Earworm of the Day: Volare (Nel blu dipinto di blu)

Why I couldn't have had an English version stuck in my head, I'll never know. Maybe it's the way "nel blu dipinto di blu" trips off the tongue, no matter what it translates to. Maybe it's that Domenico Modugno was such a dashing fellow, he's a virtual siren for this aging wanderer… or, maybe I just like a little Italian every once in a while.

Earworm of the Day: 12th Street Rag

I know you know this little ditty. It's probably been used in some cartoon or manic comedy scene you've watched, you've heard it in commercials, ad infinitum. Certainly I heard it enough to have it come burbling between my ears countless times.  Never, though, did the legend of its origins make its way to me, until now.

Whether the tale is true or not, I must admit to being greatly amused.

Also, the composer's life story, such as it is, made me smile. It's so greatly filled with holes as to be made of nothing but fairy dust, but those fairies must have had some fun, since the tales came from an apparent rival in the music industry. Also, since the composer was a Texan.

That Texas origin, in a way, makes hearing 12th Street Rag being played on an electric guitar, by a real master picker of said instrument (and a few other instruments, as well), seem somehow apt.

Enjoy trying to get this out of your head, if you're anywhere near people, today.

You're welcome.

Earworm of the Day: Please Don't Take Our Tree For Christmas

O Tannenbaum this is not. But it is very… something.

The Nutty Squirrels were a bebop knockoff of Alvin & the Chipmunks, and a welcome reprieve, for me, from the Chipmunks Christmas Song (which always gets so much air time during the sprawling holiday season).

It's a pity the squirrels didn't withstand the ravages of time in show biz. They were pretty hep cats, as tree rats go.

Earworm of the Day: Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat

Beware you'll scuttle the ship…

I can't imagine why a scene inside a Salvation Army center would come to mind, this week…   ;)

All politics aside, though, be careful if you have a boat. You never know when you're in over your head. At that point, just any old song could come bubbling up from between your ears, and then where will you be?

You can thank me later.

Earworm of the Day: My Name Is Jack

At least this week, it wasn't my usual Manfred Mann earworm. Not that singing about living in the back of the Greta Garbo Home for Wayward Boys and Girls is anything to be proud of... especially looking back over the stink it raised in some circles:

In June 1968, the following single, John Simon's "My Name is Jack", was recalled when the US company Mercury Records complained about the phrase "Super Spade" in the lyrics, which referred to a Haight-Ashbury drug dealer. The release was delayed by a week until the offending name was re-recorded as "Superman";^[9] however, the UK hit single version retained the original lyric.

Oh, as an afterthought, I thought I'd mention that one of the Bond girls was related to the lead singer in the above video, as was the whiny princess opposite Schwarzenegger in Conan the Destroyer (she was also in the TV series, The Wonder Years, but that's not important, really).



Update June 2021: Another link, a live performance, since YT seems to have yanked my original link

Earworm of the Day: Wheels

Spending a little time on the road, this month. The folks have been to North Carolina and back for family business, while I do much shorter runs (day trips) with a friend, partly in preparation for the Holiday Season™.

Oddly, I haven't been playing "Highway to Hell" in my head. As much as I dislike being in a car, any more, I'd have expected that to be on infinite loop. It must be the company I keep.

Alternate vid of same tune here.

Earworm of the Day: George of the Jungle

The original.

Which is far superior to either the movie or the more recent attempt at re-making Jay Ward's brilliant cartoons.

Also, it was prompted by something I heard on the 'Fifties radio station I'd surfed through while working. Which led me to track it down online, which led me back to one of my faves, which took me down the rabbit hole into my parents' generation of music, including some undeservedly long forgotten, which, as you can tell, leads to more, and…  suddenly it's tomorrow.

But that's a whole 'nother song.

Earworm of the Day: I've Got Spurs

One short line from the song kept recycling itself, bubbling up to the surface, only to fade into the deep again for an hour or more, every time I heard anything with a similar cadence. This has been going on for a few weeks, now, until I finally remembered to which song the line belonged (much to my embarrassment).

Also slightly embarrassing: I watched this video, and then followed it up with almost a dozen other Osmond Brothers vids before I settled down to write this post. I still have a goofy grin on my face. For someone who used to take pride in listening to the Buzzcocks, PIL (read a few of the comments. It's worth it, for the amusement factor), the Dead Milkmen, and other such generally noxious sounds, those boys were startlingly enjoyable to watch and listen to.

I must be getting old.

Get off my lawn.

Earworm of the Day: We Ain't Got Nothin Yet

This was the stuff my parents didn't want me listening to, the stuff that led to sex and drugs and all that is evil in the world...

Okay, they didn't really say that. My folks were less inclined to object to loud rock music on moral principles, and more because it seemed simple-minded, repetitive, and suffering from vocalists who shouted rather than sang.

Which, in truth, was part of its appeal.

Earworm of the Day: Does Your Chewing Gum Lose it's Flavour?

Imagine this getting stuck… in one's head.

I managed to surf through more of the late Lonnie Donegan's songs, pushing the gum out of my ear... if it didn't work for you, have a drink on me. If it does work, rockin' Hallelujah!