More tracks from Sam's inexplicably favourite in-car CD...
Track 11: Pat Benatar – Heartbreaker
Not one of Pat Benatar’s UK hits, I first heard this on the soundtrack to the movie Nobody in which Better Call Saul star Bob Odenkirk realises his action hero side as a mild-mannered office schlub who used to be a John Wick style badass in a previous life. You can guess the rest.
Anyway, soundtracks can often breathe new life into old
songs, and this was certainly the case here. It’s not a Benatar
original – all her biggest hits were written by other people – and the song was
originally recorded back in 1978 by West Midlands rock chick Jenny Darren.
She appears slightly miffed that Benatar was the one who used it as a springboard
to fame and fortune.
Track 12: Squeeze - Pullin' Mussels From A Shell
I remember when I was compiling this CD for Sam, I had a slight reservation over whether to include this track. I guess by this point I’d already used all the obvious Squeeze singles (Cool For Cats, Up The Junction, Labelled With Love, Hourglass) and this seemed the next obvious one on the list, even though it never actually cracked the UK Top 40. BUT… is it a suitable for little kids? The singalong title / chorus is a huge, mucky innuendo, isn’t it? Oh yes, it is. Although I guess the only way you’re going to know that is if someone tells you. If you’re reading this and you never knew that “Pullin' Mussels From A Shell” was Chris Difford’s clumsy/genius* (*delete as appropriate) metaphor for “the use of fingers to stimulate the female sexual organs”… then I’m really sorry if that’s ruined the song for you. Despite this, and the song’s lack of chart success (Were the two linked? Was radio hesitant because of the innuendo?), iffypedia claims Pullin’ Mussels is one of the band’s catchiest and most popular tunes. And who can argue with that? It’s a high point on this compilation.
Track 13: Liam Frost - The City Is At A Standstill
While I have listened to more songs by Jake Bugg in the
hope of finding something as strong as Lightning Bolt, I can honestly say I’ve
never made a similar effort with Liam Frost… and maybe I ought to. As of this
writing, this is the only song I know from this Manchester lad, but it’s a
belter.
I know this world is vicious darling lets make tracks now
Black out all the city lights and drink till we both grown
numb
And lay down to sleep I feel like I ran all day
Liam doesn’t appear to have released anything new since 2019,
so I wonder if he’s packed it all in and found a day job? Shame if he has, and
I blame myself for not paying more attention. That's right: his entire career was dependent on whether I bought a couple of his records.
