Surrounded By A Bunch Of Muppets

I don't recall seeing this before so, to lighten the mood a little, Debbie Harry performing One Way Or Another on The Muppet Show in 1980.

A welcome change from the bunch of Muppets currently making the world a worse place.

Upon A Mouse #4: HeeBeeGeeBees Or CBGBs? There Is No Question

Kicking off this week's trio of remastered and expanded reflections that appeared in The 20 Greatest Eponymous Albums Of All Time series (which you can find at No Badger Required) is a pair of New York legends, Blondie and Ramones.

In reality, I'd freely admit that I listen to Debbie Harry and the gang more often than Joey and his Ramones 'siblings' and that in both cases, their eponymous debuts were not the best albums they recorded, though thankfully not the worst either. 

However, there was quite a gap between their respective placings on my NBR Musical Jury voting sheet. Blondie's self-titled album came in at #17 with 4 points, whilst Ramones managed almost the complete reverse, with a #3 placing and a whopping 18 points. How so?

Well, as I've said, Blondie by Blondie is not my favourite Blondie album perhaps, even though it contains some of my favourite Blondie songs, with In The Flesh, Rip Her To Shreds and Kung Fu Girls. 

The first album of theirs that I ever heard - and then bought - was the superlative 1981 compilation The Best Of Blondie. I'm talking here about the 14-track UK edition that includes Denis, PIcture This and Union City Blue, not the 12-song US version that drops all three and adds One Way Or Another, excellent though it is. Best Of Blondie is so chock full of great songs that it's an essential album in any collection.

After that, it's a toss up between Plastic Letters and Parallel Lines as my personal favourite Blondie albums, so I guess that makes Blondie by Blondie my fourth favourite Blondie album. Doesn't scan quite so well, does it?

In The Flesh and Rip Her To Shreds were included on The Best Of Blondie, whilst Kung Fu Girls was one of two B-sides of the 7" single Denis, which I picked up secondhand at Plastic Wax Records in Bristol in the late 1980s. Sadly the latter was the reissue in the generic Chrysalis label sleeve, rather than the first version with the striking Debbie Harry cover. 

So, I was very familiar with these songs, and they are arguably the high points of the album as a whole. 

It's accepted that Blondie had an astonishing look and a mesmerising singer in Debbie Harry, but the debut album proved that they also had the tunes to back it up. 

My starting point with Ramones was very different, 1980's Phil Spector-produced fifth album, End Of The Century, which contained a surprise UK hit in their cover of Baby I Love You. I loved - and still love - that album, but it isn't truly representative of Ramones' work up to that point.

Their eponymous debut came out in April 1976, eight months before Blondie, though Ramones were not the first of the CBGB set to release an album (that was Patti Smith Group with Horses in November 1975, pub quizzers).

Fourteen songs in under half an hour, yet packing ideas and energy so tightly, it’s a wonder the album doesn’t explode when played. Whilst Ramones by Ramones isn’t the first Ramones album that I bought, it’s my favourite and the one I play the most.

 

Blitzkrieg Bop, Beat On The Brat, Judy Is A Punk Rocker and I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend kick off like a Greatest Hits collection and the rest of the album is just as good. All Ramones songs spring from the same seed, but what they grow into is something else.

The other personal connection with Blondie and Ramones is that I got to see both bands live in concert, and coincidentally both outside of the UK.

Ramones were first, at the Silver Jubilee Pavillion in the Claremont Showground, outside of Perth, Western Australia on Saturday 2nd February 1991. You can find my memories - and 32-song setlist recreation - in a Dubhed post from October 2022.

Blondie followed on 8th August 1999, at the open air Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh, just outside of New York. This was Blondie's second coming, on the back of smash hit comeback single Maria, and album No Exit. Again, I shared my reflections - and the setlist - on this blog, twenty three years later, to the day.

Today's completely unrelated cover photo is Gordon Jackson as Dr. Johnson in 1978 movie The Medusa Touch, snapped off the telly moments before the dramatic conclusion. Jackson was already a legend to me at the time for his starring role in TV series The Professionals.

