Back to the Vinyl: The 2015 Awards

I don’t know about anybody else, but I find the end of year lists a little bit intimidating.

This year I have tried my upmost to stay in touch with what’s going on, follow the right magazines, blogs and purveyors of all things cool in the music biz, I’ve even been writing about new music for the bastions of brilliantness, When the Gramophone Rings, but it appears I am still vastly out of touch.

There are those who pick up the complete unknown and give it a leg up and crow about their brilliant digital only E.P recorded in their bedrooms, but then are those who do mix it up and have your bigger names with the majors behind them or one of the bigger independent labels but will also include just anything they love.

Without naming names, I was perusing the Top 100 list by a magazine I respect and enjoy the writing and enthusiasm and spirit with which they write, but out of those 100, I could count the number of albums I’d LISTENED to, let alone LOVED on one hand. Ok maybe two hands. Still, 10% is not a good figure. Unless it’s a discount on a record you want to buy.

Considering there have been an array of great records by legends of the game, top bands of the last ten years and some smaller fry making a big noise, you’d think they’d have made a bit of an impact on a Top 100. What you also should take into account is that I wouldn’t exactly say my favourite albums of 2015 are littered with big names but some aren’t getting a look in on these lists. I feel a bit overwhelmed really. Is all this stuff really that good?? Am I really missing out on ninety flippin’ brilliant records??

Firstly, I’ll address a couple of albums that have gone over my head a little that seemed to garner universal praise. Father John Misty’s I Love you Honeybear is generally regarded as a classic this year and I feel I may need to give it more of a chance. The title track didn’t knock me sideways but

it seems as a whole, it’s a knockout record. One to go back to. Kurt Vile I blive I’m goin dwn (or however it’s badly spelt) sounded pretty good when I streamed the first few tracks but again, I wasn’t chomping at the bit to order it. Pretty Pimpin’ is an earworm, so that’s another to investigate further.

I won’t prattle on about my favourite album of the year. I’ve already done that for W/T/G/R and you can read that here: http://whenthegramophonerings.com/2015/12/11/albums-2015-eaves-green-feels-like/

I also won’t flap gum about No.2 and No.3 as I think I have mentioned these two enough over the year.

Instead, I’m going to do a lovely list of records, songs, bands, artists, and other such nonsense that you’d normally find on a voting form from NME or Q or any other major magazine. Because as much as you might protest and moan in comments sections, you all love a list. So you can moan about what’s there and what’s not there.  

So, without further ado…….

Albums of 2015

    1)     Eaves – What Green Feels Like

    2)     Desperate Journalist – Desperate Journalist

    3)     Menace Beach – Rat World

    4)     Wolf Alice – My Love is Cool

    5)     Courtney Barnett – Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit

    6)     Guy Garvey – Courting the Squall

    7)     Idlewild  - Everything Ever Written

    8)     Joanna Gruesome – Peanut Butter

    9)     Noel Gallagher – Chasing Yesterday

    10)  Blur – The Magic Whip

I like the Noel Gallagher record. Fair enough, you may not, but I don’t really care. I’m not sure when it became unacceptable to think that. Why he is so derided but it’s cool to like Carly Rae Jepson or Taylor Swift. For my money, neither are writing/releasing better songs than Noel, but that’s just me.

Next up, Tracks/Songs of the Year. Potentially an inexhaustive list of songs but I’ve tried to whittle them down to 25…

