Fifteen Minutes of Fame

Oooh, is that Angelina Jolie who just dropped by for a visit? Or maybe Parker Posy?? No? Oh well, I suppose I just got carried away by this week's Contrast Podcast theme of "My Brush With Fame." This episode sees a veritable gala of podcastic stars sashay down the red carpet to take the stage and recount their various dalliances with The Famous. Oh, and the soundtrack is bloody ace, as usual. Download the whole thing here, have a listen, and scribble your fanmail here.

So, on to the credits:

(00:00) Oasis - Don’t look back in anger
Anna from Music I-Quiz

(06:49) Bill Haley & His Comets - Rock around the clock
Natalie from Mini-obs

(10:26) Revolver - Heaven sent an angel
Crash from Pretending life is like a song

(16:30) Henri Salvador - Monsieur boum boum
ZB from So the wind won’t blow it all away

(20:33) L7 - Hanging on the telephone
FiL from Pogoagogo

(25:54) Charlotte Hatherley - I want you to know
Chris from Phosphorous.net

(29:13) Thurston Moore - Fri_Emd
Ross from Just gimme indie rock

(34:16) Filter - Hey man, nice shot
SiD from Too Much Rock

(41:02) Five For Fighting - Superman
Alex from Totally true tales from Texas

(46:22) Spike Milligan - Knees
Tim from The face of today

(50:00) The Builders And The Butchers - The gallows
Pieter from Two Tramps in Mud Time

(53:58) The Hotknives - Holsten boys
Dirk from Sexy Loser

(01:00:42) New Order - Ceremony
JC from The Vinyl Villain

(01:10:08) Haircut 100 - Fantastic day
Mark from Cinema du Lyon

(01:13:34) The Magnetic Fields - Famous
Linda from Speed of dark

(01:16:48) Tanya Donelly - Acrobat
Thom from Better in the Dark

(01:20:57) The Delgados - Everything goes around the water
Steve from Domino Rally

(01:26:30) U2 - Sunday Bloody Sunday
Brad from Brad’s Blog

(01:31:45) Mighty Mighty Bosstones - Noise brigade
James from Appetite For Distraction

(01:35:41) Math and Physics Club - When we get famous
Andy from Circles of Concrete

(01:38:20) Talking Heads - Mind
Greg from Broken dial

The bristles of fame have brushed me lightly several times over the years, so I had several anecdotes to choose from. In the end I went with the story of how Marcel Marceau trapped me in a London phone booth. It's true - he did. But as for the rest of my story, well, let's just say it's somewhat impressionistic. Among the other anecdotes I considered were:

• Almost getting run over at Heathrow Airport by baggage trolleys being pushed by the Fun Lovin' Criminals. They apologized.
  
  
• Standing RIGHT behind the legendary John Peel in a queue to pick up tickets for a Therapy? concert at the Cambridge Junction. I was too petrified to speak to him (so I can empathize, Dearest Ross).
  
  
• Leslie Ash, a toilet, and me.
  

As for alternate musical choices, I almost went with two songs about fame itself. But in the end I decided not to be so damn meta...

Momus - Lifestyle of the Rich and Famous (buy alternate version here or e-here)
Now please don't go confusing this track with the one by pop-punk chancers Good Charlotte. Think instead Pet Shop Boys meets Pulp for a clever conversation about Divine Comedy. This Scottish scoundrel describes himself as "ultraconformist, voyager, timelord, tennis and ping pong champion, tender pervert, poison boyfriend, hippopotamus, philosopher, folk singer, star forever." Which actually makes a whole lot of sense.

Sheep on Drugs - Fifteen Minutes of Fame (this is a remix, but you can buy alternate versions here or e-here)
Born out of a techno miasma of sleaze and sarcasm while everyone else was too busy raving and getting loved up. Original frontman Duncan X is now a tattooist, while his partner Lee continues to occasionaly whore the band around (and I mean that in the nicest possible way).

Next week it's back to the next deadly sin: Pride. Don't be too proud to contribute...