...and now it chills me to the bone.

Earworms of the Week

“Careless Whisper” – George Michael

It's now reached the point where I keep a list of earworms on the whiteboard by our team at work, and we keep a rolling update of what's going in in our heads as a team.  This week, I'm sorry to report, seems to have been something of an 80s big hair bonanza, as you can see... but the one that proves one of the hardest to shift is actually a carry-over from last week.  The saxophone on this is so infectious that it seems to spread from person to person, from desk to desk until we're all singing the damn thing.  We keep re-infecting each other too.  I'm not sure that having it written down on a whiteboard is helping us get rid of it either.  Send help.  In the name of all that is merciful, send help.

“Stonehenge” – Spinal Tap

It's been something of an odyssey of film discovery for one of my new colleagues.  She was astonished the other week to discover that another member of our team had not seen a single one of the Harry Potter films.  She just couldn't believe that he wouldn't be interested.... and then it turns out that she basically hasn't seen anything worth seeing: Pulp Fiction, the Big Lebowski, American Beauty, Groundhog Day, Lost in Translation, Coming to America.... She looked up The Life of Brian today and decided that she wasn't interested because "It's just a bunch of blokes on crosses", which is perhaps the least representative film review ever.  She did watch the Shawshank Redemption this week, but only gave it a 7/10 because she found it a bit depressing and couldn't get past the fact that Andy only fought off the sisters some of the time.  She also watched Brewster's Millions, which she enjoyed very much, but was forced to regrade Shawshank because she felt that Brewster was worth more than a 6/10 but wasn't in the same class as Shawshank.  I told her that she would have to mark Spinal Tap out of 11.... and she looked confused.  Not seen that one either then, eh?

“Don’t Stop Believing” - Journey



Is it too much to hope that this might live up to the perfection of the original? Maybe?
Are you a Vampire? I think we're going to be just fine....

“Total Eclipse of the Heart” – Bonnie Tyler

Another team earworm.  The colleague who started this one didn't even realise what she was singing until it was too late.  She was just singing "turn around bright eyes" and thought she was doing the song about rabbits... but sadly, I knew better but all bets were off by then and the damage was well and truly done.

“Blurred Lines” – Robin Thicke featuring Pharrell

Terrible date rape record, but all the ladies I know seem to love it.... which probably tells you everything you need to know about how much I know about ladies.

“Duet” - Everything Everything

One of my favourite songs from the album and it sounded absolutely epic live at Rock City on Monday night.  I'm so pleased and gratified that they were good live, and especially that Jonathan Higgs was able to sing that falsetto so flawlessly.  A good gig and my favourite band of the year so far.

“Wrecking Ball” – Miley Cyrus

Not only did one of my team make me listen to this song earlier this week - I'd only heard about it before and was blissfully unaware what it actually sounded like - but she also forced me to watch the video with BBC Radio 1's Greg James swinging naked on a wrecking ball.  I haven't even seen the bloody Miley Cyrus original and now I can't unsee the sight of Greg bloody James in the buff.  Gah!  Damn you all!  Damn you all to hell!  FWIW, watching the video for the first time tonight, I have to say that Sinead O'Connor has a point and Miley Cyrus - for all the publicity she's got for it - needs to think long and hard about how she's allowing herself to be portrayed.  How empowering is licking a hammer, honestly?  Greg James?  NO.

Dansons la capucine



I honestly believe that this is the most charming video on YouTube. There is an English version, but it's not a patch on this.

Flea attack!  Poom!

“Alone” – Heart

I think this was probably my revenge for "Total Eclipse of the Heart".  I reviewed a band called Teenage Casket Company for LeftLion earlier this week, and I'm pleased to say that they are a band - formed in 2003 - who have produced an album of beautiful hair metal.  They say it was a genre that died that day in 1991 when Nirvana released Smells Like Teenspirit, but truly great music never dies.  This lot have ballads that make you want to lift your lighter to the skies.  One of them, I swear, sounds like this record.  Looking at the Heart video, the 80s were a great time for hair, weren't they?  (Although, first comment on YouTube? "26 years later and i still want to bang nancy wilson". Cheers for that insight, 1979WSchamps!) This is a great song, mind.  Earworm heaven.  Everyone at work pretended they didn't know what this was, so I played it out loud and ALL of them we DOOMED.  I'm an evil genius.  Proper music.  Proper hair.  The end.

Have a great weekend, y'all.