Dubious But Decent

There used to be a regular feature on Gideon Coe's mid-morning BBC 6 Music show called Dodgy But Great in which, each day, our genial host would play a different cheesy and deeply unhip song that was, in spite of everything, actually rather brilliant.

It was also quite possibly the greatest feature on any radio show ever. In fact, it definitely was. But then, all of a sudden, they got rid of it. Pourquoi? Had Gideon exhausted the world's supply of dodgy-but-great pop songs? I rather doubt it. And can it be a mere coincidence that, soon after binning this feature, the whole show was scrapped and Gid was (unfairly, for he is great, and not at all dodgy) shunted off to the station's 10pm-1am (now 9pm-midnight) Monday-Thursday slot? I think not. Oh alright then, so it definitely would have just been a coincidence. But still, makes you think, no?

Oh.

Anyhoo, this is all basically a long-winded way of my nominating a dodgy but great tune of my own (well, when I say my own I didn't actually have anything to do with the writing or recording of it. I just likes it, is all). It's 1982 #19 UK pop 40 smash for throwback rock 'n' rollers Rocky Sharpe & The Replays with the rather wondrous Shout! Shout! (Knock Yourself Out), which, I've just learned, is a cover version of an old sixties hit for someone called Ernie Maresca. Makes sense.



Rocky Sharpe & The Replays - Shout! Shout! (Knock Yourself Out) mp3

Mildly Interesting Pop Fact: Replays member Helen Blizard later went on to appear in early series of long-running ITV firefighting drama London's Burning as Marion, wife of serial crumpet-merchant Vaseline (Mark Arden). Dead good she was, too.

Rocky Sharpe and the Replays stuff is surprisingly readily available to buy on CD and even mp3.