Here we go again

No musical advent calendars this year - too much work, too little reward. But there's always this, from Aidan Moffat: the perfect metaphor of Plastic Mistletoe. Bah, humbug, et cetera...

Blue Friday: You Got Me Wonderin' Now

Not all Blue Friday tunes sound maudlin on first listen - they're not all minor key, slow contemplative spirals. Take today's: You Got Me Wonderin' Now, recorded in 2013 by NYC four-piece Parquet Courts under their pseudonym Parkay Quarts. It buzzes along with joyous energy (or nihilist abandon, perhaps), all motorik drums and garage band guitar chords you can count on the legs of the nearest available tripod. Ah, but those lyrics - here's someone who's been hurt, badly... and decided to sing about it...

Seasick's better than heartsick, baby, I know that much by now
And I thought I knew nausea from sea to cars but 
You've got me wonderin' now

Blimey - what did they do to him? We're all wonderin' now...

A glorious blue noise, and I love, love, love it.

Lost lyrics II - the answers

Without further ado, here are the answers last week's lyrics quiz. These are the lyrics as I hear them, so if they're wrong, sorry, give yourself an extra point and move on.

Speaking of points, it's one for the artist and one for the song, so the whole thing is out of 100. How did you do? And which ones had you kicking yourself?

1. Oh, in your council home, he jumped on your bones.
   Suede, Animal Nitrate
2. He has his future in British Steel.
   XTC, Making Plans For Nigel
3. I hear your voice, it's like an angel sighing.
   Madonna, Like A Prayer
4. Cut your hair and get a job.
   Pulp, Common People
5. He ain't too hip 'bout that new breed, babe.
   James Brown, Papa's Got A Brand New Bag
6. You'll find me in the lavatory.
   The Sundays, You're Not The Only One I Know
7. I said, "Be careful, his bowtie is really a camera."
   Simon & Garfunkel, America
8. Sir, it's the troops, jealous of youth.
   The Smiths, The Headmaster Ritual
9. Times were so tough, but not as tough as they are now.
   The Jam, Thick As Thieves
10. Well, did I tell you before when I was up? Anxiety was bringing me down.
    Talk Talk, Talk Talk
11. I don't need to fight to prove I'm right.
    The Who, Baba O'Riley
12. Can you picture what will be? So limitless and free.
    The Doors, The End
13. Try to catch the deluge in a paper cup.
    Crowded House, Don't Dream It's Over
14. We don't talk about love, we only want to get drunk.
    Manic Street Preachers, A Design For Life
15. Boy, it's more than I dare to think about.
    Kylie, Can't Get You Out Of My Head
16. It's 8:15, and that's the time that it's always been.
    OMD, Enola Gay
17. Let's put our heads together and start a new country up.
    REM, Cuyahoga
18. By order of the prophet we ban that boogie sound.
    The Clash, Rock The Casbah
19. My mind goes sleepwalking while I'm putting the world to right.
    Elvis Costello, Oliver's Army
20. It's like I got this music in my mind sayin', "It's gonna be alright".
    Taylor Swift, Shake It Off
21. Everyone I see just walks the walk with gritted teeth.
    Jake Bugg, Lightning Bolt
22. Just when you think you've caught her she glides across the water.
    Echo & The Bunnymen, Lips Like Sugar
23. Spinning on that dizzy edge, kissed her face and kissed her head.
    The Cure, Just Like Heaven
24. I hated you, I loved you too.
    Kate Bush, Wuthering Heights
25. Well, we drank champagne and danced all night.
    The Kinks, Lola
26. Thought of you as my mountaintop.
    The Velvet Underground, Pale Blue Eyes
27. Oh my friend you haven’t changed, you're looking rough and living strange.
    The Libertines, Don't Look Back Into The Sun
28. Let all the children boogie.
    David Bowie, Starman
29. The way she plays, there are no words to describe the way I feel.
    The Stone Roses, She Bangs The Drums
30. But tell me, does she kiss like I used to kiss you?
    Abba, The Winner Takes It All
31. Too much time's been wasted, so come and get my plateful.
    Gene, Fighting Fit
32. All I need is a pint a day.
    Wings, Band On The Run
33. So in the absence of a way of life, just repeat this again and again and again.
    Blur, Popscene
34. And I went down to the demonstration, to get my fair share of abuse.
    The Rolling Stones, You Can't Always Get What You Want
35. I'll see you baby when the clans rise again.
    Kirsty MacColl, Free World
36. One and one and one is three.
    The Beatles, Come Together
37. They get a gang of villains in a shed up at Heathrow.
    Squeeze, Cool For Cats
38. In Chinatown, hungover, you showed me just what I could do.
    PJ Harvey, Good Fortune
39. Don't wanna end up like no nine-day wonder.
    Buzzcocks, Love You More
40. Slicing up eyeballs, I want you to know.
    Pixies, Debaser
41. Sad days add to confusion, sad ways end in delusion, yeah.
    Kim Wilde, Chequered Love
42. She eyes me like a Pisces when I am weak.
    Nirvana, Heart-Shaped Box
43. I'm a sex machine ready to reload like an atom bomb.
    Queen, Don't Stop Me Now
44. Looking back, she made us want her.
    Billy Bragg, The Saturday Boy
45. I gave her my heart, but she wanted my soul.
    Bob Dylan, Don’t Think Twice, It's Alright
46. I was half in mind, I was half in need.
    The Style Council, Shout To The Top
47. Mother has to iron his shirt, then she sends the kids to school.
    Madness, Our House
48. You and I should ride the coast and wind up in our favourite coats just miles away.
    Ocean Colour Scene, The Day We Caught The Train
49. Lost your love of life? Too much apple pie.
    The Wedding Present, Kennedy
50. The planet is a gunboat in a sea of fear.
    Radiohead, The Bends

Been wanting an excuse to feature that last song for ages.

Monday long song: We Haven't Turned Around

Forgotten how good this is, especially in its long-form, unexpurgated version. Also that it was used in the soundtrack of American Beauty, for the slightly awkward scene in which Angela (Mena Suvari) teases Jane (Thora Birch) that she like her dad, Lester (Kevin Spacey). Anyway, remember when Gomez were it?

Your powers are weak, old man

I've been writting this in my head for a while, and Rol's recent Embarrassing Dad Songs theme gave me the kick I needed to turn that mental draft into an actual post. Here goes.

