Songs From The Rabbit Hole

Not Dead, just away

2008-02-28T23:28:00.000Z

http://sftrh.890m.com/

its here now

madlove

xxxx

back up...

2008-02-10T15:36:00.000Z

whilst I wait for the company that is hosting to check my site for malicious content...

here is a post carrying on the year countdown...

So the next 3 years. My last 3 years in Dorset...

what changed? lots of things, I stopped hanging with a crowd of people that, as much as I love them held me back... I met some people that seemed to be more than just friends, but people that will be with me forever, that were on my wavelength... they encouraged me on so many levels. Their story continues over the next posts, but from here on in, its all about them.

I thought it would be best to spoil you with 3 years of posts, thats 15 songs and 3 birthday number ones.

and by the way I made those there pictures.

The Number Ones of 1996

20 Jan 1996 George Michael Jesus To A Child
27 Jan 1996 Babylon Zoo Spaceman
2 Mar 1996 Oasis Don't Look Back In Anger
9 Mar 1996 Take That How Deep Is Your Love
30 Mar 1996 Prodigy Firestarter
20 Apr 1996 Mark Morrison Return Of The Mack
4 May 1996 George Michael Fastlove
25 May 1996 Gina G Ooh Aah... Just A Little Bit
1 Jun 1996 Baddiel, Skinner & Lightning Seeds Three Lions
8 Jun 1996 Fugees Killing Me Softly
20 Jul 1996 Gary Barlow Forever Love
27 Jul 1996 Spice Girls Wannabe
14 Sep 1996 Peter Andre Flava
21 Sep 1996 Fugees Ready Or Not
5 Oct 1996 Deep Blue Something Breakfast At Tiffany's
12 Oct 1996 Chemical Brothers Setting Sun
19 Oct 1996 Boyzone Words
26 Oct 1996 Spice Girls Say You'll Be There
9 Nov 1996 Robson & Jerome What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted
23 Nov 1996 Prodigy Breathe
7 Dec 1996 Peter Andre I Feel You
14 Dec 1996 Boyzone A Different Beat
21 Dec 1996 Dunblane Knockin' On Heaven's Door
28 Dec 1996 Spice Girls 2 Become 1

The Number Ones of 1997

18 Jan 1997 Tori Amos Professional Widow (It's Got To Be Big)
25 Jan 1997 White Town Your Woman
1 Feb 1997 Blur Beetlebum
8 Feb 1997 LL Cool J Ain't Nobody
15 Feb 1997 U2 Discotheque
22 Feb 1997 No Doubt Don't Speak
15 Mar 1997 Spice Girls Mama / Who Do You Think You Are
5 Apr 1997 Chemical Brothers Block Rockin' Beats
12 Apr 1997 R Kelly I Believe I Can Fly
3 May 1997 Michael Jackson Blood On The Dance Floor
10 May 1997 Gary Barlow Love Won't Wait
17 May 1997 Olive You're Not Alone
31 May 1997 Eternal featuring Bebe Winans I Wanna Be The One
7 Jun 1997 Hanson Mmmbop
28 Jun 1997 Puff Daddy & Faith Evans I'll Be Missing You
19 Jul 1997 Oasis D'you Know What I Mean
16 Aug 1997 Will Smith Men In Black
13 Sep 1997 Verve The Drugs Don't Work
20 Sep 1997 Elton John Candle In The Wind 97 / Something About The Way You Look.
25 Oct 1997 Spice Girls Spice Up Your Life
1 Nov 1997 Aqua Barbie Girl
29 Nov 1997 Various Artists Perfect Day
13 Dec 1997 Teletubbies Teletubbies Say Eh-oh!
27 Dec 1997 Spice Girls Too Much

The Number Ones of 1998

17 Jan 1998 All Saints Never Ever
24 Jan 1998 Oasis All Around The World
31 Jan 1998 Usher You Make Me Wanna...
7 Feb 1998 Aqua Doctor Jones
21 Feb 1998 Celine Dion My Heart Will Go On
28 Feb 1998 Cornershop Brimful Of Asha
7 Mar 1998 Madonna Frozen
21 Mar 1998 Run DMC vs Jason Nevins It's Like That
2 May 1998 Boyzone All That I Need
9 May 1998 All Saints Under The Bridge / Lady Marmalade
16 May 1998 Aqua Turn Back Time
30 May 1998 Tamperer featuring Maya Feel It
6 Jun 1998 B*Witched C'est La Vie
20 Jun 1998 Baddiel, Skinner & Lightning Seeds Three Lions '98
11 Jul 1998 Billie Because We Want To
18 Jul 1998 Another Level Freak Me
25 Jul 1998 Jamiroquai Deeper Underground
1 Aug 1998 Spice Girls Viva Forever
15 Aug 1998 Boyzone No Matter What
5 Sep 1998 Manic Street Preachers If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next
12 Sep 1998 All Saints Bootie Call
19 Sep 1998 Robbie Williams Millennium
26 Sep 1998 Melanie B featuring Missy Elliott I Want You Back
3 Oct 1998 B*Witched Rollercoaster
17 Oct 1998 Billie Girlfriend
24 Oct 1998 Spacedust Gym & Tonic
31 Oct 1998 Cher Believe
19 Dec 1998 B*Witched To You I Belong
26 Dec 1998Spice Girls Goodbye

Downloads.... MEDIAFIRE

1996: The Headnod shit that makes you break yo neck

My Singles of the year...

Devil's Haricut - Beck... Beck is an artist that divides opinion in my own music taste, so much of his stuff I hate, but this I love, it was so different to what else was going on at that time.

No Diggity - Blackstreet... I was all over this tune back in '96, awesome song, still a favourite today. the sample for Grandma's hands by Bill Withers, the video was great too.

Woo-Hah (I got you all in check) - Busta Rhymes... another quality tune that was everywhere back in the day, its the head nod shit that makes you break yo neck.

Natural One - Folk Implosion... a change of direction here, this song from Lou Barlow's spin off band, featured in the soundrack to the film Kids, this film introduced me to Daniel Johnston, but thats another post.

Professional Widow - Tori Amos... this tune, albeit the remix, was all over at the tail end of '96, made number one in early 97, the original is about Courtney Love, apparently, this is Armand Van Helden remix, hands in the air...

Birthday Number One - Wannabe - Spice Girls... oh my god, why?

1997: I Think I need a cup of tea

Single of the year...

Not If You Were The Last Junkie On Earth - The Dandy Warhols... argh! The DW's are a band that have had a few great songs, this is one of them... herion is so passe

Between The Bars - Elliott Smith... Elliott Smith wrote some of the most beautiful songs that I have heard, this is one of them, he should have been more well known... I'll do an Elliott Smith post soon.

On & On - Erykah Badu... I love this song, so great... never really felt anything else she has done.

Kowalski - Primal Scream... Inspired by the film Vanishing Point, this is my second favourite PS moment, I love this song. Vanishing Point was more recently mentioned in Deathproof the new Taratino movie.

I Never Could Be Your Woman - White Town... I hated this song when it first came out, detested it, but as the years have passed I have grown to really love it, it was either this or Mmmbop by Hanson,

Birthday Number One - D'ya Know What I Mean - Oasis... the sound of 5 men with too much coke and too litlle on ideas, good coke albums see Sly and The Family Stone.

1998: A Junk Yard Fool With Eyes of Gloom

Singles of the year...

Hard-Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem) - Jay-Z... mad props for sampling Annie, I love JayZ when he's like this.

You Get What You Give - New Radicals... I like this song, it makes my foot tap, hell, I like pop music.

This is Hardcore - Pulp... I think that this is first mention of Pulp on this list, can't really be bothered to check, but this is my favourite Pulp song, I saw them live on this tour, one of the best concerts I have ever been to see. brilliant live.

Ice Hockey Hair - Super Furry Animals... The SFA's a vastly under rated band, I loved them so much, thanks to Ish, for introducing me to them, this song typifies them so much... one of the best bands ever to come out of Wales.

Dry The Rain - The Beta Band... This song always makes me feel good, it was famously used in High Fidelity, a film that I really love, probably because I have identified with all 3 of the characters in the shop, top 5 songs about ...

Birthday Number One - No Matter What - Boyzone... I want to beat Ronan Keating to death with his own vocal chords. I hate music like this, hate it.

Enjoy,

MadLove

xxxxx

I am the magnificent ... guest post #3

2008-02-07T20:32:00.000Z

another Guest post, from Weary...

“I am the magnificent
I'm backed by the shack of a soul boss most turnin' stormin' sound o'soul….”

When I first heard that pounding out of the speakers at my local youthclub. I was hooked. I’d heard reggae before, but it never grabbed me like Double Barrel did.

And that set me on a love affair with the sunshine music of Reggae..

Prince Busters, One Step Beyond & Al Capone were absolute storming records, guaranteed floorfillers in my youth, but I didn’t just love the harsh rawness of the Ska greats like Prince Buster & Desmond Dekker, I also loved the sexy, lyrical romantic reggae of Johnny Nash & Barry Biggs. To smooch along with some hot chick (or so they seemed to me) to the sound of ‘Sideshow’ or ‘Stir It Up’ was my idea of heaven when I was 13.

I have kept up a reasonable Reggae collection, all the usual standards and a decent collection of Trojan stuff plus some Island & Burning Spear

Pluto Shevington, Rupee Edwards, Toots & the Maytails, Lee ‘scratch’ Perry and of course BobMarley.

Great great music to do anything to, from making love to painting your ceiling, once that beat gets you I defy anyone to keep their feet or body still, even I still hit the floor & I have the co-ordination of a broken marionette nowadays.

Although these days I don’t really rate the Reggae music doing the rounds, Sean Paul & Shaggy just doesn’t do it for me, although to be fair, I did like Shaggy’s ‘Oh Carolina’. I think the last Reggae record I really liked that charted was Bitty McLeans cover of Fats Dominos ‘It’s Raining’ but I keep listening, & hoping that there’ll be a gem released once more to take me back to those heady Reggae days of the 1970’s

Weary (but never of the beat)

Download from Mediafire (rar file)

Pissed in a Tube Hole... 1995

2008-01-22T13:17:00.001Z

1995...

another year, I turned 20, no longer a child...

In my life a major shift was about to happen, but I had a little longer to wait...

I was bored of the shit that I went through daily, its about this time I toyed with joining the army... went as far as meeting with the local regiments Major (2 of my Uncles served under him) realised that it wasn't for me, something about compulsory basic training!

But I feel that the music of this time was not important to me, as I was still being dragged to cheesy night clubs with friends and not with people who appreciated the same music as me.

Number Ones Of 1995
14 Jan 1995 Rednex Cotton Eye Joe
4 Feb 1995 Celine Dion Think Twice
25 Mar 1995 Cher,Chrissie Hynde,Neneh Cherry &Eric Clapton Love Can Build A Bridge
1 Apr 1995 Outhere Brothers Don't Stop (Wiggle Wiggle)
8 Apr 1995 Take That Back For Good
6 May 1995 Oasis Some Might Say
13 May 1995 Livin' Joy Dreamer
20 May 1995 Robson Green & Jerome Flynn Unchained Melody
8 Jul 1995 Outhere Brothers Boom Boom Boom
5 Aug 1995 Take That Never Forget
26 Aug 1995 Blur Country House
9 Sep 1995 Michael Jackson You Are Not Alone
23 Sep 1995 Shaggy Boombastic
30 Sep 1995 Simply Red Fairground
28 Oct 1995 Coolio featuring LV Gangsta's Paradise
11 Nov 1995 Robson & Jerome I Believe
9 Dec 1995 Michael Jackson Earth Song

Singles of 1995
Underworld - Born Slippy (nuxx)
Coming to fame due to a film about some Scottish skagheads, I lost count the amount of times that, during that summer I was hands in the air to this tune, it was one of the few times that my chart pop loving friends and I connected musically... usually over the lager,lager,lager refrain.

Josh Wink - Higher State Of Consciousness (Original)
its hard to think that this song is 13 years old...this song makes me want to take lots of drugs and dance my arse off till the break of day... one of my favourite dance (of any genre) tunes of all time, still love it today as much as I did the first time I heard it.

Method Man & Mary J Blige - You're All That I Need
This is one of my favourite hip hop tunes of all time, I've spoken about this song before.

Black Grape - Reverend Black Grape
Shaun Ryder from the Happy Mondays new (to '95) project, this song was probably the best thing that they did... it didn't last

Bjork - Army of Me
I have a strange like for Bjork, every now and then she does a song that I adore, and this is one of them.

Birthday Number One

Never Forget - Take That
SHIT SHIT SHIT

download here (mediafire)

MadLove

xxxxxxxxxxx

I love it when you call me big poppa.... 1994

2008-01-16T23:32:00.000Z

1994

What a year for music, personally at least.

some of my favourite songs ever made were released this year, it surprises me that these songs are now 13 or 14 years old, I still think it was just yesterday.

I don't remember much of what happened in '94, I think it coincided with some of the most alcoholic period of my life, working in the Woodman pub... a great job, some fantastic times I spent there... some fucking scary times, a run in with a smackhead that I knew from wayback, this galvanised my desire to shed a part of my past which had a habit of catching up with me, it took a few more years to do...but the seeds were there.

Number Ones Of The Year:

8 Jan 1994 Chaka Demus & Pliers Twist & Shout 700th No 1
22 Jan 1994 D:Ream Things Can Only Get Better
19 Feb 1994 Mariah Carey Without You
19 Mar 1994 Doop Doop
9 Apr 1994 Take That Everything Changes
23 Apr 1994 Prince The Most Beautiful Girl In The World
7 May 1994 Tony Di Bart Real Thing
14 May 1994 Stiltskin Inside
21 May 1994 Manchester United 1994 Football Squad Come On You Reds
4 Jun 1994 Wet Wet Wet Love Is All Around
17 Sep 1994 Whigfield Saturday Night
15 Oct 1994 Take That Sure
29 Oct 1994 Pato Banton (with Robin & Ali Campbell) Baby Come Back
26 Nov 1994 Baby D Let Me Be Your Fantasy
10 Dec 1994 East 17 Stay Another Day

My Singles of the Year

1) Bug Powder Dust - Bomb The Bass
- Based on Naked Lunch by William Burroughs, Justin Warfield (from One Inch Punk) lays down the lyrics on this awesome track, one of my all time favourites.

2) Sabotage - Beastie Boys
- Purely for the Video... Watch it - AWESOME! - how much fun must it have been to make this video.

3) Closer - Nine Inch Nails
- Will always remind me of a very special girl, that I loved greatly. I made her 2 mixtapes when we first met, she went travelling for a month round Spain, this song was the first song on tape 1, this was her "daytime" tape.

4) Hallelujah - Jeff Buckley
- as with the last choice, this was on the second tape, the tape I made for her to chill out to at night time, and this song made her think of me, and it makes me think of her still, its been 9 years since I made that tape... and it still has this effect... this song haunts me, but in a good way.

5) Big Papa - Notorious BIG
- Just because I like this song... and I love it when you call me big papa!

My Birthday Song

Love Is All Around - Wet Wet Wet
- in some alternate universe this song is still number one, and everyones brains have turned to mush... I dislike this song

Download all tracks (MediaFire)

MadLove

xxxxxxxxxx

I'm Back! - 1993

2008-01-16T00:12:00.000Z

1993

what do I remember about '93...

Not a great deal, I'll be honest, I was in a transient place, Moving from student to gainfully employed...

I left college due to drink, moreover I was asked to leave because I never turned up, or when I did invariably I was drunk.

I started working, many jobs, an internal conflict raged inside, for my love of music and my friends love of the chart shit (as signified by the first number one proper this year
I remember being a mates car, wanting to listen to a mix tape that I had made, his girlfriend wanted to listen to Ace of Base over and over again, I hate Ace of Base because
of this, this constant barrage of crap music I had to suffer sitting in the cars of friends, driving around the glorious Dorset countryside...

The Number Ones of the Year:

13 Feb 1993 2 Unlimited No Limit
20 Mar 1993 Shaggy Oh Carolina
3 Apr 1993 Bluebells Young At Heart
1 May 1993 George Michael & Queen with Lisa Stansfield Five Live EP (Main Track: Somebody To Love).
22 May 1993 Ace Of Base All That She Wants
12 Jun 1993 UB 40 (I Can't Help) Falling In Love With You
26 Jun 1993 Gabrielle Dreams
17 Jul 1993 Take That Pray
1 Aug 1993 Freddie Mercury Living On My Own
28 Aug 1993 Culture Beat Mr Vain
25 Sep 1993 Jazzy Jeff The Fresh Prince Boom! Shake The Room
9 Oct 1993 Take That featuring Lulu Relight My Fire
23 Oct 1993 Meat Loaf I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)
11 Dec 1993 Mr Blobby Mr Blobby
18 Dec 1993 Take That Babe

Singles of The Year

1) Open Up - Leftfield & Lydon

I'm quite a fan of John Lydon, can be a bit of a twat, but this is one of the best things he ever did, love it!

2) Venus as a Boy - Bjork

I love this song, so much of Bjorks output can equally enthrall and irk me, whereas this song I always love.

3) Loser - Beck

A great song, introduced Beck to the world, many people would state that he got better on albums such as Odelay... I disagree, this is the best thing he has ever done.

4) Feed The Tree - Belly

I love Belly, they were great. WOO!

(sorry, this song is ace!)

5) Bullet In The Head - Rage Against The Machine

SHOUTYPOLITICSRARARARARARARARARARARARARFUCKU!

thats my impression of RATM, I love this song!

My Birthday Number 1

Living on my own - Freddie Mercury

Yeuch. I hate this song

DOWNLOAD - all songs in one easy .rar file HERE (Mediafire)

MadLove

xxxxxx

Hi!

2007-12-30T12:39:00.000Z

sorry for the delay in completing the years postings...

Xmas & New Years are keeping me tres busy

I promise to complete this very soon

xxxxx

She Sells Hearts... 1992

2007-12-19T01:32:00.001Z

1992... ah what a year for me, I was a young man, my drinking was heavy, my mates were cool, my music love was as strong as it ever had been, I was dabbling with drugs... now I will never advocate the use of drugs for people, I have always been an experimental person... testing my mind with substances to see how far I can push it...

