Well, here’s funny. For some reason, WordPress decided not to save and publish the final, finished post yesterday, and instead farmed out an old, initial draft, with different words and songs in a different order. Sorry about that. Below is what should have been published yesterday. (Llŷr would have pretended to be mildly offended at this cock-up, but would actually have been pissing himself at me messing up on what is potentially a global stage. Laugh it up, dude)
Today would’ve been Llŷr’s birthday, and, given our shared love of compiling mix tapes and CDs, and the oh-so-many he prepared for me, it seems only right and appropriate that tonight’s mix is dedicated to him. It’s what he would have wanted.
No sleeve notes this week, as I’ve written about all of these songs before, with a couple of exceptions. I should stress that Llŷr did not like all of tonight’s tracks (only, maybe, 98.9% of them), but all of them remind me of him in one way or another, and have featured before on these pages. If you want to understand why I’ve included a particular song, then you can scroll through the Be Llŷrious series via the drop down to the left and find the back story.
The only two exceptions are the obligatory Super Furry Animals track; I’ve included one which hasn’t featured before, but, if memory serves, Llŷr told me was his favourite tune by them, in a field of many, so lawd only knows how I’ve managed to swerve posting it before.
The second is the Gene song which kicks things off; shortly after he passed I referenced this tune in my eulogy to Llŷr, but posted a different song, for reasons which I hope will become obvious. Now, five years on, it seems right to post it. Llŷr’s younger sister and uber-Gene fan Siân will know them both, of course.
As for the running order: it amuses me to stick songs next to each other which have no right to be neighbours. Hence Cliff Richard living next door to Surfer Rosa-era Pixies just tickled me.
One last bit of admin: you’ll spot that Track 16 is by Goldie Lookin’ Chain. It not only contains a huge amount of effing and jeffing, it is also incredibly filthy, so I need to slap one of these on here:
Ok, let’s go: 90 minutes of Llŷriousness. By the time you all read this, I’ll have raised several glasses (Jez-measures, of course), in his memory. Feel free to join me, whenever you read/listen to this:
See? I’m a man of my word, back again, with another spankingly good mix for you to get yer lug ‘oles round.
There are sleeve notes this week, but unless I can think of something hilarious, brilliant, pertinent or informative for every tune featured (which I really haven’t managed this time out), take it as read that there won’t be any more. Although I may resurrect them every now and again (hey, it is Easter after all).
And so my quest for the perfect record to kick off a Friday Night mix continues…this would be perfect, were it not about going out and being cool, which, if you’re actually listening to this on a Friday night, you’re not, just like me.
2. Everything Everything – Distant Past
My buddy Tim is often banging on about this lot on Twitter (seriously, does anyone actually call it X? Thought not), so this is for him.
3. Erasure – Victim Of Love
The first single by this lot that I bought. Yes, primarily bought to stick on a mixtape to entertain the 6th Form common room, but unlike others bought for the same reason (I’m looking at you, Bruce Willis and your cover of Under the Boardwalk), bought loving it.
4. Elvis Costello – (What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love & Understanding
Speaking of loving it, if this isn’t my favourite Costello single, then it’s right up there, despite it not having beem written by the great man himself. Take a bow, Mr Nick Lowe.
So why do I love it so much? I reckon you can blame Bill Murray for doing it at karaoke in Lost in Translation.
5. Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger & The Trinity – Save Me (Parts 1 & 2)
Not had any Northern Soul for a while, so this more than makes up for it, I think
6. Definition Of Sound – Wear Your Love Like Heaven
Oh, c’mon, you knew I’d drop this next, right?
7. The Velvelettes – These Things Will Keep Me Loving You
And back to a Northern Soul belter.
8. Gabriella Cilmi – Sweet About Me
I mentioned earworms at the weekend, songs which you suddenly find yourself humming or singing apparently unprompted. This is another of my recent ones.
Back in 2008, on the back of this single, for a brief nano-second, everyone thought Aussie Gabrielle was going to be a huge star. She seemed sassy, cool, sexy, and had a video which highlighted these characteristics, even if it did take the “the world’s a better place when it’s upside down, boy” lyric a little too literally:
If memory serves, even that *coughs* style guru Liam Gallagher was a fan.
