Friday Night Music Club

Once upon a time, in a galaxy far, far away, I used to write a series here called Friday Night Music Club.

Here is what I wrote way back in March 2015 to explain:

“Friends of mine will tell you I love a themed mix tape or CD.

In my old flat, we used to have what we (ok, I) liked to call The Friday Night Music Club. This would involve us a) getting very drunk b) me shaving my head at some point c) listening to the latest CD mix I’d made (later, when I bought a sound system that allowed me to just plug my iPod in (other mp3 playing devices are available) these mixes got waaaay longer, and probably waaaaay more tedious for the listener) and d) ideally having a bit of a dance.

I’ve done mix tapes and CDs for friends and family all my life (but you already knew that, right?) but the idea here was to make a series of mix CDs which, when played in sequence, you could play at a house party and which would keep the night bubbling along nicely.

Actually, this is something I’d already tried a few years earlier. Friends of mine used to have the most excellent parties at their flat on Hilldrop Road, usually with a DJ playing, but on one occasion the DJ – and for that matter, their decks – couldn’t make it. In their absence I prepared a set of 11 CDs – about 15 hours – which, when played in sequence, took you from aperitifs and welcomers, to “go on have a bit of a dance”, through to off your nut party anthems, and then back down to sitting round talking nonsense about radishes until 6am.

Anyway, back to the Friday Night Music Club. Occasionally I’d make a theme out of the whole thing (hey, if Bob Dylan can do a radio show using the same format, I can do a mix CD, okay?) or do more than one CD and spread the theme out (there was once a 4 CD opus to a former flat mate which deserves a mention in passing) but more often than not the theme would occur to me in the middle of preparing it, and that’d be it…I’d be off….“

As an aside, I appear to have missed some fairly significant landmarks in the history of this place: my first ever post was in September 2013, and if you think my posts are sporadic now, bear in mind that my second post didn’t happen until a year later in 2014. Whatever, a belated 5th anniversary to me!

Anyway, it was when I became rather fixated on the theme rather than with just posting some songs which sound good when played together that I knocked the Friday Night Music Club series on the head.

Since there are now more of us are spending our Friday Nights at home, many of us getting drunk, I figured I would bring the series back for at least a one-off for you to use as your sountrack to your Zoom/Houseparty chats. There might be more, I’ve not decided yet.

Also, this, right here what you’re reading now, is my 1500th post, so I’d like to mark at least one of my landmark posts in a timely manner.

Ahem.

That’s better.

I figured we’d go back to where it all began, to the first few episodes of Friday Night Music Club, but now with fewer attempts to be clever/funny and just more songs to rock your end of the working (from home) week/kids are in bed celebrations.

Actually, I’d hoped to bring this to you last weekend, in time for the Bank Holiday, but time simply caught up with me, the bastard.

The initial intention was simply to repost those early “mixes”, with a few new songs thrown in here and there (and some brutally culled). But as I was working on it, it metemporphasised into something different, perhaps better described as a completely new mix of tunes, very loosely hung on the framework of the old ones, in an effort to reinvigorate them, poncey as that may sound.

If you’d prefer to just listen to this on Spotify, you can do here:

Friday Night Music Club Vol. 1

…although a word of warning: Spotify doesn’t have all of the songs in the playlist, so the only real way to enjoy this in it’s full…erm…glory is by ploughing through the links below.

Oh, and a second word of warning: there’s a fair bit of effin’ and jeffin’ on some of these, so perhaps not for those with young ears.

Hopefully, there will be something for everyone in here (there’s seventy tunes in just over five hours, so I bloody hope so!), so push back the sofa, get yourself a pint of White Russian (or whatever your weapon of choice is), dim the lights and turn up the volume. Let there be grooves. Let there be guitars. Let there be cheese. Let there be some surprises, some forgotten tunes and some old favourites. Let there be singing. Let there be dancing.

