Way back in December 2021, Snapshots #218 featured ten Drunk Songs. Today, I invite you to sample a few more beverages. I can't join you: I haven't had a drink since the 20th Century.
"Hazy oboes" was an anagram. You might not know this guy, but this is one of Sam's favourite tunes at the moment. He's very popular with the young people. And actually quite listenable, unlike a lot of the stuff they dig.
1. They've got a Pedigree, like George and Andrew surrounded by sheep.
Pedigree Chum meets baa Wham baa. Easy when you know how.
Chumbawamba - Tubthumpin'
He drinks a whiskey drink. He drinks a Vodka drink. He drinks a Lager drink. He drinks a cider drink. And he ends up pissin' the night away. Or 'issing the night away, if he's on Top of the Pops.
I'm giving you a week to sober up before the 400th edition of Snapshots.
Even though I'm not a football fan, I've been enjoying the show Ted Lasso very much. Louise got bored with it towards the end of the first season, she said it was trying too hard to recreate the "feelgood" tone of Parks & Recreation... and I can see what she means... but I'll take my feelgood anywhere I can get it these days.
Anyway, I finally had time to watch the end of Season 1 over the Easter holiday, and that last episode had me in tears on more than one occasion. I can see perfectly well that the show is emotionally manipulative, but so much TV leaves me feeling absolutely nothing these days, so I think it's worthy of note when something breaks through my cynicism.
There was one line in particular that made me hit pause until I had time to collect myself and carry on watching. It worked in the context of the show, but it spoke to me beyond that... and made me grateful for what I've got.
There is something worse out there than being sad, and that is being alone and sad.
9. Richard Hawley - In This City They Call You Love
South Yorkshire's answer to Roy Orbison returns with his tenth album, his first in half a decade - it's taken that long to get him out of the pub. Worth the wait, as always, with more timeless songs of love and loss from the dark, windswept streets of Sheffield...
Well, I was born and raised by the river Slowly it flows through this city of knives Not too far from the mountain that shivers Folks work so hard and they stay all their lives And people in this city call us love
8. The Felice Brothers - Valley Of Abandoned Songs
The guys responsible for my second favourite album of 2021 return with a new record... and a disturbing discovery that they released another one late last year, which I hadn't even heard. (To be fair, it's only available on the Camp of Bands, but it's still a cracker.)
On the Riverside Promenade The whippoorwills alighting A prostitute in pastel tights Through the shadows striding In her hand is a single flower More precious than the Eiffel Tower It’s a terrifyingly eloquent world New York by moonlight
7. John Grant - The Art Of The Lie
Another repeat offender; it's impossible to imagine John Grant making a bad record. I've even grown to love his curious obsession with 80s synths. As long as he keeps writing such personal, moving and at times snarkily funny songs, he can back them with accordion, stylophone and hurdy gurdy for all I care.
I see that cubbyhole and where we used to eat together
I see the walls you built
The room where I slept as a child
I went downstairs into the basеment
Even though the lights arеn't on
I can hear the Beach Boys singin'
And my brothers playin' pool
And sometimes I just want to run into your arms
And let you hold me once again
I feel ashamed because I couldn't be the man
You always hoped that I would become
And if you prefer, there's a political edge too...
“This album is in part about the lies people espouse and the brokenness it breeds and how we are warped and deformed by these lies”, he says. “For example, the Christian Nationalist movement has formed an alliance with White Supremacist groups and together they have taken over the Republican party and see LGBTQ+ people and non-whites as genetically and even mentally inferior and believe all undesirables must be forced either to convert to Christianity and adhere to the teachings of the Bible as interpreted by them or they must be removed in order that purity be restored to ‘their’ nation. They now believe Democracy is not the way to achieve these goals. Any sort of pretence of tolerance that may have seemed to develop over the past several decades has all but vanished. It feels like the U.S. in is free-fall mode.”
More random stuff that I've been listening to and feel I ought to write about...
Bilk are from Chelmsford. The lead singer's nasal Essex accent remind me of Jonny Itch from The King Blues, if you remember them. They have a similarly in-your-face 21st century punk style, but they're not as political. They mostly just sing about girls, having fights, and taking the wrong drugs. Oh, and a little bit of social commentary...
