THE GUEST SERIES FROM JONNY THE FRIENDLY LAWYER
Today’s Charged Particles ask: What Are You Feeling? Hopefully one of the following:
Affection – Jonathan Richman
Infatuation – The Rapture
Satisfaction – Allen Stone
JTFL
Category: Various
There are times when I know that I’m an incredibly lucky fella. Last Saturday was one such occasion.
I wangled my way into helping out at the latest Strangeways event and ended up doing the 9pm-10pm slot where the hope is you gradually build up the atmosphere for the later part of the evening. What I didn’t know until I got there was that my set would be followed immediately by the main guest DJ for the night , a bona-fide indie-pop star in the shape of Gavin Dunbar, bass player with Camera Obscura and drummer in the live rendition of Ette. Happy to report that there were folk dancing by the time Gavin took over but he took it to a whole new level which was then maintained all the way through to the end thanks to Hugh and Robert, who make the whole thing look effortless.
Here’s the full playlist for the evening…..the change in colours is where someone took over….first hour was Carlo, then myself…and as indicated Gavin did 10-11 before handing over to the mainstays for the final two hours.
The First Big Weekend – Arab Strap
My Favourite Wet Wednesday Afternoon – The Siddeleys
Push – The Cure
Like A Daydream – Ride
Little Baby Nothing – Manic Street Preachers
Sixty Eight Guns – The Alarm
The Eton Rifles – The Jam
Her Jazz – Huggy Bear
Atta Girl – Heavenly
Don’t Talk, Just Kiss – The Wedding Present
Really Stupid – The Primitives
Thorn – MBV
Surfin’ USA – The Jesus & Mary Chain
Orange Appled – Cocteau Twins
Hounds Of Love – Kate Bush
And She Was – Talking Heads
Bring On The Dancing Horses – Echo & The Bunnymen
The Boy With The Thorn In His Side – The Smiths
Theme From S’Express – S’Express
Love Vigilantes – New Order
Picture This – Blondie
Pulling Mussels From The Shell – Squeeze
The Look Of Love – ABC
Reward – The Teardrop Explodes
Give Me Back My Man – B52s
There’s A Guy Works Down The Chip Shop Swears He’s Elvis – Kirsty MacColl
(Don’t Go Back To) Rockville – R.E.M.
Bigmouth Strikes Again – The Smiths
Ask Johnny Dee – The Chesterfields
What’s The World – James
Crocodiles – Echo & The Bunnymen
Domino Dancing – Pet Shop Boys
Don’t Go – Yazoo
What! – Soft Cell
The Boy Wonders – Aztec Camera
William, It Was Really Nothing – The Smiths
Atomic – Blondie
Love Will Tear Us Apart – Joy Division
Debaser – Pixies
Party Fears Two – Associates
Boys and Girls – Blur
Do You Remember The First Time? – Pulp
Intergalactic – Beastie Boys
Take Me Out – Franz Ferdinand
Last Nite – The Strokes
Sparky’s Dream – Teenage Fanclub
Blue Monday – New Order
Something For The Weekend – The Divine Comedy
Baggy Trousers – Madness
Tears Of A Clown – The Beat
Gangsters – The Specials
Blue Boy – Orange Juice
Dirty Dream #2 – Belle and Sebastian
Lloyd, I’m Ready To Be Heartbroken – Camera Obscura
He’s On The Phone – Saint Etienne
West End Girls – Pet Shop Boys
Raspberry Beret – Prince
Tainted Love – Soft Cell
Inbetween Days – The Cure
Personal Jesus – Depeche Mode
Young Americans – David Bowie
Pretty In Pink – Psychedelic Furs
Don’t You Want Me? – Human League
Rock Me Amadeus – Falco
Crash – The Primitives
Enola Gay – OMD
Love Plus One – Haircut 100
Last of The Famous International Playboys – Morrissey
Here Comes Your Man – Pixies
Road To Nowhere – Talking Heads
Public Image – Public Image Ltd
A New England – Kirsty MacColl
Getting Away With It – Electronic
The Night – Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons
Sheila Take A Bow – The Smiths
Trash – Suede
Sabotage – Beastie Boys
Just Like Heaven – The Cure
Girl From Mars – Ash
Lust For Life – Iggy Pop
I Am The Resurrection – Stone Roses
I Bet You Look Good On The Dance Floor – Arctic Monkeys
Bizarre Love Triangle – New Order
Cannonball – The Breeders
There Is A Light That Never Goes Out – The Smiths
At The Indie Disco – The Divine Comedy
Nothing To Be Done – The Pastels
I had my set together in advance, but ended up dropping one song so that Gavin would come on as planned bang on 10pm…it was running very slightly behind schedule and besides, I felt that Really Saying Something by Bananarama, which was due to slot inbetween Pet Shop Boys and Yazoo, might have reduced the dancing numbers a bit….the synth-pop just seemed right at the time.
But here’s the full 60 minutes in a continous mix.
mp3 : Various – Enjoy This Trip
JC
PS : Happy birthday to Mrs Villain. 52 weeks away from her bus pass……
THE GUEST SERIES FROM JONNY THE FRIENDLY LAWYER
This series has covered a lot of different acts and a lot of different styles of music. What it hasn’t included is a lot of women. That’s not right, so here are some charged particles featuring favorite females:
Vision: Autoclave
Connection: Elastica
Intuition: Feist
Levitation: Beach House
Petition: Tennis
Precaution: Pylon
Situation: Margaret Glaspy
JTFL
JC adds……this is the last of what was the initial batch of Charged Particles pieces submitted by Jonny a few months back. Fingers crossed he finds time for some more.
A GUEST POSTING FROM ALDO
Indietracks is an indiepop festival which takes place annually on a heritage railway in rural Derbyshire. This was our sixth successive jaunt down to the event.
I first attended in 2012, looking for a different kind of festival fix after years of attending Scotland’s annual behemoth T in the Park, and I came away from the weekend totally hooked, much in the way I’d felt going to those first couple of T’s. The whole setup appealed so much, not least being shuttled on a vintage train the mile journey from the entrance to the main festival site.
