A LOOK AT BACK AT MY REVIEW OF 2006

(Originally posted on 31 December 2006)

I’ve put together a selection of some of my favourite tracks from throughout 2006 that would fit nicely onto a single CD if you were that way inclined. I’m not going to say that the final 20 are by definition the best songs of the year – I’ve hummed and hawed my way through about ten previous drafts that have seen some great tunes come and go because my mood at that particular moment had shifted. I’ll also admit that having spent a lot of the past few months looking back over old music, I’ve not listened to as much new stuff as I should have, so there will be some great songs from 2006 that I haven’t yet discovered.

But for what it’s worth……here we go:-

Track 1 : Razorlight – In The Morning (3:42)

An unashamedly populist opening number. Razorlight are a band that seem to divide people on a love/hate basis largely based on whether you think the lead singer is a twat. I think he is, but that doesn’t stop me from appreciating a fabulous pop song. But all year I’ve been trying to remember where the guitar rift is stolen from. Help me out dear readers….*

From the LP Razorlight.

(*The dear readers then came up with the answer – Coming Up, a single from 1980 by Paul McCartney)

Track 2 : The Young Knives – Here Comes The Rumour Mill (3:41)

My good friend Jacques The Kipper doesn’t get TYK. I’m quite sorry about that. I reckon they’re the latest in a fine line of English bands in the mould of The Kinks, XTC and Blur – great tunes with a bit of social commentary, often laced with wit and black humour. They’re also a very good live act.

From the LP Voices of Animals And Men

Track 3 : Albert Hammond Jr – In Transit (3:32)

A continuation of the upbeat mood.

Now the last LP by The Strokes wasn’t all that bad, but they should be kicking themselves for rejecting this track. An impressive, and consistent debut record was followed by a superb live show in venues that Albert won’t have set foot in for many a long year. For me, the most pleasant surprise of 2006.

From the LP Yours To Keep

Track 4 : Jenny Lewis & The Watson Twins – Rise Up With Fists!!! (3:38)

I first became aware of Ms Lewis when I heard the truly wonderful Potions For Foxes by Rilo Kiley some 18 months ago. Her 2006 LP features highly in most End of Year reviews in magazines and across blog-land, and deservedly so. Mrs Villain disagrees – she doesn’t go for women-led bands nor for most music with a country or folk twinge. But we still live together happily enough.

From the LP Rabbit Fur Coat

Track 5 : Gnarls Barkley – Crazy (2:58)

It was everywhere during the Summer. I didn’t take to it immediately, but it was a real grower and proof the general populace (I’m sure it spent 9 weeks at No.1 in the singles charts) sometimes pick up on things which are in the best possible taste. I thought it would fit in rather nicely on the imaginary disc at this particular point.

From the LP St Elsewhere

Track 6 : Alexi Murdoch – Song For You (4:38)

Now’s the time to drop the tempo just a little bit.

I have only just picked up on this track in the last week or so, and have hardly stopped playing it since. There’s something truly beautiful about this guy’s voice, and I’ve already pledged to make his album one of my first purchases in the new year. Gorgeous.

From the LP Time Without Consequence

Track 7 : Belle & Sebastian – Sukie In The Graveyard (3:02)

Was this from the best album in the career of B&S? The purists might go for Tigermilk, but for sheer consistency I reckon the 2006 release has been a bit of a highpoint in the band’s career. I could have gone for any one of half-a-dozen perfect pop songs from the band, but in the end went for the one that makes me most think of my home city.

From the LP The Life Pursuit

Track 8 : The Dears – Whites Only Party (3:10)

A band I didn’t know anything about until someone put a song from a previous album on a home-made compilation CD. People make Morrissey comparisons – and if you visit their website and read the regularly updated blog/diary, you’ll see that they are great fans of the great man. But I hear quite a bit of Damon Albarn in the vocals and bits of The Go-Betweens in the music. I really regret not being able to go and see them live a few months back.

From the LP Gang Of Losers

Track 9 : Lloyd Cole – Woman In A Bar (3:37)

I’ve been a big fan of Lloyd Cole for more than two decades, and it was great to see him live on stage alongside Neil Clark from the Commotions a few months back.

He was supposedly promoting his new album, but bizarrely chose to play just three or four songs from it. This was a bit of a pity, as many of the new songs match up to most of his previous solo offerings.

