Apologies for the absence of any posts for the past week or so; I had a case of ‘can’t-be-arsed’, a lethargy descending which often happens to me during the winter months, a little later this year than most. Thanks for the kind messages enquiring about my well-being, they were massively appreciated. Rest assured, all is as well as can be expected – is anyone ever 100% happy….?
So on to business, and a new mix for you all to cherish/enjoy/ignore as you see fit, and with the benefit of hindsight I guess I can say that the somewhat gloomy start (and end) to this one can probably be explained by my mood at the time that I did it. Still, fear not: it does pick up for the most part, so bear with it.
Still, one of the things I like doing with these mixes is putting songs by very different acts together, tunes which on the face of it shouldn’t work when placed alongside each other, but somehow, surprisingly, do: this week, Metallica become neighbours with Kate Bush, which sounds like a recipe for an ASBO, a planning permission dispute, or at the very least the plot for a great sitcom (“Lars, that mad woman from next door’s cat is shitting in our garden again!”).
And a word of warning: I’ve put together a couple of these whilst I was AWOL, and there’s a recurring feature on them, which started a couple of mixes ago to remarkably little outrage, so I figured I’d carry on: a MOR tune given a new lease of life by an uplifting, banging dance mix, which on this occasion I immediately spoil by rounding things of with something great but despairing. Sorry, I couldn’t resist the circularity of starting and ending with Nothing.
Also this week: two great (IMO) covers, one lifted from the great Alvin Lives (in Leeds): Anti Poll Tax Trax, a 1990 compilation containing prominent indie bands of the day covering mostly 70s tunes, with the intention of raising funds for those campaigning against what was a very unpopular piece of government legislation way back then. (You can read a much more detailed review of the album over in a post dating back to 2014 over at JC’s ever-inspirational The (new) Vinyl Villain here; the links may have expired, but I’m sure were you to ask JC he’d happily re-up them, or if there’s one mentioned that piques your interest, let me know and I’ll find a way to post it myself).
All I would add is that the Poll Tax inspired more than just a protest album: there were marches, riots, and eventually it was axed (the legislation, not the album), which shows the power of the people. It was replaced by the Council Tax, which as we all know is a hugely popular substitute, as I’m sure anyone who has recently received their bill for 2024/5 will attest. Me, well I’m delighted to see mine increase by 6.1%, including a 200% increase in the charge for “CPCA Mayoral Precept”. I think delighted is the word I’m searching for, anyway….
I’m not going to go off on a political rant – not just yet, anyway; instead, let’s crack on, shall we?
Friday Night Music Club Vol 51
And here’s your sleeve note-free tracklisting:
- Metallica – Nothing Else Matters
- Kate Bush – The Man With The Child In His Eyes
- The Left Banke – Walk Away Renee
- Billy Bragg – Walk Away Renee
- The Box Tops – The Letter
- Squeeze – Another Nail For My Heart
- Dr Feelgood – Roxette
- Gomez – Get Myself Arrested
- The Siddeleys – Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)
- The Specials – Rudy, A Message To You
- George Ezra – Budapest
- Editors – Munich
- Girls Aloud – The Show
- Groove Armada – Superstylin’
- Bruce Hornsby & The Range – The Way It Is (Brothers In Rhythm Mix)
- Del Amitri – Nothing Ever Happens
More soon.
A History of Dubious Taste 