Although the music is always first and foremost the main appeal, there is no doubt that it’s the folk that attend who add just as much to the event as anything else. Firm friendships have been forged over the years, and there’s always plenty time spent greeting many a familiar face. In fact this year I ended up sharing accommodation with one such mate from Belfast when his wife, and my usual sparring partner and roommate, were both unable to attend this year.
Proceedings get underway on the Friday evening, easing everyone into the weekend, and as usual there were three bands set to grace the main stage. We were, however, somewhat relieved when, supping pints in our usual pre-festival boozer, one of the gang arrived with news that, as a result of the forecast for inclement weather, the bands were now to perform on the indoor second stage.
First up were Scots, Kid Canaveral, making their second appearance at the festival, they had drafted in a couple of stand-in members for this show due to the logistics of having to then travel to the Isle of Eigg off the west coast of Scotland for Lost Map’s Howlin’ Fling that same weekend. They got things off to a great start, playing a set largely drawing on their most recent release Faulty Inner Dialogue, and being a particularly big fan of the band I thoroughly enjoyed them. They were followed by Chorusgirl, who I’ve seen a few times before, most recently at the Fortuna Pop! farewell weekender in London in March. Again they delivered a hugely enjoyable set.
So on to Martha, they are a perfect example of the type of band which the festival seems to foster, moving up the billing with each festival, and akin to the Spook School the previous year, burgeoning into a group which were more than justified Friday headliners. Much like watching a child or a sibling flourish, the love for them among the crowd was palpable when they emerged to take the stage. Running through pretty much all the favourites from their first two albums, they also included a cover of Semisonic’s Closing Time thrown in for good measure, and left us all in good spirits.
mp3 : Martha – Precarious (Supermarket Song)
Although some sore heads were being nursed after the previous evening’s visit to the disco tent, we all made it down in time for Saturday’s 1pm start, and the first band up in the indoor stage were Pillow Queens, a four piece all female outfit from Dublin playing a mix of alt-pop punk. Next on the agenda were Crumbs from Leeds who were gaining quite a few mentions pre-festival and certainly lived up to my expectations with a hugely energetic and engaging set. There was a brief venture outdoors into the sunshine for 10 minutes of Spain’s Cola Jet Set, before ensuring I was back in the train shed for TeenCanteen. Like Kid Canaveral, this was their second appearance at the festival, and there were a number of remarks with regard to just how much they had improved as a live force. This is definitely true, and they gave us a great set of pure pop.
mp3 : Crumbs – Weasels Can Wait
We then hotfooted it over to the main stage for the much touted Peaness, and it’s fair to say that there’s much to admire beyond their slightly smirk inducing name, proving that they’ve got all the credentials to be the next darlings of the Indietracks crowd. They were followed on the main stage by Glasgow/London band Shopping, who feature one half of recent Scottish Album of the Year Award winners Sacred Paws. Although I’m a fan of their album Why Choose? and have witnessed them live on more than one occasion, for some reason they never really got me going here.
However, I very much got back into my groove with the next act, Indietracks heroine, Emma Kupa formerly of Standard Fare, and appearing in no less than four bands over the course of the weekend! On this occasion she was teaming up with ex-Hefner main man Darren Hayman in the imaginatively titled Hayman Kupa Band. I’ve not always been taken by Hayman’s solo output but the set they delivered here was immensely enjoyable.
mp3 : The Hayman Kupa Band – Someone To Care For Me
The fact half the festival appeared to require food at the same time meant that unfortunately I only heard Frankie Cosmos’ set from the burrito stall queue. However, once sated it was back indoors for a beer and a short blast of the ever excellent Joanna Gruesome, before heading to join the queue for the tiny church stage to see The Hearing, a female solo singer from Finland who produces ethereal sounds to a dreamy electronic accompaniment. It was a pretty decent performance, although I wasn’t raving about it quite as highly as some were. After this it was a refresh of our pints before making our way over to the main stage for a superb headline performance from The Wedding Present, it was a near flawless festival set, finishing with My Favourite Dress and Kennedy to leave the crowd in raptures. The only decision then was to be that evening’s choice of entertainment – karaoke or indie disco. The karaoke won, and was an unexpectedly brilliant end to the day.
mp3 : The Wedding Present – Kennedy (live – John Peel’s 50th birthday bash)
Following a late after party at the hotel, I was the only one of our group who emerged in time to catch Maybe Don’t who were first up on the Sunday. They were pretty decent, though my enjoyment was tempered by the fact that their loud energetic sounds were at odds with my slightly hungover state. Luby Sparks, the Japanese five piece who followed, were a little kinder to these ears with their jangling, C86 tinged, melodies. Next we shuttled between short glimpses of Suggested Friends (one of those other Emma Kupa bands) and Cowtown, a noisy mob from Leeds, before an absolutely lovely set in the sunshine by The Orchids, another of the great bands to come out of Glasgow over the years.
mp3 : Luby Sparks – Water
Staying in Scotland, the next band on the main stage were Indietracks ‘legends’ the Just Joans – somehow in the parallel universe that is Indietracks the Joans (whose appearance supplies the image which illustrates this post) are one of the best known bands in the world. We of course were down the front for a great mix of new songs and old classics, unfortunately one of the sing a long numbers expected at the end was cut from the set as a result of them running slightly over time, and perhaps just as well as a huge downpour began as they played their final notes.
This rearranged the schedule slightly as Monkey Swallows the Universe were moved indoors, which sadly didn’t do them justice as they were somewhat of an afterthought as the near whole capacity gathered in the train shed.