    1)      George Glew – Bury Me

    2)      Desperate Journalist – Heartbeats

    3)      Tree Machines – F*cking Off Today

    4)      Eaves – Pylons

    5)      Wolf Alice – Giant Peach

    6)      Editors – Marching Orders

    7)      The Staves – Black & White

    8)      The 1975 – Love Me

    9)      Anna B Savage – I

    10)   Blur – Lonesome Street

    11)   Ryan Adams – This is where we meet in my mind

    12)   Kassassin Street – To be Young

    13)   Saltwater Sun – Wild

    14)   Desperate Journalist – Perfect Health

    15)   Guy Garvey – Angela’s Eyes

    16)   Idlewild – All things Different

    17)   Noel Gallagher – The Right Stuff

    18)   Embers – The Bitten Tongue

    19)   Tree Machine – Arms Length

    20)   Eaves – Jack Madness

    21)   The Magic Gang – Jasmine

    22)   Ryan Adams and Johnny Depp – No Shadow

    23)   Screaming Peaches – Sad Kid

    24)   The Shanklins – See Through

    25)   Courtney Barnett – Small Poppies

I bet there aren’t many of you out there who know George Glew. “Bury me” is the only thing he released this year, or has ever released. It’s incredible. His howling like he is in pain sends shivers up the spin. Don’t take my word for it. Listen below:

https://soundcloud.com/georgeglew/bury-me-demo

I think last year I only did a list of 5 so you can see how good this year has been.

Quick breakdown with the winners of the big awards as chosen by me:

Best Band: Wolf Alice

New Band: Desperate Journalist

International Band: Tree Machines

Solo (Male): Eaves

International Male: Ryan Adams

Solo (Female): Anna B Savage

International Female: Courtney Barnett

Most Anticipated for 2016: Paul Draper

Best Comeback: Blur

Best Unsigned: Kassassin Street

Live: Johnny Marr

Compilation: Sensible Records RSD Comp

Live Album: Ryan Adams Live at Carnegie Hall

Cover: Mark Morriss – Lucretia (My Reflection)

Well there you have it. So this is Christmas, and what have you done? Another year over…blah blah blah!!

2016 is going to have to go some top that.

But here comes Paul Draper’s solo album!!!

Quarter 3

July and August are odd months for albums. Most bands will have had their records out before the festival season really takes over so it can be a case of slim pickings. Or in some cases you've spent all your money on going to festivals you can't afford any vinyl before September arrives.

In the spirit of this there is a slight deviation from the strict rules of the albums having had to be released between the beginning of July and end of September.

Having said that there have been some cracking stuff put out, some that haven't been of the L.P format and one will sneak into the list but it is a five track E.P.

Alongside this, honourable mentions must be made to some great singles released during this period that have thrown themselves across my radar, mainly due to me writing for 'When the Gramophone Rings' the ace new music website that concentrates on introducing new bands and songs and getting those streamed instantly. Of those I have written about the excellent Shanklins, Communion and Screaming Peaches alongside blog stalwarts Desperate Journalist, Eaves, Tree Machines and Menace Beach, some will be mentioned further later, they have released and made available some amazing music over the past few months (of which you can read more about on the website, or via @gramophonerings on Twitter.

So, to the top 5 records from Quarter 3 of 2015.

1) Mark Morriss - The Taste of Mark Morriss (see review)

2) The Maccabees - Marks to Prove it

3) Menace Beach - Super Transporterreum E.P

4) Ryan Adams - Live at Carnegie Hall

5) Honeyblood - Honeyblood

Now, wait, wait. I know what you're going to say, Live at Carnegie Hall came out in April and Honeyblood wasn't even released this year. Somehow the fact a nice and succinct 10 track version of the multiple vinyl edition of Ryan Adams solo concerts in New York existed evaded me and it wasn't until late June/early July, I can't quite remember which, that I ordered it. So apologies, but it is too bloody gorgeous to be missed off, because whilst it is brilliant, it also might not make the ultimate Top 5 of 2015 so it had to be added to a quarterly review at some point.

Honeyblood came into my field of consciousness only very recently, due to my involvement with WTGR and a recommendation by an uber fan. They played at Victorious Festival and were aces, so thanks to the joy of internet shopping and apps for many a supplier of all things record shaped, it was ordered before the final ringing chord had time to fall silent.

As aforementioned there have been some epic singles and streams abound, some form part of E.Ps and deluxe edition L.Ps that drop in October so are out of contention (although this month has made something of a farce of those rules).

