And so we reach the end of double digits on the Hot 100 Countdown, with lost 80s postpunk pioneers (they might not have been pioneers, I just couldn't resist the alliteration), Eleven Pond. Here they are in all their glory...
Eleven Pond - Portugal
I'm actually surprised by how few 11 Songs I (and you) could find. Somehow, I expected there to be more. Still, we start the official Top Ten next week, so I imagine we'll be spoilt for choice then.
As is often the case, The Swede was first out of bed last Tuesday morning... with a selection of tracks I struggled to find any audio for on the interweb...
Bill Wells & Aidan Moffat - The Eleven Year Glitch
Hatfield and the North - Elevenses
Thin White Rope - Eleven
Then came Lynchie, who broke the first rule of Hot 100 Club with his first suggestion...
U2 - 11 O'Clock Tick Tock (The lyrics are crap but the guitar's pretty neat)
Sadly, I struggled to find a link for that anywhere on the interweb either. The difference being, I did at least try to find links for all The Swede's suggestions.
Fortunately, Lynchie redeemed himself (slightly) with this...
Nine Below Zero - Eleven Plus Eleven
Not my fave Nine Below Zero track, he adds. I bought "Don't Point Your Finger" in 1981 and it has the mega awesome "Ain't Coming Back".
Nine Below Zero - Ain't Coming Back
That is pretty cool, thanks.
George crawled out of the woodwork next with three top suggestions...
Blondie - 11.59 from Parallel Lines
(Worth watching that video for a supremely Debbie Harry performance by Debbie Harry.)
Hank Locklin - Seven or Eleven... surely this week's winner?
Surely not, but a fine song anyway.
Before Charity Chic gets to it, what about...?
Buck Owens - A-11
As it turns out, Charity Chic only had the following this week (which he called "My entries for this week and next!", though I'm sure he'll come up with something else for 10).
Terry Hall & Mushtaq - Ten Eleven
Lee Hazlewood - Ten or Eleven Towns Ago
I tell you what, that Lee Hazlewood could have been in with a shot... if I'd heard it before today. What a tune!
Swiss Adam dropped by next with an excellent (hidden) suggestion...
The last song on REM's Green is sometimes called the Eleventh Untitled Song...
REM - Untitled
...which is definitely better than the REM song I was going to put forward this week...
Oh, hang on... Last Minute Arrival: here's Douglas McLaren with the same idea as me...
Late to the game again. I'm going with "Rotary Eleven", the b-side to r.e.m.'s Losing My Religion. I bought the cd single back in the day and was disappointed that it was an instrumental, but now after many years I have grown to really like it.
REM - Rotary Eleven
We're on the same wavelength again, Douglas... just not a winning one this week. Thanks anyway.
And then came Alyson...
Tin Tin Out - Eleven To Fly
...featuring Wendy Page, apparently.
No, me neither.
Starting to wonder if we're going to get to No. 1 whilst still in lockdown.
I seriously hope not, Alyson, or I might be compiling this feature from a rubber room by then.
Time for Jim in Dubai...
Momus - Eleven Executioners
Sigue Sigue Sputnik - Love Missile F1-11
I like that a lot more now than I did when it was actually out. Very bizarre to find the cover version below in my collection though...
David Bowie - Love Missile F1-11
Dead or Alive - Number Eleven
Julian Casablancas - 11th Dimension
Pete Wylie - Four Eleven Forty Four
James Dean Driving Experience - Dean's Eleventh Dream
Rigid Digit found most of his songs had been chosen by others this week, leaving him with only this...
Paul Weller - 111
...which I'm not sure counts. However, knowing how stroppy Mr. Weller can get at times, we'll let him have it. Although... I'm sorry, Paul, but it's hardly Down In The Tube Station At Midnight, is it?
And finally, there was Brian, who also felt rather limited this week...
Like Saturday's quiz, you gotta get in early around here. All but one of mine taken already. I'll leave you with:
The Wondermints - Project 11
All in all, it wasn't a great week for this feature, was it? I expected more from eleven. Here's the rest of my own findings...
Daisy Chainsaw - Room Eleven
Scritti Politti - E Eleven Nuts
Cold Seeds - By 11 O'Clock She'd Left
Moss - 11-11
Transvision Vamp - W11 Blues
Hamilton Leithauser - 11 O'Clock Friday Night
Lifter Puller - 11th Avenue Freeze Out
Having listened to all of the above... well, had that Lee Hazlewood track been in my collection, I might well have given it to him. And I was tempted by Sigue Sigue Spitnik, I really was... but 14 year old Rol kept screaming 'Nooooooo!'
In the end then, I went for this. I haven't listened to it in years, but I really enjoyed the first Magic Numbers album, and this was a favourite...
Next week - it's Bo Derek running towards Dudley Moore on a beach. Contemporary references my forte, as always. What's your pick of the Ten Songs?
