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.
As this is the Hot 100, there was no finer band to illustrate Number 8 on our countdown than the Hot 8 Brass Band. If this doesn't put a smile on your face, rigor mortis may have set in...
Just noticed your request regarding artist first and title second. Sorry! I'll make sure to do that next week if I come up with anything - gotta run now!
That's OK. I'm used to being ignored.
Couple missing from The Swede's list there. We may come back to those later.
George can't get up quite as early as The Swede. I'll put that down to the time difference.
And Douglas McLaren picked out an all-time favourite of mine... and Styx.
You know the 80's lover in you is having a hard time choosing a winner between Tommy Tutone's "867-5309 (Jenny)" and Styx, "Pieces of 8" (though that one came out late '79 I think). Oh well, if R.E.M. or The Byrds win out (as in justice they should), at least Tommy Tutone has a chance almost every week upcoming! And if you listen to the opening jangly guitar intro, you might almost think it was going to be an early era R.E.M. song. Until the Big Dumb Eighties production values kick in, and Tommy opens his mouth and utters the absurd pick up line lyrics.
(Have you noticed how since I asked The Swede to put the band names first, everybody has switched to doing it song titles first? Oh well, more work for the wicked.)
John Medd, meanwhile, was still smarting over my rejection of ELP last week. But once he'd got over that...
All of which brings us to the debate over this week's winner, which comes down to two songs, both of which were initially identified by early bird The Swede. First, this...
Leave it to Brian to find another version... one which I'm surprised The Swede didn't mention...
I will go along with Eight Miles High, but I'm going to throw the version by Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians into the mix. Terrific B-side to So You Think You're In Love.
But it did seem like Eight Miles High was going to walk away with the crown this week.
And then came The Swede's other big suggestion...
REM - Driver 8
Martin:Good call, Driver Eight by REM would be my nailed-on choice for this week.
Swiss Adam:R.E.M. from the 80s seem to be all over this end of the countdown don't they?
Perhaps not quite as many votes as The Byrds, but...
Driver 8 was one of the first pre-Green REM songs I really became aware of (apart from The One I Love, obviously). This was because one of my favourite comics of the late 80s / early 90s (Doom Patrol) which featured a minor character called Driver 8, and that brief reference made me go hunt down the song.
I saw a treehouse on the outskirts of the farm
The power lines have floaters so the airplanes won't get snagged
Bells are ringing through the town again
The children look up, all they hear is sky-blue, bells ringing
Next week... the most popular lucky number in the world.
Alyson, Lynchie, George and C teamed up for this one. Jeez, it wasn't that difficult, was it?
3. Reserve Michael, Clive and Wilfred to go all around the world.
CC quickly worked out that if you reserved Michael, Clive and Wilfred, you would be going to book Owens. (Or maybe he just recognised the photo.) I thought the rest of the clue was easy... but maybe the song was too obscure?
I should have settled for The Streets of Bakersfield... or Big In Vegas... or The Kansas City Song... or even Truck Drivin' Man?
2. A priest plays for Clint at the Mesopotamian party.
Clint Eastwood was a DJ stalked by a crazy fan who wanted him to "Play Misty For Me". Lynchie cracked that, the song proved tougher... but Chris helped out again.
The King = Elvis + the king monk = Abbott. Abbott & Costello. Etc. Etc.
Martin got this one, which I think (just) makes him this week's winner. Or maybe he was tied with Alyson. It's late and my maths head isn't working. Too many half marks this week.
Thanks for playing, as always.
Next week I promise to make them much easier. No April Fool's!