Once the sun came out again and the bulk of the crowd headed for the Wave Pictures on the main stage, those of us who elected to stay indoors were treated to a great set by Skinny Girl Diet, two sisters from London who describe themselves as gothic grunge, and make glorious racket.
mp3 : Skinny Girl Diet – Yeti
They were followed on the indoor stage by another band who Indietrackers have fully taken to their hearts, The Tuts. First coming to our attention when they opened the festival four years ago, those of us watching then might have felt they were a novelty, just there to get the party started, however, they’ve blossomed into the kind of group which the festival is all about. Politically charged but with no shortage of fun to go with it. The three of them gracing the stage in wedding dresses, and a wonderful set ended with them getting ‘married’ to the crowd and each other. In amongst the fun there were some emotional moments, when discussing experiences of mental health issues, and in that vein they were joined on stage by various other groups for a mass singalong of Linkin Park’s ‘In The End’ in tribute to Chester Bennington.
mp3 : The Tuts – Let Go Of The Past
The final act of the weekend on the main stage was Cate Le Bon, who I’d really enjoyed when I caught her in Glasgow last year, but to be honest after the Tuts set I just wanted a beer and a blether with some mates who were about to depart. I did catch the last few numbers by Cate, and by all accounts she was on top form.
All that was left was one last disco boogie, and despite being encouraged to carry on until the wee hours at the legendary campsite disco, which I’ve never yet been to, I decided to be sensible for once and head for bed. One year I’ll make the campsite shindig, one year…
ALDO
JC adds…..I’m really pleased that Aldo took the time to put together such a comprehensive and honest rundown of what sounds like an amazing weekend. I took it upon myself to choose the songs today, all based on the words he supplied. Other than The Wedding Present, they are all new to my ears and I’ve a feeling most of you will enjoy them too.
THE GUEST SERIES FROM JONNY THE FRIENDLY LAWYER
I’m an inveterate New Yorker–you can take the boy out of the city etc.–but I’m zeroing in on living half my life in Santa Monica, California, a seaside gem 12 miles west on the freeway from downtown Los Angeles. Today’s charged particles are from five Southern California bands that are special to me. Here’s why:
Champion – Cayucas
Cayucas is the name of a sleepy little beach town about halfway between LA and San Francisco. It’s a beautiful spot on the central coast where GTFP and I spent our 20th anniversary. I figured that’s where the band were from but it turns out they’re from right here in Santa Monica and went to the same high school as my kids.
Anti-Nomination – Nothing Painted Blue
Once you get past Franklin Bruno‘s dial-tone voice you get a bunch of pop hooks and perhaps the best lyricist this side of Elvis Costello. (In one of my favorite couplets he rhymes “desk” with “Kafkaesque”.) Nothing Painted Blue split up so Bruno could get a doctorate in Philosophy from UCLA.
A few years ago I was in Court in Victorville, a sorry-ass town over an hour northeast of LA. I looked at a nameplate outside a courtroom and recognized the Judge as the band’s former drummer who, it suddenly came back to me, I remembered meeting once in a law library. I went in to say hello in his chambers and he was chuffed (as JC would say) that I remembered his old band. He apologized when his clerk interrupted our visit to remind him that the jury had come back in half an hour ago. We shook hands and he put his robe on and headed back out to resume a murder trial.
Vaccination – Acetone
Acetone met at CalArts, an arts college in Valencia, California. The trio were a big part of the Silverlake scene in the 90’s, releasing record after beautiful record. Moody and atmospheric, it was Acetone’s simple but elegant songs that inspired me to pick up a guitar and start playing out with friends after a very long lay off. Sadly, they disbanded in 2001 after the suicide of bassist Richie Lee.
Repulsion – The Negro Problem
Before anyone gets insulted, the band were named by African-American Mark Stewart, who goes by Stew. I asked him about the name once at the now-defunct venue Spaceland. ‘You see any brothers in here?’, he asked. There weren’t any. ‘I’ve got a problem with that,’ Stew said. The name is his lament at the dearth of black people in rock music. We got friendly when he asked he to name one black rock musicians after Hendrix and I came up with Barry Adamson (he was expecting Phil Lynott). TNP were one of the best bands in LA for years, making super-sophisticated and truly funny records and performing great live shows (they once payed an entire gig alternating between Ramones and Beach Boys tunes). I must have seen them 15 times before Stew left LA for New York, where he eventually won a Tony award for the lyrics to a Broadway musical about his youth called ‘Passing Strange’. Spike Lee filmed the last performance.
Retribution – Lidsville
This will probably be the only song in this series that I heard before it was recorded. Lidsville were a quartet out of Orange County. When I first moved out here my buddy Ed the Bassist and I formed a label we called Meridian Records to feature indie bands. Lidsville were the first one on it. Our timing was spectacularly bad as Nirvana hit just months afterwards and suddenly everything indie was mainstream. The band had a local following but couldn’t compete with better-funded grunge acts that were all the rage. I remember listening to the band debuting Retribution live one night and thinking the guitar solo sounded like a cobra being charmed out of a basket. Singer/songwriter/lead guitarist Greg Johnson now teaches physics to high school kids up in Chico, half a day’s drive north of me.
JTFL
JC adds……
On the never-to-be-forgotten night that I met Jonny earlier this year, he gave me a copy of a 7″ single by Lidsville and briefly explained his past involvement with the band. Tune into tomorrow for more.
One more thing to add…..that para above about Jonny’s conversation with the judge from Victorville has to be just about the coolest thing I’ve read on any blog all year.
THE GUEST SERIES FROM JONNY THE FRIENDLY LAWYER
Who’s up for a little old-fashion synth-pop, 80’s style? Fire up that Yamaha DX-7 and break out the skinny ties:
Situation: Yazoo
Locomotion: OMD
Frustration: Soft Cell
Reunion : Erasure
Reputation : Heaven 17
Telecommunication : A Flock Of Seagulls
Sorry for not including Human League’s ‘Fascination’ but its actual title is ‘(Keep Feeling) Fascination’. Also sorry for going with Heaven 17’s ‘Reputation’ over the more popular ‘Temptation’, but that’s the one I like better. And synth-pop royalty Depeche Mode released a number of charged particles, but none from the 80’s I like. So, by way of a bonus, here’s a tune from 1978 that’s sort of a precursor to all of the above music:
Dislocation: Ultravox
JTFL
THE GUEST SERIES FROM JONNY THE FRIENDLY LAWYER
Charity Chic Cheeky Charged Particles
When JC posted the original entry for this series the very first comment was a cheeky comment from CC of Charity Chic, in which he called me “a sensation and an inspiration and the pride of your nation!” I return those complements thusly:
Sensation: The Who
Inspiration: Grace Jones
Nation: Stranger x Stranger
JTFL
THE GUEST SERIES FROM JONNY THE FRIENDLY LAWYER
Today’s charged particles are brought to you by the letter C! And, let’s go head to head this time. Hands up — who prefers which (if any)?
