51 songs that made my life

It’s been 10 years since I made my 40th playlist and what a 10 years it’s been, and not just musically speaking.

If you recall, the only rule for this playlist is only one song per artist. Some years are much harder than others and sometimes you end up with not necessarily the best song by a particular artist in order to squeeze them in somewhere. These are not necessarily my 50 favourite artists but some of them just had to be included somehow. Other years were particularly difficult with apparently no decent music released at all!

Over the past 10 years though there have been a couple of changes to the 40th playlist. Some songs haven’t stood the test of time and others have been deposed by incomers.

1967 Your love keeps lifting me higher and higher

No playlist should be without this!

Jackie Wilson
1968 Breaking down the walls of heartache

Got to have a bit of Northern Soul in there!

Johnny Johnson & the Bandwagon
1969 Pale blue eyes Velvet Underground
1970 54-46 was my number Toots & the Maytals
1971 Maggie May Rod Stewart
1972 Many rivers to cross Jimmy Cliff
1973 Do the strand Roxy Music
1974 Rebel rebel

So many songs to choose from!

David Bowie
1975 Loving you

First time round I really struggled to find something for this year but since then I’ve “discovered” the joys of Bruce Springsteen and a deeper appreciation for Kraftwerk. In the end I’ve gone with

 Thunder Road

 Although I could have gone with

 Radioactivity

Minnie Ripperton

Bruce Springsteen

Kraftwerk

1976 I need a roof The Mighty Diamonds
1977 Lust for life

Had to have some Iggy in there. 1973 was full – no room for Raw Power, or Transformer or Ziggy Stardust for that matter, so went with one of the many 1977 options.

Iggy Pop
1978 Guns on the roof

A great song but maybe not their best but, again, 1979, 1980 and 1982 were taken by other classics.

The Clash
1979 Eton rifles The Jam
1980 Holiday in Cambodia Dead Kennedys
1981 Plan B Dexys Midnight Runners
1982 The back of love Echo and the bunnymen
1983 The temple of love The Sisters of Mercy
1984 Come back The Mighty Wah!
1985 The sick bed of Cuchulainn The Pogues
1986 Bigmouth strikes again The Smiths
1987 Stop killing me The Primitives
1988 What for James
1989 Debaser The Pixies
1990 The only one I know

Honourable mention:

Soon

The Charlatans

My Bloody Valentine

Really should have got them in there somewhere!

1991 Justified and ancient

Now we’re starting to get into the duff years. Don’t talk to me about grunge!

The KLF
1992 Ebeneezer Goode

Again, not the greatest of years to choose from

The Shamen
1993 Open up Leftfield
1994 Red right hand Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
1995 Truth, rest your head Gene
1996 Born slippy Underworld
1997 Kowalski Primal Scream
1998 The boy with the arab strap Belle & Sebastian
1999 Aisha Death in Vegas
2000 Music: response The Chemical Brothers
2001 Crystal

The 80s were jam packed but luckily they were still releasing good music years later

New Order
2002 Let’s push things forward The Streets
2003 I need two hearts Ballboy
2004 Johnny Cash Sons & Daughters
2005 Mr Brightside

Am happy to receive suggestions to replace this! I’ve a good mind to replace it with:

 Go to hell, Miss Rydell

The Killers

Pelle Carlberg

2006 Collection of stamps I’m from Barcelona
2007 Golden skans

I only had 9 months in which to choose from originally so this one was a bit random so have now reflected and replaced it with:

Those dancing days

The Klaxons

Those Dancing Days

2008 You! Me! Dancing!

Album version for all you nitpickers out there!

Los Campesiños
2009 French Navy Camera Obscura
2010 All I wanna do The School
2011 Found love in a graveyard

Again, am open to suggestions for this year

Veronica Falls
2012 March of the Saxons Baltic Fleet
2013 Sugarcrush Joanna Gruesome
2014 Absolved

This is a really good song but are there not better options somewhere?

The Heartbreaks
2015 Illuminations

See 2014

Lusts
2016 In deep

See 2014

The KVB
2017 The love

See 2014. As with 2007, I’ve only had 9 months to choose from but, even so, there doesn’t seem to be a great choice so far.

Lea Porcelain

So no Shop Assistants, That Petrol Emotion, Martha Reeves, JAMC, Joy Division, Weather Prophets, the Fall (surely I could have squeezed them in there somewhere??), Congos, Men They Couldn’t Hang, Orange Juice, the Beat, the Specials, the Cure, Long Blondes, The The, Spacemen 3, Sonic Youth, Cramps, or even the Wedding Present, but you can’t have everything. Maybe I should have gone with two songs per year…

2014: a year in stats

Following on from last year’s stats, here’s how 2014 has shaped up in comparison. Taking into consideration Ian Watson’s comments on how early end of year lists come out, I’ve held this post off until 31st December, just in case a classic album pops up at the last minute.

Gigs attended: 13 (last year: 41). This stat is the clearest indicator of how the times have changed this year. Seven of these gigs were in January or February, leaving the other 6 to be spread over 10 months, compared with roughly one a week last year. I also realise it’s now 30 years since my first gig – The Cocteau Twins at Edinburgh Usher Hall, December 1984.

Artists: 30 (last year: 86)

Gig of the year: probably Joanna Gruesome at the Old Blue Last.

Joanna Gruesome

Most viewed music photo: Spook School at the Lexington

Spook School

Books read: 33 (last year: 36). Maybe they were longer books this year. There seem to be quite a few books on fatherhood this year. I’ve also been re-reading some old classics like the Trial and Morvern Callar.

Book of the year: By a large margin it has to be Live at the Brixton Academy by Simon Parkes. From the first line on it’s a ripping yarn of the harum scarum world of running a business in Brixton in the 80s and 90s. The chapters on Lloyds are particular classics. I now see Stockwell Park Estate and the streets around my office in a new light!

Tracks added to itunes: 1258 (last year: 1039). Clearly less time going out means more time on the old itunes maintenance. As usual, there will be comments on the quality of these 1258 tracks…

Album of the year: The War on Drugs – Lost in the dream. I know this is a bit of a cliché as it is top of pretty much every end of year chart but it is a good album.

Tracks of the year: Future Islands – Seasons (waiting on you). Another cliché. Wasn’t that bothered with the rest of the album but this one was a highlight of the year.

The Heartbreaks – Absolved. Great combination of the Smiths and Motown. Great video too.

The Leaf Library – The greater good. Obvious Stereolab comparisons but none the worse for that.

The School – When I fall in love. Second entry from wiaiwya this year.

Countries visited: 0 (last year: 11). This is the first year since 1988 that I haven’t left the UK.

New countries: 0 (last year: 7). So my total still stands at 95 and my target of reaching 100 by the end of this year is sadly not achieved.

Nappies changed: approx. 200 (last year: 0)

Oxytocin level: high (last year: I’d never even heard of oxytocin)