A Treasure Time Won't Steal Away

....and exhale.

Mon Dieu mes amis, le weekend est finalement ici!

Before the celebrations can begin in earnest, we must of course pay our weekly tribute to the all-consuming God of Earworms. Shuffling across the floor to light the incense, this week's acolyte is an old friend and colleague of mine. He is a source of zen-like calm, gnomic wisdom and limitless advice on technology. He is also currently very much in my good books for an astounding piece of generosity that he sprang on me a little earlier in the week.

Ladies and Gentleworms.... without further ado....it is my great honour to present for your earworming pleasure....

Earworms of the Week - Guest Editor #21 - The NumNum

First of all - Apologies. I have not been an avid surfer of the last month, and have therefore missed the goings on in our little blog community. So it was a bit of a surprise to get an AIM from Mr ST, who asked if I was able to do the earworm thingy. 'Just stuff in your head' said he. Phew I thought, I hardly listen to music on the train anymore. However, I have a mixed up car mp3-cd that has a full 700mb of music that goes round and round and round, hardly replaced. So much of the music below is a ghostly audio image of that cd, but to begin with, a song I am known to hum incessantly, followed by one that Icy is now humming about the house and is therefore stuck in my head.

1. Prince - The Beautiful Ones
This song always goes around in my head. ALWAYS. A certain Captain Damo will attest that I am a bit of a Prince fan. And of all of his songs, this one is the one I hum/sing to myself a lot. Its spooky. I've had a really bad three weeks, and yet there I was looking out over the railway tracks at Paddington and humming to myself “Baby baby baby, what's it gonna be?”. I've seen the fellow live about three time, and alas I have all the cd's, even the absolutely crap ones that I spent £35 on only to see them reduced to £5.99 a year later since nobody wants to buy them.

2. Savage Garden - I Want You
Blame Icy for this. She hadn't heard of them before I stuck my CD into the player in th kitchen. Unfortunately since then, it has been played, played, and played, and she also is known to walk around the house singing it. So what was once a song I put 2nd to ‘To The Moon And Back’, is now buzzing around in the top of my music stack in my head. Its not a bad song really, shame she doesn’t hum the other one.

3. John Lee Hooker - Boom Boom
This was induced by the stupid demands work places on me. I don't have a huge musical brain like ST/Damo etc, but I have my moments. And now and then, when something happens, I trigger a song off. This was triggered by a comment made in a meeting about 'Resizing an infrastructure based on latest proof of concept findings', and during said meeting a senior member of the client team made a statement that made me thing 'They're gonna shoot you right down boyo' - and voila, John Lee Hooker buzzed around me head. I am known to smirk during meetings, and the secret is I'm playing the music to either someone's or my (yes my!) demise. Might as well enjoy it no?

4. Simon And Garfunkel - Mrs Robinson
I still do this one, its embarrassing. I think Icy may commit me to an asylum. I'd be watching tv, get up and then mutter to myself en route "toot tot toot toot to..." you know, the slow sweet gentle melodic start to the song? I must admit, I haven't got a clue what the entire lyrics are, but I do hum the tune when I'm happy or feeling melodic (not that I can sing!) Its now buzzing round again, though I'm too blooming exhausted to hum it out.

5. Asha Boshle - Dum Maro Dum
You'll be hard pushed to know this unless you're from the sub-continent and have a close link with the music of your elders who are 40+. Its from an old Indian film, and I just absolutely LOVE the baseline and snare beat (and the film wasn't half bad too). I used to have it on a tape I listened to on the plane to-fro from University to home. Alas the mp3 on the cd in the car is of very poor quality. But I do have the original LP (in the garage now) and when played on the stereo at my Sisters, the bass and snare shine through. My sisters have loads more where this came from, and I am known to sometimes burst into indian song at work, much to the confusion and amusement of work colleagues. (btw, she's the brimful of Asha that cornershop sing about in case you wondered...)

6. The Stone Roses - Breaking Into Heaven
I absolutely love this song. I honestly don't need to have it twice on the car mp3 cd, but I do. Ever since I bought the album in Manchester when-I-were-a-lad, as they say, its been a firm favourite for me. The baseline rolls, the lyrics are intriguing, and the melody just gets me going. I hum the bassline now and then - sometimes people confuse me for a madman, but its really the bassline.

7. MC Hammer - You Can't Touch This
Sorry. Blame it on the 'streets', more specifically the avenue I grew up in. Whenever I deliver something awesome at work or with friends, I just move into the chorus of this. It's so funky. All together now - You can't touch this...

8. Metallica - The Outlaw Torn
I've proven my affinity to the lyrics in this on my blog. This raises its heavy head now and then, especially as I try to remember 'be humble, be down to earth'. And as they say in the song "And if I close my mind in fear - Please pry it open. And if my face becomes sincere - Beware. And when I start to come undone - Stitch me together. And when you see me strut - Remind me of what left this outlaw torn..." See, catchy init?

9. Howlin Wolf - Wang Dang Doodle/Smokestack Lightnin'
I don't look it, and Icy hasn't really seen this side of me yet (ooh scary, hidden secrets), but I am a huge blues fan. I keep it hidden, largely because I haven't done it justice and invested in the hours in a proper blues club. Last I went was on my birthday, to the London Pizza Express Jazz Club some New Years Eve many years ago. Anyway, I love Howlin Wolf. He ROCKS! And I do my very best to combine both of these together and do a "all night long, hear me cry woohooooo". Its quite a shame, I don't do it justice at all.

10. Michael Jackson - The Lady In My Life
Its my favourite love song, and though I don't sing it, I find its melody divine, the lyrics, sublime, and I'm lucky to have someone to quietly sing it to in my head. Soppy I know, but I honestly put this up there as one of my favourite songs of all time, and I think its HEAVILY underrated by everyone. Listen to it again, its bloody amazing. I think this is my true earwig, since i do not sing it, hum it, or anything, it just swarms into my head when I think of how lucky I am.

And I just drift off...

All together now: “STOP – Hammer Time!”


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That's a hell of a way to leave us mate. Now we are all going to spend all weekend with that song in our brains and an image of that pantalooned fool dancing in front of our eyes.... So thanks for that.

Next week's Guest Editor is the lovely ("Gettin' Lucky In Kentucky") Leah from Serendipity. Poor Leah is currently mourning for an old friend, so perhaps we can dedicate this post to the memory of Buzz, and Leah can start the healing process by thinking happy thoughts and seeing what tunes drift into her head?

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If you are planning on submitting an entry to the "Guess Who The Bookshelf Belongs To", then you'd best pull your finger out.... I'll probably put the answers up and pick a winner on Sunday night.

[previous guest editors: Flash, The Urban Fox, Lord Bargain, Retro-Boy, Statue John, Ben, OLS, Ka, Jenni, Aravis, Yoko, Bee, Charlie, Tom, Di, Spin, The Ultimate Olympian, Damo, Mike, RedOne]