When you think of the number of male singer-songwriters that were set loose on the public in 2006 in the wake of the James Blunt phenomena of 2005, it’s sad that Lloyd doesn’t get decent radio and that his fan base is largely the same as it was when the Commotions were going strong.
From the LP Antidepressant

Track 10 : Arctic Monkeys – When The Sun Goes Down (3:20)

DO believe the hype. Great LP, tremendous in concert, and the follow-up singles featuring new material were every bit as excellent. Oh, and the videos were also some of the best made in 2006.

From the LP Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not

Track 11 : Jarvis Cocker – Tonite (3:56)

From the newest Sheffield Superstars, to probably the greatest talent to ever come out of the Steel City.

It was a real joy to have some new Jarvis material to listen to – he’s been missed in recent years. But in saying that, the album is a bit of a mixed-bag. When the songs are anything decent – they are truly magnificent. But there’s a couple of duff tracks as well.

I really wanted to put on the hidden or secret track – Running The World – but have made do with this great commentary on 21st century society.

From the LP The Jarvis Cocker Record

Track 12 : Morrissey – Life Is A Pigsty (7:22)

The most epic song of 2006. The LP was hugely enjoyable on its release, but strangely enough, I fear it has dated a bit over the months. This was a truly majestic live track – especially in the confines of venues with capacities of 700 as was the case in Stirling and Greenock. I’m still of the view that Morrissey, having got the critics onside once again, should give serious consideration to bowing out following the highs of the past two and a bit years. The backlash awaits – no matter how good his next record is. It’s the way of the world….

From the LP Ringleader of The Tormentors

Track 13 : Arab Strap – Dream Sequence (4:15)

It starts off with the sort of piano-playing that Chris Martin has deployed on many a Coldplay record. But please don’t let that put you off.

Another wonderfully consistent LP with not a bad track on it. Maybe they knew it was all coming to an end – or maybe Aidan wanted to release something as playful and catchy as Malcolm’s solo record of 2005 – but whatever the reason(s) it made for a fantastic 35 minutes. Again, I could have taken my pick from around half-a-dozen, but this makes it mainly because it is so un-Strap like.

From the LP The Last Romance

Track 14 : The Decemberists – Summersong (3:31)

Happiness personified. I now know they’ve been on the go for a few years, but it was only surfing around the Internet and reading various blogs that allowed me to discover this band. I’ve got a bit of catching-up to do, and getting a hold of the back catalogue is a priority in 2007.

From the LP The Crane Wife

Track 15 : The Raconteurs – Steady As She Goes (3:35)

Ah…..a great song from what was, to my ears, a hugely disappointing LP. When this was getting heavy airplay and was never off MTV2, I had great hopes for the latest project of Jack White. But…..maybe now that he’s got it out of his system he’ll go back to what he does best.

From The LP Broken Boy Soldiers

Track 16 : Bettie Serveert – Hell = Other People (3:50)

As with Track 14, my knowledge of this act is all down to the Internet. Once again, I’ve got a lot of catching-up to do, but I’m looking forward to it.

From the LP Bare Stripped Naked

Track 17 : Stuart A. Staples – That Leaving Feeling (4:02)

I was saddened to hear that Tindersticks were taking a break from recording and touring to allow the band members time to concentrate on solo projects. In my experience, that is industry-speak for the band actually calling it a day.

But this was, in some ways, a real eye-opener. I was expecting something completely different – what I got was a Tindersticks LP in all but name. And a very good one at that. I can offer no higher praise.

From the LP Leaving Songs

Track 18: Regina Spektor – That Time (2:39)

This is another album that has a lot in common with that of Jarvis Cocker – there are some brilliant songs to be found alongside others which, quite frankly, are just too self-indulgent for my liking. But having said that, there were three or four other contenders for inclusion on the compilation; I don’t think the chosen track is the best on the LP, but it fits in well at this point on the imaginary CD.

From the LP Begin To Hope

Track 19 : The View – Superstar Tradesman (3:18)

The next Arctic Monkeys? Quite possibly…..

But from what I’ve heard on record, seen on TV/video and most importantly, caught live in a very small, hot and sticky Glasgow venue, they cut the mustard. By March 2007 it will be the 2000+ capacity venues in a huge UK tour, by July they’ll be headlining some of the Festival stages, and by October, it will be the arenas. Trust Me.

From the single Superstar Tradesman

Track 20 : Jenny Owen Youngs – Fuck Was I (3:30)

We’ve all been at this particular juncture at some point in our lives – whether in relationships, in the workplace or looking back over some dodgy favourite songs from two decades back!!

