Snapshots #458: Songs From Hell

And I heard, as it were, the noise of thunder

One of the four beasts saying,

'Come and see.' and I saw, and behold a white horse...

Johnny Cash - The Man Comes Around

And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts

And I looked, and behold a pale horse

And his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him...

Hopefully none of you are going to Hell any time soon, but if you are... at least they'll have a decent playlist...

15. S/laughter.

The Killing Joke - Pandemonium

14. Cher airs her grievances.

"Cher airs" was an anagram.

Chris Rea - The Road To Hell (Part 2)

13. Hyper, cuff and chain... make him wary (almost).

Hyperlink, cufflink, chainlink. Wary becomes Wray.

Link Wray - Fire & Brimstone

12. Ginger was not a Northerner.

Geri Halliwell was Ginger Spice

Jeri Southern - Fire Down Below

11. They just keep coming around.

Orbital - Satan

10. Have you misplaced the camera, Mike?

"Camera, Mike" was an anagram.

Maria McKee - This Property Is Condemned

9. Be good in St. Julian's country.

Johnny B. Goode meets goes to Cope-Land.

Johnny Copeland - Sufferin' City

8. Strange faces.

Steve Strange's faces...

Visage - Damned Don't Cry

7. Not Fats Domino.

I think I might have used this clue in reverse at some point...

Chubby Checker - Limbo Rock

6. Royalty................................................................................ and me with a capital, in the Middle East.

Prince is Far from I (the pronoun with a capital letter).

Prince Far I and the Arabs - Out Of The Abyss

5. No longer on the sidewalk.

He used to be in Pavement, now he's just...

Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks - Houston Hades

4. Did they have Reds under their Beds?

McCarthy - In Purgatory

3. Politicians on the funicular. 

A funicular is a type of tram, with added MPs.

The Trammps - Disco Inferno

2. What a bunch of cows!

The Herd - From The Underworld

1. Ben's gal is confused, obviously.

"Ben's gal" was an anagram.

The Bangles - Eternal Flame

Bonus track today from HMHB...

Because "Hell is other people". Not the people playing this quiz though, so hopefully I'll see you all back here next Saturday...

Snapshots #427: Songs About Christmas Presents

For our seasonal edition, we asked some of our favourite pop stars (and Bono - well, it is the season of good will) what they wanted for Christmas. Here are their replies... might give you some ideas for last minute Christmas shopping!

25. Found disrupted in one ugly... bloke.

"In one ugly" was an anagram.

Neil wants a Transformer, man.

Neil Young – Transformer Man

24. Sounds like we’re both in the same boat.

You too?

Bono wants a kite. Hope it doesn't get caught in any pylons.

U2 - Kite

23. The heavenly nouveau riche.

I did have to google synonyms for Upstarts.

Angelic Upstarts – Action Man

22. The Royal Airforce, For Instance.

RAF, FI.

Raffi – Old Toy Trains

21. Sassenachs.

Bad English – Rockin’ Horse

20. Robins in an American garden.

The Yardbirds – Puzzles

19. Leave Nelson unplanted.

Admiral Fallow - Subbuteo

18. Fusion combo.

The Mixtures - The Pushbike Song

17. Wings that sting.

Macca-bees.

The Maccabees – Lego

16. Your plans to buy a Prince album are cancelled due to bad weather.

It's going to rain on your copy of Parade.

The Rain Parade - Kaleidoscope

15. Watch out - these fellas scam you!

"Fellas scam" was an anagram. There's an uncredited PP Arnold on this song too...

Small Faces - Tin Soldier

14. You’ll find them in the next church you visit.

In the next church you visit.

XTC – Spinning Top

13. Tutankhamun stuck on a Swiss mountain.

The Mönch is a mountain in Switzerland.

Pharoahe Monch - Simon Says

12. Home to the Basement Tapes.

Bob Dylan & The Band recorded The Basement Tapes in The Big Pink.

The Big Pink - Dominos

11. Favoured by Constable, Monet and O’Keeffe.

They all liked to paint landscapes.

Landscape – Doll’s House

10. Sounds like the connection between a misty streaker and a spooky train robber.

Ray Stevens sang Misty. Ray Parker Jr. sang about a Ghost Buster. The link sounds like Ray.

Link Wray – Slinky!

9. Ensemble brought in by Coldplay and Pilot Olivia to perform their songs.

Coldplay sang Yellow. Olivia and Pilot both sang Magic.

Yellow Magic Orchestra – Computer Game

8. What an Amazonian… or, um, his offspring… might spend their money on.

Jeff (Bezos)... and, er... son... likes a nice starship.

Jefferson Starship – Skateboard

7. Moonlight Maddie meets a Kung Fu Fighter.

In Moonlighting, Cybil Shepherd played Maddie Hates. Carl Douglas was a kung fu fighter.

Hayes Carll - (KMAG) YOYO

6. Scared by the fireplace bogeyman? Find solace within.

Fireplace bogeyman.

Placebo – Plasticine

5. Plug in hedge trimmer.

The Electric Prunes – Wind-Up Toys

4. Phoney rappers are non-returnable protagonists.

The Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy – Water Pistol Man

3. Caveman, Haddock, Kirk… they’re an unhappy bunch!

My Sad Captains - Building Blocks
 

2. Theme park owner.

Dollywood!

Dolly Parton – Backwoods Barbie

Presumably you need a Redneck Ken to go with that.

1. Skinks on a plane.

What we all really want for Christmas!

1. The Flying Lizards - Money 

Hopefully that will give you all some ideas for last minute gifts.

Have a good one.

More of this nonsense after Boxing Day.

Snapshots #256: A Top Ten Chicken Songs

Ten clucking songs about chickens... or chicks, at least.

They all taste like chicken to me...

10. Head of the Family.

Charles Manson was the leader of the cult known as The Family.

Mansun - Take It Easy, Chicken

9. Join arms with Charles and Sugar.

He links arms with Ray Charles and Sugar Ray.

Link Wray - Run, Chicken, Run

8. When you go back in time forty years, head straight for the toy car catastrophe. 

Matchbox Cars have a disaster in the 80s... and you must make a beeline to it.

The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster - Chicken

(Look, you come up with a clue for that tosh.)

7. Monthly confusion in the springtime.

April March - Chick Habit

6. Take Prozac for your Monobrow now! And find the answer within.

Take Prozac for your Monobrow now!

The Zac Brown Band - Chicken Fried

5. First lady of the Bread family.

Eve was the first lady. And, as discussed on Wednesday, the sitcom Bread, created by Carla Lane, featured the Boswell Family.

Eve Boswell - Pickin' A Chicken 

4. Protect the Queen!

Bees protect their queen.

The Bees - Chicken Payback

One for RadMac listeners.

3. A small accomplishment.

Little Feat - Dixie Chicken

2. The Wizard Who travelled from there to Brighton.

From The Who's Pinball Wizard...

From Soho down to Brighton

I must have played them all

Soho - Hippy Chick

Even after 31 years, I'm still not sure what I think about that. But I'm more forgiving now than I was in 1991.

1. Stomach pains.

If you're going to sing about a chicken, at least have the decency to do a proper chicken impression...

The Cramps - Chicken

Unless I chicken out, there'll be more of this nonsense next Saturday.