Snapshots #460: Walking Songs

Nothing better on a Sunday morning than a nice walk...

15. Shooting stars.

The Meteors - Stampede

14. Extinct after a very big one from above.

A very big meteor killed all the Dinosaurs, even the Pterodactyls.

Terry Dactyl & The Dinosaurs - Seaside Shuffle

13. That's Pipers & Jelly... Talking.

Lemon Pipers, Lemon Jelly... and Talking Heads.

The Lemonheads - Rockin' Stroll 

12. Poetic, Gas, Parking.

Three different Meters.

The Meters - Keep On Marching

11. Rag told me not to come with my new bag for One.

Rag Mama Rag, Mama Told Me Not To Come. Papa's Got A Brand New Bad, Papa Was A Rolling Stone (#1).

Mamas & Papas - Trip, Stumble & Fall

10. Hermes, revised. 

Hermes was the Greek equivalent of Mercury, the Roman messenger of the Gods. 

Mercury Rev - Delta Sun Bottleneck Stomp

9. "God bless us, everyone!”

That's what Tiny Tim says in A Christmas Carol.

Tiny Tim - Tip Toe Thru' the Tulips With Me

8. Karen tricks her group.

"Karen tricks" was an anagram.

Nick Straker Band - A Walk In The Park

7. One of Captain America's fathers.

Captain America was created by Jack Kirby and...

Joe Simon - Step By Step

6. Eel found between Fourth and Barry.

E from Eels between #4 (see below) and Barry White.

Matthew E. White - Steady Pace

5. Her father found a Newlove... but carried on with the old one too.

Kirsty MacColl's mum was Jean Newlove. Her father, Ewan MacColl "was also in a relationship with folk singer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Peggy Seeger (a relationship that would continue until his death in 1989), and already had a son with Seeger."

Kirsty MacColl - Tread Lightly

4. Tonight... I'll be Gene...

Tonight, Matthew, I'll be Gene Wilder...

Matthew Wilder - Break My Stride

3. I'll direct you to a 1937 disaster.

I've Led you to think about the Hindenburg, a disastrous Zeppelin.

Led Zeppelin - Trampled Underfoot

2. Polo, Battle... and a Britpop DJ.

Polo Mint, Battle Royale... and Lauren.

Mint Royale & Lauren Laverne - Don't Falter

1. No stolen girls! Not here.

"No stolen girls" was an anagram.

Rolling Stones - Midnight Rambler

Walk back this way next Saturday for more Snapshots.

One Final Halloween Snapshots Spillover

As it's Halloween, here's a final batch of horror film-inspired songs, starting with the Scream Queen herself. No, not Jamie Lee Curtis...

Kate Bush - The Fog

Next up, a track from the new Nick Lowe album, his first in eleven years. Apparently, he's spent the time catching up on movies like this...

Nick Lowe & Los Straitjackets - A Quiet Place

I couldn't let this series close without mentioning "the most amazing motion picture of our time", starring Michael Landon, presumably before he found God in Highway To Heaven...

The Cramps - I Was A Teenage Werewolf

Up into the hills next, for an encounter with some inbred yokels... have you ever been to Holmfirth?

The Meteors - The Hills Have Eyes

Irena Dubrovna discovered she was descended from an ancient tribe of Cat People who metamorphose into black panthers when aroused. Just like Manimal!

The original version of Cat People was released in 1942. Forty years later, a saucy remake roped this guy in to contribute to the soundtrack... 

David Bowie - Cat People (Putting Out The Fire)

Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was banned during the video nasties scare of the 80s, so it became something of a holy grail to teenage horror fans like myself, desperate to see it. When it was finally re-released in 1998, I rushed out to see it. The film does contain one of the most disturbing scenes I've ever seen... yet it's nothing to do with the infamous chainsaw, or even Leatherface himself. Instead, the bit that got me was the dinner party scene when they fetch Grandpa down from the attic...

The Tyla Gang formed in 1975 following the dissolution of Sean Tyla's previous band, Ducks Deluxe. I suspect there's more than a whiff of bandwagonary going on here... 

Tyla Gang - Texas Chainsaw Massacre Boogie

The other classic horror film banned throughout my adolescent video shop days was Mark Kermode's favourite: The Exorcist. Hard to believe it's 25 years since the censors finally allowed me to watch that...

Curtis Mayfield - Sweet Exorcist

Redd Kross - Linda Blair

The less said about the 2005 remake of House of Wax, starring Paris Hilton, the better. The 1953 original though, with Vincent Price, was one of the first mainstream Hollywood movies to be filmed in 3D. I generally hate 3D movies, but I reckon it'd be worth seeing this one again with the glasses on.

I found a whole bunch of songs named after this flick. Here's a smattering of wax on wax...

Miss Destiny - House of Wax

The Alderman - House of Wax

Bruce Woolley & The Camera Club - House of Wax

Paul McCartney - House of Wax

Nothing beats a good haunted house story for me though. And that one to beat in that genre is the 1963 version of Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House, known simply as The Haunting.

