Category: Various

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.

Really finding it hard to get motivated right now. Maybe it is the cold weather and the eternally dark mornings and nights. Maybe it is the growing sense of unease and anger at the fact Trump takes over the White House in seven days time. Maybe it is the fact my favourite football team are in a slump at the moment and show no signs of emerging back into winning ways. Maybe it is down to worrying about Mrs Villain being unwell just now and awaiting soon the results of some tests carried out last week at the wonderful NHS hospital just up the road from here.

More than likely its a combination of all of the above.

So when I got in from work a couple of hours back I just wanted to find solace in some old songs and in doing so wanted to pull something together that I can listen to on trains and buses this next few days without having to concentrate too much such is their familiarity. Feel free to listen in.

mp3 : Various – The Musical Equivalent of Comfort Food

Tracklist

This Is Pop? – XTC
Asylums In Jerusalem – Scritti Politti
Candyskin – Fire Engines
Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick – Ian Dury & The Blockheads
Only Love Can Break Your Heart – Saint Etienne
Superstition – Stevie Wonder
I Can’t Stand Up For Falling Down – Elvis Costello & The Attractions
I Wanna Be Sedated – Ramones
Town Called Malice – The Jam
Don’t Talk To Me About Love – Altered Images
Felicity – Orange Juice
No Bulbs – The Fall
Common People – Pulp
Everyday Is Like Sunday – Morrissey
Ladykillers – Lush
Kennedy – The Wedding Present
Ain’t That Enough? – Teenage Fanclub

Enjoy.

I know I’ve tested a fair few patiences these past two weeks with the abundance of cover versions, but it was a way of letting me ease off a bit at a time when, traditionally, the number of daily visitors tails off somewhat as those who perhaps fit a visit in as part of a routine quite rightly find themselves with other and better things to do.

As as a way of expressing my gratitude to those of you who have continued to drop in, I’ve pulled together another mix of music lasting around the hour mark – 59:58 to be precise – that I think hangs together reasonably well. The title, as is becoming a habit, lifts from one of the songs making an appearance.

mp3 : Various – Directing Traffic On The Disco Floor

Tracklist

Water (Peel Session) – PJ Harvey
There There – Radiohead
The Decision – Young Knives
If I Can’t Change Your Mind – Sugar
Safety Net – Shop Assistants
Good Shit – Cornershop
White Love – One Dove
Last Train to Transcentral – The KLF
The Shy Retirer – Arab Strap
Two Timing Touch and Broken Bones – The Hives
Taste the Last Girl – Sons & Daughters
Everybody Knows The Monkey – Mighty Mighty
Shine On – House of Love
Date With the Night – Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Breakdown – Buzzcocks
These Things Take Time – The Smiths
Driver 8 – R.E.M.
Boys Don’t Cry – The Cure

Warning : There’s a wee swear word (surprise, surprise) within the Arab Strap song. Just in case you’re thinking of playing the whole thing in the presence of young kids or those who may be offended.

This was a late change of plan. There was originally going to be a posting on Crass as they were about as far removed from the usual jolliness and frivolity of the festive period as I could come up with. But that’s been filed away for use on another day sometime in 2017.

Instead, I’ve pulled this together:-

mp3 : Various – A Drunk Father Christmas and The Antichrist

The title is taken from a line in one of the featured songs. The sentiments are driven by the fact that once again, decent music has helped me through some hard times. As it does with all of us…with nothing better to exemplify that than the #1 song in the WYCRA 200….

It’s two days before Xmas and I’m going to be travelling by train 230 miles south of Glasgow to attend the funeral this afternoon of a dear friend who died very suddenly and very unexpectedly some 12 days ago. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit it has affected me greatly. My moods have been swinging violently but more often that not I’ve been low and down and pretty crap company. Last Saturday night was the occasion of the six-monthly Little League event that I’d been looking forward to since the last one in June on my birthday. I was in two minds about going, but the husband of my late friend reminded me that life goes on and you’ve got to do what you can when you can to make the most of it. I ended up, unsuprisingly, having a great time in the company of Aldo and many other folk who over the years I’ve been lucky enough, through the club, to get to know and love. For sure, it was a wee bit emotional at times…..but as the night worked towards its 1am curfew and after a lot of dad-dancing, yes, I did feel better, I felt alright.

