was surprised General Zod didn’t get referenced all over the place, but only Eminem (who’s the same age as me) was prepared to kneel before him.

Eminem – Rap God

Terence Stamp had been around for a couple of decades by the time he played that memorable supervillain, making his screen debut in the movie Billy Budd, an Oscar-nominated performance that obviously made some impact on a young Steven Patrick Morrissey…

Morrissey – Billy Budd

Morrissey also used an image of Stamp in The Collector as the cover of the third Smiths single, What Difference Does It Make? 

Stamp originally refused permission for the picture to be used, but relented in the end… possibly after he’d seen Morrissey’s alternative.

Pete Townshend from The Who has a younger brother called Simon who has occasionally play with big bro’s band, as well as ploughing his own lonely solo furrow. Here he is with a track called Highness, which begins thus…

I am what I am
I just happen to be related to the king

…before named dropping Bowie, Eddie Vedder and Rod Stewart, as well as… yes, you guessed it, Terence Stamp.

Simon Townshend – Highness

48 Cameras are described on their bandcamp page as “Collectif international à géométrie variable”, which means they come from all over the place, but mostly Belgium. This is from their 2006 release After All, Isn’t Tango The Dance of the Drunk Man? It sounds like an orchestra tuning up to me, but what do I know? It's probably art.

48 Cameras – Terence Stamp For A Time

The biggest Terence Stamp fan I could find in the pop world was Adam Ant. He namedrops Terry twice, mostly recently here…

Adam Ant – Punkyoungirl

Punky young girl needs a Terence Stamp
Perfect at swinging sixties vamp

And on this memorable b-side in which Stuart Goddard claims to be friends with everybody from Mister Pastry to Jim Morrison to Arthur Askey, and…

I’m a friend of Stevie Wonder
I’m a friend of Eric Fromm
I’m a friend of Bryan Ferry
I’m a friend of Terence Stamp

Adam & The Ants - Friends

Almost at the end now, and a reminder from Philadelphia’s Bill Ricchini…

Bill Ricchini – Julie Christie

You look just like Julie Christie
And I feel just like Terry Stamp

A reminder that Terry and Julie went together. They met at Waterloo Station, every Friday night...

Celebrity Jukebox #144: Connie Francis

I dreamed I was in teenage heaven

I saw all the stars in teenage heaven

There was a golden door

With a golden star

And I walked on through

And there were all the

Teenage stars we knew

There was Richie Valens

Singing, Donna, I love you

Next to him, Buddy Holly

Wuh oh, Peggy Sue

Eddie Cochran

Sang Summertime Blues

Into the golden mic

And the Big Bopper

With his laughing face said

You know what I like

There was Ricky Nelson

Singing Lonesome Town

And all the stars then

Gathered round

Bobby Vee, Brenda Lee

And Fabian too

Connie Francis, Neil Sedaka

And the Fleetwoods sang Mr. Blue

Johnny Cymbal - Teenage Heaven

Looking at that lyrics above, Connie Francis has done pretty well to outlive most of her contemporaries. And if you read the obits, and find out a little about her life story, she was clearly one tough lady.

Connie Francis - Lipstick On Your Collar

Not only that, but back in the late 50s and early 60s, she was the biggest selling female artist in the world. And given that this was a time when people really bought a lot of records, that makes her one of the all-time best-sellers.

Connie Francis - Who's Sorry Now?

Rest easy, Connie. 

Celebrity Jukebox #143: Tom Lehrer

A quick shout out to the great Tom Lehrer who died a week or so ago at the grand old age of 97. Famous for his satirical songs with a sharp and cynical wit, like this...

Tom Lehrer - Poisoning Pigeons In The Park

And this...

Tom Lehrer - The Masochism Tango

He's also the man who famously set the Periodic Table to song, via Gilbert & Sullivan...

Tom Lehrer - The Element Song

I couldn't find any lyrical mentions, although Randy Newman was obviously a fan, once saying, "He's one of the great American songwriters without a doubt, right up there with everybody, the top guys. As a lyricist, as good as there's been in the last half of the 20th century." Weird Al Yankovic and Donald Fagen were also appreciative of his work. 

Tom Lehrer also, following on from last week's Snapshots, had at least three songs banned by the BBC... including this one.

Whichever heaven he's gone to, Tom Lehrer will be giving the person in charge hell!

Celebrity Jukebox #141: Ozzy Osborne

I'm not going to pretend to have been a huge Ozzy fan, but I could easily have been. It's the road not travelled...

Black Sabbath - Paranoid

After all these years of myth-making, the TV show, the family, the self-mockery and the colossal caricature (not to mention biting the head off that bat), I readily accept that there are two types of people who know much more about Ozzy than I ever will: the dedicated heavy rock fans (I dabble, but I'm not a connoisseur) and those who know very little about music at all... but just enjoyed the Show. (And by that, I don't just mean The Osbornes.)

