Top 5 lyrics that move your heart:
I Am The Cosmos by Chris Bell;
Coming Right Along by the Posies;
Rainy Night In Soho by the Pogues;
In The Wee Small Hours by Frank Sinatra;
We Will Fall by the Stooges.
Top 5 instrumentals:
The Liquidator by the Harry J. All Stars;
Warrior Charge by Aswad;
Goodbye Pork Pie Hat by Charles Mingus;
Peaches en Regalia by Frank Zappa;
Voodoo Ray by A Guy Called Gerald.
Top 5 live musical experiences
The Jam at Leisureland, 1978;
U2 at the Claddagh Hall, 1979 (pity about the whole drum thing);
The Specials and The Beat, co-headlining at Leisureland, 1980;
Dexy's Midnight Runners, Seapoint Ballroom, 1980;
Clannad, the Peadar O'Donnell school, Arranmore, 1975.
Top 5 artists you think more people should listen to:
Arthur Lee;
Chad Dughi;
the band Lucas;
Mark E. Smith;
Ruth Dillon.
(Ruth's new CD is coming out soon, plug plug, and I know because I was playing with her last night, smarm smarm.)
Top 5 albums you must hear from start to finish:
The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway by Genesis;
London Calling by The Clash;
Forever Changes by Love;
Happy / Sad by Tim Buckley;
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by the Beatles.
Top 5 musical heroes
JohnPaul GeorgeRingo (okay, I'm cheating :-P);
Alex Chilton;
Miles Davis;
Jeff Beck;
Bob Dylan.
Top 5 intros:
- The twiddly classical guitar bit at the beginning of Roundabout by Yes;
- The bit of tape grot, studio mumbling and the sudden "one-two-three-four that prefaces Taxman by the Beatles;
- The organ lick that opens Them's cover of It's All Over Now, Baby Blue (see below);
- The guitar lick that starts off What Difference Does It Make by the Smiths (they were supposed to be indie boys, so why did it sound suspiciously like Status Quo?);
- The one that goes: "You ain't nothing but a...".
Hotel California by the Eagles, and not for a good reason. I was working in a pool hall - stroke - amusement arcade in the summer of 1977, and this tune was on the jukebox. It's not a bad number by any means, deftly written, nice chord progressions, smart guitar playing. Even though I was supposed to be a punk rock fan at the time, I liked it well enough. It's just that I still haven't heard back from NASA about the exact number of times I actually heard Hotel California played that summer. Whatever the exact amount, the song etched itself permanently into the grooves of my brain, FOREVER. To this day, even though I like the Eagles, even though I like the song, I still groan and gnash my (remaining) teeth whenever it comes on.
The Liquidator by the Harry J. All Stars (see above under favourite instrumentals). Probably not very well known, but it's a bright, breezy, sunny, skipping ska/bluebeat organ instrumental that always brings a smile to the facial area. A few summers after the above, when I worked in another amusement arcade, my brother Pat would come in in his rude boy gear - pork pie hat, three-button jacket - and play this tune on the jukebox a couple of times, doing the nutty dance. Remembering Pat brings an even bigger smile to my face.
Yellow Submarine by the Beatles. Not their most heavyweight musical achievement, no. But when I was a young lad I'd have to stop eating breakfast and listen to this when it came on the radio, while my cornflakes went soggy.
Why Was It So Easy? by Darryl Hall. Love you always, Coogers.
I'm Not In Love by 10cc. What can one possibly say? Teenage parties. Beautiful French girls. Perfume. Big boys don't cry.
Top 5 Cover Versions:
- The Jeff Beck group having a soulful canter through Bob Dylan's Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You;
- Lis Frazer and This Mortal Coil sprinkling fairy dust on the already classic Song To The Siren by Tim Buckley;
- The Posies coming as close as any mortals could ever possibly get to the heartbroken grandeur of Chris Bell's I Am The Cosmos;
- Van Morrison and Them snarling and snapping their way through It's All Over Now, Baby Blue by a Minnesota song-and-dance man I believe I've mentioned several times already;
- Tim Buckley
transcending the boundaries of the space-time continuuminterpreting Fred Neil's Dolphins.
