#HappyMusicVolumeTwo

This second #HappyMusic selection, gathering 15 songs I picked for Griff's music challenge on BlueSky, ending today. If you missed yesterday's post, songs were eligible if they:

-- make you happy

-- include the word "happy"

-- contain any variation of "happy" in the title, lyrics or band name

-- feature a synonym of "happy"

-- remind you of happiness

As with yesterday's selection, today's featured songs - with the exception of the closer - are not in the order that I posted them, as I was making it up as I went along. I'm pretty happy with how the two mixtapes worked out.

Today's selection gets off to a cracking start with The Icicle Works (my pick on 10th August),  and embracing The Doors, Scritti Politti, The Raveonettes, The Undertones, Madness, Confidence Man, U-Roy, Donovan and a fab cover version by The Siddeleys.

Pussycat by Mulu provided the inspiration for the album artwork for the two volumes, whilst the super final song by Al MacKenzie - one half of D:Ream - has the perfect lyrical sentiment:

"You only get one chance at life, try not to fuck it up"

I can certainly get with that.

September beckons tomorrow. What challenge will the month bring?

1) All The Daughters (Of Her Father's House) (Long Version): The Icicle Works (1985)

2) That Great Love Sound (Album Version): The Raveonettes (2003)

3) Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes) (Cover of Edison Lighthouse): The Siddeleys (1990)

4) It's Going To Happen! (Album Version): The Undertones (1981)

5) Jump For Joy: U-Roy (1976)

6) Mellow Yellow: Donovan (1967)

7) Francisca (Album Version): Espiritu (1992)

8) Up, Up And Away (Happy Sexy Mix By Danny Rampling): The Beloved (1990)

9) Pussycat (François Kevorkian Mix Edit): Mulu (1997)

10) Touch Me (Album Version): The Doors (1969)

11) Wings Of A Dove (Single Version): Madness (1983)

12) Holiday (Album Version): Confidence Man (2021)

13) Boom! There She Was (Album Version): Scritti Politti ft. Roger Troutman (1988)

14) The Crunch (Part 1) (Album Version): RAH Band (1977)

15) Life Is Short, Live It Well (Vocal Mix): Al MacKenzie (2026)

1967: Mellow Yellow: 6

1969: The Soft Parade: 10

1978: The Crunch & Beyond: 14

1981: Positive Touch: 4

1983: Wings Of A Dove EP: 11

1985: All The Daughters (Of Her Father's House) EP: 1

1988: Provision: 13

1990: Alvin Lives (In Leeds): Anti Poll Tax Trax: 3

1990: Blissed Out: 8

1995: Always...: 7

1997: Pussycat EP: 9

2003: Chain Gang Of Love: 2

2005: U-Roy Meets King Tubbys: 5

2021: Tilt: 12

2026: Evil Acid Barons: 15

#HappyMusicVolumeOne (1:03:23) (GD) (M)

Decade IV: 1987

Side 2 of an 80s mixtape, compiled 8th April 1990.

 

This one goes up to 11...

 

The guitars are in full effect, though you'll be hard pressed to find any big (UK) hits this time around. Only The Cult's Love Removal Machine scraped into the Top 20 (#18 in its first two weeks of release).

 

Whilst The One I Love managed a creditable #16, it was in 1991 when ex-label I.R.S. sought to cash in on R.E.M.'s major label success. In 1987, the post-Christmas lull meant that the song managed a brief peak at #51, criminal given that it's now considered an all-time classic.

A couple of inclusions here failed to chart at all. I first saw Yon Yonson by The Dave Howard Singers on TV, The Chart Show to be precise, and I was both annoyed and fascinated by the song and video in equal measure. The latter won out and I ended up with both 12" single versions, neither of which did any good as far as a boost up the charts or appearance on Top Of The Pops was concerned.