This song made me smile when I first heard it – again courtesy of someone’s blog – and is the perfect ending just in case you disagree with anything I’ve written above.

From the LP Batten The Hatches

The whole thing comes in at 74 minutes and 06 seconds. Handy enough for a single CD.

———————————ENDS——————————————

2013 Update

It was only be reading other folks end of year round-ups and listening to what they were recommending did I realise that I had missed an awful lot of great stuff in 2006. I’m cringing now at opening up any compilation with the one-trick pony that was Razorlight, while my further dabblings with The Decemberists brought nothing but disappointment, And I was waaaaaaay wrong about The View……seven years on and they’re playing the same venues they did at the start of their career.

Oh well.

Associates, Aztec Camera, Baby Chaos, Ballboy, Bathers

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SINGLE (Parts 11-15)

Back on 8 October 2011, I started a series called ‘Saturday’s Scottish Single’. The aim was to feature one 45 or CD single by a Scottish singer or band with the proviso that the 45 or CD single was in the collection. I had got to Part 60-something and as far as Kid Canaveral when the rug was pulled out from under TVV.

I’ll catch up soon enough by featuring 5 at a time from the archives..

(11) Associates – 18 Carat Love Affair b/w Love Hangover : WEA 7″ (1982)

AS SEEN OVER AT THE OLD PLACE – DECEMBER 2006 (2)

I thought you might be interested in the posting which, at the time got more comments than any other. From 8th December 2006:-

MUSIC : RESPONSE

I’ve been accused in the past of being a musical snob – a charge I vehemently deny. Ok, I can’t abide manufactured crap – particularly the boy and girl bands aimed at the adolescent market or the ‘talents’ that emerge from the 21st century equivalent of ‘Opportunity Knocks.’ I also have an aversion to most wimpy blokes with acoustic guitars – and yes I am talking about the intrinsic evil that is James Blunt – and the copy-cat acts that record labels have been throwing at us throughout 2006. And just don’t get me started on heavy-metal….But it’s not all white-boy indie-music with an emphasis on the early 80s rotating on the turntable here in Villain Towers. I’ve already confessed some of my vices on other blogs and I’m not ashamed of anything in my collection – I’ll be able to provide a legitimate excuse every time. Admittedly, some of the excuses will be on the lame side. But I can sleep easily at night.

Something I saw today got me thinking about music. And the shallowness of anyone who slags off any song as ‘shite’ just because they, as a person, don’t like it, the singer or the band.

My organisation holds an annual Christmas party for around 200 young kids with physical handicaps or learning difficulties. A load of our staff get dressed up in costume as cartoon characters; we bring along all sorts of kid’s entertainers; and of course at the appropriate magical moment, Santa makes an appearance.

But the mainstay of the three or so hours that the party goes on is the disco. And believe me, song after song after song after song would normally have had me screaming in agony and racing for the nearest exit.

The thing that stopped me was the sheer joy on all of these kids’ faces. They were on the dance-floor having a real blast. Most of them needed help and support from the adults, whether it was the folk in fancy-dress or the teachers/parents/volunteers who are with these kids every day. Many of the kids were wheelchair-bound, but that didn’t stop them making their way onto the dance-floor.

Now if the DJ had spun something that I was wanting, there is no question he would have cleared the room, far less the dance-floor. He knew his audience, and he gave them exactly what they wanted. And they loved him for it.

Music is there to be enjoyed. If what you or I hear every day on the banal radio stations or on prime-time television, we can always find an alternative station, or turn on the PC and surf for a while.

But let’s not just have a go at someone else because their taste is wholly different from ours.

Here’s one that filled the dance-floor earlier today. I had to ask a colleague who and what it was and then I found it on Limewire.

mp3 : Girls Aloud : Something Kinda Oooh

It’s superb pop…….

———————————– ends —————————————–

Sadly, the archiving site which is enabling me to salvage these posts isn’t able to keep the 8 comments that were left behind. But I do recall just about all of them appreciating the sentiments I was trying to convey even if my choice of band left something to be desired.

And Limewire…..there’s a place I haven’t visited in years.

Morrissey

AS SEEN OVER AT THE OLD PLACE – DECEMBER 2006 (1)

I must have really been bitten by the blogging bug on my return from holiday as I put up 34 posts across the month of December 2008.