Whatever you do, do NOT watch the 1999 version with Liam Neeson and Catherine Zeta Jones. It's one of the worst films I've ever seen. 

Here are some post-Shane Pogues... so no way as scary as they used to be.

The Pogues - Haunting

And here's some Shane, in case you're missing him, along with Sinéad. I'm missing them both.

Shane MacGowan with Sinéad O'Connor - Haunted

Sadly, I couldn't find any songs named after the best haunted house movies of the 21st Century, the Paranormal Activity flicks, but I'm closing today with the film that got me hooked on horror movies back when I was a kid. I was obsessed with the Amityville Horror, reading all the books, watching all the films, and even looking favourably upon Lovebug Starski... 

Happy Halloween to you all. Hoohahahahahaaaa!

A Top Twenty Don't Worry Songs

It's been a particularly busy week and I've been worrying about the fact that I didn't have a post ready for today. I know that's ridiculous. It's really not worth worrying about...

20. David Knopfler - Papa, Don't You Worry

19. The Beloved - Don't You Worry

18. Kim Appleby - Don't Worry

17. Barbara Stephens - I Don't Worry

16. Love As Laughter - Don't Worry

15. The Meteors - I Don't Worry About It

14. Buffalo Springfield - Neighbour, Don't You Worry

13. Grand Funk Railroad - Please Don't Worry

12. Close Lobsters - Don't Worry

11. Marty Robbins - Don't Worry

10. Morrissey - Do Your Best And Don't Worry

9. The Quotations - I Don't Have To Worry

8. Gorky's Zygotic Mynci - Don't You Worry

7. Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell - Baby Don't Cha Worry

6. Thrush Hermit - Darling, Don't Worry

5. Frank Turner - Don't Worry

4. Stevie Wonder - Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing

3. Bobby McFerrin - Don't Worry, Be Happy

2. The Beach Boys - Don't Worry, Baby

1. Bob Marley - Three Little Birds

Don't worry: normal service will resume tomorrow.

My Top Ten Movie Murderer Songs

Last week's post on Infamous (real life) Murderers was really only a warm up for this, my Halloween special for 2018. I spent far too many Friday and Saturday nights when I was growing up watching gruesome horror movies about some very unpleasant bad guys. And despite what Mary Whitehouse said, it never did me any harm...

...or did it? Mwuh-ha-ha-ha-haaaa!

Here's ten songs dedicated to the bloodthirsty "heroes" of my youth...

10. Jon English - The Shining

Be afraid. Be very afraid. I'm not sure what's scarier... Jack Nicholson in The Shining, or Jon English in this.

Looks like hell, like hell, Jack Torrance knows it well
Look at it bubblin' in the boiler at the Overlook Hotel

9. Bloodhound Gang - Take The Long Way Home

The greatest trick the devil ever played... was getting you to listen to a song by the Bloodhound Gang.

Did you ever read Voltaire's "Candide"?
He says live life at Benny Hill freak out speed
Not a quote of what he wrote but a paraphrase
Make it up as you go, Keyser Soze

8. Alice Cooper - He's Back (The Man Behind The Mask)

Credit to the producers of Friday The 13th Part VI: Jason Lives... quite a coup getting Alice Cooper to put on the hockey mask.

7. The Ramones - Chainsaw

The Ramones were evidently fans of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and its gruesome killer Leatherface. Though he doesn't get mentioned by name here, he play a big part in the song. For an actual Leatherface namecheck, check out The Wonder Years - Suburbia.

The Ramones also had a song called Pinhead... long before this dude arrived on the scene.

6. Sammy Davis Jr. - Candyman

The movie came a long time after Sammy's song... but it's still pretty damned scary.

5. Landscape - My Name Is Norman Bates

They're weren't just about Einstein.

See also Blondie - Kidnapper... a very dark turn for Debbie.

Hey, you've got an unnerving face
And twitching eyes like Norman Bates

4. Manic Street Preachers - Patrick Bateman

Patrick Bateman wasn't all bad. He was a big fan of Huey Lewis & The News, for one thing.

By the way, if you've never seen it before, I seriously recommend watching Huey's response to that scene (along with Weird Al Yankovich). No, seriously. You owe it to yourself.

3. Sleeper - Nice Guy Eddie

One of many amoral psychos in the Reservoir Dogs community. Any excuse for a bit of Louise Wener.

2. Space & Catatonia - The Ballad of Tom Jones

No, I'm not suggesting that the Welsh Wonder is a serial killer on the side, but Cerys certainly accuses Tommy Scott of being a scary psycho...

You're worse than Hannibal Lecter,
Charlie Manson, Freddy Krueger

1. The Meteors - Michael Myers

Pure psychobilly from the early 80s, paying tribute to the daddy of all movie murderers... the one who famously wears a William Shatner mask... Michael Myers. Happy Halloween!



Now I'm just going down into the cellar. Don't worry, I'll be right back...