Showing posts with label Cherry Ghost. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cherry Ghost. Show all posts

Sunday, 7 April 2024

Snapshots #338: A Top Ten Songs About British Kings & Queens


I didn't take History at school, so I know very little about the Kings & Queens of England, Scotland & Wales. Everything I do know, I learned from songs...


10. KT's tree in Specials town.

KT sang about a Cherry Tree. The Specials sang about a Ghost Town

Cherry Ghost - Alfred The Great

9. Cody envied mi jumble. 

"Cody envied mi" anagram!

Divine Comedy - Edward The Confessor

8. Average Band with Bite.

Average White Band meets Snakebite...

Whitesnake - Bloody Mary

7. Trotter, Master of Ceremonies for Haim.

Del Trotter was an MC for Corey Haim. Didn't you know that?

Del McCoury Band - Queen Anne's Lace

6. Nessy and George, Drac & Lenny.

George and Lenny were in Of Mice & Men. Nessy and Drac are monsters.

Of Monsters & Men - King and Lionheart

5. Face to Face... or Something Else, Kinda.

Three album titles by The Kinks.

The Kinks - Victoria

4. Total wrecks on his roundabout.

"Total wrecks" is an anagram.

Scott Walker - This Way, Mary (Theme From Mary Queen Of Scots)

3. Faster than a speeding mole.

A mole can also be a grass. Faster than a speeding... suggests Superman.

Supergrass - Richard III

2. This lady's fella hangs about with a bunch of loners.

Her man likes his Hermits.

Herman's Hermits - I'm Henry The VIII

1. Shooting blanks?

Pictured there at their final gig... in Huddersfield!

More Snapshots will be crowned next Saturday.


Sunday, 27 January 2019

Saturday Snapshots #68 - The Answers


Imagine all the people who can't work out the answers to Saturday Snapshots! How Do You Sleep when there's one you just can't get?

A pretty even spread of marks this week, with lots of you working together to piece together the clues. Charity Chic won with 3 whole points, but well done to Walter, Chris, Alyson, Rigid Digit and C for sterling efforts - and a welcome return from George, who christened the Christians.

Of course, I did goof pretty badly on the photo for clue 2. More on that below. Hang my head in shame. Oh, Nobody Told Me there'd be days like these... we better get some answers!


10. Neneh's spirit adds to division.


Neneh Cherry.

Spirit = ghost.

Adding & division are basic things you do in Mathematics.

Cherry Ghost - Mathematics

9. Denying the assassination, Lee takes the third train track to insanity.


When Lee Harvey Oswald denied killing JFK, he claimed to be just a patsy.

The third train track might be the C-Line.

Patsy Cline - Crazy

8. Apostles clean up the town.


The Christians - Hooverville

7. F1 equestrian assassins.


Formula 1 involves racing cars.

Racing Cars - They Shoot Horses, Don't They?

6. Piercing vision refuses gimp outfit.


X-Ray Spex would give you piercing vision.

X-Ray Spex - Oh Bondage, Up Yours!

5. Tiny heads home for a quiet weekend.


Tiny heads would have small faces.

Hello, Mrs. Jones - how's your Bert's lumbago?

Mustn't grumble...

The Small Faces - Lazy Sunday

4. Big bad Wonderland. When will they be famous?


Big Bad Wolf + Alice In Wonderland.

Bros sang When Will I Be Famous.

Wolf Alice - Bros

3. Alien pal phones Morrissey because he hasn't had a good mope in ages.


ET's pal was Elliot. ET wanted his help to "phone home".

Morrissey was a Smith.

If you haven't had a good mope in ages, you probably miss misery.

Elliot Smith - Miss Misery

2. LimbibingA, futuristic fibre truck.


To explain how I ended up posting the wrong image for this clue... and bizarrely ended up posting a second picture of Wolf Alice, here's the google image search I used...


My lesson here is to never trust the NME. That bottom left pic - as C rightly identified - is another picture of Wolf Alice... even though the New Musical Morons have labelled it as a band from 20 earlier.