From a very early age, I tried to introduce good music to Amusements Minor. And by "good", of course I mean music I considered worthy. Music makes memories, doesn't it, and I have loads thanks to this covert musical indoctrination: dancing around the room to The Cardigans, laughing at (and impersonating) James Brown's vocal yelps, playing and replaying Blur's woo-hoos over and over, car-karaoke to Queen, dissecting Pixies lyrics, and so many more. And even now, as his taste in music takes on its own shape, I'm proud that he both loves, and is an avid listener to, music across a broad range of genres and vintages. Job done, right?

Of course, to loosely paraphrase Darth, now I'm the learner and Amusements Minor is the master. By which I mean he is regularly discovering new music (mostly through Spotify) and coming to me with either "Have you heard this?" or, better still, "I think you might like this..."

Here's a recent example, Tale of Two by Monkey Business, a band I knew nothing about but was inspired to find out. They're a seven-piece from Prague, centred around multi-instrumentalist and producer Roman Holý. They're big in Czechia, apparently, and have scooped up loads in the Anděl awards (the Czech equivalent to the Brits), year on year. None of which I would have known if not for the boy and his musical Weltanschauung.

As for the song... well, he was right - I do like it.

Sometimes overlooked, never overshadowed

At the time there were a lot of column inches about Squire's guitar heroics and the quality (or otherwise) of Brown's singing, but the sometimes overlooked rhythm section were vital in making the music danceable, and in doing so made it more than the sum of its parts. Mani and Reni made The Stone Roses funky, simple as that, and never more so than on their magnum opus, Fool's Gold.

RIP, Mani, gone too soon at just 63, no age at all. Didn't have that on my bingo card for this year.

Petty Salted

Terrorvision were/are a funny one. Even in their heyday, I can't say I was much of a fan. Easy to forget, now, that they were a heavy rock act, albeit with alt pretensions. Perseverance was about as ear-friendly as it got for this 90s indie kid. But then there was Tequila, an entirely unrepresentative track, the Mint Royale remix of which got picked up and flogged by Zoë Ball in her Radio 1 breakfast show pomp. It soared to #2 in the UK chart, and possibly alienated a good section of the band's fanbase who preferred heavier fare - after all, this was a group that were hoovering up Kerrang! awards.

Anyway, the upshot of all the "salt, lemon and lime time" nonsense is that you will now often find Terrorvision making up the numbers on indie or Britpop-themed compilations... but that really wasn't/isn't their bag. They were capable of more sophisticated moments though, such as this track, offered up by the band for the 1995 War Child charity album, Help. I've listened to it a good few times, and read the lyrics, and am still none the wiser as to why Tom Petty Loves Veruca Salt. Worth remembering that the latter, as well as being an entirely unpleasant character in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, was also a grunge-lite band from Chicago (and is again). Maybe Tom, who needs no introduction, was a fan.

Anyway, this is better than Tequila, and probably not what you were expecting from five rockers from Keighley. Enjoy.

Now, how are you getting on with that quiz?

Lost lyrics II

I'm all out of posts, so am recycling something I did once before that was semi-popular (for me, at least - all things are relative).

So here's a quiz. No, wait, come back! Fifty little snippets of lyrics that have become detached from their songs ... all you have to do is identify them. There's a point on offer for the song and another for the artist, making a predictable one hundred points up for grabs.

Clues? Pah! There's nothing obscure and no surprises either... all the usual suspects are here, let's put it that way. If you'd rather print a question sheet, there's one here, and there's only one rule: no Googling, AI or other technological help. This is old-school, to make you blow the dust off your hippocampus and fumble around in the memories of your youth. Sound good?

Answers will be published at the end of the month. Have fun.

1. Oh, in your council home, he jumped on your bones.
2. He has his future in British Steel.
3. I hear your voice, it's like an angel sighing.
4. Cut your hair and get a job.
5. He ain't too hip 'bout that new breed, babe.
6. You'll find me in the lavatory.
7. I said, "Be careful, his bowtie is really a camera."
8. Sir, it's the troops, jealous of youth.
9. Times were so tough, but not as tough as they are now.
10. Well, did I tell you before when I was up? Anxiety was bringing me down.
11. I don't need to fight to prove I'm right.
12. Can you picture what will be? So limitless and free.
13. Try to catch the deluge in a paper cup.
14. We don't talk about love, we only want to get drunk.
15. Boy, it's more than I dare to think about.
16. It's 8:15, and that's the time that it's always been.
17. Let's put our heads together and start a new country up.
18. By order of the prophet we ban that boogie sound.
19. My mind goes sleepwalking while I'm putting the world to right.
20. It's like I got this music in my mind sayin', "It's gonna be alright".
21. Everyone I see just walks the walk with gritted teeth.
22. Just when you think you've caught her she glides across the water.
23. Spinning on that dizzy edge, kissed her face and kissed her head.
24. I hated you, I loved you too.
25. Well, we drank champagne and danced all night.
26. Thought of you as my mountaintop.
27. Oh my friend you haven’t changed, you're looking rough and living strange.
28. Let all the children boogie.
29. The way she plays, there are no words to describe the way I feel.
30. But tell me, does she kiss like I used to kiss you?
31. Too much time's been wasted, so come and get my plateful.
32. All I need is a pint a day.
33. So in the absence of a way of life, just repeat this again and again and again.
34. And I went down to the demonstration, to get my fair share of abuse.
35. I'll see you baby when the clans rise again.
36. One and one and one is three.
37. They get a gang of villains in a shed up at Heathrow.
38. In Chinatown, hungover, you showed me just what I could do.
39. Don't wanna end up like no nine-day wonder.
40. Slicing up eyeballs, I want you to know.
41. Sad days add to confusion, sad ways end in delusion, yeah.
42. She eyes me like a Pisces when I am weak.
43. I'm a sex machine ready to reload like an atom bomb.
44. Looking back, she made us want her.
45. I gave her my heart, but she wanted my soul.
46. I was half in mind, I was half in need.
47. Mother has to iron his shirt, then she sends the kids to school.
48. You and I should ride the coast and wind up in our favourite coats just miles away.
49. Lost your love of life? Too much apple pie.
50. The planet is a gunboat in a sea of fear.

P.S. No answers, clues or spoilers in the comments please! Thanks.

Music Assembly: Ravel's Piano Concerto in G Major, M. 83: II. Adagio assai

In which I continue to haemorrhage readers...

I don't know much about Maurice Ravel, to be honest, aside from the one thing everyone my age knows: Torvill and Dean and Bolero. But this piece has nothing to do with ice dance or Sarajevo or 1984.

