This Charming Man

Back in the blogging loop. Back to Musical Monday. This week's choice is in memory of the late, great John Peel; undoubtedly the biggest single influence on my musical tastes. I know the 'official' celebration was Peel Day on the 12th October but, as this week marks the second anniversary of John's death on 25th October, I'd like to offer my own little tribute.

In 1981, when I was fourteen, my Dad decorated my bedroom. I acquired a whole new set of furniture, including a desk and a bedside unit with a built-in Binatone radio-alarm clock. My life changed. No longer forced to do my homework at the kitchen table, my evenings were now spent largely in my bedroom, ostensibly working on my homework and inevitably listening to Radio 1. Although I'd always been an avid radio listener, I'd rarely ventured away from the daytime wallpaper of charts and playlists; night-time radio was a revelation! From 8 'til 10 was the dulcet tones of David Jensen. David played new music and sessions from bands on the edge of commercial success (the 1980s, male version of Jo Whiley?). He was responsible for introducing me to the delights of (amongst others) Everything But The Girl. John Peel, however, was something else!

The first time I heard John's Peel's show I was somewhat bemused. He didn't sound remotely like anyone I'd ever heard on Radio 1. Where was the slick patter, the cheesy DJ cliches? As for the music, I can't pretend that I liked all of it, but to be exposed to such a multitude of different sounds, to have the opportunity to listen to so many different bands was incredible. My little musical bubble began to grow.

Pretty soon John Peel was essential listening for me. From Monday to Thursday, 10 'til midnight, I'd be there, listening to the radio. I loved John Peel's dry wit, the way he spoke about his family and the palpable enthusiasm he had for the music he played. Saturday afternoons were spent in Barnsley's mecca of indie music, Casa Disco, seeking out some of the tunes I'd heard. Favourites from the era include B-Movie's Nowhere Girl and More than a Dream by The Farmer's Boys. However, my biggest reasons to be forever thankful to the memory of John Peel are Billy Bragg and The Smiths, both of whom I first heard on The John Peel Show.

Once I left Barnsley for the bright lights of Birmingham, my evenings were often otherwise occupied but I still listened to John Peel when the opportunity arose. Even as a mother of three, I was still pleased to catch the show - most often in the car, driving home after a late finish at work.

My feeling of loss when I heard that John Peel had died was far beyond anything I'd previously felt when someone in the public eye had passed away. October half-term and we were driving back from a family day out at Twinlakes. A radio news flash imparted the sad news. I felt like I'd lost a good friend.

So, what to play in memory of John Peel? For me, it had to be something by Billy Bragg or the Smiths and as Billy has previously featured in my Musical Monday selections, I give you a song I'm sure you're all familiar with, This Charming Man by The Smiths. This version is taken from the album, Hatful of Hollow, and was recorded for a John Peel session at the BBC's Maida Vale Studios in September 1983.

John Peel, thank you.




This Charming Man - The Smiths (Hatful of Hollow, 1984)

Super Glider

It's been too long. Almost three weeks since I've posted and I've missed two Musical Mondays. All is well in the Midas household. My only excuse is that life is busy again. We're currently in the middle of mad birthday season - George, Daisy, Cam and I all have birthdays in the space of three weeks, not to mention various members of the extended family. All the present buying and party organising, together with the other extras happening at the moment - guitar concerts, school plays, sports days, special assemblies... has resulted in my online escape time being eaten away.

Anyway, thank you to Cat and Kell for missing me. I should be around a little more often this week and plan to spend some time catching up on all my favourite blogs as well as updating my own. In the meantime, I didn't want to let another week go by without posting an offering for Musical Monday.

This week's selection is Super Glider by Drugstore; a song that, for me, perfectly evokes lazy days and the long, hot summer of 1995 - my last childfree summer. I first heard the song on an indie compilation, Sharks Patrol These Waters, and loved it so much that I was driven to seek out the band's eponymous album. Although I'm fond of other tracks on the album, this one remains very special - short, simple, and yet achingly sweet.