And then we heard her album, realised she only had this one catchy tune, and promptly ignored her forever.
9. Courtney Barnett – Elevator Operator
Craving an alternative cool and contempory antipodean female artist? Courtney’s what you’re looking for.
10. Sheryl Crow – All I Wanna Do
This is just…such a great record…Not only catchy country-tinged rock, but those lyrics really paint a picture like nothing else she has done since (although there are many other great tunes in her back catalogue).
11. Simon & Garfunkel – The Boxer
Back in my 6th form days, and throughout my college years (and for a year after I graduated) I earned myself some pennies working in a Happy Eater roadside restaurant. For the first few years this was at Sawtry (South), and I would usually get a lift to and from work with the manager, Jane.
Jane was a couple of years older than me, in fact she’d been in the same school year as my brother. He won’t remember this, he steadfastly refuses to remember anyone who wasn’t in a dodgy non-band with him, or a goth or a punk, like what he was. Jane and I found that we shared similar musical tastes, enjoyed singing along to a tune or two as she drove us to-and-from work, and if we had done the late shift, we would often end up at hers, where the three of us – me, her and her fiance, Andrew – would have a few wind-down beers, play a few records, and have a bit of a sing-song. Thinking about it, it’s probably when the seed of what you’re reading now was planted.
On occasions, we’d go to her friend Kathy’s house, where much the same would happen. We’d plunder her parents’ record collection (predominantly Simon & Garfunkel, The Carpenters, that kind of thing) and we’d take it in turns to pick one to play, and then we’d drunkenly sing-a-long. This was a favourite end-of-nighter.
All together now: “LI-LA-LI! LI-LA-LI-LI-LI-LA-LI!”
Happy times.
12. R.E.M. – Radio Free Europe (Original Hib-Tone Single)
This doesn’t need any explanation, does it? The birth of one of the greatest, most interesting (college) rock bands.
12. LCD Soundsystem – Daft Punk Is Playing At My House
If I was being super-predictable, I’d play some Daft Punk next. But I’m not, so I won’t. Instead, this bleak little bastard:
13. Joy Division – She’s Lost Control
Again, no explanation required, you all know how important and influential this lot were.
14. Hot Chip – Over and Over
Rounding things off this week with a much more upbeat tune, even if it is a snarling response to criticism of their previous releases having been “laid back”. Which would be fine, had they released anything quite as un-laid back since (*awaits Comments directing me to a particular Hot Chip tune which isn’t laid back, of which there are many*).
He was a buddy of someone who lived in the same village as I did, and he was cajoled into making an appearance at the village fete.
I remember nothing about meeting him, other than that I think I missed the Borg v McEnroe Wimbledon final (on TV, I didn’t have tickets) to shake his hand.
For those of you wondering who the hell I’m banging on about: Dolenz was the drummer in prototype boy-band The Monkees. He also did lead vocals on one of their most well-known songs: I’m a Believer.
Way back then, The Monkees had a TV show which was often repeated on the BBC, and which featured the band getting into all sorts of ridiculous scrapes.
I mention this because Dolenz has released an EP of R.E.M. covers. Four reinterpreted songs: Shiny Happy People, Radio Free Europe, Man in the Moon and Leaving New York.
And yes, you’re right, this has all the hallmarks of being an utterly disaster.
But it’s not.
Now I love R.E.M. but I also love Micky Dolenz, not least because he was the first celebrity I ever met, even if I can’t remember anything about it, other than that it happened. Maybe I should have annoyed him so much that he called me a Cheeky Monkee.
But. Which is better: Micky Dolenz or R.E.M.?
There’s only one way to find out:
OK, I can’t organise that.
Dolenz does a pretty good job of adding something to all of them, and even manages to make Shiny Happy People listenable again.
Here’s his take on Leaving New York, which I won’t describe as being the worst of the four covers, but it’s the least good of them all, and it’s still pretty darn good.
On this day in 1969, man first walked on the moon (if you believe what The Man tells you).
Nobody biting? No? Good. Then at least I know idiots aren’t reading this.
