6 Jun 2010
She said that Robin Askwith was funny
My, how everyone laughed at the “hope your plane back home’s a DC-10″ at the time. Of course, those of us of a certain age still do. Albert Hammond Bootleg failed to finish off the artist of that ilk, and indeed, the man himself even went on to produce an equivalently-poptastic son of the same name as if to prove there is no such thing as the curse of HMHB. Stanley Rous barely lasted a year, mind. Thanks to Tony, Nigel and Stuart
See lyrics to Albert Hammond Bootleg
21 Letters Sent:
dagenham dave
I don’t believe there’s an ‘at’ before the ‘…stars of Marseilles’.
Jun 6th, 2010
Keir Hardie
As it’s a play on ‘in search of the lost chord’ I think it would convey the wordplay better to write it ‘umbilical chord’.
Jun 6th, 2010
Ricardo
+1 for “umbilical chord”
Jun 7th, 2010
Chris The Siteowner
Well, my inclination with homophonic puns is to not spell out the author’s alternative intent, but to leave that to the reader to deduce.
To me this joke no longer works if you explain the pun:
Customer (to waiter): “What do you call this?”
Waiter: “It’s been soup, Sir”
Customer: I didn’t ask for its history”
However, I’m sure you’re all now going to produce examples of puns in HMHB songs where we’ve already decided it’s better to break that rule…
Jun 7th, 2010
Max Williams
I always wondered – “Why Logie Baird?”. Is it just because his name rhymes with ‘scared’, or is there a connection to petrified forests that i can’t see?
Jun 7th, 2010
Max Williams
Oh and Chris – i take your point but i’d respectfully vote for writing ‘chord’ instead of ‘cord’. I think this is a play on words rather than a homophonic pun.
Jun 7th, 2010
Ricardo
In the example gag given above, the joke hinges on the customer’s mishearing. The audience hears “bean” and naturally you would write “bean soup” as that is what the waiter actually says.
In this song, by contrast, the word “cord” is never said nor intended. The joke, for want of a better word, works because in everyday language, “umbilical” is almost always followed by “cord”. Here, however, NB’s character appears to be genuinely in search of some “umbilical chord” he thinks he has heard about. What’s more, if it was the “umbilical cord” he was searching for, he would surely have found it in a maternity ward, rather than it all having been in vain.
Jun 7th, 2010
Rob
Everything taken into account, my vote is with ‘chord’
Jun 7th, 2010
Chris The Siteowner
The mob has spoken!
Jun 7th, 2010
Dave Cooper
The DC10 joke is really of it’s time isn’t it?
Jun 7th, 2010
Third rate Les
DC10s apparently have a reliability rate similar to other planes of the period, although it’s rather sobering to realise over 1,200 people have died on them.
I watched one of those ghastly Discovery programmes about one of those crashes (AA191) which was a shocking series of stupid mistakes – basically the engine sheared off from having been incompetently attached after maintenance, then sheared the hydraulics, which made the flaps retract, which meant that wing stalled. Oof.
It was in Chicago rather than the south of France, mind you. Seems an unlikely choice for the Marseilles – Birkenhead route, but you never know.
Jun 7th, 2010
Ben
@ Max, never really thought about it but it’s a worthwhile question. Possibly because they’ve “seen” something “to make them all so scared” on telly? But that’s reaching really, maybe it’s just the rhyme then.
Jun 7th, 2010
Jeff Dreadnought
@ Max I could be stretching this a bit, but I reckon it’ss because “Logie Baird” sounds like “Yogi Bear”, and Yogi Bear lived in Jellystone Park, which is of course derived from Yellowstone Park, famous for its petrified trees.
Jun 7th, 2010
Charles Exford
I have nothing of much worth to add but navel-gazing is what I do best, so let’s go for some sort of record in umbilical spree-pedantry:
@Ricardo – they tend to dispose of the umbilical cord in the delivery room, so he probably wouldn’t be successful in finding one of those on the ward either.
But @Chris – perhaps the mob has never considered the possibility that he wants to use the cord as a guitar strap, or an improvised string ?
@Matt, @Ben & @Jeff – when it rhymes I tend to think there’s no need to look too hard for a connection, c.f. Stanley Rous/house, but I’m loving your Ronnie Boyce long-shot there Jeff.
@Chris again – Couldn’t “came in” be parked at the end of the previous line? It just doesn’t work for me at the beginning. I’d say the same about “some man” too.
