1990 – 1995 The Lost Indie Years?

A friend of mine, who is a much more successful writer than I (because he’s better at it than I am) recently wrote an article for the Huffington Post (see? Already you know he’s waaay more successful and better than lil ole me pottering away here on my lil ole blog) where he wrote about…well, as the title of this post suggests, songs from that post Madchester, pre-Britpop age, which, if you were to believe most writers, was a time that was awash with shoegazers and floppy fringes on this side of the pond, plaid shirts and grunge greaseball cuts on the other, and not much else.

As we all know, the British shoegaze movement was effectively brought down by the friendly-fire of grunge, which in turn, through a democratic process of negotiation and peaceful protest, was superseded, on these shores anyhow, by Britpop (sorry Brett, Damon, Jarvis: that’s what we’re all calling it.)

But whilst shoegaze and grunge were certainly the musical trends of choice for your self-respecting Indie kid at the time, there was other stuff knocking around which didn’t really fit into either category, which seem to have been lost in the midst of time and which, well, you need to know about. This is the thrust of his article.

Oh go on then, here’s his article: Ten Early 90s Indie Songs That Say It All

All of what I will post in this section would have cropped up anyway at some point, sooner or later, here, but this gives me a little focus.

So, in no particular order:

10. “Hello Hello Hello Hello Hello (Petrol)” – Something Happens!

I’m using the Chart Show circa 1990 definition of Indie here, which means I may be stretching the definition of “indie” with this one, but let’s face it, the definition of Indie has been somewhat woolly ever since PWL came on the scene. I’d even extend that to Mute Records too, who I used to begrudge occupying places in the Indie Chart and inevitably being played. Both those labels clogged up what we could have seen at lunchtime on a Saturday around this time, with their Kylie and Erasure pop hits respectively. Grrr.

Anyway, it was via The Chart Show that this song came to my attention, and I still think it’s rather fine. Pop, yes. Terrible haircuts, yes. But still a bloody fine pop tune that gets these old bones a-twitching whenever I hear it, which is of course, whenever I play it, because nobody else ever does.

Watch the video here.

9. “Honesty” – The Bridewell Taxis

Words cannot describe how much I love this song. When I went home from college, I would try to record or watch a show called “Intermission”. On ITV, at about 3am, and introduced by a news presenter who had clearly pissed somebody off so much that they made him stay up to link this show in, Intermission was a vital crib guide for me as the resident Indie DJ at my Student Union. There were several acts I found through this show, The Bridewell Taxis being one of them. For some reason I thought they were from Bristol, until someone pointed out to me that Bridewell is in Leeds. Ho hum. Geography is not a strong point.

Anyway, “Honesty” is a weird combination of slightly jangly guitars, over a brass band, with a skinhead singing. Sleaford Mods, eat your hearts out.

Actually, I do have some words that describe it: fucking glorious.

Watch the video here.

 8. “Tired” – BOB. A record so obscure, even the internet seems to deny it’s existence. Ok, it’s formulaic. Ok, it’s Madchester bandwagon-jumping. But it’s not that different to Mock Turtles “Can U Dig It”, now is it? And I bet you like that. Suck it up.

There is no video to watch here.

7. “Remember What It Is That You Love” – The Family Cat

Obviously, had it come out in the 90s I’d have picked their Tom Verlaine single, but since I’m prevented from picking from that, hoisted by my own petard, I offer you this little gem from 1990.

The Family Cat are truly one of the great lost indie bands, and also one of the unluckiest, financially. I saw them play in Cardiff Uni Great Hall around this time and their merchandise was their logo, a play on the fact it was a UK tour by the Family Cat, so the letters FCUK were prominent. Does that look familiar to anyone? Yes indeed: nobody thought to trademark that, so French Connection steamed in and stole it (sorry, I mean came up with the original concept of using it) for their FC:UK range. Bugger.

This song also has a special meaning for me, as we used to do a cover of it in the band I was in at college, but more of that at a later date.

Watch the video here.

