Surprise!!!!!

This podcast was inspired by a post over at www.nialler9.com From nowhere people started to admit to certain a guilty pleasure they got from listening to particular tunes from the 1980's. Always a keen member of the nostalgia brigade I decided to dig through some boxes of seven inches from the eighties. This isn't a favourite top ten by any means nbut is instead intended as a representation of the stuff that really defined the charts during the period in question. Enjoy the trip down memory lane. If you enjoy it then go and buy one of those cheap compilations available in all good supermarkets. Better still you could offer to buy all mine from me.

1. Pop Musik – M

This one just manages to sum up the eighties for me. Perfect pop.

2. Living it Up – Level 42

I used to hate this band when this was released. Some pasty faced blokes trying to reinvent white soul music in the UK. That said I’ve revised my thinking considerably. It’s great.

3. Owner of a Lonely Heart – Yes

A great rock-pop crossover at the time. The production is great. The sound is set in a distinct time and place, a place that Yes never really managed to revisit. Pity.

4. Teardrops – Womack & Womack

The girls always loved this one. That’s enough reason to merit its inclusion.

5. Dancehall Days – Wang Chung

This reminds me of MT USA. I’m sorry that I didn’t include the Safety Dance by Men without Hats. I always associate the two songs together for some reason. Don’t know why.

6. All Night Long – Lionel Richie

The original soul-glo star of the eighties, Lionel really had it going on for a while. He had a succession of huge hits like that ‘Hello’ tune. In the video the chick made a hilarious bust of Lionel out of clay. It was a toss-up to include this tune or Dancing on the Ceiling but this one won out on account of it being just cheesey and great. But so is the other one you say!

7. I can’t go for that – Hall & Oates

I’m not sure how this one snuck onto the podcast but I decided to leave it in. I was never a huge fan of these chaps. The blonde one always reminded me of a mulleted mate and the little one always reminded me of one of the guys from Cannon & Ball. That doesn’t quite paint a delightful picture in the mind but the tune is good in a typical eighties kind of way. We were satisfied with less in those days.

8. State of Independence – Donna Summer

This tune really owes everything to the Quincy Jones production on it. The guy was on fire back in the eighties producing stuff like this as well as the Thriller album by Michael Jackson. It’s not really fast enough to get a dancefloor rocking but it still deserves its place in pop history.

9. Joe Le Taxi – Vanessa Paradis

Vanessa appeared on Top of the Pops singing this and I was smitten. I harboured thoughts of marrying her for several years but when you’re vying against Lenny Kravitz and Johnny Depp you realise you’ve got to give the game up. I learnt all the lyrics to this and its only recently I translated them. As it turns out its brilliantly nonsensical.

10. Sledgehammer – Peter Gabriel

Although Peter Gabriel put out an unholy amount of shite back in the eighties he did manage to release this piece of genuine brilliance. It was accompanied by a groundbreaking video that was the toast of MTV for a long time. I’ve never really wondered what the lyrics are about so I must give them a proper listen one of these days. Or else someone else might want to listen and leave a quick synopsis in the comment box.

Hello there

Coming up on this podcast is a quickfire round of seven inches that I’ve purchased recently. I can’t remember exactly which order I put them in but I’ll do my best to guess. They’re all pretty recent acquisitions to the collection. It’s a multi genre affair but it will appeal to most of you with a wide palate. Suck it and see. If you don’t like the music, don’t blame me, I didn’t make it. If you do like the music then go and buy some more stuff by the artists that you hear.

1. The first tune on the podcast is a new release from Lykke Li on the Moshi Moshi label called Little Bit. It’s a very simple and sparse affair with a sound all the through it that sounds like a Trinidadian steel drum. I love it.

2. Next up is the latest single from Yeasayer called Wait for the Summer. Now I’m not one for making comparisons but it sounds a bit Crosby, Stills & Nash which is by no means a bad thing. At one point it sounds like Mick Jagger busts in on their session but soon gets back to the harmony laden vocal. The more I listen to it the more I like it. I hope it’s the same for you.

3. Olan and the All City crew have just released the first in a series of seven, seven inches. The first one is by Snowman but I’ve gotten my hands on a promo copy of the second release by Irish beat producer, Mike Slott. I know nothing about this guy but I like the sound of this. It’s called ‘Knock Knock’.

4. ‘We are Rock Stars’ by Does it Offend You Yeah? sounds a bit like Hawkwind meets Daft Punk down a back alley and they have a go at each other with flick knives. I do like the vocoder bit though. I have a penchant for the vocoder that stems from my love of ‘Video killed the radio star’ by Buggles.

5. Enfant Terrible by Sonny J was mentioned in a recent post and I even linked to their freaky video for the tune. It sounds like they sampled the guitar riff from ‘Now I wanna be your dog’ but it somehow seems to work. I can see drunk people going mad for this one. Sensory impairment makes it sound better.

6. The penultimate tune is by Born Ruffians and was released on the Warp label. It’s good old fashioned guitar rock and its called ‘Hummingbird’. For any Grizzly Bear fans out there, there’s a cover of ‘Knife’ on the b-side of the single.

7. The Guillemots appear to have got their hands on a new producer. In this instance Ruadhri Cushnan helps them out with their latest release ‘Get Over It’. Cushnan has worked on a wide variety of stuff over the years including work with Primal Scream, U2 and even George Michael. There’s certainly a pop feel to the production values on this one. They’ve tried their hand at a pop epic. Listen for yourself to hear the results.

