Snapshots Spillover: More Coat Songs

Should have posted these on Monday, but other business took precedent. Some more songs that were left in the Snapshots cloakroom after last weekend...

Dan Bern - Hoody

Black - Her Coat And No Knickers

Gorky's Zygotic Mynci - When You Laugh at Your Own Garden in a Blazer 

Glenn Miller - Tuxedo Junction

David Bowie - Sell Me A Coat

Another Sunny Day - Anorak City

Cake - Short Skirt / Long Jacket

Luke Haines - Bomber Jacket

Luke Kelly - Raglan Road

Dolly Parton - Coat Of Many Colours

And yes, that's why Jason Donovan was the picture clue on Saturday...

Jason Donovan - Any Dream Will Do

See also...

Quicksilver Messenger Service - Joseph's Coat

Speaking of colourful coats (beyond the famous blue one)... do any of these take your fancy?

Philip Jeays - In My Long Grey Coat

Bob Dylan - Man In The Long Black Coat

A. Savage - My New Green Coat

Bubblegum Lemonade - Famous Blue Anorak 

Lloyd Arnold - Red Coat, Green Pants & Red Suede Shoes

New Model Army - White Coats

Red Hewitt &The Buccaneers - The Girl In The Teddy Bear Coat

And here are some to protect you from the elements...

E - My Old Raincoat

Josh Ritter - Rainslicker

Ariel Pink - Plastic Raincoats In The Pig Parade

The Sprites - Winter Coat

Benjamin Shaw - Goodbye, Kagoul World

Guy Clark - Like A Coat From The Cold

REM - Harborcoat

And before we go, a brief exchange between Eliza and Cat.

Eliza Gilkyson - Take Off Your Old Coat

Cat Power - The Coat Is Always On

That's her told. 

Finally then, a brief word from JOhn...

John Cooper Clarke - Gaberdine Angus

Not really a song, that last one, but maybe the man in the Gaberdine coat was a spy...

Snapshots Superman Songs Spillover (#1)

I saw the new Superman film.

I loved it.

But who cares what I think. Here are some more tunes!

When it came to compiling a post about Superman songs, there were hundreds to choose from, so a Spillover seemed inevitable. Starting with a couple which would have made this weekend's link far too obvious. From the sublime...

Laurie Anderson - O Superman

...to the ridiculous...

Black Lace - Superman

...or maybe that should have been the other way round?

Here's another one which would have been a giveaway... 

Donovan - Sunshine Superman

Not to be confused with this, a little later in the day...

Dio - Sunset Superman

And then there was this, not actually a song about Clark Kent... but another, real life Superman...

Johnny Wakelin - Black Superman (Muhammad Ali)

It's amazing how many songs there are with "Superman" as their sole title. We featured quite a few yesterday, but here's a load more...

Alison McCallum - Superman

Eminem - Superman

Dan Bern - Superman

The Ides Of March - Superman

Richard Caiton - Superman

Barton Carroll - Superman

Les Variations - Superman Superman

So good they said it twice!

Excelsior - Superman

Robyn Hitchcock - Superman

Scouting For Girls - Superman

Attempted Moustache - Superman

I wish I could have found a picture of Attempted Moustache - they would definitely have made it into Snapshots this weekend.

Lazlo Bane - Superman

That one was the theme tune to the sitcom Scrubs, if you remember that. 

If not, maybe you remember the time Babs wore a Superman shirt.

Barbra Streisand - Superman

And she's not the only Babs with a thing for the Man of Steel...

Raw Soul featuring Barbara Stant - Superman

One final offering today, from confirmed comic book fan David Gedge...

...but we're not done yet. There will be more Superman Songs later in the week.

Self-Help For Cynics #21: Welcoming

Hello darkness, my old friend
I've come to talk with you again...

Simon & Garfunkel - The Sound Of Silence

I called this series Self-Help For Cynics because I've always been very cynical about most kinds of Self-Help. The dictionary tells me...

The words misanthropic and pessimistic are common synonyms of cynical. While all three words mean "deeply distrustful," cynical implies having a sneering disbelief in sincerity or integrity. 

I reckon I'm all three of those, but I'm trying to change... and writing this series is a big step towards doing that.

Steve Wynn - Crawling Misanthropic Blues

Fallover 24 - Pessimistic Man

Amy Rigby - Cynically Yours

That said, I'm willing to accept that my cynicism has taken a bit of a back seat in recent editions of this feature. In fact, beyond the odd "that might not work for you, but it could be worth a try" sort of comment, I've pretty much gone along with everything I've read.

