Named after the debut single by Teenage Fanclub.
This blog is all about being a music lover in Glasgow; reviews, interviews, memories, old faves, new discoveries (past and present), playlists and more. Thanks for visiting - I hope you discover something amazing you have never heard before, or that you rediscover an old favourite.
Regular features/playlists; Never Ending Mixtape / Cover Version of the Month/ Trust Me.
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I always feel warmer when I hear Regret by New Order. That opening burst of guitar and synth combining so naturally is a real rush that sends tingles down my spine. When it comes in again, like a stutter, you know you're in for something special. Then the groove supplied by Hook and Morris kicks in and oh how Regret groove and flows. Barney starts singing at 40-seconds in;
Maybe I've forgotten, the name and the address
Of everyone I've ever known, it's nothing I regret
This song always reminds me of travelling to Manchester on the Glasgow Manchester United Supporters Club bus. I'd previously travelled down by train the odd time, unaware that a bus left Glasgow for every home game! I only found out during a stadium tour when the guide told me about it. How had I missed this?
Branch secretary Dave Sharkey had encouraged me to make a mixtape up for my first bus down. Regret kicked in just as the bus was crossing over a flyover just outside of Manchester, sun streaming through the windows, bottle of beer in hand ... perfect. United beat Wimbledon 5-1, Cole (2), Giggs, Beckham and Yorke got the goals.
The chorus to Regret might be the most uplifting out and out chorus in the New Order cannon, bittersweet reflection wrapped in a euphoric melody.
I would like a place I could call my own
Have a conversation on the telephone
Wake up every day that would be a start
I would not complain about my wounded heart
I was a upset you see, almost all the time
You used to me a stranger, now you are mine
By the early '90s, New Order were at a crossroads. Factory Records was collapsing, their relationship with each other was strained, and Republic would ultimately be their last album for over a decade. Yet somehow, amidst the turmoil, they created Regret, a song that feels effortlessly cool and confident, yet loaded with unspoken emotion.
Peter Hook’s bass is played low down the fret, typically distinctive, immensely cool, it's tasty throughout, while his solo is delicious. Stephen Morris’ drums push everything forward with an urgent, driving energy. Gillian Gilbert’s synths shimmer in the background, giving the song that unmistakable New Order glow.
New Order are wizards with intro's and outro's and Regret is one of their very best with Peter Hook's bass groove beautifully entwined with Bernard Sumner's guitar chimes,
Just wait til tomorrow
I guess that's what they all say
Just before they fall apart
Did the band really play Regret on the set of Baywatch for Top of the Pops? Of course they did, this is New Order we're talking about. Surreal and sublime! Hooky throwing all kinds of shapes to impress the bikinin clad babes, Gillian wearing factor 90 and Barney looking super cool.
Regret is added to my Trust Me playlist; search for Everything Flows - Trust Me on Spotify or CLICK HERE. Check below for all previous blogs in my Trust Me series.
Ian Curtis' original handwritten lyrics for Love Will Tear Us Apart
Cover version of the month #85
Hot 8 Brass Band cover Joy Division
Recorded in March 1980 and released that June, just a month after singer Ian Curtis had committed suicide, Joy Division's Love Will Tear Us Apart is a bonafide classic single that has has come to define the band.
Curtis' lyrics of loneliness, sadness and heartbreak pack are bleak, honest and devastating, telling the tale of his marriage falling apart. Yet, somehow, the chorus and keyboard riff are in complete contrast, almost euphoric. I think that has been heightened over time; the way the song has become an anthem and the way New Order sing the chorus when they play it live.
The pop aspect is reflected in the length and structure of the song. Intro, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, verse, chorus x 2 all delivered in 3-minutes 30 seconds.
When you read Curtis' lyrics without listening to the song, you'd expect Love Will Tear Us Apart to be slow, mournful and lengthy.
When routine bites hard and ambitions are low
And resentment rides high, but emotions won't grow
And we're changing our ways, taking different roads
Ouch! Three lines that tell so much. Curtis' vocal is slow and mournful, yet drums are pulsating and Hooky drives the song along with his bass, the keyboard echoing the melody of the chorus sounds hopeful, even when Curtis is singing love, love will tear us apart again.
