The first was a month-long celebration of 12" mixes from the 1980s and it was a lot of fun, sharing some old favourites and criminally forgotten or underrated tunes. This month (July), the theme has been singles that come in at 3 minutes or less. I didn't have a particular plan and was pretty much selecting a song at random on a daily basis. This in turn frequently informed many of my posts this month, more often than not leading me to get carried away with my "research" and deviating significantly from the song that prompted it.
Again, it's been good fun to see what other people would come up with each day. Needless to say, some stone cold classics have been well represented through the month: Boys Don't Cry by The Cure, Destroy The Heart by The House Of Love, Outdoor Miner by Wire, Monkey Gone To Heaven by Pixies, Reward by The Teardrop Explodes, Town Called Malice by The Jam, pretty much everything by Buzzcocks. Most genres have also been served well: reggae, soul, pop, punk, dance; not much prog, but to be fair 3 mins would be barely enough for the intro.
So, the series ends today and I chopped and changed my mind about what to include, mindful that I'd not yet included anything by Pixies, Julian Cope and dozens of other favourites. In the end, the choice was obvious: a band that has informed my love of music ever since I was a toddler, was a highlight of this year's Glastonbury (on TV) experience and who have released yet another brilliant album, up there in my 2023 'best of'. Oh, and with a great video to boot. Yes, of course, it's Sparks.
Despite being a daunting 31 song selection, the #45sUnder3 theme means that the entire thing comes in at under an hour and a half. The opening track is a bit of a red herring, but then where else would you heard Nine Inch Nails followed by Sub Sub featuring Melanie Williams?! The remaining selection is eclectic, jumping decades and genres with gleeful abandon and yet... I quite it. I hope you do too.
1) March Of The Pigs (Album Version): Nine Inch Nails (1994)
2) Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use) (Original Edit): Sub Sub ft. Melanie Williams (1993)
3) Sign Of The Times (Album Version): The Belle Stars (1983)
4) Nothing To Worry About (Album Version): Peter, Björn & John (2009)
5) Bizarre Love Triangle (Cover of New Order): Devine & Statton (1989)
6) The Pictures On My Wall (Single Version): Echo & The Bunnymen (1979)
7) Hyper Lust (Album Version): MOTOR ft. Billie Ray Martin (2012)
8) You've Got My Number (Why Don't You Use It!): The Undertones (1979)
9) Dusk Till Dawn (Album Version): Ladyhawke (2008)
10) Souleater: Clouds (1991)
11) Simply Thrilled Honey (Single Version): Orange Juice (1980)
12) D-Days (Single Mix): Hazel O'Connor (1981)
13) The Ugly Bug Ball: Burl Ives (1963)
14) Heart It Races (Album Version): Architecture In Helsinki (2007)
15) Action Time Vision: Alternative TV (1978)
16) Blue Boot (Single Version): Eric Donaldson (1972)
17) Hot Fun In The Summertime (Single Version): Sly & The Family Stone (1969)
18) Cybele's Reverie (Single Version): Stereolab (1996)
19) White Knuckle Ride (Single Version): Danielle Dax (1988)
20) I Helped Patrick McGoohan Escape (Album Version): The Times (1982)
21) (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman: Aretha Franklin (1967)
22) The Music (Single Version): Hifi Sean ft. Celeda (2018)
23) Mellow Doubt (Album Version): Teenage Fanclub (1995)
24) I Want Everything: The Godfathers (1986)
25) Thinking 'Bout You (Album Version): Dua Lipa (2017)
26) Lava (Album Version): Silver Sun (1996)
27) She’s A Fighter: Robert Forster (2023)
28) Triple Trouble (Album Version): Beastie Boys (2004)
29) Beak: HANN (2019)
30) Backwards Dog (Single Version): The Soup Dragons (1989)
31) The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte: Sparks (2023)