A small number of the songs on this latest compilation were aired last Saturday and indeed I’ve ripped off two in a row that were played in the same sequence (Smiths and Nirvana) and confirmed that our resident DJ is a genius at these things. I am a mere novice but I like to think some things work.  It runs to 62:30 exactly. It’s a wee bit iffy quality wise with variations in volume but that’s the nature of old vinyl.

Tracklist

The Distance – Cake
I Speak Your Every Word – Curve
All The Records On The Radio Are Shite – Ballboy
Big Blonde – Aidan Moffat & the Best-Ofs
Shoppers Paradise – Carter USM
A New England – Kirsty MacColl
Girl Afraid – The Smiths
About A Girl – Nirvana
Cut Your Hair – Pavement
Basement Band Song – The Organ
Bouncing Babies – The Teardrop Explodes
The Cutter – Echo and The Bunnymen
Suffragette City – David Bowie
Left To My Own Devices – Pet Shop Boys
Another Girl, Another Planet – The Only Ones
The Look Of Love – ABC
Yes – McAlmont & Butler
Roadrunner – Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers

Oh and Merry Christmas everyone. I will be here over the weekend with the usual offerings in the long-running series for Saturdays and Sundays and then doing some cover version stuff all next week and the same again for the following seven days. I also intend to catch up with my reading – I’ve been neglecting too many friends over on the right hand side for far too long.

Yesterday’s piece was put together late on Sunday night. It genuinely was meant as my first and last words on the American election. But it was catching up on a few in-depth weekend pieces in the media that got me thinking just how crazy and momentous the result was and how, in political terms, things will never ever be the same again.

I’ve worked closely for the past 30 years with many politicians in Scotland – most of whom have been incredibly gifted and talented while a small number of others have been the complete opposite. The ones in the former camp often had to work hard over a long period of time to obtain those gifts and talents – being a skilled political operative, no matter the colour of your rosette and the spectrum in which your prevalent views hold sway, isn’t something that comes naturally to anyone.

Reading again so many of the statements attributed to the President-elect over the past 30+ years since he became a household name hammered it home to me that he is not a politician by any stretch of the imagination. If any form of recruitment process had been applied as it would when folk look to land a job or take a step forward in a career then he would never have made any short list. As I was reading the pieces, I began to think of a few songs whose titles made sense and that got me thinking of a playlist.

I then put it together immediately before going to bed. It had started off cynical and twisted but then I tried to have it lift me out of my funk and so went a bit upbeat before getting cynical again, then going a bit loopy as I was getting too morose before eventually ending it in the way I had started. I wasn’t sure about sharing it with you, but 24 hours on, well why the hell not. Especially when my use of fade out on the second last track ensured I could nail it at 60:00 exactly!!

mp3 : Various – And The Public Gets What The Public Wants

Tracklist

Idiot Country – Electronic
Help Save The Youth Of America – Billy Bragg
Honest Mistake – The Bravery
Accidents Will Happen – Elvis Costello & The Attractions
I Wish – Stevie Wonder
24 Hour Party People – Happy Mondays
He’s On The Phone – Saint Etienne
Really Stupid – The Primitives
Clampdown – The Clash
The Headmaster Ritual – The Smiths
Toxic – Britney Spears
Where’s Me Jumper? – Sultans Of  Ping FC
I Bet That You Look Good On The Dancefloor – Arctic Monkeys
Ballad Of The Band – Felt
Waking Up – Elastica
Papa’s Got A Brand New Pigbag – Pigbag
Running The World – Jarvis Cocker

For those of you who don’t know the final song, I should warn you that the main refrain is repeatedly preceded by the words ‘Cunts are still…’

Make of it what you will.

And I promise. That is my last words on the matter.

When you’ve been doing this sort of nonsense for as long as I have, it pays to take a short breather every now and again, and as I mentioned in the additional posting I shoved up on hearing the news of the death of Leonard Cohen, this recent period has been one of them.

