45 45's - Part 1 (1-10)

With a little more time on my hands I decided to try my first vlog.

I had the idea of writing a blog called 45 45's, about memories of 45 7-inch records I own, ahead of turning 45 next year. Something to work away at over the months ahead.

I then decided to go for a vlog. I really enjoy 10-15 minute vlogs on YouTube, so here is my first. There will be 3 more parts to the 45 45's series and then I'll consider others.

Part 1 focuses on 10 7-inch records including; the first 7-inch records I had bought for me, two of the first 7-inches I bought with my own money, records bought on the strength of the sleeves, entrepreneurial record buying and exchanging to get an original copy of Everything Flows, a record I bonded over with my sister and one that I remember buying the day it came out.

Let me know if you enjoy the vlog which you can watch by clicking on the section at the start. The records featured are;

Letter From America - The Proclaimers
Got My Mind Set On You - George Harrison
Born of Frustration - James
Movin' On Up - Primal Scream
Babe Come Down - Sammy
Superhero - Smudge
Puss/Oh The Guilt - Jesus Lizard/Nirvana
Everything Flows - Teenage Fanclub
Mrs Robinson - The Lemonheads
Kylie's Got A Crush On Us - BMX Bandits

Wedding DJ

6-years ago my friend Jillian asked me to DJ at her wedding. I was delighted to accept. The wedding was to be held in the beautiful House for an Art Lover in Glasgow, a venue I was familiar with as it had also been the setting for my friends Phil and Mary's wedding.

Jillian and Chris' wedding was a real blur. There was a free bar and it was draft Stella. I was sharing DJ duties with a guy from France called Tony. French Tony - as there was also a Scottish Tony. He cleared the dance floor several times so the decks became mine and I played Motown, 60's beat groups, Bowie, Roxy Music and then fine pop including Madonna, Kylie, S-Express and Deee-lite. All music I loved.

Jillian and Chris also introduced me to Ruby Andrews beautiful Just Loving You as that was their first dance. What a choice! It is a cracker and I'd later be interviewed on 6music by Craig Charles on his Funk and Soul show and he marvelled at the song - he hadn't heard it before.

I must have made an impression on Jillian's sister Jules as 2-months ago she got in contact to ask if I would DJ at her wedding.

We had a couple of chats and it was clear that other than the first dance (Andy Williams - You're Just To Good To Be True), Jules and Duncan completely trusted me to get people dancing and ensure everyone had a good time. No pressure!

1st dance

I love a good wedding reception. I trusted my friend Phil to DJ at my own wedding reception, but I also met with him several times to discuss 'must plays'!

For this reception I decided against vinyl. It was to be Spotify and/or iTunes. I discovered a great little APP called DJJAY2 for only £4.99 that allows you to DJ electronically on an iPad using Spotify.  You can mix, there are effects and if you have WIFI then you have quite a catalogue at your disposal!

I have always loved dj-ing with vinyl. You can only play what you have and if you're playing a 3-minute Motown special then you have extremely limited time to select and choose your next record and get it all queued up. I have always liked the excitement of choosing one, only to get it all queued up and then change my mind and fight against time to get another one chosen and ready.

But common sense prevailed on this occasion. I decided to go digital and it definitely helped on the night as in the end I took some requests for the Gay Gordons and Dashing White Sergeant (both of which were amazing) and also ended up playing songs I hadn't included on my 200+ Spotify playlist that I had created for the evening. Why Does It Always Rain On Me by Travis was also requested as it is the family anthem and that became clear when I played it!

Other than those requests, everything I played was entirely my choice. I fretted over playing Toploader (euuugghhh) but it packed the dancefloor. I also cleared the dance floor a couple of times! It was packed for The Fratellis Chelsea Dagger so I thought I'd keep it upbeat with Rocks by Primal Scream, but people vanished! Maybe they were just a little tired cause it had been pretty busy from the off!

The Proclaimers and Runrig were predictable but euphoric Scottish highs. Sunshine On Leith towards the end of the night was absolutely beautiful. Deacon Blue's Dignity sounded incredible.

Dancing and singing

The benefit of WIFI and DJ-ing electronically meant that I stuck Tony Christie, Black Lace (yeah i played them after people started a conga during Tony Christie), the Village People, the O'Jays and Journey off the cuff - I wondered why I hadn't thought of them beforehand! Total party tunes, really euphoric sing-a-longs and cheesey party anthems!

It was a great night in the stunning Ardoch House near Loch Lomond. There were many highlights; seeing people going crazy to Yazz, hugging and singing at top voice to Hey Jude, or being mesmerised by the beauty of Sunshine On Leith was incredible. And those from England who had never attended a Scottish wedding before were blown away by Runrig's Loch Lomond and the traditional circular pogo. I then followed that up with a cheeky encore of Whitney's classic I Wanna Dance With Somebody to end the night.

The last 2 songs of the night

The DJAY2 APP keeps a list of the songs played in each set that you can then transfer to a Spotify playlist. So check that below and there is also a full setlist. NOTE - for some reason it doesn't transfer to Spotify in order played!

It was great fun and it has totally got me in the mood for organising a night of playing records with friends and having a party.

