Midnight Train to Georgia

Dear James,

Here's some youtube fun that Jude and the Curtain Darlings found, featuring Ben Stiller doing his world-renowned "Foulger-face" and Jack Black spoiling it by overacting, the unfunny camera-hogger. Downey Jr looks like he's been begrudgingly dragged along to make up the numbers. The marvellous original's here. We saw a Jack Black film the other day, Margot at the Wedding. It was rubbish, even though Nicole Kidman was in it. I'm going to have to stop Josefina from choosing the DVDs.

This song was the subject of the first joke I ever told that made my dad laugh. I phoned him on my 22nd birthday, after my last exam, from the phone box upstairs from Bar One. Tha cions ran out and I said "There go the pips, on the Midnight Train to Georgia". Not one of my best, I know, in fact I copied it from Viz. But I knew then that if I could make my dad laugh, a fine career in comedy would one day await me. It's still awaiting me, I just haven't got round to it.

I like to tell people that Midnight Train to Georgia was number one in the UK on the day I was born. I like to tell them that, because it's not true. I used to think it was number one the week before I was born, but that's bollocks as it was US number one in November 1973. No, number one on the day I was born was by far the worst song of the 1970s: No Charge, by JJ Barrie. It's not even a song. It's a dispassionate list of fees.



The song was later covered by Billy Connoly as "No Chance", because only comedy songs and cover versions were allowed in the 1976 charts. A week later, JJ Barrie's turd had been knocked off the top of the pops by an equally awful song, by the Wurzels. For some reason, Hairy Cornflake does a pirate impersonation to introduce the song.



All 1976 UK number ones here.