I was very fortunate in that, during the time I was planning exactly what to do with the blog while I was tuning out for 2 weeks, I could turn to four ridiculously good guest posts in quick succession. The fact that readers could enjoy  Ned’s Atomic Dustbin, Martin Stephenson, The Pipettes and JAMC over four days demonstrates exactly the variety and quality entertainment that I want to bring to this place. My thanks to Badger, Rich, Strangeways and S-WC for filling the void with such panache.

My own break was partly enforced from the fact that I was away visiting two very dear friends – a husband and wife – over an extended long weekend to celebrate them turning 50 years of age and throwing a party in their home town in Hampshire. I hadn’t been able to make the family celebration they had held up here in Glasgow earlier in the year as it coincided with my trip to Toronto, but I was determined to make sure I didn’t miss out the second time. It was always going to be a drunken few days – I don’t see them as often as I’d like and when we do get together it is always very messy that would always end in tears-stained nostalgia if we didn’t continually rip the piss out of one another.

This particular mate was my best man when I remarried in the mid 90s. By then, he was already forging an incredibly successful career doing things and being in situations that very few of us could ever imagine. The nature of his job is such that he can’t say too much about it and I’m therefore not going to give anything away – I’ll simply confirm that he’s not a spy or anything like that but that a great deal of his work is of utmost national and international security.

He once, many years ago, had to spend nine months away from his family in a very dangerous place; while we were talking over the long weekend he reminded me, and I’d completely forgotten about this, that I had given him a box of home-made C90 cassettes to take with him as his musical accompaniment. Not only did I supply the cassettes but I typed out something like 25 pages of notes on many of the songs with a lot of asides about why they were important or personal to one or other or both of us. I genuinely couldn’t recall doing this and was stunned when he brought out said box and notes and let me read over them.

This was all done back in 2003, and while I’m not claiming that my thousands upon thousands of words were worthy of any literary prize, I was proud of them in that they, and the songs, had seen him through some tough and lonely times; I could also see that this, in some ways, was my first ever stab at blogging albeit such a thing hadn’t been invented at that particular time. I was tempted to bring the notes back up the road with me and reproduce them here, stopped only by the fact that much of what was written was relevant to the particular situation and circumstances ny mate would find himself in and even now, thirteen years on, neither of us would want to put into a wider, more public domain. But reading my written words again, having forgotten that they existed, was a highlight of the year so far.

Which is just as well given the lowlights that would unfold over the next few days.

My political leanings can be worked out easily enough from the words and songs that have featured on this blog over the years so it’s fair to surmise that the ascension of Donald Trump into the White House doesn’t sit easily with me. But hey, if that’s what the voting system used in the States brings about, then so be it.

It’s been fascinating to watch the reactions to this outcome, just as it was when the Brexit vote and Scottish Independence results came through in recent times. Particularly on social media where so many folk on the losing side then seem to make a mad rush to ‘unfriend’ those who voted the other way. This seems just completely the wrong thing to do – if you surround yourself only with those whose views and opinions are completely in line with your own, then you’re not really going to get much of a perspective on life and society.

I am distressed and worried about what the future holds; I’m not envious of those with children whose fears must be even greater.  But I’m not going to stop talking to any friend – in real life or in cyberspace – for the ‘crimes’ of either voting a madman into the White House or putting an X in a particular box which then gave the outside world the impression that the little island I happen to live on is populated by racist bigots.

Life is way too important for that.

But I won’t ever talk to anyone who phones in and votes for an act on the X Factor………..

You’ll be pleased to know that things round here will return to normal from tomorrow. I just wanted to come back sharing a few things that were on my mind.

mp3 : The Psychedelic Furs – President Gas
mp3 : The Presidents of The United States of America – Bad Times
mp3 : Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy – Hypocrisy is the Greatest Luxury
mp3 : Chumbawamba – Mouthful of Shit

Onwards and upwards. Starting with going over to read some of my favourite blogs.  I’ve missed you guys and gals.

