Popdose is proud to announce that, in the wake of Ape Records reissuing the Dukes of Stratosphear’s 25 O’Clock EP and their subsequent full-length, Psonic Psunspot, the artist occasionally known as Sir John Johns…we’re speaking of Andy Partridge, of course…has agreed to answer questions posed to him by Popdose readers.
The date of the actual interview has yet to be set, but until it takes place, the floor will be open for your queries to Mr. Partridge…and by “floor,” we mean the Reply section below.
Curious about the origins of your favorite XTC song? Anxious to get an update on the status of his long-discussed collaborative album with Robyn Hitchcock? Wondering if there’s any truth to the Wikipedia claim that he provided the voice of a cricket commentator in an episode of “Family Guy”?
Here’s your big chance to pose your questions to a true musical legend. Take advantage of it!
No time for love, Dr. Jones. The fakes await! As I mentioned last week, this post is devoted to the cinematic musical alter egos (and some non-cinematic ones as well) and as Jon Cummings mentioned last week, he did it first. Undaunted, I’m sending my posse over to his abode to knock ‘im into shape. Yes, my posse consists of a penguin, a rabbit and a cat that has used up one too many lives.
So Opus, Bill and all the rest never made it to the movies, but they should have, and considering how bankrupt Hollywood is for ideas, they may yet get there someday. In the meantime, we have volumes of Berke Breathed’s Bloom Countycomic strips and a flexi-disc with two of Billy and the Boingers’ (formerly Deathtongue) “hits.” “I’m a Boinger” is rather hard on the ears, the kind of sledgehammer comedy fans used to send to the Dr. Demento show after listening to too much “Weird Al” Yankovic. “U Stink But I Love U,” on the other hand, is obnoxious, but was performed by the very real hardcore band Mucky Pup. They even got the tuba in, so big points for that.
Last week, I gave credit to Bill Nighy for singing his parts in the film Still Crazy. This week, I’m doing the same for Hugh Grant. What an insane world we live in. Having never seen the film Music and Lyrics(2007), all I knew about it was that Grant played a former pop star from a band (loosely modeled on Wham!) called PoP! His forte was the music, but now as a writer for hire, he’s contracted to create a hit tune for rising pop music starlet and he’s in need of a lyricist. Enter Drew Barrymore, a lyricist on the rise. The rest is rom-com history. Now, there was no need for Grant to sing on the soundtrack, as I think an audience would have given him that latitude. I mean, it’s Hugh Grant. He’s not a singer and nobody really expects anything at all from him. To my shock, “PoP Goes My Heart” is a rather faithful approximation of ’80s synth-pop and I have to offer my apologies. What I will not apologize for is a Wiki blurb indicating David Hasselhoff covered the song and had a hit in Germany with it. I’m calling Bravo Sierra on that one… (more…)
So Opus, Bill and all the rest never made it to the movies, but they should have, and considering how bankrupt Hollywood is for ideas, they may yet get there someday. In the meantime, we have volumes of Berke Breathed’s 
. They even got the tuba in, so big points for that.
. This week, I’m doing the same for Hugh Grant. What an insane world we live in. Having never seen the film 