I spend too much time, getting too deep I'm laying in this single bed, but I can't sleep There must be more to life than tinder swipes And posting shit on Instagram for meaningless likes Where I'm from there's teen mum's sipping booze Whilst the babies takes twos from her B&H Blues The boys are in gangs The girls push prams To spend all their money on some shitty fake tans
Since he produced the soundtrack to O Brother, Where Art Thou? in the year 2000, T-Bone Burnett has become a legend of the Americana scene. He also put Robert Plant together with Alyson Krauss, and going further back in time was a huge factor in the success of Counting Crows, Los Lobos and Gillian Welch.
Before all that though, he played played drums on this...
...and he played guitar on Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue. After that, in 1976, he joined with two other stragglers from that tour to form The Alpha Band. They released three albums which iffypedia tells me were "particularly notable for their intelligent cultural critique". Which might be why I've getting into their songs, although I've no idea what this one is about...
I'm not sure whether they still publish the Encyclopaedia Britannica, or whether it's just been replaced by the aforementioned iffy website, but if they do, and you manage to snag yourself a copy, I imagine you'll find a picture of New Yorker Joanna Sternberg under the entry for either "lo-fi" or "bedroom recording studio"...
The Tyla Gang were on Stiff Records in the 1970s, which is how I came across them on a Stiff compilation I've been working my way through. Lead singer & songwriter Sean Tyla was also the driving force behind Ducks Deluxe. Here's their song about Styrofoam, which I wasn't surprised to discover was the only song about Styrofoam in my collection, although I do have an album by these guys...
I don't know why, but I was compelled to investigate if anybody else had ever written a song about this particular brand of closed-cell extruded polystyrene foam, and I was rather horrified to discover this...
...at which point I went back to the Tyla Gang for succour.
Finally for today, Richard Hawley has a new record out. He's one of those artists whose work I'll buy without having to listen to it first, because he's never let me down. Nothing's changed there...
As a fervent believer that you shouldn't play Christmas songs after December 25th, I wanted to get something new up on the blog today, but as I've not quite completed my compilation of the year's best albums... here's the first half*, which I managed to complete last week.
For someone who professes to not know much about new music and is always whinging on about how the charts mean nothing to me after the 20th Century... I don't half find a load of records to listen to. I'm kind of glad that chart music largely leaves me cold these days, because if it didn't I'd never find the time to keep up with all that AND all the nonsense below.
As in previous years, I've limited my Best Of list to the big number on the calendar, hence 19 albums in 2019. But I could easily have done 30, like Brian. (Always ahead of the crowd.)
I won't bore you with the runners-up. Regular readers will have heard me going on about most of them already, and as usual there will be a few stragglers that stretch out into the new year.
This list is only a snapshot anyway. The Top 3 are pretty much set in stone, but the rest could move up and down a bit depending my my mood. There are some fine records here though, and though they won't all be to your taste, I hope you find something among them that tickles your fancy.
19. Better Oblivion Community Centre - Better Oblivion Community Centre
Phoebe Bridgers and Conor Oberst. Not sure what brought them together, but it works.
"And if I bust out and the highway is really the key
Everyone can follow, everyone can overtake me"
*Keen mathematicians among you will already have worked out that that's not quite half of 19... but it's as far as I got before the lurgy struck me down.
The new album by Richard Hawley appears to have gone by without much fanfare, but to me it's another fine example of an artist who's still operating at the peak of his abilities.
After a fiery indie-guitar opening reminiscent of his old band the Longpigs, the album settles down into classic Cash-Orbison mode. After a couple of the listens, many of the tracks sound like old friends from years gone by. It's hard to believe they've just been recorded, you could easily imagine hearing them playing from a crackly old AM radio 30 or 40 years ago.
Reach out and touch faith - it's your own personal answers to Saturday Snapshots. It was just A Question of Time.
Alyson took the Early Bird trophy this week, ably assisted by Chris, Charity Chic, Rigid Digit and a last minute save, all the way from Dubai (thanks, Jim). C took issue with the Siouxsie & The Banshees photo which turned out to be Siouxsie and a bunch of non-Banshees, for which I apologise... but it was the least recognisable Siouxsie photo I could find on the interweb. She has a pretty iconic look.
