The End Of The End Of Year Lists

In my final post of 2024, I have taken another look at the Dubhed Top 20 most popular posts. As with 2023's list, these are in descending order to manufacture some countdown tension, again with a few video inserts at various points. Or you can scroll down the page to see what's at #1...

The spread is more uneven is more uneven this year - January and October are the most popular months, April not far behind. March, June to August and, perhaps less surprisingly, December don't even get a look in at the Top 20. My Dubhed selections feature in just over half of the Top 20, which is good to see.

January's birthday nod to Susanna Hoffs hit the mark and was well inside the Top 10 for most of the year, only dipping out when posts from the last few months starting climbing up. Jesse Fahnestock also scores a triple whammy, with Jezebell and 10:40 respectively.

 

Sadly, too many obituaries this year, the tributes to J. Saul Kane, Chris Cross of Ultravox and Keith LeBlanc being particularly well received, even though the news of their passing wasn’t.

 

And two comebacks also attracted a lot of attention, one very welcome (The Cure, crashing into the Top 10 in October) and one very much the opposite (#15 in November).

 

I'm delighted that this year's #1 featured what for me is the best album of the year, in any category or genre.

In case you missed them first time around, click on the titles for the original post. Dubhed selection links have also been restored, where appropriate. When you get to #1, go and read my review of the album, posted shortly after I played it for the first time, then you'll understand why there was never any doubt in my mind. Happily, as the most visited post in 2024, it seems that you all agree.

Thanks so much for your support this year. I love writing this blog, but your comments, suggestions and gentle editing corrections give me the motivation to keep writing, keep wanting to do better and, in simple terms, give a shout out for all those talented people whose passion to create music inspires me every day.

Have a great New Year's Eve and best wishes for a brilliant 2025. I'll be here as usual tomorrow.

 

20) Roll With Me 'Til The Sun Dips Low (Khruangbin) (18th October)

19) Swallow It Up (Lee 'Scratch' Perry) (1st October)

18) If Ever The Devil Was Born Without A Pair Of Horns, It Was You Jezebell, It Was You (Jezebell) (5th May)

17) I'm On Fire, Boss! (Bruce Springsteen covers) (19th January)

16) These Things That Stir Me Will Not Deter Me (Jo Bartlett) (7th February)

 

15) Who Is More Fascist? The Fascist? Or The Fascist Who Follows Him? (7th November)

14) Les Disques Du Crépuscule En Sept Sélections Pour Sept, er, Quid (2nd May)

13) Citizen Kane (J. Saul Kane) (19th November)

12) Unplug The Jukebox (Adam & The Ants) (15th January)

11) Be Still My Beating Heart (Susanna Hoffs) (17th January)

 

10) Dubcamp Friday (4th October)

9) Name After Name After Name (Chris Cross / Ultravox) (2nd April)

8) Summer Alone (The Cure) (8th October)

7) Clues To The Edit (Jezebell) (22nd September)

6) ACT 1.5 (Massive Attack) (2nd September)

 

5) Sub Dub (African Head Charge) (20th October)

4) LeBlanc Beats (Keith LeBlanc) (5th April)

3) Chart History (Top 20 UK singles) (20th January)

2) Thousand (Dubhed's 1,000th post) (6th January)   

1) A Gift (Sounds From The Flightpath Estate) (6th April)     

When I posted the Dubhed 2023 Top 20 on 2nd January, John Medd was quick to respond with a suggestion:

 

"I know it would be like knitting fog 

but have you thought of condensing the year down 

not just into 20 posts, but 20 tracks 

- segued into a 60/70/80 minute megagmix? 

Push the boat out, 

make two sides of 40/45 mins 

and whack it out as a C90!"

I replied, filed it away and then pulled it back out of the drawer when I started this post. 21/22 tracks segued into an 85-minute mix. You can split it in half and fit onto a C90, if you don't mind some spooling at the end of Side 2. 

This selection is dedicated to John Medd (thanks for the suggestion, hope you're doing well) and Swiss Adam (not least for his contribution to this year's #1). 

 

And to everyone else, whether you're a fellow blogger (active or lapsed), commenter or silent visitor - not forgetting those lovely bots in China and South Korea - thank you again!

