Hot 100 #28

Younger Younger 28's were a fine choice to illustrate this week's post. Imagine The Human League Meets Pulp Meets Shampoo. Thanks to Jim in Dubai for recalling them and suggesting their excellent b-side Karaoke Queen (linking to another blog for that one as I couldn't find it on youtube). I was always fond of We're Going Out as well. They should have been massive.

What about the 28 songs though?

Well, Jim's other suggestion was this...

Forever 28 by Stephen Malkmaus & The Jicks

That's what I call Pavement art.

As usual, Martin had a few fine suggestions...

"I'm On E by Blondie has the line:

I used to have a car of my own, 28 or 58.

I've a feeling you may have suggested that 30 posts ago too.

Meanwhile, last week we had Lloyd Cole fretting over getting ready to turn 30. Martin also reminded us of this, which could well pop up again in 5 posts' time...

Lloyd Cole & The Commotions - Grace

Once you were an angel

Jesse, honey, is it hard to take

Does it feel so bad to be 28?

He continues... "Reelin' and Rockin' by Chuck Berry has loads of times in, including...

Well, I looked at my watch, it was 10:28, 

I gotta get my kicks before it gets too late

"And my personal favourite (even if it is atypical), from the pen of Ray Davies, Low Budget by The Kinks, which has this:

Even my trousers are giving me pain,

They were reduced in a sale so I shouldn't complain.

They squeeze me so tight so I can't take no more,

They're size 28 but I take 34."

Do you know what? I'm not sure I've ever heard that before. And if you hadn't told me it was the Kinks, I might have thought it was AC/DC. It's great though!

The Swede found slim pickings in his own record collection this week. His only offering was a bit of a surprise too...

"'Never Be the Same Again' by Puressence features the lines '...you're feeling lots of pain again, December 28 again, your famous boxing day again...' December 28th? Boxing Day? What's that all about? Great song though."

Puressence!?! Blimey. It's been a while.

My immediate reaction to this was...

And then, along came Lynchie...

Bob Dylan - I Shall Be Free No. 10

I was shadow-boxing earlier in the day

I figured I was ready for Cassius Clay

I said "Fee, fie, fo, fum, Cassius Clay, here I come

26, 27, 28, 29, I'm gonna make your face look just like mine"

Talkin' blues. I love talkin' blues.

Now before we go any further, here's a really uncool suggestion from my own hard-drive...

Styx - A.D. 1928

I put that there just so nobody would think twice about Rigid Digit's first offering this week...

Mötley Crüe - Bad Boy Boogie

We're innocent in every way

Like apple pie and Chevrolet

Sweeter pies with different shapes

38-28-38

"Other than that," he adds, "I need to invoke the "50 Words For Snow" card again...

28: Robbers Veil

Yes, you can always rely on Kate Bush for redemption.

Meanwhile, Alyson was in an existential mood this week...

"Alicia Keys has a song called 28 Thousand Days which is apparently the average lifespan so we should pack as much in as we can. Scarily I've had nearly 22,000 days already so I'd better get a wiggle on."

Don't worry, Alyson, you don't look a day over 21,999.

Finally, here's C...

"'22 Grand Job' by the Rakes, love that song and it's pure energy, and before it comes up again in 6 weeks' time for obvious reasons it could get a little preview here for the line

But he's only 28, no more 22

Shorter post than usual this week because Douglas was on holiday. Let's scrape the bottom of my barrel before we get onto the serious contenders...

The Divine Comedy - The 28th of May

Little Jackie - 28 Butts

The Boomtown Rats - Nothing Happened Today

Tomorrow's Wednesday

Today was Tuesday

And this is the date

March 28th

Art Brut - DC Comics & Chocolate Milkshake

DC comics and chocolate milkshake

Some things will always be great

DC comics and chocolate milkshake

Even though I'm 28

DC comics and chocolate milkshake

I guess I'm just developing late

DC comics and chocolate milkshake

I never got over that amazing taste

Nice try, Eddie, but I was always a Marvel boy myself.

The Velvet Underground - Velvet Nursery Rhyme

Which is really just a live "meet the band" thing from the Velvets 1993 reunion - 28 years later.

OK. This week's runner-up then.

The Gaslight Anthem - Meet Me By The River's Edge

See, I've been here for 28 years

Poundin' sweat beneath these wheels

We tattooed lines beneath our skin

No surrender, my Bobby Jean

The one where they wear their Bruce influence on their sleeves. I felt sure that would be the winner...

Until C came up with this one. Genius! Well done, C.

I'm in love with modern moonlight, 

1.28 when it's dark outside

27? I think I know what Martin will choose. What about the rest of you?

Hot 100 #31

31 Scars are the band I found to illustrate #31 in the Hot 100. What can I tell you about them? They like The Cranberries.

"Welcome back the songs with numbers thing!" said Lynchie.

To celebrate, I'd like to offer up Sin City written by Gram Parsons and performed by The Flying Burrito Brothers on the fab album "The Gilded Palace Of Sin". The chorus is:

This old earthquake's gonna leave me in the poor house

It seems like this whole town's insane

On the 31st floor a gold plated door

Won't keep out the Lord's burning rain

A fine tune, and one that featured on Saturday Snapshots a few weeks back, if I remember correctly. But not this week's winner.