Communication: Pete Townshend
Communication: Spandau Ballet
Conversation: Hot Hot Heat
Conversation: Gary Numan
Confusion: New Order
Confusion: The Zutons
JTFL
As I said in the comments section, many many thanks for all your kind words on the occasion of my 54th birthday.
The mix of the tunes played during the first half of the recent There Is A Night That Never Goes Out event seemed to be well received. And in keeping with giving into public demand, and in particular from Neil McAllister, here’s the mix of the 43 songs that made up the second half of the night as selected by Hugh and Robert (some of them being in response to requests made on the night itself)
mp3 : Various – There Is A Night (May 2017 – Part 2)
44. This Is The Modern World – The Jam
45. A Message To You, Rudy – The Specials
46. Love Plus One – Haircut 100
47. Temptation – Heaven 17
48. Fade To Grey – Visage
49. Debaser – Pixies
50. Crash – The Primitives
51. Just Like Heaven – The Cure
52. Pretend We’re Dead – L7
53. Let’s Go Crazy – Prince
54. Girlfriend In A Coma – The Smiths
55. Always On My Mind – Pet Shop Boys
56. Na Na Hey Hey – Bananarama
57. Sweet Dreams – Eurythmics
58. Cannonball – The Breeders
59. Kill Your Television – Ned’s Atomic Dustbin
60. This Charming Man – The Smiths
61. Do You Remember The First Time? – Pulp
62. Sit Down – James
63. Geno – Dexy’s Midnight Runners
64. You Can Call Me Al – Paul Simon
65. Yes – McAlmont & Butler
66. Don’t You Want Me? – The Human League
67. Panic – The Smiths
68. What’s The Frequency, Kenneth? – R.E.M.
69. New Sensation – INXS
70. Animal Nitrate – Suede
71. Love Will Tear Us Apart – Joy Division
72. Getting Away With It – Electronic
73. A New England – Kirsty MacColl
74. Happy Hour – The Housemartins
75. There Is A Light That Never Goes Out – The Smiths
76. Gold – Spandau Ballet
77. Psycho Killer – Talking Heads
78. Hit – The Sugarcubes
79. Faith – George Michael
80. How Soon Is Now? – The Smiths
81. There She Goes – The La’s
82. The Only One I Know – The Charlatans
83. Sheila Take A Bow – The Smiths
84. Nobody’s Twisting Your Arm – The Wedding Present
85. Sensitive – The Field Mice
86. Everything Flows – Teenage Fanclub
Poptastic indeed….
JC
THE GUEST SERIES FROM JONNY THE FRIENDLY LAWYER
In honor of my unmet friend The Robster, it’s Reggae Charged Particles Wednesday!
To wit:
Creation: Burning Spear
Reaction: Bob Marley & the Wailers
Revolution: Toots & the Maytals
Prediction: Steel Pulse
Caution: Aswad
JTFL
With apologies for those of you who were expecting and hoping for the latest instalment of the XTC series. I promise it will return next Sunday.
It’s my 54th birthday today. For much of my life I had an irrational fear that I wouldn’t reach that number. I can’t explain why and I was quite nervous this time last year just in case I wasn’t totally crazy but in fact scarily psychic. But thankfully, it did turn out I was just crazy. My state of mind was helped midway through the year by SWC and Badger inadvertently finding the real reason #53 was significant in my life – it turned out it was to do with Billy Bragg and Waiting For The Great Leap Forwards
I thought I’d share another mix thing today. It’s based on something I did for an event a few weeks ago in Glasgow.
The folk who have been running Strangeways, a club night in which 90%+ of the tunes were from The Smiths or Morrissey, felt that, after more than five years, a wee change was needed. Thus was born There Is A Night That Never Goes Out.
As the poster above indicates, the idea was to go with The Smiths alongside the sort of stuff with which I tend to populate this place. The sort of night that I reckon dreams are made of. The first one was arranged for Friday 26 May but as it clashed with a number of gigs, including The Wedding Present just up the hill from the venue for Strangeways, it was decided to make it 9pm – 2am instead of the usual 8pm – 1am to allow folk to make the most of things.
I got in touch with a few suggestions, including what I thought could make for a decent 90 minute run of tunes early on in the night. To my absolute delight, I was asked if I wanted to take the slot from 9.30 – 11pm. Honoured and thrilled as I was, my overriding concern was that the date also coincided with my brother and his family being over here on holiday and I might have ended with an unavoidable diary clash. And to be perfectly honest, I was nervous about possibly making a mess of things and getting the evening off to a start that would be impossible to recover from.
So…the compromise was I’d supply the tunes on a memory stick. A full 9o minute mix in the preferred running order but with each tune in stand-alone fashion so that Robert, Hugh and Carlo from the Strangeways crew could take the temperature of the crowd and alter things if necessary.
The good news was that I was able to get along, in the company of Aldo with Comrade Colin also along for a bit of moral support. It was fascinating to stand and watch people react to the songs I had chosen and which Robert was cueing up and playing. Initially, there was a lot of smiling, nodding and quietly mouthing along to the tunes, but nobody seemed too keen to dance. It was blisteringly hot in the venue – Glasgow had enjoyed a day of scorching sunshine – and between that and folk still being sober there seemed a bit of reluctance to get on the floor. Not even a couple of Smiths songs for the regular crowd from the old format of the night did the trick.
And then, just after 10pm something just seemed to click. Almost as if everyone decided at the same time that too many good tunes were being passed up. Or maybe that’s the new witching hour. Anyways, it was a song by The Cure that was the trigger, which was great news as it provided the evidence that going with a wider selection of music than the previous Strangeways nights was the going to work out just fine.
