Comments on: DOCTOR AND THE MEDICS – “Spirit In The Sky”

By: jean whittaker

jean whittaker — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 23:09:22 +0000

can you tell me where I can buy video of spirit in the sky by doctor and the medics

By: DV

DV — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 19:56:09 +0000

I totally loved this when it came out. I think I was planning to become a heepy or something. Then I realised that it was just a lamer cover version and therefore Not Cool.

By: Kit

Kit — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 05:40:43 +0000

Ah-hm! It could be that the Australian version was missing it, or more likely whoever taped it for me skipped it because they found it too frivolous… I definitely acquired it later on the Slug 12″ tho!

By: punctum

punctum — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 09:29:46 +0000

Don’t know what copy you’ve got, but on mine it’s side one track four between “Jackie” and “XX Sex.”

By: Kit

Kit — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 03:58:50 +0000

@44 – the Fuzzbox cover isn’t on Bostin’ Steve Austin, it was the b-side of the 12″ (the Bargainous Longerer mix!) of Love Is The Slug

By: thefatgit

thefatgit — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 13:18:25 +0000

Jungman @45…the next incarnation of this will make you feel a little more than just “fiercely annoyed”.

By: Jungman Jansson

Jungman Jansson — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 23:40:14 +0000

Oh blast, I’m lagging behind! Didn’t remember this one either. But my girlfriend came running when I played it, demanding to know what it was – apparently it was a fond childhood memory to her.

I was fiercely annoyed by it at first. The shuffled beat just seemed too shuffled. I’m not sure why that should cause so much irritation, but it did (which means that I’m an easy target for Tom to chastise me for lazy criticism). But I think I get those “enforced jollity” vibes that have been discussed here before, most recently regarding that Chicken Song. “Aren’t we fun-loving and glam?” – no, you’re listless and plodding.

Listening to the Norman Greenbaum original (which I hadn’t heard before either, and vastly preferred) oddly made me warm to this slightly. The song isn’t bad in itself, weirdo quasi-religious glam-Jesus lyrics aside, it’s just not delivered in a particularly attractive manner here.

SwedenWatch: #16 on the sales charts, and #8 on Tracks.

By: Lena

Lena — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 16:26:58 +0000

By far the best version of this is by We’ve Got A Fuzzbox & We’re Gonna Use It from their immortal Bostin’ Steve Austin album from this very same year.

By: Doctor Casino

Doctor Casino — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 03:21:50 +0000

I definitely DLed this ages ago and have surely heard it dozens of times now, but when I try to call it up in my mind all I get is the Fuzzbox version, which is a joy as far as I’m concerned. Thanks to somebody back in the Greenbaum thread for recommending that, by the way!

By: Gavin Wright

Gavin Wright — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 15:27:48 +0000

Re: #38, it was more a case of the latter, I think – I actually quite like bands to take their actual art seriously (regardless of whether the art itself is serious in content or not).

As I say, I wish I could remember exactly what it was he had a chip on his shoulder about, my memory’s failing me here – though I do remember that the Baha Men came across as really good-natured on the same show!

By: Pete Baran

Pete Baran — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 13:47:50 +0000

Yes, I DJ-ed it, but I though I went from Greenbaum to D&TM rather than the comedy enhanced one. I was, as the phrase goes, very very drunk at the time.

By: Erithian

Erithian — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 13:39:40 +0000

You might like to know that “goth” features in the Guardian style guide, viz:
“Goths (upper case) – Germanic tribe that invaded the Roman Empire.
goths (lower case) – Sisters of Mercy fans who invaded the Shepherd’s Bush Empire”.

Kind of endearingly nutty, this one, coming in the same spring as Sigue Sigue Sputnik, and quite fun. Not much more to say about it. This was number one during the World Cup in Mexico – the Hand of God and all that – and my chief musical memory of that month is getting “Back in the DHSS” by Half Man Half Biscuit and almost wearing the tape out.

Pete at #1 – I think the last Club Popular featured a mix of two of the No 1 versions of this song, was that during your set? It went from Norman Greenbaum to the bunny-embargoed version (which someone mentioned upthread and got away with it)

By: pink champale

pink champale — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 13:17:58 +0000

#35 That’s very much how David van Day always comes across and it’s brilliant! You sort of assume that on some level he’s aware of what he’s doing and is amusing himself – surely no one can *possibly* take themselves as seriously as he ostensibly doe* – but there’s never the slightest chink in his front, so you can’t be sure.

By: Tom

Tom — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 12:41:02 +0000

“Taking yourself too seriously” is a really problematic area – I think it’s a slightly feeble, mean criticism when it’s being used to cut a pop star’s perceived ego down to size. On the other hand there’s a particular KIND of lack of proportion which is really annoying – the pop or entertainment equivalent of office politics, where tedious intra-band grudges over who got proper credit for a bass solo keep popping up in interviews.

By: Gavin Wright

Gavin Wright — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 12:28:20 +0000

#35: Ha! Yes, that would’ve been an improvement, I admit – I probably need to re-watch the clip but I just recall him sounding a bit bitter and haughty about… something or other.

