Monday 26 August 2013

Lexie's Chain: The Hundred and Thirty Sixth Chain





Hello pals! Welcome to week 135 of #lexieschain. Last week the winner was Clapton wiv Elvis Costello an Veronica. Brillant linky  CT! So wot dus we dus av this week? 

@djladylexie
Elvis Costello's real name dus be Declan Patrick MacManus. He is the son of Ross McManus who wrote and performed the R White's Lemonade theme tune "Secret Lemonade Drinker" which featured Elvis Costello on drums and backing vocals. So dat is ma linky!



@diamondbertie
Last weeks winner chosen by Clapton Terrier was Elvis Costello with Veronica.
A sad song about memory loss and the darkness of Alzheimer's my choice this week is
the 1964 song by Simon and Garfunkel's Sound of Silence, the lyrics make me think of the darkness and silence that these poor people must experience and the carers too.
A lovely song in it's own right.




@skye613
Congrats to Clapton for a great tune last week. Well done but hit a bit to close to home so my link this week is from the title and the intention.




@freddie_bt
Last week's winner made us fink coz Dad's Dad suffered dementia n dese conditions gwadually takes away da person you knew. Two vewy fine singers av wecently announced dey av Alzheimer's, Glenn Campbell n Bobby Womack. Both av continued to work, music has been shown to elp sufferers. It wuz a difficult choice between "Gentle on my Mind" by Glenn Campbell n dis our linky by Bobby Womack "Love Is Gonna Lift You Up".





@wonderwinger
Cleverpaws Clapton gave us Veronica and Elvis Costello as our linky for this week. Now, I'm of the age where the words Elvis Costello shall always be linked with R. Whites lemonade. Elvis Costello's dad, Ross McManus wrote and sang the jingle: "I'm a Secret Lemonade Drinker" whilst Costello sang the backing vocals. At the time, we all thought the secret drinker in the ad was Costello's dad as they did look alike (well they had similar glasses) but it turned out to be an actor.

Ross McManus was a vocalist with the Joe Loss Orchestra. The Joe Loss orchestra had lots of hits, one being my linky a piece of music by David Rose entitled "The Stripper". This piece of music has appeared in lots of films & TV shows, even in Wallace & Gromit's The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. Since it was the weekend of our #btgwandayowt in Bristol for GromitUnleased, how could I select anything else... Strip that scarf off Clapton!




@bunnersandharvs
Well dun to dat Clapton fur his winning linky Veronica by Elivis Costello. Dat Elvis did wryte da songy wid Paul McCartney wot was also a famus singer who wrote a few other songs wid names in dem too. One of dem songys wot Paul co-wrote, wid Johny Lennon, was 'Lucy in the Sky wid Diamonds'.  Wot da other reasons you say? Cos is a songy wid a name in it and is a songy wot be about lucididty altho a differunt kind. hee hee....





@rosieterrier
Well Done Clapton on last weeks win. Dis week I reveal my chainy links......Elvis Costello also sang and wrote an equally haunting song called 'Alison'. Ms Genevieve Alison Jane Moyet comes from Billericay in Essex. The Pilgrim Fathers did apparently meet there before setting sail on the Mayflower. Eric Clapton ;-) did make an album called Pilgrim on which he sang a song called 'She's Gone'. I did choose though, another song called 'She's Gone' by Hall and Oates. Is also sad cos Elvis' Veronica was also gone in a sense :-(.




@smcheetham
Last week Clapton won with a great choice of Veronica by Elvis Costello. So what to follow on with. Well the best thought we had was around songs where the title is a girls name and there are literally hundreds of those I am sure you can all think of lots without too much trouble. Out of all of them what to choose well I went for quite a contemporary choice of Matilda by Alt J this is from their album An Awesome Wave which won the Mercury Music prize this year. You can't tell from this video but they are extremely lively when you see them live and v popular with the young folks. So girls name link to Matilda by Alt J.




