A picture of my favourite bike, my trusty, indestructable Gazelle MTB, as an introduction to this great video, extolling the virtues of the "Hop Supreme" bicycle, "Medway Wheelers" by the great Wild Billy Childish & the Buff Medways:
So what/who were the Medway Wheelers? It’s the tale of Billy’s Mum, June, & her exploits with her local cycle club, the Medway Wheelers, which she joined in 1944. June had a Hop Supreme cycle. Billy recalls with amusement the manufacturers claim that the bike was ‘made-to-measure’. Not quite the case – it was a man’s bike!
Hey what a weird flood of memories that has just brought back...my parent took over a council farm in '82 just outside of Rainham..one of my mates Dad had an old army jeep, no top, windscreen flat on the bonnet and a collection of weird looking kids piled in the back driving around Wigmore.
ReplyDelete(never hit a cyclist or a buff medway..thankfully)
bet my 'sane' tags have long gone.
Songs about bicycles - now there's a good theme. I'll nominate Oh Lori by the Alessi Brothers - a guilty pleasure if ever there was one.
ReplyDelete@toffeeboy
ReplyDeleteJohn Cale- bicycle
cLOUDDEAD- physics of a unicycle (half a bicycle!)
Flobots - Handlebars
ReplyDeleteNice Dutch one:
ReplyDeleteSkik - Op fietse (= On bikes)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1bYRaihts0
clip directed by Maarten Corbijn, the brother of Anton Corbijn....
Blurt - The fish needs a bike
ReplyDelete...the Pixies wrote a son about me ;-)
ReplyDeletePixies - Tony's Theme
This is a song about a superhero named Tony
It's called Tony's Theme
He's got the oil on his chain, for a ride in the rain
No baloney
Ride around on my bicycle like a pony
I'm waving hi, hi, hi, hi, hi
Gu-gu-gu-Gimme a scream
Give me, give me the theme
Of Tony
"The day began with a rainbow in the sand
ReplyDeleteAs I cycled into Kerry
Cattle grazing on a steep hillside
Looked well fed, well balanced
Close to the edge
Pedal on, pedal on, pedal on for miles"
Luka Bloom- The Acoustic Motorbike. I think 'acoustic motorbike' for 'bicycle' is quite funny.
"You see whenever I'm alone
I tend to brood
But when I'm out on my bike
It's a different mood
I leave my brain at home
Get up on the saddle
No hanging around
I don't diddle-daddle"
I think songs about bikes would be a great theme!
Fox in the Snow (B&S) or the Apology Song-- the decemberists. If we can extend it to skateboards, there's the wonderful Kick Push (I&II) by Lupe Fiasco.
ReplyDeleteand Kimya Dawson 'Tire Swing'
ReplyDelete"Joey never met a bike that he didn't want to ride"
(that line would have a whole different meaning in Medway)
for those who know their bmx terms:
ReplyDeleteBlack Mags by Cool Kids
and Bmx Bandits have to get in...
I've nearly done a skateboarding comp..
oh ..slaps head
ReplyDeleteNightmares on Wax '70's 80's'
mentions GRIFTER bikes....
and STA PRESS, TOAST TOPPERS, DOC MARTIN boots how many of my childhood brands could I miss in one fell swoop?
Of course, the ultimate bicycle song is 'Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head' - from Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid.
ReplyDelete"olympic cyclist" by ballboy
ReplyDelete"you did a perfect job last night
you shaved your legs and you washed your bike
and you looked like an olympic cyclist to me
and in your tiny council flat
relive the memories that take you back
to athens and your rain-soaked sprint for gold "