Perhaps if I'd paid more attention in actual Music Assembly at school, I might have learnt something else about Ravel. As it is, I learnt about this piece by listening to Stephen Mangan's Desert Island Discs on Radio 4. Stephen talked movingly about sharing it with his father during the latter's last days, and described it as a musical embodiment of living moment to moment. I don't think I can add much to that, really, other than to say I think it is a beautiful thing. Oh, and there's a bit about five minutes in that reminds me of Howard Shore's soundtrack to David Fincher's The Game, a film I absolutely love. So it works, for me at least, on multiple levels.

Adagio assai is a musical direction meaning very slow. It's like being back in Music Assembly after all.

You can hear the lovely Lauren Laverne casting Stephen away right here. And if this piece isn't to your taste, there's always yesterday's post...

New to NA: The Royston Club

The Royston Club are not from the Hertfordshire market town of the same name. In fact, the four-piece are from Wrexham, and have been plying their indie guitar trade since 2019. During that time they've recorded two albums and a whole slew of singles and EPs. Here's a track from each album, starting with Cariad from 2023's Songs for the Spine and then Missed the Boat (Jumped in the Sea) from 2021's Shaking Hips and Crashing Cars.

Okay, so there's nothing especially original here... but what they're doing, they're doing very well: it's an excellent noise, isn't it? I hear some Wedding Present-esque guitars in that second track too.

Lots for us all to explore at their website and YouTube channel, in other words.

I'm proud of the BBC

As seems to happen with depressingly increasing regularity, the knives are once more out for the BBC, amid allegations of news bias, poor editorial judgment and hidden agendas. That these knives are mostly being wielded by those with an axe to grind or a score to settle should surprise no-one, but still deserves greater scrutiny.

This is ostensibly a comedy song from Mitch Benn and is at least fifteen years old, so could do with updating. The sentiment, however, remains spot on. We'll miss it when it's gone, you know?

Sunday shorts: What Goes Around

I don't know anything about Jimmy Nebula other than that he seems to be in thrall of the Hulmerist on this track, particularly the lyrics of Jack the Ripper.

I have tried to find out a bit more about Jimmy, and looked in all the usual places, but really this is the only thing that stands out in any way. And even then it seems to abruptly fade out just as it gets going.

This has not been a great post, has it? Sorry. Feel like I've been scrabbling around the bottom of an empty barrel of late, dull scraper in hand.

Blue Friday: A Pleasure

Towards the end of my first year as an undergraduate, Hothouse Flowers played the uni. They were still riding the crest of their chart peak, Don't Go, and it was generally considered that the gig was "a big deal". Half of my hall seemed to have tickets. I did not. They all went and had a good time...

...whilst I mooched off alone to a nearby park on campus where the Heineken Big Top had rolled into town, offering a free gig by The Railway Children. All you had to do to get in was contend with a bar that only offered their anaemic gassy yellow excuse for a beer. That aside, the band were alright, as were local support act The Bardots. But I was determined not to enjoy myself, and succeeded.

The half of my hall that went to see Hothouse Flowers rolled back onto the corridor late that night, all buzzing. The girls were unanimous in their swoon for frontman Liam Ó Maonlaí, which of course made me like him and his band even less.

New to NA: The Drums

As ever, I'm behind the curve. The Drums formed in New York in 2008, shed members until only singer Jonny was left by 2016 and have basically been his one-man band since then.

This is a live run-through of their commercial highpoint, Money. I say highpoint because it sold enough to be certified Silver in the UK... but didn't chart. Did get to #15 in Australia though, so there is that.

I hear a songwriter who grew up on a diet of Morrissey/Marr. How about you?

Sunday shorts: You Never Wash Up After Yourself (live)

This, from Radiohead's excellent 1994 EP My Iron Lung, could just as easily have featured as a Blue Friday post, but it's short, so here we are.

I must get out once in a while
Everything is starting to die
The dust settles, the worms dig
Spiders crawl over the bed

I must get out once in a while
I eat all day and now I'm fat
Yesterday's meal is hugging the plates
You never wash up after yourself

A black box inside my mind

I've had this, from The Beta Band, in my YouTube Watch Later list for an age. Listening back, I'm not sure why I squirelled it away. I think maybe I was taken with some of the lyrics, notably "a black box inside my mind records the time we spent together". Also the bit about "...the line that runs from me across the universe to you alone", before morphing into a maudlin refrain of "Are you alone? Are you alone?"

Having said that, and for all my literary allusions/delusions, it's more likely that I was taken with the two occasions in this that drummer Robin Jones unchains his inner Keith Moon.

Whatever the reason, that was pretty good, right?

Hi, Lloyd. Little slow tonight, isn't it?

It's amazing the things you find when you're obsessed with something.

Ask Twice

For some reason I'd made a note to myself, as I often do with potential blogging ideas, to write about the blatant similarities between Lady Ga Ga's Born This Way and Madonna's Express Yourself. Maybe it's an homage, let's be generous. But whatever, no-one comes to this blog for Ga Ga and Madge (barely anyone comes here at all, but that's another matter), so let's stick to more conventional New Amusements content.

This is Luke Jackson, a folky singer-songwriter from my old stomping ground that I've been meaning to blog about for ... (checks notes) ... fourteen years. I wish I'd made that number up but it's true. This is Ask Twice, a recent song from him that sits well with my current mood. Certainly better than the other songs mentioned here do.

There. That was good, wasn't it?

New to NA: Squid

According to their Wikipedia page, Squid are a Windmill scene band, which is a new one on me (because I am just too middle-aged, provincial and parochial, and not down enough with the kids, certainly not down enough to know about the "blend of experimental rock and post-punk, featuring erratic, spoken vocals" that grew out of Brixton's Windmill pub (apparently)).

So is it art rock? Maybe not. Math rock? Definitely not. When pushed, on a recent episode of the Adam Buxton podcast, the band settled for just "rock". I don't know about that either. I hear elements of The Blue Aeroplanes, occasional glimpses of Talking Heads, and lots of complexity. And I'm enjoying playing catch-up with their back catalogue.

At least ... I think I'm enjoying it. How about you?

You can learn more about the way the Squid swims at squidband.uk

Come down and disintegrate with me

From the continuing surprise that is Suede's third age, this is Disintegrate from Antidepressants.

Good, isn't it?

It's not what you ask, it's how you ask it

With apologies in advance to the delightful C and all other AI sceptics. I'm a sceptic too, if that helps...

Experimenting with ChatGPT some more, I attempted my usual baseline of getting it to create something you'd never see. But unlike Sora, it's fussy about real people... requiring me, ironically, to get creative in the wording of my prompt.

I like the way it guided me in how to get around its own constraints. And the result?