I'm not a normal person, my ability to abuse myself with anything that can alter the state of mind has always been there, I started drinking before any of my friends, I did grow up in a pub, this didn't help, as most people did I started with weed, I enjoyed it, I carried on... what people would see as a bad trip, was an interesting ride for me, I have been known to have in-depth 4 hour conversations with brick wall ls... I have to date always walked away, in the morning, always been myself...

but the music that shaped this year, yes I still had that grunge ethic of the previous year.. but 2 songs helped me move forward again to another direction,

the first one was Creep, I was in Carnival records on Ashley Road, and going through the singles, and saw this... 50p bought it, took it home it blew me away... I took it into the 6 form common room, turned off the fantasia mix that was playing, told people to listen... everyone loved it, Radiohead re-released it shortly afterwards, and the rest is history.

The Second was My Insatiable One - Suede, the b-side to the Drowners, this made me re-visit my love of Bowie, which I was forgetting in the mire of the guitars of Seattle, this may have started my Dad thinking I may be a gay, which I am not I hasten to add, but having the lyrics blasting out of my room constantly, may have seemed a bit strange to him... I couldn't be more opposite to my older brother (he is an Arsenal fan), and finding a bottle of poppers in my fridge may not have helped.

The Number Ones

25 Jan 1992 Wet Wet Wet Goodnight Girl
22 Feb 1992 Shakespears Sister Stay
18 Apr 1992 Right Said Fred Deeply Dippy
9 May 1992 KWS Please Don't Go
13 Jun 1992 Erasure Abba-esque EP
8 Jul 1992 Jimmy Nail Ain't No Doubt
8 Aug 1992 Snap Rhythm Is A Dancer
19 Sep 1992 Shamen Ebeneezer Goode
17 Oct 1992 Tasmin Archer Sleeping Satellite
31 Oct 1992 Boyz II Men End Of The Road
21 Nov 1992 Charles & Eddie Would I Lie To You
5 Dec 1992 Whitney Houston I Will Always Love You

The Singles Of The Year Deep Cover - Dr Dre feat Snoop Doggy Dogg (download)

This has to be included, not only is it a great song, but it features the first collaboration between Snoop and Dre. This song helped launch the career of Snoop.

It Was A Good Day - Ice Cube (download)

My Favourite Ice Cube track, this song makes me want to ride in a drop top caddy, and just cruise.

My Drug Buddy - Lemonheads (download)

I was the biggest Lemonheads fan, from seeing Evan in a lovely red coat on TOTP which swayed it, if I had to be honest.. This song reminds me of an old friend, someone I love dearly and am sad she doesn't live in Brighton so I can see her all the time.

Creep - Radiohead (download)

for the reasons I have mentioned before, if you have to ever make a break-up compilation this song has to be on it, as an aside when I worked in the Woodman in Poole, one of the regulars was the boyfriend of the girl this song was written about.

Metal Mickey - Suede (download)

This song is about KatieJane Garside front woman of Daisy Chainsaw/Queen Adreena... my housemate Mason loves her. its also after My Insatiable One (download) my favourite Suede song.

My Birthday Number One

Rythym is a Dancer - Snap

MadLove

xxxxxxxxxxx

Lost in the doorstep of the empty house. 1991

2007-12-16T21:52:00.000Z

1991...

So, now I left school...well I didn't I went back, but it was no longer mandatory for my attendance in a place of education, I started to grow my hair, my hair is too thick and its not a good look, sadly no photos exist of this hair period... such a mistake.

'91 musically for me was the year that "grunge" came to the fore, with Nevermind being released, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden and Pearl Jam followed and the style dominated the alternative music scene for the next year or two, Seattle replace LA as the centre for music in America. The lumberjack shirt was the essential part of clothing...This was also the first time I realised a musical gulf between me and my closest friends, not for them the endless trawling through second hand record shops for music, if it wasn't worth knowing about...

it was also the year of Robin Hood, the film and THAT song was the big hit of the year... Kevin Costner is a twat.

The Number Ones of the Year

5 Jan 1991 - Iron Maiden - Bring Your Daughter To The Slaughter
19 Jan 1991 - Enigma - Sadness Part 1
26 Jan 1991 - Queen - Innuendo
2 Feb 1991 - KLF - 3 AM Eternal
16 Feb 1991 - Simpsons - Do The Bartman
9 Mar 1991 - Clash - Should I Go Or Should I Stay
23 Mar 1991 - Hale & Pace - The Stonk
30 Mar 1991 - Chesney Hawkes - The One And Only
4 May 1991 - Cher - Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss)
8 Jun 1991 - Color Me Badd - I Wanna Sex You Up
29 Jun 1991 - Jason Donovan - Any Dream Will Do
13 Jul 1991 - Bryan Adams - (Everything I Do) I Do It For You
2 Nov 1991 - U2 - The Fly
9 Nov 1991 - Vic Reeves & The Wonder Stuff - Dizzy
23 Nov 1991 - Michael Jackson - Black Or White
7 Dec 1991 - George Michael & Elton John - Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me
21 Dec 1991- Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody

My Singles of The Year

It Aint Over 'Til Its Over - Lenny Kravitz (download)

This is such a good song, I remember him storming off when he played this on the word... this will always be the best thing he has ever done in my opinion, it remains one of his (Kravitz) favourites.

O.P.P - Naughty by Nature (download)

This is a fantastic song, it stands for Other Peoples P... the second P means something different every verse. Treach coyly obscures the meaning of the "P" using euphemisms throughout the song saying - instead of "pussy" - that it's "another way to call a cat a kitten" or - instead of penis - a "five-letter word rhyming with cleanest or meanest". In the lyrics following, the rap defines the last "P" as "property" to "do it sorta properly."

Jeremy - Pearl Jam (download)

Pearl Jam, now that a band that has always jarred with me, Eddie Vedder always seems to try to hard, but 10 was a great album, hasn't aged well... this song is about a kid who killed himself in front of the class at school.

Under The Bridge - Red Hot Chili Peppers (download)

This song is about herion addiction, its the last good RHCP single, a band that should have quit years ago, sad reflections on what they used to be.

Good Morning Captain - Slint (download)

based on the Rime of the Ancient Mariner... download this song, it was years ahead of its time.

My Birthday number one

Everything I do.... Bryan Adams

bland insipid shite, sorry but it is.

MadLove

xxxxxx

I feel asleep and watched TV...1990

2007-12-16T18:25:00.000Z

ah... 1990, England did okay at the world cup, the tears of gazza echoed the sentiments of the football supporting parts of the United Kingdom.

The music scene was a good place, Madchester was the over riding vibe that i remember, I should have been concentrating on my GCSE's I would rather be listening to music, and frequently was...

Although I was mad keen on the baggy scene, its interesting to see my choices for my single of the year only feature one band from this scene... my musical tastes are still constantly evolving...

The Number Ones Of 1990

13 Jan 1990 - New Kids On The Block - Hangin' Tough
27 Jan 1990 - Kylie Minogue - Tears On My Pillow
3 Feb 1990 - Sinead O'Connor - Nothing Compares To You
3 Mar 1990 - Beats International - Dub Be Good To Me
31 Mar 1990 - Snap - The Power
14 Apr 1990 - Madonna - Vogue
12 May 1990 - Adamski - Killer
9 Jun 1990 - EnglandNewOrder - World In Motion
23 Jun 1990 - Elton John -Sacrifice / Healing Hands
28 Jul 1990 -Partners In Kryme - Turtle Power
25 Aug 1990 - Bombalurina - Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polker Dot Bikini
15 Sep 1990 - Steve Miller Band - The Joker
29 Sep 1990 - Maria McKee - Show Me Heaven
27 Oct 1990 - Beautiful South - A Little Time
3 Nov 1990 - Righteous Brothers - Unchained Melody
1 Dec 1990 - Vanilla Ice - Ice Ice Baby
22 Dec 1990 - Cliff Richard - Saviour's Day

Sliver - Nirvana (download)

I had this on 7" blue vinyl, it remains one of my all time favourite Nirvana songs, a fantastic bass intro, the frantic chorus, brilliant

The Ship Song - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (download)

My friend Beca was dissapointed when she saw Nick Cave buying Gillette razors in Waitrose on Western Road, she beleives that he should only use a cut throat razor, I like this song, it shows Nick Cave in a romantic, reflective mood, and when he does that he is a fantastic musician. Into My Arms is my favourite song by Nick Cave and this song is similar in feeling (download)

Nothing Compares 2 U - Sinaed O'Connor (download)

Originally recorded by Prince, Irish mental O'Connor biggest hit, and for my sins I really like this song... I am an old romantic at heart.

Soon - My Bloody Valentine (download)

see my previous post about MBV, great band, great song

Step On - Happy Mondays (download)

Originally a minor hit byJohn Kongas, this was the Mondays finest moment in my opinion.

My Birthday Number One

Partners In Kryme - Turtle Power

Movie Cash In Bollocks

MadLove

xxxxxx

I'd rather die than give you control...1989

2007-12-12T21:34:00.000Z

Something happened to me in 1989... in fact 23 November 1989 was the exact date, a boy of 14 sat down to watch Top Of The Pops... I had my musical future altered and shaped by what I saw on that program.

2 bands performed on that show, The Stone Roses & The Happy Mondays... Tony Wilson declared the '90's open with this episode, it ushered in the Madchester scene, indie kids finding beats, acid house heads finding guitars... effortlessly cool, sounding the death of the turgid pop that infected the charts, and the radio... below is listed the number ones for that year, 88 opened with a house classic, 89 opens with Kylie & Jason... out of that list there is one ONE song that I would listen to now, Soul II Soul's awesome Back To Life... but Jive Bunny 3 number ones, Kylie & Jason count for 4, Sonia, NKOTB, a Cliff inspired re work of Band Aid...

So much better music was out there, other singles released this year included: Fight The Power, Funky Cold Medina, Sit Down... its a shame... but its something that will always happen,

7 Jan 1989 - Kylie Minogue & Jason Donovan - Especially For You
28 Jan 1989 - Marc Almond with Gene Pitney - Something's Gotten Hold Of My Heart
25 Feb 1989 - Simple Minds - Belfast Child
11 Mar 1989 - Jason Donovan - Too Many Broken Hearts
25 Mar 1989 - Madonna - Like A Prayer
15 Apr 1989 - Bangles - Eternal Flame
13 May 1989 - Kylie Minogue - Hand On Your Heart
20 May 1989 - Gerry Marsden, Paul McCartney, Holly Johnson & Christians - Ferry 'Cross The Mersey
10 Jun 1989 - Jason Donovan -Sealed With A Kiss
24 Jun 1989 - Soul II Soul featuring Caron Wheeler - Back To Life
22 Jul 1989 - Sonia - You'll Never Stop Me Loving You
5 Aug 1989 - Jive Bunny & The Mastermixers - Swing The Mood
9 Sep 1989 - Black Box - Ride On Time
21 Oct 1989 - Jive Bunny & The Mastermixers - That's What I Like
11 Nov 1989 - Lisa Stansfield - All Around The World
25 Nov 1989 - New Kids On The Block - You Got It (The Right Stuff)
16 Dec 1989 - Jive Bunny & The Mastermixers - Let's Party
23 Dec 1989 - Band Aid II - Do They Know It's Christmas

My Singles of the year:

Head Like A Hole - Nine Inch Nails...(download)

NiN are a band I can either take or leave, I neither like nor dislike them, however they released 2 songs that I love.. This One, and Closer... to listen to this song, and then look at the list of songs that were "hits" in the same year... well it amazes me, how can this be the same period in time?

Fools Gold - The Stone Roses... (download)

This song will always be a song that will be with me, I love this song, I had it on all formats, 7", 12" CD & Cassingle... I loved the Stone Roses, both albums are great pieces of work. Even my Housemate loves this song, and he hates The Stone Roses. I remember watching Lock Stock & 2 Smoking Barrels with Ish, this song came on at the end, it wasn't until that moment we were assured it was a good film.

Monkey Gone To Heaven - The Pixies... (download)

Ah The Pixies... This Song, fantastic, reminds me of a time 10 years after this song was released, smoking weed, drinking wine with L & her housemates, playing the Doolittle album... good times.

Wicked Games - Chris Isaak (download)

Helena Christensen and this video...

a beautiful song, an amazing video brilliantly directed by Herb Ritts, I saw Helena a few years ago in the North Laines, near my house... I was disappointed, she was clothed.

My, Myself & I - de la Soul (download)

de la Soul and the first album, was another landmark in hip hop, to show that hip hop could be about peace and understanding, although this song is a about the "hippie" label they were stuck with, check the video

My Birthday Song

Swing The Mood - Jive Bunny & The Mastermixers

GOD FUCKING AWFUL. I lasted 13 seconds listening to this.

Enjoy

MadLove

xxxxxx

When I need a friend its still you.... 1988

2007-12-11T00:19:00.000Z

1988

Musically this has been the easiest yet hardest year for me to choose from, for me... so many songs to choose from... songs that remind me of certain times and places, people that I love...

The year itself is somewhat of a legendary year for me, I was in 32S with some amazing people, 2 of which remain my best friends... I loved everyone of them in that class, we were a riotous assembly of people... absolutely mental, the entire class were put on report at least 3 times, and even were referred to by the headmaster as the worst class in school.

I remember Mr McBain reading out the report in one registration class "Turk, Tarr, Blades & Symes, you boys sound as if you are a firm of lawyers"... I am please to say that I am one of those 4, Blades I have already mentioned, Turk is my oldest friend in the world, we are still friends to this day.

They say that school is the best years of your life, this year was certainly the case.

If any of you old 32S kids read this, love you guys.

The Number Ones Of 1988

Belinda Carlisle - Heaven Is A Place On Earth -10-01-1988
Tiffany - I Think We're Alone Now - 24-01-1988
Kylie Minogue - I Should Be So Lucky - 14-02-1988
Aswad - Don't Turn Around - 20-03-1988
The Pet Shop Boys - Heart - 03-04-1988
S Express - Theme From S'Express - 24-04-1988
Fairground Attraction - Perfect - 08-05-1988
Wet Wet Wet and Billy Bragg - With A Little Help From My Friends - 15-05-1988
The Timelords - Doctorin' The Tardis - 12-06-1988
Bros - I Owe You Nothing - 19-06-1988
Glenn Medeiros - Nothing's Gonna Change My Love For You - 03-07-1988
Yazz and Plastic Population - The Only Way Is Up - 31-07-1988
Phil Collins - A Groovy Kind Of Love - 04-09-1988
The Hollies - He Ain't Heavy He's My Brother - 18-09-1988
U2 - Desire - 02-10-1988
Whitney Houston - One Moment In Time - 09-10-1988
Enya - Orinoco Flow - 23-10-1988
Robin Beck - First Time - 13-11-1988
Cliff Richard - Mistletoe and Wine - 04-12-1988

My Singles Of The Year

Freakscene - Dinosaur Jr (Download)

My favourite Dinosaur track, A proto-grunge track (as is the next choice), this song is another one that I would describe as perfect.

Touch Me I'm Sick - Mudhoney (Download)

One of my favourite songs of all time, I want the song title tattooed on the back of my calf, another perfect song. You may not think so, but I do...

Orange Crush - REM (Download)

This is included for one reason, a night out with Turk, we walked to Bournemouth drinking, we stopped in the Richmond Arms, this was playing in the bar, for some reason I remember it... it was also the last time I saw Lee Blades, I also got into a fight in Bournemouth gardens. I'm not the biggest REM fan, but this is one of their better songs.

Wrote For Luck - Happy Mondays (Download)

Ah, the Happy Mondays... such a delightfully fucked up band... saw them live a few years back, a fucking shambles, but this is them at their finest.

Fuck Tha Police - NWA (Download)

NWA - the godfathers of gangsta rap, spoke of the oppression of the police against young black people. This is what angry people should do, turn the anger into something creative... as John Lydon said "Anger Is An Energy"

Birthday Number One

The Only Way Is Up - Yazz and the Plastic Population

I feel absolutely nothing for this song.

MadLove

xxxxxx

I'll watch the sun rise in your eyes... 1987

2007-12-10T23:47:00.001Z

OK, '87... I started Henry Harbin, that dried up harridan Thatcher started her third term in office, a hurricane battered the UK, the stock exchange crashed...

I missed the Yuppie era, the greed is good philosophy never sat comfortable with me, I have never been very motivated by money... I came of the age in a era of, not peace and love, but a chemically altered existence... seeing the sun rise with pounding repetitive beats permeating through the collective conscience of the persons gathered, speaking bollocks to random strangers, friendships won in a moment, bonding over spliffs and pills, and when the music was over, the week came crashing in, and back to the normal... the memories keeping you going until the next time... more of that later, at this point in time I was 11/12 years old, I knew nothing of what was in store for the next 20 years of my life... the first alteration and step to who I am came September 5th 1987, Lee Blades gave me a John Player Special... Poole Stadiium Car Park, ah Lee Blades, one of the best friends I have ever had, sadly lost touch, saw him again a few years after leaving school hanging out by a graveyard near Charminster, I suspect he left us many years ago... I hope not though.

Number Ones:

Steve Silk Hurley - Jack Your Body -18-01-1987
Aretha Franklin and George Michael - I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me) -01-02-1987
Ben E King - Stand By Me - 15-02-1987
Boy George -Everything I Own -08-03-1987
Mel and Kim - Respectable -22-03-1987
Ferry Aid - Let It Be - 29-03-1987
Madonna - La Isla Bonita - 19-04-1987
Starship - Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now - 03-05-1987
Whitney Houston - I Want To Dance With Somebody - 31-05-1987
The Firm - Star Trekkin - 14-06-1987
The Pet Shop Boys - It's A Sin - 28-06-1987
Madonna - Whos That Girl - 19-07-1987
Los Lobos - La Bamba - 26-07-1987
Michael Jackson - I Just Can't Stop Loving You - 09-08-1987
Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up - 23-08-1987
Marrs - Pump Up The Volume - 27-09-1987
The Bee Gees - You Win Again - 11-10-1987
TPau - China In Your Hand - 08-11-1987
The Pet Shop Boys - Always On My Mind - 13-12-1987

I Need Love - LL Cool J (Download)

Call me an old romantic fool, but this song has been a favourite of mine for 20 years, I love this song, who says rap is all about gun culture or disrespecting women, this song shows what talent can do, LL Cool J will always be one of my favourite MC's purely on the strength of this song alone.

Bring The Noise - Public Enemy (Download)

2 Black 2 Strong! Public Enemy one of the most important bands to emerge from hip hop... great tunes.

Jack Your Body - Steve 'Silk' Hurley (Download)

One of the landmark records in the history of House music, Jack Your Body was written and produced by Hurley. The song became a major hit on the UK singles chart, reaching #1 for two weeks in January and February 1987, despite Hurley's refusal to promote it. This was the UK's first house music #1, and paved the way for the acid house sound popular there during the late 1980s.