Despite all that, nobody got my clue (or at least, not as I type this). Hopefully it'll be self-explanatory now...

Bran Van 3000 - Drinking In LA

1. Fatal Moe indicates his way to heaven.


Fatal Moe is an anagram.

The indicator is a light that flashes on your dashboard.

Heaven is paradise.



Saturday Snapshots is finished for this week. Don't worry - next Saturday morning, it'll be (Just Like) Starting Over...

Friday, 2 September 2016

My Top Ten Maths Songs (Volume 1: Basic Math/s)



The two essential subjects for all students at the college where I work are English and Maths. As an English teacher, I'm supposed to embed a little mathematics into all my lessons, so I thought I'd try embedding some into this blog. I'll work my way through the various branches of arithmetic (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division) over the next few weeks (though perhaps not all at once), but I thought I'd start with basic maths... or math, depending on which side of the Atlantic you do your sums on.

Special mentions to Maths & Physics Club, Mutemath, and all those weird Math Rock bands I find so very hard to get into.


10. Jimmy Buffett - Math Suks

Now, that's not a very good attitude to start off with, is it, Jimmy? Go to the bottom of the class!

(By the way, your spelling's not all that great, either.)

9. Half Man Half Biscuit - Mathematically Safe

Just about the closest Nigel Blackwell ever got to writing a straight-up love song.

8. The White Stripes - Black Math
Uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh ah...
7. Brad Paisley - You Do the Math

Ah, I just love that happy guitar sound and those cheery (swap they r for an s if you're so minded) lyrics. Long may Brad strut his country stuff.

6. Los Campesinos! - Don't Tell Me To Do The Math(s)

Starts out sounding like Belle & Sebastian, then goes cheerfully mental, like all the best Los Campesinos! records. When Americans miss the s off the end of Maths, Aleksandra, Oliver, Tom, Harriet, Gareth, Neil and Ellen Campesinos! start overusing exclamation marks.

5. Jim's Big Ego - Math Prof. Rock Star

Carmine Infantino was a legendary comic book artist, most famous for an extended run on DC's The Flash back in the 70s and 80s. His nephew, Jim Infantino is the man behind the hugely entertaining alt-rock band Jim's Big Ego, perhaps most famous for their song The Ballad of Barry Allen, about Uncle Carmine's most famous superhero. This is another great song from them, reminiscent of the Fountains of Wayne with added REM guitar.
When he was young he never thought that he would be a
Math Prof Rock Star
And after hours outside of his office, there's a line waiting
Full of girls lining up to ask about their quadratic equations
She leans over the desk and twirls a pencil in her hair
Complains that the grade he gave her was way unfair
And all the professors they laugh about it and wish him well
But the guys in the class are just jealous as hell
Find out more about "the Greatest Band In The History of Recorded Music" here.

4. dEUS - Little Arithmetics

Quick geography test: how many bands can you name from Belgium?

Tougher than you think, and I could only think of one better than dEUS. Any guesses?*

3. Margaret Glaspy - Emotions & Math

Title track from the excellent 2016 debut record by this refreshing Californian singer-songwriter which I took a punt on via eMusic after hearing Cerys play it on 6Music. So far, the gamble is paying off... though the rest of the album isn't as radio-friendly as this one...
Counting all the days 'til you're back
Shivering in an ice cold bath
Of emotions and math
I've gotta get outta this tree
Off of this limb
I'm a woman acting like a kid
A skinny mess
That's breathless from telling you
All the things that I'm gonna do
Phew. I reckon I need an ice cold bath after that one...

2. Idlewild - Close The Door

Always good to hear some classic Idlewild again, and here they are at their best...it's time for the maths test!

1. Cherry Ghost - Mathematics

I saw Cherry Ghost play live around the time this track was big. This was by far their best track, reminding me of the New York romanticism of Dion... which was odd, because Simon Aldred's a gruff Manc. He's made some great music since, but Mathematics is still his finest moment.





*My answer was Soulwax.


But which one wins your maths test?


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