Addendum

John was much smarter than me. He asked, "Can you create a photograph of someone who looks like the singer Morrissey eating a burger in a McDonalds resturant?" And this is what he got back:

Who said this was the end?

As previously mentioned, The Man Of Cheese and I went to see Gene at the weekend.

Yes, the gig that would never happen, from the band that would never re-unite, finally came around. The band that means as much to TMOC and I as The Smiths and The Jam. After months of waiting, of anticipation ramping up and up, it finally happened.

The band played two very small warm-up gigs in the week running up to Saturday's sold-out show at the Hammersmith Apollo, a hop and a skip down the Picadilly Line from the now-defunct Astoria, where they had played their farewell show in 2004. And despite not having to contend with social media back in their heyday, the band members had all played a part in stoking online anticipation for the main event. Suffice to say, we were excited.

After an afternoon in various hostelries, and a little food to soak it up, we made our way to the Apollo, which looked resplendent.

A couple of minutes after the expected 8.30pm kick-off, Steve, Kev and Matt took to the stage, along with Mighty Mick Talbot on keys. The already positive buzz in the venue somehow climbed even higher, as the band struck up a slightly protracted intro to the only track they could have chosen to open with, all things considered: London, Can You Wait? And then, in a "slightly apart" move that he threw a few times during the evening, Martin came on stage, his red suit somewhat at odds with the dark uniformity of the other band members. I think I was not alone in feeling a wave of joy, topped off with a soupçon of disbelief that this was really happening. In fact, I'd say that was the reaction of most if not all of the 5,000-strong crowd, as I don't think I've felt such a positive, celebratory vibe from such a big audience too often. I felt real unity in the crowd, of communion in the broadest sense. Maybe one or two were worried that the passing of time was about to crap on their memories ... but they needn't have been concerned.

And from there on, the whole place was in a state of singalong, is-this-really-happening, rapture.

Highlights? What, aside from the whole thing, you mean? Well, tracks that particularly hit the spot for me included the lyrical majesty of Where Are They Now? and Long Sleeves for the Summer, the anthemic Sleep Well Tonight, and the beauty of Save Me, I'm Yours and Speak To Me Someone. But honestly? It was exceptional, end to end. And since we're being honest, I don't mind telling you, I felt emotional. The main set closed with a double whammy of Olympian and the incomparable 31-year-old first single For The Dead, numbers that felt somewhere between hymns and terrace chants, sung back to the band with evangelical fervour from the front row to the back of the circle.

MATT JAMES

We got two encores - the first was a pacy triplet of You'll Never Walk Again, Sick, Sober and Sorry, and Fighting Fit. The second was very different: Martin took to the stage solo at first to begin a piano-led version of a personal favourite, I Can't Help Myself, a song I've often featured here in various forms. Then Mick joined him about a minute in, before Steve, Kev and Matt came back to bring the song to a close. It was fantastic - here, see for yourself.

And this was followed by two more of a similar tone: Somewhere In The World and Who Said This Was The End? After which, it really was the end - the band took their bows, waved goodbye and left the stage. The crowd somehow managed to leave the building without climbing down from cloud nine, and TMOC and I bought t-shirts at the merchandise stand.

Have I oversold this, I wonder? For me, this was just about as good as it gets (you can see what I did there). Your mileage may vary, of course. Some might argue that the band of crack young musos Martin assembled for his solo farewell show back in 2021 played the songs live better than the resurrected Gene and they may even be right, if all you judge a performance on is technical proficiency. But there's more to a show than technical proficiency, isn't there? Some might say, perhaps justifiably, that Martin's "me and them" attitude towards his bandmates grated. It's hard for him, I think, having always been the one to object to and prevent previous attempts at reunion, and there were times when it looked like 3+1 rather than 4. But he's getting past that hang-up, I think, perhaps realising the love that persists for Gene as a whole. Whatever, it was nice to see Gene (and Mick) line up on the stage together at the end.

I realise I've used multiple religious terms in this post (though I did stop short of calling it a resurrection). Now I'm not a religious person at all but this - a show like this, a crowd like this, my best friend at my side - this is where I find my church. Perhaps I can convert you, for the band are playing Nottingham, Glasgow, Bristol, Dublin and Manchester in March. You can find tickets via geneofficial.com/live - The Man Of Cheese and I already have ours. Who said this was the end, indeed?

Edit this setlist | More Gene setlists

I Know That It’s Like This (Baby)

Delicate angst from Bill Ryder-Jones and the quiet majesty of his album Iechyd Da.

Though I'm too much
I'm not enough for you to love
I know that it's like this

Frying shallots

Q. Ceteris parabus, guess where The Man Of Cheese and I are off to tonight?

A. Here.

Stay away, Spencer

Spencer Elden, whose photograph as a baby was later used on the cover of Nirvana's Nevermind, has tried to sue the band for distributing child pornography.

Or for a shedload of money, perhaps. You decide.

Fortunately, the legal system in the US has got it right, with Judge Olguin basically ruling that this is ridiculous. Of course, Spencer and his lawyers plan to appeal... monkey see, monkey do, as Kurt once sang.

Footnote: I couldn't embed this video from Nirvana's official YouTube channel, because it's age restricted.

Tiny houses, here and there

Back in 2018, I edited a short story collection entitled The Petrified World and other stories. It's here if you're interested. Rol's in it too. You'd like it, I think, the book. It's very reasonably priced, any profit goes to charity, all of that. Take a punt, why not?

But anyway, pitch over, back to the point. As I cycled to work this morning along car-choked roads, through yet another spiralling housing estate of identikit rabbit hutches, today's song sprung readily to mind. As did this quote from Sir David Attenborough, that I included in the introduction of the aforementioned book:

All environmental problems become harder - and ultimately impossible - to solve with ever more people.

Sorry. Downer, I know, but no less true for that. Here's the song, and an appropriately claustrophobic video shot in a rehearsal room, from Blur's Indian summer of 2015.

There are too many of us
That's plain to see
We all believe in praying
For our immortality
We've posed these questions to our children
That calls them all to stray
And live in tiny houses
Of the same mistakes we made

'Cause there are too many of us
In tiny houses here and there
Passing out of somewhere
But you won't care

There are too many of us
That's plain to see
And we all believe in praying
For our own immortality
For a moment, I was dislocated
My terror on a loop elsewhere
The flashing lights part vacated
On the big screens everywhere

'Cause there are too many of us
In tiny houses here and there
Just passing out of somewhere
But you won't care

There are too many of us
In tiny houses here and there
All looking through the windows
On everything we share
We pose these questions to our children
It leads them all to stray
And live in tiny houses
Of the same mistakes we make

'Cause there are too many of us
Oh, that's plain to see
All living in tiny houses (passing out of somewhere)
Of our own mortality (but you won't care)

New to NA: Cardinals

Heard Masquerade by Cork six-piece Cardinals on the radio earlier in the week, and spent most of its three minutes thinking "This is good, but who does it remind me of?"