Sweet Child O' Mine - Guns N Roses (Download)

The Intro.

True Faith - New Order (Download)

This song attracted me with the video...

Fantastic, however its about heroin addiction...

My Birthday Song

I Just Can't Stop Loving You - Michael Jackson.

I used to love MJ, his early stuff is brilliant, he descended into madness and is a shadow of what he was...sadly.

MadLove

xxxxxxx

Hip 2 B Square... 1986

2007-12-09T20:38:00.000Z

Ah, now we're coming out of the arse end of the shite musical period, sorry if you like the music of this period, I didn't realise how much I hated it, until I started this... by this I mean the music in the charts... the whole post punk scene of the early 80's was fucking awesome, the emergence of hip hop, the beginning of house music and rave culture which is to come... but the past few years covered in the posts were so hard to compile for me... now that we have hit 86, and my musical obsession is really starting to take hold.

The Number Ones of the Year...

West End Girls - The Pet Shop Boys (2)
The Sun Always Shines On TV - a-ha (2)
When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Going - Billy Ocean (4)
Chain Reaction - Diana Ross (3)
Living Doll - Cliff Richard & The Young Ones (3)
Rock Me Amadeus - Falco (1)
The Chicken Song - Spitting Image (3)
Spirit In The Sky - Doctor & The Medics (3)
Edge Of Heaven - Wham! (2)
Papa Don't Preach - Madonna (3)
Lady In Red - Chris de Burgh (3)
I Want To Wake Up With You - Boris Gardner (3)
Don't Leave Me This Way - The Communards (4)
True Blue - Madonna (1)
Every Loser Wins - Nick Berry (3)
Take My Breath Away - Berlin (4)
The Final Countdown - Europe (2)
Caravan of Love - The Housemartins (1)
Reet Petite - Jackie Wilson (4)

Hip To Be Squared - Huey Lewis & The News (download)

Included purely for the following scene in American Psycho:

Don't Leave Me This Way - The Communards (download)

a cover of the Harold Melvin & The Bluenotes classic, this song gave me one of the most defining moments of my childhood. Going to work with my Dad, in a minibus full of builders, we pull into Carfours car park in Eastleigh, in the car park about 7 in the morning, my dad launches into a perfect falsetto rendition of this song, with the builders dancing together in a ballroom style... possibly the campest thing I have ever encountered... and I live in Brighton.

Walk This Way - Run DMC & Aerosmith (download)

A re-make of the '75 classic, this song brought Run DMC into the musical radar of many people in this country, a brilliant song, better than the original. The Video was also awesome.

Addicted To Love - Robert Palmer (download)

I love this song, I'm not ashamed to admit this, I prefer Sonic Youth's cover, but that in no way takes anything away from this version. A good song, and another great video.

is it just me or does Robert Palmer wear his trousers very high?

Fight For Your Right To Party - Beastie Boys (download)

Another breakthrough hip hop song, The Beastie Boys make me laugh, the broke on the scene as beer swilling, sexist brats, and now are Buddhists. Everyone grows up I suppose, this song is excellent, and reminds me of getting up to steal VW badges to wear round my neck at school.

My Birthday Song.

Lady In Red - Chris de Burgh

Now I have made myself listen to every single one of my birthday songs, this particular one really makes me violent, I fucking hate this song, i want to beat the living shit out of Chris deBurgh, i want to disembowel him with a red hot poker, HATE THIS SONG, I HATE ANYONE WHO BOUGHT IT AND DOESN'T FEEL REMORSE ABOUT IT... MOST OF ALL I HATE CHRIS DE BURGH FOR WRITING THIS SHITE, DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE YOU OVER EYEBROWED MIDGET CUNT.

sorry I feel very strongly about this

MadLove

xxxxxxxx

A Shyness that is criminally vulgar...1985

2007-12-09T18:14:00.001Z

The charts this year were filled with some fucking awful crap.

examples from the top 40 best selling singles of the year
Jennifer Rush, Elaine Paige & Barbara Dickson, Foreigner, Philip Bailey & Phil Collins, Kool & The Gang, Shakin' Stevens... awful.

it was the year of New Coke, The C5... failures

Live Aid... a success.

The Number Ones:
I Want To Know What Love Is - Foreigner (3)
I Know Him So Well - Elaine Paige & Barbara Dickson (4)
You Spin Me Round (Like A Record) - Dead Or Alive (2)
Easy Lover - Philip Bailey & Phil Collins (4)
We Are The World - USA For Africa (2)
Move Closer - Phillis Nelson (1)
19 - Paul Hardcastle (5)
You'll Never Walk Alone - The Crowd (2)
Frankie - Sister Sledge (4)
There Must Be An Angel (Playing With My Heart) - Eurythmics (1)
Into The Groove - Madonna (4)
I Got You Babe - UB 40 & Chrissie Hynde (1)
Dancing In The Street - David Bowie & Mick Jagger (4)
If I Was - Midge Ure (1)
The Power Of Love - Jennifer Rush (5)
A Good Heart - Feargal Sharkey (2)
I'm Your Man - Wham! (2)
Saving All My Love For You - Whitney Houston (2)

My Singles of the Year:

How Soon Is Now? - The Smiths (download)
A Fantastic Song, although musically not indicative of the Smiths, one of my favourites of theirs. The Oscillating guitar on this song is amazing, with the opening line taken from George Elliot's Middlemarch ("To be born the son of a Middlemarch manufacturer, and inevitable heir to nothing in particular") ... having been covered many times a fucking awful version is used as the theme music for the TV show Charmed.

Take On Me - a-ha (download)
A quintessential 80's pop classic, the video was brilliant... was also parodied in a Family Guy Episode...

check it:

Axel F - Harold Faltermeyer (download)
What I haven't touched upon on in this blog, is the rise of hip hop. This song, the theme to "Beverley Hills Cop", reminds me a lot of the early electro hip hop... and I will be doing a post on this at sometime soon...

19 - Paul Hardcastle (download)
Paul Hardcastle was meant to be the biggest thing in electronic music back in '85, after this excellent single, he released the wizard (which if memory serves became the Top Of The Pops theme), then he faded... never to better this song.

Trapped - Colonel Abrams (download)
Colonel Abrams is the godfather of House, and is one of the most sampled vocalists in House Music, this song... an early house classic... sadly dated, but still a great song...

The Birthday Song:
Into The Groove - Madonna

From the film "Desperately Seeking Susan", this inspired Sonic Youth's Whitey Album. I like this song.

MadLove
xxxxxxx

So soon you'll take me...1984

2007-12-09T13:18:00.000Z

The Year Of Frankie Goes To Hollywood, and to a lesser extent George Michael, 1984 saw these 2 account for almost have the number ones of the year. Frankie I loved, I had Relax on 12", I was 8, I didn't see anything wrong with this song, famously banned by Mike Read then the BBC, due to its obscene lyrics, this action propelled it to number one. The rude lyric that offended Mr Read?, Relax, don't do it, when you want to sock it to it" (the single has a misprint of the lyrics on the sleeve and it said "suck" and not "sock"

Mike Read is a twat.

This was also the year of Band Aid and Spurs beating Anderlecht in the UEFA cup.

The Number Ones Of The Year
"Pipes of Peace" - Paul McCartney (2)
"Relax" - Frankie Goes To Hollywood (5)
"99 Red Balloons" - Nena (3)
"Hello" - Lionel Richie (6)
"The Reflex" - Duran Duran (4)
"Wake Me Up Before You Go Go" - Wham! (2)
"Two Tribes" - Frankie Goes To Hollywood (9) Birthday Number One
"Careless Whisper" - George Michael (3)
"I Just Called To Say I Love You" - Stevie Wonder (6)
"Freedom" - Wham! (3)
"I Feel For You" - Chaka Khan (3)
"I Should Have Known Better" - Jim Diamond (1)
"The Power Of Love" - Frankie Goes To Hollywood (1)
"Do The Know It's Christmas" - Band Aid (5)

My Favourite Singles of the Year:

Killing Moon - Echo & The Bunnymen (download)
I've never been the biggest fan of this band, I love "The Cutter" (download), this one always escaped me, until I heard a cover by the band Pavement, I came back to it, and I love this one. There are certain songs that if I listen to them on my headphones, on my own, I drift off and daydream... this is one of them.

Ghostbuster - Ray Parker Jr. (download)
Fantastic Song, theme to one of my all time favourite movies. Who You Gonna Call?

I ain't afraid of no ghost

What Difference Does It Make? - The Smiths (download)
Ah, The Smiths... a great band, one of the brilliant bands that Manchester produces every few years, Joy Division, The Smiths, The Stone Roses, The Happy Mondays... we are due another one soon... The Smiths are one of my favourite bands, love them, one particular ex of mine was very upset when I told her that Reel Around the Fountain (download) was about gay sex

These are the lyrics:
It's time the tale were told
Of how you took a child
And you made him old

It's time the tale were told
Of how you took a child
And you made him old
You made him old

Reel around the fountain
Slap me on the patio
I'll take it now
Oh ...

Fifteen minutes with you
Well, I wouldn't say no
Oh, people said that you were virtually dead
And they were so wrong

Fifteen minutes with you
Oh, well, I wouldn't say no
Oh, people said that you were easily led
And they were half-right
Oh, they ... oh, they were half-right, oh

It's time the tale were told
Of how you took a child
And you made him old
It's time that the tale were told
Of how you took a child
And you made him old
You made him old

Oh, reel around the fountain
Slap me on the patio
I'll take it now
Ah ... oh ...

Fifteen minutes with you
Oh, I wouldn't say no
Oh, people see no worth in you
Oh, but I do.
Fifteen minutes with you
Oh, I wouldn't say no
Oh, people see no worth in you
I do.
Oh, I ... oh, I do
Oh ...

I dreamt about you last night
And I fell out of bed twice
You can pin and mount me like a butterfly
But "take me to the haven of your bed"
Was something that you never said
Two lumps, please
You're the bee's knees
But so am I

Oh, meet me at the fountain
Shove me on the patio
I'll take it slowly
Oh ...

Fifteen minutes with you
Oh, I wouldn't say no
Oh, people see no worth in you
Oh, but I do.
Fifteen minutes with you
Oh, no, I wouldn't say no
Oh, people see no worth in you
I do.
Oh, I ... I do
Oh, I do
Oh, I do
Oh, I do

am I wrong?

I Wear My Sunglasses At Night - Corey Hart (download)
Another recent discovery, through a mash up with Sexyback by Cheekyboy (download)... pure 80's pop.

Like A Virgin - Madonna (download)
One of the few Madonna songs that I love, this song was famously referenced in Reservoir dogs... Mr. Brown (Quentin Tarantino) raises the theory that the song is actually about an oversexed woman who meets a man who is so well-endowed that the woman experiences pain during intercourse with him - reminding her of the pain accompanying the loss of her virginity. Madonna would later meet Tarantino after "Reservoir Dogs" was released and when giving him her autograph wrote "Quentin, it's about love, not dick. Madonna."

My Birthday Song
Two Tribes - Frankie Goes To Hollywood.
As I previously stated I love FGTH from the Katherine Hamnett designed T-shirts to the schmaltz of the Power of Love... I remember a conversation with my brother at Christmas, he told me that I was getting something I really wanted for Christmas, I asked is it the Frankie Goes To Hollywood... it was an Amstrad 464 (with colour monitor) that he was referring to, I opened my presents to find no album, I was very happy with the computer, but I would have been even more happy with the album. I am very hard to buy for.

MadLove

xxxxxx

Love 'em and Leave 'em fast... 1983

2007-12-08T23:57:00.000Z

1983
The Year of Thriller, actually released 82 but 83 is when it hit home.

also it was a good year for metal, Def Leppard's "Pyromania", Iron Maiden's "Piece of Mind", Mercyful Fate's "Melissa" Dio's "Holy Diver", Accept's "Balls to the Wall", Metallica's "Kill 'em all", Slayer's "Show No Mercy", Ozzy Osbourne's "Bark at the Moon" and Mötley Crüe's "Shout at the Devil". all released.

Also one of my favourites, Tom Waits, released swordfishtrombones this album helped establish Waits as a cult favourite, if you don't know Tom Waits, there will be a special post for him coming up soon.

As much as I love Thriller I am going to avoid the singles from this album:
Number One Singles
"You Can't Hurry Love" - Phil Collins (2)
"Down Under" - Men at Work (3)
"Too Shy"- Kajagoogoo (1)
"Billie Jean" - Michael Jackson (1)
"Total Eclipse of the Heart" - Bonnie Tyler (3)
"Is There Something I Should Know?" -Duran Duran (2)
"Let's Dance" - David Bowie (3)
True - Spandau Ballet (1)
Candy Girl - New Edition (1)
Every Breath You Take - Police (3)
Baby Jane - Rod Stewart (3)
Wherever I Lay My Hat (That's My Home) - Paul Young (3)
Give It Up - KC and the Sunshine Band (3)
Red Red Wine - UB40 (6)
Karma Chameleon - Culture Club (5)
Uptown Girl - Billy Joel (5)
Only You - Flying Pickets (5)

My Choices:

"Owner of a Lonely Heart" - Yes (download)
I have a bizarre taste in music at times, I should hate this song, but I don't... You can hear straight off that it was produced by Trevor Horn, the bizarre electronic "stabs" that come in every now and then.

"Rip it Up" - Orange Juice (download)
I like Orange Juice, one of the Scottish New Wave bands with The Associates and Josef K, this was their biggest single, and lent itself to Simon Reynolds excellent post punk book...

"Shipbuilding" - Robert Wyatt (download)
This song written by Elvis Costello, was written during the Falklands War and shows the conflict between the fact that the war had brought back industry to the ship yards in the UK and that the sons of these areas were being sent off to fight, and possibly die on the very ships that they had built. This song was brought to my attention by a cover by Suede. I love this song.

Elvis Costellos Version (download) this also recorded in 1983, features the legendary Chet Baker on trumpet.

Add It Up - Violent Femmes (download)
I was introduced to this band by a mate at a party, we weren't listening to them, he just told me about them and then gave me a tape of their music... This and Blister in the Sun will always be favourite songs of mine. Just fun songs.

Little Red Corvette - Prince (download)
I love this song, one of my all time Prince favourites.

Birthday Song
Give It Up - KC & The Sunshine Band
I hate being born in the middle of August, you get the fucking summer songs as number one, utter SHITE.

Standing In The Door Of The Pink Flamingo....1982

2007-12-08T18:22:00.001Z

Okay, Spurs win the cup again, The Tube began broadcasting, Thriller was released, Dio left Sabbath

The Smiths, Faith No More, Alien Sex Fiend, Skinny Puppy, The Pogues, Big Black, Public Enemy amongst others formed

a good year for new bands, but the singles of that year.... hmmm

so much dross released that year.

the number ones

"Don't You Want Me" - Human League (3 weeks in 1981 + 2 weeks in 1982)
"Land of Make Believe" - Bucks Fizz (2)
"Oh Julie" - Shakin' Stevens (1)
"The Model" - Kraftwerk (1)
"Town Called Malice" - The Jam (3)
"The Lion Sleeps Tonight" - Tight Fit (3)
"Seven Tears" - Goombay Dance Band (3)
"My Camera Never Lies" - Bucks Fizz (1)
"Ebony and Ivory" - Paul McCartney & Stevie Wonder (3)
"A Little Peace" - Nicole (2)
"House of Fun" - Madness (2)
"Goody Two Shoes" - Adam Ant (2)
"I've Never Been to Me" - Charlene (1)
"Happy Talk" - Captain Sensible (2)
"Fame" - Irene Cara (3)
"Come on Eileen" - Dexy's Midnight Runners (4) best selling single of the year
"Eye of the Tiger" - Survivor (4)
"Pass the Dutchie" - Musical Youth (3)
"Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?" - Culture Club (3)
"I Don't Wanna Dance" - Eddy Grant (3)
"Beat Surrender" - The Jam (2)
"Save Your Love" - Renee & Renato (2 weeks in 1982 + 2 weeks in 1983)

My Selections:

The Model - Kraftwerk (download)

Electronic pioneers, without them, so much would be missing in music today... not my favourite song by them, but I do love this song. Its a very cold song.

Gypsy - Fleetwood Mac (download)

My favourite song on Mirage, originally written for Stevie Nicks solo album Bella Donna... I love Stevie Nicks, I have an ex-girlfriend to thank for that, and I think that Stevie sounds great on this song. The video for this was the first ever "World Premiere Video" on MTV

Say Hello, Wave Goodbye - Soft Cell (download)

I love Soft Cell, this song has very special memories, when I split up with L, the greatest love of my life, I was a walking away hers (for the last time) she had thrown me out, she was distraught, we had another row, handing what belongings I had left at hers in black bag, and pushed me out of the door... I put my personal stereo on, this song came on, as I approached the clock tower in the centre of Brighton, I started to cry, for what seemed like the first time... I saw her one more time I was in the early days of another relationship and she walked past the pub I was in, and I was holding court at a table, I wanted her still.

Party Fears Two - Associates (download)

I was recently introduced to this song... to my eternal sadness at not knowing it for longer, this is a brilliant song, the singer Billy MacKenzie sounds amazing on this song. This is a lovely song, one of the finest of this period the 80's

Ain't No Pleasing You - Chas n Dave (download)

I'm a Spurs fan, I can't help love Chas N Dave, its in our blood... now where's my jellied eels?

Oh and yes, this has made the cut over the message & planet rock ... such a heathen.

My Birthday Song

Come On Eileen - Dexys Midnight Runners
This song HAUNTED me as a young adult, I don't know why, but I frequented some dives, like the bar that charged you a £10 to get in and drinks were free all night, what idiot came up with that idea, I can put away much much much more than that.

MadLove

xxxxxxx

Bless My Cotton Socks... 1981

2007-12-07T22:13:00.000Z

Okay 1981...

What do I remember most about this year, meeting Sean Gridley, my best friend for then next few years, playing football, Spurs winning the FA Cup, reading comics.

Music wise... luckily I am "blessed" being the youngest of 5, with the eldest, my brother being 10 years older than me (although he had SHOCKING taste in music, Julie my sister has better taste) I always had music around me... though I am the only one who has that love of music that borders on the obsessive. The synthpop popular this year permeated through my conscience, Julie was into the Cure, if I recall correctly, so this atmosphere has influenced my selections for this year.

This Post is for my big sister, Julie... the reason I support Tottenham Hotspur.

