Comments on: THE FLOATERS – “Float On”

By: intothefireuk

intothefireuk — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 12:56:21 +0000

I think we can ascertain from their demeanour that these guys were/are still firmly in the closet. Ridiculous record although I have a soft spot for the backing track and occasional soulful vocal flourishes. All the same….

By: Waldo

Waldo — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 10:16:01 +0000

# 33 – “Those two last posts were very silly indeed.”

No, no, Erithian. “Silly Waldo Songs” Paul wrote for me much later. And it was Wings not The Beatles.

Anyway, I need a certain song…

By: DJ Punctum

DJ Punctum — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 09:42:44 +0000

SPOILER BUNNY ALERT

Anyway, I already told you in the first verse.

By: Erithian

Erithian — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 09:31:42 +0000

Now, I’ve noticed a tendency for this thread to get rather silly. Now I do my best to keep things moving along, but I’m not having things getting silly. Those two last posts were very silly indeed. I mean, next thing you know we’ll be talking about Pink Floyd’s The Waldo.

By: Waldo

Waldo — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 06:45:41 +0000

Why thank-you kindly, Marcello. Yes, the lads indeed honoured me (then 7) with “The Waldo Album”. I don’t usually talk about it…

But since you insist, there was also “Waldo Truffle”, “Yer Waldo”, “Waldo Raccoon”, “Everybody’s Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Waldo” and “Helter Waldo”, which, of course, became infamous through no fault of its own.

By: DJ Punctum

DJ Punctum — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 14:13:37 +0000

It is easy to forget that Waldo had the honour of having an entire Beatles album – a double album, no less – written about him, commonly known as The Waldo Album and containing such classics as “Glass Waldo,” “While My Waldo Gently Weeps,” “Waldo #9,” “Why Don’t We Do Waldo In The Road,” “Happiness Is A Warm Waldo” and fill in the rest yourselves.

By: mike

mike — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 13:28:26 +0000

“Hi! I’m Mike, Aquarius, and guess what: I DON’T LIKE GIRLS!” (*)

Yes, this was as camp as tits – and pretty much everyone who bought it was in on the joke, right? Er, right?

(But also camp in its truest sense, as there was still an irreducible innocent sincerity at its core, however misguided.)

(*) Mangled Barron Knights reference. Sorry, ladies. Luvyaloads.

By: Waldo

Waldo — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 08:36:09 +0000

Indeed yes, Doc. In fact “Waldo, My Dear” from the White Album was very camp indeed. Although I accept your general gay/campy point, I still say that The Floaters were floating down the wrong stream. Sorry, hun!

Randy Newman was also into bear-baiting, of course.

By: Doctormod

Doctormod — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 00:55:42 +0000

Waldo, my dear–

One doesn’t have to be gay to be campy.

The Beatles were damned good at doing camp.

By: Doctormod

Doctormod — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 00:49:54 +0000

Um, hi–my name is Pat, but you can call me Doctor Mod (Pisces), and I like a lady who’s a hot femme with a brilliant mind, a good heart, and an over-the-top sense of humour (although I’ll admit that the “all shapeshifting tomboy pirate witch-robot” sounds like fun for a wild weekend. No–wait–I think that’s my ex. Not fun.

That being said, this all makes me think of the DRoss Supremes’ (i.e., DR and the Andantes’) “No Matter What Sign You Are.” (“Capricorn!–Ow!–Scorpio–Yeah!–Taurus Gemini Virgo–Yeah Yeah Yeah!” and so on, convenient that Aquarius and Sagittarius rhyme) Not one of Motown’s greatest moments, I’m afraid. I hadn’t even thought of it in years until I read this thread.

Randy Newman, you say? Indeed! “I’ve Been Wrong Before” is one stunning song.

By: LondonLee

LondonLee — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 00:16:11 +0000

If there’s such a thing as beautiful kitsch this is it. Incredibly silly song and camp as a row of tents, but smooth 70s soul harmonies like that could make ‘My Old Man’s A Dustman’ sound dreamy to me.