Ozzy Osborne - Perry Mason

I'll let you in on a little secret through... whenever I come across an old Ozzy track I've not heard before, like the one above, I dig it. Because I've always had a soft spot for metal that isn't too metal. Really, it's just pop music with louder guitars.

Ozzy Osborne - Let Me Hear You Scream

If nothing else, Ozzy was a Show. And beyond that, he was the very best kind of rock star: one who never took himself too seriously... or at all seriously. That's the way he came across to me, anyway.

 

As is customary in this feature, I went looking for songs that might mention the dearly departed. And only then did I realise just how far Ozzy's influence stretches... and how much bigger he was in the States than in his home country. As you'd expect, some of these songs are quite loud...

Alien Crime Syndicate - Ozzy

We saw Ozzy on our first date

Our special song is Crazy Train

Making out in the middle of the pit

How come Slayer doesn't sing about this

If anything comes between you and me

Then heavy metal heaven, that's where we'll meet

Nerf Herder - Pantera Fans In Love

I know metal is dead

But I want to bang my head

And throw my fists up into the air

I know Ozzy Osbourne's old but I don't care

Diesel Boy - Cock Rock

But they're not all rock songs.

I'm a cross between Manson, Esham and Ozzy

I don't know why the fuck I'm here in the first place

Eminem - Still Don't Give A Fuck

Quite a lot of rappers mention Ozzy in favourable terms... perhaps for obvious reasons. But you might not expect him to pop up in a country tune...

Ever since I met you, girl, you been on my brain

I can't think of nothin' else but you all night and day

It's like I got a first-class seat up on Ozzy's train

And it's drivin' me insane

Dierks Bentley - 5-1-5-0

Maybe it's more to be expected in the place where country meets rock...

So I never saw Lynyrd Skynyrd but I sure saw Ozzy Osbourne

With Randy Rhoads in '82 Right before that plane crash

The Drive-By Truckers - Let There Be Rock

Punk rockers obviously tipped their hats to Ozzy...

Tipper, what's that sticker sticking on my CD?

Is that some kind of warning to protect me?

Freedom of choice needs a stronger, stronger voice

You can stamp out the source, but you can't stop creative thought

Ah, Tipper, come on

Ain't you been getting it on?

Ask Ozzy, Zappa or me

We'll show you what it's like to be free

The Ramones - Censorshit

"We came home and found our son

Lying dead on his bed of a gunshot wound

He had his headphones on

And there was an Ozzy record on the turntable

So, we called our lawyer"

The Dead Kennedys - Triumph Of The Swill

And while I'm pretty sure this reggae hit from the 70s wasn't about The Prince of Darkness... it would be nice to imagine he might have been an influence.

Rasta Ozzy from up de hill

Decide fi check 'pon 'im grocery bill

An' when him add up de t'ings him need

De dunny done wha' him save fi buy likkle weed

Pluto Shervington - Dat

Even ultra-cool Canadians love Ozzy...

Pop pop, fizz fizz

Ohhhhh what a sweet leaf it is

Like Ozzy Osbourne I was born to perform

Aww, zeah?

Chilly Gonzales - So-Called Party Over There

Now before we get to today's winner... here's Beck's tribute...

Beck - Ozzy

When it came to choosing my favourite Ozzy tribute song though, there was no contest. Especially as the lead singer of this band once left a comment on my blog. Here's B4S with a song about the passing of time, and all its sickening crimes...

She hates time, make it stop

When did Mötley Crüe become classic rock? 

And when did Ozzy become an actor?

Please make this stop, stop, stop...

Celebrity Jukebox #140: Michael Madsen

Do you ever listen to K-Billy's Super Sounds of the 70s?

Whenever I think of the actor Michael Madsen, who died yesterday aged just 67, one song immediately springs to mind...

Joe Egan and Gerry Rafferty were a duo known as Stealer's Wheel when they recorded this Dylanesque, pop, bubble-gum favourite from April of 1974 that reached up to number five, as K-Billy's Super Sounds of the '70s continues...

Don't go anywhere - I'll be right back...

Celebrity Jukebox #139: Brian Wilson (Part 2)

When I started the Celebrity Jukebox feature (and back then, it wasn't just for recently deceased stars), the idea was to measure a celebrity's fame or notoriety through the number of times they've popped up in pop lyrics. 

With Brian Wilson, the cultural impact is beyond compare. Yes, you can hold up Elvis, or John Lennon maybe, Marilyn or James Dean, as icons who have had more songs written about them than Brian. But they were marquee names. Brian Wilson's marquee name was The Beach Boys. I haven't even looked to see how many songs there are that mention his band... but I'm betting there won't be as many as mention the man himself. What a legacy...  