Not Just A Drummer

The sad news emerged yesterday that Clem Burke has passed at the age of 70. 

Tributes have unsurprisingly been in great supply, from musicians, critics, fans and of course his bandmates in his career-spanning primary job, who described Clem as "not just a drummer [but] the heartbeat of Blondie". 

Clem's much-lauded work ethic was played out in the number of records he appeared on outside of Blondie, including Bob Dylan, Eurythmics, Wanda Jackson, Pete Townshend, Iggy Pop and Nancy Sinatra. Oh, and Mark Owen from Take That.

I've picked half a dozen of Clem's extracurricular activities from YouTube, a few of which have proper videos. Like 'em or not, they're all better for having Clem playing on them.

1) Run Like A Villain: Iggy Pop (1982)

2) Blue Guitars: Vivabeat (1986)

3) King Of Confusion (Cover of The Go-Go's): The Coolies ft. Kathy Valentine & Clem Burke (2023)

4) Child: Mark Owen (1996)

5) Revenge: Eurythmics (1981)

6) Where Were You: Adult Net (1989)

The motherlode of course is Clem's contribution to (every single one of) Blondie's eleven albums, six between 1976's self-titled debut and 1982's The Hunter, and five more from 1999's No Exit to 2017's Pollinator.

Clem's contribution cannot be understated. Just listen to Heart Of Glass, Denis, Atomic, Rapture. And he was cool, so cool. 

You can find my 45-minute selection of Blondie circa '76-'82 from August 2023 here

In August 1999, I was lucky enough to see Blondie perform live in Long Island, New York on their No Exit tour. I reflected on the gig and recreated the setlist in August 2022, which can be found here

You're laying down a different kind of beat now, Clem, but the echo of your heartbeat will stay with us. Thanks for everything.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Amongst The Moshers

January will be a gig-free month for me, so to fill the void I've compiled a imaginary live set featuring some top-notch performances from 1977 to 1979. And imagine the mosh pit!

 

The formidable line-up includes The Fall, Joy Division, Blondie, The Clash, The Specials, Scritti Politti and Magazine with heavyweight appearances from The Police, John Cale and David Bowie.

I even managed to sneak in some John Cooper Clarke.

Enjoy! But no spitting. I don't like spitting.

 

1) Stepping Out (Live @ Electric Circus, Manchester): The Fall (1977) 

2) Detroit 442 (Live @ The Walnut Theatre, Philadelphia): Blondie (1978)

3) Sabotage (Live @ CBGB, New York): John Cale (1979)

4) Armagideon Time (Live @ Hammersmith Odeon, London): The Clash (1979)

5) Guns Of Navarone (Live @ The Lyceum, London): The Specials (1979)

6) Be My Wife (Live @ Earls Court, London): David Bowie (1978)

7) Persecution Complex (Live @ Electric Circus, Manchester): The Drones (1977)

8) Tomorrow (Live @ University Of California, Riverside, California): Wall Of Voodoo (1979)

9) Bronze Adonis (Live @ Rafters, Manchester): John Cooper Clarke (1978)

10) Miracle Man (Live @ The Nashville Room, London): Elvis Costello & The Attractions (1977)

11) She Can Only Say No (Live): The Undertones (1979)

12) Art Forever (Live @ Acklam Hall, London): Scritti Politti (1979)

13) Time's Up (Live @ Electric Circus, Manchester): Buzzcocks (1977)

14) Message In A Bottle (Live @ Park West, Chicago): The Police (1979)

15) At A Later Date (Live @ Electric Circus, Manchester): Joy Division (1977)

16) Definitive Gaze (Live @ Lesser Free Trade Hall, Manchester): Magazine (1978)

In Amongst The Moshers (49:49) (KF) (Mega)

Decade I: 1980

Side 1 of a cassette compilation, recorded 3rd February 1990.

 

In 2023, Toby Roberts dreamed of competing in the 2024 Olympics, qualifying in October and yesterday bringing home gold with an incredible boulder and lead performance, aged 19.

