These Charming Men

A must have for every Smiths devotee out there.

Spinster's Rock has a 'This Charming Man' track for every day of the week (and one left over for just good measure).

The original single version will always be the definitive version for me, but if you love The Smiths that means you are a sad bastard completist. And Spinster's Rock post even includes the only ever official release of Troy Tate's production of 'This Charming Man'.

As I am in New York, I guess I should pass comment on the two extended 'New York' remixes of 'This Charming Man'? Mmm, not necessarily my cup of tea but now you know where the ideas for the Meat Is Murder track, 'Barbarism Begins At Home', came from.

Playing With A Different Set List (The B Sides)

Morphing Into A Music Blog (3)

How many letters are there in the alphabet? I could throw the blog over totally to this sort of stuff. Or at least for the years 1978-1984. Struggling like a bastard with the late eighties and the late nineties, but nice to see that the last few years have seen a re-emergence in good left-field pop music. Even if it's only because of the post-punk reload/revival. The hipsters will no doubt move onto the next fad, but at least they will have left us with a few good albums with the requisite scratchy guitars and oh-so-arch vocals.

Thought I'd start with '78 this time. No point scrambling my brains over the period 71-77 once more. I was struggling the first time. I'd end up having to pick a Bread album at some point, and that wouldn't be right.

Nice to see that there is a tad more variation with the B list. Some people might think I'm taking the piss with the Rachel Stevens album, but it's a hidden gem. Perfect pop and all that. Weird to admit that . . . what with me being a Jo fan from SC7.

Shame to discover that The Sound Team have since broken up. No great claims about them. A quick google search of the album, 'Movie Monster', will reveal that I obviously rated the album more than most, but they're worth checking out. I should have played it safe by listing a Spoon or Shins album instead and I'm sure I'll retract my high opinion of them at a later date. I did the same with The Wendys a few years back.

PS I know the Au Pairs aren't in the list - and with Gang of Four, Orange Juice, Josef K, Elvis Costello, Japan etc etc, they should be - but I love the album cover.

1978 - Parallel Lines, Blondie

1979 - Singles Going Steady, The Buzzcocks

1980 - Searching for the Young Soul Rebels, Dexys Midnight Runners

1981 - Dare, The Human League

1982 - New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84), Simple Minds

1983 - High Land, Hard Rain, Aztec Camera

1984 - Rattlesnakes, Lloyd Cole and the Commotions

1985 - Our Favourite Shop, The Style Council

1986 - The Queen is Dead, The Smiths

1987 - Sign o' the Times, Prince

1988 - Sunshine On Leith, The Proclaimers

1989 - Cosmic Thing, The B-52's

1990 - Heaven or Las Vegas, Cocteau Twins

1991 - Bandwagonesque, Teenage Fanclub

1992 - Mexican R'n'B, The Stairs

1993 - Debut, Björk

1994 - Parklife, Blur

1995 - Different Class, Pulp

1996 - Fuzzy Logic, Super Furry Animals

1997 - OK Computer, Radiohead

1998 - The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, Lauryn Hill

1999 - How I Learned to Love the Bootboys, The Auteurs

2000 - Tropical Brainstorm, Kirsty MacColl

2001 - Feminist Sweepstakes, Le Tigre

2002 - Life On Other Planets, Supergrass

2003 - Keep Going, Stephen Duffy & The Lilac Time

2004 - Franz Ferdinand, Franz Ferdinand

2005 - Come And Get It, Rachel Stevens

2006 - Movie Monster, Sound Team

2007 - Once (music from the motion picture), Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová

The Yorkshire Pudding Stole This Meme From Alkelda the Gleeful, I'm Stealing It Back

Morphing Into A Music Blog (2)

Spotted this music meme via Reidski's mate The Yorkshire Pudding . . . mmm, yorkshire puddings, gravy and roast potatoes . . . who mugged it from a Seattle blogger called Alkelda the Gleeful a/k/a Farida Dowler.

