UPDATE: My alert readership got most of these right. The answers are now included, in case you happen to be interested.
I warned Stinger that I was going to do this, so we could call it "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery," but the truth is, I'm stealing the idea from him. That's because it's a really cool idea.
Here's what Stinger came up with: instead of doing a "Last Five/Next Five" playlist of songs, he instead posted a lyric from each song and invited his readers to guess which song it is. And now I'm going to do the same.
So following are 10 lyrics, from 10 songs, that came up in a row on iTunes this morning. And as is often the case with iTunes, they suggest a bit of a story.
Your task: identify the song from the lyric (and the artist) and post the answer in the comments section. While you could certainly get all the answers from Google, what fun is that? See what you can come up with. I'm willing to wager that if we leave this open for a day or two, the Mr. Dilettante audience can come up with all 10 songs. As it happens, none of these are horribly obscure, but there are a few testers. So let's see how you do. By the way, in most cases the line quoted is the first line of the song, if that makes it any easier:
1. "There's a man who leads a life of danger."
Answer: Secret Agent Man, Johnny Rivers
2. "A man decides after seventy years that what he goes there for, is to unlock the door." Answer: Crazy, Seal
3. "But the town has no need to be nervous." Answer: Tombstone Blues, Bob Dylan
4. "We get it almost every night." Answer: Dancing in the Moonlight, King Harvest
5. "Stay with me, my love I hope you'll always be." Answer: Follow You, Follow Me, Genesis
6. "Sweet, wonderful you. You make me happy with the things you do." Answer: You Make Loving Fun, Fleetwood Mac
7. "You've got style, that's what all the girls say." Answer: Dress You Up, Madonna
8. "Mother doesn't go out any more. Just sits at home and rolls her spastic eyes." Answer: Sunday Papers, Joe Jackson
9. "I hear the click clack of your feet on the stairs." Answer: Stray Cat Blues, Rolling Stones
10. "Out of the tree of life I just picked a plum." Answer: The Best is Yet to Come, Frank Sinatra
Have at it, y'all. And be sure to visit Stinger, who still has one of his lyrics out there.
16 comments:
1. secret agent man
#6 You make loving fun--Fleetwood Mac. I got #1 as well.
That's about it at first glance. I'm gonna have to concentrate a little harder on the rest.
2. "Crazy" by Seal
4. "Follow You, Follow Me" by Genesis
Figured I would take a couple of these since, you know, you stole my idea and all...
Oh, #5 - "Dress You Up" by Madonna
6. You Make Lovin' Fun by Fleetwood Mac.
Mike,
Right songs, wrong numbers.
So far correctly identified:
1. Secret Agent Man, Johnny Rivers
5. Follow You, Follow Me, Genesis
6. You Make Loving Fun, Fleetwood Mac
7. Dress You Up, Madonna
Good job -- keep going after it! I think 4 and 9 will be the toughest, by the way.
Oops, Mike is also right on Crazy by Seal. The Stinger is very good at this stuff.
i thought Devo did secret agent man.
Gino,
I dunno -- have to claim a lack of familiarity with Devo's body of work. But the original hit was Johnny Rivers, back in 1966 or thereabouts.
HOW COULD YOU NOT BE FAMILIAR WITH DEVO's BODY OF WORK?????
where the hell did you spend your 80's?
i thought you were making a cool comeback. i was so wrong about you.
(shaking head in disbelief)
where the hell did you spend your 80's?
Mostly in taverns, actually. But thanks for asking!
In re Devo: I know enough of their music to have a decent idea about them, but I never owned any of their albums. They did a fine job deconstructing "Satisfaction" by the Stones, and "Whip It" was a lot of fun back in late 80/early 81. And of course they were born to do "Working in a Coalmine," and "Freedom of Choice" was also pretty amusing. Still, a little of their schtick went a long way, though. Maybe I'll go back and revisit the matter now, but back then I preferred other things.
#10 is "The Best is Yet to Come." I don't know who recorded it originally, but the Mall Diva is a big Sinatra fan and I've heard this a few times.
You are correct, NW. I don't know if anyone recorded it prior to Sinatra, but his version is definitive.
#4 - "We get it almost every night"...I'm picking up something in the back of my mind about barking and biting, supernatural delight...Afternoon Delight? No, that's not it. Ah! Of course, "Dancing in the Moonlight" by...King Crimson? No, wait, King Harvest. I can't play and be uptight.
#8 - Ha-ha! Loved that album. I bought it when I was in England in '79 and played it to death for years. I'm talking about Joe Jackson and "Sunday Papers" from his debut "Look Sharp" album. Another song, "Is She Really Going Out With Him" from that album is a personal theme song for my wife and I.
I've been waiting for you, NW. You are right about both:
Dancing in the Moonlight, from King Harvest, back around 1973 or so.
And it is Sunday Papers, from Joe Jackson's debut album.
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