Desperate Journalist, whose debut eponymous L.P only arrived in January, release an E.P 'Good Luck' with the stupendous 'Perfect Health' concluding the 5 track disc (for further flowery description, please see my review on WTGR). Menace Beach, another whose debut only landed at the very start of the year, brought us "Ghoul Power" from No.3 on the list above (again, another lovely little write up on the lovely WTGR). Tree Machines returned following their first 8 track E.P with a triumvirate of singles, the stand out being the haunting 'At Arms Length' (and again, see an Introducing piece on.....that's right, you've got it) and finally Eaves is adding an extra 4 song disc to the utterly brilliant "What Green Feels Like" album, including the fucking gorgeous 'Jack Madness'. The name Nick Drake has been used in conjunction with him in many articles and reviews but this is very influenced by the likes of "Parasite" from 'Pink Moon' and "The Fly" on 'Bryter Layter'.

Already my mind wanders to who will make the pinnacle of the all important Top 5 record of 2015 from Back to the Vinyl. There are strong contenders, some are shoe-ins for a place in the much sort after five positions, but who will be Number One?

Will there be a last minute album arrive and steal the crown like Hookworms did from Royal Blood last year. Or will something from nearly 12 months previous hold off all comers and be victorious.

It's tantalising stuff and I can hardly wait myself. Although I think I already know. But you don't (although you could probably make a good educated guess).

As Charlie Bucket said to his old Grandma at the end of Roald Dahl's classic tale "Just you wait and see".

Mark Morriss - The Taste of Mark Morriss

The first thing you need to do when reviewing an album is to find out about your subject. Gold Flake Paint wrote about the quick, first impression opinion pieces that are chucked out by music writers under the weight of hundreds of new releases, when reviewing the new Maccabees record, and how it can be useful and not to be dismissed entirely; but if you’re writing for an on-line zine or blog you clearly have an interest in the band or artist, so a bit more research should be done.

This is pertinent as when you first put on ‘The Taste of Mark Morriss’ you are greeted by “This Pullover” by Jess Conrad. Some got this. Some recognised that Mark is sharp of wit and sarcasm and if you’ve seen him live, read an interview or even met him, you will know he is quick with the put down, self-deprecating slight or funny quip. Therefore, if you put this record on and hear this novelty, throw away ditty, it’s BECAUSE the tongue is wedged firmly in the cheek and, taken in conjunction with the brilliantly cheesy, camp, 80’s pastiche album cover, is THE TASTE of Mark Morriss. The real business starts with track 2 and ‘Rock’n’Roll Women’ by Buffalo Springfield.

You see, whilst this isn’t going to be an impartial review as such, I have done a bit of homework. I’ve read a few reviews, mainly to gauge the feeling for this album. It mainly seems to be the uber fan or the uninitiated. In fairness, this isn’t necessarily a good introduction to Mark. The title isn’t “ A Taste..” it’s “The Taste”. Mark’s taste in music. If you want an introduction to Mark Morriss you should start with The Bluetones and then listen to the first two solo records. The big fans from the very beginning, in the main, are big fans of this.

One of the reviews put it that you couldn’t listen to this record of covers without comparing to the originals. I had the opposite problem. I couldn’t have sung you anything off this before I first put it onto the turntable, with the exception of ‘Duchess’ which I’d seen played live. Oh and the video for ‘Lucretia (My Reflection)’ he’d released a bit before. There were a couple of acoustic versions of ‘Angel’ floating about, but my point is these weren’t songs I owned or had any great affection for. Which made this less of a covers album and more purely just a new Mark Morriss album. So not really a problem.

However, there were a number of moments of familiarity. Almost déjà vu. This came first with ‘Rock’n’Roll Women’ but that is somewhat of a classic although my exposure to Buffalo Springfield is minimal.

If you are coming to this record from the position of being at a similar age to Mark, then the slices of 80’s OMD, Madonna, Sisters of Mercy, REM, Pet Shop Boys and Jesus and the Mary Chain  you will be well-acquainted with. I, on the other hand, was 15 when ‘Expecting to Fly’ came out in 1996 so wouldn’t have had quite the same relationship with the 80’s pop as you. I was still absorbing The Beatles in 1985 and my parents weren’t Goths or big fans of synth-pop. ‘Don’t you want me baby?’ by Human League and Ultravox were probably the zenith of their interest. I remember liking Tears for Fears and Nik Kershaw, so if he’d decided to do “Shout” or “The Riddle” or “Wouldn’t it be Good” I would have had something to compare and contrast.

