I drink Ocean Spray every day. It's not cheap, but it's much tastier than the supermarket equivalents with their artificial sweeteners that leave a nasty after-taste. I enjoy the taste, but drink it mostly for my immune system, and because I read somewhere it's good for your prostate. Which is important when you get to my age. Still, I wouldn't have thought of featuring Ocean Spray here... until I remembered a really obvious tune.
First though... I could hardly do a post about Ocean Spray without featuring these guys...
I had to reject all the songs that referenced the spray of the ocean, rather than the delicious cranberry drink. Although I wasn't sure about this one. I mean, The Beach Boys clearly spend a lot of time by the sea... but what's their beverage of choice?
Wesley Willis, meanwhile appears to prefer a glass of Ocean Spray following slightly less relaxing pursuits... he is familiar with the brand's advertising strap-line though.
Lots of rappers mention Ocean Spray as an alcoholic mixer. I drink it neat, myself, but please, do whatever you feel necessary, as it does help your health... and, apparently, your mood...
If you don't like to drink cranberry juice, Howe Gelb has a suggestion that involves pouring it onto a mirror that you've placed under your hotel room door to let the maids know you don't want it cleaning today. I wouldn't have found this one by looking, it just popped up by coincidence on shuffle the other day...
Anyway... here's the song that had me kicking myself for not featuring Ocean Spray sooner. This is the first Manic Street Preachers lyric written by James Dean Bradfield. It's also one of their most direct and moving songs, as it deals with his mum dying of cancer and his memories of visiting her in hospital...
Alyson nailed this week's band image. Who else but the Electric Six. Any excuse to play one of my favourite videos... with Jack White on guest vocals...
Next came C, who remarked that reading (last week's post) makes it sound/feel like we were all in the same room having a good old real-life conversation (remember those?) - and I love it.
You mean we can't do that anymore, C? Oh wait, no, you're right. That sort of thing is only allowed for senior government advisers, isn't it? Silly me.
Oh, and here's C's suggestion for this week, and a fine one it is too...
Swiss Adam was the first to remark that there were "Not so many sixes..." (in comparison to last week's epic), but you won't hear me complaining. Here are his suggestions...
Didn't we have that ten posts again? I'm not sure it counts this time.
There seems to be something called Six Pack by our old chum Sting and his fellow Policemen but that certainly won't be your pick if last week's comments were anything to go by.
I've actually nothing against Sting when he's fighting alongside the Boys in Blue. It's just once all the tantric wibbly wobbly stuff creeps in that he loses me.
The Police - Six Pack
Sadly though, this appears not to be a song but a box set of early Police singles. The best ones.
Wish we'd reached this number next week, as it would have coincided with one with all the sixes in the calendar - Just think, wouldn't it be something to have been born 60 years ago in 1960 on a date with all the sixes! Something devilish about that.
So if I save this post till Saturday, it can go out on the 6th of the 6th? Are you happy to sacrifice Saturday Snapshots just for that, Alyson?
No, I didn't think so.
Shortly after this, Lynchie and George got into a debate about Dundee and moustaches which didn't involve any sixes, but was quite amusing. Then George returned with this...
The Gracious Losers - Six Degrees of Separation
Sadly, I couldn't find that anywhere on t'internet, George. But here's another song from them to make up for that...
I will gladly take any further Lee Hazlewood suggestions you want to make, CC, as they're always excellent.
Oh look, The Swede's finally up! And he's remembered which way round I like my artists & titles this week. So let's crack on with his list, since he's no lightweight like Swiss Adam and Jim...
That, on the other hand, was even worse than could have been expected from a band called Dr Mix & the Remix. It sounded like someone had left a tape recorder running in David Lynch's bathroom.
Brian, who almost beat The Swede to the game this week, was very impressed with a couple of earlier selections.
Jim in Dubai had a couple of favorites this week with Tender Trap and, especially, Split Enz. My vote goes with one of the Swede's picks... Tom Waits. I love that era around Swordfishtrombones and Rain Dogs. Here are a couple of more:
I think that did appear on the #9 post, Walter... just before I introduced the Tom Robinson Rule.
From Germany to Canada for our final contribution this week, as usual it's Douglas McLaren...
I will stick to one offering. Not likely a contender for the winning spot (as it is nearly nine minutes and an instrumental), but I like the song, and the group deserves an award for the most evocative titles:
You see, if you're going to do an "intro waiting for a song", at least put your money where your mouth is and make it a nine minute intro waiting for a song!
OK, time for my scrapings. By the way, nobody guessed my winning tune this week. I had Martin down for it, but I suspect he might have been out on his bike. Shame, it would have been an easy win for him.