Even if you only got one of them right this week, remember... Everything Counts!
My explanations will be brief this week due to an impending visit from Ofsted. (Yes, they know check music blogs too. Not much chance of this one getting Outstanding.)
On Friday night, I went to my gig of 2018. Not my best gig of 2018: my only gig of 2018. Gigging takes too much out of me these days - physically and financially - but all the stars aligned for this one. A Friday night, in half-term, in Sheffield (where I now have a semi-willing gig-buddy), and tickets for just £30. Plus it was John Grant, the man who produced my favourite albums of 2013 & 2015... possibly of 2010 also, though I came late to his debut solo record. He may also have produced my favourite album of 2018, though the jury's still out on that one. Not because Love Is Magic is a bad record, I'm just not sure it's as good as the last three. It's "experimental" for one thing, which I'm always wary of. "Experimental" in this case means much less piano & guitar, much more 80's electronica and Space Invaders' sfx. It's still got the caustic wit that makes Grant the leading lyricist of his generation, but it also seems a bit more upbeat than his previous discs. J.G. is obviously in a pretty good place at the moment despite everything... and I'm not sure I relate to upbeat as well as I do bitterness, misanthropy and self-loathing.
Friday night went a good way towards convincing me about the glories of Love Is Magic though, even though John didn't appear on stage dressed like the album cover above. Instead, he looked more like a lorry driver who'd just discovered Ziggy Stardust. Which worked. Most of the set was devoted to the new record (with one notable absence: the ultra-bitchy Diet Gum, in which his voice has been vary-speeded to high camp), along with a few choice selections from his back catalogue. I suspect he saved GMF for the encore, but sadly I sacrifice encores these days in order to get home before midnight. Still, I did get to relish in the set-climaxing double-whammy of Glacier and Queen of Denmark with an amazing guest appearance by local hero Richard Hawley on guitar. And on the way out, I had to resist the temptation to buy a mug with the title of John's Donald Trump song on it. I mean, I couldn't drink from it at home (with a 5 year old who's just learning to read in the house) and I think it may also be frowned on at work. Oh well, the sacrifices we make once we're an adult...
Apparently there was a big horse race last weekend. I wouldn't know. I'm not a fan of horse races. But I do like the odd horse race song. Here's ten runners and riders... who'll be the winner?
(There's no Bob Seger in this countdown. I just like that album cover.)
One of my favourite James songs, though I've no idea why they stuck the famous tax-dodging jockey's name in brackets after the title. Various suggestions I've read online include that the beat of the song sounds like racing hooves (erm... not really) or that this was a phrase the roadie used to call out during soundcheck. We may never know, and any connection to horse racing seems tenuous at best (which is why I've placed it at Number 10)... but it's a cracking tune.
Look, if Sting wrote this, I'd be taking the piss out of him for writing a song from the second person perspective of a race horse... but I'll cut Dan Fogelberg a bit more slack because he doesn't have a stripy jumper. Make sure you've got your cheese-board ready for this one...
Born in the valley And raised in the trees Of western Kentucky On wobbly knees With mama beside you To help you along You'll soon be growing up strong All the long, lazy mornings In pastures of green The sun on your withers The wind in your mane Could never prepare you For what lies ahead
Let's face it, if you went down the racetrack and found Shane MacGowan there... well, you'd hardly be surprised, would you? You might be surprised if he won though...
Twenty fucking five to one Me gambling days are done I bet on a horse called the Bottle of Smoke And my horse won
You see, this is the problem I have with horse racing. What happens to those poor horses?
There's a racecourse in the sky And that's where all the racing horses must go by and by And I believe every steward, lord and groom I believe that they're calling her home
Good luck had just stung me To the race track I did go She bet on one horse to win And I bet on another to show
Odds were in my favor I had him five to one When that nag to win came around the track Sure enough he had won
Apparently, "Up on Cripple Creek is notable as it is one of the first instances of a Hohner clavinet being played with a wah-wah pedal". Which, I'm sure you'll all agree, is... erm... something.
