Welcome to May – A month of uncertainty – #1

May as Well – Angel Olsen (2017, Jagjaguwar Records, Taken from ‘Phases’)

Older readers of this blog might remember that last May, we had a whole month dedicated to alternative versions.  It was a month all about demos, live versions, reinterpretations, session tracks, album versions, extended 12 inches and all that.  I ran a sort of competition to see which were ultimately better, the alternate version or the original and in the end the original version ran out winners relatively easily. 

Well, this month was supposed to be another month of all that.  So, each day we would have a track that was slightly different from the original version and we would debate which one was better.

We would have debated whether this version of the staple indie classic ‘Sheriff Fatman’ was better than the single version that we all love.  Personally I love the way that Jim Bob, says “Scheemmeee” in this version and the guitar around two and a half minutes is brilliant.

Sheriff Fatman (BBC Session) – Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine (1998, Cooking Vinyl Records)

Sheriff Fatman (Single Version) – Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine (1990, Big Cat Records)

But, all that changed when I was out for a cycle ride with my daughter at the weekend.  We ended up at the beach, eating ice cream and kind of sat on shore just dreamily looking at the sea as it gently lapped against the shingle.  Two hours later, I’d compiled a playlist of about 50 songs that feature the words “sea”, “Water”, River”, “Lake” or “Stream” in their titles and I was all set for May to be a Month of Staring at the Sea (or other watery feature), where that playlist would be explored alongside a story about some of my favourite beaches.

We almost certainly would have discussed the quality of this track for starters,

All Waters – Perfume Genius (2012, Turnstile Records, Taken from ‘Put Your Back N 2 it’)

But all that changed when I listened to a podcast on Sunday in which Run the Jewels rapper and all-round living legend Killer Mike waxed lyrical about “mouthfucking roast cauliflower” and instantly made me want to dedicate an entire month to people I consider to be living legends.  So again, I sat down and made a list of about fifty people who I respect, admire, adore and would consider the world to be a much sadder place if they were not on it.  Not all the people on that list are involved in music in fact very few of them were, but every day I would pick someone and crowbar some music in somewhere, sometimes it would be easy though.

Yankee and the Brave (ep.4) – Run the Jewels (2020, Jewel Runners Records, Taken from ‘RTJ4’)

But all that changed when just this morning, when I was the school run and an astonishing cover version came on the radio and in my head as I walked home, I formulated a series of cover versions that were unlikely yet brilliant.  For instance, I heard a reggae version of Nirvana’s ‘Heart Shaped Box’ three days ago, that needs to be shared and you all need to hear Dorian Dumont take on various Aphex Twin tracks armed only with a grand piano, but most of all you all really need to hear this version of ‘I Wanna Be Adored’.

I Wanna Be Adored – New Jackson (2024, Permanent Vacation Records, Taken from ‘Oops!… Pop’)

But, then I thought, stuff it I’ll do all four.  A week of each or a day of each, who knows, I’ll probably change my mind and by tomorrow May will be a month of French Ambient Soundscapes.

Tohu Bohu An Rinceoir – Paul Mahoux (2024, Natural Selection Records, Taken from ‘Lysergie Villageoise’).

A month of Lost Indie 45’s- #20 Heaven Sent an Angel – Revolver

Heaven Sent an Angel – Revolver (1992, Hut Records, Taken from ‘Baby’s Angry’)

This series draws a close with another band who probably should have been far more successful than they actually managed to be.  Revolver were a three piece from London who I saw supporting Teenage Fanclub in 1992 (I think at least) and thought were excellent.  Within a week I’d found two of their EP’s – the debut one imaginatively titled ‘45’ and the second one called ‘Crimson’ in a shop in Maidstone.  By the end of week two, I’d declared Revolver to be the best new band in Britain to anyone who was listening, which to be fair, wasn’t that many people.  Partly because I was wrong and partly because everyone knew by then that Mint 400 were the best new band in Britain (or Suede were, delete as applicable).