The next four hours proved to be an absolute triumph. The crowd began to ask for requests, all of which were met. A smattering of tunes from the late 70s and the second half of the 90s were also sneaked in to keep folk happy. Everyone seemed very happy judging by the smiles on all the faces and there was a real and obvious buzz being generating; the subsequent feedback on social media over the following days only confirmed what everyone had been feeling on the night. It was an absolute triumph.
My only regret was that I had to leave just before midnight to catch the last train home as I had much to do over the weekend and needed a reasonably clear head. I’ve been asked to take part in the next night on a date yet to be determined. I’m delighted about that and incredibly excited. Never dreamed that I’d be doing such things at 54…..
The whole night contained 86 songs. I thought I’d shove up the first 43 of them in a single, downloadable mix. It lasts a handful of minutes over two-and-a-half hours all told. My set list goes from songs 9-31.
It was all predetermined before the crowd arrived; there was one addition thrown in on the night (at song #29) and another shifted from earlier in the set list to #30 as these made for better links from some goth tunes to the Postcard classic that I wanted as my closer. A couple of my initial suggestions were rightly dropped once it became clear what was going to work and what wouldn’t click with the crowd which meant in the end my ‘turn’ came in at a shade under 85 minutes that for the most part was bang on and helped set things up nicely for the main DJ acts as the space filled its 200 capacity.
1. Ceremony – Galaxie 500
2. Oblivious – Aztec Camera
3. Obscurity Knocks – Trashcan Sinatras
4. A Better Ghost – Butcher Boy
5. Round and Round – New Order
6. Unfinished Sympathy – Massive Attack
7. What Difference Does It Make? – The Smiths
8. Everything Counts – Depeche Mode
9. Let’s Dance – David Bowie
10. Don’t Talk To Me About Love – Altered Images
11. The Boy With The Thorn In His Side – The Smiths
12. Take The Skinheads Bowling – Camper Van Beethoven
13. Talulah Gosh – Talulah Gosh
14. Bye Bye Pride – The Go Betweens
15. Still Ill – The Smiths
16. Blister In The Sun – Violent Femmes
17. Driver 8 – R.E.M.
18. In Between Days – The Cure
19. Age Of Consent – New Order
20. Girl Afraid – The Smiths
21. Waiting For The Winter – The Popguns
22. Our Lips Are Sealed – Fun Boy Three
23. A Song From Under The Floorboards – Magazine
24. Speed Your Love To Me (extended mix) – Simple Minds
25. Pretty In Pink – The Psychedelic Furs
26. I Want The One I Can’t Have – The Smiths
27. Hong Kong Garden – Siouxsie & The Banshees
28. This Corrosion – Sisters Of Mercy
29. April Skies – The Jesus and Mary Chain
30. When All’s Well – Everything But The Girl
31. Blueboy – Orange Juice
32. Sparky’s Dream – Teenage Fanclub
33. Why Are You Being So Reasonable Now? – The Wedding Present
34. Here Comes Your Man – Pixies
35. Ask – The Smiths
36. It’s The End Of The World…. – R.E.M.
37. Rise – P.I.L.
38. Street Life – Roxy Music
39. She Bangs The Drums – The Stone Roses
40. Connection – Elastica
41. Homosapien – Pete Shelley
42. Enola Gay – OMD
43. The Cutter – Echo & The Bunnymen
Feel free to recreate Strangeways in the comfort of your own home or garden.
mp3 : Various – Studio 54
JC
THE GUEST SERIES FROM JONNY THE FRIENDLY LAWYER
I believe it’s TVV pal Jacques the Kipper who sometimes rolls his eyes at our, er, nostalgic appreciation of bands gone by. I’m guilty of that — I did contribute an ICA about Spoon, who are still active, but the first ones I wrote were about XTC and the Stranglers, bands that began in the 1970’s. So here are a handful of contemporary charged particles just so’s you don’t get the impression that I’m not paying attention to what’s happening musically these days.
Ascension: Gorillaz
Migration: Bonobo
Stimulation: Preoccupations
Tesselation: Mild High Club
Calcination : JLin
JTFL
Everything But The Girl enjoyed a #13 hit in 1992 with the Covers EP, four songs that, unsurprisingly, were their takes on some classic songs originally released by Mickey & Sylvia, Bruce Springsteen, Cyndi Lauper and Elvis Costello.
mp3 : Everything But The Girl – Love Is Strange
mp3 : Everything But The Girl – Tougher Than The Rest
mp3 : Everything But The Girl – Time After Time
mp3 : Everything But The Girl – Alison
I thought I’d do something similar today to commemorate the current Singles on Sunday series:-
mp3 : Joe Jackson – Statue of Liberty
mp3 : Charlotte Hatherley – This Is Pop?
mp3 : Nouvelle Vague – Making Plans For Nigel
mp3 : Erich Sellheim – Sgt Rock (der wird mir helfen)
And finally a filthy little mash up in which XTC meet Tweet (feat Missy Ellliot)
mp3 : Go Home Productions – Making Plans For Vinyl
My goodness, is that the time? Can’t believe tomorrow sees us reach June.
JC
Thought it might be worth it 24 hours on, for a bit of fun, to try and pull together all the b-sides from the tracks featured on the Diving For Pearls compilation album.
