Playing Favorites #4

The long awaited 4th track on my playing favorites. I just had a feeling, right now of sadness, because I'm on the other side of peak. I only have one more track after this, so the pressure naturally gets tighter on this side of the five. There could be a significant delay before #5.

Wigan's The Verve are a band that I didn't pay too much attention to in the early 90s when they were at the top of their game. I was busy doing the electronica thing, dance parties, raves, ecstacy etc. Although I always loved rock.

So, a long time after the event, I'm putting on the CD player all those bands that actually started the whole thing, the Madchester sound. I wouldn't blame you if you thought that some of the Verve is sentimental - it is. But in amongst that sentimentality is some pure class, pure rock. This track, has it's namesake in Oasis, but it's a totally different track. Slide Away. The Verves version is glam, dark, slightly goth, probably what today kids would call emo. Fully emo in actual fact. This Is Music. And it's true. You can hear almost everyone in this, everyone from The Cult, thru aussies class late 80s pub act The Screaming Tribesman, Vedder, NZ's Bailterspace - I could go on. If Cobain was alive today you could be sure he'd have this track in his collection - so would Ian Curtis for that matter.

Ironically it wasn't until 97 that the Verve were featured on the cover of NME a few years after their big American outing at Lolapalooza. And a year before that this track topped the UK indie charts. The Verve are arguably the most underated of the brit rock bands - overshadowed at the time by Oasis and the Stone Roses. But, then, there is always something cool about the underdog.

I give you number 4. The Verve's, Slide Away - you can hear it at their myspace page. From their debut album "a storm in heaven" - A true rock classic. If you consider yourself cool in anyway whatsoever - you need this in your collection - get it tomorrow. Put it on at your next party.

Verve - Slide Away
So take your time
I wonder if you're here just to use my mind
Don't take it slow
You know I've got a place to go
You always do that
Something I'm not sure of
But just for today
Let go and slide away

I was thinking maybe we could go outside
Let the night sky cool your foolish pride
Don't you feel alive
These are your times and our highs

So take your time
I wonder which cup you'll drink from
I hope it's mine
Beause you always do that something
Something I'm not sure of
But just for today
Let go and burn away
'Cause I read your mind
I need it because it takes me where I can't find
Because you always do that something
Something I'm not sure of
But just for today
Let go and burn away

[repeat]

Slide Away burn away
Slide Away burn away
I read your mind
I read your mind
'Cause it takes me to where I can't find...

Playing Favorites #3

I said to my gorgeous brother Stu last night, whom with his lovely partner Fritha hosted me for dinner and quality beverage, that I want to totally revise my Top 5 "imaginary Kim Hill playing favorites", incidently it's become a game...

We couldn't agree about whether you ought to include a novelty track, and the definition of a novelty track couldn't be adequately agreed upon either, it could be a reference, or dedication type track, one that you remember whilst growing up, or that your parents played, or it could simply be pure novelty, excluding the chicken dance song, the following selection might help the confused - I'm Too Sexy For My Shirt, Hands Up Baby Hands Up, Baby Got Back - Sir Mixalot. Hammond Organs featured as instruments appropriate for novelty tracks, but by the time we'd agreed to our inability to form a consensus, we'd discussed again all the tracks we know that have dogs barking in them, and I had played the Pixies and Stu was scanning a Joy Division CD cover, and we were onto the single malt.

Anyway - Chris Bourke (what happened to Mark?), I am now officially a D-list celeb, I got mentioned in the first paragraph of Dave Hansford's Listener article last week. So - come on mate. I'd so get on with Kim, and I'd tell her all about (re: the infamous John Campbell letter) how I had to shared a jersey with my younger brother, growing up in Waitangirua. The poor immigrant Scottish family and how I'm doing a PhD in Philosophy - and one of my supervisors is in residence at Oxford University, the other at Australian National University. As Ian Dury correctly points out, "There ain't half been some clever bastards, lucky bleeders"

So, in anycase, and as the case may be, in fact as the case is, at least in this case. My top 5 has a distinctively British rock theme - and so, I may as well continue where I left off.

Here it is number 3. Ready for the weekend. Mark, I am in Holland, Oxford and the UK in a couple of weeks on academic business so will be unavailable until mid july. But, well mate, I'll await the call up.

Nothing Precious At All. Stereophonics, from the "You Gotta Go There to Come Back" album.

I'm a nostalgia freak, like I said earlier, I'm not sure if it is an affliction bought about by listening to music after having a few wines, or if it is indeed a mental condition in it's own right. Whatever, this song does it for me. It burns nostalgia. It reminds me of glory days, maybe it's the old school piano riff at the beginning, but then it slots beautifully into a punchy bass line, and then there is Kelly Jone's inimitable voice. Sublime! "She's got red hair and a motorbike and lime green shoes" - it's hard not to sympathise with the character in Jone's lyrics. The song could have come straight out of the 70s, but it has a distinctive 21st century feel.

If you are going to buy one Stereophonics album - get this one.

