laughter fills the air and everyone is singing...

Hello, hello. Apologies for being a little late, but I've had a busy evening. Firstly I walked into town to have a quick beer with Lord B and this man before they went off to watch A-Ha, and then I had to dash home to host a dinner party with some old friends (foie gras and cassoulet, since you ask - I was listening to "Meat is Murder" as I ran through the final preparations too... I'm not sure Morrissey would have been too impressed).

Anyway. Enough about my renewed obsession with The Smiths (compilation CD coming your way soon, Cheeky...).

It's time to bow down before the God of Earworms... Amongst other crosses he bears, this week's guest editor is a fan of Nottingham Forest. Be gentle with him.

Yup. Ladies & Gentleworms, without further ado, it is my great pleasure to present for your earworming pleasure.....

Earworms of the Week - Guest Editor #29 - bytheseashore

Thanks very much to SwissToni for the invitation to share my earworms, and to the other guest editors for a good read every week. I nearly didn't make it this week thanks to an accident with a kitten, a bottle of beer and my laptop, so apologies for making this week's earworm late. Anyway, welcome to my week which features a suprising lack of The Smiths:

(Just Like) Starting Over - John Lennon
Despite being a big Beatles fan, most weeks they wouldn't feature in my top ten earworms. This week, however, loads of their songs have rattled around my head but the one that sticks in relation to John is 'Just Like Starting Over' which is usually an earworm this time of year. It's nowhere near his best but suggests that he was close to becoming to comfortable with who and where he was which I suppose is a better place than any to stop.

Everyone Thinks He Looks Daft - The Wedding Present
Also inspired by a 60s icon, being from the album 'George Best.' The intake of breath at the start of this song is one of my favourite starts to an album and the ringing guitars and Gedge's dour delivery still sounds fresh. If you think it sounds pedestrian be rest assured it wasn't the same live when the crowd reacted to it violently. In a good way.

DARE - Gorillaz
An utterly, utterly catchy tune. I've played it very loudly on the way into work every day this week which has helped to get me started in the morning although that should probably have happened before I got in the car. I still have a difficult relationship with Damon Albarn; I'm a massive Blur fan and can think of few artists who could go on to front a second successful band but, you know, he comes across as a self-absorbed tit as a person doesn't he? A bit like the indie Robbie Williams.

The Fallen - Franz Ferdinand
This is my favourite track off their new album. Other than the fact that it's a cracking tune it's stuck in my head because of 'Well who gives a damn about the profits of Tesco?' and 'Woo Hoo.' Any song with a 'woo hoo' or variant thereof cannot possibly fail to be great.

Generate It Again - The Datsuns / The Beach Boys
This is a bit of a cheat because it doesn't exist outside of my head. I'm not sure that if you mashed The Datsuns 'Harmonic Generator' and The Beach Boys 'Do It Again' that anything coherent would emerge, but it does for me.

Ray Of Gob - Go Home Productions
The new Madonna album is the first of hers I've bought. At first I thought that borrowing an Abba song was awful but I warmed to it in the end. I prefer 'Ray Of Gob' though - 'Ray Of Light' over The Pistols' 'God Save The Queen' and 'Holidays In The Sun.'

All That Jazz (from the musical 'Chicago')
A few months ago I went to New York. It was my first trip outside Europe and I loved the place. I really like musicals so saw 'Chicago' on Broadway. Actually I slept through a good part of it thanks to the jetlag. 'All That Jazz' brings back vivid memories of the holiday. I really, really want to go back. It's the first foreign city that I've thought I'd like to live in.

Shuffle Your Feet - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
I've been entranced by BRMC since their first album, possibly because live they used to remind me of The Jesus And Mary Chain. A bit. As soon as I heard this I realised they'd taken the 'difficult third album' cliché and thrown it out the window. I couldn't have imagined that they'd produce their most powerful album by going acoustic. I've hardly stopped listening to it since it came out. And it's got a harmonica on it, which is nearly as good as a 'Woo Hoo.'

Taking My Business Elsewhere - Richard Thompson
I've been through the emotional wringer this year, having come out of a nine-year relationship and faced redundancy. As a result I've tried to avoid sad songs; Bob Mould's 'The Next Time That You Leave' once laid me low for the best part of a week. Thompson, though, has written some powerful bittersweet songs that take me in but don't seem to bring me down. Fortunately I've never waited in a bar until closing time before admitting that I've been stood up so this hasn't upset me at all.

All I Want For Christmas Is You - Mariah Carey
Does it feel like it's nearly Christmas to you yet? Most people seem to have their own triggers; dark nights, snow, lights, food, family, whatever. For me, and I can't begin to explain why, the festive season will absolutely not start until the first time I hear this song. I'm not remotely a fan of anything else by the warbling, hamster-cheeked fruitcake but there's something about 'All I Want For Christmas Is You' that completely puts me in the mood. It's been this way for years and for some reason has no effect if I play the song myself; I need to hear it spontaneously. I'd like to think I could join a support group but in this case I think I could be in a minority of one.

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Hold on a second, I need to check something..... yes.... I can confirm that we have our first Christmas earworm. Sadly, it's Mariah Carey and not Slade, but you can't have everything.... I'm also very sorry to hear about the incident with the laptop, but kittens are very cute, aren't they? Aw. Poor little thing! Another excellent list though, so thank you for that.

Next week, all the way from Just South of Stupid, we have AdamAnt from What's Wrong With....

[previous guest editors: Flash, The Urban Fox, Lord Bargain, Retro-Boy, Statue John, Ben, OLS, Ka, Jenni, Aravis, Yoko, Bee, Charlie, Tom, Di, Spin, The Ultimate Olympian, Damo, Mike, RedOne, The NumNum, Leah, Le Moine Perdu, clm, Michael, Hyde, Adem, Alecya]