Yet another atrocity in a school in the USA and many more children who have had their lives taken away so very early. What will it take before the gun law changes or will that never happen? As a part of the so-called ‘civilised’ western world I feel so angry and upset about mass murder. I suspect it won’t be long before the press and politicians blame the films the murderer watched or the books he read or the games he played or the music he listened to? What about asking how he got the damned guns?
I have nothing else to add other than the numbness I feel so here is the song that is going through my head right now. I know it may not be lyrically appropriate but the chorus hook line are what are getting me through. My thoughts go out to all the family and friends of all those adults and children so cruelly cut down in their prime.
So after my Partridge and pears post and yesterdays turtle Doves post can I assume that you’re now with the programme and you know what’s coming next in my 12 days of Christmas series? That’s good then, so now let’s chat about the three French Hens that my true love gave to me on the third day of Christmas shall we?
There are quite a few songs that I could have chosen and I have opted for two which I hope you will enjoy. Although if you wish to submit your own then feel free. So up first is the now rather twee spin-off from the excellent 80s/ 90s TV show ‘Spitting Image‘. yep it’s the one and only “Chicken Song”. I long for the return of ‘Spitting Image’ the politicians and celebrities these days really lend themselves to it don’t you think? The original puppets were created by Peter Fluck and Roger Law a.k.a Fluck and Law, frankly you couldn’t make up a better name could you?
The song was produced by Philip Pope and written by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor. It was seen as a parody of any number of Costa Del Booze holiday songs like “Agadoo”. “The Chicken Song” was number one in the UK for three weeks in 1986. It also reached the summit in Ireland. The B side of the single was another Spitting Image classic; “(I’ve Never Met A Nice) South African)”.
For my second French Hens song I have gone back a little further in time to 1969 for the wonderful “Do The Funky Chicken” from the late, great Rufus Thomas. One of the last big gigs from Rufus came in 1996 at the Atlanta Olympics when he appeared with another soul legend, William Bell. After Rufus died in 2001 a street just off Beale Street in Memphis was named after him. He had also recorded for Sam Phillips‘ Sun label before Elvis. On top of that his daughter Carla was another hit maker from the Thomas family. Rufus had quite a few animal and bird related songs; “Bear Cat” (1953), “The Dog”, “Walking The Dog” (1963), “Can Your Monkey Do The Dog” (1964), “Chicken Scratch” (1965), “The Preacher And The Bear” (1970), “Do The Funky Penguin” (1972) and “the Funky Bird” (1973).
And finally a Billy Bonus, some instructions showing you how to do the “Funky Chicken”.
I hope that after yesterdays Partridge and pears post you’re getting the hang of this. If you are then you’ll know that on the 2nd day of Christmas it was the turn of two turtle doves. The Turtle Dove in the UK is facing a bleak future. It is now believed there are only around 14,000 pairs left, which makes up a fall in population of 60% over five years. Anyway enough of the ecology for now and on with the music.
I have selected two dove related songs for your aural pleasure today. The first of those is from the purple pain himself, Prince a.k.a. TAFKAP (The Artist Formerly Known As Prince), Christopher and Symbol among other things. Incidentally I wonder if I might rename him TAFKADS (The Artist Formerly Known As Dove Soap) for this post. I’m sure you can guess which one of his songs I have selected can’t you? Yes it’s the classic 80s hit “When Doves Cry”. It was the first single to be taken from the timeless classic album ‘Purple Rain’. It was the last track on the album to be completed and not only did Prince write the song, he also played every instrument on it. Except of course the bass. Who played bass I hear you ask? Well actually it was no one, the song has no bass line in it. The song has been covered by may artists, including Razorlight, Patti Smith, Damien Rice and the Be Good Tanyas.
Prince vowed never to let Edward Scissorhands cut his hair again
It was also heavily sampled by MC Hammer on his song “Pray” from 1990. “When Doves Cry” was Prince’s first US number one single and remained at the top of the pile for 5 weeks in 1984. It also reached the top in Australia and Canada and sat at number two in Ireland and New Zealand. It reached only a relatively lowly number four in the UK. This was bettered by 1994’s “The Most Beautiful Girl In The World” a UK number one. In addition “1999”, “Little Red Corvette” and “Batdance” hit the number two position in 1982, 1983 and 1989 respectively. “Gett Off” and “Cream” both made number three in 1991.