No sooner had it finished than Jo Whiley was saying, "Shades of Pavement, anyone?" and she's exactly right. Guess that's why she's a national radio DJ with a seven-figure audience and I'm blogging to about eight people on a good day.

Moving right along

Robert Redford may have played a slight second-fiddle to Paul Newman in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (though he got the girl), and taken a chance flexing his thespian muscles next to Dustin Hoffman in All The President's Men, but The Sting was his movie, in my book. No mean feat given Newman and Robert Shaw as co-stars. Example: it's a low-key sub-plot, but I love Johnny's interaction with Loretta ... who turns out (spoiler alert) to be Salino.

RIP, Robert.

Cover Charge #60 - Duran Duran to The Specials

Cover Charge is simple: A covers B, B covers C, C covers D and so on, until I loop back to where I started, Ouroboros-style.

Last time: Shirley Bassey to Duran Duran

From the outset, the goal of this series has been clear - explore a sequence of artist-linked cover versions, and try to end up back where we started. As you may recall, where we started was with The Specials. And how pleasing, to me at least, that I can bring the series to a close on a nice round number, with the sixtieth link in the chain on what would otherwise be an inauspicious day. This cover is a new one on me though; come on, hands up, who here knew that in 2023 Duran Duran released a Halloween-themed album called Danse Macabre? +5 kudos points to anyone for that. Anyway, they really did... and track eight was their Straight Bat rendition of Ghost Town.

No disrespect to Simon et al but, okay though that is, it feels like the subtext of the original has been lost, to this listener at least. But who cares because it brings us back to The Specials! Ouroboros has eaten his own tail! And not only that, but I get to end the series with not just my favourite Specials track of all, but with one of my favourite singles by anyone, ever. I have a memory of taping this off the radio back in 1981 that is so vivid, I can feel the play and record buttons under my fingertips.

And that, my friends, is the end of Cover Charge. Thanks for tagging along - it's been fun, I hope. Who knows, maybe I'll do a second loop around some time in the future when I run out of blogging ideas (which, let's face it, happens often).

I should also acknowledge the excellent SecondHandSongs website, without which this series would have been a lot harder to pull together. But, apart from that, for now...

...that's Numberwang!

The Cover Charge "chain" to date.

Cover Charge #59 - Shirley Bassey to Duran Duran

Cover Charge is simple: A covers B, B covers C, C covers D and so on, until I loop back to where I started, Ouroboros-style.

Last time: Chaka Khan to Shirley Bassey

This series has thrown up a few real surprises, covers that you wouldn't have imagined if you hadn't heard them for yourself. I think today's is another of that ilk. Dame Shirley clearly felt that, having recorded three original Bond themes herself, she was more than entitled to have a crack at other people's. However, her 1987 take on A View to a Kill was hampered with a poor arrangement and even worse production, which might explain that whilst she mimed it for a TV special (below), Shirley subsequently nixed its release for years.

She did her best but you can tell, I think, that she knows a lame duck when she hears one. Best to leave post-New Romantic synth strings to the purveyors of post-New Romantic synth strings, I reckon. And on that note, here's the corking 1985 original from Duran Duran. I bought this on 7", you know, and it might just be the best thing about the film, apart from Christopher Walken's villain (itself a cover, in a way, of Auric Goldfinger). Fun video too.

Next time: the end.

The Cover Charge "chain" to date.

Cover Charge #58 - Chaka Khan to Shirley Bassey

Cover Charge is simple: A covers B, B covers C, C covers D and so on, until I loop back to where I started, Ouroboros-style.

Last time: Girls Aloud to Chaka Khan

Like live performances and TV specials, Bond themes provide a rich seam of cover versions (as we have already seen). I guess everyone knows them, they are generally well liked - safe ground for a cover then, right? Especially if you play it with a pretty Straight Bat, as Chaka Khan did with her 2004 reworking of Goldfinger. This was recorded for her album ClassiKhan, in which Chaka ran through a series of covers and standards, accompanied by the London Symphony Orchestra.

That's pretty good, right? Except the problem with taking the Bond cover pill, especially with this song, is that you're inviting comparison with a well-known and much-loved original. Brilliant though both Miss Khan and the LSO are, no cover of this track can ever measure up to the original by Dame Shirley Bassey, presented here in title-sequence context. Put simply, this is the best Bond theme of them all, from the best Bond film of them all. Enjoy.

Next time: from Cardiff to Birmingham...

The Cover Charge "chain" to date.

Falling out... but not over peanuts

When I saw this story in the news today...

...two songs leapt immediately to mind.

I have always loved Peanuts. Is £1.5m peanuts to Sting, I wonder? Either way, got to love a royalties claim based on the band entering into an "oral agreement" to share income. Hmm. Good luck with that.

Cover Charge #57 - Girls Aloud to Chaka Khan

Cover Charge is simple: A covers B, B covers C, C covers D and so on, until I loop back to where I started, Ouroboros-style.

Last time: Arctic Monkeys to Girls Aloud

If you're a manufactured girl group, fresh from the TV circus that spat you into the arms of Cowell, how do you strive for even a scintilla of credibility? By covering a giant, of course! At least I imagine that was the thinking behind Girls Aloud's straightest of Straight Bat retreads of I'm Every Woman for the TV special Discomania in June 2004. Should anyone care, this was later included on the expanded 20th anniversary edition of their second album What Will The Neighbours Say?

I know, what choreography, right? So let's cleanse our collective palate, and enjoy the 1978 source material from Chaka Khan which, I'm pleased to report, has more views on YouTube than the GA cover. Note also the similar five-part choreography... although all five roles here are Chaka Khan in what must have been fairly groundbreaking video trickery for the day. I guess she was being "every woman"... I'll get my coat.

Next time: from one big voice to another...

The Cover Charge "chain" to date.

Sunday shorts: Game of Pricks

If you haven't already consumed the entirety of animator and film-maker Steve Cutts's YouTube channel, what are you waiting for? He has an excellent, dark sense of humour that I very much appreciate, and think you might too. Here's an example, the first short film of his that I saw.

There, that was good, wasn't it? The music used therein is Game of Pricks by Guided by Voices. Here's the full track in all its 93-second, retro-sounding, Sunday short glory.

