Having brought an end, of sorts, to my four week run of posts about the two big charity events of 1985 and 2005 it is time to return to my usual pattern. So it is back to a five song post on a theme of my choosing. But what should it be? As the Olympic Games have just finished, our football season has just begun, and we are looking forward to the second test match cricket series of the summer, games and sports seems a good idea, so that’s what I’m going with. I already have more than enough of these for two weeks so will probably do this again, but this is where I’m starting

I know this one is about a different kind of game, but it’s a suitable title and I’ve always liked the song:

Sadly, that song is still just as relevant today as it was at the time. Joe South released Games People Play on his debut album, Introspect, in August 1968. The album only reached #117 in the US but as a single this song did much better, peaking at #12. We were a bit slow to pick up on it here in the UK, but it finally entered our charts in March 1969 and did even better here, getting to #6 – Joe’s only UK hit. The track won him two Grammy Awards in 1970, for Best Contemporary Song and Song Of The Year. It is a simple protest song and, as I remarked, it still feels meaningful today, perhaps even more so.

Today’s second song is from one of my favourites:

Sorry, British readers, I know that is a song about rounders but the Americans seem to like the game! John Fogerty released Centerfield as the title track of his third solo album in January 1985. It got to #1 in the US and #48 in the UK, and this was then released as the B-side to the single of Rock and Roll Girls, but when it began to be played by DJs at baseball games it was a hit in its own right at #44 in the US, but not making the UK charts. The background to this performance is that during the early days of the lockdown John revisited some of his back catalogue with his children, Shane, Tyler and Kelsy, giving us a new video each week or so. They were all delightful and the family had a lot of fun with them. For John’s 75th birthday his kids arranged for them to play at the LA Dodgers Stadium and fulfil one of his lifelong dreams, though maybe not as he expected! From that came the invitation to play at the Capitol 4th July celebrations, which is the video I’m playing today.

This next one is also about a sport which is much bigger in N America than it is here, but has always had its support in the UK. In case you have ever thought of ice hockey as licensed thuggery, this is for you:

Warren Zevon, with Hit Somebody (The Hockey Song) from his eleventh – and penultimate – album My Ride’s Here, which was released in May 2002. Its only chart placing was at #22 in the US Independent Albums listing but, like everyone who knew of his genius, this was in my collection. Warren tragically left us early, taken at just 56 in September 2003 by a virulent form of cancer, but his remarkable legacy of songs lives on. During his time he made many appearances on David Letterman’s chat show, and they became firm friends, so much so that Warren gave David one of his guitars in his final appearance on the show. David is credited with ‘backing vocals’ on this track: those shouts of ‘Hit Somebody’ are all him! If you aren’t familiar with Warren’s music you really should be: this is typical of his wry sense of humour. It’s no surprise that he was also friends with the wonderful novelist Carl Hiaasen, who shares a similar (warped) sense of humour and has often quoted Warren’s lyrics in his books. Needless to say, I’m a fan of both of them!

I mentioned cricket at the beginning, and this one kind of uses the game as part of its theme:

10cc released Dreadlock Holiday as a single in July 1978 and it then became the opening track on their sixth album, Bloody Tourists, which came out two months later. The single made #1 in the UK and in several other cricket-playing countries, but only reached #44 in the US, where it probably needed some explanation. The album peaked at #3 in the UK and #69 in the US. I always liked the song, and this video is superb in recreating the song’s story. Sparing no expense, the production company took them all the way to…Dorset. So much for that trip to the West Indies! The YouTube clip of this has one of the best comments I’ve ever seen: it is from the guy who ran the production company, and says that the photo the film’s hero holds up is actually a snap of his mother. I guess you use whatever you can find!

Today’s final song is a bit of a cheat, as it is nothing to do with sport but it does continue a tenuous link to cricket. Around ten years ago this became part of the fun at the annual T20 cricket finals day here, with community crowd singing led by the wonderful David Lloyd, former cricketer, coach and commentator. I know that it has also been a staple at sports grounds in the US, and has more recently been adopted as an unofficial theme tune by supporters of both the England Men’s and Women’s football teams, so it kind of counts. And I like it:

And here’s a football crowd version:

It didn’t help: we lost to Italy in a penalty shootout!

Sweet Caroline was a single for Neil Diamond in May 1969, peaking at #4 in the US and #8 in the UK. It wasn’t at first an album track but on the strength of its success it was added to a re-pressed version of his April 1969 album Brother Love’s Travelling Salvation Show. It wasn’t much help, though, as the album only made #82 in the US and didn’t chart anywhere else. Worth a try, though, at the risk of pissing off those who bought the album on first release!

That’s a wrap for today. Maybe these were a bit of a mix, and not all directly related to games and sports, but hey, I can play what I want! I’ll do another set of these next week, and at present the running list for that is entirely composed of songs about sports. But then, as they say, in every programme there are some last minute changes…

Have a great week 😊