Happy Hope

Happy birthday to Hope Sandoval, born 24th June 1966.

I've created a 60 minute selection of songs spanning 1990 to 2019, taking in Mazzy Star and Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions, collaborations with Mercury Rev, Massive Attack and The Chemical Brothers, and a trio of wonderful cover versions.

I've left off arguably her two most well-known performances - Fade Into You by Mazzy Star and Sometimes Always, playing foil to The Jesus & Mary Chain - but honestly, there are so many great songs to pick that I don't think you'll even notice.

Just one selection from each of the Mazzy Star and Warm Inventions albums, to allow room for the EP sides and extra curricular activity, and leading to a dreamy hour to immerse yourself in.

Have a wonderful day, Hope!

1) Under My Car: Mazzy Star (1994)

2) Big Boss Man (Cover of Jimmy Reed): Mercury Rev ft. Hope Sandoval (2019)

3) Golden Hair (Cover of Syd Barrett): Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions (2009)

4) I Thought You'd Fall For Me: Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions (2002)

5) Paradise Circus (Album Version): Massive Attack ft. Hope Sandoval (2010)

6) Roseblood: Mazzy Star (1996)
7) Be My Angel: Mazzy Star (1990)

8) Bells Ring: Mazzy Star (1993)

9) Cherry Blossom Girl (Cover of Air): Hope Sandoval (2004)

10) Flying Low: Mazzy Star (2013)

11) Asleep From Day: The Chemical Brothers ft. Hope Sandoval (1999)

12) Trouble: Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions (2009)

13) Baby Let Me: Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions (2001)

14) Had A Thought: Mazzy Star (1996)

15) A Wonderful Seed: Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions (2016)

1990: She Hangs Brightly: 7

1993: So Tonight That I Might See: 8

1994: Fade Into You EP: 1

1996: Among My Swan: 6

1996: Flowers In December EP: 14

1999: Surrender: 11

2001: Bavarian Fruit Bread: 13

2002: Suzanne EP: 4

2004: Cherry Blossom Girl EP: 9

2009: Through The Devil Softly: 12

2010: Heligoland: 5

2010: The Madcap Laughs Again!: 3

2013: Seasons Of Your Day: 10

2016: Until The Hunter: 15

2019: Bobbie Gentry's The Delta Sweete Revisited: 2

Happy Hope (1:00:57) (GD) (M)

Just Remember To Fall In Love...There's Nothing Else

The Chemical Brothers light up Saturday with a 46-minute selection drawing on remixes, singles and deep cuts from 1994 to 2010.

Their remix of Voodoo People by The Prodigy was back when they were still trading as The Dust Brothers, but it was subsequently rebranded with their legally-motivated name change and has arguably become one of their best known tunes, remix or not.

The Duke is a previously unreleased outtake that was officially released on the bonus CD accompanying the Singles 93-03 compilation.

Falling Down is late-period Oasis single, featuring Noel on lead vocals. The Chemical Brothers remix first appeared on promo and digital formats, later reappearing as the B-side of follow up The Shock Of The Lightning.

La Tristessa Durera (Scream To A Sigh) is another signature remix, one of many for Manic Preachers, the vocal version ubiquitous on 90s compilations. I've gone for the Dub Mix here, which could originally be found on the CD single of She Is Suffering. 

Swoon is the most contemporary track here, itself a decade and a half old, and provides today's post and selection title. Lindstrøm and Prins Thomas deliver nine and a half minutes of piano-tinkling, guitar-riffing excellence.

The Chemical Brothers are still going strong, although I don't keep pace with their new music as I did 20, 30 years ago. And there's so much from that period alone that I'm constantly discovering tracks and remixes that I missed first time around.

1) Voodoo People (Dust Brothers Remix): The Prodigy (1994)

2) The Duke: The Chemical Brothers (2001)

3) Falling Down (The Chemical Brothers Remix): Oasis (2008)

4) Bring The Pain (Chemical Instrumental) (Remix By The Chemical Brothers): Method Man (1995)

5) Music:Response (Radio Edit): The Chemical Brothers (2000)

6) Nine Acre Dust (The Chemical Brothers Remix) (Altered States Edit): The Charlatans (1996)

7) Swoon (Lindstrøm & Prins Thomas Remix): The Chemical Brothers (2010)

8) La Tristesse Durera (Scream To A Sigh) (Dub Mix By The Dust Brothers): Manic Street Preachers (1994)

Just Remember To Fall In Love...There's Nothing Else (46:13) (GD) (M)

Continuing yesterday's loose 'trilogy' theme, here are two Dubhed selections featuring Brothers Tom and Ed that I posted previously:

Chemical Dust (January 2024)

Shake This Feeling (July 2022)

Boxing Day, Fighting Fit, Gloves Off

Boxing Day blues kicking in already?

Fear not, I've created a brand new hour-long Dubhed selection to banish the blues and hopefully not leave you seeing red!

I worried that my 2021 Boxing Day offering was too obvious, being themed around boxes. Four years later, I've clearly not learned my lesson, as today's selection is based on boxing-themed song titles. 