It began with something marking World Aids Day and ended with a my take on the music of 2006 and in-between contained all sorts of nonsense including an enthusiastic review of the last ever Arab Strap gig in Glasgow, the first of what would become many mentions of The Fall (much to the disgust of ctel who has never hidden his lack of love for Mark E Smith and his merry bunch of troubadours), the beginning of what would become a Xmas Day tradition and this the 67th posting on the blog on 17th December:-

THAT DECEMBER SPAWNED A MOZZA…

Hard to believe that I’m up to 67 postings and this is the first to feature Morrissey (aside from a sideways reference on Johnny Marr’s 43rd birthday).

I was 20 years of age and living in my first student flat in early 1983 when The Smiths came to the wider attention of the world. I simply couldn’t get enough of them, whether on record, in session on Radio 1, in print (there were 4 weekly music papers in the UK at that time), in concert or on television.

My love of the band was driven more by Johnny’s tunes than Steven’s lyrics, but in fairness, they were a perfect combination. So when the break-up came in 1987, I was not as interested in the singer’s solo career as most other fans of the band. Indeed, with an early version of his solo backing band containing everyone from The Smiths bar Johnny, I was pretty pissed-off about the beak-up, and was I stubbornly determined not to pay too much attention to him.

But as time when on, I got more and more interested in Morrissey’s solo output, simply because he was releasing some cracking songs. In saying that, there were still a number of pretty poor records being committed to vinyl or CD. What turned me into a fully-fledged fan however, was the live experience and getting along to the first major solo tour 1991 to a stunning gig at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall.

I’ve been along to see him on numerous occasions since – usually along with Mrs Villain. Even when he was releasing poorly received records, I still tried to always get along when he was in town. That changed after an absolute stinker of a gig at the Barrowlands in 1999 – the choice of set was self-indulgent, the security was over-zealous and the band played as if they were Guns’n’Roses with all sorts of guitar and drum solos. A very disheartening experience.

So I didn’t bother trying hard to get tickets for his 2002 tour. The reviews of those gigs were mixed – and given that he had no recording contract, or even the prospect of signing any deal, I assume I had seen the last of Morrissey.

But his return to form over the past three years has been something to behold.

Irish Blood, English Heart as a single was an astonishing return to form. You Are The Quarry had brilliant tunes and lyrics and an overall consistency that I didn’t think he had in him. Morrissey was back, and I fell in love with him all over again.

I was very very lucky to pick up two standing tickets for his birthday gig at the M.E.N. in 2004 and it remains one of the most intense and euphoric live experiences that myself and Mrs Villain have ever enjoyed.

I’ve since managed to see him in a number of small venues in Paisley, Stirling and Greenock – and thoroughly enjoyed every one of them. But given that I’ve now been spoiled in getting up close at gigs, I chose not to go to the cavernous SECC the other week – and going by the reaction of a few folk I’ve spoken to since, it seems it was a good decision. Not only was the sound quality poor, but the performance was at best, perfunctory with little interaction with the audience.

I reckon that Morrissey is now at another crossroads in his career.

His last two albums have been among the best in his career.

But he has never yet made three good albums in a row. The novelty of playing live again with a new band seems to have worn off, and a severe critical backlash is due. He’s also now in his late 40s, and what else has got to prove? I don’t know if there will be a new record in 2007 or 2008.

And at this moment in time, I don’t really care. I personally think he should call it a day and go out on a high……we can then look back on a largely magnificent career without it being soured by a lack of quality at the end. But I’m sure there’s many out there who disagree.

Here’s a few tracks from the solo career that I’ve particularly enjoyed:-

mp3 : Morrissey – Girl Least Likely To
mp3 : Morrissey – Disappointed
mp3 : Morrissey – Now My Heart Is Full
mp3 : Morrissey – Satan Rejected My Soul

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2013 Update

Since I typed those words, Morrissey has released just the one new studio LP – Years of Refusal in 2009 (so I was right when I said I didn’t think he would release anything in 07 or 08) . This LP wasn’t as well received as his 2004 and 2006 efforts. There’s been yet another best-of compilation but the flame has been kept burning, certainly here in the UK, by imaginative tours that have taken him to lovely Town Halls and old concert venues in the most unlikely of places rarely visited by an other pop stars.

Having said that, he has let down many fans in the USA and South America with tours that have ended very early on due to continuous ill-health and lots of folk have been left badly out-of-pocket trying repeatedly to see him on stage with no success.