Cover Charge #56 - Arctic Monkeys to Girls Aloud

Cover Charge is simple: A covers B, B covers C, C covers D and so on, until I loop back to where I started, Ouroboros-style.

Last time: Tony Christie to Arctic Monkeys

In recent(ish) years, Radio 1's Live Lounge feature has been a rich source of interesting covers. Today's track is a great example, as Alex and his Arctic Monkeys co-conspirators provide a brisk rattle through of Love Machine. They did this on 19th January 2006, can you believe, and by the sound of it had a right laugh in the process.

Never let it be said that New Amusements does not adequately embrace manufactured girl bands; here's the Girls Aloud original, from their second album, 2004's What Will The Neighbours Say?

Next time: girls become women...

The Cover Charge "chain" to date.

Cover Charge #55 - Tony Christie to Arctic Monkeys

Cover Charge is simple: A covers B, B covers C, C covers D and so on, until I loop back to where I started, Ouroboros-style.

Last time: Michael Ball to Tony Christie

Thank goodness for artists who have been around long enough to bring us back towards slightly more recent material every now and then. In 2008 Tony Christie recorded the album Made in Sheffield. Richard Hawley produced it, and it featured only songs written by Sheffield songwriters, and new songs by Tony himself. And that, friends, is how Tony came to cover the Arctic Monkeys track Only Ones Who Know.

The original is from the Arctic Monkeys' second album, 2007's Favourite Worst Nightmare. Here it is, proving that Tony kept a pretty Straight Bat for his cover.

Next time: young women permitted...

The Cover Charge "chain" to date.

Cover Charge #54 - Michael Ball to Tony Christie

Cover Charge is simple: A covers B, B covers C, C covers D and so on, until I loop back to where I started, Ouroboros-style.

Last time: The Shadows to Michael Ball

After the misery of the last entry in this series, it's time to move back towards stronger material, even if it means a bit of rule bending. For today's cover is actually a collaboration with the original artist... but we have to get off Michael Ball somehow. So from Heroes, his 2011 album of covers and collaborations, here's Michael and Tony Christie, with Avenues and Alleyways.

I don't know about you but I would much rather hear Tony do this on his own, the way I remember it, i.e. as the theme tune to The Protectors.

Next time: chilly simians ahead...

The Cover Charge "chain" to date.

Cover Charge #53 - The Shadows to Michael Ball

Cover Charge is simple: A covers B, B covers C, C covers D and so on, until I loop back to where I started, Ouroboros-style.

Last time: Queen to The Shadows

My biggest concern when I was weighing up whether to do this series or not, even greater than its natural tendency to go further and further back in time, was the fear that I'd have to entertain songs and/or artists that I do not like, just to keep the whole thing going. On a completely unrelated note, today's Cover Charge see the excellent Shadows covering Michael Ball.

With all apologies, here's Michael's original suggestion that Love Changes Everything, from the Lloyd-Webber musical, Aspects of Love.

Next time: even a dark alleyway is preferable to the above...

The Cover Charge "chain" to date.

Cover Charge #52 - Queen to The Shadows

Cover Charge is simple: A covers B, B covers C, C covers D and so on, until I loop back to where I started, Ouroboros-style.

Last time: Travis to Queen

Queen were too busy doing their own thing to record many covers. But their individual members were more productive, thank goodness (for this series). Take the corkscrew-haired astrophysicist and badger-saviour that is Mr Brian May. Like a lot of his guitar-bothering chums, he was asked to contribute something to Twang, a 1996 tribute album celebrating the music of Hank Marvin and The Shadows... to wit, here he is ripping through FBI. It starts out a Straight Bat, but becomes increasingly an Own Stamp.

Here's the original from Hank, Bruce and the lads. I've gone for a live performance, so you can enjoy their trademark "dance" moves.

Next time: this series descends to a new low...

The Cover Charge "chain" to date.

Cover Charge #51 - Travis to Queen

Cover Charge is simple: A covers B, B covers C, C covers D and so on, until I loop back to where I started, Ouroboros-style.

Last time: Glen Campbell to Travis

Travis have always been partial to a good cover version. Here they play with an absolute Straight Bat with their take on Queen's Killer Queen, a B-side to their 2001 single Sing... which is, of course, how we got to Travis in the Cover Charge chain in the first place. This series doesn't just throw itself together, you know.

Lovely though Travis's homage is, the original remains untouchable. 51 years old, and much loved by Amusements Minor, especially for an in-car singalong. Hmm. A 51yr-old song for the 51st Cover Charge post. This series doesn't just throw itse... oh, you get the idea.

Next time: we follow just one member of Queen... but which?

The Cover Charge "chain" to date.

Cover Charge #50 - Glen Campbell to Travis

Cover Charge is simple: A covers B, B covers C, C covers D and so on, until I loop back to where I started, Ouroboros-style.

Last time: The Bee Gees to Glen Campbell

As has been mentioned before, the problem with this series is its naturally tendency to go further and further back in time. Last time, we ended in 1961. How to bring it back to something more recent, relatively at least? Well, I don't know about you but one thing I didn't have on my bingo card before starting this series was Glen Campbell covering Sing by Travis, and yet here we are. From his 2008 album of covers, Meet Glen Campbell, this is very much a Straight Bat, right down to the banjo part.

Here's the Travis original, complete with the food-fight video that looks like it might have been a lot of fun to make. Either way, this was the first single to be lifted from The Invisible Band and hit #3 in 2001.

Next time: Fran and the boys commit regicide...

The Cover Charge "chain" to date.

New to NA: Amelia Coburn

Paul Weller recommended this track to Jo Whiley and she, in turn, recommended it to me. Full disclosure, I'm not special, she recommended it to everyone listening to her evening show on Radio 2 last week.

I'd not heard much of anything from Amelia Coburn before, but I do rather like this. There's something about her voice that makes me think she should be singing outside Edward Woodward's bedroom, banging on his door. But enough of such digressions: here's When The Tide Rolls In. Good, isn't it?

Cover Charge #49 - The Bee Gees to Glen Campbell

Cover Charge is simple: A covers B, B covers C, C covers D and so on, until I loop back to where I started, Ouroboros-style.

Last time: Sparks to The Bee Gees

Well here's an interesting one. We're going so far back in the history of the brothers Gibb that today's track is credited to Barry Gibb and the Bee-Gees. It was their fifth single, and limped to #94 in the Australian chart, all the way back in 1964. To be honest though, even this was progress from just a few short years earlier, when the boys regularly entertained the crowds at the Redcliffe Speedway in Brisbane from the back of a moving flat-bed truck; the crowd would throw money, and the band's fee was anything they could gather up from that, if Wikipedia is to be believed. But anyway, here's Barry and co's take on Turn Around, Look At Me.