(No, that does not contravene the Tom Robinson Rule.)
OK, so that brings us to the end of this week's post, and for the first time in ages, nobody has guessed my record of the week. I even went around to Martin's house and shouted through his window to have a go (on Sunday night to boot!), and all I got back was this...
Struggling. Was going to pitch Mansun and Sneaker Pimps, and they've both gone already. What am I missing? Am I going to be kicking myself?
I don't know. Maybe.
Here's a clue...
No?
What's in the box?
It's only the sequel to Se7en...
...courtesy of Evan Dando and chums.
Only 5 left, folks. Who's going to take the fifth?
I don't believe in Snapshots... I just believe in me.
Here's this week's answers. Thanks for playing. Well done to Lynchie for getting up first (and magnanimously leaving some for everybody else), and to Rigid Digit for hoovering up most of the others.
***I was going to bring you My Top Ten Fred Songs today, but blogger just deleted the whole post while I was editing it and I can't get it back. I am bereft. Luckily, I had this one in reserve. I'll dedicate it to all my blogging buddies who are getting together for gigs and good times this weekend. Try not to burn any discos down, guys...***
One of the biggest problems I have with compiling new Top Tens these days is finding myself with too many great songs that fit the criteria. A couple of weeks back, a song JC suggested in the comments made me think about doing an Indie Disco Top Ten: ten indie songs about discos. But when I started to compile my list, there were hundreds to go at... so I had to find a more specific subject matter.
The other problem I have when compiling lists like this is that, on occasion, the Number One is so blindingly obvious that it kind of renders the whole countdown irrelevant. At the end of the day though, it's just meant to be a list of ten tracks I dig. The order is only for you guys to argue about. That said, depending on your age or tastes, there are TWO blindingly obvious choices for Number One this week. My choice will surprise nobody who's been reading this nonsense for any great length of time, but let's remember: it's the journey, not the destination, which matters.
AKA Cornershop's Tjinder Singh and Ben Ayres, this contains the excellent observation that "disco is the halfway to a full discontent", before exhorting us to "get this disco heat onto the streets", which is close enough for a shoehorn.
As previously revealed, there are a great many records in my collection that I've never actually got round to listening to. Confession time: this is the first time I've given this song the time of day.
Finally released on Bowie's 2003 album Reality, this was originally recorded to a fast disco beat with Nile Rodgers ten years earlier. As far as I know, that version has never been released, though I'd love to hear it. It'd have to go some to beat this version though...
We could dance, dance, dance through the fire Dance, dance, dance through the fire
Imagine Oasis had a sense of humour and a record collection that went beyond their dads' old Beatles, Kinks and Who vinyl. I have very fond memories of seeing Shed Seven play live back in the day; I never understood why they weren't more widely acclaimed...
Feels like I've been To every single disco all around Another night, another town It's time to burn this disco down
I have featured this ridiculous song a number of times before; I will likely do so again. I wish I could tell you that one day I will grow out of it and not want to watch its preposterous, high camp video ever again... but honestly, I hope I never do.
The song becomes even more enjoyable when you know that the "female" vocals (as mimed by actress Tina Kanarek in the video) were actually recorded by Jack White.
Written by Leroy Green and Roy 'Have Mercy' Kersey. I want that as my middle name! (Oh, wait a minute, Rol is my middle name. Forget that then.)
The most obvious contender for Number One?
You might think so...
1. The Smiths - Panic
A song so majestic that when I imagine its intro, I add a fanfare in my head. I am actually surprised when the fanfare doesn't happen.
This is the Smiths song I am most likely to quote when discussing music, particularly if anyone ever asks me why I don't like modern (i.e. anything from the last 30 years) dance music. "It says nothing to me about my life." I'm sure you all know the story behind the origins of this song, but here's a cool visual reminder...
Panic took a stand against pop music that had nothing to say, but was bizarrely accused of a racist subtext by those who considered disco to be "black music". Johnny Marr countered by threatening to "kick the living shit" out of the NME writer responsible, while also pointing out that there were no black members of New Order. The NME went on to vote Panic the sixth best dance record of 1986.
Burn down the disco... Hang the blessed DJ! Because the music they constantly play It says nothing to me about my life
Some time ago (well, 2+ years... my, how time flies) when I unveiled My Top Ten Carpentry Songs I fully intended to follow it up with songs devoted to other popular trades. Finally, I decided to have a go at electricians - but I wanted to avoid all the obvious Electric songs (Dreams / Friends / Avenue / Ladyland / Spanking of War Babies etc.) because they'll fit into their own post one day. So here, instead, are ten songs specifically about electricians... or about the things they deal with on a daily basis.
