Phantoms I Could Belatedly Chase

Side 1 of a Magazine compilation cassette, originally recorded for me by my brother in September 1991.

 

I was 11 years old when I first heard Magazine, courtesy of my older brother having posthumous compilation After The Fact and live album Play on tape. 

 

I was fascinated by the handprint on the cover of the former and the grainy black and white photo of the band in the studio on the latter, both squashed and cropped to fit the two-and-a-half inch width of the cassette sleeve. 

 

I was fascinated by the song titles: Definitive Gaze, A Song From Under The Floorboards and especially Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) which to be honest also slightly irked this grammatically rigid adolescent.

I was fascinated by the sounds that emanated from the tape deck: Howard Devoto's voice, phrasing and a way of storytelling that was different from anything I'd heard before. And the music: spiky yet cinematic, poppy yet punky, alien yet painfully human (and hummable).

I was also fascinated by the perfunctory timing listed with the band name and album title on each side of the cassette. After The Fact's running time is 24:15 and 23:32 respectively; Play is 21:31 and 21:55. Unconsciously, the beginnings of an obsession with trying to cram the maximum amount of music on each side of a C60, C90 or C120 when it came to recording my own cassette compilations a couple of years later.

I think my brother was healthily less troubled by these things so there is difference of over a minute between the duration of each side of this mixtape: Side 1 is 45:19 whilst Side 2 is 46:22; I suspect I would have cursed every time I had to use precious Walkman battery power to fast forward to the end of the former to play the latter.

What is beyond argument is the quality of the ten songs on both sides. I'd wanted my brother to record his own equivalent of After The Fact for a long time. By the time I got it in 1991, I'd bought Secondhand Daylight (ah, the days of being able to buy back catalogue vinyl from WH Smith!) but memories of Magazine's wider work had faded. 

 

I loved this compilation, even if Magic, Murder And The Weather does get short shrift. A little unfairly in my opinion, but then what would I leave out to make room? I mentioned in my post about Side 2 that I swapped out a couple of versions for my recreation, but no such interference here. Parade is represented here with the live version from Play and it was the right call. On the surface, it might seem lazy to run tracks 4, 5 and 6 from The Correct Use Of Soap together (albeit in a slightly different order) but they work so well together, so why not?

And closing the side with Thank You - which many years later I discovered was a cover of Sly & The Family Stone is a perfect set up for the side to follow. Just listening to this again has brought a big smile to my face. Undiminished after more than three decades and the subsequent, inevitable deterioration of the original cassette.

Today's cover photo is another photo from Clan K's recent visit to Valencia. This time, it's a detail from one of the grand doorways to the Museu Nacional de Ceràmica i de les Arts Sumptuàries Gonzàlez Martí, succinctly described on Google Maps as a "Palace museum with an ornate 18th-century exterior, housing vast collections of ceramics & artworks." 

 

I'd like to tell you how much we enjoyed visiting it and viewing the exhibitions. To tell the truth, after taking a few photos outside, we carried on walking to the nearby Mercat de Colón, where we sat in a cafe enjoying coffee and pastries. The table next to us was hosting a "Day Of The Dead" (All Saints Day not George Romero) themed birthday party, crammed full of beautifully dressed and decorated - and excitably - pre-teen girls, with the associated parents sinking espressos at the table behind us. "So this is real life," as Howard Devoto once opined. You're telling me!

 

1) The Thin Air (Album Version) (1979)

2) Definitive Gaze (Album Version) (1978)

3) Talk To The Body (Album Version) (1979)

4) My Tulpa (Album Version) (1978)

5) Philadelphia (Album Version) (1980)

6) I Want To Burn Again (Album Version) (1980)

7) You Never Knew Me (Album Version) (1980)

8) So Lucky (Album Version) (1981)

9) Parade (Live @ Melbourne Festival Hall, Australia) (1980)

10) Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) (Album Version) (Cover of Sly & The Family Stone) (1980)

1978: Real Life: 2, 4

1979: Secondhand Daylight: 1, 3

1980: The Correct Use Of Soap: 5, 6, 7, 10

1980: Play: 9

1981: Magic, Murder And The Weather: 8

 

Side One (45:19) (KF) (Mega)

Side Two here

Eclectic Guitar Restrung

Side 1 of a mixtape, compiled 3rd October 1999. 

Another C90-friendly delve into music with guitars. And other stuff. 

 

This might be the only place today where you'll hear The Clash next to Bis, The Doors trading organs with GusGus and Sly & The Family Stone tipping a hat to Magazine.