1) Three Rings: 10:40 ft. Emilia Harmony (2024)

2) 1000 Fahrenheit (Welsh Version): The Wedding Present (2014)

3) Camouflage (Single Version): Campbell / Mallinder / Benge (2021)

4) A Love International (Album Version): Khruangbin (2024)

5) Roll Away The Stone: Mott The Hoople (1974)

6) Hymn (Album Version): African Head Charge (1990)

7) Mega Mix (Remix By Grimm Death aka J. Saul Kane): Bomb The Bass (1988)

8) Donkey: Jezebell (2024)

9) Young Savage: Ultravox (1977)

10) Alone (Live @ BBC Radio Theatre, Broadcasting House, London): The Cure (2024)

11) ID (Unreleased early version of 'Eutopia'): Massive Attack x Young Fathers (2020)

12) (I Want To) Kill Somebody (Keith LeBlanc Mix): S*M*A*S*H (1994)

13) 100lbs Of Summer (Tricky Remix): Lee 'Scratch' Perry ft. Greentea Peng (2023)

14) Tuff Gong: Creation Rockers (2012)

15) They Don't Know (Cover of Kirsty MacColl): Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs (2013)

16) A.N.T.S.: Adam & The Ants (1981)

17) We All Need (Jezebell's Ghost Train Mix): A Certain Ratio (2024)

18) All You Fascists (Cover of 'All You Fascists Bound To Lose' by Woody Guthrie): Broken Chanter (2024)

19) I'm On Fire (Cover of Bruce Springsteen): Anna Ternheim (2023)

20) Drawing A Line (Ghost Tape No.2): Jo Bartlett (2024)

21) Smokebelch II (Khayem's Second Cut Won't Hurt At All): Andy Bell & The Sabres Of Paradise (2024)

The End Of The End Of Year Lists (1:24:50) (KF) (Mega)

(Sleeve) Notes: 

 

1) The songs by The Wedding Present, Broken Chanter and Anna Ternheim didn't respectively feature in the original posts #2, 15 and 17 but would have if I'd had the songs at the time!

 

2) Same for J. Saul Kane's brilliant Bomb The Bass megamix from 1988.

 

3) I still haven't actually bought or listened to The Cure's new album from start to finish, but I have dipped into the concert for BBC Radio 2. Isn't it wonderful?

4) You'll quickly twig that A.N.T.S. by Adam & The Ants is set to the tune of Y.M.C.A. by The Village People. And why not?

 

5) Jesse Fahnestock is not paying me to get maximum exposure in the annual Dubhed Top 20, honest.

 

6) Jesse's contribution as 10:40 to Sounds From The Flightpath Estate was released as a standalone single in the summer, which is why it's included here. The album in general was only available as a limited edition double vinyl, which sold out in (excuse the pun) record time.

7) In March 2020, during the COVID lockdown, Andy Bell was taking song requests to perform and post on YouTube. Andrew Weatherall had passed mere weeks before, and @supawide45 suggested Andy have a go at Smokebelch II in tribute to The Guv'nor. Which he did, commenting, "Makes me want to actually record an acoustic arrangement of it!"

In March 2024, after a close-to-the-wire completion and submission, Andy's recorded version of Smokebelch II was released as the closing song on Songs From The Flightpath Estate. As it was perhaps always meant to be.

I've not included Andy's 2024 version, as it's place is on the album that Swiss Adam and his Flightpath Estate colleagues poured their hearts and souls into creating. 

 

Instead, I've taken Andy's lockdown sketch, itself barely half a minute, looped and re-edited it a bit, then spliced with a section of Andrew, Jagz and Gary's Beatless Mix of Smokebelch II from 1993. It's an amateurish edit, but I think it (just about) works.         

Sweet Relief

I was very sad to read the news that Matthew Sweet has suffered a devastating stroke, a few dates into his current US tour and shortly after his 60th birthday.

 

I didn't hear via the usual music news channels, although I see that NME has belatedly posted an item. Rather, it was a tweet from Lloyd Cole:

At the time of this post, the original $250k target has been exceeded and stretched to $400k, to cover medical expenses and loss of touring income. Matthew apparently doesn't have medical insurance, a reminder to this UK national how lucky we are to have a National Health Service. If you feel moved to donate, you can do so here.

 

Either way, here's a snapshot of Matthew's rather fine music making, with the video for Girlfriend and live performances of Time Capsule, Trick and Sick Of Myself. 

 

And, to close, one of the best career decisions Matthew ever made, that is, teaming up with Susanna Hoffs (sigh) for the Under The Covers series of albums. Beautiful, dreamy, enchanting...and that's just Susanna. Their version of Different Drum is pretty darn good, too.

Best wishes for a supported recovery and the opportunity to sing and play again, Matthew.

 

 

 

Be Still My Beating Heart

A very happy birthday to Susanna Hoffs, born 17th January 1959.

Singer, songwriter, Bangle, author and all-round beautiful soul. All that and a superlative interpreter of other people's songs too, which is the focus of today's 10-track tribute.

The earliest entry is the opening song, when Susanna was a member of Paisley Underground collective Rainy Day along with David Roback, later of Mazzy Star. I'll Keep It With Mine was written by Bob Dylan and, legend has it, given away tom Judy Collins who released it as a single in 1965. Many other artists have recorded it since but the Rainy Day version was the first I heard, tucked away on a Rough Trade compilation I picked up secondhand in the early 1990s.

