Namesakes #146: The Wombats

Some cute, cuddly little marsupials for you to pet this week. But which Wombats will make you go "Awww" and which will make you go "Arrrghhh!"?

THE WOMBATS #1

We start this week with some forgettable Wombats from Huntsville Alabama, 1965...

The Wombats - I Thought I'd Forget

THE WOMBATS #2

George might object to this one from 196? as they're only Gary's backing band... but I'm guessing when he listens to the actual tune, it'll be this week's winner. Who can resist a song called "Squidgy Bod"?

Gary & The Wombats - Squidgy Bod

THE WOMBATS #3

Vaguely psychedelic Chicago Wombats from 1967...

The Wombats - Blue Daydream

THE WOMBATS #4

American garage band from the 60s found on an old acetate with no label. The people who profiteered by shoving it on a compilation made up the name Wombats to have something to call them. Who knows what they were really called? (Maybe Ernie does.)

The Wombats - Please Come On

THE WOMBATS #5

U.S. punk Wombats from the early 80s...

The Wombats - What Can I Do?

THE WOMBATS #6

Took me a while to track down some audio for these guys, but I'm sure you'll agree that my persistence paid off. Chicago Wombats from 1996... brothers Kevin and Kegham Giragosian still play music today, as 60s tribute act The Neverly Brothers.

The Wombats - My My

THE WOMBATS #7

Liverpudlian indie band formed during the Landfill Era (2003) yet still kicking around today, presumably delivering nostalgia to the Millennials. Most famous for their bouncy song about Joy Division (which I'm sure all true Joy Division fans hate), though I tend to be more fond of their slightly misanthropic later work...

The Wombats - Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want To Come

THE WOMBATS #8

German hip hoppers from 2007...

The Wombats - Ich Schreib

THE WOMBATS #9

And finally today, some Russian pop-punk band from 2016...

The Wombats - Punk Rock Girlfriend

Nine Wombats for your aural enjoyment. But which ones drive you Wombatty?

Listening Post #20: Sorry I'm Late...

I never paid a lot of attention to Liverpudlian indie band The Wombats. I know their big hit from 2007...

The Wombats - Let's Dance To Joy Division

...but beyond that, I couldn't name another one of their songs.

However, I just stumbled across this, which they released late last year, and it would be rude not to pay it lots of attention, since they appear to have written it just for me...

Snapshots #225: A Top Ten Songs That Mention Other Bands In The Title

Here are this week's answers... Cheers!

There are loads of song that mention other singers (solo artists) in their titles. I'm sure we'll have a Snapshots or two that will connect some of them in the future. But I had a devil of a time finding songs that mention other bands in the title. Well done if you worked out the connections, although hopefully the extra photos helped... and a late night / early morning guest appearance from Brian to get the ball rolling.

10A. Solo insult from a Princess.

Princess Leia called Han Solo a "Nerf Herder".

10B. Van Halen

Nerf Herder - Van Halen

9A. Major Nathan Chin.

Anagram!

9B. The Velvet Underground

Jonathan Richman - The Velvet Underground

8A. Stubby marsupials.

Sounds like a bunch of wombats to me.

8B. Joy Division

The Wombats - Let's Dance To Joy Division

7A. Howling procession.

Wolf parade!

7B. Fine Young Cannibals

Wolf Parade - Fine Young Cannibals

(Credit where it's due: Ben gave me that one. It's a cool tune though. For a Ben recommendation.)

6A. Dusty MC Oldness.

Anagram!

6B. Daft Punk (Yes, that is what Daft Punk look like under their helmets.)

LCD Sound System - Daft Punk Is Playing At My House

5A. He's crackers!

Clearly he's half a man and half a biscuit.

5B. Styx

Half Man Half Biscuit - Styx Gig (Seen by My Mates Coming out of a...)

4A. The True USA.

Anagram!

4B. The Rubettes

The Auteurs - The Rubettes

Those are some tight pants.

