Watching all the women, shaking, slimming, walking down the road again

[venta]

A few weeks back ChrisC and I were walking through Camden, and asbestos was mentioned. I forget why. "Asbestos, lead, asbestos" I said conversationally then realised I had no idea what I was quoting.

I could hear that phrase, as part of a song, very distinctly in my head. Unfortunately, I couldn't hear any more of the song, and had no idea what it was. A vague notion that it might be Luke Haines was all I could muster - ChrisC said I was wrong, and extensive listening to the works of Mr Haines suggested he was right (he always is).

A week or so later, ChrisC dug out a recording of Asbestos Lead Asbestos, by Meat Beat Manifesto. It wasn't the right song :( Even allowing for it being a cover, I was still certain that the entire nature of the song was quite wrong.

Extensive googling failed to help. In the end, I was forced to give up. Just one of life's little mysteries.

Today, striding into town with my mp3 player on, I noticed that something about the music was nagging at my mind. The masters of punnery, parody and misquote were singing in my ears:

"I'm underage and uninsured, on the High Road to Domestos,
Chloroflourocarbon, Lord, asbestos, lead, asbestos"

Rubbish, by Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine.

Which is why my otherwise sedate walk down Iffley Road was interrupted by a brief burst of scissor-kicking somewhere around Jeune Street.

Comments

[hirez.livejournal.com]

And 'Asbestos, lead, asbestos' by World Domination Enterprises.

I wonder which one came first?

[venta.livejournal.com]

I believe Meat Beat Manifesto covered the World Domination Enterprises song, and both preceded Carter.

[zotz]

World Dom Ents. I have MBM's cover on tape somewhere, too - it was several years later.

I saw WDE a couple of times. They were fantastic, and had shittier gear than any other rock band I've seen ever. At Reading, on the main stage, between the soundcheck and them starting the guitar amp packed in, and the surprising thing was that it had lasted that long, from the look of it. Happy days.

Anyway. Carter.

Carter infamously got sued for lifting the words "Goodbye Ruby Tuesday" from a Stones song for After The Watershed. The Stones, IIRC, were actually quite sympathetic but couldn't do anything about it because they'd signed away those rights to their record company, and anyway the case collapsed. It is, though, the reason that song wasn't on the next album, as they didn't want to have to pull the album if they lost. One of them said "We nicked "Goodbye Ruby Tuesday" from the Rolling Stones and "Asbestos Lead Asbestos" from World Domination Enterprises . . . and guess which bastards sued?"

That was After The Watershed, of course

[hirez.livejournal.com]

You know, I'm probably going to be horribly depressed if I go look at the WDE 7" set and find the dates on them.

[satyrica.livejournal.com]

I don't know Rubbish- is it a B-Side or summat?

[venta.livejournal.com]

I don't think so. It's on Straw Donkey, which claims to be a singles collection. June 1990, according to the sleevenotes.

[satyrica.livejournal.com]

ah, I don't have that, only the albums

am also deeply ashamed I only just noticed/recognised the Suede ref. . .

[phlebas.livejournal.com]

If you google it and exclude "meat beat" and "world domination" you should get Carter USM halfway down the first page.

[venta.livejournal.com]

So you do. Which is bizarre, because I thought I'd tried that before. Me and google's - syntax don't seem to get on very well.

[phlebas.livejournal.com]

Oh well. We all have bad google-fu days.
Though if the WDE version doesn't ring any bells does that mean you haven't got Rough Trade's lovely "Post-Punk 01" compilation? Shocking. I'd have thought that and the indie-pop one were right up your street.

[venta.livejournal.com]

No, I don't have the Post-Punk compilation, though agree I probably should have. The indie-pop one is indeed right up my street :)

ChrisC also highly recommends the Country one, too, though I don't think I've heard it.