Good evening, and welcome to your selection of songs that remind you of something, someone, or somewhere. A wide topic, perhaps, but one that demonstrates how evocative music can be.
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 songs referencing Shakespearean characters, sonnets or plays, as suggested by LongTallSilly. To make it easier, here is a link to an A-Z list of Shakespearean characters; first names will do. Worms should reach me by close of play on Sunday 28 April.
Many thanks to all contributors – keep calm, and carry on!
Hot Butter – Popcorn – glassarfemptee: My first foray to Europe was with my wife to be, when we stayed in a mosquito ridden campsite in Amsterdam. We took the bus to get there as we were penurious students. This infectious track kept coming up on the bus radio: sorry to inflict it on you.
The In-Crowd – Mango Walk – UncleBen: The song that makes me think of my daughter. We have our own special dance for it. My son leaves the room if he hears it come on.
Illinois Speed Press – Hard Luck Story – glassarfemptee: I spent almost a year in the States in ’68, and had an amazing time travelling the length and breadth by Greyhound, in search of music. I saw a zillion bands, but one memory that stands out was a sunny afternoon in Orange County listening to the short-lived Illinois Speed Press.
John Farnham – You’re The Voice – severin: This song reminds me of sitting in a Taverna on the Greek island of Kefalonia in the evening sunshine eating dolmades and drinking Robola wine (probably) while a Greek language version of it played on the local radio station. I knew that I knew the song but I didn’t ask anyone what it was at the time. When I got home my repeated requests to identify the song that went “Whoa a oh a oooh” resulted in little more than blank looks and increasing irritation. I’m still not sure who recorded the Greek version.
Murray Head – Say It Ain’t So Joe – DebbyM: Immediately transports me back to France, 1983. I worked on a campsite in the Vendée, where Nick from Luton ran the bar, was general handyman and listened to this song on his portable cassette recorder All. The. Time.
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band – Falling Down Slow – Fintan28: The something – in this case snow. Big fluffy flakes that take their time meandering to the ground. Helps to have a fire and a window to look out of. Apologies for the pops.
Jeffrey Martin – There Is A Treasure – tincanman: This is from last year’s rather quite good Thank God We Left The Garden. John Prine died three years earlier. Or did he?
John Sebastian – She’s A Lady – Fintan28: The someone – John Sebastian had a talent for getting away with sappy sentiment. Not played often but the same green eyes revisit each occasion.
Lou Reed – Goodnight Ladies – severin: When you were younger, did you ever go out with someone who you still sometimes think about wistfully, decades later? Even though you have had many other relationships since and they are probably happily married and living many miles away? Or is that just me? Well anyway, she loved this song and would ask for it to be played at parties.
The Kinks – Waterloo Sunset – Suzi: So, it’s 1967, I’m in London, up there on a day trip from Portsmouth, I’ve been shopping at Biba, and I love this song. So naturally I go and stand somewhere where I can look across the river to see Waterloo Station. Didn’t see Terry and Julie, to my knowledge, although who knows.
Queen – Keep Yourself Alive – tincanman: We’re all more learned now, but we never outgrow what we heard when we first clicked with music. Early teens me heard this when records were still mostly mono. Crossing guitars and drums between sides was, thesaurus.dot.com tells me, precipitousness.
All Saints – Black Coffee – UncleBen: The song that makes me think of my son. When he was very little, he would go to sleep on my shoulder while I jogged up and down very gently to this song, which – despite its title – turned out to have highly soporific qualities.
Mr. Acker Bilt – Stranger On The Shore – Mr. Acker Bilt – Fintan28: The somewhere – Laughton’s Hot Springs. Sadly it’s been closed for years but there was a time when it was the finest spot to be. Olympic diving platform. Huge naturally heated pool. Sundaes made from Chism ice cream at poolside. And a pretty decent sound system. A gawky 13 year old could be lost in things his future might hold as he gazed on a couple in swimsuits dancing to this. Takes me back instantly.
Main playlist, blurbs above:
YouTube Playlist, blurbs below:
Nirvana – Smells Like Teen Spirit – LongTallSilly: In the ’90s we used to play this just before arriving at whatever rock face we were climbing that day. It started us in the right frame of mind for some epic routes, especially in Snowdonia on the slate!
Jimi Hendrix – Are You Experienced – MaggieB: The first time I heard the album was on holiday in Angelsey, so in my mind Yns Mon is forever associated with Jimi’s music.
Ray Parker Jr. – Ghostbusters Theme Song – Suzi: A bit random, perhaps, but hearing this always takes me back to Javea in Spain, and a fiesta. Loads of firecrackers going off, to earsplitting effect, this song being played, and everybody dancing and singing along. I watched the film again on TV recently, very silly, and don’t think it has stood the test of time, but the song’s still irresistible and fun.
King Crimson – Book of Saturday – AliM: Reminds me of my teenage self, lying in bed and listening to Radio Caroline late at night. They used to play this track followed by “Exiles”, the next one on the album (Larks Tongues in Aspic). I can’t find a video of the two together, but “Exiles” is coming up next.
King Crimson – Exiles – AliM: See above. Reader, I bought the album, and never looked back.
The 'Spill 