Tell you what: I’ll play a song or two by way of a little intro whilst you’re getting yourself sorted:

Patience & Prudence – Tonight You Belong To Me

The Jesus & Mary Chain – Some Candy Talking

Richard Hawley – Tonight The Streets Are Ours

Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons – The Night

Lykke Li – Get Some

Richie Havens – Going Back To My Roots (Groove Armada Go North Remix)

Grace Jones – Pull Up To The Bumper

Roxy Music – Love Is The Drug

Earth Wind & Fire – Let’s Groove

Jackson Sisters – Miracles

Chic – Good Times (Full-Length Version)

Double Trouble & Rebel MC – Street Tuff (Scar Radio Mix)

Adventures Of Stevie V – Dirty Cash (Sold Out Mix Edit)

Skee-Lo – I Wish

De La Soul – Me, Myself and I

N.W.A. – Express Yourself

Public Enemy – Fight The Power

Clinton – People Power In The Disco Hour

Shed 7 – Disco Down

Los Campesinos! – You! Me! Dancing!

Cee Lo Green – Fuck You!

Janelle Monáe – Dance Apocalyptic

Taylor Swift – Shake It Off

Britney Spears – Toxic (Armand Van Helden Remix)

Gwen Stefani – What You Waiting For?

Girls Aloud – Something Kinda Ooooh

Icona Pop – I Love It [featuring Charli XCX]

Armand Van Helden – Koochy

Spandau Ballet – To Cut A Long Story Short

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark – Enola Gay

Human League – Fascination

Archie Bronson Outfit – Dart For My Sweetheart

Stellastarr* – My Coco

Franz Ferdinand – Do You Want To

Gang of Four – I Found That Essence Rare

The Fall – Dead Beat Descendant

Maxïmo Park – Our Velocity

Sports Team – Here’s The Thing

Super Furry Animals – God! Show Me Magic

Elastica – Stutter

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Spread Your Love

Sum 41 – In Too Deep

Good Charlotte – Girls & Boys

My Chemical Romance – Teenagers

Ramones – Beat on the Brat

Iggy Pop – The Passenger

Talking Heads – Girlfriend Is Better

Siouxsie & The Banshees – Hong Kong Garden

The Cult – She Sells Sanctuary

The Sisters of Mercy – This Corrosion

The Rapture – House of Jealous Lovers

Interpol – Mammoth (Erol Alkan Rework)

A Guy Called Gerald – Voodoo Ray (Original Mix)

Mory Kanté – Yeke Yeke (Hardfloor Mix)

Underworld – Cowgirl (Bedrock Mix)

Josh Wink – Higher State of Consciousness (Dex & Jonesey’s Higher Stated Mix)

The Stone Roses – Fools Gold

Flowered Up – Weekender

Happy Mondays – W.F.L. [Think About the Future]

The Charlatans – The Only One I Know

Inspiral Carpets – Find Out Why

The Doors – Touch Me

divinyls – I Touch Myself

Yazoo – Don’t Go

New Order – Bizarre Love Triangle

Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip – Thou Shalt Always Kill

Echo & The Bunnymen – Lips Like Sugar (Way Out West Remix Edit)

LCD Soundsytem – All My Friends

Indeep – Last Night a DJ Saved My Life

Primal Scream – Come Together (Terry Farley Remix)

The Bluetones – If…

More soon.

Freedom

Some great family news today.

Cliff Richard – Daddy’s Home

I can’t pretend that either my Dad or I or particular fans of Sir Cliff, but the song title fits, and that’s all that it takes to get a mention round these parts.

Although, to be fair, in that picture Cliff is rocking the very same faux-leather gilet and chunky Sony Walkman look generally favoured by my Pops.*

Thank goodness he’s had his trusty personal cassette player and a whole stack of Cs, through from 60 to 120, to get him through the past few weeks.**

Can whoever had five weeks and two days in the sweepstake please call the Winner’s Hotline – 018118055 – to collect their prize?***

More soon.

* This is not true

** This isn’t true, either

*** Or this. Please don’t call that number.

He is home though, and we’re all delighted and more than a little relieved.

Tuesday Short Song

I like writing this series. It’s quick and easy.

Here’s a short song.

Bosh!

The White Stripes – Fell In Love With A Girl

So to pad this post out a little, and thereby give some vague impression of effort having been made, here’s the excellent video, directed by the ruddy marvellous Michel Gondry:

More soon. (Bosh!)

Just Off For a Drive…

I don’t need to explain why I’m posting this, do I? It’s probably best I don’t, as I don’t think you really just want to read a long list of expletives.

