I mentioned last week that I had prepared and stockpiled several mixes whilst I was away, and it turns out this was quite fortuitous, as I’ve had a few technical issues with iTunes and the DJ mixing app I use, which I haven’t been able to fully resolve yet (and which I won’t bore you with here). I mention it now merely as apology for the absence of any posts this week.
I also mentioned last week that some of the mixes needed “…need a bit of tweaking…” and when I managed to listen back to them all, it transpires that there was something about a lot of them that I wasn’t entirely happy with, be that the running order or the song choices.
Also, having (finally) returned to work last week, albeit on a phased return/reduced hours, and working from home, I haven’t quite got the work/home ratio quite right yet. When logging off my work laptop, the last thing I then felt like doing was cranking up my own one and starting all over again.
But enough about my own woes; what I’m trying to say is this: this week we have a playlist which wasn’t planned to be posted for several weeks, but hey ho, here we are.
Anyway, it’s the usual mix of indie tunes and pop songs either fondly remembered or pretty much forgotten (with good reason, some might say) that you’ve come to know and, in some instances, if not love then quite like.
If you’re the sort of person – and I know I am – who enjoys watching leading figures from a much-despised political party batter each other, like competitors in a real-life version of Tekken, then it’s been a pretty good week.
First, popular rhyming slang Jeremy Hunt and subject of an HMRC investigation Nadhim Zahawi were eliminated from the chase to be the new PM, swiftly followed by current Attorney General Suella Braverman, who seems to have no understanding of what the term ‘legal precedence’ means.
And then there were five: Kemi Badenoch (former Northern Ireland minister who once had to ask if she needed a passport to go to Belfast), Penny Mordaunt (former TV belly-flop expert), Rishi Sunak (less said the better), Liz Truss (Thatcher cosplayer) and Tom Tugendhat (ex-forces, but rarely mentions it), all of whom appeared on a Leadership Debate on Channel 4 last night.
I couldn’t help but wonder if, given that the Conservatives seem hell-bent on selling the broadcasting channel off, this was some kind of trap, but the event seemed to pass relatively uneventfully.
By which I mean: each candidate said almost exactly what you expected them to say.
Resigned to the fact that I’ll hate whoever wins, I have moved to a position where I can just enjoy the spectacle of MPs rounding on each other.
For example: former Brexit minister Lord David Frost (not that one) said Ms Mordaunt was not up to the job when she was his deputy in the EU talks. He told TalkTV (so we’re told, no one can corroborate) that he had ‘grave reservations’ about whether the international trade minister is fit to be Prime Minister, that he was ‘surprised’ by her success in the contest so far and that she ‘did not master the detail that was necessary’ in negotiations with Brussels.
You know, like he did.
The remarks were seized on by the Truss campaign, with Treasury Chief Secretary Simon Clarke saying: ‘Lord Frost’s warning is a really serious one. Conservatives – and far more importantly our country – need a leader who is tested and ready.’ We’ll come back to this later.
But I come here not to defend or champion any one of them.
The telling point in the candidate’s debate was when they were asked a simple question: do you think that Boris Johnson is an honest person? All dodged the question, with the exception of Tugendhat, who, in a move previously unrecognised by MPs, actually answered the question.
“No,” he said.
In other, unrelated news, the other candidates all enjoyed promotions under Johnson’s leadership, and many of them say that they wish to carry on (or should that be Carrie on) the *ahem* good work he did.
This is my big beef with them, that they keep churning out the lie that Johnson “got all the big decisions right”. Did he? Are they talking about a different Johnson in a parallel universe that I’m unaware of? Because from where I’m sitting I can’t see a single thing that he did get right.
Brexit: not done, not “oven ready”, so poorly negotiated that even he admitted the Withdrawal Agreement needed to be renegotiated.
Covid vaccination roll-out: claimed as a Brexit victory, it had nothing to do with Brexit whatsoever; the UK medicines regulator confirmed that we approved the vaccine under EU rules
Err, that’s about it as far as “big decisions” go, I think.
And then you look at the candidates. Take Rishi Sunak, Chancellor of the Exchequer throughout Johnson’s tenure. He’s now trying to pitch himself as something new and different to what has gone before. He has a plan, apparently, to get us out of the economic hole we find ourselves in, seemingly oblivious to the fact that it was his economic policies in his previous role which got us here in the first place.
Yes, Rishi, you did resign, but only in a desperate attempt to distance yourself from the Boris stink. Up until then you supported and emboldened him. Heck, you even took a fine for attending the same lock-down party as him. Different? Not so much.
Think about all the issues that this country currently faces, and then consider that future power lies in the hands of one of these five candidates, all claiming they have the solution whilst all the time avoiding the real question: who has been in Government for the past 12 years?
