Category: #800 songs

Everything is wonderful, being here is heavenly????

#720 : Danny Wilson – Mary’s Prayer

When your debut single goes Top 3, as this did back in April 1988 (albeit at the third time of asking) you’ve got to believe the upper echelons of the sky will be your limit.  Sadly, for the Dundee-based trio, only one further Top 20 hit was achieved before the split in 1993.  Lead singer and chief songwriter Gary Clark has forged a decent career out of penning tunes for others.

#719: Cats On Fire – Draw In The Reins

I have tried soooooo hard over the years on TVV to drum up interest in this rather wonderful indie-band from Finland. There’s even been two separate ICAs – #314 in May 2022 and #374 in July 2024.  Most of my efforts have been met with great indifference.  Oh well…….

#718: Fountains of Wayne – Radiation Vibe

American indie-rock can be a bit hit’n’miss, but Marc Goldstein’s guest ICA (#393 in August 2025) highlighted just how Fountains of Wayne, from New York City, write songs which lean on many British traits, and in particular how they specialise in 3 or 4 minute vignettes about the real lives of recognizable types of people, with humour and catchy melodies.  I’ve long been very fond of this, their debut single from back in March 1997 which peaked at #32 in the UK charts.

#717: Grant Lee Buffalo – America Snoring

Grant Lee Buffalo come from the other side of the states, being a Los Angeles band.  Their sound leans more towards the Americana side of things, with 12-string acoustic guitars often to the fore, while the lyrics often look quite critically at life in their home country.  ‘America Snoring’ dates from 1993 and is something of a politically motivated protest song, with references also to the band’s dismay with the LA riots of 1992.

#716: Jilted John – Jilted John

Time for a handbrake turn.  Back in 1978, the then 18-year-old drama student Graham Fellows wrote and recorded a memorable tale of teen angst, rejection and confrontation. It became an instant classic….and went on to sell more than half a million copies.  The bona-fide punk bands who were trying so hard to get any sort of chart success must have looked on in frustration.

#715: Graham Fellows – Love At The Hacienda

In 1985, Graham Fellows recorded ‘Love At The Hacienda’, an LP of songs that were mostly about mid-20s angst, rejection and confrontation.   It should have become an instant classic, but despite great reviews, it sold poorly.  It was out of print for decades until Firestation Records over in Hamburg repressed it in 2020.  I made sure I grabbed myself a copy.

#714: Missy Elliot – Get Ur Freak On

This is probably Missy Elliot’s best-known tune, and to quote wiki “It is based on heavy bhangra elements, and  features a six-note base that is a Punjabi melody played on a tumbi, and rhythm and bassline played on tabla” It also has a memorable promo video. It reached #4 in April 2001 – I’m stunned that it was quarter-of-a-century ago.

#713: Pretenders – Kid

This will always be my favourite 45 of all those that Chrissie & co ever put down on vinyl. It spent seven weeks on the chart in July and August 1979, but never got higher than #33. Should have got to #1. It’s a far better song than ‘Brass In Pocket’

#712: Bluetones – Slight Return

When I was scrolling through the songs on the laptop looking to select the final 800, there were a few instances of me thinking ‘Oh, I forgot about that one – haven’t heard it in ages’.  ‘Slight Return’ suffers from me having it as a CD single as I rarely play them in contrast to those i have on vinyl.   Britpop did deliver more than it’s share of monstrosities, but this isn’t one of them.  Reached #2 in January 1996.

#711: The Spook School – I Only Dance When I Want To

From Edinburgh, The Spook School were a band much championed by good friend Aldo. He must have seen them dozens of times when they were around between 2012 and 2019.  They have been perfectly described as playing a brand of indie pop that combines the hookiness of C-86 bands like Shop Assistants with the punky energy of  Buzzcocks, then adding lyrics that deal passionately with sexuality and gender. This one can be found on their third and final LP ‘Could It Be Different?’ (2018).

#710: The Ukranians – Batyar

They grew from being a side project of The Wedding Present to form their own clear and distinct identity primarily under the stewardship of Peter Solowka and Len Wiggins.  In 1993, the band went into the studio to record an EP of Smiths covers as imagined in the style of Ukrainian folk music.  The results were marvellous.

#709: Young Marble Giants – Eating Noddemix

Minimalist but very effective post-punk music from Cardiff, the capital city of Wales.  For a band whose entire output was one album and two EPs between February 1980 and March 1981, they have influenced many who have followed over the decades.  I finally got to see them in 2014 when they reformed for a bro+ief time and played a handful of gigs, including one in Glasgow.

#708: S’Express – Theme From S’Express

At the other end of the scale, a tune that has everything on it, including the kitchen sink.  A #1 hit in May 1988, made up entirely of samples.  Fourteen of them all told.

#707: Nas – N.Y. State of Mind

This one has just the five samples, but it also has an astonishing lyric highlighting and celebrating parts of New York City the tourists never see or experience.  It is one of many very fine tracks on Nas’s debut album Illmatic, released in 1994 but bizarrely was never officially released as a single

#7o6: Daft Punk – Da Funk

Kind of staying in NYC given that the unforgettable promo video, directed by the genius we know as Spike Jonze, was set in the city and also kind of reflects on the side that the tourists never see or experience.  Daft Punk would later record bigger-selling singles, but I don’t think they ever bettered this from 1995.

