I'm too full to swallow my pride....

Earworms of the Week

A little later than usual, perhaps, but I've just been on an 80-mile round trip mercy mission to rescue a 7 year old and her father, sopping wet from the log flume, after they lost their car keys at Drayton Manor Park and Zoo......

The usual assortment of shit this week, although I have very little idea how most of this found it's way into my head.  What I do know is that I've been driving everyone who sits anywhere near me mad by singing much of this lot out loud.....

"I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Out of my Hair" - South Pacific

Look, I've never even seen South Pacific and I don't have any hair.  How this one found its way into my head is going to have to remain a mystery, as I haven't got a clue.  Great song though, no?  Apparently, washing your hair on screen didn't have the same effect as it did onstage in the original music, because EVERYONE washes their hair on film.  So there.

"Happy Days" theme tune

Well, it's catchy alright, but again no clue as to why it was in my head.  This song actually makes me think of the video to Weezer's "Buddy Holly", where of course the band are digitally inserted into an episode of Happy Days.... presumably before Fonzy literally jumped the shark and the whole series went down the toilet.

"Future's So Bright (I Gotta Wear Shades)" - Timbuk3

I remember taping this when it was played in the Top 40 back in the day.  1986, ladies and gentlemen... and when I heard it on the radio on the way back from work the other day, it actually still sounded pretty good.

"Black Horse & the Cherry Tree" - KT Tunstall

This popped into my head when I was swimming this evening.  As always when this song crops up, I have to mention how amazing KT Tunstall was when she performed this as a virtual unknown on "Later...." some years ago.  She was completely on her own, and built the song up, bit by bit, recording samples as she was going along to layer the track.  It's on the link above, and it's well worth watching.  Why it popped into my head in the first place, I have no idea.  Good song though, eh?

"Children of the Revolution" - T-Rex

 I don't like T-Rex.  Shallow, superficial nonsense.  Wrote a few decent choruses, but that's about as much credit as I'll give him.  Alright, so this is a pretty reasonable riff.  BUT THAT'S IT.  I heard "The Laughing Gnome" on the radio this evening, and that's a better song than this.  Possibly.  Plus, I love the story that, when he was on his greatest hits tour some years ago, Bowie had a phoneline for fans to vote on what song he should play.  "The Laughing Gnome" won, every night.  He didn't play it once.  Pah!  Spoilsport.

"The Birds" / "One Day Like This" - Elbow

Guess which band provided the song titles that I used in this week's report then? I used "Starlings", "Leaders of the Free World" and "Neat Little Rows".  So neither of the two songs that subsequently got stuck in my head. Go figure.

"No One Knows" - Queens of the Stone Age

Sunday night at Glastonbury?  Sorted.

"The Wombling Song" - The Wombles

... and probably my favourite act on the whole Glastonbury bill this year. Paul Simon? Morrissey? Don McClean? U2? Coldplay? Beyonce.... you can keep'em.  It's all about the tidying up (as anyone who has seen the litter devastation of the festival will be able to confirm).  I used to have a tape of Wombles songs, including a nice little number about Madame Cholet ("..as sweet as cafe au lait").  You can't argue with the theme tune though, eh?  Mike Batt might have made a fortune out of Katie Melua, but this is the proof of his genius.

"Sweet Disposition" - Temper Trap

Yeah, so it's been out for while and has been used to soundtrack a million montages, but I finally got around to buying it last weekend.  You know I was talking the other day about songs that you hear that sound like nothing else you've heard?  I think that this is one of those songs.  I have no idea if the Temper Trap album is worth having (and it seemed to be well reviewed on Amazon).... but the beauty of the internet is the ability to cherry pick, and so I did.

"So Lonely" / "I Can't Stand Losing You" - The Police

Here's the thing: there are other songs here, but in truth the only things that have really been stuck in my head all week have been songs by The Police.  I used to have "Outlandos D'Amour" and "Regatta de Blanc" on cassette, but I had a sudden craving last weekend to listen to The Police again, and no other band would do, so I downloaded a £3 greatest hits. I'll be honest, by the time we hit songs like "Synchronicity II", "King of Pain" and "Tea in the Sahara", then pretentious Sting has taken hold and the results are increasingly painful...."Russians" is no more than a particularly extended tantric sex session away, when we'll learn whether or not the Russians love their children too.  Mind you, the writing's probably on the wall when he's banging on about "that book by Nabakov" in "Don't Stand So Close To Me".  Far better on songs where he's talking about your girlfriend's brother being six feet ten or nobody knocking on your door, for a thousand years of more.  Simpler times.  Happier times.  Better songs.  Anyway.  Stuck in my head ALL WEEK.  Totally unshiftable.  My apologies to my colleagues.

At least it wasn't "Walking on the Moon" sung in a cod reggae accent.  "Neil Armstrong? Walking on me face.  Buzz Aldrin? Walking on me face...And then the third one, the spaceman, walking on me face.  All on the surfaces and looking at all the stuff... that the moon has got to offer."

That's it.  Have a good weekend, y'all.