“Spicks and Specks” is an Australian music-based quiz show which was first brought to my attention some time in 2007. Being that I am a natural born music freak who is more than just a tad bit attached to his ever growing collection of CDs, DVDs and LP Records, it was a show that pretty much instantly appealed to me. I mean, what else could you possibly ask for? The show was hosted by a zany comedian by the name of Adam Hills, accompanying him was the bubbly, busty, big bootied Myf Warhurst and of course, the hilarious, New Zealand born Alan Brough. Both Warhurst and Brough seemed to have quite a wide knowledge of all things musical. Hills on the other hand claims to know practically nothing at all. Interesting….although that shouldn’t necessarily surprise me, he’s just the host after all.
Occasionally a few more zany folks would join the crew for a quick Q&A session while drawing song titles on a huge, white piece of paper in the “Covers” round or reciting lyrics from an unrelated book in the round by the name of “Substitue.” Some of these guests would be musicians, others would be comedians. Some, believe it or not, would even fall somewhere in between musician and comedian. We’ve got some funny muthafuckas down here in Oz.
In 2009 the trio reached their milestone 200th episode, which will apparently see them trying to cram 200 years worth of music into twenty six minutes. In addition to this they were also summoned to guest program the legendary Australian music show “Rage,” which I had pretty much been a fan of since day one. It also should be pointed out that in the back of my mind, I’d always be thinking: “Hey wouldn’t it be cool if the hosts of Spicks & Specks would program Rage one night? I’d love to see what they’d choose!”
Finally that day had come and I was happier than a monkey with a peanut machine. As soon as the 4th of September rolled around, I immediately logged onto the official Rage website and had a look at the playlists for Friday & Saturday night. I scrolled all the way down to 10am to see what the “preview special” had to offer. First video: “A Roller Skating Jam Named Saturdays” by De La Soul. “Sign O the Times” by Prince was in there, too and so was “I Can’t Go For That” by Hall & Oates. These may seem like good choices, but unfortunately they weren’t even included in the main part of the show!!! Why “Rage” has now decided to do such things, I don’t know. I mean, sure, give us a preview of what’s about to be shown on Saturday night, but don’t go leaving out video clips! Especially when they’re good songs!
Aside from the videos that I just mentioned, there was “The Message” by Grandmaster Flash and “Bombs Over Baghdad” by Outkast. Other than that, we were treated to such bands as Bad Brains, AC/DC, Motorhead, Cocteau Twins and….a whole bunch of other stuff that I’d never even heard of like, G.O.D, Sia and Elbow. Basically, it was mostly a whole lotta headbangin’, boring, post trip-hop era ballads and weird lookin’ folkie chicks who thought they were Norah Jones or some shit like that. Not knockin Norah, though. Also there was a video by the fellow who writes most of the questions for “Spicks And Specks.” I must admit, his contribution was not too bad. Maybe that was because it was preceeded by a story from Mr Hills who told us that this same fellow walks around the office serenading his co-workers while big named Aussie music icons like Renee Geyer tell him that he should be out writing songs instead of foolin’ around on an acoustic guitar in an office.
I’d imagine it was Myf who chose such songs as “Sign O The Times” and “Bombs,” as she’s mentioned both Prince and Oukast before on episodes of “Spicks and Specks,” so in some cases she has a really great taste in music. It also just so happens that right before they aired this particular episode of “Rage,” they showed a short promo clip of Myf saying that soul music was the most important style of music to her. Yes!!! This is my kinda gal…..unfortunately she also chose to play “Islands In The Stream” by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton. If that song is soulful then I’m a Hillbilly Rednecked motherfucker with a Southern American accent n’ shit. Hopefully one night we’ll be able to see an entire special of Myf’s favourite videos……let’s hope she omits the country and western songs along with the Bette Middlers and the sappy Lionel Richie songs, though. Nothin’ but the funk, soul, R&b and hip hop. Please. No punk either and definitely no plugs for her own brother’s band!
I myself would love to guest program Rage one night. I think that that would be every single Rage viewer’s dream. It’s not gonna happen, though, cuz they always get celebrities to go on and only once did they ever run a competition where somebody got the chance to choose their own personal selection of video clips. I never entered, though. Competitions are a waste of time to me. I know I’m not gonna win. I know that kind of attitude sucks, but it’s the reality of the situation.
Oh well, I’ll just sit here and fantasize. There’s nothing wrong with dreaming, right?