By: Tez Burke

Tez Burke — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 19:56:43 +0000

May I be the first on here to comment that the Wikipedia non-fact about Larry “CANCER!” Cunningham auditioning to replace Peter Gabriel in Genesis has made it to the mainstream media, a la Ronnie Hazlehurst’s presumed authorship of S Club 7 hits. It appears Mr. Branson’s toy radio station uses the “copy any old cobblers from Wikipedia” method of research, though I’m intrigued as to how those other putative choices would have sounded in this universe rather than a parallel one.

By: David Belbin

David Belbin — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 16:03:38 +0000

The new Randy Newman album, ‘Harps and Angeld’, out in a few weeks, is very good. I don’t hear a hit on it though. Recently acquired ‘On Vine Street: The Early Songs Of Randy Newman’ which replaces much of the hard to find bootleg 4cd obscurities collection and includes classics by Harper’s Bizarre and Beverly (soon to be Beverly Martyn) and numerous others plus a few well known songs to sugar the pill for casual fans.

By: DJ Punctum

DJ Punctum — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 13:37:23 +0000

My mum is a Sagittarian and so was my first wife so don’t try it Jimbo.

By: Erithian

Erithian — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 13:25:42 +0000

Another memorable US take on astrology:
Jim Morrison onstage during “An American Prayer”:

“Listen, man, I don’t know how many o’ you people believe in astrology…”
(squealing voices in crowd: Wooh, yeah Jim!)
“Yeah, that’s right…that’s right, baby, I…I am a Sagittarius, the most philosophical of all the signs…”
(squealing voices in crowd: Wooh, yeah!”)
“But anyway, I don’t believe in it. I think it’s a bunch of bullshit, myself…”
(slightly less enthusiastic voices in crowd: Wooh, er, yeah Jim…)

By: DJ Punctum

DJ Punctum — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 13:13:18 +0000

Randy Newman possibly one of those people that Britain just doesn’t “get” even though he has had numerous UK hits as a composer (chart peak: Gene Pitney’s “Nobody Needs Your Love (More Than I Do),” #2 in ’66) – “Short People” much played on Radio 1 in ’77 but not a hit here.

By: SteveM

SteveM — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 13:11:48 +0000

I’d forgotten that Creme Egg advert – hurrah!

Am assuming Stetsasonic’s ‘Float On’ over ten years later is a cover of sorts but I remember talk of an acid housey version around this time too.

By: rosie

rosie — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 13:09:03 +0000

Of course, the Floaters are another in the long line of American acts with unfortunate names to British ears. Ironically, though, this lot got a number one where more deserving acts failed to come close. Randy Newman springs instantly to mind, but there’s also my favourite misunderstanding, 60s soul smoothie Lou Rawls.

By: pˆnk s lord sükråt cunctør

pˆnk s lord sükråt cunctør — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 12:57:44 +0000

#16: yes but dan you’re a [insert sign here] so you would think that

i’m a gemini (= flyweight flibbertigibbet) and i like a lady who’s all shapeshifting tomboy pirate witch-robot

By: Mark G

Mark G — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 12:35:39 +0000

True. (#15)

But it was always more about the ‘intro and the outro’ version…

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

By: Dan R

Dan R — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 12:34:05 +0000

This is a sickly-sweet syrup of a song. I must say people who go on about their star signs might as well be intoning “I’m a credulous idiot” over and over again.

Quite like that ‘Jesus Was A Capricorn’, mind.

By: Alan Connor

Alan Connor — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 11:17:20 +0000

Incomplete and half-remembered therefore possibly inaccurate Resurrection Watch: ISTR a Cadbury’s Creme Egg advert featuring a version where the astrological signs and requirements-of-a-lady were replaced by various different means by which one might eat one’s sweeties.

By: DJ Punctum

DJ Punctum — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 10:43:36 +0000

Best zodiac-related record ever: the Zodiac album by Cosmic Sounds, Elektra ’68.

By: Erithian

Erithian — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 10:15:55 +0000

OK then, if you insist… “Taurus… and my name is Erithian.”

Coolest use of a zodiac sign must be in Frank Zappa’s “Dancin’ Fool”: “Love your nails. You must be a Libra. Your place or mine?”

By: DJ Punctum

DJ Punctum — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 10:03:54 +0000

It’s a disgrace that the Barron Knights’ masterpiece “Get Down Shep” was not a hit.