As it is, I was a relative newcomer to these songs and this may have helped me take this record at face value and not whether each song was better or worse than the original. Subsequently I have embarked on an investigation into these songs and listened to each of them as they were initially intended. In almost every case, I have to say, I do actually prefer Mark’s versions. He clearly has put a lot of love and affection into creating a sympathetic  version that doesn’t dismantle the original but makes a cover version worthwhile. Sometimes that is just about being true to the original, like he does with “Duchess” or even “Love Comes Quickly” where he keeps the synth heavy 80’s sound. Sometimes however, just being himself levitates these songs, in the cases of “Self-Control” or “Good Advices”.

Then there are those where he has taken the song, pulled it apart and then added revamped and pimped elements to change the style of the song, no better an example in “Lucretia (My Reflection)” which has become more of an urgent, rolling anthem than the original gothic, brooding slow metallic rendition by The Sisters of Mercy. It is almost a completely different song except for the lyrics and melody. This and “Rock’n’Roll Woman” are two stand out tracks.

“Angel” and “Almost Gold” are flipped on their heads. Madonna’s bubble-gum pop and JATMC’s dark overtones are swapped to great effect, their placement next to each other given meaning.

“Souvenir” by OMD and “Don’t Let Go”, a Weezer song that passed me by from the Green Album, aren’t the strongest of songs and when held up against Mark’s Bluetones and solo compositions, don’t quite measure up. There’s nothing wrong with them but maybe he could have tackled “Gone Fishing” by the latter. That would have been glorious.

It’s difficult to criticise other reviews of the album if they are coming at it from a different angle to myself. I personally think it’s a triumph. Other people may love the original versions so these renditions may not be their cup of tea.

Can’t say I care really, everyone has an opinion. Mine is, this is great.

They will be passed on, generation to generation....

Although it’s been said, many times, many ways, there is something wonderful about a record shop. Second Hand or one of the brand new ones offering the customer something fresh and exciting (Jacaranda Records, a record shop and café you can play vinyl on table-top turntables in Liverpool), there’s a sense of “Narnia” like excitement when you walk in one, a definite sense of wonder of what you might find.

I was in one such emporium of all things vinyl recently. Clearly there for a number of decades and smelt like it; all musty, sweaty, vinyly and geeky. These places are where you might find that rare slice that even Discogs don’t know about, and the proprietor isn’t necessarily aware of every priceless 12” that your favourite underground band released in 1993. Deleted. Twice.

They are also the place where the slightly more discerning person in their 50’s/60’s/70’s deposit their unwanted L.P’s after their son/daughter/grandchild has introduced them to the digital age which is just so much more damn convenient than having to get up and flip over the record. Or change the CD.

For everyone, like me, that have been swept along by the new vinyl revolution (I’m not a f*cking hipster), and now everything your new favourite bands are releasing is appearing on coloured, splattered, double vinyl, these are a gold mine for all those old records your Dad (or in my case, Uncle) sold years ago when CD’s appeared.

This palace of plastic I entered was in Norwich, adjacent to a vintage clothes shop, so I was granted permission to have a look whilst the wife perused the plethora of overpriced paraphernalia. A few months previous, after a curry and a few pints, we were at my father-in-laws and I put on his vinyl copy of “The Cream of Eric Clapton” (I don’t care, I am neither hip, nor trendy and I’ve seen ‘God’ about 13 times live) and placed the needle at the beginning for “Layla”. A minute or so in he took it off  the turntable, threw it to the side and put on “Derek and the Domino’s Layla and other Assorted Love Songs” instead and queued up the same song. Without touching the volume, the noise level increased substantially. In a nutshell, the first had been compressed the sh*t out of and the original 1972 pressing of ‘Layla..’ had not.

