From Hanson to Marilyn Manson

Sometimes, in the great interconnected world of pop, you hit a roadblock. Sometimes, two artists seem so far apart that you just think you're never going to get there. Sometimes, you think that the web is broken, or, at the very least, that there are some roadworks and the diversions lead you through a single track road to the point where you just can't face pulling over to let another tractor past so you give up and go home. Sometimes, you just get far too carried away with your mixed metaphor.

This is not one of those times.

Ladies and gentlemen, we are proud to announce that we have discovered a link between golden-haired, toothy "family-band" legends Hanson...

And the gothy, metal-plated toothed, walking freakshow Marilyn Manson...

"But how?" we hear you cry! We won't lie, readers, it was looking like it was going to be a long and tortuous journey. At least, it was until we saw on the horizon, the bright lights of...

Yes, the grand city of Tulsa, Oklahoma helped to make this one an unexpected doddle. The city (famous of course for its booming oil industry, its concentration of art deco architecture and the "prayer tower" of Oral Roberts University) is the place which the Hanson brothers call home (well, at least in their early years. For all we know, they might live in California or live quite happily in their condos in Boca. We just don't know/we're too lazy to find out).

Tulsa's legendary status on the world stage was cemented way prior to Hanson roller-blading their way onto the pop scene in 1997, however. In 1963, Gene Pitney immortalised the city in his paean Twenty Four Hours From Tulsa which reached number 5 in the UK pop charts. Give it a listen, if for no other reason than the frankly ludicrous orchestration which kicks off in the background which at the start suggests Gene managed to confuse Tulsa with Hawaii.

Gene Pitney had never had a number 1 hit in the UK, until the wonderful Marc Almond swooped in in the early part of 1989 with a devastating quiff and leather jacket combo to duet with Pitters on Something's Gotten Hold Of My Heart. Despite an absolutely amazing vocal performance by both men, the song remained unreleased in the US, allegedly because the lyrics seemed... well... a little bit too gay to be radio friendly. Which is ridiculous... Clearly. I mean, just look at the last 10 seconds of the video. You really mean to tell me that people got camp from that?! Ridiculous.

Anyway, Marc Almond, will probably most likely go down in pop history as being the vocalist of the amazing 80s synthpop duo Soft Cell. The Cell had a litany of brilliant singles (of which our personal highlight is Say Hello, Wave Goodbye) but their place in the pop pantheon is principally earned by their wonderful reinterpretation of the Northern Soul classic Tainted Love, which, incidentally, is by far the most inventive use of fire-breathing dancing galactic bodies that we've ever seen in a music video.

At this point, it's a breeze. As much as we'd love to permanently strip it from the record books, Marilyn Manson decided that he would give Tainted Love a whirl in the name of a movie soundtrack and, in the process, earned his highest charting single to date in 2002. We think that the less that is said about this cover version the better, but in the interest of journalistic integrity (which, of course, we have in spades...) we'll just let the video speak for itself.

Subtle, isn't it?

Anyway, there you have it. The bright lights of the big city of Tulsa have proven to be a shining beacon in the marshy terrain of the pop web. It really is an amazing world, isn't it? When you can go from the downright-amazing MMMBop, to the downright-less-than-amazing Beautiful People and pass Gene bloody Pitney on the way. Brilliant.

Hanson - Gene Pitney - Marc Almond - Soft Cell - Marilyn Manson

So until, next time, we'll leave you with undoubtedly one of the best songs of the 1990s. But don't thank us...

Thank Tulsa