Space Trivia

1. What is the first line of the song? (Hint: Loyd Grossman would say it on 'Through the Keyhole'.)

From Quiz Anatomy of a Song: 'Neighbourhood' by Space

Answer: Who lives in a house like this?

'Through the Keyhole' was a panel show that ran from 1987 to 2003, and started out as a segment on the breakfast TV programme. Loyd Grossman, one of the presenters, would walk around the house of a famous person, drop some hints and ask, "Who lives in a house like this? David, it's over to you." ('David' was David Frost, the original host.) Celebrity panellists would then have to guess who the famous homeowner was. A revival with Keith Lemon, a character played by comedian Leigh Francis, aired in 2016. 'Neighbourhood' was originally released in March 1996, but failed to chart; an interview with 'Q' magazine in 1996 speculated that it may have received little airplay as certain lyrics were thought to be rather tasteless in the light of the Dunblane massacre. It is the second single from 'Spiders', with 'Money'/'Kill Me' being the first, though the band consider the former to be a 'test release'.

From Quiz A Boy Like Me: A Tommy Scott Quiz

Answer: Jamie Murphy

Jamie Murphy, who would later go on to play guitar with Space and sing the odd lead vocal, also played guitar in the Substitutes; still in his teens, he turned up to rehearsals in school uniform. Tommy admitted afterwards that the Substitutes were the result of him jumping on a bandwagon, at a time when other bands were trying to make mod music, and that Space's first single 'If It's Real' was along those lines. Tommy, Jamie and drummer Jamie Island later formed Space.

From Quiz Anatomy of a Song: 'Neighbourhood' by Space

Answer: A transvestite

'In Number 69, there lives a transvestite, He's a man by day, but he's a woman at night.' '69' is a reference to a sexual activity. In the original demo version of the song (good luck tracking it down!), the characters living in the street were slightly different; there was a prostitute and a man 'who ruined his life on smack' (smack being heroin).

From Quiz The Music of Space: The Later Years

Answer: Barcelona

The video for 'Diary of a Wimp' was shot at Las Ramblas in Barcelona. Previous Space singles had been released in two formats, with CD1 containing remixes and CD2 containing B-sides; however, both formats of 'Diary of a Wimp' had B-sides on them. Unfortunately for Space, the single did poorly; it was their first single in four years that failed to reach the UK Top 40, and instead tanked at Number 49.

From Quiz The Music of Space: 'Spiders'

Answer: Female of the Species

Believe it or not, the single that made Space famous nearly never happened. According to keyboardist Franny Griffiths in an interview in "Q Magazine" in 1996: "Originally, it was going to be a B-side, but it seemed obvious to me that the record company wanted it to be a single."

From Quiz The Music of Space: 'Tin Planet'

Answer: Cerys Matthews

Cerys Matthews is known these days for her radio shows on BBC 6 Music and appearance on 'I'm A Celebrity, Get Me out of Here'. However, in the '90s, she was the lead singer of Catatonia, a Welsh indie rock band whose most successful singles were 'Mulder & Scully' and 'Road Rage'. Space credit Catatonia with having given them their first big break; after hearing a demo tape, they offered Space a tour, and the two bands became firm friends.

From Quiz A Boy Like Me: A Tommy Scott Quiz

Answer: A dog

To be precise, the dog is a Jack Russell terrier named Judy, and she was Tommy's pet dog. If you watch the video, you can see the members of Space gathered around the crime scene, with Tommy holding Judy. She also appears in the 'Neighbourhood' video, being carried by the Big Butch Queen and wearing a tutu, and is thanked in the credits on 'Spiders'. Tommy has always had pet dogs, especially Jack Russells; another of his pet JRTs, Huey, gets a mention in the credits on Space's 2021 album 'Music for Pleasure, Music for Pain'.