Photo by Kevin Cummins
Curtis dives deeper into his pain, deeper into his story in the second verse. Despite his marriage, their love falling part, he tries to make a move but there is nothing in return. There is still an appeal, an affection, an attraction ... but it's not happening.
Ian Curtis' skill as a writer is phenomenal. His poetry, heartache and feelings speak volumes in just 3 lines.
Why is the bedroom so cold? You've turned away on your side
Is my timing that flawed? Our respect runs so dry
Yet there's still this appeal, that we've kept through our lives
In the third verse Curtis comes to his conclusion, there is nothing left.
Do you cry out in your sleep, all my feelings exposed?
There's a taste in my mouth as desperation takes hold
Just that something so good, just can't function no more
A double chorus leads to Joy Division locking into a guitar, keyboard, bass and drum groove for 40-seconds to play the song out. Love Will Tear Us Apart is glorious, timeless, perfect. It's poetry, music and pop combining to tug on your heartstrings and move you to tears. Somehow, it can also make you want to punch the air, sing to the chorus, hug your mates and dance. The power of music!
The accompanying video of the band performing the song in their old rehearsal room only helps add to that timeless feeling the song has. It's like a time capsule and must have inspired countless post-punk bands to meet up in garages and warehouses worldwide in the belief they could create something equally as special. Few, if any, have.
So how on earth do you approach covering Love Will Tear Us Apart? Well, if you follow a couple of my other regular features you might have an idea. (NOTE - it's not Paul Young's 1984 cover!)
I've been sitting on this blog for a while. Then, at the weekend I was searching through Glasgow music listings and discovered that Hot 8 Brass Band were playing Saint Luke's in Glasgow on 31st May! I immediately bought a couple of tickets!
Hot 8 Brass Band transform Love Will Tear Us Part into a high energy song with infectious rhythms, bundles of brass, handclaps and a communal chorus. New Orleans jazz with dashes of funk and soul.
The hook is teased and then released, broken down hip hop style into a vocal chorus and slowly built up again before a freestyle trumpet solo. The chorus just keeps coming and Bernard Sumner's keyboard riff sounds incredible when played by horns.
Check the official videos for both songs below plus a 1979 Peel session by Joy Division, their original abandoned recording from January 1980 and live versions by New Order and the Hot 8 Brass Band on Later.
All previous cover version of the month blogs are listed below. To listen on Spotify, search for Everything Flows Cool Cover Versions playlist, featuring all of the songs below, or CLICK HERE
Cover version of the month #67 - Galaxie 500 cover George Harrison
I bought Galaxie 500's second album On Fire from Missing Records on Oswald Street in the early - mid 90's. At a guess I would say 1993/4.
Missing Records was a regular haunt of mine. I'd soak up interviews and reviews in the NME and Melody Maker and then head into Missing, often buying records on the strength of a review, occasionally I might have heard something on the Evening Session or John Peel's show.
From memory, it might have been a school friend Grant Mitchell who turned me on to Galaxie 500. We would regularly exchange mixtapes and Grant was developing an incredible knowledge and passion for American independent guitar bands. I'm pretty sure he put a couple of Galaxie 500 songs on a tape for me.
On Fire is an album I fell for instantly. It contained so much of what I was looking for as a teenager, mainly that the band looked and sounded super cool.
Listening back to it now, all these years down the line, it is an album that contains a lot of honesty. In the playing, lyrics, delivery, production and in their choice of cover versions.
I featured Galaxie 500's cover of New Order's Ceremony way back in January 2017 as #21 in this feature. Now it is the turn of their take on George Harrison's Isn't It A Pity.
The opening chords sound raw and almost beautifully amateurish, similar to sounds I was making with my first electric guitar in my parents garage.
Harrison's poetic lyrics take on a new kind of emotional rawness when sung by Dean Wareham as he strains soulfully over glorious warm guitars that are reminiscent of The Velvet Underground at times, of Neil Young at others.
This cover version really melts my heart. The rhythm guitar remains tenderly fragile but steady throughout, then at times the lead guitar just lets rip, while Damon Krukowski hammers his drums and Naomi Yang on bass keeps it all together.
