Snapshots #410: Songs Without Words In The Title

I thought about calling this collection: Songs With Nonsense titles. But some of them aren't strictly nonsense, they're just not words you'd find in the dictionary. (Watches all the pedants run to find their dictionaries.) Call them what you want, here are fifteen songs with no actual words in their titles...

15. Adrian - SOS! What a kerfuffle.

"Adrian - SOS" was an anagram.

Diana Ross - DoobeDood'nDoobe, DoobeDood'nDoobe, DoobeDood'nDoo

14. Come in, Spanish lads.

"Venga" means "come" in Spanish.

The Vengaboys - Shalala Lala

And if you recognised the Vengaboys from the photo, hang your head in shame. Until yesterday. I thought they were all boys!

13. Office David climbs Ronnie.

David Brent was in The Office. If he climbed Ronnie Wood, he'd be...

Brenton Wood - The Oogum Boogum Song

12. Like Beck, almost.

Beck's surname is Hansen.

Hanson - Mmmbop

Look - they grew up!

11. Sorry, Bono I... no, I can't complete that sentence.

"Sorry, Bono I" was an anagram. I have nothing to apologise to Bono for.

Roy Orbison - Ooby Dooby

I like his backing band in that video.

10. Senior officer required to take care of this boil.

A Major is a senior officer. You lance a boil, but only under medical supervision.

Major Lance - Um Um Um Um Um

9. Tony Stark: lepidopterist.

Tony Stark is Iron Man. A lepidopterist collects butterflies.

Iron Butterfly - In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida

Why couldn't they have just called it In The Garden Of Eden?

8. Asking for them is an insult to the chef.

Salt-N-Pepa - Shoop

7. Primal Scream headspinner.

Bobby Gillespie is in Primal Scream.

Dizzy Gillespie - Ooh Bop Sh’bam

6. High Street Chemist rebrands itself as discotheque.

Extra marks if you recognised these guys, with a song that shares a title with the one above... but not much else.

Boots For Dancing - Ooh Bop Sh'Bam

5. Raunchy paperbacks.

Black Lace - Agadoo

I had to get Black Lace in here one day. The fact that they appear on the same weekend as the Vengaboys... well, clearly I have no shame.

18 million youtube views can be wrong!

4. Sheeran's market stall.

Ed Sells!

The Edsels - Rama Lama Ding Dong

3. A can of beans or... some Nescafé and ice.

In the REM song The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite, Michael Stipe sings, "A can of beans or black-eyed peas, some Nescafé and ice." But you knew that.

Black Eyed Peas - Dum Diddly

2. In the beginning, he had a kit.

In Genesis, he has a drum kit.

Phil Collins - Sussudio

Phil Collins revealed that "Sussudio" was just some nonsense he made up.

To which we replied, "So's the rest of your back catalogue, Phil!"

1. Bilinguals revolt when they hear his name.

"Bilinguals revolt" was an anagram.

Gilbert O'Sullivan - Ooh Wakka Doo Wakka Day

Ooga shaka ooga shaka ooga shaka back in here next Saturday for more shoobedebopbopbop.

Saturday Snapshots #155 - The Answers

 

Well, we're still here. New blogger hasn't deleted the answers... yet.

Better read them quick though...

10. Margot & Joan relocate to Washington... visiting a beautiful symbol of freedom on the way.

Margot Fonteyn & Joan Fontaine move to Washington DC, visiting the Liberty Belle along the way (so I guess they went via Philly).

Fontaines DC - Liberty Belle 

9. Marx writes about honey oaks... while the Queen gives thanks.

Their name was based on political writing by Italian Marxist theorist Antonio Gramsci.

Honey oaks would contain wood bees.

Aretha was the Queen of Soul.

Scritti Politti - Wood Beez (Pray Like Aretha Franklin) 

8. I'm a hearty rug... and I need a tipple.

"I'm a hearty rug" was an anagram.

Mary Gauthier - I Drink

7. Often found in a Hitchcock movie: a stout draught.

Hitchcock movies often contain a twist or two.

Draughts are Checkers, so a stout draught would be a...

Chubby Checker - The Twist

6. Two tins. How rude!

Bad Manners - Can Can

5. Punctuated by nemeses of spiders or captains... ducts run dry.

A question mark is punctuation.

Spider-Man fought Mysterio, Captain Scarlet fought The Mysterons.

? & The Mysterians - 96 Tears

4. Top up twice, like an old court and Joan... the answer's obvious, darling.

Top up twice = two fills.

The Old Bailey.

Joan Collins.

The answer is... easy, lover.

Phil Collins & Philip Bailey - Easy Lover

3. Losing their religion... but still very compassionate.

Faith No More - We Care A Lot

2. A Big Spender or a Big Daddy... and their business. Triple pity.

Shirley Bassey was looking for a Big Spender.

Shirley Crabtree was Big Daddy.

Shirley & Company - Shame, Shame, Shame

1. Spotlight on part of a 6 pack, bleating.

Ab(s) are part of a 6 pack. Bleating is what sheep do... baa.

The spotlight has beams that are gonna blind me...

Rosario Dawson is too cool for silly puns. See you back here next week (new blogger permitting)...

My Top Ten Supremes Songs

Another 50th Anniversary Ten! The Supremes actually formed in 1959 (I know, it's unfathomable), yet released their first album for Motown three years later. With or without Diana Ross, there's never been a better girl band in my humble opinion. Here's Ten Reasons Why I Love 'em...


10. Reflections

It begins like the opening to a classic sci fi film... and gets progressively more divine with each passing second.

9. Baby Love

You may be surprised to find what's arguably their most famous record only coming in at #9. I can't deny it's a stone cold classic - it was written by Holland-Dozier-Holland, how could it not be? My only defence is what I like to call "The Beatles Effect". Ubiquity can damage even the greatest of records.

That said, on a chart that could easily have run to a Top 50, #9 is hardly a poor showing. 

8. 5:30 Plane

The only post-Diana song that made my Ten - though there were many which deserved consideration (Automatically Sunshine, Nathan Jones and Up The Ladder To The Roof being just three). What makes this one particularly special though is that it's written and arranged by the great Jimmy Webb. Nuff said.

7. Love Child

The words "tenement slum" never sounded so sweet.

6. I Second That Emotion (with The Temptations)

Written by Smokey, with the Temps on duet duties...

A taste of honey is worse than none at all

5. You Keep Me Hanging On

From that teletype intro to the thumping drumbeat that powers it, another heartbreakin' classic.

4. I'm Livin' In Shame

And some people think Morrisey invented kitchen sink songwriting...

This one's a genuine heartbreaker.

I was always so afraid for my uptown friends to see her
Afraid one day when I was grown, that I would be her

3. You Can't Hurry Love

Look, not even Phil Collins could kill this one. And let's not forget how many other great records owe their existence to that intro. Just ask The Jam for starters...

2. I'm Gonna Make You Love Me (with The Temptations)

Strictly speaking, it's the Temptations who win this one, but it's still one of the greatest love songs ever written... and when Diana joins in on the chorus: shiver me timbers.

1. Stop! In The Name Of Love

Not sure if it's the wind-up intro, the pleading title or the sweetness of Diana's voice, but right now - and this could easily change depending on when you asked me - this one wins it for me.


I know what you're saying - "Rol, Where Did Our Love Go?" Sadly, there could be only 10. But which one rules... ahem... Supreme for you?