Doctor & The Medics did make it to Top Of The Pops and a UK #1 with their cover of Spirit In The Sky in 1986. Despite an alleged six-figure signing fee (according to Smash Hits so it must be true, right?), The Doctor couldn't arrest ailing record sales. More, lead-in for second long-player I Keep Thinking It's Tuesday, failed to generate interest in either the single or the album. A shame as it's a decent enough song and the video was (typically) a lot of fun.

In a nice tie-in, I first encountered The Bambi Slam as one of two support acts for The Cult at the Colston Hall in Bristol on 23rd March 1987. I was sufficiently impressed by their set to go out afterwards and buy the only record of theirs that I could find, included here. The other support act was Balaam & The Angel, who are conspicuous by their absence on this mixtape, which may tell you all you need to know.

Confession time. If you're someone who likes to scrutinise the headline photos, especially my handwritten cassette sleeve track listings, then you will have spotted that song 3 should be Sidewalking by The Jesus & Mary Chain. Rookie error, as it wasn't actually released until March 1988 and on this occasion I can't even blag my way through by pointing to promos or previous releases in 1987. 

Nope, I messed up. Even more embarrassing when I acknowledge that I recorded the tape on 8th April 1990, exactly two years after the single had got to #30 on 9th April 1988. Nineteen years old and my memory was already shot...!

Luckily, being The Jesus & Mary Chain, I could swap Sidewalking out for another great single, Happy When It Rains, which peaked at #25 in August 1987 and therefore legitimately deserves a place in this selection. Oh, and don't be fooled by the 'long version' label. It's the same as the album version, but longer than the 7" version by about 30 seconds.

Bobbing around just outside the Top 50 were Faith No More, The Icicle Works, R.E.M. and The Fall. Mark E. Smith and crew make their one and only appearance in this series with Hit The North, arguably one of their greatest songs ever, let along in the 80s. 

 

I was surprised to find that I Started Something I Couldn't Finish by The Smiths and Trampolene by Julian Cope were as big hits as I thought they were, though in Copey's case that was pretty much the case with everything that he released in the 1980s.

At first glance, U2 also appear to have experienced a rare flop with In God's Country, the fourth single from The Joshua Tree. The previous three singles in 1987 had respectively got to #4, #6 and #4. By comparison, In God's Country achieved a surprising and disappointing peak of #48. That is, until you release that it was released as a 7" single in North America only and the UK chart placing was down to import sales alone. 

 

Ian McNabb may have given his good teeth for a #48 hit, given that The Icicle Work's Evangeline stalled at #53, the third consecutive single in less than 12 months to achieve a similar chart placing.

Mind you, the general record-buying public were being swamped with pop pap from 'The Hit Factory' of Stock, Aitken & Waterman. Or T'Pau and Wet Wet Wet. I'm not sure which is worse but either way, I literally wasn't buying. Even the Pet Shops Boys and Dusty Springfield were asking What Have I Done To Deserve This?!

That's it for another look back at the 1980s. See you here next week, and the year when I started to ditch black stretch canvas drainpipes and biker jackets for loose fit blue jeans and Converse trainers, but remained largely oblivious to the acid house revolution. Yep, 1988's on it's way.

1) Love Removal Machine (Album Version): The Cult

2) We Care A Lot (Album Version): Faith No More

3) Happy When It Rains (Long Version): The Jesus & Mary Chain

4) Yon Yonson (Single Version): The Dave Howard Singers

5) Hit The North (Part 1) (Single Version): The Fall

6) Happy Birthday (Yet Another) (Thick, Hard And Long Mix): The Bambi Slam

7) I Started Something I Couldn't Finish (Album Version): The Smiths

8) More (Album Version): Doctor & The Medics

9) The One I Love (Album Version): R.E.M.

