Saturday's Alright For Alighting

A bumper selection of train-themed/titled songs for you to steam into the weekend. It's been done before - and undoubtedly better - elsewhere in the blogosphere, but when I have ever let that stop me in the pursuit of an unoriginal idea?!

So, two volumes to neatly fill a C90 cassette, 25 songs across an hour and a half, criss-crossing the globe as we go and ignoring the logistics of traversing those pesky oceans, seas and rivers.

All aboard!

 

Volume One 

1) Rail On: Julian Cope (1989)

2) King Of The Track: Dennis Alcapone (1974)

3) Ur Train: Leila ft. Luca Santucci (2008)

4) Can't Catch The Train: Soulsavers ft. Mark Lanegan (2009)

5) Beside The Railway Tracks: The Divine Comedy (2010)

6) Mule Train (Cover of Buz Butler): Count Prince Miller (1970)

7) Roots Train (Album Version): Junior Murvin (1977)

8) The Last Train: Josh Rouse (2005)

9) Last Train To Lhasa (2k2 Mix): Banco De Gaia (2015)

10) Railroad Man: Eels (2005)

11) Train Of Thought (Remix 7" Version): a-ha (1986)

12) Last Train To Satansville (Satansville Revisited) (Album Version): Swervedriver (1993)

Volume Two

1) The Gravy Train (Nightmares On Wax Mix - Delayed Departure Edit By Khayem): Ian Brown (2002/2024)

2) No Train To Stockholm (Cover of Lee Hazlewood): Erlend Øye (2002)

3) Long Empty Train: The Gadgets (1983)

4) Night Train To Lichtenstien: Dawn Of The Replicants (1998)

5) Stop The Train: The Wailers (1970)

6) Blue Train: The Bluebells (2023)

7) Long Black Train: Richard Hawley (2001)

8) It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry: Bob Dylan (1965)

9) Railroad Blues: Beastie Boys (2000)

10) Dead Grammas On A Train: Thin White Rope (1985)

11) Victoria Train Station Massacre: The Fall (2017)

12) Train Is Coming: Iklan ft. Law Holt (2020)

13) Lame Train (Single Version): Flesh For Lulu (1983)

 

1965: Highway 61 Revisited: B8

1970: Mule Train EP: A6 

1970: Stop The Train EP: B5

1974: King Of The Track: A2 

1977: Police & Thieves: A7

1983: Blue Album: B3 

1983: Roman Candle EP: B13

1985: Exploring The Axis: B10

1986: Train Of Thought EP: A11

1989: China Doll EP: A1 

1993: Mezcal Head: A12 

1998: Hogwash Farm (The Diesel Hands E.P.): B4 

2000: Country Mike’s Greatest Hits: B9

2001: Late Night Final: B7

2002: Remixes Of The Spheres: B1*

2002: Total Lee! The Songs Of Lee Hazlewood: B2

2005: Bedroom Classics Vol. 2 EP: A8 

2005: Blinking Lights And Other Revelations: A10

2008: Blood, Looms & Blooms: A3

2009: Broken: A4

2015: Last Train To Lhasa EP: A9 

2017: New Facts Emerge: B11

2020: Album Number 1 Featuring Law Holt: B12

2020: Bang Goes The Knighthood/More Sordid Details (Expanded Edition): A5

2023: In The 21st Century: B6

* This is essentially the main vocal mix, with the first 90 seconds of the instrumental mix tacked onto the front to provide an extended intro.

Volume One (46:10) (KF) (Mega)

Volume Two (45:33) (KF) (Mega)

 

Today's cover photo is Queenstown Road Station in London, snapped and written about by 'Joe Blogs' in August 2010.

Saturday's Not Alright For Fighting, Elton

How about some love, peace and harmony instead?

 

1) Love, Peace And Harmony (Remixed By Kurt Munkacsi & Ivan Ivan): Bow Wow Wow (1983)

2) Sweet Harmony (Album Version): The Beloved (1992)

3) Our Love Is God: The Impossibles (1991)

4) Harmony (Cover of Elton John): Jesse Malin (2008)

5) Peace In Our Time (Cover of The Imposter): Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine (1993)

6) Harmony 5 (Accordion): Spiritualized (2008)

7) One Love (Remix By Adrian Sherwood) (7" Version): The Stone Roses (1992)

8) Only Love Can Break Your Heart (Remixed By Flowered Up) (Cover of Neil Young): Saint Etienne ft. Moira Lambert (1990)

9) We Come In Peace: Bobby Conn & The Glass Gypsies (2004)

10) Peace And Love: Flesh For Lulu (1984)

11) Harmony 1 (Mellotron): Spiritualized (2008)

12) Peace (SixToes Remix): Depeche Mode (2009)

13) Peace And Love: Sylvia Tella (1986)

 

1983: Love, Peace And Harmony EP: 1

1984: Flesh For Lulu: 10 

1986: Will You Still Want Me: 13

1990: It's On/Only Love Can Break Your Heart (The Catalogue magazine promo flexi 7"): 8

1991: The Drum EP: 3 

1992: Waterfall EP: 7

1993: Conscience: 2 

1993: Peace Together: 5 

2004: The Homeland: 9

2008: On Your Sleeve: 4

2008: Songs In A&E: 6, 11

2009: Peace EP: 12

Saturday's Not Alright For Fighting, Elton (46:11) (KF) (Mega)

Altered Perceptions

Side 1 of a mixtape recorded 26th November 1999.