@terenceterrier
Clapton’s linky woz about a lady wiv memory problems. Just like my mum who couldn’t remember where she put her reading glasses yesterday so couldn’t use interwebby to research chainy #blindasabat So my rushed linky dis week be “The Laughing Gnome” by David Bowie. Obvious linky really if you looks closely at da antics of Clapton’s typist.




@borderpup
Hi Lex. That clever Clapton won larst week wiv the brilliant Elvis Costello and Veronica, inspired by Elvis's mother who had dementia. He also wrote a different song wiv my mum's name in the title, but dat's annuva story! So that did send the old girl on a trip down memory lane, in more ways than one. We decided to go for Marillion and Kayleigh. Yes, a girl's name again and also someone who was very important to Mr Fish. But also because it talks about lots of memories of their time together. And it still makes mum go all mushy!




An da winner ............... as chosen by @claptonterrier  .............. dus be ........... Rosie (@rosieterrier) Well dun Rosie!. Oh an dat means you will be selectin the winner next week.

Ere wot CT said bowt it: Oh Miss Lexie…there are lots of clever links and good tunes this week and it has been very hard to make a choice…..in the end we have decided to go for linky 7, Hall & Oats…..the reason is that the linky was well thought out, the song is fabulous and makes my terrier tush sway from side to side and it was the only link performed by dogs….A COUPLE OF POODLES! ….BOL….

It's over to you! Email me: lexie at toxicpenguin dot com or DM me on twitter (@dogstoyevsky) wiv your link suggestion followin on from dis one! You has until noon (GMT) Sunday 1st September 2013 (gets it to me by 2pm UK time if poss). Oh sometimes I dus accidentally delete em! Heehee. So good idea to type DO NOT DELETE in the title!

Lexie's Chain dus be inspired by da pawsome Radcliffe & Maconie Show wot you can has a listen to on dere website. Follow me @dogstoyevsky or #lexieschain on Twitter to join da fun. Remember anyfink goes! Rock, classical, opera, ballads, punk, reggae - is up to you! Fanx for playin!

Monday 19 August 2013

Lexie's Chain: The Hundred and Thirty Fifth Chain




Hello pals! Welcome to week 135 of #lexieschain. Last week the winner was Harvs & Lord P wiv Beach Boys and Wouldn't It Be Nice. Brillant linky pals! So wot dus we dus av this week? 

@smcheetham
I have been thinking about links to do with the Beach and the Beach Boys this week. A band I like at the moment are Beach House they produce very dreamy relaxing music and that always good. The song I like and that they are best known for is Zebra so that's my choice hope you like it.




@freddie_bt
Wouldn't it be Nice the opening track on "Pet Sounds" an LP on which Brian Wilson sought to put his immense creativity as a songwriter and musician into developing the Beach Boys sound beyond pop songs about a Californian lifestyle of girls and beaches. Brian Wilson succeeded and his influence and that of Pet Sounds have been lasting. Sadly WIlson's career since then has been sporadic as mental health and drug issues have dogged his life. It is a life similar to that of Peter Green, another immensely talented musician and creative songwriter who sought to move the sound of Fleetwood Mac away from RnB. In a period of less than two years before he suffered from drug induced mental illness he succeeded in developing the sound and pushing the boundaries with tracks such as Albatross and Green Manalishi.

Of Wouldn't it be Nice Brian Wilson said "It expresses the frustrations of youth, what you can't have, what you really want and you have to wait for it". The needs and frailties of the individual were also themes in Peter Green's work, one such is our linky this week, "Man of the World" a song about a man who has everything he wants, except the woman he craves but also a man questioning his own worth. Here at their best, which they were when Peter Green was the driving force of the band are Fleetwood Mac with "Man of the World" 





@terenceterrier
Last week Harvs & Lord Percy did give us a happy singalong song by da Beachboys. Dis woz on da album “Sights and Sounds of Summer. My linky dis week be Cliff Richard & the Shadows wiv “Summer Holiday” so everyone can sing along to it as they also goes off on their holibobs.




