Let's be clear. Absolutely NO ONE is excited about this apart from me. I spent most of Christmas day talking to a stuffed badger in a santa hat. You might find that a bit odd but it isn't as badgers rarely need counselling so I was performing a voluntary charitable service. I have a history of this. During covid I formed a band with my daughters stuffed toys and regularly broadcast to a grateful nation. Without a single visitor from a psychiatric social worker. Or the Police. So now as Boxing Day is here, and I clamber carefully into my box, I leave with you the Red Smed chart for 2024. If you could put it outside for the Christmas recycling then I;d be grateful.
So in 1922 at the height of the Russian revolution and civil war the 'Partisan Song' was written and became the staple for revolutionary socialist armed struggle across the world especially in the fight against fascism in world war 2. In 2008 I uploaded my version of this done in the style of The Shadows. Clearly a more rousing and inspirational version that 200 slavic voices marching through the plains of Western Russia crushing Nazis underfoot. My version has had 388,963 hits. The Red Army Choir version only has 353,000. It's unassailable at the top of the Red Smed charts. Despite the efforts by Facebook to ban it. Last year they slapped a 'graphic content ' warning on it that succeeded in slowing down the click rate'. But still, there it is at Number 1 and with the most hits for 2024 STILL.
Now I've no idea why people click on my links and therefore at joint second place is 'Katyusha' -another Red Army marching song and 'Bridgwater', which i could conclude is because people are searching for different things and ended up there. But the same could be said of dressing up in a giant rabbit suit and being shot by mistake. Swings and roundabouts.
More interesting is the upsurge in Sedgemorons songs. Cherry Red brought out an album which featured our Drop Dead Darling single on last year so maybe people are searching out more content. Mind you Sedgemoor District Council was also abolished last year so it could be local government nostalgists. However, next in line is 'I need a Girlfriend' which features live footage of the band at the Bridgwater Arts centre (in 1985) from a BBC documentary and also 'Drop Dead Darling'.
Keeping up the mistaken identity tradition is 'Leon Trotsky' (both the Red Smed and the Sedgemorons version are up there). But of course could easily be mistaken for a documentary on the socialist revolutionary. Mind you, Atilla the Stockbroker still does the song in his set-so you could have heard it there.
It's 44 years ago since I wrote 'I'm a County Councillor' . Back then I didn;t even know what one was. We just knew the woman who lived next door to the Arts Centre and who used to storm in wearing her dressing gown to tell us to shut up was one. But she wasnt. She was a district councillor. And a magistrate. I am now a county councillor. History repeats itself first as tragedy and then as leprosy. Or whatever the phrase is.
At number 8 is the Club Whoopee track 'Sin and Sodomy'. Hard to know why that might have so many hits. Oh, hang about.... But in fact it's a song from the 1981 stage show 'The Reverend Henry Prince and his Abode of Love' . Which of course was in Spaxton. Prince used to come into Bridgwater and pick girls to convert to his millenialist cult. This apparently involved both sin and sodomy. As I'm sure they all do. The track here features top horror writer Kim Newman on lead vocals and film starlet and page 3 model Liz Hickling on backing vocals.
There's a few songs I've put up here with important historical footage. Which people might only just be realising. And these seem to be getting some hits. 'Wish I Was George Formby' by the Dangerous Brothers includes film footage from the rag day debauchery that wasthe Blake Street Common room of Bridgwater College in 1976-but opens with shots of the Engine Room , when it was a petrol station. 'Clever Students' by the Dangerous Brothers has very good quality footage of a student Rag Day in Bridgwater in 1975. When the Blake statue was still on the Cornhill and traffic still drove through the centre of a busy town. Meanwhile 'We're all Going Shopping' from 2009 features footage of the occupation of the Sedgemoor Splash protest of that same year.