It’s like they think we’ve all forgotten how they supported and empowered Johnson…
Apparently, chief forgetfulhead Liz “Pork Markets” Truss seems to be the bookies favourite. But bear in mind the Tory faithful – who actually get to decide who our next PM will be, not you or I – will want someone “tested and ready” at the controls to steer us unwaveringly through the final stages of Brexit…
Oh. Ooops.
No matter who wins, Jarvis is still right (effing and jeffing warning):
I got quite excited the other day, when I went into my Drafts folder and saw this title.
“Zut alors!” I exclaimed, thinking that I must have at the very least started writing the next installment of The Chain. And that I was French or German or whatever that language is.
But no, my laziness and ineptitude was laid out there before me, for all I had done was write the title, and that was it. Classic me, if my deadline nightmares are anything to go by.
Anyway, hello, and welcome back to the latest in what is turning out to be an increasingly infuriating occasional series: The Chain.
But at least it’s here, right? We all need distractions and things to think about at the moment, things to fill the time, and surely there’s no finer way to spend some time than reading what folks from all around the world can link to one particular song. It’s what Covid-19 was invented for, surely.
A brief reminder for those new to the shnizz we get up to here: we’re working our way through the songs played on The Chain section of Radcliffe & Maconie’s 6Music show, coming up with alternative suggestions, and listening to them all instead of just the one (Mrs Wembley). 80s sitcom gag, there, to help you acclimatise to the level of writing you can expect should you venture further.
I used to write these once a week, but then couldn’t be arsed lacked inspiration for a year or so, brought it back and suddenly find myself wondering where the days/weeks have gone and how it’s got to the point where I really should have written it by now has arrived.
Anyway, blah blah blah poor old me….let’s be off.
This episode, just to be different, we’re not going to start with the source record from last time. Well not quite, anyway.
No, instead, we’re going start with the first part of one of Rol from My Top Ten‘s suggestions:
The album version of Tubthumping opens with an inspirational quote from the great Pete Postlethwaite, taken from the movie ‘Brassed Off’…
Dammit, it’s done my head in for years trying to remember where I recognised that from! Cheers, Rol!
Before we go any further with Rol’s suggestion, I’ll hand you over to one of the two people who insist on emailing me (which is fine, by the way) their suggestions rather than popping them in the Comments section:
You may recall that last time out The Great Gog got a little obsessed with the county of Hampshire. And rightly so: if Hampshire had a church steeple with a 123-metre spire, then them pesky Ruskies would be queuing up to smear Novochok all over it and any corporate Italian restaurant chain in the immediate vicinity (I’m nothing if not topical).
Anyway, things don’t appear to have changed much in the Land of the Gog:
The album containing Tubthumping is Tubthumper.
Thumper is a rabbit in the animated film Bambi.
There are lots of cartoon rabbits in the animated film Watership Down.
Watership Down is set in some Hampshire fields – which could take us all the way back…
Is it too early to be handing out points for Comments Showboating? I think not: POINTS!
By the way, I’m not going to post the Points Table every time I write one of these, as nothing much will change from one post to another. It’d be like looking at any sports league table over the past four weeks. I’ll update things and do it every couple of posts or so.
Or…The Great Gog continues…stretching the link to breaking point (You’re by no means the worst cuplrit, fill your boots)…given my ramblings above…[this] would seem appropriate:
The soundtrack to Brassed Off was performed by the Grimethorpe Colliery Band, Rol continues. The Grimethorpe Colliery Band also played on this famous John Peel favourite:
Next up, over to The Robster from the annoyingly still dormant Is This the Life blog who offers this:
All I could come up with is Get Up by R.E.M. but I’m sure I can come up with something else given time. Probably got, what, 18 months before the next installment? which is a bit rich, coming from the man who only posts anything at the end of the year. Go on click that link to his blog, let’s see if we can’t get him back in action. Your country needs you, Rob!
I posted the album version of this song not so long ago in my I’m Not Too Keen on Mondays series, so here’s a slightly different version, a live one, which pops up as one of the bonus tracks on the Collector’s Edition of the Shiny Happy People CD single.
But since the band themselves have practically disowned that single (guitarist Peter Buck once described it as “relentlessly upbeat” and also said “If we did one of those per record, I could see how it could get a little embarrassing”) maybe we should too; it’s notable for it’s absence from many of the Greatest Hits compilations, despite it being their =4th biggest hit in the UK (after, in reverse order: Leaving New York (#5), E-Bow The Letter (#4) and The Great Beyond (#3))
They weren’t so embarrased by it that they declined to do this, though (and who could blame them: would you turn down the chance to appear with the Muppets on Sesame Street???)