The second dove related song on today’s post is from those North London Nutty Boys, Madness and it is “Wings Of A Dove”. Surprisingly, for me at least, it remains the band’s second biggest UK chart hit; it reached number two in 1983. It did reach the top of the charts in Ireland though. Their only UK number one was “House Of Fun” from 1982. It was a non album single written by Suggs and Chas Smash. The single also featured steel drums from the Creighton Steel Sounds and a gospel choir from the First Born Inspirational Church of the Living God. It was also used in the film ’10 Things I Hate About You’ in 1999.
Some of you may recall my Christmas advent calendar posts in recent years; these included UK Christmas number ones, Cover versions and an ABC of Motown. This year I have gone for something slightly different but one that sticks with a Christmas tradition at least. I will be making a series of posts influenced by the items in the song “The 12 Days Of Christmas”. I recognise that this won’t mirror the 12 days strictly according to dates as I am starting today, 13th December.
You know the first line of the song I’m sure. But here it is anyway “On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me, a partridge in a pear tree”. So what can I give you musically that relates to that line? Well two songs actually, first “I Think I Love You” from the Partridge Family. This song was a number one in the USA and Canada in 1970 and only managed number 18 in the UK. The song featured in the TV show ‘The Partridge Family’ in the same year, but only David Cassidy and Shirley Jones from the show performed on the recording.
The song was written by Tony Romeo who wrote a number of other hits in the 60s and 70s, including Lou Christie’s “I’m Gonna Make You Mine”. “I Think I Love You” has been covered by a diverse group of artists that include; Perry Como, Voice Of The Beehive and Less Than Jake. David Cassidy’s daughter Katie also covered the song when she was just 15.
The second song for the first day of Christmas comes from another music TV series, this time the Monkees. The song “Apples, Peaches, Bananas And Pears” was featured in the show but only found commercial release on the compilation ‘Missing Links’ from 1987. Monkee Mickey Dolenz was the lead vocalist on the song. It was written by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart. They wrote a number of other Monkees songs including “(I’m Not Your) Stepping Stone” which was originally recorded by Paul Revere and the Raiders and later covered by the Sex Pistols. The pair also wrote the following Monkees classics; “Last Train To Clarksville”, “Valleri” and the “(Theme From) The Monkees”.
So now you can enjoy the two songs from the first day of Christmas and I dedicate them to my own true love, Catherine a.k.a Catwoman. Incidentally did you know that the Partridge in the UK is becoming an endangered species with a fall in numbers of around 30% in the five years to 2010.
The Guardian ran a great article about the history of the Pogues classic Christmas song “Fairytale Of New York“. Whilst there was a lot in there that I already knew, there were some real gems that I didn’t. Notably that before it was decided to duet with the late, great Kirsty MacColl both Chrissie Hynde and Suzi Quatro were considered. Personally I think that Kirsty was not only the right choice but also an inspired choice.
the video for the song was directed by Matt Dillon and as he couldn’t use the NYPD choir as it doesn’t exist he invited the NYPD pipe band to take part. The pipe band duly joined Dillon and the Pogues for the shoot, however none of them knew the song “Galway Bay” which is mentioned in the song as “The boys from the NYPD choir are singing ‘Galway Bay'”. So if you watch the video carefully you can watch them mouthing the words to the only song that they all knew, none other than the Mickey Mouse Club chant!
If you’d like to read the full Guardian article click here. And finally to celebrate “Fairytale Of New York”‘s tenth appearance in the UK charts, it is at number 15 this week (also it’s 8th consecutive year in the UK top 40), enjoy the song below.
The Guardian published an excellent Q & A with Bobby Womack recently. I won’t list the whole article, but if you want to read it just click here. There were a couple of interesting mentions of Wilson Pickett and Sam Cooke. Apparently Mr Cooke liked to wear Estee Lauder.
There was also a reminder about how recently segregation existed in the USA, certainly and sadly well within my lifetime. But two little things took my interest. One is that Bobby’s favourite word is love and his greatest fear is cats. Surely he has to record a cover of the Cure‘s “Love Cats”. Have you heard his award-winning album ‘Bravest Man In The Universe’ yet? You should have, what’s keeping you? But is it right that the bravest man in the universe is scared of cats?