Thumbing through the worn out old vinyl in this shop, I came across an original of the same record for a paltry tenner.

Ironically, that very album had been a staple on cassette when I was very young, but now 30 years later I’m putting the vinyl on. It made me think. My love of stuff like Clapton, Cream, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, The Who etc etc came from my parents as that was what they were listening to when they were young. Now, I’m at the age they were when they were first playing these bands to me, and although currently childless, I’m in a unique position. Anyone between 30-45 (depending on how old their parents were when they were born) will be the first generation where we can pass on the music that our children’s grandparents were listening to, that will have had a cultural impact on them.

Our children will know who The Beatles are, who the Rolling Stones are, as they are still culturally relevant and will be for a long, long time. Even bands like The Kinks have West End Theatre shows about them. For our parents, their parents, let alone their grandparents, won’t have passed much on to them, maybe Elvis, but they had to discover things themselves or from their brothers and sisters. The bands they loved discovered their influences from the radio, and the imported American Blues and R’n’B artists and early Rock’n’Roll bands. We didn’t take anything from our Grandparents, not unless we had a real passion for Jazz and Glenn Miller.

Probably one of the only things that excites me about having a kid, is that I can pass on some incredible music. Music my parents, their grandparents, introduced me to. Seeing the likes of Keith Richards, Mick Jagger and Paul McCartney now, they are old men in their 70’s, it’s strange to think that when I first heard them they were only in their 40’s, the age some of the bands I was into as a teenager are now, like Noel Gallagher, they are all 40 and over.

Now, they are the living legends, like the ones that our parents played us. The likes of Noel, Damon Albarn, Jarvis Cocker, and to a lesser extent (wrongly) Paul Draper and Mark Morriss are carving out the solo career that will sustain them in the public’s interest for years to come. Noel said in an interview recently (his Desert Island Discs) that the amazing thing now is that kids who weren’t even born when the songs were written and released are down the front at gigs and festivals screaming the lyrics to ‘Don’t look back in Anger’ back at him in tears.

Certain bands will be passed on, generation to generation. Like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones before them, and even the likes of The Smiths and The Jam, now Oasis and Blur, but who after them? Will the Arctic Monkeys do the same for the teenagers of the 00’s. Will they be revered in 20 years’ time?

I have a dream...

I’ve come to a conclusion. It’s taken me a while but I think I’ve done it.

You remember when you were at school, you had to go and see a careers advisor? Yeah, well I can recall I said something along the lines of wanting to be an archaeologist. I liked History and I used to be great at digging on the beach in Swanage or in my old back garden. A couple of big old holes were dug there with my brother and our cousin.

I was 14 and I had to decide what subjects I would choose to do at GCSE, excluding the compulsories like Maths, Science, English and French (Five years of French, you’d think I’d be fluent). So they made us speak to an “expert” about what we wanted to be when we grew up. A fireman, a footballer, a policeman, a tomato. Due to my career choice, I had to make the difficult verdict of picking Art over Drama (always fun) and Music (ex-choir boy and player of the guitar)

I was to painting and drawing what Stevie Wonder is to bird watching and Stephen Hawking to the 100m sprint.

Fast forward 2 years and I couldn’t give a hairy toss about archaeology. Sixteen, full of testosterone and a laissez faire attitude I pitched up at 6^th Form College more interested in forming a band and getting laid than digging a ditch in Wiltshire.

Another two years on and I was at Uni in Southampton with a particular pastime of seeing how much beer and tequila I could consume before blacking out or nearly getting arrested for re-enacting the ‘Going Out’ video by Supergrass in the bandstand in the park.

By the time I woke up and found myself working in a British Gas call centre, I’d almost certainly lost all interest in becoming an archaeologist, let alone the lawyer I had pretended I wanted to be when embarking on the law degree three years before.

So, 21, penniless, back home and no career prospects. Despite being 7 years older, I had no idea what I wanted to be. If by my early twenties I couldn’t decide my vocation, how on earth was I supposed to know in my early teens.

Thirteen years later, I think I’ve cracked it. Sat a desk, administering pensions, 34 years old, I may have had my road-to-Damascus moment.