Dan Bern - Welcome

Today though, we cover an idea that has me raising an eyebrow like Roger Moore and scrunching up my face like Les Dawson. You might argue it's not possible to do both at the same time, but in my head at least, that's what I'm doing.

Welcome to Welcoming.

Alice Cooper - Welcome To My Nightmare

In the last few nail-biting editions of SHFC, we've discussed how it's best to confront your emotions head on rather than avoiding them, bottling them up or trying to distract yourself from them. The more I read, the more I see this advice given as a way of rewiring our amygdala / monkey brain, teaching it not to panic or feel anxiety in certain situations and gradually becoming a lot more chilled in the process. 

My Chemical Romance - Welcome To The Black Parade

"Feel the fear and do it anyway!" was the mantra that I rebuffed in my younger days. Now I'm grudgingly having to accept there might be something to it. However, there's a school of thought that takes this idea one step further and suggests we take time to actively welcome negative emotions. Monkey Brain Guru Dr. Jennifer Shannon explains...

When you experience fight-or-flight sensations but there is no immediate threat, it is a false alarm. Regardless of how urgent these sensations seem, resisting them will only prolong them. Pointless as they seem to be, uncomfortable sensations, like negative emotions, are necessary. The more we can welcome them, the more easily they will metabolise.

The Electric Soft Parade - Welcome To The Weirdness

At best, this sounds to me like wallowing. At worst? Could it be a form of sadomasochism? Not according to the New York Times... 

...researchers found that people who habitually judge negative feelings — such as sadness, fear and anger — as bad or inappropriate have more anxiety and depression symptoms and feel less satisfied with their lives than people who generally perceive their negative emotions in a positive or neutral light.

I took a moment to think about this in terms of music, and I wondered about famously "miserable" lyricists like Leonard Cohen, Townes Van Zandt or The Pope Of Mope himself, Stephen Patrick M-Word... were they actually happier because they "welcomed" their negative emotions? Although if that's really the case, welcoming didn't work for Nick Drake, Elliott Smith or Kurt Cobain, did it? 

Elliott Smith - Everything Means Nothing To Me

Then I thought back to the opening lines of Nick Hornby's High Fidelity, as memorably delivered by John Cusack...

What came first, the music or the misery? People worry about kids playing with guns, or watching violent videos, that some sort of culture of violence will take them over. Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands, literally thousands of songs about heartbreak, rejection, pain, misery and loss. Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to pop music?

...and I thought... I thought... actually, maybe this provides an answer to that conundrum. Why do I like miserable music? Because it allows me to welcome negative emotions, thereby lessening their hold on me.

Rodney Allen - Happy Sad

If that were the case though, wouldn't the Goths and Emos be the most well-adjusted members of society? Maybe they are...

The Divine Comedy - The Happy Goth

Look! I found a website called "HAPPIFY"! Pour your cynicism on that, fellow misanthropes! But first, let's hear their advice...

When you feel out of sorts, centre yourself with a few deep breaths and connect inward to the emotion you're experiencing. Give it a name, and allow it the space to simply be. Say, "Hello, sadness" if that's what you're feeling, and let it roam freely until it's ready to leave—because emotions are fleeting by their very nature.

Los Campesinos! - Hello Sadness

Scientists have done a variety of studies to back this up, because that's what scientists do. One involved getting volunteers to dip their hands into an ice water bath. Half the group were told to try to ignore or deny the uncomfortable sensations they felt, while the other half were told to accept the discomfort of the freezing cold. Guess who managed to keep their hands in the bath the longest? 

Brendan Benson - Cold Hands (Warm Heart) 

You might argue that actively seeking to accept or even prolong uncomfortable feelings could be rather counter-productive... or even self-destructive...  but not according to that New York Times article I mentioned earlier.

“What one resists, persists,” said Amanda Shallcross, a naturopathic physician who studies emotion regulation at the Cleveland Clinic. When you avoid your emotions, “you’re bound to experience longer-term negative mental and physical health.”

Faron Young - Hello Walls

Dr. Jennifer Shannon calls negative feelings "necessary feelings" and invites us not only to welcome them, but to provoke them. She suggests practicing by welcoming everyday anxiety-causing situations such as arriving late, listening to someone complain about you, or being in a long queue. I actually tried this final one last week when I was stuck on the M1 for an hour on my way to work. I sat there and I paid attention to what I was feeling, how my body was handling the anxiety... and I can honestly say that it did help, I didn't get as wound up as I normally would. It didn't stop me badly needing a wee though.