Given the big hitters included on both sides, I'm surprised it's taken me this long to get around to posting this 1980s selection. This side perfectly captures the excess of glossy and expensive videos, stylised leather outfits, biiiig production (and hair) and film soundtrack numbers. Oh, and Talk Talk going in their own unique direction, against the flow.

First off though, it's The Psychedelic Furs and what for many long-term fans was the death knell of the band, re-recording and re-releasing Pretty In Pink to tie in with John Hughes' film of the same name. Personally, I have a lot of affection for this version of the song,  especially the 12" mix. I knew about the band before, but this was my proper entry point. I saw The Furs for the first time on the Midnight To Midnight tour and whilst I will always lean towards the first three albums, this period has a special place in my heart.

I don't think Rebel Yell was that much of a hit when first released in 1983 but more than made up for it when re-released on the back of White Wedding's success. The 12" mix mini-album Vital Idol (which didn't include Rebel Yell) was an essential purchase amongst a select few of us at secondary school. Sir William of Idol at the height of his powers.

 

It was a couple of years after it's release as a single that Siamese Twist by Flesh For Lulu wormed it's way into my head, from being played out at the indie/alternative clubs I was going to in the late 1980s. The 12" single survived my strapped-for-cash cull in the late 90s/early 00s and still gets an occasional airing at Casa K. I love the rather cack-handed false ending, too.

 

The long version of She Sells Sanctuary by The Cult has appeared here before but it's the definitive version for me, so why not? Another one (in this version) that got the dancefloor heaving back in the day. One of those examples of a band's most popular song also being their best song. 

Simple Minds, like The Psychedelic Furs, are here with the song that represented a turning point in their fortunes but also fans who had stuck with them through several albums of singular, angular music. Yep, it's Don't You (Forget About Me) from the soundtrack to another seminal John Hughes (him again) film, The Breakfast Club. Written by Keith Forsey and intended for Billy Idol, whose Rebel Yell album he'd produced a year or so previously, the song eventually went to Jim Kerr and crew. Although I've increasingly less fondness for the path Simple Minds took for the next decade or so, it was absolutely the right decision in the end. Even more so, having heard Billy Idol's subsequent go at the song years later. Don't You (Forget About Me) is another one where it's the 12" version over the 7" version, although the excessive sing-a-long live version that popped up on a later single gives it a run for it's money.

Life's What You Make It was a real jolt when it was released in 1986, a further stylistic shift for Talk Talk but also one that confirmed their intention to go against the general move into big music with ludicrously big production. Talk Talk were creating a sense of scale and grandeur but on a much more organic level, though the subsequent insights into how the sounds of this and The Colour Of Spring album were painstakingly created contradict that last statement somewhat. I owned the initial 12" with the more straightforward Dennis Weinrich extended version on it. It was another ten years or more before I finally got to hear Tim Friese-Greene's 'dance' mix on a compilation. I agree with the general view that this is the superior version. 

Give Me Back My Man by The B-52's first appeared on second album Wild Planet and it's a reminder that the band were capable of really heart-wrenching songs, even when it was underpinned by a compelling beat and lovely musical touches (the xylophone motif gets me every time). Give Me Back My Man didn't have a 12" extended version when released as a single. However, The B-52's were an early champion of the remix album with Party Mix! in 1981 taking six of their songs and reworking them, sometimes longer, sometimes shorter than the original versions. Give Me Back My Man closes the album and is truly spectacular.

 

1) Pretty In Pink (Berlin Mix): The Psychedelic Furs (1986)

2) Rebel Yell (Extended Version): Billy Idol (1983)

3) Siamese Twist (12" Version): Flesh For Lulu (1987)

4) She Sells Sanctuary (Long Version): The Cult (1985)

5) Don't You (Forget About Me) (Extended Version): Simple Minds (1985)

6) Life's What You Make It (Special 12" Dance Mix): Talk Talk (1986)

7) Give Me Back My Man (Party Mix): The B-52's (1981)

 

Side One (46:01) (KF) (Mega)

 

As an extra treat - well, it was the MTV-era for goodness sake! - here are the official videos for each of the featured songs. I particularly enjoyed Flesh For Lulu, which I haven't seen before and was at times unintentionally hilarious. The B-52's didn't have a video for Give Me Back My Man so I've plucked a performance from Netherlands TV show TopPop, broadcast 1st June 1980. it's brilliant, of course.

 

Cut The Night

Twelve inches of indie(ish) pop pleasure for the weekend, with a selection of well-known and lesser known songs, spanning the upper and the nether regions of the UK singles chart. 