In fact, it turned out that I hit a rich seam of gold in my digging, unearthing enough songs for at least one more selection. 

Left out of the ring on this occasion were The Affectionate Punch by Associates, Pulling Punches by David Sylvian, Punch Drunk by Gene Loves Jezebel, One Armed Boxer by Lee 'Scratch' Perry & The Upsetters, Saved By The Bell by Robin Gibb and of course Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On) by Talking Heads.

Decayed, my recent series focussing on the 1990s, also featuring boxing obsessed songs like Muhammad Ali by Faithless, Lessons Learned From Rocky I To Rocky III by Cornershop and Heavyweight Champion Of The World by Reverend & The Makers, all left in the changing room on this occasion.

I think, blow-by-blow the fifteen rounds here deliver a knockout selection, an (upper) cut above the rest and proof if needed that I'm in your corner. 

And before I stretch my efforts to insert boxing references too far, it's time to hang up my gloves, know what I mean, 'Arry?

1) The Boxer (Album Version): The Chemical Brothers ft. Tim Burgess (2005)

2) Knockout Position (DJ Muggs Remix): Kaliphz (1995)

3) Another Blow On The Bruise: Gavin Friday & The Man Seezer (1989)

4) Sucker Punch: Fujiya & Miyagi (2006)

5) Fighting Fit (Album Version): Gene (1996)

6) Southpaw (Fluke's Glassjaw Remix): Trisco (2005)

7) Lazyitis (One Armed Boxer): Happy Mondays ft. Karl Denver (1989)

8) Lightweight: Marco Rossi (2024)

9) Down And Out: The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion (2015)

10) The Boxer (Cover of Simon & Garfunkel): Bob Dylan (1970)

11) Still Fighting: The Sabres Of Paradise ft. Denise Johnson (1993)

12) Knuckle Sandwich Nancy: Slade (1981)

13) Reign Of Blows: XTC (1984)

14) Boxerbeat (Album Version): JoBoxers (1983)

15) Boxing Clever: The Selecter (2023)

1970: Self Portrait: 10

1981: Till Deaf Do Us Part: 12

1983: Like Gangbusters: 14

1984: The Big Express: 13

1989: Each Man Kills The Thing He Loves: 3

1989: Lazyitis EP: 7

1993: Sabresonic:: 11

1995: Seven Deadly Sins: 2

1996: Drawn To The Deep End: 5

2005: Push The Button: 1

2005: Southpaw EP: 6

2006: Transparent Things: 4

2015: Freedom Tower No Wave Dance Party 2015: 9

2023: Human Algebra: 15

2024: Since Returning From The Moon: 8

Boxing Day, Fighting Fit, Gloves Off (1:01:50) (GD) (M)

Decayed II: 2003

Side 2 of an imaginary mixtape, documenting each year of the 2000s.

2003 saw the USA invade Iraq and, by year end, capture Saddam Hussein. The space shuttle Columbia disintegrated on re-entry to the Earth's atmosphere, with the tragic loss of seven astronauts. Iconic aircraft Concorde made it's final flight. Someone cheated on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? And Jemini, the UK's entry to the Eurovision Song Contest, came last with nil points.

Much as I'm drawn to the musical underdog, I'll manage your disappointment by saying now that Jemini do not appear in today's pick of dozen songs from 2003. Instead, it's the usual eclectic mix of hits and misses and hopefully a few surprises.

Kicking off with an unexpected partnership, The Chemical Brothers returned with one of two new singles for a 'best of' compilation, featuring The Flaming Lips. Wayne Coyne is on fine form on The Golden Path, narrating a tale of the afterlife that is propelled along on a sea of beats in a very pleasing way. 

Another nostalgia fest is 70s 80s by Nightmares On Wax, rapper LSK aka Leigh Kenny recounting childhood memories of Doc Martens, racism, riots, Crackerjack and Jim'll Fix It. It was nearly a decade later before the horror of the latter was exposed via Operation Yewtree.

Electric Six seemed to come out of nowhere with a crazy video and a crazy song that was strangely compelling. I bought the remix single as I was a fan of Stuart Price aka Jacques Lu Cont aka Les Rythmes Digitales aka The Thin White Duke (the other one). Actually, the best remix on the CD turned out to be by Finnish trio Kilogram aka Mikko Viljakainen, Timo Kaukolampi and Tuomo Ilmari Puranen. Danger! High Voltage is a great song, in any variation.

The two big hitters of the year for me were Crazy In Love by Beyoncé, featuring her paramour and future husband Jay-Z and built upon the brilliant sample of Are You My Woman? (Tell Me So) by Chi-Lites. Still Beyoncé's defining moment, in my opinion.

The other was OutKast, who effectively released two solo albums as one with Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. Hey Ya! came from the latter, Andre 3000 creating an unforgettable tune (and video) that put everything else that he (and Big Boi) did in the shade.

