This classic banger was released as a single in 1982. It shot to #1 in the UK and stayed in the charts for months. The song is a combination of fairground vaudeville, ska, and radio pop. Below is an image of the paper sleeve on the 7 inch 45 RPM UK release.
The classic video was reissued in 4K about 8 years ago. How did we miss that? It looks better than ever. It was filmed in North London. The band members are seen acting out their coming-of-age tales in true Madness style.
U.S. Bowling League Day is recognized every year on September 3rd. Why not celebrate this grand occasion by actually going to a bowling alley? Take it up a notch and shave your heads before you head out.
Bowling is a lot of fun and it is healthy exercise. Pop this track in the car stereo on your way to the bowling alley to really get in the mood.
“Take The Skinheads Bowling” by Camper Van Beethoven was released both as a single and on the album Telephone Free Landslide Victory in 1985. It enjoyed significant airplay in the UK and was featured on the Dr Demento Show here in the USA.
The song was written by band member David Lowery. In his blog he writes,
“The Skinheads Bowling as just a weird nonsensical song. The lyrics were purposely structured so that it would be devoid of meaning. Each subsequent line would undermine any sort of meaning established by the last line. It was the early 80′s and all our peers were writing songs that were full of meaning. It was our way of rebelling.”
We found lyrics on genius.com, but cannot verify that they are 100% correct.
[Verse 1]
Every day, I get up and pray to Jah
And he increases the number of clocks by exactly one
Everybody’s comin’ home for lunch these days
Last night there were skinheads on my lawn
[Chorus]
Take the skinheads bowling
Take them bowling
Take the skinheads bowling
Take them bowling
[Verse 2]
Some people say that bowling alleys got big lanes
(Got big lanes, got big lanes)
Some people say that bowling alleys all look the same
(Look the same, look the same)
There’s not a line that goes here that rhymes with anything
(Anything, anything)
Had a dream last night but I forget what it was
(What it was, what it was)
[Chorus]
Take the skinheads bowling
Take them bowling
Take the skinheads bowling
Take them bowling
[Verse 3]
Had a dream last night about you, my friend
Had a dream–I wanted to sleep next to plastic
Had a dream–I wanted to lick your knees
Had a dream–it was about nothing
[Chorus/Outro]
Take the skinheads bowling
Take them bowling
Take the skinheads bowling
Take them bowling
Take the skinheads bowling
Take them bowling
Take the skinheads bowling
Take them bowling
Before I end this blog, I wanted to remember a cool drone video that was shot at a bowling alley in Minneapolis. The place is called Bryant Lake Bow and I’ve had great times there back in the 2000s.
Get out there and go bowling folks! It’s a great time!
Today is National Kissing Day. Can you think of a more appropriate song for the occasion?
We love covers here. Who better to cover than Prince? This track was released back in 1988 only two years after the original. It reached high positions in the global pop charts and as such remains Art of Noise‘s biggest hit. They also received an MTV Music Video Award.
After recording a number of country-pop style tracks, Welsh singer Tom Jones made a left-field decision to cover “Kiss”. It ended up reviving his career.
WalesOnline did a study using Spotify data back in 2016. Jone’s “Kiss” was rated the 14th most dance-able song of all time. The caveat is that about 8% of all pop music does not appear on Spotify. That beat out Daft Punk who came in at 18 with “Around The World”.
Do you think this track is really that danceable? Let us know in the comments.
-Wacky Alex
It’s hard to write about this one because the lyrics say it all. Let’s face it. Well meaning people around the world are currently being manipulated by lunatics.
The phrase is thought to originate in a 1919 remark by Richard A. Rowland about the founding of United Artists. It may have been an allusion to Edgar Allan Poe’s The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether, published in 1845.
I found the music video for the 1981 version by Fun Boy Three. The video is passable but the audio sounds low-fi and mono. It appears that it was recovered from a vhs tape of a live broadcast. This is all the record label seems to have at the moment. Perhaps the original film has been lost.
We play the 1981 version, but the song has been recorded many times. The 2019 version by The Specials is much more true to the rock-steady ska style and has flashy modern production. I almost want to reverse engineer the EQ curve and apply it to the original track.
Take a moment to do The Ska today, Rudy. It feels good.
-Wacky Alex
FunHouse Radio 