In 1990, 19-year old me dreamed of girls, music and getting away from the UK. As Meat Loaf once over emoted on vinyl, two out of three ain't bad. My love life was at least consistent: mostly short-lived or unrequited. But...I did eventually get away from the UK later that year, a life-changing solo experience in Australia. Gold Coast rather than a gold medal, but good enough for me.

And my relationship with music has sustained me through the years, never letting me down. Well, apart from that Simple Minds headline gig at the Ashton Court Festival in Bristol, but nothing's perfect, right?

So, as 1989 turned into 1990 I had the notion of doing a themed series of cassette compilations, looking back at the previous decade. Five C90s, one year per side, 12 songs apiece. 

I had a growing record collection by that time, mostly vinyl and cassettes, with a few CDs creeping in. I also had access to my brother's vinyl - he'd gone to uni in Bournemouth and left most of behind with my parents - and my friend Stuart's collection, to plug any gaps in my 'wants' list.

1980 is inevitably a cracking selection, if I say so myself, as there was so much good music to choose from. Pretty much all of these came from my own records, the only exceptions being Martha & The Muffins (my brother's copy of Metro Music) and Talking Heads and U2, borrowed from Stuart.

And yes, I accept that Once In A Lifetime wasn't released in the UK as a single until January 1981. However, in those pre-internet years, I went by the P&C year stated on the back sleeve and labels. Remain In Light said 1980, so that was good enough for me. I subsequently found that the info printed on records were often unreliable in this regard. in this case, I'm happy to confirm that Remain In Light came out in October 1980. Yippee, me.

A strong opener to the series, then. Could I sustain it? 

You won't have long to find out...

 

1) Messages (10" Version): O.M.D.

2) Fade To Grey (Dance Mix Edit): Visage

3) Echo Beach (Album Version): Martha & The Muffins

4) Once In A Lifetime (Album Version): Talking Heads

5) Call Me (Theme From American Gigolo) (Single Version): Blondie

6) Do It Clean (Single Version): Echo & The Bunnymen

7) Independence Day (Album Version): The Comsat Angels

8) Israel (Single Version): Siouxsie & The Banshees

9) Love Will Tear Us Apart (Album Version): Joy Division

10) My Perfect Cousin (Album Version): The Undertones

11) A Day Without Me (Album Version): U2

12) Being Boiled (Album Version): The Human League

23rd March 1980: Metro Music (#10): 3

20th April 1980: Call Me EP (#1): 5 

11th May 1980: Holiday 80 EP (#56): 12 *

11th May 1980: Hypnotised (#9): 10 

15th June 1980: Messages EP (#13): 1

13th July 1980: Waiting For A Miracle (# n/a): 7 **

20th July 1980: Love Will Tear Us Apart EP (#13): 9

24th August 1980: Boy (# n/a): 11 

5th October 1980: The Puppet / Do It Clean EP (# n/a): 6

30th November 1980: Israel EP (#41): 8 

1st February 1981: Visage (#8): 2 ***

1st March 1981: Remain In Light (#14): 4 ****

Side One (46:12) (GD) (M)

 

* Being Boiled was re-released on the back of The Human League's chart success and peaked at #6 in January 1982.  

** Neither single nor album troubled the UK charts in 1980, but a re-recorded version of Independence Day made it to #71 in January 1984 

*** Fade To Grey first entered the UK singles chart on 14th December 1980

**** Remain In Light entered the UK album chart on 26th October 1980 and that, M'lud, is my sole defence!

Well It's Fun To Think That I'm Having The Time Of My Life

Torrential rain, an extremely laggy computer and a wailing cat have not been conducive to composing today's post, so I'll dispense with lengthy sleeve notes and offer up another 1980s selection, with one song from each year of that decade and veering towards the poppier end of the musical spectrum. 

 

Today's post and mix title are lifted from track 5 on this selection. Thanks, Mr. Tom Bailey! 