Perhaps if we tweaked the song a little, then I wouldn’t need to explain. How about these suggestions:

– Change the part of the title in brackets to Dom’s Tune

– Change the lyrics from “30 miles or more” to “276 miles or more”

– Add an extra verse to mention Durham and that he drove there without stopping but can’t remember how many times he stopped on the return journey

– And maybe add one more verse to explain he is a man who reacts to his instincts, and that, even though everyone else says that he did, he definitely didn’t break the law

– Then perhaps have Boris – like when the small kid sticks his head out from behind school bully to viciously snarl “Yeh!” at a victim – could pop on some backing vocals to explain that Dom is blameless, that one has to react to your instincts, even if that involves breaking the law, which he definitely hadn’t done, and even though even The Daily Mail is refusing to support him on this, we should all continue to the follow the rules in exactly the same way that he had – sorry! – hadn’t – sorry! had

Maybe then you’d know exactly to which Governmental outrage I was referring. Like you didn’t already.

It’s Immaterial – Driving Away From Home (Jim’s Tune)

I don’t think this story is going away anytime soon. There is a growing discontent at the Government’s handling of the pandemic crisis handling in general, and of Cummings – and the unwavering, if misplaced, support he continues to receive from Johnson – specifically. And that interview with Cummings is not going to be the end to it that they hope it will be, given that it was straight out of Prince Andrew’s book of succesful interview techniques “Don’t Worry, I’ve Got This!”

For a more detailed, sensible, review of matters before tonight’s broadcast, I would recommend you read the thread by writer and commentator on law and policy David Allen Green, which you can access here:

A brief thread about law, instincts, and regulations

1.

— david allen green (@davidallengreen) May 25, 2020

Apparently, there is to be a written statement released after the Cummings interview, and we can expect David to forensically every word. Watch that space.

More soon.

I’m Not Too Keen on Mondays

Bank Holiday Mondays, on the other hand, I’m a big fan of.

Except in the current climate, it doesn’t really feel like a national holiday, does it?

So today’s tune is simply a reminder that it is. No need to drag your fat arse out of bed and over to the coffee table to log onto your work laptop today.

Roll over and go back to sleep.

That’s what me and my fat arse will be doing.

Blur – Bank Holiday

More soon.

Sunday Morning Coming Down

This morning an undisputed classic for you delictation.

It’s a song often covered, to the point where I would struggle to say whose version I prefer. If pushed, I would probably plump for Dean Martin’s, but this version could easily push his into second on a good day. I think it’s the slightly wonky xylophone which does it for me:

Bobbie Gentry & Glen Campbell – Gentle on My Mind

More soon.

Late Night Stargazing

Sometimes you have to take a step back and reappraise a song.

For a good while, tonight’s choice became so associated with desperate wannabes auditioning for The X Factor that I couldn’t stand to listen to it.

But it came up on my shuffle earlier and I had forgotten what a stunningly great record it is.

Lana Del Rey – Video Games

More soon.

Saturday Night Coming Up

Has enough time passed since his creepy memoir to post something by Moby again yet?

Probably not.

What if I post a remix of one of his tunes by the magnificent Vitalic then?

Yeh, ok then, I suppose.

I was reminded of Vitalic when Craig Charles played a track from the brilliant OK Cowboy album on his suprisingly good 6Music show earlier this week. I’ve generally been put off listening to his show because Charles reminds me of not-very-good (controversial, I know) sci-fi-sitcom Red Dwarf, and for providing the commentary on the early episodes of Takeshi’s Castle, back when it was fresh and excrutiating and funny and painful to watch. Surprisingly, the show’s decline seemed to correspond with Charles leaving, and perhaps a small part of me has never forgiven him for that.

Anyway, his current drive-time show on 6Music is well worth a listen, as he doesn’t just play the funk and sould with which he is more usually associated (in my mind, anyway).

And long before he was making records which seemed to sountrack every car advert on the planet, Moby was making bangers like this:

Moby – Go (Vitalic Remix)

More soon.

How To Do A Cover Version

First things first: sorry it’s been a bit quiet round these parts this week. I had some broadband issues last week (by which I mean, I had no broadband last weekend) which meant I wasn’t able to write the usual splurge of posts to last a week that I normally do on a Friday night.

It also meant that, as I’m working from home at the moment, I wasn’t able to do that either. And rather than take the time I was off-grid as unpaid or annual leave, it was agreed I could just make up the time, which is what I’ve been doing for the rest of the week.

