More tracks from Sam's favourite in-car compilation...
Track 7: Jake Bugg - Lightning Bolt
In my head, Jake Bugg is a bit of a one hit wonder, yet it
seems he’s been ploughing away in the trenches ever since this song made a minor
splash back in 2012. I liked the young-Dylan energy and wordplay of Lightning
Bolt, but nothing I’ve heard since has really matched up.
Maybe I should investigate further, but – so many artists, so little time. I
have on occasion used lyrics from the song in English lessons as they’re ripe
for basic analysis in terms of language techniques and connotations.
Track 8: The Human Beinz - Nobody But Me
I wrote about this one back when I featured bands name after
Human Beings in Namesakes,
about how a sales exec I used to work with ripped the song off for a radio
advertising jingle, and blah blah blah. I like the song well enough, but it’s
not a huge favourite… I think I chose to include it on the CD because of its
catchy “No no no no no” chorus, which I thought Sam would like.
Track 9: Split Enz - I Got You
I always find it hard to believe that these spiky,
weirdly-costumed New Zealand New Wave oddballs would eventually morph into the
far more serious and sensitive band Crowded House. Much as I appreciate some of
their later work, I generally find Split Enz to be a lot more fun. This is
their towering achievement, the “I don't know why sometimes I get frightened”
hook never fails to get me singing along.
Track 10: George Benson - Never Give Up On A Good Thing
George Benson had a string of excellent pop-soul hits in the
early 80s, and in my head this is the biggest one (although the charts tell a
different story). By that time, he’d been singing songs for almost 30 years –
he debuted back in 1954 when he was 9 years old, releasing records as “Lil'
Georgie Benson”.
Anything that was in the charts pre:1987 is pretty much fair
game for these compilations; it was only when I turned 15 that I started to
become more discerning in my tastes.
4. Don't make her... You wouldn't like her when she's...
Fans of the old Incredible Hulk TV show will recall that Bill Bixby frequently told investigative reporter Jack McGee: "Mr. McGee, don't make me Ann Lee... you wouldn't like me when I'm Ann Lee."
I will confess that I had never heard of Ann Lee before compiling this list. However, I was short on ladies this week and Ann did get to #2 in the charts in 1999 with the two times tune above.
3. That sunshine's a scorcher, Superman.
Donovan sang about a Sunshine Superman. Jason, as seen above (at #15, if not in the photo) was a Scorcher.
Another one of those Jason Donovan songs that me and my mate Richard used to sing along to on the school bus when we were 16. Richard was a big fan of the Pet Shop Boys and The Smiths. I liked Springsteen and Huey Lewis. We would have told you we were just being ironic. But were we really?
2. Living in Portugal, DuBois.
Our resident Maths teacher lives in Portugal. Benson Dubois.
Sam is learning Ukranian. They’ve got some Ukranian refugees in his school, and Sam has made friends with one of the boys in his class. Vlad has taught Sam a number of phrases in Ukranian and fortunately, none of them involve wee or poo… or at least, Sam has yet to share those with me. Sam is also helping Vlad with his English, and they appear to have developed a cipher code together involving substituting numbers for letters. So ‘Hi’ is 8-9 and ‘Bye’ is 2-25-5.
23-5-5 and 16-15-15 are presumably ones that get used a lot.
This is one of those parental pride moments that gives you a flicker of hope for the next generation. I believe the children are the future…
There's another version of this song that's far more famous, and mighty fine it is too. But it's not quite George...
Welcome back to the Hot 100. And please be upstanding for Brian...
I will count on seeing American power-pop band 20/20 as the art on the top of the next post in this series... preferably from their first single or their first album. Don't let me down, Rol!
Now, I have to admit I'd never heard of this lot before, but I knew Brian wouldn't let me down.
Here's the thing, Alyson... nothing is for everyone, and the stuff that is (or is supposed to be) is usually rubbish. I liked all those, but I think I preferred the version by The Stargazers.
By this point, I'm starting to wonder if some of you have just made a list of artists who are frequently featured on this blog and then gone looking for appropriately numbered songs. Oh, wait, here's someone who has blatantly done just that. It's Douglas McLaren...
So the consensus above seems to put T-Rex in as front-runners and obvious favourites. And I admit I too, had I not been late to the game, would have suggested the same, with perhaps Elvis Costello as an outside chance and Pet Shop Boys as a dark horse.
T-Rex? Has someone suggested a T-Rex song? Not that one The Swede mentioned, surely? Sorry, Douglas, I interrupted your monologue...