If, however, you are one of those conspiracy theory nutters, then here’s Stephen Fry and the QI panel to address some of the more common queries:
If Stephen Fry says they happened, then they happened. “Thou Shall not question Stephen Fry”, to quote Scroobius Pip.
Anyway, Mr Fry started that clips with the question: “Would you believe that they put a man on the moon?” which leads me to today’s tune, by the curiously named !!! (pronounced Chk Chk Chk, don’t you know) and this little beauty, which you can find on their 2022 Let It Be Blue album (which isn’t a title I can totally get on board with, to be honest: Velvet? A classic bit of Lynch film-making; Politically? Not so much (in the UK, anyway); Movies? Totally fine).
So after (almost) a week off, I was going to do a mix of stuff I saw (on TV) at Glastonbury last weekend, but I figured there’s probably more who didn’t attend the Mother of All Festivals may read this than did, and you’re probably as sick of hearing how amazing it was from those who were lucky enough to be there as I am, so instead I looked around to see what was happening in the world, and realised that next week it’s 4th July, a day of great signifigance to our special relationship (but not when striking up trade deals – can’t say we weren’t warned, eh?) buddies over the Atlantic.
So, I figured I’d do a mix to celebrate all things American. Well, almost all things. I mean, I’m not about to celebrate the emboldening of the far right, or the next/latest mass shooting. Nosireebob, as our Yankee friends say (possibly). Rather, tonight we’ll be celebrating (almost) all things American and musical.
Unfortunately the old Gregorian calendar hasn’t seen fit to let this fall on a Friday this year, preferring to plop it down on Tuesday, right in the middle between Fridays. The question is: Friday before, or Friday after?
There’s only one way to find out:
No, of course not. The answer is obviously the Friday before, or it will seem like an afterthought and, moreover, can’t be played by either person who wants to listen to it on the big day.
And don’t worry: I’m not going to resort to lazy stereotypes by making cheap jokes about Americans being stupid and obese, because that simply isn’t true (obese means fat, by the way), in the same way that all French folk aren’t cheese easting surrender-monkeys who wear berets, stripey jumpers nor do they have onions permanently draped around their necks; English folks don’t all wear bowler hats, speak like they have a plum in their mouth and are definitely not sexually repressed (I wear a titfer, don’t you know); Germans don’t…ah, let’s not, eh?
So no jokes of that nature here. This is a celebration.
And here’s your tracklisting and yes, I’ve actually bothered with sleevenotes this week:
John Mellencamp – R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.
“Hello? Is that Trading Standards? I’d like to report a rock star purporting to be a camp melon, and he is clearly neither.”
I love this record. Genuinely, I do. It tells how musicians in the 50s and 60s rose up to create modern music as we know it now. It also contains a roll-call of American artists (“There was Frankie Lyman, Bobby Fuller, Mitch Ryder (They were rockin’)/Jackie Wilson-Shangra-Las-Young Rascals (They were rockin’)/Spotlight on Martha Reeves, Let’s don’t forget James Brown”) and this simplified narrowing down my extremely long list of acts who should be in this mix, as all those named are now immediately precluded from appearing later in this playlist, because as any mix-tape/playlist maker worth their salt knows, the same artist cannot appear twice in the same mix/playlist. So, cheers Mr Camp-Melons, you just made this a whole lot easier!
2. Bangles – Hazy Shade of Winter
The easiest way to include as many American artists as possible in this just-shy-of-an-hour mix, in which it is of course impossible to include everything, was to include a few US acts covering other US acts. And so here we are with the Bangles frankly breath-taking romp through Simon & Garfunkel’s tune.
Oh, and as is compulsory round these parts: *sighs* oh, Susanna! Still looking great in her *checks notes* sixties (!). I’m 53. Perhaps she’d enjoy a younger man, even if it is one riddled with a skin complaint and arthritis. Don’t knock it til you’ve tried it. Ready and waiting if required Susanna!
3. The Black Crowes – Hard to Handle
More cover version shenanigans with this Otis Redding tune given the Southern Rock work out. They never sounded as good as they do here again.
