the arrival of spring - having the windows open, going out without a jacket or winter shoes... even if only for a day

Day 7: A song that makes you feel energized

Nelson's Blood by The Bang-Bang

There are tons of great ones I could have picked, but once again decided to give a bit more exposure to the relatively obscure.

The Bang-Bang are a fictional band in the film Brothers of the Head, a mockumentary about the "true" forgotten founders of punk rock. I ended up loving the movie more than I expected to, and was particularly smitten by the music in it. The songs were written by Clive Langer, who was active in the British music scene at the time the movie was set, when pub rock was morphing into punk -- therefore, a real musician who knew and understood the era from experience, and this authenticity comes out in the material. I also dig that the actors perform their own vocals -- for me, it always gives something extra to a film when the actors portraying musicians actually perform their own music. [Still Crazy is another great example of this, where the actors both sing and play.] In Brothers, the band Crackout play most of the musicians in The Bang-Bang, and I enjoy their performances so much that I was led to discover their own albums, which I also quite enjoy. A movie full of riches.

The letter leecetheartist gave me for reposting is S. So, if you'd like to play, the rules go thusly:

• Name a BAND (NOT a song, NOT a solo performer) that starts with the letter “S”.
• Please don’t Google one, just use your brain.
• I'll then give you a letter for you to REPOST.


With a further variant if you like - give me a link to a video clip of a song you like from your band.

Day 4: A song you like with a location in the title

Waterloo Sunset by The Kinks

The location in question is of course a major London Underground station. I'm not alone in thinking this is one of the most beautiful and exquisite songs ever written.

Day 2: A song you like with a number in the title.

Take 5 by Northside

It was also tempting to go with the far better-known song of the same title which was a hit for The Dave Brubeck Quartet back in the day, but a part of me enjoys promoting the more obscure.

This song is utterly frothy, and they can't hide their theft of the classic riff from More than a Feeling by merely adding a couple of grace notes to it... but I always find it cheers me, and it is not uncommon to find me headbanging and chairdancing behind the wheel when it comes on in the car...

and by this I mean this: a 30-Day Song Challenge [thanx, moviediva!] -- why not just start now, where I am?

Day 1: A song you like with a color in the title.

For me, there can be only one, glaringly obvious choice:


The Big Blue by Sulk


Somewhere over the course of the past seven years since this song came out, it became my fave song of all time. As luck would have it, the requirement of a colour allows me to choose it to kick off my challenge.

I have listened to this song just about every day since it came out -- every single day. It has become my traditional way to start my day: I fire up the laptop, grab my brekkie, then settle in and play this song. When I only had a limited number of Sulk songs available, I would play their entire oeuvre every day. But now that they have twice as much sutff, I figure I don't always have that kind of time, so as long as I play some Sulk then I'm good. And eventually I got to the point where I usually just play one, and this is it.

The weird thing is, I still cannot explain to anyone why. It's not like I think this is demonstrably the greatest song ever made. But this is my song and I love it. Still not tired of it, I still listen to it actively and mindfully, I still sometimes air-guitar to it... I have never known another song to have such astonishing staying power for me.

preparing to ink my first page of comics this year

clean socks - a good feeling that never fails

atypical of what I've been doing, but I still kinda like it:

that the current pandemic is one of the most comfortable disasters ever

All our utilities still work. Food is still available -- maybe not every item, but the stores still have something to eat. Hell, we even still have internet, so a world full of info and entertainment. This is nothing like being wiped out by a hurricane or earthquake. Gotta keep this in perspective.