Barenaked Ladies - Brian Wilson

Tears For Fears - Brian Wilson Said

JR Thomas & The Volcanos - Brian Wilson

Blaknoisewhitesoul - Pop Genius (Song For Brian Wilson)

The Hansen Brothers - Brian Wilson

Edward Ball - Blues For Brian Wilson

Prabir & The Substitutes - Brian Wilson

Andrew Johnson - Brian Wilson Day

Steven Milne - Brian Wilson

The Yodees - Brian Wilson

Queer Jane - Brian Wilson Auf Der Autobahn

Eva Braun - Brian Wilson

Seafieldroad - Brian Wilson Karaoke

Lost Dogs - Jesus Loves You, Brian Wilson

Bomb The Music Industry - Brian Wilson Says Smile AKA My Beard Of Defiance

Break Up Shoes - Brian Wilson Is My Dad

Shaky Town Harlots - WWBWD? (What Would Brian Wilson Do?) 

There were plenty more where they came from - as always, I listened to them so that you don't have to. And let's not forget the bands who took his name... although not in the best of taste sometimes. Still, fame is fame.

Brian Wilson Motherfucker

Brian Wilson Shock Treatment

The Brian Wilson Massacre

Best video today comes from Canadian musician Rich Aucoin. The title might seem inappropriate right now, until you realise the acronym stands for All Living Instantly Vanquish Everything. Which I can interpret as "Brian beats everyone" (even if he's dead)... though I'm happy to concede that might not have been Rich's interpretation. The video's a wonderful tribute to the life of the legend though.

These were just the songs that mention Brian in the title. There's a whole other post about lyrical name-drops... I bet you can hardly wait.

Celebrity Jukebox #139: Brian Wilson (Part 1)

The Beach Boys - Surf's Up

I was born too late for the 60s, but as I grew up and started to discover pop music (often through my sister's record collection), there were two bands that stood out for me. Two bands which came to define 60s music for me. Music that is timeless. Music that represents the very best pop could be.

The Beach Boys - California Saga (California)

Those two bands were not the two obvious ones.

They were the Supremes... and The Beach Boys.

The Beach Boys - In My Room

For me then, the passing of Brian Wilson last week is very hard to process. Words don't seem adequate to express how I feel about the Beach Boys, and without Brian, the Beach Boys wouldn't have existed.

The Beach Boys - Summer's Gone

Brian Wilson envisioned a USA that anyone would want to live in. A land of sun and surf and love and promise. Bruce Springsteen recognised that, and carried on the work in many of his own songs. When I was a kid, I dreamed of living in their America. Of course, it's a myth... today more than ever. But I don't think the UK is any better. It's just the way the world is turning. And at least America had that myth to strive towards... the Britain I grew up in didn't even have that. Instead, we had a bitter hankering for the days of the Empire... or a justifiable guilt for the same. Today, I'd still choose to live in Brian Wilson's America if it were an option... I hope his heaven is just like that.  

The Beach Boys - I Just Wasn't Made For These Times

 

The Beach Boys - Long Promised Road

Back in 2012, I compiled My Top Ten Beach Boys Songs. I'd stand behind most of that list today. The Number One is indisputable. 13 years ago, I questioned whether it was "the greatest love song ever written". There is, of course, another contender to that title, that being my favourite song of all time. Objectively speaking, God Only Knows is probably even better than Wichita Lineman... but there's more to our favourites than objectivity. Still, God Only Knows is in my all time Top Ten... and this whole paragraph is the kind of nonsense a certain type of muso (myself included) spends far too much bandwidth worrying about.

If you should ever leave me

Well, life would still go on, believe me

The world could show nothing to me

So what good would living do me?

Rest in peace, Brian. You had a tough life, but a wonderful one. And your legacy is eternal...

 

Celebrity Jukebox #138: Sly Stone

When Ben messaged me about the death of Sly Stone earlier this week, I misread his text as Sly Stallone. I need to wear my glasses when looking at my phone.

Others will no doubt write far better eulogies for Sly of the Family Stone than I can. (Swiss Adam and Khayem already have.) I have to confess to not knowing much about him beyond the headlines, but I did enjoy his music. Plus, without Sly Stone, I don't reckon we'd have had Prince... at least not in the way we remember Prince. And that would have been a tragedy.

And so did these guys, I guess...

Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Rolling Sly Stone

Danced to the music

And I sang a simple song

I was thankful and thoughtful

Sly Stone came along

'Cause he took me higher

And he made me see

Betty Davis - F.U.N.K.

