For some reason, these words kept coming into my head this week: Evil, Bad, Wicked, Sinful, Wrong, Corrupt, Fiendish, Dark, Despicable, Terrible, Horrible, Awful, No, Good, Repulsive. I've no idea why. But I figured I'd find some appropriate tunes to go along with them...
15. Jagged rocks.
Reef: "a ridge of jagged rock, coral, or sand just above or below the surface of the sea."
And so we reach the end of double digits on the Hot 100 Countdown, with lost 80s postpunk pioneers (they might not have been pioneers, I just couldn't resist the alliteration), Eleven Pond. Here they are in all their glory...
I'm actually surprised by how few 11 Songs I (and you) could find. Somehow, I expected there to be more. Still, we start the official Top Ten next week, so I imagine we'll be spoilt for choice then.
As is often the case, The Swede was first out of bed last Tuesday morning... with a selection of tracks I struggled to find any audio for on the interweb...
Then came Lynchie, who broke the first rule of Hot 100 Club with his first suggestion...
U2 - 11 O'Clock Tick Tock (The lyrics are crap but the guitar's pretty neat)
Sadly, I struggled to find a link for that anywhere on the interweb either. The difference being, I did at least try to find links for all The Swede's suggestions.
Fortunately, Lynchie redeemed himself (slightly) with this...
As it turns out, Charity Chic only had the following this week (which he called "My entries for this week and next!", though I'm sure he'll come up with something else for 10).
...which is definitely better than the REM song I was going to put forward this week...
Oh, hang on... Last Minute Arrival: here's Douglas McLaren with the same idea as me...
Late to the game again. I'm going with "Rotary Eleven", the b-side to r.e.m.'s Losing My Religion. I bought the cd single back in the day and was disappointed that it was an instrumental, but now after many years I have grown to really like it.
...which I'm not sure counts. However, knowing how stroppy Mr. Weller can get at times, we'll let him have it. Although... I'm sorry, Paul, but it's hardly Down In The Tube Station At Midnight, is it?
And finally, there was Brian, who also felt rather limited this week...
Like Saturday's quiz, you gotta get in early around here. All but one of mine taken already. I'll leave you with:
Having listened to all of the above... well, had that Lee Hazlewood track been in my collection, I might well have given it to him. And I was tempted by Sigue Sigue Spitnik, I really was... but 14 year old Rol kept screaming 'Nooooooo!'
In the end then, I went for this. I haven't listened to it in years, but I really enjoyed the first Magic Numbers album, and this was a favourite...
Next week - it's Bo Derek running towards Dudley Moore on a beach. Contemporary references my forte, as always. What's your pick of the Ten Songs?
It's the Easter holidays at college so I have no classes... which you might expect would mean I'd have more time to work on the blog. Unfortunately, the boss has dumped a ton of extra work on me so I have even less time than usual. Apologies then if I have to keep this brief. Today's band, +44, were, apparently, an offshoot of Blink-182. I've not heard anything by them and don't have time to investigate right now. The Swede set the ball rolling last week with a load of jazz and blues...
McCoy Tyner - '44th Street Suite' (couldn't find that one, but I'm sure it's NICE).
Lynchie, meanwhile, came tooled up with a mean '44, having realised "There are a LOT of blues songs about men killing women or other men with a .44 pistol."
Hey Joe, where you goin' with that money in your hand? Hey Joe, where you goin' with that money in your hand? I'm gonna go down to town to buy a blue steel 44 I'm gonna go down to town to buy a blue steel 44
(In case you're wondering, Jimi Hendrix doesn't appear to specify the calibre of his own gun.)
Lynchie continues, "But one woman did shoot a man with a .44 in the song Frankie & Johnny..."
Well, Frankie lifted up her kimono dress And she drew out a little .44 She shot once, twice, three times she shot him And through that hardwood door Yeah she shot her man (yeah he was her man) Well but he been doin' her wrong yeah
Lots of people recorded that, but here's Sam Cooke because... well, he's Sam Cooke.
Good call, though my first thought was I'd have gone with Nick Cave... except Nick's Stagger Lee carried a Colt 45... so he should have been here last week.
After last week's splurge, Martin decided to rein himself in this week with only two suggestions...
And for the lyrics that could have made it into a maths or multiplication top ten, the (frankly not very good) 15 Times by Gilbert O'Sullivan, which has the lines:
You and me and baby makes
3, 4, 5, 6, 7
8, 9, 10 and 11
12, 13, 14, 15 times 44 is 660!
Despite his whole "not very good" ruse (methinks he protests too much), I fully expect Martin to suggest this song consecutively for weeks 15 - 3 of this feature.
Swiss Adam was up next with a tune I didn't know, but always got time for this gentleman...
...which did appear 44 posts ago, but it's still worth another play.
After all that... and a little surprise that nobody mention Fats Domino - 44... I was left with a clear choice between just two songs, both suggested by The Swede (although C seconded the first one).
It would have been a worthy winner, were it not for this, from a band that Brian introduced me to a year or so ago and I've had a great affection for ever since...
I think I have a clear winner for next week... but I'm always open to having my mind changed. Go for it!
I went to Liverpool yesterday for the first time in my life.
As it's unlikely I'll be going back anytime soon, I thought I'd feature it here today. There are, of course, far too many popular musicians who hail from the city to mention them all here. Suffice it to say that I was slightly disappointed that I didn't see any of them during my brief visit. I'd at least have expected to bump into Sir Thumbs Aloft, gurning at me from the top of the Liver building. Next time, I guess I'll have to go to the Mull of Kintyre.
There are also far too many songs that reference Liverpool in their lyrics to ever name them all here. At least I managed to get in and out of the city without once hearing Ferry Across The Mersey. I decided to restrict myself today to just songs in my collection that feature Liverpool in the title.
Curiously, two of the best ones are by American recording artists who probably only know the city because it's where dem Beatles come from. Dey doo dough, don't dey dough?
All of which leaves me with just two Liverpool songs by actual Liverpool artists... and fortunately, neither of them is by a Beatle. So let's have them both today...
Sad to say that I don't have that Little Jimmy Osmond song in my collection. I know, shame.