@diamondbertie
Last weeks winner was @bunnersandharvs (well done) with the Beach Boys singing Wouldn't it be Nice, the Beach Boys were, I believe, from California and they certainly created some lovely foot tapping records. In the mood of California I have to choose The Mamas and Papas and their song California Dreaming.



@maggietkat
Excellent win with "wouldn't it be nice", an upbeat song about teen angst. I looked to see the session musicians on that track, and the drummer was Hal Blaine. He backed an incredible array of famous groups, in particular the Fifth Dimension on another summer psychedelic tune, "Stone soul Picnic". My offering is by the writer, Lauro Nyro.




@skye613
Congrats to Harvs & Lord P ! Great win , great song ,great album. " Wouldn't It Be Nice " is from the acclaimed 1966 Beach Boys album Pet Sounds held by many critics to be one of the best albums ever made & credited with ushering in the psychedelic years ('66-'68) . Though short lived the psychedelic years gave us everything from Jefferson Airplane, Big Brother & The Holding Company, Zappa & the Mothers of Invention to the Bubblepuppy. Hot Smoke!




@wonderwinger
Hurrah, hurray, yippee and a hoodiddley doody doo for Harvs and Lord Percy Plum on their super #lexiechain win giving us Wouldn't it be Nice by The Beach Boys. When this single was 1st released, on the B-side was another superb track: God Only Knows. God Only Knows featured on the soundtrack of the Richard Curtis/Hugh Grant film, Love Actually. Richard Curtis and for that matter,Hugh Grant's, arguably best film will always be Four Wedding and a Funeral. This film throws up my toe-wiggling linky tune this week: Love Is All Around by Wet Wet Wet. Can anypaw else feel it in their toes?




@claptonterrier
Hello Miss Lexie. I noticed that last week Mr Harvey chose "Wouldn't it be nice" by the Beach Boys. The opening line of that she is "Wouldn't it be nice if we were older, then we wouldn't have to wait so long"…this is a young boy wishing he was old enough to spend some special time with his new girl. That got me to thinking about being older and if that is a curse or a blessing. The Who said they hoped to die before they got old, but I am sure that's not wise…and i bet they are glad now that they didn't. My lovely neighbour is 90 years old and still going strong and is more active than many half her age. But some are not so lucky, so this week I have picked a song by Elvis Costello called Veronica. The song focuses on an older lady who has experienced severe memory loss. Mr Costello's inspiration for this song was his grandmother, who suffered from Alzheimer's. I hope that's not too gloomy for the chain….but it is a beautiful song.



@djladylexie
Hmm so then the beach boys dun lots and lots of great toons includin wot you dun won wiv! I like dat one. One of the fings I like is dat two fo the Beach Boys' daughters went on to form a band too wot was called Wilson Phillips dis be from da surnames of them dads wot be Brian Wilson and John Phillips. So I gonna pick on of their songs wot dus be Hold On, wot is also in da fabulus film Bridesmaids wot is very funny!



An da winner ............... as chosen by Bunners & Lord P (well their dad really)  .............. dus be ........... Clapton (@claptonterrier) Well dun CT!. Oh an dat means you will be selectin the winner next week.

Ere wot they said bowt it: hErE wE gO....dEr wAS sUch gOod LiNkiEs aLL aRouNd bUt dAd wEnT wOOky wEN hE hEard Linky 8 cOs hE tHorT iT wAS dA bESt & hE dUs LuVe eLviS cOsTeLLo & dAT oNe oF hiS fAv sOngS so wE goiNg wiD LinKy 8. 

It's over to you! Email me: lexie at toxicpenguin dot com or DM me on twitter (@dogstoyevsky) wiv your link suggestion followin on from dis one! You has until noon (GMT) Sunday 25th August 2013 (gets it to me by 2pm UK time if poss). Oh sometimes I dus accidentally delete em! Heehee. So good idea to type DO NOT DELETE in the title!