Anyway, normality restored (I haven’t made up all the time yet, but there are fewer hours for me to claw back), I wanted to start off with a specific apology to my old mate, Martin.

Regular readers may recall that, having left Wales over ten years ago now, I reconnected with Martin at Llŷr’s memorial service (Note: NOT a wake) last year, and I’ve mentioned before how happy I was that that had happened.

It’s a funny thing, as without really thinking about it, I think he and I viewed each other in much the same way: as Llŷr’s mate. But we’ve both come to realise since Llŷr passed that we have an awful lot in common, to the point where I regret that we didn’t spend more time in each others’ company before geography became an issue.

See, I think Martin and I are cut from the same cloth (and thinking about it, that’s probably why Llŷr was friends with both of us): we share a sense of humour; we both support (different) football teams who are constant only in their delivery of disappointment; we like (mostly) the same records and now happily swap recommendations; we both like a drink (generally my Friday night writing is…interrupted isn’t the right word…enhanced by a message from Martin in the wee small hours, as under the influence as me, leading to a text conversation about the merits of anything from Withnail & I to the use of the slide guitar in country records).

So while my broadband was playing funny buggers last weekend, I got a message from Martin, with a link to a song which he described as “a guilty pleasure”. This one:

Gordon Lightfoot – If You Could Read My Mind

Now. Regular readers will know just how much the phrase “guilty pleasure” grinds my gears, and so my response was, on reflection, a tad on the brusque, dismissive side:

“Nowt wrong with that. Johnny Cash covered it!”

(Over at Charity Chic’s place he used to do a series which discussed the various Cash covers. I imagine this one came up, but I’ll leave you to go and investigate.)

Here’s The Man in Black’s version, from (of course) the American Recordings series, specifically Volume 5 A Hundred Highways:

Johnny Cash – If You Could Read My Mind

If I were to be really pushed, I’d probably plump for Cash’s version, but that is probably down to the context of the recording, the scratchy vocal, like he felt compelled to get the songs featured in the American Recordings series out while he still had time, the breath and the capability to do so.

But it’s a really close call.

Anyway, Martin: sorry if my response seemed a little curt. It certainly wasn’t meant to be.

As an aside, there’s something about If I Could Read Your Mind which always reminds me of this next song. I’ve never quite been able to put my finger on it, but I think that somewhere there must be a snatchette of melody which corresponds between the two:

Whitney Houston – Greatest Love Of All

More soon.

The Day Today (Sunday Morning Coming Down edition)

This morning’s selection was a real no- brainer; it’s the song which gives the usual Sunday morning series it’s name.

But there’s another reason; the original of this song is one of my Dad’s favourite records, and today marks four weeks since he was admitted to hospital following his fall at home. And four weeks later, that’s where he remains.

Actually, that’s not strictly true, since this week he was transferred to a different hospital where he can receive treatment from a more specialised unit for one of the issues which has been identified. (Obviously, I’m not going to go into details here.)

This is a live version, taken from a recording of a 2013 concert at Union Chapel in North London, one of my favourite venues. Coincidentally, it as also recorded on my birthday, and so I can only assume it was before I joined their mailing list or I would have tried my damndest to have been there.

I haven’t really posted much Kris Kristofferson since his rather underwhelming appearance at Glastonbury a couple of years ago, when he seemed confusedabout where he was, what he was doing there, what song he was supposed to be singing, what the words were to it, each song just sort of tailing off rather than reaching any definite ending.

I went to see Kristofferson play in Bristol a few years before this 2013 gig, and really enjoyed what I saw, although I had to leave early (a long story, which I’ve gone into before on these pages sometime, so won’t bore you with it again). I’d reported back Dad that the gig had been alright, and so, when Kristofferson next came to the UK, off he went, Mum in tow.

I think it was on this 2013 tour that they saw him, but their experience was closer to the disappointing Glastonbury performance than to the one I has been to, however it led to one of Dad’s proudest moments when he called from the audience to prompt Kristofferson with the words “…someone frying chicken!” when he floundered at one particular moment.

Thankfully, although I have no idea how many takes it took, he just about manages to get through it unassisted here:

Kris Kristofferson – Sunday Morning Coming Down (Live)

More soon.