Number Ones

"There's No One Quite Like Grandma" - St Winifred's School Choir (1 week in 1980 + 1 week in 1981)
"Imagine" - John Lennon (4)
"Woman" - John Lennon (2)
"Shaddup You Face" - Joe Dolce Music Theatre (3)
"Jealous Guy"- Roxy Music (2)
"This Ole House" - Shakin' Stevens (3)
"Making Your Mind Up" - Bucks Fizz (3)
"Stand And Deliver" - Adam & The Ants (5)
"Being With You" - Smokey Robinson (2)
"One Day In Your Life" - Michael Jackson (2)
"Ghost Town" - Specials (3)
"Green Door"- Shakin' Stevens (4)
"Japanese Boy" - Aneka (1)
"Tainted Love" - Soft Cell (2 - best selling single of 1981)
"Prince Charming" - Adam & The Ants (4)
"It's My Party" - Dave Stewart & Barbara Gaskin (4)
"Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" - The Police (1)
"Under Pressure" - Queen & David Bowie (2)
"Begin the Beguine" - Julio Iglesias (1)
"Don't You Want Me" - Human League (3 weeks in 1981 + 2 weeks in 1982)

My Selections

Reward - The Teardrop Explodes (download)

Julian Cope at his finest, infectious, frantic, an excellent horn section. Brilliant song.

Charlotte Sometimes - The Cure (download)
I was considering not to include this one, I did so for 3 reasons 1) Julie liked the Cure, I'm not sure she does anymore and she isn't on MSN at the moment so I can't check 2) it reminds me of one of my best friends in the world, the one friend I wish was with me here in Brighton, Charlotte... we've had some amazing times together. 3) its a good song... consider this one a bonus track.

Ghost Town - The Specials (download)
This is one of the best songs ever released, end of. Number One when Charles married Di, a response to that Bitch's polices which would increase the large scale unemployment in the North and Midlands, which affected the area the band was from, Coventry. It was released when there was riots in Brixton and Toxteth. Perfect Synchronisation between music and the social climate at the time. The club referenced in the song is now Coventry Central Library (the Locarno)

Don't You Want Me - Human League (download)
Everyone knows this song, its a good song... in fact its the 25th most successful song of all time in the UK... this is not a love song, Phil Oakley describes it as a "Nasty song about sexual power politics".

Once In A Lifetime - Talking Heads (download)
This song was inspired by a preacher heard, by David Byrne, on the radio in New York... famous for the video... which was choreographed by Toni Basil, she showed Byrne footage of epilepsy suffers to inspire the spasms, and such...

Here's the Video:

Tainted Love - Soft Cell (download)
A northern soul classic (Gloria Jones), covered by Soft Cell, a great song, to be honest I love both versions.

My Birthday Song

Green Door - Shakin' Stevens
an old classic by Jim Lowe (better version) by the Welsh Elvis, i like this song... its rumoured that this song is about an old lesbian club (the gateways club as featured in the Killing of Sister George, and the Joe is a reference to Joe Meek)

Bonus Video

THE BEST VIDEO OF 81!!!!

He likes small speakers AND tall speakers! no speaker height restrictions for Cliff!

get yo' roller boots on.

MadLove

xxxxxxx

Christmas...

2007-12-06T23:36:00.000Z

I fancied a break from the year posts, so I have thrown this mix together.

its just over 1 hour long, its not the best mix I have ever done... but its quite fun.

(rapidshare)

Merry Christmas, sadly I didn't make the image, that was Strontium190 from b3ta.com

MadLove
xxxxxxxx

Why is the bedroom so cold... 1980

2007-12-06T07:18:00.001Z

So 1980...

We saw the shooting of John Lennon, by Mark David Chapman outside the Dakota Building, a grieving nation took (Just Like) Starting Over to number 1, FOR ONE WEEK.... what replaced it

ST WINIFREDS SCHOOL CHOIR - GRANDMA!!!

I don't know why I find this fact so amusing, perhaps its tiredness...

but this explains my view of the music of the '80's, or at least the music buying public of the eighties... You'll see that this year had the most number ones so far, or at least in the lists I have done so far.

Led Zepplin also disbanded in 1980

We saw the formation of...

Bow Wow Wow
Heaven 17
REM
Soft Cell
Tom Tom Club

amongst others...

Number Ones:

"Another Brick in the Wall, Part II" - Pink Floyd (3 weeks in 1979 + 2 weeks in 1980)
"Brass in Pocket" - Pretenders (2)
"The Special AKA Live! (EP)" - The Specials (2)
"Coward of the County" - Kenny Rogers (2)
"Atomic" - Blondie (2)
"Together We Are Beautiful" - Fern Kinney (1)
"Going Underground/The Dreams Of Children" - The Jam (3)
"Working My Way Back to You" - Detroit Spinners (2)
"Call Me" - Blondie (1)
"Geno" - Dexy's Midnight Runners (2)
"What's Another Year" - Johnny Logan (2)
"Suicide Is Painless" (Theme From M*A*S*H)- The Mash (3)
"Crying" - Don McLean (3)
"Xanadu" - Olivia Newton-John & Electric Light Orchestra (2)
"Use It Up and Wear It Out" - Odyssey (2)
"The Winner Takes It All" - ABBA (2)
"Ashes To Ashes" - David Bowie (2)
"Start!" - The Jam (1)
"Feels Like I'm in Love" - Kelly Marie (2)
"Don't Stand So Close to Me"- The Police (4), best selling single of the year
"Woman in Love" - Barbra Streisand (3)
"The Tide Is High" - Blondie (2)
"Super Trouper" - ABBA (3)
"(Just Like) Starting Over" - John Lennon (1)
"There's No One Quite Like Grandma" - St Winifred's School Choir (1 week in 1980 + 1 week in 1981)

My Favourite Singles of the Year:

"Love Will Tear Us Apart" - Joy Division (download)

I don't want to say that I love this song, I do (of course), but that's the wrong terminology to write about this song, a song about Ian Curtis marital problems, his mental health leading up to his suicide in May 1980...

"When the routine bites hard
And ambitions are low
And the resentment rides high
But emotions wont grow
And were changing our ways,
Taking different roads
Then love, love will tear us apart again

Why is the bedroom so cold
Turned away on your side?
Is my timing that flawed,
Our respect run so dry?
Yet there's still this appeal
That we've kept through our lives
Love, love will tear us apart again

Do you cry out in your sleep
All my failings expose?
Get a taste in my mouth
As desperation takes hold
Is it something so good
Just cant function no more?
When love, love will tear us apart again"

This is one of my favourite songs ever, one I can always return to, I enjoy listening to it in the rain, walking, thinking of inevitably failed relationships that I have had. It, so far, is the only song I can't write about whilst listening to another song.

"Redemption Song" - Bob Marley (download)

Now, I am going to seem a little weird with what I am going to say here, which is that I really dislike Bob Marley... okay... its not that I dislike his music, I like reggae... what I dislike is the millions of stupid white students that spout they LOVE REGGAE, and then you talk about it and actually they don't... they own a copy of Legend and a Bob Marley poster... my experience at the hands of these heathens has somewhat queered my liking for Bob Marley.

However Redemption Song...I like this song, a lot... it was a toss up between this and 3 little birds for this slot... I like that this just Bob and guitar, nice and gentle... and a strong message behind it.

"Stop The Cavalry" - Jona Lewie (download)

I like this song, mainly because of the melody (which is based on a theme from Swedish Rhapsody No. 1 by Hugo Alfvén).

Out of the popularly recognised Xmas songs (albeit this was never intended as such) this is number 2 on my list, we will get to the number one in due course of this little project.

"Games Without Frontiers" - Peter Gabriel (download)

I was going to put different for girls by Joe Jackson here, or Bankrobber by the Clash... but this song does contain the lines

"Jane plays with Willy,
Willy is happy again"

What? it appeals to my puerile sense of humour. It takes its name from the European name for the classic gameshow "It's A Knockout".

"Enola Gay" - OMD (download)

No, this isn't here because it has gay in the title of the song... as so many songs in the post punk were synthpop at the same time, this song attacks the decision to drop the bomb on Hiroshima in August 1945, the title of the song came from the plane that carried the bomb which if memory serves was the name of the pilots mother.

My Birthday Song....

The Winner Takes It All - ABBA

To anyone who bought this song in August 1980, I HATE YOU. I hate ABBA and I hate this song.

Enjoy,

MadLove

xxxxxxx

Dance Dance Dance to the Radio... 1979

2007-12-06T00:42:00.000Z

So the last year of the 70's...

as a young boy of 4 I am starting to gain a like of music, its about now that I remember listening to music, really listening...

gaining and forming my own opinions on music, I remember listening to Another Brick In The Wall part 2... the Christmas number one that year, its the first song I remember loving... even at the age of 4 1/3 I had great taste!

We've seen the wave of punk break leaving a spit tidemark on the shores of the public... where to now?

the 80's, but surely that's a musically bereft decade... well we will see.

Number Ones:

"Y.M.C.A." - Village People (3) best selling single of the year
"Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick" - Ian Dury & The Blockheads (1)
"Heart of Glass" - Blondie (4)
"Tragedy" - Bee Gees (2)
"I Will Survive" - Gloria Gaynor (4)
"Bright Eyes" - Art Garfunkel (6)
"Sunday Girl" - Blondie (3)
"Ring My Bell" - Anita Ward (2)
Are 'Friends' Electric?- Tubeway Army (4)
"I Don't Like Mondays" - Boomtown Rats (4)
"We Don't Talk Anymore" - Cliff Richard (4)
Cars - Gary Numan (1)
"Message in a Bottle" - The Police (3)
"Video Killed the Radio Star" - The Buggles (1)
"One Day At A Time" - Lena Martell (3)
"When You're in Love with a Beautiful Woman" - Dr. Hook (3)
"Walking on the Moon" - The Police (1)
"Another Brick in the Wall, Part II" - Pink Floyd (3 weeks in 1979 + 2 weeks in 1980)

Out of the 5 years covered this has the most number ones that I live... there are 8 of those that I really love.

but my 5 favourite songs of the year are:

"Bright Eyes" - Art Garfunkel (download)
The song from Watership Down, the first film that I ever saw at the cinema... I love this song, and I am not ashamed to admit it, I have a friend that can't listen to it, hippy. altogether now..."Bright Eyes, burning like fire...."

"Transmission" - Joy Division (download)
Joy Division, what can I say about Joy Division that hasn't already been said, pretty much nothing. I got into Joy Division pretty late, yes I have loved "Love Will Tear Us Apart" for years, but never really explored their stuff further... so glad I did, this song is brilliant, its relentless bass line draws you in...

"California Uber Alles" - Dead Kennedys (download)
Jello Biafra at his most venomous and still acceptable in this political rant based on the centrist policies of Jerry Brown and concerned equally with the dilution of the revolutionary and radical tendencies by what would be soon named as "Yuppies", also references Julius Caesar and Orwell... I love this DK song, as punk goes its perfect.

"Are Friends Electric" - Tubeway Army (download)
The first Synth led new wave number one...its alienation based on a failed relationship. its a great song... based partly on a relationship that Gary Numan had with an employee at Beggars Banquet, and "Do Andriods Dream Of Electric Sheep?" the book by Philip K Dick, which also was the basis for Bladerunner. Great Song!

Another Brick In The Wall pt 2 - Pink Floyd (download)
From the great album "The Wall" - I've already touched on why I love this song.

My Birthday Song:

I don't like Mondays - The Boomtown Rats.

There is so much that I hate Bob "Give Us Your Fucking Money" Geldof, his "sainthood", His Children... but not this song, this song, based on a high school massacre is the best thing that ever came out of his mouth. Brilliant Song, I love this song, always make me sing along.

As ever

MadLove

xxxxxxxx

You Never Listened To A Word I Said...

2007-12-04T21:22:00.000Z

1978, another good year for music...

Dead Kennedys formed as did Duran Duran, The Pretenders and The Wipers... Sex Pistols disbanded which meant the forming of the superior Public Image Ltd.

Number Ones of 1978

Mull of Kintyre/Girl's School - Paul McCartney & Wings (5 weeks in 1977 + 4 weeks in 1978)
"Up Town Top Ranking" - Althia & Donna (1)
Angelo - Brotherhood of Man (1)
"Take A Chance On Me" - ABBA (3)
Wuthering Heights - Kate Bush (4)
"Matchstalk Men And Matchstalk Cats And Dogs" - Brian and Michael (3)
"Night Fever" - Bee Gees (2)
"Rivers Of Babylon" - Boney M (5) best selling single of the year
You're The One That I Want - John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John (9)
"Three Times A Lady" - Commodores (5)
Dreadlock Holiday - 10cc (1)
"Summer Nights" - John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John (7)
Rat Trap - Boomtown Rats (2)
Do Ya Think I'm Sexy? - Rod Stewart (1)
"Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord" - Boney M (4)

My favourite singles of '78

Lets start with my favourite number one of the year...

Wuthering Heights - Kate Bush (download)
I LOVE THIS SONG!!! it makes me want to dance around like a loonie doing ballet, yes I have seen the video way to many times to be normal... based on the Bronte novel of the same name, this was the first time that a woman had written and performed a solo UK number one.

Werewolves of London - Warren Zevon (download)
Its a shame that neither this nor Warren Zevon is not more well known, this song has the best opening line to a song ever. download listen and see what I mean.

Public Image - Public Image Ltd (download)
The first single from John Lyndons new band, Jah Wobbles finest basslines and a song about Malcolm McClaren's manipulation of the Sex Pistols. brilliant song.. killed punk dead, new wave came here.

Ever Fallen In Love - The Buzzcocks (download)
The Buzzcocks portrayed the love within punk better than any other band, this songs opening gambit
"You spurn my natural emotions
You make me feel like dirt
And I'm hurt
And if I start a commotion
I run the risk of losing you
And that's worse"
just hooks you... a great song about unrequited love.

The Gambler - Kenny Rogers (download)
I have a soft spot for Kenny Rogers, and this song is a metaphor on life and that "secret to survivin' is knowing what to throw away and knowing what to keep" if I was a gambler, this would be my gambling song.

My Birthday Song
You're the One That I Want - Olivia Newton John & John Travolta
Okay, you got me, I am a huge musical fan, and I love Grease.

This was the hardest year so far for me to choose 5 songs for, it has taken me all day, I could have chosen soooo many.

have fun

enjoy

MadLove
xxxxxxx

The Year That Punk Broke

2007-12-04T12:55:00.001Z

1977 was a very good year for music... the following albums were released in 1977

the Ramones' Rocket to Russia
the Jam's In the City
Iggy Pop's Lust for Life
the Clash, The Clash
The Damned's Damned, Damned, Damned
Wire's Pink Flag
Richard Hell & the Voidoids' Blank Generation
Elvis Costello's My Aim Is True
the Sex Pistols' Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols
Television's Marquee Moon
Talking Heads' Talking Heads: 77
Suicide's Suicide
Fleetwood Mac's Rumours

The year was also the year of formation for the B-52's, Black Flag, Crass, Discharge, The Fall and X.

Studio 54 opened in New York, Disco and Punk were the over ruling music...

Number Ones in 1977
"When A Child Is Born" - Johnny Mathis (1 week in 1976 + 2 weeks in 1977)
"Don't Give Up On Us" - David Soul (4)
"Don't Cry for Me Argentina" - Julie Covington (1)
"When I Need You" - Leo Sayer (3)
"Chanson D'Amour" - The Manhattan Transfer (3)
"Knowing Me, Knowing You" - ABBA (5)
"Free" - Deniece Williams (2)
"I Don't Want to Talk About It/The First Cut Is the Deepest" - Rod Stewart (4)
"Lucille" - Kenny Rogers (1)
"Show You The Way To Go" - The Jacksons (1)
"So You Win Again" - Hot Chocolate (3)
"I Feel Love" - Donna Summer (4)
"Angelo" - Brotherhood of Man (1)
"Float On - Floaters (1)
"Way Down" - Elvis Presley (5)
"Silver Lady" - David Soul (3)
"Yes Sir, I Can Boogie" - Baccara (1)
"The Name Of The Game" - ABBA (4)
"Mull Of Kintyre/Girl's School" - Wings, (5 weeks in 1977 + 4 weeks in 1978)

Okay my favourite singles of the year:

Sex and Drugs and Rock N Roll - Ian Dury (download)
Ian Dury was always someone I have had great respect for his good humour especially when dealing with the effects of Polio which he contracted in 1949... this is my second favourite Ian Dury song, I like it a lot.

The Chain - Fleetwood Mac (download)
Fleetwood Mac are without question one of the finest bands ever... and this is one of the best songs they ever did... oh yeah and that bass line...

Peg - Steely Dan (download)
Steely Dan are one of my guilty pleasures, I love them and I thank T for introducing me to them, this song you will notice has the hook from Eye Know by De La Soul, Steely Dan are sampled a lot by Hip Hop which is justification enough for liking them in my book.

Psycho Killer - Talking Heads (download)
This is a great song... not sure what else I can say about this song, i love the beat of the drums on it, quite awesome.

White Riot - The Clash (download)
one of my favourite Clash songs ever... bizarrely Mick Jones refused to play this later as he thought it was musically inept, its a perfect punk song, a call for white boys to find a reason to riot. Inspired by the Notting Hill Carnival riot of 76 which both Strummer and Simonon partook in.

My Birthday Song:

I Feel Love - Donna Summer
At Last!!! a song that I like for my birthday song! Disco at its finest.

I Hate Pink Floyd

2007-12-03T21:30:00.001Z

actually this is a lie, I love Pink Floyd.

but 1976 saw the germs that was punk become a fully fledged disease...

but Punk and New Wave is yet different posts, this is about 1976.

The Long Hot Summer of 76... the Grundy show episode with the Pistols... irate truckers kicking their TV's in over a few swearwords.

the music of the year:

Number Ones:

"Bohemian Rhapsody" - Queen (5 weeks 1975 + 4 weeks 1976)
"Mamma Mia" - ABBA (2)
"Forever And Ever" - Slik (1)
"December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)" - The Four Seasons (2)
"I Love To Love (But My Baby Just Loves To Dance)" - Tina Charles (3)
"Save Your Kisses for Me" - Brotherhood of Man (6), best seller of the year
"Fernando" - ABBA (4)
"No Charge" - J.J. Barrie (1)
"The Combine Harvester (Brand New Key)" - Wurzels (2)
"You To Me Are Everything" - Real Thing (3)
"Forever And Ever" - Demis Roussos (1)
"Don't Go Breaking My Heart" - Elton John & Kiki Dee (6)
"Dancing Queen" - ABBA (6)
"Mississippi" - Pussycat (4)
"If You Leave Me Now" - Chicago (3)
"Under The Moon Of Love" - Showaddywaddy (3)
"When A Child Is Born (Soleado)" - Johnny Mathis (1 week 1976 + 2 weeks 1977)

Shows it all really, still mostly shite (although there as previously mentioned a soft spot for old Demis)

Abba. Brotherhood of Man... Showaddywaddy... Yeuch!