Gas – Mint 400 (1992, Incoherent Records)

Metal Mickey – Suede (1992, Nude Records)

Anyway, despite those other noiseniks Revolver were excellent and were very nearly the Best new Band in Britain.  Their most popular track was ‘Heaven Sent An Angel’, which was the sort of jangly indie pop that was beloved by floppy fringed youths with stripey jumpers, and Doc Martins and a love of feedback pedals.  Or shoegaze if you want to pigeonhole the band, personally I’d never do that.

Revolver however, refused to accept that they were a shoegaze band despite every section of the mainstream press describing them as one.

Despite their frustrations and their protestations Revolver were definitely a shoegaze band.  In fact, I’ll go slightly further than that and argue that Revolver’s early singles sound so much like shoegaze pioneers Ride that if you had never heard either band you would struggle to separate the two.  In might be lazy journalism to pigeonhole bands into obvious scenes but in this case there was very little else for them to do. 

Let’s take their track ‘Venice’ for starters.

Venice – Revolver (1992, Hut Records, Taken from ‘Baby’s Angry’)

Which when I first heard, I would have said it was brilliant and thrown myself around the room to it.  Nowadays, having listened to it for the first time in about twenty years, I would describe as ‘Ride by numbers’.  It sounds identical to one of the tracks on Ride’s second EP (the one with daffodils on the cover).

And then there is ‘Molasses’ which is basically the slightly angrier brother from another mother of ‘Seagull’.   All thrashy when it needs to be but with a cautious eye centred on the chorus.

Molasses – Revolver (1992, Hut Records)

Both tracks still sounds great though to be honest with you.

Revolver were in existence for about four years but after their lack of success their record label dropped them and they split up in 1994.  Their singer, Matt Flint, did however perhaps go on to better things.  He joined Death in Vegas as a bassist and features on their nearly perfect ‘Contino Sessions’ album.

And that folks is that – tomorrow we will take a peek at some more of the best releases from this year and then from Monday we welcome in October, which means, calm yourselves now,  the return of the Musical Jury and that means a new No Badger Required Countdown!!

After you’ve changed your underwear due to the sheer excitement of that announcement – here is a quick hint at what that might be all about.

Lenny and Terence – Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine (1993, Chrysalis Records, Taken from ‘Post Historic Monsters’)

Norman 3  – Teenage Fanclub (1993, Creation Records, Taken from ‘Thirteen’)

Guesses on a post card unless you an actual musical jury member in which case you can send me fake guesses on a post card.

Song with Fruits in the Title – A Three Day Series – #1 The Apple

Kennedy – Wedding Present (1989, RCA Records)

You can blame my mother in law if you like.  Or better still you can blame Bill, my brother in law.  You see a few weeks ago it was my mother in laws seventieth birthday and as is the way these days we all put on our glad rags and went to a posh hostelry for a slap-up meals of cheese kebabs, fish and chips and ham and eggs (genuinely what we had).

Bill, was, as ever, late.  He’s always late.  You tell Bill to be somewhere at eight, he’ll arrive at eight thirty.  Once we had a big important family roast and told him that dinner would be served at one pm, and we all sat there, potatoes, slowly crisping up to the point that they could be used as Lego Bricks, until he arrived at a quarter to two. 

We even got to the point of telling Bill a different earlier time to everyone else in order to get him there on time.  That didn’t work either.  He was still late.  Anyway, he’s late.  Again.

We are not talking, bride walking down the aisle for the first time, fashionably late, we are talking uncomfortably, rumbling tummy late.  He saunters in, blames the traffic and then proceeds to eat all the bread that we had deliberately left until he arrived. 

Around eight thirty the waitress comes round and takes our order for dessert.  Bill jumps in first and proudly declares that he would like the apple crumble.  There are nods of approval, everyone wants apple crumble, mostly with custard please.  Two minutes later the waitress comes back and says that there is only one apple crumble left, which Bill claims very quickly as he ordered first and leaves the rest of us to decide amongst ourselves as to what we will have (I have sticky toffee pudding in case you are wondering. It was ok.  I love apple crumble though and am in a sulk for the rest of the night.  It’s the undisputed king of puddings, face facts banoffee pie).

