Tuesday Tunes 220: More Animals

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I said last week that I had more animals songs to play you, and as you seemed to enjoy the first set I’m playing some more today. Another five good ones, I think, including some you might not know.

I almost played this first one last week but as I already had a song about a horse in the set I held it to this week. A couple of you mentioned it in comments, so it feels a good idea to play it this time:

America released A Horse With No Name in the UK in November 1971, and it peaked at #3. The US release followed in January 1972 and there it made #1. It sold over a million copies in the US and 600k in the UK – pretty impressive numbers, especially for a debut record by a hitherto unknown band. Their eponymous debut album was also released in January 1972: in the US they got this song on it, but we didn’t. I had already bought the single anyway, before buying the album too. Imagine my delight when, after the single’s success, they re-released the album here with this track on it. Record companies know how to take our money, don’t they! The album made #1 in the US and Canada, and got to #14 here – combined UK sales across the two versions topped 100k, and it was another million seller in the US.

Like that first one, this is also making a return appearance, but as that was in early 2022 I’m banking on you not recalling that. Here’s a bit of US Indie rock for you, with an imaginative video:

For the uninitiated that was Rilo Kiley with Portions For Foxes. Their lead singer was Jenny Lewis, who was already well known as a child actress in various tv shows, and has continued her acting throughout both the lifetime of the band and her subsequent solo music career. Rilo Kiley released four albums, and Portions For Foxes was a track on the third of those, More Adventurous, which was released in August 2004, getting to #161 in the US and #116 in the UK. This track was co-written by Jenny and the band’s other guitarist, Blake Sennett: it was released as a single but as far as I can tell it didn’t make the charts anywhere. The song’s title is a reference to Psalm 63, verse 10, which reads “They shall fall by the sword: they shall be a portion for foxes.” I could claim to have already known that, but you’d never believe me, would you? Wikipedia at its best! From the same source I learned that the song was featured in the video game Rock Band 3, and was used as part of the soundtrack to the very first episode of Grey’s Anatomy. I’ll have to take their word for both of those, as I’ve never played the game or watched the show. But I’ve always loved this song, though.

For a band I’ve always liked it came as a surprise to me that this is only the second time I’ve played one of their songs, the other was back in January:

Little Lion Man was the debut single by Mumford And Sons, released in August 2009. It wasn’t a huge success in chart terms, reaching only #24 in the UK and #45 in the US, though it did much better in Australia and New Zealand, making the top ten in both. Despite that its sales figures are phenomenal: 2.3m in the US (2x Platinum) and 1.8m in the UK (3x Platinum). The track was included on their first album, Sigh No More, which came out in October 2009 and peaked at #2 in the UK, US and Canada, and at #1 in Australia, New Zealand and Ireland, selling more than 3.2m copies in the US (3x Platinum), 1.8m in the UK (6x Platinum) and 400k in Canada (2x Platinum). To date the band have released four albums, the most recent of which was in 2018, though Marcus Mumford did have a solo album in 2022 and they have since released a couple of singles, amid comments that they are hoping to make a new album. Fingers crossed that they do: it has been far too long!

Let’s go right back to the Sixties for this next one, a true rock classic:

Jefferson Airplane released White Rabbit on their album Surrealistic Pillow in February 1967. This was their second album, but the first to feature Grace Slick as vocalist. It made #3 in the US, and the single of this track, which came out in June 1967, peaked at #8 there. Neither was a hit in the UK, though White Rabbit did make a rather belated entrance in our Singles chart at #94 in 1987! Despite that it has been a steady seller, going Gold in the UK for 400k sales, though that figure is dwarfed by the US, where it is 2x Platinum for 2m sales. I’ve always loved the steady menace of the way the song gradually builds to a crescendo, and it is undeniable that Grace was an amazing  and mesmerising singer.

I’m guessing that was a pretty well known song, but that this next one won’t be. It’s a bit of a cheat, in that the animal is mentioned in the subtitle, though it does feature in the lyrics. But as this was by the local East Kent band when I was growing up they are still dear to me, and it’s a great little tune:

Sorry that had to be an audio-only clip, but the live performances I could find were from some fifty years after the record came out and I wanted the original version. Caravan were formed in Canterbury, and were a major part of what became known as the ‘Canterbury scene’ which was noted for the development of prog rock bands, notably Soft Machine. As the clip shows, Love To Love You (And Tonight Pigs Will Fly) was a track on their third album, In the Land of Grey and Pink, which was released in April 1971. It wasn’t a chart hit but sold steadily throughout the Seventies – I had a copy – and it got them a lot of radio airplay, especially when this song was released as a single. I only ever saw them play live once, at around that time, and they were great, a real mixture of catchy little tunes and longer prog pieces, which in themselves were collections of tunes built into musical suites: the second side of the album is listed as one track of over 22 minutes, though it comprises eight shorter sections. If you want to hear more, I suggest the title song from their previous album, If I Could Do It Again I’d Do It All Over You. Who said prog bands take themselves too seriously!

That would be it for today, as that is my fifth tune, but I had been thinking about playing a joke track last week as a bonus, and when it came up in the comments I felt I really should do it this time. It is from one of the best tv sitcoms we have ever had here:

A perfect parody, as that is exactly the type of mindless crap that makes up the real song contest, and the video is priceless! Father Ted only ran for four series, cut short by the untimely passing of its lead actor, Dermot Morgan, but it has left us with a rich vein of comedy to enjoy. I know, don’t tell me, this is another horse song, but so what!