Okay so my selections from '76

"I'm Your Puppet" - James & Bobby Purify (download)
Originally released in 1966, this was re-issued in '76 - possibly my favourite northern soul song, ever. I can imagine myself in a black suit with tie, singing this, spinning and clicking my fingers in the right places. ACE!

"Last Child" - Aerosmith (download)
Aerosmith at their finest... slow and funky... if you don't shake yo ass at this, you have no soul. serious.

"I Got A Brand New Combine Harvester" - Wurzels (download)
I should I hate this song, I takes the piss out of where I am from, re-enforces the stereotype that people from the west country are illiterate bumpkins who drink nought but cider. NOT TRUE!!! I also drink Rum, thank you very much.

"New Rose" - The Damned (download)
The first UK punk single, this ushered in one of the best eras of music to hit this isle, Punk hit fast and burnt out quickly... as it should! Not a huge fan of the Damned, I do like this song however...

"Anarchy In The UK" - Sex Pistols (download)
I am the Antichrist, I am an Anarchist - nice ryhme there, but one of the most famous songs of this era, my favourite Pistols song is EMI but that is a rip off of Roadrunner by the Modern Lovers.

"Rhiannon" - Fleetwood Mac (download)
I have a neice called Rhiannon, she is my favourite. This is one of my favourite Fleetwood Mac songs.

My Birthday Song....
Don't Go Breaking My Heart - Elton John & Kiki Dee
This is the Elton shit I hate. rubbish.

MadLove

xxxxxxxx

You nearly had me roped and tied...

2007-12-03T19:12:00.002Z

I was dragged kicking and screaming into the world in August 1975, number 1 was Typically Tropical - Barbados... the musical highlights of the year contained...

UK Number Ones (plus weeks spent at number one)
"Lonely This Christmas" - Mud (2 weeks 1974 + 2 weeks 1975)
"Down Down" - Status Quo (1)
"Ms Grace" - Tymes (1)
"January" - Pilot (3)
"Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)" - Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel (2)
"If" - Telly Savalas (2)
"Bye Bye Baby" - Bay City Rollers (6)
"Oh Boy" - Mud (2)
"Stand By Your Man" - Tammy Wynette (3)
"Whispering Grass" - Windsor Davies & Don Estelle (3)
"I'm Not in Love" - 10cc (2)
"Tears on My Pillow (I Can't Take It)" - Johnny Nash (1)
"Give A Little Love" - Bay City Rollers (3)
"Barbados" - Typically Tropical (1)
"I Can't Give You Anything (But My Love)" - Stylistics (3)
"Sailing" - Rod Stewart (4)
"Hold Me Close" - David Essex (3)
"I Only Have Eyes For You" - Art Garfunkel (2)
"Space Oddity" - David Bowie (2)
"D.I.V.O.R.C.E" - Billy Connolly (1)
"Bohemian Rhapsody" - Queen (5 weeks 1975 + 4 weeks 1976)

Make of that list what you will...

There was some good songs released this year:

My Favourite Songs from 1975:
"50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" - Paul Simon (download)
Paul Simon has always struck me as a bit of a try-hard, one half of Simon & Garfunkel responsible for some great songs, some of my favourites ever... this as one of his solo efforts is just a great song, its chorus has such a good rhythm.

"Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)" - Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel (download)
This song is about ex cockney rebel band members, which is strange given the upbeat mood of the song, but lines in it such as "its from yourself, you have to hide" show the true meaning. Out of all of my selections this is possibly my favourite...always gets my foot tapping.

"I'm Not In Love" - 10cc (download)
This song makes the list if only for the spoken word on the instrumental break, this song made 10cc, they got a 5 year record contract over this song. I may prefer the Fun Loving Criminals version however. The lyrics are bittersweet and perfect.

"Space Oddity" - David Bowie (download)
Although technically this should be under 1969, but there was a 75 re-issue that made number one. My love of Bowie has been touched on upon before, so lets go to the next post.

"Someone Saved My Life Tonight" - Elton John (download)
Hmmm, Elton John, some much I can't stand of his stuff... but this, amongst a few others are such great songs, this is a song about the time that Elton John was due to marry, was considering suicide, he was talked out of both of these things by Long John Baldry, the Sugar Bear of the song.

and my birthday song
"Barbados" - Typically Tropical
hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate

YEUCH!

why do I have an MP3 of it?

anyways

MadLove

xxxxx

To Know Him Is To Love Him

2007-12-01T00:56:00.001Z

Phil Spector:

Okay, time to introduce an idol...

Following on from Simon's post about Wizzard, and the Spector-esque Story of My Love, I felt it was time to talk about a musical hero of mine.

Phil Spector...

Genius Producer, the "Tycoon of Teen", Creator of the Wall of Sound, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Recluse, Gun Nut, Murderer?

I've always known his music, he has produced some of the most famous songs, and I (as ever) will offer some my favourites.

I don't know when or where I first heard of this man, or heard one of his songs, but I feel that they have always been with me.

The 60's girl groups... River Deep, Mountain High - Ike & Tina Turner... the Beatles and being the real reason behind their split... (Paul didn't want Spector to produce the album - Let It Be, and was disgusted at his treatment of in particular "the Long and Winding Road", he left the band 2 months later)... Leonard Cohen in upbeat mood... producing the Ramones!

The character of Ronnie "Z-Man" Barzell in Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, a 1970 Russ Meyer film, is based upon Phil Spector.

So lets start...

To Know Him Is To Love Him - The Teddy Bears
- His first song, His first number one... it is believed to be about Phil Spector's dad, who died when he was young, and his gravestone has this inscribed on it.

Be My Baby - The Ronettes
- Possibly my favourite song (in relation to PS) It reminds me of watching Dirty Dancing with my sisters when I was younger.

He's a Rebel - The Crystals
- Featured in Scorpio Rising by Kenneth Anger.

River Deep, Mountain High - Ike & Tina Turner
- This song came to my knowledge by a cover by Eurasa (My dad was a huge fan)

My Sweet Lord - George Harrison
- Hmmm, the Beatles... I blow hot and cold with the Beatles, I much prefer the Rolling Stones, I like the experimental stuff, and I love Yoko Ono... but I don't like the way that people automatically kowtow to the myth that they are the best band in the world ever... thats so obviously my performance art band, mabel and francis, which formed and splt up in an afternoon in Poole Stadium Car Park, whilst smoking fags with my mate Mark... however I like this song.

Jealous Guy - John Lennon
- I dislike John Lennon. but this is included as I love Roxy Music's version of this

Don't Go Home With Your Hard On - Leonard Cohen
- Leonard Cohen gets it on...this song is fucking excellent.

Baby, I Love You - Ramones
- The Ramones, I am not the biggest Ramones fan, I like them, but I will not go out of my way to listen to them, unless this it is this song.

There you have it.

Phil Spector, listen, enjoy.

MadLove

xxxxx

Roy Wood Is Not Just For Christmas...

2007-11-30T22:14:00.000Z

Guest Post Number 3: (Simon, a good friend and an ex-housemate of mine)

The early 1970s weren't a pleasant place, and quite a few musicians turned their back on anything contemporary, instead plundering the sounds of the fifties and early sixties.

One of the maestros in this field was Roy Wood, late of The Move and ELO. His appreciation of the music of his youth is evident from the Rock'n'roll numbers on the first Move LP, and by 1973 his current group Wizzard was turning out high quality faux rock'n'roll and Spector soundalikes.

The most ambitious of these tracks came from the 1974 Wizzard LP 'Introducing Eddy and the Falcons', a concept LP in that each track was written and performed in an approximation of pre-Beatles Rock'n'Roll artists.

'This is the Story of my Love (baby)'was an epic Spectoralike track, topping four minutes. Like the rest of the 'Eddy' LP, it wasn't completely authentic, with the characteristic Wizzard Saxophone sound, and a crisp seventies sheen to the sound. As any fool knows, the best Spector records have girls singing them, and on this disc, Roy pulls his very best Ronnie Spector impersonation out of the bag, right down to the sighing 'Oohs' at the end of the verses and the outro. Chattering acoustic guitars keep the rythym up throughout the song, and nary a bar is spent without a layer of backing vocals. Those on the choruses particularly put the hairs up on the back of my neck.

Unfortunately, 'This is the Story of my Love (Baby)' flopped pretty badly, barely making the top 40. Roy Wood's reaction to this is not known, but the Wizzard singles that followed it were notably muted, lightweight Bill Haley pastiches with none of the jouissance or presence of the preceeding releases. Whether or not the flopping of this record led to the decline in Wizzard's enthusiasm is not known, but by 1975, with their Jazz-pop LP rejected by Jet Records, the group split and its members never found
the same levels of sucess again.

This is the Story of my Love (baby)

MadLove

xxx

Sorry

2007-11-29T20:58:00.001Z

will be quiet for a couple of days, bit busy...

madlove

xxx

Its My Life & Its My Wife...

2007-11-27T23:19:00.000Z

Okay

The Velvet Underground

I remember 1991, The Doors had just come out in the cinema, I was a strapping young lad of 15... I was on the back seat of a coach, going to Chessington World of Adventures, I was drinking Jack Daniels, I put on the soundtrack, I heard Heroin for the first time in my life.

I was smitten.

I have had many musical epiphanies in my life...

That led me to being the person who I am today, one obsessed with music, but i digress...

Heroin... will be the death of me...

The song is beauty, slowly building, with Mo Tuckers drumming beating the rush of the junkie, the slow relaxing euphoria of the high... that sunny day brought about some changes within me... added to finding, really finding the music I wanted to her at a pivotal point in my life... I tried acid for the first time... I went round Professor Burps Bubble Works about 10 times!

The Velvet Underground & Nico...

A hard band to get into, where do you start?

The Fractured Beauty of Sunday Morning? a song that has been my Sunday Morning song for many years now... equally the previously posted Pale Blue Eyes http://sftrh.blogspot.com/2007/11/pale-blue-eyes.html ... Sweet Jane perhaps? a later song...but a fan favourite.

do you go with a more unknown song - I'm sticking with you, a lovely song again...but all of these songs are very cute and not what drew me in...

How about a song themes such as sadomasochism, bondage and submission... a dream like cacophony... I suggest Venus In Furs in that case... taken from the title of the book by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch

No, okay, lets throw Nico into the mix... the lovely Germanic monotone of Nico, John Cale experimenting with tone clusters and the Ostrich guitar tuning of Reed's playing (all strings are tuned to D).

Its hard, people will always take something different from a band with musical styles as different at this band.

So I have selected some personal favourites, have a listen, see what licks your boots, so to speak.

Heroin -

The one that started it all. My all time favourite VU song...

Venus In Furs -

The next one for me, remember the dunlop advert from the early 90's, this song will make you think of it... again the rhythmic drumming by Mo Tucker, Cale on the electric viola, a dream like cacophony I called it earlier, and it is... it is a song so rich in texture, and yet harsh and sparse in its arrangement.

All Tomorrows Parties -

Warhol's favourite, and inspired by his hangers on - experimental, and framed by the cold vocal of Nico, I sell Nico short, but I can see why people find her hard to listen to. personally I like Nico.

Sunday Morning -

This song, the vocals are so weak and fragile and makes me want to be tucked up with my duvet wrapped around me...

All of these are from the debut album, available from all good record shops.

4 Bonus Songs:

The Fairest of the Seasons - Nico

Heroin - Mo Tucker

Paris 1919 - John Cale

Walk On The Wild Side - Lou Reed

With the bonus songs I have tried to select my favourite song by each individual band member, I don't have anything by Stirling Morrison.

Enjoy

MadLove All

xxxxx

There Goes My Hero

2007-11-27T21:10:00.000Z

Guest Poster: Mr Mills...

Where do I begin with the Foo Fighters? I love this band more than any other band in the world, NO EXCEPTIONS. Curious then, that as recently as 2001 I was adamant that I hated the Foo’s and refused to listen to them.

To understand this transformation, I must explain that I am a huge fan of Nirvana and have been ever since I heard the opening to ‘Polly’. In my opinion no band will ever compare to them. They encapsulated everything I loved and hated, they inspired me throughout my life and made me realise how good I’ve had it. On 8th April 1994, Nirvana were no more as Kurt Cobain was found dead in his greenhouse in Seattle. April 10th 1995, Dave Grohl releases his first album with a new band: Foo Fighters, a band that had been generating interest from around the globe ever since it was first announced that Grohl planned to go solo.

I refused to listen as I believed Grohl was cashing in on the fame of Nirvana and would be no more than a poor tribute band at best. I heard about songs like Everlong and Big Me and how impressive they were and that Foo Fighters just may be the real thing, again, out of sheer stubbornness, I repudiated. 2003 saw the meeting of NFL’s Oakland Riders and Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Superbowl. The theme tune for this instantly absorbed me. The tune was a pounding guitar riff with an almost inaudible scream of “done, done, onto the next one” howled over the top with passion and gusto. It gripped me from the beginning, little did I know that this would be the start of my illicit affair with a band that until this time I hated.

I searched for the lyrics online almost immediately and the response was that this was a Foo Fighter song cum future anthem. I figured that the band had just got lucky and in a vain attempt to prove this I downloaded more songs by the band and prepared to listen to a laughable, preposterous, dire and calamitous attempt at a rock band. I was disappointed. They were nowhere near as bad as I had anticipated. In fact they were good. They were VERY good, I even found myself playing some of their songs on loop and was completely blown away. This was the day I realised that every band, every album, every song even, simply has to be judged on it’s own merits; a seminal moment in my life.

The day I discovered Foo Fighters was just as important to me as the day I discovered Nirvana. This, for me, is a very big statement and these two bands account for two thirds of my top 3 bands of all time. Below I have included the 6 songs I downloaded on that day that introduced me to the joys of Foo Fighters, please download and enjoy.

All My Life (download)

Inevitable inclusion to this list as it was the first Foo’s song I ever listened to and is guaranteed to get the blood rushing. It is rumoured that the song is about cunnilingus which explains the inclusion of the lyrics “I love it but I hate the taste”

My Hero (download)

This song surprised me as it was a truly beautiful song that I feel any band would have great difficulty in replicating, and it is even more striking when the acoustic version is heard. Also, much to this author’s delight Paramore have covered this song recently for the Superman Returns soundtrack, also worth a listen!

Hey! Johnny Park (download)

My personal favourite Foo Fighters song EVER, never have I listened to a song as many times as I have this one. Grohl claims that he once knew a young lad by the name of Johnny Park and hoped that he could find him again by naming a song after him, even thought the song was actually nothing to do with him. Sadly Mr Park never came forwards. Also, when listening to this, I defy anyone to not be tempted to join in with the screaming throughout the bridge, “Now that I’ve found my reward…”

Monkey Wrench (download)

Now, this song includes one of the most impressive vocals ever recorded, when Dave sings (well screams really) for 30 seconds constantly, whilst he no longer replicates this feat onstage anymore, it remains just as impressive now as it was then.

Stacked Actors (download)

A song that welcomed Taylor Hawkins into the Foo fold, and marks the only time Foo’s have ever played under a different name, they chose this name to play some gigs to ease Taylor into the band. It is a band I still search for on Ticketmaster as Dave once said that they would use the name again if they were to play an intimate gig, what with their recent skin and bones LP, an intimate gig seems more likely than ever.

Big Me (download)

A song about being dumped, that’s what all the great songs are about surely?! The thing I love about this song is that Grohl turns to Taylor and sings this directly to him, EVERY time I have seen the Foo’s live. It is actually quite a touching moment and goes a long way to fulfilling Dave’s “nicest man in rock” accolade.

Thank you for your time,
I love you with my human heart… true story.xx

Thank you so much Mr Mills, as a bonus here is the Paramore cover of My Hero (download)

MadLove All

xxxx

I don't want anybody else

2007-11-26T23:58:00.000Z

One Hit Wonders

A One-hit wonder is a Top 40 phenomenon, the combination of artist and song that scores big in the music industry with one hit, but is unable to repeat the achievement with another Top 40 hit. The term can refer to the artist, the song, or both together. It is important to note that the following list contains artists who reached the Top 40 of the UK Singles Chart with just one song. Additionally, an artist with two or more albums with a rank of one to forty inclusive in the UK Albums Chart may be taken off of this listing. It can be difficult to decide what constitutes a 'one-hit wonder'. A band popular in one country may be considered to have only been a one-hit wonder in another. Also a group may have had a string of top-ten hits at the time they performed but only one extremely popular song which gets airplay years after it is released. The Guinness Book of British Hit Singles defines a one-hit wonder as one number 1 and no other chart entry, before or after, but include artists that may have had entries in another guise. For example, "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" by Elton John and Kiki Dee is considered a one-hit wonder even though both artists have had solo hits, or as part of another act.

So what are my favourite One Hit Wonders:

"I'm The Urban Spaceman" - Bonzo Dog Doo-dah Band.

This pains me, I love BDD-DB - and Viv Stanshalls work, Death Cab for Cutie get their name from one of their songs (of the excellent Gorilla album), perfect English whimsy.

"Je t'aime... moi non plus" - Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin.

Again, I love this song, and the work of SG in general... everyone knows this song, I'm not going to explain this.

"Tell Laura I Love Her" - Ricky Valance

Death songs were often banned by the BBC, so this song was denied airplay, but it still reached #1 in 1960.

"Convoy" - CW McCall

I just like this song, it was the inspiration for the film of the same name.

"Jilted John" - Jilted John

BRILLIANT! here we go 2-3-4! I was so upset that I cried all the way to the chip shop!... the alter ego of Graham Fellows (who performs as John Shuttleworth)

"My Sharona" - The Knack

Such a good song! they only deserve one hit because they are suing Run DMC for sampling this track.

"Echo Beach" - Martha & The Muffins

Silly band name, good song. we hit the 80's now...

"Glory of Love" - Peter Cetera

I ummed and aaahed about this one, as he used to be in Chicago... but the fact that this is the theme to Karate Kid II wins the day. I could have put sooo many power ballads in this list, but I only wanted to choose one

"First Picture of You" - The Lotus Eaters.

