Snapshots #396: Songs With Rhyming Titles

Jack Black stacks a slack sack pack on his back, and has a pet yak in his shack, with a nick knack, paddy-whack for smack, crack and quack.

Here are some songs that rhyme... but not quite as much as that.

15. Rock on... Are you ready for him?

Rock on, Tommy... Cannon. Are you ready for Freddy?

Freddy Cannon - Tallahassee Lassie

14. I'm the same boy I used to be, just like a peanut farmer.

Jimmy Carter was the Peanut Farmer.

"I'm the same boy I used to be," is a lyric from Valerie by Steve Winwood, which was allegedly written about...

Valerie Carter - Wild Child

13. Just like the guy whose feet are too big for his bed...

Lyrics from "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head"...

The Raindrops - Hanky Panky

12. Died in 1966?

Or is that just an urban legend?

Paul McCartney - Temporary Secretary

11. Rita Tushingham's kitchen sink.

Rita Tushingham was in the kitchen sink drama, A Taste Of Honey...

A Taste Of Honey - Boogie Oogie Oogie

10. Motivational presentation, not for Old Men. 

A motivational presentation could be a TED Talk. 

Ted Nugent--Wango Tango

9. Those McCartney Oiks will spoil everything.

"McCartney Oiks" was an anagram...

Arctic Monkeys - Fluorescent Adolescent

8. Hats off to Bell and Orbit.

Hats off to Larry. Bell and Orbit are both Williams.

Larry Williams - Bony Moronie

7. Useful for painting in Michigan.

Bay City is in Michigan. You use a roller for painting. 

I'm sure at least one of you recognised those legs...

Bay City Rollers - Money Honey 

6. Bluebell is lost in the middle, and don't call me...

Bluebell is lost in the middle. And don't call me Shirley!

Shirley Ellis - The Name Game

Rol!
Rol, Rol bo-bo-bol
Bo-na-na, fanna fo-fol!
Fee-fi-mo-mol!
Rol!

5. The stone at the heart of the flesh.

Peach Pit - Alrighty Aphrodite 

4. 'Cause, I gotta have... Benny.

"'Cause, I gotta have... Faith." And Benny Hill.

Faith Hill - This Kiss

3. Keeping up with The Joneses.

The Smiths - Still Ill 

Or you could have had...

The Smiths - Frankly, Mr Shankly

I didn't realise you wrote such bloody awful poetry.

2. A Snapshots essential!

Your snapshots won't be any good without Focus.

Focus - Hocus Pocus

1. Inverted woes.

That was an anagram!

Stevie Wonder - Master Blaster

Castaway Potshots returns next week...

Snapshots #349: A Top Ten Songs About Schoolyard Games

Remember the days of the old schoolyard
We used to laugh a lot,
Oh, don't you remember the days of the old schoolyard?
When we had imaginings and we had
All kinds of things and we laughed

Cat Stevens – (Remember The Days Of The) Old Schoolyard 

Here are ten songs that might remind you of games played in the old school yard...

10. The cast of Lost.

Missing Persons - Mental Hopscotch

9. Don't suck old sweets.

1910 Fruitgum Company - Simon Says

8. Cabernet Sauvignon.

It's made with black grapes...

Black Grape - Marbles

7. Keep drinking and you'll become one.

Lush - Kiss Chase

6. American G.I. gets lost in the subtext.

GI Joe gets lost in the subTEXt.

Joe Tex - Skip A Rope

5. Deano takes it easy with a brand new key.

Dean Martin takes it EZ with Melanie...

Melanie Martinez - Tag, You're It 

4. Proving Del Amitri wrong.

Del Amitri said that Nothing Ever Happens. These guys would disagree.

Something Happens - Parachute

3. One Frou, near the top of Frank's New York ascent. 

She was one half of Frou Frou, and top of the heap!

Imogen Heap - Hide And Seek

2. Straight out of The Bible.

He was the lead singer of The Bible.

Boo Hewerdine - Sleeping Lions

(They used to call it Sleeping Tigers when I were a lad.)

1. Big Daddy, found near the Statue of Liberty.

Big Daddy was Shirley Crabtree. Liberty Island is adjacent to Ellis Island in New York.

Shirley Ellis - The Clapping Song

You might also play...

Yachts - Consequences (Truth or Dare, when I were a lad)

Juliana Hatfield Three - Spin The Bottle

Malcolm McLaren - Double Dutch

The Fall - Kick The Can

Harry Chapin - Cats In The Cradle

Kowalski - Duck Duck Goose

The Cure - Catch

That should keep you busy till next Saturday morning.

Title Fight #4: Angels, Bubbles & Bologna

Yes, that is Joan Jett. Yes, that is Mike Tyson. Best of friends, apparently. To the point that Mike used to insist that Joan called him up before every boxing match to ensure success. She was his good luck charm. The first time that didn't happen - in his bout against Buster Douglas on February 11, 1990 - he lost. 

Seems only appropriate that we kick off this week with a little Joan...

1. The Runaways - Neon Angels On The Road To Ruin

One of those song titles that reeks of sleazy rock & roll excess, just like the Runaways themselves. It prepares you for a debauched grindhouse B movie of a record, and the lyrics deliver that in spades. Jim Steinman would be proud.

2. Shirley Ellis - Ever See A Diver Kiss His Wife While The Bubbles Bounce About Above The Water?

A top notch suggestion from Ernie, although one that does beg the unfortunate question: which one of them farted? And I say that as someone who loathes fart jokes. 

Shirley Ellis recorded 3 albums then retired from the music business in 1968. I'm hoping she made enough money from The Clapping Song to keep her in the manner she deserved.

3. Norma Tanega - Walkin' My Cat Named Dog

When I feature an artist who's never appeared on the blog before, I like to to dig into their biography and find an interesting fact or two to enliven my leaden prose. Where do you start with Norma Tanega? She worked in a mental hospital and sang for the patients. She had a 5 year relationship with Dusty Springfield. After she stopped performing as a solo artist, she played percussions in bands called Baboonz, hybridVigor, and Ceramic Ensemble. Her song You're Dead (a comment on the competitive nature of the music industry) is used as the theme tune to What We Do In The Shadows. 

Even today's song has a wonderful story behind it. Tanega's New York apartment building wouldn't allow dogs, so instead she got a cat, called it Dog, and took it for walks on a lead. In 1966, Walkin' My Cat Named Dog reached the exact same position in both the US and UK charts: #22. It remains her most popular song, though title-wise, I was also tempted to go with A Street That Rhymes At 6am. 

4. The Isley Brothers - Cold Bologna

Hear me out on this one. On the surface, Cold Bologna isn't as eye-catching as most of the other titles in this series, but it is an excellent example of a title that doesn't set you up for something you're not going to get. If you call a song Cold Bologna, then I expect that song to be about a rather unappetising sandwich filling. And that's just what the Isleys deliver here... whilst also giving us a tragic metaphor for poverty and the class system filtered through the eyes of a child.

Talkin' bout that
Cold bolonga and mayonnaise and bread
If it wasn't for cold bologna by now
Y'all know I would've been dead

It also helps that I'm a big fan of words like "bologna" which don't sound anything like they're spelled. And the fact that "baloney" has a second connotation too... perfect.

5. Dougie Poole - Nothing On This Earth Can Make Me Smile

As usual, we close with a contemporary smash... although it sounds like it could be from an early 70s singer-songwriter. Jim Croce or even John Denver spring to mind. Dougie Poole is an alt-country singer from Brooklyn, once called "the patron saint of millennial malaise", which is a sobriquet to save for your tombstone if ever there was one. 

Which is your favourite title and which is your favourite tune? Do they match?