So, in honour of the apple crumble that I didn’t eat – here are five songs with apples in their title.  We’ll kick off with this garage rock blast from the second White Stripes album.

Apple Blossom – The White Stripes (2000, Sympathy for the Record Industry, taken from ‘De Stijl’)

Next up another duo who made a terrific racket most of the time.

Watching The Big Apple Turn Over – Carter USM (1992, Chrysalis Records, Taken from ‘the Love album’)

It’s always difficult to follow Carter USM, but let’s pop over to Canada for something (almost) brand new from Braids, an electro trip hop group who are much beloved of these pages.  They’ve released a new album this year called ‘Euphoric Recall’– which is as usual a bit brilliant – the second track on that is called ‘Apple’.

Apple – Braids (2023, Secret City Records, Taken from ‘Euphoric Recall’)

Talking of bands that are releasing new material this year.  London based four piece indie band Tribes are back back back apparently.  What do you mean you don’t remember them leaving in the first place.  Anyway, they have a new album – their first in ten years.  Ten long years folks, its probably worth the wait, if you think it’s still 2015 kind of way.  The debut album by Tribes, had a song on it called ‘Bad Apple’.

Bad Apple – Tribes (2012, Island Records, Taken from ‘Baby’)

Finally today, as I scroll through the music library casually ignoring the Beady Eye song with Apple in the title we arrive at this.

Applesauce – Animal Collective (2012, Domino Records, Taken from ‘Centipede Hz’)

Tomorrow The Orange

Fifty Twelve Inches – #1 The Bluetones

If – The Bluetones (1998, Superior Quality Records, Taken from ‘Return to Last Chance Saloon’)

Welcome to a new series.  It’s a fairly simple concept this one.  Every Sunday morning I will open the door to the cupboard where I store my vinyl, drag my finger along the spines from left to right and get my daughter to shout ‘STOP’ at annoying loud volume.  Whichever record my finger is touching when she finishes her ‘STOP’ will be the record I write about.   Kind of like the Golden Shot from yesteryear, only with records.  There are three rules: – 

1. The record must be a 12” single – there are a bunch vinyl albums and ten inches in with them, so if we stop on them the process will be repeated.
2. Only one record per band will be allowed, which is bad news for the likes of Carter, the Family Cat, Spiritualized and Roni Size as there are lots of their records in the cupboard.
3. Wherever possible I will post the track in question and if I can source them on streaming services, I’ll also post the B sides.  Some of the records in the cupboards are one sided promos so if that’s the case I’ll just post some other tracks by the same band.

The first twelve inch I ever bought was the little belter below.  It was purchased in the Hempstead branch of Our Price for the princely sum of £3.99 and then I sat in my mate Richard’s lounge and played it extremely loudly whilst we used his mums dining table as a table tennis table.

Bloodsport For All – Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine (1991, Rough Trade Records, Taken from ’30 Something’).

The second twelve inch I ever bought, roughly ten minutes later from the same shop for the same price was this, which I no longer have.

Shall We Take A Trip – Northside (1991, Factory Records, Taken from ‘Chicken Rhythms’)

It’s been more than twenty years since I bought a twelve inch single, something that depresses me greatly, saying that I don’t have a record player at the moment anyway.

The first record out of the cupboard is ‘If’, the second single to be released from the second Bluetones album ‘Return to the Last Chance Saloon’. ‘If’ was the bands sixth successive Top Twenty hit reaching number 13 in April 1998. My copy is a promo, it comes in an orange die cut sleeve which has ‘Superior Quality Records’ stamped on it and it only has music on one side of the record.  As far as I can tell, ‘If’ was never released on twelve with its physical release being restricted to a CD single, a seven inch and a cassette.. 

The B Sides are listed as being

Blue Shadows – The Bluetones (1998, Superior Quality Records)

The Watchman – The Bluetones (1998, Superior Quality Records)

There are two other similar twelve inches in the cupboard from The Bluetones.  Both are die cut sleeves, one sided promotional singles they are

Marblehead Johnson – The Bluetones (1997, Superior Quality Records) – this was a non album single that bridged the gap between the first and second albums.  It was a top ten hit in 1997.