SIDE A
mp3 : Department S – Solid Gold Easy Action
Originally released as b-side on 7″ of Is Vic There? Demon Records, 1980
mp3 : Stone Roses – Here It Comes
mp3 : Stone Roses – All Across The Sand
Originally released as b-sides on 12″ of Sally Cinammon. Revolver Records 1987. These versions from the 1989 re-release.
mp3 : Paul Quinn & Edwyn Collins – Burro
Originally released as b-side on 7″ of Pale Blue Eyes. Swampland Records. 1984
mp3 : Kirsty MacColl – Patrick
Originally released as b-side on 7″ of A New England. Stiff Records 1984
mp3 : Everything But The Girl – Feeling Dizzy
mp3 : Everything But The Girl – On My Mind
Originally released as the b-sides on 7″ of Night and Day. Cherry Red Records. 1982
mp3 : Red Guitars – Paris France
Originally released as the b-side to the second issue of Good Technology. Self Drive Records 1984
SIDE B
mp3 : Sugarcubes – Birthday (Icelandic)
Originally released as the b-side of Birthday. One Little Indian Records. 1987
mp3 : Spacemen 3 : Just To See You Smile (Honey Pt 2)
Originally released as the b-side of Hypnotized. Fire Records. 1989
Mari Wilson – Rave (live version)
Originally released as the b-side of Cry Me A River. The Compact Organisation. 1982
mp3 : The Monochrome Set – Love Goes Down The Drain
mp3 : The Monochrome Set – Noise (Eine Kleine Symphonie)
Originally released as the b-sides of Jet Set Junta. Cherry Red Records 1983. Both tracks from a February 1979 session for the John Peel Show
mp3 : The Au Pairs – Diet
Originally released as one of two ‘A’ sides alongside It’s Obvious. 021 Records/Human Records. 1980.
mp3 : Robert Wyatt – Memories Of You
Originally released as the b-side of Shipbuilding. Rough Trade Records. 1983
Sorry if you desperately wanted the Mari Wilson track.
JC
My good lady Rachel has long referred to the folk I correspond with through the blog as my imaginary friends.
But over the years I have been lucky enough to meet up with a fair number of great people whom I first got to know through interacting via e-mail around TVV – Comrade Colin, FiL, Ctel, Drew, Ed, Matthew, Brian, Tricia, Lis, Lloyd and Aye Tunes Jim all spring to mind. Next month, I get to hook up for the first time with some more friends in the shape of Jonny the Friendly Lawyer and Swiss Adam – the former being in Manchester on Sunday 23 April as bassist with The Ponderosa Aces and the latter living in that great city and intending (all being well) to hook up on the day.
That’s exciting enough, but early May is going to be genuinely special.
Dirk Huppertz was the first overseas reader to latch onto TVV in as much that he posted loads of comments and sent over e-mails of encouragement as I gingerly stumbled into the blogosphere. He had a great ability to make me laugh and we seemed to have a great deal in common in terms of musical tastes – I just found it incredible that someone from Germany was so knowledgable and enthusiastic about new wave and indie music.
For over ten years I’ve been wanting to buy Dirk a drink to say thank you. And at long last I’m going to get the opportunity…….
Dirk has been really keen for a while to try to get various bloggers together but his efforts have been in vain – it’s just been impossible for 15-20 folk to find the same day or weekend when they have no prior commitments through work or family. So he decided that he would set a date that suited him best and make his way to Glasgow with an open invite for folk to join him. I was delighted at long last I was going to meet him and geared myself up for the two of us, with maybe a couple of other local bloggers in tow, to have a few beers on the first weekend of May 2017.
But then a few others said they would also come long, although sadly a few others just could not make it for very good reasons. Others at this stage some five weeks out are still thinking about it. My other great German blogging friend – Walter – is flying in. Brian, whom I met and had a great day in Glasgow a few years back, is seriously contemplating coming in from Seattle**. Swiss Adam is coming up from Manchester. Drew is going to make a night of it in the city. I’m also going to meet Charity Chic for the first time (although when we see each other I’ve a feeling we’ll recognise one another from being at the same gigs). Friends of the blog such as Jacques the Kipper, Aldo and Comrade Colin are going to come along and I’m hopeful too that a couple of others might be able to make a late call to be part of what will be an incredible experience.
I’m excited about it, but nervous too. Not from meeting everyone as I’ve never yet hooked up with a previously imaginary friend and been disappointed – if anything they’ve all proven to be even more handsome, gorgeous, witty, charming and delightful in real life than they come across via the typed word. I just don’t want to let anybody down by choosing the wrong bars, restaurants and places of interest and they end up going home slightly underwhelmed by it all.
But I’m sure that won’t happen. Fingers crossed.
mp3 : Orange Juice – Simply Thrilled Honey
mp3 : Buzzcocks – Friends of Mine
mp3 : The Wedding Present – You Should Always Keep In Touch With Your Friends (Peel Session)
JC
** Update : Brian IS coming all the way over from Seattle.
Wow.
That above is a replica of the ticket for the first gig I ever went to. There were two support acts – Bobby Henry and The Cramps. It’s coming up for nearly 38 years since that unforgettable and historic night in my life and I only wish I had been the type to have kept a journal of who I’ve seen, and where, ever since.
As it is, I’m going to try from memory to list all the Glasgow venues that I’ve ever paid money to see a singer or group perform. It could very well be exhaustive but there’s also the possibility that folk might mention somewhere in their comments and that’ll jog my memory further. Oh and there’s a reason for this particular posting that will become clear in the next 24-36 hours.
1. Apollo
Legendary venue that began as Green’s Playhouse in 1927, where Mrs JC, as a young teenager, saw David Bowie on the Ziggy Stardust tour in 1972. A year later it changed its name to the Apollo under which banner it operated until 16 June 1985 when The Style Council became the last act to play there. I was at that particular gig but it wasn’t thought at the time that it would be the end as there had been previous false alarms about the venue closing its doors and, besides, where else was there in the city for gigs that could attract 3,500 fans?
The location is now a multiplex cinema.
2. Barrowlands
The best live venue in the world – without question.
Originally opened in 1934 but rebuilt in 1960 after a fire. It was a traditional ballroom rather than a gig venue but Simple Minds had shown what could be possible when they utilised it as a location for filming a promo video and then played live gigs at the end of 1983. The venue, with its 2,100 all-standing capacity quickly became very popular and began to draw events away from the Apollo thus leading to its eventual demise.
