As I'm sure everyone appreciates, we're all trying to distract ourselves during these crazy times. There are many polls, quizzes and the like on t'internet to help people think about happier days and to just generally help our brains keep ticking over. Just for fun I thought I'd post the results of a song challenge I'm currently doing on Twitter, one week at a time. And, of course, the beauty of doing it here at TGW-S is that I'm not hampered by Twitter's character limit so I can waffle on to my heart's content. Here we go:
Day 1 - A song you like with a colour in the title
Purple Haze by the Jimi Hendrix Experience
Well, it's Hendrix. What more can I say? THAT guitar riff, " 'Scuse me while I kiss the sky", the feeling that the sky was now not the limit, early psychedelia at its rawest, perfection.
Day 2 - A song you like with a number in the title
Song 2 by Blur
Song 2. Second song on its parent album, 2:02 minutes long, got to number 2 in the charts
Woo-hoo!
Day 3 - A song that reminds you of summertime
Walking Barefoot by Ash
Yet another noise-pop nugget from one of my all-time fave live bands. Tim Wheeler's lyrics are often elemental, concerned with the seasons, the weather, the sun and moon, the pains and pleasure of love as if it was an elemental force itself.
Day 4 - A song that reminds you of someone you'd rather forget
Vienna by Ultravox
I'm not really a fan of the 'Vox but this is a fine, windswept example of overblown '80s pop. And, no, I won't be going into who it reminds me of.
Day 5 - A song that needs to be played LOUD!
The Ace Of Spades by Motorhead
Okay, this may not be THE classic Motorhead line-up but it's still a cracking performance of a mighty tune and being part of The Young Ones makes it an important moment in pop culture. Obviously.
Day 6 - A song that makes you want to dance
Liquidator by The Harry J All Stars
A seminal Trojan Records single. Brings back memories of school discos, Young Farmers discos and youth club discos and pestering every DJ to play this tune. ( I actually didn't go to that many discos but it's a word that doesn't see the light of day much any more so if I can use it 4 times in one paragraph I think it makes the world a better place. )
Day 7 - A song to drive to
Cadillac Ranch by Bruce Springsteen
Bruce obviously has many "car" songs in his repertoire but this is one of my faves - an unpretentious, foot-to-the-floor rocker.
"1, 2, 3, 4...!"
So, that was Week 1. Tune in next week to see if I manage to keep up the manic pace of thinking of one song a day. It's going to be tricky.
And, finally Esther, a big shout out ( as DJs probably still say? ) to Pete and Dave who have been joining me on this trip into stereophonic sound on Twitter. They are, of course, two-thirds of the legendary Kids From Rec Road and you can read their highly unlikely comic strip adventures here.
3 comments:
Some nice tacks there. Below are some of mine presented here with the proviso that I will probably remember other songs 10 minutes after I post this.
Song with a colour
White Light/White Heat by the Velvet Underground
Originally released around 1968 I first heard this about 1977/8 when I picked up the album after reading about Bowie raving about them. Not my fav Velvets song but it’s a cracker (and you picked the all-time colour classic)
Song with a number
20th Century Boy – T-Rex
A lot to pick from in this category, but when I first heard this in 1973 it was still poppy enough for me to enjoy whilst at the same time having a bit more to it than the standard bubble-gum music fair of the time. It still holds up today a great fresh song (imho)
Summertime
Give me some kinda sign by Brenton Wood
I vividly recall as a kid (around 68) listening to this on Top of the Pops on a nice hot day. It’s a fun upbeat tune with a great hook. Hadn’t heard it in years until around June 2018 when I was in H&M with my better half and it came on the in house radio (a gem in amongst the bile played in most of these stores) – took me right back to a hot day in 1968ish and watching TOTPs on our black and white TV.
Song that reminds me of someone I would rather forget
Babylon – by David Gray
Only because an ex of mine loved this and our relationship did not end well. It’s an ok if somewhat annoying song that is certainly not on my favs lists but it fits the category.
Play it loud
Immigrant song by Led Zepplin
Brilliant stuff, even better at full pelt by a band in their prime.
Song to dance
Got to give it up – Marvin Gaye
So good even the recent song that ripped it off is good. (although “Wild Wild Life” by Talking Heads is a close second for me)
Driving song
On the road again by Canned Heat
Really underrated (I think) band from back in the day with some great songs.
Hope you are all keeping well.
Thanks for playing along, Paul! Some great, great choices there. Velvets, Bolan, Led Zep and Marvin? It doesn't get much better.
I didn't know the Brenton Wood song so have just Googled it - what a cracker! This is probably the TOTP episode you're talking about? -
https://youtu.be/qtjpzXPcwKw
Wonderful stuff! Will have to check out more of his music.
I'd love it if you could drop in again next week with some more songs? It's always good to hear from you. Stay safe, mate.
Thanks for the link and yes that is probably the very TOTPs I saw as an 8 year old. It really is scary at times how long ago this was and although it doesn’t seem to me like it happened yesterday, it certainly does not seem like 52 years ago (arggh even just typing that out is a fright to the old system) .
Brenton Woods other songs are not as commercial but from what I have heard they are pretty good (a few duff ones all the same).
Oh I love things like this and as a music and comic book geek I am already thinking of the next list of songs (will try to add a link as well to the song ). I'm also looking forward to reading your next list of songs as some I haven’t heard before other I forgot about.
Glad you and yours are keeping well.
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