You. Yes, you.
Well done on succesfully navigating another week! Yay, it’s Friday! And you know what that means, right?
Right!
Another 60 minute (or so) mix of utter tunes, put together for your delectation by Yours Truly.
And this week, since I had a bit of time on my hands (as you may have noticed by the appearance of mid-week posts), I’ve even bothered to do sleeve notes for you. I know, I know, I’m too kind.
Which means I don’t need to waffle on with this introduction any more, let’s get going!
Friday Night Music Club Vol 39
- The White Stripes – We’re Going to Be Friends
I don’t write about him as much these days, limiting my mentions of him to the anniversary of his passing and of his birthday, not because the memory of him has faded – it hasn’t, I still think of him every day – but on the night that Channel 4 are doing their annual Stand Up To Cancer fundraiser, it seemed appropriate to include a couple of songs which remind me of my dear, departed buddy Llŷr in tonight’s mix.
This song makes me think of when we first met. Introduced by a mutual acquantaince (who then omitted to invite either of us to his wedding, the bastard), I knew instantly we were going to hit it off, although I had no idea that it would be to the extent it turned out.
2. Super Furry Animals – Slow Life
You’ll have noticed that pretty much every mix I do has either something by the Super Furries or The Wedding Present, because I adore them both. But SFA were very much mine and Llŷr’s band; we saw them countless times together. and, when he passed back in 2019, I wrote this about our relationship with this particular tune:
“Never again will we go to a Super Furry Animals gig together, as we did countless times, and laugh with each other as we basked in our self-perceived glory when we air-drummed the fill after the bridge on this tune, which we did every time, without fail, much to the bemusement and confusement of anyone who was with us.”
(Should you wish to, you can read the whole post here)
(But come back when you’ve read it, ok?)
I still do that, by the way. Every time, without fail. Actually, on the rare occasion I miss it, I’ll go back to the start and listen to it again, and make damned sure I remember this time, tipping a wink in Llŷr’s direction (or at least, where I imagine him to be, which needless to say is up rather than down). I got some very strange looks when I listened to it, and performed the air-drum fill and wink on the train on the way to work earlier this week. Miss you, dude.
3. Razorlight – Stumble & Fall
When I lived in Cardiff, some friends (Llŷr, his sister Hel and her flat-mate Jo, the two Matts, probably Dum-Dum too) and I went to see Foo Fighters play. The odd thing was that, although internationally succesful and famous, they were the support act to some band called Oasis, whoever they might be. Also on the bill: Razorlight, and when lead singer Johnny Borell took his shirt off to reveal his pasty. boney torso mid-set, I will forever remember Jo, unironically, shouting “Phwooooooaaaaaaarrrrr!”, to disbelieving looks from all of our group, and quite a few people we didn’t know in our vicinity.
Anyway, I appreciate they blotted their indie-credentials with the utterly turgid America, but I do still rather like their debut album, Up All Night (the rebels! I’m reminded of The Young Ones and Cliff Richard’s Comic Relief single Livin’ Doll, where Rik says: “”Hey kids, stop snogging and pay attention to me. ‘Cause if you’re a wild-eyed loner standing at the gates of Oblivion, hitch a ride with us. ‘Cause we’re on the last freedom moped out of Nowhere City, and we haven’t even told our parents what time we’ll be back!”) from which this is lifted.
Oh go on then, here you go:
4. Duran Duran – Notorious
I wasn’t particularly fond of this when it came out. I mean, it’s no Planet Earth, Girls on Film or Hungry Like the Wolf, is it? But it popped up on shuffle the other day, and I’ve re-evaluated it. It’s not that bad, is it? Sure, it’s from when their popularity was perhaps on the wane a little, but at least it’s not one of those bloody awful cover versions they released a whole album of.
5. The Power Station – Some Like It Hot
Or double Duran, Duran Duran Duran Duran if you prefer. For whilst Duran took a hiatus in the mid-80s, and Simon le Bon and Nick Rhodes went off to release some not very memorable stuff under the name Arcadia, John Taylor and Andy Taylor went off and formed a supergroup with singer Robert Palmer and former Chic drummer Tony Thompson. And this was the result, and rather good it is too in my opinion.