3. SECC
Christened ‘the big red shed’ on its opening in 1985 – and the final nail in the coffin of the Apollo. The Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre was built as a flexible space to host all sorts of events, including concerts, within a variety of different sized halls. The sound, for years, was absolutely appalling, as the main income was derived from the exhibition and conference market and so the building wasn’t built to the best of specifications for music lovers. I’ve been to all the different halls in the main SECC building over the years but I’ll count it as one location for the purposes of this exercise
4. Clyde Auditorium (The ‘Armadillo’)
5. SSE Hydro
Two purpose-built venues in the grounds of the SECC complex which opened in 1997 and 2013 respectively. The former will always hold special memories as it was where I saw Leonard Cohen for the first and only time back in 2008; the latter I’ve only been to once so far, and it was for a bitterly disappointing gig by Belle and Sebastian in 2015. Hated the experience so much that I’m missing out when Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds play there later in the year.
6. Glasgow University Debating Chamber
One of many student venues I’ve caught bands in over the years. The most recent was a fantastic gig by Belle and Sebastian in 2016. The difference in them playing at this intimate sized venue in comparison to the Hydro is beyond words.
7. Strathclyde Students Union – Level 8
8. Glasgow University Queen Margaret Union
9. Glasgow Technical College Students Union
#7 was where I spent almost every weekend between the ages of 19 and 22. Too many great gigs to single out one above others. #8 was where I first saw The Smiths in 1984. #9 I hadn’t been back to in years until Jacques the Kipper and myself went along to freak out to Carter USM in February 1991.
10. Tiffany’s
11. Plaza Ballroom
12. Maestro’s
13. Henry Afrika’s
14. Soundhaus
15. Barfly
16. The Arches
17. Night Moves (later changed name to Rooftops)
All of the above are no longer with us. Tiffany’s was the choice of venue for bands who couldn’t quite fill the Apollo and was where I saw many up and coming post-punk bands between 1981 (when I was old enough to get in under the licensing laws) and 1987 when it was converted into a casino.
The Plaza was where I first saw a number of bands including New Order, Suede and Blur – it was demolished and turned into flats in 1995. Maestro’s and Henry Afrika’s were discos occasionally used for gigs – can only recall being at them on one occasion and that was to see Tears for Fears and The Wake.
Barfly, I was at once to see Young Knives in 2006. I cannot recall who I saw at Soundhaus but it was to watch a band for whom the bass player was a young relative of a good friend of Mrs V’s.
Night Moves was the venue where bands played midweek as the student unions, for the most part, only hosted live gigs at weekends – my most memorable time at NM was The Fall supported by Cocteau Twins in 1982. It’s still in use but only as Victoria’s nightclub.
The Arches was a superb basement venue deep in the bowels below Glasgow Central station. It was more renowned as a club, and it was drugs-related issues within the club that led to its closure in 2015, but I was lucky enough to see a number of great performances there over the years, including British Sea Power, Lambchop, Frightened Rabbit, Aidan Moffat and Billy Bragg.
18. King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut
19. Broadcast
20. Nice n Sleazys
21. Hug and Pint
22. Academy
23. ABC
24. ABC 2
25. City Halls (both pre and post multi-million £s renovation in 2006)
26. Stereo
27. Mono
28. The Garage (formerly known as Mayfair)
29. CCA
30. Classic Grand
31. Old Fruitmarket
32. 13th Note
33. Platform
34. Old Hairdresser’s
35. Glasgow School of Art
36. Cathouse
37. SWG3
38. Glad Cafe
39. Woodend Tennis Club
40. Flying Duck
41. Oranmor (upstairs)
42. Oranmor (downstairs)
43. Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
44. Strathclyde Suite at GRCH
45. Renfrew Ferry (which despite its name, is a location in Glasgow)
46. St Luke’s
47. St Andrew’s In The Square
All of the above remain in use and all have been visited regularly. I make the distinction at Oranmor and GRCH as the various halls are completely different in layout and atmosphere, and in the case of GCRH, size.
48. Pavilion Theatre
49. Tron Theatre
50. Cottier’s Theatre
51. Citizens’ Theatre
52. Mitchell Theatre
53. Tramway Theatre
54. Glasgow Film Theatre
Turning now to oddities and venues that I’ve only been to either once or twice.
55. Grand Ole Opry (notionally a C&W club; have seen Lloyd Cole and The Twilight Sad on the two occasions I’ve been along)
56. Langside Hall
57. Queen’s Park Bowling Club
58. Hyndland Bowling Club
59. Titwood Bowling Club
60. Offshore Cafe
61. Berkeley Suite
62. Jeffrey Hall, Mitchell Library
(#56 – #62 have all been one-off gigs by Butcher Boy)
63. Buff Club
64. Brel
(Malcolm Middleton/Rick Redbeard/FOUND as Chem Underground triple bill in 2012)
65. Fairfield Club
(Malcolm Middleton/Phantom Band/Strike The Colours/De Rosa as part of Malky’s Burst Noel in 2008)
66. The State Bar
67. Pollokshields Burgh Hall
(LP launch by Wake The President in 2009)
68. Dennistoun New Parish Church
(Admiral Fallow/Rick Redbeard/Kobi Onyame as part of East End Social Duke St Expo in 2014)
69. Everlasting Arms Church
(King Creosote/Alexis Taylor(Hot Chip)/Siobhan Wilson as part of East End Social Duke St Expo in 2014)
70. Kinning Park Complex
(LP launch by Randolph’s Leap in 2014)
71. Glasgow Academical Sports Club
(scene of a momentous Martin Stephenson solo gig)
Some smaller venues that are no longer in existence.
72. Moir Hall
73. The Roxy (has been re-modelled and re-opened as The Hug and Pint)
74. Captain’s Rest
75. Bowler’s Bar
and finally, three outdoor venues
76. Glasgow Green
77. Richmond Park
78. Kelvingrove Bandstand
Proud to say I haven’t been to gigs at any of the three football stadia nor Bellahouston Park, despite it being on my doorstep.