 

 

I bet you look good on the dancefloor – Baby Charles

Astronaut – Yila feat. Scroobius Pip

Negative Thinking – The Death Set

Ordinary Song – The Little Ones (X-Press 2 Mix)

Animal Sounds – Grand National (Fear of Theydon Remix)

Blind – Hercules & Love Affair

Time to Pretend - MGMT

Here's a podcast I made about a year ago. It feature three tunes from Irish Hip-Hop artists and two tunes from Kids Tv shows that I was into when I was a hell of a lot younger.

Pinball Number Count - The Pointer Sisters
Dirty Cunts - Captain Moonlight
On the Dole Q - Scary Eire
Yeah - Scary Eire
Tra La La - The Banana Splits

Here's the latest instalment for January. It should act as a little pick me up to beat those early year blues. Sit back and enjoy a selection of tunes culled from their seven inch vinyl format and brought together for your musical enjoyment. The tracklist is as follows:

Wooden Ships – Chris Harwood – Finders Keepers - 2008

Suedehead – Morrissey – EMI – 1988

Jigsaw/Falling into Place – Radiohead – XL Recordings 2008

Three Days (Elmore Judd & Louis Slippers Remix) – Hardkandy – Catskills Records – 2005

Ready for the Floor (Radio Edit) – Hot Chip – EMI – 2008

Darling (Jape Remix) – Sons & Daughters – Domino Records – 2008

Hey Mr D.J. (CSS Remix) – Tiny Masters of Today – Mute Records – 2007

 

Until next time.

It's only been a couple of weeks since the last podcast but I thought that I'd put one together on the SABA portable turntable that I recently acquired. I ran it straight into the laptop and as such its not earthed or run through a preamp so there's an audible hum the whole way through. Its sounds something like an old hometape from the 1980's. One of those tapes that was recorded over a hundred times and it rapidly deteriorates as a result. There's a terrible hum through most of it. Add to this the fact that a couple of the records kept skipping and you realise the kind of workmanship that went into to crafting this podcast. Slipshod, wouldn't adequately describe the nature of its construction. Anyway, if that's the kind of sound you're after then you've chanced upon the right podcast. There is no one genre favoured over another, it's just five records that came to hand when I was making it. The tracklist is as follows.

Decal - Aurora
Ike & Tina Turner - Whole Lotta Love
The Housemartins - Anxious
Sonic Youth - My Friend Goo
Isaac Hayes - Walk on By.

New Year. New Podcast. It's the least you could expect from me. It includes seven tunes that appeared on seven inch vinyl or vinyl album. As such there's lot of bips, beeps and scratchy sounds. If you have a Bang & Olufsen stereo system don'y play this on it. If you're not a fussy fecker then it'll be just the job.  Most of the tunes were released at some point in 2007 but there are a couple of older gems also. The two oldies that feature are a tune from Jimmy Behan on the Road Relish label from 2001 and the original version of 'Popcorn' that featured on an album by Gershon Kingsley called 'Music to Moog By'. Both are well worth the inclusion in the podcast. The other tunes come from new blues supremo Seasick Steve, the quirky Los Angeles popsters The Bird and the Bee, the Uk trio Fujiya & Miyagi, and one each from the popular Go Team and The Editors. Suck it and see.

Seasick Steve – Its all good

The Editors – Smokers outside the hospital doors

Jimmy Behan – Side Parting

The Bird & the Bee - Birds and the Bees

Fujiya & Miyagi – Uh!

The Go Team – The Wrath of Marcie

Gershon Kingsley - Popcorn

I’ve finally gotten around to sorting out a new mix. It’s based on some of the best b-side remixes that I’ve found on the seven inches that I’ve bought throughout the year. Some are great because they are eminently danceable whilst others are just plain strange. I do hope that you’ll enjoy the mix. If you do then check out some of the others.

Here's the playlist for this one:

The Aliens – Robot Man (Hot Chip Remix)
Amy Winehouse – Tears Dry On Their Own (NYPC’s Fucked Mix)
Simian Mobile Disco – It’s the eat
The Gossip – Listen Up (MSTRKRFT Mix)
The Go Team – Doing It Right (Yo Majesty Remix)
Bonde Do Role – Marina Gasolina (Peaches Remix)
Pharoahe Monch – Body Baby (An Optimo (Espacio) Edit)
Dan Le Sac & Scroobius Pip – The Beat That My Jel Flipped

Here is the first purpose built mix on the new hosting site. It's stuffed choc-a-bloc with some smashing tunes that I've lifted from my vinyl vaults. Some are very recent whilst some of the others needed the dust blown from them. It starts and finishes with different versions of the same song, namely Whip It, and two more different versions you won't find elsewhere. Squeezed in between is a sprinkling of sunshine sounds. It's an altogether heady musical mix that will thrill, delight and shock. Actually it probably won't shock as there's nothing untoward in it. Enjoy. The tracklist is:
1. Globo - Whip It
2. Jim Noir - All Right
3. Human League - These are the things (Kohncke Mix)
4. Feist - Sealion (Chromeo Mix)
5. Ladytron - Destroy Everything (Hot Chip Mix)
6. The Frank & Walters - Fashion Crisis Hits New York
7. DEVO - Whip It