Week 55 – Think Bensonium

Day 385: Hit me with your rhythm stick, Ian Dury and Blockheads

Roderick Benson — Thu, 08 Apr 2021 23:00:52 +0000

Well this song really should have been cited all the way back in week 5 of Covid Island Discs when the theme was crazy tunes, although that theme was tunes of the 1980s and this song came out all the way back in 1977. I am sure it will bring back lots of memories for people who are older than about 50.

Day 384: I am an ape man, The Kinks

Roderick Benson — Wed, 07 Apr 2021 23:00:53 +0000

I like this song and it contains lyrics that are timeless and pretty much apply as much today as when the song was first published in 1970.

I think I’m so educated
And I’m so civilized
‘Cause I’m a strict vegetarian
And with the over population
And inflation and starvation
And the crazy politicians
I don’t feel safe in this world no more
I don’t want to die in a nuclear war
I want to sail away to a distant shore
And make like an apeman

Day 383: Jukebox Hero, Foreigner

Roderick Benson — Tue, 06 Apr 2021 23:00:16 +0000

I remember when Foreigner 4 was released. I was 15 at the time. My friend Robert really liked the album and this was one of the hits on this album that was played regularly on Sydney radio stations. Sadly this live version is not nearly as good as the album version with some quite “on the vocal chords” singing (don’t try this sort of thing at home). This song also brings back a memory of me visiting the UK where I stayed with my Aunty and Uncle in their little place in Peckham. Their house was located over the top of my Uncle’s service station as my Uncle was a car mechanic. Unbeknown to me, this would be the last time I would see my cousin Michael as tragically he was killed in a car accident in 1988. This was doubly tragic because my Uncle John had a very, very good and close relationship with my cousin Michael and after my cousin’s death John was never really the same again.

Day 382: It’s a long way there, Little River Band

Roderick Benson — Mon, 05 Apr 2021 23:00:25 +0000

So poor old Little River band has thus far only be cited once in Covid Island Discs and that was all the way back in April 2020 when it was my 20^th wedding anniversary. The song I cited that day was Happy Anniversary Baby which I must confess is not what I would call one of their best songs. This song however was the opening track on their debut self-titled album “Little River Band” and is a great little number. This particular version of the song is sadly a little truncated by a radio interview of the band at the end of the video clip. However, the radio interview brings back an interesting childhood memory for me which involved my older brother using this song and wiring up our Dad’s sound system so it could play music down the telephone line. He then rang random sydneysiders and pretended to be a disc jocky telling them they had won a prize if they could just answer an LRB-related question. Can’t remember if many of those we called fell for his trick now but I remember I found it hilariously funny at the time.

Day 381: This is for all the Lonely People, America

Roderick Benson — Sun, 04 Apr 2021 23:00:02 +0000

Another song from the band America. This live version of the song is not quite as polished as the studio version but still a pretty good rendition. A song that many a young teenage boy and girl have probably related to as they look for partner to walk with them on this very odd journey we call life

Day 380: There is a day, Lou Fellingham (Easter Sunday)

Roderick Benson — Sat, 03 Apr 2021 23:00:07 +0000

This song captures the hope that Christians have in terms of what Easter Sunday means in terms of redeeming our present universe from all the pain, suffering, death and wickedness that so many people experience on a day to day basis. I’ll admit that sometimes it feels almost impossible to hold onto this hope but at the end of the day, as Simon Peter (one of the 12 Disciples) once said to Jesus when he asked his disciples whether they wanted to leave too, replied: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.” (John 6:68-69)

I have now found the studio version of this song so replaced the original live version, which was part of this original post, when it was first published at Easter 2021. The studio version has some really clever imagery with a rejected mirror found on a rubbish dump that gives glimpses of the future hope that is all around us if only we could see through these present sufferings and trust in the Christ’s redemptive power.

Happy Easter!

Day 379: Cat’s in the Cradle, Harry Chapin

Roderick Benson — Fri, 02 Apr 2021 23:00:33 +0000

My late mother used to relate to this song in that she felt that my own father spent too much time with his mates to the cost of his relationship with his own children. Sadly this view was largely correct because when I had my first child Grace, as I enjoyed my own father/daughter relationship, I came to realise just how much it was missing from the relationship with my own father. Having said that, as my Dad got older he did become a lot more attentive to his children so I guess the story had a happy ending although sadly you can never fully get back the years of your child’s childhood.

This song was also covered by Ugly Kid Joe in 1992. The remake version is also very good and well worth listening too.