10 from BMX Bandits

Ahead of a Record Store Day re-issue of their C86 album, I thought I would blog on my top 10 favourite BMX Bandits songs. Adding to previous blogs on 10 favourites from;

• The Vaselines
• The Lemonheads
• The Pastels
• Primal Scream

My love for the BMX Bandits goes back to 1991 when I was in 5th year at school. It was a time and age when a crowd of people (myself included) started to get passionately into bands, records, the NME, Melody Maker and mixtapes. What a time to discover bands like the Roses, Charlatans, Fanclub, Nirvana, James and R.E.M.  And there were a few who despite being 15 got into the rave and dance culture that was exploding.

So many (if not all) of the aforementioned bands were quick to highlight their friends and influences. So from Teenage Fanclub I was introduced to the Bandits, The Vaselines and The Pastels. A guy a few years above us was in a local band and he made mix tapes for my friend Grant. So his taste kind of got passed down to a few of us in 5th year.

It's funny how I now know many of the people who are in the bands mentioned above. I still find it weird that they know my name!

BMX Bandits have released some incredible music over the years and I don't think they necessarily receive the credit they deserve. Duglas' songwriting has developed beautifully over the years and he has surrounded himself with loyal friends and brilliant musicians to achieve the sounds in his head.

The last 4 albums; My Chain (2006), Bee Stings (2007), BMX Bandits In Space (2012) and BMX Bandits Forever (2017) - have really seen BMX Bandits flourish. Rachel Allison and Chloe Philip have helped Duglas write for female vocalists, while Stewart has also co-written and worked with with Dr Cosmos Tape Lab, Anton Newcombe, Plectrum and Cineplexx, also (to my great delight) recording Fireworks which was written by my sister.

As much as I love early BMX Bandits, I think this run of albums and the songs included in them is the most interesting period of the bands career. Listening back to My Chain and Bee Stings was a delight, the songs have aged beautifully, I appreciate them more. You just don't know what they will do next.

I have had to leave out early favourites like Kylie's Got A Crush On Us, Little Hands and Gettin' Dirty and more recent songs like Dot To Dot, To A Flame, Take Me To Heaven and I Wanna Fall In Love.

But my top 10 favourite BMX Bandits songs is pretty evenly balanced from across their career, taking in their debut single, b-sides and some of their most recent material.

If you are new to the Bandits you'll discover love, heartbreak, hope and humour in these songs. I hope you find something you enjoy.

Your Class
Oh what a gem of a song from the aforementioned C86 album. The first time I ever heard this was at a live show when it was built around a bass riff, and little else. The vocal melody, lyrics, flow and feel pull the listener in to hear what is going on in Duglas T Stewart's heart and mind.

What you do, what you do

Is breaking my heart in two

But I'll never get too tired of you

Don't say we're through, don't say we're through

The Unforgiven
This song gets me every time. I love the feel of it and it is my favourite vocal from Duglas. I remember speaking to him about the song once and he said he recorded it while he had a cold. I think it was one take and Duglas talked of how he didn't like to record more than two takes, so he kept a natural feel and captured something. I think Duglas and his BMX Bandits captured something very special with this song.

The Sailor's Song
I listened back to this song for the first time in a while as I started writing this blog and found myself listening to it a dozen times over the next day.

Lyrically and melodically brilliant, I also love the way the there is almost an extra line in the verse, in the one noted below, Duglas adds inside and then another line to rhyme with it.

The song ends with the super romantic I could watch you dancing all night

Sometime the medicine don't seem to help

Only your sweet love could bring me back to health

I don't wanna put any pressure you

You could make me feel so good, inside

I want you beside me

You could heal me

Make me feel better

Make me feel better than I did today

You could heal me

Make me feel wanted

Make me feel wanted in a special way

I could watch you dancing all night

Next Girl
The b-side to Kylie's Got A Crush On Us. When I was a teenager I once made a 4-track demo of original songs I had written on side A and cover versions I would perform on side B. This song was included.

I think it's a real perfect guitar pop song. I love the flow and the chorus, especially when it is sung twice in a row, leading to a cracking guitar solo.

Did you ever look back when you'd stopped crying

If you ever said no, would you be lying?

If you ever said so, would you be trying for me?

Witchi Tai To
I try to concentrate on original songs when I write about my top 10 favourites from a band, but I really have to include this cover version that was tucked away on a 4-track CD single.

I have blogged on this song before HERE where you can also find an interview with Duglas.

What more can I say? This is simply stunning. I love when BMX Bandits play it live. You can check a version from their Oran Mor 25th anniversary show HERE

Come Clean
Brilliant guitar pop that builds to the refrain I love you so much inside. I love the lyrics. They are simple, yet clever.

Sometimes you feel so self conscious

And embarrassed by the way that you look

But girl I don't just love your cover

I'm in love with the whole of your book

And It's You
What a gorgeous playful melody, I love when the band just let it flow. It's like a little lullaby.

And it's you

And it's me

It's a complicated story like the best ones can be

Razorblades and Honey
What a dirty groove! Recorded with Anton Newcombe from Brian Jonestown Massacre. I hope Duglas and Anton get together again as this is sensational.

Right now you think you're something

Pretty soon you're gonna be nothing

Serious Drugs
What a stunning song. Sung by Joe McAlinden originally and then Norman Blake on the single, this is the kind of song that led to Stewart being labelled a bedsit Bacharach. Melodic, melancholic, reflective and beautiful with real depth, covering depression with someone longing for love.

I've included the demo version below.

I said I don't think I can take it much longer

She said maybe your tablet should be stronger

Get some serious drugs

E102
The debut single by BMX Bandits is glorious uplifting ramshackle pop.

