Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Titch - Zabadak!

Although somewhat under appreciated, at least as compared to some of their contemporaries, DDDBMT (as they were sometimes known as) had a run of charting singles in the mid-to-late sixties and were reportedly one of the better live acts in the UK at the time. Their 'Greatest Hits' album was one of the tapes in constant rotation in my dad's car when I was growing up and my mum could never get their name right - she would begin 'Dave Dee, Dozy, Bozy...' and then would dissolve into fits of giggles!

Anyway, I always liked this bit of nonsense. Fun Fact: Dave Dee (David Harman) was a policeman prior to becoming a musician and was on the scene at the car crash that claimed the life of Eddie Cochran.

Bonus clips: The Germans have never met a novelty song they didn't like. Here is a cover version by The Saragossa Band from 1979...

...and to clear your ears from that, here's Hold Tight. This was recently featured to great effect in Tarantino's 'Death Proof', where one of the character's claimed that Pete Townshend contemplated leaving The Who to join DDDBMT (mind you, she also constantly called the band 'Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mitch & Titch). This song is almost 45 years old but still rawks!!!

Haysi Fantayzee - Shiny Shiny

Before I heard this during an episode of 'Ashes To Ashes', I had almost completely forgotten about this lot. However, somewhat inexplicably, this got to the heady heights of No. 16 back in 1983. Why? Who in the heck bought it? OK, I admit that Kate Garner is pretty easy on the eye but the assault on the ears is another thing all together. Of course, I have not stopped humming it all weekend... Fun 'where are they now' facts: Jeremy Healy became an in-demand DJ and joined Boy George for his his E-Zee Possee project. Kate Garner lauched a successful photographic career and took the cover photo for Sinéad O'Connor's debut album.

Bonus Clip: Here's their debut, the just as ridiculous 'John Wayne Is Big Leggy'.

The Wallace Collection - Daydream

You know this song, even if you have never heard of this band or indeed this version (although it is the original). Admittedly, I came to this track via a different route - all shall be revealed below (see Bonus Clips).

The Wallace Collection was a Belgian band working out of London in the late '60s. Daydream, a single from their debut album, was released in 1969 and was a big hit in mainland Europe but, strangely enough, not any English speaking countries. However, that's not the end of the story...

Bonus Clips:... because the track was first picked up by the French chanson singer Claude François (he wrote the original 'My Way'), who recorded it as 'Rêveries'

which seems to be based on this library recording by Bernard Wystraete (also used as a sample by the likes of The Beatnuts, RZA, Dr. Octagon etc.)

Next up, the Australian easy-listening group The Gunter Kallman Choir (think of an Aussie version of The Swingle Singers) in 1970. Now this is the version you are probably most familiar with as, as well as appearing in countless commercials and as background music, it was also the basis for both...

...'Daydream in Blue' by I Monster in 2001...

...and 'Squares' by The Beta Band, which was originally going to be released at the same time as the I Monster single but was held back so to not cause confusion between the two tracks.

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!