Earworms 10 May 2021

Greetings all, and welcome to your arresting selection of songs about cops and robbers.

If you have an earworm you’d like to share, please send an .mp3, .m4a or a link to adempster73@gmail.com, together with a few words about why you’ve chosen it. Next week’s theme will be waves – airwaves, hair waves, sea waves, waving, or even waiving. Interpret it as you will.

Worms should reach me by close of play on Sunday 16 May. Many thanks to all contributors.

Falco – der Kommissar – debbyM: One of the first German-language songs to be a huge (international!) hit, this still gets played a lot in discos – well, it was still being played until the plague set in and stopped us going dancing – and we can all sing along.

Ministère AMER – Sacrifice de poulet – debbyM: This is more police & rioters than cops & robbers. A reaction to police ‘heavy handedness’ at demos, this hip hop anthem led to a run-in with le Ministre de l’Intérieur and a radio ban (not all French music is chansons, folks).

Richard Thompson -1952 Vincent Black Lightning – Suzi: James has robbed many a man to get his Vincent machine – but now he’s dying of a shotgun wound to the chest, and the cops have caught up with him. His girl is called to his bedside, and he tells her, ‘In my opinion, there’s nothing in this world/ Beats a ’52 Vincent and a redheaded girl.’ So, with one last kiss, he gives her his precious motorbike to ride. How romantic is that?

The Traveling Wilburys – Tweeter and the Monkey Man – Suzi: Drug dealers rather than robbers, but an undercover cop features very significantly. Bob Dylan tells the story.

Gregory Issacs – Mr Cop – severin: A plea for the police to leave peaceful ganja smokers alone and not be so uptight. A mellow tune that’s maybe too mellow to work as a topical comment these days.

Joni Mitchell – Raised On Robbery – severin: Well, sort of… What she’s proposing isn’t robbery or even necessarily illegal. Just being friendly, nothing going on here.

Barbara Dickson – Prison Song – severin: From the Blood Brothers soundtrack. Not like Porridge.

Bad Company – Bad Company – severin: Deserters, probably from the Confederate army in the American Civil war, turned outlaws. Written in a cottage in Surrey.

Brooklyn Funk Essentials – Recycled – tincanman: Well that escalated quickly.

Run The Jewels – Walking In The Snow  – tincanman: And everyday on evening news they feed you fear for free / And you so numb you watch the cops choke out a man like me / And ’til my voice goes from a shriek to whisper “I can’t breathe”.

The WIld Angels – I Fought the Law – glassarfemptee: The Wild Angels’ No.1 hit (in Sweden), which Mitch Mitchell could sing with conviction (pun intended) after a paid-for holiday in Pentonville.

Junior Murvin – Police and Thieves – glassarfemptee: Junior Murvin’s classic reggae hit, bemoaning the chilling effect of both the cops and the criminals.

Robbery [4-4 Mix] – shoegazer: 15th Anniversary edition.

And the YouTubers:

The Clash – Bankrobber – MaggieB: The all time classic robber song from the coolest band on earth at the time.

Charlie Roth and Mike Harding – Jolly Bold Robber – AliM: Ye olde English cautionary tale.

The Professionals – Little Boys In Blue – wyngatecarpenter: I think this covers both angles bearing in mind Steve Jones’ pre-fame hobby.