Play LOUD.

 

1) What Do You Want From Me? (Edit): Monaco (1997)

2) Deep Sleep (US Album Remix By Tom Durack): The B-52's (1990)

3) U-Mass (Album Version): Pixies (1991)

4) Spanish Bombs: The Clash (1979)

5) Action And Drama (Album Version): Bis (1999)

6) Cut Your Hair: Pavement (1994) 

7) Dry The Rain (Single Version): The Beta Band (1997)

8) Twentieth Century Fox: The Doors (1967)

9) Ladyshave (Album Version): GusGus (1999)

10) Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Again): Sly & The Family Stone (1970)

11) Rhythm Of Cruelty (Album Version): Magazine (1979)

12) Christianity (Album Version): The Wolfgang Press (1995)

13) A Loon (Strings Version) (Part 2): Kristin Hersh ft. Martin McCarrick (1994)

 

1967: The Doors: 8 

1970: Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Again) EP: 10

1979: London Calling: 4 

1979: Secondhand Daylight: 11

1991: Party Mix! / Mesopotamia (USA remixed re-release): 2

1991: Trompe Le Monde: 3

1994: Crooked Rain Crooked Rain: 6

1994: Strings EP: 13

1995: Funky Little Demons: 12

1997: Champion Versions EP: 7

1997: What Do You Want From Me? EP: 1 

1999: Social Dancing: 5

1999: This Is Normal: 9

 

Side One (45:52) (KF) (Mega)
Side Two here

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)

Phantoms I Could Later Chase

Side 2 of a Magazine compilation cassette, taped by my brother in September 1991.

 

I think the only Magazine album I owned at this time was Secondhand Daylight, which ironically makes up nearly half of this side, with a further two songs appearing on Side 1. I'd been familiar with their songs for several years though, as my older brother had first bought the After The Fact compilation on cassette, then the four studio albums plus live compilation Play on either tape or vinyl. 

 

I was fascinated by Howard Devoto's lyrics, unusual song titles and unique vocal phrasing. And the combination of heavy bass, virtuoso guitar, pounding percussion and swirling keyboards was undeniably attractive to this pre-teen. 

 

I'd been pressing my brother to do a Magazine mixtape for me for years and, judging by the date, it looks like he finally came good as a sort of homecoming gift as I returned from a year from Australia and back into full-time education (and living at home with my parents).

 

A couple of minor changes to versions included in this selection. Shot By Both Sides was originally the album version from Real Life, which cannot match the sheer energy of the 7" single so I've swapped them out. A Song From Under The Floorboards was the excellent live version from the album Play, though marred on the mixtape by a clumsy and premature manual fade out (sorry, bro!). I've gone for the studio version here.

 

Another characteristic of my sibling's selections was the loss of steam, especially in wrapping up side 2 of a compilation, and this was no exception. At the time, he mentioned that he'd stuck the final two songs on the end because the (undisclosed) songs he really wanted either wouldn't fit and he lost patience with it. For all that, I think both Burst and (the very apt) Stuck work very well in closing out this compilation.

 

It may be a while before Side 1 makes an appearance but, just to reassure you, both Real Life and The Correct Use Of Soap get more of a look in. Magic, Murder And The Weather was clearly less loved by Brother K and only gets one more song. I'll leave you to guess what that might be.

1) Feed The Enemy (Album Version) (1979)

2) Shot By Both Sides (Single Version) (1978)

3) Believe That I Understand (Album Version) (1979)

4) The Great Beautician In The Sky (Album Version) (1978)

5) I Wanted Your Heart (Album Version) (1979)

6) A Song From Under The Floorboards (Album Version) (1980)

7) The Great Man's Secrets (Album Version) (1981)

8) Cut-Out Shapes (Album Version) (1979)

9) Burst (Album Version) (1978)

10) Stuck (Album Version) (1980)

1978: Real Life: 4, 9

1978: Shot By Both Sides EP: 2

1979: Secondhand Daylight: 1, 3, 5, 8

1980: The Correct Use Of Soap: 6, 10

1981: Magic, Murder And The Weather: 7

 

Side Two (46:22) (KF) (Mega)

Six Degrees Of The Vinyl Villain

In a double first for this blog, today sees the return of Six Degrees Of Kevin Bacon, which proved popular enough last Friday that it inspired one regular visitor to submit their own 'Six Degrees' suggestion. And, in an unplanned but wonderful bit of music blog synchronicity, who better for Dubhed's first ever guest post than JC, whose own blog - the legendary The Vinyl Villain - encouraged and supported my return to music blogging back in 2020?