Solomon Bites the Worm – The Bluetones (1998, Superior Quality Records) – this was the first single release from the second album

A Month all about Names – #5 – Charlie

Good Grief Charlie Brown – Carter USM (1990, Big Cat Records, Taken from ‘101 Damnations’)

This week wasn’t supposed to be all about cartoon characters, it just seems to have turned out that way (so far).   Anyway, Charlie Brown is, for those of you who live under rocks, the hero (is he a hero, or a bit of a loser?) of the comic strip ‘Peanuts’ that has graced various media outlets since November 1950.  When he was first introduced Charlie Brown was four years old.  He made it to his eighth birthday by 1963 and has stayed that age ever since.   He is of course the owner of Snoopy, a white beagle who is prone to wearing sunglasses and being associated with TShirts that suggest that a dog wearing shades is just about the pinnacle of being cool.  Is not cool, it is just cruel and Charlie Brown should probably be banned from keeping pets if he is going to just plonk shades on their face and let them wander off willy nilly. 

He is also the worst baseball coach in the history of baseball coaches.  If no one minds I’ll skirt over the fact that Coldplay also have a song called ‘Charlie Brown’ – I’ve listened to it so that you don’t have to – and its garbage, you can thank me later.

‘Good Grief, Charlie Brown’ is a track from Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine’s debut album ‘101 Damnations’.  It is a sort of play on the fact that “Good Grief” was Charlie Brown’s catchphrase and the inevitable cartoon series usually ended each episode with him saying it after some form of comedic event had unfurled hilariously.

‘101 Damnations’ is a strange beast, because unlike its successor, the quintessential, nearly perfect ’30 Something’, it hasn’t aged that well and its nowhere near as much fun.  It’s also not as polished as ‘1992: The Love Album’ but it doesn’t matter hugely because it still has something of a naïve, DIY charm and it still contains songs of such anthemic quality that you can pogo yourself stupid to them in your lounge and not feel remotely self conscious about it. 

There is a whole host of Charlie (and various differently spelt versions of that) songs in my music library.  Here are just three.  The first two are from different ends of the indie pop spectrum.  Colour TV’s ‘Charlie’ is an absolute indie pop monster.  The sort of track that just nibbles away at your earbuds quietly until you find yourself humming it for the next three days.  It is all kinds of brilliant but I’ve told you all that before.  

Charlie – Colour TV (2021, Tip Top Recordings, Taken from ‘Is That You’)

The second one is from New York’s Bodega and it is a deeply personal sort of track about a friend who drowned.  There are poignant lyrics about a body being “covered in leaves” and it ends with the sound of someone coughing and the gentle lapping of waves against a shore.  Its marvellous.

Charlie – Bodega (2018, What’s Your Rupture Records, Taken from ‘Endless Scroll’)

And finally one from the alternative spelling crowd, its controversial, public information advert sampling, rave behemoth ‘Charly’ by the Prodigy.  It comes from a time before they went all heavy rave metal and still wore stupid hats and did gigs in abandoned warehouses on rural Essex industrial estates.   It’s infuriatingly brilliant and is considered now by many to one of electronic music defining moments. 

Charly (Alleycat Remix) – Prodigy (1991, XL Records, Taken from ‘Experience’)

Up Next Jasper, but outside it will still be Wednesday.

Retrospective Musical Naval Gazing – #1 (1991)

The recent rundown of the best tracks of the year has sent me into some sort of musical nostalgic revelry.  I have for the past month or so been compiling list of playlist of my favourite tracks from every year since 1991.  These may or may not turn into some sort of series over the coming months but until then, over the next few weeks I will present five or six tracks one from each year 1991 to 2021 of the songs that made my end of year top tens.

Let’s start with music that is now well over thirty years old, and if that doesn’t make at least one of you feel utterly ancient then I’m going to give up and go and live out my days in a comfy home and watch daytime telly.

