I'm a huge fan of that song, but I have to admit that whenever I hear it, I imagine Neil getting jiggy on a rocky coastline, with the waves pounding over him. It looks bloody freezing.
As I compile these results, nobody has got this. I fully expect Martin to swoop in at the last minute and nab it.
UPDATE: Just before I was about to turn off the computer and go to bed (hey, listen, 9.30 is all I can manage on a Saturday night), my prediction came true. I knew I could count on you, Martin!
7. Beware of this (unabbreviated) spinning lady... she's coming for New York!
A Spinning Jenny, unabbreviated, would be Jennifer.
General agreement that this must be The Alexander Brothers with Nobody's Child... a song I'd never heard before, but I can see why you might think I'd like it. Having watched the video, I reckon there's a distinct possibility Aiden & Malcolm posed for that photo with said brothers in mind.
It took my extra "Think Belle & Sebastian" clue to direct RD to the correct answer.
1. What Bond got LOADS.
Sometimes the clues just write themselves.
George took a couple of shots, but nailed his target in the end.
Congratulations to this week's undisputed champion: Charity Chic. Thanks, as always, for playing along.
Back next Saturday with ten more badly disguised "classics" from the depths of my music library...
It was this or Scarborough Fair. And much as I love both Scarborough and Simon & Garfunkel, there's something about Scarborough Fair that represents folk music at its most twee. Call me a philistine, but I'd rather have lyrics that sing, "Behave yourself grandad, or you won’t be going..." than, "Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme". Maybe when I compile my Top Ten Herb Songs...
See also Mussels of Margate, written by Kurt Weill. Seriously, you can't make stuff like that up.
The lead singer of American Music Club probably isn't the first person you'd expect to hear singing a song about Southend... maybe that's why it works so well. Told from the perspective of "just another ugly American melting in the heat"...
You said to me "You're from California And you're as dumb as can be" You said to me "Are you the Scarecrow, the Tin Man Or are you Dorothy?" You said to me "I'm beginning to think that you're A part of the enemy" You said to me "If I was drowning would you save me From Southend-on-Sea?"
OK, so Dungeness isn't strictly a seaside town, it's a headland with a beach, a nuclear power plant and Derek Jarman's cottage on it. But let's pretend it's a big holiday destination, shall we? This song is quite, quite lovely.
Gets many extra marks for mentioning Filey, because Filey is ace.
Maybe she could tell her I’ve still got her umbrella She prized it rather highly It saved her once in Filey It came on all torrential And therefore it’s essential
The band Luxembourg also had a song called Broadstairs but the internet hasn't ever heard of it.
To quote my old music blogging hero, JC, The Vinyl Villain, "the b-side (to Geraldine) is a rather lovely romantic song about one of the least romantic coastal towns on Planet Earth." I've never been to Saltcoats so I'll have to bow to his native knowledge.
My favourite seaside town (I may even be there as you read this); I can think of at least two people who read this blog who would probably have made this Number One. And who knows, they may well be right.
Why do political parties always hold their conferences in seaside towns? Is it just so the waster politicians can ride the donkeys wearing Kiss Me Quick hats? A scathing attack on the Liberal Party (SDP) of the late 80s, this is "somewhat" dated now, but it still sounds wonderful. And there's no mention of Nick Clegg, which is always a bonus.
They wore enamel badges of David Steel on their sleeves And "nuclear power no thanks", "Not sure" and "yes please!" And their faces were two fold And their teeth they were gold And they wore their pinstripe suits With a rip at the knee
I'm out tonight and can't decide Between Soviet hip or British pride
Songs about badgers, marrying Anita Dobson, that hair... Bryan May's crimes against cool are considerable. But it's possible to forgive him everything just by listening to the guitar solo on Brighton Rock, one of the best songs he ever wrote. Plus, Freddie sings a duet with himself, taking on both male and female vocals. The tale of a doomed holiday romance and the mums and wives who ruin it.
"Jenny will you stay? Tarry with me, pray Nothing e'er need come between us Tell me love what do you say?" "Oh no I must away, to my mum in disarray If my mother should discover how I spent my holiday It would be of small avail to talk of magic in the air I'll say farewell..."
Other Brighton belters include Upside Down On Brighton Beach by Shirley Lee and You're Not From Brighton by local lad Norman 'Fatboy Slim' Cook. See also New Brighton Promenade by The Boo Radleys, though I suspect that'll be the New Brighton in Merseyside.
So... those are my favourite Seaside Town Songs... where will you be wearing a knotted hanky on your head this summer?