This a lovely song. enjoy.

"I'd rather Jack" - The Reynolds Girls

haha! 80's pop, silly song.

"I Touch Myself" - The Divinyls

Not exactly a one hit wonder, only made number 10, but the second greatest song about wanking (obviously, the best is Turning Japanese by the Vapors)

"Naked Eye" - Luscious Jackson

one of the Beastie Boys signings to Grand Royal, my favourite song by this band.

"Can You Dig It" - Mock Turtles

riding the coattails of the Madchester/Baggy scene of the late 80's early '90's - this band starred Steve Coogans brother.

"The Bouncer" - Kicks Like A Mule

Nah not tonight... your names not down, you're not coming in.

"My Neck, My Back" - Khia

ooooh this is a rude song.

"Do You Really Like It?" - DJ Pied Piper & The Masters of Ceremony

Is it is it wicked - yes, yes it is.

"Fuck It (I don't want you back)" - Eamon & "(FURB) Fuck You Right Back" - Frankee

both one hit wonders, both use the same tune, a number one diss and reply.

madLove

xxxxx

Coming Soon...

2007-11-26T21:01:00.000Z

Good Evening.

Just a quick update as to what is coming up on Songs From The Rabbit Hole

Guest Posts:

Another from Weary
A post from an old housemate Simon
and one from Mr Mills.

Personally I will be posting the following:
One Hit Wonders.
The Velvet Underground Special.

plus more!

so for now have this bizarre Rolf Harris cover of I Touch Myself (yousendit)

You've got a lucky face

2007-11-24T17:56:00.001Z

Bowie

Bowie

How do I start this... everyone should know David Bowie...

There will be at least one Bowie song you love.

I have met his first ever girlfriend, she is my mates aunt.

I saw Bowie at Glastonbury 2000, one of the best nights of my life.

I had split up with L, the week before, she demanded that I go to Glastonbury...
On the coach I realised I had forgot my tent, L was adamant that I was not staying with her, so I slept in a 2 man army tent with my mate Tom, he woke up in the morning and said "L, he's your boyfriend, he is staying with you"...over the next couple of days we decided to get back together, and on the Sunday, we went to see Bowie... I dropped a pill, the sun went down over Glastonbury, I had L in my arms, everything was perfect... He opened with Wild is The Wind, and played a lot of his hits, it was magical, L and I went up to the stone circle and talked all night, I didn't go to sleep until the early hours of Tuesday.

My mate Steve has another Bowie story, he was in a D N B club, Bowie came in, Steve spoke to him, well he said "Dave, you ripping off DnB next?" Bowie just smiled, then released Earthling. I miss Steve, he was a great guy... just lost touch.

We invented Industrial Speed Garage. it never went anywhere unfortunately.

Lou Reed's take on Bowie: (from RollingStone)
David Bowie's contribution to rock & roll has been wit and sophistication. He's smart, he's a true musician and he can really sing. He's got such a big range: I like the Ziggy Stardust voice, but he's got a lot of different voices. He's got his crooner voice, when he wants to. And he has a melodic sense that's well above anyone else in rock & roll. Most people could not sing some of his melodies. He can really go for a high note. Take "Satellite of Love," on my Transformer album: There's a part at the very end, where he goes all the way up. It's fabulous.

There had been androgyny in rock from Little Richard on up, but David put his own patina on it, to say the least. He thought hard about that Ziggy character; he'd been studying mime, and he didn't do it just for laughs. He was very aware of stagecraft. He made an entire show out of that character -- and then he left it behind. How smart can you get? Can you imagine if he had to keep doing Ziggy? I mean, if you listened to what critics and audiences say, you'd be playing four songs over and over again. David set himself up to do other characters, like the Thin White Duke. And his take on American soul music, on albums like Young Americans, was incredibly good; the original material he wrote was great.

I can't pick a favorite record. It depends on my mood -- any of the dance records; Ziggy Stardust; I always liked "Bewlay Brothers," that track on Hunky Dory. And the albums he did with Brian Eno, like Low and Heroes, are phenomenal. He's always changing, so you never get tired of what he's doing. And I mean all the way up to now: "The Loneliest Guy" on his latest album, Reality, is a great song. Yet another one.

We're still friends after all these years, amazingly enough. We go to the occasional art show and museum together, and I always like working with him. I really love what David does, so I'm happy that he's still doing it and that he's still interested. I saw him play here in New York on his last tour, and it was one of the greatest rock shows I've ever seen. At least as far as white people go. Seriously.

So to my favourite Bowie songs:

Laughing Gnome - I like this song, not many people do... but I think its fun.
Magic Dance - I really love the movie this comes from, Labyrinth.
Life on Mars - I came up to this when I saw him
Little Wonder - L came up to this.
Memory of A Free Festival pts 1 & 2 - a nice song. Part 1 - Part 2

Stay Lucky

xxxx

Our Band Could Be Your Life....

2007-11-24T16:34:00.000Z

Sonic Youth...

Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band formed in New York City in 1981. Since 1985, the band's line-up has consisted of Thurston Moore, Lee Ranaldo (both vocals and guitar), Kim Gordon (bass guitar, guitar and vocals) and Steve Shelley (drums). From 2000 to 2005 Jim O'Rourke became a full-time member as a multi-instrumentalist. Before Shelley, Sonic Youth went through several drummers, including Bob Bert, Richard Edson and Jim Sclavunos.

In their early career, Sonic Youth were associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City. Part of the first wave of American noise rock groups, the band carried out their interpretation of the punk rock ethos throughout the evolving American indie underground that focused more on the DIY ethic of the genre rather than its specific sound. They have found moderate mainstream success, and are generally seen as one of the leading alternative rock groups of their time.

Their inspirations were the likes of the guitar symphonies of Glenn Branca (with whom most of the band have performed), the heavy protopunk of The Stooges, The Velvet Underground, and MC5, the punk poetry of Patti Smith, the Krautrock of Can, the psychedelic garage rock of The 13th Floor Elevators, as well as avant-garde composers like John Cage. Sonic Youth were often praised for "redefin[ing] what rock guitar could do" using a wide variety of unorthodox guitar tunings, and preparing guitars with objects like screwdrivers to alter the instruments' timbre.

I remember the first time I heard Sonic Youth, it was 1992, They had released Dirty, and I was smoking pot with my mate Steve, watching music videos, and the video for 100% came on...

This is it:

You will note that Jason Lee is one of the skateboarders in the video.

100% will always be my favourite SY song, I love the song sooo much, it changed my outlook on music...

For your perusal:

Dirty Boots
Teenage Riot
100%
Addicted To Love (although technically this is Ciccone Youth)

Peace

xxx

Jack U Off

2007-11-23T15:50:00.000Z

Prince

Everybody should like Prince.

He has written so many classic songs, personally one of my favourite artist ever.

I don't remember the first time I ever heard one of his songs.

My favourite Prince Song is Starfish and Coffee, I remember one night, I had been to see a band, I knew the singer, we carried on partying back at mine, towards the end of the night, in the early hours of the morning, we put this song on and we all sang along to it, a bit like the Tiny Dancer scene in Almost Famous, but a bit more tuneless and everyone was under the influence somewhat.

I thought we sounded good, we probably sounded like a bag full of cats.

So Prince:

Prince Rogers Nelson (born June 7, 1958, in Minneapolis, Minnesota) is an American funk musician. He uses the stage name Prince but has

also been known by various other monikers, among them an unpronounceable symbol and The Artist Formerly Known As Prince.

Prince became a Jehoviah Witness in 2001, I'd convert for Prince, if he came round my house with the watchtower it would be awesome!

Monikers

Prince often uses pseudonyms and monikers to separate himself from the music (either his own or that of others) he has had input in; he has

said that he was tired of seeing his name everywhere, and that only egotistical people take credit for everything they do. He has also given himself alternate names for his film characters, the most recognizable of which is The Kid.

* Mr. Goodnight - on the track of the same name on Planet Earth in 2007
* Jamie Starr / The Starr Company - early producer of The Time, Vanity 6, etc.
* The Revolution - Though the band had other members, several songs credited to Prince and The Revolution were performed by Prince

alone
* The Kid - Prince's semi-autobiographical persona in Purple Rain; the character was revisited in the film Graffiti Bridge
* Joey Coco - producer/writer of songs for Kenny Rogers, Sheena Easton, etc.
* Christopher Tracy - lead character of Under the Cherry Moon
* Alexander Nevermind - writer of "Sugar Walls" for Sheena Easton
* Paisley Park - writer of songs for Ingrid Chavez, El DeBarge, Paula Abdul, Patti LaBelle, Tevin Campbell, and Louie Louie.
* Madhouse - writer and performer (except saxophone and flute by Eric Leeds) of all tracks on the first Madhouse album. Though credited tothe "band," which did not exist at that time, Prince draws royalties for this work. On Madhouse's second album, some tunes were specified as being written by Prince, Sheila E., Eric Leeds, and Levi Seacer Jr., while other compositions were attributed to Madhouse, i.e., Prince
* Austra Chanel - name of the "mentor" under which Madhouse was assembled; said to be the creator of the Madhouse concept
* Partyman - Prince plays the titular character in said music video
* Tora Tora - on the NPG's Exodus album
* Azifwekaré - "homeless pothead" on the song "Style" and director credit to the "Face Down" video
* The unpronounceable symbol (Love Symbol) - adopted as official name from 1993 to 2000
* The Artist Formerly Known As Prince - offered by journalists as an alternative to the Love Symbol
* The Artist - emerged from "The Artist Formerly Known As Prince," and usually accredited to his then lawyer L. Londel McMillan and became the most common alias in the media in the late 1990s
* Christopher - wrote "Manic Monday", made popular by The Bangles

For Download:
Starfish & Coffee
I Would Die 4 U
Diamonds & Pearls
Gett Off
When Doves Cry
Darling Nikki

xxxxxx

For Gypsy...

2007-11-23T14:22:00.000Z

Pop Music, Boy Bands... McFly?

Okay, people who know me, may be a little surprised, nay shocked at this following post...

McFly...

McFly are a British pop rock band who successfully launched into the music scene in early 2004 with their number one single, "5 Colours in Her Hair". The band was founded by Tom Fletcher and also consists of Danny Jones, Dougie Poynter and Harry Judd.

The thing about McFly is I can understand their appeal, whereas the musical snob within would pour scorn on fans of this band, however I have always liked good pop music.My good friend, Jade, has informed me that I need to have more McFly on this blog...

I agreed, so this post is for her...

McFly have covered the following songs:

Lola - The Kinks
Build Me Up Buttercup - The Foundations
Help - The Beatles
She Loves You - The Beatles
Crazy Little Thing Called Love - Queen
You've Got A Friend - Carole King
Mr Brightside - The Killers
I Predict A Riot - Kaiser Chiefs
Honky Tonk Woman - Rolling Stones
My Generation - The Who
Pinball Wizard - The Who
On My Own - The Used
The Boys Are Back In Town - Thin Lizzy
Don't Stop Me Now - Queen
Fight for Your Right (To Party) - Beastie Boys
Ghostbusters Theme - Ray Parker Jnr
I Wanna Hold Your Hand - The Beatles
Rockin Robin - Bobby Day
Rocks - Primal Scream
Baby's Coming Back - Jellyfish
You're The One That I Want - John Travolta & Olivia Newton John
Town Called Malice - The Jam
Umbrella - Rihanna

I don't have all of these, but the ones I do have I am going to compare with the original versions.

Lets begin with the first...

The B-Side to 5 Colours... Lola

McFly
Kinks

Lola... One of the most famous songs about a transvestite ever recorded. (if not the most famous). It shows that McFly, although targeting their market well, are willing to show some degree of musical knowledge, which most boy bands cannot really do. I love this song, my favourite version is by The Raincoats, The Kinks are a band that I have always liked...

McFlys version is very true to the original, Can I actually choose between the 2, no... I can't, and I am being honest here, its strange, because I prefer another version to the Kinks version so this is a draw in my book.

Build Me Up Buttercup -

McFly
The Foundations

This is a collaboration with Busted.

I actually like this cover, it departs from the original sufficiently for what I like in a cover version, a departure from the original soul version, wonky thrashy boyband pop, I love soul music, but not a huge fan of the song to be honest so I will give the boybands their first win 1-0

Town Called Malice

McFly
The Jam

On the Established 1967 album released by the BBC.

Now a confession, I dislike Paul Weller, A LOT... and the Jam, Bruce Foxton once tried to pull a girlfriend of mine... arsehole!
I prefer McFlys version, its a bit heavier than the Jam's version, added to that my personal dislike for the band 2-0 McFly

You've Got A Friend

McFly
Carole King

I HATE THIS SONG (due to the AA advert AAAAAAAARGH!)

The McFly version, is a quiet acoustic song, not too unpleasant, The original Carole King version a piano ballad... again not unpleasant but I still have this intense dislike of this song, and the Carole King version is 30 seconds longer, so by default McFly win 3-0

Rockin' Robin

McFly
Bobby Day

Made famous by Michael Jackson, but we are going to look at the original from '58 Bobby Day's version...

McFly - I like this version, it is different to the original, rocky, and some quite a lovely rocky blues-esque solo.
Booby Day - a proper rock and roll song, but as an example of that genre, nothing special, if I was listening to the Jackson version that would win hands down, but I'm not... McFly 4-0

Baby's Coming Back
McFly
Jellyfish

ah, I will say this now... Jellyfish are a band I LOVE!!!!!!

McFlys version is good... it doesn't do the knock three times drumbeat properly...but in poppy sort of way its good. Jellyfish were a band that only 2 people in my school liked, me and my mate Steve... this is not their best song, but its a nice song, they are both good versions, but sorry (Jade) Jellyfish have to win this one McFly 4-1.

so 6 songs, final score 4-1 to McFly.

Here are some more covers by McFly.

Honky Tonk Woman
Pinball Wizard
I Predict A Riot
My Heart Will Go On
Mr Brightside

MadLove

xxxx

(When You Wake) You're Still in a Dream...

2007-11-22T12:11:00.000Z

I'm going to see My Bloody Valentine!

YES GET THE FUCK IN!

I missed them when I had the chance back in 1992.

only 16, I was 17 in the summer, they were on the Rollercoaster Tour with Dinosaur Jr, Blur & Jesus and the Mary Chain, I was too young to drive (or as I had hoped back then... it never happened, poor observational skills)...so angry about that, forgot all about that over time, gave up ever thinking about seeing them... last night Mason got home from bonde de role, and informed me that they are doing gigs in London in June...

I went on line there and then and bought myself

so June 23 2008 I will be seeing MY BLOODY VALENTINE

yes yes yes yes

if you don't know them:

My Bloody Valentine are an alternative rock band formed in Dublin, Ireland in 1984. The founding members were guitarist/singer Kevin Shields and drummer Colm O'Ciosoig. The band's lineup during their heyday also included singer-guitarist Bilinda Butcher and bassist Debbie Googe. The band's use of guitar distortion, tremolo, and digital reverb placed them as part of the shoegazing movement. Their 1991 album Loveless took two years to make, but once released it was critically acclaimed. Since Loveless My Bloody Valentine became inactive and Shields scrapped albums worth of follow-up material... until now!

For Download:

Soon (Andy Weatherall mix)
We Have All The Time In The World
Feed Me With Your Kiss (Peel Session)
Sometimes - from Loveless
Only Shallow - from Loveless
Never Say Goodbye - from Strawberry Wine

xxx

2Tone Cont..

2007-11-21T01:43:00.000Z

The Video for Girlfriend...

It's like the Special meet Jean Genet, directed by Fassbinder.

AWESOME!

xxx

I'd Love To Spread Manure In Your Bed Of Roses

2007-11-21T00:47:00.000Z

2 Tone (or Two Tone) is a music genre created in England in the late 1970s by fusing elements of ska, punk rock, rocksteady, reggae and pop music. The 2 Tone sound was developed by English musicians (mostly based in the West Midlands area) who grew up hearing 1960s Jamaican music and decided to play a similar style of music.They combined that style with influences from contemporary punk and pop music. The new music genre (and associated subculture) became known as 2 Tone because most of the bands were signed to the record label 2 Tone Records at some point. Other record labels associated with the 2 Tone sound were Stiff Records and Go Feet Records. Bands considered part of the 2 Tone genre include The Specials, The Selecter, The Beat, Madness, Bad Manners and The Bodysnatchers. The music term 2 Tone was coined by Jerry Dammers of The Specials, who has said he came up with the idea because he liked the black-and-white check pattern on his scooter when he was a young mod. However, many people think the name refers to black-and-white outfits worn by rude boys and skinheads — and to unity between black people and whites. Dammers, with the assistance of Horace Panter, created the Walt Jabsco logo to represent the 2 Tone movement. It was based on an early album cover photo of Peter Tosh, and included an added black-and-white check pattern.

Now, the sound of 2-Tone is one of my youth, growing up in Dorset... I love 2-Tone and most of the bands of this sound rank in my favourites of all time, especially the Specials.

What I'm going to provide for you, is the first 10 songs released on Two Tone Records.

1) Gangsters - The Special AKA (Download) Having been rejected by numerous record companies The Specials decided to release a self-financed single. If the legend is to be believed the single was recorded for a mere £700 financed by a ‘sort of’ local businessman by the name of ‘Jimbo’. It is said that a piano part on the track took up most of the studio time and as a result only one track, Gangsters, was recorded.

2) The Prince - Madness (Download)
Based loosely on Prince Busters 'Earthquake' this track was taken from a session recorded at the tiny Pathway Studios in Highbury, London. The other 2 tracks recorded were the b side, Madness, and a version of My Girl (with Barso on vocals) which was to remain under wraps until later in the bands career. Barso also performed vocals on a version of Bed and Breakfast Man recorded for the John Peel Show (broadcast 27 August 1979).

3) On My Radio - The Selecter (Download)

If yet another 2 Tone legend is to be believed Neol Davies put together a band in a mere 3 weeks with some help from Lynval Golding. Recruiting musicians from various reggae and soul bands he formed The Selecter, which up until then didn't actually exist as a band. Vocals were added in the form of ex radiographer, Pauline Vickers.

Pauline adopted the name Black to avoid any embarrassing situations when she sneaked off work to play gigs and has used the name ever since. This, their first of 3 singles for the label, got a welcome boost in sales by the success of the first Two Tone Tour, which played it's first date on October 19th 1979 at Brightons Top Rank.