Lexie's Chain dus be inspired by da pawsome Radcliffe & Maconie Show wot you can has a listen to on dere website. Follow me @dogstoyevsky or #lexieschain on Twitter to join da fun. Remember anyfink goes! Rock, classical, opera, ballads, punk, reggae - is up to you! Fanx for playin!

Monday 12 August 2013

Lexie's Chain: The Hundred and Thirty Fourth Chain





Hello pals! Welcome to week 134 of #lexieschain. Last week the winner was Maggie wiv Coconut by Harry Nillson. Brillant linky ma pal! So wot dus we dus av this week? 


@djladylexie
Ma linky dis week is stickin wiv da coconut an da calypso feme. I lookin for linky between coconuts, nilsson an da calypso rhythm. Ma linky dus be Kid Creole and the Coconuts wiv Stool Pigeon. I chosened that because of da coconut conneshun of course but also that caribbean/calypso linky an Nilsson and lead singer, Kid Creole imself, was also from New York area.






@skye613
Maggie did win the #Lexieschain last week with the wonderful Harry Nilsson song " Coconut " . Congrats. The doctor told Harry to put da lime in da coconut and you feel better. I think Kid Creole & The Coconuts were trying to help Harry . " Don't Take My Coconuts".







@freddie_bt
Da winner last week wuz Harry Nilsson who is well known fer his recordin of "Everybody's Talkin" which wuz bwilliantly and atmosphewically used in da film "Midnight Cowboy". Da rest of da score fer "Midnight Cowboy" wuz written by John Barry whose marriage to Jane Birkin ended at da time dis film wuz bein made. Jane Birkin left him fer Serge Gainsbourg wiv whom she is most famously associated n dis bwings us to Dad's favwite Gainsbourg song n our linky dis week. "Couleur Cafe has bin recorded by numerous singers inlcuding Jane Birkin n her daughter Charlotte Gainsbourg but we is goin wiv Serge's owiginal which includes a luvly tenor sax. Da atmosphere in dis is so French dat Dad feels he weally shud be sittin at a pavement cafe dwinkin Pastis n smoking Gauloises.   So ere's Serge Gainsbourg admiwably undistwacted by an exotic dancer, "Couleur Cafe".







@bvfeyj
Okies-dokies me linkie fur dis week... bery clever Maggie back in da winner‘s circle wif da funny Coconut by Harry Nilsson from da mobie Reservoir Dogs. So me hab found out dat boaf lime and coconut is fruits and annuvver song about a different fruit was also featured in a mobie (Bettlejuice). So me linkie is Day-O (The Banana Boat Song) by annuvver Harry (Belafonte). See all da linkies dere me did... fruit, mobie, Harry...   Harry Belafonte - "Banana Boat (Day O)" - 1956.






@smcheetham
Well done Maggie for last week. Very simple link from me as I have left it late. The winning song last week had the word coconut in it. That's made me think of Kid Creole and the Coconuts who were around in my youth. Their best known song was Annie I'm Not Your Daddy. So that's my link a coconut based one have a good week everyone.





@diamondbertie
@maggietkat won last week with the marvellous song from Reservoir Dogs, Coconut by Harry Nilsson, I listened to it carefully and it's about drinking - just drinking I spontaneously thought of another drinking song which is Drink Drink Drink sung by Mario Lanza from the Operetta Student Prince.




@bunnersandharvs
So we going in to da 134th Chainy dis week and dat Maggie has dun a supa job winnin da linky last week. Well dun der fur such a good and silly linky too. So we been barkin bowt feet, legs, coconuts (hee hee) and limes too. So dat gets us paws tapping and thinking about all dat in da summer time makes us think of da beach and wot goes wid da beach, you say? None other dan da Beach Boys so we going wid dat as our linky da Beach Boys and der songy,'Wouldn't It Be Nice'. So get your sunycream on dem ears and start tapping dem paws. Is da Beach Boys sing-a-long....*taps paws*.







