DB's blog

1979: Swamp Rabbit Rock (Part 2)

So here's the second discfull as promised:

My Sharona - The Knack

Heart of Glass - Blondie

Diamond Smiles - Boomtown Rats

Accidents will happen - Elvis Costello

Portobello Belle - Dire Straits

Can't stand losing you - Police

Eton Rifles - Jam

One Step beyond - Madness

I have a Dream - ABBA

Since you've been gone - Rainbow

Just when I needed you most - Randy VanWarmer

Dance away the Heartache - Roxy Music

Boys keep swinging - David Bowie

Tusk - Fleetwood Mac

Hot Stuff - Donna Summer

Don't stop me now - Queen

Message in a Bottle - Police

Union City Blue - Blondie

Communique - Dire Straits

Cars - Gary Numan

 

1979: Swamp Rabbit Rock (Part 1)

'79 was a pretty key year for me. I started my professional career and fell in with my first long term (> 1 month) girlfriend (first and only to date, in fact - she's my wife!). It was also an excellent year for music - I had to burn two cd's to cover all my favourites. Here's the first disc's worth:

Are "Friends" electric? - Tubeway Army

The No. 1 Song in Heaven - Sparks

Dreaming - Blondie

I don't like Mondays - Boomtown Rats

Oliver's Army - Elvis Costello

Walking on the Moon - Police

Sultans of Swing - Dire Straits

Video killed the Radio Star - Buggles

Girls Talk - Dave Edmunds

Sunday Girl - Blondie

Pop Muzik - M

Electricity - Orchestral Manoeuvres..

Brass in Pocket - Pretenders

Roxanne - Police

Hold the Line - Toto

Chiquitita - ABBA

Duchess - Stranglers

Breakfast in America - Supertramp

The Lone Ranger - Quantum Jump

If your musical tastes are anything like mine then you'll agree that this is a stonking list. But you will probably surprised to read that Disc 2 (to be put up shortly) is almost as good!

Needed a lot more blue pencil

The Rise of Endymion (Gollancz S.F.)

Dan Simmons

I've put up a review on Amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/0575076402/ref=cm_cr_dp_synop?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending#R36X2JN105PD0Y

I don't usually bother to put up reviews on such big sellers, but my main problem with this book is one of my bugbears that I have mentioned repeatedly here - the tendency to ridiculously big SF & Fantasy books. The first three in this series were considerably shorter, and a lot better in consequence. Nevertheless, this one is required reading if you like Simmons' philosophy, which I do (although I don't agree with it.)

Hits of '74 - The Nixon Swan Songs

It's often thought of as a nadir year of mostly second rate Glam between the glory days of Rock and the arrival of Punk, but in fact it's perfectly possible to burn an excellent cd from the music of that year. I've fond recollections of the year - it included my first trip abroad (Amsterdam, where You ain't seen Nothing yet was being played everywhere). Here's my list (it includes several of my all-time faves in red):

You ain't seen Nothing yet - Bachmann Turner Overdrive

Everything I own - Ken Boothe

Seven Seas of Rhye - Queen

All I want is you - Roxy Music

Don't let the Sun... - Elton John

Can't get Enough of your Love - Bad Company

Tiger Feet - Mud

Waterloo - ABBA

Devilgate Drive - Suzi Quattro

Killer Queen - Queen

It's only Rock and Roll, but.. - Rolling Stones

Candle in the Wind - Elton John

One Man Band - Leo Sayer

Diamond Dogs - David Bowie

This Town ain't big enough for.. - Sparks

Down down - Status Quo

Thomas the Rhymer - Steeleye Span

Silly Love - 10CC

Rebel Rebel - David Bowie

 

 

 

 

Keeping score at Science Week Table Quiz last November

Keeping score at quiz

I'm an organiser of a science-based pub quiz we hold in Dublin city centre every year. As befits a nerd one of my jobs (as well as setting most of the questions) is to put the questions and answers up as Powerpoint presentations, and to keep the scores on an Excel spreadsheet.

'64: Now that's what Harold called Music

I thought it was about time I posted something other than what I have been reading recently. Being pretty retentive, I decided a couple of weeks ago to catalogue all my i-Tunes downloads and uploads by year of release, and then to burn cd's containing most of my favourites for a particular year (which for some of the early years even involved buying a few extra tracks). My wife thinks I'm mad, as do two of my daughters. It's difficult being in a largely female house! I know this whole listing and organising thing isn't purely a gender issue -  the eldest daughter's boyfriend only sort of understands (because he's arty) and the middle daughter, who would understand perfectly, is away at college most of the time.

Anyway, I started with 1964. More complaints! My wife thinks that a lot of this early to mid-sixties stuff is crap, and she may have a point in a few cases. Or rather: that's missing the point completely. This is the stuff that I liked at the time and I remember it fondly. She was a bit too young in 1964. And she's not immune to the same failing herself - one of her earliest favourites is "Cecilia", to my mind pretty much the worst thing Simon & Garfunkel ever did.

So here goes with my 1964 playlist (to explain the headline, I put a picture of Harold Wilson on the cd "sleeve"):

A Hard Day's Night - Beatles

As Tears go by - Marianne Faithful

Elisabethan Serenade - Gunther Kallman Choir (actually I couldn't find this version, so I downloaded a different one.)

No particular Place to go - Chuck Berry

House of the Rising Sun - Animals

Goldfinger - Shirley Bassey

54321 - Manfred Mann

I get around - Beach Boys

It's all over now - Rolling Stones

Can't buy me Love - Beatles

Bits and Pieces - Dave Clark Five

Yeh yeh - Georgie Fame

Wooden Heart - Elvis Presley

I'm into Something good - Herman's Hermits

Have I the Right? - Honeycombs

All day and all of the Night - Kinks

I feel fine - Beatles

Do wah diddy diddy - Manfred Mann

Not fade away - Rolling Stones

Always Something there to remind me - Sandie Shaw

The Sounds of Silence - Simon and Garfunkel

My Boy Lollipop - Millie

I love you because - Jim Reeves

Rag Doll - Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons

She's not there - Zombies

Walk on by - Dionne Warwick

The Times they are a changing - Bob Dylan

Tobacco Road - Nashville Teens

You really got me - Kinks

It's impressive how many of these early tracks you can cram onto one cd isn't it? I was surprised that "Sounds of Silence" and "She's not there" were so early! Would anyone out there draw up a substantially different list?

 

Too easy to put down.

Brick Lane

Monica Ali

I have to agree with the top review on amazon.co.uk - not bad, but nowhere nearly as exciting as the hoohah would suggest. Interesting that the film gets more stars than the book - I imagine that's quite unusual for a prize winning book. I'm certainly interested in seeing the film - I've enjoyed other films about the Asian community in England. I lived in Coventry for seven years, where there is a large Sikh population, but relatively little racial tension (at least while I was there). One of my favourite haunts was a pub up the Foleshill Road owned by Sikhs, where the pub grub was excellent Indian food - a sort of heaven!