Wareham sings and wrings his heart out in the closing what a pity refrain, and he does a pretty similar job with his guitar. This is a song and performance that moves me every time I hear it.
Isn't It A Pity was originally released on George Harrison's epic 1970 album All Things Must Pass, also as a b-side to My Sweet Lord, Stretched to 4-minutes, Harrison pours himself into the song with what I consider to be his most soulful and emotional vocal on the album.
Remarkably, Isn't it A Pity had been around since the days of Revolver! Rejected for Sgt Peppers, Harrison then hoped to record it for The White Album before representing it during the Let It Be sessions. This is pretty staggering! Perhaps it wasn't completed until after the demise of The Beatles.
The production is remarkably different. This is Phil Spector working with a Beatles style budget, there are strings, there is multiple percussion, loads of rhythm guitars, a choir, multiple pianos playing at the same time ... possibly Spector's biggest ever wall of sound. It might not create the ferocious glorious racket of River Deep Mountain High, but Harrison & Spector (co-producing) create one of the most beautiful songs Harrison wrote and released ... and he wrote some gems!
Not one single second of the 7-minutes 10 seconds of Isn't It A Pity is wasted. Harrison pours his heart out in the lyrics and his voice is racked with emotion, like he is genuinely pondering some of the questions he is asking in song, the very moment he is singing them.
some things take so long, but how do I explain
when not too many people
can see we're all the same?
and because of all their tears
their eyes can't hope to see
the beauty that surrounds them
isn't it a pity?
The song is extended with Harrison repeatedly singing and stating what a pity, his guitar sings, there is a choir, everything has built to this point and it just keeps going, everything sounds so perfect, the arrangement is simply stunning.
Harrison and Spector weren't finished. There is a second version later on the album, slower, the band feeling things out in a jam at the start, the bass central to the sound, Harrison's voice strains beautifully when he sings and because of all their tears, the backing vocals are angelic and then at 2-minutes 19 seconds the song is lifted to the heavens - I can imagine The Polyphonic Spree might have fallen in love with this section.
The original lyrics for Isn't It A Pity
Isn't It A Pity is songwriting, musicianship and performance at it's very best. Galaxie 500 were brave to take it on and deserve huge credit for their own stunning version.
Speaking of stuning versions. Nina Simone recorded a spine tingling 11-minute version! You can check it below or on my cover version of the month playlist on Spotify. (Everything Flows - cool cover versions).
You'll find links to all previous cover version of the month blogs below.
Continuing my semi-regular series of blogs where I write about 10 of my favourite songs from my favourite bands / artists. It was always going to be hard to narrow it down to only 10-songs from New Order!
New Order are like a perfect band for me. Through the 1980's they seemed lost in their own world, pop, but with a desire to experiment with sound and equipment. They could party hard, they were/are successful - but not too big. They had their own little club in Manchester that they could play (and pre Acid House they had to play to keep it running!). The band were all characters and attracted characters, Bernard Sumner had/has amazing hair, they had complete control of their music and art, they suffered heartache, they kept on going.
And they were/are gloriously imperfect. At times (most of the time) they didn't know how to work half the equipment they bought. Their manager (Rob Gretton) and label manager (Tony Wilson) were certainly characters but they also essentially bankrupted them. Despite the incredible journey they had been on, Hook and Sumner ended up hating each other. They (at least for a while) lost money on every 12-inch single of Blue Monday.
I got into the band around the release of 1993's Republic and the stunning single Regret, although I was well aware of them at the age of 14 in 1990 with the World Cup single World In Motion.
Discovering Substance was an eye opener, this was a band who did things their way. Non-album singles like Temptation! And as I dug through the bands 80's catalogue, I learned just how prolific they were; 5 studio albums, a staggering 19 singles and the aforementioned Substance compilation.
Can you imagine following New Order from the start through that decade and beyond?! What a journey.
I was too young for the 80's and even just a little young in 1993. They broke up after Republic, so it was amazing when they got back together to release Get Ready in 2001. I tried to catch them as many times as I could; taking in brilliant shows in Glasgow and Manchester over the years. Even post Hooky they played a blinding show at the Academy touring Music Complete, although it wasn't quite the same without him patrolling the stage. Whenever I saw them live, it was like the band had 2 frontmen.
