Number 18: "Pyjamarama", by Roxy Music. The day I paid a ridiculous amount of money for Brian Eno's "Seven Deadly Finns" seven-inch single (without a picture sleeve), I was also on the hunt for "Pyjamarama". Same label, same format, same non-album-single aura, which, back in those pre-Internet days, more or less meant you would never get to hear it unless you had your own copy. And, obviously, the common element to both records: Eno. Anyway, I didn't find "Pyjamarama", or I would have had a difficult decision to make. The Eno song, if I am being entirely honest with myself, is not entirely indispensable, more "clever" than clever, but as an artefact the single is enhanced by its b-side, "Later On", which I have never seen mentioned anywhere, and which reduces his early work with Robert Fripp into a digestible, stars-on-45-style medley (but without the handclaps). This entirely defeats the point of the music, which depends in large part on repetition and length, but is pretty funny in its own way. "Pyjamarama", on the other hand, is a great song, perfect single material, as well as being the one Roxy Music song that actually does help to explain why Magazine got so many Roxy comparisons: if you cut it a fraction of a second before Ferry enters the song, it could easily pass for something from "Secondhand Daylight". (As, I now notice, does the hugely atmospheric b-side, "The Pride And The Pain", also a non-album track.) And, thanks to Darren's diligent fossicking, I didn't have to pick it out from the singles wall upstairs at Au Go Go Records in order to hear it.
Number 19: Elvis Costello's "Pump It Up". Which is better known amongst the younger members of our household as the source of the riff that drives "Voodoo Child", by Rogue Traders, a song that will appear later on if we persevere for long enough with this list, although its appearance may well be over Carl's dead body. Carl has a problem with "Voodoo Child". We can't exactly figure out what that problem is, except that it seems to involve the perceived appearance of a "swear". I don't think the song does contain a swear, and I suspect we are in Misheard Lyrics territory, but I can't extract from him what he thinks they are saying (I guess that is a good sign; he's a good boy). Hence, by association, he also has a problem with "Pump It Up" itself, which is a shame because, whatever your view of latter-day Elvis Costello, back in those distant days he was unsurpassable, and its parent album, "This Year's Model", is one that I would quite possibly be playing right now if only Carl would let me.