10) Trampolene (Album Version): Julian Cope

11) Evangeline (Album Version): The Icicle Works

12) In God's Country (Album Version): U2

1st February 1987: Saint Julian (#31): 10

15th February 1987: If You Want To Defeat Your Enemy Sing His Song (#53): 11

22nd February 1987: Electric (#18): 1

19th July 1987: Yon Yonson EP (# n/a): 4 *

2nd August 1987: Happy Birthday (Yet Another) EP (# n/a): 6 **

9th August 1987: I Keep Thinking It's Tuesday (# n/a): 8

16th August 1987: Darklands (#25): 3

1st November 1987: Hit The North EP (#57): 5

15th November 1987: Strangeways, Here We Come (#23): 7

20th December 1987: The Joshua Tree (#48): 12

27th December 1987: Document (#51): 9

7th February 1988: Introduce Yourself (#53): 2 ***

Side Two (45:51) (GD) (M)

* Yon Yonson failed to crack the UK singles chart, however it get as high as #4 in the indie singles chart, in part thanks to repeat appearances of the video on Channel 4's Chart Show. That's how I first came to hear it and bought the 12" single (both of them) soon after.

** Similar to The Dave Howard Singers, The Bambi Slam failed to dent the UK singles chart, but Happy Birthday (Yet Another) made an appearance in the indie singles Top 10 on Channel 4's Chart Show on 14th August 1987, having dropped to #8,

*** The album Introduce Yourself was released in 1987, but We Care A Lot wasn't released as a single in the UK until 18th January 1988, charting a couple of weeks later at #71. Oh, to have had access to the internet in April 1990 to check chart dates!

No Games

It feels like an age since I've posted an 80s 12" mixtape inspired selection on a Friday. I haven't checked, it's probably been a couple of weeks but what the heck, repetition celebrates and devalues!

I've kept my sights firmly on 1982 and 1983 for today's deadly eight, so expect some of the emerging 'big' sounds, stuttering edits and extended breaks that the 12" format was playing with at the time. 

The only two I owned at the time were the cassette version of the Talking Heads album Speaking In Tongues, which featured exclusive extended versions of several tracks including Slippery People, and the 12" of Our Lips Are Sealed by Fun Boy Three, the 'Special Remix Version' incorporating a spoken word second half that at the time was quite a surprise but which I quickly grew to love.

I also owned Seven Singles Deep, the mini-LP collection of extended A-sides by The Icicle Works, although the version of Birds Fly is a remix that featured on the 12" single in the USA. The version of Paper House by Associates featured on the re-release of The Affectionate Punch, which was remixed and repackaged in the wake of Party Fears Two and the album Sulk. Elvis Costello & The Attractions and The Beat were very belated acquisitions in the 21st century and worth the price of admission alone, in my opinion.

 

China was a B-side on the very first 12" single release of Dance Hall Days in 1982 back when Wang Chung were called Huang Chung. Sadly, Wang Chuang were cruelly denied a place in SWC's current Rock's Greatest W series over at the frankly essential No Badger Required. Should I have the privilege of participating in a future Rock's Greatest H, I am poised to nominate...

Rounding off today's selection is The Last Film by the wonderful Kissing The Pink, whose hugely enjoyable Anthology 5CD box set was propelled through the letter box at Casa K a couple of weeks ago. They were bonkers to say the least and the three 1980s albums included are markedly different in style and sound but all the better for it. To many, The Last Film is their 'one hit wonder', a reminder of a time when quite out there pop could also be a hit.

 

1) Let Them All Talk (Extended 12" Remix By Clive Langer & Alan Winstanley): Elvis Costello & The Attractions ft. The TKO Horns (1983)

2) China (American Extended Remix By Roger Bechirian): Huang Chung (1982)

3) Whisper To A Scream (Birds Fly) (Extended Club Remix By Steve Thompson): The Icicle Works (1983)

4) Paper House (Remix By Associates & Mark Arthurworrey): Associates (1982)

5) Slippery People (Cassette Mix By Talking Heads & Alex Sadkin): Talking Heads (1983)

6) Save It For Later (Extended Remix By Bob Sargent): The Beat (1982)

7) Our Lips Are Sealed (Special Remix Version By Fun Boy Three & Jeremy Green): Fun Boy Three (1983) 

8) The Last Film (Hymn Version - Extended By Kissing The Pink, David King & Neil Richmond): Kissing The Pink (1983) 

 

No Games (44:10) (KF) (Mega)

Some Days It Just Doesn't Pay To Get Out Of Bed...