Watching New Order live was a real sense of occasion. I met fellow fans who travelled across the country (and the world) to follow them. The level of passion and dedication they inspire is incredible.
Hooky's love of New Order (and Joy Division) shines through in his books and his endless run of shows where he performs their back catalogue. I do wish that he and the rest of the band could make up, even for a one-off show. Sadly, I don't think I'll see that happen.
Bernard Sumner is one of my favourite guitar players, songwriters and singers. He makes his limitations really work for him and the song. He pushes himself at times and he is never afraid to go with the first riff or line that comes to mind.
Narrowing down my favourite New Order songs to only 10 was very tough. I do love later day singles like Crystal (what a comeback single, all hooks and chorus and more hooks!) and Krafty, but not enough to make my top 10.
Two songs from Technique are included, but they could easily be replaced by any other 2 of that album on another day; particularly All The Way and Round & Round.
And Face Up has become a real favourite of mine since seeing Hooky perform it at the Glasgow School of Art a few years back, but it just couldn't quite squeeze into my top 10.
Love Vigilantes became a real favourite for a long time after I travelled down to see them in Manchester and they opened the show with it. And then there is True Faith! And Blue Monday may be New Order's most famous song and I love when they play it live, or in days gone by I loved hearing it in a club or pre-club, but it probably wouldn't be in my top 15 favourites. I can't remember the last time I played it.
So, after careful consideration, here are my;
10 favourite New Order songs.
Regret
One of my all-time favourite intro's. The synths burst in and cut to guitar a couple of times before both then crash into bass and drums, with Hooky leading the way. I love Bernard's vocals on this one, the production is sublime, everything sounds effortless.
Maybe I've forgotten the name and the address
Of everyone I've ever known, it's nothing I regret
The Perfect Kiss - Substance Edit
An 8-minute epic electro pop gem. Hooky's bass sounds like he could be in Level 42 at the start, then there is an immediate change in pace and a sublime programmed electronic groove kicks in before heavenly synths create a pure hands-in-the-air feel after 1-minute 19 seconds.
Sumner's lyrics are playful, none more so than the second verse;
I have always thought about
Staying in and going out
Tonight I should have stayed at home
Playing with my pleasure zone
The way New Order use the 8-minutes to play and stretch this song out is pure brilliance. The breakdown (complete with frog sounds) is beautifully chilled before the beats kick in and take the song to conclusion with powerful synth stabs and Hooky going for it on bass. Glorious!
I've included the official video and also a brilliant 1985 performance from Toronto with Bernard on cowbell wearing shorts, sports socks and slip ons!
Your Silent Face
The first time I heard this was when New Order played the Barrowland Ballroom in 2001. I was absolutely blown away, the synths, Sumner's delivery, humour and just the way the band looked and sounded. They knew full well what a f**king masterpiece they were performing.
And of course I was taken by surpise and delight by the audience participation after Sumner's delivery of the line; you caught me at a bad time so why don't you ... and a large section of the crowd yelled PISS OFF.
Their return that year with the Crystal single and a burst of shows led me to properly explore their back catalogue as I tracked down vinyl albums and singles in second hand record shops across Glasgow and on eBay. Power, Corruption & Lies is probably my favourite New Order album, although I think Technique is the best.
Ceremony
What an incredible debut single! When Ian Curtis committed suicide in 1980, shortly before an American tour that was set to break them, the rest of the band had a number of choices to make.
Numb with grief, the band went in to rehearse, Sumner and Hook have both said in their books that they just didn't know what else to do. No-one wanted to be the singer, but Sumner ended up taking vocal duties and just over 2-months after Ian Curtis' death, the new trio of Sumner, Hook and Morris (that night going under the name The No Names after Factory band The Names pulled out) played a 4 or 5 song set - no-one can quite remember.
Ceremony was in the set and it has been ever since.
Sumner, Morris and Hook sound as tight as tight can be, but in a beautiful loose way, threatening to fall apart or push further forwards, it sounds slightly chaotic in a glorious way. Sumner tears into his guitar at times and creates a playful yet simple riff at others, Hooky plays his bass way down, Morris is sensational with his beats.