I did a gig this year. Possibly, the only one I did. For the Trades Council Christmas Party. I did 'Don't be so bloody miserable' plus 'The Day we met the Fascists in Bridgwater' (about the 1986 BNP march through the town) and a song I'd never performed before 'Hail the Bold District Councillors'. Neither have made it to youtube....but maybe they will this year...watch this (head) space....
Partisan Song Red Smed (Trad) |
Leon Trotsky Red Smed (Smedley) |
Katyusha Red Smed (Trad) |
Secret Seven Dangerous Brothers (Smedley) |
Bridgwater Red Smed (Smedley) |
Route 666 Club Whoopee (Trad) |
Me and My Clone Red Smed (Smedley/Newman) |
Fat Bald Dave Red Smed (Smedley) |
Too Fat to Rock Red Smed (Smedley/Newman) |
Ello Ello Ello Dangerous Brothers (Smedley/Rude) |
I Need a Girlfriend The Sedgemorons (Smedley/Beasley) |
Drop Dead Darling Red Smed (Smedley/Kane) |
Bohemia Sekt The Visitors (Bartlett) |
Do the Washing up Red Smed (Smedley) |
County Councillor Dangerous Brothers (Smedley) |
False Nose Dangerous Brothers (Smedley) |
The Internationale Red Smed (trad) |
Rock n Roll Lizard Club Whoopee (Smedley/Newman) |
The Magnificent Several Red Smed (Trad) |
Party at Brians Red Smed (SmedleyBeasleyFraserBruce) |
Buddy can you spare a Dime Club Whoopee (Trad) |
Swedish language yeh yeh yeh Red Smed (Smedley) |
When Teddy’s Gone The Spanners (Smedley/Vernon) |
Multifreight Red Smed (Smedley) |
Sin and Sodomy Club Whoopee (Smedley/Mander) |
Don’t be so Bloody Miserable Red Smed (Smedley) |
Greed The Sedgemorons (Smedley) |
Clever Students Dangerous Brothers (Smedley) |
We’re all Going Shopping Red Smed (Smedley/Kane) |
Rock n Roll is Pretty Exciting Red Smed (SmedleyBeasleyFraserBruce) |
Leon Trotsky The Sedgemorons (Smedley) |
Rock n Roll is Pretty Exciting (live) Red Smed (Smedley/BeasleyFraserBruce) |
Stalin was a Really Nice Bloke the Spanners (Smedley) |
Internal Organs Dangerous Brothers (Rude) |
Bonny Van Driver Red Smed (Smedley) |
Westover Rhapsody Red Smed (Smedley) |
Stogumber Cajun Gumbo Red Smed (Smedley) |
I Hope you Die The Funbunnies (Smedley / Newman) |
Don’t you Marry a Communist Red Smed (Smedley) |
Sands of Morocco The Visitors (Bartlett) |
a very merry snowmouse Snowmouse himself (trad) |
Happy 2020 Christmas (Red Smed-Rock n Roll is Pretty exciting) |
Dancing Shoes Red Smed (Trad arr Smedley) |
Clare to Here Red Smed (Trad arr Smedley) |
Bridgwater Election Broadcast 2022 (Magnificent Several-Red Smed) |
You're Sort of Okay Club Whoopee (Smedley/ Newman) |
Women Only The Sedgemorons (Smedley/ Dixie) |
Smalltown The Sedgemorons (Smedley/ Dixie) |
Dave the Snooker Table Sheep Worrying Theatre (Smedley/Vernon) |
Rock n Roll is Pretty Exciting The Sedgemorons (SmedleyBeasleyFraserBruce) |
We'll be in Love Forever Sheep Worrying Theatre (Smedley/McCausland) |
Bad Sir Bastard Sheep Worrying Theatre (Smedley) |
Moondance The Funbunnies (van morrison) |
Rhapsody in Westover Red Smed (Smedley) |
The Partisan Song Red Smed (trad) |
Snowmouse 21 Snowmouse himself (trad) |
The Patriot Game Dave Hanna (Dominic Behan) |
Another Watercolour Picture The Visitors (Bartlett) |