#705: The Beta Band – She’s The One

It was so difficult to settle on just one song from The Beta Band.  In the end, SWC, in effect, chose this one, From his ICA, #60, in February 2016:-

“She’s the One is the sweetest, most smile inducing and best song the Beta Band ever made. After all this is a simple song, that chant…which gains more power with each repetition, that takes your focus so much that the climax almost burst out of nowhere. A brilliant way to spend eight and a half minutes.”

#704: Miaow – When It All Come Down

From February 1987.  It’s on Factory Records with the catalogue number FAC 179.  Pure indie-pop with a tip of the hat to 60s girl/harmony groups.  An absolute joy of a 45.

#703: Elastica – Waking Up

If it wasn’t for the fact that so many of their best songs, including this single from February 1995, were total rip-offs, then Elastica would have certainly made the Top 120.

#702: The Stranglers – No More Heroes

If it wasn’t for the fact that a different band took this 1977 hit and then turned the tune into something even more special (and danceable!), then The Stranglers would certainly have made the Top 120.

The truth is that both missed out by narrow margins.

#701: The Suede Crocodiles – Stop The Rain

Glasgow in 1983 was a great place and time to be a music fan.  The city was awash with young musicians making fabulous jangly-guitar based music, much of which has been greatly celebrated on TVV over the decades and much of which will appear in this rundown, including a few in the Top 120.  This was named as ‘Single of The Week’ in both the NME and Melody Maker.  But it didn’t get much airplay outside of Glasgow and failed to chart.

#700: Depeche Mode – Personal Jesus

There’s not been too much on Depeche Mode on TVV over the past 20 years, and that’s down to me not really liking that much of their output.  But it would be churlish to leave them out of this rundown, and so I’ve gone for the one I probably know best of all, and that’s largely down to Johnny Cash covering it many years later.

#699: Album Club – Make No Bets

Album Club are a loose collective of creative people assembled from other bands, along with novelists, actors, journalists and various artsy Glasgow types. Thus far, there’s been one eponymous album, released on Last Night From Glasgow back in 2022, full of low-key narratives that knit together in a rather lovely way.

#698: Dee-Lite – Groove Is In The Heart

A song title that could, as a phrase, be applied to the Album Club record.  This is another that might seem out of kilter with your typical TVV offerings, but is an undoubted pop/dance classic. I’d have placed good money on it having been a #1 hit back in the day, but it was denied the top spot in September 1990 by a truly awful offering from The Steve Miller Band.

#697: Vulture Party – New Humans

I think it would be fair to say TVV has tried to shine a light on singers and bands from Scotland, especially those whose records maybe don’t sell too much beyond their immediate environs. Vulture Party, from Falkirk,  have made two very interesting albums of ‘disquieting alt-pop for the socially conscious’. This was the song with which they introduced themselves to the world back in 2020.

#696: The Thrills – One Horse Town

If you’re feeling a bit low, then perhaps a chirpy upbeat pop song is what’s needed to put a smile on your face.  This one always works for me. A #18 hit in March 2003.

#695: Siouxsie & The Banshees – Spellbound (12″)

So many Banshee songs to consider.  In the end, I went for one of those on which John McGeoch weaved his magic. This distinctive and unworldly sounding single should have been much more successful than a #22 hit in June 1981.

#694: Goldfrapp – Strict Machine

Just the one major specific appearance for Goldfrapp on the blog over the past 20 years, courtesy of Swedish Herring Accident’s guest ICA (#203 in January 2019).  The previously mentioned Alexis Petridis, writing in the Guardian in April 2003, described ‘Strict Machine’ as ‘not only fantastic, but quiveringly sexy to boot’  And he’s right.

#693: Monaco – What Do You Want From Me?

This is, by a long way, the finest solo outing from Peter Hook.  It was a real and pleasant surprise that he chose to make music sounding more like a New Order record than anything else he had ever done before via his other side-projects, and it went all the way to #11 back in February 1997.

#692: Jane Wiedlen – Rush Hour

Placed here deliberately as I reckon it would sit perfectly on a mix tape immediately after the above song by Monaco.  Can’t deny the production very much places it in the late 80s, but that is very much all part of its poptastic charm and magnificence.

#691: Kid Creole & The Coconuts – Annie, I’m Not Your Daddy

I’m still in mixtape mode.  Shut Up and Dance.

#690: Breakfast Muff – R U A Feminist

Breakfast Muff were a hugely entertaining pop-punk trio from Glasgow who left us with just one album, released in 2017.  It contained 13 bouncing and boisterous tracks across just 25 minutes. As the band said, this one’s about sexuality, feminism and feelings, delivered with an all-round giant dose of fun.

#689: Cameo – Word Up

This one is all about the testosterone. And codpieces.  Top of The Pops, September 1986.  The complaints came flying in afterwards.