@wonderwinger
Well done Maggie giving us Harry Nilsson and Coconut to link with this week. Now, I was torn between going for a tropical linky (pawhaps Club Tropicana by Wham) or a Reservoir Dogs link maybe Little Green Bag. However, I then discovered that Harry Nilsson's tunes have been used in loads of other TV programmes & films. Indeed Coconut first appeared on The Muppet Show in 1979. In learning this i have chosen Bein' Green by Kermit the Frog.









An da winner ............... as chosen by Maggie .............. dus be ........... Harvs and Lord P (@bunnersandharvs) Well dun ma pals. Oh an dat means you will be selectin the winner next week.

Ere wot Maggie said bowt it: 3 of the choices were from Kid Creole, so I felt that I couldn't choose just one. coconuts puts me in a summer mood, so I chose wouldn't it be nice by the Beach Boys.

It's over to you! Email me: lexie at toxicpenguin dot com or DM me on twitter (@dogstoyevsky) wiv your link suggestion followin on from dis one! You has until noon (GMT) Sunday 18th August 2013 (gets it to me by 2pm UK time if poss). Oh sometimes I dus accidentally delete em! Heehee. So good idea to type DO NOT DELETE in the title!

Lexie's Chain dus be inspired by da pawsome Radcliffe & Maconie Show wot you can has a listen to on dere website. Follow me @dogstoyevsky or #lexieschain on Twitter to join da fun. Remember anyfink goes! Rock, classical, opera, ballads, punk, reggae - is up to you! Fanx for playin!

Sunday 4 August 2013

Lexie's Chain: The Hundred and Thirty Third Chain





Hello pals! Welcome to week 133 of #lexieschain. Last week the winner was Tucker wiv Skinny Legs by Joe Tex. Brillant linky ma lovely pal! So wot dus we dus av this week? 

@maggietkat
Joe Tex and "skinny Legs". Wow, that was a fun link. I noticed that Joe's songs were included on some sound tracks including Reservoir Dogs. Well, I seemed to recall a lot of the tunes, especially "Coconut" by Harry Nilssen. My warped mind figured that since we were doing body parts, why not throw some "coconuts" into the mix? (I hope that translates to British anatomy.) anyway, here is Nilssen doing "coconuts" from the Reservoir dogs" soundtrack.



@djladylexie
Well done Tucker ma pal. Great win. Well so anyway I looked up Joe Tex as I never heard of dis before. I like it is very funny! Ok so I found out that Joe Tex and James Brown were rivals and had a long running feud which escalated when Brown and Tex boaf performed at the same venue in Brown's hometown.Tex believed that Brown was the one who stopped Skinny Legs hittin the top spot in the charts at the time! So I fort I wonder who else has had dis type of feud. Turns out there are quite a few. One simlar to Tex Brown that caught ma attention was between Jerry Lee Lewis and Chuck Berry!Who is to know what is true and what is spin! Not me, dats for sure but ma favourite Jerry Lee Lewis tells me one fing, there's no smoke wifout fire! So, ma linky dus be Jerry Lee Lewis wif Great Balls of Fire



@terenceterrier
Well dun da Rosie Posie. Da winnin linky last week woz “Skinny Legs”. Dis made us fink of da model Twiggy. Twiggy appeared on da cover of da David Bowie albumn “Pin Ups”. For my linky I choose da track from dis album “I Can’t Explain”.





@skye613
Great song Tucker! Last week was won by Tucker with " Skinny Legs and All" . So, we have big feet and skinny legs. We put them all together with Roy Orbison"s " Oh Pretty Women" Think no link? BOL! Both Joe Tex & Roy Orbison were born in Texas in the 30's. Joe in 1935 & Roy in 1936. Link link! 




