4.0.0 Hospital Radio: Cigarettes & Alcohol

Welcome back to Hospital Radio. We’ll kick off with this psychedelic rock song from 1967 . . .

I feel inclined to blow my mind
Get hung up, feed the ducks with a bun
They all come out to groove about
Be nice and have fun in the sun

I’ll tell you what I’ll do (what will you do?)
I’d like to go there now with you
You can miss out school (won’t that be cool?)
Why go to learn the words of fools?

That was, of course, Itchycoo Park by Small Faces.

The song was briefly banned by the BBC due to the overt references to drug use, until they came up with the story that the park was a place they used to go and play, and they nicknamed it Itchycoo Park because they were stung by nettles. Incidentally, there is a real “Itchycoo Park” in Beckton, London, although it was named in homage to the song.

Sticking with the theme of going against doctor’s orders, is this rock classic from 1994 . . .

Is it my imagination
Or have I finally found something worth living for?
I was looking for some action
But all I found was cigarettes and alcohol

You could wait for a lifetime
To spend your days in the sunshine
You might as well do the white line
Cos when it comes on top…

You gotta make it happen!

. . . that was Cigarettes & Alcohol by Oasis. And we can’t have them, without also playing this number from their main Britpop rival which was released at virtually the same time . . .

Who’s that gut lord marching
You should cut down on your pork life mate
Get some exercise

All the people
So many people
And they all go hand-in-hand
Hand-in-hand through their parklife
Know what I mean?

I get up when I want
Except on Wednesdays
When I get rudely awakened by the dustmen
(Parklife)

I put my trousers on, have a cup of tea
And I think about leaving the house
(Parklife)

I feed the pigeons, I sometimes feed the sparrows too
It gives me a sense of enormous well-being
(Parklife)

. . . and that was Parklife by Blur.

We’ve just heard that one of our regular listeners has been diagnosed with diabetes. I hope this 1969 bubblegum pop classic cheers him up.

Ah sugar
Ah, honey, honey
You are my candy girl
And you’ve got me wanting you
Oh, honey
Ah, sugar, sugar
You are my candy girl
And you’ve got me wanting you

That was Sugar, Sugar by The Archies.

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