Hip hop in the house (on the hill)

A spot of old skool horror-film-inspired novelty hip hop for this Halloween night, mildly incongruous Captain Kirk samples and all. You can blame the previous post for putting the idea for this one in my head. So that'll be Lovebug Starski and Hutch, then! Ahem...

Lovebug Starski - Amityville (The House On The Hill) mp3

And if that's not enough to send a shiver down your spine, how about the following YouTube clip? It features Jamaican reggae stalwart Barrington Levy singing Under Mi Sensi live on Saturday morning kids' show No 73 in 1985, while Nicholas Parsons and host Sandi Toksvig cut a respective rug along to it on the dancefloor. Bizarre, incongruous, marvellous. Why don't they make 'em like this any more? Why?! Click here for the full horror. (The best bit occurs exactly two minutes in, by the way.)

Sweet (David) Soul Music

Billy Paul - Don't Give Up On Us mp3

My Boss Was In An Indie Band Once

No, not mine, silly. It's the title of the brilliant new single from MJ Hibbett & The Validators, and it's available to download at iTunes and other online purveyors of files musical - as is the album Regardez, Ecoutez et Repetez, which you can also buy on CD direct from the MJ Hibbett website. Hurrah!

Mildly Interesting Pop Fact: The titular boss (fnar fnar) is none other than Phil Wilson of the June Brides. Hear (or read, really) his thoughts on the subject at Fire Escape Talking.

We'll support you ever more

Top-notch pop news ahoy. The legendary I, Ludicrous have only gone and released a brand new download single. We're The Support Band (a new recording of an old favourite) is available from itunes and all the usual online suspects. Here's the FAB promo video!

Three of a Kind #100

A trio of cricket-themed songs, to bring up the Three of a Kind century. Lord's knows it's not been easy. We've maiden no ball effort to keep the partnership ticking over and, while we've almost been stumped a few times along the way and generally talked a lot of balls, we've never knowingly overstepped the mark or been caught out. It's been a good innings really; a real labour of glove. And this may sound like a silly point, but I think it's even made me a better all rounder person.

Righto ducks, time for a declaration I think. Over and out. (Extra information: the third track's a wrong 'un.)

The Duckworth Lewis Method - Jiggery Pokery mp3

Sherbet - Howzat mp3

The Commentators - N-N-Nineteen Not Out mp3

Song of the Day

Swissair - One Nation Under A Gloom mp3

Swissair's MySpace

New Tender Trap free download single

Not the most original post heading ever, I'll grant you, but I think it conveys the whole crux of the message pretty well. Anyway, yes, Amelia and chums are back (back! back!) with a brand new single, Fireworks, and a nifty accompanying video to boot.

Filmed in swanky Margate (in homage to Chas 'n' Dave no doubt) in their own inimitable style, here it is in its glorious entirety. Gercha!



Mildly Interesting Pop Fact: Tender Trap have been busy during the latest transfer window, securing the signings of not only Katrina "Police Cat/Sally Skull/Garden City Project/I've not actually heard of any of these bands" Dixon but also blog favourite Elizabeth "Allo Darlin'" Morris. Fancy!

Download Fireworks (plus b-side Grand National) for free at the Fortuna POP! website.

The worst TV programme of all time?

FEARNE AND PARIS HILTON

(Thursday 22nd October, ITV2)

Fearne Cotton lets all her inhibitions go and does a spot of pole dancing when she meets Paris Hilton for her new TV show.

The bubbly presenter unleashed her wild side for her ITV2 show Fearne and..., which sees her following around famous women to find out what makes them tick.

Wearing a short zebra print dress, the blonde giggles her way through the routine as Paris looks on in amusement.

But leggy Fearne shows she's more than a pretty face as she twirls around the pole before cracking up.

The Housemartins - We're Not Deep mp3

My Life Story - You Don't Sparkle (In My Eyes) mp3

Three of a Kind #99

It's, like, three songs from the My So-Called Life album. Or whatever.

*sigh*

It's only the best angsty teen drama series ever (in my angsty perpetual teenager opinion)!

