At the end of every episode of the fabulous 1976-vintage Top Of The Pops, there’s a credit that reads:

Vocal backing: The Ladybirds

It used to bother me back in the 70s, and it still bothers me now. What vocal backing? I’ve never noticed any. And why would you need vocal backing when all the acts in the studio are miming?

Can anyone shed any light on this mystery?

A particularly epic sub-editing fail. Commas - who needs ’em?

http://twitpic.com/4cma2z

Someone mentioned Um Bongo on the ‘Things in life we don’t understand’ thread, which reminded me of one of my favourite stories from the world of advertising.

The bloke who came up with it was a contributor to a magazine I used to work on. As he told the story, he was a freelance copywriter, and one day he was invited to a meeting with a soft drinks manufacturer. They explained that they had this new drink they wanted to launch, but they didn’t have a name. Could he come up with a few suggestions, and maybe ideas for an ad campaign to launch it? No hurry - he could have three months to mull it over.

Meeting over, he left the office and went home. He was sitting on the tube, thinking of nothing in particular, when the phrase “Um Bongo, Um Bongo, they drink it in the Congo” popped into his head. A couple of minutes’ thought was enough to satisfy him that this would fit the bill admirably.

Three months later, he went back, pitched his idea, and trousered a very large sum of money for a job that he’d completed within a fraction of the allotted time.

It’s a great example of a lightbulb moment, where a flash of inspiration takes the place of the perspiration that usually goes into creative work. Can anyone think of any others?

Watching the Bruce Springsteen documentary ‘The Promise’ the other night, I got to wondering how the members of the E Street Band would have been paid during the recording of ‘Darkness On The Edge Of Town’ and other albums.

The thing is, unlike a regular band, where all the members are signed to a record label, in Bruce’s case (unless I’m mistaken) it’s always been just him who has a contract with Columbia/Sony. Then it’s up to him to use whichever musicians he likes on his records.

So would the members of the E Street Band be on an annual salary, or paid by the day, or even on an hourly rate? The bit that got me thinking was the section about how they spent three months (probably an exaggeration, but still) in the studio just trying to get the drum sound right. So does that mean that only Max Weinberg got paid during those three months, as the others weren’t needed in the studio? Or were the rest of the band effectively being paid for doing nothing during that time?

Now that I’ve started thinking about this, I’m irrationally curious to know the answer. Anyone got any idea how these things tend to be arranged?

I used to be the archetypal £50 man, but not any more. At the end of last year I decided it was time to address my own personal fiscal deficit, rather than continually upping my overdraft. Not that my circumstances have drastically worsened, but I haven't had a pay rise in two years, and the cost of living isn't getting any lower.

So this year I've only bought a handful of CDs, barely £50 worth in total (I used to average one a week), and when I need a book to read, I borrow one or find something sitting on my shelves that I've never got round to. Gadgets are completely out of the question too, however much I may covet an iPhone and an iPad.

It is working, though I'm still not back in the black yet. Maybe when I am, I can gradually reintroduce some fiscal easing (or whatever the economists call it). In the meantime, I was wondering: am I the only member of the Massive who is enacting his own personal Age of Austerity, or is £50 man a thing of the past?

I’m very much enjoying Glee on E4, though it does reaffirm my long-held suspicion that attending an American high school must be the most hellish form of education available in the developed world. All those tightly-defined categories – jocks, cheerleaders, nerds - and the idea, promulgated in Glee, that every kid has their box and they’re expected to stay in it.

While I’m at it, how come every American high school portrayed in film and on TV is exactly the same? From the 50s to the present day, from California to Vermont, they all look identical, and all feature the same stock characters. The schools in Back To The Future, Heroes, Glee, Election, The Wonder Years, Malcolm In The Middle – all the same. Is it really that uniform?

A comparative (ie equally top-of-the-head) selection of portrayals of British state schools reveals much more diversity. Think of Gregory’s Girl, Kes, Grange Hill, Love Actually, Please Sir... the location and period are easily detectable in every case, whereas with the standard-issue US high school, only the clothes tell you when the story is set.

I just got back from my annual pilgrimage to the Shepherd’s Bush Empire (or whatever it’s called these days) to see Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes. I’ve been to see them pretty much every time they’ve come to the UK in the past 25 years, and they’ve never let me down yet – that euphoric blend of rock, blues and soul never fails to lift the spirits.

These days, Southside comes over every November for a fortnight’s tour of the UK, playing places like Frome, Leamington Spa and Holmfirth. I can’t speak for those places, but the Empire was packed out tonight, as it always is for the Jukes. And this despite the fact that you could question 1,000 people in any high street in England, and I doubt you’d find more than one who’s even heard of Southside Johnny.

The only other example of this phenomenon – fervent support for an act who’s long since slipped off most people’s radar – that I’m aware of is George Thorogood, who similarly packs out the Empire on his regular visits. So who are the other acts in this category – the ones who thrive on their live reputation alone?

PS: to the Word team: how about an interview with Southside some time? He’d fit nicely into your ‘Prisoners of Rock’n’Roll’ slot...

While queueing to get into the Springsteen gig in Stockholm on Sunday night, I was handed a flyer for gigs taking place in the Swedish capital later this year. On September 25th, prog fans can enjoy Progressive Nation 2009, starring Dream Theater, Opeth, Unexpect and what strikes me as the quintessentially named prog rock group.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you... Bigelf!

A track by the excellent Patti Scialfa came up on the iPod this morning, and I was thinking what a shame it is that she’s never toured the UK. In fact, I believe that she’s only ever played a handful of ‘showcase’ gigs as a solo performer, despite having released three albums that have been warmly received by critics and discerning listeners alike.

The reason is obvious, of course: any attempt at a Patti Scialfa tour would be scuppered by legions of fans of her more famous husband, coming along on the off-chance that he’ll be joining her on stage. Even if they printed tickets with BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN WILL BE 5,000 MILES AWAY AT THE TIME OF THIS CONCERT AND DEFINITELY WILL NOT BE PERFORMING written on them in big letters, you can bet there’d be an outbreak of Brooooocing the moment Patti walked on stage. From her point of view, you can see why it simply wouldn’t be worth the aggro.

It got me wondering whether there any other artists who simply can’t tour, for one reason or another. Any thoughts?

I went to see Teddy Thompson at the Shepherd's Bush Empire last night. Having previously seen both his parents in concert, this means I've now paid to watch three separate members of the same family perform. (Teddy's sister Kamila has appeared on stage at a couple of the gigs I've seen, but I've never seen her headlining, so I'm not counting her.)

Can anyone beat that? Have you seen Loudon, Rufus and Martha Wainwright and Kate McGarrigle? Or Martin and Eliza Carthy, Norma Waterson and A.N. Waterson? You have to have seen them performing separately, in their own right, mind - just attending a Waterson/Carthy concert doesn't win you any points.

I'm scratching my head to think of other possibilities. John, Sean and Julian Lennon and Yoko Ono, perhaps...?

I spent this evening at the superb Light of Day gig at the Half Moon in Putney, where (among many other highlights) Badly Drawn Boy played Donner And Blitzen, his Christmas song from the ‘About A Boy’ soundtrack.

The performance cemented the song’s place as one of my all-time favourite Christmas songs, and the only one of them to be recorded since the turn of the century. My list, like most people’s I suspect, consists mainly of songs from the 70s and 80s - The Pogues, Elton, Wizzard, Slade, Greg Lake, The Pretenders, you know the songs I’m sure.

So here’s my question for the Word massive: what are the classic Christmas songs of the 21st century, apart from BDB’s? There must be one or two...