6. “Which Way Should I Jump?” – The Milltown Brothers

If ever a band flirted with the idea of being properly famous, in a “sounds a bit like R.E.M.” kinda way, it was this lot. Live, they were a very tight prospect, and I won’t bang on too much about them here now because I have a couple of stories to tell in my normal thread. But suffice it to say, their “Slinky” album is an absolute blinder, and if you ever happen to be nosing through a second hand store and spot it, grab it. As you can tell from this track, it’s accomplished and fully rounded pop at its best.

Here’s the video.

5. “When Lucy’s Down” – Kingmaker

If ever a band flirted with the idea of being properly famous, in a “sounds a bit like The Wonder Stuff” kinda way, it was this lot. Probably not helped by the fact they had a lead singer called “Loz” who looked like just the kind of speccy twat student that Paul Calf was railing against at the time. Kingmaker were once touted as the next big thing, but it never really happened for them, although they had their 15 minutes of fame via their Top 20 hit “10 Years Asleep“, which you remember, right?

Watch the video here.

 4.”On The Ropes” – The Wonder Stuff

And since I’ve mentioned The Stuffies, here they are in person. By 1993, their 15 minutes were up. They were a much misconstrued bunch, the Stuffies. They found fame, finally, via “Size of a Cow” and that “Dizzy” allegiance with Vic & Bob, and as a result they were wrongly viewed as a novelty band, or a new Nutty Boys. Think the public perception of The Darkness, without the obviously innuendo-laden Christmas hit, and you get the idea. Miles’s choice of chequered suit probably didn’t help. Their post fame album, “Construction for the Modern Idiot” is a favourite of mine, intriguing in much the same way as Pulp’s “This is Hardcore” album does. This is the sound of a band enjoying the spotlight of fame, but recoiling from it at the same time.

And as with Pulp several years later, there’s a change in sound. Gone are the oh-so-clever titles, (almost) gone is the fiddly-folk feel, the violins now supplementing rather than driving their sound.  It seems that they had it all, and found that after all those years of trying, they didn’t want what they got. This is one angry band, who reached the heights of fame and fortune and found it distasteful, bitter to the touch.

Watch the video here.

 3. “Special One” – Ultra Vivid Scene

Let’s be honest, Kim Deal was every Indie Kid’s favourite four tissue fantasy. Much as we all loved the Pixies, there isn’t one guy who loved them that doesn’t wish her vocals featured just a little more than they did. So to have her pop up on this jingly-jangly left over from 1990 was manna from the heavens. Up until this, Ultra Vivid Scene were just another 4AD band ploughing a lonely furrow. But this totally gorgeous tune still gives me goose-bumps 25 years later (Jesus, I’m old….)

Watch the video here.

 2. “Wembley” – The Candyskins

If ever there was an example of a band not missing the boat, but turning up for the boat too early and then going home again because the boat wasn’t ready, it’s this. This came out in 1993; had they popped it out in 1996, when Euro 96 was gripping the country, then this would have been a sure-fire Top 10’er. As it is, they languish not so much in the “Where Are They Now?” pile, as the “Sorry, who??” pile.

Watch the video here.

 1. “Perfume (All on You)” – Paris Angels

Okay, so their name has an added significance after the events of the other week, and it could be argued that this record sits firmly in the Madchester camp, but it’s definitely a lost classic, and even though this list hasn’t been in any kind of order, if it was, then this would be Number 1.

I used to have an mp3 of John Peel announcing this in his Festive Fifty, explaining how his son would be very happy it had made it, and if I still had that mp3, I’d post it now. No greater sun shines into your life then when you hear Peelie espousing about a record. And knowing his son is 6Music’s Tom Ravenscroft makes you feel that with all of the horrors going on in the world, everything will be okay, cos Peelie’s still watching over us.

Anyway, what can I say about this record that you don’t already know? Nothing: it’s the most perfect almalgamation of indie pop and indie dance ever committed to vinyl, and they should have had the commercial success that bands like, say, oh I don’t know, The Soup Dragons had.

But no. While The Soup Dragons hit the Top 2 with their godawful cover of what was a perfectly average Stones record in the first place, this wonderful, wonderful record only grazed the dizzy heights of number 55. Justice? Pah.

Here’s the more indie-sounding video.