Morrissey stands at a similar crossroads as that of 2006. No record deal and nothing imminent. There’s new material out there as he’s aired things at his live gigs which haven’t yet been put down for release, but being honest, none of it has jumped out as being superior to what he’s give us before.

However, he has repeatedly, throughout the length of a career than is now in excess of 30 years, pulled off surprise after surprise, and on that basis something will likely happen over the next 18 months which will leave us all with our jaws hitting the floor. That long-promised autobiography??

Maximo Park

TURNING 50 HAS BEEN A BLAST

Those of you familiar with the nonsense posted on the old blog will be all too aware that I turned 50 years of age a couple of months back. It’s an event that I’ve marked in a number of ways, including a couple of firsts such as a trip to see El Clasico and a short break with Mrs V to Berlin.

Tomorrow marks the start of a trip that has been a year in the planning and the one geared towards the centrepiece of the birthday celebrations. I’m off again to Toronto….

My love for the city began six years ago when I went to work there for a number of months on a secondment. I met loads of great people and I’ve kept in touch with them ever since. I’ve been back very briefly just the once but this time it is planned to be a bit special. I’ll be taking off from Glasgow in the company of my dear friends Jacques the Kipper and Aldo and we will be joined in Canada by my young brother SC who is flying up from his home in Florida. Over the weekend, we are taking in baseball and football with the best seats in the house(s) and meeting up with a crowd of the boys I used to work with for some drinking, eating and sightseeing. Come Monday morning, I set out on a 10-day golfing holiday in Canada, all of which has been put together by friends based over there and which promises to be memorable. All told, I’m away for more than 2 weeks…..and I can’t wait.

T(n) VV won’t quite be put into cold storage but what I am going to do is a series of posts looking back at the historical stuff on the old blog as well as the efforts to try and catch-up with the Saturday singles series. I hope you’ll find enough of interest to keep dropping by while I’m away…..if possible I will pop in every now again and respond if there’s any comments left behind.

I’m hoping also that I will get to catch some live music while I’m away. Toronto was the scene of a number of great gigs in 2008, none more so than seeing Maximo Park play a blinding gig at a venue around one-fifth of the size they were then selling out back home in the UK. Seems appropriate today to feature some of the material played that night:-

mp3 : Maximo Park – Graffiti

mp3 : Maximo Park – Apply Some Pressure

mp3 : Maximo Park – Going Missing

mp3 : Maximo Park – Books From Boxes

mp3 : Maximo Park – Girls Who Play Guitars

Enjoy!!

Department S

IS VIC THERE?

Department S were a short-lived post-punk band from London.

They formed from an outfit called Guns For Hire who began as an imaginary band – one that existed only in the form of badges and posters and hype in some papers. Eventually, with that joke beginning to backfire (i.e. hipsters extolling their virtues and abilities), those involved did pick up instruments and learn to play. A record was released and gigs were played – and to the amazement of all concerned the reviews were almost universally positive.

Deciding it was time to get serious, the band changed name to Department S and decided to have a go at become famous and rich. A deal was inked with Demon Records and debut single Is Vic There? was released in December 1980. The band was being talked about as the next big thing by the likes of Paul Weller, all on the basis of a stand-out debut single which was re-released a few months into 1981 when it climbed the UK singles chart all the way to #22.

mp3 : Department S – Is Vic There?

Just the other week I got my hands on a good quality vinyl copy of the 1980 release. The b-side was a cover of a T-Rex song:-

mp3 : Department S – Solid Gold Easy Action

Listening to the b-side you get an idea of why the band never did anything memorable beyond the debut single – where the a-side was a classic, the b-side is a clunker and betrays all too easily their joke beginnings just a few months previously.

History records that Department S would release two subsequent singles in 1981 and while a debut LP would be recorded it would be unreleased for more than 20 years, an event that wouldn’t be experienced by Vaughan Toulouse, the man who supplied the distinctive vocals, as he died of an AIDS-related illness as long ago as 1991.

Not withstanding there might not have been much more to them, Is Vic There? remains one of the most unique and catchy singles of the new wave era and still sounds wonderful more than 30 years on.

Enjoy!!

Duran Duran, Specials

A POLITICAL PROTEST SONG (2)

Many many thanks to those of you who responded to the request to submit your favourite political song. I will get round to posting all of them over the coming weeks but felt this is the one that should start things off. Here’s the e-mail:-

Hello over there JC.