But as I am late to the game, I am going to put forward not just another choice, but one which I am sure you will see has the power of research, reason, and persuasive logic behind it. For starters, I have observed a long running tendency for our esteemed blogger to shy away from obvious front runners to surprise with some surprise underdogs. Consider, for example, a couple weeks ago when all were putting heavy money on Gene Pitney for #24, and up came Half Man Half Biscuit. I argue that T-Rex supporters going all in for a dead cert face possible extinction if there is a meteoric rise of some new kid on the Cretaceous block. So who might that be? If you were thinking Elvis, the King (and who better than a King to dethrone the Tyrant-Lizard?) you are wrong. I have just the candidate for you: George Jones. Before you scoff, consider this: Research shows that George has been undergoing a slow and steady upsurge in popularity within the pages of this fine blog. The "Search" box at the top reveals that his first appearance ever here was as an 8th place finish on April 15th, 2013, with "The World Worst Loser", in a Top Ten about "Losers". Before you chortle indeed and mutter something about the title being prophetic, or get off a wry comment that losing in a contest of Losers doesn't really make you a winner, wait for what comes next. George had a comeback the following year by teaming up with Tammy Wynette, always a wise strategy. That time, on January 6th, 2014, it was a 7th place finish with "I've Seen Better"...marginal improvement, you say? Well, improvement nonetheless and it gave him the confidence to try again, and this time, with all in for a placing. It took him a few years (his age slowing him, I suppose) but it was worth it; on April 19th, 2018, it was "The Race Is On" (ironically in a Top Ten about Horse Racing) that landed him in the Winner's Circle with a strong 2nd Place showing in a Top Ten appropriately about the races. And that was it. George could smell victory, and there was no stopping him. He spent the next year in training, eating nothing but Wheaties and working out like a man half his age. It was Stallone in Rocky XIII (am I up to date???) all over again. Avid readers will know that the payoff came just last week. And this would be big...not just some local, "best of show" Top Ten victory. George had his sights set higher. He wanted a win in one of the big time circuits, and he had his hopes pinned on a Saturday Snapshots #1 placing, and, miracle of miracles, just a few days ago, he came through with "He Stopped Loving Her Today". You saw it with your own eyes. But having tasted victory, George now wants more. What, he asked himself, would be better that a Saturday Snapshot win? What giddy heights could he aspire to now with a fairy tale finish to his Cinderella story in these hallowed pages? It took some thought, but then...by George, he had it! He would take the first spot in the final 20 countdown of the Hot 100. Let the younger kids have the final weeks (by Gad, he hoped it would not be U2 with "One"!). But he would show there was life in the old boy by having #20 all to himself. It had to be. He was made for this. He shuffled through his back catalogue, his memory stirred by a half-forgotten title. He rummaged for a few moments, past the big shiny hits, under the sleeper successes, and yes, there it was! And out he pulled... George Jones - I've Aged Twenty Years in Five Take that, T-Rex. (mike drops)
Wow. What can I say, Douglas, except that if you've spent such a (scarily) long amount of time researching this blog, there's one thing you must know for sure... Bono doesn't stand a chance.
OK, before we get on to the rather obvious winner, I have a confession to make. There were so many 20 songs in my collection (many of them mentioned above, many not), I didn't even have time to listen to them, let alone link to them. Here are the edited highlights...
I'm starting with that one because I have featured it here before as a Mid-Life Crisis Song. In that post I mentioned how Mark Kozelek wrote the song about Johnny Saint-Lethal, the lead singer of a little-known American guitar band called The Show. And do you know what, JSL actually left a comment in return... although for some reason, that has disappeared from the blog. Fortunately, I have it saved in my inbox, so here's what he said:
"I took Mark's writing the song about my book and I as a stunning nod. I think, however, if you had read the collection (as Mark actually did... please see "1983 MTV Era Music...") you would see the honesty in which it was written. Not at all a know-it-all. Quite the contrary. If you can find a copy (there's only 1100), you might enjoy it and view me differently. I speak to you from the "grave" though. I put JSL to death a couple years ago. RIP. Next chapter. Be well. Bless you all."
Thank you for that, Johnny, and I wish you well. I'm genuinely sorry if it seemed like I was judging you though - the post was meant to be more of a judgement of miserable, middle-aged gits like Kozelek and myself and how we secretly miss being 20-something and are jealous of anyone who still is.
I think.
Anyway, back to a few more selected 20 Songs from my hard-drive...
However, sometimes you just can't deny the inevitable.
And so we have to give this week's prize to Charity Chic as he was first to suggest it.
Some guitar riffs are so powerful, they blow everything else off the field...
Of course, this does mean that CC has now won two weeks in a row. Can he make it a hat-trick? I mean, next week is 19. Shall we just skip that and call it too easy a win?
Or will we all be surprised by a rank outsider?
To be honest, I haven't even started looking yet. So feel free to surprise me...
UPDATE: NO 19 SONGS WILL BE ALLOWED WHERE THE 19 IS PART OF A DATE IN THE 20TH CENTURY.
It's been twenty-three hours and zero days since you finished answering (most of) this week's Saturday Snapshots... and, as often is the case, the early bird walked away with the prize. Well done, C! Nothing compares to you lot...
10. Riding through Dublin or Lynchburg (but not Campbeltown) with Bruce's dad.
Dublin and Lynchburg are towns that produce Whiskey with an e. Campbeltown produces Whisky without an e. Back when I was a whiskey/y connoisseur (20+ years ago), I preferred Scotch to Irish, but Bourbon beat them both.
In the song My Hometown, an 8 year old Bruce Springsteen rides through town with his dad. This is a different song with the same title.
Yes, Martin, that is Ryan Adams. But it could also have been Tim Burgess with that haircut.
