6. Philosophical drinking debate mourns Rod Serling.
Another one you might have been able to google, because a "symposium" came from Greek banquets (it means "to drink together"... so next time you get invited to a symposium at work, remember that) where philosophy was debated.
60s garage rock classic from a bunch of American GIs who were also a band. Immortalised because it's one of the songs playing in the bowling alley in The Big Lebowski. You mark that frame an 8, and you're entering a world of pain, Smokey...
Clumsily lumped in with the Britpop crowd, though they were much louder and more energetic. Maybe Damon got the idea for Song 2 from this lot? (Probably not.) Still, I never hated them.
Sadly remembered now as riding the coat tails of fellow Sheffield poets the Arctic Monkeys, I always felt LMT had the potential to step out of Alex Turner's shadow. But they obviously had some pretty negative experiences in the music industry... as this track illustrates.
The b-side to TBS's only Number One, A Little Time, this is crammed with typically Heaton barbs.
Those winter nights just spent indoors That criminal fizz in the drink he pours We smooch all night to "The Theme From Jaws" (In other words I hate you)
I went to see a doctor and she said 'Yes, go ahead' 'Throw yourself into the sea' I wrote a will for my friends And this is how it read 'Me, me, me, me, me, me, me' No friends, everything for me, me, me No friends, just me, just me
I love the way that one switches from haunting acoustic guitar to jaunty seaside piano and back again
Yes, it's a female empowerment anthem, and infidelity is a horrible thing so Kelis's hatred is well justified... but you've got to spare a thought for the bloke. No, wait, hear me out... you've got to have some balls to go messing around behind a woman like Kelis's back. I mean, she will cut them off in a heartbeat, sunshine.
Oh, sorry, was he not all there? My bad.
(P.S. Kelis, honey - you need a bigger bath towel.)
1. Ugly Kid Joe - Everything About You
What I liked about this song - and felt UKJ could have developed further rather than resorting to bizarre Harry Chapin covers and a fast slide into obscurity - was its bouncy sense of fun. There wasn't a lot of that going around in rock music at the time. Fun had pretty much died out in the late 80s (apart from when we were laughing at Axl for being a dick) and grunge nailed the coffin shut. Imagine if Nirvana had had a sense of humour... only I guess they wouldn't have been Nirvana, wouldn't have surfed the zeitgeist as they did, wouldn't have sold half as many records... but Kurt might still be with us. Is it better to live fast, die young and leave a miserable-looking corpse... or still be around 30 years later (the Uglies apparently reformed in 2010) even though most people only remember you as a one hit wonder?
