It was busy old week working on a big event with my work family. It gave me lots of song opportunities I couldn't use in the weekly blog so here's a special edition.
I'll give you a list of what's included in case it changes your mind about reading on
The Fall: The Birmingham School of Business School
On the Buses Theme
Kasabian: Shoot the Runner
Franz Ferdinand: Lucid Dreams
Pigeon Detectives: This is an Emergency
Mozart: Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen
They Might Be Giants: The End of the Tour
The Fall: The Birmingham School of Business School
Well as we were in Birmingham and schooled people in our line of business I can use another Fall song. This is the opening track from their 1992 album Code: Selfish and is probably about one of their ex-managers. It's a long way from being one of my favourites but that's not what this feature is about.
On the Buses Theme
One of my roles at the event was liaising with the many buses we had heading to us on any given day. Because of various rules someone on the bus had to take a register and then send a picture to us. We needed to know who was on the buses.
This theme music was written by Tony Russell for the bus-based sitcom that ran between 1969 and 1973. Star of the show Reg Varney officially opened the first ATM in 1967 fact fans.
Kasabian: Shoot the Runner
I had a nice hotel room for the week but these places always leave you with questions. Why is soap never called soap and what the hell is the point of a runner on a bed? Do you put small pieces of carpet on all your other furniture?
That's probably not the type of runner that Kasabian wanted to shoot in this song. A 2006 single it must be one of the last times they did anything remotely approaching good.
Franz Ferdinand: Lucid Dreams
I wasn't very well when I was away and some very realistic dreams. One night I dreamt my alarm went off when it hadn't, the next night I dreamt I was awake when I wasn't. It really messed me about.
Lucid Dreams is from Franz Ferdinand's 2009 album Tonight:Franz Ferdinand. It starts off in typical Franz indie style but then morphs into an instrumental acid house freak-out for the last three minutes. Great stuff. Play loud!
The Pigeon Detectives: This is an Emergency
One of my roles on the event was to be a point of contact for our event maker crew. Easy, eh? Someone says 'this isn't quite working, can we change it?' or 'don't make me stand out on the car park' or 'can I wave the giant foam finger with my other hand?' and I'd find an answer.
What I wasn't expecting was for someone to phone up and say 'I've really hurt my back and called an ambulance'. But that was what happened and set off a chain of events that saw me have my first ever ride in an ambulance and spend a night in a Solihull Accident and Emergency ward. Things turned out not be life-threatening or anything as bad as that but it was an interesting few hours.
So, not the biggest emergency but enough of one to wheel out this Pigeon Detectives single. This is an Emergency was released in 2008 and got to number 14.
Mozart: Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen
Ooh! Bit of culture. One of the items in the event was a showcase of some of the talent in our employees. A lot of it was pop singing and there was bit of dancing too but we had some opera. That was brought to us by Zoe who's one of my work family.
We'd seen her sing before but nothing like this. Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen (Hell's vengeance boils in my Heart) is from Mozart's The Magic Flute and is sometimes called the Queen of the Night aria.
It's known for being demanding to perform well as it calls for some extraordinary vocal gymnastics. Zoe nailed it and nearly blew the roof off the building. Wind this on to 2:13 and listen to Diana Damrau to get an idea of how Zoe got standing ovations and made people cry.
They Might Be Giants: The End of the Tour
And then it was over. And we loaded onto a coach and went home. OK, it wasn't a tour as such as we only 'played' one venue but it had that sort of feel to it as we all went back to our real lives.
The End of the Tour is from They Might Be Giants 1994 album John Henry.
At the end of the tour
When the road disappears
If there's any more people around
When the tour runs aground
And if you're still around
We'll meet at the end of the tour
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