Daniel Johnston - Come See Me Tonight mp3

Frente - The Book Song mp3

Juliana Hatfield - Make It Home mp3

Now that's what I call music.

By the way, if you think Make It Home sounds suspiciously like Silent Night (which it does), then this is probably explained by the fact that it comes from the yuletide episode of MSCL in which Juliana Hatfield plays a sort of Christmas angel. Behold her dubious acting skills in this 'ere clip!



Buy the My So-Called Life DVD boxset - featuring all 19 fantastic episodes - for a ridiculously cheap £7.43 from The Hut.

Tutankamon feel the noise

Q: What do you get if you team up the singer from Shout Out Louds, the guitarist from the Concretes and the one called Peter from Peter, Bjorn & John?

A: New Swedish supergroup Tutankamon!



Tutankamon - Have You Ever Been In Love?* mp3

Tutankamon's self-titled debut album is, apparently, out this week. I'm buggered if I can find it for sale anywhere, mind. I'm not entirely sure why I've put this bit in italics either.

*not to be confused with the Leo Sayer classic of the same name.

Video daze

Just stumbled across the following clip on one of those random yet often rewarding YouTube trawls. It's an earnest Morrissey being interviewed on TV-am in 1984 by Paul Gambaccini (who was clearly on the run from the fashion police at the time). In it, the young Mozza explains why the Smiths don't - or didn't, at that time - make promo videos to accompany their singles.

Look out also for contributions from Henry "Game For A Laugh" Kelly and Toni "Play Away" Arthur!

Anyway, here is:

Morrissey on TV-am in 1984

(it's one of those 'embedding disabled by request' jobbies, hence the necessary clickage)

Mildly Interesting Pop Fact: Ironically, The Smiths started making promo videos about five minutes after that interview took place. Oh alright then, ten minutes.

Trans-X - Living On Video mp3

Hometown Boys & Girls

Swedish indie classic ahoy! It's The Wannadies' 1990 gem My Home Town...



And here's Min Hemstad, a Swedish language cover of the very same song from Annika 'Hello Saferide' Norlin's other project Säkert (which, thanks to having known and liked the Wannadies' version for years, now becomes the first Säkert song I've ever understood the lyrics to!)



The Wannadies - My Home Town mp3

The Säkert version of the song can be found on the new Razzia Records compilation, There's A Razzia Going On Volume 2, which also, rather thrillingly, includes a previously unreleased Hello Saferide song, I Fold, and which can be ordered here.

Watch the birdie

In Stephen Fry's latest Sunday night series, Last Chance To See, our erudite, ubiquitous hero goes off in search of endangered species. In this week's episode, Stephen was off to New Zealand on the trail of the kakapo, a "fat, flightless parrot which, when threatened with attack, adopts a strategy of standing very still indeed."

The kakapo also seems to have a predilection for shagging hapless TV cameramen, as the following clip illustrates perfectly. Seldom has the expression 'love hurts' rung quite so true!



Action Biker - Love For Sure mp3

A day in the life of a Swedish pop star...

The above video clip is from Asha Ali's rather ace blog (the accompanying music is hers too), which she updates regularly. It's written in English as well, which is a boon for those of us who happen to speak even less actual Swedish than the chef from the Muppets. (He was brilliant though, wasn't he?)

Anyway, I digress. All pop stars should keep a blog like Asha's one. (Well, all good pop stars, at least. I mean I wouldn't be all that fussed about hearing the daily witterings of, say, Will Young, Celine Dion or the members of Big Fun, to be perfectly honest with you.)

It (the blog - do keep up) is informative, has great clips like the one above and some great photos of Gothenburg to boot. And where else would you find out that Asha Ali's second album Hurricane will be released on October 7th on CD and digitally through iTunes? (Apart from here, obviously - and lots of other places too, I shouldn't wonder.)

But yes, please do go and buy Hurricane when the time comes, and enrich your life just that little bit further!

By the way, you know when bloggers write stuff along the lines of "I first wrote about so-and-so IN THIS POST three hundred years ago - aren't I clever?" (I'm paraphrasing, obviously) and link back to that previous post on the same artist? Well...