#688: Baz Luhrmann – Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen)

With every passing day, my body more and more reminds me that I am not the indestructible force I once believed I was.  For example, I can no longer dance like the Cameo boys.

#687: It’s Immaterial – Driving Away From Home (Jim’s Tune)

It’s Immaterial joined the ranks of one-hit wonders in 1986, when this spent 8 weeks in the UK chart, attaining the dizzy heights of #18.  There was so much more to them than that, as evidenced by ICA #299, penned by Khayem back in October 2021.

#686: Eurythmics – Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)

Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart made some of the best-selling pop music of the 80s, but that’s not to say it was always essential listening.  But before they hit payola, there were a couple of albums, the first of which sold dismally, while the second was eventually rescued by this, its fourth single, becoming an unexpected #2 hit in March 1982, kept off the top spot by one of Bonnie Tyler’s insufferable power ballads.

#685: Meat Whiplash – Don’t Slip Up

I think this might be the only entry in the 800 songs featuring the only single a band ever recorded before breaking up.  Meat Whiplash, from East Kilbride (a town with multiple entries in this rundown), were one of the first to sign to Creation Records.  Their sole single was released on September 1985 and spent five months in the UK indie singles chart.

#684: Richard Hawley – Something Is….

I really have tried. but Richard Hawley just doesn’t do it for me…..other than this one song from his 2001 album ‘Late Night Final’.  Brings back memories of the one time I saw him, as the support for Tindersticks, at a London gig back in October 2003. He opened his set with this which got me sitting up and paying attention, but he quickly lost me again.

#683: Aberfeldy – Love Is An Arrow

I don’t think too many folk will recall Aberfeldy, an indie-pop/folk combo from Edinburgh who were initially on Rough Trade Records back in the early 00s, before later signing to 17 Seconds Records, a label established by blogger and all-round good guy, Ed Jupp.  I don’t listen to them all that much these days, but I’ll always make time for this single, which actually reached #60 in February 2005.

#682: Railcard – Disco Loadout

Railcard formed in 2025 and could, with some justification, be described as an indie-pop supergroup. All four members have been in previous much-loved bands, particularly of the twee-pop genre.  Three of them are now 64 years of age!!!  Indeed, it was the realisation that they all qualified for the Senior Citizen’s Discount Card for train travel that led them to come up with the band name.

#681: T.Rex – Children Of The Revolution

Another band where I found it tough to home in on one particular song. In the end, I went for a heavier offering – a more rock than glam number.  I was nine years old when this was all over the radio stations in 1972.  I can still, just about, sing along to every word.

 

 

 

JC

Thanks so much for all your kind words and comments yesterday.  It came as a bit of a relief that folk were happy enough to plough through the lengthy post.  Just the 760 songs to come 🙂 🙂 🙂

#760 : The Assembly – Never Never

The synth-pop genius,  Vince Clarke, decided he wanted to collaborate with singers on a one-off basis under the moniker of The Assembly. First up was Feargal Sharkey, formerly of The Undertones, and this electro-ballad was a smash in the UK hitting #4 in late 1983 and showing a side to Sharkey that few imagined possible. It turned out there was no follow-up single from The Assembly, and after a one-off effort with Paul Quinn flopped, Clarke reconsidered his options and formed Erasure.

#759: Echobelly – Bellyache

The lead track on Echobelly’s debut EP, released in late 1993. And in my mind, it sounds as if a cracking Smiths tribute band (with added didgeridoo!!) was being fronted by the winner of a Debbie Harry soundalike contest.  Mesmerised me then and still does today.

#758: Frankie Goes To Hollywood – Relax

We all know it and we all have an opinion on it.  It wouldn’t have made this rundown if I disliked it.

#757: Port Sulphur – Alex Discord

A collective co-ordinated by Douglas MacIntyre of Creeping Bent Records. There’s been three ‘proper’ studio albums and a compilation of songs previously released digitally. Far too many collaborators to mention, but ‘Alex Discord’ is an eight-minute epic on which the late punk-poet Jock Scot provides lead vocals on a tune combining ‘Faith Healer’ by the Sensational Alex Harvey Band with ‘Discord’ by The Fire Engines.

#756: Rilo Kiley – Portions For Foxes

2004 single from American indie rock band fronted by Jenny Lewis.  Originally together from 1998-2013 and reformed in 2025. It might be a tad indie rock by numbers, but I do like Jenny’s voice, which is why………

#755: Jenny Lewis & The Watson Twins – Rise Up With Fists!

2006 single lifted from the first ‘solo’ album which was recorded with the Americana/indie folk twin duo of Chandra and Leigh Watson.

#754: I Am Kloot – Over My Shoulder

Manchester-based band who released six albums between 2001 and 2013. This is from ‘Gods and Monsters’ (2005), bought purely on the basis of hearing ‘Over My Shoulder’ on the radio.  Album proved to be a bit of a disappointment.

#753: Life Model – Sit Still

The PR blurb says “A 5-piece dream pop band from Glasgow who mix classic indie and pop of the likes of The Sundays and Belle and Sebastian with the noisier leanings of bands like Sonic Youth.”.   It’s a fairly good description.  From their 2021 debut album ‘Lost on Weekdays, Lonely By Sundays.’

