Saturday Snapshots #472: Vampire Songs

Yesterday was Halloween... so I'm guessing this one would have been pretty obvious?

Maybe not.

Here are some songs to suck blood to... 

15. Found to be indistinguishable.

That's Sting, as found in distinguishable, with a cameo role in the movie Zoolander 2.

I almost posted this picture yesterday, because the web of lies led me to believe that Sting had once appeared in a wrestling movie. Turns out this was a wrestler called Sting instead though. D'oh.  

Sting - Moon Over Bourbon Street

This was the week that I discovered that the above "classic" Sting hit was about vampires, not about those awful biscuits that are always left in the tin after all the good ones are gone. I now know much more about Sting that anyone ever wanted to.

14. New Amusements over Morrissey's boy child... they're small, delicate and refined.

Martin hosts New Amusements. Morrissey's boy child would be Stephen's son. And the rest are dainty.

Martin Stephenson And The Daintees - Running Water

Very bad for Vampires, running water. So next time you get one in your house, just turn the tap on.

13. That's an amazing piece of cheese... or chocolate... or coal?

Superchunk - Garlic

Or just get them to look in your spice rack.

12. And evil trembles... but in a different way.

"And evil trembles" was an anagram.

Steve Miller Band - The Stake

11. Marilyn in a mixer.

Concrete Blonde - Bloodletting (The Vampire Song)

10. They wouldn't be so sad if they came out of their shells a bit.

Blue Oyster Cult - Nosferatu

9. They can braid your hair.

Or plait it, if you prefer.

The Platters - Twilight Time

Twilight is a film about a particularly wet vampire.

8. In the blue corner - a public speaker's cough sweet. In the red corner - Roland's US home. Seconds out...

MC Tunes vs 808 State - The Only Rhyme That Bites

7. Malin and Blunstone are Rascals. 

A Jessie, a Colin and Young Rascals.

Jesse Colin Young - Sunlight

6. Whoa. This is heavy.

A frequent quote from Michael J. Fox in Back To The Future.

McFly - Transylvania

5. Smelly cat lost on Brooklyn and George Washington.

Phoebe had a smelly cat. On two of New York's bridges.

Phoebe Bridgers - Lost Boys

4. Precursor to Count Binface.

Screaming Lord Sutch and the Savages - Dracula’s Daughter

3. Sounds like a Mothman.

A cicada is a big moth. Look, you come up with a clue for this guy.

Jon Secada - Angel

And if you don't know why Angel is here, ask Alyson.

2. Dear Idaho, please get yourself sorted out.

"Dear Idaho" was an anagram.

Radiohead - We Suck Young Blood

1. The messed up outcome of a fight between Noel and Britney.

"Noel Britney" was an anagram.

Bonnie Tyler - Total Eclipse Of The Heart

Originally titled "Vampires In Love".

More Vampire Songs tomorrow later in the week, including some of the more obvious ones I left out.

Snapshots will be back next Saturday.

Snapshots #332: A Top Ten Batman Songs

Holy Snapshots, Batman! Even the Riddler couldn't have solved these clues as fast as you guys did!

10. I think it's fair to say the clue is in the picture...

The Shapes - I Saw Batman In The Launderette

9. Grey, harbor, elephant... and small Scottish farms.

Seals & Crofts - Robin

8. What a boar!

Big Pig - Boy Wonder

7. Not too hot, but in good company.

Kool & The Gang - The Penguin

6. Where you'll find a blot.

On the landscape, of course!

Landscape - Gotham City

5. Giant killing Robert, sounds like a kettle.

Jack & The Giant Killer, Robert Smith and a whistling kettle...

Whistling Jack Smith - I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman

4. Get thee to a nunnery!

So said Hamlet, advising Ophelia to become a sister... or so Will wrote.

Shakespears Sister - Catwoman

3. The Mild Albert Seven are a very confused group.

"Mild Albert Seven" was an anagram...

Steve Miller Band - The Joker

2. Found amid poetic enjambment.

The Jam - Batman Theme

1. Pincer movement.

Move "pincer" around a little bit and you get lil' baby Prince...

Prince - Batdance

Snapshots returns next Saturday - same Bat-time, same Bat-channel!

Snapshots #271: A Top Ten Jet Songs

Here's someone who knows a thing or two about jets: old Tiny Tom. 

Which of you Mavericks did best at identifying my list of Jet Songs? Let's find out who was Top Gun... 

10. He knocks over his pint on Peter's Blue daughter.

He's a Spiller. She's the daughter of Blue Peter presenter Janet Ellis.