4. The Long Ryders – Looking For Lewis And Clark
Before I knew anything much about American history, I’d always assumed this was about the DC Comics alter-ego of Superman and his sort-of girlfriend, deliberately mis-spelt to avoid copyright issues. I was wrong, of course. The titular Lewis & Clark are in fact Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, best known for the Corps of Discovery, an expedition from the Mississippi River to the West Coast and back, between May 1804 and September 1806. Look it up yourself if you want to know more, what am I, your teacher?
5. The Georgia Satellites – Battleship Chains
Tune. That is all.
6. The Hooters – Satellite
An excellent satirical swipe at the evangelical right and all they promise in return for as large a donation as you can possibly afford. And if you can’t afford, send it anyway. God will love you more. As will their pockets.
Incidentally, despite much research, I’ve not been able to establish if this lot are called The Hooters because they all have big noses, or comical car horns, or all used to work in a bar where tight-fitting t-shirts are the uniform (so I’m told). Probably none of the above, if I’m honest.
7. The Rainmakers – Let My People Go-Go
More (anti) biblical stuff here. My love of this record is well-documented (on these pages), so I’ll not wang on about how great it is this time out. (It is though.)
8. Rick Springfield – Jessie’s Girl
For my money, one of the finest forbidden/unrequited rock songs ever. So there.
9. The Strokes – New York City Cops
This isn’t on the US version of 2001’s debut album Is This It?, replaced with the far-inferior track When It Started on the American CD edition following the September 11 attacks due to its lyrics regarding the New York City Police Department. Attacking heroes does not lead to a long career.
10. Nirvana – On A Plain
This lot should be massive, and will be as long as the lead singer and songwriter doesn’t do anything stupid, like shoot his own face off after releasing the band’s Difficult Third Album.
Seriously though, were it not for this band then Dave Grohl wouldn’t have had as much fun at Glastonbury as he clearly did, so…y’know….little victories….
11. R.E.M. – Little America
You didn’t really think I’d get through a playlist of America’s finest without featuring this lot, did you? As with many of Stipe’s early lyrics, I’ve no idea what he’s singing about, but I assume from the title it’s a swipe at some of his fellow countryfolk.
12. The B-52s – Roam
The follow-up to the absolutely massive world-wide smasheroo Love Shack, and nowhere near as massive commercially, is still much loved around Dubious Towers. Suck it up.
13. Bruce Springsteen – Thunder Road
Mr Blue Collar himself, included because a) is there an act more representative of the average American? and b) to please long-term reader George, who *coughs* is a massive fan of Brooce’s work….
14. Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood – Summer Wine
Had I not done an emergency post last weekend about Lana Del Rey, then she would have featured here. Instead, something by the woman who has clearly been a massive influence (she’s even covered this one).
15. Pearl Jam – Daughter
Pearl Jam in not-posted-immedately-after-Nirvana-tune shocker!
Forgive me, something about posting a song which contains the words “Don’t call me daughter” immediately after a song by the daughter of one of the most famous Americans ever tickled me somehow.
16. The Go-Go’s – Our Lips Are Sealed
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: this record, co-penned by Go-Go Jane Weidlin and Special Terry Hall, is one of the greatest pop singles ever. Period.
17. Aretha Franklin – I Say A Little Prayer
Speaking of The Greatest: Aretha is the greatest singer ever to grace this world. Right? (Right!)
Long time readers may recall that when I first started preparing and posting these mixes, they were considerably longer than the round-about-an-hour ones I do now.
The change to shorter mixes came about after Swiss Adam of Bagging Area fame diplomatically suggested the mixes were too long, people don’t have time to engage for five or six hours at a time, and I think he was absolutely spot-on.
So, you’ll recall I revisited the previous mixes split them down and spiced them up a bit, making them shorter and closer to the requisite 60 minute mark. The only exception was Volume 3, which was posted on Christmas Day 2020, the covid Christmas that never was; I resolutely refused to include any Christmas songs at all in it, hence it being titled “Friday Night No Christmas Music Club”. I’ve never returned to split this one down, as it doesn’t really represent where we are today. Also, I don’t think any of us, particularly those who lost loved ones due to covid, want to be reminded of those days. I’ll never revisit that one, and have deleted the mix from my hard drive so that I can’t. In fact, unless anyone downloaded it from Soundcloud, it doesn’t exist anymore.