3. Nervous, sad celebrities.

They're stars, but they're blue. And trembling.

3B. Abba

Trembling Blue Stars - Abba On The Jukebox

2A. Four kibbles.

Anagram! (I knew CC would get this one... with a little encouragement.)

2B. Fountains of Wayne

Robbie Fulks - Fountains Of Wayne Hotline

(Robbie Fulks loves FoW, by the way. He's not taking the piss. He genuinely appreciates their skills with a catchy riff. Rightly so.)

"Oh, that Gerald..." always makes me chortle.

1A. Courtney's home!

Where does Courtney Love live? D'oh.

1B. The Beatles meeting The Stones

The House of Love - Beatles & Stones

Come back to where everybody knows your name... even if they don't know all the answers... next Saturday.

My Top Ten Punctuation Songs

Following on from my grammar pedantry Top Ten, here's ten songs celebrating the wonders of punctuation.

Special mentions to Question Mark & The Mysterians, Slash, The Parenthetical Girls and !!! (which is a contender for worst band name ever: how do you even pronounce that?).



10. Discount - Apostrophe

Floridas own Discount. Sorry, I meant Florida's.

Being an English teacher, getting people to use the possessive apostrophe is the bane of my life.

9. The Wombats - Sex & Question Marks

Sex is one big question mark to me too.

Fans of the most inquisitive form of punctuation might also enjoy The Fuzztones - Look For The Question Mark.

8. Wire - Dot Dash

Wire use punctuation as Morse Code. Don't crash!

7. The Beat - Ranking Full Stop

Ranking Roger loved his Full Stops from the very first Beat single, of which this was double-A side with their more-played version of Tears of a Clown. The final full stop comes right at the end of the song though...

6. Spearmint - Punctuation

Today, class, Shirley won't just be teaching us about punctuation... but alliteration too!

Words! 
Alliteration 
Helps you hide inside your head 
Typewriter taps: use it as punctuation 
To escape every grey degrading day of your life

5. The Libertines - Up The Bracket

Pete and Carl in parenthesis. (Pair of annoying chancers?)

4. Thea Gilmore - Punctuation

In legal documents and religious texts, punctuation is all-important. Thea proves that here... 

‘Cause you see, I’ve got this theory that it’s only punctuation
That separates the list from you to me
And you can have your little war of full stops and meritings
But the real power’s in parentheses

3. Amanda Palmer - Ampersand

The ghetto boys are catcalling me
As I pull my keys from my pocket
I wonder if this method of courtship
Has ever been effective
Has any girl in history said
Sure, you seem so nice, let's get it on
Still, I always shock them when I answer
Hi my name's Amanda
And I'm not gonna live my life on one side of an ampersand 

Wonder what Neil Gaiman makes of that philosophy? (Let's not ask him, his answers tend to go on for years without end, like his stories.)

2. Vampire Weekend - Oxford Comma

So the Oxford Comma, if you don't know, is the optional comma you may sometimes use before the 'and' at the end of a list. Used properly, it can avoid confusion and comedy...

Vampire Weekend though, they don't give an f-bomb about it. Philistines.

1. Dan Baird - I Love You, Period

Top single from the former Georgia Satellite in which Dan's affair with his English teacher is curtailed by bad punctuation...

That's the problem with English teachers.They let pedantry get in the way of romance.



Question mark? Exclamation mark!

My Top Ten Disco Fire Songs

***I was going to bring you My Top Ten Fred Songs today, but blogger just deleted the whole post while I was editing it and I can't get it back. I am bereft. Luckily, I had this one in reserve. I'll dedicate it to all my blogging buddies who are getting together for gigs and good times this weekend. Try not to burn any discos down, guys...***

One of the biggest problems I have with compiling new Top Tens these days is finding myself with too many great songs that fit the criteria. A couple of weeks back, a song JC suggested in the comments made me think about doing an Indie Disco Top Ten: ten indie songs about discos. But when I started to compile my list, there were hundreds to go at... so I had to find a more specific subject matter.