Check out a live version from the BBC Quay sessions in 2018.

I'm so happy that love has come around for Duglas.

I'm so happy that love has come around

I'm so happy about the girl I've found

I feel like someone's favourite meal

No sweetener, no additives, the flavour is real

10 from Kylie

I'm really looking forward to Kylie at Glastonbury this Sunday with her hit packed set due to be broadcast live on BBC1. Oh to be there as Kylie takes a sun soaked crowd on a glorious pop journey through her greatest hits. Her new Step Back In Time collection is out today.

Kylie is a pop princess who I grew up with, from Neighbours, through the Stock, Aitken and Waterman years, indie Kylie, duets with Nick Cave, the second coming in the 00's, several heartbreaks, cancer and becoming a national treasure.

Kylie at T in the Park in 1995 was a dream. I was determined to get to the front of the stage and ducked and dived through the crowd, looking round to find I was leading a conga with one guy saying 'we're following you wee man, keep going'. I still regret not buying a Kylie Kat t-shirt in the style of the Kit Kat logo.

The second time I caught Kylie I was in the second row of the SECC Armadillo. What a night that was! My friend Phil and I spent the afternoon in McChuills and jumped a cab. We sang and danced our hearts out. This was post Spinning Around and Kylie was on the way back up after some years in the wilderness. Gold hot pants that Kylie bought in a charity shop became a national talking point!

The third and final time I caught Kylie was in the SECC and again I was right down the front losing it to her pure pop perfection. What a show she put on!

Of course I fancied Kylie, I still do.I love her songs, I love her attitude, her performances and her personality. I think she will be incredible at Glastonbury.

Here are my top 10 favourite Kylie songs

1. Better The Devil You Know

Pure euphoric pop. Hi NRG with Kylie smouldering in a thin black dress. I love Kylie's hair in this one - stunning. I used to play this song when I DJ'd and by the end I would turn the chorus down to hear the crowd singing. Even if it was the first time people had heard it they would be singing along. The power of pop. Pure pop perfection.

2. Spinning Around
This was a kind of comeback single. Kylie hadn't featured in the UK top 10 since 1994's Confide In Me before the release of this incredible pop gem in the summer of 2000. It was everywhere; Kylie was back, Kylie was everywhere and the world seemed like a brighter and happier place.

3. All The Lovers

Dance, it's all I wanna do, so won't you dance?

What a line to open a song and then you have the chorus;

All the lovers that have gone before, they don't compare to you

How would you feel if Kylie sang that to you?!

It's 2010 and this is a different Kylie; more mature, assured, giving advice rather than doubting herself. The song takes off with a glorious synth solo, the video has Kylie crowdsurfing on top of underwear clad models in downtown LA, sounding breathless, sexy, in control.

4. I Believe In You
A co-write with Jake Shears from the Scissor Sisters (apparently there is a long lost album of co-writes) this is stunning pop that flows superbly, lifting for the chorus. The synths bubble into action and as the beat kicks in. Pop perfection.

I don't believe I'd love somebody just to pass the time

I, I, I believe in you

5. Love At First Sight
Released in 2002, Kylie was riding high on a run of sensational pop singles that started with Spinning Around and took in Kids with Robbie Williams, Can't Get You Out Of My Head and In Your Eyes.

Kylie bopps about in the video, looking sensational. The song grabs you instantly and takes off into Donna Summer at times. It's Kylie pop brilliance.

6. Can't Get You Out Of My Head
WHAT. A. TUNE! Written by pop genius Cathy Dennis, Can't Get You Out Of My Head is an earworm that you can't get rid of. It is a pretty simple song, but it's hook heavy and the hooks are rammed home.

2000 TO 2002 was peak Kylie for me, a pop princess was crowned during this iconic performance at the Brits when the song was mashed with New Order's Blue Monday. CLASS!

7. Some Kind Of Bliss
A co-write with the Manic St Preachers, this single only reached number 27, incredibly low for Kylie, but I love it. It's indie Kylie, it's refreshing that guitars are to the fore and synths are banished, with key strings underpinning the chorus. And Kylie sound very fresh, natural and it is clear that she is enjoying singing it. Another fave Kylie hairstyle of mine.

8. What Do I Have To Do?
Catchy, cheeky, hi energy pop, this comes during the first of Kylie's two current career peaks (in my opinion). Released in 1991, it was the 3rd single in a glorious run of Better The Devil You Know, Step Back In Time, What Do I Have To Do? and Shocked. The Stock, Aitken and Waterman glory years!

Kylie looks fantastic, smouldering on a throne like chair in a blonde wig, tearing up the dancefloor in as a brunette pixie and looking fresh in a pool. The chorus takes a minute to kick in but when it does it is absolutely HUGE and it is repeated for good measure.

What do I have to do to get the message through

How can I prove I really love you

9. Put Yourself In My Place
It would be easy to place Step Back In Time or Shocked in my top 10, but I'm going for Put Yourself In My Place from 1994. It's a different side to Kylie and I love the way her voice soars when the chorus comes in with the line you know the circle will come around

Kylie had left the Stock, Aitken and Waterman stable that had brought her so much success and signed with indie label DeConstruction. Kylie was now working with the likes of M-People and Brothers in Rythm to widen her artistic credentials.

The video is pretty incredible! Inspired by Barbarella, Minogue floats around in a spaceship shedding her clothes. As an 18-year old this blew my mind!

10. I Should Be So Lucky
It is pure unadulterated pop, simple, catchy and you find yourself singing on first listen ... on every listen. Minogue dancing through her living room and into the bath captivated the world, but the video needed the song with it. What a song; imagination, dreams coming true, lucky in love ....