Super Glider - Drugstore (Drugstore, 1995)

Holiday

It's back to the 1970s for this week's belated Musical Monday and a track from the German rock band Scorpions. An ex-boyfriend introduced me to Lovedrive, the album from which the track is taken and I quickly fell in love with several songs on the album - in particular, Holiday, the track I have chosen for this week.

I hadn't listened to the album for quite some time until recently, whilst travelling in the car, I was scrolling through my MP3 player, attempting to find something (other than Guitar Legends - there's a definite limit to how many times I can put up with Smoke on the Water in one day!) that Joe, our budding guitarist, would listen to without moaning. Happily I rediscovered Scorpions and we had a remarkably peaceful journey.




Holiday - Scorpions (Lovedrive, 1979)

Something So Right

Musical Monday rolls round once again and this week's track is perfect for a long, lazy Bank Holiday.

Although Paul Simon is not, perhaps, my usual choice of listening, Negotiations and Love Songs was the CD Cam chose to play the morning after we'd spent our first night together, back in October 1989. And as I lay in his bed, stretching, chilling out and listening to the music, everything really did seem so right...




Something So Right - Paul Simon (Negotiations and Love Songs 1971-1986, 1986)

A New England

After writing about Billy Bragg last week, I've decided that this week's Musical Monday has to be a Billy Bragg song. Although I love so many of Billy's songs, my favourite will always be the first one I ever heard: A New England. Less than two and a half minutes long and both vocally and musically very simple - just Billy and his guitar, it is nevertheless one of my all-time favourite songs.

Looking through my music collection, I was surprised to find that I have four different versions of A New England (five, if you include the cover by Kirsty MacColl, for whom Billy wrote two additional verses). I have decided to include two versions. The first is a studio version from Billy's 'best of' collection, Must I Paint You A Picture, the second is from one of Billy's John Peel sessions and is probably closest to the version I first heard and fell in love with.






A New England - Billy Bragg (Must I Paint You A Picture: The Essential Billy Bragg, 2003; The Peel Sessions. 1991)

Nightporter

It's that time of the week again and today's Musical Monday is an unashamedly self-indulgent choice.

Japan were formed in Catford in 1974 by school mates David Sylvian (real name David Batt) and Mick Karn (Anthony Michelides), together with David's younger brother, Steve Jansen (Steve Batt). The band originally played guitar-based glam rock. I didn't become aware of the band, however, until after the release of their fourth album, Gentleman Take Polaroids in 1980, by which time the band had moved to a more electronic-based sound and were at the forefront of the New Romantic movement.

Having discovered Japan, at the age of thirteen, I quickly became obsessed with both the band and their music. I was alone in this, despite my best efforts, as my unenlightened friends failed to see the attraction. I even joined the fan club and remember wearing my burgundy and silver enamelled badge with great pride! Japan were my adolescent heroes, the black and white pin ups on the cork board of my early 1980's bedroom and I played their albums endlessly. Japan's music saw me through a period of feeling intensely isolated as I was bullied at school, through my O-Level years and into my first serious relationship.

Nightporter has always been my favourite Japan track and even now, after all these years, whenever I hear it I have to stop everything I'm doing and just listen...




Nightporter - Japan (Gentlemen Take Polaroids, 1980)

Choux Pastry Heart

Well, it's been a busy week Chez Midas and consequently my blog has been somewhat neglected. However, I couldn't let Musical Monday go by without a post.

This week's track is from the album I seem to be listening to more than any other at the moment; the eponymous album from the fabulous Corinne Bailey Rae. Cam and I were talking the other day about how, every year, there's an album which seems to become a personal soundtrack for the summer. I think summer 2006 will be defined by Corinne Bailey Rae. Here's Choux Pastry Heart; I'm not going to say anything else about it, I'll let the song speak for itself.




Choux Pastry Heart - Corinne Bailey Rae (Corinne Bailey Rae, 2006)

Camping Next To Water

As my last two offerings for Musical Monday have been from the eighties, I've decided it's time to move forward a little this week.