The house Health & Safety officer (Louise) has been trying to impress upon Sam the dangers of electricity, hot water and fire. You know: don't turn light switches on when your fingers are wet. Don't touch the hot tap. Don't stick your fingers in plug sockets. Don't put a metal poker on a three bar electric fire to see what happens.*
*This last one isn't really aimed at Sam as we have neither a poker nor a three bar fire in our house. However, I grew up in a house with a coal fire and often mucked about with the poker, sometimes getting it red hot and using it to torture Star Wars figures. One time we went away on a holiday to a cottage where there was an old fireplace which had had a three bar electric fire placed in front of it... though for some reason they still had a poker next to it. For scientific purposes, I decided to see what would happen if I placed said metal poker on the coils of said electric fire.
The answer: sparks will fly.
Somehow I lived to tell the tale, although I did short out all the electricity in the holiday cottage.
Anyway, in reply to a recent piece of fire safety advice from Mum, Sam came out with an excellent response...
"Do y'know - Johnny Cash fell into a ring of fire, so you have to be careful...'
See? He already knows more than his dad!
However, I do feel vindicated. Because expanding Sam's musical knowledge also benefits other aspects of his life! What's next? Here's ten pieces of fatherly advice... specially for those of you who lament the days when every post on this blog was a Top Ten.
My hearing aid isn't that powerful. Then again, I reckon The Move might have been augmenting more than just their ears...
My head's attracted to A magnetic wave of sound With the streams of coloured circles Makin' their way around.
You may prefer the version by The Fall, of course. If you can make head or tail of it. I certainly can't. Everyone needs a hearing aid to understand Mark E. Smith's vocals.
1. The Beach Boys - I Can Hear Music It couldn't have been anything else at Number One, could it?
A Jeff Barry song, originally recorded by Phil Spector with The Ronettes, this was Carl Wilson's first taste of being the Beach Boys' boss while Brian was off being bored... or "listening to the grass grow". If anyone ever tells you Brian was the only genius in the Beach Boys, play them this...
What's your favourite hearing aid song?
I SAID "WHAT'S YOUR FAVOURITE HEARING AID SONG?!?"
I used to work with a guy called Danny. I once heard him (non-ironically) tell a client, "yeah, yeah, it's cool, it's happening, it's us". Plus he called EVERYONE 'mate'. He couldn't finish a sentence without sticking that word on the end. As a result, I have a deep, irrational distrust of anyone called Danny... so I apologise if that's you. I'm sure you'd never say, "it's cool, it's happening, it's us". Would you?
Anyway, here's ten songs about Danny. No Daniels, they'll get their own turn some other day, Elton.
Mark E. Smith and co. cover a 1958 Gene Vincent song as the B / AA side of the Fall's 1986 single Couldn't Get Ahed. Missing out letters was cool back then.
Originally recorded by Lal & Mike Waterson in 1972 (with Richard Thompson and Martin Carthy on guitars), but I'm more taken by Billy's cover because... well, it's Billy. No idea who this Danny Rose is - but it's not Woody Allen's or any of the footballers.
The second track on Rufus's debut album (18 years old, folks) is the first of three Danny Boys to make the Top Ten (all different songs). This one's a typically dramatic and beautiful ode to a former beau who let Rufus down (not advisable unless you want to be immortalised in song).
We walk the streets Gently starin' wonderin' what to do The sun in sheets Pourin' down those streets to eyes green and blue And a ship with eight sails could come 'round the bend Or a herd of bulls charging stop lights red I'd be blind
The original Danny Boy: the Irish anthem, set to the tune of Londonderry Air, and a firm favourite of my dad, has been recorded by everybody from Elvis to Johnny Cash (twice), Patti LaBelle to Thin Lizzy. But I'll be damned if I've ever heard a better version than Jackie Wilson's 1965 cover. He takes that tune to new places.
Danny Popplewell will forever be Bradford's greatest musical export in my ears, and considering how long a career Stuart Murdoch has maintained in a very similar vein, I always feel it's tragic that Ooberman were not a much, much bigger band.
This is a pretty obscure b-side from their single Tears From A Willow... but it's still great.