It started off well enough. 

 

I woke up at 6.45am, fed the cat, made myself a cup of tea, checked some emails, casually mooched around the house.

Mrs. K entered the kitchen, looked at me, oddly I thought. I talked about some ideas for the day.

"You do realise that it's Friday, not Saturday?" she said.

Oh shit.

The day didn't get any better, believe me.

The post that I'd originally planned for today that was half written and due to be finished off this morning will now see the light of day on Monday. That's if I remember what day it is and post it...

Always Your Cassette Pet!

Side 1 of a cassette compilation, recorded September 1991. 

 

My brother used to buy a lot of albums on cassette. Needs must: there was one family turntable in the lounge and both of us had cassette decks of varying quality in our bedrooms to soundtrack our teenage angst. My brother had gone to university, I'd just returned from a year in Australia, and this was a last opportunity to trawl through the boxes of tapes at our parents' house, before they were shipped off to join him or get stuck up in the loft for some undetermined period.

There was obviously some haste involved and/or a lack of blank cassettes as I didn't copy many albums in their entirety, but I did manage to pull together this compilation, a hybrid of my brother's tapes and the odd cassingle that I'd added to my collection. As with Side 2, posted last November, a varied and quite dark mix overall.

 

Laibach are, er, back with, er, Get Back. Clearly, they were were a big favourite at the time, with 3 out of the 21 songs in total. The previous selections were from Opus Dei, this one is the opener of their track-by-track cover of The Beatles' Let It Be. Both albums were available as a 'double play' cassette back in the day and I remember my brother blasting Laibach out of the car stereo, windows down, as we drove through the centre of Bristol, to the bemusement of most. Solid times.

It'll End In Tears by This Mortal Coil is also represented by 3 songs on this compilation. Fortunately, unlike Lisa Gerrard who was subject to a harsh edit on Side 2, both Howard Devoto and Elizabeth Fraser get to finish their songs. Covers of Big Star and Roy Harper, these were the first versions I heard and remain the definitive takes for me.

The The gets another excerpt from the unreleased album The Pornography Of Despair, one of 6 songs tacked on as a bonus side to the cassette version of the Soul Mining album. Like many of these songs, Waitin' For The Upturn was also released as a B-side.

In the mid-late 1980s, I had no idea really about Alison Statton, or her history with Young Marble Giants. To me, she was the voice of Weekend, who were kind of jazzy; they recorded an album with Keith Tippet live at Ronnie Scott's. Weekend were also capable of some really dark indie pop like Red Planes, featured here. I was inevitably drawn to the latter. Alison's voice still sends a shiver down my spine.

Troubling my sphincter was The Prisoner by Tears For Fears. The Hurting - which I still love - was a bleak, soul-searching debut that explored concepts that were completely over my head in 1983. The Prisoner was originally a B-side to second single Pale Shelter (a chart flop the first time around). Both were re-recorded for The Hurting to great effect, The Prisoner particularly benefiting from some screaming synth stabs.

Both Tears For Fears and The Icicle Works have covered Robert Wyatt's Sea Song. The latter is the better of the two, though neither really come close to the plaintive beauty of Wyatt's own version.

Lou Reed and John Cale reunited in 1990 for a tribute to departed friend Andy Warhol, a bit of a purple patch for both of them at the time. This is perhaps my favourite song from the Songs For Drella album.

Untitled by Marc & The Mambas is a real curio. The striking cover portrait of Marc Almond by Val Denham, the mix of original songs and covers, possibly my first introduction to Scott Walker and Jacques Brel. And then, on the cassette B-side, just three tracks: a Syd Barrett cover (Terrapin) and Twilights & Lowlifes in two eleven-and-a-half minute versions. I've gone for the first, vocal version here.