 

Photo is my own snap of graffiti adorning a building just around the corner from the Institut Valencià d'Art Modern, where Clan K spent an enjoyable couple of hours on our last day in Valencia, just over a week ago. It's a bit blurry as I was on the other side of the street, crossing the road and trying to get the shot in motion. The fact that there isn't a follow up photo of me wrapped around a lamppost or on the bonnet of a car still amazes me...

Happy Friday, everyone!

 

1) Let's Dance (Long Version By David Bowie, Nile Rodgers & Bob Clearmountain): David Bowie (1983)

2) If Only I Could (Extended Version By Claus Zundel): Sydney Youngblood (1989)

3) I'm Not Scared (Disco Mix By Pet Shop Boys & Phil Harding): Eighth Wonder (1988)

4) Strangelove (Pain Mix By Mix Master Phil Harding): Depeche Mode (1987)

5) In The Name Of Love (Big Value Version/New Super Synthesized Version By Tom Bailey): Thompson Twins (1982)

6) Ruby Red (Re-Edited And Re-Structured By Mike Hedges): Marc Almond (1986)

7) Mind Of A Toy (Dance Mix By Visage): Visage (1981)

8) Call Me (Theme From American Gigolo) (Album Version By Giorgio Moroder): Blondie (1980)

9) Cry (Extended Remix By J.J. Jeczalik): Godley & Creme (1985)

10) It's My Life (US Mix By Steve Thompson): Talk Talk (1984)

Fun To Think (1:13:14) (KF) (Mega)

Loitering With Intent

The joy of the three-minute pop song in 1978*, however else you want to label it. I missed most of these first time around, as they were B-sides or album tracks, but this music refuses to be denied and at various points in my life have gatecrashed my consciousness and my record collection.

A collection of the usual suspects perhaps though when the songs are this great, is it any surprise? A rollercoaster ride that's over in under 36 minutes but packs a lot in to it's wild ride. Strap in!

* Or, in the case of The Stranglers, the six-minute-plus cover version of a stone cold classic pop song.

The selection includes several songs that appeared in JC's excellent 60 Albums @ 60 series, which revealed All Mod Cons by The Jam at #1. So today's post is dedicated to JC with thanks and love.

1) Friends (John Peel Session): Adam & The Ants

2) Radios In Motion: XTC 

3) Reasons: Skids

4) Action Time Vision: Alternative TV

5) Touch And Go (Single Version): Magazine

6) Just Lust: Buzzcocks

7) Billy Hunt: The Jam

8) Suicide A Go Go: Big In Japan

9) I'm Gonna Love You Too: Blondie

10) Drug-Stabbing Time: The Clash

11) Sand In My Joints (Album Version): Wire

12) Walk On By (Cover of Dionne Warwick): The Stranglers

 

1978: Action Time Vision EP / The Image Has Cracked: 4

1978: All Mod Cons: 7 

1978: Chairs Missing: 11

1978: Charles EP: 3

1978: Ever Fallen In Love... (With Someone You Shouldn't've) EP: 6 

1978: From Y To Z And Never Again EP: 8

1978: Give 'Em Enough Rope: 10

1978: Parallel Lines: 9

1978: Touch And Go: 5

1978: Walk On By EP / Black And White (ltd LP+7"): 12

1978: White Music: 2

1990: The Peel Sessions: 1

 

Loitering With Intent (35:51) (Box) (Mega)

Hanging On A Frequency

Exactly nine months ago, on Monday 8th August 2022, I posted about Blondie. I didn't know that when I first planned another Blondie selection for today, though it seems that it was meant to be so who am I to argue?

Last time around, I wrote about the incredible experience of seeing Blondie live in concert during a visit to New York on 8th August 1999 (that was a Sunday, but what the heck). My 17-song selection mirrored the setlist and, though it was quite heavy on then-current album No Exit, I was struck by how many great songs Blondie had to leave out so packed with classics the gig was.

This time around, I've gone for a 14-track, (nearly) 45-minute selection of deeper cuts and a few singles that didn't make the 1999 setlist. I've bravely/rashly included songs from all of the albums from Blondie's first wave, from 1976's self-titled debut up to 1982's The Hunter. Perhaps inevitably, Parallel Lines gets the most songs in. 

