GP Updates

I noticed that the links to some of the archived videos were now dead so I've been through all the posts and have updated accordingly. Let me know if I've missed any...

The Big Supreme - Don't Walk

Ah, the power of the Internet... As I was putting together yesterday's post on Big Bam Boo, another song popped into my head. Actually, I should say that the idea of a song popped into my head as I could not remember either the title, lyrics or who sang it! All I could remember was that I was sure the group were called 'Big' something or other and that they had evolved from a previous group called Bonk (it made me giggle then and it still makes me giggle now). A Google search (note: I do not recommend you run a search on the terms 'big' and 'bonk' during office hours) turned up the Aussie group Big Pig who released an album called 'Bonk' but it was not them. As further scraps of lyrics made their way through the fogginess of my mind, further googling identified the group as The Big Supreme and the song 'Don't Walk' and the memories came flooding back.

This track got quite a bit of airplay at the time (1986) and I now recall that I actually saw The Big Supreme live when they supported OMD at (what was then) the Hammersmith Odeon. Further googling reveals that they were the vehicle for one Barry Flynn from St. Helens who had indeed had other released under the names Bonk, Bonk Combo & The Cult of Barry Flynn.

Bonus Clip: Here's a track from the aforementioned Bonk, with backing vocals from Toni Halliday, who would go on to form Curve...

Big Bam Boo - Fell Off A Mountain

Another one from my teen years where the details have been lost to the mists of time. Here's what I can recall: Big Bam Boo were a British duo (not to be confused with The Proclaimers) consisting of, as Wikipedia reliably informs me, Simon Tedd & Shark (which sounds more like the title of a kids TV show) and were signed to MCA releasing this single in 1989. The only other single I remember them releasing was called 'Shooting From My Heart' but I believe that I also owned their sole album at one time, which I probably bought for 20p from one of the Record & Tape Exchange branches!

Bonus Clip: Here's 'Shooting From My Heart'

The GP Xmas Edition

Regular readers of this blog (all four of you - hi out there!) know that I have a slight Christmas song fetish; see the previous GP entries for 'East 17', 'Freiheit' & 'Kirsty MacColl'. Pop songs, carols, whatever - I love them at any time of the year, so I thought I would post a selection of my favourite videos for the holiday season.

Jona Lewie 'Stop The Cavalry' (1980) - one of those Xmas songs that, with the exception of a single lyric and a smattering of sleigh bells, has little if anything to do with Xmas and indeed was a summertime hit in France!

The Waitresses 'Christmas Wrapping' (1981) - The Waitresses are better known for 'I Know What Boys Like' but this track is a staple of Xmas Compilations and has been covered by such luminaries as, um, The Spice Girls and Miranda Cosgrove.

Mike Oldfield 'In Dulci Jubilo' (1975) - is there anyone who went to primary/elementary school and did not have to play this on the recorder? Come to think of it, is there anyone who actually played the recorder after they left primary/elementary school?!

Greg Lake 'I Believe In Father Christmas' (1975) - sometimes mistaken to be an anti-Xmas song, this is actually anti-commercialisation of Xmas. Greg wrote (with thanks to Prokofiev) and recorded this separate from Emerson, Lake & Palmer although the group did release a version a couple of years later.

John & Yoko 'Merry Xmas (War Is Over)' - yes, it's another not-very-Xmassy Xmas song and a little cheesy but, hey, we can hopefully all agree with the sentiments...

Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year to one & all. See you in 2010!

Kirsty MacColl - There's A Guy Works Down The Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis

The daughter of acclaimed folk singer Ewan MacColl (the writer of the seminal 'The First Time Ever I Saw Her Face'), it's a shame that Kirsty MacColl is somewhat better known for her collaborative work e.g. The Pogues 'Fairytale Of New York' and The Happy Mondays 'Hallelujah', than as an artiste in her own right. However she released a string of singles and albums throughout the 80s and 90s until her untimely death in 2000 in a boating accident in Mexico (she saved one of her sons from the path of a speedboat allegedly driven by a member of Mexico's high society).

Outside of the aforementioned collaborations, she is best remembered as covering Billy Bragg's 'A New England' and The Kinks' 'Days' and for her early tracks 'He's On The Beach', 'They Don't Know' (covered by Tracey Ullman, an earlier GP entrant, with Kirsty on backing vocals) and this, her first hit reaching #14 in 1981. Fun Fact: this was released in the US as 'There's A Guy Works Down The Truck Stop...' as it was felt that Americans would not know what a chip shop was! I highly recommend hunting down a copy of her compilation 'Galore' or, if you to be comprehensive the box set 'From Croydon To Cuba'. R.I.P. Kirsty...

Bonus Clips: 'They Don't Know', Kirsty's first single:



as it's the holiday season, one of my favourite Xmas songs, 'Fairytale of New York':



and finally, just for an excuse to post the lovely 'The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face'. Here's a version by Peter, Paul & Mary, featuring the recently departed Mary Travers. R.I.P. Mary...

William Shatner - Common People

William "Cpt. James T. Kirk" Shatner has often been pilloried for his 1968 album 'The Transformed Man' which featured cover-versions of recent hits performed in his own inimitable style of dramatic interpretation, making every phrase sound as if it should be followed by an exclamation mark. For example, 'Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds': "Picture Yourself! In A Boat! On A River! With Tangerine Trees! And Marmalade Skies!" However, old Bill appears to be able to laugh at himself and has continued to spoof his style in various commercials and at the 1992 MTV Movie Awards (where he performed all 5 of the Best Song From A Movie nominees). In 1995 in teamed up with Ben Folds to produce another album 'Has Been', the only cover this time being Pulp's 'Common People' which also featured Joe Jackson (of 'Different For Girls', 'Is She Really Going Out With Him?', 'Stepping Out' fame). For some reason, the dramatic reading actually works here either because the source material is so good or because the verses have little melody anyway. Funnily enough, 'Has Been' got pretty good reviews and became the basis for a ballet (choreographed by Margo Sappington, best remembered for 'Oh! Calcutta!') also called 'Common People'. Who said "Pop Will Eat Itself"?

Bonus Clips: Here's the aforementioned 'Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds':

... and just in case you thought this cheese was limited to Cpt. Kirk, here's one of Leonard Nimoy's contributions to popular music:

Tenpole Tudor - Swords Of A Thousand Men

Truth be told, I have a soft spot for their entire debut album 'Eddie, Old Bob, Dick & Gary' which also included the seminal 'Wunderbar' and '3 Bells In A Row' along with this, their biggest hit (No. 6 Apr 1981).

Tenpole Tudor was originally formed in the mid-70s by Eddie Tudor (born Edward Tudor-Pole, his family allegedly being descended from the Tudors) who was briefly Johnny Rotten's replacement in The Sex Pistols and appeared in their film 'The Great Rock 'N' Roll Swindle'. After a couple of albums, Tenpole Tudor disbanded with Eddie eventually returning to his first love: acting. Nowadays, he is best remember as the host of the UK version of 'The Crystal Maze' having taken over from Richard O'Brien in 1993.

Bonus Clip: Here's the resolutely silly 'Wunderbar'....