#752: Maxine Nightingale – Right Back Where We Started From

I’d have been just 12 years old when this went Top 10 in November 1975, but it’s one that has stuck with me ever since.  I didn’t buy it back then, and I’ve only a digital copy in the collection.  When I was responsible for selecting and playing pre-match tunes for Raith Rovers FC, I aired this a few times prior to important games as we chased promotion to a higher division.

#751: The Slits – Typical Girls

I’d have been 16 years old when this came out in September 1979.  I didn’t take to it at all.  Only as I’ve grown older, and my musical tastes have developed/matured, have I been able to realise just how astonishing and ground-breaking it was. Nobody was making music like this back in the day and very few have done so since.

#750: Utah Saints – Something Good

In which a then largely unknown electronic duo take one of Kate Bush’s chamber-pop hit singles from 1985, and turn it into one of the biggest dance numbers of 1992.  Still sounds fresh and somewhat astonishing more than 30 years later.

#749: The View – Superstar Tradesman

The Dundee band’s second single, released in October 2006. It reached #15 in the charts which was actually a bit of a disappointment for all concerned as there was a confidence that it was at least destined for the Top 5.  It’s a song that was never going to change the face of pop music, but it was, and still is, great fun to listen to.

#748: Marc Riley & The Creepers – Jumper Clown

Mark Riley was sacked from The Fall in 1982 after a four-year stint. He was still just 21 years old and very ambitious, and so he started up his own band. The second ‘solo’ single grew out of what had been a previously untitled instrumental that had previously part of The Fall’s live sets.  Mark E Smith was thoroughly pissed off by it.

#747: Gloria Jones – Tainted Love

Did I know this Northern Soul number before Soft Cell covered it?  Absolutely not…..and the later discovery put a big smile on my face.

#746: Spandau Ballet – The Freeze

I did say there would be some guilty secrets among these 800 songs. I’ll stand by my long-held view that ‘Journeys To Glory’, the 1981 debut album by Spandau Ballet is one that would be held up as being a very influential synth-pop offering, if only they hadn’t made such shite MOR music later in their career.

#745: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Spread Your Love

One of my long-time favourite music critics is Alex Petrides who writes for The Guardian newspaper. He said this back in 2002 about the eponymous BRMC debut album

“… an indie album of the old school, moody and monotonous, black-clad and pointy-booted. It sounds like it lives in a dingy bedsit, really hates dance music and has trouble making conversation with girls.”

Take away the dance music reference and that was me in the mid-80s!

#744: Bananarama – Shy Boy

Some might think I’ve gone from the sublime to the ridiculous in this rundown.  Others might suggest I’ve gone from the ridiculous to the sublime. Either way, I’ll never deny my love for this hit single from 1982.

#743: Peaness – Kaizen

An all-female band from the north-west of England who I saw live when they played The Edge of The Sea festival in Brighton in 2023.  They had two albums under the belt by then (released in 2017 and 2022), but sadly, there’s been nothing since.

#742: The Corn Dollies – Shake

I’m 100% in agreement with the person who wrote, in the booklet which came with the Cherry Red Records C87 boxset that ‘Shake’ revealed a debt to Lloyd Cole & The Commotions.  It’s not just the tune….but the vocal delivery is almost as if lead singer Steve Musham was auditioning for a part on Stars In Their Eyes.

#741: Freeeze – I.O.U

Of course New Order will appear in the rundown, and they will be somewhere in the Top 120.  In the meantime, feel free to enjoy ‘I.O.U’, a #2 hit in the UK charts in June 1983, a couple of months before producer Arthur Baker took the tune and helped to deliver ‘Confusion’ directly onto the floors of NYC nightclubs.

#740: The Heart Throbs – I Wonder Why

An indie-band from the late 80s/early 90s who deserve to be looked on more fondly by history. Their story wasn’t helped by ever-changing line-ups in the rhythm section across all three of their albums.  But maybe regular TVV contributor strangeways nailed it when he suggested they were too accomplished for the indie crowd but too introvert for the rock fans.

#739: A House – Endless Art plus A House – More Endless Art

‘Endless Art’ is a song consisting of the names, birth and death dates of performing and visual artists. They’re all male.  ‘More Endless Art’  is a song consisting of the names, birth and death dates of performing and visual artists who are all female. A House are from Dublin and with the song being spoken rather than sung, that lovely lilt comes through clearly.  Edwyn Collins was in the producer’s chair.

#738: Johnny Marr – Easy Money

He’s not the greatest singer to ever grace the planet, but he’s written some of the best tunes ever to come out of a wireless set.  Yes, The Smiths will be in the Top 120.  No, the band’s lead singer will not be featuring in the rundown.  If you click here, you’ll find a blog post from 2018 which goes a long way to cementing Johnny Marr’s position as one of the really good guys.