I previously mentioned that The Vinyl Villain ran a couple of Imaginary Compilation Albums for Blondie in (naturally) parallel back in 2018. I didn't go back to them until after choosing my selection and noted that JC's and Walter's choices had overlapped on three songs. In the Venn Diagram of our three selections, the common song - and my choice of opener - is 11:59. 

 

I've also managed to inadvertently synch with Echorich, another friend of TVV and this blog, who commented in 2018 that he couldn't choose between 11:59 and Picture This - neither could I! Picture This closes out this selection - by sheer coincidence, mirroring Echorich's own suggested ICA. 

 

Of course, my selection wouldn't pass muster as an Imaginary Compilation Album as I haven't observed the 10-song/two vinyl sides rule. However, some just couldn't be cut either because I like the song so much or they just flowed naturally from what comes before/after. 

 

Sound-A-Sleep is a good example of the latter: not an obvious choice perhaps but pairs so well (I think) with In The Flesh. Rifle Range is the former: I had the 7" of Heart Of Glass so fell in love with this song long before I knew that it dated from 1976 and their eponymous album.

As with the 1999 setlist, today's selection isn't a 'best of' in the sense of back-to-back hits, though I think it does show that when Blondie were good, they were unbeatable.

 

1) 11:59 (1978)

2) Go Through It (1980)

3) Sunday Girl (Album Version) (1978)

4) Angels On The Balcony (1980)

5) English Boys (1982)

6) Just Go Away (1978)

7) Sound-A-Sleep (1979)

8) In The Flesh (Special Mix) (1981)

9) Living In The Real World (1979) 

10) Fan Mail (1977)

11) Rifle Range (Album Version) (1976)

12) Scenery (1976)

13) Man Overboard (1976)

14) Picture This (1978)

 

1976: Blondie: 11, 13

1977: Plastic Letters: 10, 12

1978: Parallel Lines: 1, 3, 6, 14

1979: Eat To The Beat: 7, 9

1980: Autoamerican: 2, 4

1981: The Best Of Blondie: 8

1982: The Hunter: 5

Hanging On A Frequency (44:46) (KF) (Mega)

 

You can find my previous Blondie selection here

I Guess I Must Be Having Fun

Back to the 1980s for some weekend fun...but not as you know it. A clutch of brave DJs and producers - Danny McLewin & Tom Coveney aka Psychemagik, Ben Zaven Crane aka Mojo Filter, Blake Robin aka Luxxury and Nicolas Laugier aka The Reflex - have taken on some iconic songs and re-edited and re-imagined them for the 21st Century.

Opinion may be divided on whether the edits open the music up to new and interesting interpretations or whether, crudely put, it's a bastardisation of classic songs that should have been left alone. The fact that I've compiled and posted this selection probably tells you which way I'm dancing (badly) on this one. 

 

1) This Must Be The Place (Naive Edit By Psychemagik): Talking Heads (2010)

2) Arabian Knights (Mojo Filter Banshee Edit): Siouxsie & The Banshees (2012)

3) Rock The Casbah (Luxxury Edit): The Clash (2013)

4) It's My LIfe (The Reflex Re√ision): Talk Talk (2019)

5) Going Underground (The Reflex Re√ision): The Jam (2017)

6) Blue Monday (Luxxury 'How Does It Feel' Edit): New Order (2016)

7) Rapture (The Reflex Re√ision): Blondie (2017)

 

I Guess I Must Be Having Fun (47:54) (Box) (Mega)

What's The Prediction? I'll Betcha It's Friction!

Listening to the Ramones recently got me digging out more tunes from 1976 to 1978, leading to today's selection, spanning 19 songs and a smidge over 1 hour.

There are perhaps some obvious choices: Ready Steady Go by Generation X, Friction by Television, What Do I Get? by Buzzcocks, The Passenger by Iggy Pop. I've thrown in a few other singles, B-sides and live performances by Elvis Costello & The Attractions, Eater, Protex, Magazine and Joy Division (belated happy 65th birthday for yesterday, Stephen Morris!)

