When I was a kid, I vividly remember the thrill of watching the old Universal horror movies late Saturday night on BBC2. You'd never see these classics on TV these days, and they're in danger of being airbrushed out of history for anyone other than ardent cinephiles... but we remember them today, starting with Victor (or Henry, as he was known in James Whales' film) Frankenstein and his monster, played by Boris Karloff...
That was the obvious tune, although curiously it only made it to Number 5 in My Top Ten Frankenstein Songs back in 2015...
Before you knew it, the Monster demanded a mate... in the form of Elsa Lanchester.
I couldn't immediately think of a song named after The Bride, but then I discovered New Zealand's Toy Love, who were on Flying Nun, so they had to be worth a listen. Here they are in 1980...
Todd Browning's Dracula was the first of many Universal films featuring the Lord of the Undead (and his family), although it's the only one to feature Bela Lugosi in the title role (unless you count his guest appearance in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein). Despite that, Lugosi is the actor most often associated with the Count, even long after his death...
The direct sequel to Lugosi's Dracula featured Gloria Holden as Countess Marya Zaleska, aka Dracula's Daughter. Which leads us nicely to Colin Meloy and co....
More bandages were wrapped around Claude Rains in 1933... although when he took them off, he disappeared completely. There's loads of Invisible Man songs to choose from (see here), but this was the obvious choice, still one of Declan's finest album tracks...
I chose the late John Mahoney to usher in this week's answers for two reasons. Firstly, Martin Crane's dog Eddie features in one of the clues below. Secondly, I figured he's bring a little respectability to this post... otherwise it's in danger of being mistaken for a knocking shop.
Every gambler knows that the secret to survival is knowing what to throw away, and knowing what to keep. Because every hand's a winner, and every hand's a loser, and the best that you can hope for is to die in your sleep.
Wiser words have seldom been sung. Here's this week's full house...
I told you way back in 52 That I would never go with you
C wondered who did the original of that. RD replied that it was Smiley Lewis... and that if you listen carefully to the instrumental break, Dave gives a shout out to him, along with Huey 'Piano' Smith (who played piano on the original version), Fats Domino (who also covered it) and Chuck Berry (who doesn't appear to have recorded it at all, but maybe he played it live?).
RD then offered the controversial opinion that the cover versions by Ben Folds Five and Bruce Woolley & The Camera Club were both better than Trevor Horn's original. I'm not sure I agree with that - there's something about the original that just sends a shiver down my spine (in a good way) although they're both fine covers. I'd add the version by Presidents of the United States of America to the list of cracking covers.
Other songs I found that referenced 1952 included...
There are, of course, 52 weeks in a year, so I thought I might find loads of references to that. However, the only ones that leapt out at me were these...
However, I have to agree with both Lynchie and Rigid Digit that there was one very clear winner this week. It was the song that introduced me to this particular artist and established him in my mind as both a lyricist and guitar player of great note...
Said James, "In my opinion, there's nothing in this world Beats a '52 Vincent and a Redheaded girl. Now Nortons and Indians and Greavses won't do. Oh, they don't have a Soul like a Vincent '52
If that doesn't break your heart by the end of the song, then you've got granite in your chest...
51 next week... anyone got anything that can challenge The Swede's obvious suggestion?
Reach out and touch faith - it's your own personal answers to Saturday Snapshots. It was just A Question of Time.
Alyson took the Early Bird trophy this week, ably assisted by Chris, Charity Chic, Rigid Digit and a last minute save, all the way from Dubai (thanks, Jim). C took issue with the Siouxsie & The Banshees photo which turned out to be Siouxsie and a bunch of non-Banshees, for which I apologise... but it was the least recognisable Siouxsie photo I could find on the interweb. She has a pretty iconic look.
Even if you only got one of them right this week, remember... Everything Counts!
My explanations will be brief this week due to an impending visit from Ofsted. (Yes, they know check music blogs too. Not much chance of this one getting Outstanding.)
Driving into work last week, I was rather disturbed to see the following sign at the roadside. Apparently these signs have caused upset around the country to children and motorists from other countries who don't know that the cat's eyes in question are these...
...the small reflecting lights placed down the white line in the centre of roads, designed to keep motorists on the right side at night time.
My own upset though wasn't caused by the idea that some crazed loon from the council or the Highways Agency was going round the local area blinding felines... it was over the fact that these wonderful inventions were being removed, seemingly never to be replaced.
I realise as I type these words that I'm sounding more and more like the kind of Grumpy Old Man who writes to the local paper (if, indeed, there still is a local paper) and begins his letter with the phrase "Why, oh why, oh why...?" but my dismay goes beyond the usual "it's another budget cut which will end up costing lives!" whinge (though it probably will) and even the kind of good old Yorkshire patriotism that would fuel the average "Dear Sir..." scribbler (Cat's Eyes, in case you didn't know, were invented by Halifax-born Percy Shaw). No, my real cause for consternation is over the loss of yet another icon of my childhood. Many's the happy hour myself and a mate would spend sitting in the middle of the road with a pen-knife, trying desperately to extract the jewels from a cat's eye. Well, perhaps not that many. But we did it once or twice before we got bored. It was a rite of passage round these parts - in honour of good old Percy - though if the local bobby caught you, you'd be for it.
Being a parent, of course, turns all that on its head. I'd be horrified to discover Sam was doing anything similar when he gets a bit older - if not because of the wanton vandalism, then certainly for the threat of getting mown down by a speeding motorist. I doubt my own parents gave it much thought, if they even knew such stuff was going on - after all, those were the days when we'd go out in the morning and come back for tea and nobody worried where we were or what we were up to in between. If they had found out, they'd probably have just said, "boys will be boys"... and then given us a good thrashing with the slipper. (That last bit's a joke, my parents never thrashed me with a slipper. It was a studded belt. No, it wasn't even that. But if I'm going to turn into a Whinging Old Git, I might as well go the whole hog!)
But isn't this supposed to be a music blog, you scream? Well, of course, dear...
I suppose I could have featured Cat's Eyes by Cat's Eyes today, except... no, I'd never heard of it either. So instead, here is a stark indictment of the consequences of removing cat's eyes from our local highways...
23. Dave Edmunds - Crawling From The Wreckage
I've heard a rumour this was written by Graham Parker, though he didn't get around to recording his version for another 25 years. Dave's version came from his fourth album, Repeat When Necessary, released in 1979. Although it only made #59 in the UK singles chart, the next two singles from the album (Costello's Girls' Talk and Hank DeVito's Queen of Hearts) were both big hits. Much as I love both of those, Crawling From The Wreckage still stands up for me as Dave Edmunds' finest moment...
Crawling from the wreckage, crawling from the wreckage Bits of me are scattered in the trees and in the hedges Crawling from the wreckage, crawling from the wreckage Into a brand, new car
A person should not believe in an -ism, he should believe in himself. I quote John Lennon, "I don't believe in Beatles, I just believe in me." Good point there. After all, he was the walrus. I could be the walrus. I'd still have to bum rides off people.
Long before the tantrums and tiaras, the dirge for Diana, the ridiculous megastar pomposity... it's easy to forget that once upon a time, Elton John & Bernie Taupin wrote songs as beautiful as this one.
Not Mad Bob's only visit to Wonderland. He's no doubt got a season ticket.
1. Jefferson Airplane - White Rabbit
One pill makes you larger And one pill makes you small And the ones that mother gives you Don't do anything at all Go ask Alice - when she's 10 feet tall
So those are the tunes that Carroll my Lewis... but which song sends you down the rabbit hole?
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