Anyway, whilst I was on hiatus, I was tidying up my iTunes and realised that I hadn’t revisted and broken down Vol 5. And so that’s what I’ll be posting for the next four weeks: Vol 5 split into 4 hour-long mixes, the running orders tweaked, some tunes dropped, and a whole load more added to make each one into a round-a-bout 60 minute mix.
So, this time around, 15 songs, one cover version, it’s a little bit 80s, a little bit rock, a little bit 90s and – brace yourself – at least three that were released after the year 2000.
Strap yourselves in for another trip down memory lane, and off we go:
Here’s the tracklisting (which I didn’t include first time around) and, if I can think of anything interesting or amusing to say about them between now (Monday) and Friday, sleevenotes too:
R.E.M. – Daysleeper
David Bowie – Oh! You Pretty Things
Johnny Cash – The Man Comes Around
Madonna – Like A Prayer (Remix)
Beats International – Dub Be Good To Me
Chaka Khan – I Feel For You
Black Grape – Reverend Black Grape
The Chemical Brothers – The Darkness That You Fear
The Darkness – One Way Ticket
AC/DC – It’ s A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock’ N’ Roll)
Kiss – I Was Made for Lovin’ You
Puffy AmiYumi – Call Me What You Like
Ash – Does Your Mother Know?
The Vaccines – If You Wanna
Arctic Monkeys – Teddy Picker
(Nope. Couldn’t think of anything interesting or amusing. Yellow cards to anyone who makes any “nothing new there” type comments.)
And, as promised/threatened (delete as applicable), we’re back with one of my self-proclaimed ‘eclectic’ mixes.
This one clocks is at just shy of 90 minutes, as opposed to the usual 60-ish, which is partly to celebrate the return of the mix, but also as a reference to an NHS employee I encountered when I had my recent consultant with a rheumatologist.
As this was my first visit, I had to have the usual checks (height, weight, blood pressure) and as I entered the examination room the chap about to perform these tasks (he did introduce himself, but I’m terrible with names) commented that he liked my t-shirt.
I was wearing one which was a homage to the retro, and had depictions of nine cassette tapes on it. This one, in fact:
I pretended I wasn’t absolutely delighted to have someone commend my sartorial taste.
“Thanks,” I replied, “but you realise you’re showing your age, right?”
So, anonymous NHS chap, this mix is designed to fit on a C90 in your honour. Yes, I’d rather you had a decent pay rise too, but sadly that is beyond my control.
Anyway, since this mix includes a bit of actual mixing, it’s admin/disclaimer time: any shonky mixes are down to me; any skips or jumps are down to the mixing software or the uploading process; all song choices are mine.
And here’s your track listing, complete with sleeve notes:
Spinal Tap – Tonight I’m Gonna Rock You Tonight
Regulars will know that I like to kick these mixes off with a pace-setter, and this week I was torn between four different tunes. Unable to decide which to use, I’ve included all of them. I was, as you will have gathered from the image at the top of this post, unable to resist starting proceedings with something from one of the funniest films ever made (and I don’t mean Big Momma’s House).
2. Led Zeppelin – Rock and Roll
Second song which could’ve been the opener. Since this is the first mix I’ve posted since October, the “been a long time” lyric seemed too appropriate to ignore
3. The Jim Jones Revue – High Horse
Whatever happened to this lot? Like Jerry Lee Lewis meets the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, this is fecking great.
4. The Vines – Ride
Potential opener number 3. Instead: consider it an invitation.
5. Ride – Like a Daydream
I couldn’t resist the theme. Sue me. Also: I was there Part 1. The video for this was filmed at That London’s ULU, and I was there. Sort of. A story for another day, I think (if I haven’t written about it before, that is…)
6. Helen Love – Power On the Music
Potential opener number 4. Helen Love are ace, even better now they’ve moved on from their original obsession with Joey Ramone to release a swathe of top-notch indie-pop records (not that the Ramone-fixated years weren’t also great). This little beauty is simply a call to play music loudly, and contains one of the few Super Furry Animals samples that I’m aware of.
7. The Lovely Eggs – Don’t Look at Me (I Don’t Like It)
Short of some decent insults? There’s loads in this absolute belter. Lovely stuff.