Back to ingenious use of samples and David Holmes was also in on the act with his new combo The Free Association. Holmes had previously included Johnny Jones & The King Casuals' cover of the Hendrix classic Purple Haze in his excellent Come Get It I Got It mix. Here, the sampled riff underpins Everybody Knows, vocalists Petra Jean Phillipson and Sean Reveron swapping exchanges over the top.

Speaking of covers, Canadian DJ/producer Tiga recorded a cover of Hot In Herre by Nelly which was initially released by !K7 Records in 2002 as part of their DJ-Kicks series. It was picked up the following year by Skint Records, home of Fatboy Slim and Lo-Fidelity Allstars, for release in the UK with remixes by Richard X and Radio Slave. The original is still the best, featuring a guest spot from Jake Shears, who managed a higher UK chart position later the same year with his band Scissor Sisters. More of them next time.

18 was Moby's follow up to the ubiquitous Play album and, whilst there was a similar licensing frenzy to get his music into commercials everywhere, the music and the album as a whole didn't quite have the same impact, despite some impressive guest stars.

Jam For The Ladies wasn't officially released as a single in the UK, although it was readily available on 12" and CD from your friendly neighbourhood record shop. I went for the latter, not least because Moby brought along Princess Superstar to join Angie Stone and MC Lyte from the original album version. Angie was sadly lost to us in March this year.

Another friendship that bore fruit was Beth Gibbons and Paul Webb, the latter recording as Rustin Man. They'd known each other for a decade, when Beth wanted to be vocalist with Webb and Talk Talk bandmate Lee Harris' project .O.Rang. The rise of Portishead meant that Beth only got to record a little with .O.Rang, but when the former went on hiatus, an opportunity presented for Beth and Paul to record again, delivered the stunning album Out Of Season.

On a related indie tip, Turin Brakes enjoyed a Top 5 hit with Pain Killer, which prompted me to catch up with them and their second album, Ether Song. Lyrically, the imagery of cycling in the rain and catching a cold shouldn't be as uplifting as it is, but the song is an absolute joy.

As is Soldier Girl by The Polyphonic Spree, headed by Tim DeLaughter and a seemingly literal cast of thousands (later including Annie Clark aka St. Vincent). Soldier Girl is presented here in its radio edit/single form, and is essentially a two-and-a-half minute chorus, Brilliant stuff.

Closing with the future retro sound of Danish dynamic duo The Raveonettes, namely Sune Rose Wagner and Sharin Foo. Fantastic names all round. I love them and That Great Love Sound is as good a calling card as any for what The Raveonettes are about. That Great Love Sound first charted in August 2003 and was released the following year with brand new remixes by the man of the moment, Jacknife Lee. Incredibly, the single performed worse the second time around, failing to reach the Top 40. Proof perhaps that The Raveonettes got it right the first time...

And that's it for another year and another weekend. 

What will next week have in store? Well... three #1s, one #100 (!), several 1980s and 1990s artists making an unexpected return, plus plenty of fresh young faces. Oh, and lots of lovely guitar riffs.

1) The Golden Path (Edit): The Chemical Brothers ft. The Flaming Lips

2) Danger! High Voltage (Kilogram Remix): Electric Six

3) 70s 80s (Radio Edit): Nightmares On Wax ft. LSK

4) Crazy In Love (Album Version): Beyoncé ft. Jay-Z

5) Everybody Knows (Album Version): The Free Association

6) Hot In Herre (Radio Edit) (Cover of Nelly) : Tiga ft. Jake Shears

7) Jam For The Ladies (Radio Mix): Moby ft. Princess Superstar, Angie Stone & MC Lyte

8) Hey Ya! (Radio Mix / Club Mix): OutKast

9) Pain Killer (Album Version): Turin Brakes

10) Tom The Model (Album Version): Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man

11) Soldier Girl (Radio Edit): The Polyphonic Spree

12) That Great Love Sound (Album Version): The Raveonettes

12th January 2003: Fire (#2): 2

23rd February 2003: Ether Song (#5): 9

2nd March 2003: Mind Elevation (#76): 3

9th March 2003: Out Of Season (#70): 10

6th April 2003: David Holmes Presents The Free Association (#74): 5

6th July 2003: Dangerously In Love (#1): 4

20th July 2003: The Beginning Stages Of... The Polyphonic Spree (#26): 11

27th July 2003: 18 (# n/a): 7

24th August 2003: Chain Gang Of Love (#34): 12

31st August 2003: Hot In Herre EP (#46): 6

21st September 2003: Singles 93-03 (#17): 1

8th February 2004: Speakerboxxx / The Love Below (#3): 8 *

Side Two (45:12) (GD) (M)

* Hey Ya! was a new entry at #6 in the UK singles chart the week of 16th November 2003. It then spent all but one week of the next four months in the Top 20, peaking at #3 on 8th February 2004.

If you enjoyed this, you may also wish to check out my previous selections for 1983 and 1993.

Decadance V: 1999

After five week(end)s and ten posts, the Decadance series ends inevitably with 1999. 