It's good to look in your eyes

Knowing your eyes aren't the bottom of the soul

Because they high kick me like

Sly Stone on the cover of Fresh

of Montreal - Get God’s Attention By Being An Atheist

Do you remember Sly Stone?

(What city did he come from Roger?)

Zapp - It Doesn't Really Matter

In my script there's a love scene, picture it

Candles with warm apple cider

Sly stone on the radio

Oh, caress your funky dreads in the candle's glow

Whisper in my ear

'Cause I'm in the mood for love

Meshell Ndegeocello - Picture Show

I could be Sly Stone of the family crew

I could be big bad Daddy Warbucks

And love you too

Daniel Bedingfield - James Dean (I Wanna Know)

See my hip bone connected to my thigh bone

Club Funkateers and it's a family like Sly Stone

Bootsy Collins feat. Fantaazma - Hip Hop Lollipop

Dancin' in my kitchen with Sly Stone's permission

Lit my ignition, cursing fascist apparitions

Street Sweeper Social Club - Good Morning, Mrs. Smith

Musicians populate my dreams

My band members old and new

Certain Rolling Stones I

An MacDonald from King Crimson

David Bowie showing me round Dryden Chambers

Thighpaulsandra, Sly Stone

Amy Winehouse still alive

Vivian Stanshall punning in a cafe

The Waterboys - In My Dreams

Alright, I want you to get onboard this train

We're gonna make one stop, that’s all, just one

We're goin' to the place where James Brown, Gladys Knight & The Pips

Isaac Hayes, Al Green, Grand Funk, Sly Stone, The Bar-Kays, The Ohio Players

And everybody we know is funkin’ down there

The Wrecking Crew - Bump And Boogie (Pt. 1)

And there were many more. But I'm sure they'd all admit, they're not a patch on the original...

As I was finishing this post off last night, the news came through about Brian Wilson.

Damn.

That's going to be a hard one to process...

Celebrity Jukebox #137: Norm!

Cheers was the greatest sitcom ever written.

There, I've said it.

I was going to qualify that statement with an "In my opinion..." or an "arguably", but it's my blog, so why can't I state opinions as fact? Everybody else is doing it!

The heart of Cheers was Norm Peterson. In a bar where "everybody knows your name", he was the exemplar. Everyone knew Norm... 

And Norm had an answer for every question...

As one of only three characters to appear in all 275 episodes of Cheers, actor George Wendt is a legend. Appropriately, he and his character get name-dropped in a few songs, mostly by rappers, but there was only one tune I wanted to play in tribute today. Here's the original recording, by Gary Portnoy...

Rest in peace, Norm... and George. I hope there's a good bar to prop up in TV heaven.

Celebrity Jukebox #136: Jill Sobule

American singer-songwriter Jill Sobule wasn't particularly well known over this side of the pond, even among music fans... unless you remember her as one of Lloyd Cole's band The Negatives back in 2001...

Lloyd Cole & The Negatives - Negative Attitude

I guess Jill was a little more well known in the States, where she had a couple of minor hits from her self-titled 1995 album, including one that BBC News claim was "widely considered the first song with openly-gay themes to crack the Billboard Top 20"... although iffypedia says it got to #67, so take your pick who you believe...

That's not the Katy Perry song, by the way... Katy just re-used the title. Jill got there 13 years earlier.

Anyway, I considered myself a fan of Jill's back in the day, though I had rather lost touch with her work in more recent years. I was still shocked to hear of her death last week in a house fire, aged just 66. Lloyd led the tributes: "I'm really too numb to post much of anything. We loved her. She loved us."

The song above was used in the soundtrack of the movie Clueless. That and I Kissed A Girl were the songs most tributes led with. But this was the first Jill Sobule track I thought of when I heard the news...

Celebrity Jukebox #134: Val Kilmer

He was Jim Morrison* and Elvis Presley**.

He was The Iceman.

He was Batman, a good enough Batman, in a not-that-great Batman movie.

He even played the voice of KITT the car in a Knight Rider remake.

*In Oliver Stone's The Doors, Val did an excellent Jim Morrison impression, in looks, speech and song...

(**In Tony Scott's film of Quentin Tarantino's True Romance.)

Val Kilmer had a huge screen presence when I was growing up. His star has dwindled and he's been fighting throat cancer in recent years (reluctant to engage with medical procedures due to his religious beliefs), but his death, at only 65, still comes as a shock.

On hearing of his passing, I immediately remembered Father John Misty name-dropping him in this story of faded Hollywood glamour from his 2022 LP Chloë and the Next 20th Century.

Val Kilmer had a wall length
Mirror just over there
Well, I'm sure he's someone else now
But he was Batman when he lived here

Next up: Lee Majors. Not that one! This Lee Majors was a rapper in Da Bush Babees, but he also teamed up with Green for this little ditty from Scritti...