Troubling the Top 30 with their selected songs back in the day were Echo & The Bunnymen (#30), Gary Numan (#19) and The Beat (#9). Bringing up the rear were Kirsty MacColl (#80) and Win (#63). Having trouble getting the car started were Flesh For Lulu, Paul Haig and INXS, who didn't make the Top 100 and where's the justice in that?

 

As it's Friday, the forty-five minute/C90-friendly rule be damned, here's a full-fat, forty-eight minutes of goodies to usher in the weekend. 

1) Silver (Tidal Wave): Echo & The Bunnymen (1984)

2) Every Little Word (Remix): Flesh For Lulu (1989)

3) Big Blue World (12" Version): Paul Haig (1984)

4) Music For Chameleons (Album Version): Gary Numan (1982)

5) The One Thing (Extended Version): INXS (1983)

6) Hands Off... She's Mine (12" Version): The Beat (1980)

7) Innocence (The Guilt Mix): Kirsty MacColl (1989)

8) Super Popoid Groove (12 Inches For Love God): Win (1987)

 

Cut The Night (48:25) (Box) (Mega)

Your Cassette Pet!

Side 2 of a cassette compilation, recorded September 1991. 

 

Essentially, this is a trawl through my brother's collection of albums on tape, cherry picking favourite songs to stick on two sides of a C90. The title is nod to 1980's cassette-only album by Bow Wow Wow, which my brother didn't own and therefore isn't featured here, but I had a copy of a copy which my friend had given me.

It's an eclectic mix albeit firmly in 'alternative' territory, with Flesh For Lulu, Marc Almond (here with The Mambas), Bauhaus and Howard Devoto. I was arguably the bigger Depeche Mode fan as a teen but I bought only the singles, whilst my brother had their first three albums, all on cassette. 

Part of the appeal of cassettes was the 'double play' format, where you'd either get two albums for the price of one or a slew of bonus tracks on Side 2. Quite a few examples here: Fashion's Fabrique contained a whole side of remixes, whist Laibach paired Opus Dei with their cover of The Beatles' Let It Be album. 

 

The The's Soul Mining was perhaps the strangest of the lot. The original album on Side 1, the flip side containing 6 songs purportedly planned for The The's aborted album The Pornography Of Despair. Things get off to a reasonably normal start with the re-recorded version of Perfect. And then Three Orange Kisses From Kazan, a real WTF? moment. Initially, I was both shit-scared and morbidly fascinated by the song, but it's long since become a highlight of The The's back catalogue for me. 

 

Many of the artists have 2 or 3 songs on this compilation. This Mortal Coil is no exception, though the late inclusion of a 1:30 edit of Waves Become Wings was clearly to pad out Side 2's running time. With apologies to Lisa Gerrard, who is just getting into her stride when she's unceremoniously faded out, I've retained the edit for this recreated selection.

 

Last but not least, a brace of cover versions by Laibach (a third from Let It be is on Side 1). In both cases, they take songs - by Queen and Opus - that I didn't particularly care for and create bruising, industrial marching songs that take the clichéd phrase "...and make it their own" to a whole other place. 

 

Side 1 may take a while to come, as it features a track from Bristol-band Renegade Flight, who I saw live several times in the late 1980s and picked up a couple of their DIY cassettes from their merch stall. I think I've still got them - and a tape deck - somewhere in a box in the attic, so hopefully I can find and convert to MP3 format in the next 12 months. Just don't hold your breath!

 

1) The Sun And The Rainfall (Album Version): Depeche Mode (1982)

2) Rainy Season (Album Version): Howard Devoto (1983)

3) Subterraneans (Album Version): Flesh For Lulu (1984)

4) Something In Your Picture (Alternative Playback) (Half Frame) (Remix By Zeus B. Held): Fashion (1982)

5) Shame (Album Version): Depeche Mode (1983)

6) Geburt Einer Nation (Album Version) (Cover of 'One Vision' by Queen): Laibach (1987)

7) Who Killed Mr. Moonlight?: Bauhaus (1983)

8) Three Orange Kisses From Kazan: The The (1982)

9) Caroline Says II (Cover of Lou Reed): Marc & The Mambas (1982)

10) Waves Become Wings (Edit): This Mortal Coil ft. Lisa Gerrard (1984)

11) Opus Dei (Album Version) (Cover of 'Live Is Life' by Opus): Laibach (1987)

1982: A Broken Frame: 1

1982: Something In Your Picture EP / Fabrique (Special Edition Double Play Cassette): 4

1982: Untitled: 9

1983: Burning From The Inside: 7

1983: Construction Time Again: 5

1983: Jerky Versions Of The Dream: 2

1983: Uncertain Smile EP / Soul Mining (Special Edition Double Play Cassette): 8

1984: Flesh For Lulu: 3

1984: It'll End In Tears: 10

1987: Geburt Einer Nation EP / Opus Dei: 6, 11

Side Two (45:55) (KF) (Mega)