From Quiz Anatomy of a Song: 'Neighbourhood' by Space

Answer: Saddam Hussein

'There's a man in Number 4 who swears he's Saddam Hussein, Says he's on a chore to start the Third World War.' Saddam Hussein was the president of Iraq from 1979 to 2003, when the coalition forces of the UK and the USA invaded Iraq, alleging that Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction. He went into hiding after his statue was toppled and was found hiding near a farmhouse in December 2003. He was tried and hanged in 2006. Thousands of Kurds and Iraqis had died under Hussein's dictatorship, with one of the most notorious events being a chemical weapon attack on the predominantly Kurdish city of Halabja in 1988, thought to have been killed between 3200 and 5000 people.

From Quiz The Music of Space: 'Tin Planet'

Answer: There's No You

'There's No You' is one of Tommy's songs.

From Quiz A Boy Like Me: A Tommy Scott Quiz

Answer: He lost his voice.

Space's 1997 tour of the USA was a disaster and had to be cancelled after Tommy lost his voice onstage as a result of stress. Jamie was absent after having a nervous breakdown and had been replaced by Joel, a saxophone player from another local band, at short notice, and Tommy stated afterwards that he had been overcompensating and singing more loudly than usual as a result of Jamie not being there. He lost his voice while singing 'Mister Psycho' and Franny had to finish the song. Tommy was subsequently unable to sing for two months, despite having a variety of treatments.

From Quiz Anatomy of a Song: 'Neighbourhood' by Space

Answer: 110

'In 110, they haven't paid the rent.' All four members of Space - Scott, guitarist Jamie Murphy, keyboardist Franny Griffiths and drummer Andy Parle - had grown up in deprived areas of Liverpool, with Griffiths recalling a mass brawl breaking out while he was on his way home from a match in a 1996 interview with 'Melody Maker'. Both Scott and Griffiths were greatly displeased when Sleeper singer Louise Wener called the band 'Northern working-class scum' because of 'Neighbourhood' (although they have since settled their differences). Scott explained that Wener had thought 'Neighbourhood' was a 'macho song', but it was merely based on Space's lives growing up.

From Quiz The Music of Space: The Later Years

Answer: Jamie Murphy

Jamie Murphy left Space for good at the end of 2001, leaving Tommy Scott to take over on guitar. However, his departure was not announced until January the following year, a week before Space were due to play an exclusive gig for fans in Liverpool. The gig went ahead nevertheless.

From Quiz The Music of Space: 'Spiders'

Answer: Speedy Gonzales

In an interview for "Live & Kicking" magazine in 1996, Tommy said, "Speedy Gonzales is boss and I love the way he talks. That's where I get my voice for most of our songs." Films and cartoons in general were often cited by the band as a major influence on their music.

From Quiz The Music of Space: 'Tin Planet'

Answer: David 'Yorkie' Palmer

Yorkie - given the nickname by Julian Cope because he was 'good, rich and thick' - was originally Franny Griffiths' keyboard tech, and his mother Gladys owned the basement in which Space used to rehearse and record. He joined the band in 1997, and remained with them until they split in 2005. Leon Caffrey replaced Andy Parle as drummer in early 1998. Phil Hartley, another former Space roadie, and Allan Jones joined the reformed line-up in 2011, playing bass and drums respectively.

From Quiz A Boy Like Me: A Tommy Scott Quiz

Answer: Avenging Angels

Tommy wrote 'Avenging Angels' following the death of his father and stated in interviews that it was about the spirits of dead loved ones watching over those they left behind. 'Bad Days', another song on the album, is also about the death of Tommy's father and his wife's parents, and Tommy cried while recording it. Tommy's father was a big fan of Frank Sinatra, and 'Female of the Species', Space's signature song, was Tommy's attempt at writing a song his father would like.