 

I've also included a few choice album tracks by Ramones, The Clash, David Johansen, Talking Heads and Wire. Add to that a handful oddities and 'lost' tunes by Big In Japan, The Scenics and Adam & The Ants (covering Perry Como!) and it's enough to stir this sedentary sequencer of songs.

 

1) Ready Steady Go (Album Version): Generation X (1978)

2) What's Your Game (Album Version): Ramones (1977)

3) Tiny Steps: Elvis Costello & The Attractions (1978)

4) Thinkin' Of The U.S.A.: Eater (1977)

5) Catch A Falling Star (Unreleased Version) (Cover of Perry Como): Adam & The Ants (1977)

6) Last Gang In Town: The Clash (1978)

7) Confusion: Sparks (1976)

8) Cindy And The Barbi Dolls: Big In Japan (1978)

9) Friction (Album Version): Television (1977)

10) Touch And Go (Live @ Lesser Free Trade Hall, Manchester): Magazine (1978)

11) At A Later Date (Live @ Electric Circus, Manchester): Joy Division (1977)

12) In The Sun (Album Version): Blondie (1976)

13) Not That Much: David Johansen (1978)

14) Don't Ring Me Up: Protex (1978)

15) What Do I Get?: Buzzcocks (1978)

16) Stay Hungry (Album Version): Talking Heads (1978)

17) Do The Wait: The Scenics (1977)

18) The Passenger (Album Version): Iggy Pop (1977)

19) Champs: Wire (1977)

1976: Big Beat: 7

1976: Blondie: 12

1977: Leave Home: 2

1977: Lust For Life: 18

1977: Marquee Moon: 9 

1977: Pink Flag: 19

1977: Thinkin' Of The U.S.A. EP: 4

1978: David Johansen: 13 

1978: Don't Ring Me Up EP: 14

1978: From Y To Z And Never Again EP: 8

1978: Generation X: 1

1978: Give 'Em Enough Rope: 6 

1978: More Songs About Buildings And Food: 16

1978: Radio Radio EP: 3

1978: Short Circuit: Live At The Electric Circus: 11 

1978: What Do I Get? EP: 15

2000: Ant Box: 5

2009: Play + (Expanded 2CD Edition): 10

2009: Sunshine World: Studio Recordings 1977-78: 17

What's The Prediction? I'll Betcha It's Friction! (1:01:30)

Tough Act To Follow

I wasn't expecting to have to post another celebration so soon after Olivia Newton-John yesterday but here is a modest tribute to Lamont Dozier, who arrived 16th June 1941 and departed 8th August 2022.

I had very little time to prepare this post so, as you might expect, I've avoided the obvious - and frankly overwhelming - route of focusing on the dozens and dozens of original Motown classics that Lamont Dozier wrote with brothers Brian Holland and Eddie Holland. 

 

Instead, I've pulled together a brisk 10-song, 40-minute selection of cover versions, spanning Colourbox to Marcia Griffiths, The Fall to Odyssey and The Rolling Stones to Snuff. I've also included a couple of Lamont Dozier co-writes from the 1980s: Alison Moyet and Simply Red were on the long list but didn't make the cut; Boy George is perhaps a lesser known cut but everyone of a certain age will remember the Four Tops song, particularly if they found themselves at a late 1980s work do...

 

Today's selection is named after a track from Lamont Dozier's 1979 solo album, Bittersweet, and I couldn't think of anything more apt.

1) You Keep Me Hanging On (7" Version) (Cover of The Supremes): Colourbox (1985)

2) Standing In The Shadows Of Love (Cover of Four Tops): Snuff (1996)

3) There's A Ghost In My House (Cover of R. Dean Taylor): The Fall (1987)

4) Going Back To My Roots (Broots Club Mix By John Morales & Sergio Munzibai) (Cover of Lamont Dozier): Odyssey (1987)

5) Can I Get A Witness (Cover of Marvin Gaye): The Rolling Stones (1964)

6) My World Is Empty Without You (Cover of Diana Ross & The Supremes): The Afghan Whigs (1991)

7) Seven Rooms Of Gloom (Live @ The Apollo Theatre, Glasgow) (Cover of Four Tops): Blondie (1979)

8) Sold (12" Version By Les Adams): Boy George (1987)

9) Band Of Gold (Cover of Freda Payne): Marcia Griffiths (1974)

10) Loco In Acapulco (PH Balance Mix By Phil Harding & Ian Curnow): Four Tops (1988)

Tough Act To Follow (40:41)

Some Days Are All Mondays

...but if all your Mondays are soundtracked by Blondie, who's complaining?