Glad to see T(n)VV on WordPress. (I am a WordPress expert so if you
ever have q's let me know).
I looked at seeing if there was a way of extracting the archive of
TVV, even after deletion, but sadly there wasn't.
Luckily there's the wayback machine.

I'm dropping you a line about your latest post though.
A few months back I created a cousin to F&M called Politics and Music:
http://politicsandmusicblog.wordpress.com/

I got bored of it very quickly though.

I would like if more than five people read it so I wondered if you'll
post the first entry from P&M, which isn't really about a political
protest song, it is more at a look at how the political protest song
is viewed.

If you don't like this one please feel free not to use it - or if you
want to post one of the other two articles on P&M.
Either or I'm not bothered. It's your gig and you decide.

Cheers,
Webbie.

I’ve always been someone who values the contributions to my blog(s) whether in the shape of comments or guest postings, so how could I refuse Webbie…..indeed all of his articles on P&M will appear here in due course although of course I’m hoping may of you will follow the link over there in advance. Here’s the first article:-

———–starts————————————————-

I am an 80′s throwback. Born in the mid 60′s but the period when music began to resonate with me was from 1981 onwards. Why that particular year ? I don’t know. On Top Of The Pops everybody was having fun, having a party. I wanted to be invited.

It was also around this period that I was only a year away from the harsh reality of Thatcher’s Britain – No parties, just the dole. But watching these bands on the telly, in their bright colourful clothes, with the ballons, with the streamers. It took you away from the grey world outside.

At that time I was living in Liverpool. Only a few months before with my best mate Walter, we sat on some steps and watched the Railto burn.

As mentioned I wasn’t long for the unemployment line and soon became one of the 3 & half million signing on. Things were grim. Strikes, picket lines and where I lived – the riots. Switch on the TV, take your mind away…

The country was unhappy. Toxteth I witnessed. There was also Brixton and more.

History is slowly beginning to repeat itself with the Tory government (yes I know coalition but the Lib Dems are just puppets) with benefit cuts, cuts to the NHS, high unemployment and recession once again. An unpopular leader leading the country down another dark path.

These days there are many outlets to express our anger and frustration about the Tories, so the outrage is spread out and looks thin on the ground. Back then it was more concentrated. There were only four TV channels and everybody watching them. It was actually easier for some to get there word out. To vent their feelings, to raise those issues.

Music can reflect what people are thinking and feeling. The musicians like the rest of us suffered unemployment and then wrote about it. The most famous example in 1981 was The Specials with Ghost Town. A perfect reflection on the state of things. It captured the mood perfectly.

mp3 : The Specials – Ghost Town

The Specials obviously weren’t the first with social commentary. This has been going on every since popular music began. But to me it seemed that in the earlier part of the 1980′s there was an increase in these type of songs.
There was easily enough material for the songwriters. Thatcher and her battles with everybody. The dockers, miners, steelworkers… even the unemployed. Lots of misery and poverty around but also the open, raw capitalist greed.

Many bands attempted to raise awareness of fascism, racism, politics and the constant threat of a nuclear war. Even the established and well loved artist Paul McCartney sang about giving Ireland back to the Irish. But the single (as you will see from that link) was subsequently banned. Other acts such The Police and yes, even Spandau Ballet also sang about that always touchy subject.

Every time a musical act does a take on one of these issues though, they are criticised. How dare these pop stars talk about politics. They should mind their own business.

The argument is always there whether they should get involved or stay out of it. The thing is that sometimes it works and sometimes not. There are a few instances when it became a force for good – such as with Band Aid and the eventual Live Aid concert. But sometimes the song becomes a bit of an embarrassment. The chart pop stars of the 80′s addressing a current plight somewhere. Their smooth, popular image then dented when they cry about war. It’s like a stand up comedian suddenly stopping midway through his act to do a slideshow on the African famine. Sometimes an uncomfortable act for us to witness.

A sample of potential embarrassment was with this line in a song, which was met with much derision when first heard:

“Don’t say you’re easy on me, you’re about as easy as a nuclear war…”

It was a throw away line, with the original message of the song not about a holocaust, but of relationships.
The rest of the lyrics in the verse before that line:

“People stare and cross the road from me
And jungle drums they all clear the way for me
Can you read my mind, can you see in the snow
And fiery demons all dance when you walk through that door”

Jungle drumming, snow visions, mind reading and to top it off – the demons:

mp3 : Duran Duran – Is There Something I Should Know

The line is remembered and brought much unwanted attention to Duran Duran. A fan misheard the lyric and wrote to Simon Le Bon to ask what “you bad azizi” meant.

