I sometimes have to give the youth of today the benefit of the doubt. Despite my innate curmudgeonly tendencies, they're not all snot-nosed bastards with shit taste in politics and chocolate bars. And I have to thank the blog - or rather its sitemeter - for partially restoring my faith in Generation teXt.
Recent months has seen a steady stream of traffic to the blog from people wishing to *sample* Duffy tracks. Of course, they're looking for the Welsh chanteuse who's a current back shift stand in for Amy Winehouse, whilst the latter works through her demons to provide enough lyrical material for the third album.
What they find instead is this old post from the blog where I get a sugar high over Stephen Duffy during his mid-nineties Britpop period (in my alternative universe, it's not Blur vs Oasis, it's Duffy versus Luke Haines), when he dropped the Stephen for some reason and shuffled back into the pop mainstream after being away in the country for a few years with the Lilac Time.
Sadly, despite producing an excellent self-titled album in '95, and regularly getting pissed in the Camden Falcon, he had to wait another ten years for the overnight success/comeback cliche with the work he did with Robbie Williams. Can't say I've heard much of that stuff, but if it ensures that he continue to do his own stuff then who am I to carp?
Anyway, I'm getting off topic. I meant to do my best Weller-esque impression with a mockney 'The Kids Are Alright', 'cos more often than not the disappointed kids still choose to *sample* the original Duffy. Good for them. If I can pretend it's 1981, they can pretend it's 1995.
By way of a thank you, here's another stellar track off of the 'Duffy' album:
Should have been a hit. That alternate universe that I wrote of above had this at number 2 to The Auteurs number 1 with a re-released 'Chinese Bakery' . . . . and Tiny Monroe lingering just outside the Top Ten with 'Vhf 855V'.