James Taylor - Traffic Jam

Taking this one step further, Dr. Shannon suggests "actually triggering your own negative feelings to welcome". Here are some of her suggestions...

• Listen to a political candidate you dislike (to be fair, that could be any of them, but Trump's imminent return is enough to cause any sane person sleepless nights)
• Watch a movie you know you won't like (life's too short for Tom Hanks, I'm sorry)
• Turn on some music you find distasteful...

U2 - With Or Without You

I'm sorry, Dr. Shannon, but you can take this welcoming stuff too far, you know!

Remember that when you do welcoming exercises, you are not attempting to get rid of or control the feeling, nor are you trying to like the feeling.

U2 - Beautiful Day

So it's just about learning to suffer?

You are simply welcoming whatever emotion arises in that moment with your breath. Breathe in to accept the feeling. Breathe out to let go of control.

U2 - The Sweetest Thing

No. I'm sorry. This is too hard. Why would I want to do this again?

You are getting good at feeling bad.

Ah. Well, in that case...

Watching those three videos - welcoming the music of U2, you might say - did enable me to properly understand my reaction to this band. I realised it's not so much the music that causes me an unpleasant reaction... it's just Bono's smug, supremely punchable face. And that's useful, because as this series has proven time and time again, the more we understand our emotions and reactions, the easier they are to accept. 

Here's something nice to wash that unpleasant taste out of your ears: Norwegian Americana hero Harald Thune, doing his own bit of welcoming...

Snapshots #308: A Top Ten Middle Eastern Songs

This is a rather blurry photograph of Shakira. Despite being a multi-million-selling global pop superstar, Shakira was still amazed the first time she saw a phone with a camera in it. We take such things for granted these days, but just over 20 years ago, the very idea was revolutionary. 

You may wonder why Shakira is pictured atop a post featuring songs about The Middle East. Well, it turns out that The Queen Of Latin Music is of Middle Eastern descent - her father's family hail from Lebanon. And Rami Malik, pictured yesterday, is American of Egyptian descent. In case you think I just throw these things together.

Here are ten songs about countries and cities in the Middle East...

10. Found in antioxidants and rubbernecking.

AntioxiDANts and rubBERNecking.

Dan Bern - Jerusalem

One of his best songs, always worth another spin.

9. How Miss celebrates her beautiful victory.

Miss World has a Party when she wins.

World Party - Kuwait City

8. Alan, Alan Jr., Cheryl and Diane.

Alan Ladd (Sr. & Jr.), Cheryl Ladd and Diane Ladd.

The Four Lads - Istanbul (Not Constantinople)

The original... although not the best version. That would be this...

They Might Be Giants - Istanbul (Not Constantinople)

7. Emergency Room in Simone, put all in the pot. 

Put an ER in Nina (Simone) and you get Nerina. Put "all" in pot and you get Pallot.

Nerina Pallot - Damascus

6. First seen in Daredevil #77.

The exact issue of the Daredevil comic that Julian Cope took his band name from...

The Teardrop Explodes - The Thief Of Baghdad

5. ...In The City...In Herre...Is On.

Hot In The City

Hot In Herre

The Heat Is On

Put them together and what have you got?

Hot Hot Heat - In Cairo

4. Sounds like Jean Paul... had a little lamb.

Mary had a little lamb, and her surname sounds like Jean Paul Gaultier.

Mary Gauthier - Iraq

3. Friends with Elvis, Steve and Faron.

The King Of Rock n Roll, Steve McQueen (the album) and Faron Young...

Prefab Sprout - Jordan: The Comeback

2. Haulage menu in disorder.

"Haulage menu" was an anagram... yes, that's a very young Phil Oakey.

Human League - The Lebanon

How can you not love the 80s when you watch that?

1. Get tu-tuled up with Black's other half. 

Desmond Tutu and Black & Decker makes...

1. Desmond Dekker - The Israelites

Snapshots will be back next Saturday. Trust me - my hips don't lie!

Celebrity Jukebox #100: Sinéad O'Connor

To mark the hundredth edition of Celebrity Jukebox, I'd prepared a special tribute to Glen Campbell, the man responsible for my all-time favourite song. I figured I'd run that ahead of Tony Bennett and whoever else might leave us in the meantime...

And then we lost Sinéad O'Connor.