 

Bangles are represented here twice, firstly with their cover of Hazy Shade Of Winter, originally featured on the soundtrack to 1987 film Less Than Zero, starring Andrew McCarthy and Robert Downey Jr (whatever happened to him?) The version here is misleadingly labelled a "dub mix", it's actually a slightly spikier, full-vocal take on the soundtrack version. The second Bangles contribution is an Elvis Costello cover, which also inspired the title of their reformation album, 2003's Doll Revolution.

in 1997, Susanna recorded the Burt Bacharach/Hal David classic The Look Of Love for the first Austin Powers film. She also appears in the film as Gillian Shagwell, guitarist with Austin's band Ming Tea. It was there that Susanna met and later married director Jay Roach. On that day, the sound of millions of hearts breaking was audible around the world.

Another fruitful partnership borne from the Austin Powers film was with Ming Tea band mate Matthew Sweet, Between 2006 and 2013, the pair released three Under The Covers albums, 45 versions of well-known songs that managed to be both faithful interpretations but distinctly theirs. All highly recommended but I've selected four particular favourites for this selection. 

Susanna's cover of The Beatles' All I've Got To Do is lifted from a 2012 EP, whilst the closing, majestic rendition of Chris Bell's You And Your Sister featured on her solo covers album Bright Lights in 2021.

 

A further covers album, The Deep End, was released last April. I haven't got to that one yet though I suspect it will be brilliant. I mean, come on, it's Susanna, right?

 

1) I'll Keep It With Mine (Cover of Judy Collins): Rainy Day (1984)

2) Maggie May (Cover of Rod Stewart): Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs (2009) 

3) Hazy Shade Of Winter (7" Dub Mix) (Cover of Simon & Garfunkel): Bangles (1987)

4) Free Fallin' (Cover of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers): Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs (2013)

5) The Look Of Love (Cover of Dusty Springfield): Susanna Hoffs (1997)

6) Tear Off Your Own Head (It's A Doll Revolution) (Cover of Elvis Costello): Bangles (2003)

7) Different Drum (Cover of The Greenfriar Boys): Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs (2006)

8) All I've Got To Do (Cover of The Beatles): Susanna Hoffs (2012)

9) Run To Me (Cover of Bee Gees): Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs (2006)

10) You And Your Sister (Cover of Chris Bell): Susanna Hoffs (2021)

1984: Rainy Day: 1

1987: Hazy Shade Of Winter EP: 3 

1997: Austin Powers OST: 5

2003: Doll Revolution: 6

2006: Under The Covers Vol. 1: 7, 9

2009: Under The Covers Vol. 2: 2

2012: From Me To You EP: 8

2013: Under The Covers Vol. 3: 4

2021: Bright Lights: 10

Be Still My Beating Heart (34:11) (KF) (Mega)

Sometimes Nothing Seems Unreal

The cat threw up with gusto on the stairs at 3am this morning, necessitating a sleepy, torch-lit mopping up task. I couldn't get back to sleep and got up at 5am for a cup of tea and to start on today's post. For the past couple of hours, there have been intermittent power cuts (a regular thing around here), which have meant I ran out of tea long before I completed the playlist. On the plus side, I've got the day off work so at least I can spend the rest of the day as one of the undead on my own time. As Howard Jones was wont to sing, things can only get better...

 

More cover versions today, the only real connection being that the original songs all came out in 1981. My starting point was last week's The The mixtape, featuring the Matt Johnson song Bugle Boy, which prompted me to dig out the recent (2017) cover version by his old mucker Colin Lloyd Tucker. From there to R.E.M., Echo & The Bunnymen, New Order and The Passions. As it's a day with a 'y' in it, inevitably Andrew Weatherall has to make an appearance, side-by-side with his brother Ian's project with Duncan Grey, IWDG. It may not be a great surprise that I left off Chumbawamba's version of The Birdie Song.

1) Systematic Death (Cover of Crass): Jeffrey Lewis ft. Helen Schreiner (2007) 

2) Physical (Cover of Olivia Newton-John): The Glimmers ft. Stéphane Misseghers & Tim Vanhamel (2009)

3) That's When I Reach For My Revolver (Album Version) (Cover of Mission Of Burma): Moby (1996)

4) Crazy (Cover of Pylon): R.E.M. (1985)

5) Sitting Still (Cover of R.E.M.): Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs (2013)

6) Heaven Up Here (Cover of Echo & The Bunnymen): Kelley Stoltz (2006)

7) Bugle Boy (Live) (Cover of Matt Johnson): Colin Lloyd Tucker (2017)

8) In A Lonely Place (David Holmes Rework) (Cover of New Order): IWDG (2021)

9) Sex Beat (Remix) (Cover of The Gun Club): Two Lone Swordsmen (2004)

10) I'm In Love With A German Film Star (Cover of The Passions): Dubstar (2010)

Sometimes Nothing Seems Unreal (36:47)