1991 was a landmark year for me, for a start it was the year that I became a proper music aficionado.  It was the year I started going to gigs with mates and the year that I kind of threw off the shackles of childhood and starting investigating girls, cigarettes, alcohol and staying out later that ten pm. It saw, according to last three pages of my old CDT text book, brilliant life changing music releases from Nirvana, Primal Scream, Teenage Fanclub, Leatherface, The Wonderstuff and the KLF but the track that topped my singles of the year list was this: –

Pearl – Chapterhouse (1991, Dedicated Records, Taken from ‘Whirlpool’)

Which is still sounds brilliant today.  The drum sample, the whispered vocals, the feedback laden guitars, everything.  In the summer of 1991, shoegaze sounded fresher and more exciting than pretty much anything that I had listened to before.  That was of course until the Reading Festival when Nirvana arrived on a Friday afternoon played before Chapterhouse and killed the scene dead.

Nirvana featured in the Top Ten as well, with ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ being placed quite low at Number Seven.

Smells Like Teen Spirit – Nirvana  (1991, Geffen Records, Taken from ‘Nevermind’)

At number two in my rundown that year was this:-

The Concept – Teenage Fanclub (1991, Creation Records, Taken from ‘Bandwagonesque’)

It was the brilliant run of singles lifted from ‘Bandwagonesque’ that made me start to enforce the One Song per Band rule, because below ‘The Concept’ at Number five was ‘Starsign’ such was the draw of ‘Bandwagonesque’ at the time.

Elsewhere in the Top Ten at Number Three and Nine respectively were these two blasts of indie pop marvellousness.

Size of A Cow – The Wonderstuff (1991, Polydor Records, Taken from ‘Never Loved Elvis’) – I listened to ‘Never Loved Elvis’ again the other day and I’d forgotten just how must reliance there was on fiddles and mandolins running through it.

After the Watershed – Carter USM (1991, Rough Trade Records, Single) – Of course, Carter USM would be catapulted into musical history a few weeks later when live on TV at the Smash Hits Poll Winners Party, Fruitbat would suddenly fly through the air and rugby tackle a clearly baffled Philip Schofield to the floor.

The One Word Countdown – #15

I think it’s time to cook a meal….

Bedsitter – Soft Cell (1981, Some Bizarre Records, Taken from ‘Non Stop Erotic Cabaret’)

Points 148 (Adjusted due to a tie)

The reason that ‘Bedsitter’ that is even included in this rundown is all down to Saddam Hussain. 

Well sort of.

In 1991, Carter USM, released the single ‘Bloodsport for All’, a seething, ranting track about racism in the army.  It looked set to be the breakthrough commercially that Carter needed.  That is until Saddam invaded Kuwait and the first Gulf War occurred because everyone wanted to protect some oil fields (or they were murdering innocent people, I forget which reason is used these days) and the BBC stopped playing records about war and stuff.  On the B side of ‘Bloodsport…’) was a cover version of ‘Bedsitter’ (well it was Bedsitter spliced with a section of ‘Torch’ if I remember rightly), and because of the ban the BBC played ‘Bedsitter’ instead (until they released that right at the end Jimbob can memorably be heard shouting “Fucking Arsehole Bastard”) and then stopped playing it altogether.

Bedsitter – Carter USM (1991, Rough Trade Records, Taken form ‘Bloodsport for All’ Single)

Torch – Soft Cell (1981, Some Bizarre Records, Taken from ‘Non Stop Erotic Cabaret’)

‘Torch’ was by the way the only other Soft Cell song that was considered for this rundown, although to be fair, it was always going to be ‘Bedsitter’.

It was Carter’s version that made me check out the original version and the subsequent album ‘Non Stop Erotic Cabaret’, which I dutifully borrowed off my friend Chris and gave back to him about a year later.   30 years later it is an album that I still play on a regular basis.  I love ‘Bedsitter’, that tingly synth solo at the start, Marc Almond’s strained vocal, its evocative, and the lyrics that talk of isolation, loneliness, poverty.  All of it is brilliant.

There is of course an extended version of ‘Bedsitter’ which I think first appeared on the twelve inch.  It includes a section about five minutes in which Marc Almond sorts of half raps and half speaks his way through a kind of jazzy interlude.  It’s an interesting departure from the album version.