I love that the female vocalist is a Muppet who looks like Kate Pierson from The B-52s who, as you all know, provided the additional vocals on the single.
But I digress: this version is neither the album version nor the tucked-away-on-a-limited-edition-CD single version, but one I *coughs* obtained from a long gone and much missed blog called (I think…) The Independence of Tractors (long-time bloggers and blog followers may be able to jog my memory….I’m thinking of featuring this soon and would like to accredit, so if anyone has any info….y’know….), who once posted the whole of the band’s Tourfilm DVD as a series of mp3s:
Onwards, then, to the next suggestion, and to Alyson from What’s It All About? who proffers this:
I got a bit worried when you mentioned Jarvis and his controversial stunt at the Brits as I remember whose expense it was at. But no, it was our friendly water boys who if I remember correctly soaked Two Jags Prescott. Sticking to my Scottish band theme I’m therefore going to go with The Waterboys for the next link and sticking with my “water” theme in this comments box, the song….
I think I should step in and clarify that, according to their Wikipedia page, they’re a Scottish-Irish band..
Anyway, nice of you to bring up the subject of Chumbawamba’s dust up with John Precott at The Brits, as this gives us licence to go off at a bit of a tangent.
To start things off, here’s George:
AChumbawumba was involved in an altercation with then deputy PM John Prescott, who was the MP for Hull. Also from Hull was Mick Ronson, who played guitar on:
It’s not really a surprise that Ronson was involved, given who wrote the song and who – keen-eared listeners will have noticed – also provides backing vocals on that: one Mr D Bowie Esq.
George adds: I was going to go from John “Two Jags” Prescott to The Jags and Back of my Hand, but changed my mind.
What, and you think that’s going to stop me posting it? Of course you don’t, you know I won’t be able to resist:
Since we’re on Prescott, indulge me for a moment with my two favourite clips involving him. The first isn’t really about him, but it is from a documentary he made back in 2008 called Prescott – The Class System And Me:
I guarantee you, she voted Brexit.
And then there’s this notorious clip:
In his defence: a) what would you do if someone chucked an egg at you? and b) later (admittedly when he’d had time to get someone else to write a witty response think of something clever to say, he came up with this: “Well, Tony Blair asked me to go out and connect with the electorate….”
Anyway, that leads me to my next suggestion of the week:
Over now to Martin from New Amusements who proffers this Prescott related…um… jewel, I guess:
Like George, I’m going with a John Prescott connection, but hope to craft mine into a Double Linker. Yes, Danbert Nobacon once up-ended an ice-bucket over John Prescott at the Brits, but John Prescott was also memorably once replaced on ‘Have I Got News For You’ with a tub of lard, so I can surely claim a double link to Tubthumping for anything lard-related, so I’ll pitch:
He’s not done yet: …which, lest we forget, featured Marc “Lard” Riley. Since this is also about drinking, much like Chumbawumba’s chorus, could this be a Triple Linker? And maybe a point for worst suggestion of the week?
I don’t think I can refuse, can I, dear reader? It’s unquestionably the worst record of the week (POINT!) and he has managed to get a triple link out of this, the first time this has happened as far as I can recall (Ermmmm…points, I guess….).
I think we need to cleanse our palate a little, and remind ourselves that Martin could easily have dodged the sub-Barron Knights tosh that is The Shirehorses by referencing it and then directing us to this:
If that’s not a double-linker, than I don’t know what is.
Well, yes, Yes it is. POINTS!
Anyway, for continuity purposes, take a step back. If You Tolerate This… was the band’s first #1 single in the UK (I’m sure this can all be traced back to a shared cheese salad…) and it contains the line “Well, if I can shoot rabbits, then I can shoot fascists”, which leads me to another draft post of mine which I never got round to finishing. And neither Chas nor Dave are anywhere in sight.
This one even had a semi-clever title: “You’re Not The One For Me, Fascist”.
I’ll hand over to the ever wonderful Charity Chic to explain:
Chumbawumba recorded a song with Credit to the Nation called ‘The Day the Nazi Died’…
Ordinarily, I wouldn’t allow a suggestion which was simply “X recorded the source record, and they also recorded this”, but since this was a collaboration with the frankly quite marvellous Credit to the Nation, I’ll let it slide.
Plus: Charity Chic has a point to make:
….Morrissey (who may or may not be a Nazi) – he continues (“Not my words, the words of Top Gear car magazine!”) had a song called:
…And he is a bit of a tub these days who could probably do with a good thumping…Charity Chic signs off.
Just in case you’re not sure what CC is banging on about, or on which side of the fence you should be sitting when it comes to the whole “Is Morrissey a racist?” question, well I’ll leave you to make your own mind up.