The thing about Sinéad is, at just 56 years of age, she was an artist from my generation. She was only 21 when she released her debut album in 1987, as I turned 15. Then, just three years later, the Number One hit that would cement her global fame was still in the charts on the day of my 18th birthday. So through all the tragedy and controversy that would follow, I always felt like she was one of our gang, and I felt closer to her because of that. I didn't follow her career religiously, but there were touchpoints over the years, and her last album, I'm Not Bossy, I'm the Boss... well, I really hoped that would be the beginning of a renaissance. Sadly, it was not to be. Hard to believe it's 9 years since I first heard this...

I didn't know what to expect from the Celebrity Jukebox, but I should have known Sinéad's influence ran far and wide, starting in her home country...

My Ireland needs to go back to the source
The initial trickle, a spring and tickle out its flow
My Ireland needs to let go
My Ireland saw Sinéad ripping up the Pope
And isn't able to cope

Stephen James Smith - My Ireland

...over into Europe...

Afeitada como la Sinéad O'Connor 
La vi dejar el pub envuelta en humo de moto. 

(which translates as...)

Shaved like Sinéad O'Connor
I saw her leave the pub enveloped in motorbike smoke.

Ana Belén - Nadie Sabe

...and across the Atlantic...

Mary was a good ol' gal
She didn't deserve this shit
She wrote her lines out one at a time
And she didn't complain one bit

She saw Sinéad cover Loretta on Saturday Night Live
Like every good virgin does
But she spent most her time just sittin' round wondering
Where in the hell Jesus was

Elizabeth Cook - Mary, The Submissing Years

Lovely John Prine tribute there. And as to Sinéad covering Loretta...

Sinéad sang that song on Saturday Night Live in 1992. Later in the show, she tore up a picture of the Pope in protest at the cover-up of child sex abuse in the Catholic Church. This action alone guaranteed her immortality in all manner of songs, including plenty of rebellious rap tunes...

I plead guilty, your honor
Cause I dissed the Pope more times than Sinéad O'Connor

Ice Cube - My Skin Is My Sin

...and, of course, in this...

I rip shit like Sinéad O'Connor
I wear my vag as a badge of honour

Pussy Riot - Straight Outta Vagina

But even without the controversy, it's clear that Sinéad O'Connor deserved her place in the pantheon of rock goddesses...  

Tori Amos, Liz Phair
Sinéad  O'Connor, Suzanne Vega
Jill Sobule, Melissa Etheridge
Tracy Chapman, Ani Difranco
Michelle Shocked, everyone of them has
Something kind of special that I like

There's an awful lot of women
In whose honor I would like to raise my glass to in a toast
Some of them are still alive
And some I hear their voices like a ghost

Dan Bern - Chick Singers

...and among the legends of Irish music...

I went backstage, I couldn't even think
Christy Moore, Sinéad O'Connor, somebody give me a drink

The Mahones - Queen & Tequila

Still, the best tribute I could find was this one...

Read a book by Sinead O'Connor
Stained the pages and stared out at the water
I took a note when she said that songs are ghosts
I guess if anybody knows she knows

Melanie MacLaren - Summer In Sweden

...a song which leads us nicely to my all time favourite Sinéad O'Connor performance. "She had the voice of an angel," is such a cliché... but when you hear this, it's pretty hard to dispute. Especially when she's duetting with an old devil like Shane...

Rest in peace, Sinéad. I choose to believe you're with the angels now.

Snapshots #291 - A Top 25 King Songs

In lieu of pledging allegiance to our new King, which I'm not about to do because I'M NOT A 17TH CENTURY KNIGHT, here are 25 songs in his "honour"...

25. Slip severely and jumble.

"Slip severely" is an anagram.

Elvis Presley - King Creole

24. Trendy appliance.

Fad Gadget - King of the Flies

23. Stare at the text closely.

Stare at the teXT Closely.

XTC - King For A Day

22. Musk without Nitrogen.

Take the N from Elon...

ELO - Rock n Roll Is King

Now that's a king I will pledge allegiance too!

21. This is what happens when you go out in the cold without a proper top on, ladies.

The Nipple Erectors - King of the Bop

Shane MacGowan's first band!

20. They say it all started in Wuhan...

China Crisis - King In A Catholic Style

19. They were probably mild-mannered.

Remember Penry, the mild-mannered janitor...?

The Janitors - Good To Be The King

18. A peach from the same town as John's angel.

John Prine sang of an Angel From Montgomery. Peach Melba.

Melba Montgomery - King of Kings

17. Derek Dick's having a wobble.

Derek Dick is Fish. Jelly wobbles.

Jellyfish - The King Is Half Undressed

16. Their leader crashed his bike.

Look out, look out, look out!

