One for my readers beyond the Lentil Curtain. It’s the Dandy Warhols from 2000 and this song has a story to it:
The song was written by Courtney Taylor-Taylor after seeing a woman pull up in her car to the traffic lights outside his apartment.
Where will you be when the inspiration strikes, eh…?
While this song has nothing to do with Liverpool, it will always remind me of that poor, victimised city.
I was ambushed there by market research people from Vodafone, who played it to me in late summer 2001 (just ahead of it being a big hit in the UK). If I recall correctly, I was on my way back from the Isle of Man to Oxford, following a week of escapism from real life after being dumped by the girl of my dreams. The boat from Douglas had arrived early in the morning and the train back down south was due to depart late in the afternoon, so I was getting drunk killing time in the city centre when the Vodafone people came for me with their clipboards.
I was taken to the back of the city hall or some theatre or somewhere, answered about 20 questions, told them that the song was great, and got paid £10, which further assisted with getting drunk killing time.
For completeness, Vodafone (probably on my say-so) went ahead with a hugely successful worldwide ad campaign featuring the song. And the girl of my dreams and I got back together a couple of years later and settled down in sunny Cape Town by the sea. White picket fence and all.
Everyone’s a winner.