The other problem I have when compiling lists like this is that, on occasion, the Number One is so blindingly obvious that it kind of renders the whole countdown irrelevant. At the end of the day though, it's just meant to be a list of ten tracks I dig. The order is only for you guys to argue about. That said, depending on your age or tastes, there are TWO blindingly obvious choices for Number One this week. My choice will surprise nobody who's been reading this nonsense for any great length of time, but let's remember: it's the journey, not the destination, which matters.


10. Michael Jackson - Burn This Disco Out

One of the lesser known tracks from Off The Wall, this has some great brass stings. Not sure how you burn a disco out though.

9. Pop Will Eat Itself - Radio PWEI

Mentions Disco Inferno. Also mentions most other words in the English language.

8. Pet Shop Boys - Burn

It took the Pet Shops Boys thirty years before they decided to join The Smiths.

7. Clinton - People Power In The Disco Hour

AKA Cornershop's Tjinder Singh and Ben Ayres, this contains the excellent observation that "disco is the halfway to a full discontent", before exhorting us to "get this disco heat onto the streets", which is close enough for a shoehorn.

6. Wombats - Backfire At The Disco

As previously revealed, there are a great many records in my collection that I've never actually got round to listening to. Confession time: this is the first time I've given this song the time of day.

I like it.

A lot more than I expected to.

5. David Bowie - Bring Me The Disco King

Finally released on Bowie's 2003 album Reality, this was originally recorded to a fast disco beat with Nile Rodgers ten years earlier. As far as I know, that version has never been released, though I'd love to hear it. It'd have to go some to beat this version though...

We could dance, dance, dance through the fire
Dance, dance, dance through the fire

4. Shed Seven - Disco Down

Imagine Oasis had a sense of humour and a record collection that went beyond their dads' old Beatles, Kinks and Who vinyl. I have very fond memories of seeing Shed Seven play live back in the day; I never understood why they weren't more widely acclaimed...

Feels like I've been
To every single disco all around
Another night, another town
It's time to burn this disco down

3. Electric Six - Danger! High Voltage

Fire in the disco...
Fire in the Taco Bell...

I have featured this ridiculous song a number of times before; I will likely do so again. I wish I could tell you that one day I will grow out of it and not want to watch its preposterous, high camp video ever again... but honestly, I hope I never do.

The song becomes even more enjoyable when you know that the "female" vocals (as mimed by actress Tina Kanarek in the video) were actually recorded by Jack White.

2. The Trammps - Disco Inferno

Written by Leroy Green and Roy 'Have Mercy' Kersey. I want that as my middle name! (Oh, wait a minute, Rol is my middle name. Forget that then.)

The most obvious contender for Number One?

You might think so...

1. The Smiths - Panic

A song so majestic that when I imagine its intro, I add a fanfare in my head. I am actually surprised when the fanfare doesn't happen.

This is the Smiths song I am most likely to quote when discussing music, particularly if anyone ever asks me why I don't like modern (i.e. anything from the last 30 years) dance music. "It says nothing to me about my life." I'm sure you all know the story behind the origins of this song, but here's a cool visual reminder...

Panic took a stand against pop music that had nothing to say, but was bizarrely accused of a racist subtext by those who considered disco to be "black music". Johnny Marr countered by threatening to "kick the living shit" out of the NME writer responsible, while also pointing out that there were no black members of New Order. The NME went on to vote Panic the sixth best dance record of 1986.

Burn down the disco...
Hang the blessed DJ!
Because the music they constantly play
It says nothing to me about my life

Which one makes you want to burn, baby, baby?

My Top Ten Stripping Songs

Is it me, or is it getting hot in here...? Time to take off a few more clothes.


10. Hawksley Workman - Striptease

This gets in here purely so I don't have to mention the song with the most offensive title in my record collection. (It's by The Bloodhound Gang... but it's not one of their better offerings.)