And here to help you is a picture of him performing live on The Jimmy Fallon Show in May 2019:
And here’s a close-up of the badge he’s wearing on his lapel:
In case you’re not familiar with it, and I hope you’re not, that is a For Britain badge.
For Britain are not nice people.
Oh my, indeed.
Here’s my rule of thumb when it comes to Morrissey, which you are welcome to adopt: yes, when he was in The Smiths he made some inflammatory comments in interviews, but none of them leaked into his lyrics. Since The Smiths split and he went solo, they have. Regularly.
So: The Smiths – fine to still express love and admiration; Morrissey solo – tread carefully.
Which leads me to a suggestion from Jules of Music From Magazines fame, which *checks notes* I’m disqualifying becuase *checks notes*…well, I’m not sure why to be honest, but I am and that’s that:
Carrying on with the high five, Mel Brooks ‘Hitler Rap’
Ah now, I remember; in response to Charity Chic’s anti-Moz post, Jules responded: A high five for that and I don’t think that’s enough to allow it.
Yes, I am a strict Taskmaster, and yes, Greg Davies, watch your back!
What else have you got, Jules?
As I am a tad partial to a cider drink or eight anything I suggest at closing time will make sense….
Well, long time readers of The Chain will know that certain things crop up repeatedly. For sure is eggs is eggs, someone will suggest either a record by The Clash or Bruce Springsteen just to annoy George, and Jules will suggest something by Lambchop.
No, not that Lambchop….
So let’s unclasp the shackles and let Jules free; I have to say that I almost rejected all that you are about to enjoy, until I thought about his first suggestion a little harder:
Any crossword fan would see the anagram “wham bam Cuba” and the country’s name was nailed by the Gibson Brothers:
Now, let’s be honest: every time we’re unlucky enough to hear that, all we can really think of is this:
…Dave Grohl left the drum stool, strapped on a guitar and became Mr Foo…which sounds like a George Formby record (“Oh Mr Foo, what shall I do…? A niche joke, I know), but I’ve gone off at enough tangents, so we’ll leave that.
This song has featured in The Chain before so strictly speaking should be disqualified, but looking back I see that both this and The Rezillos version were suggsted at the same time, and, unable to choose between the two, I posted both. So I’ll let this slide too…but only so I can post my favourite record about somebody getting their head kicked in:
…link being Chumbawamba covered this on the “Fuck EMI” compilation.
Which leads me back to The Robster, who hasn’t quite had the eighteen months he ribbed me with earlier to think things over, but nonetheless has returned with this:
I remember when Tubthumping came out, it was released on EMI *shock-horror* a filthy major label. The band was deluged with accusations of selling out and going back on its DIY ethos. But one of the reasons they signed to EMI was because previous label One Little Indian rejected the ‘Tubthumper’ album as they didn’t like its sound. The band subsequently signed to EMI as “…experience had taught us that in a capitalist environment almost every record company operates on capitalist principles. Our previous record label One Little Indian didn’t have the evil symbolic significance of EMI but they were completely motivated by profit. Our position was that whoever we signed with would want us not for our ideas but for the potential profit, so we’d battle for a contract where we still had autonomy.”
So to that end, I’m offering up…a song about the music industry’s obsession with making moolah with little regard for the art:
Hang on a minute: that’s two mentions of the same record company in as many messages. It’s almost like somebody has manipulated it so the suggestions fell this way…
We’re on the home stretch now, I promise. And with the finish line in sight, the baton is thrust into Alex G’s hand:
Of course, a song about a man who drinks a whiskey drink, a cider drink, a lager drink AND a vodka drink naturally leads us to Shane MacGowan. I suppose any song would do, but just to keep the theme going, it may as well be…
What Alex G omits to mention is that That Woman’s Got Me Drinking features the guitar work of one Mr Johnny Depp. When he’s not acting in the latest Tim Burton movie, or appearing in an advert for something smelly, or getting stopped at the border of an antipodean country trying to smuggle dogs across and subsequently being forced to make an apologetic if half-arsed video rather than go to jail, or defending himself against allegations of domestic abuse for that matter, there’s nothing Mr Depp likes more than to pop up in unexpected places:
Where were we?
Ah yes, booze related songs. I’m surprised there wasn’t more of these. Let me chuck one into the mix:
…on the bonus cd of Different Class, Jarvis trying very hard to keep his own accent rather than channelling Phil Lynott.
Pat has a point; I much prefer it when Jarvis sounds like Jarvis, rather than trying to sound like a drug-addicted partner of gameshow host Leslie Crowther’s daughter.
Two famous song titles are more or less quoted in the lyrics of ‘Tubthumping’ – the first one being ‘Danny Boy’, which, as we all know, is the Anthem of Northern Ireland. And what is the finest thing Northern Ireland ever produced, apart from ships (minus the Titanic. Obviously)?