Spiller featuring Sophie Ellis Bextor - Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)

9. Freddie's German Empire.

Freddie Mercury was the lead singer of Queen. The German Empire was the (Third) Reich. Metal bands do love their umlauts...

Queensrÿche - Jet City Woman

8. Follow this stylish band to get to De City.

You would follow De Sign to get to De City.

Design - The Jet Song (When The Weekend's Over)

7. Reg Dwight's room at the Crossroads.

Reg Dwight is, of course, Elton John. (Who could have featured in this countdown with B-b-b-Bennie & The Jets.) If Elton was on tour, he might stay at the Crossroads Motel.

Elton Motello - Jet Boy Jet Girl

Those of you who know about such things will recognise that as the original version of the song that would become Plastic Bertrand's Ça Plane Pour Moi. The Elton Motello version was a bit too rude for the time, so they changed the lyrics to nonsense French and a worldwide hit was born.

6. Perfect world.

One for Brian!

Utopia - Disco Jets

5. Fifteen hundred hours, definitely.

The Three O'Clock - Jet Fighter

That's a top video.

4. One twisted Messiah.

One, twisted, is Eno. And he's not the Messiah, (He's a Very Naughty Boy).

Brian Eno - Here Come The Warm Jets

3. Virgin takes money meant for one man and gives it to another.

Mary is robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Peter, Paul & Mary - Leaving On A Jet Plane

I prefer John Denver's version, but he's featured here before. PP&M haven't.

2. Albert's Devil Men.

Anagram!

Steve Miller Band - Jet Airliner

1. Caught in the middle of the swing shift, without a shroud.

No pall (or Paul) in the middle of this SWING Shift...

They're only the band the Beatles could have been.

Jet on back here next Saturday morning for more Snapshots.

Random Friday: Midnight Train

Today is the last day of term in the new job I started back in November. It's no understatement to say this job saved my life, or at least my sanity, and for the first time in years I'm actually looking forward to going back to work after the summer. As mentioned earlier in the week, I also get a full 6 week holiday, which I've never had before, so... I'm going to try to be a bit more positive. There are some things in life you can't fix, and you just have to learn to live with them, but I fixed the job problem, and that was huge. Happy happy, joy joy, as a sadly-departed old friend of mine used to say.

The Steve Miller Band's Midnight Train is pure feel-good rock n roll. It's late-stage Miller, from the early 90s, yet it could easily fit in a set list with their prime era classics such as Rock 'n' Me, Jungle Love or Jet Airliner. (I don't include The Joker in that list, not because I don't love it, but because it's unique, and not an obvious match for the rest of his back catalogue.) Sam loves it too, it's probably his favourite song at the moment.

Snapshots #205: A Top Ten Playing Card Songs

Every gambler knows that the secret to survival is knowing what to throw away, and knowing what to keep. Because every hand's a winner, and every hand's a loser, and the best that you can hope for is to die in your sleep.

Wiser words have seldom been sung. Here's this week's full house...

10. Kermit and inlaw.

No, it's not Flash Gordon.

Anagram! 

Wink Martindale - Deck Of Cards

9. Initial ocean view? Correct!

O.V.... right?

O.V. Wright - Ace of Spades

8. Follows extra time.

As Prince sang... "I just want your extra time... and your Kiss!"

Kiss - Deuce

(One for serious card players, that.)

7. Road to Damascus? Almost, Nina.

Saint Paul had a moment on the road to Damascus.

Nina Simone... almost.

Paul Simon - Ace In The Hole

6. Cthulhu.

Cthulu was created by H.P. Lovecraft... the writer, not the band.

H.P. Lovecraft - Blue Jack Of Diamonds

5. Osibisa headline at King's College.

Osibisa sang about a Sunshine Day.

KC & The Sunshine Band - Queen of Clubs

4. Sam's pal buries saint in Suffolk.

Sam's pal was Dave.

Bury St Edmunds is in Suffolk.

Dave Edmunds - Queen Of Hearts

3. Fab doctor and sex expert.

The Fab Doctor is Robert.

The sex expert is Johnson (of Masters & Johnson).

Robert Johnson - Little Queen Of Spades

2. Top Gear.

Top Gear is for Petrolheads... or...

Motörhead - Ace Of Spades

1. And evil trembles...

Another anagram!

Steve Miller Band - The Joker

You've got to know when to hold them, know when to fold them... and know when to turn up again for more Snapshots. Next Saturday!