I don't know about you but there are parts of that, certain chord progressions, that put me in mind of This Boy by The Beatles. But this series is about covers, not aural similarities, so I'd better reveal the original, an uncredited co-write for none other than Glen Campbell, from just a few years earlier in 1961. What a voice he had.

Next time: Glen Sings...

The Cover Charge "chain" to date.

Cover Charge #48 - Sparks to The Bee Gees

Cover Charge is simple: A covers B, B covers C, C covers D and so on, until I loop back to where I started, Ouroboros-style.

Last time: New Order to Sparks

Funny one today. From the 2019 expanded re-release of Sparks' superbly titled album Gratuitous Sax and Senseless Violins comes this curio, Holiday. Vocals are by actress-musician Christi Haydon, who had caught Russell Mael's eye whilst working on a department store make-up counter. To that point, Christi's biggest brush with fame had been playing a semi-regular but uncredited ensign extra in Star Trek: The Next Generation. But she ended up recording an EP with Sparks, and touring with them too. This is a track from that EP, in which she and the brothers Mael have a stab at the brothers Gibb.

Here's the Bee Gees original from their first flush, pre-disco 60s style. Robin takes the lead on this. It sounds more sombre than the Sparks cover... until you get to the "de de de-de" middle eight.

Next time: the brothers demand attention...

The Cover Charge "chain" to date.

Cover Charge #47 - New Order to Sparks

Cover Charge is simple: A covers B, B covers C, C covers D and so on, until I loop back to where I started, Ouroboros-style.

Last time: Moby to New Order

Sometimes, when you're hunting down candidates for links in the cover chain, live performances bail you out of a cul-de-sac. So it is today, as we go all the way back to Milan in June 1982, for New Order's live rendition of When I'm With You.

I don't know abut you but that sounds darker and more urgent than the Sparks version, almost like being with you is not a good thing. By contrast, Sparks' original, taken from their 1980 album Jive, feels an altogether more chipper affair.

Next time: not massive chew-sets, but in that ballpark...

The Cover Charge "chain" to date.

Time grips you slyly in its spell

It's pretty far from his finest work, but I've been thinking about this song a lot lately: of the obvious truisms it contains, of mortality, of death, of finality. "So grab me while we still have the time" indeed.

Cover Charge #46 - Moby to New Order (plus a Monday long song)

Cover Charge is simple: A covers B, B covers C, C covers D and so on, until I loop back to where I started, Ouroboros-style.

Last time: Kris Kristofferson to Moby

No playing fast and loose with what constitutes a cover today, oh no. Instead, let's go back twenty years to Moby's 2005 album Hotel and have a listen to the track that closed side one. It's very much an Own Stamp, massively slowing down the driving motorik of the original and turning it into a desperate lament. Moby's not much of a singer, so he wisely ceded vocal duties here to Laura Dawn but even she couldn't prevent this being panned at the time. The Drowned In Sound review called it "unbelievably bad". Harsh, or harsh but fair? You decide.

All of which is the scant excuse I need to wheel out New Order's original Temptation. 43 years old this year, and still sounding brilliant. And as a bonus, it's a Monday long song too. Ambassador, you are spoiling us, et cetera...

Next time: there may be dodgy wiring because I see...

The Cover Charge "chain" to date.

Cover Charge #45 - Kris Kristofferson to Moby

Cover Charge is simple: A covers B, B covers C, C covers D and so on, until I loop back to where I started, Ouroboros-style.

Last time: Rita Coolidge to Kris Kristofferson

I was three links in the chain from the end, honest... but I've had fun doing this, and certain readers (including some long-termers) seem to like the series, so I've replotted my route with all the skill and precision of a seasoned strap-hanger learning of delays on the Central Line. The upshot of all this is that we can string the whole thing out a little bit longer. What do you mean, oh?! Come back...

I've had to bend the rules a little to do so though. So here's a version of Moby and Mark Lanegan's The Lonely Night that features additional vocals from Kris Kristofferson. Critics might say it's not really a cover, it's more of a collaboration, given that the original artists are on the record too. But honestly, my gaff, my rules. So from Moby's 2021 retrospective Reprise, here's Kris adding a world-weary gravel to an already gritty vocal, for what ends up a very, very Straight Bat "cover".

The original, from Moby (Richard Hall, to his mum) and former Screaming Trees and Queens of the Stone Age vocalist Mark, was first released as a 7-inch for Record Store Day 2013, with a fine accompanying video too (below). It was later included on the bald-headed one's album Innocents.

Next time: no rule-bending, even if it is my gaff, however great the temptation...

The Cover Charge "chain" to date.

Cover Charge #44 - Rita Coolidge to Kris Kristofferson

Cover Charge is simple: A covers B, B covers C, C covers D and so on, until I loop back to where I started, Ouroboros-style.

Last time: Pulp to Rita Coolidge

Aside from her Bond theme I don't know much about Rita Coolidge, to be honest with you, except that there was a period in the 1970s when she was married to Kris Kristofferson. It will come as no surprise, then, to learn that not only did she record several duets with him, she also covered some of his songs. Frankly, none of them do too much for me but this - Late Again - is one of the least dull. Rita recorded it in late '75, for her album It's Ony Love.

No surprise to note that this isn't a great departure from Kris's 1974 original, save for being in a different key. I can admit to quite liking the organ, guitar and bassline from the original, which sound like they beyond as backing music in an early episode of Starsky and Hutch.

Next time: incredbily, Kris can get stomped by Obie!

The Cover Charge "chain" to date.

Monday long song: You'll Never Walk Again

9½ weeks to go...

Hello, hello, hello
Welcome to the world
The sky looks brighter
I know, I know, I know
We could have more
Oh if only

Hello, hello, hello
At last I'm satisfied
At last I have arrived
We know, we know, we know
We don't want more

And you and I
One on one
The offer stands
I still know how to make love
With love, my love

Hello, hello, hello
Welcome to the fold
The neon's brighter now
We know, we know, we know
We don't want more

Oh you and I
One on one
The offer stands
I still know how to make love
With love, my love

Me and you
We are due
This world's on cue
I still know how to make love
With love, my love

They said you'll never walk again
Invalid until the end
We're giving the world
The kick it requires
And if you can't see why
Look into my eyes

They said you'll never walk again
Invalid until the end
We're giving the world
The kick it requires
And if you can't see why
Look into my eyes

They said you'll never walk again
Invalid until the end
We're giving the world
The kick it requires
And if you can't see why
Look into my eyes

I used to think
I had been on the planet too long
No intention to end this dull ache
But with you on my arm
No, the feeling's not gone
But I'm starting to think that it might

Can you pull me along?
Can you show me the sun?
I'm convinced I can do more than hate
Cause with you on my arm
No, the feelings not gone
Soon be leaving it dead in my wake

Cover Charge #43 - Pulp to Rita Coolidge

Cover Charge is simple: A covers B, B covers C, C covers D and so on, until I loop back to where I started, Ouroboros-style.