Alas it’s not [I know] (although, Jez, nevertheless this should be a good excuse to include said tune in your essay straightaway), because, as I said, another song is being mentionedand that is ‘Don’t Cry For Me Argentina’. Yes, I have noticed that Chumbawamba omit the ‘Argentina’ – bit (and replace it by ‘next door neighbour’). But this is purely for copyright infringement reasons, I’m sure.
Now, ‘Don’t Cry For Me Argentina’ is a song done by Julie Covington back in 1976. But only (freaks like) you and me know this. And Wikipedia. To the wider public another version is much better known, and that’s the one by Madonna from 1997.
So the link, no question about that, is, to my great dismay (because I would have LOVED to see my other option), Madonna’s version of ‘Don’t Cry For Me Argentina’.
I mean, love ya for trying and all that, but it isn’t the link, and frankly Covington’s version pisses all over Madonna’s attempt, so Dirk: you shall (metaphorically) go to the (metaphorical) ball!
I always thought that ended rather abruptly, like the whole orchestra had spotted that David Essex had the microphone again, and downed tools to wrestle it from his sweaty palms.
Last one, now (sort of), for inspired by Dirk’s moving words, Walter has something else to offer:
…as Dirk said ‘Danny Boy is is the North Irish anthem and House of Pain celebrated the Irish style on their first album. Therefore I suggest:
(We may have to explain the difference between Northern and Southern Ireland to our overseas friends one day. But not today.)
I say sort of, because of course I have something else to offer.
Dirk also mentions Danny Boy, and you’ll recall that, several hours ago when you first started reading this, Rol mentioned the film Brassed Off and The Grimethorpe Colliery Band.
Which, just to make this all nice and circular (you know, like I know what I’m doing) makes right here a pretty good point to jump off:
Brassed Off was on Film 4 the other night. It remains a thing of beauty. If you haven’t seen it, or even if you have, and have a couple of hours to kill (which, I think I’m safe in saying we all do at the moment) then you could do a lot worse than spend them watching this: it’s up to stream on the C4 app All4.
And that leaves just one thing: the unveiling of the next link in The Chain, and trust me, had anybody got this I would have been suspicious.
Here’s the official link from Tubthumping to the next record:
[Tubthumping] was once sung by Homer Simpson of cartoon fame. He also sang:
Your suggestions then, please, along with your explanation of how your suggestion links to Mellow Yellow by Donovan, via the Comments section below or, if you must, by email to dubioustaste26@gmail.com.
Minus points to anyone who suggests Coldplay. You’ve been warned.
And so, the return of the series which more than any other, when a song I don’t recognise has popped up on my iPod when on shuffle has made me go “What the feck is this…?” (sometimes in a nice way, often not).
Yes, it’s the very long awaited (be modest, it says here – Ed) return of the greatest thing on the internet (oh, don’t bother then – Ed): The Chain. And hopefully The Chain Gang are all assembled, like slightly nerdy versions of The Avengers, except all hot, bothered, and ready to rock and maybe even ‘n’ roll a bit too.
For the unitiated, this is the series where I blatantly nick an idea off Radcliffe & Maconie on BBC 6Music, and ask for suggestions for songs linked to the next in a series of songs. But here’s the rub: free from the constraints of time and the length of a radio programme, instead of picking just one, I’ll post all of them, then ask for suggestions linked to the next in the official series. This way, we (ok, probably just me) gets a hell of a diverse playlist to while away our days, and a whole lot more fun than usual compiling it.
And did I mention there are points to be earned?
Well, yes there are. Totally meaningless points; you won’t be winning a prize or anything, but points nonetheless. And here’s how your suggestion can win them:
Correct Guess: 3 points (fairly self-explanatory, this one – guess the song which is the next in the official 6Music sequence and these could be yours)
Double Linker: 2 points (for a suggestion which works on two levels, and definitely not a sex toy)
Showboater of the Week: 2 points (for the most convaluted link between the source record and your choice)
Worst/Cheesiest Suggestion of the Week: 1 point (again, I would hope this category needs no further expansion).
Up until this reboot, points have been awarded and then discarded, but whilst the series has been laid off, I’ve gone through all the old posts and where I have specifically said that points were being awarded, I have totted them all up and will continue to do so. And if you don’t believe my accuracy, go ahead, check for yourself, my stats could do with a boost.
