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Just wondered if people were able to select a favourite track from all Jake’s work. In my case it would be pretty easy – Jumble Sales is the one I have buzzing in my head day in day out.
I can never settle on one favourite song, as it depends a little on my mood. However, at the top of my list would certainly be The Bull, The Remembrance, On Again! On Again!, The Kiss, The Jolly Captain, Last Will and Testament… I had better stop there!
Nice idea for a thread, Farang9 !
I too would have difficulty picking just the one. I agree with you about Jumble Sale, and it took me ages and ages to learn It Was Only A Gipsy without laughing while I was singing it : but I do think that To Do With You is Jake’s best song. Mind you… 🙂
My top of list would certainly be much similar to Paul’s … with at least four more: The Bantam Cock, Grandad, The Lodger, Sister Josephine (alphabetical order, of course). And I’d find it hard to stop there … 😉
As an aside to this thread, the excellent Half Man Half Biscuit Lyrics Project site (http://www.chrisrand.com/hmhb/) has an occasional HMHB best-song-voting event called the Lux Familiar Cup, which divides all the Half Man Half Biscuit songs into a FA Cup style set of rounds, and gets people to vote on which song is their favourite out of each “match” of paired songs, gradually progressing through the rounds until a favourite HMHB song wins. Dragging this back on topic (to assuage the wrath of the Topica Police), this would work with Jake’s songs too. You have a draw for the first round, have byes for the songs who don’t have pairs, and, using the songs already mentioned above, and me as the voters, you might have
1st Round
Bantam Cock v Grandad
The Lodger v Sister Josephine
Jumble Sale v It Was Only A Gipsy
To Do With You v The Bull
The Remembrance v On Again! On Again!
The Kiss (bye)
Jolly Captain (bye)
Last Will and Testament Of Jake Thackray (bye)Quarter-Final
Bantam Cock v The Lodger
It Was Only A Gipsy v To Do With You
The Remembrance v The Kiss
Jolly Captain v Last Will and Testament Of Jake ThackraySemi-Final
The Lodger v To Do With You
The Kiss v Jolly CaptainFinal
To Do With You v The KissWinner
To Do With YouTakes a while to run through, and the more voters the better, but might be worth doing ?
Malcy
I have droned on previously about my Desert Island Disc being “The Bull”.
Notwithstanding that particular fact, my admiration for so many other favourites knows no bounds: “To Do With You” and its reference to women’s tastes in men : ” The Jolly Captain” and its use of phrases such as “Black Apoplexy” (who else but Jake could come up with that one ?); the simple story telling of songs such as “The Kiss” and several others; the opening line to end all opening lines ( no need to tell you what THAT is !)
Added to which is the way he delivered it all with a self effacing modesty.
Thank goodness (& The Project) for all of Jake’s recorded work. He may be gone but he’s certainly not forgotten.I’ll stand by my first choice of Jumble Sales, but Jolly Captain would run it a close second, and Jake’s Last Will and Testament for third. They all share Jake’s brilliant use of rhythm and language.
I think it would have to be I Stayed Off Work Today. I don’t think I’ve heard a song that captures being in the first throes of love better-though I suspect it’s more cynical than that under the surface, and fantastic use of language, too. Failing that, The Statues or Scallywag.
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