More soon.

 

 

 

1985 And All That – An Interlude

Ok, I think an explanation is due as to what the hell has happened to the next part of 1985.

You will remember that when I last wrote about it, I had just been arrested for the ever so slightly embarrassing crime of stealing four pairs of white socks. (Talk about a cliff-hanger, eh? Where’s my EastEnders “doof-doofs“?) The reason for nicking them was that they were needed for a forthcoming school trip to Norway. There is no justification for them being white, of course.

Anyway, I left you with the tantalising prospect of some stories about the trip to Norway, and it is this that has proved my stalling point; not that I’m against talking about it, but because I was trying to locate a prime bit of original source material.

I kept a diary of the whole trip.

The problem was, I couldn’t find the sodding thing. A few months ago I found that a large chunk of my most valuable vinyl had gone missing/been stolen, and when I couldn’t locate the Norway diary, I began to think that maybe it had been in the same box which had simply gone walkies somewhere on one of my oh-so-many house-moves.

Tonight though, that has been resolved. I clutch in my hands a red A4 binder with a terrible title (“7 Go Mad in Norway”) and my hand-written description of the holiday, which I’m currently trawling through in search of funny stories to relate to you. Unfortunately, all I seem to have come across so far is quite a lot of immature, slightly racist, slightly sexist guff, which, given that I wrote it when I was a fifteen year old boy who had never met a non-white person (apart from the one who had beaten me up at junior school for “sounding American”) and had no idea how to speak to, or of, women, isn’t really that surprising. Not that that should be considered a justification or excuse, just…well, I didn’t know any better at the time.

(I did seem to bloody love brackets back then too, mind.)

So, you will forgive me if I elect to pick the funny bits from the stuff I wrote back then, rather than just scanning and posting it as I had originally planned to. And not just for the reasons I mention above; at least one of the people mentioned in the diary, a lad I had known since we were about 5, has since died…so…y’know….some tact, diplomacy and respect is required.

Whilst I work my way through that, a little local history. Most of you will have heard of the Cheese Rolling at Cooper’s Hill in Gloucester, right? No? Ok, well, it’s an annual event where people…er…roll a cheese down a hill in Gloucester. It hit the headlines a couple of years ago here in the UK as there were a couple of fairly serious injuries (it is a fucking steep hill) and there was talk of them there Health & Safety folks stepping in and nixing the whole event. (Seriously, you have to love a website designed to promote the event which contains the text: “Meanwhile Chris…is helped down by friends, then treated for a suspected sprained ankle by the event volunteer medics. He is soon joined by another competitor with a sprained ankle” and with pictures to illustrate it.)

I imagine that promotional material like this helped them dodge the avoid the Health & Safety bods and the shut-down they were apparently angling for:

“You are strongly advised not to attend” I think is one of my favourite bits of advertising ever.

Happily, I can report that the event lives on, and all free-thinking people will be allowed to critically injure themselves again in 2016.

The more astute of you will know that I was nowhere near Gloucestershire in 1985, so will be wondering why I’m mentioning this. Well, it’s because there’s another cheese rolling event in the UK, a much more sedate one, a lot closer to home for me when I was growing up, literally taking place at the end of my road.

Up until now, I’ve simply said I grew up near Peterborough, and this is the answer I give in general conversation, because I can’t be arsed with giving the whole back-story about where I actually grew up, which was in a little village just outside Peterborough called…Stilton.

Yes, like the cheese.

And, no, it’s not from there.

(This plan of saying I was from Peterborough back-fired when I first used it, on an open-day at a polytechnic (remember them??) I had applied for, when a young lady said “Oh, the place with Roy Kinnear dressed as a roman in the adverts?” I had no clue what she was on about as, having lived in Peterborough, the adverts had never screened there. But here‘s an example, dubbed and with subtitles for some reason. I mean, I don’t imagine there were many countries crying out for an advert for a cathedral city within commutable distance from London, but who knows?)

Anyway, once a year, the High Street in the village would be cordoned off and the crowds would gather to watch two teams of four race to roll a (wooden) Stilton cheese down the road in the fastest time, and so on to the quarters, then the semis…oh you get the gist. The winners would get a barrel of beer and a wheel of Stilton cheese for their troubles.