 

It's not a spoiler alert to say that you're in a for a treat. Without further ado, JC, it's over to you!

 

1) One of the most important punk rock records was the Spiral Scratch EP by Buzzcocks. It proved to be the only release on which the band’s original lead singer Howard Devoto was involved before he left to form a new post-punk band, Magazine.

 

2) Magazine’s debut single was Shot By Both Sides. It aired on Top of the Pops on 16 February 1978 but proved to be the only time Howard Devoto would ever appear on the programme. This was not the case for the song’s co-writer, and Magazine guitarist, John McGeoch, who later became a member of Siouxsie & The Banshees.

 

3) Siouxsie & The Banshees, thanks to having numerous chart hits between 1978 and 1995, got to the TOTP studios on numerous occasions. But prior to this success, their career had gotten underway in September 1976 when they debuted at the 100 Club Punk Festival. Their guitarist on that night, and it proved to be the only gig he played with the Banshees, was Marco Pirroni, who later found fame and fortune as a member of Adam & The Ants.

4) Adam & The Ants was fronted by, surprisingly enough, Adam Ant . He had previously been a member of a band called the B-sides, alongside Andy Warren and Lester Square. While Adam went away to form the Ants and become, among other things, a swashbuckling pirate and dandy highwayman, Andy and Lester joined forces with Bid and John D. Haney to form The Monochrome Set.

 

5) The Monochrome Set have never got beyond cult status despite releasing what is now 16 albums in a more than worthwhile career which is still on the go today. One of their many non-hit singles, from 1993, was Forever Young.

6) Forever Young* was also, coincidentally, the name of a non-hit single by The Comsat Angels in 1987, on which the bass guitar was played by Kevin Bacon. 

 

Note from the editor: JC didn't include a specific playlist so I've taken the liberty of curating a Dubhed selection from the above. A couple of songs and an EP (Magazine, The Comsat Angels and Buzzcocks) were specified so I've included them, whilst tracks 3 & 4 are completely my own choice. Likewise, The Monochrome Set song choice, mainly because I don't have Forever Young in my collection and couldn't track it down in time for this post. I hope you - and especially JC - like the final selection.

 

1) Time's Up (Single Version): Buzzcocks (1977)

2) Shot By Both Sides (Live @ Melbourne Festival Hall, Australia): Magazine (1980) 

3) Happy House (Album Version): Siouxsie & The Banshees (1980)

4) Picasso Visita El Planeta De Los Simios (Album Version): Adam & The Ants (1981)

5) Fun For All The Family: The Monochrome Set (1982)

6) Forever Young: The Comsat Angels (1985)

Six Degrees Of The Vinyl Villain (22:12) (Box) (Mega)

 

Two posts does not a series make, but I have an idea for at least one more post and I welcome further guest suggestions if you feel suitably spurred on by the two offerings so far. Contributions can be emailed to phatdubhed at yahoo dot co dot uk

Normal service will resume tomorrow.

* In another example of blog harmony, Forever Young (and a whole bunch of other single releases) by The Comsat Angels was featured last month on another excellent music blog, My Vinyl Dreams. Get yourself over there right now!

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)

(No) Hot Water

Yesterday, Casa K found itself without hot water and the frankly unqualified and fruitless attempts to solve this mystery got in the way of any attempt to draft today's post. I'm also rarely organised enough to have 'emergency' posts prepped and ready to go, just in case, much preferring to make things up as I go along. Unfortunately, this doesn't get you anywhere in the world of boiler repair.

My friend Jayne was a huge Level 42 fan back when we were at school. I wasn't, but you couldn't ignore Mark King's formidable thumb and so Hot Water immediately sprang to mind as I stared helplessly at the control panel, hoping, praying that this time maybe switching it on and off again would actually make a difference....

After Mrs. K made multiple calls to the company that services the boiler (they always promise to call you back, and never do), she was advised with a sigh of indifference that to would be approximately 4 weeks before someone could call out to repair.

A few more calls around and we - hopefully - will get someone else out by next Tuesday. We think it's probably the same problem with a diverter switch that we had last year: we live in a very hard water area and the thing just got stuck on heating. However, it's internal and beyond the reach of mere mortal hands, so even a temp fix isn't possible. The reality is that the cost of repairing this will be inversely proportionate to the size of the item.

 

This situation - and the end of a particularly challenging week at work - made it all the more poignant when the single version of Shot By Both Sides by Magazine was the first song to explode from my car stereo when I began the long drive home.