I swear I bring the Heat to tracks like Val Kilmer

Scritti Politti - Tinseltown To The Boogiedown

Hundreds of rappers namedrop Val in their lyrics, probably because of his tough guy / take no shit image, but rap will never be my specialist subject, so I'll close today with our old friends Bowling For Soup... even if they do think Val "sucked as Batman". You can't please all the people all the time.

Celebrity Jukebox #133: Gene Hackman

The Reaper's been busy again.

If I'd had time, I'd have paid individual tribute to each of the following over the past couple of weeks...

Rick Buckler

The Jam - A Town Called Malice

Roberta Flack

Roberta Flack - Killing Me Softly With His Song

Michelle Trachtenberg

Buffy - Once More, With Feeling - Dawn's Ballet / What You Feel

Henry Kelly

Shed Seven - Going For Gold

The biggest name we've lost recently though is Gene Hackman, along with his wife and his dog. As I write, the true story of their tragic end has yet to be revealed, but I don't want to dwell on that. I just want to remember Lex Luthor, Popeye Doyle, Sheriff "Little" Bill Daggett, Captain Frank Ramsey and, best of all, the heroic sacrifice of the Reverend Frank Scott in The Poseidon Adventure.

On the television, a ship was sinking

It seemed so real, but it was just a movie

Made by Irwin Allen, boy, what a relief

And on the ship was Ernest Borgnine

Brave in the face of certain death

He played a cop on a pleasure cruise

Along with his wife, an ex-prostitute

Of course, Shelley Winters

She was on the ship

She was good, too, but she died

As did Gene Hackman, a preacher

Who gave his life so that others could live

He died shouting "How many more lives?"

Killdozer - Man Vs. Nature

I didn't need to dig far to find a song or two in tribute...

Celebrity Jukebox #132: Marianne Faithfull

The first song that popped into my head when I heard about the sad departure of Marianne Faithfull was this...

Leonard Cohen - So Long, Marianne

I don't know why: it's not even about her, is it? 

Ironically, on the day Marianne died, I featured Wild Horses, a song many people believe Mick Jagger wrote about her... though Mick denies it.

The Rolling Stones - Wild Horses

Before we get onto the songs most people will remember Marianne for, here are a few more lyrical nods...

And I don't mind the nights and the low light

We spin 'round like records in the apartment

You still remind me of Marianne Faithfull

Lookin' like a picture taken outta the sixties

Brian Fallon - Among Other Foolish Things 

Her first breath

Is drawn through a cigarette

Her first drink

Last night's scotch

Just to wet her cracked lips

She looks at the man beside her

Lying in the bed

She doesn't know his name

She only hopes he's not dead

She feels like

Marianne Faithfull

Marianne Faithfull

She hopes at the end of the day

Someone remembers her name

Art Bergmann - Remember Her Name

And, of course, you know you're a legend when you end up in a Half Man Half Biscuit song...

I saw a young professional couple playing Poohsticks on a Cotswold bridge

I watched them walk along the banks of the Windrush eating jasmine ice cream

Before heading north to Warwick Arts Centre and Marianne Faithfull

Splendid

Half Man Half Biscuit - Twydale's Lament 

Anyhow. The song that most of the obituaries want us to remember by is her timeless Stones cover...

Marianne Faithfull - As Tears Go By

There's no denying she made that song her own. 

For me though, it doesn't get any better than her performance of this Shel Silverstein classic. This is the one I'll remember her by.

 

So long, Marianne.

Celebrity Jukebox #131: David Lynch

The owls are not what they seem.

The term "genius" is often mis-applied, but in my book it's never been more appropriately used than when used to describe writer and director David Lynch. 

This whole world's wild at heart and weird on top.

Much will be written about Lynch's legacy in the world of film and TV, and there's little point in me adding to that other than to say that he was responsible for one of my all time favourite TV shows (two if you count the sequel, which was a very different proposition... and a lot of people couldn't get behind that, but I did) and some of the most affecting, thought-provoking and visionary (another term that rarely gets used appropriately) movies I've ever seen. 

Why are there people like Frank? Why is there so much trouble in this world?

His death leaves a big hole. Even though he struggled to get funding to make his films over the last few years, I still held out hope we'd see more from him one way or another. And now he's gone. Another hero of my youth lost to the reaper.

People are frightened by what they don't understand.

Here are some tunes in tribute...

Julee Cruise - Falling

Chris Isaak - Wicked Game

David Lynch & Lykke Li - I'm Waiting Here

Car Seat Headrest - David Lynch Versus The Moon

Surfer Blood - Twin Peaks

Surf Curse - Fire Walk With Me

Sharon Van Etten - Tarifa

Bastille - Laura Palmer

Thank you, Mr. Lynch. You made scared, you made me laugh, you made me think, you made me feel. And you made some damn fine coffee.