So we’ll start off by having a look at the league table as it stands
1: George 17
2: Swiss Adam 13
3: Alyson 9
4=: Charity Chic 8
The Robster 8
6=: The Swede 7
SWC/Badger 7
8=: Dirk 6
Rigid Digit 6
10= Alex G 5
Martin 5
The Great Gog 5
13= GM Free 3
Jules 3
Kay 3
Rol 3
17 The Beard 2
And so George would appear to be the Liverpool FC of the group, romping into a twenty-two four point lead as he has, although it should be noted that at least one of the point-winning categories was invented as a result of a particularly breath-taking bit of bullshit linkage by him way back in the day.
So where were we? Oh yes – asking for your links to this record:
Now I figured this was a really easy way to restart the series: just send me any song which has some sort of drug reference involved. Pop music, and music in general, is quite literally littered with them.
Look, here’s one, and it seems a particularly appropriate place to start:
I only mention this because I was somewhat underwhelmed by the amount of suggestions I received this time. I’m putting this down to two things: firstly, the amount of time it’s been since the last post in this series, and secondly, me moving the suggestions to email rather than via the Comments Section.
I think the latter is the biggie here, so screw it, we’ll go back to suggestions via the Comments at the end of the post again.
I had a bit of a moan about this to Kay at work the other day, as she hadn’t suggested anything – not behaviour fitting of someone equal 13th in the league table of dreams, I’m sure you’ll agree.
Her response was that she couldn’t think of anything other than the theme tune to Wizbit.
In case you’re confused, or one of those annoying young people, or both, Wizbit was a 1980s children’s TV show about a magic alien, shaped apparently like a wizard’s hat, but to these eyes as a fully unpeeled Dairylea triangle:
Yes, that is Paul Daniels you can hear in that, and that’s why Kay immediately earns herself a point for sort of suggesting by far and away the worst song of the week.
See, easy this, innit?
Although I figure a spoiler alert is needed at this point: nobody guessed the correct next record in the Official Chain, so there will be no points awarded there.
But let’s see what the rest of you have suggested and I think this time around, I’ll just take them in the order I received them.
First out of the blocks was The Robster:
“One song sprang immediately to mind. It’s not obscure, it’s not clever, it’s bleedin’ obvious really but a great track nonetheless:”
That, right there, is your actual I-Spy book for party drugs. Have you ticked them all off yet? Well don’t (I am contractually obliged to say) because drugs are bad.
And now things get tricky, for the next email I received was from Jules and it contained a YouTube link. This one:
…which I assume is meant to be an allegory for the Phoenix from the flames that is The Chain, or example of the worst porn on earth. Hard to tell with Jules, to be honest.
So whilst we dwell on that, here’s George, who any moment now will have the word POINTS! ringing in his ears:
“The last song was by Pulp, whose front man was Jarvis Cocker, which leads to Joe Cocker, so I suggest Delta Lady. In another connection, both men are from Sheffield.”
And now I’ll hand the reins over to the newest member of The Chain Gang, Pat, who gives me several thoroughly decent suggestions, although I’ll need to explain this first one a little.
The E in the title of the Pulp song refers to Ecstacy, a party/clubbing drug also referred to colloquially as “pills”, for that is the form in which they are swallowed (as opposed to smoked, injected or sniffed). Who needs Susie Dent, amIright Countdown fans?
I’m glad you made that distinction, because the drug referenced in that song is more likely to make you visit an all night garage to buy a Twix or a pastry product at 4:00 am than it is to lead to illicit dancing…
(I plumped for that version just so we could all all hear Peel’s slightly befuddled voice at the end, which momentarily makes my day brighter whenever it happens.)
And finally from the font of Pat, this, which he justifies as follows:
“…linked to a night out that doesn’t quite work out as planned….”
…which doesn’t sound like any night I ever had on E’s or Whizz, but you can’t choose your friends, can you? (Or is that what they say about family….I forget….)
Now, have you ever found yourself wondering whether your favourite bloggers prefer their orange juice smooth or with the bits, as I believe it’s technically referred to on most packaging, left in? Well, wonder no longer, for here’s Alyson from What’s It All About to answer that nagging doubt for you:
“There is Pulp in Orange Juice (and I usually prefer mine with it left in). Will therefore go for the band Orange Juice and the obvious song, Rip It Up.”
I invited Rol, as I think I did to all who submitted suggestions, to feel free to send more, and sure as eggs is eggs, he came back with the following:
“…whizz is an example of onomatopoeia…”
Whoa, there tiger! A clarification is required here: although not in the context we are talking about whizz – I’ve never known a drug to make any kind of noise, onomatopoeiac or otherwise, although I’ve made a fair few odd ones when ingesting the same – think Billy Whizz from The Beano and you get where Rol is coming from.
“…so you could have the song with that name by either John Prine…”
Over now to The Great Gog, who frankly had me flummoxed by the very matey tone of his email, which came from someone called Dave. A quick explanation later and needless to say we all saw the funny side, and he came up with not one but two suggestions.