4) A Message To You Rudy - The Specials (Featuring Rico) (Download)

Released to promote the bands first album this was a straight cover of the old Dandy Livingstone classic. This single saw the band expanded to a 9 piece with the addition of a brass section in the shape of Dick Cuthell and Jamaican trombone legend Rico Rodriguez. Rico was an ex pupil of the famous Alpha Cottage School in Jamaica. Among others who attended the school were Tommy McCook, Don Drummond and Lester Stirling.

This single was the one of the many double A sides released on the label. On the flip of the title track was the live favourite 'Nite Klub' which included backing vocals by Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders, who a few years previously planned to marry Sid Vicious in an attempt to gain British citizenship!. Nite Klub was actually intended as the bands first single but the band "couldn't get the vibe quite right" and opted for Gangsters instead

5) Tears Of A Clown - The Beat (Download)

This, The Beat's one and only single for the label, is a cover of the old Smokey Robison classic. The band had came to the attention of Jerry Dammers via a support slot for The Selecter. Dammers quickly spotted potential in the band and they agreed to release a single on the label. They were considering releasing a single for some time so they jumped at the chance of a deal with 2 Tone.

A recording session in Coventry produced an early version of the song which no one was entirely happy with it so they relocated to London to re-record the song. Mirror in The Bathroom was the original choice for a single but the band were less than impressed with contract with Chrysalis and didn't like the idea of handing 2 original songs over to the label so they opted for a cover and one original track* as the lesser of the 2 evils. Chrysalis soon lost interest in the band when they discovered that they had no plans to stay with 2 Tone and a scheduled appearance on Top Of The Pops was only brought to their attention by accident.

John Peel was so impressed by the band that he swapped his Djing fee for the bands performance fee when they play on the same bill at Birmingham’s Aston University. He also said of Ranking Full Stop that it was ‘a song guaranteed to fill any dance floor’.

6) I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down - Elvis Costello (Download)

According to Record Collector (No 91): " Costello had been signed to Radar in 1978, via a licensing deal from Riviera Global Productions. Radar collapsed towards the end of 1979, and so Elvis's manager Jake Riviera alighted upon the Specials' 2-Tone label as an ideal venue for a holding operation - a one-off single - until Elvis sorted out a deal for the Get Happy!! album. WEA, who had distributed Radar, were less than delighted: they felt they had a stake in Costello's career by virtue of the success of the records they had distributed for him, and so they obtained a court injunction to stop the 2-Tone single being sold.

By March '80, the situation was clarified: F-Beat was set up by Riviera as an independent company, but WEA continued to distribute their records. In the meantime, there were several thousand 2-Tone singles to dispose of. These were handed out free to the audience at a London's Rainbow Theatre gig. Several months later, Riviera pressed up a few thousand more of the 2-Tone singles, and these were given away at London and US gigs".

7) Too Much Too Young - The Special AKA (Download)

Released at a time when 2 Tone could do no wrong, this 5 track EP became the labels first UK Number 1 single. Recorded at The Lyceum in London and Tiffanys in Coventry, it was also issued as the labels first picture sleeve and for some strange reason saw the band revert to their previous name of The Special A.K.A.. Why they reverted back to this title remains a mystery and the plot is only further complicated by the listing of the band as The Specials on the records labels. The sleeve has a photograph of an audience on the front and a favourable report from the Coventry Evening Telegraph on the band as its rear. . It was also the first 2 Tone release to fall foul of the censors. The final line of Too Much Too Young , "Try wearing a cap", proved too much for the nations moral guardians and the song was deliberately cut short before the offending word "cap" was broadcast.

The title is an arrangement of the Lloyd Charmers track Birth Control, with the line "Oh, no don't gimme no more pickney" lifted directly form it (pickney is JA slang for child) and is backed by further covers of Skatilites, Pioneers, Harry J Allstars and Symarip tracks. A few critics at the time where expressing some doubts about the originality of 2 Tone material and to a certain extent they had a point. Taking in to account this EP, 2 Tone had so far released a total of 15 tracks over 6 7" singles and an amazing 10 of these tracks were either arrangements, interpretations or straight covers of other artists material. And if you include the Elvis Costello single, which had the original catalogue number used for Too Much Too Young, then that total increases yet again. But at the end of the day its what the fans thought that counted and at the bargin price of £1.05 they put the EP at the Number One spot for 2 weeks and even bought reissues of the originals in sufficient quantities to place them at the lower end of the national charts.

The EP was also released in France as a 2 track single wth Guns Of Navarone on the b side and in both Germany and Japan as a 12" with the same track listing as the UK 7" release. The UK 7" Promo has only 2 tracks on it, Too Much Too Young on the A side and Skinhead Moonstomp on the B side.

8) Three Minute Hero - The Selecter (Download)

This, the bands second single for the label was released to promote their debut album Too Much Pressure. The only 2 Tone band not to have a brass section used session sax player Joe Reynolds for a brief solo during the track, a track which by no coincidence clocked in at exactly three minutes long. It got an average review from the critics and had the lowest chart position for the label since The Prince with both reaching number 16 in the national chart. For the singles B side the band strayed away from the labels tradition of covering old ska and reggae tracks and opted for a version the James Bond theme

9) Let's Do Rock Steady - The Bodysnatchers (Download)

After only their second gig The Bodysnatchers were offered a support slot with The Selecter and 4 months later they were in the national charts with this spirited cover of an old Dandy Livingstone song.

Bass player Nicky Summer was the main instigator behind the band and had the idea of forming an all female band after attending a Specials gig at the Hope and Anchor in London. She recruited 5 other musicians who were either just learning to play their instruments or "learning to play as they went along". Vocalist Rhoda Dakar was spotted at a Selecter gig and joined the band to complete the line up.

This was one of the frequent double A sides on the label and Ruder Than You proved to be as equally worthy as the title track.

10) Missing Words - The Selecter (Download)

This was the bands third and last single for the label. It is a slightly different mix from the version which appears on the album Too Much Pressure. The album was released in February 1980 but only five months later the band decided to leave 2 Tone. They thought the label had lost direction and had grown out of control, so they severed links with the label and signed directly to Chrysalis Records.

The b-side is a live version of the Justin Hinds song 'Carry Go Bring Come' which was recorded at Tiffanys in Coventry on the same night that The Specials recorded The Skinhead Symphony.

The track was also promoted with a video, something that up until then had only been afforded to The Specials.

and as a bonus, my favourite Specials song...

(What I Like About You Is Your) Girlfriend, (Download) - why does she like you, not me?

With Dammers taking the lead vocal for the only time in his career, this was a tongue in cheek lyric with a deft jazzy backdrop and one of the best video's to come out of the label. Climbing to the fringes of the top 50, the flip side was a previously unreleased track with a vocal/rap not unsimilar to 'The Boiler' by Rhoda Dakar.

....

Peace & Love

xxxx

Mom and Dad went to a show...

2007-11-20T07:33:00.000Z

Nirvana...

Nirvāṇa is a Sanskrit word that literally means "to cease blowing" (as when a candle flame ceases to flicker) and/or extinguishing (that is, of the passions).

It is a state that is free from any mind-contaminants (kilesa) such as lust, anger or craving; a state of perfect peace unobstructed by psychological conditioning (sankhara). All forms of craving are extinguished such that one is no longer subject to human suffering (dukkha) or further states of rebirths in samsara. The Buddha in the Dhammapada says of Nirvāṇa that it is "the highest happiness". This is not the sense-based happiness of everyday life, nor the concept of happiness as interpreted by Western culture, but rather an enduring, transcendental happiness integral to the calmness attained through enlightenment or bodhi. The knowledge accompanying nirvana is expressed through the word bodhi.

It is also the name of 2 bands...

Nirvana a prog rock band from the 60's who would be best known for My White Bicycle.

and

Nirvana a band from Aberdeen, Washington, fronted by a modern day icon... Kurt Cobain.

Nirvana were a band I remember getting into in the early 90's, they led me to discover other bands, such as the Melvins, Raincoats, Meat Puppets, and Daniel Johnston (in fact I have Hi, How Are You?, tattooed on the inside of my right arm).

So its this inspiration to discover music from liking one band that has inspired this post today.

Nirvana Cover Versions:

Leadbelly:

Huddie Ledbetter was a blues/folk singer, skilled in many different instruments, he was most famous for recording with the 12-String guitar. Kurt called him "Our Favourite Performer".

Nirvana covered 4 of his songs

Unfortunately I only have 2 of them...

Where did you sleep last night?

Gray Goose

Shocking Blue - Love Buzz

This song was covered on Bleach, and remains one of my all time favourite Nirvana songs, I recently played this version out, and swapped half way through for the Nirvana version.

Shocking Blue

a dutch prog/psyche band from the late sixties, their most famous song was "Venus" which went number 1 in the states, Feb, 1970

Love Buzz was also sampled by the prodigy on the song phoenix (always outnumbered....)

Baba O'Riley - The Who

"Don't cry don't raise your eye it's only teenage wasteland"

Led Zeppelin...

"I'm not believing that shit about Bonhams 2 hour drum solos, you can't handle that shit on strong acid man!" (Slater - Dazed and Confused)

Nirvana did three LZ covers,

Heartbreaker
Immigrant Song
Moby Dick

Led Zep, what can I say about Led Zep, well nothing much, not my favourite rock band... however i did hear something about Robert Plant (taken from Holy Moly.co.uk)

The mole and his party met the rock legend at Ibiza airport where he was queuing up (all by himself!) for an Easyjet flight. And he'd even got there early so he could get a good seat, despite the fact he could afford to pay a team of hangers-on to do the job.

He began chatting away and was wonderful company, polite, interesting and full of conversation and smiles, revealing that he planned to buy a place in Northern Ibiza, offered to share his crisps and sandwiches and on arrival at Stanstead he wandered off to queue again at the taxi rank, with all the other mortals.

The upshot of this normal and pleasant behaviour was that one of the greatest rock legends in history was left unmolested and able to go about his business in a polite and enjoyable manner.

Take note, Mr Doherty.

Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves - Cher

My Favourite Cher song EVER.... reminds me of listening to 7" singles around my best friends house when I was a kid... we were always a little strange.

The End - The Doors

Another Icon, who met their end early, I was a big Doors fan, but I always preferred Nico's version of this song... this song makes me want to do acid again, and run around in the countryside...

and Apocalypse Now...

The Horror!

Here She Comes - The Velvet Underground

The VU are one of my favourite 60's bands, I wont wax lyrical about them now, I will do a separate post for them, just enjoy this song.

Creedence Clearwater Revivial - Bad Moon Rising.

a song made famous by one of the best werewolf movies ever - An American werewolf in London.

excellent song which always makes my foot tap.

The Man Who Sold The World - David Bowie

I'm going to save what I can say about Mr. Jones for another post, another idol, I also have met his first ever girlfriend (my mates mum).

Seasons in the Sun - Terry Jacks

I HATE this song, however it is based on Le Moribund by Jacques Brel (who i LOVE) so i am very conflicted with this song, the translation was done by Rod McKuen, Le Moribund translates as the dying man.

This is the original translation

Good-bye, my wife, I loved you well

Good-bye, my wife, I loved you well, you know,

But I'm taking the train for the Good Lord,

I'm taking the train before yours

But you take whatever train you can;

Goodbye, my wife, I'm going to die,

It's hard to die in springtime, you know,

But I'm leaving for the flowers with my eyes closed, my wife,

Because I closed them often,

I know you will take care of my soul.

Terry Jacks version:

Goodbye, Michelle, my little one,; You gave me love and helped me find the sun,; And every time that I was down; You would always come around; And get my feet back on the ground;; Goodbye, Michelle, it's hard to die; When all the birds are singing in the sky,; Now that the spring is in the air,; With the flowers ev'rywhere,; I wish that we could both be there!

FUCK YOU TERRY JACKS!

Do You Love Me? - Kiss

Rock and Roll! simple as.

Anarchy In The UK - The Sex Pistols

Everyone should like this song, but I don't really to be honest, I had a housemate who believed punk was only an English thing, and really put me off the Pistols and the next band The Clash... I appreciate what the Pistols did for music, music for disaffected youths.

Should I Sell out, sorry

Should I Stay or Should I Go? - The Clash

this was number 1 in 1991 on the back of a Levi jeans advert, it took the number 1 from Do The Bartman, and was replaced by the Stonk by Hale and Pace.

The Money Will Roll Right In - Fang

I don't know anything about this Californian punk band. sorry and this is a live version as well.

Way of the World - Flipper

an influential punk/noise band from CCalifornia, the original vocalist Ricky Williams was fired for being to wasted, before they ever recorded anything, this song comes from the first Album generic flipper. hopefully its going to be re-released this year!

The Wipers were a punk rock group formed in Portland, Oregon in 1977 by guitarist Greg Sage, drummer Sam Henry and bassist Dave Koupal. The Wipers were one of the earliest American purveyors of the genre, and the group's tight song structure and use of heavy distortion was influential on not only Nirvana but bands like Mudhoney, The Melvins, Dinosaur Jr.

2 Songs for you here:

Return Of The Rat
D-7

At A Crawl - The Melvins

The Melvins are an American rock/metal band that usually perform as a trio. Singer/guitarist Buzz Osborne (aka "King Buzzo") and drummer Dale Crover are constant members, but the band has been through several bass guitarists. They have occasionally added a guest or second guitarist for live performances. The band was named after a supervisor at the Thriftway in Montesano, Washington where Osborne served as a clerk (and vandal). Melvin was greatly despised, and the band's members felt it to be an appropriately ridiculous name.

The Melvins' music is influenced by Black Flag's My War era punk, slow rock acts like Swans, and, most notably Black Sabbath-style metal; however, their idiosyncratic approach, bizarre sense of humor, and experimentation make neat categorization difficult. They often favour very slow tempos, and their sludgy sound was a strong influence on grunge music, especially Nirvana, Soundgarden, and many other bands from Seattle. Their proteges, however, tended to use more conventional musical structures with this sound. The Melvins have also influenced many bands, including Tool, who are personal friends with the band; Mastodon who participated in a Melvins tribute album; and Boris, who took their name from title of a Melvins song.

Turnaround - Devo

I love Devo! Founded in Akron in 72, best known for Whip It, although my favourite is Mongoloid, I LOVE THAT SONG!

Just check them out... the Hot Potatoes compilation is a great place to start.

My Best Friends Girl - The Cars

Not a huge fan, but I do like this song. She used to be mine...She's so fine...

Rio - Duran Duran

hahahaha! - I'll be honest I couldn't have done this post without the help of a person I have only recently met, when he sent me the list of covers he knew about, this stood out... a lot... I don't know Nirvanas version, but right now I am on a yacht in a suit with a MULLET!!!! A MULLET!

The thing I like most about Duran Duran is that they are names after the baddie in Barberella.

cool!

Now after the leadbelly cover... the final 2 artists are possibly the most famous covers by Nirvana...

The Meat Puppets.

Lake of Fire
Oh Me
Plateau

Started out as a hardcore band in the early 80's by the time they recorded the album II, they were sick of the hardcore scene, and were really into "pissing off the crowd", they started to experiment with Acid Rock & Country... Personally I am not a huge fan of the Meat Puppets, but this is a really good album, and I recommend buying it.

and finally...

The Vaselines.

Not very well known outside Scotland the duo of Frances McKee & Euguene Kelly (who was later in Captain America, Eugenius & BMX Bandits) released 2 EP's and one Album, Cobain referred to them as "My Favourite Songwriters In the World"... the 3 selections are the from the EP's

Mollys Lips (from Dying for It ep)
Jesus Doesn't Want Me For A Sunbeam (from Dying for It ep)
Son Of A Gun (Son of a Gun ep)

you can get The Way of the Vaselines on Sub-Pop which collects the EP's and the Album Dum Dum

Enjoy

I'd like to thank Mr Mills for his help in compiling this, thanks fella.

MadLove

xxxx

Out On The Floor

2007-11-18T12:43:00.000Z

Guest Post #1.

Northern Soul, by Weary...

Me, I just love music.

Even as a kid, my mother always had the radio on, so I was always listening to some sort of music. It probably accounts for my eclectic tastes, I like stuff from Doo-Wop to Opera. But my real favourite is Soul music, & in particular the phenomenon known as Northern Soul. Which in reality is generally unreleased & rare tracks from obscure American artists of the 50’s & 60’s and the early Motown stuff before it became popular in the UK.

I can remember as a spotty teenager talking with my mates about, football, fit birds & music. We never agreed about football, or which girl was the prettiest, but we all agreed that ‘Northern’ was great. My particular favourite at that time was Tony Clarke’s Landslide and still to this day it reminds me of Brut after shave, driving gloves, talcum powder (for sprinkling on the dance floor, so you could move smoother) Ben Sherman’s, Oxford bags & makes me want to move my feet, spin & backdrop. But at nearly 50 it’s not advisable anymore, the knees won’t take it but I can still scorch the timber in my mind.

The only trouble with Northern Soul was as it was so obscure, you couldn’t get the 45’s and those you could get were expensive (ridiculously so in some cases). Most of the early stuff was listened to on cassette tapes bootlegged at various Soul Nights. So with the advent of CD’s you could buy one CD and have a ‘Northern’ collection that’d cost into the hundreds of pounds. So I started collecting & even at over 300 Northern CD’s I still keep on buying more.

Keep the Faith

Tony Clarke - Landslide (download)

Jimmy Radcliffe - Long after tonight is all over (download)

Little Hank - Mr Bang Bang man (download)

Judy Street - What (download)

Bobby Paris - Night Owl (download)

The O'Jays - I Dig Your Act (download)

Bobby Goldsbro - Too Many people (download)

Enjoy

You're all I need...

2007-11-18T09:58:00.000Z

The Mix-Tape - pt2.

I'm not really feeling it this morning, just been woken up by 5 drugged up people, however lets do this,

Side 2:

You're All I Need To Get By - Method Man feat Mary J Blige...
- doesn't really need a blurb, this is a beautiful song.

Another Girl, Another Planet - The Only Ones
- You get under my skin, But I don't find it irritating... I refuse to accept that this song is about drugs...

Baby, I Love You - The Ramones
- Phil Spector producing The Ramones, whodathunkit... my all time favourite Ramones song

Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn't Have) - The Buzzcocks
- All time classic punk rock, one of my favourite songs ever made... Sometime during November 1977, the band watched the musical Guys & Dolls in the TV lounge of a guesthouse in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was the dialogue "Have you ever fallen in love with someone you shouldn't have" from the film which inspired the song. The following day Pete Shelley wrote the lyrics of the song, in a van outside a post office, with the music following soon after

Teenage Kicks - The Undertones
- Suppose I can't really do a punk section of the mixtape without this classic, Everyone's favourite Undertones song - "I wanna hold her, wanna hold her tight, get teenage kicks right through night"

Consolation Prize - Orange Juice
- "I'll be your consolation prize, although I know I'll never be man enough for you" - Edwyn Collins finest moment from the first album.