#737: Nadine Shah – Holiday Destination

I’ve loved the last three Nadine Shah albums – ‘Holiday Destination’ (2017), ‘Kitchen Sink’ (2020) and ‘Filthy Underneath’ (2024) but I’ve never properly featured her on TVV.  The main reason being that other bloggers out there, who are far better writers than I’ll ever be, cover things best.

#736: Pale Fountains – Thank You

Another of the ‘should have been massive’ band of the early 8os.  Signed to Virgin Records in 1982, both studio albums by this Liverpool band were critically acclaimed but criminally ignored by radio stations and the record buying public. The delightful ‘Thank You’ did reach the giddy heights of #48 in November 1982. Also responsible for the album ‘From Across The Kitchen Table’ which was later adopted by Drew for his blog.  I’m not alone in wishing Drew would come of out of his self-imposed retirement.

#735: RM Hubbert – Car Song

Robert McArthur Hubbert (born 12 May 1974 in Glasgow, Scotland), commonly known as Hubby, is primarily a Scottish guitarist and occasional singer. He’s been part of the DIY indie scene in his home city since as far back as 1991. He came to some prominence in 2013 when ‘Thirteen Lost and Found’ was named Scottish Album of the Year with the accompanying prize of £20,000.  ‘Car Song’ is taken from that album,  Aidan Moffat supplies the vocal.

#734: The Rakes – Work Work Work (Pub Club Sleep)

One of the many bands to emerge when guitar-music of an indie-bent became briefly fashionable again the early 00s. Debut album, ‘Capture/Release’ is a tremendous and fun listen.  The longest offering was this, its closing track at just over four minutes, an edited version of which went to #28 in the singles chart in August 2005.

#733: The Saints – This Perfect Day

July 1977 was when this lot from Australia hit #34 in the UK singles chart.  I first heard it many years later, and was bemused that I couldn’t recall it from ’77, before realising that its release coincided with me spending six weeks on holiday in Canada over that particular summer, and it had come and gone while I was out of the country. And with no follow-up hit forthcoming, they became a band who passed me by completely.

#732: The Luxembourg Signal – Cut The Bridle

A band who came to my attention via an appearance at the Glas-Goes-Pop festival in 2023, which led me to visit the merch stand and buy ‘The Long Now’, an album dating back to 2020. It’s a genuine indie-pop classic, with ten quality tunes packed into 35 minutes which fly by all too quickly. It’s one of those records that having got to the end of Side 2, it is irresistible not to flip it over and enjoy things all over again.

#731: Seona Dancing – More To Lose (extended version)

1982/83.  Two friends by the names of Ricky Gervais and Bill Macrae formed a synth-pop duo called Seona Dancing and sign to London Records. There were just a couple of flop singles, neither of which troubled the charts. But they must have got played on the radio, as I wouldn’t have bought their debut offering on 12″ vinyl without having heard it beforehand. A copy in the condition that mine is in (Near Mint) can fetch as much as £400 on the second-hand market.

#730: Townes Van Zandt – Kathleen

The first time I heard ‘Kathleen’ was courtesy of it being a single released by Tindersticks in 1994.  I would have sworn it was an original and not a cover, as it was atypical of the Tindersticks sound of that particular era. The original, which dates from 1969, is quite brilliant.  As is the cover.

Bonus Track : Tindersticks – Kathleen

#729: Urusei Yatsura – Hello Tiger

Glasgow’s very own Urusei Yatsura are another who really should have been far more famous than they turned out to be. They were largely an out-and-out pop band with a sound  influenced by so many others….Sonic Youth in terms of the guitars….a hint of Pavement in respect of weird lyrics…..glam-rock as evidenced by the Glitter Band style chants……the buzz and feedback of the Jesus & Mary Chain…..and the delights and harmonies of Teenage Fanclub.…and yet, they somehow always seemed to make distinctive records. ‘Hello Tiger’ was the one time they almost had a big hit.  #40 in February 1998.

#728: The Rockingbirds – Jonathan Jonathan

In which a mid-90s London-based band with a penchant for Americana, released a single that sang the praises of a Boston musician whose career was inspired by The Velvet Underground.  Don’t fear….Mr Richman will feature in the rundown later on.

#727: Smog – Dress Sexy At My Funeral

Smog is the name previously used by American musician Bill Callachan – he reverted to his own name in 2007. He’s prolific – there’s been 25 albums since 1990. The twelve Smog albums were the subject of a guest ICA (#192), penned by former blogger Richard in October 2018. ‘Dress Sexy At My Funeral’ is from ‘Dongs of Sevotion’, released in 2000.  The lyric is typical of the dry humour he employs across many of his songs.

#726: Dubstar – Not So Manic Now

Britpop was mostly bands with guitars. Dubstar were from the same mid 90s era but made more use of synths which in turn led to a more dreamy type of pop music. ‘Not So Manic Now’ remains my favourite of theirs, making it (just) into the Top 20 of the singles chart in January 1996

#725: A Flock of Seagulls – Modern Love Is Automatic

A UK band who made it big in the USA before achieving anything of note in their homeland.  While they remain one if the worst live bands I’ve ever had the misfortune of seeing (Strathclyde Students Union, 1982), the studio take on things was slightly better as evidenced by this, the lead track from a 1981 EP.