I first wrote about Asha Ali two years ago IN THIS POST - aren't I clever?

Oh.

Déjà vu is nothing to be scared of

It's the Gallup UK Top 40 Singles of the Year 1984 - and your chance to download a whopping 7.5% of it! Imagine that!

Times must've been hard, pocket money-wise, in this year, as I only owned three of these on 7" (numbers 1, 15 & 37). I'd just discovered the delights of the compilation album in '84, mind, so subsequently own a lot of the songs here as part of various early Now double LPs (oh, and Hungry For Hits! Anyone remember that?).

Here are the runners and riders in full anyway. (Click on numbers 37, 19 & 12 to download.)

UK TOP 40 BESTSELLERS OF 1984

40 WE ALL STAND TOGETHER - Paul McCartney and the Frog Chorus
39 STREET DANCE - Break Machine
38 WOULDN'T IT BE GOOD - Nik Kershaw
37 THAT'S LIVIN' ALRIGHT - Joe Fagin
36 THE WILD BOYS - Duran Duran
35 JOANNA - Kool and the Gang
34 PRIDE (IN THE NAME OF LOVE) - U2
33 AUTOMATIC - Pointer Sisters
32 LIKE TO GET TO KNOW YOU WELL - Howard Jones
31 I WON'T LET THE SUN GO DOWN ON ME - Nik Kershaw
30 THE WAR SONG - Culture Club
29 GIRLS JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN - Cyndi Lauper
28 SELF CONTROL - Laura Branigan
27 DOCTOR DOCTOR - Thompson Twins
26 WHEN DOVES CRY - Prince
25 TOGETHER IN ELECTRIC DREAMS - Giorgio Moroder and Philip Oakley
24 RADIO GA GA - Queen
23 TIME AFTER TIME - Cyndi Lauper
22 I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER - Jim Diamond
21 THE POWER OF LOVE - Frankie Goes To Hollywood
20 NO MORE LONELY NIGHTS - Paul McCartney
19 HOLE IN MY SHOE - Neil
18 I WANT TO BREAK FREE - Queen
17 WHAT'S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT - Tina Turner
16 AGAINST ALL ODDS - Phil Collins
15 THE REFLEX - Duran Duran
14 99 RED BALLOONS - Nena
13 WHITE LINES (DON'T DON'T DO IT) - Grandmaster & Melle Mel
12 I FEEL FOR YOU - Chaka Khan
11 LAST CHRISTMAS - Wham!
10 WAKE ME UP BEFORE YOU GO GO - Wham!
9 GHOSTBUSTERS - Ray Parker Jr
8 FREEDOM - Wham!
7 AGADOO - Blacklace
6 HELLO - Lionel Richie
5 CARELESS WHISPER - George Michael
4 TWO TRIBES - Frankie Goes To Hollywood
3 RELAX - Frankie Goes To Hollywood
2 I JUST CALLED TO SAY I LOVE YOU - Stevie Wonder
1 DO THEY KNOW IT'S CHRISTMAS? - Band Aid

So there we have it. 1984 was all - or at least mostly - about Frankie Goes To Hollywood and Wham!. Oh, and Band Aid. Obviously. Amazing to think that enough people bought Culture Club's risible War Song to propel it into the year-end top 30 as well. Nice to see some actual novelty songs riding high in the chart though: Wacky Macca Thumbs Aloft and the Frog Chorus, Neil from the Young Ones and Blacklace's Agadoo. Ahh, Blacklace. They don't make them like that anymore. Mainly because one of them's dead.

Other songs that came out in 1984 but missed the year-end bestsellers list: Seven Seas by Echo & The Bunnymen, Young At Heart by The Bluebells, What Difference Does It Make and Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now by The Smiths, Each And Everyone by Everything But The Girl, Windjammer's Tossing & Turning, the Kane Gang's Closest Thing To Heaven, One Better Day and Michael Caine by Madness and this largely forgotten gem, which Mick is sharing with the world - or at least the music blog-reading bit of it - even as we speak.