Unlike my previous look at the 1980s, which largely recreated existing mixtapes, each one of these posts started completely from scratch and tried to imagine what my 20-something self would have tried to cram onto each side of a C90.

It's been a lot of fun, but a lot more time consuming. Even compared to my usual posts containing a Dubhed selection, each one has taken about three times longer to complete, sometimes at the expense of other planned posts (like gig reviews, with apologies to Mike...it's coming!)

I'm really glad I did it though, not least because it's enabled to me to revisit lots of artists and tunes that I haven't heard in ages. I also had the impression going into this that, unlike the Decade series, this one would be largely comprised of outlier music that only rarely troubled the UK singles charts. 

I decided to track the highest chart placings for each post and it turns out that my latter assumption was way off. Despite being subjected to some of the most dire, bland, identikit pop pap throughout the 90s, the decade also delivered some great music that made more of an impression (however briefly) with the record buying public. There are way more Top 10 hits than non-charting singles throughout, for example.

Decadance has delivered 120 songs by 110 individual artists, meaning that some - but not many - appeared more than once.  No surprise perhaps to find that Julian Cope and Massive Attack were the only to have three bites of the cherry, though the revelation that the former had at least 3 hits in the 1990s may.

Honorable mentions for those who managed two appearances: Fluke, Lionrock, The Sabres Of Paradise, Saint Etienne, Suede and, just under the wire with today's selection, The Chemical Brothers. Likewise, Dot Allison, by dint of her previous outing with One Dove.

So, let's have a look at who made the final dozen of the millennium.

1999 starts off with The Chemical Brothers and Hey Boy Hey Girl. I had assumed that like Block Rockin' Beats before it, this song had gone straight in at #1, but no. Keeping Ed and Tom off the top spot were Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen) by Baz Luhrmann and the previous week's #1, Sweet Like Chocolate by Shanks & Bigfoot (more of which later).

As with most singles at this time, it was all about first week sales, usually bolstered by multiple formats offering slightly different B-sides and versions. Unfortunately, the following week Hey Boy Hey Girl dropped to #6 and it was downhill from there.

A song that deserved far better than its peak of #54 was Honey by Billie Ray Martin. A great pop song, produced by Dave Ball, remixed by Chicane and Deep Dish, it didn't get the love (or radio play) that it deserved. Time to address that injustice here.

It's hard to comprehend that it's been more than a quarter of a century since Dot Allison released her debut solo single (Mo' Pop) and album (Afterglow). Again, how was Mo' Pop not at least Top 40, higher even? Thankfully, Dot has continued to record and release wonderful music ever since.

I know, I know, there are many other and arguably better James songs that should have seen them appear earlier in the series. That said, I have a real soft spot for I Know What I'm Here For. I didn't buy the single or album but obtained it via Q magazine's 'best albums of 1999' freebie CD at the end of the year and it's remained a much-loved song since.

The Stone Roses made their sole appearance in my Decade mixtape series in 1989, with Fool's Gold. It seems fitting therefore that Ian Brown should make a solo appearance in 1999 with Love Like A Fountain. Never one for modesty, this song was a precursor to Ian's second album, titled Golden Greats. 

Great is a word I'd use to describe GusGus, the unlikely 4AD signing from Iceland, who brought a glacial cool to the dancefloor. Again, many other worthy contenders throughout the mid- to late-90s, but the opening seconds of Starlovers make me want to move every time. And Daníel Ágúst's voice is just sublime.

Lovefool did nothing for me, if I'm honest, and I figured The Cardigans to be just another band that were quickly in and out of favour. Then I heard Your Favourite Game and Erase/Rewind and really liked them both. By sheer coincidence, I'd placed the latter at track 7 in this selection before discovering it's peak UK singles chart placing was...7. 

I remember Sweet Like Chocolate by Shanks & Bigfoot as much for it's crap video, which I haven't seen since but which probably looks even more horribly dated now. Nothing to detract from what was quite a clever dance/pop crossover hit (it was #1 in May 1999). I normally avoided generically titled CD compilations like the plague, but I succumbed to the appeal of The Best Ibiza Anthems...Ever!, which included the Ruff Driverz remix of Sweet Like Chocolate featured here. It remains the only version of the song in my music collection.

Beck was back in 1999, although he'd never really been away, having released his previous album the year before. Sexx Laws was a bit different though, offering up a (retro)poppier take that I found quite appealing, as I did the rest of the Midnite Vultures album. I've know idea what esteem or place in the canon this holds with Beck fans. For me, it was the right music at the right time. Did it appear in the soundtrack to Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me? If it didn't, it could have.

The final Mandatory Andrew Weatherall (MAW) appearance didn't present the same challenges as 1998. Another Two Lone Swordsmen remix, though this time included on the official CD single release with full vocals and a smidge under five minutes. That the song happens to be Swansong by Rae & Christian featuring the wonderful vocals of Veba aka Beverley Green is just icing on the cake. Andrew and Keith Tenniswood excelled themselves with this one.