Pre evening reception tunes
Somewhere In My Heart - Aztec Camera
Sparky's Dream - Teenage Fanclub
Baby I Need Your Loving - Four Tops
Good Vibrations - Beach Boys

Reception
Can't Take My Eyes Off You - Andy Williams
Crazy Little Thing Called Love - Queen
For Once In My Life - Stevie Wonder
Happy - Pharrell Williams
Twist and Shout - The Beatles
Love Is In The Air - John Paul Young
Can't Stop The Feeling - Justin Timberlake
Dancing On The Ceiling - Lionel Ritchie
Human - The Killers
Chelsea Dagger - The Fratellis
Rocks - Primal Scream
Do Your Thing - Basement Jaxx
Everybody Dance - Chic
Into The Groove - Madonna
Gay Gordons - Jimmy Stand (played twice!)
I'm Gonna Be (500 miles) - The Proclaimers
Don't Stop Me Now - Queen
Jump - Van Halen
Oh Pretty Woman - Roy Orbison
I Want To Hold Your Hand - The Beatles
I'm A Believer - The Monkees
Just Loving You - Ruby Andrews
Why Does It Always Rain On Me - Travis
Dashing White Sergeant - Jimmy Shand
You Can Call Me Al - Paul Simon
Valerie - Amy Winehouse and Mark Ronson
Dancing Queen - ABBA
Atomic - Blondie
The Only Way Is Up - Jazz
You Got The Love - The Source and Candi Staton
Groove Is In The Heart - Deee-lite
Just Can't Get Enough - Depeche Mode
Common People - Pulp
I Want You Back - Jackson 5
Don't Leave Me This Way - Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes
Stop! In The Name Of Love - The Supremes
Get Off Of My Cloud - The Rolling Stones
Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison
Young Hearts Run Free - Candi Staton
Dancing In The Moonlight - Toploader
Let's Dance - David Bowie
More Than A Woman - Bee Gees
Get Lucky - Daft Punk
She's Electric - Oasis
Hey Jude - The Beatles
I'm Gonna Be (500 miles) - The Proclaimers
(Is This Way To) Amarillo - Tony Christie
Do The Conga - Black Lace
YMCA - Village People
Love Train - The O'Jays
Don't Stop Believin' - Journey
Dignity - Deacon Blue
Sunshine On Leith - The Proclaimers
Loch Lomond (live) - Runrig
I Wanna Dance With Somebody - Whitney Houston

Barrowland idea

Calvin Harris to blow the roof off the Barrowland......imagine.....

Scottish music fans regularly debated the future of Glasgow's world famous Barrowland Ballroom for a number of years, particularly when the Academy and the ABC came on to the scene. There was no doubt that the number of shows at the legendary venue fell in number, but 2016 saw Barras end the year in a rich vein of form.

Teenage Fanclub, Deacon Blue, Frightened Rabbit, Twin Atlantic and Fatherson were Scottish acts who elected to have homecoming Christmas shows at the Barrowland Ballroom.

It got me thinking.....

Could the Barras have a month of Christmas shows? Turn it into a Barrowland Homecoming Festival?

It easily could. Here is the Scottish acts who could feasibly book their Christmas show for 2017 already, many would sell out instantly. Can you imagine Calvin Harris blowing the roof off the place? Paolo Nutini ripping it up and singing his heart out and going for a pint in McChuills afterwards?

Paulo could probably do a  month at the Barras on his own!

Many acts (Scottish or otherwise) still prefer two or three nights at the Barrowland than opting for a larger single show. Who can blame them for choosing the best venue in the world with the best atmosphere?!

I have let my imagination run (easily) wild and made up a few imaginary support slots/double bills just to fit a number of bands in. I guess you would have give some acts a couple of nights. Who have I missed?

Over to the venue and promoters who could make this happen....

2017 (Imaginary) Christmas Homecoming Festival at Glasgow Barrowland

Friday 1st Dec - Teenage Fanclub with special guest Edwyn Collins
2nd - Deacon Blue with special guests Justin Currie (I know from playing football with Justin Currie that he would love to play the Barrowland again - ideally with Del Amitri!)
3rd - The Twilight Sad

Mon 4th - Idlewild 
5th - The Waterboys
6th - Frightened Rabbit
7th - Twin Atlantic
8th - The View
9th - Franz Ferdinand with special guests The Vaselines
10th - Belle and Sebastian with special guests BMX Bandits

Mon 11th - Mogwai with special guests The Pastels
12th - Simple Minds
13th - Simple Minds
14th  -  Chvrches
15th - Primal Scream with special guests The Jesus and Mary Chain
16th - Travis
17th - Arab Strap

Mon 18th - Amy McDonald with special guest KT Tunstall
19th - Biffy Clyro with special guests Fatherson
20th - Biffy Clyro with special guests Fatherson
21st - Paulo Nutini with special guest Gerry Cinnamon
22nd - Paolo Nutini with special guest Gerry Cinnamon
23rd - Calvin Harris 
24th -  Calvin Harris 

27th - Texas
28th - Runrig
29th - Runrig
30th - Edinburgh Hogmanay warm up show (for whoever is heading to Edinburgh for the bells). Worked well for Primal Scream a number of years back. Failing that The Bay City Rollers