The Pack - King of Kings

15. What will you find inside Bob's adequate box?

Bob'S ADEquate box.

Sade - Your Love Is King

14. Eureka! Reno is where you'll find the solution.

EureKA REN O

Karen O - King

13. Hi-didly-ho, Glenn & Roger!

"Hi-didly-ho," is what Ned Flanders might say to Glenn & Roger Miller.

Ned Miller - From A Jack To A King

12. Brendan, all a muddle.

"Brendan" is an anagram.

Dan Bern - King of the World

11. Candy, Denver, Legend.

The Three Johns - King Car

10. Maybe she's caught a chill.

She looks a bit shivery to me.

Shivaree - Cannibal King

9. Michael Holliday had something similar.

Michael Holliday sang about the Story Of My Life.

My Life Story - The King Of Kissingdom

8. A big hit out of Radio Nowhere.

RaDIO Nowhere

Dion - King of the New York Streets

7. Tips for colouring.

Felt Tips are good for colouring.

Felt - Dismantled King is Off the Throne

6.  Anagram? Shh!

Graham Nash - I Used To Be A King

5. Sounds like Jack's aircrafts.

Jack White has quite a few planes by now, I'd imagine...

White Plains - When You Are A King

4. Thinly plot a mix up.

"Thinly plot" is an anagram.

Phil Lynott - King's Call

3. Where the Green Giant's son lives.

The Green Giant's son was called Sprout. He was like the Scrappy Doo of sweetcorn adverts.

I understand he lived in a prefab.

Prefab Sprout - The King of Rock n Roll

2. Something that gets passed down in the family.

Genes are hereditary.

Gene - We Could Be Kings

1. He tolls to conquer.

Ask not for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for William the Conqueror...

William Bell - A Tribute To A King

Just ten Snapshots for you next Saturday morning. I do like to get out of the house occasionally.

Celebrity Jukebox #83: Gina Lollobrigida

Somehow, I missed the announcement of Gina Lollobrigida's death earlier this year, otherwise she would have featured here sooner. 

Actress, model, photojournalist, artist and politician... was there anything Gina Lollobrigida couldn't do? Well, she wasn't afraid of Howard Hughes, for a start, and in 2013 she sold her extensive jewellery collection and gave the money (five million dollars) to stem cell research. She starred alongside Humphrey Bogart, Errol Flynn, Burt Lancaster, Frank Sinatra, Yul Brynner, Rock Hudson, David Niven, Telly Sevalas and Bob Hope. And she was definitely the best Esmerelda. When acting slowed down, she switched to journalism and managed to grab an exclusive interview with Fidel Castro. And then she was in Falcon Crest! What's not to love about Lollobrigida? Well, perhaps it's not the easiest name to fit into a pop song. Though you might be surprised...

There are many Italian songs that sing Gina's praises, but my translator is on the fritz, so here are the English language lyrical references I dug up, starting with the ever-reliable Dan Bern...

Venus and Serena came in here

Gina Lollobrigida too

Pink was back in the backroom

Lookin' for you

You and me, we could get on

Probably with nothing at all

Dan Bern - All Right Kind of a Girl

Blossom Dearie sounds like she should be a character in Last of the Summer Wine or Coronation Street. But she's much classier than that...

I'm quite a fan of Lena

Close to Katrina

Very fond of Gina Lollobrigida, too

And as for Pasadena

Everybody there's an old shoe

But anyone can see my new celebrity is you

Blossom Dearie - My New Celebrity Is You

Here's a Canadian band who were never on Rough Trade...

Mondo Italiano La Dolce Vita

Lollobrigada and Lolita

Rough Trade - The Sacred And The Profane

And here's a band called Birth Control who were probably very effective, because if you played their records to your lover... you weren't getting any that night.

Lola Paloza's coming

On time lolling Lollabrigida

Dinky hips, great big brown eyes

Domino, a canvas Casanova

Birth Control - Domino’s Hammock

But which titular mention of Gina Lollobrigida was first to spring to mind when I heard about her passing? Was it these guys...?

Never before did it seem what it used to seem

I'm packaged right like Gina Lollobrigida

The Cardiacs - Gina Lollobrigida

No!

Was it... this dude?

Tony Bass - Gina Lollobrigida

Surprisingly not.

Was it anything to do with the Croation electro-clash band who named themselves after Gina?

Lollobrigida - Moj Dečko Je Gay

Of course not.

It was David Gedge, wasn't it? In his part-time, holiday job...