From Quiz Anatomy of a Song: 'Neighbourhood' by Space

Answer: Television

'So there goes the TV with the repo men.' 'Repo' is short for 'repossession', and a 'repo man' is someone charged with seizing collateral rented objects, or objects for which the rent has not been paid. This line, according to Scott, is also a reference to the film 'Repo Man', a black comedy released in 1984 and Alex Cox's directorial debut. It stars Emilio Estevez as Otto, a punk who gets recruited by Bud (Harry Dean Stanton), owner of the Helping Hand Acceptance Corporation, a repossession agency. They and several other parties are involved in the hunt for a 1964 Chevrolet Malibu, which is thought to contain aliens.

From Quiz The Music of Space: The Later Years

Answer: Music for Aliens

At the Unity Theatre concert, Space played two sets; the first consisted of new material, while the second featured tracks from 'Spiders' and 'Tin Planet'. Two songs from the first set, 'Year of the Underdog' and another one with a rude title, later appeared on the band's website as part of the 'Music for Aliens' series. The other tracks were 'Now I'm History!', 'The English Language Let Me Down', 'Straight Line' and 'Nothing to Find Her' (these last two being featured on the free CD).

From Quiz The Music of Space: 'Tin Planet'

Answer: Mike Badger

Mike Badger creates sculptures from scrap metal. He made the robot on the cover of 'Tin Planet', as well as the cheesegrater 'angel' that appears on the cover of the 'Avenging Angels' singles and in the video, and the ship on the cover of 'Begin Again'. The album got its name from a sculpture of a planet made of colanders that Tommy saw in Badger's house.

From Quiz A Boy Like Me: A Tommy Scott Quiz

Answer: A lion

The video for 'Suburban Rock 'n' Roll' was set in a cartoonish, Toytown-esque world with Wendy houses and Tommy being pursued by a man in a lion suit, who turns out to be none other than Tommy himself. The video also features Franny's sons, Ellis and Christian, Leon's daughters, Eireann and Libby, and Tommy's daughter Sophie, all of whom had their faces painted red. The band also posted a behind-the-scenes look at the video on their YouTube channel. 'Suburban Rock 'n' Roll' was the only song from the album to have a video featuring the band; '20 Million Miles from Earth' had an animated video featuring photographs of the band, while 'Zombies' had no video at all.

From Quiz Anatomy of a Song: 'Neighbourhood' by Space

Answer: Criminals

'In 999, they make a living from crime, The house is always empty 'cos they're all doing time.' 999 is the number for the emergency services - police, fire services and ambulance - in several countries in Africa and the Middle East and, of course, the UK. 'Doing time' is slang for being in prison. Space themselves were not averse to a bit of petty crime; Scott recalled that both he and Murphy had thrown bricks through people's windows and posted dog poo through letterboxes. When the band's official website asked the members what the worst thing they ever did was, Scott said that it was stealing birds' nests, while Murphy recalled driving a car through a police station window (Griffiths, however, would not go into detail).

From Quiz Anatomy of a Song: 'Neighbourhood' by Space

Answer: Cantril Farm

Cantril Farm is now known as Stockbridge Village, and is in the borough of Knowsley in Merseyside. Scott lived there for 23 years. It was built to rehouse former residents of slums in inner city Liverpool, and in the '80s, it was notorious for crime and unemployment. It also became increasingly empty as families moved out and their former homes proved difficult to rent to new tenants. In 1983, it was split between Stockbridge Village Trust Ltd and Liverpool City Council, with the lion's share of the estate being nicknamed Stockbridge Village, and efforts were made to regenerate the area. Other notable residents include footballers Micky Quinn and Ian Bishop (who was a childhood friend of Scott), 'Red Dwarf' actor Craig Charles, and Frankie Goes to Hollywood dancer Paul Rutherford.

From Quiz The Music of Space: 'Spiders'

Answer: Neighbourhood

Judy, a Jack Russell terrier, appeared on the inlay of the CD. The vicar at the front of the bus stop queue on the cover of 'Neighbourhood' is an allusion to the lyric 'In 666, there lives a Mr Miller / He's a local vicar and a serial killer'. He is played by David 'Yorkie' Palmer, Franny's keyboard technician, who sang backing vocals on some of Space's songs.