Mollys Lips - The Vaselines
- Covered by Nirvana, and I did toy with putting their version on, this is a love song to Molly Weir, who played Hazel McWitch in Rentaghost.

Together In Electric Dreams - Oakley/Moroder
- the theme to the "Classic" 80's movie Electric Dreams (which was a bizarre love triangle between a man, a woman and his 8-bit computer), I like this song, "We'll always be together in electric dreams".

Only Love Will Break Your Heart - Neil Young
I was toying with putting the excellent dub remix of Saint Ettiene's version on here, but I should put the original on here. Written after his split with Joni Mitchel, this stops the flow of this side... sadly.

Invitation to the Blues - Tom Waits
- Tom Waits is myall time favourite song writer, and this is my favourite song by him, I lose myself in this song and imagine myself in a gas station/diner, in middle America... the beautiful waitress pouring my cup of java, this daydream is always in black and white.

Black Coffee - Ella Fitzgerald
- the last song on the mix tape, my favourite Ella song, one of the best voices I have ever heard... and this song is so lovely.

so there a mix tape although it would be on CD nowadays, I'm sure I could have made it flow better, but it was compiled on the fly.

enjoy

madlove xxxx

Say Anything...

2007-11-18T00:51:00.000Z

I was watching family guy (American series 6) and there was a nod to the scene in Say Anything* where Lloyd Dobber (John Cusack) holds a boombox over his head and plays "In Your Eyes" by Peter Gabriel in an attempt to win Diane (Ione Skye) back...

This made me think, what song would I play, if it was me and I was to do this?

to be honest, its a hard task... to be honest I couldn't see myself doing something like that... but that's not the idea behind this...actually fuck it lets make it a mix tape...*

The Mix Tape:

Wild is the Wind - Nina Simone or David Bowie....
Nina's version is slower, so Mr Bowie's version would probably translate better to the medium...

Thunder Road - Bruce Springstein
"we have one last chance to make it real" - this song is one of my guilty pleasures, its a great song.

Last Goodbye - Jeff Buckley
although a song for a breakup - there's a few lines, especially the lines
" Kiss me, please kiss me,
Kiss me out of desire, not consolation"

La La Love You - The Pixies
Quite simply - I love you.

I figured you out - Mary Lou Lord
a lovely song,
" i see you watching her, every time she crosses floor
So won't you just go and talk to the one you really adore"

Disarm - The Smashing Pumpkins
an old classic from my youth.

Umbrella - Biffy Clyro
Yes, its the Rhianna song, excellent cover version.

Shipoopi - Family Guy
a bit of fun for some light relief - the original is from the musical - The Music Man.

Tears on my pillow - Little Anthony and the Imperials
from way back... "you don't remember me, but I remember you"...

These Arms of Mine - Otis Redding
to be honest, if you are missing someone this song says it all... and there is no voice better to sing the yearning better than Otis.

Cry to Me - Solomon Burke
another classic soul song.

There you have 11 songs, side 2 tomorrow...

goodnight, xxxx

* the change to mix tape was made half way through writing this post!

x

I want to hold the hand inside you...

2007-11-16T22:09:00.000Z

sad songs say so much...

I was watching a re-run of Torchwood and over the credits was Gorecki by lamb, which had me thinking of slow songs, and I thought I would upload 3 that have memories for me.

Where The Wild Roses Grow - Nick Cave & Kylie - hadn't heard this song for ages, and it took me back to the first months, with the greatest love of my life, a happy place filled with sad songs, strange that.

Fade into You - Mazzy Star - beautiful song that I convinced an ex was about fisting, listen and you'll see why.

Gorecki - Lamb - reminds me of another time, just chilling with a comedown and listening to this with my girl in my arms, listening to this... nice times.

and as a bonus, Sneaker Pimps - 6 Underground, saw this on another blog today...

G'Night

The Painting is Martyr of Solway by John Millas.

xxx

Mama Look a BooBoo!

2007-11-16T20:53:00.000Z

Calypso... is like so:

Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music which originated in Trinidad at about the start of the 20th century. The roots of the genre lay in the arrival of African slaves, who, not being allowed to speak with each other, communicated through song. This forged a sense of community among the Africans, who saw their colonial masters change rapidly, bringing French, Spanish and British music styles to the island of Trinidad. The French brought Carnival to Trinidad, and calypso competitions at Carnival grew in popularity, especially after the abolition of slavery in 1834 . While most authorities stress the African roots of calypso, in his 1986 book Calypso from France to Trinidad, 800 Years of History veteran calypsonian The Roaring Lion (Rafael de Leon) asserted that calypso descends from the music of the medieval French troubadours.

Over 100 years ago, calypso further evolved into a way of spreading news around Trinidad. Politicians, journalists, and public figures often debated the content of each song, and many islanders considered these songs the most reliable news source. Calypsonians pushed the boundaries of free speech as their lyrics spread news of any topic relevant to island life, including speaking out against political corruption. Eventually British rule enforced censorship and police began to scan these songs for damaging content. Even with this censorship, calypsos continued to push boundaries.

The first calypso recordings, made by Lovey's String Band, came in 1912, and inaugurated the Golden Age of Calypso. By the 1920s, calypso tents were set up at Carnival for calypsonians to practice before competitions; these have now become showcases for new music.

The first major stars of calypso started crossing over to new audiences worldwide in the late 1930s. Attila the Hun, Roaring Lion and Lord Invader were first, followed by Lord Kitchener, one of the longest-lasting calypso stars in history -- he continued to release hit records until his death in 2000 . 1944's Rum and Coca-Cola by the Andrews Sisters, a cover of a Lord Invader song, became an American hit.

Calypso, especially a toned down, commercial variant, became a worldwide craze with the release of the "Banana Boat Song", a traditional Jamaican folk song, whose best-known rendition was done by Harry Belafonte on his 1956 album Calypso; Calypso was the first full-length record to sell more than a million copies. 1956 also saw the massive international hit Jean and Dinah by Mighty Sparrow. This song was a sly comment as a "plan of action" for the calypsonian on the easy availability of prostitutes after the closing of the United States naval base on Trinidad at Chagaramas.

In the 1957 Broadway musical Jamaica Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg cleverly parodied "commercial", Harry Belafonte style Calypso.

Early forms of calypso were also heavily influenced by jazz such as Sans Humanitae, the extempo melody in which calypsonians lyricise impromptu, commenting socially or insulting each other, without humanity - once again the French influence. Many calypso chord progressions can be linked to twelve bar jams in jazz as demonstrated by Lord Kitchener, one of the most famous calypsonians and a melodic genius.

Elements of calypso have been incorporated in jazz to form calypso jazz.

(from wikipedia)

There is something about calypso, i just -uh- dig.

From the pop of Harry Belafonte, to Lord Invader... but I've got a personal slant for you...

I used to DJ with a girlfriend a night dedicated to outsider music, film soundtracks, novelty records... heres the myspace for the International Colouring Contest.

I don't do that anymore but every month I would slip a calypso song in there... always gave the night a lift, not just my own modest opinion, because the genres used it would often get a bit too abstract for myself...

Don't get me wrong it was on occasion a fun night, and it still goes on, just with out me.

Ever in Brighton on the second sunday of the month, and fancy something different check it out.

so your calypso selections are

Harry Belafonte - Jump in line (download)

Robert Mitchum* - Mama Look a Boo Boo! (download)

Mighty Sparrow - Jack Palance (download)

Van Dyke Parks - Jack Palance (download)

* yes its that Robert Mitchum.. he recorded an album called Calypso is like so, the money paid for his friends to buy weed!

easy

xxxx

If I just say the word

2007-11-16T17:40:00.000Z

Just picked this strange thing from Keytars and Violins blog...

Phil Collins - Sussudio (Triobelisk Remix)

and so to Friday night... the weekend (to quote Human Traffic) has landed.

Shame, work calls tomorrow, and I haven't been well the last 2 days. I'm okay now... and still 5days til payday... I'll lose myself as ever in music... its what I like best... I understand music....

so fuck everything else, let's dance...

Cubik (Monkey Mafia Remix) - 808 State.... (download)

Harrowdown Hill (Ripperton Dub) - Thom Yorke (download)

D.A.N.C.E. (Justice Remix) - Justice (download)

Welcome to Jamrock (Poj Masta's Jammy Dodger mix) - Damian Marley (download)

Look what you've done to me - Lethal Bizzle (feat Kate Nash) (download)

enjoy, oh and one last one

Friday Night, Saturday Morning - The Specials (download)

Peace

xxxx

All my failings exposed...

2007-11-16T14:18:00.000Z

Love and Loss,

Firstly - lets teach the indie kids to dance again...

Arthur Baker - remixing Love Will Tear Us Apart Again. (download) - From Music of the Moment.

Strangely this song reminded me of another time...

and this song ... Famous Blue Raincoat - Leonard Cohen

It was December 2001, I had been out to a Psy-Trance night (Escape from Samsara) and regrettably I had broken 2 promises to my girl, one not to take drugs, I did, number 2, I cheated... she never forgave me, understandably, but she wrote me an email, paraphrasing this song, it haunted me...

I am great believer in learning from your mistakes, I learnt the most valuable one that night.

Respect and honour the ones you love. so to L, one last time sorry and for the first time Thank You.

Famous Blue Raincoat: (download)

The song is written in the form of a letter, and tells the story of a three-sided affair between the speaker, a woman named Jane, and the addressed person, who is identified only briefly as, "my brother, my killer." Implied in the song is that Jane was either engaged to or married to the speaker, but after the events, "And you treated my woman to a flake of your life, and when she came back she was nobodies wife."

Later in the song, the speaker admits that he is partially grateful for the affair, because Jane had been troubled, and the affair alleviated it when he hadn't been able to.

The Singing Tent...

2007-11-16T12:29:00.000Z

Demis Roussos:

The reason I will not grow my hair long and have a beard at the same time!

I have worn a kaftan though! My last night in Bournemouth going into town in a (if memory serves) Kaftan of th brightest Orange and Yellow! Dior stars glued to my head and writing all over me, I was reading passages from the bible to strangers on the bus, drunk on Lambrini, a £20wrap of speed in my pocket, off to dance the night away in a sweaty indie club...

but the singing tent...

Demis came to my attention through Abigail's party, Mike Leigh's famous play... the protagonist Abigail playing one of his records... famous for singing songs such as "My Only Fascination" & "Forever and Ever" (as an aside, I once went out with a girl who wrote a 'zine named after My Only Fascination)

However it wasn't all cheesy schlock...

Demis was also with Vangelis in Aphrodite's Child, a prog rock band from Greece this collaboration is celebrated in the 2 offerings i have for you

I Dig You

Tales of the Future

Aces

xx

For Mr Mills

2007-11-16T12:11:00.000Z

The original Mack The Knife - as sung by Lotte Lenya from the Thrupenny Opera

Lyrics: German:

Und der Haifisch, der hat Zähne

Und die trägt er im Gesicht

Und Macheath, der hat ein Messer

Doch das Messer sieht man nicht

An 'nem schönen blauen Sonntag

Liegt ein toter Mann am Strand

Und ein Mensch geht um die Ecke,

Den man Mackie Messer nennt

Und Schmul Meier bleibt verschwunden

Und so mancher reiche Mann

Und sein Geld hat Mackie Messer

Dem man nichts beweisen kann

Jenny Towler ward gefunden

Mit 'nem Messer in der Brust

Und am Kai geht Mackie Messer,

Der von allem nichts gewußt

Und die minderjährige Witwe

Deren Namen jeder weiß

Wachte auf und war geschändet

Mackie welches war dein Preis?

Refrain

Und die einen sind im Dunkeln

Und die anderen sind im Licht

Doch man sieht nur die im Lichte

Die im Dunkeln sieht man nicht

Doch man sieht nur die im Lichte

Die im Dunkeln sieht man nicht

and again in English

And the shark, he has teeth

And he wears them in his face

And Macheath, he has a knife

But the knife you don't see

On a beautiful blue Sunday

Lies a dead man on the Strand

And a man goes around the corner

Whom they call Mack the Knife

And Schmul Meier stays missing

As do some rich men

And his money has Mack the Knife,

On whom they can't pin anything.

Jenny Towler was found

With a knife in her chest

And on the wharf walks Mack the Knife,

Who knows nothing about all this.

And the minor-aged widow,

Whose name everyone knows,

Woke up and was violated

Mack, what was your price?

Refrain

And some are in the darkness

And the others in the light

But you only see those in the light

Those in the darkness you don't see

But you only see those in the light

Those in the darkness you don't see

Download from zshare

Peace X

The Rabbit Sings and Swings

2007-11-16T09:38:00.000Z

Easy, The Ballad of Mack the Knife came from the Thrupenny Opera (Kurt Weill & Bertolt Brecht) made popular in the swing/big band era...

Here are 2 versions:

Bobby Darin

Frank Sinatra

the story of mack the knife: In The Threepenny Opera, the moritat singer with his street organ introduces and closes the drama with the tale of the deadly Mackie Messer, or Mack the Knife, a character based on the dashing highwayman Macheath in John Gay's The Beggar's Opera. The Brecht-Weill version of the character was far more cruel and sinister, and has been transformed into a modern anti-hero.

The opera opens with the moritat singer comparing Macheath (unfavorably) with a shark, and then telling tales of his robberies, murders, rapes, and arson

An ex-girlfriend introduced me to the works of Kurt Weill... and when I heard the original version of Mack The Knife it instantly transported me back to my youth and drinking in the Oakdale pub, with Mark & Simon and Karaoke where we would sing this song badly...

Bonus Tracks:

Bobby Darrin - Beyond The Sea

Johnny Mercer - Ac-cent-tchu-ate The Positive

Frank Sinatra - I get a kick out of you

Notorious BIG with Frank Sinatra - New York New York

Peace

Something Different...

2007-11-15T23:47:00.000Z

The Gun Club

The Gun Club was a rock band from Los Angeles in the 1980s led by flamboyant singer/guitarist Jeffrey Lee Pierce. The Gun Club injected punk rock with doses of blues and country music. Pierce's wailing vocals were an ideal delivery for his songs, which generally had a spooky, haunted quality.

The group was initially called The Creeping Ritual before settling on "The Gun Club", a name suggested by Circle Jerks singer Keith Morris.

Their first album, 1981's Fire of Love, was released on Slash Records division Ruby and is regarded as a classic by many rock critics, and is perhaps their strongest effort. Critic Stevo Olende has written that the "album's lyrical imagery is plundered from voodoo, '50's EC comics and the blues," while another notes that "Nobody has heard music like this before or since." Fire of Love sold well and arguably received the best reviews of any release from the band. Their second album, Miami, was also well received. Along with The Cramps, X, and other bands, they set much of the tone for the Hollywood rock scene in the 1980s.

The chosen song is Sex Beat:

Why this one, it was the song that really grabbed me when I first heard it, the line:

"I, I know your reasons and I, I know your goals
we can fuck forever but you will never get my soul"

This said to me, something that I felt coming out of a long term relationship, I felt that I could never give myself to someone again, of course being a hopeless romantic this is completely wrong, and I will and have given myself to people since, and will do again... but this song, and particularly that line was my anthem for a while... and it helped me get over a girl.

Download from zshare

Peace and Goodnight

MadLove

For Marie

2007-11-15T23:03:00.000Z

The Mitchell Brothers...

A rap group from London, signed by Mike Skinner (The Streets)... they got their deal by doing a reverse pickpocket manoeuvre in the queue at a Barclays Bank in Brixton, they slipped a demo in Mike Skinner's pocket.

This tune is called Michael Jackson and has been remixed by Calvin Harris... not normally my cup of tea, but I promised something upbeat...

this is upbeat.

and its for Marie.

download from zshare

enjoy

dance like Michael Jackson

more eyes....

2007-11-15T22:13:00.000Z

Now, I have a thing for eyes...

don't get me wrong, I'm not sick, I don't start licking them or anything...

but if a girl has lovely eyes, thats the trigger... and songs about eyes say so much, in better ways that I could ever.

This one by Kano, says alot that I have wanted to say to someone recently, someone with dark brown eyes, that are deep pools, they remind me of a place I went to on holiday in Wales as a kid, I found a deep pool, the water was almost black through the sheer depth of the pool, clear, crisp, cool.

here's the video

Download from zshare

I will try and post something more upbeat next!

Peace

Pale Blue Eyes

2007-11-15T21:43:00.000Z

Pale Blue Eyes - The Velvet Underground.

From The Velvet Underground (1969) Buy this record

Download from zshare

Pale Blue Eyes.

This song will always remind me of a person, a girl, one I loved greatly, one I lost.

I met her in the Honeyclub, many years ago... her eyes the palest blue, framed by long eyelashes...

To dumbstruck to speak to her, we met again a few weeks later, she was walking down the street and I saw her again, I was drunk in the street (it was my birthday, I'm not some kind of tramp that sits in the street, drinking)... I shouted for her attention, we spent the next three years together. I only had to see her eyes and I would fall for her over again.

Sometimes I feel so happy,
Sometimes I feel so sad.
Sometimes I feel so happy,
But mostly you just make me mad.
Baby, you just make me mad.
Linger on, your pale blue eyes.
Linger on, your pale blue eyes.

Thought of you as my mountain top,
Thought of you as my peak.
Thought of you as everything,
I've had but couldn't keep.
I've had but couldn't keep.
Linger on, your pale blue eyes.
Linger on, your pale blue eyes.

If I could make the world as pure and strange as what I see,
I'd put you in the mirror,
I put in front of me.
I put in front of me.
Linger on, your pale blue eyes.
Linger on, your pale blue eyes.

Skip a life completely.
Stuff it in a cup.
She said, Money is like us in time,
It lies, but can't stand up.
Down for you is up."
Linger on, your pale blue eyes.
Linger on, your pale blue eyes.

It was good what we did yesterday.
And I'd do it once again.
The fact that you are married,
Only proves, you're my best friend.
But it's truly, truly a sin.
Linger on, your pale blue eyes.
Linger on, your pale blue eyes.

Goodday

2007-11-15T21:19:00.000Z

welcome 2 a new musical blog...

hopefully this will offer something different from others, but probably not. ;)