Bedsitter (extended version) – Soft Cell (1981, Some Bizarre Records, Taken from ‘Non Stop Cabaret Deluxe version’)

‘Bedsitter’ was the second of three memorable singles released by Soft Cell in 1981 and 1982, the first being of course, ‘Tainted Love’ and the third was ‘Say Hello, Wave Goodbye’, which when I finally get round to listing the greatest 12 inches of all should featuring very high indeed.

Say Hello Wave Goodbye (12” Version) – Soft Cell (1982, Some Bizarre Records, Taken from ‘Non Stop Erotic Cabaret Deluxe Version’)

The One Word Countdown – #20

Welcome to the Top 20…..

Rent – Pet Shop Boys (1987, Parlophone Records, Taken from ‘Actually’)

Points 136

Its not often I want to be reminded of 1987, what with Thatcherism, AIDS, rampant unemployment and the inexplicable rise to fame of a whole host of awful bands.  However, one of the greatest things about that year was ‘Actually’ by Pet Shop Boys.  An album that I had a physical fist fight with my brother over, as he wanted to listen to it first on his new Walkman and so did I. (he won, I waited, sulking in the lounge, moodily reading Smash Hits, whilst rubbing my arm where the Chinese Burn still stung). 

‘Rent’ was one of the finest singles that the Pet Shop Boys released and considering just how many fine singles they did release, this is really saying something.   But the thing I remember most about ‘Rent’ – apart from this superb verse: –

“You phoned me in the evening on hearsay / And bought me caviar / You took me to a restaurant off Broadway / To tell me who you are “.

Is the video.

The video for ‘Rent’ was directed by Derek Jarman, and it starred professional Liverpudlian Margi Clarke and in a surprising casting decision the 7^th Marquis of Bath as a couple who are hosting what looks like an exclusive dinner party.  Margi is being largely ignored by her pompous fella and gets increasing fed up with all the glitz and glamour going on at the dinner party (video has lots of shots of over eating and general gluttony).  Eventually Margi gets up and leaves and jumps in a car – driven by her very dapper looking chauffeur, drolly played by Neil Tennant (like he was going to play it any other way).  

He drives her to Kings Cross where she meets a waiting Chris Lowe, they embrace and that is that.  Only is not, because this is the Pet Shop Boys and they don’t work like that.   The video is shot in reverse so you get the end first and the beginning last, so it starts with Margi embracing Chris Lowe and ends with the dinner party starting. 

Of course we can’t talk about ‘Rent’ without mentioning this version of it, which, some say, betters the original – and memorably changes the verse above to “Fulham Broadway” , includes a sample from episode twenty one of Thundercats (just in case you didn’t know that) and rants about the Poll Tax at the end.  This also allows me to drop in that around October I’m going to be doing a series of cover versions that are better than the originals. 

Rent – Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine (1990, Big Cat Records, Taken from ‘Rubbish’ 12”)

Here is another Pet Shop Boys cover that might not make it on to that list

West End Girls – We Have Band (2009, Naïve Records) (takes you to a You Tube Video)

100 Songs with One Word Titles (65 – 61)

Did you guess which song from yesterday placed the highest.   It was ‘Tender’ by Blur but only just as ‘Lately’ by Sea Power reach number 9 on two separate lists (and was, despite a few lower placings, largely ignored by everyone else!).  Todays poser is which of the five tracks listed appeared in the most individual lists?  We start today with some hip hop straight outta erm, Long Beach.

65. Regulate – Warren G feat Nate Dogg (1994, Def Jam Recordings, Taken from ‘Regulate…G Funk Era’)

‘Regulate’ starts with Warren G driving alone through the eastside of Long Beach (I’ve no idea if this is rough or not) he is in his words “looking for women”.  But then he sees some dudes playing dice and tries to join in, but these dudes are bad dudes because they pull guns on him and rob him, and poor old Warren thinks he’s going to die.  Luckily for him, Nate’s in town, he’s looking for Warren.  Nate is so damn fine that a car full of women crashes just by being near him.  Nate finds Warren, shoots at the robbers.  Warren and Nate then drive back, pick up the women and go back to the Eastside Motel for a cheese and wine party.  All that in four minutes and eleven seconds.  Marvellous.