Those who weren’t entranced by the sight of grown men and women in fancy dress chasing a block of wood down the High Street, which was most of the locals, would invariably do what locals do when their village is invaded by tourists: retire to the pub, get pissed and slag them off until they’ve gone.

And in 1985, that’s exactly what I did, joining my brother and his mates Rob and Phil in The Talbot, a less than salubrious drinking hole pretty much slap-bang in the centre of the village.

Regular readers of this blog will recall a little while ago my brother contributed to these very pages, talking about his dual life as an RAF recruit and a goth. Rob and Phil were his partners in crime in the goth-side of those two tectonic plates jarring against each other, all black clothes, studded belts, winkle-pickers and back-combed hair .

At some point, they decided that forming a band would be a good idea, not in the slightest bit bothered about the fact that none of them could play any instruments (“Well, if it was good enough for Sid Vicious, it’s good enough for us” seemed to be the philosophy) and so, as the only person they knew with any musical ambitions, (actually, that not strictly true: my brother had often either commandeered my electric guitars, or even bought one or two himself, but placed in the hands of the curious budding engineer that he was, they invariably ended up in bits, having been taken apart “to see how they worked” and then not bothered to be put back together again, much as he treated a lot of cars around the same time. Our driveway had a partially-disassembled Triumph Spitfire covered in a tarpaulin parked on it for years after he moved out) I was charged with teaching them to play. By them, I mean Phil, as he was the only one who was even vaguely arsed about their band having at least one musician in it.

So Phil would often be round at ours, with me trying to teach him the three chords I knew, how to play by ear, and one of the two tricks I’d learned at the time but have since forgotten.

For the record, they were called “Third Light”, which to this day I still think is a bloody good name for an indie/goth band, but what do I know?

Anyway, I mention all of this because sitting drinking in The Talbot, and presumably desperate to show I was cool enough to be drinking with these spiky-haired ne’er-do-wells, I had professed my love for The Cult’s “She Sells Sanctuary”, which, as previously mentioned, had hardly been off my turntable since I bought the single.

Phil told me that he had bought the album, didn’t think much of it, and I could take it off his hands for a fiver. This was a bargain in my eyes, as it would cost me at least that much in bus fare just to get into town and back just to see if there was a second hand copy in Andy’s Records basement.

So the deal was done, and soon afterwards I took ownership of The Cult’s “Love” album.

Phil was right. Apart from the singles (the rest of which will feature here soon enough) there was nothing much of interest.

Except the opening track, which I still think is a bit of a belter, and should have been a single (*checks Wikipedia…nope it wasn’t*)

I do love an album that starts with them being counted in by the drummer. The simple pleasures of life, eh?

And so here it is:

 The Cult – Nirvana

More soon. Honest.

Friday Night Music Club

Yey! We made it to Friday again! Give yourself a pat on the back. And then have a listen to the next five tunes in our season of Friday Night pleasers.

 Rachel Sweet – B-A-B-Y

 Nick Pride & The Pimptones – White Lines

Bet you’re expecting me to play the original next aren’t you? Well, that’s not how we roll around these parts, I’m afraid (but fear not, it’ll crop up sooner or later). 

Instead, we’re going back to the 70s…

 The James Taylor Quartet – The Theme from “Starsky & Hutch”

..and specifically, we’re going to go all Blaxploitation flick on yo’ass..

 Bobby Womack – Across 110th Street

 Curtis Mayfield – Superfly

Not long after I moved to London, I was travelling on the tube and my ipod, unbidden and on shuffle, gave me those last three songs in that order. I have never felt so “street” in my life, and found myself striding along the platform with a distinct superfly guy strut, much, I imagine, to the amusement of my fellow commuters.

More soon.

Sunday Afternoon Movie Club

…and when I said I’d watch something more Butch next, I meant it.

Today’s movie is Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

When I was growing up, the weekend’s TV schedule was full of westerns, and I never really “got” them. Still don’t, truth be told.