I’ve always been amazed and humbled that this blog, and its predecessor, has managed to attract so many regular followers from all parts of the planet. One of the first to latch on to what I was trying to do was Jeff from Chicago with whom I exchanged a few e-mails about music and sport.

We got talking on one occasion about football and Jeff informed me that as he watched a lot of matches from the UK via satellite, he had gotten each of his kids to adopt a side to try to get them interested in things. It had worked to some degree but he wanted to do something different for his youngest daughter and so he asked for some info on my team, Raith Rovers, as he thought it would be neat (and I’m sure that was the word he used) for her to have them as her team of choice.

One thing led to another, and before long Jeff was actually making his way to Scotland to watch Raith Rovers play in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup in April 2010 where he met up with a number of my fellow friends including two contributors to the blog, Mr John Greer and Jacques the Kipper.

We’ve all continued to stay in touch with Jeff over the years – he often sends texts and messages on Saturday afternoons looking for live updates from the Rovers games. He’s nowadays a long way from Chicago, having taken a job that saw him and his family move to North Carolina, and so when he leaves comments nowadays on the blog it is usually just as plain old Jeff.

He did something really nice last week. Like many of the rest of us of a certain age, it can take time to master the techniques of social media but once he worked out how to do a certain shortcut for posting on Facebook he gave a big plug to this blog, adding that there are great ‘mixtapes’ to download. Almost immediately one of his friends (hi Elizabeth!!) said ‘totally made my Saturday night. Great site. Thanks for sharing.’

Now that the Blue Jays have been eliminated from the baseball, I finally have a bit more free time on my hands and one of the first things I wanted to do was this, a sort of companion piece to the earlier ‘One Hour Indie Disco’ of which he is a fan:-

mp3 : Various – This One’s For Jeff

Track Listing

Why Can’t I Be You? – The Cure
Hit The Ground – The Darling Buds
World Shut Your Mouth – Julian Cope
What Went Wrong This Time? – The Siddeleys
Song For A Future Generation – The B52’s
Union City Blue – Blondie
Winter In The Hamptons – Josh Rouse
Tears In Your Cup – Cats On Fire
French Disko – Stereolab
Intergalactic – Beastie Boys
Start! – The Jam
Cruiser’s Creek – The Fall
Ask – The Smiths
Come Saturday – The Pains Of The Pure At Heart
Gouge Away – The Pixies
The Sun A Small Star – The Servants
Oblivious – Aztec Camera
Fell In Love With A Girl – The White Stripes
Everyone Thinks He Looks Daft – The Wedding Present
Another Girl, Another Planet – The Only Ones

Forty seconds over the allocated time. But I just couldn’t fade out the final song.

Those of you who dropped in the other day to When You Can’t Remember Anything will likely have been alarmed by the news that Badger is unwell. I know I was……

I did think of dropping him a ‘Get Well Soon’ card but he’ll likely be inundated with such things, and so I’ve spent the later hours of Saturday night getting the mixing decks out one more time. Hope you get the chance to download and listen my dear friend, and that this plays a small part in helping you along the road to recovery.

mp3 : Various – This One’s For Tim

Track Listing

Take Me Out – Franz Ferdinand
Infinity Guitars – Sleigh Bells
Whip My Hair (remix) – Willow Smith ft Tinie Tempah
Clint Eastwood – Gorillaz
Human Behaviour – Bjork
There There – Radiohead
Can’t Do Without You – Caribou
Time To Pretend – MGMT
We Are Sound – British Sea Power
Helicopter – Bloc Party
Interstate 5 – The Wedding Present
Better Things – Massive Attack ft Tracy Thorn
Pennyroyal Tea – Kristin Hersh
Post Breakup Sex – The Vaccines
Don’t Look Back Into The Sun – The Libertines

S-WC is hopeful of giving me a midweek update and I’ll share that with you as and when. Feel free to add your own messages below.

It was ten years ago today that I nervously tiptoed my way into these dangerous waters. My motivation for doing was partly to keep my creative juices flowing after finding myself at a bit of a loose end at work thanks to some unanticipated staffing changes but mainly as it was something that was of an increasing appeal.