Floor’s yours The Great Gog/Dave:
“I’ve always been intrigued by the line: ‘Mother, I can never come home again ‘cause I seem to have left an important part of my brain somewhere in a field in Hampshire’.
Basically, why Hampshire? I can’t think of any other song that mentions it by name, although two of its cities have been the subject of Top 5 hits.’
And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why The Chain exists: not so you can propose songs you like by some contrived link you’ve struggled to come up with (although, that’s fine if you do, hence the Showboating award), but to suggest songs which link to the source material, regardless of whether they’re any good or not.
“Why? Pulp front-bloke Jarvis Cocker co-wrote Walk Like A Panther for All Seeing I. Jarvis has said that the song was written specifically for Tony Christie to sing, and he was instrumental in getting Christie on-board – even flying out to Spain to meet him and convince him.”
Oh go on, then. Don’t mind if I do. (I’m trying out new catchphrases):
Now, you’ll recall that we left Jules from Music From Magazines hanging with an odd Dallas clip. Shortly after receiving that, Jules sent me an actual suggestion, which…well, since it wasn’t by Lambchop, as Jules’ suggestions usually are, let’s just say it took some deciphering.
But we got there in the end, despite Jules’ insistance not to bother, and here we go:
…which is included because of the lyric: “Go out and get me another roll of pills.” I think.
Sorry George, we almost made it.
And finally, as they used to say on The Two Ronnies, one last contribution from The Great Gog, who is still wittering on about Hampshire:
“The rather marvellous British Sea Power popped up on random play and the song referenced a field in a county adjacent to Hampshire – I’m guessing it is potentially unique. Said county was Wiltshire and the track was….”
Which seems far too classy a way to bow out, so let’s end as we began, if for no other reason than it will look like I know what I’m doing, with a supplementary conversation with Kay.
“What about ‘Magic E’?” she said, which isn’t exactly the kind of proposition one expects from their boss.
Turns out she was talking about this, of which I have no memory whatsoever:
Magic E (Look & Read)
Wait a minute. I recognise that voice. That’s your actual 70s/80s TV kids presenter/legend Derek Griffiths, isn’t it?
Here’s what Wikipedia has to say on the subject:
A popular song was “Magic E”, originally written in the mid-70s for Words and Pictures to demonstrate the silent E and the change in pronunciation of preceding vowels — for example: “cap” becomes “cape” with me, “tap” becomes “tape” with me. The song’s simple lyrics about changing the words with “magic E” were memorable and simple to learn.
And then:
“…most of the songs were sung by Derek Griffiths.”
Which means I can end on a note much more befitting of the nonsense that goes on here:
Except, of course, to reveal the identity of the next record in the official Chain, chosen because Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker once caused a bit of a fuss at the Brit Awards. So did frontman Danbert Nobacon.
Who’s Danbert Nobacon, I hear you ask.
Well, he’s in this band, and this is the next song in The Chain:
So, you’re suggestions please for songs which link to Tubthumping by Chumbawamba, along with a brief explanation of the link, either by email to dubioustaste26@gmail.com or via the Comments section at the bottom, whichever you prefer.
Fewer suggestions than usual this week, which I’m putting down to either some of the regular contributors being on holiday at the moment, or perhaps to the record to link to being a little uninspiring.
Also, thankfully, you guys seem to have calmed down a little on the multiple suggestion front. Not that I mind, but after last week’s post, I was thinking about introducing a new rule: a maximum of two suggestions per person.
By the way, it seems that Cutpi, my usual file server has completely died, or been closed down, so we’re back to Zippyshare. I have no plans to reupload all of the stuff I’ve previously posted, but if there’s a dead link anywhere back there you’d like me to repost, give me a shout via the Comments section and I’ll think about it.
Anyway no need for me to impose any such rule this week, so let’s get straight on to it. You’ll recall we left it last week with Peter Gabriel’s “I Don’t Remember” as the tune to suggest links to, and first up this week was The Great Gog, who wrote:
“In the process of packing for my hols, so just a simple and very obvious link this week. No Memory by Scarlet Fantastic.”
Have to admit I had completely forgotten all about this tune (no pun intended):
“Do you suffer from long term memory loss? The band asked the singer from Chumbawamba one balmy summer night. I don’t remember was her cheery answer. And thus the single ‘Amnesia’ was born. But of course you have to post the Jimmy Echo version.”
