Side 1 of an cassette compilation, recorded 27th December 1997.
An end of year 'best of' with an opening song from Björk that had charted less than a fortnight previously.
Bachelorette is an astounding song in it's original form, and the list of artists brought in to remix the single included RZA from Wu-Tang Clan. He doesn't mess with it too much, mainly a switch of beats, but it makes a big difference.
I've included the UK chart peaks for each of the singles here, which in turn highlights how many of them actually failed to crack the Top 100!
Smoking Pot by Wubble-U is no surprise as the BBC no doubt slapped a discreet airplay on it due to it's title and sampled refrain of "Why are you children smoking pot?" Lionrock and The Aloof were robbed, though.
This was the era of multi-format CD singles and offers to buy all two (or three, in some cases) for a bargain price in order to secure that all-important chart placing. Therefore, quite a few here found that the single crashed in on the first week, and disappeared without trace by the second.
Only two Top 10s, the first from James with a more commercial punt at pop, produced by Stephen Hague, following a couple of more experimental albums with Brian Eno.
The second was far more radical: Tori Amos' song Professional Widow was put through the garage grinder by Armand Van Helden, released as a single, and gave Tori her first #1 in the UK. The remix is of it's time admittedly, but it's still a thrilling listen.
Also thrilling, though for different reasons, were Gold Blade, fronted by John Robb (belated happy 65th birthday for 4th May!). I saw Gold Blade play a gig in the super cosy upstairs room at The Louisiana in Bristol in November 1996 and they were just brilliant, full oif energy and Robb resplendent in lamé and quiff.
As a nod to the excellent series at The Vinyl Villain, Edwyn Collins released The Magic Piper (Of Love), a one-off single that incredibly - and delightfully - found itself playing over the closing credits of smash hit movie Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery. You can read JC's thoughts on the single here.
It may be a little while before I get around to Side 2, though the mixtape's title gives a clue to one of the songs. Can you guess any of the other eleven?
1) Bachelorette (RZA Remix): Björk (Bachelorette EP) (#21, 14 December 1997)
2) She's A Star (Album Version): James (Whiplash) (#9, 27 April 1997)
3) Professional Widow (Armand's Star Trunk Funkin' Mix - Radio Edit): Tori Amos (Professional Widow EP) (#1, 12 January 1997)
4) Pussycat (Rosetta Stone Mix By Porl King & Karl North): Mulu (Pussycat EP) (#50, 27 July 1997)
5) Sinking (Radio Edit): The Aloof (Sinking EP) (#n/a, 01 June 1997)
6) Sand (Album Version) (Cover of Lee Hazlewood): OP8 ft. the ilk of Lisa Germano (Slush) (#n/a, 12 January 1997)
7) The Magic Piper (Of Love) (Edit): Edwyn Collins (The Magic Piper (Of Love) EP) (#32, 27 July 1997)
8) Not Even Jesus (Album Version): Gold Blade (Hometurf) (#86, 22 June 1997)
9) Angels Go Bald :Too (Original Mix (Edit)): Howie B. (Angels Go Bald :Too EP) (#36, 13 July 1997)
10) Smoking Pot (Original Mix): Wubble-U (Smoking Pot EP) (#n/a, 27 July 1997)
11) Wet Roads Glisten (Radio Edit): Lionrock (Wet Roads Glisten EP) (#80, 18 May 1997)