That’s it for today. Stay safe, warm and dry and I’ll see you again soon 🎶

 

70 thoughts on “Tuesday Tunes 220: More Animals”

  1. Pingback: October | Take It Easy

  3. Now the Horse with No Name will be running through my head the rest of night! At least it is a good song. 🙂

    Grey’s Anatomy had great music on its shows. Yes, I have watched all the seasons! Crazy, I know!

    White Rabbit is another great choice. A fun collection of tunes again. Well done. What about the song, “All I want for Christmas is a Hippopotamus” 😄

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    • Sorry about that but at least it wasn’t something by AC/DC!

      I’ve never watched even one episode of Grey’s Anatomy but I’ve read that it had good music. Not enough to entice me in, though – I don’t like hospital dramas.

      Glad you enjoyed them. That suggestion – did you mean I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas? I play that during December, but not the original. The one I like is a live performance by Sarah Jarosz and Chris Thile, and it is delightful.

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      • Maybe next week. Have the earplugs ready 🤣

        That seems a fair description. I’ve just looked it up on Disney+ and it runs to 21 seasons – I don’t think I’ll bother!

        I know it is, but I’m really not sure how to play it this year. I want to do something different but haven’t a clue what that might be!

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      • You’re welcome.

        Not my thing, sorry. And it’s a mile from being the longest running. General Hospital? And our Casualty beats it by about 20 years too. I don’t watch any of them!

        I hope I will. I’ve been feeling it getting a little stale the past couple of years, but how many ways are there that you can play Christmas songs? And don’t suggest Screecher Carey!

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      • Fair enough, each to their own. Nothing wrong with watching something you enjoy.

        When I used to get out more I’d refuse to go in a shop that was playing her! And I avoid the radio too 🤣

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  4. Interesting list Clive. I love the Mumford and Sons single. That’s a group I would like to see live. Jefferson are so in the time but still cool. Grace Slick’s voice is amazing. Nice to hear Caravan. I love a lot of those folk/rock/jazz bands that started on the 70s e.g. Camel, Soft Machine etc. Father Ted’s ‘My Lovely Horse’ still makes me laugh however many times I watch the Episode. Sheer brilliance!

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    • Thanks, Paul, glad you enjoyed them. I’d love to see the Mumfords too, but I don’t get out these days. Hopefully that new album they have mentioned will happen and you can see them when they tour it.

      Canterbury was an unlikely starting point for a lot of prog rock, and it was an exciting time to grow up in that area.

      Father Ted is one of the very best, in my view. Like you, it still makes me laugh.

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  6. I liked them all today, Clive, despite never having heard the tunes by Rilo Kelly, Mumford & Sons, and Love to Love You. The other two were mega hits over here. My favorite of the new ones was Portions for Foxes. It took me a little while to get into the US indie rock genre, but it has become one of my favorites.

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  8. This has been a learning experience for me, Clive, since I really only know two of today’s songs; it should come as no surprise that they are Horse With No Name and White Rabbit. The others I have either heard in passing or not at all but I enjoyed your line-up none the less. Thanks for an interesting and entertaining post. 😊

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  10. Well now, thank you for reminding me about the wonderful Carava., thank you even more for the most wonderful White Rabbit – awesome! – but mostly thank you for allowing me to laugh out loud for well in excess of two minutes with My Lovely Horse. So. Bloody. Good!

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      • Well the Nuns at saint Ann’s were I was very much an outsider and not popular with staff or girls! Said we could bring ” Music in to school to listen to at the lunch break. Well I took in White Rabbits….. It really did not go down very well…. I was sent home to think about what deviant music I had brought into school….
        My parents were informed and I was in even bigger trouble! I was fourteen 💜💜

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      • And there was I thinking that you’d been doing Grace Slick impressions standing on a desk! Hope they all calmed down after that.

        Reminds me of the time our music teacher, who was extremely stuffy and old school, said we could bring a record in to play in the last lesson of term. One of my mates brought in the Stones – Mother’s Little Helper. It didn’t go down well, though we all enjoyed it 🤣

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    • I thought that one would be new to most. It got a lot of radio airplay at the time, and we were all willing our local band to have a hit! When I saw them live that song had a mass audience singalong 😊

      Happy to have provided you with some memories too.

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  16. That comedy deal at the end was funny, and I liked the Caravan song. White Rabbit is always cool. I remember first hearing A Horse With No Name when we were in Germany in 1971. Such a good song. Before videos, of course. I remember writing a whole short story about the song. Wish I’d have kept it. 🙂

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    • That was a wonderful show, and so sad that it had to end the way it did. I’m pleased you liked Caravan – my local band, and we were all incredibly proud of them. Grace Slick exudes cool, doesn’t she! Nice memory for you with the America one. Shame you ditched the story though 😊

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    • Glad you like them, John. Yes, I know the answer as I had the Homecoming album, which was a major part of my musical soundtrack in uni days, and loved it – I think I preferred it to their first, if I’m honest, and Hat Trick was pretty good too.

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      • Agree about Homecoming and interesting that Hat Trick bombed so badly…perhaps a love song to a Muskrat turned off their fans, so they brought in legendary Producer George Martin and they were off to the races with Holiday!

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      • They were already slipping here. Their first three albums made our chart, albeit with gradually declining ratings, and after that they got nothing here. And what’s wrong with muskrats anyway? 🤣

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      • Nothing wrong, but considering they were kind of folk rock hippie hipsters, that song seemed to have turned off their fans…here in the US the next three albums were massive hits with songs like “Sister Golden Hair”, “Tin Man”, “Daisy Jane” and “Lonely People”

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