Special mention to Cliff Richard - Wired For Sound which is as close to a guilty pleasure as I get (considering how broad and cheesy these lists do sometimes go). I tried to find room for Sir Cliff here, but in the end I had to admit that it's a song more about speakers (tall ones and small ones - Cliff has no time for midi). The rollerskating video is always worth a look though...
Further special mentions to Elvis and George Harrison, both of whom (according to t'internet) started out as apprentice electricians before more successful careers beckoned...
Perhaps I should have gone with Gary Numan's original version, but I was always a huge fan of Bob Palmer's voice and I consider it a tragedy that he died as young as he did because I bet he could have gone on and on... as Numan himself has done.
Anyway, I Dream Of Wires is one of the few songs I know that actually mentions an electrician in its lyrics, though it actually tells of a completely "wireless" future wherein the "last electrician alive" looks back fondly on a world that was a little less alien...
We opened doors by thinking We went to sleep by dialing 'o' We drove to work by proxy I plugged my wife in, just for show
New ways, new ways I dream of wires
So I press 'c' for comfort I dream of wires, the old days
Other songs to mention electricians directly include Better Things by Massive Attack & Tracy Thorn (You say the magic's gone / Well, I'm not a magician / You say the spark's gone / Well get an electrician), Demystification by Zounds (My electronic shaver won't plug into the wall /
Now I can't go to the party, the electrician didn't call) and Nick Cave's amazing Babe, I'm On Fire. Oh, and this...
An artist whose solo work I only discovered quite recently, though he's been knocking around for years, working with the likes of PJ Harvey, Eels and Sparklehorse. KCE sounds like classic American alt-rock, so I was surprised to find out that Parish is actually from the UK (Yeovil), though I guess his lyrical slang ("nowt", "that bloke") should have given him away. A great song: made me go out and buy the album.
I have a curious relationship with Muse. I liked their early material very much and even went to see them playing live when they were just starting out (at The Leadmill, I think). Matt Bellamy spent most of the show with his back to the audience... and I never really recovered from that. (Believe it or not, I much preferred the support act. They were called Cold something. Cold...play? No idea what happened to them.)
A very emotive song, more so when you know that it's about the premature birth of lead Athlete Joel Pott's daughter and the life support system that kept her going.
I haven't made up my mind yet, but Slaves are definite contenders for the best new band of 2015. They've got the snotty punk appeal of early Supergrass, but a little more to say for themselves lyrically. They're just two lads from Kent (Laurie Vincent on guitar / bass and Isaac Holman on drums: they both sing) but they make a hell of a satisfying racket.
On first listen, the Sockets they sing about here appear to be the ones in your head rather than the ones an electrician would fix. The video suggests otherwise...
The Barenaked Ladies are a clever band - sometimes a little too clever - but this is the closest they ever got to capturing my heart as well as tickling my funny bone. Here, a whole town is infected with electricity thanks to a nearby Hydrofield (what the Canadians call a bunch of pylons, basically), making every resident into an amateur electrician.
I can put a spare bulb in my hand And light up my yard...
1. Glen Campbell - Wichita Lineman
Longtime readers of my ramblings may have seen this one coming: but I'll be honest with you, when I started planning this post I hadn't even considered that a lineman was an electrician. Once I'd made the connection, it had to be Number One, for the sheer fact that it is the greatest song ever written (Jimmy Webb Is God) and, though there are many fine versions in existence, no one will ever top Glen's haunting and heartbreaking delivery. I could go on and on about what makes it so special (the way that the melody and the lyrics merge together to create a seamless jewel; the yearning romanticism and evocative imagery; "And I need you more than want you / And I want your for all time") but I've probably said it all elsewhere. Simply put, there is no finer recording and if I could make it Number One every week, I would.
Which one would you get to wire your house (for sound)?
And now she's living in a shack on the firing line,
With a fridge filled with French bacon,
Mouthing all the words of a famous mime,
For whom she's commonly mistaken. I love her, I knew her,
I knew she couldn't hang,
And now she's dying in a ditch on the county line,
From a device of her own making.
Woke up this morning and all I had was Sunny Delight...
(Not really. I hate Sunny Delight.)
6. James - Coffee & Toast
One of my favourite James songs, frustratingly unreleased except as a bonus download from one of their later albums. They should have made it a single.
OK, so it's probably got very little to do with Mr. Kelloggs' greatest invention. But it's a mighty, mighty tune nevertheless. Video's a bit weird though.
