Idiomusic #2: Better Late Than Never

We're back with another idiom and some pop songs which appropriated it. This post was supposed to run yesterday, but...

See what I did there?

The album cover at the top of the page is from Eddie & The Hot Rods' 2004 comeback album, their first in 9 years, hence the title. Other than that, it appears to be business as usual. Hot Rods lead singer Barrie Masters sadly passed away in 2019... and if you're wondering about Eddie, he was just a shop dummy brought on stage in the early days, but they soon got tired of dragging him around...

Eddie & The Hot Rods - Bad Time Again

Sadly, that album didn't have a title track. And because I reckon you've waited long enough for a song named after this week's idiom... here it is. Better l...

Sigh. Let's start with some Love...

Love - Love Is More Than Words Or Better Late Than Never

Next up, York's finest.

Shed Seven - Better Late Than Never

Finest what, you ask? Monkey-faced Britpoppers, I answer.

Some Bangly Canadian power pop next...

Universal Honey - Better Late Than Never

You normally can't go wrong with a bit of Motown. The jury's still out on Bobby Breen though, who sounds to me like he's singing while gargling mouthwash...

Bobby Breen - Better Late Than Never

Here are The Cover Girls, with a track from the soundtrack of the 1988 Eddie Murphy movie, Coming To America...

The Cover Girls - Better Late Than Never

And purely because they've never appeared on this blog before, nor on my previous blog, meaning that I haven't given them even one mention in almost 18 years of blogging... ladies and gentlemen, I give you...

The Nolans - Better Late Than Never

OK, enough of this MOR stuff... let's ROCK!

FM - Better Late Than Never

Some 60s pop from Down Under next, with a teen star who was qualified to teach ballet by the age of 14.

Patsy Ann Noble - Better Late Than Never

Still in Australia, here's some dream pop from the 90s...

Tugboat - Better Late Than Never

In a similar stylee, here's a band Khayem introduced me to a while back...

Breathless - Better Late Than Never

Bang up to date now with some bouncy indie pop from Liverpool...

The Ragamuffins - Better Late Than Never

I've always got a bit of (lilac) time for Stephen Duffy... even though he's got today's idiom arse-backwards...

The Lilac Time - Too Sooner Late Than Better

Country star Tanya Tucker was 13 when she had her first hit single in 1972... which makes her just over 20 when she released this belter in 1979... I dunno, she looks older on the album cover.

Tanya Tucker - Better Late Than Never

Pick of the bunch today comes from My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James. I always have time for a good two minute pop song - they're useful for filling up the last slot on a compilation CD...

 

TV On The Radio #8: The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

This week we have another show that had finished production long before I was born, yet always seemed to be repeated when I was growing up. Robert Vaughan and David McCallum were the actors who brought Bond-esque espionage to 60s TV screens, making an indelible impression on the next generation of songwriters...

To get us in the mood, here's that funky theme tune from Hugo Montenegro...

We start today with a glorious slice of 70's nostalgia from Belfast's Ian Livingstone...

So I set off on a tack
Along the rusty railway track
Balancing on the steel rails
Following the flow of the line
On a journey, of an old world
Where no trains have passed
Since the old days
And in this place
I can be Tom Sawyer or Steve McQueen
Or the Man from U.N.C.L.E. or me
I can be Tom Sawyer or Steve McQueen
Or The Sundance Kid or even me
On the old railway line

Livingstone - The Old Railway Line

Meanwhile, across the pond, Americana legend James McMurtry shares a similar nostalgia for the long lost summers of our youth...

We were used to all the best

The man from U.N.C.L.E. and The Wild, Wild West

We ruled the skies from a backyard swing

Nothing that flies could've stopped that thing

James McMurtry - Fuller Brush Man

Next up, Sweden is the place where swing meets hip hop... no, come back - these guys are good!

Just as long as I don’t miss the reruns

of The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

Garfunkel and Simon

I grew up on A-team, Airwolf and MacGyver

'Cause I’ve heard from the elders

That everything was better back in the days

Even the weather!

Movits! - Sammy Davis Jr.

Today's best new discovery is The Ragamuffins. They sound like a Scouse Arctic Monkeys and one of their EPs is called The Benefits of A Downhill Paper Round. What more do you want? Blood?

Let's up the ante like the Man From U.N.C.L.E.

Leave a trail of destruction

I can sense your reluctance, 'cos I'm just style over substance

I started feeling like I've lost direction

Could you be my compass?

My needle needs some adjusting, it's just style over substance

The Ragamuffins - Style Over Substance

We follow that with the least annoying member of Genesis. Quite an accolade...

So if anybody tells you stories

Of how they're gonna change your world

Be they the Aga Khan, the ex Shah of Iran,

Or the man from U.N.C.L.E.,

Say I don't believe you cos I know we don't need you.

In the name of religion or of any politician,

I'm sure we've heard it all.

Tony Banks - A Curious Feeling 

Can't really disagree with the sentiment though.

Neil Tennant was obviously a fan of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. And before he got a job in the Pet Shop, he used to work for Marvel Comics, which probably explains why Captain Britain also gets name-checked in this tune...

The Pet Shop Boys - Building A Wall

As you no doubt remember, the two main characters in The Man From U.N.C.L.E. were Napoleon Solo (played by Robert Vaughan) and Illya Kuryakin (David McCallum). And here they are now...

At The Drive In - Napoleon Solo

Ike Bennett & The Crystalites - Illya Kuryakin

Sometimes on days like this

When the mirror seems so unkind

I remember the kid playing in the Georgia sun

His nose in a mystery book

Playing “pilot” in a magnolia tree

Shooting down those enemy fighter planes one by one

Just pretending to be Mickey Mantle

Hitting rocks in a field by the road

Or Napoleon Solo living the life of a spy

Jim Morris - Livin' Till The Day I Die

Angela & The Fans - Love Ya, Illya

The Young Fresh Fellows - TV Dream

Lots of TV shows referenced in that one, including The Jetsons, Perry Mason and The A Team...

The Cleaners From Venus - Illya Kuryakin Looked At Me

That last one just keeps popping up on this blog, doesn't it?

There are also a number of artists that have stolen the name of Robert Vaughan's character for their own musical identities, like this Danish ska band...

Napoleon Solo - I Don't Believe You

...this bunch from Spain...

Napoleon Solo - Lolaila Carmona

...and this guy from the Glasgow underground...

Napoleon Solo - Running Around

I couldn't find any bands named after Ilya though.

For me, the obvious winner today was probably the most tenuous, though clearly Declan had Napoleon and Ilya in mind when he penned this deep cut from Get Happy!! Need a great pop song but only have 2 minutes to spare? Elvis is your man...