When I posted Side 2 last November, I mentioned that Side 1 could take a while due to the inclusion of a track from stalwarts of the 1980s Bristol live circuit, Renegade Flight. Your Cassette Pet! originally featured God Said, a track from one of their DIY cassettes that I picked up at a gig. As there's no immediate prospect of locating and digitising the tapes and God Said is currently unavailable online, I've opted for another song, Automation from roughly the same period. It's twice as long as God Said so the C90 running time is shot to pieces but I felt that Renegade Flight deserved a nod, sandwiched between Tears For Fears, Lou Reed and John Cale. Thanks, lads!

 

1) Get Back (Cover of The Beatles): Laibach (1988)

2) Holocaust (Cover of Big Star): This Mortal Coil ft. Howard Devoto (1984)

3) Red Planes (Album Version): Weekend (1982)

4) Sea Song (Cover of Robert Wyatt): The Icicle Works (1986)

5) The Prisoner (Album Version): Tears For Fears (1983)

6) Automation: Renegade Flight (1986)

7) It Wasn't Me: Lou Reed / John Cale (1990)

8) Waitin' For The Upturn: The The (1982)

9) Twilights & Lowlifes (Album Version): Marc & The Mambas (1982)

10) Another Day (Cover of Roy Harper): This Mortal Coil ft. Elizabeth Fraser (1984)

 

1982: La Varieté: 3 

1982: Untitled: 9

1983: The Hurting: 5

1983: Uncertain Smile EP / Soul Mining (cassette): 8

1984: It'll End In Tears: 2, 10

1986 (?): Renegade Flight (gig-only cassette): 6

1986: Up Here In The North Of England EP: 4

1988: Let It Be: 1 

1990: Songs For Drella: 7

 

Side One (48:08) (KF) (Mega)

Side Two here

Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

Side 2 of a cassette compilation of singles, B-sides, live cuts and cover versions by The Icicle Works, recorded 24th May 1996.

This selection brings together various 7" and 12" vinyl, cassette singles and compilation tracks circa 1985 to 1990. I'd see Ian McNabb live on stage for the first (and to date only) time at the inaugural Phoenix Festival in 1993 and he was great. I played the Seven Singles Deep compilation regularly but didn't really dip into any of The Icicle Works' albums until well into the 2000s.

The live versions here all came from a concert recording for BBC Merseyside's Streetlife radio show. Seven Horses and Rapids appeared on the Understanding Jane cassingle, whilst the cover of You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet appeared on the Live At The Albert, Lark Lane single shrink wrapped with copies of the 7" vinyl. 

 

By 1990, Chris Layhe and Chris Sharrock had departed and Roy Corkhill, Dave Baldwin and Paul Burgess had joined. The Icicle Works had also been dropped by Beggars Banquet and picked up by Epic. The songs here are culled from CD singles accompanying the major label debut, Permanent Damage. The album wasn't a commercial success, Epic dropped the band and Ian McNabb had gone solo by 1991. 

It's an eclectic selection with a few little gems hidden within. Enjoy!

 

1) Nature's Way (Cover of Spirit) (1986)

2) Melanie Still Hurts (1990)

3) Book Of Reason (1985)

4) Seven Horses (Live @ The Albert, Lark Lane, Liverpool) (1986) 

5) Evangeline (Demo Version) (1987)

6) People Change (1990)

7) You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet (Live @ The Albert, Lark Lane, Liverpool) (Cover of Bachman Turner Overdrive) (1986)

8) Mickey's Blue (1990)

9) Sea Song (Cover of Robert Wyatt) (1986)

10) Waiting In The Wings (1987)

11) Rapids (Live @ The Albert, Lark Lane, Liverpool) (1986)

12) Victoria's Ghost (1990)

