Wednesday 8 December 2010

Dubba dubba dum dum

    If you are not British, the chances are that the title of this post will mean little to you. It's part of the catchy chorus from Jona Lewie's 1980 UK Christmas number one, Stop the cavalry. Originally an anti-war protest song, it became a seasonal success when a canny producer who noticed the line 'Wish I was at home for Christmas' arranged it with a brass band and some chimes.
    If you are British, and especially if you are British and work in the retail industry, your heart will probably sink when you hear it. Just like Slade's Merry Xmas Everybody or Wizzard's I Wish it Could be Christmas Every Day it will be a ubiquitous part of the background noise in an endless loop of store music over the next few weeks. No wonder everyone's so grumpy by Boxing day.
    The BBC weather forecast for the other day  featured a continuous line of 'fog' icons. GD always takes a dip at this time of year so for me it was a slightly bad joke. Fortunately my office doesn't have music, so at least it wasn't a bad joke with a Christmas soundtrack. There are emails I've been meaning to write and posts I've meant to comment on, but haven't been able to. My apologies if you were expecting to hear from me.
    Here's one I don't expect to hear in-store any time soon.

10 comments:

  1. Ok I have to admit that I am one of the people who loves Christmas music in December... Though it stops on Jan 2nd. And I don't start before Dec 6th (until after Sint Klas has gone home from Holland)

    Sunday I copied 1.4GB of Christmas songs to my phone for listening to on the train and at the office.

    Sorry to hear that the fog is thickening for you - drop me a line if you need an ear to bend.

    Stace

    PS Thanks the the YouTube - I had never heard that one before...

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  2. No offence Stace but no thanks Jenny for the YouTube...I never was into punk. There was a time when I too loved all the Christmas songs and the atmosphere surrounding the run-up to Christmas day. These days however I just get cheesed off with the whole thing (it's a religious thing which I won't go into here...see my blog entries). Solution to having to listen to all the songs? Carry your own music to listen to (like Stace...shame about the choice though sweetie) or don't go shopping! The latter is my choice because I do not celebrate Christmas for the same reasons I just explained in my own blog, so I have no need to buy presents. Enjoy your take on it all though.

    Shirley Anne xxx

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  3. LOL @ the Sex Pistols!

    Melissa XX

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  4. Our solution to the pre-xmas heaving sweaty crowds shuffling down aisles is to Ninja Shop. Make a list dive in and get out quickly. Yeah, go on I'll have a bit of Stop the Cavalry :-D

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  5. Ah Jenny that takes me back..........I was indeed punk-ish, or perhaps punkette (or part time punkette?).

    But "dubba dubba dum dum".....surely that was The Goodies?
    Sorry US friends you needed to get BBC before 1980 to get that reference (and its not worth looking up).

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  6. are you thinking "Goody goody yum yum", Claire?

    I'm racking my brains (I've already racked the damson and wild cherry vodkas....) to find nice festive music. Britten, Waitresses, and some odd Spanish mob so far. Oh for John Peel's Festive Fifties...

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhWjHB3RbDg

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  7. Ohhhhh Nooooooo!
    Of course it was Goody Goody Gum Gum not Dubba Dubba Dum Dum.......How dumb of me.

    Now what about Abba's
    "See that girl, watch her scream, kicking the dancing queen!"

    That's right isn't it?

    Apologies all for being an idiot

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  8. We did have The Goodies here in the US! I remember seeing it as a kid, must have been about 1977. They played it on PBS (Public Broadcasting System) right before Monty Python.

    I liked it, but then I was a bit of an anglophile in my youth :-)

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  9. The Pistols, I couldn't resist the comedic effect. I was too young to understand all that when it happened.

    My musical cred will probably take a nosedive here, or maybe not. Mrs. J introduced me to Loreena McKennett, she's a favourite about this time of year.

    Name Drop Of The Week, I see Graeme Garden in the street from time to time. He's never chased by a giant kitten though.

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