'My Life in Music Albums' is a music meme where you simply start from year you were born - in my case 1971 - and year on year, list the album that in your opinion was important for you in that particular year.

Granted I didn't really start getting into music until the early eighties, so my variation on the meme is that for every year I will try and pick an album that at some point in my life has been in my record/cassette/CD/mp3 collection. Where possible, rather than being a Monday Morning Leninist, I'll try and pick an album that was my favourite for that particular year, rather than opting for an album that I have subsequently discovered.

I'm taking Alkelda's wise advice by using Wikipedia's Tables of Years in Music as an aide memoire.

1971 - What's Going On, Marvin Gaye

1972 - Saint Dominic's Preview, Van Morrison

1973 - For Your Pleasure, Roxy Music

1974 - Slaughter on 10th Avenue, Mick Ronson

1975 - Between the Lines, Janis Ian

1976 - A New World Record, Electric Light Orchestra

1977 - Pink Flag, Wire

1978 - All Mod Cons, The Jam

1979 - Secondhand Daylight, Magazine

1980 - Sound Affects,The Jam

1981 - Penthouse and Pavement, Heaven 17

1982 - Lexicon of Love, ABC

1983 - The Hurting, Tears For Fears

1984 - The Smiths, The Smiths

1985 - Steve McQueen, Prefab Sprout

1986 - Infected, The The

1987 - Crooked Mile, Microdisney

1988 - Viva Hate, Morrissey

1989 - Stone Roses, Stone Roses

1990 - The La's, The La's

1991 - Don't Try This At Home, Billy Bragg

1992 - It's A Shame About Ray, The Lemonheads

1993 - Giant Steps, Boo Radleys

1994 - Dummy, Portishead

1995 - Grand Prix, Teenage Fanclub

1996 - Everything Must Go, Manic Street Preachers

1997 - Radiator, Super Furry Animals

1998 - This Is Hardcore, Pulp

1999 - Le Tigre, Le Tigre

2000 - The Great Eastern, The Delgados

2001 - Persevere, The Proclaimers

2002 - Redd Blood Cells, White Stripes (with Steven McDonald from Redd Kross)

2003 - Black Cherry, Goldfrapp

2004 - No Cities Left, The Dears

2005 - As Is Now, Paul Weller

2006 - Back to Black, Amy Winehouse

2007 - Yours Truly, Angry Mob, Kaiser Chiefs

If I'm being honest, '74 & '75 were the only difficult years to pin down, but the Mick Ronson and Janis Ian albums were honest enough picks. Just don't put me on the spot, and ask me to give you the name of track 3/ side 1 on either of the albums. Also, I couldn't have been listening to a lot of albums in 2002 if I had to plump for Redd Blood Cells, but I do remember loving the album at the time. White Stripes have passed me by ever since.

Next tagees?

The usual suspects: Robin Scott; 'Chris' from the Kensington blog; Hogan Ephraim; Tina Fey; Julia Louis-Dreyfus; Reidski; Sarah Silverman.

Sentimental Socialist

You know when you hear a song for the first time, and you instantly recognise that you are going to love that song for the rest of your life; none of that, three months down the line What the hell was I thinking? cascade of regrets (yes, Maximo Park, that barb is directed at you), but a song that you have to play again and again, and when you do stop listening to it, it's less a case of you edging yourself away from the tune in your head, stereo, iPod and Computer, and more a matter of life getting in the way.

That's how I'm feeling about the song '1985' right now. It was the opening track off of the Manic Street Preachers 2004 album, 'Lifeblood'. Christ, how did it take me three years to stumble across this song? I guess that must have been during my Delgados period - not period I regret, I hasten to add, btw - but the joy of stumbling across a track you absolutely adore is tinged with the bitter-sweet feeling that you missed out on the track first time round.

Kara is already sick of the song but, to borrow one of her own lines, I'm "Psyched. 17-year old style."