Welcome to the A to Z of Half Man Half Biscuit, the section of the site where we attempt to list the HMHB songbook’s complete lineup of people, places and proper nouns (as well as some improper ones too). Anyone is welcome to add to the collective general knowledge about any reference!
The A to Z of Half Man Half Biscuit
Latest Additions
- Voltarol (0)
- York (6)
- Yellow Mama (0)
- Woodchurch (4)
- White Cliffs Of Dover (1)
All Entries So Far...
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z 1
Least Commented...
- Sweet, The (0)
- Lockdown (0)
- Nudie Suit (0)
- Ruth Gould (0)
- Flat Back Four (0)
- Hammer (0)
- Lunch Club (0)
- Slade (0)
- Drone (0)
- Methodist Centre (0)
- Voltarol (0)
- Shot (0)
- Silver Cross (0)
- Fender (river) (0)
- Urbex (0)
- Newel Post (0)
- Hullaballoo (0)
- Caldy Hill (0)
- Doctors (0)
- Lockdown Luke (0)
- Necrophile (0)
- Suffolk (0)
- Cowslips (0)
- Greater Knapweed (0)
- Daffodils (0)
- Jimmy (0)
- Scotch (0)
- The Hills Are Alive (0)
- Joel Devaney (0)
- Monumental Masons (0)
- VHS (0)
- Social Media (0)
- Georgia Mae (0)
- Gym Bags (0)
- Roy (Rogers) (0)
- The Lanes (0)
- Kwai Chang (0)
- Viva (Vauxhall) (0)
- Quiz Night (0)
- Loft Ladders (0)
- SUV (0)
- Jennifer Hughes (0)
- COVID (0)
- Beach Tidy-Up (0)
- McDonalds (0)
- Maier, Sepp (0)
- Freeview (0)
- Joan (0)
- Punch (0)
- Sarah Merryweather (0)
Most Commented...
- Stranraer (137)
- Hungary (118)
- Nigel (108)
- Subbuteo (87)
- Mad Sideys (82)
- Fall, The (66)
- Svarc (66)
- Honved (56)
- World Cup (52)
- Dukla Prague (50)
- Captain Beefheart (49)
- Kazakhstan (47)
- Elvis (45)
- Borehamwood (45)
- Volvo (44)
- Hedley Verity (42)
- Accy Stanley (41)
- Grand Old Duke of York, the (40)
- Glastonbury (39)
- Blackpool (39)
- Athena (38)
- Checkatrade (37)
- Swan, the (37)
- ATV (37)
- Thatcher (37)
- Marmite (35)
- Bono (34)
- Chelsea (34)
- Butlins (34)
- Paradise (33)
- Iceland (33)
- Bobby Charlton (33)
- Adge Cutler (33)
- Ghent (33)
- Gagarin (32)
- Can (32)
- God (32)
- Eno (31)
- Junior Kick Start (31)
- Kendo Nagasaki (30)
- McCartney (29)
- Midge Ure (29)
- Chester (29)
- Finland (29)
- Shawshank Redemption (29)
- Fripp (28)
- Benny Hill (28)
- Gubba (28)
- National, the (28)
- Hello This Is Joannie (28)
Chris The Siteowner
Thanks to folks who’ve helped pick out the items from new songs which need to be added to the A to Z. I’ll get these added soon. In the meantime, there are plenty of entries above which are lacking in commentary (well, with only 1 comment!) if you have anything interesting to say about them.
27 June 2022
Spiltdown Man
One of the joys of Half Man Half Biscuit is their shameless, some might say genius, appropriation of other bands songs, lyrics, riffs or melodies either in their entirety or in fleeting snippets . From Bob Dylan (See That My Bike’s Kept Clean) to Tiny Tim (It Makes The Room Look Bigger), Belle Stars (Secret Gig) to Black Sabbath (Left Lyrics), David Essex (Sealclubbing) to Joy Division (JD Oven Gloves). Then there’s the traditional/folk songs that are reworked like Bread of Heaven (Midnight Mass Murder), Hokey Cokey (Petty Sessions) and Coming Round the Mountains (Lock Up Your Mountain Bikes). These musical references/nods can be found in many of their songs. I just wondered if these ever been captured anywhere? Could be a fun thing to compile in the inter-album lull. Certainly more fun than the rather tedious A to Z. How about a new section?
9 May 2023
EXXO
It’s somewhere in the lists thread, which you’ll find way down the home page somewhere, and maybe needs updating for the last album or two.
Meanwhile if anyone with any web skills ever wants to collaborate on doing all the borrowings and references exhaustively in a ‘Peter Greenaway does the Arden Shakespeare for HMHB’ sort of way, please let me know.
9 May 2023
EXXO
Yeah, I should have checked first and should have given a massive nod to Jeff Dreadnought in the lists thread whose posts in the lists thread are a pretty decent stab at doing all the musical borrowings, including Voltarol as I now do remember.
9 May 2023
Spiltdown man
Thanks Exxo. Have you got a link to the list? I can’t find it.
9 May 2023
EXXO
@Spiltdown
In fact now that I look at THIS THREAD I reckon that comments 178 and 392, and a few others in between are a very decent basis for the project you suggest, but are not complete, and in a few cases Jeff just assumes that another song title with similar wording to HMHB is being referred or alluded to, even if it probably isn’t. The list needs different categories really. Tune borrowed, words partially altered, song title just referred to, possible reference but not sure, etc, etc.
9 May 2023
Jeff dreadnought
The original list (which was a fun thing to compile, but did contain a few wild guesses admittedly) could do with trimming, tidying up and perhaps breaking down into categories as suggested. Plenty of gaps to be filled as well, no doubt.
I like the idea of having a new section, perhaps with a list for each album to make the whole thing more manageable, and with proper explanations for each entry.
Happy Rogation Sunday, by the way.
14 May 2023