A GUEST POSTING BY FLIMFLAMFAN
I’d like to suggest Spiritualized’s version of Anyway That You Want Me 12” extended mix.
mp3: Spiritualized – Anyway That You Want Me (12″ extended mix)
I don’t know why a decision was made, if one was made at all, to combine Any and Way as one word for this version? Prior to this version, my absolute version was by The Troggs. On hearing this version, however, The Troggs were knocked swiftly to the number 2 spot.
mp3: The Troggs – Any Way That You Want Me
One of my abiding, happy memories of the song, circa 1990, is going to work on the bus – I worked nights at the time and was (and remain) a stickler for arriving on time. There I was at the back of the downstairs, 41 bus, volume to max on my Walkman (or derivative thereof), and lost to the bustling Friday night world outside. So lost was I to Anyway That You Want Me that I missed my stop – Cathedral Street at John Street – and only realising my misjudgment when the bus pulled in at its terminus at the Odeon cinema some 4 stops ahead.
Despite being able to recollect running like hell through the throng of Friday night revellers, back towards John Street, I can’t recall if I was late or not?
It’s a moment I think of fondly; lost in a space where only I and the music seemed to exist – if even for a short time – a feeling that I doubt I could describe without seeming like an absolute arse.
I’m guessing that others may have had similar experiences with other songs on other modes of transport?
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 
One of the greatest records ever made. Tremendous choice.
Brilliant story, wonderfully recounted. I’ve burned plenty of
meals thanks to being engrossed in a song or two.
Same for me in 1995, listening to One of the three, Laid by James in the walkman ; boy of 24 walking in the streets of Rouen in France. November. The day is grey, it’s cold. On my way to see a friend. All melt in one spirit : me, music, new town, friend, youth… Just like a child who play a game : there is no past, no future. Eternity for common people like me.
I’ve written before about how sometimes I get so engrossed in music that I forget where I am, to the extent that fellow passengers on the train were occasionally treated to me breaking into dance….it only happened when the train wasn’t too busy as it’d be an impossible task during the commuting rush hours!
As with Strangeways, it’s more common in Villain Towers that shoving on an album leads to me forgetting that is earlier put something in the oven (dangerous) or that I’d previously poured a cup of tea that was now cold (annoying). In fact, that happened a few days back when a Half Man Half Biscuit CD (CSI Ambleside) that I hadn’t played in years got me engrossed.
It’s a great single, but I’ve always felt they based it more on the Evie Sands version rather than the Troggs original. Give it a listen and see what you think.