1985: The Small Price Of A Bicycle / Vertigo-Sampler (Canadian compilation): 3

1986: Understanding Jane EP: 4, 7, 11

1986: Up Here In The North Of England EP: 1, 9

1987: Evangeline EP: 5, 10

1990: Melanie Still Hurts EP: 2, 8

1990: Permanent Damage: 2

1990: Motorcycle Rider EP: 6, 12

Side Two (45:22) (Box) (Mega)

Sandwich Bars & Barbed Wire

Cassette compilation recorded 5th October 1986, which I think makes it the oldest surviving C90 in my DIY collection. Strangely enough, I couldn't seem to manage to stretch a compilation over two sides. Side 2 was dedicated to a slight rejig of Prefab Sprout's Steve McQueen, adopting the amended (and lawsuit-dodging) name used for the album's release in the USA.

So, what was the 15 year old me listening to? Well, the first two were more of a nod to my friend Stuart, who was a huge fan of U2. I didn't own any of their albums at the time but I had Sunday Bloody Sunday on an import 12" single. 

 

The Bridge by Cactus World News originally appeared on U2's Mother Records label, so again would have been of interest. I had the subsequent reissue on MCA Records, I suspect as part of a hard sell from Dave at Sound Seekers as I ended up with the 12" single and the limited edition 7" with free 2-track cassette. The original mixtape featured the album/single version but the running time was so short that I've swapped it here for the 12" remix.

Little needs to be said about Perfect Skin by Lloyd Cole & The Commotions. Simply one of the best singles of the 1980s from one of the best albums of the 1980s. I still get a joy from listening to it, nearly 40 years on.

 

I rescued the 7" single of Shakespeare's Sister by The Smiths from the ex-chart bargain bin at Woolworths. Worth the (reduced) price alone for the cover picture of Pat Phoenix alone, but a killer A- and B-side. 

 

Another slight tweak here, as the cassette originally featured the NME Version of Uncomplicated by Elvis Costello & The Attractions, from a cover mounted 7" single. I do still have it somewhere but I haven't got around to ripping it to MP3. Instead I've included the album version which I don't think is all that different, to be honest. 

 

Kick Over The Statues was also from a cover mounted 7" single, this time from the premiere issue of short-lived music magazine, The Hit. This was probably my first introduction to Redskins, although I would also have seen them on TV, on Channel 4's The Tube.  This song inevitably resurfaced when the statue of Edward Colston in Bristol was pulled down and dumped into the Harbour water in 2020.

 

A brace of Liverpool bands produced by Ian Broudie. First up, The Icicle Works with Understanding Jane. I became obsessed with the band after buying their Seven Singles Deep collection. This was another Sound Seekers special purchase, as I recall. I got the 7" single with a free 7" single featuring two live songs and then the 5-track 'cassingle', with three more live songs. I managed to resist the temptation to buy the 12" single with an exclusive cover of Van Morrison. Understanding Jane is not the band's finest moment but the song gained an added resonance a few years later when I fell in love with a woman called Jane and it became one of 'our' songs.

 

The second Broudie production is of course Echo & The Bunnymen, with the brilliant The Back Of Love. At the time, I only owned their 'greatest hits' collection Songs To Learn & Sing, which I played constantly. It hasn't aged a bit.

 

Beggars Banquet seemed to be a label that had an inadvertent draw on me: the aforementioned The Icicle Works, The Cult, The Fall, Gary Numan; The Go-Betweens would come to me years later. And then these two: Gene Loves Jezebel and Bauhaus. I almost certainly encountered both in my brother's record collection, but then I'd also bought the One Pound Ninety-Nine various artists compilation, 12 songs for the bargain price of (you guessed it) £1.99.

 

I've previously written about buying the Bauhaus collection 1979-1983 and the first Gene Loves Jezebel album I bought was Discover, which came with a free live album, Glad To Be Alive. It's a patchy album but Sweetest Thing is a highlight. I'd liked All We Ever Wanted Was Everything by Bauhaus since I first heard it on my brother's copy of The Sky's Gone Out and it's still up there for me.