By: thefatgit

thefatgit — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 12:27:14 +0000

There is absurdity in Sting portaying himself as a 21st Century Martin Carthy/Woody Guthrie- type figure when Martin Carthy and Woody Guthrie work just as well in the 21st Century as they did in the 20th.

By: Izzy

Izzy — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 11:40:24 +0000

#32: but The Doctor should take himself seriously! You wish that Bono or Sting would play with the absurdity of their position, but the more messianic this guy is, the better. I hope he referred to himself in the present tense and the third person: “The Doctor curses ‘Waterloo’s failure”, etc.

By: Billy Smart

Billy Smart — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 11:09:56 +0000

Light Entertainment Watch: Surprisingly few TV appearances listed – Interesting that they got on Whistle Test before the hits, though;

HIT ME BABY ONE MORE TIME: with Shakin’ Stevens, Jaki Graham, Belinda Carlisle, Haddaway, Doctor And The Medics (2005)

WHISTLE TEST: with Doctor And The Medics, Madness, Robert Cray Band (1985)

By: Billy Smart

Billy Smart — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 11:06:17 +0000

TOTPWatch: Doctor and the Medics performed ‘Spirit In The Sky’ on Top Of The Pops a frankly excessive six times (I’ll detail the Christmas show at the end of the year);

15 May 1986. Also in the studio were; Status Quo and Joyce Sims. Mike Smith and Simon Bates were the hosts.

29 May 1986. Also in the studio were; The Real Thing and Pete Wylie. John Peel and Janice Long were the hosts.

5 June 1986. Also in the studio were; Cashflow, Simply Red and The Pet Shop Boys. Simon Bates and Gary Davies were the hosts.

12 June 1986. Also in the studio were; Sigue Sigue Sputnik, Lovebug Starski and The Real Thing. Mike Smith was the host.

19 June 1986. Also in the studio were; Bucks Fizz, Amazulu and Nu Shooz. Gary Davies was the host.

By: Gavin Wright

Gavin Wright — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 10:42:59 +0000

I’ve got a vague memory of this cropping up one Channel 4′s ‘Top Ten One-Hit Wonders’ programme years ago and the Doctor coming across as taking himself far too seriously – it’s not a record I liked in the first place but this put me off it even further.

There’s something about the whole goth aesthetic I’ve never really liked but I can’t quite put my finger on what it is. I think I just find its preoccupation with the dark and mysterious aspects of life to be, conversely, really mundane. That’s not to say that it hasn’t produced some great music, particularly the crossover with psychedelia some previous comments have referred to – The Cure and the Banshees being the most obvious examples.

By: Mark G

Mark G — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 10:21:43 +0000

Bands that struggled “at home” until they hit in the USA at which point they came home conquering heroes.

The Police, Simply Red, The Cranberries.

Thanks, guys.

By: MikeMCSG

MikeMCSG — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 09:03:10 +0000

Mention of “Holding Back The Years” reminds me how much Simply Red struggled to follow up “Money’s Too Tight”. It was first released at the tail end of 85 and like two other singles from the first LP it failed to crack the Top 40. It was only when it went stellar in the US that we apparently decided they were a good group after all. Although I liked the song (still do) it did vaguely worry me that we seemed to be waiting for a lead from the Yanks (or worse,Jonathan King !!!) before deciding on a group’s merit after years of smug immunity from the likes of Grand Funk Railroad and Journey. Maybe Matt Johnson picked up on this in the soon-to-come “Heartland”‘s coda “This is the 51st state of the USA”.

By: Mark M

Mark M — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 08:47:21 +0000

Re 21: Thanks for that – I had vague memories of knowing about Doctor and the Medics before Spirit In The Sky, but that’s clarified that. The depths of my mind I now recall the fact that that scene also had it’s own shop, Planet Alice, which was at the unfashionable end of Portobello Road, somewhere along what is now the stretch between Honest Jon’s and Falafel King.

By: wichita lineman

wichita lineman — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 08:03:55 +0000

I remember going to see Acton freakbeat legends The Eyes play a one-off at Alice In Wonderland in 1984. They didn’t turn up, but Dr & The Medics played. Even their psych turn was decidedly tongue in cheek, but the Doctor’s dj set was something else – first time I heard Buzz Saw by The Turtles which blew my tiny mind.

Back then, reunions were very rare. I couldn’t imagine how The Eyes would look – aged, office workers, I presumed. Thinking back, they’d have only been in their mid to late thirties.

Holding Back The Years was a cover of sorts – Mick Hucknall had recorded it as a single with his previous group The Frantic Elevators. The cover featured ‘Simply Mick’ with a revolver in his mouth. Add your own punchline.

By: Abe Fruman

Abe Fruman — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 05:11:57 +0000

“and they deserve to be remembered with just a little more affection than as rubbish goths.”

I’ll take your word on it, but must agree that that is a truly awful, if not tautological, way to be remembered.