@smcheetham
So last week Tucker won with a Joe Tex song. I struggled for a bit with a link. Then I read that in later life Joe Tex converted to Islam. Another famous musician who converted to Islam was Cat Stevens. Cat. wrote a powerful and famous song The First Cut is the Deepest. The person who had the biggest hit with this song was Rod Stewart. So my link is a converts link to The First Cut is the Deepest sung by Rod Stewart. Good luck everyone and thanks for making the chain such fun.



@wonderwinger
Well done Tucker on winning with Joe Tex and his Skinny Legs and All.
Joe Tex had a habit of speaking over the background music making some credit him with being a pioneer for rap music. My link is one of the first "real" rap singles that gained chart success in the UK: Grandmaster Melle Mel with White Lines (Don't Do It).





@claptonterrier
Hello Miss Lexie…..i looked at the blog today and saw that Mr Tucker chose a song called "Skinny Legs" by Joe Tex. When I googled that song i saw that it was actually called "Skinny Legs and all"….which got me thinking about songs which have longer titles that we think they have…for example, Rock Around the Clock is actually called (We're Gonna) Rock Around the Clock!. So my link this week is (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction by the Rolling Stones….





@bunnersandharvs
So a big old well dun to dat Tucker wot be a cleva paw fur his selkshun last week fur skinny legs. We has decided dat since we been choosin songys wid feet, legs and wot not dat we wuld just keep on goin so our choicy dis week be along da line. We going up da hooman bordy so get ready to shake your booty.... *claps paws* come on, dat's right, we goin wid KC & da Sunshine Band's songy - Shake Your Booty. Come on get dem booty bots a shakin... BOL! 




@freddie_bt
Last week's winner wuz da entertainin "Skinny Legs n All" in which Joe Tex ruminates on da subject of acceptance or lack of it dwessed up in a jokey luk at people avin a partner dat wuz da wrong size or shape or any other reason real or imagined fer findin fault wiv em n bein dissatisfied wiv em. Our linky luks at da contrastin situashun in which someone unexpectedly finds an irresistible attraction, while also touchin on da bleaker aspects of life fer some. Ere's a gawjuss slice of Southern hip-hop fwom da bwilliant OutKast, clever lyrics beautifully delivered on top of a fantastic arrangement n wiv a title dat Mary Poppins would be pwoud of, "SpottieOttieDopaliscious".





@diamondbertie
The last two weeks were mens singing critically about ladies physical attributes, I scratched my head and thought if there were songs by ladies criticising mens attributes, well none that were suitable for the public. Then I remembered Peggy Seeger singing The Housewife's Alphabet, though not critical of men per se however its a good warning of the trap we set ourselves. It makes me laugh/smile everytime. (Lexie: could only put in the cover version for some reason but the Peggy Seeger song is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNB8YCSTUPc).




An da winner ............... as chosen by Tucker.............. dus be ........... Maggie (@maggietkat) Well dun ma pal. Oh an dat means you will be selectin the winner next week.

Ere wot Tucker said bowt it: 
Me does hab me decision! Me choose Linky #1 Coconut By Harry Nilsson. Good link and we lubs da song (eben if we did not know it was on soundtrack ob Reservoir Dogs). It bery funny! All da linkies was good and me sorry to say me not knowed Housewife's Alphabet by Peggy Seeger and me could not get a working linky to dat one so me sorry. We does like Peggy Seeger too. 

It's over to you! Email me: lexie at toxicpenguin dot com or DM me on twitter (@dogstoyevsky) wiv your link suggestion followin on from dis one! You has until noon (GMT) Sunday 11th August 2013 (gets it to me by 2pm UK time if poss). Oh sometimes I dus accidentally delete em! Heehee. So good idea to type DO NOT DELETE in the title!

Lexie's Chain dus be inspired by da pawsome Radcliffe & Maconie Show wot you can has a listen to on dere website. Follow me @dogstoyevsky or #lexieschain on Twitter to join da fun. Remember anyfink goes! Rock, classical, opera, ballads, punk, reggae - is up to you! Fanx for playin!