 

The final three songs are a rather odd bit of sequencing. I suspect I had lost a grip on my timings at this point and was just looking for songs to fill the remaining space with less of a care about whether they fit with the rest of the compilation...!

 

I had Public Image Ltd.'s 1986 album on vinyl, so it was titled Album. The title changed to reflect the format, i.e. Cassette and Compact Disc. I also had the 12" single of Home, which also featured the album version of Round as a B-side. It's a good song (and album), albeit with a 'heavy' production characteristic of the time. 

 

The same can be said of Tears For Fears and Chris Hughes, with their huge, none-more-Eighties commercial smash Songs From The Big Chair. Broken was a recycled B-side that was used on the album to sandwich Head Over Heels. When the latter was released as a single, the same approach was adopted for the 12" single's Preacher Mix. The mixtape used the opening segment of Broken, Roland Orzabal doing a pretty ropey Martin Luther King impression, the rest of the song thankfully remaining instrumental. I've less love for Tears For Fears than I had in the early to mid Eighties and this track is definitely out of place on this compilation.

 

To bring things back to a suitable finish, The Jesus & Mary Chain crash in with Taste Of Cindy. This featured along with Redskins, The Style Council and Simply Red on The Hit magazine freebie 7" single and it was some years later before I bought Psychocandy, and a considerable time after I'd seen them live in concert, which seems bizarre in retrospect. A great song, over and done in one hundred seconds. 'Nuff said.

 

1) Sunday Bloody Sunday (Album Version): U2 (1983)

2) The Bridge (12" Remix): Cactus World News (1986)

3) Perfect Skin (Album Version): Lloyd Cole & The Commotions (1984)

4) Shakespeare's Sister (Single Version): The Smiths (1985)

5) Uncomplicated (Album Version): Elvis Costello & The Attractions (1986)

6) Kick Over The Statues (Ramsey McKinnock Mix): Redskins (1985)

7) Understanding Jane (Album Version): The Icicle Works (1986)

8) The Back Of Love (Album Version): Echo & The Bunnymen (1982)

9) Sweetest Thing (Album Version): Gene Loves Jezebel (1986)

10) All We Ever Wanted Was Everything: Bauhaus (1982)

11) Round: Public Image Ltd. (1986)

12) Broken (Preacher Mix): Tears For Fears (1985)

13) Taste Of Cindy (Album Version): The Jesus & Mary Chain (1985)

1982: The Back Of Love EP: 8

1982: The Sky's Gone Out: 10

1983: War: 1

1984: Rattlesnakes: 3

1985: Head Over Heels EP: 12 

1985: Psychocandy: 13

1985: Shakespeare's Sister EP: 4

1985: The Hit RED Hot EP: 6 

1986: Album: 11

1986: Blood & Chocolate: 5

1986: Discover: 9

1986: The Bridge EP: 2

1986: Understanding Jane EP: 7

Sandwich Bars & Barbed Wire (45:15) (Box) (Mega)

Popular Songs

Mrs. K and Lady K have jetted off to Amsterdam for a few days. I'm at home with an inconsolable cat and another Monday ahead, although I do have the prospect of a short working week and an extended weekend to compensate.

So what better way to banish the blues (and the torrential rain, thunder and lightning that's been plaguing Casa K since Saturday night) with some popular songs, some of which also qualifies as bona fide pop music?

Today's selection is therefore sampled from my Apple Music "Most Played Top 100", which has been assiduously charting every play since I plugged in my first iPod in the early 2000s. However, as mentioned previously, said chart was hijacked for a few years by the Lady K playlist, i.e. songs that were generally poppy, musically and/or lyrically upbeat and definitely, most definitely devoid of any effing and blinding. Apart from that time a Belle & Sebastian song slipped through.