Summer 2000 was an amazing time, musically speaking; with debut albums from Richard Ashcroft, Coldplay and Doves, amongst others. However, for me, the album that really stood out was by a 30 year old, woolly hatted Mancunian named Damon Gough, AKA Badly Drawn Boy.

I remember hearing a Badly Drawn Boy song (I think it was Another Pearl) on the radio one evening and being completely blown away. I bought the album the next day.

The Hour of Bewilderbeast combines a whole range of musical genres from folk to indie pop to jazz. There are pared-down acoustic songs and tracks employing complex layers of instrumentation. The lyrics chart the history of a relationship, with all its ups and downs. The Hour of Bewilderbeast deservedly won the prestigious Mercury Music Award in the year 2000.

Although I played the album to death the summer I bought it, I still never tire of listening to it. Camping Next To Water seems like a good choice for a slightly grey Bank Holiday Monday, so here it is.

Happy Musical Monday...




Camping Next To Water - Badly Drawn Boy (The Hour of Bewilderbeast, 2000)

Blueberry Pies

In honour of Joe's recent birthday, this week's selection for Musical Monday is not only an old favourite of mine but one of Joe's too...

The album from which this track is taken - Steve McQueen by Prefab Sprout - is, for me, the perfect pop album - undemanding yet never boring, gorgeous melodies and quirky lyrics.

Back in 1985, when the album was released, I recorded Steve McQueen on one side of an audio cassette (remember those?!) and on the other side, another classic of the time, Rattlesnakes by Lloyd Cole and the Commotions. After a heavy night out, when my head was buzzing, I'd listen to the cassette as I went to sleep and let the beautiful, gentle songs work their magic...

From an early age, Joe developed a major obsession with motorbikes and, at almost two, was utterly delighted to discover my copy of Steve McQueen with the motorbike on the cover. It became his "Motorbike Music" and, for a period of around six months, he insisted on listening to the album - on headphones - every night as he went to sleep...

As with last week's selection, choosing just one track from the album wasn't easy. My favourite song is probably When Love Breaks Down. The song was released as a single but, disappointingly, only achieved a number 25 position in the UK charts. However, and for no particular reason, I'm in more of a Blueberry Pies mood today so that's the song you've got. Happy Listening!



Edited to add: Well, there's not a great deal of Monday left now (Blogger wouldn't let me publish all day and I've been working all evening) but I finally made it!


Blueberry Pies - Prefab Sprout (Steve McQueen, 1985)

For You

This is my first contribution to Musical Monday and I've been sitting here for a while now, wondering which track to share with you this week. So many songs on so many albums, loved for a multitude of reasons and each one conjuring up their own memories of places, people, tastes, smells...

Anyway, I've stuck a virtual pin into my musical collection and selected For You by Tracy Chapman. In truth, I could equally have chosen any of the other songs on the album. The album was released in March 1988 but I think I must have bought it later that year; sometime around the August, when I moved to Coventry to spend the third year of my degree course working for GEC Plessey Telecommunications Limited. My first few months in Coventry were pretty grim: I disliked my job and had little in common with my work colleagues. Although I got on reasonably well with my two house mates, they were former best friends who had fallen out and were barely on speaking terms; I found myself playing piggy in the middle. Most evenings were spent alone in my room, listening to music and Tracy Chapman's album was definitely in my top five most-played albums of the time.

Life in Coventry got better. I found an evening job working in a local pub and made new friends. The pub had a CD jukebox (one of the first ones I'd seen) and tracks from Tracy Chapman's album formed the backdrop to many an evening.

The songs on the album tackle such issues as domestic violence, racial tension and social injustice, set against the prevailing right-wing political regimes of the time: Reagan in the US and Thatcher in Britain. Politics aside though, the songs can simply be appreciated for their musical merit. For You provides the perfect vehicle for Tracy's beautiful, distinctive voice, set against a simple backdrop of acoustic guitar....




For You - Tracy Chapman (Tracy Chapman, 1988)