In Heaven, everything is fine.

Celebrity Jukebox #130: Syd Barrett

The recent peloton of bike posts over at Charity Chic blog forced me to dig out one of my few favourite Pink Floyd songs, although I think it's fair to say that it's more of a Syd Barrett solo...

Pink Floyd - Bike

I have to confess I'm not the biggest expert on Syd - I'm sure some of you know far more about him than I do - but I often think it's a shame he was (to quote iffypedia) "ousted" from the Floyd, as to me they became a far less interesting combo without him. 

And it feels like 1974
Syd Barrett's last session, he can't sing anymore
He's gonna have to be Roger now for the rest of his life

Robyn Hitchcock - 1974

His struggle with mental health and gradual decline to a reclusive existence living in his mum's old semi is well documented...

Television Personalities - I Know Where Syd Barrett Lives

...but he's remembered fondly by many and proved to be a huge influence of many of the next generation of stars, including Bowie, Bolan, Weller, Cope... and Freezer.  

Freezer - Syd Barrett's Icelandic Girlfriend

He's also to be found in illustrious company here, as Scroobius Pip lays down his Ten Commandments...

Thou shalt not worship pop idols or follow lost prophets
Thou shalt not take the names of Johnny Cash, Joe Strummer, Johnny Hartman, Desmond Dekker, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix or Syd Barrett in vain

Dan le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip - Thou Shalt Always Kill

Meanwhile, Ernie's old neighbour, Martin Newell, was clearly a Syd fan...

Cleaners From Venus - A Song For Syd Barretts

Leslie Feist obviously has a little Syd obsession going on too, as she reveals here in this excerpt from her notebooks...

Why did I write down everything that entered my mind?
Check out these lines, like -
"I'm Syd Barrett and I'll swim to England in his clothes, in 20 holes"
How could I say at what point I would gain perspective, let alone know I had it?

Broken Social Scene - Hug Of Thunder

Texan indie dude Matthew Logan Vasquez is a new name to me. He's apparently in three bands: Delta Spirit, Middle Brother and Glorietta. And on his day off, he does stuff like this...

My little sister got my record collection
They tried to tell her it's a bad direction
But somehow I'm alive today
With Syd Barrett fuckin' up my brain

Matthew Logan Vasquez - Everything I Do Is Out

Tobin Sprout is not the nephew of the Green Giant - no, he's a member of Guided By Voices. And he does his own things too...

Madcaps and laughs
Syd Barrett
The last man well known to kingpin

Tobin Sprout - The Last Man Well Known to Kingpin

Back in 2011, John Wesley Harding stopped releasing material under the name he'd stolen from Bob Dylan (who in turn stole it, with a misspelling, from Wild West outlaw John Wesley Hardin). Instead, he went back to using his real name, Wesley Stace. Here he is, in nostalgic mood...

In Hastings, when I was younger
Thе sea could take you under
I never much swam in there
But I skimmed some stones and I breathed the air
The Who, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd
Syd Barrett's final show
Didn't take that long to get
To want to know the ghosts
Of Hastings Pier

Wesley Stace - Hastings Pier

And here are a few more tunes that name-drop Syd in the lyrics...

Derrotados - Syd

Raine Maida - Yellow Brick Road

Moon Safari - Diamonds

Silver Sun - Getting It Together In The Country

As is so often the case with this feature, one tune immediately sprang to mind when it came to Syd Barrett: Roddy Woomble's biggest hit. I loved this song from the first moment I heard it, though I've never had a clue what it was all about. Apparently the title comes from some nonsense Roddy shouted at his girlfriend during an impassioned argument, and the whole thing was Idlewild's attempt to write a Pavement song. So the fact that it doesn't make any sense actually makes perfect sense.

You smoke too much when
You talk too much, and
When I argue, Syd Barrett makes me laugh
I laugh at your conversational skills
Or lack of

Celebrity Jukebox #129: Donald Sutherland

Martin and Khayem already paid their respects to the late Donald Sutherland, and there's little I can add to their fine tributes... except a few songs that mention him by name. Starting with this fine tune from a band with a terrible name. Don't let that put you off.

Martin paid particular attention to one of Donald's finest roles - the 1978 remake of Invasion Of The Body Snatcher, as pictured at the top of the page. And here it is in a song...

They're Body-Snatchers. Life is imitating art now
And Donald Sutherland, I guess I'm playing his part, now
That everyone is out to get me

Barstool Prophets - Paranoia

Meanwhile, these guys are probably watching Don't Look Now...

The scene where Donald Sutherland
Got hot between the sheets
Had really got her going
So you turned away to sleep

Flyte - Echoes

And Bill Callahan finds solace in Donald's voice...