Dedicated to Llŷr’s older sister and my former flat-mate and bezzy mate (who I’m appalled to realise I’ve not seen for a year, mostly due to my heath issues preventing me from getting out and about), and whose birthday it was a couple of weeks ago. She used to refer to herself as “The Future Mrs John Taylor”; I’m not sure how her current husband feels about that. Unthreatened, I’d imagine.
6. Franz Ferdinand – This Fire
Don’t worry, I’m not about to go off on a “things that are hot” theme.
7. The Rakes – 22 Grand Job
See? Nothing to do with hot things, fire, or burning, unless you happen to be one of The KLF, which you’re probably not.
8. Let’s Wrestle – We Are the Men You’ll Grow To Love Soon
This has featured on these pages before, but it’s worth a revist, because it’s truly great. How can you not love a song which contains the line: “We are the most reliable guys in the world/But we’ve got enough money to buy some G&T’s for the girls”? You can’t can you, go on admit it.
9. Supergrass – Moving
Many years ago, back in Cardiff, one night after clubbing and seeking…er…’refuge’ in The Flat of Filty, Dum-Dum asked me, apropos of nothing it seemed, who sang this. It was an unusual question, as indie pop wasn’t really his bag, but it transpired that he was doing a DJ/mixing course, and he wanted to do a dance mix of this. I furnished him with the necessary information, can’t remember if I lent or even offered to lend him my copy or not (probably not) and have no idea if he ever did the mix or what it sounded like. Dum-Dum, if you’re reading this, let me know? I’m intrigued.
10. E-Zee Posse Feat MC Kinky – Everything Starts With An ‘E’
Well, yes it does, doesn’t it? Some people would have it that this song is about drugs. Nonsense. They’ll be saying Ebeneezer Goode is about drugs next too, rather than being a perfectly innocent song about a Victorian gentleman cursed with looking like Jerry Sadowitz, as we all know it to be.
11. Basement Jaxx – Red Alert
This song will forever be etched in my brain when it made an appearance at a friend’s wedding many years ago. For entertainment, they had booked a karaoke, and I remember Hel and our friend Vicky bouncing about the tiny stage performing this.
Actually, thinking about it, maybe it was Rendez-vous. I don’t know, my memory….It’s almost like I’d had a few drinks that night (not enough to get up and sing, mind).
The wedded couple divorced a rather short time later. Nothing to do with Hel and Vicky’s performance, I’m (fairly) sure.
12. Timo Maas (featuring MC Chickaboo) – Shifter
The one that isn’t Get Down, or that jaw-dropping Muse remix he did once (I’ll dig it out sometime). Still ruddy brilliant though.
13. Billie Ray Martin – Your Loving Arms
Not to be confused with old line-dancing mullet chops Billy Ray Cyrus. This, from the former Electribe 101 frontwoman, is pure class.
14. Moby – We Are All Made Of Stars (DJ Tiesto’s Full Vocal Remix)
I’ve never been a massive fan of Moby – sure, I own a copy of Play, but it was practically against the law not to back in the late 1990s/early 2000s, when Moby and The Lightning Seeds battled it out to see who’s music could feature in the most adverts for the latest model of the Renault Espace. And perhaps he should be cancelled because of his “very disturbing” account of his relationship with Natalie Portman a few years ago (he claimed in his memoir that the two had dated, she described as being “… a much older man being creepy with me“).. But I bloody love this utterly trance-trousers banger. It contains a breakdown that is sooooooo trance, and so wonderful, it should rightly feature in my series about exactly that sort of thing, a series the total number of posts currrently stands at *checks notes* one. Ahh.
15. Faithless – We Come 1
Let’s be honest, the world seems an utterly nasty place right now. And whilst I don’t wish to get into commenting on the whole situation (C’mon Keir. How hard can it be to say you want a ceasefire?), I’ll leave it to the much missed pacifist Faithless frontman Maxi Jazz to comment from beyond the grave thus: “Would it not be madness to fight?”
More soon.
A History of Dubious Taste 