From Quiz The Music of Space: 'Tin Planet'

Answer: Elvis

'It's just liddle old you and me, with a liddle biddy help from Elvis'. Buddy Holly gets a mention in the song, in the line 'Buddy Holly and Jimmy Dean will come to our wedding in the sky'. Frank Sinatra was a major influence on Tommy at the time of writing, but neither he nor Macca have ever had a Space song written about them.

From Quiz A Boy Like Me: A Tommy Scott Quiz

Answer: The Thomas Scott Quintet

Although 'Marionette' is essentially a Tommy Scott solo album, Tommy released it under the name of the Thomas Scott Quintet. The album was produced by Phil Hartley and Paul Hemmings, both of whom played on it, along with Lightning Seeds drummer Chris Sharrock and backing vocalists Emily Portman and Kate Milner. Hemmings also played guitar with Tommy at several of his solo gigs, as well as doing the odd gig with Space, and it was he who suggested doing a solo album to Tommy. According to an interview with Tommy and Hemmings, Sharrock recorded his drum parts without even having heard the songs beforehand!

From Quiz Anatomy of a Song: 'Neighbourhood' by Space

Answer: Mike Tyson

'In Number 18, there lives a big butch queen, He's bigger than Tyson and he's twice as mean.' 'Queen' in this context is slang for a gay man. Scott said he liked the idea of a gay man being extremely strong and tough, rather than stereotypically effeminate. Mike Tyson is an American heavyweight boxer who was world champion from 1987 to 1990, and caused controversy in 1997 when he bit a chunk out of Evander Holyfield's ear. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2011.

From Quiz The Music of Space: 'Spiders'

Answer: Woman's Weekly

From the lyrics: 'I met him next Took a bullet in the chest So I hit him on the head with the only thing that was anywhere near me A tin of baked beans and a Woman's Weekly.'

From Quiz The Music of Space: 'Tin Planet'

Answer: Fran in Japan

As with 'Growler', 'Fran in Japan' is the final track on 'Tin Planet', and is an instrumental by Franny Griffiths (as the name of the song suggests). At over 7 minutes, it is the longest song Space have ever done. Franny performed a shorter version of it on the spring tour in 1998.

From Quiz A Boy Like Me: A Tommy Scott Quiz

Answer: Treasure Chest

'Treasure Chest' was the only single to be released from the album, and Tommy had performed it at solo gigs previously before releasing the album, along with 'Shadowland', 'End of the World' and 'Rituals of a Girl Called Nightingale' (which is my favourite song on the album, incidentally). One song, 'Johnny Thug', was sadly only on the tape version of the album. Some of the songs on 'Marionette' had been written relatively recently to the album's release, while others had been on the back burner for years; Tommy stated that it had taken him twenty years to write the album. During the COVID crisis of 2020, Tommy also began work on a second solo album.

From Quiz Anatomy of a Song: 'Neighbourhood' by Space

Answer: Serial killer

'In 666, there lives a Mr Miller, He's a local vicar and a serial killer.' The use of 666 for the sinister minister is a reference to a Biblical passage, in Revelation 13:18. The full verse is as follows: "Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the Beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six." The 'Beast' in question is one of the two Beasts of Revelation who oppose G-d. Other bands such as the Pixies ('Monkey Gone to Heaven'), Slipknot ('Heretic Song') and Iron Maiden ('The Number of the Beast') have also referred to the number 666 in their songs. Scott got the idea from a man in his neighbourhood dressed in black, who he thought looked like a serial killer.

From Quiz The Music of Space: 'Spiders'

Answer: 1996

'Spiders' was released on 16th September 1996, peaking at number five in the UK charts. It was released on the now-defunct label Gut Records, which also played home to Aswad, Right Said Fred, and Tom Jones.

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