I want to own a record shop.

That probably doesn’t come as much of a surprise to many of you who have read more than one of my blogs. The title of the blog is a big clue. My constant banging on about vinyl is a big hint.

There is a certain romance about opening your shop in the morning, the regular customers, the new releases, the smell of the vinyl, the useless employees. It’s all bit ‘High Fidelity’ at the moment. I’m John Cusack and I’ll employ my Jack Black and Todd Louiso. Although if Jack comes in with a mixtape that starts with “Walking on Sunshine” by Katrina and the Waves then he’s fired.

As much as generally have a misanthropic view of the world, surely there can’t be too many people coming in and asking for One Direction or the ilk. I could have a poster made telling them to sod off to HMV.

There will be no chart, but there will be a very specific new releases section. It is forever a bugbear of mine that some independent shops don’t have an area for new releases, probably a ploy to get you to peruse the stacks of vinyl, but sometimes you do just want that specific L.P released that week.  

Right now is the perfect time. Vinyl is in it’s renaissance, which may not last for that long, so the time to act is now. It’s still fairly niche, and that is unlikely to change unless the world abandons the digital revolution or there is a huge computer crash and we’re sent back into the dark ages when all we have is a wind-up gramophone. Therefore, only the discerning, vinyl obsessed nerd will come to my store. Basically, people like me. I will find my people. My kin.

I will get to live my favourite pastime. Listen to music and talk about music to people like me. We will argue and debate and have endless cups of tea and coffee and then close at 5.25, and run round to the pub, stick something great on the jukebox and chat more nonsense. Then get a kebab and go home and start the whole crazy merry-go-round again in the morning.

Well that’s the dream anyway. A fantasy. A film. A novel. Dreamt up, sat at my desk. Bored out of my tiny mind.

Desert Island Discs

About five years ago when I was back at my Mum’s after splitting with my ex, I went through a prolonged period of insomnia. I was in the box room as my younger brother had moved into my old room and in this tiny, cramped space, full of my earthly possessions which didn’t amount to an awful lot (except for the CD’s) I would lie in bed watching nonsense on cable channels and DVD boxsets until the very wee small hours.

 

I would also, if the mood took me, listen to podcasts, mostly in the vain hope they would send me to sleep, which in some cases they did. I went through quite a few, Dave Gorman and Frank Skinners Absolute Radio shows, the Guardian Music and Football Weekly downloads, BBC History Magazine podcasts (that worked quite a few times actually, despite it being very interesting, the people they spoke to were by and large, dull academics with incredibly soporific voices) and also Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs. I would generally dip in and out of these when I heard of someone I particularly liked being on it or at least would be interesting, including Rob Brydon, Frank Skinner, Martin Sheen, Terry Gilliam, Roger Waters, Tony Robinson, Russell Brand, Danny Baker and more.

 

There have been occasions in the past year or so that I have gone back to listen to some people in particular, like Morrissey.

 

The other day I saw a status on social media about Noel Gallagher being on it. If there is any interview or radio or TV show with Noel on it I will devour it. I could listen to that man talk all day. Not only is he very funny, he is incredibly engaging and fascinating, not least because he is liable to change his mind about something he said years before.

 

Typically, he was all these things but he also spoke more honestly than I think I’ve ever heard him before. Possibly being grilled by a journalist with no agenda like Kirsty Young, who isn’t necessarily a fan nor critic, allowed him to let his guard down.

 

Naturally, this got me thinking. In the incredibly unlikely event I will ever be invited to appear on the show, what would my eight tracks be? So, I took it upon myself to compile my Desert Island Discs.

 

I think I did this before, probably at the time I first listened to the shows, and I have a pretty good idea what they would have been. I did have to make a list of 5 or 6 songs that hinted to my age, so that Robin Ince could guess how old I was, based on my music choices and taste, on Steve Lamacq’s 6Music Show. From what I can recall, some of those appear here. Some don’t.