A Donald Sutherland interview comes on
The truck radio
He apologizes to all he's loved and sired

Bill Callahan - Winter Road

Over at Dubhead, Kayhem mentioned Donald's guest appearance in a Kate Bush video, in which he plays the part of German psychiatrist and philosopher Wilhelm Reich. Here's a little bit more about that dude... 

Red fascists kicked him out of Oslo
Donald Sutherland
Portrayed him in a Kate Bush video
Bitter love, preaching human dignity
Wrote a book about Nazi sexuality

Turbonegro - Übermensch

Apparently Donald initially refused to lower himself to taking part in a silly pop video... until Kate Bush turned up at door in person. And then he changed his mind. Can't imagine why...

Celebrity Jukebox #128: Morgan Spurlock

I was saddened to hear about the death of documentary maker Morgan Spurlock a couple of weeks back, aged just 53. I'm sure I wasn't alone in wondering if the cancer that killed him might have started as a result of the trauma he inflicted on his own body while making his famous anti-fast food film, Super-Size Me. 

I realised I hadn't heard Spurlock's name in some time, and it turns out that he resigned from his own production company a few years back after coming clean about a number of incidents of sexual misconduct in his past. He wanted to own up to and confront his wrongdoings - perhaps there was the germ of a documentary idea in that, but it never came to pass.

Super Size Me had a big impact on me when I first saw it back in 2004. I've not eaten at MacDonald's since.   

Morgan Spurlock directed nearly 70 films in his career, including a documentary about One Direction. I'll spare you those guys. Instead, here's one of those bands Ben keeps trying to get me to listen to...

Been on a steady fast food diet

Like we're this generation's

Morgan Spurlock but we don't admit defeat

My body feels rejected

I can't say that I blame it

My heart keeps saying stay young

My lower back seems to disagree

Celebrity Jukebox #127: Roger Corman

Director and producer Roger Corman, who died earlier this month aged 98, was something of a Hollywood legend... if you like tacky cult films. He's the guy who gave Jack Nicholson his big break in the original version of Little Shop of Horrors, got William Shatner to play a manipulative bigot in The Intruder (also known as I Hate Your Guts) and gave Ray Milland X-Ray Eyes. In comic book circles, he's known as the man behind the original screen version of The Fantastic Four, a movie so "bad" it was never officially released. I'm guessing Roger still did OK from it - after all, his autobiography was titled How I Made a Hundred Movies in Hollywood and Never Lost a Dime. 

All that said, it should come as little surprise that The Ramones were big fans...

Vin Scelsa is on the radio

Ramones are hanging out in Kokomo

Roger Corman’s on a talk show

With Allan Arkush and Stephen King, you know

The Ramones - It's Not My Place (In the 9 to 5 World)

Roger's also in fine company on this kitschy classic...

Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde!

Christine is the baddest ride!

Roger Corman

Barbra Steele

Killer Tomatoes have appeal!

Hannibal Lector, sick and mean!

Eat your heart with Fava Beans!

Chuckie's just a living doll!

The Fifty Foot Woman is awfully tall!

Elvira - Monster Rap

Way back in 1981, Jello Biafra of the Dead Kennedys teamed up with Adrian Borland of The Sound, Morgan Fisher from Mott The Hoople and weird minimalist synth-punk Christian Lunch to form The Witch Trials. They only released on EP, which Biafra later claimed was the "most evil record I've ever been associated with".

A slimy green claw comes up through the dock

People run away and climbing through the hole

Is a protege of Roger Corman

He photographs this mutant

Says, “I’ll make you a star

Bring me all your friends

And we’ll make a movie out of you on location

Give me five minutes to get my camera, please”

The Witch Trials - Humanoids From The Deep

You might not expect to find the Pet Shop Boys in this post, yet iffypedia informs me that their 1986 Top Ten hit Suburbia was inspired by Penelope Spheeris's movie of the same name, a Roger Corman production...

Pet Shop Boys - Suburbia

Let's close with a little Italian power pop from 2011... a fine tribute.

Celebrity Jukebox #126: Marie Prevost

Canadian actress Marie Prevost was one of the original stars of the silent movie era, appearing in dozens of films throughout the 1920s and early 30s, although many of these are now lost to the sands of time (no intact reels remain). Her career went into decline when the talkies arrived, and her subsequent life was marred by the tragic death of her mother, alcoholism and binge eating. She died in 1937, aged just 40, but as she lived alone, her body wasn't found until two days later when her neighbours complained to police about the noise of her barking dog.

