Showing posts with label OPM. Show all posts
Showing posts with label OPM. Show all posts

Saturday, 6 January 2018

Saturday Snapshots #14 - The Answers




Almost a clean sweep for Brian and Mrs. Brian this week... staying up late on a Friday night to get first dibs.


10. Looks like she will be Jeff, but that could be an untruth.


Jeff would be Jeff Lynne, so... She'll Be Lynne.

Shelby Lynne - Your Lies

Well done to Lynchie, picking up Brian & Mrs. Brian's scraps.


9. Pulp frillies as the Transit Authority get booed off stage.


My favourite clue this week.

Pulp is paper. Lace is frilly.

The Chicago Transit Authority was the original name for the band Chicago. If they got booed off stage, they would have "died", so...

Paper Lace - The Night Chicago Died

Great live version.

Top Ten bands with (lead) singing drummers, anyone?


8. Open people's minds (with poppies), at the angelic skatepark.


OPM stands for "open people's minds", apparently... or "other people's money". It has nothing at all to do with opium.

A half-pipe, as you will all know, is that curved thing skateboarders and bmx-kids do stunts on. It has nothing at all to do with drugs, despite what I thought when this record originally came out.

OPM - Heaven Is A Half Pipe (If I Die)

(Kudos to Mrs. Brian for remembering the parenthesis.)


7. DJ dies on tape: Horny!


Too easy. (The Buggles was prety much Trevor Horn... like you didn't know that.)

The Buggles - Video Killed The Radio Star

I would listen to anyone who wanted to argue that this is one of the greatest pop songs ever recorded.


6. Greedy simian sings a song for a King... a Freeman... or one of you.


A greedy simian would be a monkey that swallowed the universe.

Martin Luther King. Martin Freeman. Martin.

Monkey Swallows The Universe - Martin

True to his name, Martin turned up just in time to nab this one.


5. Russian dreamer who hears people swearing at a river.


Apparently, Nina means 'dreamer' in Russian.

Simone, the female version of Simon, means "one who hears" in Hebrew.

You obviously need to work on your etymology of names if you're going to play this game for real.

Swearing at a river is a bit more obvious.

Well done to Lynchie & Alyson.

Nina Simone - Mississippi Goddam


4. Golfing saint gets wicked at a tough soiree.


St. Andrews is where the golf takes place.

Wicked is abbreviated to WK in the alcoholic beverage.

A tough soiree would be a hard party.

Andrew WK - Party Hard

This is POWER pop taken to its ridiculous extreme.

Sam likes this song because it features in the movie The Secret Life Of Pets (or Pets At Home as we call it), one of the better kids films I've seen in recent years.


3. Drunks in the smelly shop say bye.


Drunks are lushes.

Lush is also a shop that sells smelly things. (Do they have that shop in America, Brian?)

Lush (featuring Jarvis Cocker) - Ciao!

Best Jarvis duet ever.


2. J.R. piles on the pounds but can still move fast.


Larry Hagman was J.R. Ewing.

If he piled on the pounds, he would be Fat Larry.

If he went fast, he would zoom.

The Swede made a welcome return to deny owning this record. (A signed copy? By the whole band? Really?)

Fat Larry's Band - Zoom

Although "Fat" Larry James was a singing drummer, sadly he doesn't sing lead vocal on this track.


1. A solid yet piercing noise. I always did like him in M*A*S*H*.


Solid gold.

Earrings are piercings (and go through your ears: which register noise: d'uh).

This is Gary Bergoff: Radar in M*A*S*H*...


This is one of Holland's greatest hits...


Thanks for playing. Get up earlier next week, George.


Friday, 24 February 2017

My Top Ten Science Songs Volume 3: Biology


Here's the last of my three science lessons... for the time being. I may get the test tubes out again at a later date. If I still have any readers after this one...


10. Brook Benton - I Don't Know Enough About You

Brook knows a little bit about biology...

9. Girls Aloud - Biology

Since both JC and Jez have come out as Girls Aloud fans, I think I can probably get away with this.

Yeah, musos: deal with it!

8. John Cougar - American Dream

Taken from his 1976 debut album, which was before he started using his real name after the Cougar (and long before he dropped the Cougar altogether). I like the way he sings bi-ol-ogeee on this one.

7. Vic Chestnutt - Arthur Murray

Contains the line: "emasculate me with your biology"... but that's not the only reason you should listen to it. The rest of the lyrics are pretty brilliant too.

6. OPM - Heaven Is A Halfpipe

It stands for Other People's Minds, apparently. I loved this back in the year of 2000AD. Which is odd, because I never set foot on a skateboard. (Oh, she skips biology to do that. In case you were wondering.)

5. Joe Jackson - Biology

So when Joe gets caught out for cheating on his girlfriend "with some whore out in Germany", he blames it all on biology. He goes on to give her a very detailed lesson in Biology...

Her reply is classic:
She said, "thanks
I'm so relieved
What you're saying I can well believe
Now I know, I feel no shame
About Dave and Tony and Phil and James,"
I said,
"Baby baby this can't be true!"
She said, "well what's right for you
Has to be
Right for me
In any case I'm sure you'll see
It's nothing to do with our hearts
It's nothing to do with our heads
It's nothing to do with our homes
It's nothing to do with our beds
It's just be-I-O-L-O-G-why..."
4. The Smiths - I Want The One I Can't Have
On the day that your mentality
Decides to try to catch up with your biology...
...pop round and see Morrissey, because he wants the one he can't have... and it's driving him MAD!

3. Sam Cooke - Wonderful World

History, Biology, French... Sam doesn't know much about any of them, and he certainly doesn't claim to be an A student. (Don't even start me on that, Sam, as someone teaching the new GCSE this year... there are no more As: just grades 1-9, which nobody - and I mean NOBODY - understands. Thank you, Michael Gove.)

Still, Sam does know how to make it a Wonderful World. Just play this tune... 

2. Billy Bragg - The Warmest Room

Yes, Billy Bragg, at Number 2, again. Last week he shared his qualifications, this week he regrets never taking Biology. I didn't take Biology either, Billy. I hated the teacher. (Or she hated me.) I dropped it after the Third Year...
I wish I'd done Biology
For an urge within me wanted to do it then...
Also contains the following gem from brother Barry...
My wife has three great attributes:
Intelligence
A Swiss Army Knife
And charm...
1. The Bloodhound - The Bad Touch

The first track I thought of when I started planning this Top Ten. Makes Girls Aloud sound like Shostakovich.

At heart, approximately 75% of pop songs convey this same message... usually with a little more finesse.




I have nothing else to add.

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