Despite being their most commercially successful decade, R.E.M. make their one and only appearance as the penultimate song in the very last post of the series. What a song, though. At My Most Beautiful is a thing of, well, beauty although the jingle bell backing always had me thinking that it must have been released in time to exploit the Christmas market. Not so, it was March! 

I bought the CD single in the bargain bins, many moons later. I'd not heard the lead song at this point and got it solely for the bonus live versions of Country Feedback and The Passenger (Iggy Pop), performed on Later...With Jools Holland. At My Most Beautiful has since become a personal favourite.

How to follow that and close out the series and the decade? By going back to January 1999 and Delta Sun Bottleneck Stomp by Mercury Rev, that's how. The album edit here comes in at just over 3 minutes, stretching my imaginary C90 tape to almost breaking point, though there was no question of ending this selection in any other way. Just a joy from start to finish, which then inspired me to dig out the full length version and remix by The Chemical Brothers to keep it going on and on.

Thank you for sticking with me for the last few weekends. I hope that, as it did for me, these weekly trips have been a reminder of some great music and artists, many of whom are still going in some shape or form today, continuing to add to their rich and varied history.

I suspect that when I get around to a series on the Noughties, the gulf between my singles selections and the UK charts will be vast, yet I know that like Decadance and Decade, there will be many gems to be uncovered and shared. I'm not planning on doing it any time soon, possibly not even this year, though I have come up with the series name. 

Decayed. 

1) Hey Boy Hey Girl (Radio Edit): The Chemical Brothers

2) Honey (Chicane Radio Edit): Billie Ray Martin

3) Mo' Pop (Album Version): Dot Allison

4) I Know What I'm Here For (Album Version): James

5) Love Like A Fountain (Radio Version): Ian Brown

6) Starlovers (Edit): GusGus

7) Erase/Rewind (Cut La Roc Vocal Mix): The Cardigans

8) Sweet Like Chocolate (Ruff Driverz Vocal): Shanks & Bigfoot ft. Sharon Woolf

9) Sexx Laws (Album Version): Beck

10) Swansong (Two Lone Swordsmen Vocal): Rae & Christian ft. Veba

11) At My Most Beautiful (Radio Remix): R.E.M.

12) Delta Sun Bottleneck Stomp (Album Version Edit): Mercury Rev

31st January 1999: Delta Sun Bottleneck Stomp EP (#26): 12

28th February 1999: Erase/Rewind EP (#7): 7

14th March 1999: At My Most Beautiful EP (#10): 11

28th March 1999: Afterglow (#81): 3

18th April 1999: Starlovers EP (#62): 6

23rd May 1999: Sweet Like Chocolate EP (#1): 8

6th June 1999: Hey Boy Hey Girl EP (#3): 1

13th June 1999: Swansong EP (#17): 10

25th July 1999: Millionaires (#22): 4

15th August 1999: Honey EP (#54): 2

31st October 1999: Love Like A Fountain EP (#23): 5

14th November 1999: Midnite Vultures (#27): 9

Side Two (47:01) (GD) (M)

Decadance IV: 1997

Side 2 of my sojourn through the 1990s, skidding to a halt in 1997.

The year that Labour ousted the Tories from government in a landslide general election result. The year that Princess Diana died in a car crash, attempting to escape the paparazzi. The year that The Notorious B.I.G. was murdered. The year that we got a glimpse of the comet Hale–Bopp passing by our tiny planet. The year that South Park debuted on TV.  

It was also the year of the mud, at least if you were at Glastonbury that summer.  If that wasn't disappointing enough, Neil Young pulled out of a headline slot, to be replaced by Kula Shaker. No refunds on your £75 ticket.

At a glance, 1997 may seem like a dire year for music. Candle In The Wind by Elton John was the year's biggest seller by a long chalk, released the weekend following Princess Diana's funeral. The rest of the Top 5 was made up of Aqua, Puff Daddy and Faith Evans, and the 'various artists' patchwork cover of Perfect Day by Lou Reed. Oh, and Teletubbies.  

Sadly, Bristol-born actor and comedian Dave Thompson couldn't enjoy the latter's #1 success in December 1997 as five months previously he'd been given the boot as Tinky Winky (the purple one, I had to look it up). Apparently, BBC bosses deemed that Dave's "interpretation of the role was not acceptable". 

No such comment from the BBC about Katrina & The Waves' performance at the Eurovision Song Contest, representing the United Kingdom. Surprisingly, they won it. Less surprisingly, 1997 remains the last time that the UK have won it. 

There was lots of great music in 1997 too, so don't despair. I've sifted through and found a dozen nuggets that haven't lost their shine in the last three decades.

Remember Indie Kylie? Kylie Minogue's sixth album Impossible Princess underwent a swift swap to an untitled/eponymous UK release in 1997, following Diana's death (the original title reinstated in 2003). 

Kylie co-wrote the album, mostly with Brothers In Rhythm, Dave Ball and Ingo Vauk. A couple of songs were written with Manic Street Preachers, including the rather fab Some Kind Of Bliss. These were the days when Kylie wasn't guaranteed a #1 with every single but even so, #22 was a bit harsh.  