OK, this one takes a bit of explaining. This song was written by Ben Weisman & Fred Wise who wrote a number of songs for Elvis movies, of which this was one, although it wasn't released at the time. A little later, the chorus (and title) were rewritten from Danny to Lonely Blue Boy, and re-recorded by Conway Twitty who had a US Top Ten hit with it in 1960. I could have linked to the Elvis version - y'know, the one that's actually called Danny - but I prefer the one by Mr. Twitty. I first came across it on the soundtrack to Punch Drunk Love, that rarest of beasts: a good Adam Sandler film. (No, really.)
That's twice Elvis has lost out today - don't worry, you're still the king.
At first, this doesn't sound like a regular Ramones song at all - it doesn't begin with a "One-choo-three-four!" for a start. Phil Spector's influence is all over this one though, and it does build (in typical Spector fashion) to sound just like a Ramones song: indeed, Joey apparently thought this was one of the best songs Spector produced for the band.
The Danny in question is Ramones' manager Danny Field, the man who also signed Iggy and the MC5 and also worked with Jonathan Richman. Without him, they say punk might not have happened.
From Paddy McAloon's glorious 2014 comeback album, Crimson/Red. I loved this song from the moment I first heard it, but it took Miller (yes, him again) to point out that it was a in fact a tribute to one of the greatest songwriters to ever walk the face of the earth: Wichita Lineman's own Jimmy Webb.
In words he paints a vivid scene, of places you may not have been Yet listening, you're moved to swear, I know that house, I've climbed the stair I've shared those overwhelming feelings, I've suffered loss - I've known such joy Emotions we all know, are burnished til they glow, in the songs of Danny Galway
1. Anne Murray - Danny's Song
Have you been watching the Mick Jagger / Martin Scorcese TV show Vinyl? You know, the one about the record industry in the 70s with Jagger's son James doing his best to distance himself from his new Wicked Stepfather (like Jerry Hall hasn't got enough money) by working alongside daddy dearest? The show's not been particularly well-reviewed but I'm really loving it (once you get past the typical Scorcese excessive glorification of sleaze) and the soundtrack is excellent, mixing classic rock 'n' roll, soul, blues, punk and cheesy 70s pop to great effect.
A recent episode closed with Anne Murray's classic rendition of Danny's Song (written by Footloose maestro Kenny Loggins, trivia lovers) and it was a weird case of synchronicity since I've been playing this track a lot lately ever since I heard it played on the radio as a tribute to Wogan (it was one of his favourites I didn't get round to writing about in My Top Ten Terry Wogan Songs).
Altogether now...
"Even though we ain't got money I'm so in love with you honey..."
When Gibbard's girlfriend moved out, to a whole different district of Washington, this was his response.
You seem so out of context in this gaudy apartment complex
A stranger with your door key, explaining that I am just visiting
And I am finally seeing
Why I was the one worth leaving
Glossy and as shamelessly bling as the worst of contemporary r 'n' b, it's hard to explain why I dig the poppiest artist in modern country music as much as I do. This one's an outrageously schmaltzy power ballad that harkens back to the 80s (with 21st Century production values) and, frankly, the video made me choke on my Wotsits. But Blake Shelton can do no wrong in my eyes, because he writes pop songs that are catchy as the plague and TELL ACTUAL STORIES. I have no further defence.
Tells basically the same story as the Blake Shelton number, but without the glitz. You see, you can't really believe Blake Shelton would be the guy in this story. Dennis Locorriere, though? He's a true hard-luck hero.
Every time I think there might be a little justice in the world, I remind myself of Harry Chapin: a supremely talented singer-songwriter from the 70s who should have been as big as Elton John or Billy Joel, but for whatever reason never quite made it. (The same could be same of Harry Nilsson. Maybe there's a curse on Harry's. Maybe Cliff was right to change his name.) There's A Lot Of Lonely People Tonight is from the excellent album Short Stories, and while it's nowhere near the best track on there, it's still beautiful. There's a fragility to Chapin's work you don't find elsewhere. You feel like he's lived these stories, every one of them.
Top Charity Shop Buy of the week, the 2012 album Nothing's Gonna Change the Way You Feel About Me Now by Steve Earle's son, Justin (his middle name is a tribute to legendary country singer Townes Van Zandt). Excellent acoustic Americana that reminds me very much of Ryan Adams' debut (and best) album, Heartbreaker. The CD cost me 75p, but I'll definitely be buying more of this artist's work in the future. If I ever have any money again.
