Post by The Curmudgeon on Aug 19, 2014 12:20:06 GMT 2
Shaky mis-trial shenanigans from last weeks aside, I've had a straight run of hits with this series, so I've decided to really push my luck this week. We're talking, gulp.. an a cappella vocal pop group.
For those of you who haven't run off screaming, let me explain. Yes, vocal harmony group sounds like the sort of awful, awful horseshit that belongs on the X Factor, with shiny faced grinning imbeciles singing "Unchained Melody." This isn't that.
In a way, though, it's not 100% removed from the sort of thing you would find on the X Factor, in that it was a bunch of normal, working class guys who discovered that, hey, this singing thing is something we're pretty good at. Instead of being formed by some sinister pop mogul, though, they were actually a bunch of guys who used to protest and picket Thatcher's dastardly deeds (specifically closing down the mines). The term used for people travelling in large packs to protest "Flying Pickets", and that handily worked out well for a band name as well.
So The Flying Pickets were unique (at the time) because there's literally no instruments in this entire song. It's all them making weird synth noises with their mouths, all the while looking like the kind of guys who would kick your ass in a bar for looking at their girlfriends. A weird combo, but a winning one in my eyes.
This song was a Christmas number one, back when that actually meant something, but the song has long since been forgotten, and the lead singer died of cancer two years ago. Am I depressing you yet? Hopefully this will lighten the mood.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=EX2LuPw0VwI
For those of you who haven't run off screaming, let me explain. Yes, vocal harmony group sounds like the sort of awful, awful horseshit that belongs on the X Factor, with shiny faced grinning imbeciles singing "Unchained Melody." This isn't that.
In a way, though, it's not 100% removed from the sort of thing you would find on the X Factor, in that it was a bunch of normal, working class guys who discovered that, hey, this singing thing is something we're pretty good at. Instead of being formed by some sinister pop mogul, though, they were actually a bunch of guys who used to protest and picket Thatcher's dastardly deeds (specifically closing down the mines). The term used for people travelling in large packs to protest "Flying Pickets", and that handily worked out well for a band name as well.
So The Flying Pickets were unique (at the time) because there's literally no instruments in this entire song. It's all them making weird synth noises with their mouths, all the while looking like the kind of guys who would kick your ass in a bar for looking at their girlfriends. A weird combo, but a winning one in my eyes.
This song was a Christmas number one, back when that actually meant something, but the song has long since been forgotten, and the lead singer died of cancer two years ago. Am I depressing you yet? Hopefully this will lighten the mood.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=EX2LuPw0VwI