Which is where the myth of Marie Prevost begins. Police noted at the time that there were small bite marks on her legs, which the coroner suggested came from her dog nipping its owner to try and wake her up. In his book Hollywood Babylon, controversial writer Kenneth Anger suggested the dog made "mincemeat out of his mistress" in order to survive, though this has since been proved a fabrication. 

All of which brings us to Nick Lowe, and his Anger-influenced retelling (and re-spelling) of Marie Prevost's life, a song which manages to fall somewhere between a touching examination of the fickleness of fame... and a rather sensationalised tabloid joke. I've got a lot of respect for Nick Lowe as a songwriter, but Marie Provost is very much the work of a young songwriter, influenced by the outrage of punk, looking to make his mark. Subtlety only comes with age, I guess...

Marie Provost was a movie queen

Mysterious angel of the silent screen

And run like the wind

The nation's young men steam

When Marie crossed the silent screen

Oh she came out west from New York

But when the talkies came

Mary just couldn't cope

Her public said Mary take a walk

All the way back to New York

As her nights grew long

And her days grew bleak

It's all downhill

Once you've passed your peak

Mary got ready for that last big sleep

The cops came in

And they looked around

Throwing up everywhere over

What they found

The handywork of Marie's little dachshund

That hungry little dachshund

Celebrity Jukebox #125: Karl & Eric

World Party - Is It Like Today?

I've been breathing easy lately as the Grim Reaper appeared to have taken a bit of a holiday. Sadly, he's back, and in the space of 24 hours he took two big names from the world of music, and far too soon.

World Party - Beautiful Dream

It was Khayem who alerted me yesterday morning to the sudden death of World Party's Karl Wallinger. What a shock. Like K, I got rather aggravated by various lazy headlines highlighting The Whole Of The Moon in his obituary... great song, obviously, but Wallinger neither wrote nor sang it, although he did play keyboards and sing backing vocals, and may have come up with the synth line, at Mike Scott's request to play something that sounded like Prince. My point is, Wallinger wrote far more songs on his own (including the Robbie Williams hit She's The One), but none of them are as universally recognised as The Whole Of The Moon, so didn't quite provide the story hook the headline writers were looking for. Still, I was surprised by how many of my non-muso friends posted tributes to Wallinger on the Book of Faces... he was obviously better known than the lazy journalists realise.

World Party - Ship Of Fools

Mike Scott called Wallinger "one of the finest musicians I've ever known", and our own John Medd called him "a songwriter's songwriter." 'Nuff said.

While I expected an outpouring of love for Karl Wallinger, I wasn't surprised to see Eric Carmen's death go unnoticed by the blogosphere at large... though for me, it's just as big a loss.

Carmen will primarily be remembered for his huge 80s power ballad All By Myself, later converted into a nice little earner for his retirement years by Canadian Megalodonna Celine Dion. I'm sure it's a song you all have an opinion on, and I doubt it's a favourable one in most cases, but I have to admit... long before it was adopted by Bridget Jones and Joey & Chandler in Friends as a symbol of sad-sack loneliness, this is a song I used to sit and have a quiet, self-indulgent cry to in my teenage years. Please don't judge me.

Eric Carmen - All By Myself

(Classical musos might me like to point out that the verse from All By Yourself is based on the second movement of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, while the chorus... well, we'll get to that.)

Those of us who grew up in the 80s will also remember Carmen for his contribution to one of the biggest soundtracks of the era. Dirty Dancing might not be Citizen Kane, but if you were a teenager in 1987 (I was 15), it probably made quite an impression. Nobody puts Baby in the corner! 

Eric Carmen - Hungry Eyes

However, neither of those tunes represents Eric Carmen's greatest achievement in popular music. That came many years earlier, when he was the lead singer of seminal* 70s power pop band, The Raspberries.

(*With apologies to those of you who don't appreciate the over-use of this word in contemporary music criticism... but if you ask me, it's valid here.)

The Raspberries - Go All The Way

Of the Raspberries distinctive sound, Carmen once said, "Pete Townshend coined the phrase [power pop] to define what the Who did. For some reason, it didn't stick to the Who, but it did stick to these groups that came out in the '70s that played kind of melodic songs with crunchy guitars and some wild drumming. It just kind of stuck to us like glue, and that was OK with us because the Who were among our highest role models. We absolutely loved the Who."

The Raspberries - I Wanna Be With You

The Raspberries went on to influence the next generation of American hitmakers, including Springsteen, Tom Petty, Guns 'n Roses and Kiss... plus many of their own power pop successors, like The Posies, Fountains of Wayne, Weezer and Silver Sun. A bunch of my favourite artists right there... and they all owe a debt to Eric Carmen. Rest in peace, fella.

 

Oh, and the chorus to All By Myself? It was a reworking of this old Raspberries tune, written back in the glorious year of 1972.

The Raspberries - Let's Pretend