A few months earlier, my other half had given me a USB Turntable for my birthday as I was keen to put a lot of songs that I only had on vinyl into a digital format for transferring onto a new I-pod. It was while browsing the internet looking for tips on how to best do this in terms of software programmes etc that I realised there was a small band of folk with similar musical tastes and interests who were populating small corners of cyberspace with their views and opinions, seeking out responses and debate via the comments sections to postings on their blogs. I tentatively offered some of my own views and was pleasantly surprised that nobody mocked me or called me out as a charlatan. I began to make requests for specific songs and was delighted when folk living in Canada, France, the USA and nearer to home in Scotland let me hear something again for the first time in decades.

It is really hard to imagine just how little of the old indie/new wave/ post punk music from the 70s, 80s and 90s was out there back in 2006 given the massive growth in popularity there has been this past decade. You Tube was a little over a year old and folk were to still to really harness its ability in terms of uploading old footage for all to enjoy. Spotify was still just an idea forming in someone’s head. Record companies had little interest in dealing with back catalogues unless it was a dead superstar. CD was still king with the low manufacturing costs keeping the gravy train smoothly on the tracks. All the good stuff however, seemed to be long out of print and so it fell upon this enthusiastic group of like-minded amateurs to keep certain flames burning.

I tried a few layouts, considered a few alternatives for the name of the blog and thought about giving myself a name to hide behind – The Ghost Of Troubled Joe was only ditched at the last second in favour of using my initials. Having decided that what I was going to do was in the main taking songs on 7” and 12” plastic and featuring them in what was a technically illegal digital format, I felt The Vinyl Villain was a clever and astute name for the blog. Besides, it kind of gave me a superhero alter-ego as I styled myself as ‘JC aka The Vinyl Villain.’

My first posting was on James. It was all about a long-deleted b-side called Fire Away that I thought was worth letting folk hear again. Two days later I featured Lloyd Cole with a then rare and hard-to-find remix of Butterfly, a flop single from 1992. Then I went a bit more obscure the next day with some stuff on a long-forgotten band from Edinburgh called Hey! Elastica.

Positive comments and e-mails began to trickle in and so I kept going. I never considered I’d still be doing it ten years on.

Nor did I imagine that I would make so many great friends through blogging, a fair number of whom I’ve been lucky to meet but the vast majority have been the 21st Century equivalent of pen-pals. Being a blogger has enabled me to meet some of my all-time musical heroes (and in certain cases befriend them) and indirectly led me to DJ again after many years away. It also created a situation where I would do things I could only previously daydream about – I’ve promoted gigs, I’ve been a semi-roadie, I’ve sold stuff at merchandise stalls and I’ve been briefly profiled in newspapers and magazines. I’ve been invited to come to a recording studio and be among the first to hear a brand new recording from one of my favourite bands and I’ve had my real name appear in the list of thanks on new releases. I still can’t get over that Laurence Bell of Domino Records contacted me for some thoughts and advice in advance of his label issuing the Orange Juice box set and then as thank you listing me in the credits… that will always remain beyond belief.

I’ve clearly had a whale of a time never once regretting my decision to get involved and I’ve been lucky with so much that has happened. But above all else, I am incredibly proud of the fact that I’ve been able to attract many hundreds of guest contributions over the years and in doing so have greatly expanded my knowledge and musical tastes.

Of course it’s not all been plain sailing. A few initial bumps were smoothed out by some of my oldest blogging comrades which is why it seems so apt that this week, while I’m on holiday in Toronto, that the blog is featuring a series of repeat guest offerings from ctel without whom I’d most likely quit at some point. I owe him so much and again want to publicly say a big thank you.

The Vinyl Villain was hosted by blogger.com between 29 September 2006 and 24 July 2013 when it was taken down by the host for what was alleged to be continued violations of copyright policy. They had a point but the method used in which so many millions of words were wiped without giving me a chance to do some sort of back-up was upsetting and caused a lot of grief and anger. My indignation was shared by many others and the many messages of support made me determined to bounce back quickly. I ended up doing so did so the same day, using wordpress, and re-naming it The (New) Vinyl Villain. It took a few weeks but the new place soon got up to the standards of the old place and indeed nowadays I feel it is a big improvement, thanks in the main to the quality of the guest postings.

