Ben messaged me in the middle of last week to pass on the news of Bill Oddie's departure. "If your blog isn't full of The Funky Gibbon for the whole of the week, then that's disrespectful."
Sadly, Sam and I were in Birmingham for most of last week, so this is the first chance I've had...
But there's much more to Bill than just the Gibbon. Just ask his feathered friends...
Apparently he also did a version of the Andy Pandy theme tune in the style of Wilson Pickett, but I can't find that anywhere.
Perhaps most famous of all though, Bill appears in a infamous mondegreen in Madonna's 1992 hit Erotica...
Bill Oddie,
Bill Oddie,
Put your hands all over my body...
Unfortunately, he never made it into a Half Man Half Biscuit, unlike that other famous celebrity birdspotter, Phil Cool. There's always someone cooler than you.
When we're watching a film, we all like to root for the Goodies. Too many times in the real world, the Baddies win... I guess that's how you can tell the difference between fiction and reality.
Here are some musical Goodies & Baddies. I was going to split this between two posts, but life just seemed too short...
THE GOODIES #1
60's girl band who recorded in the same studio as The Shangri-Las and even did the original demo of Leader of the Pack... although the internet claims their version was deemed "too filthy", so their rivals were given the hit instead. Dum Dum Ditty is another song by Phil Spector rival George 'Shadow' Morton, and some reckon it's a Spector parody.
THE BADDIES #1
Swedish rock baddies from 1984 who only appear to have released one single... but here are both sides for your listening delectation.
THE GOODIES #2
Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie made their names in the 70s as TV comedy troupe, The Goodies. They also crashed into the pop charts, most notably with this Number 4 hit in 1975, The Funky Gibbon.
I was a little bit young to really get the Goodies, but I did like it when they were chased by the giant Dougal. The three Goodies went on to successful careers in comedy, birdwatching, and inspiring uncategorisable nonsense such as this...
Watching this video back now, I was taken by Graeme Garden's rather embarrassed performance... until I remembered he always had that look on his face.
THE BADDIES #2
Australian punks who like to shout Oy! This may have been acceptable behaviour in 1977, but by 2001 it was just a cliché.
THE GOODIES #3
Over in Denmark, meanwhile, the Goodies sounded like this in the 70s. Here they are taking A Trip Across The Lake...
BADDIES #3
Way, way back in the ancient time of 2009 (14 years ago, in case you were thinking it was yesterday), arrived on the scene from Southend. Presumably they're all now banged up in Wormwood Scrubs.
THE GOODIES #4
Our next Goodies came from Athens, Georgia in 1997, when they released one album called Greatest Hits... which clearly wasn't a Greatest Hits. Although I suppose it was, since it was as "great" as their "hits" ever got. That record doesn't appear to exist on the interweb, anyway. Luckily, I found their 2004 compilation album called Live! Of course it isn't a live album. It's actually closer to a Greatest Hits. Despite all this confusion, I feel these Goodies require further investigation... perhaps because they seem to have a rather eclectic sound (i.e. they're all over the place from one track to the next).
THE BADDIES #4
Norwegian indie pop ladies from right now. Apparently their lyrics are explicit, but they're in Norwegian, so you should be OK.
THE GOODIES #5
From New York City, here are some Goodies from 2015. Only two tracks available at the campsite of bands, but they do appear to be still in the go, with a gig at Schimanski, Brooklyn on the 22nd of December if you're in the neighbourhood.
There are more Goodies than Baddies... unlike in the real world... but who are the winners? Does good triumph over bad? You decide.