This inspired them to create an experimental B side for a single released in 1990:

mp3 : Duran Duran – Yo Bad Azizi

From a potentially embarrassing lyric – another song. But they still didn’t compose this about the actual event of a nuclear war. It was just a riff on a letter they received. And as far as I’m aware Duran Duran have never done any protest songs, have never tried to raise awareness for the rainforests or poverty… or anything like that. Correct me if I’m wrong though.

Webbie, 9 January 2013

——————–ends————————

Note from JC

Webbie’s original posting linked to stuff on you tube instead of mp3s. Given that you tube is owned by Google, who are also the owners of Blogger from which the original TVV was unceremoniously removed, readers will hopefully understand why I wont be posting you tube content at the new place.

Gorillaz

A FINE SONG FOR SUNDAYS

This popped up on shuffle the other day and I thought to myself that it makes for a great tune to slowly get your day in gear…one when you have no need to rush out of bed and race down to the railway station in a state of dishevelment.

And seeing Sunday is a day for lazing (although I’ve got to get myself round to the golf course for a competition that starts this side of 8am), I’ve decided to cut’n’paste from the first time the song got featured at the old place, but given that was five years ago I’m hoping most of you will have forgotten by now.

One night back in late 2000, while suffering from insomnia, I caught a glimpse of a cartoon video of on MTV. It must have been around 3am or something. My ears immediately picked up on a great tune and what sounded awfully like the vocals of Damon Albarn. But quite clearly, this was not anything by Blur.

Unusually, no information on the video came up at the end. But I was determined to track it down. By pure chance, I was in a favourite record shop in Glasgow a couple of days later and amidst my browsing, I saw something which had a title that was awfully like the mystery track.

So, I asked the guys in the shop to let me hear it. And I was right. So I bought it, and waited on it becoming a massive hit. But nothing happened. And just when I thought Gorillaz was simply going to be a one-off single, other stuff came out maybe four or five months later, and they did go on to become a worldwide phenomena.

But in my view, they have never bettered this:-

mp3 : Gorillaz – Tomorrow Comes Today

That was the only song I shoved up in September 2008 so to bring it up to date, here’s what else was on the CD single:-

mp3 : Gorillaz – Rock The House

mp3 : Gorillaz – Latin Simone

mp3 : Gorillaz – 12D3

Enjoy!!

Altered Images, Apple Scruffs, April Showers, Arab Strap, Armoury Show

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SINGLE (Parts 6-10)

I’ll catch up soon enough by featuring 5 at a time from the archives..

(6) Altered Images : I Could Be Happy b/w Insects : Epic 7″ (1981)

“HONESTLY, I ALWAYS KNEW IT WAS A CLASSIC…”

In November 1988, FAC 220 was unveiled to the world and just about every review in the UK weeklies and monthlies panned it. Fourteen months later, it was high-up on all the lists of ‘Best Album of the 80s’ in the same publications….a classic example of why you should make your own mind up about music and not just go with what’s being written or said by the influential commentators.

It’s no real surprise though that Bummed got such a poor reception and not just because it was quite different from anything else which had come beforehand and there weren’t many reference points to go by. There was a bit of a backlash at the time against Factory Records and some were getting fed up of with the never-ending proclamations from Tony Wilson. So when he said that Shaun Ryder was a poet who deserved to be looked upon in the same light as Keats and that Happy Mondays, along with a number of other Manchester bands, were making something distinctive and history-making that would see a perfect marriage of club and indie music, those in the media, particularly in London, just sneered.

I’m not going to make any huge claims on Bummed being one of the best records ever – after all it didn’t find its way into the recent Top 50 albums rundown over at TVV – but there are some songs on it which remain staggeringly brilliant more than a quarter of a century on. Particularly this:-

mp3 : Happy Mondays – Wrote For Luck

Years after helping to make stars of Joy Division and New Order, the production genius of Martin Hannett comes to the fore as he throws the kitchen sink at the songs and proves that sometimes the drugs do work….and yet it was a couple of cleaner, less murky remixes which gave birth to Madchester as prophesied by Tony Wilson:-

mp3 : Happy Mondays – W.F.L. (the Vince Clark Mix)

mp3 : Happy Mondays – W.F.L. – Think About The Future (the Paul Oakenfold Mix)

As available on the single FACD 232.