On Sunday 8th August 1999 around 6.00pm, my friend Stuart and I were sitting on Jones Beach, prior to going into the snappily-titled Coca Cola At Jones Beach Theater to see Blondie live in concert. According to the ever-reliable Wikipedia, Jones Beach is found at 1 Ocean Parkway in the hamlet of Wantagh, in the town of Hempstead, in Nassau County, on Long Island, New York, in the United States Of America. Fortunately, we didn't have to give that mouthful of directions to a cab driver as we hopped on the Long Island Rail Road from NYC, then a short bus ride to reach our destination.

 

Stuart and I were supposed to have gone to Iceland. Earlier in 1999, we both found ourselves single, approaching the last year of our twenties and at the end of the millennium so we decided that we were going to go on an adventure together. Although we didn't know what the future held, it still felt like it was a 'now or never' opportunity before marriage, kids and other seismic life changes made a 'boys' own adventure' logistically or financially out of reach.

 

Iceland had long held an appeal, not least because we shared a love for The Sugarcubes and Björk. As it turned out, return flights and a few days in Reykjavík was going to set us back around £1,000, so it was already financially out of reach to us in 1999. New York, however, wasn't so a flight was duly booked and off we went.

I would say that neither of us had really planned the trip, to the extent that I'd only booked accommodation for the first night, figuring that we could decide where we wanted to spend the rest of our stay once we were there. I didn't have access to online booking back then and I remember phoning to book the Chelsea Hotel, that legendary haunt of writers, artists and actors. Imagine my surprise when, after a long flight, transfer to New York City and walk to the hotel, the reception staff were not expecting us. After much back and forth, it transpired that I'd actually booked the nearby Chelsea Star Hotel, which was an entirely different proposition and a story all by itself. Suffice to say, we found ourselves sharing a bed in the "Absolutely Fabulous"  themed suite (for "suite" read "box room") for one night only.

 

Apart from a vague idea that we'd like to go to a gig during our stay, we'd not made any plans prior to our trip (see a pattern emerging here?) and it just so happened that Blondie were in town near the end of our stay as part of their mammoth No Exit world tour. Tickets were $29.00 (about £18.00 back then), so it was a done deal.

You may have spotted the phrase "rain or shine" on the ticket beneath the date and time. The Coca Cola At Jones Beach Theater (these days the even more snappily titled Norwell Health At Jones Beach Theater; sponsors, eh?) is an open air ampitheatre with a policy that the show must go on, whatever the weather. Fine for the band performing on stage, no so great for the audience. Looking at my photos of Stuart and I on Jones Beach, I can confirm that Sunday 8th August 1999 had neither rain nor shine, with nondescript white sky and moderate temperature. According to Wiki, the ampitheatre has a capacity of 15,000 but I don't recall the venue feeling particularly packed so I'm guessing it wasn't a sell out.

 

Unsurprisingly, the gig was very heavily weighted towards their hugely successful comeback, No Exit, with 7 songs (half the album) in a 17-song set. The rest was made up of classics and big hits, with inevitably several omissions. Sunday Girl, (I'm Always Touched By Your) Presence Dear, Union City Blue and Denis were all left out, although the latter is understandable as whilst it reached #2 in the UK, it wasn't a single in the USA.

