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)

Years & Years & Years

Nothing clever or sophisticated about today's post, just a mix of 'year' song titles, in chronological order. I've taken a liberal attitude to the song's actual meaning: I mean, 1234 by Feist could be a paean to the Mongol conquest of the Jin dynasty if you stretch your imagination, couldn't it? I'll also make no apologies for including the bowel-troubling Moby remix of The Smashing Pumpkins' 1979 over the original version for the simple reason that there's less Billy Corgan in it. Some are irreplaceable - The Clash, New Order, Prince - but hopefully a few surprises along the way. No surprise that Julian Cope and Andrew Weatherall have snuck their way into yet another playlist, of course.
 
2,111 years, 25 songs, 2 hours, done.
 
1) 1234 (Album Version): Feist (2007)
2) 1300 (12" Version): Putsch '79 (2003)
3) 1517 (Album Version): The Whitest Boy Alive (2009)
4) 1901 (Album Version): Phoenix (2009)
5) 1917: David Bowie (1999)
6) 1959: Patti Smith (1997)
7) 1963 (Single Version): New Order (1987)
8) 1967: The Auteurs (1999)
9) 1969: The Sisters Of Mercy (1983)
10) 1973: The Glimmers (2009)
11) 1977: The Clash (1977)
12) 1979 (Moby Mix): The Smashing Pumpkins (1996)
13) 1981: Public Image Ltd. (1984)
14) 1984 (Summer Of Lovefingers Mix): Lovefingers vs. John Martyn (2008)
15) 1987 (Prins Thomas Diskomiks): diskJokke (2010)
16) 1993: Dananananaykroyd (2008)
17) 1995 (Album Version): Julian Cope (1995)
18) 1997 (Doctor Rosen Rosen Remix): Department Of Eagles (2008)
19) 1999 (Edit): Prince (1982)
20) 2000 (Original Version): RPM (1994)
21) 2001 (12" Remix By Donald Ross Skinner & Hugo Nicolson): Melissa Etheridge (1992)
22) 2012: Gossip (2009)
23) 2013 (Andrew Weatherall Remix): Primal Scream (2013)
24) 2080 (Brenmar Remix): Yeasayer (2009)
25) 3345 (GHP Whole Lotta Velvet Mix By Mark Vidler): The Black Velvets (2005)

Years & Years & Years (1:55:22)