Last time: Nick Cave to Pulp

I was expecting to have lots of covers to choose from, for this next link in the chain, but no - for a band that has been around as long as Pulp there are surprisingly few covers in its storied history. Luckily though, there is their 1997 contribution to Shaken and Stirred, David Arnold's James Bond project. For me, this is a valiant Own Stamp effort but ultimately feels like less than the sum of its parts. What do you think?

The original, by Rita Coolidge, was the theme for 1983's Octopussy - not Roger's finest outing, though the bad guy who dispatched victims with a circular saw blade sticks in the mind (as does Maud Adams, whose character seemed elegant and exotic to an impressionable teenage boy from out in the sticks). Song facts: the music for this was by John Barry, obviously, but lyrics were by none other than Sir Tim Rice. Co-produced by Phil Ramone too. As Bond themes go, it's borderline insipid, I think, and the record-buying public of '83 obviously agreed: it peaked at #75 in the charts.

Next time: Rita keeps it in the family...

The Cover Charge "chain" to date.

Cover Charge #42 - Nick Cave to Pulp

Cover Charge is simple: A covers B, B covers C, C covers D and so on, until I loop back to where I started, Ouroboros-style.

Last time: Primal Scream to Nick Cave

I remember getting today's cover courtesy of a magazine cover-mount CD. I know some Pulp fans aren't necessarily enamoured with this Own Stamp but me, I was (and remain) quite taken with Nick Cave's waltz-timed take on Disco 2000. Pulp themselves were obviously similarly impressed; long before the CD cover-mount, they'd put Nick's version on the B-side of their single Bad Cover Version, in 2002.

The original needs scant introduction from me. From the juggernaut that was 1995's Different Class, here's Jarvis pining after Deborah. We've all been there, right?

Next time: not the meter maid...

The Cover Charge "chain" to date.

Cover Charge #41 - Primal Scream to Nick Cave

Cover Charge is simple: A covers B, B covers C, C covers D and so on, until I loop back to where I started, Ouroboros-style.

Last time: Rod Stewart to Primal Scream

I had a bit of a panic last week. You see, I'd planned out all the necessary steps in this series to get back to where I started, i.e. The Specials. And then I realised I had made a mistake in my planning, and I had no route. I didn't take a look in the mirror but I imagine I gave it the full Munch scream. Cue a couple of days of increasingly frantic research, before coming up with another route. And good news! It won't be a long journey. This series has proved popular with certain individuals, but generally readership numbers are well down on other posts. I don't do this for page views, of course, but neither do I want to bore anyone either. So, let's crack on.

Primal Scream have covered an eclectic range of artists over the years, including The Troggs, Hawkwind, Fleetwood Mac, The Clash and loads more. But I'm taking the Nick Cave path today, specifically with Bobby et al's cover of Worm Tamer, from the extended Extra Light version of their 2013 album More Light. I can't find this on YouTube because of country-specific copyright issues, apparently, so have had to make do with a Spotify embed for those of you who do.

There is, however, a YouTube version of Grinderman playing Worm Tamer live in the RAK studio, back in 2010. If Wikipedia is to be believed, Nick formed Griderman as "a way to escape the weight of The Bad Seeds." Whatever the reason, this is a glorious noise.

Next time: Nick waltzes at the disco...

The Cover Charge "chain" to date.

Cover Charge #40 - Rod Stewart to Primal Scream

Cover Charge is simple: A covers B, B covers C, C covers D and so on, until I loop back to where I started, Ouroboros-style.

Last time: Blur to Rod Stewart

As I mentioned in the last clue, picking a cover by Rod is hard, because he's recorded so many, especially in the middle and later phases of his career, when he become as known for his interpretations as he was for original material. But a choice needed to made, and so here it is: from his 1998 album When We Were The New Boys, here's Rod's mostly Straight Bat take on Rocks. This features Ronnie Lane on bass, if the YouTube video listing is to be believed; if so, it would have been one of the last things he did, as he died in 1997, so wouldn't have got to see this released as a single. Just as well, maybe, given that it only limped to #55.

Primal Scream recorded their original of this for 1994's Give Out But Don't Give Up. They also released it as a single, which made it all the way to #7 in the UK, their highest chart placing at the time. I remember thinking, when I first heard this, that Bobby Gillespie must have decided he wanted to be in The Rolling Stones, 1971-vintage. No bad thing.

Next time: I've found a way to grind this series out...

The Cover Charge "chain" to date.

Cover Charge #39 - Blur to Rod Stewart

Cover Charge is simple: A covers B, B covers C, C covers D and so on, until I loop back to where I started, Ouroboros-style.

Last time: Pet Shop Boys to Blur

For a band that have been around as long as Blur, it's slightly surprising to learn they've rarely recorded covers. Even this feels a bit like they were just cocking about in the studio, using the time they had to get something - anything - in the can. Whatever its genesis, Blur recorded their take on Maggie May around the time of Popscene, I think; it first saw the light of day on the NME's 1992 compilation album Ruby Trax, celebrating 40 years of the publication, and then resurfaced as the B-side to 1993's Chemical World.

Poor old Rod the Mod. Probably thought landing the Glasto Legends slot was a good thing... until he made his Reform comments. Then the reviews of his set were, at best, mixed. For what it's worth, I didn't think it was terrible, it was just a bit... cruise ship, that's all. Though I wasn't a fan of him taking so long to change outfits that his backing band could perform entire and protracted numbers whilst he was off-stage. So probably better to remember him like this. In later years he became known for his interpretations of other people's songs, but this is a co-write for Rod. In the January 2007 issue of Q magazine, he recalled that "Maggie May was a true story, about the first woman I had sex with, at the 1961 Beaulieu Jazz Festival." He went on to clarify that the woman in question was not called Maggie though. Anyway, from 1971, here's Rolling Stone's number 130 in "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".

Next time: who knows, Rod's covered everybody...

The Cover Charge "chain" to date.