Tern, Tern, Tern

POP FACT!!!

Not since 1986 have an act which derive their name from an animal from the avian family reached the UK number 1 spot (The Housemartins, for those interested). Before that, we have to go all the way back to 1965 when The Byrds reached the top spot with "Mr Tambourine Man". What we can, at first sight, conclude from this, is that the UK pop charts seem to favour other types of living species (insects and kittens, especially of the atomic variety) over the humble bird. That all changed in 2010, however, when Owl City ascended to the top spot with "Fireflies". This remarkable feat, in itself, should be evidence enough of the pop web's ability to conquer decades of shifts in musical taste and an inherent avian bias in the UK pop charts.

But Owl City and The Byrds are connected to one another by an even richer vein of tradition, one which unites some of the most important figures in modern music.

You see, in reaching number 1, Owl City prevented these giants of composition from achieving top-seller status.

 

 Yes, unbelievably, Jedward's masterful reinterpretation of Vanilla Ice's "Ice Ice Baby" failed to reach the UK number 1 spot thanks to being outsold by the aforementioned City. Of course, Jedward in their own right, owe their success not only to Ice's paradigmatic rapping, but also a little bit to Freddie Mercury* and, crucially, David Bowie. Evidence for Bowie's influence over the modern pop landscape is perhaps nowhere better typified by Lady Gaga's make-up in Poker Face.

Time hasn't always been so kind to Davie, however. There's simply no getting away from the fact that he was at least 50% responsible for this number 1 "hit" in 1985



The remaining 50% of the blame, of course, lies with Mick Jagger who, it is fair to say, has had better days than this. Indeed, Jagger, being at the helm of the Rolling Stones, has enjoyed royalty check after royalty check from artists who've thought it would be a good idea to piggyback off the Stones' songcrafting abilities to boost their own profile. One such act, who, if we're honest, could probably afford to chuck the odd quid Jagger's way, is Guns N Roses. "GNR" tried their hand at "reinterpreting" the Rolling Stones' "Sympathy For the Devil" to decidedly mixed results (insofar as I think it's amazing but at least one person I've spoken to has disagreed - c'est la vie).

"The Guns" of course are somewhat prolific "coverers", of course, having attempted to "make their own" (TM Simon Cowell) songs by such diverse artists as Paul McCartney and Bob Dylan**. "The Roses'" cover of "Knocking On Heaven's Door" brings them into connection with a whole host of people and events including, not least, Gabrielle (c.f. "Rise") Crucially, however, ol' Bobby provides the final link in our flighted chain, as he wrote "Mr Tambourine Man" and, indeed "All I Really Want To Do" which provided The Byrds with two of their biggest hits.

What, therefore, can we conclude from all of this?

1) The British record-buying public seem not to like birds, on the whole (perhaps they've watched a few too many Hitchcock movies - we just don't know).

2) In the 80s/90s Guns N Roses would probably have covered Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport if it involved a lucrative movie tie-in (given the recent reunion, this is still a possibility readers. The campaign starts here).

3) Jedward are, at least in some sense, the spiritual successors to everything David Bowie was trying to chuck out in 1985 (thank God for Lady Gaga and her makeup etc. etc.).

So, there we have it once again, Byrds of a feather, quite literally, flock together.

OWL CITY - Jedward - David Bowie - Mick Jagger - Guns N Roses - Bob Dylan - THE BYRDS

*Please note, the rest of Queen forfeited their rights to have any credit for the original "Under Pressure" or, indeed, anything else the band produced as a direct result of this monstrosity.

**By diverse, I of course mean, "not really that diverse at all"