When the band tear back into it at 2-minutes 30 seconds it is the sound of a band on fire. Then we have a sublime extended breakdown and then a glorious blast for a 30-second finale.
Check the ferocious Joy Division version
Oh I'll break them down, no mercy shown
Heaven knows it's got to be this time
Age of Consent
The opening track on the sublime Power, Corruption & Lies album, Age of Consent would most probably have been a single if New Order were not sticking to their no singles on album rule.
Hooky's bass grooves throughout, Sumner's guitar is playful, his lyrics tell a tale, the beat and hi-hats are relentless and at a couple of points the synths threaten to delightfully overpower everything else.
Sumner admits he's not a certain type and then admits he has lost, letting out delightful yelps over an extended outro as the band just let rip.
I'm the kind that likes to tell you
Just what I want to do
I'm not the kind that need to tell you
I've lost you, I've lost you, I've lost you
Run
Bernard picks beautiful riffs on a 12-string acoustic, Hooky's bass grooves throughout, there is a slice of euphoric electric guitar, Sumner's vocal melody is (for me) one of his best - just flowing effortlessly and everything just feels so natural.
One of their very best outro's ... and there are many to choose from.
Vanishing Point
New Order love intro's and outro's, often having 2 or 3 sections to each. With Vanishing Point the band use the first 90-seconds to display musical brilliance, Sumner is also on top form with his lyrics and delivery. There is a sense of hurt and anger to them.
My life ain't no holiday
I've been through the point of no return
I've seen what the man can do
I've seen all the hate of a woman too
The breakdown at 3-minutes 30-seconds lasts a full half minute before the band explode back in with the chorus. A stunning song that really captures the band at their very best.
Thieves Like Us (12-inch version)
Thieves Like Us grooves and is beautifully lazily euphoric in a way that I don't think any other band could achieve. Released in 1984, Thieves Like Us really highlights how New Order had developed as a band, their self production of this song is just blissful, the long, long intro is split into 3 parts, with the second synth riff starting at 1-minute, then Hooky taking over on bass just before the 2-minute mark. Eventually Bernard comes in, singing now you live your life like a shadow, in the pouring rain before pushing his range gloriously by singing
Oh it's called love
And it belongs to us
Before a short second verse where he sings;
I've lived my life in the valleys
I've lived my life in the hills
I've lived my life on alcohol
I've lived my life on pills
Thieves Like Us grooves and is beautifully lazily euphoric in a way that I don't think any other band could achieve.
Bizarre Love Triangle (Shep Pettibone 12-inch version)
This song takes me places. When New Order play this live it makes me very, very happy. Full of loads of different synth riffs, stabs and flourishes, this is New Order at their very, very best.
Every time I see you falling
I get down on my knees and pray
I'm waiting for that final moment
You say the words that I can't say
The 7-inch version is a rush, the 12-inch version just takes that rush and keeps it going.
Temptation
As perfect as a song can be. The original version just about holds itself together and is all the more beautiful for it. Lyrically brilliant; exceptionally poetic in the verse, then simplistic and playful at times but also full of meaning, easy to relate to.
Up, down, turn around
Please don't let me hit the ground
Tonight I think I'll walk alone
I'll find my soul as I go home
It blows my mind that this was released in 1982. Can you imagine being in your mid-late teens or early 20's when this came out! So fresh, energetic and utterly stupendous?!
You can hear the band shouting to each other when you listen to the epic 8-minute 41 second original as they tear into a groove, before dropping to all Sumner to start with the beautiful;
Oh you've got green eyes
Oh you've got blue eyes
Oh you've got grey eyes
And I've never met anyone quite like you before
After some stunning bass work from Peter Hook, the synth is allowed to just bubble gloriously for a little before Sumner comes in again, his voice rising with emotion.
A heaven, a gateway, a hope
Just like a feeling inside, it's no joke
Sumner's guitar is punky Chic-esque rhythm at times, then picking brilliant little riffs at others. The synth and the beats are steady, Hook meanders up and down his bass with delight.
