It can't have escaped your notice that Doctor Who celebrated its 60th anniversary last week, blasting its way back onto screen with an old face and a Disney+ budget. Like most British kids, I grew up with The Doctor, and your first Doctor will always be your favourite. Which means you can't beat Tom Baker in my eyes.
Still, I have a great fondness for most of the other Doctors, including the modern incarnations (although Huddersfield lass Jodie Whittaker was let down during her tenure by terrible scripts). They say we spent large parts of our youth hiding behind the sofa to avoid the show's scarier bits... and I do have vivid memories of being behind that old red leather sofa in our living room on a Saturday night... but I'm pretty sure I was acting out the adventures I'd just seen on screen rather than escaping in terror.
Here then is a special edition of TV On The Radio dedicated to all the Doctors.
Search for songs that include the words "Doctor Who" in that order and you're on a hiding to nothing. Unless you want to hear a load of tunes that have nothing to do with Timelords such as this...
She sent me to the doctor who sent me straight to bed
I had far more luck searching for words that were unique to the Whoniverse. Such as TARDIS (Time and Relative Dimensions in Space, as I'm sure you will recall).
Here's someone who would look right at home in an episode of Doctor Who... Thom Yorke.
I'm stuck in the TARDIS Trapped in hyperspace One minute, snake charming The next in a motorcade
Step outside the TARDIS and you may encounter some of The Doctor's greatest enemies. For reasons explained above, I didn't bother looking for The Master, and only found the odd song that mentioned Cybermen... but the Daleks were all over the place.
Dave Balfe and Alan Gill from The Teardrop Explodes formed the most famous band to be named after the psychotic pepper pots, possibly my favourite science fiction bad guys (the Daleks, not Balfe and Gill).
Despite my difficulties in searching for "Doctor Who" songs, I still found quite a few that mentioned the Timelord by name (or, not actually by name, since Doctor Who isn't actually his name, is it?). Although many of them fall into the category that causes serious musos to gnash their teeth to the gums... comedy or novelty records.
Frazer Hines was a minor Yorkshire celebrity due to his role on Emmerdale Farm in the 70s and 80s (back when my dad used to watch it because they had actual farmyard scenes). Prior to that, Frazer was an early Doctor Who assistant when he recorded this...
Once All About Eve were done, lead singer Julianne Regan formed Mice. Here's a little timely advice for any of you who might be considering running off with a stranger in a blue police box...
He's my blue sonic boy I believed in his watery lies And his half-arsed scheme to rule the world But you know it isn't easy hanging out with the timelords When you're a Dalek and can't even climb up the stairs So when you wake tomorrow, stick a bell in your van
There were lots of artists I discovered during this search who looked like they'd only ever get a gig at Comicon, but these guys deserved a special mention, for enthusiasm, if nothing else...
But there was only one song I could choose to close this post, from the insane genius of Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty, The KLF, The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu and The Timelords... with a little help from The Sweet and (whisper it now) Gary Glitter. A Number One smash that Melody Maker described as "pure, unadulterated agony" and "excruciating", while Sounds called it "rancid" and "a record so noxious that a top ten place can be its only destiny". What's not to love?
There are indeed many great bands with 4 in their name... but there's only one Four Tops. My sister had a Four Tops greatest hits in her record collection when I was growing up and I played the grooves out of it. (I'm also thankful to her for having a similar Supremes compilation.)
And then came Martin, who insists on doing that thing I had to train The Swede not to do, listing artist & title the wrong way round. It does make copy and paste so much harder. Grumble, mutter.
Cilla Black - Work Is A Four-Letter Word(and covered by The Smiths! A version that ought to be in with a shout, if only because covering Cilla at Moz's insistence so irked Johnny...)
I'm with Johnny on that one. I loved their cover of Golden Lights by Twinkle, but this one never really worked for me.
And if you like the title but (strange to consider!) are put off by the whine in lead singer Raine Maida's voice (it generally goes over pretty well here in Canada, but still)...
You know what, Douglas, I didn't mind it at all. Though there was maybe a bit of Chad Kroeger in there. (Should I duck now/)
...then you may be drawn more to Cherry Ghost's very different song "4 a.m."
And this, which Martin picked out, and it was definitely on my shortlist because it is glorious, and would have won most other weeks. (Don't give up though, Aimee, there's still chance for you to take the top spot.)
I remember Elvis Costello praising that, way back when, particularly for lyrics such as these...
Today's the fourth of July
Another June has gone by
And when they light up our town, I just think
What a waste of gunpowder and sky
However, as I said: predictable.
From his debut album, and quite different from the kind of music that would make him famous, but still deeply affecting, and with some truly glorious imagery.
Somewhere in that ancient mystic trinity, you'll get three... and that's next week's magic number.
I realise there were a bunch of other 7 bands I could have chosen to illustrate what's shaping up to be the biggest edition of this countdown to date. Bands like...
(I've never heard of them before either, but Jim in Dubai is a fan. I honestly had to check the lead singer wasn't a young Simon Cowell.)
However, I always had a lot of time for Shed Seven, or "what Oasis might have been if they hadn't been a bunch of absolute Aresholes" as I like to think of them. They put out a bunch of cracking Britpop singles, never took themselves too seriously, and always put on a good live show.
Here's a Positive Song For Negative Times from them...
