Three of a Kind #96

It's been flipping ages since I've roused myself to rip some old vinyl for use on a blog post, so it's high time I rectified this sorry state of affairs I reckon. In which case, please accept these three seemingly random yet suspiciously decent choices from my stack of early-mid-90s indie twelve-inchers.

Cud - Rich & Strange mp3

I've always had a soft spot for Cud, despite the fact that they once released a single with the cringingly awful title Purple Love Balloon (which still didn't stop me buying it on picture disc). I was so gormlessly naive at the time, though, that I didn't even make the connection between the titular balloon and its saucy connotations until years later. Take a ride in your purple love balloon indeed!

Bleach - Shotgun mp3

I've done absolutely no research for today's post (which will obviously come as a massive shock to everybody reading this), but if memory serves Bleach hailed from Ipswich and were quite a hit with John Peel. They sound a lot like the early Lush on 1991's Shotgun, too, which is never a bad thing. There's even an attempt at what I can only describe as some middle-class white girl shoegazey rapping here. Marvellous!

My Life Story - The Lady Is A Tramp mp3

My Life Story were one of the most under-rated bands of the Britpop era for me. Oh yes, you can keep your Blurs and Oasis' (Oasisis?) - give me Jake Shillingford and his hi-octane brand of orchestral pop any day of the week. This band were so good that they could even afford to consign songs as fine as the one above to obscure b-side status (this was one of the extra tracks on the Funny Ha Ha 12"). Listen to the way Jake pronounces some of the words, like he's the Queen of Sheba or something ("The Lady's always thaar, Camden Tiyn to Leicester Sqaar"). Magnificent. And how can you not love a band who christen their information service Sex & Violins? Impossible!

Three of a kind #40

Shameless self-indulgence abounds on today's Three of a kind as we commemorate the occasion of my and Spike's first ever go at curling, last night, at England's only dedicated curling rink.

Now, some people are very sniffy about curling and dismiss it as being merely housework on ice and not really a proper sport at all. But these people are clearly lazy, easily-pleased morons who are probably just parroting a smartarse comment Rory McGrath or someone once made for a cheap laugh on They Think It's All Over, after Rhona Martin's team won Olympic gold for Scotland Great Britain in 2002. It's actually a great team sport which must take a hell of a lot of skill to perfect and perform at the highest level - and it's thoroughly enjoyable to participate in to boot. All that sweeping really wears you out too!

Anyway, while the Too Much Apple Pie crew may not have emerged as curling prodigies or dead certs for the GB team at the next winter Olympics (or even spotted anyone doing it sans clobber), we didn't 'alf have fun. Which is what it's all about at the end of the day, right kids?

some synchronised curlers earlier today

Spearmint - Sweeping The Nation mp3

The Temptations - Papa was A Rolling Stone (1987 remix) mp3

My Life Story - Under The Ice mp3

(mp3s available for 7 days)

Buy music or try curling.

Three of a kind #20

Coming soon to a theatre near you (possibly):

(click on image for larger version)
Sean Lock wasn't the only funny man Spike and me went to see over the weekend. Oh no - there was also Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, Charlie Chaplin, Laurel & Hardy and Fatty Arbuckle, to name but several. And Paul Merton, who brought these legendary-but-sadly-no-longer-with-us comics to us via his Silent Clowns tour.

I'm not sure how many of you will have been to see a classic silent film as part of a large audience watching on a big screen, with a live pianist (as opposed to a dead one) improvising a soundtrack, but it's a truly memorable experience, and one that knocks a trip to the local multiplex to watch the latest overhyped, overpriced blockbuster into a cocked hat - especially when the silent film you're watching in its entirety happens to be Harold Lloyd's Safety Last (as happens in the second half of Paul Merton's show).

Basically, it's the one where Harold risks life and limb by performing a prolonged sequence of death-defying stunts and slips whilst clinging to the side of a building when he must have been well over a hundred feet from the ground. All without the aid of a safety net or rope tied around his waist, or any sort of protection at all! He really was risking his life up there. That's what made watching it with such a big audience so exciting - you're all gasping along and reacting to these incredible sights together. (The film is available to watch in its entirety on You Tube - albeit cut up into small chunks - but trust me, you'll enjoy it much more on the big screen.)

Paul Merton's Silent Clowns tour continues until 9th December, and calls in at Bournemouth, Bradford, Buxton, Reading, Plymouth, Northampton, Leicester, Salford Quays, Liverpool, Isle of Man, Portsmouth, Perth, Dundee and Aberdeen.

In the meantime, here are some songs to suit today's theme. (sorry, but The Sound of Silence just seemed too obvious, and I couldn't find It's Oh So Quiet for looking!)

Fun Boy Three - Our Lips Are Sealed mp3

My Life Story - Funny Ha Ha mp3

XTC - Stupidly Happy mp3

(songs available for 7 days.)

Buy music and silent comedy classics here.