Each way I turn, I know I'll always try
To break the circle that's been placed around me
Temptation is a top 3 all-time favourite song of mine. I originally heard a rerecorded version on Substance and on the Trainspotting soundtrack, but then I discovered the original on an Italian 1981-82 EP and the rawness just blew me away.
Tim Burgess from The Charlatans has long been a hero of mine. In my teens it was cause he looked super cool, fronting one of my favourite bands who consistently released brilliant albums and singles to soundtrack my life.
In my 40's it's because Tim is super cool in a new more mature way; still fronting one of my favourite bands who still release brilliant albums and singles ... but now he does so much more! Author of 3 books, solo artist and collaborator, record label co-owner, champion of music and an absolute legend on Twitter, even more so now.
Tim's energy and positivity inspire me. He is always up to something, and then looking for something else. His restless nature, friendly personality and fire in his belly mean that he is a guy who makes things happen.
In these worrying and testing times, positivity is required more than ever. Escapism helps as well.
So Tim has introduced #timstwitterlisteningparty In short this means everyone presses play, or puts the needle on a pre-chosen album at a specific time on a specific date. Tim, plus artists and associates related to the album tweet about the songs, stories about recording, memories of tours ....
This is nothing new to Tim. He has been holding Twitter listening parties for The Charlatans for a number of years.
What is new, is that he has used his extensive network of friends to bring listening parties with The Chemical Brothers, Oasis, Flaming Lips, Twilight Sad, Super Furry Animals, Beth Orton, Orange Juice, Pulp, New Order, Doves, The Beta Band, BMX Bandits and a whole heap more.
Norman Blake has been encouraged to come back on to Twitter for a Bandwagonesque listening party for Teenage Fanclub!
Since they started I've grooved about my kitchen with beers or lay in bed with my headphones on, enjoying listening to an album from start to finish and learning a little about it along the way. I've mainly been doing this live - when the party is happening - but I've also listened to others a day or two after.
Thanks to Tim for giving such a positive focus to music at a time when artists can't get out and play and fans are missing that interaction.
This week has all kinds of goodies, but I'll make sure I am listening live for The Flaming Lips Soft Bulletin, Orange Juice You Can't Hide Your Love Forever and then a glorious Saturday with The Beta Band Three EP's and The Charlatans Between 10th and 11th and then Sunday with Pulp's Different Class and New Order Power, Corruption and Lies.
My sister and her friend Kat recently co-presented a regular show (fLUNT) on LP Radio which I thoroughly enjoyed. The two enjoy great banter when discussing songs, proudly stating after some that it would confidently be in their top 10 list of fave songs ever.
It got me thinking, could I confidently state my top 10 fave songs ever?
I think I can ... it might change. But these 10-songs will always be there or thereabouts.
1. Come Together (Farley mix) - Primal Scream
This is blissful psychedelic pop touched with a little acid house and gospel. Absolute perfection.
The ambition, progress, collaboration and invention surrounding Primal Scream at this time still generates interest and debate all these years down the line. This is an example of why.
The Weatherall version on the Screamadelica LP is blissful, the Farley mix is my favourite. During the anniversary shows the Scream combined about 3 versions together to create utter euphoria. Check the Farley mix and then the extended live version below.
Kiss me, won't you, won't you, kiss me
2. Going Back To My Roots - Richie Havens
I discovered this song on an incredible compilation called All Back To Mine by Sean Rowley. Every track was incredible and impeccable, but this stood out. That intro, those lyrics, the vocals ... a perfect groove.
Not talking 'bout the roots in the land, I'm talking 'bout the roots in the man
3. Temptation - New Order
Whether it is the original raw version in its extended glory or the polished rerecorded version from Substance, or an extended live version, Temptation pushes all the right buttons for me. The guitars, groove, lyrics, vocals ... it is perfect. Sumner shows why he is one of my favourite singers and guitarists, the circular guitar riff is one I could listen to for hours on end.
