The Love Lives of the Native Americans

Last week I spent a few days in the fine city of Rostov-on-Don (or Rostov na Donu as the locals call it). The local market was a musical treasure trove. They have a rather relaxed approach to copyright over there - I realise I am in no position to cast stones - with the result that you get some amazing bargains, like 15 Tom Waits' albums in mp3 format on a single disc for £1. For the same price I picked up what the gentleman assured me were "200 Russian rock classics". There are only 183 of them, and it remains to be seen if the rest of his description is any more accurate.

But the undoubted musical highlight of the trip was catching Sweet in the middle of their current Russian tour. There is only Andy Scott of the classic line-up left - Brian and Mick are sadly no longer with us, and Steve is in the States - but that did not matter to me and their small but ardent local fan base. They put on a great show.

I was going to give you a Sweet special today, but I got distracted by Wig Wam Bam. It struck me that it was only one of many songs that address the delicate matter of the romantic lives of Native Americans with a rigour that professional anthropologists can only envy. Here's a selection.

"Wig Wam Bam" - Sweet

"Running Bear" - Johnny Preston

 "Indian Love Call" - Tex Ritter

"Indian Wedding Song" - The Indians

"Squaws Along The Yukon" - Hank Thompson

"Big Chief Litle Puss" - The Olympics

Now, the Rostov gig was closer to Old Age Rampage than Teenage Rampage, but never mind.