My crucial tracks over the last week - Dark Streets of London, Union City, Sea of Love, I Walk The Line, Straight to Hell , Six Days On the Road, Ghost Rider and Hilly Fields and
These were my Crucial Tracks for the last few days.
A song you'd like to hear covered by someone else. Which artist?
"Dark Streets of London" by The Pogues
I'd like to hear this song done differently. I love it as it is, but I think it might be interesting to hear it slowed down...but I don't have a musical bone in my body so what do I know?
Christy Moore, or Brigid Mae Power would sing the socks off it
A song from the last gig you went to.
"Union City Blue (2001 Remaster)" by Blondie
The last band I saw was a covers band at a party. They played my favourite Blondie song.
A song that you discovered on a film soundtrack.
"Sea of Love" by Phil Phillips & The Twilights
A great film, with this great song at the centre of it
The Heptones do a good reggae version of it, too
"Sea of Love" by Phil Phillips & The Twilights on Apple music
A song you'd do at karaoke?
"I Walk The Line (feat. The Tennessee Two)" by Johnny Cash
Nobody would want me to do karaoke, but I'd have a crack at this
"I Walk The Line (feat. The Tennessee Two)" by Johnny Cash on Apple music
A song you've seen performed live, or would really like to see performed live?
"Straight to Hell (Extended Unedited Version [Remastered])" by The Clash
This was always my favourite Clash song, but it was a bit of a poor relation. It was a double A-side with Should I Stay or Should I Go, but Should I Stay got all the air play. When that got re-released and became a big hit Straight to Hell was no longer on the single. Also it wasn't on the Clash Greatest Hits record
So I was made up when I saw Joe Strummer fronting the Pogues, many years after the Clash split, and it was one of only two Clash songs that they did that night.
I had previously seen the Clash do it too, but that second time was properly special
"Straight to Hell (Extended Unedited Version [Remastered])" by The Clash on Apple music
A song that you discovered in an unusual way.
"Six Days On the Road" by Dave Dudley
Thirty-odd years ago, I bought a biblical-sized tome called "The heart of rock & soul : the 1001 greatest singles ever made" by Dave Marsh.
It’s an interesting book. Marsh argues that by focusing on singles you end up with a more diverse, less pale, male and stale history of pop music.
Apart from that, he pointed me at a load of music I never knew about. Many of the 1001 didn’t, and don’t, interest me…but I got to recognise the stuff in the book that I would enjoy.
Anyway, I think that the only records I ever bought without actually hearing them, or bits of them, beforehand were some of the 1001.
This is one of them.
A song that reminds you of a particular friend.
"Ghost Rider (2019 Remaster)" by Suicide
This reminds me of a friend because the band was part of why we became friends in the first place.
I was in the kitchen at work discussing plans for the weekend with someone or other. I was going to see a reasonably big band who I thought had gone right off the boil….but said I was mainly going to see the support band, who I was really excited about.
My new chum was also a fan of the support band - this is them
A song that reminds you of one of your favourite places.
"Hilly Fields" by Nick Nicely
This is a relatively obscure bit of psychedelic pop from south east London.
I’d read about this song at least 30 years before I actually heard it.
Hilly Fields was our local park when we lived in Lewisham. it’s a very un-spooky place and, as far as I know, it’s never been visited by aliens.
The spoken word bit in the song was rumoured to be Kate Bush, who also lived nearby, but I think that’s been denied