Nothing Precious At All

I been people watching again

I think they watch me too

There's a new girl at the coffee house

She's got first day blues

She's got red hair and a motorbike

And lime green shoes

A mohair hat and a summers dress

And black tattoos

And then she fly away

In her high heel feet

And her fire dress

And she's throwing things

That took her time to save it up

And buy what's special

Then she look around

And sees what's left

And it's nothing much

Nothing precious at all

Nothing precious at all

Gonna drink herself to sleep tonight

And that's nothing new

She goes out almost nine every night

And gets high as the moon

She takes photographs of American cars

Where she went to school

She likes fireworks and candlelight

And fake bad news

And then she fly away

In her high heel feet

And her fire dress

And she's throwing things

That took her time to save it up

And buy what's special

Then she look around

And sees what's left

And it's nothing much

Nothing precious at all

Nothing precious at all

Nothing precious at all

Is she a loner or a mother's girl

That's up to you

She got fine lines round her tired eyes

And they're painted blue

She could sleep around with anyone

If she wanted to

Gotta go my time is up right now

Got stuff to do

Playing Favorites #2

Thought it was about time I published song number 2 on the list of 5. "Playing Favorites" is slot on Saturday morning Radio NZ National. The producer of the show hosted by Kim Hill is a bloke called Mark Cubey, quite an affable character, check out my previous Playing Favorites selection, over time I will produce five of them. If you reckon I'd sound ok ranting and raving about nothing on National Radio, email Mark Cubey and tell him "put Steve on playing favs..."

Wot a fuckin tragedy

In 2003 I read an interview with Paul Weller, he rated this band I'd never heard of called the Libertines, (produced by The Clash's Mick Jones it held some mysterious promise, particular given Joe Strummers untimely death).
I scoured Wellington for a copy of Up The Bracket, their first album that barely made it onto the UK album charts despite good reviews from NME. What the fuck were you listening to back then - Westlife?

The Libertines changed everything. As Anthony Thornton rightly argues - post-Libertines bands rule the UK charts now - Arctic Monkeys, Brightons Kooks, and Scotlands Dundee boys The View. All couldn't have existed if Pete Doherty and Carl Barat didn't.

The tragedy, Doherty's obsession with heroin and cocaine. If only he could deal with this the project that is the Libertines would no longer be on hold and the music world would be better for it. The last Libertines self-titled album (pictured) was released in 2004, since then Barat went on to form Dirty Pretty Things, and Doherty when coherent has dabbled with Babyshambles. Doherty who studied English literature, I reckon, is a genius!

If you loved The Clash, The Jam, you will find your mid-life-nirvana in the Libertines, if you like Arctic Monkeys and the nu-uk-rock - discover the roots.

My second favorite is from the first album, Up The Bracket, track 4 - Time for Heroes.

Did you see the stylish kids in the riot
We were shovelled up like muck
Set the night on fire
Wombles bleed truncheons and shields
You know I cherish you my love

But there's a rumour spread nasty diseases around town
Caught round the houses with your trousers down
A headrush in the bush
You know I cherish you my love
How i cherish you my love

What can you want now you've got it all
The whole scene is obscene
Time will strip it away
A year and a day
And Bill Bones
Bill Bones he knows what I mean

Yes it's eating no it's chewing me up
It's not right for young lungs to be coughing up blood
Oh it's all
It's all in my hands
And its all up the walls

Well the stale chips are up and the hopes stakes are down
Its these ignorant faces that bring this town down
Yeah I sighed and sunken with pride
I passed myself down on my knees
Yes I passed myself down on my knees

What can you want now you've got it all
The whole scene is obscene
Time will strip it away
A year and a day
And Bill Bones
Bill Bones knows what I really mean

There are fewer more distressing sights than that
Of an Englishman in a baseball cap
Yeah we'll die in the class we were born
That's a class of our own my love
Were in a class of our own my love

Did you see the stylish kids in the riot
We were shovelled up like muck
Then set the night on fire
Wombles bleed truncheons and shields
You know I cherish you my love
Oh how I cherish you my love.

Playing Favorites #1

I've been trying to convince Mark Cubey to invite me on to Saturday National Radio to play my favorites. Usually you have to be someone - like be on TV, or have written some book, or saved a swamp or something. I haven't done any of that stuff - but I reckon my favorites would rate.

My first track would be the natural rejoinder to the Beach Boys Surfing Safari - the Clash's Charlie Don't Surf.

The Beach Boys were the pin ups for the theoretical but mendacious post world war Amercan consumer culture where everybody would live in suburban utopia and embrace absolute automobile freedom. Sometime after the "good vibrations" faded away and like Elvis before him, Brian Wilson descended inevitably into a drug and alcohol induced stupor - obesity, paranoia and depression took over ironically mirroring American society today.

On the exterior the free world puts up a brave front - but it ain't easy work ramming freedom Vegas style down the throats of infidels.

Todays Charlie includes Iraqi insurgents, the people of the Occupied Territories (kia kaha), Lebanon and Syria, probably Muslims in general however when the Clash wrote this track Charlie was the North Vietnamese VC or Viet-Cong also referred to as "Victor Charlie", or ... Charlie for short.

I give you track one of my playing favorites.

Charlie Don't Surf - The Clash - (Sandinista)

Charlie don't surf and we think he should
Charlie don't surf and you know that it ain't no good
Charlie don't surf for his hamburger Momma
Charlie's gonna be a napalm star

Everybody wants to rule the world
Must be something we get from birth
One truth is we never learn
Satellites will make space burn

We've been told to keep the strangers out
We don't like them starting to hang around
We don't like them all over town
Across the world we are going to blow them down

The reign of the super powers must be over
So many armies can't free the earth
Soon the rock will roll over
Africa is choking on their Coca Cola

It's a one a way street in a one horse town
One way people starting to brag around
You can laugh, put them down
These one way people gonna blow us down

Charlie don't surf he'll never learn
Charlie don't surf though he's got a gun
Charlie don't surf think that he should
Charlie don't surf we really think he should
Charlie don't surf

Charlie don't surf and we think he should
Charlie don't surf and you know that it ain't no good
Charlie don't surf for his hamburger Momma
Charlie don't surf