So, without further ado, I begin.
First pointing out that CD No.1, entitled Like Me, Its All Over the place contains only 2 tracks which were hits on this side of the Atlantic. I resisted the urge to Google the people Id never heard of in order that I might not be influenced by things Im �supposed to like�. I'd also point out that Im very VERY dismissive when it comes to music - it takes very little for me to really, really hate a song and an awful lot for me to love one!
1. I Call Your Name � The Beatles Having nicked Charlie Watts� cowbell and stuck on the jangly guitar sound from The Taxman, Sir Paul and Co then ruined a promising start with their usual banal vocal and quite the most horrible bridge ever to make it onto vinyl. Im not a big Beatles fan.
2. Friday on My Mind � The Easybeats A timeless classic which I was able to sing along to from start to finish. Quite an achievement when you consider I was only one month old when this reached its highest chart position of No.6 in October 1966. As a person who now has Friday permanently on my mind I feel its desperation like never before.
3. Apples and Oranges � Pink Floyd Yeh. They did drugs, didn�t they? Lots of drugs? Otherwise how could one sing a line like �I am a lorry driver� without hooting with laughter? BF: *making a face*. Me: It�s the Floyd. BF: Fucking Hell. Is it?
4. Orange Skies � Love The pleasant flute sound is ruined by said instrument being woefully out of tune. Makes a nod towards Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds but, bizarrely, the clave sound made me instantly think of The Girl From Ipanema and then I couldn�t concentrate properly.
5. You Don�t Pull No Punches (etc) � Van Morrison More flute - this time much more tuneful. Van�s unmistakeable vocal makes it sadly non singalong-ish, but the steering-wheel bongos would certainly get a workout on the way to the office with this one. Its tapalongtastic! Also, at nearly 9 minutes long, it would last about half the distance from here to my office. Hoorah!
6. Goddess on a Hiway � Mercury Rev sounds like Karel Fialka�s �Hey Matthew� but without the spooky undercurrent.
7. Unsound � Bettie Serveert A very �dry� (ie no reverb) vocal sound set VERY high in the mix. Gives it a bit of a Pretenders-y/Suzanne Vega-y sort of sound. Very 80�s in construction.
8. Does He Love You � Rilo Kiley Im thinking this was covered by Reba McEntire in the late 90s but it may be different song, same name. A very C/W front end but the xylophone �dings� and clumsy construction make it BEG for a re-mix.
9. 7/4(Shoreline) � Broken Social Scene A very 80s vibe to this one. Vocals too quiet in the mix and an overbearing hi-hat. Nevertheless, put me in mind of Annabella Lwin, which is no bad memory to evoke!
10. Outtasite � Wilco had one minor hit (no. 67) in the UK with �Cant Stand It�. This has a Supergrass feel to it and is a pretty good �jump around� type song. I jumped around.
11. Sad If I Lost It � Guided by Voices Manchester sound/Happy Mondaysish. Could probably live without this one.
12. Born to Choose � The Mekons Jam drum sound meets Smiths vocal. Not too bad, actually. I would drum along with this (if nobody was watching!).
13. Little Ways � Dwight Yoakum Not EVER so popular here, poor Dwight. His highest chart position was No 43 (and that was with a cover). It�s a classic country treatment � Id never heard it before but could sing along after two listens. And did!
14. Rise Up With Fists � Jenny Lewis with The Watson Twins Dreadful. Sorry, Smed.
15. Psycho � Elvis Costello Ah, now THAT�S better! Bimbles along nicely like Good Year For the Roses until you take a minute to listen to the lyric. *shudder*. Yep. Like that one.
16. 16 Military Wives � The Decemberists Held high hopes for this one as I have heard them mentioned in the diaries of others. Sadly, this song does not translate well from American to English. I liked the �sound� of them but the sentiment was lost on yer average Brit, Im afraid. Id be interested to hear some of their other stuff as they certainly have promise.
17. Time For Truth � The Jam Didn�t think I knew this until I heard myself singing along. It certainly wasn�t a hit here�.oh, HANG ON!!!!A gazillion years ago when I was gigging, our support band used to cover this, but at a million miles an hour! It wasn�t til we got to the �why don�t you FACK off� bit that I remembered it! As I recall, there was audience participation/community singing at that point! Ha ha, nice to hear it done at the right tempo for once!
18. The Puppet � Echo and the Bunnymen Sounds pretty much like the Cutter, Ian McCulloch�s vocal takes me right back to when men backcombed their hair and black lipstick was socially acceptable. *sigh*
19. Planet of Sound � Pixies Peaked at No.27 in 1991. Simple construction � a Stranglers bassline and overloud guitar give it a nice retro 1978 feeling. Not much wrong with that. The Pixies deserved a bit more success than they got over here. They never made it to the top 20. Ever.
20. Jesus and Tequila � Minutemen This SO has the feel of Adam and the Ants version 1 (when they had Dave Barbarossa et al). This could have been lifted straight from Dirk Wears White Socks.
21. Gary & Melissa � King Missile BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! You tryin� to tell me something, Smed old pal?!
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