I've found a YouTube clip of a live performance for Belgian TV show Folllies on 2nd July 1979. It's both rather odd and really wonderful and better than the Top Of The Pops appearance which inevitably is far too short and cuts away part way into the guitar solo. Criminal!

Barry Adamson apparently learned to play bass overnight so that he could audition for Howard Devoto and John McGeogh in 1977, joining Bob Dickinson and Martin Jackson in the first lineup of Magazine. Shot By Both Sides was Magazine's opening salvo less than six months later and sounds as exciting now as it did when I first heard it in the 1980s.

 

And, for this music lover, Bazza on bass beats Mark King every time. 

 

Normal service will resume on Saturday, but may start to pong a bit by Sunday...

I Get Absolutely No Pleasure From Singing This Song

I was fortunate enough to see Magazine live in concert at the HMV Institute on Digbeth High Street in Birmingham on 8th November 2011. Sadly, by then Barry Adamson had departed again after the reformed band's initial live dates in 2009. However, the experience of seeing Howard Devoto, Dave Formula, John Doyle and (as a fan of Luxuria) Noko performing on stage was incredible. 

 

Despite touring their new (and, as it happens, only post-reformation) album, No Thyself, I hadn't actually bought or listened to it...and I also failed to get a copy from the merch stall on my way home, being so abuzz with the 90 minutes that had just gone by. A night at the notorious but cheap Britannia Hotel in the city centre soon dampened that buzz but, at the time, what a fantastic night.

The set was heavy with songs from No Thyself, which stood well with the other, better known songs. The studio versions sound a bit muted by comparison now, but my memory is that the live versions were more rousing; I recall that Dave Formula in particular seemed to be having a great time on stage.

Inevitably, with only 16 songs there were lots of omissions. 1981's Magic, Murder And The Weather didn't even get a look-in, a little unfairly in my opinion especially in its 30th anniversary year, but then what to leave out to make room?

The prospect of another Magazine concert, let alone new songs, seems even more remote a decade or so on. They came, they performed, they were brilliant, they left. I'm glad I was there to see it.

1) Definitive Gaze (Album Version) (1978)

2) Give Me Everything (Single Version) (1978)

3) Motorcade (Album Version) (1978)

4) Happening In English (2011)

5) The Worst Of Progress… (2011)

6) A Song From Under The Floorboards (Album Version) (1980)

7) Philadelphia (Album Version) (1980)

8) Parade (Album Version) (1978)

9) Hello Mister Curtis (With Apologies) (2011)

10) Rhythm Of Cruelty (Single Version) (1979)

11) Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) (John Peel Session) (1979)

12) Holy Dotage (2011)

13) Permafrost (Album Version) (1979)

14) The Light Pours Out Of Me (Album Version) (1978)

15) Final Analysis Waltz (2011)

16) Shot By Both Sides (Live @ the Russell Club/The Factory, Manchester) (1980)

 

1978: Give Me Everything (7"): 2

1978: Real Life: 1, 3, 8, 14

1979: Rhythm Of Cruelty (7"): 10

1979: Secondhand Daylight: 13

1980: The Correct Use Of Soap: 6, 7

2000: Maybe It's Right To Be Nervous Now: 11

2011: No Thyself: 4, 5. 9, 12, 15

I Get Absolutely No Pleasure From Singing This Song (1:12:08)

W.O.R.K. Is A Four Letter Word

After what simultaneously seems like a long time and no time at all at home, Christmas and New Year is well and truly over and I'm back at work. I've mixed feelings, but today's selection will get me through the commute, at least.

Sadly, I couldn't find a place for this stone cold classic.

1) Welcome To The Working Week: Elvis Costello (1977)

2) Julie's Been Working For The Drug Squad: The Clash (1978) 

3) Don't Work That Hard: Scritti Politti (1985)

4) Women Around The World At Work (Album Version): Martha & The Muffins (1981)

5) From Bed To Work: Pony Club (2004)

6) Hard Work: Teitur (2013)

7) Finest Worksong (Album Version): R.E.M. (1987)

8) Model Worker (Live @ The Santa Monica Civic, Santa Monica): Magazine (1980)

9) Barnaby, Hardly Working (Version): Yo La Tengo (1989)

10) All Work And No Play (Extended Mix): Hüsker Dü (1986)

11) I Work In A Health Spa: The Go-Betweens (1986)

12) Right To Work: Chelsea (1977)

13) Birth, School, Work, Death (Extended Mix): The Godfathers (1989)