8. Fatboy Slim – Right Here, Right Now
At the time of writing, there’s a documentary on Sky/NOWTV which covers the events of July 13 2002, when Fatboy Slim threw Big Beach Boutique II, a free entry gig on Brighton beach which was expected to attract around 60,000 people, but which actually found the seaside town over-run by closer to 250,000. One of whom was me (I was there Part 2). I’ll be writing about it when the time is appropriate (i.e. come the 21st anniversary later this year…).
9. U2 – Even Better Than The Real Thing (Perfecto Mix)
Look, I know it’s not the done thing to like U2, and I would certainly not consider myself a fan. But, as the saying goes, even a stopped clock is right twice a day. It’s possible to think that this remix is great, but retain the belief that Bono is a prick. Lose the sunglasses, mate, you’re not Edgar Davids.
Edgar Davids: Not Bono.
10. The Tamperer feat. Maya – Feel It
Some dumb but great pop from 1998. At the time this was riding high in the charts, I was working at Boots the Chemist in Cardiff, and remember going to local dodgy night-spot Zeus with some of the store’s weekend staff – students, predominantly – and trying to explain to one them that the riff this is based on is a Jacksons sample. She didn’t know the original, nor who The Jacksons were for that matter, and I’ve rarely felt older until I just looked up the date when this came out.
11. Tim Deluxe (Feat. Sam Obernik) – It Just Won’t Do
Fatboy’s opening tune from the aforementioned Big Beach Boutique II gig and an absolute “choon”.
12. Danny Tenaglia + Celeda – Music Is The Answer
In the words of Frank Sidebottom: “You know it is, it really is.”
13. The Prodigy – Breathe
It’s really hard to overstate just how massive The Prodg were way back then, but perhaps this best explains it: in 1998 (two years after this was released) I visited some friends in Nottingham and, as is the law there, we ended up at Rock City, where the DJ broke two golden rules: 1) he played two tunes by the same artists in the same set, and 2) he played them right next to each other, Firestarter followed immediately by this. Rather than point out his faux pas, I danced my legs down to the knees, as did pretty much every one else there that night.
14. Oceanic – Insanity (99 Radio Edit)
Still a tune. Whilst I’ve been off work, I’ve watched all the Top of the Pops recaps of the years on the BBC iPlayer, and the two members of Oceanic continue to argue to this day as to whose idea it was to include the key change in this. Doubtless, Louis Walsh will step in and claim credit at some point.
15. The Osmonds – Crazy Horses
I was DJing once, opening slot (so I could get home on public transport) when the chap following on from me decided to guide me through the records he had brought and especially drew my attention to an Osmonds Greatest Hits album he had in his record satchel.
“Do you know what I’ll be playing off of this, Jez?” he asked.
I gave him my best “do-you-know-who-you’re-talking-to?” look and replied innocently: “Love Me For a Reason?”. Twat.
16. Billy Bragg & Wilco – Hoodoo Voodoo
If I could find a clip of Vic & Bob performing their voodoo song – “Do you do voodoo?” – then I’d include it here, but I can’t so….tough.
17. El Goodo – Feel So Good
Apparently, I’ve met at least some of this lot, friends of friends, who have made the mistake of making themselves incredibly hard to find via a Google search, given that their name is derived from a very wonderful tune by icons-to-cool-indie-kids Big Star.
18. Django Django – Default
You can tell it’s getting near the end when all I can think of to say is that this is great. Next!
19. Cracker – Movie Star
Because your Friday night wouldn’t be complete without a song about a decapitated celebrity, right?
20. The Dandy Warhols – Bohemian Like You
Okay, so I know it’s an obvious pick from this band’s back catalogue, and also it was used in *shudders* an advert back in the day, but, at the risk of sounding patronising, I figured a tune most of you will know was needed. My apologies if I’ve underestimated you. This reminds me of dancing in a packed Cardiff’s Barfly with my buddies Llŷr, Mike, Vicky, and the two Claires. Happy days.
21. The Stylistics – Can’t Give You Anything (But My Love)
I’ve had this in my brain for ages, a forgotten 70s classic. It’s another beauty, which probably would have sounded pretty great next to The Tamperer, but it’s getting late and I can’t be arsed with redoing the whole mix. Here is just fine.
