Snapshots #450: Invisible Songs

Introducing C's guest post yesterday, we had David MacCallum, a one-time Invisible Man. Today, C sent me a lovely photo of Pauline Murray, without her Invisible Girls. And here they are reunited...

Pauline Murray & The Invisible Girls - Dream Sequence

Here are some more songs you probably won't be able to see. Hopefully you can hear them all fine.

15. Atmospheric noblemen make a spelling mistake.

Dukes of (a misspelt) stratosphere.

The Dukes of Stratosphear - Vanishing Girl

14.  Wireless CEO.

Head of radio…

Radiohead - How To Disappear Completely

13. Fruity Hindu deity.

Rama is a Hindu deity.

Bananarama - Outta Sight

12. They left a mark.

Scars - Vanishing

11.  Confused guests win riots.

Anagram!

Swing Out Sister - I Can Hear You But I Can’t See You

10. Leggy syndrome?

Restless legs syndrome, a neurological condition.

Restless - Vanish Without A Trace

9. Sci fi villain loses final letters.

Durand Durand is a character from the film ‘Barbarella’

Duran Duran - Invisible

8. Indiana, Extra Small

IN being the state code for Indiana and XS Extra Small.

INXS - Disappear

7. Nightclub make-up.

Heaven was a London nightclub, ‘17’ a cosmetic brand.

Heaven 17 - Unseen

6. Ian or Tony might catch the ball.

Ian Curtis / Tony Curtis may field.

Curtis Mayfield - To Be Invisible

5. You just won’t get this clue.

The Misunderstood - I Unseen

4. Dusky sorrow.

The Twilight Sad - That Summer, At Home, I Had Become The Invisible Boy

3.  Get in a muddle, lick my tube.

Anagram!

Tim Buckley - I Can’t See You

2. I demand that you hit Mr Dawson!

Beat Les!

The Beatles - You Won’t See Me

1. Massive Attack song blows up.

‘Teardrop’ explodes…

Teardrop Explodes: You Disappear From View

Many thanks to C for an excellent edition of Snapshots.

Sadly, you'll be back to dealing with my nonsense again next Saturday...

Snapshots #398: Songs Named After Hitchcock Films

Good evening. My name is Alfred Hitchcock... and these are my films, set to music.

15. Insomniacs before a Beckham.

Not David or Victoria, but Brooklyn Beckham...

And these guys had no sleep till they met him.

The Beastie Boys - Sabotage

Anyone shouting at their computer, "but the Hitchcock film was Saboteur!" You're right. Saboteur was his 1942 movies, starring Robert Cummings, Priscilla Lane and Norman Lloyd. But six years prior to that, he also had a film called Sabotage, starring Sylvia Sidney, Oskar Homolka, and John Loder.

Thank you, Ghost of Barry Norman. 

14. Lacking substance or importance.

It's Immaterial - Rope

13. Unhappy aphrodisiacs at Heaven's Gate.

Heaven's Gate was a cult. 

Blue Oyster Cult - Dial M For Murder

12. Nick was a big fan of her movie band.

Nick Lowe loved the sound of breaking glass... which was the name of Hazel's band in the movie of the same name.

Hazel O'Connor - Rebecca

11. Can be good, but I was never any good at them.

Be a good sport, will you?

Sports - Strangers On A Train

Love that video, it's so 1980.

10. I'm with them.

"I'm with the band."

The Band - Stage Fright

9. Could she be a robot, then?

"Robot, then" was an anagram...

Beth Orton - Shadow Of A Doubt

8. Kojak's full name.

Kojak was Telly, so this must be...

Television - Torn Curtain

7. Accept no substitutes.

The Originals - Suspicion

6. Fancy a joint?

Elbow - The Birds

5. Ripper in a Jewish robe.

A kittel is a Jewish robe, worn by Jack...

Jack Kittel - Psycho

There are, of course, two other versions of this famous song... but they've both featured here before.

4. Aaaaah! -Z. Stranger town. 

A scream, Jay-Z and Hawkins, the town in Stranger Things. But I imagine the photo was enough...

Screamin' Jay Hawkins - Frenzy

3. Second person.

Second person stories are written about you. Second is also 2.

U2 - Vertigo

2. Basie & The Unisex Shoes... unpeel that one!

Anagram! (Obviously.)

Siouxsie & The Banshees - Spellbound

1. Duffy defected.

Their original singer was Stephen Duffy. He left, to be replaced by Le Bon.

Duran Duran - Notorious

Set your compass North by North West and it should steer you in the direction of more Snapshots next Saturday...

Namesakes #79: Duffy

This week on Namesakes, we pay tribute to a legend of the 80s: Patrick Duffy, aka Bobby Ewing from Dallas. Wait, you say, Patrick Duffy's not a singer! And you'd be right...

Mireille Mathieu & Patrick Duffy - Together We`re Strong

Neither did he ever record and release music using just his surname. These guys, on the other hand, all did...

DUFFY #1

First off, we find ourselves in 1970 with Tennessee country singer / Elvis tribute act, Wade Cummins. This was his only release under the name Duffy...

DUFFY #2

Our next Duffy took to the stage in 1974, inspired by Uriah Heep, Deep Purple and Humble Pie. The London-based band was comprised Stuart Reffold, Barry Coote, Joe Nanson, Patrick Sarjeant and Will Wright... no, none of them were called Duffy, and they were knocking around three years before the Man From Atlantis first set foot in the water, so who knows why they called themselves Duffy?

Their debut album was called Just In Case You're Interested, and it seems nobody was, as they only managed to get it released in Germany, France and Brazil. Soon after they changed their name to Scruffy Duffy, perhaps inspiring the creation of one of Grange Hill's best teachers, Scruffy McDuffy (above) a few years later.