 

Not that we cared at the time as Blondie were of course "absolutely fabulous", despite it being an early evening outdoors gig in broad daylight. Debbie Harry looked and sounded fantastic, as did the rest of the band, and though we were largely unfamiliar with the No Exit songs, they seemed to slot in well with the classics. I particularly remember thinking that - Debbie Harry's singing notwithstanding - the performance of One Way Or Another almost sounded like Pixies. Opening with Dreaming and Hanging On The Telephone was topped only by closing with Call Me and Heart Of Glass around an hour and a half later. A brilliant, unique night and a fantastic memory of a wonderful trip to the Big Apple.

 

I didn't immediately rush out and buy No Exit on my return to the UK and, twenty-three years later, I still haven't bought the album. Today's selection is a recreation of the 8th August 1999 setlist, with radio edits and alternative versions of several of the No Exit tracks. It's not a representative Blondie 'best of' - JC and Walter nailed it with their Imaginary Compilation Albums over at The Vinyl Villain back in 2018 - but as today's all Monday, I can't think of a better soundtrack.

 

1) Dreaming (Album Version) (1979)

2) Hanging On The Telephone (Album Version) (Cover of The Nerves) (1978)

3) Screaming Skin (Radio Edit) (1999)

4) Atomic (Single Remix By Mike Chapman) (1980)

5) Rapture (Single Version) (1980)

6) Nothing Is Real But The Girl (Boilerhouse Mix) (1999)

7) Under The Gun (For Jeffery Lee Pierce) (Album Version) (1999)

8) Night Wind Sent (Album Version) (1999)

9) Boom Boom In The Zoom Zoom Room (Live In The Studio) (1999)

10) Rip Her To Shreds (Album Version) (1976)

11) Forgive And Forget (Pull Down The Night) (Album Version) (1999)

12) The Tide Is High (Single Version) (Cover of The Paragons) (1980)

13) Maria (Radio Version) (1999)

14) One Way Or Another (Album Version) (1978)

15) No Exit (The Loud Rock Remix - Radio Edit ft. Coolio & The Loud Allstars) (1999)

16) Call Me (Theme From American Gigolo) (Single Version) (1980)

17) Heart Of Glass (Long Version) (1978)

Some Days Are All Mondays (1:08:58) (GD) (M)

Can You Hear It?

Between 1976 and 1979, I was between 5 and 8 years old, arguably living my best life. Primary school, hot summers, bags of penny chews and sweets from the newsagents, Look-In ("The Junior TV Times"), Tom Baker as Doctor Who, Star Wars at the cinema, annual holidays near Tenby and day trips to Weston-super-Mare, the open air swimming pool at Chippenham or (if we were lucky) the pebble-or-sand beach at Weymouth. 

I was too busy and too young to pay much attention at the time to punk, post-punk or alternative music. Although the odd snatch on Radio 1 stuck with me, I discovered much of this music a few years later, when I was older, angrier and looking for music that I could turn up loud and annoy my parents with. The rest I sought out even more years later, when I was (considerably) older, wiser (debatable) and still angry (and that's just the government).

I don't have a contemporary emotional connection to these songs though some resonate with particular periods in my teens and twenties and they will always be very special to me. A few come from some of my favourite albums of all time, but I'll leave you to decide which ones they may be.

 

1) So It Goes: Nick Lowe (1976)

2) The Pictures On My Wall (Single Version): Echo & The Bunnymen (1978)

3) I Found That Essence Rare: Gang Of Four (1979)

4) Repetition: The Fall (1978)

5) The Unconventional: Japan (1978)

6) Fade Away And Radiate (Album Version): Blondie (1978)

7) Frederick: Patti Smith (1979)

8) Search & Destroy (Live) (Cover of The Stooges): The Dictators (1977)

9) I Can't Be (Demo): Ramones (1976)

10) Whip In My Valise: Adam & The Ants (1979)

11) Limelight (Album Version): XTC (1979)

12) My Shadow In Vain: Tubeway Army (1978)

13) Mortice Lock: Associates (1979)

14) Cities (Alternate Version): Talking Heads (1979)

15) Sound And Vision (Live @ Earls Court, London): David Bowie (1978)

16) I'm A Lover: David Johansen (1978)

17) The Card Cheat: The Clash (1979)

Can You Hear It? (56:53)