22. The Divine Comedy – Everybody Knows (Except You)
And so we fade further into end-of-night sing-a-long territory. Probably my favourite Hannon composition (although, to be fair, that changes fairy regularly).
23. The Lemonheads – Bit Part
More sing-a-long stuff which, I’ll be honest, has been squeezed in for no other reason than I realised I had room.
24. Baby Bird – Goodnight
Night BB, thank you for not singing You’re Gorgeous. And that’s it, right?
25. R.E.M. – Afterhours
Wrong. I flim-flammed between this and The Velvet Underground’s original (and indeed We Are Scientists identically-named belter) as the final tune, before ultimately plumping for Stipe & Co’s rather shambolic version, deciding the applause to wrap things up was egotistically appropriate, if ill-deserved on my part. This is lifted from a rip of the band’s Tourfilm video which showed them on the tour to promote the Green album back in 1989 – the first time I ever saw them (at the Newport Centre, support from the Blue Aeroplanes), and to this day my favourite gig I ever went to. With thanks and much love to the much missed The Power of Independent Trucking blog for providing.
Now I’m off to put my hands, fingers and wrists in ice to recover.
It’s Friday night (at least it is here in the UK), and not just any old Friday night. Nosireebob. This Friday night is the best type of Friday night: the type that kicks off a Bank Holiday weekend. Hoorah! No! Work! Til! Tuesday!
So here’s your weekly 60 minutes or so of tunes curated and mixed by yours truly into some semblance of a coherent playlist. As is often the case, it’s a slow burner at the start, before we get into some tunes that should make you want to dance and/or sing, before we have a little break so you can have a nice sit down for a bit before we’re up and at ’em again for the last few choices.
So, with the usual apologies for a couple of skips and jumps which happened either during the recording or uploading process, let’s get your weekend started:
Look out, here comes your tracklisting (complete with sleeve notes):
I’ve been on a bit of a Paul Fab-Macca-Wacky-Thumbs-Aloft McCartney trip since his headlining slot at Glastonbury this year, so I thought this, from “the band The Beatles could have been”, would be quite a nice way to kick things off this week:
Wings – Let ‘Em In
This is one I’ve been meaning to have as an opening track on one of these for a while, simply because the title fits the mood of things. And also because of Simon’s unintentionally hilarious, trying to sound hip, description of him popping “outside to smoke myself a J”. Oh, you are outrageous, Paul!
2. Paul Simon – Late in the Evening
There’s no Bowie this week, so I figured a bit of T. Rex would be the next best thing. I try to avoid posting the obvious, famous ones when I’m doing these playlists, but sometimes it the obvious, famous ones which are just screaming out to be included. I couldn’t resist:
3. T. Rex – Get It On
There’s no Bowie this week, so I figured a bit of Suede would be the next best thing.
4. Suede – The Drowners
There’s no Bowie this week, so…oh wait, that doesn’t work with this one. Bring on the lovely Ms Wener and her Sleeperblokes!
5. Sleeper – Nice Guy Eddie
I wanted to pick the tempo up a bit more here, and the Kaisers doing their standard “Woah! Woooah! Woooooaaaaaaah! Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooah!” routine seemed as good a way as any:
6. Kaiser Chiefs – I Predict a Riot
Contrary to popular belief, Kula Shaker didn’t just release ropey singles. When they weren’t referencing Hinduism or dropping covers of Deep Purple singles, they managed to release at least one decent one:
7. Kula Shaker – Hey Dude
There’s no effin’ & jeffin’ warning on this week’s playlist, but let’s be honest, genius that he was, can we ever be sure exactly what Mark E. Smith was singing all the time? Sacrilege, I know, I know. Chances are we’re on safe ground here, though, with this blistering cover of an old Tommy Blake number:
8. The Fall – F-‘oldin’ Money
If I ever had to name a band that had single-handedly introduced me to the most other bands, then it would be The Wedding Present, via their dazzling array of cover versions. This one cropped up on as an extra track on their 1994 single Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah, and it’s easy to see – and hear – what drew Mr Gedge to it:
9. Paul Revere & The Raiders – Him Or Me – What’s It Gonna Be?
This next one is included purely because the intro to it reminded me of the Paul Revere tune, although now I listen to them both, I’m really not sure why:
10. The Monkees – Last Train to Clarksville
I had the pleasure of catching this next lot at Glastonbury back in 2010, playing in the Acoustic Tent (I think); there was only about 15 people there to see what was a blistering set, which was fine for us as there was more room to wig out in; it was probably a little disheartening for the band to have to play to such depleted numbers though.