Like many people of my generation I was sad to hear of the hard copy demise of the Dandy comic this week, although it is still available on-line. I tried a few outlets today but was unable to get myself a copy of that final edition which has an appearance from Paul McCartney. So if anyone has a spare one let me know, I’d be happy to pay for it.
Now as this is a music blog I need to find a couple of Dandy appropriate songs, so here goes.
They say that opposites attract right? Well I think the same could be said for certifiable fruitloops too. Why would I say that? Well earlier this week Lady Gaga (clearly a fruitloop of the highest order) bought 55 items of Michael Jackson’s (a major league fruitloop) stage gear at a LAauction.
Many of Jacko’s stage clothes were designed and made by American costume designers Michael Bush and Dennis Tompkins. Some the items sold included one of his infamous crystal gloves ($115,000) and the less glamorous pair of jeans ($50,000). The auction did raise money for good causes as well. Some of the proceeds were given to a guide dogs charity and some to a Las Vegas hospice.
Many of Jacko’s fans have expressed their displeasure that Gaga would keep the items stored whereas they claim that Michael Jackson wanted them in a museum. Gaga made a brief statement via Twitter which read ‘archived & expertly cared for in the spirit & love of Michael Jackson, his bravery, & fans worldwide’. Clearly full of her usual bollocks, but not necessarily denying any public showing of some of Jacko’s stage wardrobe.
Given the ubiquitous nature of text messages these days I find it hard to believe that it was only twenty years ago that the first ever text message was sent. The message was despatched from a PC to a mobile phone by an engineer using the Vodafone network in the UK; the message was simply ‘Merry Christmas‘.
The development of texting or SMS (Short message Service) actually goes back further than that. It began as an idea by Matti Makkonen a Finnish Civil Servant. It was during a pizza meal at a telecommunications conference in 1984. his idea became the standard for the SMS facility that we use today. Strangely it was never patented, a little unlucky for Mr Makkonen then!
I assume that there were a few more texts sent in 1992, however the rise has been incredible with an estimated 8 trillion sent last year. I wonder what percentage of those were illegally viewed by the UK tabloid press?
So how about a few text related (some very loosely) songs to celebrate?
Based upon information released recently it is alleged that the US Government had planned to blow up the moon in the late 50s as a means of intimidating their nemesis in the Cold War, the Soviet Union. After the Russians effectively took the lead in the Space Race with the launch of Sputnik in 1957 it was apparently believed that a show of strength like blowing up the moon would really scare the Russians. Apparently it was called ‘A Study of Lunar Research Flights’ or ‘Project A119‘. Even that sounds a little James Bond like doesn’t it?
It really does seem like a crackpot scheme and it is unlikely at the time that anyone possessed enough in their nuclear arsenal to actually complete the task. At best it might have left the man in the moon looking more like the elephant Man and the satellite’s surface covered in high levels of radiation. In addition any debris that fell to earth would almost certainly have been radioactive as well.
I wonder if this idea came from the same think tank that thought of the idea of using an explosive cigar to blow up Fidel Castro or to rig the voting in Florida in 2000 in favour of Dubya. Ooops wait a minute that second one was true wasn’t it? had it happened then Neil Armstrong probably wouldn’t have been there to utter his famous ‘one step for man’ line. But then again maybe it did happen and didn’t work very well other than to make the moon radioactive. That would certainly give more credence to those people who believe the moon landings were faked and took place in a film studio directed by Stanley Kubrick.
I’d love to know what you think of this incredibly stupid, yet potentially real plan of Eisenhower’s government. Bearing in mind that his Vice President was Tricky Dicky Nixon, maybe it isn’t surprising! Anyway as I have said many times before so here are a few songs that may not have happened or certainly wouldn’t have been the same had the moon been blown to smithereens, feel free to add your own moon related songs.
Apologies but there are two kiddie fiddlers for the price of one on this next one!
And finally a special Billy Bonus, my favourite track from Pink Floyd’s ‘Dark side Of The Moon’; “Brain Damage”