I've surprised myself by upping 1996's brace of UK #1s with a hat-trick today. First up is You're Not Alone, originally a #42 hit for Olive in September 1996, then re-released and hitting the top spot in May 1997. Olive never really bettered this song. 

Likewise, White Town whose single Your Woman gained traction on Radio 1 thanks to Mark Radcliffe and became a global hit. Your Woman proved to be a lightning-in-a-bottle moment for Jyoti Mishra, and neither the B-sides, album or subsequent music could hope to match the inspired brilliance of this song. 

Block Rockin' Beats was The Chemical Brothers' second #1 and also proved to be their last, although Tom and Ed enjoyed a further ten Top 20 hits between 1997 and 2007. 

A second appearance for Suede, with the final single from third album Coming Up. Feeling sidelined and dismissed by the music press, who were lathering over Blur, Oasis and Pulp, Brett Anderson determined to "write a straightforward pop album. Just ten hits." And he was half right, in as much as Suede's label released five of the ten songs as singles in the UK, every one of them cracking the Top 10. 

When I first settled on the track listing for 1997 (from the usual shortlist of nearly 50 songs), I'd expected quite a few of them to have been minor hits, outside the Top 40 at least. I was surprised to find that only two fit that particular bill.

Today's Mandatory Andrew Weatherall song is Touch Me With Your Love by Beth Orton, which peaked at 60 in January 1997. Touch Me With Your Love was released as a standalone single and, according to the credits, reproduced rather than remixed by Weatherall and his fellow lone swordsman Keith Tenniswood. 

Death In Vegas, led by Richard Fearless, would go onto greater things in 2000s but I was a huge fan of debut album, Dead Elvis. Rocco only got to #51 but it's a cracking single, with it's sampled refrain of "Gonna die if sweetness should pass me by" inspiring the name of a mixtape I made for my brother.

Other first-timers which I happily discovered all made a dent in the Top 40 are My Life Story, Tindersticks and Monaco, the latest venture from Peter Hook. In What Do You Want From Me?, Hooky created one of the best New Order singles that New Order never made.

An honorable mention to Blue Boy aka Lex Blackmore. Like You're Not Alone, Remember Me was released as a single the year before, but a remix by Sure Is Pure in 1997 rocketed the song to #8. Like Olive, Blue Boy are pretty much only remembered for Remember Me (see what I did there?). Trivia fans may be thrilled to know that this is Lex Blackmore's second appearance in the Decadance series. Way back in 1990, Lex accompanied The Shamen on Make It Mine as one half of rap duo Rhyme & Reason.

Last but not least, Daft Punk with a catchy little tune called Da Funk. The song first came out in 1995 and I first heard it on Annie Nightingale's late night Radio 1 show sometime in 1996. Da Funk was edited and packaged as a double A-side with Musique, giving the French robots a #7 hit in February 1997. The rest is history. Well, of course it is!

Next weekend sees the final two installments of the Decadance series, as I take a long hard look at 1998 and 1999, trying to decide whether to party like Prince or try to back up all my computer files ahead of the inevitable crash caused by the Millennium Bug, dragging society as we know it back into The Dark Ages.

1) Some Kind Of Bliss (Radio Edit): Kylie Minogue 

2) Filmstar (Original Demo): Suede 

3) Strumpet (Album Version): My Life Story 

4) What Do You Want From Me? (Edit): Monaco 

5) Remember Me (Sure Is Pure 7” Edit): Blue Boy ft. Marlena Shaw 

6) Touch Me With Your Love (Radio Edit): Beth Orton 

7) Bathtime (Single Remix): Tindersticks 

8) You're Not Alone (Radio Edit): Olive 

9) Rocco (DRVRSLZ Edit): Death In Vegas 

10) Block Rockin' Beats (Radio Edit): The Chemical Brothers ft. Schoolly D 

11) Da Funk (Radio Edit): Daft Punk 

12) Your Woman (Album Version): White Town 

19th January 1997: Women In Technology (#1): 12 

26th January 1997: Touch Me With Your Love EP (#60): 6 

9th February 1997: Remember Me EP (#8): 5 

16th February 1997: Da Funk/Musique EP (#7): 11 

9th March 1997: What Do You Want From Me? (#11): 4 

30th March 1997: Block Rockin' Beats EP (#1): 10 

11th May 1997: The Golden Mile (#27): 3 

11th May 1997: You're Not Alone EP (#1): 8 

1st June 1997: Bathtime EP (#38): 7 

17th August 1997: Filmstar EP (#9): 2 

14th September 1997: Some Kind Of Bliss EP  (#22): 1 

26th October 1997: Rocco EP  (#51): 9 

Side Two (46:09) (GD) (M)

Side One here

Was It That Obvious?

Rounding off my 3-day celebration of Australia, what better way to get the weekend started than with Kylie?!