In the context of this mix, this is a bridging song, by which I mean one which links nicely with what follows, as I slow things down for a bit. The fact that it has the word “Train” in the title is entirely coincidental, a theme is not about to emerge:
11. The Woodentops – Love Train
There’s no effin’ & jeffin’ warning on this week’s playlist, but you should ensure any minors’ eyes are averted from the saucy old name of this band. Time to put your feet up and have a breather for a bit:
12. Starfucker – Rawnald Gregory Erickson the Second
I’m genuinely surprised when I hear that this R.E.M. track isn’t universally loved. Sure, it’s from the first post-Bill Berry album Up, which is patchy at best, but I think this is a rare moment of beauty from the band’s late period of ever decreasing circles and diminishing rewards:
13. R.E.M. – Suspicion
Ok, I’ll admit it. There’s another reason I picked that R.E.M. tune: for some reason which I can’t quite fathom, it pleased me greatly to have that song title next to this one. Maybe it’s because it then echoes Supernatural Superserious, the lead single from their Accelerate album. I dunno. Maybe. Does it matter?
Anyway, should you ever you get chance, check out some of the footage of Stevie playing this one when it was released back in 1972; he looks as cool as cool can be:
14. Stevie Wonder – Superstition
We’re on to the home straight now, and Stevie acts as the first part of a pair of Seventies classics used to book-end a couple of belters from the Eighties. No further notes required, I think:
15. New Order – True Faith
16. Pet Shop Boys – Heart
17. The Jackson 5 – I Want You Back
That’s yer lot til next Friday, although all of the previous mixes should be available to download should you need a long varied soundtrack for your Bank Holiday weekend BBQs. Fill your boots.
It’s fairly well documented round these parts that I bloody love R.E.M., but even I will concede that after Bill Berry left, there’s very little of any merit in the remaining albums they put out.
I struggle to recognise the titles on some of them. Sometimes one comes up on shuffle and whilst I recognise it as being R.E.M. – Stipe’s vocals were distinctive until the end, even if his lyrics weren’t – but I have no clue which album it might be on. At a push, I could probably name the singles from each, but I wouldn’t want to make it my specialised subject on Mastermind (I have made my peace with the fact that I will never appear as a contestant on Celebrity Mastermind).
So imagine my surprise when one such song came upon shuffle the other night, and I found myself thinking: That’s not so bad, really. Granted, it’s no Country Feedback (but what is??), but still, y’know, okay, even if that is in the context of their latter career with it’s diminishing returns?
Here’s three words I never thought I’d type: Dubstar are back!
You remember Dubstar, right? Had a couple of successful Britpop-era electronica pop records: Stars, Everywhere, Not So Manic Now and a really rather great cover of Billy Bragg’s St Swithin’s Day? Yes, that Dubstar.
When I say they’re back, they actually resurfaced in 2018, released an album called One which totally passed me by.
But now they’re back! Back! BACK! with a new album of mostly new material called Two.
I’m always a little wary of bands returning: I genuinely can’t think of a single band who has reformed and released records of the same standard as they did first time around. Don’t give me Take That as an answer, I’ll be dealing with them some other time.
I’ve not really given Two anything more than a cursory listen yet – it sounds just fine on first listen – so I may be wrong and this is the triumphant return one hopes for.
But it does include, as a final track, a cover version which is a pretty bold selection:
I have many different versions of R.E.M. performing that Bill Berry composition live, but on most of them something is not quite right – either Stipe’s lead vocal or Mike Mills’ backing vocal is just a little bit off.
This is the best the version I have, recorded for VH1’s Storytellers show, after Berry had left. Not only is it pretty much perfect, it includes Stipe saying “Hi Bill!” towards the end, an acknowledgement of the songsmith on this one:
A History of Dubious Taste 