Westerns were something my grandad watched (when he wasn’t glued to the wrestling or “Crossroads”. Woe betide anyone who spoke when any of them were on…)

Anyway, Butch and Sundance….

It’s not really a western, truth be told. Yes, the setting is the wiki wiki wah wah wild west, but Butch & Sundance is sooo much more than that.

What we have here is your prototype wise-cracking buddy movie,  a true bromance if you will, the kernel of Brokeback Mountain…Butch & The Kid, the original anti-heroes, clearly adore each other and their friendship is touching and poignant, the pair constantly ribbing each other throughout. Ahem. Those aren’t pillows…hell of a game, hell of a game.

While the whole film is essentially one long chase scene, it’s laced with a sense of brooding danger and impending doom; we all know how it pans out in the end (no spoilers, in case you don’t, though I may have ruined it now anyway), and there’s several classic scenes to enjoy; from the “I can’t swim” to the freeze-frame/fade to sepia ending (again, no spoilers here), through to today’s music choice, by the unfortunately named (I had a hell of a time googling him to get the sleeve…) BJ Thomas:

 B.J. Thomas – Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head

Who knew the White Stripes were rent-a-models-on-bicycles back in the 60s?

Several years ago, when I was a team manager working for a thoroughly reputable insurance company in Cardiff, one of my team asked for my advice on one particular client, who just happened to be called Paul Newman. I made some wise-crack about it being THE Paul Newman (because I’m THAT funny) and was met with a blank stare. The guy had no idea who I meant. A tumbleweed blew past. A lonesome bell tolled.

A colleague chipped in, trying to rescue me: “The salad dressing guy?” I despaired….salad dressing?? That’s what he’ll be remembered for, not for being the incredible actor he was…??

I have never felt older.

Anyway, in an act no doubt designed purely to redress that, the Manics, gawd bless ’em, recorded this:

 Manic Street Preachers – Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head

They may be punky revolutionaries, but they have no time for anyone who misses the g off of Falling.

More soon.

 

 

Friday Night Music Club

Evening all.

Friday night is upon us once more, which means it’s time for the next five songs in the Friday Night Music Club playlist.

Given the horrific events in Paris last Friday, I wish I could say that I had planned to include the first two tunes as a show of solidarity with our Gallic brothers, but alas, it’s a coincidence. If I was that smart, they would have been in last week’s selection. Still, cracking tunes though.

 26. Stereolab – French Disko

 27. Sebastien Tellier – Divine

Next up, we have the ultimate in pioneering “made in a bedroom” tuneage:

 28. White Town – Your Woman

And to finish, two songs which are nowhere near as well known as they should be. First, an utterly bonkers song featuring an hypnotic chorus with the words “vanilla strawberry knickbocker glory ” repeated over and over, followed by a verse which talks about seeing the ghost of Lena Zavaroni, a child star and winner of 1970s talent show Opportunity Knocks. Her story is an utterly tragic mood-killer, so we shan’t dwell on it any further here.

 29. Fujiya & Miyagi – Knickerbocker

And finally, this song, which from its opening rip-off of (sorry, I mean homage to) “Be My Baby” through to it’s just wonderful title is a joy from start to finish (and yes I appreciate that’s technically from just before the start to the start, but that doesn’t scan as well…)

 30. Johnny Boy – You Are The Generation That Bought More Shoes and You Get What You Deserve

More soon.

 

How To Do A Cover Version

Over the weekend, I’ve been binging on the second series (note: not season) of Fargo, the TV spin-off from the classic Coen Brothers movie.

I’d loved the first series, but had wondered if this was in no small part due to the wonderful acting of Martin Freeman and Billy Bob Thornton. As the second series features neither of them, I feared it may not measure up.

Rest assured, it’s shaping up to be every bit as good as the first, and the performances are top notch again, not least those of Ted Danson and Kirsten Dunst.

Watching it made me think of my favourite movie which Dunst had been in. It occurred to me this also just happened to be my favourite movie with Kate Winslet in too. And Jim Carrey. And Tom Wilkinson. And Mark Ruffalo. And Elijah Woods (I’ve never watched, nor will I ever watch, any of the Lord of the Rings movies. Nothing against them, just not my bag.) 

