The Chain #14

Ok, folks, here we go with your weekly dose of virtual interaction, a day later than I promised. So, I’m unreliable. Guess you’ll just have to put up with that.

To refresh your memories, last week I asked you for records you can link to The 101’ers “Keys To Your Heart”.

First out of the traps this week was CC, with this suggestion:

“Keys to my Heart to Heart of Glass by Blondie to (I love the Sound of Breaking Glass) by Nick Lowe off Jesus of Cool to She Left Me for Jesus by Hayes Carll”

Hayes Carll – She Left Me For Jesus

Never heard that before. Not bad at all, cheers CC.

Next up, The Swede:

“Double link alert! The 101ers were so called because the band lived together in a squat at 101 Walterton Road in Maida Vale. Assuming Walterton Road ran odd numbers on one side of the street and evens across the road, one of their neighbouring houses would have been Number 99. So how about ‘Other 99’ by Big Audio Dynamite, fronted by (here’s that second link folks) Joe Strummer’s future partner in crime, Mick Jones.”

Big Audio Dynamite – Other 99

Good stuff. I have to admit pretty much all of B.A.D.’s output passed me by, bar “E=MC2” so it’s good to have a pointer for where to start in the event that I ever muster up enough enthusiasm to investigate further.

Next up, is George, who writes:

“In binary code 101 is equivalent to the number 5 in the decimal system. There was a pop group from the 1980s called Five Star………I’m going to start again………..”

Ah. Okay. We’ll come back to you when you’ve had chance to ponder a while longer.

In the meantime, the mere mention of Five Star brings out a Pavlov’s Dog type reaction in me, but instead of salivating and looking hungry (which are pretty much my default settings anyway), I can’t resist posting this. Yes, again:

Whilst George is a-pondering, here’s The Swede, again:

“I got quite excited for a moment there, thinking that George might suggest ‘Mind Your Own Business’ by Delta 5. Then it all went horribly, horribly wrong.”

It seems The Swede, building upon Swiss Adam’s multiple suggestions last week,  has stumbled upon another way to get more than one record played here: suggest what you thought someone else might have suggested before they’ve actually suggested anything. You’ve got to admire his chops, haven’t you?

Delta 5 – Mind Your Own Business

Nothing further from George at this point, so while we wait, here’s The Great Gog:

“If you didn’t want the key to someone’s heart, you could always Throw Away The Key (a slightly under-achieving hit for Linx in 1981). The lead singer of Linx was David Grant who enjoyed further solo hits, and a couple of duets with Jaki Graham. That then leads me to Graham Parker, and linking back to heart, The Beating Of Another Heart from 1980’s The Up Escalator.”

Graham Parker – The Beating of Another Heart

And now George is ready:

“Here goes. 101 in binary is 5. And The Tympany 5 were Louis Jordan’s backing band, and the song Ain’t Nobody Here But Us Chickens” before clarifying: “That’s 101 in binary is 5 in the decimal system. 101 in base 4 is 17 in base 10.” But we all knew that, right?

Louis Jordan – Ain’t Nobody Here But Us Chickens

I trust you’ll all agree that was worth the wait.

And now, I’m delighted to be able to finish off this week’s suggestions with two first-timers to this mullarkey.

First, we have What’s It All About, Alfie? who writes from the North of Scotland – a country which seems to have more than its fair share of entertaining bloggers – but having had a darn good rummage around their blog I’m none the wiser as to their identity. I think – given a recent post was about Jackie magazines – that the blog is written by a lady. If so, I’m even more pleased because, bar Marie’s suggestion back on The Chain #10, we’re a little light on female contributors. (And if not, ermm…sorry!)

Anyway, here’s their suggestion:

“First thing that came to mind was 808 State – Pacific State, just because they also have a palindrome number (is it still called that if it’s not a word?) in their name.”

Doubtless you’ll all know that the song in question is know under several guises: “Pacific 707”, “Pacific State”, or just plain “Pacific”, (and for completists/pedants, one called “Pacific 808 98”, which is practically a drum and bass remix) but that matters not a jot here since it’s the band name we’re concerned with. So I’ve gone with the Pacific 707 version, partly because we then have two of those pesky numerical palindromes for the price of one, but mostly because it’s the best postable copy I have:

808 State – Pacific 707

That’s bloody marvellous, isn’t it?

But we’re not done just yet, for finally another suggestion from another lady, who – get this – doesn’t even write, nor has she ever written, her own blog.

“So when my little pigeon brain heard the word keys in the title “Keys to your heart” I immediately thought of a song that features a key quite frequently and is a wonderful camp euro dance classic (if that’s even an official music genre). It just reminds me of dancing with my best friend, Simon in G-A-Y many years ago “The key, the secret” – Urban cookie collective.”

Urban Cookie Collective – The Key, The Secret

“Quite frequently” is a bit of an understatement, isn’t it?

I have to admit to having a bit of a soft spot for that one too, as it goes.

So, welcome to you both, thanks for joining in, and please feel free to make suggestions in the future. And to any other non-bloggers out there who read this, think of a link then don’t post it for whatever reason, please do: I’d love to hear – and play – your suggestions (and I will, provided the link stands up to scrutiny and I can track down the song in question if I don’t already own it).

Ok, to my own suggestion, and if the 101’ers have got the Keys to Your Heart, then before they can use them, they first need to cross the river to your heart by using the bridge to your heart, which luckily one-hit-wonders WAX built back in 1987:

WAX – Bridge to Your Heart

And by posting that, I hope I’m proving to any possible contributors that your choice doesn’t have to be good to get posted! (But I bet you’ll all have the chorus to that running round your brain for ages now).

So, to round things up for another week, here’s the official selection, which I love, but which none of us got anywhere near. I’m quite pleased about that, as I love the diversity of your suggestions, so keep them coming, more power to your elbow etc etc etc.

Lifted from their timeless “Rum Sodomy & the Lash” album, here’s The Pogues:

14. The Pogues – Dirty Old Town

(Sorry George, more Zippyshare-ness for you to contend with)

And the offical reason for that song? “Joe Strummer stood in for Shaun MacGowan as The Pogues’ vocalist on several occasions…” Our reasons, whilst slightly more convoluted, are way better than that, no?

So, your suggestions please, along with your explanation as to how the hell you got there, via the Comments box below, for songs to link to “Dirty Old Town” by The Pogues.

More soon.