meme tune

It's a bustling Manhattan street, seen from above. There's a chill in the air, people scurry, yellow cabs honk and lurch as our view slowly pans down the sidewalk. We see steps coming up from a subway station. Ts-t-t-t-ts-t-t-t say the insistent hi-hats, then in with the wah-wah guitar and up he comes, long leather trenchcoat, cool and sassy, black and hip, sharp and purposeful. It's Shaft. John Shaft.

Never was a person so well matched to their theme tune as in the opening scene of Shaft's eponymous classic blaxploitation movie.



When I was with Radio Savage Houndy Beasty we did a reworking of Theme From Shaft, giving it Yorkshire lyrics over a colliery band's rendition of the tune [MP3 here].

Gareth S Brown once said he'd like his theme tune to be one sustained organ dischord. He imagines himself walking down the street with a soundtrack like a church organist has keeled over and died on to the keys.

And so we come to the point. There's a blog meme of theme tunes for your blog. Five Chinese Crackers wants it to be Rock You Like A Hurricane by the Scorpions, but admits it has to be Billy Bragg's It Says Here. Chicken Yoghurt's hysterical Sunshine Lollipops and Rainbows had me literally slappng my desk.

Reluctantly conceding that I'm not really sassy enough to have Theme From Shaft, I'd like mine to be the entirety of Bill Hicks' Rant In E Minor, but I guess spoken word is out of bounds for theme tunes. I'd like it to be Anarchy In The UK, but I know I'm not snarly enough really. Seize The Day's I Swear kicks the requisite ass.

But really I know it's got to be something a bit less righteous, a bit more musical and peculiar amidst all the countercultural politics, like the vibe you get bimbling around festivals in an English summer. It can only be The Ukelele Orchestra of Great Britain doing Theme From Shaft.



Over to you:

A Daisy Through Concrete
Alice In Blogland
Dreamflesh
Enemies of Reason
One Way Ticket to Cubesville

Is there any need to ask Jim at The Quiet Road? We all know it'll be the 12 inch version of Chris De Burgh's Don't Pay The Ferryman.