Pugwash & Neil Hannon featuring Matt Berry - What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted...

My friend Ben just alerted me to this:



Pugwash, Neil Hannon, and Matt Berry covering What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted. Lovely, isn't it? Recorded for The Shortest Night, this year's charity album from Dublin's Sound Training Centre in aid of the Dublin Simon Community. Soundcloud link here in case you can't see the YouTube clip.

Steve Harley also covered it on his 1996 Poetic Justice album.




It's funny, this song always reminds of the "what became of the man that started" section of Iron Maiden's Stranger In A Strange Land. How odd.

Matt Berry - Take My Hand...

I'm very impressed with the pilot for Matt Berry's new sitcom, Toast of London (watch it here). Very funny indeed, well, the man is a comedy genius. I hope a series is made, I've watched this twice and already want to see it again. His songs are very good too, a nice mix of 70s rock, prog, psych and folk. One marvels at his articulation and expression, the best voice in comedy, as well as the range of his vocals. The theme for Toast is the song Take My Hand from his Witchhazel album, which he says is about "the terrors of the countryside" and features Paul McCartney on backing vocals for Rain Comes Down. Those chords, once the song kicks in proper, and in the chorus, are just lovely.



The theme to Snuffbox, his show with Rich Fulcher, which definitely had a lot of great moments, is very catchy too:



And then there's this:



Unfortunately not the clip from the show but...well, words just can't do this justice.  From Garth Marenghi's Darkplace, starring Berry, Richard Ayoade, and Matthew Holness.  Incredibly awesome, as is its spin-off chat show, Man To Man With Dean Learner.

Interview with Matt Berry about his music here (Liberation Frequency).