"Good to see the return of the Hot 100, yes!" said C.

I can offer one song lyric with 31 in, from The Universal Soldier by Buffy Sainte Marie, also covered by Donovan and (I just found) more recently by First Aid Kit. A song with a theme that sadly never goes out of date.

He's five-foot-two and he's six-feet-four

He fights with missiles and with spears

He's all of thirty-one and he's only seventeen

He's been a soldier for a thousand years

Thank you, C. I'm rather partial to the Glen Campbell version myself.

"Welcome back to the 100 - time for some more spurious suggestions. Thanks for giving back the opportunity for a dose of musical tourettes," said Rigid Digit.

Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band - Death Cab For Cutie

Bad girl Cutie, what have you done

-Baby don't do it

Slipping sliding down Highway 31

-Baby don't do it

That is always worth another spin. Gave its name to one of my favourite Emo bands too.

"I too offer my welcome back and give my heartfelt thanks for bringing this series back to life," said Douglas. "I have, after all, been waiting months with baited breath to see if my Leroy Brown suggestion might finally have meant a first place finish! Missed by that much, once again."

Yeah, sorry about that, Douglas. Keep dreaming the dream.

A few great suggestions above that I would have made, and I am guessing Universal Soldier makes a strong finish. I would also have suggested Sin City, but in the spirit of offering something new and in keeping with the spirit of the musicians that seem to bring a winning touch round these parts, I will suggest the version by Billy Bragg, on the Talking With The Taxman About Poetry album.

I'd forgotten all about that.

As for unique and new suggestions, how about The Cure - So What?, from Three Imaginary Boys. It is a strange song, wherein Robert Smith, in the midst of a heartache breakup song, seems to be trying to sell us a cake decorating set. Not sure if that is a metaphor for something that eludes me, but in any case, the offer seems to be time-sensitive:

Order now

Allow twenty one days

For delivery

This offer closes

31st December 1979

I can't remember why, but that has featured on this blog before. It is gloriously mad.

Seems I missed my chance to get me one of them sets by close to 40 years.

You and me both.

And if that is too festive for you, perhaps a dead dog offered up by Mr Bruce Springsteen is more your fancy, in Reason To Believe off the delightful Nebraska album:

Seen a man standin' over a dead dog lyin' by the highway in a ditch

He's lookin' down kinda puzzled pokin' that dog with a stick

Got his car door flung open he's standin' out on Highway 31

Like if he stood there long enough that dog'd get up and run

Struck me kinda funny seem kinda funny sir to me

Yes, very funny indeed.

Another very good call, Douglas. Any other week... sadly I had another song in mind from the start this week. What was it? Well, it wasn't any of these...

Magnolia Electric Company - 31 Seasons In The Minor Leagues

The Shirelles - 31 Flavours

(One flavour less than last week's offering by Ani DiFranco.)

The Divine Comedy - 31st of May

Rory Gallagher - Too Much Alcohol (it all happens on 31st Street)

Stephen Malkmus - The Hook

By 31 I was the captain of a galleon

I was poseidon's new son

The coast of montenegro was my favorite target

It was ever so fun

We had no wooden legs

Or steel hooks

We had no black eye patches

Or a starving cook

We were just killers with the cold eyes of a sailor

Yeah we were killers with the cold eyes of a sailor

Dixie Chicks  - Tortured, Tangled Hearts

After 31 days of sleepless nights, she woke up to end it all

With "I love you" on a fresh tattoo engraved upon his chest

She tore her name right off his heart

So here's to the unblessed

The Go-Betweens - The Life At Hand

A ruby waistcoat won't hide my fear

At 12:31 watch my teeth disappear

However, first out of the gate this week was Charity Chic with a very fine suggestion from an artist I've long dallied with, every since I found her first album lounging in the chuck-out box at my former workplace. (What fools!)


30 next week. This may take a while...

My Top Ten Dragonfly Songs

In the UK, we're currently struggling to cope with this long-forgotten concept (some of us remember it from our childhoods, but most had started to believe it a myth) of "summer". Our native insect population is certainly having a field day, with flying ants invading Wimbledon and huge butterflies and dragonflies being sighted in gardens across the country.

What better reason to dig out ten top tunes about dragonflies?


10. Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - Dragonfly Pie

I like a good pie as much as the next Yorkshireman, but I'm not sure I could eat one made of dragonflies.

(I think this might be about drugs. Shh. Don't tell anyone.)

9. Paul Weller - Dragonfly

Also sounds like stoner-rock.

She's like a dragonfly with no fire

Diaphanous with no intent

Earthbound

She's like a horse with no rider

All this space

Without the chase

Or choosing

She's like a sea with no waves

All adrift

Upon a ship

Nowhere

Hardly Down In The Tube Station At Midnight, is it?

8. Fleetwood Mac - Dragonfly

Early Mac, after Peter Green's departure, when Danny Kirwan was briefly in charge. This is his song, though the lyrics are from a poem by W.H. Davies. Christine McVie had just joined the Mac and can be heard on backing vocals. God, this band must surely have the most convoluted history in the whole of rock!