64. Hello – The Beloved (1990, East West Records, Taken from ‘Happiness’)

Put aside the fact that ‘Hello’ is a totally brilliant slab of early nineties indie house pop for one moment.  It has to be said that any song that features Liverpudlian working class soap hero Billy Corkhill in the same breath as combative Crystal Palace midfielder, Vince Hilaire and also namechecks creepy chocolate maker Willy Wonka, game show king Leslie Crowther and comedian turned god botherer Tommy Cannon deserves a place in any chart, let alone this one.

63. Sennen – Ride (1992, Creation Records, Taken from ‘Today Forever EP’)

I once got caught in a downpour that can only be described as biblical.  The sky went very black, thunder clapped all over the place, and for about two minutes hailstones the size of well massive hailstones fell from the sky and turned the road into a slippery field of small ice rocks.  I was at the time about 100 metres from my office and after hail stones I decided to peg it.  I was listening to music at the time and ‘Sennen’ came on and suddenly the rain and how wet I was getting didn’t matter, its that good a song.

62. Wildfires – Sault (2020, Forever Living Originals Records, Taken from ‘Untitled’)

 “Thief in the night, tell the truth. White lives, spreading lies. You should be ashamed. The bloodshed on your hands. Another man. Take off your badge. We all know it was murder Murder, murder, murder.”

Pretty much says it all.  Stark, haunting, political and brilliant.

61. Rubbish – Carter USM (1990, Big Cat Records, Taken from ‘Rubbish’ 12 inch)

In January 1992 I saw Carter play a secret gig at the Venue in New Cross, it was on the back of the re-release of ‘Rubbish’.  At the time it was in the Top 20 and it was utter carnage.  It remains one of the best gigs I have ever been too, but of course, this being here begs the question

What do you think of countdown so far…? 

Never Ending Playlist – #33

Here’s Where The Story Ends – The Sundays (1990, Rough Trade Records)

Back in 1991, I owned ‘Reading, Writing and Arithmetic’ the enigmatic debut album by the Sunday.  I had it on tape. Well it was a copy and it was left in my bedroom by one of my brothers mates.  I assume it was one his mates, it certainly wouldn’t have been my brothers because in 1991 he was going through his Goth phase, and he was interested in then was trying to look like the singer from the Fields of Nephilim and listened to really awful Alien Sex Fiend albums.  So what I should be saying is that back in 1991, I stole a battered badly taped version of the debut album by The Sundays from a mate of my brothers.

Hearing ‘Here’s Where The Story Ends’ again, got me thinking about that cassette and that got me thinking about other cassettes that I ‘might’ have inadvertently stumbled across in the midst of time and two occasions sprang to mind.  I do want to point out that I’m not and never have been a serial stealer of cassettes, but……

In 1990, whilst out mucking around with my mate Chris we came across a car that had clearly been stolen and dumped along a track in the woods that behind his house.  Being the two sensible 15 year old lads, we obviously ran to the nearest phone box and told the police that it was there, after we’d rifled through the car and nicked anything worth nicking from the stolen Renault 19.  For me this was a copy of ‘Ex:El’ by 808 State on tape.  

I’m sorry if that was your car.   I guess all I can do is play you a tune.

In Yer Face – 808 State (1991, ZTT Records)

In 1994, after a House Party in Maidstone, I borrowed a 12” of ‘Heaven Sent An Angel’ from a mate called Justin.   I got it home and found a cassette of the ‘The Great Rock n Roll Swindle’ by the Sex Pistols tucked inside the cover.  I didn’t put it there, but I also didn’t give it back when I handed back the Revolver 12”. 

I’m sorry Justin, I guess all I can do is play you a tune.

My Way – Sid Vicious (1979, Virgin Records)

Perhaps it’s karma but I once left my cassette copy of 101 Damnations on a train at Strood in Kent as I dashed to grab a connection.  I never saw that cassette again. 

24 Minutes to Tulse Hill – Carter USM (1990, Big Cat Records)