 

If Dubhed was a prize-giving blog, then Charity Chic would have cleaned up yesterday with his astute prediction. Unfortunately, it's not but hopefully the crushing disappointment will be offset by the prospect of nearly 90 minutes of Ms. Minogue.

This being Friday, I've often tended to feature selections of 12" mixes and slightly more 'up' music so in Australian terms, it was always likely to be Kylie over Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, wasn't it? Although they did collaborate back in 1995, including a memorable appearance on Top Of The Pops, when the pop princess reinvented herself as Indie Kylie.

Today's selection however focuses solely on Disco Kylie, spanning three decades and showing no sign of slowing down now we're midway through the 2020s. 

Although her music career exploded from the Stock, Aitken & Waterman hit factory, Kylie moved on in the early 1990s and has followed her own course ever since, working with some dynamic producers and remixers along the way.

 

I've never particularly considered myself a Kylie fan, I've bought a few singles here and there mainly for the remixes but never any of her albums. I thought the 'country' songs a few years ago were a misstep, but that's the beauty of Kylie. If you don't like what's she doing right now, there will either be club-friendly remixes to compensate, or another change around the corner with her next album.

 

This is one musical pleasure I don't feel guilty about in the slightest. And even if my primary reason for buying a single or compilation was to get that remix by DNA, The Chemical Brothers or Tom Middleton, so what?

Today's selection reflects some early favourites: Je Ne Sais Pas Pourquoi is cheesy perhaps but I love it; What Do I Have To Do? and Shocked were the big hits whilst I was in Australia; The Chemical Brothers remix of Slow is twice as good as the original. And I would have bought the Soulwax remix compilation anyway - they're brilliant - but their scuzzy, fuzzy overhaul of Can't Get You Out Of My Head was worth the price alone.

In a half-arsed attempt to dodge the sniffer bots and a DMCA takedown notice, I've avoided any reference to Ms. Minogue in the post title and have named the selection SmileyKylie in the hope that it similarly avoids unwanted attention on KrakenFiles or Mega. As usual, the download links will be up for roughly a month, so get in there now!

 

1) Too Much Of A Good Thing (12" Mix By Phil Harding & Ian Curnow) (1992)

2) Into The Blue (Yasutaka Nakata (CAPSULE) Remix) (2014)

3) Finer Feelings (Brothers In Rhythm 12" Mix By Dave Seaman, Steve Anderson & Alan Bremner) (1992)

4) Red Blooded Woman (Whitey Mix By Nathan White) (2005)

5) Confide In Me (Justin Warfield Mix) (1994)

6) It's No Secret (Alternative Extended Version By Dave Ford) (1988)

7) What Do I Have To Do? (Extended Album Mix II By Phil Harding & Ian Curnow) (1991)

8) Falling (Farley & Heller Alternative Mix By Terry Farley & Pete Heller) (1994)

9) Slow (Chemical Brothers Remix By Ed Simons & Tom Rowlands) (2003)

10) Shocked (DNA Mix By Neal Slateford & Nick Batt) (12" Version ft. Jazzi P)  (2001)

11) Je Ne Sais Pas Pourquoi (The Revolutionary Mix By Phil Harding) (1989)

12) Chocolate (Tom Middleton Cosmos Mix) (2004)

13) Dancing (Initial Talk Remix) (2018)

14) Can't Get You Out Of My Head (Soulwax Kyluss Remix By David Dewaele & Stephen Dewaele) (2001)

 

1989: Hand On Your Heart EP: 6 

1989: Je Ne Sais Pas Pourquoi EP: 11

1991: Shocked EP: 10

1992: Celebration EP: 1

1992: Finer Feelings EP: 3

2003: Kylie Minogue (Special Edition) (2x CD): 5 

2003: Slow (promo 12"): 9

2004: Chocolate EP: 12

2005: Red Blooded Woman EP: 4 

2007: Most Of The Remixes We've Made For Other People Over The Years...: 14

2010: What Do I Have to Do? (The Original Synth Mixes) EP: 7

2014: Kiss Me Once (Japan only bonus track): 2 

2016: Confide In Me: 8

2018: Dancing EP: 13

SmileyKylie (1:28:22) (KF) (Mega)

* Or, to give the Soulwax compilation it's full title,

Most Of The Remixes We've Made For Other People Over The Years Except For The One For Einstürzende Neubauten Because We Lost It And A Few We Didn't Think Sounded Good Enough Or Just Didn't Fit In Length-Wise, But Including Some That Are Hard To Find Because Either People Forgot About Them Or Simply Because They Haven't Been Released Yet, A Few We Really Love, One We Think Is Just OK, Some We Did For Free, Some We Did For Money, Some For Ourselves Without Permission And Some For Friends As Swaps But Never On Time And Always At Our Studio In Ghent.

Dancing In The Shadow Of Love

The Chemical Brothers' current album, For That Beautiful Feeling, came out nearly six months ago but I've somehow managed to miss it until now despite enthusing about lead single No Reason this time last year.

