The Friday Canon: COMIC RELIEF

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Switch on the BBC this evening and you'll be confronted by charitable types urging you to part with your cash for needy causes in return for rubbish comedy. Yep, it's Comic Relief - the source of many a novelty single over the years. I can't think of a more worthy subject for this week's canon! You have just FIVE ticks to give away...

[Poll #947847]

Stock Aitken Waterman: (link)
1. Dead Or Alive - You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)
2. Mel & Kim - Respectable
3. Bananarama - Venus
=4. Kylie Minogue - Better The Devil You Know
=4. Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up
=4. Kylie Minogue - I Should Be So Lucky
7. Mel & Kim - Showing Out (Get Fresh At The Weekend)
8. Bananarama - Love In The First Degree
=9. Donna Summer - This Time I Know It's For Real
=9. The Reynold Girls - I'd Rather Jack

Comments

[braisedbywolves.livejournal.com]

Just to be clear, is the last question for charity singles en masse, or just comedy ones?

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Anything that raises dosh for good causes.

I judge that...

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

the Mel Smith & Kim Wilde record is officially the worst single (charidee or no) of ALL TIME

[bengraham.livejournal.com]

Wikipedia, as ever, is pretty comprehensive (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charity_record) on this.

What were the Chicken Shed charity songs? I can't remember them at all, but I'm pretty certain they had some decent ones.

[cis.livejournal.com]

Suicide is Painless was a charity single?

i... i don't really know how to process this information.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

for the spastics society??

[cis.livejournal.com]

I can't work out if the statement that it was a split single with Fatima Mansions (covering "everything i do (i do it for you)") makes it more believable or not.

(both off nme's 'ruby trax' covers album in aid of SCOPE innit.)

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

It is the truth.

[byebyepride.livejournal.com]

Wasn't it taken off the NME Ruby Trax compilation -- which was all for charity?

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

haha "ProgAID" - is this for K31th 3m3rs0n's retirement fund?

couldn't see Elton's "Sacrifice" on that list - I'm sure the profits from that single went to Terence Higgins Trust or some other AIDS charidee

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Wikipedia in being incomplete shocker.

Not that I got the canon list from there at all. Ahem.

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

This poll gives me the chance to ask an important question:

Why isn't Comic Relief funny?

You'd think it would be quite a good opportunity for comedians and comedy writers to put their best work in front of a wide audience. As anyone who's sat through one will attest this doesn't happen. Why not?

[braisedbywolves.livejournal.com]

I think it is, or it was for the first few years, then I stopped watching. Wasn't The Curse of Fatal Death for Comic Relief?

putting a downer on the whole thing

[piratemoggy.livejournal.com]

In my opinion, it's because when I think about what a drop in the horrible, CEO-embedded sea of charitable donations (and beyond that the ocean of The World Economy) Comic Relief actually is, how much complete novelty crap goes on and how much expenditure it must involve in the first place (and I bet red noses etc. are made in sweatshops; the headbands in Claire's Accessories definitely are) the whole thing is infinitely depressing. The Radio One Truck think has raised as much as the Oxfam shop I used to work in did in a year and while that was a ridiculously high-earning shop (bookshop which meant it did phenomenolly well off first editions, etc. but mostly made cash off flogging mass quantities of Mills and Boons for 35p per go I suspect) it was only one of thousands up and down the country. Comic Relief would do better to simply raise awareness of world/domestic issues rather than what it does which is focus in on a few little cases and imply that it can all be solved with a few quid down the phone. [NB am not implying Oxfam is perfect charity above, was just illustrating fundraising gap]

Not to mention the fact small children with AIDS are never really funny, no matter how many Ant and Dec interludes you put in between. :(

Which isn't to say it's not worth giving money to comic relief or that the work it does isn't really good, because it is; I donated several times earlier today and usually buy the single except that my financial state is such that that's really not happening until next week, it's just I also find the campaign a bit horribly naive/misguided.

[braisedbywolves.livejournal.com]

All the Young Ones look 50 in that picture, while Cliff looks like he's 12.

[blue-russian.livejournal.com]

The other thing that's kind of interesting is the fact that several artists seem to have built their careers on the backs of charity singles (or at least they represent high points of them). Even though you know they may be great songs, it still makes you kind of wonder, doesn't it?

S Club 7 - Never Had a Dream Come True (#1), Have You Ever (#1)
McFly - All About You (#1), "Please Please" (#1)
Rachel Steven - Some Girls (#1)

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

It's more that they're already famous, but not SO famous they can afford to say no to doing a charity single (plus a lot of their market is kids, and kids wuv telethons, or so the marketing wisdom has it).

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Rachel S is by all accounts 1x GOOD EGG and willing to muck in for a good cause. This is according to my Dad who was helping out with CiN stuff the other year.

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Hmm - Sclub were fairly well established before chairidee ting, I think those songs would have got to #1 anyway. Same for McFly & Rachel. However there are other examples (hi dere Gareth Gates) that do fit...

Pudsey vs er... a big red nose

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Here are the Children In Need singles:

"Heroes/A Long Way To Go" The County Line featuring Suzi Quatro, Bronski Beat & Wendy Roberts
"Perfect Day" Various
"Talking in Your Sleep/Love Me" Martine McCutcheon
"Never Had a Dream Come True" Sclub7
"Have You Ever" S Club 7
"Don't Let Me Down" Will Young
"I'm Your Man" Shane Richie
"I'll Stand By You" Girls Aloud
"A Night to Remember" Liberty X
"Downtown" Emma Bunton

Who wins?

Re: Pudsey vs er... a big red nose

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

Girls Aloud, of those I know. (I'm not familiar with the S Club 7 ones.) And this isn't a knee-jerk GA fan response. I really think they do a tremendous job with this cover.

Re: Pudsey vs er... a big red nose

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Not convinced by GA on that single I'm afraid.

NHADCT by Sclub is the best out of the list. I think I prefer the Comic Relief singles to be honest. I can't put my finger on why exactly - perhaps because they only come out every 2 years?

[sbp.livejournal.com]

Get down!

[carsmilesteve.livejournal.com]

FY MY SOUL!

[whalefish.livejournal.com]

Also this year, you get I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) by The Proclaimers featuring Brian Potter and Andy Pipkin, and some celebrity special guests. It's out on Monday, so I presume there's going to be some Amarillo-style hilarious video shown tonight.

I think it's meant to be a secret though.

[whalefish.livejournal.com]

Hang on, both those characters are in wheelchairs, where does the walking 500 miles thing come in on the video? Maybe the special celebrity guests push them, or walk alongside them, or something.