Smoke Gets In Your Ears

(Koff koff koff) Hello, Dearest Friends, (hack, splutter) and welcome to the smoking (koff) section. Yes, this week Contrast Podcast is indulging in all things related to that filthy habit: cigars, cigarettes, pipes, cigarillos, etc. Who would have though that the clean-cut Dearest Marcy could come up with such a theme??

Anyway, light up by downloading the podcast from here, and don't forget to leave your comments here. So, what does Tobacconist Tim have on offer for us...?

(00:44) Sarah Vaughan - No smokes blues
Marcy from Lost in your inbox

(03:46) The Toy Dolls - I’ve got asthma
Dirk from Sexy Loser

(07:10) The House of Love - Soft as fire
Stuart

(12:34) Patsy Cline - Three cigarettes in the ashtray
FiL from Pogoagogo

(17:10) The Replacements - More cigarettes
Natalie from Mini-obs

(19:17) Otis Redding - Cigarettes and coffee
Crash from Pretending life is like a song

(23:56) Scarce - Glamourizing cigarettes
Linda from Speed of dark

(26:35) The Pogues - Bottle of smoke
JC from The Vinyl Villain

(29:37) K.D. Lang - Your smoke screen
Rick from Are you embarassed easily?

(33:30) James Hunter - No smoke without fire
Ross from Just gimme indie rock

(36:40) Serge Gainsbourg - Les cigarillos
Tim from The face of today

(38:50) David Bavas - Cigarettes and bourbon
ZB from So the wind won’t blow it all away

(43:06) Hot Snakes - Paid in cigarettes
Bob from Gimme Tinnitus

(47:33) The Coconut Monkeyrocket - Smoky smoky
Mèden O. Zephyr from Old fridges can kill

(53:00) Marah - Coughing up blood
Lyle from Mentok the Mind-taker

(58:30) Bubble puppy - Hot smoke and sassafrass
Pieter from Two Tramps in Mud Time

(01:02:09) The Alarmists - Light a smoke
Andy from Circles of Concrete

(01:06:08) Hefner - The Hymn for the cigarettes
SiD from Too Much Rock

(01:10:13) Ben Folds Five - Smoke
James from Appetite For Distraction

(01:15:32) Nick Drake - Been smokin’ too long
Conrad from White Car Records

(01:18:51) Sam Cooke - Smoke rings
Anna from Music I-Quiz

I've never been much of a smoker; when I was younger I used to have the occasional cigar or cigarette on special occasions, but frankly never puffed more than three or for times a year. That said, I do still have a wee scar on my left palm where I once stubbed out a smoke, but that's another story. As is the wacky baccy.

The last time I smoked was in a North African restaurant in London about two years ago. After indulging in a tremendous meal, I noticed that one of the dessert menu offerings was a hubble-bubble. After some encouragement, my fellow diners agreed to join me and an elaborate hookah was brought out. Yes, the gurgling of the water did cause titters, but the resulting smoke was cool, silky smooth, and frankly delicious. (Sidebar: will we see hookah smoking catch on in the US? Will Johnny come marching home from Iraq with a hubble-bubble in his kit bag? Will chewing tobacco disappear to be replaced by cowboys puffing on water pipes? Just a thought).

But enough about me. Well, OK, almost enough. Patsy Cline was almost pipped at the post as my submission by Sheffield spiky electro-art rockers, Smokers Die Younger. So download it now, coz it's absolutely brilliant. Even if it's not Patsy Cline.

Smokers Die Younger - I Spy Dry Fear (buy here)

The only other contender this week was Mister Smokey Robinson. And this is the track wot I'd have offered up:

Smokey Robinson - Going To A Go Go (buy here)

And speaking of smoking, happiness is a cigar called Hamlet...



Next week's CP theme is "My Brush With Fame," so dust off those stories of wild, celebrity one-night stands and get submitting...