Club classics both of them to go alongside the original version which surely has a place on every indie-disco playlist.

Enjoy!!

Adventure Babies

AS SEEN OVER AT THE OLD PLACE – NOVEMBER 2006

Another nostalgia-fest making use of the ability to access an archiving service and pick and recall what was written on the old blog.

I was still all over the place in November 2006 and with there being fewer posts that the previous month there might have been a sense that I was giving up a bit. But it turns out I was away on holiday for much of the month and it was a time before I knew how to pre-date posts which meant they were written there and then as they were posted.

1 November : Marc Almond (3.39pm)

2 November : The Wedding Present (12.28am) and AKA The Fox (8.04pm)

3 November : Jock’n’Roll : Part 1 – The Trash Can Sinatras, Belle & Sebastian, Bronski Beat and Primal Scream (5.16pm)

4 November : Jock’n’Roll : Part 2 – Sons & Daughters, Cocteau Twins, The Skids and Malcolm Middleton (11.11pm)

5 November : Jock’n’Roll : Part 3 – Arab Strap, Associates. Simple Minds, Aztec Camera (4.08pm)

6 November : Jock’n’Roll : Part 4 – Friends Again, Bronski Beat, Associates and Foil (8.10am)

7 November : Jock’n’Roll : Part 5 – Bourgie Bourgie, St Jude’s Infirmary and Orange Juice (6.41pm)

8 November : Nick Cave/Grinderman (7.50am)

9 November : The Young Knives (1.24pm)

10 November : HOLIDAY SONGS feat ; Orange Juice/Albert Hammond Jr/The Pixies (6.15pm)

26 November : HOLIDAY POSTCARD : Belle & Sebastian (10,35pm)

27 November : A LOOK AT OTHER BLOGS feat : Elvis Costello & The Attractions (2.02pm)

28 November : Albert Hammond Jr (gig review) (7.44pm)

29 November : The Adventure Babies (7.27pm)

30 November : Martin Stephenson & The Daintees (12.14pm)

30 November (bonus post) : Neverending White Lights (9.23pm)

Couple of things worth recalling….

The Jock’n’Roll series was notable as it was the first use of a guest contribution in which there was a rundown of my Top 10 Scottish singles as well as those of my great mate Jacques The Kipper. Turned out that we both had Smalltown Boy by Bronski Beat in our rundown (mine at #9, his at #4) while we both had an Orange Juice song at #1 – mine’s was Felicity while JtK went for Blueboy.

The post looking at other blogs gave namechecks to ten other places of which only one, To Die By Your Side, is still functioning of its own accord although there’s very few postings nowadays. It shows just how unusual it was for TVV to keep going so long.

Having said that, a couple of the other blogs mentioned have been superseded by fresh works – Mike Melville now files under ‘Manic Pop Thrills’ whereas back in the day it was ‘Magic, Murder, Mania & Manta Rays’ – while Comrade Colin had already killed off ‘Let’s Kiss And Make Up’ by the time I wrote the post and nowadays you’ll find his own style of musings at ‘And Before The First Kiss’.

Here’s the post and tune from 29 November:-

It’s been a while since I went into the cupboard to find something rare to share with you. After all, that was the original intention behind the blog before I got a bit carried away.

I’m feeling a bit low and miserable just now, so it’s a cheery little tune. Hope it finds favour with y’all.

mp3 : The Adventure Babies – Camper Van

Hard to believe that this is on Factory Records. It’s from 1991 – FAC 319.

If anyone can supply any detailed info on the band, please feel free to get in touch.

And from 30 November:-

This is all thanks to Lisa at ‘Copy, Right? who earlier today gave access to yet another obscure but immense song on her fantastic blog.

mp3 : Neverending White Lights ft Nick Hexum – Age of Consent

Takes a brilliant NO track and makes it sound like a completely different NO track – Your Silent Face anyone??

I’ve picked those two tracks out as they’re still, all these years later, rarely featured on blogs. In those days I didn’t post b-sides if the feature was an obscure a-side. So to bring it fully up to date :-

mp3 : The Adventure Babies – Barking Mad

mp3 : The Adventure Babies – Lifetime At The Sink

mp3 : The Adventure Babies – Long Night Narrow Boat

Enjoy!!!