Nobody else does loneliness like Sheffield's answer to Roy Orbison. This is from his first full-length album, released in 2001... though it could just as easily have been released in 1957.
Originally written in 1927, and recorded many times before The King got his hands on it, Are You Lonesome Tonight? was a huge hit in 1960... but is arguably remembered more for the live version recorded in Vegas in '68 where Elvis cracks up laughing and can't make it through the song.
A single from probably my favourite Mellencamp album, 1985's Scarecrow, this was apparently inspired by the Paul Newman film Hud. Apparently, the wife of one of JM's pals told him not to feature "pretty girls" in the video as it wouldn't be realistic to suggest they had lonely nights. Mellencamp responded by offering her a role. She accepted, and played his girlfriend.
She calls me baby She calls everybody baby It's a lonely ol' night But ain't they all?
Now. Is it a better song than Elvis's masterpiece? Definitely not. But it means a little bit more to me - and that's what this blog is all about.
1. Paul McCartney - No More Lonely Nights
Well, here's a first. As previously mentioned, I have a kind of love/hate relationship with Sir Paulius Thumbs-Aloft, and though I respect all he's given us... sometimes, he doesn't half get on my wick. No More Lonely Nights - a majestically schmaltzy slice of 80s balladeering that Collins would have given his right drumstick for - really ought to be awful. You may well argue that it is. And yet, I have a huge fondness for it, from the shiver-inducing a cappella intro to the Dave friggin' Gilmour guitar solo at the end. Plus, if you read between the lines, it's as good a stalker anthem as Every Breath You Take...
And I won't go away until you tell me so No, I'll never go away...
The video, which begins with a long sequence in which Macca plays some kind of lonely but jolly Clive Dunn character working the nightshift as a projectionist in a low rent cinema... before jumping into a Victorian dream sequence in which Ringo goes over a waterfall in a rowing boat (and then things get really weird)... almost made me bump it down to #2. (Although it's not as bad as the video to One Lonely Night by REO Speedwagon, which was SO bad it got them disqualified from this whole Top Ten.)
Hopefully, those ten songs made you feel a little less lonely tonight...
Another song about being on tour and missing your girl back home... but I like to think Neil managed to keep it in his pants while he was away. (I may be wrong.)
Still one of the most unsung songwriters of his generation...
Two lovers stop you and ask
You to take their photo
Tears streaming down your face
They go and stand by the rail
The Bay behind them
Angel Island
And you’re already gone
You’re already gone
You’re already gone away…
Bob prepares to welcome back an old friend who left for the big city lights ten years back... and may well be coming back with his tail between his legs.
So it turns out there are two completely different Fleetwood Mac songs with this title... and neither of them sound like anything you'd expect a Fleetwood Mac song to sound.
The first is from the group's original incarnation in 1968, when they were Peter Green's British blues band (although the eponymous Mick Fleetwood and John McVie were knocking around on drums and bass respectively).
The second is even more bizarre. Taken from the band's NINTH album in 1974, this was written by then lead singer Bob Welch (who was soon after replaced by Lindsey Buckingham) and it sounds like some kind of trippy psychedelia. Still, it was the first Mac album to crack the American charts... so I guess they were heading in the right direction.
To the tune of He's Got The Whole World In His Hands, Nigel Blackwell prepares for the visit of some annoying neighbours / friends / relatives. Who they are or why they're coming to call is unimportant... but he gives us plenty of reasons to dread their arrival.
They were due on the Crystal Maze
Yeah, they were due to go on the Crystal Maze
Yeah, they were due on the Crystal Maze
But they got mugged in Florida
Love this - although it does have rather a bizarre history. Tormé was a white jazz crooner from the Sinatra era, persuaded to record this infectious pop-soul number in the early 60s with girl group The Cookies pretty much against his wishes, by all accounts. He didn't think much of the song but it went on to become a pretty big hit... later revived by Northern Soul DJs, which just goes to show those guys knew their stuff. Much later covered byBublé, who doesn't make a bad crack at it... but the original is still the best.
