Snapshots #298: A Top Ten Weather Forecast Songs

It's 10 years since I last did a Top Ten Weather Forecast Songs, and although I did re-use a couple of the tracks from that old list this weekend, I also skipped some of the more obvious selections, including The Weather Girls, ELO, and... of course... this...

A Tribe Of Toffs - John Kettley (Is A Weatherman)

Every week I try to include a mix of well-known artists alongside artists that have never featured here before... otherwise, you guys get them all immediately, and where's the fun in that? Hence why I always call it "A Top Ten..." rather than "My Top Ten...", since chances are, I might include a track or artist I don't really care for. Although even the ones I might not choose to listen to in my own time uusally spark a brief nostalgic smile. Even the worst bits of the pop past look better from a distance.

Anyway, with thanks to C for suggesting it, here are ten songs about weather forecasting...

10. Before Ella could be bothered.

Ella Fitzgerald was Bewitched, Bothered & Bewildered...

B*Witched - Blame It On The Weatherman

9. Jump in the middle of a newspaper tycoon.

The famous newspaper tycoon was not Rupert Murdoch or Robert Maxwell, but William Randolph Hearst. Add a jump to his middle name and you get...

Randolf's Leap - Weatherman

Great video, featuring a post-retirement Michael Fish, infamous for his "don't worry, there's isn't" a hurricane coming forecast back in 1987.

8. Artistically apt... but also prepared for the worst.

It's OK, these guys brought an umbrella.

Weather Report - Umbrellas

7. Rumour has it...

Graham Parker, whose back band was "The Rumour"...

Graham Parker - Weather Report

6. The warm up act on Mars.

The Radiators From Space - Let's Talk About The Weather

5. When upset, she chews lorry.

"She chews lorry" is an anagram. This is what Sheryl looked like when she was a backing singer on Michael Jackson's Bad Tour.

Sheryl Crow - Weather Channel

4. He'll grow on you.

Bob Mould - Forecast Of Rain

3. Doctor, could be related to Shatner's cop.

Shatner's cop was T.J. Hooker. But this is guy's a D.R....

D.R. Hooker - Weather Girl

2. Could easily be confused with the hard part of the Appalachian trail... if your hearing aid isn't working. 

One of the hardest stretches of the Appalachian Trail is the Mountains of Maine. Pardon? I said...

The Fountains of Wayne - Traffic & Weather

Look, I can do hearing aid jokes since I wear them. Don't try and cancel me!

1. That's a Stretch.

I was thinking specifically of...

What do you mean Louis Armstrong never did a song about weather forecasters?

I don't care what the weatherman says
When the weatherman says it's raining
You'll never hear me complaining
I'm certain the sun will shine

Louis Armstrong - Jeepers Creepers

You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows. It blows towards more Snapshots next Saturday.

Snapshots #234: A Top Ten Songs You Can't Dance To

If yesterday's clues left you stuck between a Rock and a hard place, don't despair...

Here come the answers. Remember to duck!

10. Joseph dies at the end...

...of Genesis.

Genesis - I Can't Dance

9. Will cause a huge fire.

Apparently the Manic Street Preachers considered these guys the best band of the 80s.

Big Flame - Why Pop Stars Can't Dance

8. Ladies love him.

That's what the LL stands for.

LL Cool J - You Can't Dance

7. Young Simpson found atop King.

Bart on Carol (King)

Barton Carroll - The Poor Boy Can't Dance

6. Somewhere between Logie Steading and the River Findhorn.

Check your maps of Moray.

Randolph's Leap - I Can't Dance To This Music Anymore

5. Gillian Anderson starts to get confused.

Gillian An, rearranged =

Ian Gillan (or just Gillan to his mates) - I Can't Dance To That

4. Poncherello, Ure, Edison. Between them, they hold the answer.

Poncherello, Ure, Edison.

Lou Reed - Sally Can't Dance

3. Mist, Emergency Room, Boxer's Beginning.

Fog+ER+Ty(son)

John Fogerty - Vanz Kant Danz

A song about CCR's former manager, Saul Zaentz, who allegedly took quite a big chunk of their earnings.

First claymation video ever. As with most 80s claymation videos, it's bloody awful.

2. Female graffiti artists found in harbour.

Martha's Harbour, with some Vandellas in it.

Martha Reeves & The Vandellas - I Can't Dance To That Music You're Playin'

You may be more familiar with the Betty Boo version. But I could never dance to that myself.

1. Romans grasp the solution, in a way.

"Romans grasp" was an anagram.

Rock up here again next Saturday for more of the same.