Between the two blogs, there have been something in the region of 3,700 separate posts and what will be something in the region of 15,000 comments. That’s an awful lot of words……thankfully some of them have made some sense.

There’s not too many of the original bloggers from ten years ago still going today which is perfectly understandable given that it is very difficult to find different things to say all the time; besides, all of our personal circumstances have changed while those who were driven by the desire only to share music can point to how much easier it is to do so in 2016 compared to 2006….and much of it is legal.

In their places have come some very talented and skilled new bloggers, a small number of whom I very heartily recommend with a listing to the right hand side of my own place. Sometimes I find it difficult to read what these folk are writing, partly because so many of them do it in a way that makes me think they should be getting paid for it, but also because I sometimes read their word and realise that my own emerging thoughts for a future post just been blown out the water!!

I know that I won’t be doing this forever. To be honest, five years ago I didn’t imagine seeing out another half-decade, so I’ll make no predictions about what the future holds. But as long as I wake up of a morning and see that someone out there is getting a degree of enjoyment out of what appears here, and as long as I’m able to crochet a few clichés together in a way that makes some sort of sense, well you can bet that some sort of tune and some sort of opinion or information will appear on a daily basis.

For now, here’s some tunes:-

mp3 : Kingmaker – 10 Years Asleep
mp3 : Wild Billy Childish & The Musicians Of The British Empire – Birthday Boy
mp3 : James – Fire Away (12″ vinyl)
mp3 : Lloyd Cole – Butterfly (the Planet Ann Charlotte Mix)
mp3 : The Fall – Lost In Music

Enjoy.

So at long last, I’m just about set to fly over to Toronto for a short break. Flight leaves tomorrow morning.

The idea came up about five or six weeks ago when the Blue Jays were top of their division and set to have a shot at winning the World Series for the first time since 1993. Only problem is that since I booked the flights the team has gone into near freefall and are barely clinging on for a one-game stab at making it into the playoffs where they will no doubt come a cropper on current form. But still, it’ll be worth it even if the games aren’t going to be as enjoyable or critical as I’d hoped as being in a packed Rogers Centre on a baseball night is one of the greatest of sporting expereiences. And besides, beyond the baseball I’m going to spend time with a lot of very dear friends.

Here’s the last of the 1-hour mixes that I’ve put together for the flight. The rest have gone up as bonus postings but this one is the main and indeed only attraction on the blog today

mp3 : Various – Let’s Play Ball

Smash Hits – Kid Canaveral
The Life of Riley – Lightning Seeds
Waiting For The Winter – The Popguns
Young Adult Friction – The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
Foxheads – The Close Lobsters
Permanent Past Tense – Butcher Boy
Our Lips Are Sealed  – Fun Boy Three
It Happens – Primal Scream
When All’s Well – Evertything But The Girl
Jeane – The Smiths
Definitive Gaze – Magazine
Higher Grounds – Cats On Fire
Hitten – Those Dancing Days
C.R.E.E.P. – The Fall
The House Jack Kerouac Built – The Go-Betweens
Falling and Laughing – Orange Juice
Freakscene – Dinosaur Jr.
Dance Me In – Sons & Daughters
Deceptacon – Le Tigre

Inspired in the main by nights spent dancing at Little League in Glasgow with many of the above songs being aired regularly at these now six-monthly nights.

Tomorrow’s posting and those for the weekend are in place and then come Monday there will be a week of repeat postings dug up from the old blog courtesy of ctel/Acid Ted.

Oh and if you can, please drop in next Thursday for a scheduled bonus posting of some significance.

See you all soon.  Let’s Go Blue Jays.

One of the most enjoyable things about the four and a bit summer months I lived in Toronto back in 2007 was the weather. It’s easy to forget, due to the harsh winters that the city and indeed Canada as whole seems to experience is that Toronto is situated on the same latitude as Southern France/Northern Spain and gets lots of t-shirt weather.