“Peter Gabriel was in an awful band called Genesis. Genesis is the first book in the bible. Exodus is the second. So Exodus by Bob Marley and the Wailers please”
Certainly, although I was looking forward to you moving forward a few books and giving me a song with Deuteronomy or Leviticus in the title instead. Some either time, maybe:
“Peter Gabriel is mentioned in a Vampire Weekend song so we could have ‘A-Punk’ by them…”
(Just so you guys know, me not owning or dis-liking a record/band/artiste is no impediment to them getting posted here, and this is a perfect case in point. As anyone who knows me will attest, I have “a thing” about Vampire Weekend, which I can neither articulate nor reason. There’s just something about them that rubs me up the wrong way. I can’t explain what it is, or why. Anyway, they’ve been asked for, so I have obtained the track in question, and here it is. I’ll give it another listen and see if my mind has changed):
Nope. Sorry. Still leaves me cold. I’m the same with Julia Roberts and Keifer Sutherland, if that’s any consolation.
But wait: S-WC isn’t done yet:
“Or…Peter Gabriel once made a record with Kate Bush – let’s have some Bush!! – Kidding – that record was called ‘Don’t Give Up’. FKA Twigs had an alternative idea when she sang ‘Give Up’.”
Now, I know you haven’t technically suggested the Gabriel/Bush duet, you’ve merely referenced it to get to the FKA Twigs tune, but I love that song, so here’s both:
FKA Twigs are one of those acts I’ve heard bandied about, but not actually heard before. So, to balance out my earlier comments about Vampire Weekend, I really like that, and have gone and got me the album on the back of this suggestion. So, y’know, cheers.
“Peter Gabriel has released four self-titled albums (to date), and “I Don’t Remember” is track four on the third of them. Weezer have released four self-titled albums (to date) and “Heart Songs” is track four on the third of them.”
I have a theory about Weezer, and it is this: all their best tunes are on their self-titled albums (or the ones sub-titled with a colour). Discuss.
Next we have What’s It All About, Alfie? who wrote “…my first ever live concert (as a kid) was The Bay City Rollers and one of their first hits was “Remember” but best not to go there probably or else you will lose most of your followers!”
With thanks to Charity Chic for stepping in and pointing out “If Chesney [Hawkes] featured [last week] there is surely a place for the Rollers!”
Just as me not owning/disliking a record is no impediment to it getting posted here, neither is a suggestion being uber-cheesy. For much as we all enjoy hearing the cool or clever tracks that are often posted here, so I enjoy revisiting some of these old singles that might make us cringe and hide behind our fingers. If I could direct you all to the tag-line to this blog and repeat the mantra: “There’s no such thing as a Guilty Pleasure”
So yes, there is a place for them here (although my apologies, the mp3 is a little on the quiet side):
Guess who’s back? Yes, just like Eminem, it’s George:
“Can I have a second go, linking to a prog rock band that features a flute playing lead singer?”
Such manners! Asking before making a second suggestion! Of course you can!
“Thanks. Here you are. On that Peter Gabriel album Dave Gregory played guitar. Dave Gregory was in XTC. He is now a member of prog band Big Big Train (whose lead vocalist Dave Longdon is an all-round decent bloke, an ex-colleague of mine, and a multi-instrumentalist – he can, for example, play the flute!), one of whose songs is Make Some Noise (which has some fine flute-ing)”
Okay, okay. You got me. Totally tucked me up like a kipper there, George. Of course, I figured he was going for Jethro Tull, but no.
Okay, time for the last of your suggestions for this week, and I’ll hand you over to The Swede from Unthought of, though, somehow:
“That’s also Robert Fripp playing guitar on ‘I Don’t Remember’. A year earlier, in 1979, Fripp released a solo LP, ‘Exposure’. ‘Exposure’ features guest vocals from Peter Gabriel, Terre Roche (of The Roches), Peter Hammill and Daryl Hall. The latter co-wrote and sings on ‘You Burn Me Up I’m a Cigarette’.”
Never heard that before, but I like it. It’s like Daryl Hall singing with Dr Feelgood as a backing band.
And so to my suggestions. Two from me this week: firstly, from his first solo album, Morrissey’s (imagined) response to Peter Gabriel saying “I Don’t Remember”:
And secondly, and more magnificently, even if I do say so myself, and continuing Charity Chic’s biblical suggestion, Gabriel was of the name of the angel of the Lord in that fantasy thriller The Bible, so here’s a song about an angel:
Okay, so all that’s left to do is post the record which officially followed Peter Gabriel’s “I Don’t Remember”, which none of you got, although S-WC came mightily close to bagging the bonus points this week. Close but no cigar.
Don’t get me wrong, that’s a great record…but the link is a bit of an anti-climax after all your wonderful suggestions, isn’t it?
Anyway, you know the drill by now. Send me your suggestions for records that link to Kate Bush’s “Hounds of Love”, plus an explanation of how you got to it, via the Comments section below.
A History of Dubious Taste 