That’s not a bad cast, is it?

In fact, one of my favourite movies ever.

I speak of course, of “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”.

If you’ve never seen it, then here’s the IMDb synopsis: “When their relationship turns sour, a couple undergoes a procedure to have each other erased from their memories. But it is only through the process of loss that they discover what they had to begin with.” and here‘s the trailer.

When I first moved into my flat a couple of years ago, I decided I was going to make Sundays a day for watching movies, a past-time which seems to have fallen by the wayside somewhat recently, so I figured I’d watch it again for the first time in a couple of years.

I loved it just as much as I did the first time. Which means I had a tear in my eye by the end of it. But I categorically was not blubbing, ok?

It remains just as visually stunning as the other movies in director Michel Gondry (“The Science of Sleep”) and co-writer Charlie Kaufman’s (“Being John Malkovich”, “Adaptation”) respective canons.

Anyway, the movie is over ten years old now, so I imagine you’ve seen it, but if you haven’t (or even if you have), it’s on Netflix so spend one of the coming cold winter evenings checking it out, not least because it contains this:

 Beck – Everybody’s Gotta Learn Sometimes

and here’s the not too dissimilar (apart from the spelling) original:

 The Korgis – Everybody’s Got To Learn Sometimes

Right, time for a more manly film. Something butcher, even.

More soon.

Friday Night Music Club

It’s Children in Need night in the UK, a night when almost the entire BBC1 content is given over to a fund raising live event, usually hosted by Terry Wogan, but I see that tonight Dermot O’Leary has stepped in at the nth hour as Terry is unwell. (Wig malfunction, perhaps..?)

That decision not to host The X Factor this year is looking smarter by the second, isn’t it, Dermot?

Ok, I’ve mentioned Terry Wogan, so I cannot resist sharing this, the most defiantly, knowingly awkward appearance on Top of the Pops ever. And this, just in case you want to hear/download the studio recorded version of the same.

Terry used to host the Radio 2 Breakfast show, and after he quit Chris Evans, who I think it’s fair to say is a very different kind of DJ, took over. I listened once, and heard him play this, proclaiming it an excellent record to wake up to (which it is). But the cynic in me can’t help but wonder if he was taking the piss a little given that he’d just replaced Sir Terry.

Anyhoo, I have a lot of time for Dermot (and for Sir Terry, of course. Evans? Not so much…have you seen the reboot of TFI Friday…?), probably from his days of hosting Big Brother’s Little Brother, but his Saturday afternoon show on Radio 2 is often worth a listen, even if he does every now and then give the impression of someone who doesn’t really know much about music. I swear I once heard him announce that he had never heard of The Velvet Underground.

Anyway, you know what Children in Need is all about: various BBC related personalities perform an amusing skit on their usual personas, generally culminating in the BBC newsreaders dressing up and doing a song, in an effort to raise funds for a very worthy cause.

Here’s some examples of their awfulness: BBC Newsreaders do “Weapon of Choice”

And just so there’s some semblance of order round these parts, the video they were taking off. Yeh, you totally nailed it guys.

And here, perhaps the very nadir of this kind of thing: The Time Warp.

They could’ve saved a few quid on suspenders and high heels if Frank Bough had still been a newsreader then.

The only thing worse than watching that was witnessing my parents trying to do The Time Warp at a wedding a few years ago. I’m so mentally scarred as a result, I have no idea whose wedding it was.

(NB. Is it just me, or is it ironic that the BBC should have a “Children in Need” night every year, when they housed so many of our now discredited/imprisoned/dead and discredited TV celebrities in the 1970s…? I’ll ask Alanis. Or Ed.)

If you’re anything like me, at some point while watching Children in Need, you will undoubtedly feel a rush of shame as you reach for the remote and search for something a little less…well, shit.

Fear not, for the next five songs in the Friday Night Music Club are here to save you.

(NB. There seems to be an issue with my usual download provider, so I’ve switched to a new one for now. Let me know if there are any issues…? Or if you prefer one over the other? Or just don’t give a flying shit?)