The Top 100 obviously changes on a daily basis but the influence of Lady K's preferences, particularly during the infamous primary school years, has meant a disproportionate number of Queen songs and a #1 that may well never be surpassed in my lifetime. Oh, and Cha Cha Slide by DJ Casper, because she knew I hated the song. Having just viewed the video for the first time and seen the look of abject resignation on DJ Casper's face, even then realising that this would simultaneously be his musical peak and nadir, I feel nothing but pity for the guy.

I've cherry picked eleven songs, starting with the current #100, counting down to #1 and taking in Ian McNabb, David Grant, Bobby Gillespie, Andrew Weatherall, Björn and Benny, Agnetha and Anni-Frid and, delightfully, Edward Tudor-Pole.

 

1) Come On Eileen (Single Version): Dexys Midnight Runners & The Emerald Express (1982) (#100)

2) All The Daughters (Of Her Father's House) (Long Version): The Icicle Works (1985) (#90)

3) Intuition (Album Version): Linx (1981) (#64)

4) Raspberry Beret (Album Version): Prince & The Revolution (1985) (#50)

5) Try, Try, Try: Julian Cope (1995) (#38)

6) Love Me Again (Radio Edit): John Newman (2013) (#31)

7) Loaded (Andrew Weatherall Mix) (Full Length Version): Primal Scream (1990) (#28)

8) Addicted To Music (Joey Negro Mix By Dave Lee): Subsonic 2 (1991) (#24)

9) Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) (Long Version): ABBA (1979) (#10)

10) Swords Of A Thousand Men: Tenpole Tudor (1981) (#3)

11) Feel It Still (Album Version): Portugal. The Man (2017) (#1)

Popular Songs (44:59)

You Never Really Saw...

I unearthed this CD-R, which I compiled and burned on 1st June 2005, featuring "alternative 1980s twelve inch mixes". 

This got me reminiscing about going to alternative clubs in Bristol, such as Badlands and The Whip. The latter I've discovered has had it's own Facebook page for years...I'm always late to the party! 

In all honesty, I think the majority of these songs would never had made it near the turntable of most of the clubs I went to at the time. Attempting to play The Icicle Works or U2 would likely have resulted in a Snakebite shower, but Is This The Life, How Soon Is Now?, Uncertain Smile and She Sells Sanctuary were regularly played, along with Fetish by Vicious Pink and Nag Nag Nag by Cabaret Voltaire. 

I'm not sure if it was always there, but I remember Badlands being in a small room above a huge club called Busbys (maybe Ritzys by that time), so there was always the fun of 'mingling' with the mainstream crowd on the way in and out. The Whip was even more fun in that respect as it was in The Studio, in a small room off the main club area, and you had to run the gauntlet of pissed up lager louts dancing to Stock, Aitken & Waterman to get to and from the bogs. 

A limbering up session at The Bunch Of Goths on Denmark Street usually got you ready for the long night (& morning) ahead, followed by an 'all back to mine' at someone's place in Stokes Croft or a 'keep going til the dawn' refresher at the wonderful Jamaican Good Food in St. Pauls. Great times.

1) The Love Parade (12" Version): The Undertones (1983)

2) Is This The Life (12" Version): Cardiacs (1988)

3) Summertime (Extended Version): Fun Boy Three (1982)

4) Hollow Horse (Long Version: The Icicle Works (1984)

5) She Sells Sanctuary (Long Version): The Cult (1985)

6) Finest Worksong (Lengthy Club Mix): R.E.M. (1987)

7) Two Tribes (Carnage): Frankie Goes To Hollywood (1984)

8) How Soon Is Now? (12" Version): The Smiths (1984)

9) Driving Away From Home (I Mean After All It's Only 'Dead Man's Curve'): It's Immaterial (1986)

10) Two Hearts Beat As One (Club Version): U2 (1983)

11) Skin Deep (Extended Version): The Stranglers (1984)

12) Uncertain Smile (Extended Version): The The (1982)

 

You Never Really Saw... (1:18:33) (KF) (Mega)