DUFFY #3

Then in 1978, the same year Dallas premiered on TV, John Taylor, Nick Rhodes and Stephen Duffy formed a little band called Duran Duran. Mr. Duffy soon packed it in as a bad job, so the other two recruited some poser called Simon Le Bon instead... and the rest is history.

But what happened to Duffy? Well, to start with, he added the words "Tin Tin" to his name and scored a couple of fine Top 20 hits in 1985, like this and this. He then formed an excellent band called The Lilac Time (who are still in the go today) and released lots of beautiful music like this. 

None of this would qualify him for entry into today's Namesakes. However, in 1995, he briefly jumped on the Britpop bandwagon with the track below (and a subsequent LP), marketed solely on the basis of his surname...

It wasn't a hit, but I reckon it's better than quite a few Britpop records that were.

DUFFY #4

I know some of you aren't particularly Queen fans, and those of you who are may have stopped loving them in the 80s, but even if you're not a fan of their big 1984 hit I Want To Break Free, you can't tell me that turning it into a 1996 dance record improves it in any way, shape or form. I like to think that if Freddie had still been alive, he wouldn't have allowed this travesty.

Worse still, the Duffy featured here isn't even a Duffy - his real name is Daniel Sous!

DUFFY #5

Finally, the most famous of all the Duffys. Aimée Ann Duffy was born in Gwynedd in 1984. When she was 24, she scored her first (and only) Number One single, which garnered her comparisons to 60s hitmakers like Cilla, Petula and Dusty. She didn't quite enjoy the career longevity of her predecessors... but who does these days?

  

Which is your Duffy... and which one is just Duff?

Snapshots #316: A Top Ten Werewolf Songs

I always like to indulge in a Halloween themed top ten at this time of year... and this time, it has really big teeth! (Bob Seger gave you an extra clue yesterday, with his Silver Bullet Band.)

I used to be a werewolf, you know. But I'm alright no-ooooooooooow!

I'm here all week.

10. Found in the basic ramp structure.

Found in the basiC ramp structure.

The Cramps - I Was A Teenage Werewolf

9. The main point of this quiz.

All you have to do is Guess Who...

The Guess Who - Clap For The Wolfman

8. Holy circles, cylinders and spheres, Batman!

They're all round, Robin.

Round Robin - I'm The Wolfman

7. Gremlins.

If you've seen Gremlins, you know. If you haven't... do yourself a favour. It's got Hoyt Axton in!

Mogwai - How To Be A Werewolf

6. Fine girl from Cumbria.

Brandy (You're A Fine Girl) from Carlisle...

Brandi Carlile - Mama Werewolf

5. Sparks fly over this male quintet.

Five Man Electrical Band - Werewolf

4. Thankfully Ripoll. 

Shakira means "thankful" in Arabic. Ripoll is her rarely used surnamed.

Shakira - She Wolf

Shakira - She Wolf

3. Sounds like an Australian to me.

He's not an Aussie, but he is...

Ozzy Osbourne - Bark At The Moon

Video of the week.

2. In today's race, Xanadu ran and Gorgonzola Fondu ran, but all the other horses fell at the first hurdle. 

In today's race, Xanadu ran and Gorgonzola Fondu ran,

Duran Duran - Hungry Like The Wolf

Simon Le Bon almost turns into a werewolf in that. Ozzy still has the better video.

1. Zen raver now confused.

Anagram.

There was no other choice for Number One.

Warren Zevon - Werewolves Of London

More Halloween based shenanigans in this week's Namesakes. 

Snapshots should be less scary next Saturday...

Snapshots #216: A Top Ten Songs About Brazil

Look, this was the first thing I found when I put "Brazilian celebrities with cameras" into Google, OK. If I could have found a picture of Pele holding a camera, he would have been here instead of Gisele.

Honest.

10. Vadim's villain.

The villain in Roger Vadim's movie Barbarella was... Durand Durand.

Duran Duran - Rio

Condemning the 80s with one single video.

9. Half a drum, half a Scottish sunbeam.

Half a Tom Tom... plus a Mc-Ray.

Tom McRae - São Paulo Rain

8. Will Pakistan get zebras, Trudy wonders? The answers lie within.

The image above is, as revealed by Walter, Alain Delon and Romy Schneider, who have nothing to do with Brazil... though they did feature prominently in an image search for these guys...

Will PakiSTAN GET ZebrAS, TRUDy wonders?

Stan Getz & Astrud Gilberto - The Girl From Ipanema

Amazingly, despite having done this quiz for over 4 years, that's only the third time I've posted a wrong picture.

7. They sound like silly Scots.

Guillemots rhymes with Silly Scots... doesn't it?

Guillemots - Trains To Brazil

6. Good bee lost in window doors.

The Good Bee would be Johnny, as in Johnny B. Goode.

"winDOW Doors"

Johnny Dowd - Maybe Brazil

5. There's no end to this Beach Boy after he joins a big band.

Mike Love was the Beach Boy.

The Love Unlimited Orchestra - Brazilian Love Song

(With Barry conducting, obviously.)

4. Airblown Mary.

Anagram!

Barry Manilow - Copacabana

Although it's named after the Brazilian beach, the Copacabana nightclub can't be in Brazil, since it's the hottest spot north of Havana. I'm not brilliant at Geography, but even I can work that one out.

3. Mad king steps down the peer.

Mad King George goes down the peerage to become a Duke.

George Duke - Brazilian Love Affair

2. Barbed conductor.

Wire is a conductor. That's how we get electricity into our homes. It can also be barbed.

Wire - Brazil

1. Lithe mechanism.

Anagram!

Michael Nesmith - Rio

Join me next Saturday for a Bündchen more Snapshots...