14) This Woman's Work (Director's Cut Version): Kate Bush (2011)

15) How To Hate The Working Classes: Luke Haines (2001)

16) I Can't Wait To Get Off Work (And See My Baby On Montgomery Avenue): Tom Waits (1976)

17) Fit And Working Again: The Fall (1981)

18) Let's Work Together: Canned Heat (1969)

19) At Home, At Work, At Play: Sparks (1974)

 

1969: Let's Work Together 7": 18

1974: Propaganda: 19 

1976: Small Change: 16

1977: My Aim Is True: 1

1978: Give 'Em Enough Rope: 2 

1978: The Outrageous Soundtrack From The Motion Picture "Jubilee": 12

1981: Slates: 17

1981: This Is The Ice Age: 4 

1981: Urgh! A Music War: 8

1985: Cupid & Psyche 85: 3

1986: Don't Want To Know If You Are Lonely 12": 10

1987: Document: 7 

1989: Out On The Floor EP: 13

1989: President Yo La Tengo: 9

2001: Christie Malry's Own Double Entry. OST: 15

2004: Family Business: 5

2004: Liberty Belle And The Black Diamond Express (Expanded Edition): 11 

2011: Director's Cut: 14

2013: Story Music: 6

W.O.R.K. Is A Four Letter Word (1:14:19)

50@50, Part One: 1970-1979

Thanks for visiting and welcome!

As I rapidly approach five decades of clinging to this crazy, spinning planet, it seemed like a good time to start a blog. This isn't my first attempt - more on that another time - but here I'll mostly be sharing my love of music, my eclectic and frequently questionable taste and hopefully some treasures along the way.

In the spirit of The Vinyl Villain's Imaginary Compilation Album series, I'm starting off with an imaginary vinyl box set compilation of songs from the last 50 years that have meant something to me. This isn't a personal Top 50: I've ignored and left out many of my favourite artists and songs. The 'albums' are sequenced in chronological order, though I won't pretend that I discovered them in that order, cool though it would be to imagine being inspired by Curtis Mayfield before my 2nd birthday. However, all of the selections here have been important to me in different ways over the years. Enjoy...

Side One (22:19)
1)    Double Barrel: Dave & Ansel Collins (1970)
2)   Move On Up (Full Length Version): Curtis Mayfield (1971)
3)   Satellite Of Love (Album Version): Lou Reed (1972)
4)   Dance With The Devil: Cozy Powell (1973)
5)   Emma: Hot Chocolate (1974)

Side Two (22:50)
6)   Fight The Power (Part 1 & 2) (Album Version): The Isley Brothers (1975)
7)   Disco Inferno (Edit By Khayem): Trammps (1976)
8)   I Feel Love (12" Version): Donna Summer (1977)
9)   Shot By Both Sides (Single Version): Magazine (1978)
10) Twat (Live): John Cooper Clarke (1979)

Side One (22:19)

Side Two (22:50)

My parents' record collection was mostly made up of K-Tel compilations purchased from the local Cash & Carry but on reflection, what an introduction to music they proved to be. The cheap 'n' cheerful, high volume, low quality pressings, cramming 10 songs per side of vinyl proved to be invaluable. The Story Of Pop, 40 Super Greats, Black Explosion, Dynamite, Disco Fever... they - and I - loved them. As a kid, looking at the cover of Dynamite, I always imagined that Kiki Dee and Cozy Powell were happily married. I coveted Keith Moon's purple trousers as displayed on the cover of 40 Super Greats. I marveled at the beauteous illustrations of Elvis Presley and David Bowie on the cover of the Radio One Story Of Pop supplement, whilst wondering why neither of them actually featured on the album of the same name. But my folks weren't K-Tel purists. Amongst the James Last and Music For Pleasure compilations, the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack shone brightly, especially the near-11 minute version of Disco Inferno that closed the album. Likewise, I was captivated by the original version of I Feel Love on the radio, but I was forever changed by the 15m 45s remix by Patrick Cowley in 1982. I loved it so much that I bought the 12" as a present for my brother so that I could tape both sides on my parents' hi-tech turntable/cassette deck combo. Magazine came to me slightly belatedly with their posthumous After The Fact compilation in the early 80s, and admittedly John Cooper Clarke most likely made a first impression via his Sugar Puffs ads rather than his poetry, but by this time I was hopelessly addicted to words and music with a capacity to love the camp, the crap, the poetic, the pretentious and the out-and-out pop. It's a love affair that's never ended.