Soundtracks: Licorice Pizza

I finally got to see the movie Licorice Pizza (or Liquorice Pizza if you're from this side of the pond) by Paul Thomas Anderson of Boogie Nights & Punch Drunk Love fame. It didn't disappoint. The casting of Alana Haim (of Haim fame) and Cooper Hoofman (son of the late, great Phillip Seymour) was refreshing. Neither of them is conventionally Hollywood, but they have real chemistry, and their on/off relationship feels very real. There are great cameos from Sean Penn, Tom Waits, and best of all, Bradley Cooper, playing Barbra Streisand's (Strei-zand's) real life 70s beau, psychotic movie producer Jon Peters. 

For those of you a little too old to feel nostalgic for the 80s, here's a movie that glorifies the 70s - albeit 70s LA, which is about as far from 70s UK as you can get. Still, the sun is always shining, just as it did in our youth. And the music... well, it may not be Slade and Wizzard, but the soundtrack is still full of lost 70s gems (and quite a few from the 50s and 60s too). Of course, there's the ubiquitous Bowie track (Life On Mars, which apparently was stuck on repeat in every jukebox in the world from 1973 onwards), but also tracks from The James Gang, Blood Sweat & Tears,  Mason Williams, Taj Mahal and others. Not the obvious tracks either (apart from maybe a well-placed Gordon Lightfoot tune). Best of all though is this bobby dazzler, which turns out to be Suzi Quatro's only US Top 40 hit (shurely shome mishtake), teamed with Smokie's Chris Norman. In the UK, it only made #41...

Oh, and in case you're wondering, Licorice Pizza was the name of an LA record shop... for exactly the reason you'd think.

Saturday Snapshots #29 - The Answers

If yesterday's clues were all a blur to you... allow me to clear them up.



10. Oy! Rossiter! This is what James Bond might drink on the dark side of the moon.

Martin Rossiter is the lead singer of Gene. Bond would have his martini shaken, not stirred, with Pink Floyd.

Pink Martini - Hey Eugene

Charity Chic got the artist, Chris solved the song.

9. Bounce! Mrs. McCartney loses a: rare grown-up caterpillar.

If something is bouncing, it's bobbing up and down. Linda - a = Lind.

Bob Lind - Elusive Butterfly

Alyson broke out of her chrysalis to solve this one.

8. Women can be just like Van Halen. Crying Clitheroe or Weeping Watford?

A Girl Called Eddy - Tears All Over Town

And another one for Alyson!

7. Split up with your lad? Don't turn a drama into a Cold War crisis.

Fall Out Boy - This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race

And another one for... oh. Nobody. Guess that's a point for me then. (Unless it was answered after 9pm Saturday.)

6. Not Chubby Checker. Not New Order.

Fats Domino - Blue Monday

It never occurred to me before that Chubby Checker was just a rip off of Fats Domino. Perhaps it had occurred to Rigid Digit.

5. I'm overjoyed that you put everything you had into this.

Blood, Sweat & Tears - You've Made Me So Very Happy

Lynchie got this. Alyson kicked herself.

4. Make a big fuss while searching for Wonder Woman.

Hue & Cry - Looking For Linda

CC was this week's early bird... despite the fact that these guys had a lot more hair when they had their hits.

3. The next best thing to your daily song about Slash.

The next best thing to sliced bread?

Bread - Guitar Man

A point for C!

2. Swimsuits murder a song about Princess Leia.

Bikini Kill - Rebel Girl

Charity Chic solved this one eventually... though C and Chris were typing the title at the same time.

1. Jazz label gets mixed up with Bill Hicks musical.

The jazz label would be Bluenote. Mix it up and you get Bluetone. This song is named after a Bill Hicks record. Slight Return also owed a debt to Hicks, which was C's guess, but I prefer the track Rigid Digit eventually identified...

(This has a truly awful video - what were they thinking? - so I've posted the audio only.)


By my reckoning, this week's joint winners with 2 1/2 points each are C and CC. Well done, guys. Excellent teamwork as always.

More next week, double-decker buses permitting...