Let me take you back 12 months to this posting on 2 June 2017.
I don’t have a music blog of my own but I gather I have something in common with JC and the regular contributors that do: Like you lot I was always the guy people asked to make mix tapes (and, later, playlists) for parties, trips, birthdays, etc.
One of the categories that people liked very much was called Charged Particles. These consisted of songs with one word titles ending with ION. That was the only thing they had in common. Turns out there are tons of them; I’ve got nearly 200 in my iTunes library and they always seem to combine interestingly. I mentioned doing something with the list when I met JC in Manchester and he said, ‘Ask me, I won’t say no, how could I?’
My thinking was that he could plug in a charged particle post when he was away or busy or couldn’t be bothered that day to put up a new one. The posts would be short and sweet and let the music do the talking. JC liked the idea okay and correctly guessed the songs I had in mine for the first one.
And here it is. Remember the only guideline is a single word ending in ion. Can it end in ‘ionS’? No, so no ‘Complications’ by Killing Joke. Does it count if you cram a bunch of words together like ‘StationtoStation’? Nope. How about if the word is preceded or followed by a phrase in parentheses? No, not that either. (Unless I feel like it.) Hyphens? Sure, why not.
JONNY THE FRIENDLY LAWYER
There were sixteen Friendly Particles features in 2017, appearing on a regular basis between June and October. They were great fun to do….not a lot of words were used but some great songs featured, linked in a way to others in ways that hadn’t seemed obvious, with the common factour being the all-important -ion ending in the title. And gthe series was illustrated with the handiwork of Sam, the Friendly Artist.
The good news is that Jonny’s back for another summer season. Here’s the first contribution:-
The Fall
No one’s over the loss of Mark E. Smith, and I don’t suspect we will be anytime soon. Flipping through my iTunes library I found these four, but with the Fall’s catalog there are doubtless many more. Feel free to remind me.
Mansion – from This Nation’s Saving Grace
Reformation! – from Reformation Post TLC
Dedication – from Wise Ol’ Man
Repetition – from Bingo-Master’s Break-Out!
If you’re not allowed Proteinprotection, then I would say those 4 are it!
Here’s Jonny!
When I saw this one I immediately thought two things…Great to see Charged Particles back and how Dedication Not Medication from 2015’s fantastic Sub-Lingual Tablet sort of broke the rules in a great way…