Friday, 21 August 2026
One Track Summer #19: ...And Automobiles
Sunday, 19 December 2021
Snapshots #220: A Twelve Days Of Christmas Top... erm, Twelve
Here's a member of the Partridge Family. Yesterday, we had Steve Coogan, aka Alan Partridge. I couldn't find a song with Partridge in the title, which almost derailed this quiz. And then I settled on the perfect solution...
12. Alias Harry & Jones.
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. and David Robert Jones.
David Bowie & Bing Crosby - Little Drummer Boy
Twelve drummers drumming...
11. Hayley's boy in Leningrad, as was (mostly).
Hayley's boy was Crispian Mills, the lead singer of Kula Shaker.
Leningrad is now known as St Petersburg.
Crispian St Peters - The Pied Piper
Eleven pipers piping...
10. This would be a royal scandal!
Imagine if Prince George was Harry's son!?!
George Harrison - My Sweet Lord
Check out the new video above, starring Mark Hammill, John Hamm and Weird Al Yankovich, among others. A lot of money was spent on it. I have no idea why.
Ten lords a'leaping...
9. No kilts.
Anagram!
Nine ladies dancing...
8. Bernard Shakey.
When he directs movies, Bernard Shakey is the pseudonym he uses. Honestly. Google it!
Neil Young - A Man Needs A Maid
Eight maids a'milking...
7. Maiden on the Prosecco.
Iron Maiden and some fizzy wine.
Iron & Wine - Swans & The Swimming
Seven swans a'swimming...
6. Express, Trust, Park.
"One main sin" is an anagram.
Five gold rings!
4. Candymen (and women).
Shame on you if you didn't get this one.
(Or maybe shame on you if you did?)
Sweet People - And The Birds Were Singing (Et les oiseaux chantaient)
Can you believe that that got to Number 4 in the charts? In 1980!?
Four calling birds...
3. Shout a Smurf!
Anagram!
Rufus Thomas - The Funky Chicken
Three French hens...
(I think the French are quite funky. Don't you?)
2. Nothing to be scared of.
"Ridicule is nothing to be scared of," sang Adam, in Prince Charming.
Which gives me the opportunity to slip this in...
(That wasn't actually a picture of Prince. But it was a Prince Christmas tree bauble. You can buy them on eBay. Or you might prefer to save your money.)
Two turtle doves...
1. Number One.
And because I couldn't find a song with a partridge in the title, I settled instead for this gentleman.
Andy Partridge.
Andy Partridge in a pear tree.
Here's a seasonal song from the man in question.
Tuesday, 7 May 2019
Hot 100 #41
Sum 41 were the obvious choice to illustrate this week's entry in the countdown... I was always partial to getting a Fat Lip from them.
There was early agreement over this week's winner, although those of you who aren't big Boss fans were keen to offer worthy alternatives.
George was obviously going to try his best to steer me away from New Jersey, with a couple of fine suggestions...
Iron & Wine & Calexico - Prison on Route 41
Eddie Cochran - Somethin' Else
No, I don't think that was suggested for #59, George, but it should have been.
And what a riff on that song! Stolen - blatantly - by Liam Lynch... Whatever!
Our other resident non-Springsteen fan is C... although I have to say, I felt she was scraping the barrel a little with her offering...
The Dave Matthews Band - #41
Not sure what my final verdict is on Dave Matthews... but he's no Eddie Cochran. He's not even Hootie & The Blowfish.
Onto those of you who accepted the inevitable but offered alternatives for variety, starting with Martin (who only owns one Bruce Springsteen album, so I might have to send him some more in the post)...
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - US 41
Pretty good, Martin, but if we're going with Tom, I'm probably going to have to bend my own rules a little and offer this one...
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - American Girl
Sleeper - Factor 41
I was equally surprised that Alyson didn't suggest this one...
The Bee Gees - New York Mining Disaster 1941
Or even this one, from the same year...
Harry Nilsson - 1941
Thanks, guys, leave the heavy lifting to me, that's fine.
Lynchie, meanwhile, offered an alternative which was a new one to me...
The Paul Butterfield Blues Band - Born In Chicago
Sounds a bit like what my dad told me about Huddersfield. Lynchie adds...
"The song was written by the wonderfully named Nick Gravenites, who's worth checking out."And from the sound of that, I concur.
Today's final suggestion was a lyrical one, from Rigid Digit...
The Allman Brothers - Ramblin' Man
All of which brings us to today's obvious choice, as identified by The Swede, Alyson, Lynchie and Martin. Inspired by the death of Amadou Diallo, an innocent young black man who was mistaken for a rape suspect by plain clothes police officers in 1999 and shot dead.
Life begins next week. We may be some time.