#724: Jurassic 5 – Concrete Schoolyard

Los Angeles-based hip-hop act whose eponymous debut album spawned this, their only hit single in the UK. It reached #35 in October 1998

#723: Ladytron – Seventeen

UK electronic act who formed in 1999 and are still going strong today, with their eighth studio album, ‘Paradises’, being released earlier this year. I haven’t followed their career too much, but I’ve long had a liking for this 2002 single, with its creepy minimalist lyric, which peaked at #68.

#722: New Fast Automatic Daffodils – Man Without Qualities II (Peel Session)

Manchester band who were around between 1988 and 1995 and thus were contemporaries of quite a few who made it big.  It didn’t quite happen for the New FADs (as they were often referred to) despite having a substantial local following and a fine reputation as a live act.  This is a Peel version of one of their singles.

#721: Dub Sex – Swerve

Manchester band who were around between 1987 and 1989 and thus were contemporaries of quite a few who made it big. Dub Sex veered more towards raw and angry music, albeit with a pop bent, rather than wanting to be played at The Hacienda. ‘Swerve’ wouldn’t have been out of place on a Pixies record.

I hope you’re enjoying this glimpse into the record/CD collection held here at Villain Towers, and hopefully you’ll be happy to come back for #681-#720 of the rundown.

 

 

JC

The first ever posting on the Vinyl Villain blog was on 30 September 2006.  The original blog was hosted by Blogger/Google, but was taken down on 24 July 2013 for what was alleged to be continued violations of copyright policy.

The very next day, The (New) Vinyl Villain emerged blinking into the sunlight, hosted on WordPress, with a paid annual subscription taken out for the little bit extra protection.

The 20th Anniversary is fast approaching, and having given a lot of thought as to how to best mark it, I’m going to go all self-indulgent. On Mondays to Fridays, between now and 30 September  there will be a daily posting of songs that have a connection with TVV.  I’ve been ambitious as 800 songs have been picked out, with no repeat artists on offer, technically speaking.

For instance, it’ll be no surprise that Paul Quinn features more than once, but it will be in different guises.  Picking out another at random, Tracey Thorn’s voice will be heard a few times.

I want to stress that, for the most part it’s not a rundown.  The songs listed from #800 down to #121 have more or less been randomly allocated, although you’ll soon see the occasional patterns developing.  Those songs will form Parts 1 to 17 of the series with 40 songs offered up each day.

Parts 18 to 23 will feature the final 120 songs and these have been ranked in my order of preference.

There will be loads of stuff you all know along with hopefully a few surprises as well as some that might best be described as skeletons in my closet.  Apologies in advance that each of the daily posts will be lengthy. I’ve a rough estimate of how many words are involved, and it adds up to a medium-sized book. Oh, and there will be spelling mistakes and grammar will be strangled.  I’m not a professional writer. 🙂 🙂 🙂

I hope there’s enough to get folk interested, and please, feel to comment as often or as little as you like.

Let’s get this party started……..

#800 : McFadden & Whitehead – Ain’t No Stopping Us Now

I’ve always said that 1979 was the best ever for music. It wasn’t all down to the brilliance of new wave/post punk, either. A little bit of disco with R&B roots, from Philadelphia seems an ideal way to kick things off.  A #5 hit just as I was celebrating my 16th birthday.

#799: Hipsway – The Honeythief

There’ll be loads of Scottish-based (and indeed Glasgow-based acts) in the rundown.  I reckon all the members of Hipsway, like my good self, were teenage mutant disco dancers back in the day, with it later spilling over to the music they would go on to make.   Peaked at #17 in March 1986.

#798: Cake – Short Skirt/Long Jacket

It took me until 31 May 2025 to make my performing debut on stage with a band. The Dial-Ups, a fabulous cover band from Santa Monica, had me join them for their very last song of the evening.  I played cowbell….and had the time of my life.

#797: Fizzbombs – Sign On The Line

Out of vanity, I once asked AI to describe The (New) Vinyl Villain.  One of the sentences it offered up was, “The blog is heavily intertwined with the UK music scene, specifically around Glasgow and Edinburgh”.  Fizzbombs were a short-lived four-piece from the capital city, and this came out in 1987 on the locally-based Nardonik Records.

#796: Detroit Cobras – My Baby Loves The Secret Agent

This blog wouldn’t be half the place it is without guest contributions, particularly to the Imaginary Compilation Albums series.  There have been over 400 ICAs since the first appeared in June 2014, and around 75% have come from elsewhere.  It’s an incredible stat….especially as one of my sentences in ICA #1 was “This series will likely be short-lived.”.

Dirk penned a fantastic ICA (#34) in September 2015 on the Detroit Cobras. This is a cover of a song written by the late Fred Sledge Smith, whose gravestone in Los Angeles says  “Never boring, always loved – he made America dance.”

#795: Lou Reed – Walk On The Wild Side

There’s quite a few ‘big hitters’ who didn’t make it into the Top 120 and will be subject to a random position in the rundown.  Please put your hands together for Mr Lewis Allan Reed (2 March 1942 – 27 October 2013).

