I'm not going to get all deep and emotional about this one. It's one of the most recent of all the tracks in this series, yet it has all the ingredients of a great pop song that will stand the test of time. I deliberated on whether I should include the album 'One Thousand Pictures' in the 20 Albums series - it is a corker, and its closing track Half Moon Street is as worthy of a place in this series as Come To The Bar. The reason I went for this track alone though is because of the way it sneaked up on me.
I heard it a couple times on 6Music. Marc Reilly played it and raved about the band. Steve Lamacq gave it a spin too. From initially floating over my head to dropping anchor in my brain's melody region and refusing to budge, Come To The Bar soon established itself as a firm fave. I mean, what's not to like? The way the chorus kicks in, that high "hooooooome" that comes from nowhere, the fun imagery of the lyrics ("d-d-d-dancing around until the carpet's wearing thin"). But above all - what. a. choon.
Singer Tom Sanders says his lyrics are largely streams of consciousness, but I think Come To The Bar really isn't that random. It's a welcoming song to an old friend who may well have been through a rough time.
"Just stop everything and think about coming home for a while. It doesn't matter what happened to you, you're my crocodile."
OK, the crocodile bit's a tad random, but otherwise "It doesn't matter at all, just come to the bar" cannot have too many different connotations. It's a wonderfully uplifting song and one that might just get the folks at my funeral tapping their feet. That's if they're not tramping the dirt down, of course...
Sadly, Pete And The Pirates split after 'One Thousand Pictures', but three fifths of them went on to form Teleman who have become one of MrsRobster's fave bands. They are very good, but to date haven't come close to anything as good as Come To The Bar.
Fifteen years ago today, the youngest of our clan was thrust into an unsuspecting world. TheDoopster (not her real name) has always seemed to me to be a little... different - but I mean that in a good way. She's pretty quiet and doesn't give a lot of herself away - "emotionally retarded" is how MrsRobster rather amusingly (though somewhat accurately) describes her. She is, however, frequently hilarious and silly. She also has a quite amazing knowledge of animals and space, though sadly not animals in space...
In terms of music, Doopster has never expressed a particular preference for any type of music, though she has long been a Lily Allen fan. She loves playing music herself though, having been playing the clarinet since primary school and over the last 12 months has taught herself to play piano. Her mum used to borrow her iPod to listen to music as she walked to work. She (MrsRobster) loaded a bunch of albums onto it and Doopster subsequently inherited them.
Unsurprisingly, one of her faves had an animal link to it - Cold Black Kitty by Pete & The Pirates. It featured on the band's second and final album 'One Thousand Pictures'. A good choice. What was unexpected was her most listened-to track, Emmy The Great's Paper Forest. When I asked her what she liked so much about it, she just gave me a wordless shrug as she so often does when you want her to reveal something about herself!
She's an enigma, our youngest. I still haven't quite worked her out in 15 years. Still, plenty of time and at least she has taste. Penblwydd Hapus, Doop!
