Fall Monday Playlist #15 - Film & TV

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The picture above captures one of MES's most notable appearances on the small screen ('Tottenham Hotspur postponed; West Ham United one H'). This playlist, however, generally concentrates on Fall songs that took TV and film as their lyrical inspiration. The Twilight Zone was one of Smith's favourite shows (covered in playlist #3), but many other TV shows and films found their way into his lyrics. Some - 'A Lot Of Wind', for example - have appeared in previous lists (I'm trying to only use songs once) but there are still plenty that remain...

Spotify Playlist

YouTube Playlist

Touch Sensitive

Unlike the rest of the playlist, 'Touch Sensitive' is here not because it's about TV, but because it appeared on TV. Other songs that made regular TV appearances include 'Sparta' (used on BBC's Final Score, hence MES's appearance above) and 'Jawbone' (which Frank Skinner used as the theme tune for his 90s chat show). In addition, 'Hip Priest' made an appearance in the finale of The Silence of the Lambs. 

'Touch Sensitive' was used on an advert for the Vauxhall Corsa. 'I didn’t have full control over that', Smith remarked, 'at the time I needed the money. Sometimes that’s the sad case. We’re not all Elton John.'


Pumpkin Head Xscapes

One of the b-sides to 'Ed's Babe', 'Pumpkin' was, according to Simon Wolstencroft, about Craig Scanlon’s missing cat. The refrain, 'We're coming, we're coming, Leo' seems to have been taken from the 1951 Kirk Douglas film Ace in the Hole. The movie concerns an unscrupulous reporter's efforts to exploit the plight of Leo Minosa, who becomes trapped in a cave while hunting Indian artifacts. At one point, a country band plays a tribute song for Leo: 'We're coming, we're coming, Leo / Oh, Leo, don't despair / while you are in the cave-in hopin' / we are up above you gropin' / and we soon will make an openin', Leo'.


Telephone Thing

The 1990 single featured one of Smith’s most memorable lines: ‘How dare you assume I want to parlez-vous with you, Gretchen Franklin nosey matron thing!’ MES made the unlikely claim that he didn’t know that Gretchen Franklin was the actress who played Ethel in Eastenders. 

'Telephone Dub' featured on the 2002 compilation, Listening In.


Green Eyed Loco-Man

'Riddle me this' - the catchphrase of The Riddler, one of Batman's arch enemies.


Nate Will Not Return

The lyric of this Ersatz GB track, unlikely as it might seem, refers to the character of Nate Archibald from American teen drama Gossip Girl. The almost endless series of rhymes - 'sublimate', 'replicate', 'New Jersey State', 'straight', 'crate' - is capped triumphantly by 'I might visit the gallery known as Tate'. Pete Greenway's agile guitar work recues a bit of a half-arsed idea.


Open The Boxoctosis #2

'Open the box' may possibly reference Take Your Pick!, the first TV game show broadcast in the UK to offer cash prizes (‘take the money… open the box!') As we've already had 'Open The Boxoctosis #2' in the Twilight Zone playlist, I've included 'Boxoctosis Alarum' from 2004's Interim, the title of which was inspired by the smoke alarm that goes off at 1:24.

Susan vs. Youthclub

Two versions of 'Susan' appeared on the The Fall vs 2003 CD single. It was on the original Country On The Click but was replaced by ‘Janet, Johnny + James’ on The Real New Fall LP. Possibly inspired by an episode of Neighbours, it involves the eponymous Susan travelling back in time and being appalled by her 16-year-old self. 



Anecdotes + Antidotes In B#

A companion song to ‘(Jung Nev’s) Antidotes’ (included on playlist #11) that recycles many of the same lyrics: 'the chewing gum is chewed / the chewer is pursued’ is from the Marx Brothers’ 1933 film Duck Soup. The 'Jung Nev' version refers obliquely to the Carry On films; a performance of the 'B#' version from Los Angeles in 2001 makes the connection more explicitly: 'and so secondary modern British Carry-On film, “Carry On, Sir”, “Carry On, Sir”.' 


Is This New

A bizarre tale that involves Jeremy Kyle, Jeffrey Archer, Dot from Eastenders and Judy from Richard & Judy. 

Who Makes The Nazis?

‘Benny’s cobweb eyes!’ is almost certainly a reference to the character of the same name from UK soap Crossroads, who in one episode was blinded and exclaimed ‘I can't see nothing, doctor... only cobwebs!’ 


Thanks for reading/listening. See you next Monday for the most wonderful and frightening songs...


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