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Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Neanderthal Man

I'm writing this listening to a one-hit wonder. I thought.

Flashback to Kate's teenage years, on holiday on the east coast of Yorkshire and taken to pub by parents (to drink non-alcoholic shandy I hasten to add).

For some strange reason, the only record anyone wanted to listen to was Neanderthal Man, by Hotlegs (who?). LOUD. VERY LOUD.

And for the benefit of anyone under 40 reading this (I doubt it) - pubs used to have machines with old vinyl records in. You put some money in, eg one shilling, two shillings, 5p, 10p, depending on the year, and got 1,2,4, or 5 plays. Bit of a cheek really - pubs charged you for beer and then charged you to listen to music. Although if you were lucky you got to listen to music of your own choice.

Back to the story. In this particular pub, after a few token gestures at other music, I don't know, say T. Rex or whatever else was around, on came Neanderthal Man. Not once, or twice, but on permanent repeat. Every single time we went. The effect was that of a total brainwash. Even my parents, haters of all things pop, eventually decided they liked it, they even put money into the juke-box and played it. And then - they went out and bought it for me.

Fast forward a few years. Well, more than 20. Make that more than 30.

I still play it now. It's the same vinyl single. Dance to it and sing to it happily. Until today. I looked it up on YouTube.

There's a fine video and a good reproduction of the song. It's 10cc before they were 10cc. I hate 10cc. I have always hated 10cc.

I have read this again and I haven't got this loud enough. I really dislike 10cc - almost as much as Elton John - in fact, I always have done, and I still do. Tuneless slop IMHO.

And I have spent more than 20 years telling Unmusical Partner (who likes 10cc) what a crap band they are and always have been.

I don't really know what else to say. Apart from Hotlegs is not 10cc?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Can`t remember if Hotlegs were just Godley and Creme....then in came The fabulous Eric Stewart and the Hollies Graham Gouldman
Why are most people with the name Gouldman talented......cos they`re Jewish of course!!
What a nice sunny Blog. How are you both?It`s cold here with a bitter North wind but...We may see 12deg at the weekend..Yippee!!
Do they have a name for the West wind in Spain? As you know in France they have The Mistral which can be a horrible little thing. The dust can scratch your Ray Bans. The track Copperhead Road itself must have one of the best SOUNDS around......Fantastic space around the mandolins and then the crashing guitar and drum/bass..yeah. I had forgotten
about The Hotlegs single....nice catchy thump wasn`t it? Bob Dylan never wrote the lyrics to that one eh?
Take care of each other
Alex

Katherine and Pippa said...

Hi Alex

Thanks for the comment, and for reading the blog, and sorry I didn't realise it was you!

The wind from the west here is a poniente.

I don't have Ray Bans. Well, only the ones I picked up on the beach road that aren't too good these days.

Don't like Bob Dylan very much either. Eh - who do I like?