#794: Pele – Raid The Palace

Nope.  It’s not the famous Brazilian footballer issuing a revolutionary call to arms.  This lot were an indie-band from Ellesmere Port, in north-west England, active in the early 90s.  This was their debut single from back in October 1991. I first heard this when my mate Jacques the Kipper included it on a homemade compilation tape.

#793: Foil – Reviver Gene

This lot’s lead singer, Hugh Duggie, is a lifelong friend of Jacques the Kipper, and there was an ICA (#89) in August 2016.  This, their 1996 debut single, was described as ‘The Scottish Huskers, playing Sugar-y speed guitar in the middle of a stampede of Buffalo Toms. Splendid!”  Which nicely leads into……..

#792: Sugar – Changes

Recently reformed after a period of 30 years, and by all accounts still as superbly entertaining as ever.  This was their debut single, released on Creation Records in August 1992.  It wasn’t a hit.

#791: Grrrl Gang – Honey

If it wasn’t for blogging, I’d never have come across this indie pop band from Indonesia.  This single dates from 2021, and, yes, it is very derivative of the indie-pop of the 80s, particularly of the sort which emerged from Glasgow and the surrounding towns, but so what?

#790: Divine – You Think You’re A Man

Included in the rundown no other reason other than the live performance I witnessed at Strathclyde University Students Union in 1985 being one of the most fun and enjoyable shows of them all.

#789: Spear of Destiny – Liberator

As with Divine, this brings back memories of a live show in the Students Union….but this one was all about my young brother, SC, at the age of 18, ripping off his shirt and leaping fearlessly into the mosh pit.

#788: Janet Kay – Silly Games

I’ve more than 50,000 tunes on the hard drive of my laptop, but not all that much in the way of reggae/lovers rock.  ‘Silly Games’ is from 1979, the more than any other that’ll feature in the rundown.   Janet Kay proved to be a ‘one-hit wonder’ in terms of the charts, but she has enjoyed a long and illustrious career in musical theatre.

#787: The Lucksmiths – T-Shirt Weather

I posted this one back on 13 March 2015, ending with the words “Does any reader who knows more about the band fancy contributing a posting? Perhaps as part of the Imaginary Albums series?”  Within days, Eric from Oakland obliged and his guest ICA, #10 in the series, appeared on 7 April 2015

#786: HighSchool – Sony Ericsson

One of the ‘newest’ bands among the 800. I picked up on them thanks to SWC posting links to tunes over at No Badger Required.  Went to see them play a small venue in Glasgow earlier this year, and they were outstanding.  I was by far and away the oldest person watching on (and dancing!!).

#785: The 101’ers – Keys To Your Heart

One of the ‘oldest’ bands among the 800. The 101’ers, formed in 1974, were regulars on the London pub scene. ‘Keys To Your Heart’ was their debut single, but by the time it was released, they had spilt as their lead singer and main songwriter had left to join another band. His name was Joe Strummer….and he’ll be back a couple more times in this rundown.

#784: Sleeper – Sale Of The Century

There will be a smattering of Britpop among the 800.  Sleeper had eight Top 40 hits between 1995 and 1997, with this peaking at the #10 spot.  They were the inspiration for the phrase “Sleeperbloke”, referring to the disparity between having a glamorous female singer and the other frequently ignored male members of the band.

Bonus Track : The Just Joans – Sleeperbloke

#783: Portishead – Glory Box

As I said, if a song didn’t crack the Top 120 of this rundown, it gets a random number.  This one came close, and I mean very close, to making the cut. A #13 hit in January 1995.

#782: The Woodentops – Plenty

The debut single from July 1984.  Another band who were the subject of a guest ICA. It was #70 in the series, penned by Strictly Rockers in April 2016.

#781: Soho – Hippychick

In which a Johnny Marr riff was used to great effect to create a dance track that went Top 10 in January 1991.

#780: Raconteurs – Steady As She Goes

This 2006 debut single, peaked at #4.  It was a time when everything touched by lead singer Jack White seemed to turn to gold, coming amidst more than a dozen Top 30 hits for The White Stripes.

#779: The Orb – Toxygene

Another song that peaked at #4,  in February 1997.  My dear friend ctel, who knows a lot about these things wrote these words on TVV back in November 2008. “The Orb virtually invented the electronic genre known as ambient house, resurrecting slower, more soulful rhythms and providing a soundtrack for early-morning ravers once the clubs had closed their doors.”

#778: Lene Lovich – Lucky Number

Yet another from 1979.  Some days this one irritates me, some days I find it quite charming.  You can probably guess what I was feeling the day I picked out the 800 songs.  Chosen specifically at 778 as these were the first three digits (after the area code) of the phone number in the house I grew up in.

#777: The Who – I Can’t Explain

There’s less than a handful of songs among the 800 which predate the 70s when I first developed an interest in music.  This was one I dedicated to my great friend Kenno when it was posted in February 2019.   Kenno, tragically, succumbed to cancer in March 2024, aged 59.  I miss him.