 

Listening to Guy Garvey’s from last year, he makes the point that his choices weren’t actually his favourite songs of all time, but those that would sustain him, isolated and alone on a desert island. When thinking of mine I can see what he means. Some of these aren’t necessarily my favourites but they remind me of special people and times. A lot has happened to me over the past five years and a lot has happened to my friends and family.

 

So here they are:

 

1)      Rockin’ all over the World – Status Quo
 
It’s Live Aid, it’s me and my brother, it’s a silly party piece we do at weddings and birthday parties (the swinging guitar necks) when the DJ puts it on. It’s the opening track on “12 Gold Bars” the first record I owned that my Dad bought me and I played to absolute death. I am an unashamed fan of The Quo. They aren’t a guilty pleasure they are just great and I don’t care.
 
2)      Brown Sugar – The Rolling Stones
 
Another family wedding, birthday, bar mitzvah disco song, doing the Mick Jagger hands-on-hips and exaggerated clapping. It’s the song I think I most associate with my Mum, although I could equally have chosen Alright Now by Free or All or Nothing by The Small Faces, but it’s also just one of the greatest bits of rock’n’roll music. You can’t sit still listening to it.
 
3)      Some Might Say - Oasis
 
In Our Price with two of my friends just before my 14^th birthday, we used to by each other singles as we were poor teenagers, too young to work and too frivolous to save up pocket money. I chose two: Michelle Gayle – Sweetness and this. For some reason, my head had been filled with chart pap, I’d been buying some awful stuff with my pocket money for years and I didn’t seem to have the friends or influence to via off into the right path, until I heard Some Might Say on the radio. I think possibly the opening bars are quite reminiscent of Status Quo bar chords so that may have turned my head, I’m not sure, but it was a game changer.
 
4)      The Chad who loved me – Mansun
 
The James Bond Theme that never was (although that was never likely when the name was a complete rip-off), I can vividly remember going and buying this, riding down to town straight from school. It was March ’97 so I was preparing for my GCSE’s and was out the back of the house on the sole computer we had and I think I must have played it a good three times but whenever the strings come in at the beginning it takes me back to then and as the sunset in the patio doors behind me and dark descended I must have pressed play again.
 
5)      You do something to me – Paul Weller
 
The wife and I’s first dance, played by the band we had, so not this version, but it will forever be our first song and I will be transported back to that weekend in May, two of the best days of my life, where I married the best thing ever to happen to me.
 
6)      Dear Friends – Elbow
 
If I’m stranded on a desert island with just these eight songs, the bible (good for starting a fire) the complete works of Shakespeare (think I’d get a bit bored after a couple of plays and maybe a sonnet or two) and a luxury item, they will have to be bits of home and things that make me happy to keep me sane and my best friends have definitely done that over the years.  The first line “You are angels and drunks, you are magi” pretty much sums them up, and I always think of them when I hear it.
 
7)      Tap at my Window – Laura Marling
 
“He taps at my window, willing that I let him in…..”
When I first started seeing the girl that is now my wife, she lived in a basement flat below a terraced house. I had recently heard the third record by Laura Marling that summer before and I had fallen under the spell of this amazing voice that invokes and pays homage to the greats, most notably Joni Mitchell. There was a fair amount of record collection comparison those first few months and Laura’s first was a particular favourite of hers and it was played a lot in that flat. This song became to mean a huge amount to us, mainly because when I’d finished a shift and closed the pub I was a duty manager at, I would go back to hers and have to knock at the window at street level for her to let me in.
 
8)      In my life – The Beatles
 
As Mr G said himself on the programme, you have to have something by the greatest band of all time. A band that have been with me my entire life, from, as my Mum told me, sitting in the pushchair singing a long whilst in the town centre when I was very small, to considering something to be used on the CD we gave to the Registry Office. As it happened we didn’t use anything by them, but my choice was this, In my Life, as it encapsulated everything I wanted that day to mean, not just about my wife, but my family and friends. It isn’t necessarily my favourite Beatles song, but then there are so many to choose from.
 
These songs could be different in a few years’ time. They were probably different a few years ago.
It all depends where are you now, where you were at the time and where you might be.