#79 is on its way. Stay Tuned.
mp3 : The Jam – That’s Entertainment (live at Apollo, Glasgow)
mp3 : Echo and The Bunnymen – Never Stop (live at Barrowlands, Glasgow)
mp3 : The Smiths – You’ve Got Everything Now (live at Queen Margaret Union, Glasgow)
mp3 : Malcolm Middleton – Red Travellin’ Socks (live at Oran Mor, Glasgow)
mp3 : Frightened Rabbit – Keep Yourself Warm (live at Captain’s Rest, Glasgow)
Last of the above features James Graham of The Twilight Sad on backing vocals.
JC
Second successive day for a one-hour mix. Apologies if they’re not your sort of thing. I promise there won’t be another for a while.
I used to have a tradition of featuring one or more songs by Irish musicians every 17th of March. I thought I’d go one better today.
mp3 : Various – Songs For St Patrick’s Day 2017
Tracklist
The Boys Are Back In Town – Thin Lizzy
Shining Light – Ash
Fire On Babylon – Sinead O’Connor
Fashion Crisis Hits New York – The Frank and Walters
Blues for Ceausescu – Fatima Mansions
You Made Me Realise – My Bloody Valentine
Happy Day – Blink
More Endless Art – A House
She’s So Modern – Boomtown Rats
Something Wild – Rare
Alernative Ulster (Peel Session) – Stiff Little Fingers
In The Days Before Rock ‘n’ Roll – Van Morrison
Understand – Brian
Julie Ocean – The Undertones
JC
I’ve come to enjoy cobbling together the one-hour mixes these past few months. Up until now, they’ve tended to have some sense of purpose to them, whether for essential listening for lengthy plane journeys, offering a take on the outcome of the US presidential elections, Xmas, my young brother’s birthday or just a way of saying hello to someone.
In some ways this latest offering did have a purpose in that I thought I’d simply play a tune and without any advance planning try and come up with a song that either complemented it or offered something of a contrast. I imagined myself as a DJ on an local internet station, broadcasting around 3am when nobody is tuning in and offering no opportunity for listeners to interact. And here’s what emerged over 60 minutes:-
mp3 : Various – Working the Graveyard Shift
TRACKLIST
A Brighter Beat – Malcolm Middleton
I Wonder Why – The Heart Throbs
What’s The Frequency, Kenneth? – R.E.M.
Jo-Jo’s Jacket – Stephen Malkmus
Erase/Rewind – The Cardigans
Shimmer Shimmer – She’S HiT
Red Right Hand – Arctic Monkeys
Evil (Silver Alert Remix) – Grinderman feat Matt Berninger
She’s Lost Control (extended version) – Grace Jones
New England – Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers
Don’t Fence Me In – David Byrne
One Horse Town – The Thrills
Christ for President – Wilco
Hairstyle – Goldblade
Nirvana – Juliana Hatfield
Everything’s Ruined – Faith No More
Theme from ‘Batman’ – The Jam
I think you’ll see that around the 45 minute mark, I got temporarily distracted by reading something on social media about the latest alternative facts offered by the Donald. I hope you get as much out of listening as I did putting it together.
JC
The final part of The Undertones series will have to wait another seven days. It’s my young brother’s 51st birthday today. I know he pops in here every day, firing up his laptop while soaking up the sun in Florida, and so as a wee bit of surprise for him I’ve put together an 80s mix tape jammed with stuff I know he likes.
mp3 : Various – Songs for a Handsome Devil
TRACKLIST
Speed Your Love To Me (extended) – Simple Minds
Sit Down – James
Kiss This Thing Goodbye – Del Amitri
Something’s Gotten Hold of My Heart – Marc Almond/Gene Pitney
Rattlesnakes – Lloyd Cole & The Commotions
What Difference Does It Make? – The Smiths
Prisoner of Love – Spear of Destiny
Cath – The Bluebells
Tinseltown in the Rain – The Blue Nile
Hallelujah Man – Love and Money
To Cut A Long Story Short – Spandau Ballet
Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl) – Haircut 100
Rip It Up – Orange Juice
The Honeythief – Hipsway
Pride (In the Name of Love) – U2
And, believe it or not, the whole thing comes in at 60 mins and 00 seconds – more by chance than design!!
Have a great day young fella and I’ll see you doing your dad dancing to all of this when you come over in the summer.
Not too long ago, I shared with you some of my on-going concerns in life and how they were combining to impact on my ability to get fully motivated this year. Those of you who know me in any shape or form will have immediately realised that throwing in Trump and Raith Rovers was just my way of clouding what was really on my mind, namely Mrs Villain being unwell and requiring a couple of hospital visits over the festive period.
The emerging and good news is she has nothing that is life-threatening; she does have some issues with a lung which is likely to make her susceptible to infections, some which will be worse and more painful than others (the 2016/17 strain is a belter in that regard) but nothing that can’t be fixed in the medium-long term with medication and a degree of rest. Given there is a history of fatal lung diseases in her family, there was a real fear gripping Villain Towers for a while.
Thank you for all your very kind words and thoughts after that particular posting – they meant a great deal and were hugely appreciated. Here’s my way of showing said appreciation; don’t read anything into the choice of songs – it was just me having a bit of fun and thinking this would make a good hour of listening:-
mp3 : Various – Breathing That Sigh of Relief
Tracklist
Love Vigilantes – New Order
Did You Evah? – Iggy Pop & Debbie Harry
Kelly’s Heroes – Black Grape
Waking Up – Elastica
Penelope Tree – Felt
My Love Is Like A Gift You Can’t Return – The Man from Delmonte
Radio Radio – Elvis Costello & The Attractions
Amateur Hour – Sparks
Sheila Take A Bow – The Smiths
Bye Bye Pride – The Go-Betweens
Fait Accompli – Curve
Setting Sun – The Chemical Brothers
Come Home (original version) – James
Sweetheart Contract – Magazine
The Model – Kraftwerk
Lost Weekend – Lloyd Cole & the Commotions
Talulah Gosh – Talulah Gosh
Final Day – Young Marble Giants
Worth mentioning that my football team are still struggling to win a game – the last victory was in late October – but we did a well merited draw in a cup tie last Sunday against a team from a higher division. Maybe it’s a sign that things will begin to improve on that front.
Cheers.
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 