Just dug this one out: Back in the DHSS by Half Man Half Biscuit

I bought Back in the DHSS in 1985, when it came out, because everyone said I should... I listened to it a bit, then filed it away and then spent a lot of the subsequent years trying to pretend I'd never heard it. I don't get why I was supposed to like it and I don't get why so many people do.

Half Man Half Biscuit are a comedy outfit (I think it's insanely generous that their Wikipedia article describes them as satirical) and as such hold very little interest to me, I don't mind laughing - and I don't even mind laughing at song lyrics, but I prefer my humour to be a part of the song, not all there is of it. HMHB's humour is front and centre and pretty much revolves around throwing out pop-culture references and... well that's about it.

If they can get a laugh purely out of mentioning Una Stubbs or Stevie Nicks, Bob Todd or Dairylea triangles then that's all they need to do - or perhaps make tiresome references to the TV of their born-in-the-60s audience and that's pretty much HMHB. "Oh yes [snigger] we'll sing about Camberwick Green and mention drugs... and swear a bit - that'll be funny because all those people who watched it back then are probably smoking dope now... and swearing [giggle]".

They are just the indie Barron Knights and I find it remarkable that they've managed to carve a 30+ year career out of it... but then The Barron Knights are still working so I perhaps shouldn't really be surprised.

I listened to this with a fair amount of skipping because it really was unbearable, juvenile nonsense.