I’ve been neglecting you lot lately, life has taken over for a little while, and may do for a little while yet. Online life sometimes does take a hit in the summer, especially now the little man doesn’t want to go indoors while it’s light.
That little man is two years old today, so I’m going to be running around after him like a fool.
Here’s a great great version of the Bacharach and David song that shares a name with my boy.
Happy birthday little fella!
I was discussing The Bay City Rollers of all people today. I made the observation that boy band members look more and more like Vietnam vets as they get older, all 1000 yard stare, more frazzled looking than Mick and Keef.
Look at The Roller’s Les, or Robbie or George Michael. They all look a bit …damaged, like they left some important part behind.
Set me off thinking about Pop as war. Its there in the language of pop. Conquering the charts, ‘The British Invasion’ Number One With A Bullet, words like explosion and hit. And Im sure I remember some boyband manager calling the group cannon fodder.
Its probably no wonder they end up the way they do.
There are songs that you forget about and then they come on and they whisk you back in time. Cath by The Bluebells was almost a hit in 1983 – number 62 apparently – and then just edged into the Top 40 in 1984 after their success with Young At Heart. Cath was always their best song in my opinion, much better than YAH. It’s got that 60s jangle going on, very Beatles For Sale, plus a big football chant chorus, which reminds me a lot of The Alarm, who were just becoming big at the time. Then there’s the final section of the song, where it goes all Maggie Mae for a bit and some great lead vocals. And the classic line “You spoil my day for the rest of the night”…
The Songs That People Sing 