Oh you've got green eyes, of you've got blue eyes
4. You Set The Scene - Love
I had fallen for Love after the Fanclub, the Roses and the Scream all mentioned their Forever Changes album in interviews. Then amazingly Arthur Lee announced that he was playing King Tuts following a release from prison and a long period of inactivity through a drug habit. The show was astonishing, a captivated crowd were treated to a show they never thought they would see and you could have heard a pin drop during You Set The Scene. One of my all-time favourite live moments was during this show and this song when Arthur sung I see your picture, it's in the same old frame his voice soared in a way fans could only dream of after years of substance abuse.
The way this song flows, dips and rises is astonishing. Lyrically and musically brilliant, structurally ambitious and just all round stunning.
This is the time and life that I am living
And I'll face each day with a smile
For the time that I've been given's such a little while
And the things that I must do consist of more than style
5. Don't Leave Me This Way - Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes
What .... A .... Song
What .... A .... Tune
I adore this song. I still find so much in it, the groove, the way it develops, the way it builds to the euphoric chorus, the way it picks up pace, the way that even as it fades out I want it to keep going. Does an even longer version exist?
This is a song I always played whenever I DJ'd in pubs or at parties. Even if you haven't heard it you're going to be hooked in and singing along by the second chorus. The vocals are exceptional, the band are incredible, the drums and percussion are just sublime.
Don't leave me this way
I can't survive, can't stay alive
Without your love, oh baby
6. Everything Flows - Teenage Fanclub
Probably no surprise that Everything Flows is in my top 10! I think this song gets better with age, like a fine wine, I get more meaning out of it, I get more feeling out of it.
A young Norman Blake sounds wise beyond his years as he sings;
We get older every year
But you don't change
Or I don't notice you changing
And perhaps this opening line, more than anything else that is magical about the song, highlights why the song takes on more meaning year on year, gig on gig, listen on listen.
The whole song is magical. The guitars sound incredible and the chorus is beautifully self reflective and one that we can all relate to and the band just gel. It is perfect.
The band later revisited their debut single on the Teenage Fanclub Have Lost It EP that I blogged about HERE and where you can check out their stunning acoustic version.
You can check out the original release and a stunning Peel session version below.
I'll never know which way to flow
Set a course that I don't know
7. Don't Let Me Down - The Beatles
Lennon is so in love that he needs 4 words rather than 3. I love the rawness of this song, the feel and the soul. And I particularly love the middle-eight as Lennon drifts off sounding dreamy I'm in love for the first time, don't you know it's gonna last ...
And I love the footage of The Beatles playing on the roof of the Apple building looking super cool. Imagine if they had gone on tour at this time?
8. I Believe In Miracles - The Jackson Sisters
This still blows my mind every single time I listen to it. I love the power, the groove, the big long intro on the extended version and the skyscarping euphoric vocals, the way they rip through the verses to reach the chorus and the whole way this comes together to sound like it is a remix, but it is the real deal. It just sounds this good, this catchy, this dancey, this groovy.
Believe in dreams and think they are real
And one day soon
The miracle will come true
9. California Soul - Marlena Shaw
I was lucky to catch Marlena Shaw a number of years ago, when the Renfrew Ferry was still moored on the southside of the River Clyde. The reception for this song will live with me forever. It seemed to go on longer than the song itself, such was the reaction, the appreciation, the love for it in the audience.
This is another song I would play (back in the day) when I DJ'd and it would always generate the response I look for. People dancing, people coming up to say 'tune' or people coming up to ask who sings it.
Quite simply perfect. It's controlled yet it still has a sense of euphoria for me. I will always dance to this song.
Like a sound you hear
That lingers in your ear
You can't forget
From sunrise to sunset
10. One To Another - The Charlatans
We end with a monster tune from one of my all-time favourite bands. One To Another is a song I sing most days as I have a framed print at the top of our stairs containing the lyrics be my spider woman, I'll be your spider man.
The first single after the death of Rob Collins, One To Another has a sense of defiance to it, it rocks, it grooves, it explodes and it is utterly magnificent. I think the promo film captures all of that perfectly and I have also included a live version from The White Room - you get the added bonus of Crashin' In. This is my favourite Charlatans TV performance. Look at Tim Burgess gazing on with love and admiration as his band are on fire.
Justice for believers and love can keep the faith
I don't need you, I can't buy you, I can't hurt you
