Tuesday Tunes 216: Shoes

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I said last week that I would be running a second set of songs about clothes, but with a twist. This week sees the big reveal! When I was compiling that one I realised that many of the songs I knew were about shoes, so many in fact that I felt they deserved a post all to themselves. So, this week the theme is shoes. I wonder how many of them you will know? I’m treading a fairly familiar path, I think, but there is one I’m guessing might be new to many. Let’s see.

I’ve played this first one before, but as that was in September 2020 I don’t think a second airing is coming too soon:

Hole In My Shoe was a non-album single and has only ever featured on compilations since then, apart from in the US, where it was included on the release of the band’s first album, Mr Fantasy. Traffic were the band formed by Steve Winwood after his early days in the Spencer Davis Group, though this song is unusual in that Dave Mason – who wrote it – takes lead vocal instead of Winwood. Proving that nepotism has been around for much longer than POTUS45, the spoken vocal in the middle of the song is by a six year old – Francine Heimann – who just happened to be the stepdaughter of the record company owner. It’s who you know, isn’t it! The song was released in August 1967, peaking at #2 in the UK but failing to chart in the US. It is said that the other three band members didn’t like it, feeling that it didn’t reflect the rest of their music: that probably explains why Dave Mason had to sing the lead!

My second choice for today is also getting a second outing, and again it was from a September post – this time in 2021. I love this song – always have – and the video is joyous:

Paul Simon released Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes on Graceland in September 1986, which has become his best performing album to date, having sold more than 16m copies. It was a hugely controversial record, though, as he was accused of having broken anti-apartheid rules in making it in South Africa, and for including Linda Ronstadt on one of the tracks, after she had generated much criticism three years previously for playing a show at Sun City, the rich white man’s leisure paradise. On balance, I prefer to think that Simon was politically naive, and certainly didn’t believe that he was taking a pro-apartheid stance: his concern was making music and bringing artists that he respected to the attention of a wider audience. A number of its tracks featured the African band Ladysmith Black Mambazo, and this was written by Paul in collaboration with Joseph Shabalala, LBM’s musical director. It wasn’t originally intended for inclusion on the album, but was recorded when the singers came to the States to appear on Saturday Night Live, when Paul was hosting the show, and they decided it was too good to leave out. The session also produced the track Homeless, which was written by the same pairing and is beautiful. If you don’t know it, it is well worth following up – here is a link. As a single, Diamonds wasn’t a huge success, only reaching #77 in the UK and #69 in Australia, and failing to chart in the US, but I still like it – as I said, there is so much joy in this video!

If the name Kirsty MacColl means anything to you it is probably due to her regular reappearance each Christmas with The Pogues, so it may come as a surprise to hear something else from her. This is the official video for one of her singles:

In These Shoes? was a track on Kirsty MacColl’s fifth and final album, Tropical Brainstorm, which was released in March 2000, nine months before her tragic and untimely death at the age of just 41 – mown down by a runaway speedboat while protecting her children. The album peaked at #39 in the UK, though it did get to #4 on our Independent Albums chart and was certified Gold for more than 100k sales. I loved her music and had all of her albums: the combination of great pop tunes and witty, acerbic lyrics was a winner with me. This was also released as a single, in February 2000, and got to #81. The video is one that tells a story, and is a great fit for the song’s lyrics even if you hardly see Kirsty in it – something which amused her greatly. It has been used in a number of TV shows and also in the soundtrack to the 2005 movie Kinky Boots. There are several cover versions, including one by Bette Midler (just, no!) but the one that intrigues me is by Camille O’Sullivan – I’ve seen her in concert and she is incredibly sexy, so just think what she does with this! You want to know? OK, you’ll find a performance here.

I’m going back to rock music history days for my final two choices. First, a band you may know, with a video that has some great scenes in it:

Old Brown Shoe was released in May 1969 as the B-side to the Beatles single of The Ballad Of John And Yoko, which got to #1 in the UK and in many other countries, but only made #8 in the US. It was recorded during the sessions for what became the Let It Be album, but wasn’t included on the final version and has since only been on compilations. Critics have said that it is one of George Harrison’s best songs for the band, and who am I to disagree with those self-appointed experts, but maybe they forgot about Here Comes The Sun or Something?

A little bit of country-fied rock and roll to finish with today. You might think I’d go for someone else’s version of this, but I prefer the original, even if there is a little blip in the video:

Carl Perkins wrote Blue Suede Shoes in 1955 and released his version as a single in January 1956. As the video tells us, it sold more than 1.2m copies in the US: it peaked at #2 there and made #1 on their Country Singles chart. It was his only charting single in the UK, getting to #10 here before you know who came along and blitzed everyone out of the water. The B-side to the single was Honey Don’t, which was covered a few years later by The Beatles. Despite the ubiquity of the Presley version I still prefer Carl’s original, though – much less bombastic and a more down home feel to it.

That’s all for today – I enjoyed this set and hope you did too. There is certainly some variety in the songs! Have a great week, and I’ll see you again soon 😊

51 thoughts on “Tuesday Tunes 216: Shoes”

  2. Pingback: My September | Take It Easy

  6. I’m a big Dan Fogelberg fan. I think he was one of the best songwriters of my lifetime. He had a nice combination of fast and slower melodies. Here is the first shoes song that popped into my head.

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  9. Wide ranging eras today Clive. I always liked ‘Hole In My Shoe’ though the Young Ones made it unfashionable to admit to liking it unironically for at least 10 years. Mind you I was as sneeringly derisive about that pig-tailed face-painted pretty boy and his rinky-dinky ‘Goody Two Shoes!’ His name escapes me at the moment. (Mercifully- if only I could forget the bl**dy song.)

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    • I like to mix them up a bit! Fortunately for me the Young Ones never put me off Hole In My Shoe, and I liked their version of Living Doll too!

      The one you’re seeking is Adam Ant. No danger of him ever appearing here!

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    • Thank you, Willow, I’m glad you enjoyed them and Kirsty in particular. She was a huge talent and was a tragic loss. That video is fantastic, isn’t it. I remember buying the Traffic single back in the day.

      Thanks for the thought, but I’m afraid I was never much of a Kate Bush fan – ok in small doses only!

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  15. Another excellent clothing-inspired post, Clive. I knew all except one – I was not familiar with In These Shoes nor Kristy MacColl nor Camille O’Sullivan. Camille’s video was very campy and great fun to watch. I applaud women who aren’t self-conscious about looking like a real woman. Thanks for including Old Brown Shoe; if you hadn’t featured that one, I would have added it to my comment. It has such an easy flow about it and is, I agree, one of George’s best compositions. Good to see that old clip from the Perry Como Show … great memories from my childhood.

    Thanks for another entertaining post, Clive. 🥾🥾

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    • Thank you, Nancy, I’m pleased you enjoyed it. I thought that one might be the unknown factor for most. Kirsty MacColl was terrific, even though she is really only remembered for the Fairytale of New York, with The Pogues. This video is typical of her sense of fun and the humour she threaded through her songs. Camille O’Sullivan is amazing. I saw her as part of a show of Irish music led by Sharon Shannon and her band. One of the other acts was Shane McGowan of The Pogues, and they sang Fairytale together. She was dressed in the same way as in that video and I don’t think Shane recovered!

      The Beatles were always going to be in a ‘shoe’ selection, as was that last one, which I much prefer to Elvis.

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