This meant I did a lot of walking around neighbourhoods that were of course completely unfamiliar to me, some of which I could see had changed dramatically as a result of new money and investment flooding in. Dare I say the word gentrification?

One such are was in the vicinity of the underground station of Summerhill where a mix of old and new seemed to be pretty well-balanced.  It was where I found Joseph’s the most amazing barber shop which basically hadn’t changed since its opening back in 1959…including many of the old men who were cutting the hair.  It became my go to place every three weeks or so despite being many miles from where I was staying.

Why am I wittering on like this today?  It’s all down to the fact that the latest and dare I say it, magnificent, compilation is ready just in time for the end of the working week and old-fashioned barbers like Joseph’s would, back in the days, ask gentlemen if they perhaps required any accessories for the gallivanting evenings that were on the horizon….

mp3 : Various – Something For The Weekend

Feel free to make this your very own Saturday Night Fever soundtrack; but remember that it is can equally be enjoyed on any day of the week, no matter the hour.

The Boy With The Thorn In His Side – The Smiths
I Like Birds But I Like Other Animals Too – The Lovely Eggs
Buddy Holly – Weezer
Everybody Knows The Monkey – Mighty Mighty
Wrote For Luck – Happy Mondays
Sexy Boy – Air
Head Full Of Steam – The Go-Betweens
Hit – Sugarcubes
Party Fears Two – Associates
Thou Shalt Always Kill – Dan Le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip
Situation – Yazoo
Back Of Love – Echo & The Bunnymen
Sugar Kane – Sonic Youth
Fix Up, Look Sharp – Dizzee Rascal
Bizarre Love Triangle – New Order
Nobody’s Twisting Your Arm – The Wedding Present

An hour well spent if I say so myself.

Once more I foist some stuff on you from the new mixes I’ve pulled together for listening to on a 7-hour plane journey.  Named today after the first sample on the first tune.  And please….don’t be put off if one or more of the featured bands is not to your esteemed tastes….this one works and comes in on time…59:50.

mp3 : Various Artists – Elevator, Going Up

Shopper’s Paradise – Carter USM
He’s On The Phone – St. Etienne
Last Nite – Detroit Cobras
Head On – The Jesus and Mary Chain
The Only One I Know – The Charlatans
Unbelievable – EMF
Push Upstairs – Underworld
Brother – The Organ
The Queen Is Dead – The Smiths
Outdoor Miner – Wire
The Freeze – Spandau Ballet
Penelope Tree – Felt
Sunday to Saturday – The June Brides
Radio Free Europe (original Version) – R.E.M.
Pretty In Pink – The Psychedelic Furs
Touch Sensitive – The Fall

I’ll likely listen to this one at maximum altitude and optimim cruise control speed.

Just over two weeks until I take off for Toronto and so I’m still compiling the soundtrack for the plane journey in lieu of the usually piss-poor in-flight entertainment.

I’m trying to get each chunk to come in at around about the 1 hour mark. Indeed, as I was putting this one together I thought it would make an ideal 60 minutes of quality radio play, going from the news at the top of the hour till the same again 3,600 seconds later.

And then I threw in a song I wasn’t originally planning to include as I thought the running order was going to come up short. This, as it turned out, took the total time to 62:20. If I’d left well alone, I’d have been more than fine. But as it is, I’ve fucked up one more time and thus the title I’ve selected of this particular smorgasboard:-

mp3 : Various – Oops, I Did It Again

Couple of nice and unusual segues…

Swerve – Dub Sex
Pump Up The Volume – M*A*R*R*S
Homosapien – Pete Shelley
Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! – Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Theme From S’Express – S’Express
Age Of Consent – New Order
Just Like Heaven – The Cure
There She Goes – The La’s
Talulah Gosh – Talulah Gosh
Lost Weekend – Lloyd Cole & The Commotions
Babies – Pulp
Rise and Shine – The Cardigans
Candy Everybody Wants – 10,000 Maniacs
Eine Symphonie des Grauens – The Monochrome Set
Sorry For Laughing – Josef K
Irish Blood, English Heart – Morrissey
Kiss – Prince & The Revolution
Trash – Suede

At least another two of these to come before I leave.