Hidden Gems

The last time I looked, my Magic Tune Box had just under 21,000 songs on it. Most of these tracks are those I've ripped from my CDs, but some are from CDs borrowed from friends and family or from downloads both legal and illicit.

This much music means that to listen to it all would take solid weeks. And it also means that there are lots of tracks on the Magic Tune Box that I've never heard. Not even once.

So, a while back I decided that one way to remedy this would be to listen to all the albums on the Magic Tune Box in alphabetical order. As well as allowing me to hear some of the music for the first time, this also enabled me to keep my borderline OCD in check.

At the moment, I've gotten as far as "E". And today, I heard the Rory Gallagher compilation Etched In Blue for the first time.

I was blown away.

Thanks to my odd desire to listen to everything in some pre-defined order, and to the alphabet, I've discovered some new (30-year-old) tunes.

Take your happiness where you can find it folks....

The Fourteenth Groanin' Jock Lyrical Challenge

Four of the five tracks from the thirteenth Groanin' Jock Lyrical Challenge were spotted by my eagle-eyed (or should that be eagle-eared?) readers. Answers are now in the comments on that post.

So now to this week's selection - simply identify the five tracks pulled at random from Magic Tune Box III, no Googling allowed.

1. We're gonna chug-a-lug and shout.

2. Oh what a feeling there'll be, the moment I know she loves me, 'cause when I look in her eyes I realise, I need her sharing her world beside me.

3. Like most babies smell like butter, his smell smelled like no other.

4. I've been casing your joint for the best years of my life, like the look of your stuff, outta sight.

5. You bite through the big wall, the big wall bites back.

The Thirteenth Groanin' Jock Lyrical Challenge

It may be a new year, but there are loose ends to tie up.

The Twelfth Groanin' Jock Lyrical Challenge took place more than a month ago, and answers are now in the comments on that post. The winners from that challenge were Rab (at least I'm presuming he's the mystery anonymous commenter), Stu Who? and The Tomahawk Kid.

However, time marches on, and we've hit unlucky 13 in the challenge that I shamelessly stole from TK himself. The rules are simple - lyrical snippets from five random offerings from The Magic Tune Box are printed below - simply name the artist and song without resorting to Google or other means of cheating.

1. How old are you? Are you old enough? Should you be in here watching that?

2. You love blow and I love puff, And life is like a pipe.

3. My man is smooth like Barry, and his voice got bass, A body like Arnold with a Denzel face.

4. When there's northerners and southerners, And westenders in Eastenders.

5. DJ, gonna burn this goddamn house right down.