 Tomcraft – Loneliness

 Kelis – Friday Fish Fry

 Friends – I’m His Girl

 tUnE-yArDs – Hey Life

 Michachu – Golden Phone

Oh and of course, you can donate to Children in Need here. Please do.

More soon.

How to Do a Cover Version

And whilst we’re at resurrecting threads I previously dropped, how about this one?

Anyone who has caught Hot Chip live in the last couple of years (an elite group amongst which I am unable to count myself, but I saw the Glastonbury footage when I got home…from Glastonbury. There was a clash, ok?? Super Furries or Hot Chip – you know which way I’m gonna swing) will have borne witness to the genius that is their version of Broooce’s “Dancing in the Dark”. And now, here it is:

 Hot Chip – Dancing in the Dark

and here’s the original:

 Bruce Springsteen – Dancing in the Dark

I believe it is obligatory in blogland, having mentioned “Dancing in the Dark” to post the video, which features a pre-Friends Courtney Cox being dragged on stage to dance (badly) with Broooce (also dancing badly). What are the odds of that happening, huh? Here it is: obligation filled.

But wait! What’s that at the end of the Hot Chip version? Isn’t that the sound of one James Murphy and his LCD Soundsystem collective’s finest moments? Why yes, it is, and here’s all 7:37 of the glorious original:

 LCD Soundsystem – All My Friends

And while we’re at it, here’s Franz Ferdinand’s version of the same glorious song:

 Franz Ferdinand – All My Friends

More soon. Possibly.

From Leeds With Love

Blimey, it’s been a while since I did one of these, hasn’t it, dear reader?

Well, I have to admit that this thread was woken from it’s slumber by Gedge and co doing a session for 6Music’s Marc Riley show the other night. In case you didn’t catch it, it’s here (obviously, that’s for a limited time only).

Anyway, as I think I may have mentioned on one of these here posts before, one of the things I love about The Wedding Present’s cover versions is that they often introduced me to a band I’d never heard of, or knew little about, and such is the case with today’s post.

 The Wedding Present – I Found That Essence Rare

Compare it to the original, and you can see how The Wedding Present’s version is louder and faster. They Weddoed it up, in other words.

Ah yes, the original, as performed by angular spiky-guitared, also-from-Leeds, Gang of Four, and taken from their seminal (I’ve always had a problem with that word. I use here it in the “highly original and influencing the development of future events” meaning, although it’s certainly spunky too) album “Entertainment!”

 Gang of Four – I Found That Essence Rare

That line “See the girl on the TV dressed in a bikini,  She doesn’t think so but she’s dressed for the H-bomb” is one of my favourite lines ever.

More soon.

Friday Night Music Club

Hello, hello, hello, hello!

It’s Friday night here in the UK, and that can mean only one thing: more tunes to add to the Friday Night Music Club playlist.

Tonight’s 5 sees us remaining firmly in 80s territory, and with me providing a lesson in DJing: it’s not always about playing the records you like. Sometimes, you have to play the ones that your crowd will like.

Such is the case with the first two songs in tonight’s list. These are definitely not my favourite songs by these artistes:

 David Bowie – “Let’s Dance”

(For the record, my favourite Bowie song is…fuck, I don’t know…where do you start?? Right now, it’s probably “Life on Mars”….later tonight it’ll probably be “Absolute Beginners”…tomorrow, or maybe even later tonight, it will be…oh this is too hard. It’s not possible to have just the one favourite Bowie song, in the same way as it’s not possible to have just the one favourite toe)

 Duran Duran – “The Reflex”

(For the record, this is much easier: my favourite Duran song is “Hungry Like The Wolf”)

 The Human League – “Don’t You Want Me”

Sometimes I like to slot songs together which kinda sound a little similar, or which remind me of each other, and such is the case with the next one:

 Beth Ditto – “Open Heart Surgery”

I dunno what it is about that, but when I hear either of those two, I immediately want to hear the other straight afterwards. You’re welcome.

Finally this week, we start to move into slightly dancier waters, with a song that always takes me back to my clubbing days:

 Goldtrix presents Andrea Brown – “It’s Love [Trippin]”

More soon. (Next Friday, to be precise).