The latest "In The Groove - Jazz and Beyond" podcast is a tribute to George Carlin, who died on 22nd June. I'd never heard any of his stuff before, but after hearing this, which leads off the podcast, I think I'll be looking for more. Now that's what I call a rap!

One thing about going to small local venues, rather than enormodromes, for gigs, is that you see the same faces time after time. And sometimes the venue has one or more local "characters" who turn up at most of the gigs played there. Sometimes one finds these characters amusing, sometimes they're a pain in the arse.

Case in point: Lichfield Guildhall, the home of Lichfield Arts, puts on about 40 gigs each year, as I may have mentioned before. Some of you, I know, even attend some of these. Janet and I attend probably about 12 each year. And there's one guy who shows up at most of the more folk-oriented shows (John Tams, Demon Barbers, Shooglenifty, Waterson-Carthy and so forth) to whom I attach the nom-de-haemorrhoid "The Twat In The Hat". This guy just LOOKS like one of the classic Folkie stereotypes: silvery whiskers, granny glasses, and a Terry-Pratchett-style hat permanently attached to his head. (And, no, he isn't actually Terry Pratchett). He seems to know all the bands, until you realise it's always him that approaches them like an old friend, rather than vice versa. At the drop of a hat (but not his) he'll jump to his feet, drag his wife to the front of the room, in front of the band, and proceed to treat us all to a display of remarkably inept folk-dancing, beaming at the audience from time to time as if acknowledging the fact that, for a few brief minutes, he is the focus of our attention, not the band. (In fact we are all thinking "sit down, Twat-In-The_hat, for we cannot see the band"). The most annoying aspect of Mr.TITH is that Lichfield Arts, like all such clubs, is entirely staffed by volunteers who run the bar, take your tickets, set up and dismantle the stage, perform stewardly duties, and so forth. And this guy is such a fixture, yet has never been seen to do anything to actually contribute to the running of the club. Except, I'll grant, to buy a lot of tickets for the shows.

Any other venues have annoying resident "characters"?

OK, we've done "Best Songs by Bad Bands", "Worst Songs by Great Bands", and several other permutations, but what about those songs which crawl out into the light of day but are subsequently disowned by their creators? These unloved, mutant bastard offspring return to haunt their progenitors long into their careers, mere mention enough to send them storming out of interviews.

The classic example was Bowie's "Laughing Gnome". In 1990, his bright idea was that each country included in his tour would have a phone poll, in which fans would vote for their favourite Bowie songs, and he would base his setlist around the results. This notion was swiftly abandoned in the UK when, at the NME's instigation, "Laughing Gnome" topped the poll by a landslide. No way was The Dame willing to revisit that particular old favourite.

More recently, Michael Stipe has gone on record many times expressing regret that "Shiny Happy People" ever saw daylight. Myself, I love it - but as a B-52s song, not an REM song.

Those are the only two I can think of. Anyone know of any others?