And when the roses are half-bud soft flowers

And lovely as the king of flies has come

It was a fleeting visit, all too brief

In three short minutes, he had been and gone

He rested there upon an apple leaf

A gorgeous opal crown sat on his head

Although the garden is a lovely place

Was it worthy of so fine a guest?

7. Paul McCartney - Little Lamb Dragonfly

Sounds like an Abbey Road outtake. Which is a good thing, whatever you might think of Sir Thumbs Aloft now.

6. The Icicle Works - As The Dragonfly Flies

In another universe, U2 never made it and The Icicle Works were the biggest band of the 80s. I'd like to live in that universe.

5. Kasey Chambers - Dragonfly

And you went to the party and I was not invited

And everybody knows that the girls are one-sided

And the boys don't cry, neither do I

When you're picking off the wings of a dragonfly

Kasey Chambers - voice like an angel... with a little devil inside.

I've done everything that you could ever imagine

I've screwed all of my friends but I'm not bragging

I wish 'em well, don't kiss and tell

'Cause I don't really want nobody else

4. Red House Painters - Dragonflies

Kozelek. From before he became a grumpy old man. Still knows how to get into your head though.

I wonder in what fields today

You're chasing dragonflies at play

My little lost girl so far away

3. Devendra Banhart - Dragonflies

Very short, but very cool.

I don't owe me any money,

You don't owe me a thing.

When we drink beer,

Dragonflies appear.

Dragonflies appear.

2. Ron Sexsmith - Dragonfly On Bay Street

Ron gets funky as a dragonfly leads to a swift career change...

Used to work as a messenger

Spent my days riding elevators

In the heart of the business world

Till one day there came a sign

In the form of a

Dragonfly on Bay Street

Buzzing round from tower to tower

At the twilight of the working hour

Had he taken a wrong turn?

Was he lost without a trace?

Just like us

Dragonfly on Bay Street

1. Boo Hewerdine - Dragonflies

Mark Nicholas Hewerdine, Boo to us, one of music's great philosophers...

A lost summer's day, a lifetime away

What do you find?

Slow turning sun, with somewhere to run

On your mind

Not the flash that you saw

That was gone in the wink of an eye

As soon as we're here

We disappear like dragonflies

Their miracle blue can never tell you

How it came to be

Each different kind, accidental designed

Before you and me

And we ask the whole of our lives

Maybe there's no why

As soon as we're here

We disappear like dragonflies

Frequent Boo-collaborator Eddi Reader does a lovely version of this too.



Any dragonflies buzzing round your collection. (I'm taking bets on which one of you mentions The
S*****s.)

My Top Ten Jennifer Songs

They're Ten A'Jenny...

Get it? Ten A'...

There's no pleasing you people. 

10. Everly Brothers - Poor Jenny

I don't always think of the Everly Brothers as being among the wittiest of lyricists... but this one's a good old fashioned hoot.

9. Belle & Sebastian - Photo Jenny

Only Stuart Murdoch could get away with singing...

It's getting cold, I'll catch the bus
I'll see my friend when she's finished working
Get some fish and chips
Lalalala, what's on the box?
'Man about the house' with Paula Wilcox

OK, Stuart, but what about Richard O'Sullivan?

8. Strangelove - Jennifer's Song

Patrick Duff at his most romantic. Aww.

7. Donovan - Jennifer Juniper

Also featured in my Top Ten Jupiter and Saturn songs. Because I was lazy.

Jennifer Juniper, sitting very still.
Is she sleeping ? I don't think so.
Is she breathing ? Yes, very low.

Hold a mirror under her nose, Donovan. Just to be on the safe side.

6. Fight Like Apes - Jenny Kelly

Excellent song from the Irish alt-rockers who indulge in a spot of cheese rolling in the video.You won't catch Bono doing that.

You're famous for your awkward smile
Your purple hair
Your wayward smile

5. The Killers - Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine

There was genuine excitement to early Killers songs that's gone awol since they became stadium-filling superstars. This is one of those rare early tracks where you can hear the Johnny Marr influence as much as the Springsteen.

4. The Hollies - Jennifer Eccles

A classic 60s Brit-hit... though I have to admit, I prefer the heartbreaking cover version by Eels.

3. Flight of the Conchords - Jenny

Saw them do this live, though sadly I don't think they've ever released it. It never fails to bring a smile to my face. If you've ever bumped into someone who recognises you but you can't remember them at all... watch the link above.

2. Lloyd Cole & The Commotions - Jennifer She Said

If not for my rather unorthodox selection below, in any other reality, this would have been Number One. It's written there in blue, with a heart and an arrow through.

1. Stephen Malkmus - Jenny & The Ess-Dog

Probably a surprising choice, but this is my all-time favourite Stephen Malkmus song, including everything he did with Pavement. The lyrics are just so good: like an award-winning short story. The details make it.

They kiss when they listen
To "Brothers In Arms"
And if there's something wrong with this
They don't see the harm
In joining their forces and singing along

Those were my spinning Jennies. Which one is your Eccles cake?