And now on with the show, which will, by necessity, be a lot of your tunes and very little of me talking this week, if I'm to have a cat in hell's chance of getting through all the 7 songs you suggested.
(Update: well, that didn't happen, did it?)
At least The Swede got his artists and titles the right way around this week...
Day off today and up late, yet still the first one in!
I know, it's like they all have better things to do first thing on a Tuesday morning, isn't it? But what could be better than this? Anyway, on you go, Swede...
Lynchie recalled: I met the prog rock band Egg at a bed & breakfast place in Dundee sometime around 1970 if memory serves me well. Can't say I was a fan.
George wondered: Of Dundee or Egg?
Lynchie replied: Both!
I used to write ads for the radio station in Dundee. Never got the opportunity to visit.
Well, it's definitely the best thing Neneh Cherry ever put her name to.
Oh wait, here's Alyson again...
My pick would be Youssou N'Dour/Neneh Cherry though with 7 Seconds as wrote about it recently so found out so much more of the back story - Again, don't include this bit, but here is a cut and paste:
Sorry Alyson, I need something to break up the endless list, so you're subbed.
'7 Seconds is apparently about the first positive 7 seconds in the life of a newborn child, a child who does not know about the problems and violence in our world. Three different languages were used in the song: English, French and Wolof, which is a language spoken in Senegal, Gambia, and Mauritania.'
See. That was far more interesting than just another boring list, wasn't it?
You sure about that, Douglas? My research says it was written by Elvis & Jimmy. And I pulled the Deluxe Edition of Blood & Chocolate off the shelf to check. That would have been my choice, anyway.
I have a lot of time for Guy Garvey, but I know I didn't spend enough time on that last album. That's lovely.
Alyson, meanwhile, is still worrying about appearing cool. Listen, Alyson, Martin proudly suggested Sting, so you've got nothing to worry about!
My hard drive obviously comes from Planet Uncool as very little overlap with the above choices at all. Other than Love and Youssou N'Dour, I have the following:
Pretty sure I'm going to irk a lot of musos with that lot.
Like I said, Martin too that crown this week. And it's not like you suggested Ken Dodd again, is it?
And, as a 7 band, my hard drive is littered with material by those giants of pre-teen pop S Club 7 as my daughter was just the right age for them at the turn of the millennium.
Surprised that hasn't come up yet. Graham Fellows (Or Jilted John as some people may know him better as)- Seven Pints & a Suicide
Or John Shuttleworth, adds Rigid Digit, a truly right thinking man if ever there was one. Who else could impart the panic and shock of opening the fridge and findings two margarines on the go.
I woke up this morning with the riff from 7 Reasons by Revenge running in my head, the best New Order song not by New order.
Back to Doug in Canada...
Okay, this time I am still late, and despite the whopper load of songs already listed, I see there are a few left to nab! I would of course have taken R.E.M, myself, but on the philosophy that they can't win two weeks in a row (can they?) I am glad my second favourite choice of all 7 songs is still available, so here goes:
More like it. Mr. Gedge has far more chance around here than Mr. LeBon.
Audience--Seven Sore Bruises
That actually has featured here before, even though it's not the far superior Sophie Ellis Bextor band. Unfortunately, the version on youtube appears to have been hacked by the Russians, possibly as a revenge attack for The Scorpions. (See Sunday's post if you don't know what I mean. Do keep up.)
(Speaking of Ms. Ellis-Bextor... this was obviously a b-side...
Boy, talk about left with the scraps! I was going to wow you with Wah! Heat's Seven Minutes To Midnight,and that has already been mentioned at least twice! All of the best ones are taken, and even most of my songs from the B squad are already here. Time for the C squad:
And finally comes Alyson, with some sage advice...
Think you're going to have to trim this list down, probably...
I'm trying to avoid trimming at this late stage... much as I may live to regret that decision in the remaining weeks. ...but as is tradition I will throw in an oldie for sake of completeness:
I'm guessing that's a different Paul Evans, though I stand to be corrected.
Good luck with getting through that little lot above (no pressure remember to deliver every week).
Good job too, considering how I failed to get through all this last week.
All of which leaves me with only the scrapings from my own hard-drive... but I may whittle that list down a little for my sanity this week. Lots of 7" mixes I had to skip past while searching through these.
However... when I began this countdown, approximately 77 years ago, I knew immediately what number 7 would be on the Hot 100. Just as I've known all along what #1 will be.
Looking up at the list above me now, I can see a number of tracks I might pick instead of this one... some truly excellent tunes that I couldn't be without. But this is what I'm going with, as suggested by The Swede, because... erm... I don't really know why. But it's Prince, and that'll do nicely.
Plus the video is absolutely bonkers...
Only half a dozen to go. And so, as George once sang... I Want Your Six!
Not being a Londoner, I'm not going to pretend to be a great expert on this particular London thoroughfare and train station... but musically, it seems the road has quite a history, giving birth to Hawkwind, The Clash* and rapper AJ Tracey, who apparently mentions the road quite a lot in his lyrics... but sadly not in my record collection.
*There are two Clash songs that mention Ladbroke Grove... but neither of them really grabbed me. Apologies, Clash-heads.
I found enough songs to do a Top Ten Ladbroke Grove tunes, but the majority were hardly classics. So I've limited myself to a Top 3. Still, I've struggled to find even one song that relates to a lot of UK towns, so three about one London street... well, it must be quite a street!