@ Dave – I’d say of our generation, rather than of its time. Nearly 50% of all-time DC-10 deaths occurred in 2 crashes within 6 months in 1979, hence it’s still a fine curse for those of NB57′s age. Not many DC-10 disasters in the immediate years just before this song came out though.
@ Les – in my experience girls one meets on holiday are rarely from the same town as oneself. That’s generally thought to be the beauty of the arrangement. As it happens, though, the worst ever DC-10 crash did occur very close to a straight line between Marseilles and Speke, in woodland outside Paris.
Hey BTW which former Phil Easton listeners remember the band Marseille (no “s”, which is why I’ve mis-spelt the place ever since) who won Radio City’s first “Battle of the Bands” in about 1978 or 1979, and their first and best single “Do it the French way” (the French way is the best) ? Nobody ? Ah well never mind then.
Jun 7th, 2010
Mark Boyle
Further to those attempting to rehabilitate DC-10s, the plane was subject to dread for more reasons than those two appalling crashes.
It was the mainstay of the Laker Airlines fleet – the first budget airline (lovingly parodied in The Guardian’s ‘If…’ cartoons as Sir Wally Wanker and his fleet of McDonnell Douglas Deathtraps). That alone should tell you all you need to know about a plane parts of which (particularly the rear door) fell off during take off and landing to the danger of other planes (it was a bit of a DC-10 that did for that Air France Concorde in 2000)
The plane suffered in the same way all three-engined airliners of the period did (e.g. the Lockheed L1011 Tristar – whose main claim to fame is the Ghosts Of Flight 401 incidents) – shoddily built with too many contracts won via bribing executives or government officials.
So good call Nigel on those bloody ‘Dick 10′s – I’d sooner fly in a Heinkel Grief or a Messerschmitt 163 Komet!
Jun 8th, 2010
Third rate Les
I hope your plane back home’s a Messerschmitt 163 Komet indeed…
Not really a rehabilitation attempts; as you point out, compared to the phenomenal reliability of most of today’s planes, it looks shoddy indeed. And the rear door’s not the worst bit either – read up on the outward-opening luggage hatches. Jeepers….
And Charles – I bow to your “CDO” in correcting my point there. And there’s no “s” in Marseille anyway; that’s just the way les Anglais spell it. What is our house style on anglicised place names?! Wifey is from Lyon(s) and this kind of thing irks her.
Jun 10th, 2010
WASP
Surely “umbilical cord” is a fairly well-known nickname for the lead that runs from an electric guitar to the amp?
Or is that too simple?
Jul 20th, 2010
Ian "Slidge" Lees
Charles Exford:
I do indeed remember Marseille and have a 12″ copy of Do It The French Way b/w Not Tonight, Josephine.
It’s a great bit of heavy metal with the line towards the end: “Do it the French way / You roll her over”. Nice.
Aug 18th, 2010
Charles Exford
Ah, nice one Slidge, I’m glad I didn’t dream it, which seemed a distinct possibility as I last saw any of my old vinyl in about 1987. I was about 16 when that record came out, that’s my excuse.
Feeling a need to post something slightly relevant to the theme of the song, and yet still even more annoyingly off-topic, I came across an article yesterday in The Paper about a holiday I went on when I was 17, which the article describes as a “club 18 to 18 and a half”, forgetting that some of us were a bit younger than that. This was the trip where I had my own first holiday romance, in fact, and for which it turns out there’s a 30-year re-union at Canary Wharf tomorrow, paid for by Barclays.
Barclays bloody bank at Canary bloody Wharf. First I gagged and then I decided to go.
Last Friday I was at a punk gig that was double-booked with Black Lace, I kid you not, this Friday I’ll be at Canary bloody Wharf for a free dinner from Barclays.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2010/aug/17/prize-winning-european-tour-teenagers
Aug 19th, 2010
MickeyMo
Charles has brought back some particularly painful memories of listening to Phil Easton on Radio City and his championing of Marseille. I remember some buses in Liverpool emblazoned with an ad for said single too.
I’m fascinated to know how the holiday reunion went – did you meet your holiday romance partner again?
Sep 3rd, 2010
toenail
went to tune into Phil Easton express and hit upon pirate Radio Merseywaves……..early pluggers of our heroes from the Noctorum Estate. circa mid 80s.
Sep 3rd, 2010
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