Anyway, the album release coincided with a another single, Skipping Like A Stone, this time featuring Beck, who Ed and Tom last collaborated with (on Wide Open) way back in 2015.

Don't look for deep meaning in the lyrics but the video really runs away with the concept. Great stuff.

 

 

 

I'm dancing, I'm dancing
In the shadows of love

 

When you feel like nothing really matters
When you feel alone
When you feel like all your life is shattered
And you can't go home

 

I'll come skipping like a stone
I'll come skipping like a stone
I'll come skipping like a stone
I'll come skipping like a stone

 

I wanna go where no one goes
I wanna go where no one goes

 

I don't want to let you go
I don't want to lose your love
I don't want to let you go
I don't want to lose your love

 

When you feel like nothing really matters
When you feel alone
When you feel like all your life is shattered
And you can't go home

 

I'll come skipping like a stone
I'll come skipping like a stone
I'll come skipping like a stone
I'll come skipping like a stone

 

Ooh, she changes people now
She changes people now
Ooh, she changes people now
She changes people now

 

I, I'm dancing in the shadow of love
I, I'm dancing in the shadow of love
I, I'm dancing in the shadow of love
I, I'm dancing in the shadow of love

 

Na na na na na

Na na na na na

Na na na na na

Na na na na na

  

Ooh, she changes people now
She changes people now
Ooh, she changes people now
She changes people now

 

I, I, I see the sun now
I, I, I see the sun now
I, I, I see the sun now
I, I, I see the sun now

Chemical Dust

If you like your beats big, then you can't wrong with The Chemical Brothers.

Today's selection is three quarters of an hour of remixes circa 1994 to 1996, when Manchester Uni pals Ed Simons and Tom Rowlands were breaking big as The Dust Brothers and inevitably drawing attention from Michael Simpson and John King aka the original Dust Brothers. Some legal chit chat, a handshake and a name change later, and Ed and Tom continued as The Chemical Brothers.

Something big was happening (and I don't just mean Big Beat) but even then could the pair have imagined that they'd become even bigger, release albums into double digits and still be a significant musical force, three decades later? Quite something, when you think about it.

To these ears, whilst the music takes me back to experiences in a past, younger life, I still get the rush of the new when listening to these tracks.

 

Ed and Tom did a whole bunch of remixes for Manic Street Preachers and whilst La Tristesse Durera raised the bar impossibly high, their rework of Everything Must Go is an underrated banger. 

Likewise, there was a quid pro quo with The Sabres Of Paradise, Weatherall, Kooner and Burns remixing the Brothers and vice versa. Tow Truck was a speaker shredding monster from an EP of remixes from the Haunted Dancehall album.

Justin Warfield pops up twice, firstly with Bomb The Bass and the seminal track Bug Powder Dust, then on his own with Pick It Up Y'All. I really enjoyed the Rap/Hip Hop/Big Beat crossover that was firing up around this time and these two are prime examples.

 

I missed The Chemical Brothers' remixes of Republica first time around as a vinyl-only issue. Thankfully, the mid-late 1990s were a time of multiple formats, with 2-3 CD singles per release offering remixes, rarities and live versions to prise your pennies away. This rather fine dub of Out Of This World resurfaced on the Drop Dead Gorgeous single.

A standout from The Chemical Brothers debut album was Life Is Sweet which featured The Charlatans' Tim Burgess on vocals (Ed and Tom were also at the forefront of the Indie/Dance revival). Again, multiple formats for the inevitable single release but I've opted here for a rarer remix which featured on the essential Trance Europe Express compilation series. It's a Big Beat frenzy with a smattering of Tim's vocals left in for good measure.

The selection closes out with what I still think of as one of their finest moment as either The Dust Brothers or The Chemical Brothers. In 1994, they dusted up Saint Etienne's Like A Motorway. The competition was tough: David Holmes and Autechre both submitted remixes at the top of their game. However, Ed and Tom's Chekhov Warp mix is something else entirely, nine minutes of acid-drenched bleeps and squiggles, samples and dirty beats that leave you wanting to hear it all over again. There is a vocal version available but for me, the dub is the essential mix.

Pick it up y'all, we can make it to the weekend!

 

1) Everything Must Go (The Chemical Brothers Remix): Manic Street Preachers (1996)

2) Out Of This World (Chemical Brothers Dub): Republica (1995)

3) Bug Powder Dust (Dust Brothers Remix): Bomb The Bass ft. Justin Warfield (1994)

4) Tow Truck (The Chemical Brothers Mix): The Sabres Of Paradise (1995)

5) Life Is Sweet (Delik 1) (Remix By The Chemical Brothers, Steve Dub & Tim Holmes): The Chemical Brothers ft. Tim Burgess (1995)

6) Pick It Up Y'All (Dust Brothers Dub): Justin Warfield (1994)

7) Like A Motorway (Chekhov Warp Dub) (Remix By The Dust Brothers): Saint Etienne (1994)

Chemical Dust (45:21) (GD) (M)

You can find Shake This Feeling, another 45-minute selection of The Chemical Brothers from July 2022, right here.