Here's a famous organ player - Booker T. Yesterday, Ray Manzarek introduced our quiz. But neither of them played the kinds of organs you'll hear below...
15. Charles, could be another #4.
Charles Mansun would be in good company with the names listed in Clue 4.
The AI says, "Yes, individual muscles are considered organs because they are structures composed of different tissues working together to perform a specific function, like movement."
A lot of film fans rate Stanley Kubrick as the pre-eminent auteur director of the 20th Century. Some of those same cinephiles don't rate The Shining as highly as his other movies. Stephen King famously hated Kubrick's adaptation of his novel.
I can take or leave most Kubrick movies, especially 2001, which I just never got. Yet despite the fact that Stephen King is my favourite author, I love Kubrick's The Shining. It must have watched it more than just any movie apart from The Big Lebowski, Back To The Future and Die Hard. And following on from Shelley Duvall, Stanley Kubrick was an obvious contender for the Celebrity Jukebox.
Turns out he's an incredibly well-referenced fellow, particularly in the rap world where auteurs and visionaries are clearly admired. Frank Ocean drops his name more than once. Jay Z, Lupe Fiasco, A$AP Rocky... they all dig Stan. And who better to follow those cutting edge sophisticates than... Jimmy Buffet?
You've no idea how many songs I found that mentioned Stanley Kubrick. Some of them referencing 2001, others A Clockwork Orange or Full Metal Jacket, a surprising amount his final movie, Eyes Wide Shut. Some even seem to believe that old conspiracy theory that NASA hired Kubrick to fake the 1969 moon landing. Take Mansun, for example...
It was incredible how many of those references were from modern artists, proving how much of an influence his movies still have among the young people. It got to the point where I was just an old man wandering through a virtual record store and every shelf was filled with artists I'd never heard of and couldn't even begin to connect with. Although there were a few discoveries that matched my own oddball sensibilities. Here's a few titular mentions as brief evidence of how I spent my Christmas holiday...
In the end though, I had to admit defeat. There were literally thousands of musical references to Stanley Kubrick, and like a clockwork orange about to explode, the jukebox was on the verge of overload.
Then one song came to my rescue. It's by Scatman Crothers, an actor and singer who began his musical career in the 30s... and went on to be immortalised as The Overlook Hotel's head chef, Dick Hallorann. He's the man with "The Shining". And he knew Stanley Kubrick quite well. He even wrote a song about him, from first-hand experience...
There's a man living in London town, makes movies, he's world renown
Yes, he's really got the fame Stanley Kubrick is his name
Yes he does it all, I'm telling you all, Stanley does it all
He might work you days and days, you'll find out it really pays
He's a perfectionist you know, he's got to be right before you go
He does it all, he does it all, Stanley does it all
Number 13 in this series might seem unlucky, unless we go with someone who resolutely refuses to be a number, because he is a free man!
Despite a movie career that includes Ice Station Zebra, Braveheart and Scanners (the one with the exploding heads, kids) Patrick McGoohan will always be better remembered for his TV roles, first as Danger Man, and then as The Prisoner. Despite the fact that the former ran for 86 episodes and the latter only 17, it's Number 6 who became an icon, not John Drake from Danger Man (although some people believe they're one and the same, and that The Prisoner was a continuation of the earlier show... although McGoohan himself has poured cold water on this idea). Let's not go any deeper into all that, otherwise we could be here all day.
The influence of The Prisoner was fell across all genres of popular music, from heavy metal...
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 ended last week's post by suggesting there was an obvious choice for this week, which seemed to cause a fair bit of head-scratching across the community. Some of you identified it, but only Swiss Adam seemed confident that it was the undisputed champion.
What else was there?
Lynchie drop-kicked off the suggestions with these...
The Dropkick Murphys - 1953 "Which," he points out, "doesn't mention 1953 at all in the lyrics - only the title." Not that that would stop me.
The National Parks – 1953 "Very wimpy love song," says Lynchie, "I doubt if it's that one." Not that that would stop me.
What you need is a dog, some goldfish or a cat A boa constrictor and a laboratory rat The end is at hand now and you have the means A roll of toilet paper and the right magazines Your parents are dead now and your kids are full grown You're 53 now, you're 53 now, you're 53 now You're living alone.
C was up next, offering a fine runner-up for this week which was seconded by Rigid Digit and Alyson...
However, this week's 53 isn't a year... or an age... it's a street number. 53rd Street in New York City, exactly where it crosses 3rd Avenue to be precise.
The sight of blood dispersed the gang A crowd gathered, the police came An ambulance screamed to a halt on fifty-third and third
But the biggest crime to be committed at this specific intersection came from Rigid Digit, breaking My Top Ten's strict NO U2 rule... but getting away with it (just) by suggesting one of the few U2 songs that doesn't make me want to take a pair of rusty pliers to Bono's nostrils...
Birdland on fifty three The street sounds like a symphony We got John Coltrane and a love supreme Miles, and she's got to be an angel
(You know what that one sounds like. You really don't need to click on the link and give Bono an extra 0.00000007 pence or whatever he gets per youtube view. He has enough money to last him a lifetime.)
This week's winner though... well, by now it should be obvious, even if it wasn't at first. The Ramones will always stand a good chance on this blog because they understood that punk music - and pop music - is essentially rather silly and therefore should be fun.
