Musical jokes and wit

Unread post by **terrybooth** » Sat Dec 19, 2020 1:27 pm

Having been brought up with the Bonzos, been a fan of Neil Innes, picked up on Alberto et Los Trios Paranoias and Three Mustaphas Three, I enjoy a good bit of fun and wit in music ( although I'd probably draw the line at the Wurzles!). Listening to Mike Oldfield and Viv Stanshall do that Hornpipe thing (on some editions of Tubular Bells) always raises a smile.

But there are other things that make me smile. So that James Hill track I referenced in Last Listen - New York Strum - is a song about music - music the strings on a strummed instrument and strumming to produce a percussive, staccato sound - the first bar of Hendrix's Voodoo Chile. New York Strum starts with the strum and then the lyrics are about how to play it "You move your fingers nice and easy now" and when to use it "when it's time time to take a bow/Play a few bars of the New York strum" and "If you don't know what to play/But you know just what you want to say". Then the tune breaks out into a solo which is part George Formby and part Lu'au. May not be everyone's taste, but I love it.

There's a slight segue here into the theme Steve McQueen's 'Small Axe series...

Yes. I know Small Axe is a Bob Marley song and initially, I thought that was the reference, but isn't that a uke being mute strummed to provide the percussive backing?

Unread post by **savvypaul** » Sat Dec 19, 2020 1:32 pm

The Small Axe series has been superb.

To follow New York Strum, I give you...

Oh does your heroin lose its glamour on the washboard overnight?
When your mother says "Don't do it" do you crank it up in spite?
Do you rob your brother's Giro? Do you talk a load of shite?
Does your heroin lose its glamour on the washboard overnight?

slinger · Unread post by **slinger** » Sat Dec 19, 2020 2:21 pm

I always thought that this didn't get enough credit for being a great piece of self-satirising, especially if you're old enough to remember the shenanigans with Mandy Smith.

There are a lot of lyrics, and the song tells a story. If anyone else had written and released it he'd probably have sued them.

LYRICS