Anyway, dig Hawksley Workman.

9. Chris De Burgh - Patricia The Stripper

The Lady In Red Man attempts to become Noel Coward. So bad it's good... (perhaps).

See also this entirely different song of the same name by The Wombats which - quite incredibly - manages to be nowhere near as "good" as old crazy eyebrows.

8. The Birthday Party - Nick The Stripper

Nick is a fat little insect, hideous to the eye. I'd save your cash if I were you.

7. Stereophonics - She Takes Her Clothes Off

I know - what sort of crazy fool places the Stereophonics above Nick Cave?

It won't happen again, I promise.

6. Morrissey - Striptease With A Difference

Never officially released (Moz obviously didn't like it very much), this sees the Pope of Mope getting involved in a late night game of Strip Poker, trying his best to lose...

Exchanging a king for your two
While you're out of the room
Have a shufty over your shoulder
Well, all the same, it's a shady game
And I want to lose...

5. Depeche Mode - Stripped

Let me see you stripped down to the bone

Sigh. You always have to take things one step too far, don't you, Dave?

4. Sohodolls - Stripper

Ah, yes, the 21st Century Republica. Take that as a compliment if you wish...

3. Adam Ant - Strip

Do you know what's insane? This single never made the Top 40. (It peaked at #41.) Record buyers of 1983, hang your heads in shame.

When it gets so hot the end of the day
You may find your clothes getting in the way
If a pretty dress hides your true desire
Fold it nice and slow, throw it on the fire

2. Jermaine Stewart - We Don't Have To (Take Our Clothes Off To Have A Good Time)

Have a glass of cherry wine on me.

1. Mansun - Stripper Vicar

One of Mansun's finest, though it obviously owes a great debt to The Smiths' Vicar In A Tutu. Video filmed at Fountains Abbey, North Yorkshire, I reckon.

And we know him as our vicar
And by night a part-time stripper
And the vicar got suspended
In his stockings and suspenders
And he's making wine from water
While he dresses like his daughter
And we know that he's a rip off
'Cos we've seen him with his kit off

Anyone who suggests Man 2 Man meets Man Parrish loses 274 points immediately.

My Top Ten Let's Dance Songs

No further explanation should be required...


10. Earth, Wind & Fire - Let's Groove

Let this groove get you to move... it's all right. All right.

9. Smash Mouth - Let's Rock

Or, if disco won't get you down on the floor... how about a bit of ska-influenced moshing?

From the album Fush Yu Mang. 'Nuff said.

8. The Raveonettes - Let's Rave On

My type of rave - Spector-influenced, fuzzy guitared rock 'n' roll with plenty of feedback.

7. We Should Be Dead - Forget Romance, Let's Dance

Good advice for everyone.

6. The Wombats - Let's Dance to Joy Division

Celebrate the irony.

5. Chris Rea - Let's Dance

Wow, Chris Rea looks really young in this hilariously naff 80s video. Great guitar though.

4. Freddie Mercury - Let's Turn It On

Let's turn it on, come on all you people, get together
Turn it on, turn it on, and let's get everybody dancing!

See - it does fit the theme. I'm not just shoe-horning it in 'cos  love Freddie. 

3. Chris Montez - Let's Dance

Whether you want to do the Twist, the Stomp or the Mashed Potato, Chris is your man.

(What the hell is the Mashed Potato? No, don't answer that.)

Or you may prefer to take the Ramones up on their offer instead...

2. Nat King Cole - Let's Face The Music And Dance

There may be troubles ahead...

1. David Bowie - Let's Dance

Serious musos turn their noses up at Bowie's poppiest album, but I was just the right age for it. Plus, the opening section of the video, where Dave is performing, virtually unnoticed, in a grubby outback bar, is great. (The whole red shoes fairy tale that follows is far less interesting.)




Let's dance! Which one makes you want to put on your red shoes and dance the blues?