#776: Twa Toots – Please Don’t Play A Rainy Night In Georgia (Peel Session)

John Peel gets loads of mentions on TVV.  And rightly so.  Plenty of Peel Session songs have featured over the years, and this one dates from October 1983. While this song was never given a studio recording, it was released a few years later as part of the Strange Fruit series of Peel Sessions on vinyl.

#775: Barn Owl – When No One Is Around

One that I downloaded in the early 2010s.  It was by a band called On The Day We Met Gambas Pil Pil.  A few years later, I saw a band called Barn Owl as the support for a gig at King Tut’s in Glasgow, and they played ‘When No One Is Around’ note-for-note.  Turned out that there had been a band name-change. Still not sure if this Arcade Fire-style tune was ever given a physical release.

#774: BOB – What A Performance

A London-band championed by Peel back in the late 80s.  I first learned about them years later thanks to this song being included within a Cherry Red Records compilation box called C87.  It was their debut single, on Sombrero Records, and  I’ve since picked it up on 12″ vinyl.

#773: D.A.F. – Der Mussolini

D.A.F. is short for Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft, a Dusseldorf-based band who were originally with us at the tail end of the 70s and into the early 80s. I danced to this one a fair bit back in the student days. Don’t worry folks, it’s not a track praising the merits of the old fascist – indeed it is merely encouraging Benny boy to shake his ass with his dancing partners Adolf and Jesus. If it wasn’t for the pounding electro-beat, it’d be as camp as can be.

#772: Captain America – Flame On

A rather wonderful piece of indie pop from 1990. Captain America was formed by vocalist and guitarist Eugene Kelly following the dissolution of his former band, The Vaselines. The name of the band had to change soon after following an injunction threat from Marvel Comics who claimed copyright. They changed it to Eugenius which just happened to be the frontman’s affectionate nickname.

#771: Death In Vegas – Dirge

Electronic dance group whose second album, ‘The Contino Sessions’, released in 1999, used a range of guest singers including Dot Allison from One Dove (and yes, Dot will be back later on in the series!). It never charted but is one of their best known tunes thanks to it being used in commercials and within film soundtracks over the decades.

#770: Act – Absolutely Immune

Late-80s synthpop duo consisting of Scots-born musician Thomas Leer and West German-born singer Claudia Brücken. Released four singles and one album in 87/88 on ZTT Records, none of which sold in any great numbers. This one is quite similar sounding to Propaganda, which was Brücken’s former band.

#769: Hindu Love Gods – Raspberry Beret

In essence, a side-project of R.E.M. with vocal duties handled by Warren Zevon, whose career stretched back to the late 60s and who, for over 30 years until his death from cancer in 2003 at the age of 56, was a huge influence on many big hitters and popular artists within the American music industry without himself ever enjoying much mainstream success. He was also an almost complete-unknown here in the UK.  And yes, it is a fabulous cover of the Prince song.

#768: Juliana Hatfield – Nirvana

Released on her debut solo album in 1992, by which time Juliana Hatfield, at the age of 25, was already a veteran of the music scene having been part of the Blake Babies and The Lemonheads.  A tribute to the grunge rockers who were, at the time, taking the world by storm.

#767: Kraftwerk – The Model

Another of those that, on another day, might have made the Top 120…….

#766: The Members – Sounds Of The Suburbs

Back to 1979 again.  If ever a song signified what that year was going to hold in store, this was it. A previously unknown band outside the London pub scene get picked up by the record industry and given the chance for a brief dalliance with fame. It was Virgin Records who took a chance on The Members, and it paid off with this fast, frantic tune and lyric about boredom which was an understandable hit with teenagers and adolescents.

#765: Pop Wallpaper – Strawberry Letter 23

Edinburgh-based pop band from the 80s who never gained much traction outside the central belt of Scotland.  This was their second and final single, a cover of a Shuggie Otis song, released in 1984 on the very short-lived Rosebud Records. I like it but it is very much of its time.

#764: Sex Pistols – God Save The Queen

Next year will mark the Golden Jubilee of this incendiary 45.  A scary thought in itself as to how time really does fly, especially the older we get.

#763: Timezone – World Destruction

Back-to-back Lydon. From 1984/85 when he collaborated with New York hip-hop pioneer Afrika Bambatta. The production values have dated the tune somewhat, but worth remembering that it was one of the first to fuse hip-hop with electro and rock elements, and helped paved the way for acts like the Beastie Boys to find fame and fortune.

#762: Wojtek The Bear – Second Place on Purpose

One of the more recent bands to make it onto the list of 800 songs, this is from their 2023 album ‘Shaking Hands With The NME’, released by Last Night From Glasgow. This lot make the sort of intelligently enjoyable indie-pop that has never quite gone out of fashion, certainly in the environs of Villain Towers,

#761: Van Morrison – Brown Eyed Girl

OK.  We are all most likely heartily sick of this one thanks to its over exposure on the radio and the fact everyone who goes to a karaoke night thinks they can nail it.  But there’s no denying it is a lovely and catchy tune is there?

Tomorrow will see the #721-#760 part of the rundown.

 

JC